Welcome

The following information was presented during our last webinar as a guide to help website owners  take their site to the next level. Webinar was intended to be a quick 30 minute guide to provide simple to follow tips from the Webs pros regarding the top 6 key elements that make up a good website.

Key Elements covered:

1. Good Visual Design– Design is an all encompassing word for all the visuals elements of your website – logo, font(s), white space, theme/template, layout and colors.
   Using a theme that relates to the topic of your website can help to keep you/your content on track. When it comes to design it is important to remember to use white space and think about color usage and meaning.
2. Content– The key to a good website is providing relevant content that your readers want.  Content should answer the question "what’s in it for me?”
3. Navigation– Navigation is the "GPS” of your website. Navigation or Nav Bars are the buttons that get your visitors where they need to go to get information or do certain things. Usually this bar is along the top, as we in this one, or along the left side of the site.Should be simple to use and uncluttered. It is always a good idea to group like pages under the same topic to streamline navigation.
4. Call to Action – The Call to Action is a set of words that urge your website visitors to take an immediate action on your website.  There is no magic formula to a good Call to Action. The key is to continuously test what works best for your website and your audience. Test the placement, size and color of these…make sure you use actionable words.
5. Credibility – A good website instills trust from visitors. Good website design takes this into consideration by incorporating items that help identify that you are a legitimate resource. One way you can do so is by utilizing
   verified links, clearly stating your identity and contact info,  good grammar and employing social proof.
6. Mobile site – More and more people are looking at your site from a mobile phone or web enabled device. It seems like anything with a screen and a microchip in it is capable of getting on the internet these days. Make sure your site is viewable on a mobile internet enabled device. Quick note:Webs websites are automatically converted into a mobile friendly site when you build it.

Webinar also covered 5 mistakes that could spell disaster for a website:

1. Stale Content – Don’t let your site go dormant. Visitors and potential visitors will skip over your site when content is old and out of date – not to mention the effects this has on your search results.
2. Too much content –  This is worse than not enough content. The more people have to read through narratives and long drawn out chunks of information,the quicker they are going to leave your site. Leave the long-windedness to your blog entries.
3. No Photos –  Using no imagery makes your site boring and dull. Today’s web readers expect some amount of content mixed with pictures or logos and icons.
4. Looking illegitimate – Customers when visiting new sites will come in with their guard up – especially if they have been the victim of internet fraud before.The lens of the tainted viewer is always going to err on the side of "shady site”, and even more so if the site looks like one. Organizing your content, using consistent colors, employing a theme that stays the same from page to page, along with landing pages that match email campaigns (if you’re doing email marketing) are key to making a site look legit.
5. Being Bland – You started your business because of some sort of drive, and a story there. You spent all this time putting together a business plan and starting your company – let your site convey your personality. If you have a business where you greet everyone by name, smile and are generally happy, pick a theme and convey that. Avoid color schemes and writing that is "boring”. You have to keep your visitors attention and a bland site will get some one to leave very quickly.