TODAY, I'd like to cover some of the major errors that Newbies make when building their first Website. Hopefully, when you become aware of them you won't make the same mistakes.
1) Slow Loading Pages
No matter how fantastic your Webpages are, no matter how great or unique the content, and regardless of how many people click through to visit, it's completely USELESS if it takes too long to load in their Browsers. In my (not so humble) opinion, this must be the biggest mistake made by Newbies. And a common mistake made by so-called experienced marketers who should know better. Yet for some reason seem to believe their visitors are 'different'!
When it comes to wanting service, most of us are impatient. And for some reason, most people are ultra impatient when surfing the 'Net. We want your information NOW. We need to read your offering INSTANTLY. And if your page takes more than a few seconds to load ...CLICK - we're gone. Off to another site where our needs can be satisfied IMMEDIATELY! So what's the use of putting in all that work, if no-one sticks around long enough to see it?
Hey, it's no good complaining about human nature. Because the only person to listen to your complaint is you. But why do so many sites take so long to load? By far the biggest problem, is the use of large graphics.
Graphics and photographs are made up of millions of little dots called pixels. Just like the dots that create the picture on your TV set. And every single pixel has to be transmitted individually down a telephone line to your visitor's browser. The more graphics you have on your page, the more pixels that have to be transmitted. And a beautiful, high resolution photograph of your wedding can take an AGE to transmit...CLICK!
The 'trick' is to compromise between picture quality and pixel size, until you create a picture of reasonable quality and acceptable download speed. This is known as 'Optimizing your graphic', and it's achieved with a piece of software called - wait for it - a Graphics Optimizer! You can buy one of these, or you can use the optimizing facility in software packages like Paintshop Pro - but these can be expensive. The Newbie Club First Website Builder shows you where to grab a Graphics Optimizer FREE, along with links to EVERY other piece of Webpage building software you'll need. Software that inexperienced Newbies sometimes pay a heap of hard-earned cash for.
There are a number of design errors that cause slow loading, and there are solutions for all of them. These solutions are covered in First Website Builder, so you won't end up with a Website that no-one sticks around long enough to see.
2) Buying Expensive And Inappropriate Software
Yeah, I went down that route. I spent many frustrating weeks reading up on the subject of building a Website. Made a list of the 'best' software to use - and bought it! Boy oh boy, was I suckered! Now of course I know that you don't have to buy expensive and ultra-sophisticated software, just to end up using a tiny fraction of it's capabilities. It's like buying a top luxury auto, just to carry the groceries once a week from the supermarket. So we made sure that First Website Builder contained a list of links to places where you can obtain free software that carries out just the function you need to perform each operation. This way, you can build up a library of individual free programs that specifically suuit you. And because each piece of software specializes in only one or two functions, they each have an easy learning curve.
If, when you become experienced, you choose to buy a more sophisticated program,that's fine. But by then of course you'll have the experience to KNOW exactly what you want. No wasted money on software that you'll hardly ever use - or even the wrong software! Believe me, I've been there, and I was NOT a happy bunny! First Website Builder contains dozens of links to sites that offer hundreds of free programs and graphics. And they'll save you a fortune in time and money.
3) Boring Their Readers To Death!
OK, as you probably know, I'm a professional Web copywriter. And writing interesting and informative copy is relatively easy for me. What do you mean, you're bored already?! But you do NOT have to be a pro to write well enough to get your message over in an interesting and informative way. If you go on to build a business Website, you need to write professional copy. But that's not your concern at the moment. What you do need to know is how to avoid the obvious mistakes like using the wrong background color, the incorrect font, and long boring and unbroken chunks of text that send everyone rushing to click their Back Buttons!
It's been said that we should never judge a book by its cover. But in my experience, not many people are attracted to a book by a bland, plain and unattractively boring cover. Or by a title reading 'Gardening - Part 1'. But an attractively colored cover bearing the title 'How ToMake Plants Grow In Any Soil' will certainly generate more potential buyers.
I've already shown why excessive use of photographs and 'heavy' graphics will slow your site to a standstill. So you must find alternative ways to give your Webpages a professional, interesting and attractive appearance. The imaginative use of colored fonts is one way to replace graphics. And an Arial, or Verdana font is usually easier to read on the Web than the Times Roman font that some people use.
Another method is to learn how to use tables to position chunks of text in different areas of your page. (The design of tables is an HTML 'trick' covered extensively in 'First Website Builder'). And even imaginative use of empty space can add a dramatic effect to your message, just as an actor adds drama to his message by clever use of a pause in his conversation.
I have written seven chapters on how Newbies can use words and imaginative layout 'tricks of the trade' to maximum effect, regardless of whether you're building a Family or Business Website. This is something you will never find in any Newbie Website creation tutorials, and is guaranteed to give your site that professional image that most Newbie sites lack. In the meantime, if you wish to learn more on how to write effective copy for your Site, visit my Copywriting Solutions Website at http://www.adcopywriting.com at The Newbie Club Website.
4) Afraid To Use Automated Website Tools
What, you may ask, is an automated tool? Well, this article is sent using an automated tool. It was sent out at a pre-determined interval by our robot autoresponder. Tom and I call him Otto. I wrote the message, Tom installed it and set the time interval, and Otto did the rest.
But Newbies seem to think - and I can understand why -that this is such a Techie thing, that they could never attempt to use it. And anyway, it's only of use to business Websites- isn't it?
WRONG! It's NOT Techie. And autoresponders can be used to amazing effect by all manner of Website owners. If you have a Website for your Guest House, you simply place a link on your page, and when your visitor clicks on it, Otto will immediately jump into action and email her with a list of your special winter rates. Or this year's Christmas lunch menu. And he will automatically send her an invitation to your Easter function on the date you set in Otto's database. Refer A Friend is an automated tool that can bring many visitors to your site. And when you become confident enough, you can start your own Newsletter. And people will subscribe to it with yet another automated tool.
Hey you don't need a college degree to set up these tools. It's just a question of learning how. In book 3 of First Website Builder, Tom has written a Newbie-Friendly chapter on automation. As well as a further 3 chapters on Backing up your Website and getting it onto the Web. That's it for today . I hope this has been of help.
Keep smilin'
Copyright 2001 Joe Robson
Tom Glander and Joe Robson, founders of The Newbie Club
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