10. DO have an easy to use navigation system in place on your site. One of the quickest ways to lose visitors and thereforesales, is to have a navigation system that works like the Winchester Mystery House (an attraction in California that has doorways leading to nowhere). If your visitor gets lost and can't find their way around, or if they have to keep clicking a back button to return to your homepage just to visit another page on your site, they will tire of this and just leave, taking their business with them. Make sure that you not only have a navigation bar at the top of each page, but also put a text navigation bar at the bottom of every page, so they don't have to scroll to the top to travel through your site. The easier it is for them to move through your site, the more they'll see, the more comfortable they'll feel and the more likely it is that they will purchase from YOU and not your competitors.

9. DO NOT use too many large or active graphics. Graphics can increase your load time and most surfers don't want to wait around to see a large but 'cute' animated graphic of your service - they'd rather be informed about your products or service. So keep your graphics simple and use them sparingly - especially animated graphics. Too much animation will detract them from where their attention should be - on your products or services.

8. DO make sure your text is clear, concise and error-free. Keeping your text concise and easy to read is important because if your visitor is confused about what you offer, you will lose them to a competitor. If writing intelligible text is not your forte, hire a professional copywriter to make sure that your text describes your products or services in an intelligent, yet easy to understand manner. And make sure your site is 100% proofread! Nothing lowers the opinion of a potential customer more than a site filled with typos and errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation or syntax. (Gee, if they can't even spell 'electrical' properly, or don't know the difference between 'their' and 'there', they can't be very intelligent, therefore what would the quality of their service or product be?) And that's another point that must be made here - NEVER rely on a 'spellcheck' program to do your proofreading for you - they have no idea if you mean 'there' or 'their' so therefore you can run a spellcheck until you're blue in the face and you will still have those kinds of errors on your site! And again, if this is not one of your strong points, hire a professional proofreader to check your site.

7. DO NOT overuse audio effects on your site. Nothing is more irritating to a visitor than to have some new age music or some strange noise blaring over and over and over during their visit to your site. A brief one-time sound as a special effect on the home page can catch their attention and be beneficial, but don't loop it so it plays on and on. And even if you provide a way to mute a sound effect, they still have to deal with locating the controls and hope they work properly - and they did not come to your site to be an audio technician, they came to your site because they were interested in what you have to offer them. Make your products or services the most interesting items on your site, without repetitive, annoying audio to distract your visitors.

6. DO use colors that are complimentary and subtle. There is nothing that will make a visitor leave a site quicker than that day-glo lime green background with fire-engine red graphics! Always make sure that your colors compliment each other and blend well together. If you choose to go with primary colors, then stick with the basics (true red, true blue, etc.) and if you choose to use more dusky colors (teal green, dusty rose, beige, cranberry), then stick with those. Use bright colors sparingly and for accent only - not as the background or for your larger images. And you should have only THREE main colors in your design. And those three colors should always be from a 'web-safe palette' to ensure all your visitors will see the colors you intended. You want your visitors to focus on your products or services, and using the correct colors to showcase them properly will increase your sales.

5. DO NOT launch your business site on a 'free server' with ads. A professional website should be just that - professional. For your visitors to really take you seriously, you need to take your business seriously. Either get your own domain name and space, or have your web designer host you on their webspace. Nothing is cheesier or more insincere than to have a business site on a free server with ads popping up and under and all over your site! There are thousands of 'come and go' businesses that are on the internet to make a quick profit and then take the money and run. If you want to establish your business as a reliable and trustworthy enterprise, you must present that to your visitors by being willing to invest in an ad-free presence.

4. DO make sure your META Tags accurately reflect your business. One of the main ways to 'advertise' on the internet involves submitting your site to search engines. And most search engines rely heavily on META Tags to properly index your site in their listings. Therefore, if you do not use the proper format for your tags or use keywords that don't describe your products or services concisely, you will not be listed correctly in the search engines. Use two to three word phrases that describe your main products or services, and list them as you would enter them yourself if looking through the search engines for that product or service. In other words, if you have an auto repair business, some of your keywords could be: car tune-ups, automobile transmission repairs, car lube and oil changes, etc., in addition to just automobile repairs. And also, always make sure that your keyword phrases are inserted into the text on your home page. Search engines check the content of your page to make sure that the keywords match your text to ensure that your business is legitimate, so this lends credibility to your site, increasing your chances of a better placement.

3. DO NOT pay huge amounts of money for Flash. Now you may be saying "But Flash is so on the edge - so trendy", but therein lies the problem - it IS just a trend and it will pass, because it takes way too long to load in, and 9 out of 10 of your visitors will hit the 'Skip Intro' button and never see it anyway! Therefore, you will have paid a large sum of money for something that only one out of ten of your visitors will ever even see. Not a good value at all - this is a way for web designers to take more money from you. You are much better off hiring someone to design an attractive, well laid out site with some tasteful graphics, that focuses on your services or products, not some flashy pictures. Flash is a waste of your money and your visitors' time. (Think of how many times *you* have clicked that Skip Intro button, or gotten impatient waiting for a Flash navigation bar to emerge just so you can travel through the site! How many times have you *left* that site because you got tired of waiting?)

2. DO choose your web designer carefully. If you decide to hire a web designer, always get a comprehensive estimate from a number of designers before hiring one. Always check out their portfolios to see if they design original sites and do not use templates that are replicated on dozens of others' sites. Make sure you are clear on what you expect of them and find out if they charge extra for any services or if they are included in the original estimate. Items like copywriting, proofreading, or designing logos, for example, are sometimes in addition to a basic web design estimate. Also, some limit the number of images you may have, or charge extra for simple JavaScripts (such as a navigation bar that changes color or images). Make sure the web designer you hire states clearly if they charge extra for these services and make sure any charges such as these are listed in your original quote. Also check the sites in their portfolios to see if they do use clear, concise text, spell words properly, use uncomplicated navigation systems, have optimal load times and properly reflect the business they are representing.

1. DO NOT always choose the most expensive designer. Just because they charge more does not necessarily mean that you will get a better website. While there are some 'fly-by-night' designers out there, many small design companies will provide you with a professional website for less money. Again, refer to the designer's portfolio to determine the level of their expertise, not how much they charge. I have been to many websites designed by big design houses that have typos, navigation errors, broken links and other poor design features. And going with a smaller designer can also improve your service when you need updates/changes to your site down the road. Having fewer sites to maintain can mean your site will receive attention in a more timely manner than a large design house with dozens of sites that may keep you waiting weeks or even months until they can get around to your site.

About the Author:
Shirley Marshall is the owner of Perfect SitesWeb Design and has been designing websites professionally for over three years now. This is her first of many articles. To contact her please e-mail her at: mailto:Info@PerfectSites.com or visit her site located at: http://www.PerfectSites.com

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