The Importance of Keeping a Focus on Your
Site
by Marc McDonald
What's the focus of your Web site? If you can't answer this
question in one short sentence, you're going to find it
difficult to build an audience.
It's important to remember that when first-time visitors
click in to your Web site, you've only got a few seconds to
grab their attention. Web surfers are an impatient bunch. If
they can't figure out the purpose of your site quickly, then
they'll click off elsewhere.
In my Web business, I get a steady stream of submissions
from Webmasters who want me to review their sites. I'm
constantly surprised at the many submissions I get for sites
that lack a clear focus.
We're not just talking about shoestring sites that have been
set up by newbies on GeoCities. This goes for even large,
corporate sites that are run by teams of Webmasters. In the
latter case, I can only surmise that it is indeed true that
"too many cooks spoil the broth."
The fact is, your visitors shouldn't have to play a guessing
game in trying to figure out what your site is all about.
Merely having all the information somewhere on your Web site is
not enough. If your welcome page doesn't offer a clear picture
of your site's focus, then you can't plan on your visitors
finding it on a FAQ buried on an inside page. Odds are, your
visitors will never find such information, because they won't
bother to explore your site beyond your welcome page.
How can you ensure that your site has a clear focus for your
visitors?
1. Consider coming up with a short, snappy slogan that
basically sums up what your site's purpose. The slogan should
be prominently displayed on your welcome page "above the
fold." (That is, clearly displayed without the visitor
needing to scroll down your welcome page).
Your slogan should be displayed in plain, easy-to-read HTML
and not as part of a graphic image. The problem with the latter
is that you want to grab visitors' attention right off the bat.
Graphics take longer to load. (Remember, even in today's
"broadband world," most Web surfers out there are
still using plain old 56K dial-up modems).
Additionally, if you sum up your site's purpose in a plain
text slogan, you increase the odds that you'll fare better in
getting desirable positioning in the search engines.
2. Don't overdo your welcome page. Keep it as simple as
possible and keep the focus clear and to the point. Too many
Webmasters go overboard with information overload on their
welcome pages. The focus should be to get the crucial
information (and only that) on your home page. A well-designed
welcome page offers just enough to "hook" in a
visitor and encourage him to explore the site further.
3. Forget the gimmicks and eye candy. I've seen a number of
Web sites, (particularly those run by large corporations), that
offer state-of-the-art streaming video and Shockwave and Flash
animations on their welcome pages. On a broadband connection,
some of these sites appear quite impressive at first glance.
However, there are serious problems with using such
cutting-edge technology on one's welcome page. In only very few
cases, is it really needed. And only rarely does it offer
anything that's going to encourage a visitor to actually
bookmark a site.
In fact, when you go with a high-tech approach on your
welcome page, you open up the door to a lot of potential
problems. In reality, that nifty multimedia presentation that
looks so good on your office's T1 line may take the average
user forever to load in his or her browser.
Technology can also present other problems. As a general
rule of thumb, the more cutting edge it is, the more potential
bugs it has that have yet to be ironed out. Remember, if a
visitors' browser crashes the first time he comes to your site,
then odds are he won't be back.
In summing up, try to keep a clear focus on your Web site.
Not only should your welcome page load quickly, but your
visitors should be able to determine how your site can benefit
them as quickly as possible. (Of course, ideally, your inside
pages should load quickly as well--but the load time of your
welcome page is the most critical).
How can you tell if your site has a clear focus?
A good, simple way to determine this is to occasionally take
off your Webmaster's hat, step back, and pretend that you're a
typical visitor, clicking in for the first time.
Ask yourself some basic questions.
Is this site's focus clear to me? If I were a typical
visitor, would I bother to stick around and explore the site
further? And most importantly, would I be likely to bookmark
this site?
It's also important to enlist the help of friends and
colleagues in this task as well. Encourage them to give you
straight, blunt feedback and to tell you honestly whether they
found the site a helpful resource, with a clear purpose.
Lastly, pay close attention to what your site's visitors
tell you. Don't be insulted if you get E-mails critiquing your
site. Instead, utilize any and all feedback you get in
fine-tuning your site and making it a better resource, with a
clear, easy-to-understand focus.
About The Author
Marc McDonald is a former journalist and editor with the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram and the creator of TheFreeSite.com as well
as several other popular Web sites that have received extensive
media exposure from CNN's "Headline News," the BBC,
Fox News, ZDTV, CBS Radio and the Washington Post. Visit the
<http://www.thefreesite.com>TheFreeSite.com
for the best free stuff on the Web.
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