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Website Content
Creating the body of your website's message

Content and visitor interest

Now that we have studied the structure of the website we're going to turn our attention to the individual pages that comprise the content of a website. Content can do more to build your visitor loyalty than just about any other resource or service available.

Ask yourself the following questions. Does your copy convey the message you wish to get across to your visitors? Is it compelling? Does it clearly project the ideas that you wish to promote? In order for your website to be successful it must capture your visitors interest.


Rules of thumb for presentation of content

In order to gain your visitors interest you need to follow three rules of thumb:
  • Explain everything clearly and briefly.

    Web surfers are short on patience. Give them what they want by keeping sentences and paragraphs short and to the point.
  • Make sure you present information in a logical order.

    Both website visitors and search engines look for structure in the content of a web page. If the content is haphazard and illogical in its composition you will have problems.
  • Use plain language.

    Avoid being overly technical in the language you use. Consider the average reader and use words that you would use in normal conversation. Also, simple language translates better when viewed by visitors from other countries.

Be consistent on all of your web pages

Make sure the site is consistent in look, feel and design. Nothing is more jarring and disturbing to a visitor than feeling as if they have just gone to another site. Keep colors and themes constant throughout the site.

Start simple

If your site will have more than 5 pages don't add those pages to your sitemap until you are ready to work on them. The more pages your site has the longer it will take you to complete them all and the longer it will take you to publish your site to the internet.

Start with just a few pages and a handful of products or articles. This way you can concentrate your efforts on developing clear and focused content.

Webpage Construction

To create the individual pages of a website you are going to need a web authoring program, or be knowledgeable in HTML coding.

If you are going to create a large site, have several web sites online, or do design work for other people, it is strongly recommended that you learn HTML.

There will be times when you don't like how a web authoring program has coded a page. With HTML knowledge, you can correct it. And with the quickly changing nature of the Internet, it would be difficult for any HTML authoring program to stay current with the newest tag rules and coding possibilities.



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