1. Every website MUST have a specific purpose.
Why do you have a website? That’s the first question you have to answer before you even begin to think about design or anything else. What do you want someone to do when they visit your website? Do you want them to purchase one of your products online? Encourage them to contact you by phone to schedule an appointment? Get them to come visit your physical business location? Your website is built around what you need it to do.
2. Websites do not generate traffic on their own.
If you opened a new storefront somewhere, you might get a little traffic from people who pass buy, but you won’t be able to sustain your business unless you tell everyone where to find you and what you offer. Advertising, search engine optimization and word of mouth will all generate traffic for your website and the more traffic, the better your business will be.
3. Content is the key to solving #1 and #2.
Driving people to do what you want them to do on your website starts with content. Text and photos have to tell people what your services/products are and what they need to do to purchase them. Content will also help you attract search engines to generate more traffic for your website.
4. Flash animation can only do so much to benefit your website.
Websites with flashy intros and other moving graphics might impress first time visitors, but they don’t do much else to benefit your website or your business. Search engines can’t read graphics, so there’s no benefit there for your rankings. The best way to use an animated image is to have a professional slideshow system (like SlideShowPro) with text captions that the search engines can read, giving you a benefit in both areas.
5. Update. Update. Update. Update.
When you live in the same house for a while, you start to realize things are looking a little dated and worn. Eventually, you might have to spend a little money to update your kitchen or your bathroom, but it adds to the overall value of your house. The same goes for websites. As times and technology change they get a little out of date and you have to make some updates to improve the value of your website and business.