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Abide by ‘best practices’ for linking within a website and to other internet resources. Use appropriate colors, underlining, Anchor text and code to receive the most value.

Links must be obvious
Make internal and external links apparent (blue, underlined) and stand out from the rest of the text on page. If links are bold, make them a different color than other bold text. Roll-over effects such as lighting up are very helpful. It’s wise to include internal links within page text in addition to those in the navigation menu. It facilitates visitors finding the specific details they seek.

Avoid underlining words that are not links
If links are underlined, don’t underline regular text. Visitors may become aggravated when they click on words that aren’t active links, since underlining is a conventional way to present them.

Text links instead of buttons

Include keywords in Anchor Text of links
Describe what you’re linking to, both internally and externally. You’ll get more credit by using search terms in the text of links. For example, let’s say you’re linking to a page about circus animals. “Click Here” doesn’t use terms people may search for, but “See circus animals” contains the exact phrase and will help give your circus animals page higher rank.

Text links are more valuable than buttons
Since buttons are basically images, even though they’re attractive, they don’t quite pull as much weight as standard text links, so if much of your navigation is based on clicking buttons or other images, at least include an additional set of text links (possibly at the bottom of the page). This keeps the tigers well fed and is also helpful to human visitors who find themselves at the bottom of long pages.

Add more internal links
Besides regular navigation links, include links within the text of pages to guide readers toward important (income-producing) areas.

• For long scrolling pages, links within text prevent people from having to go to top or bottom of page to move on.

• Contextual links make it easy for people to continue to the next step of the process as soon as they’re sufficiently excited. So you may want to include it in several places. Some people will want to read the whole page, but others will be happy to save time by continuing where they are being directed.

Ensure that all links function correctly
Remove dead or “broken” external links and test to be sure that all links function properly.  Bad links annoy visitors and penalize you in search engines.

Tell search engine spiders which links to ignore
This is a little technical, but important. All links on a page share the total value of “link juice” that search engines assign. If there’s one link, it gets full credit.  Three links would mean each gets one third of the credit and so on. More links mean less value per link. If there are certain pages on your site that don’t require high search engine position (such as privacy policy or contact forms or other administrative pages), you can tell the spiders to ignore those links, thereby keeping higher credit among the more important internal and external links. We use the “nofollow tag“:
<a ref=”privacy.html” rel=”nofollow”>Privacy Policy</a>

Treat external links the same way. If a third-party website may have helpful information to visitors, add it. But include the “nofollow” tag if their search engine rank is not as important as other external links, such as a second website you may have yourself!

Find out more about best linking practices and over 200 additional web design tips in my Boost Your Website’s Profitability eBook.

Use standard fonts for text
Avoid utilizing fonts only you have installed on your computer. For those without them, they will be converted into a dull font and ruin the effect you were trying to achieve. Save special fonts for specific headers and convert them to images. The bulk of your site should use standard fonts so that as many browsers as possible will see it in the way you intended.

Recommended fonts for greatest compatibility are Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica and Comic Sans MS.  Make sure your text is large enough to read, especially if your target audience includes seniors!

Small text blocks & white space,

Do not center align most or all text
A large amount of centered text can be difficult to read, so except for headings and maybe subheadings, left-align the majority of text across the site.

Keep width of text blocks reasonable
Wide columns of text are difficult to read, so don’t allow them to stretch across the entire screen. Keep the width below five inches if possible

Always check for errors
Check for spelling mistakes, incorrect grammar, and typos because even one error noticed can give the impression that you are uneducated, unprofessional or just not concerned with accuracy. Perfection is expected, so proof-read all pages manually before and after uploading.

Avoid clutter and “busy” backgrounds
“White space” is important so text is easier to read and it is easier to decipher different sections of the page. Make sure that the text color contrasts enough with background colors or graphics to be easily read by your entire audience, especially if that includes visually impaired people.

Be concise
Avoid too much text on main pages of site. Your home page may be fine with only a few paragraphs worth of text, as long as you cover the main points of your site. It is better to have more short pages than fewer long pages that can feel like more work to read through, as long as you keep in mind an approximate minimum of 300 words to give the search engines something to chew on. (each page of this book contains about 350 words) Main pages can direct visitors to more detailed pages.

Make it easy to skim
I repeat: Use lots of subheadings and short paragraphs. Get ideas across quickly. If you are providing more details, put them farther down on page or give them a page of their own for those who are interested.

Many more ideas in website tips eBook!

One of the most effective internet marketing methods is gathering emails to build a list of prospects.  You can then either send individual (personal) messages and/or send messages to the entire list occasionally or on a regular basis.  This allows you to keep your products or services in front of prospects along with the opportunity to build a relationship with them.

Build your list by gathering contact info
To use your website to generate a list of prospects, you can take many different avenues:

• Offer something for free (PDF, white paper, eBook) to anyone who submits their name and email address
• Add a “Newsletter sign-up” form in prominent places on your site
• Add a checkbox to receive regular emails on your contact form
• Run a contest, take a survey, or any other way to gather addresses to add to the list.

Once on the list, be sure that any regular emails allow for people to “opt out” so that you don’t start to annoy potential customers.  As long as it is the truth, tell them that their contact information will not be sold or shared.  Display a privacy policy to put visitors at ease.

Marketing to your email list
The larger the database, the more valuable it is and the more worthwhile it is to take an organized approach to converting visitors into customers or to ensure a greater re-sale rate.  Individual or random messages can take lots of time.  Sending bulk emails in text or html format allow you to better track the information that is being sent out and give you more bang for the buck when you have timely promotions or new product announcements.

Give FREE stuff or something of value!
To ensure that people actually read your messages (and maybe even pass them on to friends), be sure to include useful information or offers that contain real value.  Don’t just try to sell, sell, sell or your messages will be ignored or sent to their spam folder.

Email marketing vendors
You should consider one of the popular email marketing software solutions to easily send bulk emails, formatted monthly newsletters and auto-responders to build your customer or prospect mail list.  They save time by providing newsletter templates that are easily customized with your logo, images, and information.  Lists are automatically updated.  Price depends on the number of contacts on your list and usually start at $9.95 per month or less. 

Start a free trial newsletter
Get more info or start a free trial for Constant Contact, Vertical Response, or iContact at our email marketing page.

Here are some of the benefits, according to iContact’s website:

Ready to start a free trial?  Check out Constant Contact, Vertical Response, or iContact at our email marketing page.