Strive for cross-browser compatibility
The same web page can appear differently when viewed in different browsers.  Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and others each display code differently, so you must be careful to view pages in each before going live.

Do we all see the same page?

Usually, you can find common ground by utilizing code (stylesheets/CSS) that all of the major browsers recognize, but there may be cases that you should create distinct versions of the same page(s).  Issues that may arise are the use of features such as image maps, frames, javascript, java applets, or operating system-specific controls.  Test in as many environments as possible!

Layout and design for multiple screen resolutions
As mentioned earlier, another challenge is to make your pages attractive at various screen resolutions.  The vast majority of PCs display 1024 x 768 pixels while most laptops are set to 1280 x 1024.  There are still a number of surfers using 800 x 600.  Setting pages to show a set page width of 800 pixels will display the same on each of these, and if centered, will simply have larger left and right margins to those with greater resolution.

Be careful with the code

Validate your HTML code
After designing pages, it’s a good habit to get into using HTML Validator software to reduce errors that could cause display problems in some browsers and penalize you in some search engines.

No pop-up windows
Don’t annoy visitors with automatic pop-up windows.  It is fine to allow new windows to open when links or text or images are moused over or clicked on, but let the viewer control that decision.  And provide a “close” button if the window does not disappear by itself.

No spaces in file names
Filenames (including page files and images) should not contain spaces.  Some servers do not support spaces.  The underscore may be used. 
These are good:  “bob3.jpg”, “about_us.html”.
These are not good:  “bob 3.jpg”, “about us.html”.

Audio must be controlled
Sound files must be used with caution.  If appropriate, automatic sound bites or background music can add to viewers’ experience. Give visitors control to turn on and off.  Music can seem very unprofessional for most business sites.  Even on more casual websites, it must be remembered that many viewers—particularly at the workplace— have speakers turned off.  Sound files can also cause delays in loading pages if not properly optimized or incorporated.   

Optimize image files
Compress image files which can cause slow page loading.  Especially if a viewer is using dial-up, a 25 KB image loads more quickly than a 200 KB one, and a 2 or 4 MB photo (right out of a digital camera) can cause severe delays. Don’t make your customers wait! 

Reduce file size of images

Once you or your webmaster learns how to crop photos and resize them to proper width and height for the web, adding new photos will be quick and easy.  Open the image in editing software such as Photoshop, Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, or another program that came installed on your PC or came with your digital camera, scanner or printer. Specific procedures for using Microsoft Paint are listed at http://www.AttractWeb.com/images.php. You should “Save As” a different name, so that you still have the full size original.

Don’t overdue multimedia
Beware of excess multimedia – too many cool effects can cause confusion and hurt search engine rank.  Multiple blinking or moving images can make your site look like a circus.  Even an expertly created Flash movie can detract from nearby text if it commands too much attention.  Keep visual effects as subtle as possible, unless you happen to be a circus, or children’s site or rock band.

Avoid “Splash” or entry pages
Stay away from “Splash” pages unless it’s vital for you to convey an artsy or glamorous feel and can afford the risk of losing visitors. An entry page is usually the index or main page that directories and search engines would review and refer visitors to.  If there is little more than a movie or a handful of words, the search engine tigers will be furious for being given so little content to eat.  Visitors who are pressed for time may not be happy to have to click ‘enter’ to get to the meat of the site either. 
If at all possible, try to combine your impressive introduction to the website with the general overview of home page material.  In that way, your video, Flash movie or slideshow is directly supporting the words of description on the page.

Don't be too Flashy

Do not overuse Flash
To make websites more visually appealing and interactive, many designers specialize in using Adobe (Macromedia) Flash software.  Flash movies may be integrated into pages or entire websites may be constructed with Flash.  The danger is that more Flash means less content as far as Search Engines are concerned.  A completely Flash site offers no text for the tigers to feed on since it is all just movies and images on each page.  Even the internal links can’t be seen, so Search Engine “spiders” fail to see (and index) all of the pages on the site. 

Flash is fine if used on pages or websites that visitors are already aware of or directed to from more search engine friendly pages.  They can offer video game types of visual experiences that are attention grabbing for artistic or entertainment related themes.

Don’t use Frames
By designing a site with “frames”, certain sections of a page remain in place while others (usually the main section) can scroll up and down.  This is useful for maintaining a navigation area on the screen while reading long pages.  But search engines have difficulty indexing pages, so they are not worth the effort.

Provide beneficial information
Build trust by actually providing solid information.  Free information is good, but high quality free info can set you apart from the crowd.  Extensive FAQ or self-help sections of websites can start a priceless domino effect of word of mouth publicity.  Of course this works best for informational websites that draw revenue from advertisers, but it can improve the reputation and recognition of any organization and help you build a list of warm leads.

