There has been much talk over the last decade in regards to expansion of potentials by marketing and selling products and services over the Internet. There is no doubt that these possibilities exist, but there lies the question, ?How do I realise these potentials?? You can hear many debatable views on this subject, but which do you believe is best suited to you? If you can answer this question then you are well on the road to successfully reaping the rewards that the Internet brings. In this article I would like to take the opportunity to suggest a few pointers that hopefully you will find useful.



There are a few pre-determinates that you will have to consider before any web site design takes place. These should have strong influences on the type of web site design that you end up with. Firstly you have to decide on who you are targeting, for example is it a specific profession or trade, or maybe young families or teenagers. You audience is probably the most critical factor. Second what is the image that you wish to project? You may be a law firm where you want to appear serious and conservative yet approachable to the general public. Possibly you are a club and want your image to appear fun and adventurous? The image you want to project should also be a major factor in your web site design. For instance, if you own a toy shop you will most probably want to project fun and education in your web site, bright colours and may be a puzzle of some kind to grab your visitor's attention. You may seek advice for your web designer on these matters, but you will know your business better than any web design, the web site designer job is to interpret you wants in to web pages, not dictate to you want they should be. Although that said, there is nothing wrong in seeking the designers? advice.

Once you have answers to both the above questions the design and development of your site can precede. This is where a good designer is worth their weight in gold. It is time to design your home page. Make no mistake this is the most critical page on your web site, too much information and most visitors will bypass your site and too little will have the same effect. You need just enough o capture the web visitor's attention, if you can get them to pause on your site for more than a few seconds then you are half way there. Remember most searches produce several thousands of hits and people become overawed. Very few will get past the first page on the list, but that is another article. It is important to remember that people become very impatient when using the Internet, they want information fast and accurate, and so a few extra second pausing on your home page should give you an advantage. A few points to remember regarding your home page, it should catch the attention of targeted audience, it should project the image you want it to and not the web designer's and lastly its complexity in design should not over stretch you targeted audiences computer skill levels. It is no good have an all singing and dancing home page if it is going to confuse your potential customers or clients.

The last suggestion I would like t make is that your web site should be navigated easily, keep it simple. When someone is looking for something specific they last thing they want is to be distracted by too much gimmickry. It may look very impressive to someone, like yourself, who is familiar with the site, but potential customers or clients will not be familiar and will be quite easily put off your site if it appears overly complicated. Take a surf through the web and see for yourself, pick a product or service and seek it out, note the complexities of the web site you prefer as a visitor. Even better enlist the help of family and/or friends to do them same.

On closing, please remember that once your site is up and running you will be stuck with it or an addition redesign expense. Wish you all success in your Internet adventures.