Key Ingredients for an Effective Website

1. Grab the Web surfer's attention! People move quickly from site to site so catch their attention with striking images, graphics and headlines.
   
   
2. Navigation should be simple and intuitive. People will leave a website quickly if the navigation is confusing in any way.
   
   
3. A well designed site with quality graphics will boost customer confidence. If a visitor perceives your site as amateurish, they will move on.
   
   
4. Place important information “above the fold” so people do not have to scroll to read it. This term is borrowed from newspaper publishing where lead stories are placed in the top half of a page or “above the fold”.
   
   
5. Images should be optimized so they download quickly on the web.
   
   
6. Ecommerce websites should make online ordering fast, easy and secure.
   
   
7. Respond to messages and orders from your website quickly. Usually within 24 hours.
   
   
8. Give people a reason to come back by providing fresh content.
   
   
9. Tell it up front! Explain who you are, what you do, why you do it, and how they can contact you on the home page.