Make it easy to contact you
Place contact info, or a link to it, on the top and/or bottom of each page.  Make your first choice of contact most conspicuous, such as easy-to-read phone number, possibly with smaller cell, fax, physical mailing address if they are secondary avenues.   

Easy navigation keeps visitors happy

Explain what makes you special
Why should visitors stay at your site for more than 5 seconds?  What separates you from the competition? What is your niche?  What valuable items or information are you offering at no or low cost?  Answer all of these on your home page and other main pages. 
Use the magic words:  Best, Free, Leader, Lowest prices, Most experienced, etc., then back it up on secondary pages with lists of features, testimonials from happy customers, statistics, side by side comparisons, product reviews from respected sources and instructions for best results.

Say “Thank you”
Thank your visitors for purchasing, completing a questionnaire or just visiting!  Look for opportunities to show your appreciation and they will remember your friendliness.
Set this page up as confirmation of submitting a contact form.

Keep information current
Consider a “Last Modified” date on time-sensitive material, particularly if there is any question as to if this could be relevant only to a previous date or version of the topic being discussed.  Caution:  Only use this if your content is clearly valid.  If the only date on a page is “copyright 1998″, visitors may assume that this page (and possibly others) is old and untrustworthy.

Avoid distractions
Keep blinking text, scrolling text, animated GIF images, and sound files to a minimum.  Use these only if they highlight important sections of text and blend well with the look of the site.  Do not place too many of these moving features too close to each other, to avoid a nice page from seeming tacky.

Better code can speed up the website

Remind visitors where they stand
Don’t rely on the memory of users.  If an article extends to a second page, repeat its title, possibly with the word “continued.”  During each stage of an online purchase, display the key transaction details on each page.  Include a “Back” button if they don’t wish to continue moving deeper into a particular area.  Guide them throughout your website, prompting them to take action when appropriate.  Clean navigation keeps visitors happy.

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.

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!

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.

Combine “Flash” with “Function”
Instead of requiring visitors to click on “skip intro” or “enter site” after 5 seconds of wasted time, consider just making your actual main website page more interesting while maintaining easy navigation to each topic.   If you’re sure that surfers would enjoy your site more with some added excitement, just work backwards and include a cute little button to “View our movie” or “Watch us in action”.  You can have your cake and eat it too, but you’re not annoying the percentage of folks who want to be helped quickly.

When entry pages are OK
To play it safe, take your cue from competing websites.  If you have a beer website and all of the other breweries play cool videos, maybe that’s what visitors will expect of you. (Just don’t forget to give them the “skip” option).  If you’re in the music or art field, an animation or brief movie makes more sense to showcase your talent.  A legal site with dancing lawyers could drive away visitors within seconds - even if the entire video actually would have made a good point if viewed to the end.

Your road to more traffic & sales!

Guidelines for media use
Everything on your site should support your message.  If a video really would be the easiest way to convey your thoughts, include the link prominently on your index page along with brief explanation such as:
“See how we can help you in this 30 second video!”
Give the viewer control and give the viewer the information they need.

Audio messages can be helpful, but speakers may not be turned on, so again, instead of the default being set to play an audio message when site is entered, show a link to click for the message and include an alternative such as a page with the same introductory text along with photos.  Even a PDF document that can be downloaded for easy printing (of course you list your website address and contact info on the pdf!!)

Make it easy for visitors to find what they want and put control into their hands and it’s more likely that they’ll stick around to the next step of the buying process!

Functional and uniform layout
Keep navigation consistent and clear. It is the most important concern for good “usability”. Visitors are more likely to stay at your site when they realize how quickly they can find their way around. Keep the link names (”anchor text”) as simple as possible. Your home page link should be easy to find so people can “start over” if they get lost.

Large link buttons are hard to miss!

Understandable Navigation
Arrange the pages (navigation) as if you are giving a tour which culminates in a purchase or contact. The hierarchy of the site should flow from most requested information to the least important so that significant areas are easy to find.

Keep site structure logical
Create a list or flowchart of the major content areas and sort individual pages into their relevant categories. It will be easier for visitors to locate the specific information they want if the structure makes sense. If a series of pages is dedicated to a particular purpose, include it as a directory name within your hosting account, giving you additional credit for keywords. For example, a shoe store may categorize items by type and then each type by brand. Great choices of directory and page names for “ABCShoes.com” could be:

Running Shoes
ABCShoes.com/running/asics.html
ABCShoes.com/running/brooks.html
ABCShoes.com/running/nike.html

Tennis Shoes
ABCShoes.com/tennis/reebok.html
ABCShoes.com/tennis/brooks.html
ABCShoes.com/tennis/nike.html

Keep the structure relatively flat, meaning as few layers (directories, sub-directories) as possible. Shorter paths to internal pages result in more credit by search engines.

