3) BE UNDERSTANDABLE

Don't make mistake that everyone will totally understand your web site message. Your web site should contain a short, descriptive summary at top of your home page.

You should always repeat your main selling points at least three times, so people understand them. Use short words, sentences, paragraphs and plenty of examples to get your point across.

QUICK READ SUMMARY

1) Don't load your web site full of high-tech clutter and gadgets.

2) Don't use unnecessary words or phrases on your site.

3) Don't make mistake that everyone will totally understand your web site message.

They Get Noticed

Nothing else really matters if nobody ever sees your site. Thankfully if you have a site with a good interface and good, timely, content you can build an audience for it.

Unless you are a Big Corporation with thousands to spend on advertising, first step is to get your site listed in largest search engines and directories. This sounds simple, but doing it correctly takes quite a bit of info and time. First of all, you have to know difference between a search engine and a directory.

A search engine has a database of web pages - a user visits it, asks it a question and it returns relative web pages. AltaVista is an example. A directory is a categorized collection of web sites - a user visits and chooses a category they are interested in and "drills down" to find what they are looking for. Yahoo! is best known directory.

Many search sites blend line between search engines and directories, but when promoting a site, you need to treat them a little differently. With search engines, you don't stop with your index page. Make sure every single page of your web site gets indexed by all large search engines. With directories most important thing is to make sure your site is listed in correct category.

We believe that most important place to be listed is in Yahoo! Next we suggest getting all your pages listed in Inktomi database that handles spill over search results for Yahoo! and also powers HotBot, Direct Hit, Canada, Anzwers, and others. Finally we suggest getting all pages listed in The Open Directory Project, AltaVista, Infoseek, Lycos, Excite in that order and then concentrating on smaller search engines.

While these tips will not by themselves guarantee you a successful web site, they will point you in right direction. Take an hour and surf web checking out web sites that work - do they employ these three principals? Does your web site?