Know your Audience! Your website is a window whereby others will see who you are and what you do. For businesses it is a great marketing tool. So, what you say and how you say it is very important. The home page is your "first impression". A page that is difficult to navigate or too busy makes it dificult for the visitor to find what they are looking for.
Web templates are a great design tool. They can help you focus on a design scheme. Since they are pre-built sites, you can get up and running faster with fewer technical problems.
Pictures provide a quick way to make a statement. Too many words can put visitors off. Animations can be entertaining and informative. Music and sounds should enhance your content. There should be a way for the visitor to turn sounds off.
The look and feel (or mood) of your website can affect your popularity and how long visitors spend on your site.
The capabilities you provide your visitors further enhances your web site.
A Guestbook will let visitors leave comments. This feedback can be very useful for improving your site. A Blog is a great way to host a discussion group. You can add a Polling facility. This lets visitors vote on on questions and issues you want feedback on.
A Search bar allows users to perform general web searches.
Some of these capabilities require the designer to know HTML. There are many web sites that offer tutorials. Good places to look for an HTML tutorial are on University and other educational web sites. Visit the Maricopa center for learning and Instruction for an HTML tutoral.
Too much content can be confusing and distracting so, carefully plan what will appear on each page.
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