You can add additional pages over time but aim to launch with at least this as a minimum.
Point 3 - Use a common style and theme throughout the site
A common mistake is to experiment with different color schemes, fonts, buttons and page styles throughout the site. By all means experiment but decide upon a common theme for each of the pages before starting to build the final web site.
Ideally you should have no more than 2 main theme colors and 2 font styles (one for main text and one for graphics is acceptable). Pastel colors work better than Primary colors and there is a useful tool HERE that helps you choose colors that work well together.
Your graphics should be sized appropriately (not too large) and photos should be as small as possible while retaining visibility. Banner ads can be useful but restrict them to one per page.
Point 4 - Identify your niche product or service and promote it first
The Web works best for niche products. Unless you have a very large advertising budget or a well known brand you will find it difficult to compete with the large companies for 'mainstream' products and services. Identify what you do or what you offer that is unique and promote this first of all. If you have mainstream products or services then by all means add them in but make the niche item the main focus at the entry into your site.
Point 5 - Setup your Meta tags and make sure that keywords are
included in the text of the page as well
Search Engines are getting more and more difficult to get good placement in. Focusing on niche products will help you simply because there are less competitors vying for those keywords but think carefully about which keywords to use and make sure that they also exist in the text of your pages. Whilst ZyWeb will help you submit the pages to the Search Engines it cannot control how quickly or how well the Search Engines will index them and the quality of your Meta tags is important.
One tip is to use your keywords in the big search engines and take a look at which competitor sites appear at the top. Then take a look at their Meta Tags and see if you can present yours in the same way.
Point 6 - Identify other sites you can partner with and swap links
Although Search Engines can generate you a reasonable traffic, the best leads will come from links from other web sites. Try and find other sites that carry traffic that you are interested in - for example if you sell tools for auto repair then go to the various web sites set up by car enthusiasts and trade links with them. Remember that it is unlikely that large companies will be interested in trading links with smaller companies so go for sites that are of a similar size to yours.
Point 7 - Update your site regularly and keep all information up to date
There is nothing more likely to lose you sales and traffic than the visitor arriving at a site that contains out of date information. Even a single page with obsolete information will create a bad impression and bring into question the validity of the rest of the site so update it frequently and keep it up to date.
Point 8 - Promote your site on and off the Web
The use of links and Search Engine submissions will help drive web traffic to your site but remember to tell everyone else about it. Print your Web Address (URL) on your Business Cards or tell your friends and colleagues about it. You need to spread the word that you have created an interesting and informative web site and a lot of traffic will come via word of mouth. Never be shy at telling everyone that you have a great Web Site.
Remember that having your own Domain Name is also important in creating the right impression and that goes for your Email address too - ZyWeb Business gives you a free Domain Name that you can use for your Web site AND your email addresses.
