The Foundation Of Internet Marketing Part # 2

By Muhammad Lee

Welcome back! This part two of a two part article on the foundation of Internet Marketing. Last time we discussed how web page design is the foundation of Internet Marketing. This time we will discuss 5 important facets of web page design that must be dealt with in creating a successful Web Site for your Internet Business.

Here are some specific criteria for you to use to rate the effectiveness of your site as a tool for helping you achieve your business goals:

LOAD TIME

How fast does your web site load? High traffic content sites like Yahoo, Excite, and Infoseek load up in less than 8 seconds on a 28.8 modem, depending on the time of day. How long does it take your site to load up? Find a non-Internet savvy friend. The guy with the 14.4 modem, 486 processor, and Netscape 2.0. Pull up your page on his machine. Is it taking too long? If you are the average customer do you wait forever for the page to load? No? Maybe you need to fine tune your site so that it loads faster. Online utilities like Web Site Garage and Site Inspector by Link Exchange can help with this.

SCREEN APPEARANCE

How does your site appear on various screen sizes? Remember you may have a 19 X 1024 X 768 resolution screen, but what screen size is your customer using? Most people are still looking at web sites on a 14" monitor at 640 x 480 resolution. Make sure your page can be viewed without the viewer having to scroll sideways to read text and view images.

NAVIGATION

Make sure your site is easy to navigate and that customer doesn't get lost. This is especially true for large sites. Make sure customers can access the different sections of your site from any page. (And make sure they always know they are on your site!) People usually come to a site via the front page. They should be able to get from there to the object of their search. Having accomplished their mission, they should then be able to browse other areas of the site with ease--and possibly do some impulse shopping or window shopping at least. At very least you do not want people to experience the confusion which guarantees no sale now and no future visits.

JAVA, PLUGINS, ETC.

Remember that over half the browsers in use today are not the latest from Netscape, Microsoft, or AOL. This is changing rapidly, but until it does go easy on things like Java Script, Java Applets and DHTML. Yes they do add to your site, but think about the average person surfing with a NS 3.0 with a 133 Pentium and 32Mb or less of RAM. Most people aren't going to wait 3 minutes for your Java to load. In some cases it will cause their browser to crash. People are also not keen on loading plugins just to view your page. If you must have that cool Java thing going on, also have a page that can be viewed with out it; give visitors a choice. Does a page which cannot be seen really exist?

AESTHETICS

You may love your site, but will your customer? Try to avoid things like multiple fonts and full color backgrounds that look nice but make the page hard to read. It is important that your pages have a nice clean layout. A page is a virtual world extension of a business. It is not a showcase for designer talent. A page that doesn't necessarily dazzle the eyes and ears but sells your product is what you want. Take a look at other successful pages in your industry. Don't copy them. Imitate their professionalism. If your page looks amateurish next to theirs, it's time for a redesign.

Site presentation is the key to building a successful online enterprise. By paying attention to detail, you can build a site that gives your company the look and feel of a Fortune 500 member--even if you are based in your garage. But if your site gives the look and feel of someone working from their garage-- who has little--understanding of business, don't expect to be overwhelmed with orders.