A brightly colored background will certainly be noticed, but doesn't draw your attention to the product on the page. It actually draws your eye away from the product, which might be a plus if you are still making bad scans. Text needs to be easy to read. Loud colors, blinking text and rotating logos will drive your customers away. This is the Internet, not a Las Vegas neon sign. If you are a business with a product or service to sell, people are on your site looking for information, not entertainment. Your page should be laid out well, look uncluttered and be easy to navigate. It should not have to scream for attention. Always keep in mind what the main purpose of your web site is.

Content is number one - The Internet is NOT a phone book. Many companies sell one page web ads. The same information you can find in the yellow pages. This is not going to get you a good response on the Internet. People are looking for detailed information and if you don't give it to them they will click over to another site that does. Your company will be forgotten. If people only wanted a name and address they would use the yellow pages, it is much quicker. Think about it... why do you use the Internet? People are looking for facts, not a quick sales pitch. If you don't have useful information you have nothing.

Photographs - 72 dpi low res images are used on web pages. There is no reason why these should look bad. Start with the best quality image you have. Why scan your printed brochure if your printer already has all your images on disk or you have the original photographs? Photographs should be saved in compressed jpg format for the web after you have finished any touch up or image manipulation. See our page on scanning for details on making proper scans and improve the quality of your images.

Custom graphics - can be used to give your page a unique look that people will remember. When someone comes to your site, you can be sure they are also going to visit many other similar sites. If your page looks like all the others they are not going to remember you and return. Spending some extra time to develop a unique look can increase the response you get. That is why so many companies invest money on logo creation and package design, to develop a brand awareness. The same approach should be used with web advertising.

White space - is a wonderful thing, be sure to use it. A web page should have margins just like a printed page. Running your text from one edge to the other of the screen, or up against your photos makes it difficult to read on a computer screen. Correct spacing is more difficult to achieve in HTML then in a word processor, but it is well worth your effort. Keep your backgrounds simple and focus your customers attention on your product. Don't distract people with spinning logos and animated graphics that serve no real purpose. It is very hard to read when something is jumping up and down in the corner of your eye.

Contact Information! - Often the first thing I look for on a web page is contact information. I want to know the location of the company first. You would be surprised how many times I can not find it. Sometimes you click on a link that says contact us and your email program pops open. This is even more annoying because now I have to close the email box. A contact link needs to go to the name, address, phone number and email of the company. Not to an email address only or a form that lets me email the company. This belongs under a form or email link. If you don't want me to know where you are located, I have no interest in doing business with you!

Answer your email. - One of the main advantages of the Internet is being able to research products and companies without having to listen to a lot of sales hype. You can email companies and ask questions when it is convenient instead of having to interrupt your work day. When someone asks you a question by email you need to answer it. Don't email them back and say call the office! Check your email every day. People are not going to wait a week for an answer, they will go somewhere else.

Forms - Inquiry forms are an invitation for people to request more information and often will get a better response than just putting up an email link. You should still always have a separate email link A form should never be the only way a person can contact you. Many times I have seen this as the only means of contact. You should not have to fill out your name address and phone number on a form to ask a simple question.

Guestbooks - can be an excellent tool for customer feedback. People coming to your page can see what others have to say about your product or service.

www.mycompany.com - Add your URL to all your other advertising, letterheads, business cards, printed material and email signature. It is surprising how many people never think to do this.

Tracking - If you don't get a response to your web page is it because no one can find the page? Maybe they find it and don't spend much time there. Knowing who is coming to your page, how they got there and how long they stay is information you need to know. There are many free trackers available on the Internet as well as custom scripts. Check our links page for more details.

Browsers, Resolutions and Speed. - People are coming to your site using a large variety of different settings. Your page will not look the same to everyone. Internet Explorer can display a page different from Netscape Navigator. Over 50% of people have their screen resolution set to 800x600, the others are at higher or lower resolution. Do you know how this affects your page? You may have a high speed DSL Internet connection and see your page load very fast. How does it load for the many people who are still using a 28.8 modem? You need to test your pages under a variety of circumstances.

e-Commerce - We have all heard about the e-commerce boom, but the fact remains that the majority of people are on the Internet looking for information, not to go shopping. Don't expect to be get rich overnight selling widgets. Promoting an on-line store takes much more time and effort than promoting an information site. Do some research before you begin.

Search Engines - After you have created your pages the next step is to get listed in the search engines. Spending a few hours doing this correctly will get you listed higher and bring you more traffic. Again your result will be directly related to the amount of effort you put into this.