| Top Web Hosting Provider of The Month: |
 |
| Visit Bluehost.com | Read Bluehost Review |
|
|
| >> Web Hosting Geeks // Web Hosting Articles // Web Development |
|
|
 |
Tell me what your website does!
You know exactly what your organisation does and what your website offers its users. This information has probably become second nature to you, but first-time visitors to your site won't know this. As such, make sure you don't forget to tell them what you do. As soon as new site visitors arrive at your website the first thing they need to know, before anything else, is what you do. You can talk all you like about how great you are, but unless you spell out what you actually do, they won't even know what you're so great at! This oh-so-overlooked yet such basic of information can be communicated to your site visitors in a number of different ways: Page title Don't just use the page title to tell me who you are; tell me what you do too. If your company is called Bloggs Ltd don't only place the words, 'Bloggs Ltd' in the page title as there's plenty of room for more information. If Bloggs Ltd sells widgets, a good page title might be: 'Bloggs Ltd - Buy widgets online'. Note in this example, 'Buy widgets online' was used to describe what Bloggs Ltd does, and not 'Widget seller'. When describing what it is you do be sure to speak the language of your users, and don't talk from your point of view. From your point of view you sell widgets, but from their point of view they want to buy widgets online, so do bear this in mind when authoring the page title. The page title is the first thing that appears on screen, and especially on dial-up modems can be the only thing that displays for the first 10 seconds or so. For many web users this is the first piece of content they'll read on your site. The page title is also very important for search engines, which place more importance on the page title than any other on-page element. Descriptive page titles are also essential for blind web users utilising screen readers, as it's the first thing that gets read aloud to them upon arriving at the page. Tagline A good tagline is one of the most important usability features on any website. A good tagline should be explanatory and not vague, clear and informative and about four to eight words in length. A tagline is different to a company slogan, in that the former describes what the organisation/website does whereas the latter is designed to evoke certain feeling or create a brand. 'Priceless' and 'I'm loving it' are slogans by Mastercard and McDonald's respectively - they differ from taglines because they don't describe what the organisation does. Taglines are so important because no matter on what page site visitors enter your website, they'll always be able to quickly gain an understanding of what your organisation and website offers. This can be especially true for site visitors coming into internal pages from search engines - by telling these site visitors what you do through the tagline, they may be more likely to explore your site beyond the initial page on which they enter. Taglines are also good for search engine optimisation, as they appear on every page right at the top of the page, an area on to which search engines place importance. Main heading The main heading on the homepage is one of the first pieces of text web users notice, especially on clean well laid out websites. Sticking a 'Welcome to our website' may seem to be friendly and welcoming to you, but to task-driven site visitors it doesn't help in any way shape or form. A quick summary of what you do and/or what the website offers, in just four or five words can be highly effective (and very search engine friendly too!). Opening paragraph Perhaps the most important place on the homepage to tell your site visitors what you do, the opening paragraph must be short, succinct and straight-to-the-point. Just one sentence is enough to put across this most basic yet fundamental of information. When writing this opening paragraph, remember to front-load the content (this rule actually applies to every paragraph on the website). Front-loading means putting the conclusion first, followed by the when, what, where and how. Don't write a story with a start, middle and conclusion - generally speaking on the web, we scan looking for the information that we're after so put the conclusion first. This way, site visitors can read the conclusion first, which in this case is what your organisation actually does. If they want to know any more, they can then continue reading or jump to another section of the page. (To see front-loading in action, read any newspaper article.) Exceptions So, does every website need to tell users what the organisation does in these four different places? Well, not necessarily. We all know what Mastercard and McDonalds do, so it could definitely be argued that websites for household names need not explicitly say what they do. What these sites should do instead is tell us what the website offers, and this message can (and should) be put across in any of the above four ways - how else will site visitors quickly be able to find this out? Conclusion People are going to visit your site who don't know what you do. Before you can even begin selling to them you must tell them what your organisation and website does. In addition to fulfilling site visitors' immediate need (finding out what you do) you'll also be boosting your search engine rankings. If your organisation is a household name, then instead of explaining what you do, it may be wise to tell site visitors what they can do on your website. This article was written by Trenton Moss. He's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy ( Webcredible - http://www.webcredible.co.uk ) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone. They offer fantastic accessibility & CSS support packages, which you can read all about at http://www.webcredible.co.uk/support .
