The Ten Web Page "Commandments"
- by Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights
reserved
"What makes a great web page?"
People ask me this all the time, though they often encounter difficulty
boiling the question down to so few words. Every serious website operator
wants to know how to create and maintain the best possible website that
makes them the most money and builds the largest subscriber base! The
following "commandments" represent the ideals towards which
every new or existing website should strive.
1. Thou shalt have a Purpose
Clearly define the site's purpose and ensure
all content (pages, graphics and text) tightly focus on that purpose.
Discard all extraneous material... only give people exactly what they
came for!
2. Thou shalt be Lightweight
Use only small, fast loading graphics.
If you must use large
graphics use thumbnails and image slicing to diminish the size of every
file to less than 12-15kb. Use standard optimized gif's and jpg's and
avoid anything that requires the user to download a "plug-in"
to view your content.
3. Thou shalt Load Fast
Each and every page on your site should
weigh in under 30-60KB total, including graphics and navigation. If
your pages must be larger, such as the case with long, 1-page sales
letters, make sure the top part of the page loads fast so surfers can
read your headline and introduction while the rest of your sales letter
loads further down and out of site.
4. Thou shalt not use False
Code
Use only html. Never use java, xml, dhtml
or other forms of
code that require a surfer to keep their browser set up
"correctly" to accommodate your page. This is especially
true when using "cloaked" pages that require the use of
javascript in order to work correctly.
5. Thou shalt respect the
Search Engines
If you want search engine traffic, use
whole web pages that
don't incorporate frames. Search engines get confused trying
to read content from most frames pages because the designers
don't set them up with the proper information in the
correct frame.
6. Love thy Surfers and
Visitors
Design for "last year's" technology
so surfers using 56K
modems can download and use the site quickly and easily. If
you design only for people with high-speed Internet
connections (DSL and cable) you have eliminated 85%+ of your
potential market.
7. Thou shalt not Annoy
Use only stationary text and graphical
layout elements. No
Scrolling text, marquees, or animations of any kind,
including rollover buttons.
This "eye candy" steals valuable
bandwidth and adds little
to a site's main purpose, especially for returning visitors
who just want information, not a carnival sideshow.
8. Thou shalt Not Scroll
Left or Right
Design your pages so they never force a
visitor to scroll
left or right, no matter what the resolution settings on
their monitor. Sites that read "best viewed at 800 x 600"
really say "look at it my way because I don't care about
your preferences or limitations."
9. Thou shalt stay Consistent
Include a standard navigational structure
on every page.
Though it may mean a serious challenge for the designer,
users should only need to click once to find every major
section of a site.
Also, this includes using standard link
colors in all text
links. Blue: hyperlink; Purple: visited hyperlink; Red:
active hyperlink.
10. Thou shalt Know Thy
Traffic
Use a site-wide statistics program that
enables you to
determine what brings someone to the site, where they go
once they arrive, and when and where they leave.
This critical information helps with marketing
efforts as
well as identifying parts of the site that need tweaking or
adjustment to help you increase sales. If everybody bails
from your site at the same page, knowing this can help you
change the page so people go from "bail mode" to "buy
mode"!
Jim Edwards, author of numerous best-selling ebooks, earns
thousands in affiliate commissions every month! Jim has
developed "Affiliate
Link Cloaker," the easy, FAST, safe way
to STOP affiliate link "hijackers"... Dead in their tracks!
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