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Creating a successful website

So, you want to start a new web site. However, what, exactly, do you want this web site to do? All web sites should have a purpose, reach out to a specific audience and, hopefully, attract visitors. Do you plan to sell something from your web site? Or will you be sharing information and other kinds of content around a particular topic, such as you might find on a news site or even a personal page? Or is it a little bit of both? Until you figure out what the purpose and goals of your web site are, you probably won’t know how to structure it effectively, and it may become frustrating or confusing to visitors who likely will not return. That’s bad news if you had plans to actually make money from your web site.

There are countless reasons why a web site might fail, but one of the easiest traps to fall into is creating the site based on how you personally would like it to be rather than what your visitors and customers might need and want. Of course, you need to point your visitor in a certain direction to reach an objective, but that’s only possible to a point. Visitors might not want to feel manipulated. They’ve come to your site with their own agendas and goals. Your job is to set up your web site to make it easier for your customers to accomplish those goals.

When you know what your site is all about, next try to be clear about who is most likely to be interested in the wares or services you have to offer. What will appeal to them to make your web site attractive and make them want to visit for a while? Better yet, become a customer who will visit often? In determining the demographics for your target audience, you’ll need to be as specific as possible. Is gender important? How old are they? What do they do for a living, and how much do they make? How much education do they have? Are they likely to live in the city, suburbs or country? All of these are factors for the design and the implementation of the content you will need to put on your web site to make it a success.

For instance, if you’re targeting to sports buffs, you’ll probably want a more masculine, action-oriented look to your web site as opposed to something soft-colored and more feminine. As much as you might like it, an article on art galleries wouldn’t be as relevant on the site as an article about sports injuries -- unless the galleries focus on exhibitions of sports in art. As well, there’s no reason to include a link to your favorite online store unless that store supplies sports apparel, equipment or other paraphernalia that would be of use to your target visitors.

And as important as keeping your content relevant is keeping it current. Nothing scares away customers like a neglected web site.

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