Keep it Short and Sweet

Recently, I was researching information for another site. Like most internet users, I was in a hurry and looking for something specific. Eight out the ten sites that I visited had me searching for the information that they had promised in there search engine results. In four of those I just gave up.

Sites that make it hard to find information sometimes do this to plug their advertisements or make money by some other means. What really happens is that the visitor loses patience and feels ripped off. The result is low credibility for the site and lack of return visits.

Here is how to get to the point and avoid losing your visitors in a maze.

• Keep your posts short and sweet. Have an introductory paragraph, a conclusion paragraph, and several explanation paragraphs in between. Anything more may seem like you have more than one topic and you need to break it up into more posts.
  
  
• Do not make your visitor have to "click here" more than once. Twice is the maximum to ever have to "click here".
  
  
• Edit out all of those filler words. Nobody wants to read Blah, Blah, Blah and Blah.
  
  
• Bold, Bullet and Number to break up monotony and get ideas across.
  
  
• Be descriptive enough to get the facts out. Your goal is to not make anyone have to read your mind. Start with the major points and explain them.
  
  
• Don't make people have to sit through a Flash or other intro to get to where they are going. Six seconds can feel like an eternity when you are searching for information.
  
  
• Keep your advertisements in their own territory. Don't make people have to scroll or deal with something popping out at them when they are in the middle of reading an article.
  
  
• Make your links make sense. That is, if you use link a word to something, that something should be a further explanation of that word. A definition or research site works well.
  
  
• Test those links. Readers don't want to land on a 404 page.
  
  

The idea that I am conveying to you is to get to the point, keep it short and sweet. Credibility and a good reputation are things that take time and hard work. The results pay off with many new and returning visitors.

First Impressions Do Matter

Just like when you meet someone for the first time, yes,first impressions do matter. You are only fooling yourself if you don't think so.

A first impression when it comes to your blog, means;

• the reader will stay and not move on
• the reader will read through the front page
• the reader will return
• the reader will help you get more readers by telling others about your blog.

What matters to visitors?

1. Load Time - wow, I can't tell you how many times I've moved on because a page has been too slow to load. Attention spans on the internet are short. The cure- limit the sizes of the images on your site and the number of linked items that need to load.


2. Logo/Branding –I know I've said it before. Having a great logo in your header is a grabber.


3. Layout - Should be clean with plenty of white space. Too much stuff makes for chaos and the result is move-on to the next site syndrome.

4. Advertisements - Use in moderation! Nothing can cheapen a site more than too many ads and especially the ones that overtake your ability to find the intended information that you are there for. If your goal is to make money through clicks, if you are obvious about it, you probably won't make much money.

5. Your Reputation/Who you know – This is not a popularity contest. However, having a few blogs in your blogroll or an achievement can lend to your credibility. It tells people that you have been around for a while and that you know what you're talking about. Again, restrain from going nuts here as it will cheapen your site.

6. Organization/ Ease of Navigation – This is where labels and links to labels come in.

7. What is your blog about and is it obvious? If you are writing a cooking blog, keep aunt Millie's cute dog out of it. Start a new blog if you want to blog about another topic.

8. Be Politically Correct. Seriously don't diss, slander, or hate. It's ugly and a huge turn-off. If you must point out something negative about an organization or business, don't do it in an opinionated way. Show the facts.



9. Popups and Pop-unders. Probably the most annoying thing on the internet. They are sort of like a red flag telling people to never return.

10. Video and Audio. Together they are too mcuh. Alone, use them with controls so if people want to listen or see they can.