Website Development tips!!

There is no getting around it, there's a lot that goes into developing a quality website. Hundreds if not thousands of books have been written on the topic. Here, is a “do's and don'ts” format, that contains a few of the most important features your website should incorporate.

Do's
1) What is your mission? Every company has one and so should you. It doesn't have to be complex, just figure out what you want to accomplish through your site. If you want to promote sleep aid medication with an information site, your mission could be something like this –
“Create a website that will inform consumers in a clear and concise format about how sleep works, causes of insomnia, the harsh effects of losing sleep and include reviews and suggestions of products that are available that can help cure sleep disorders.”

2) Very much like writing a paper in college, you need to map out what you want to do first. Get an informed idea of the layout of the site, where buttons and images will be located, and how you're going to go about organizing your information. Once you have an idea of this on paper, move onto doing the html.

3) Make your info easy to navigate to and organized logically for your surfer. One word – usability. Nothing is more frustrating than being on a website and not knowing where to go!

4) Check out other product websites, including your competition, and see what they are doing that is making them successful. The best places for website ideas are other websites.

5) Spend time on your text. Anyone who is interested in your website and wants to use it as a source of information will read your text. Be sure to spell check, grammar check, and use your words to your advantage regularly. The text is what will sell your surfers on trusting you and using the products you recommend!

Don'ts
1) Do not use too many colors. The more colors you use, the more amateur and sloppy your website looks. Amateur = no trust = no conversions.

2) Don't use too many fonts, same reason as above.

3) Do not make a website that is one looooong page. Again, amateur.

4) Do not have HUGE blocks of text. Break up your text with key points, use headers, bulleted points, etc. for the major statements you don't want your readers to miss. People who are surfing will skim through looking for your main points and will be more likely to read your text if you spice it up and make it look exiting and interesting. Besides that, breaking up your text makes your site look more pro and therefore, looks better.

Hope the post is of some help to everyone!