Internet marketing tips, social media marketing tips and related topics

1. 5 Qualities of a Clean, Professional Business Website
by Gary Messinger
Every business should have a website. Yes, even those owned by technophobes who say
they never want anything to do with the internet. If you want your business to thrive,
survive and keep up, it’s a must to put up a professional website because after all, more
than half of consumers today use the internet to check products and services.
Designing a website requires a delicate balance of various elements like design, content,
function, and usability. Below, you’ll find a list of the top five qualities needed by every
business website.
Great visual appeal
What’s the first thing that you see on a website? The design, isn’t it? That’s why, this is
on top of our list. A vital component in web design, the visual appeal establishes a good
first impression. It should possess the following characteristics: simple, clean,
professional, attractive and relevant.
Simple and clean designs evoke professionalism and should therefore be preferred to
elaborate and flashy designs that are painful for the eyes. The overall color scheme
should also be customized to reflect your brand. The entire website should also be
enticing enough to draw attention from visitors.
Fresh and original content
Equally important to design is the content. As most online experts would put it, “content
is king.” People surf the web not to look at website designs but to obtain information.
Your website’s content should therefore be unique, updated, original and highly
informative.
Apart from a comprehensive company background and history, you should also provide
details about your products and services, events, people working in the company, FAQs,
contact info and so on.
Don’t forget about grammar and spelling too. Proofread many times. All it takes is one
spelling mistake for your credibility to flush down the drain. Take note of the text’s
spacing, size, and readability to improve usability. Using subheads and bullet points is
always a good practice.
Easy-to-use navigation
Another crucial factor in web design is navigation. The pages should be organized in such
a way that it will be very easy for your target audience to skim and browse. Make sure
each page is named accordingly. While it’s cute to name the contact page “say hello to
us,” it would be clearer to your users if you name the page “contact.”

2. Speed
See to it that your website works fast enough whether it’s browsed on a desktop, laptop
or mobile. It shouldn’t take forever to load because if it does, the visitor will surely lose
interest and go somewhere else.
The loading time is affected by the coding, graphics, server speed, traffic volume, and
many other factors. Avoid using large graphics and prefer CSS styles. Ensure that the
server has the right amount of space or bandwidth. Stay away from fancy flash animation
that would only slow down your website.
Search engine optimization
Without the right SEO techniques, a website is practically invisible. For people to visit
your site, it should belong to the top 10 on the first page of the search engine results.
Most don’t have the time and the patience to reach the second page. Conduct an effective
keyword research and use tools like the Google’s Keyword Tool. Use the right keywords
in the title tags, headlines, file names, article body and meta tags.
Building a professional website isn’t as complicated as some people think. Just put
yourself in the shoes of internet users and think about the things that would draw your
attention to a business site.