Thinking about launching a new website? Great! Here’s a short list of things to consider as you begin the planning process:
• Don’t make it blink, flash, dance and jump! Pleeeeezzeee! :o)
• Use simple design and easy-to-read text with pleasant color schemes.
• Use graphics when necessary to show product, highlight features, or show examples, but don’t over use them.
• Use the right font sizes for your page. People will skip over things that are too small or too big.
• Don’t know html or fancy coding languages? Try a program like Front Page or Dreamweaver with WYSIWYG editing for point, click, drag and drop editing.
• Try using WordPress. It can be your main site’s functioning engine and not just for blogs. You can set a static front page with it and easily add content and additional pages. This blog is done in WordPress. It has a bit of a learning curve, but you can do fantastic things with it!
• Choose a shopping cart ahead of time if you need one. Click2pay, Google Checkout, 1Shoppingcart, WAHMcart, and PayPal all offer easy to use and manage options.
• Choose complimentary colors, if you need help try a color scheme program. Here’s a free tool from my website: http://www.thebutterflyherder.com/tools/color-picker.html
• Make pages easily accessible by readers through navigation, either on a sidebar or top menu. No more than two clicks to get to a location is a pretty standard measurement, and an important guideline to follow if you don’t want to ‘bore’ your website visitors.
• Use a text-based menu instead of a graphic based one for better seo results in the future.
Does all this website design “stuff” sound a bit overwhelming? It can be… especially when you’ve got so many other aspects of your business to focus on! Consider hiring a web designer to handle the bulk of your project. You’ll still make all the final decisions, but the web-design-headaches will disappear!
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As the publisher for the 997WaysToBeAGreatSpeaker.com resource website, Cynthia Lay is passionate about marketing & public relations. She offers website design services tailored to new and seasoned professional speakers, and can help you create a strong web presence to build your client base and increase product sales & speech bookings. If you need a new website, please contact here at theButterflyHerder.com.
Ms. Lay is also the “Chief Butterfly Herder” for World Champions’ EDGE, an advanced public speaking coaching program featuring several World Champions of Public Speaking, and a National Speakers Association Hall of Fame award recipient. If you’re interested in taking that “next step” as a speaker, click here to get a 30-day “test-drive” for just a buck!
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