Designing or Updating A Web Site!

A client and a web designer who knows his/her client’s needs and desires can work as a team to create a winning web.

Whether you are updating or designing a new web site, you first must create a few rough layouts. Make sure you have all the key elements and have them organized. Then teamwork comes into play; you and the designer will finalize a web layout.

Creating a Web site!

1. Search Engine Optimization Essentials
2. Creating Keywords
3. Keyword Positions"Ranking Higher"
4. Major Mistakes To Avoid
5. The Little Extras
6. Helpful links

In creating a new web site that represents you, the client, it is very important that your web designer have excellent communication skills to ask you all the right questions.

What is the purpose of site?
Who is the target audience?
What features do you want on your site?
What is your budget and timeline?

1. Search Engine Optimization Essentials

Domain Name of site.
Keywords: Choose the right words and placement.
Key Elements: Link popularity, page reputation and page rank.
Research: Visit your competitors’ pages before you start your layout.
Guidelines:Be familiar with the top five major search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and Ask.
Search Engines: Repeating keywords too often may raise a red flag and invisible text techniques can be detected by major search engines, thus lowering your ranking.

2. Creating Keywords

Research your competitors’ keywords and create your own list of keywords.

Helpful site:
Google Keyword Tool External

3. Keyword Positions
"Ranking Higher"

Title Tags: These are the most important tags because the search engines view the keywords found in your title tags and inform the engine about what your site is all about.
Header Tags: These are second most important tags for the search engines.
Body Text: The search engines will respond favorably to bold keywords and keywords in a list format.
Anchor Text (link text): Another way to get a higher ranking is to place your best keywords on the top of the page

Meta Tags: These have little effect on the rankings, but they are still important because they give a summary description of your page!

4. Major Mistakes To Avoid

Not doing your research on prospective clients.
Spelling and grammar mistakes; incorrect information.
Broken or incorrect links / connections.
Being so creative that you cause chaos and your site is not easy to read or understand.
Ignoring Marketing Opportunities will cost you.
Not updating your web site.
Lack of valuable information for visitors to read.

5. The Little Extras

Remember, some extras can turn people off!

Intro page: Most visitors want information, not a clever introduction. When using a flash intro page, make sure your visitors have the choice to skip the flash intro instead of making them wait.
Animation: make sure it is not too distracting
Slide show and Video: Visitors should have the options to play, pause, go forward or backward.
Music: There must be an on/off button. Some people prefer quiet reading, or they might be at a place that restricts noise.

If you want your visitors to come to your place of business, a really nice touch is to have a link that will give your visitors directions and a map. This is very simple to do, just go to the Google map site, type in your address to get directions/map then just link the page to your site.

Make sure you always check all your links from time to time to make sure they all work.

**** AGREEMENT FOR WEB DESIGN