5 Things That Websites Need in 2010!

August 2nd, 2010 | Author: John

Back several lifetimes ago, I used to design websites. I may be dating myself here, but there was a time when you actually had to know the code to create a website. Those days are gone now that we have templates and site builders such as WordPress, Joomla and a variety of others that will pretty much let you do anything you like.

And just like the static approach of times gone by that had little if any interaction and fresh content only being added when you changed the events calendar (that is “if” you had one), today’s website is a different animal.

According to WikiAnswers there are over 70 million websites (don’t even think about counting the number of pages) on the internet as of last year. Depending on who you listen to somewhere between 50-75 percent of those use their site as a source of business.

So, how do you separate yourself from the millions of other websites out there? Here are 5 things that web developers can agree upon:

Think CSS! (no not cascading style sheets) More to the point, sites need to be Clean, Simple and Straight to the Point. Make your site easy to navigate with buttons, tabs and links static. By that I mean leave them in the same area. Don’t make your visitor have to search how to navigate when they go to a different page. Make fresh content your king (or queen depending upon your preference) by giving it prime placement. That will also make it easier to get picked up and crawled by your various search engines. While you are at it, make it easy to contact you on every page.
Be Social! There are several components to this tip. Social media linking is no longer an alternative or nice to have on your site! Make it easy for your visitors to share your great content through all of the social networking sites. Don’t be thinking just about the big three of social sites (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) Give your readers access to share in any of their desired platforms. Remember, being social is a two way street. Provide access to all of your social media profiles so visitors can pick where they want to get your latest info.
Post links! When you are sharing info that you post in your blog or find something of value that you think will be of interest, post the links where that content can be found. And when you put up a video on YouTube , post comments on a blog or forum, don’t forget the link doesn’t get picked up unless you put the full address in: http://www.yourdomain.com Conversely, if you want to have Google give you a little better authority, don’t just link to the home page, link to the exact page where the content is found. http://www.yourdomain.com/yourarticle.html is viewed as what Google calls a “deep link”
High res pics/graphics are over-rated! I have a friend who is consumed with high definition video and how he can tell the difference. OK, but the fact of the matter is that if takes more than 12 seconds to load the entire page, you have lost. Keep in mind that you have less than 3 seconds to capture the reader’s imagination long enough to have them read that great content you put together. Don’t sabotage yourself by putting pictures that are greater than 96 DPI.
Flash is nice, unless. .. you have a smartphone or PDA (they won’t read/recognize it) And if you are looking to be picked up by search engines, flash is not what will get you recognized! Keep it for a company logo or something nominal so while it attracts attention, doesn’t detract from either the content or your ability to be found! Following these simple steps can turn your website into a powerhouse of good viable content that can be accessed by any of today’s popular devices and will keep your company in the foreground of this ever-evolving technology.

Are these the only things you should be thinking about when you work on your website? Not even close. But following these tips should provide you a better response/retention rate than you are experiencing currently.

Believe it or not, not doing social media right can actually harm your business.

If you are looking for free tips or advice on how to approach your social media, go to Social Media Dudes

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Finally, those are my thoughts from high atop my 2nd floor office above my garage. What I want to hear are YOUR comments. Please leave one now

If you are looking for free tips or advice on how to approach your social media, go to Social Media Dudesand subscribe to your newsletter in the upper left hand corner! Still not convinced that social media is right for your business? Read this and get our F.R.E.E. report on the 7 Myths of Social Media! Or follow our tweets on Twitter at twitter.com/johnpanico Finally, those are my thoughts from high atop my 2nd floor office above my garage. What I want to hear are YOUR comments. Please leave one now.