Web site design & things which work

I see many web sites while browsing the web for information, some are excellent, some good and many poor. In the poor category many have not thought about the fundamental reasons for having a site - the internet is an information source!

When you create a Internet Service Site, there are three key things you should consider:

• Why are you making the site? Do you have something to offer? Do you have something that people really need?

• What are you trying to say? The message of your service MUST be clear and clean cut.

• Who are you trying to reach? You absolutely must cater to your target audience. There is no end-run around this - It's do or die.

Once you can successfully answer those main issues, you must then wrap the whole thing up in such a fashion that even someone who stumbles across you by accident will know what to do when he sees you. Granted, he might not need anything you provide, and that's fine, but he might know someone who does and your chances of him saying to that person, "Hey, remember when you told me you were looking for (whatever)? I found a great site that does just that!", increase dramatically. You can’t buy that kind of advertising.

It boils down to this: If I have a reason to keep clicking when I hit your site, and I know WHY I'm still clicking, and I know what to do after each click (without having to e-mail tech-support), I'm going to stick around a while. I will stay a lot longer than if I just find what I want and I’m done with visiting you. My chances of book-marking you improve greatly as well. Then of course, if I’m real happy with you, I’m going to refer you all my friends with similar interests by sending them email about it. Now they all become visitors to your site and possible users of your services.

The importance of Email

According to Yahoo!, 97% of Internet users correspond by email, an astounding 84% of Internet users say they can't live without their email, according to a study by GVU. This phenomenon propels an opt-in email list to be one of the most useful and cost effective ways to communicate with your visitors.

Additional email facts include:

• 30+ million people used email in the past 24 hours, By the year 2000, 108 million people will use email. (Electronic Messaging Association)

• 57% of American business execs rely on email. (American Management Association)

• 82% of Internet users access email from the workplace making E-mail the second most popular Internet application. (ZD Market Intelligence)

• 59% of adults with access to the Internet send or receive e-mail every day. Another 30% use it at least weekly. (Find/SVP)

• More statistics from 2003

• (IDG) - Email usage is on the rise. According to IDC, the number of worldwide email mailboxes is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 138 percent, from 505 million in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2005. The global market intelligence and advisory firm holds three factors responsible for this increase: Web services, wireless access, and workers without email.

Newsletters can inform your site viewers and keep them coming back!

So, you have decided that creating a regular newsletter would be beneficial to your Web site visitors, but what content should you include? Here are some ideas to include in your newsletters

• Product or service specials : You can offer special discount or a free sample just to your online clientele.

• Special promotion : Sponsor a special give away or content, naming the winner (s) online.

• Special events : Tell your list if you or your company is involved with a special appearance or event.

• Newsworthy events : This may be a new product release, a recent award that was won, new appointment on staff, the recent partnership or even moving or expansion plans.