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
FREE Amber Alert Tickers for Your Website Project Safekids provides webmasters a valuable tool which could save a child's life. Add our Amber Alert Ticker to your website today. Top 7 Tips for Building an Antique Car Website Like wine cars get more attractive to collectors as years pass by. The fact is there are only a finite number of cars made in the world in any model and make. Let Your Customers Redesign Your Website! When you purchase a new item from a Yahoo! Store, you are asked if you'd like to provide feedback on the transaction. About two weeks after the initial purchase, an email from Yahoo! Stores shows up, asking you to provide feedback for the vendor. CSS - Maximum Benefits What is CSS?CSS is a simple file which controls the visual appearance of a Web page without compromising its structure. Using CSS we can control our font size, font color, link color and many other attributes on our web page. Why Local Service Companies Should Have a Website The Internet is being used by local service business to improve sales today. Sales are improved because a website gives a company more credibility and in some cases generates leads. Eight Deadly Web Site Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Creating and maintaining an effective presence on the Web has become increasingly complex and challenging as the power of the Internet as a marketing tool becomes more and more necessary to entrepreneurs and emerging businesses.The good news is that technologies that were only available to the big guys just a couple of years ago - audio, video, ecommerce, e-mail database management applications - are now affordable for almost everybody. How Improving Your Sites Usability Can Increase Your Buyers by 40% and Boost Each Order By 10%! With all of the factors involved in designing and building a web site, one of the most influential questions is often overlooked:Is your site easy to use?Usability isn't the same as design. Just because you've hired a talented designer to craft your site and make it look great doesn't mean it's easy to use. What Your Customers Say About YOUR Site! Part 1 The following is a list of patterns that many visitors follow, and you can use these suggestions to better your site.1. Is Your Web Site Talking to Your Customer? A while ago one of my clients approached me and mentioned that they were experiencing a serious problem with customer registrations (obtaining customer names and e-mail addresses), on their web site. They still had a lot of traffic, but were finding that the ratio between traffic and registrations had been dropping steadily. Using Mini Websites - Powerful Way to Direct Marketing Mini Websites are the most powerful and cost effective solution to promote and market your brand. Normally people go for a large site which have 100's of pages of selling nos. Web Content Strategy 101 Your content is what gets you in search engines, speaks to visitors, and ultimately decides the success or failure of your site. Meanwhile, your content has to be updated at least once a month if you want to get return visitors and search engine traffic. Website Globalization Globalize Your WebsiteThe Internet has unlocked a wide array of markets and knocked down barriers that previously prevented merchants from marketing their products on a global scale. There are a number of ways to 'globalize' a website and broaden a businesses general appeal to an international audience. Why Is No-one Buying From My Website? Are you, like many other website owners, frustrated at the amount of time, effort and money you've put into your website, only to see few or no sales?Like most business owners, you probably know your products or services inside out; you know the benefits of them, and what they can give to other businesses or consumers. And you probably paid good money for a website to promote them. Linking Out is Good Many websites I come across don't have a single link to another website. Ask the webmaster why not, and the answer you get is simple enough: "If I link to other websites people might leave my site. Make Your Artist Website Sell! SummaryHere's the scoop on what you must know when designing a website to showcase your art, impress galleries, and win over collectors. Learn how to avoid the mistakes most emerging artists make when creating their online portfolio. Ecommerce for Beginners Like most average persons, I wanted some extra money to supplement my regular income. I had considered a part time second job at times, but hated that option because it would take me away from the family, make me more tired and probably just pay minimum wage. Free Websites & Why You Should Avoid Them It amazes me how many people try to build serious websites with free web host providers. Granted, we all love things in life that are marked "free", but it doesn't always make sense to go that route if it will cost you more in the long run. Ever Wondered What Challenges Other People With Their Web Site? Have you ever wondered what challenges are faced by other webmasters and owners in the design and promotion of their websites, well I certainly have and so I decided to try and find out.I created a short survey which asked the following questions:1. 2 Key Ways to Make Your Site a Success If one more business owner tells me their website sucks because they're just "too darn busy to deal with it", I'm gonna hurl. That's like saying, "I'm doing business in my dirty underwear because I'm too busy to get dressed. 5 Essential Traits Of A Home Business Website So you've decided to start an online work at home business and are just beginning to build your website. You probably have a million different ideas for what you want the site to look like.
|
|
|
|
|
| © 2004 - 2008 "Web Hosting Geeks" | Web Hosting Reviews | Customer Reviews | RealMetrics Reviews | Hosting Articles | Directory | Partners | Contacts Over 7000 articles: web hosting, web development, domain names, ecommerce, web design, site promotion, ppc advertising, seo, site promotion and many others. Web hosting reviews, ratings and awards are not based on any incentives or commissions. Names and trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. A direct link to Web Hosting Geeks (http://webhostinggeeks.com) must be provided in order to use any of the above information. Contact us for more info. Partners: Hosts by speed, Cheap Website Hosting, Free Website Hosting, Cheap Web Hosting, Top 10 Web Hosts, Top 10 Web Hosting Deals, Best Website Hosting, Free Web Hosting, Free Web Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting, Adult Web Hosting, Web Hosting Discussions, Dedicated Server Reviews, Best Web Hosting, Web Hosting Discounts, HostProfessor.com, rsuog, halyava, PHP Website Hosting Services, Web Hosting Reviews, Hosting Uptime, Best Web Hosting Reviews, Cheap Webhosting, Web Hosting, Flash Templates, CMS Templates, Web Hosting Reviews, Website Hosting Reviews, Web Hosting Providers, Best Web Hosting, Top Web Hosting, RSUOG Web Hosting |