Organize link menus
Ensure easy access to each page. Large sites may need a Site Map, Search Feature or drop-down menu such as at http://www.HealthandEndurance.com. In particular, a horizontal or vertical drop-down menu allows easy categorization of pages, while using a small area of the page. With multiple sub-menus, visitors can jump from one page to another with minimal clicks. New pages can be quickly added at to the appropriate location.

Top and side navigation

Maintain consistent layout features
All pages must show consistency in terms of backgrounds, colors, navigation, font sizes, etc. If they don’t look like they all belong to the same website, you don’t look professional. It also invites confusion.

Out of date content is a turn-off
Periodic updating and addition of text helps rank by showing that there is “fresh” and current content on individual pages and the site as a whole. If visitors notice incorrect or out of date information, their impression is that your website is untrustworthy. When your “coming events” page lists items from the previous year, you may as well be asking people to leave your site. They might assume you are no longer in business!

A regular schedule of web updates could be monthly, quarterly or even annually, as long as information remains valid. If it costs you money each time a web designer or webmaster makes changes or uploads new material, you may want to set up a couple of pages to update yourself at no added cost. Have your designer create a database and code for you to easily log in with a simple username and password to add, edit or delete information. This works well for an “Announcements” section of your homepage or a “Company News” or “Coming Events” page.

A website built to display a schedule of events (meetings, softball games, concerts, etc,) can include a calendar that is easily maintained by an administrator without the need for technical know-how. When clicked on, any entry can display a page with full details – part of the same database of information.

Use original page text
Do not use similar text on several pages of your site, just to have more content. Do not copy text from another website just because it contains good keywords. Google levies a “duplicate content” penalty which will cause the duplicate pages to be filtered out, making them worthless in search engines. This is done to prevent “mirror sites” from both appearing high in results and usually means that whichever page was first indexed would be regarded as the “valid” source by Google.

Add pages for special occasions
Do you have a brand new idea or service or product line? Are you seeking a new target audience for existing products or services? Add a page to address their needs and concisely show how you can fill those needs. You may want an advertising campaign to lead directly to that page, instead of the home page. After a site is already built, additional pages can be added quickly and inexpensively, since the standard page template merely needs to be filled in with words and pictures.

Focus on your specific niche market
Especially if you’re in a large or very competitive industry, a smaller player needs to find and fine-tune factors can be used to your advantage. If you specialize in certain segments of the market or serve a group within the general population, your website must reflect that in text, images, headlines.

Emphasize your specialties and highlight aspects that make you unique. If you’re a travel company which specializes in adventure trips to Costa Rica, you may want to mention that on every page to show that you’re the best choice for that situation. It’s no secret that a company should play up it’s strong points. “Travel” is the mostsearched-for term on the internet. Chances of appearing high in organic search results is remote. Your odds are considerably better for “adventure trips” and greater still for “Costa Rica adventure trips”.

Enjoy your trip to the top of the search engines!

Speaking of rivers, the tone of text should “flow” in the same general direction throughout a site. If different people are responsible for writing different pages, an editor should be appointed to give the site a uniform feel.

Maintain strong customer focus
Build the site and flow of information on each page from the customer’s point of view instead of your own. Meet their needs before presenting your credentials and “why to buy from us”. People are only interested in you if you can help them. Here’s a real world example… When prospects call or visit, instead of first telling them about yourself and your wonderful background, ask what you can do for them!

Make images more visible with alt tags
Although images don’t qualify as content to the same degree as text, you can make them more tasty to Google and Yahoo as well. Image “alt” tags should be used to describe photos and graphics to robots and visually impaired viewers. Insert a text description of one or more words as follows:
<img src=”images/tiger-photo.jpg” alt=”Photo of hungry Bengal tiger”/>

Runners enjoy an orange sunset. (description of image)

Squeeze in some fine print
Image captions, smaller print notes, and even copyright lines of text allow additional inclusion of keywords. You may not want to clutter a page with too much text or by repeating the same terms over and over, but there are always opportunities to squeeze in some remarks such as below an image. Even generic images could have a short comment under it. Your page about tigers in Africa may include a couple photos. Even if no explanation is necessary, “African tigers” would definitely not be out of place. Or maybe it’s an opportunity to inject some humor into a dry subject, pleasing both robots and humans simultaneously.