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Informative Articles

About Web Applications
Web-based Applications are web sites that offer more to the user than normal, static web sites. The difference is the way the information is provided to you. The site actually responds to the user, changing to provide the information the user wants...

Beginner Guide to Web Hosting
What is web hosting? Whenever you visit a website, what you see on your web browser is essentially just a web page that is downloaded from the web server onto your web browser. In general, a web site is made up of many web pages. And a web page is...

Photo-spangled designs
Photos into design is like putting life into it. Without photos, the design would appear bland and boring to those who are seeing them. People, having short attention span, gets bored easily. It is when they see something interesting that their...

Small business website design services
There are many different website design companies, offering different facilities such as flash design, however what should a small business look for when seeking an internet prescence? When choosing which company you would like to build your...

Tried and Tested Tips to Improve your Website - Part 1
1. DO NOT use excessive graphics or banner images on a single web page. They tend to slow the loading of your Web page. Impatient surfers might close their browser and move on. If you have many images on a single page, consider deleting few of...

 
Building your website for visitors

There are numerous articles and sites that advise on how to improve websites for search engine optimisation. SEO is, of course, vital for increasing the number of visitors to a website. However, never forget that it is visitors that turn into customers and make the money. Remember to keep visitors in mind at all times when building and designing a site. With this in mind, here are some pointers…

Professionalism
A site should look professional and has had some time and effort put into it rather than give the impression that it has been put together in someone’s bedroom in their spare time. This immediately gives visitors a good impression of your business and the confidence to make a purchase.

Images
Use images relevant to your product. At www.primaryinsurance.co.uk we use travel images’, as travel insurance is our main product. Using images that contain people rather than graphics works in this industry but might not be right for all.

Colour Scheme
Select a colour scheme that reflects the product you sell. For example our pink, blue and yellow scheme, together with the images, is designed to remind customers of their holiday and think positively when purchasing travel insurance, which is essentially a commodity product. The white space and surround provides subtly and prevents the colours from being too overpowering.

Navigation
Make sure the site is easy to navigate and your main products are in a prominent position on your homepage. Secondary or complementary products can either


be listed further down the page or on a separate page. This ensures visitors are drawn to the products that you want them to buy.

Effective copy
Again there are numerous articles on writing effective copy. The key point to remember is that it provides the customer with information about who you are and what you sell whilst containing a reasonable amount of keywords. If the copy reads well, the number of keywords should be acceptable. Always remember to update regularly as customers and search engines love up to date content.

Feedback forms
Feedback forms are a useful way to get ideas for improving your site in a way that benefits your customers. Once implemented conversion should start to increase, meaning you get a greater return on advertising investment.

Contact details
Having a phone number and an address where you can be contacted gives customers confidence that you are an established business and are happier to transact online. Don’t hide away your contact details in the hope no one will use them.

Links
Links in and out of the site should be for the benefit of visitors as well as search engines. Remember you can be selective when obtaining links and make sure all links are relevant to the product you are selling and the industry you operate in.

About the Author

Karl Norris is the E-Commerce Manager for Primary Insurance, www.primaryinsurance.co.uk. As a finance professional he focuses on generating and increasing profitability from online business activities.