Does Your Site Qualify for a Web Site Award?Written by Donna Sweat
Most entrepreneurs are constantly upgrading and changing web site content and design. But how accurate and professional is content as a whole? A great way to find out is to apply for a site award. .No Kidding! You'll be amazed at information you may not have. This includes a broad range of items consistent with site design. I started my home business eight months ago and finally tried for an award about two months ago. I was rejected of course and reason was lack of contact information and a lottery link, plus an affiliate program not consistent with their idea of a professional, quality web site. I did not reapply for this particular award again. I continued to upgrade and change my site content and design until a couple days ago when I noticed an award of excellence on a web site and decided to try again. This time,I was rejected again, but for a new reason, in addition to no contact information or hours of operation,I had NO PRIVACY POLICY! This time I took things a little more seriously.I went to their qualifications site and read them.I do not know how I went this long without a policy. The contact information was in my newsletter for eight months and yet I failed to put it on my web site because I was skeptical about viewers seeing my personal information! I immediately went to my site and added required information and then reapplied...My site now carries a banner for Award of Excellence for a Pennsylvania business!Now if indeed I have held your interest to this point, hold on for some very important information that will give you prestige and your visitors will feel confident at your site.Take this list next time you update or do any changes to your site. 1] Be sure your contact information is on your main web page.[Company name, your name, address, telephone and /or fax, and e-mail address. 2] Add your hours of operation.If you are a home-based business, set hours to time you are available. I set mine from 9am-3pm.EST. [Include time difference.] 3] Compose a Privacy Policy.I will share mine as a sample to view. http://www.homebizandmore.homestead.com/privacy.html Include your sincere promise to protect your potential customers from SPAM. Keep their information confidential!
| | Five Checks for Web PagesWritten by Dianne Reuby
There are a few essential checks that you must make before uploading your pages.Check basics - spelling, grammar, terminology. I've seen a lot of arguments for and against using only US spelling on web sites - I think this is a personal choice, but having made your decision, be consistent! Terminology - don't use words or phrases that aren't common around world. I read a software review recently - sadly, I didn't understand phrase used to describe program, so I don't know if reviewer was recommending it or condemning it! Check your coding. It's easy for little mistakes to creep into your HTML - especially when your tags are nested, or when you copy and paste from another page of your site. There are several free programs available - I use CSE Lite from http://www.htmlvalidator.com which also has a paid professional version. Check your links. Again, it's easy to make a slight mistake in typing a URL, or getting confused between relative and absolute references, leading to well-known **404 page not found** message! Use a link check program to find all these little errors before you launch your page on world. I use Xenu's Link Check which I downloaded from http://www.completelyfreesoftware.com/ - you'll find many other freeware link checkers.
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