On one of my sites, I use an 'about button' that when hovered over with mouse, a popup displays a brief paragraph about my site and what it will do for them. My 'about’ info is there to be read and it does not take my viewer away from my main page.

Maybe a good analogy would be a newspaper in a street rack. Publishers discovered a long time ago that what was visible through paper rack on top half of folded newspaper was their billboard to sell papers. The headlines and articles that would show through rack window had to be powerful and compelling to grab your attention as you walked by and make you drop coins in slot and buy a paper.

The portion of your page that is immediately visible when your page is viewed is very important. It’s most valuable part of your web page real estate.

Don’t believe that this space should be used for hype, fancy graphics and flashy demos unless those presentations enhance or convey your message. Usually, your visitors are not there to be amused. They are there for information. Give them what they want right away or you risk losing them forever.

Ray Hadorn rhadorn2@fuse.net Ray is a freelance writer, photographer and web site developer. Ray is the owner of www.ALittleExtraMoney.com which provides tips, reports and information useful to help you make your site profitable and www.SaveMyGas.com that provides a very revealing guide to help you save money on your gasoline consumption.

Don't have more than 3 layers in your web site. That means if I was to start at your home page I should be able to reach any other page in your site in 2 clicks or less. Any more and your visitors may become lost and search and engines will leave before they have finished indexing your entire web site. This is easier than it sounds if you have a comprehensive navigation bar and a site map.

Limit your use of graphics on a page unless they are essential to your marketing because they will drastically increase load time and some visitors won't be prepared to wait.

Keep your background white and majority of your text black. Mixing background colors and texts not only looks unprofessional it is can also be difficult to read.

Include a links page which can be reached from navigation bar. On your "Links" page have instructions describing how someone can post a link and link you would like them to posted on their site. I prefer to view links before I post them in case they are not appropriate.

Written by Murray Hughes http://www.007WorkFromHome.com

http://www.007workfromhome.com/how-to-design-website.php

Learn how to easily build your own Internet marketing business from the ground up from a long-time marketer giving away his experience for nothing. A Warehouse of Internet Marketing Knowledge at no cost, EVER! http://www.007WorkFromHome.com