15 Fixes For A Failing Website
If your website's not performing, here's what you can do college student loan consolidation improve search engine rankings, engage visitors and convert more sales.
1. Align the site with your objectives
Have your business objectives and goals changed since you launched your website? If so, then you need to revisit your website's content to ensure it supports your current business needs.
2. Remove useless items
Every item on your website competes for your visitors' attention, reducing the impact of your key message. Is that welcome message necessary? Are some of those buttons redundant? Scrutinize every element to help deliver Delaware Lemon Laws strong message and eliminate distractions.
3. Update your information
Keep time-sensitive information on your website up to date. If you don't have adequate resources, keep time-sensitive information to a minimum.
4. Edit your web copy for consistency
Businesses often have different people adding web copy at different times, which leads to inconsistencies. Review your copy from start to finish with a keen eye on spelling, format, style, narration, tense, flow and so on.
5. Split text blocks into scannable chunks
Massive blocks of text discourage visitors from exploring your website. Break up web copy with relevant headlines, subheads, bullet points and short, one-topic paragraphs. Your visitors will thank you by spending more time on your site.
6. Review fonts
Check your fonts to ensure consistent size, style and spacing. Consider using a style sheet. Fonts optimal for the Web include Arial, Courier, Georgia, Time New Roman and Verdana.
7. Add new web copy
Add relevant web copy frequently to satisfy visitors and search engines alike. Improve search engine rankings and give your visitors a reason to keep coming back.
8. Refresh your graphics
Renew your image with new graphics, charts and photos. Many are royalty free. Type in terms like "clip art," "graphics," and "free photos" into your favourite search engine and you're on your way.
9. Make your graphics search engine friendly
Give your images tags with keywords to help improve search engine rankings.
10. Consider your colour theme
Go over your colours to ensure they are a part of or at least complement your logo and brand. Dump backgrounds that make it difficult to read web copy.
11. Extinguish flashing content
Flashing content irritates visitors and turns them away. It's one step away from announcing, "Congratulations! You're the 1,000,000th visitor! Click here to claim prize!" If you want it to make a point, do so with compelling web copy, placement, font size or colour.
12. Speed it up
Your pages should load fast. Don't make your visitors wait 30 seconds or so just to watch your logo spin around. How many times have you retreated from a site while waiting for its intro to load? Relevant web copy is much more likely to grab the attention of a potential client.
13. Re-evaluate PDFs
Are you guilty of throwing PDFs onto your website to save time? PDFs are designed for print, not the Web. Unless it's an e-book or a form, offer the information as a webpage and give your visitor the option of viewing it as a PDF.
14. Leave music to the DJs
Don't blast music at your visitors. It slows access to your site and can cheapen your presentation. If music is required, hand over the controls to your visitor by making it optional.
15. Repair or delete broken links
Check all your links and be quick to repair or delete any that bring your visitors to the '404 file not found' message. If a section is under construction, take it offline.
Rick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at webcopypluswebcopyplus Free website tool: webcopyplustoolswebcopyplustools More website tips: webcopyplusfaqswebcopyplusfaqs
Dying Wish For a Bittersweet Memory
Today I closed a bittersweet chapter on an old friendship. Three weeks ago, a friend of mine called and asked if I had time to write her life story. Being a Personal Historian who writes individual stories for people, I welcomed the opportunity. Little did I know what a blessing this one would be.
Let's call my friend Melissa, to protect her privacy. We had gone to High School together, but we had lost touch after graduation. I happened to run into Melissa's sister Karen last winter and mentioned my writing business. She shared with me that Melissa had cancer and that she was moving back to our area for treatments.
Over the next few months, I seemed to meet Karen by chance on a semi-regular basis and always asked about Melissa, who was responding to treatments. I planned to go visit her when she was stronger, but that never came to pass.
In response to her call, I told Melissa I could stop by to see her the next week, but she wanted to know if I had time that day. Hearing the soft urgency in her voice, I decided to change my schedule to see her that afternoon, and I was glad I did. She was adamant that she wanted her story written for her daughter, with whom she sometimes had difficulty communicating, and for her family, who were always there for her.
When Melissa answered the door, I was appalled by how unwell she appeared. I would never have recognized her if we passed on the street, based on the ravages of her illness and treatments. However, once we started talking, we quickly reconnected as she reminisced in response to my queries about her life. In spite of the serious nature of our visits, we shared a few good laughs and some delightful memories.
I left her home that first day feeling pleased that we were already making progress on her life story, but wondering how much time she had left in her brave battle. We scheduled interview sessions to meet on alternate days, which gave me time to transcribe my notes and listen to the recordings to capture the finer points of our conversations. On each return visit, I brought along my roughly drafted chapters for Melissa to read and clarify as needed.
It was wonderful to catch up on Lamotrigine the things that Melissa had done over the last forty-some years, which included growing up on a small farm in central Illinois, very much as I had. I never realized just how similar our early lives had been, but the nostalgia from student consolidation loan information was extraordinary.
Each time I went to interview Melissa, it was apparent that her condition slowly and inexorably declined. In the span of barely more than a week, she regressed from answering the door herself, to remaining in her chair, to lying in bed and finally to calling in Hospice.
From previous experience interviewing people, I knew how difficult it can be to relate some portions of their lives. Strategically sequencing questions allowed us to cover a difficult time, such as her illness, followed shortly by a joyful time, such as adopting her daughter. I was careful to limit the time for each session and always ended on a positive note to minimize wearing her out.
When I first heard that Melissa was meeting with Hospice, I was almost overwhelmed to know that she was nearing the end of her struggle and that our time was very limited. This was a bittersweet experience. It was great to get to know her again, but terribly sad that she was dying at such a young age.
As we continued to meet and Melissa's story unfolded, I began to feel an intense compulsion to complete her story this week on Wednesday. Working late the night before and all that day, I finally had a first draft ready to print. I carried the story on a portable drive to a local office supply store and waited impatiently while they printed and bound just a few copies.
When I arrived at Melissa's home that evening and saw almost a dozen cars parked in front, I was afraid it was too late. In fact, her house was filled with relatives, and she was barely hanging on.
I quietly walked into her bedroom, where she was lying in a hospital bed and holding her grown daughter Alexandra's hand. She smiled when she saw the picture of her and Alex on the front cover, ran her hand over it and said, "That's good." Then Alex read a few vignettes from the book and added some comments of her own. Melissa was too weak to speak more than a few words, but she smiled and nodded her head in response. I went home that night feeling I had accomplished my task.
Melissa passed away the next morning. In my heart, I believe she was waiting for me to deliver her story so she could rest knowing that her daughter would understand how she felt. I am grateful that I could help fulfill one of her dying wishes. It meridia drug also reinforced for me the absolute importance of preserving family stories before it is too late.
Everyone has a story to tell and they are all precious memories. In this case, I shed many tears in the process of writing, but it was truly a bittersweet blessing to comfort my friend at the end. Now she can rest in peace.
Beth LaMie, Author, Speaker and Personal Historian
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onestoryatatime.blogspotonestoryatatime.blogspot
