By Steve Jocks
Why is it that many businesses do not generate traffic online? Is it because of bad web design, cheap hosting, or poor online marketing? Many new webmasters set themselves up to fail from the very beginning without even knowing it. If you’re new to web design and online marketing that’s okay. There are several tips I can give you to help you on your way. Given the opportunity you should consider all of the following web design tips and use them to your advantage. If you don’t have a website, my recommendation is to get a professional web designer to help you design one.
Can streamlining your website help you? Sure it can! When you start an online website your focus should be on the streamlining process of new online products and offering affordable services. However, your key focus should be on developing new content and don’t worry about product and service pages just yet. It will all fall together. Furthermore, when you start creating good content web pages, consider mapping them out on paper for the best results. Structure your web-pages to make sense to visitors and search engines like Google. Start with a sheet of paper and write down broad keywords that would make a good navigation. Next, use specific keywords for your sub-navigation pages.
Why should you design a website around content? Don’t worry, even the professionals can’t get this concept right! When you design a new website your objective is to focus on publishing new content. In my experience, this is by far the best way to design and create a website. Web design is not only about making a website look good but also about creating unique content for visitors. For instance, you should publish between one and five new article each week. Next, you should tell people about your new content using social networks, blogs, or send emails to get the word out. You can also use twitter or article marketing to tell others about your website. Twitter is the best way to keep people up-to-date.
What are the best ways to generate online traffic? I suggest using about 5 to 10 different online marketing sources that will improve your traffic 300% or more! This will also depend on your marketing and offline advertising. For example, not only do I advertise offline, I also join social networks, blogs, and community groups to promote my products and services. You should do the same! Why not? Everyone else is doing it. Google AdWords is another great place to advertise and promote your products and services. Moreover, publishing advertising in a local newspaper is more traditional but it gets the job done!
Are you playing chess, or checkers? If you remember nothing else; remember what I am going to tell you now, web design is not to make your website look amazing. Web design is to be user-friendly and provide a solution to your visitors problems. Stop changing and wasting time on your home page and start creating meaningful content that helps your users. I’m not saying you can’t re-design your home page. However, most of your time should be spent publishing new content. It is far more important to focus on your central message then to try to impress the user with flash and other design stuff. Lastly, it’s a business and not a hobby. If it is a hobby, you should consider making your website a business.
About the Author
Want to find out more about professional web design, then visit Steve Jocks’s blog on professional web design tips for all your web design needs.
