What makes a New York Web design company any different from other Web design companies? That's easy Competition. Just look at how many design firms there are out there and you will see what I mean! In the city or outside, someone seeking high quality Web design in New York faces hundreds of choices in an area of just a few city blocks. Now that's competition!



Just picture Google search results, but instead of clicking links you are entering hundreds of Web design studios, lofts and offices of every conceivable size, type and style imaginable. And just as if you searched through Google, if you don't see what you like, it's on to the next one and then the next and so on.

But, with the competition comes a competitive edge that is critical in a struggling economy. Of course we all want to look good on the Internet, but when you're competing with your real live neighbors in addition to those online; you have to step it up a notch.

That said; here are some inside tips from a successful New York Web design company. We will focus specifically on Website usability, which has the unique distinction of being both the most important and principal consideration yet which is generally least considered.

First off, most people do not really read a Web page at first glance; they scan it to see if there is something worth actually reading. You need to get their attention right away and keep it. Here's how...

1.) Jump in with your most powerful content right off the bat. Grab their attention immediately and keep it. Never save the best for last unless you have something nearly as good to lead the reader there.

2.) Make sure your functional areas are consistent, as much as possible, throughout your site. This is especially true of the navigation links (top, left, right, etc.) search fields, logins, and anything else needing user interaction. The more at ease your visitor feels working through the site, the more likely he or she is to stay for a while and go even deeper.

3.) Always add a link back to your homepage via your company logo. Sure it's seems logical, though it's often regarded as old fashioned. If you have ever gotten turned around on a big site you probably know how comforting it is that there is a quick way back to the homepage. Also, a breadcrumb trail is useful if your website's page structure is very deep. Any way to let your visitor quickly return from where they started is important.

4.) Place a search field in a convenient location. But make sure it searches ONLY within your own site. "Search The Web" features practically beg your visitors to leave your site.

Also bear in mind that you want search engines to be able to easily find and get what it needs from your site in addition to live ors. A pretty Website is nowhere near enough. To be found by customers you must first be found by search engines. To do this we use something called search engine optimization or SEO. Following are 3 "must do" items for your Website to do list, if you want your site at the top of Google.

1.) Use text links with anchor text within your page content. You already know that anchor text is the clickable word(s) that comprise a hyperlink. But what you might not realize is just how incredibly powerful that anchor text is.

Want to see for yourself? Go to Google.com and do a search for "Click Here" (without the quotes.) You should notice two things right off. First there are well over 1.6 billion competing Web pages. ?Click Here? is not a search engine friendly use of a hyperlink. It doesn't tell the search engines what they would be searching for. And second, the number one match is for Adobe Acrobat Reader.

I'll save you the suspense. It's not written anywhere on the page or in the META tags. They are number one for ?Click Here?, out of 1.6 Billion pages, simply because for years people offering a link to Acrobat have placed the page link as anchor text in the words ?Click Here.? Now that's powerful! And you can harness that power by linking to other pages within your site. Which leads us to Insider Tip #2...

2.) If SEO becomes a priority for your site, as most will, build a separate page for each of your main keywords. And don't forget to link the keyword rich anchor text, from each individual page, to the topic page that has that specific keyword as its main focus.

Industry Advice: If you are a blog specialist or Web designer by trade, offering SEO as part of your services is a natural fit that can double the value of your work, or more. With so many good SEO products available to help you get professional results with minimal effort, you can usually rely on reputation as a good indicator of potential success. For example, eBay, Motorola and Lexmark all stake their online success on a tool you can get for $250 at http://www.iBusinessPR0M0TER.com.

3.) Relevant anchor text should also be at the top of your mind when you are requesting inbound links from other sites. This is what Google uses as its strongest measurement to gage the quality of your pages.

This is your best opportunity to build your brand in your own words. You want to define text that will entice people to visit the page and then let the site's quality keep them there. This is just like tip number two above, but you are requesting the anchor text on another Website to link to the appropriate page on your site (not just the homepage.)

And be warned, a lot of Website design professionals will sign up for reciprocal linking services to get quick inbound links. But I advise against it. It's a quick and dirty way to get inbound links and it is likely to hurt you. Google hates it and it's so easy for them to track, because it is simply an inbound link and an outbound link that match.

If you don't have the time or expertise to set up link partners manually, consider the concept of here way linking like the service offered at http://www.3WayLinker.com.

It's so simple that it's brilliant. Imagine that ?Site A" links to ?Site B" then ?Site B" links to ?Site "C". Finally ?Site C" links to ?Site A". Using this method each is a true one way link.

Well that's it for this series of inside tips from a New York Web Design Company. Enjoy!