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10_Tips_for_Better_Web_Site_Usability_ _and_Profits
| 10 Tips for Better Web Site Usability - and Profits!
Making a web site easy and convenient for visitors to use is a
commonly overlooked key to selling more from it. The following
tips can help you do just that...
1) A lesson for marketers is to make our web sites, products,
etc., compatible with the largest possible number of users,
including the most common browsers and computer systems.
The vast majority of web surfers use Internet Explorer, with
Netscape in distant second place. The most popular screen
resolution is 800 x 600.
This also means avoiding or using extreme caution with newer
technology that people with slower connections and older
computer systems can't easily use. One exception may be if you
cater to an especially high-tech target market.
2) Unless you have a good reason to deviate from default
hyperlink colors, it's best not to. Typically, blue links have
not been visited, and purple links have. Other non-link text
colored blue or purple may confuse visitors by making them think
they are links.
3) A common pet peeve among surfers is slow-loading web pages.
When using images on your pages, use width and height attributes
in the HTML code to specify image sizes. Browsers can then
allocate proper space for images and the text can start loading
(giving visitors something to view) while images load.
4) Make your web pages load faster by minimizing the number of
graphics you use, as well as by optimizing their file sizes. A
free tool for optimizing graphics files is available at:
www.gifoptimizer.com
5) Visitors typically scan web pages, rather than read them word
for word. Keeping this in mind, use descriptive headlines and
subheads, write concisely, and make important points stand out
by highlighting them or using different colored text.
6) Certain bright colors such as red and yellow cause more
strain on the human eye than others. Use such colors sparingly
on your site if you want to encourage visitors to stay on your
site longer. Otherwise, eye strain may cause them to leave
prematurely.
7) Since visitors typically scan web pages, hyperlinks within
the text of a web page should be relatively short (consisting of
few words), yet very descriptive of where they lead to.
8) Two reasons to use the ALT attribute in the HTML code of your
web pages: A) It can be used to slightly improve search engine
ranking. B) It can tell the visually impaired (or those who surf
with graphics turned of in their browsers) what the image is.
9) How many clicks does it take to get to your online order
form? Many webmasters have found that the fewer clicks required,
the better. In other words, the easier you make it to buy from
you, the more likely people will.
10) Beware of common problems with using frames on a web site:
A) A large percentage of surfers dislike them. B) They can be
confusing and awkward for users. C) It's tricky to get the HTML
just right. D) Search engines have problems indexing past the
home page.
About the author:
Marty Foley WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW May Be Killing Your Web Sales!
Internet Marketing Goldmine contains proven, profitable
strategies that other online marketing books and courses
commonly overlook: http://ProfitInfo.com/catalog/v3/ Also get
hands-on marketing help through Marty Foley's secret Insiders
site, at: http://ProfitInfo.com/catalog/v5/
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