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[B930]Build A Flash Web Site

by David Risley, Dav

What Is It?: An animation accompanied by music that is at least thirty seconds to two minutes long – and the first web page shown before “entering” a web site.

The only reason anyone ever uses a skip-intro page is because they think it's “cool”. There is absolutely nothing good about skip-intro web pages.

Here's how a skip-intro page usually happens:

A business owner (or even a large-scale company) wants a web site. So they hire a web designer or a web design team. The owner knows absolutely nothing about web design or usability (more on that in a moment). So the design people put together a site and then show the owner what they've made. He looks it over, and then decides it “lacks oomph”. The site could be perfect in every way. It could be easy to use and a selling machine, but the owner is convinced that in order to sell his products, he must “excite” his audience.

The all-too-familiar skip-intro then rears its ugly head. Out of desperation, the designers will make one. The owner loves it and immediately gives the green light.

For small business owners, the same situation occurs. They feel (or have been fooled into believing) that a skip-intro page is “cool”, when in fact they're not thinking about the customer at all.

The key thing to remember is this: If your intent is to run a business from a web site, don't think about yourself. Think about the customer. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to visit, browse and most importantly BUY whatever it is you're selling.

Major flaws with skip-intros

Sure, the skip-intro looks “cool”, but only once. Every time after that it's an annoyance – and not just for you, but for every single customer and potential customer that visits your web site. Think of it this way: If you had a catalog that forced you to wait two minutes before opening it every time you wanted to, would you even bother? Of course you wouldn't. You'd go get a normal catalog from someone else!

100% flash-based intros severely decrease the search engine friendliness of your web site. If your opening web page has absolutely no text to enter the site with, the search engines will never “crawl” your site. Any hopes you ever had of getting a good “rank” are gone. Search engines read text, not Flash.

The answer is “no”.

The answer to the question of whether you should use a skip-intro Flash page or not is no. If you intend to sell things, that skip-into page will do nothing but work against you.

According to Jim Nelson, of eCommerce solution provider http://SiteSell.com, there are two key components to building a successful eBiz: content and customer relations.

?Content Is King

The first step is building your web site around a lot of good, quality content. Explains Nelson, ?The more useful, interesting knowledge you provide visitors with, the more your site becomes a legitimate, helpful tool in their eyes.? As you help people learn about whatever topic your site is focused on, you're giving them a reason to choose to buy from you and developing loyal customers.

Beyond that, your search engine rankings correlate directly to the amount of valuable information you provide. The more fresh, changing subject matter on your site, the higher it will rank. And the higher it ranks, the more users will find it. That's why you want to be adding new, content-rich pages on a regular basis. If you can gain good positioning in the major engines (Google, Yahoo!, and MSN), you'll automatically do well in all the minor engines that pull their results from these popular sites.

You should base your pages around keywords you can compete with. Research the supply and demand for various key phrases on Google, Yahoo!, and WordTracker, and use that data to determine which keywords to center your copy around. As you research the topic your site will be about, you'll find hundreds of related keywords. You might not rank well for every one, but if you can rank well for enough of them, you can really boost your traffic.

?Make It Personal

Because users primarily come online with the intention of gathering information or finding a solution, a hard sell can turn many visitors off. People want to feel like you're not just after their money, but that you're actually offering them something in return ? that the relationship is mutually beneficial.

That's why the second component of a profitable web business is to make it personal. Your site is your instrument for cultivating a connection with your shoppers. Audio and video can greatly enhance that personal sense. You want visitors to understand that you're a real person with a name, a face, and a phone number where they can reach you.

Creating a personal presence lends credibility to your business. You want your web site to make customers feel welcome, and you need to reaffirm that positive initial experience by following up with quick, friendly service. If visitors feel like they know you and like you, they're going to want to buy from you, rather than just moving to the next e-tailer in the results pages.

Maintain Consistency

Sometimes, in spite of taking all the right steps, you'll find your site loses it's positioning and your traffic and sales slip. This is fairly normal ? the engines have simply modified their ranking algorithms again. ?The important thing is not to panic,? says Nelson. ?The search engines want people to find well-built sites in the results; so if you give them that, the engines will find you again and you'll come back up in a fairly short period of time. Just keep doing what you're doing ? quality content is a process that still works.?

Article Source : Pg. 344

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Both David Risley & Chris Malta & Robin Cowie are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

David Risley has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Business Marketing and Computers and The Internet. David Risley is Founder/CEO of PC Media. PC Media specializes in creating web properties which achieve the aims of your business. Offering design and development, with ser. David Risley's top article generates over 3600 views. Bookmark David Risley to your Favourites.

Chris Malta & Robin Cowie has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Free Credit Report Score and Computers and The Internet. Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Rob Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers.. Chris Malta & Robin Cowie's top article generates over 74000 views. Bookmark Chris Malta & Robin Cowie to your Favourites.