7 Characteristics Of A Great Webpage

Titus runs www.bizwaremagic.com, and always has some useful information
in his articles.

7 Characteristics Of A Great Webpage
By Titus Hoskins (c) 2006

What makes for a great webpage?

Wouldn't you like to know the main ingredients for creating
a superior webpage? What basic elements you must have if
you want a solidly designed webpage? A webpage that will
stand out and be noticed by your visitors. One that will
keep those visitors returning to your site, again and
again. An effective webpage that is 95% better than most of
the other pages on the Net.

Follow these simple design features when creating your next
webpage and you will have the answer:

1. Good Keywords

The nucleus. The conception. Good keywords are the very
first building blocks you must consider before your webpage
even becomes a dim notion in your head. Picking the right
keyword or keyword phrase is the ultimate factor that will
determine the success or failure of your webpage. You must
do major research on the keyword or keyword phrases that
will be the focal point and drawing card for your webpage.

You must get this right. It is vital. It is the single most
important element of a webpage. You can use keyword
research software and sites such as GoodKeywords,
Wordtracker.com, Nichebot.com, or superior keyword research
software such as Brad Callen's Keyword Elite.

Regardless of what process you favor, you must choose your
keywords very carefully. You must check the competition for
your chosen keywords or phrase. You must check the number
of searches made each month for your keyword. You must also
check the keyword density of your page to see if it will
register in the search engines. You may have to adjust or
fine-tune your keyword density at a later date.

Make sure you place your keyword in the title of your page.
Place it in the first Headline on the page and many
marketers also place their keyword or phrase in the url.
For example: www.yourdomain.com/keyword.html This will help
the search engines and surfers to find your page quicker.

2. Simple Design

Keep it simple. You must keep your webpage simple and
direct. Keep it professional. Make sure it is readable and
clear to all your visitors. Do a spell check. Do a grammar
check. You may also want to check how your webpage looks in
all types of browsers. (www.anybrowser.com) Better safe
than sorry.

Keep your visitors in mind at all times when designing your
webpage. Keep it on topic, keep it related to your
keywords. Most marketing studies show that's it's best not
to confuse your visitors with too many options. If you're
selling a product or products, limit the number on each
page to one product if you can.

If you have a comparison page, limit the number to three or
four. Studies also show that if you present too many
options or products, the conversion rate goes down, not up.
Keep all your products related. If you have a page on
laptops, don't start discussing the benefits of owning a
SUV.

Keep your sentences short and the number of words on a page
down to 200 to 300. Many sites break up longer articles
into multi-pages, this will be of some inconvenience for
your visitors but you will have more room for advertising -
your call.

3. Optimized

Let's face it, the average webpage will get most of its
traffic from the search engines, mainly Google, although
MSN and Yahoo are also worth considering. Optimize your
page for Google. Use a simple hierarchy, keep your pages no
more than three clicks away from the main page. Linking all
your pages to your index page is a good practice, always do
this. The search engines will find your page faster if it
is linked directly from the main index page of your site.

Using blogging software/structure that comes with such free
blogging software as Wordpress will optimize your pages for
you. Blogging systems have a linking hierarchy (categories,
archives, etc.) that are very search engine friendly. It's
almost impossible not to optimize your pages if you're
using a blogging system. Plus, you have an RSS feed that
will syndicate your content and place it into the search
engines very quickly.

Check factors such as Mega Tags, title description and
content. Use a robots text file for the search engine
robots.

If you're new to building webpages, you may want to check
out Google's Webpage Creator, you can create your pages and
have it hosted free by Google and they will be indexed
immediately in Google. Big Plus! http://www.pages.google.com

4. Easy Navigation

A great webpage will have easy and simple navigation. Link
your page to and from your main index page if you can. Make
sure you link to it from your sitemap page. Many webmasters
put all the main links on their site at the top or the
bottom of all their webpages, so that a visitor can freely
move around and find what they're looking for. Keep your
visitors' comfort level in mind at all times.

Double check to see all links on your webpage work! You may
be surprised how many don't work, especially if you link
out to other sites. The search engines don't like broken
links, neither will your visitors.

Also double check to see if all images on your page display
properly. Nothing will bring down the quality of your page
faster than images that don't load.

5. Fresh Content

A great webpage will always have fresh content. Make sure
you update your webpage often. Our world's technology
changes rapidly, make sure your material is current and
still revelant.

Remember, 9 times out of 10, the only reason a visitor is
on your page is for information. Make sure you deliver.
Make sure that information is recent and accurate.
Besides, there is nothing like fresh content to keep your
visitors interested and coming back for more.

6. Bookmarkable

A great webpage will always be bookmarkable. Your visitor
will want to bookmark your page and return to it for more
information. Make sure you make it easy for your visitor to
bookmark your page. Use a bookmark script. Make sure you
have a favicon, this is a small logo you place on your site
and it will be automatically picked up and displayed in
your visitor's bookmarks, drawing attention to your page.
Consider a bookmark and favicon like bread crumbs, all
leading the visitor back to your page.

7. Cool

Every great webpage should have a WOW factor! Try to make
your page stand out from the crowd. Try to make it unique,
try to make it cool. Just remember, a simple professional
webpage with valuable information is always cool. And
remember there is nothing like a little good 'word of
mouth' to get some traffic drawing PR for your page. Great
buzz about your webpage is worth its worth in gold.

So the next time you're designing a webpage, go all out and
try to create your webpage with all of the characteristics
listed above. Start with your keywords, keep it simple,
proof-read and test for coding errors, create good
navigation and optimize for the search engines, make sure
you provide valuable fresh content and information. Last
but not least, try your hardest to make your webpage
memorable and bookmarkable. Make it a professional webpage
that will be superior to the majority of other pages on the
web.

Aim high and you will reap the rewards.

The author runs a modest Internet Marketing web site where
you will find helpful online guides on RSS/Blogging, SEO,
Building Profitable Websites, Affiliate Programs, List
Building, Laptops, Internet Fax, and quite a few Free
Marketing Tools: http://www.bizwaremagic.com
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