Every website should be designed to achieve a basic goal. If you follow a few easy rules, you will increase the changes of achieving that goal.

1) Avoid the use of splash pages

Splash pages are often the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They may have a very beautiful image with words like “welcome” or “click here to enter”. Do not give your visitors a reason to immediately click on the “back” button! Show them the value of your site up front without the splash page.

2) Banner advertisements can be distracting

The decision to seek more information about a topic should be the reader’s. You can help them make the ‘right’ decision by placing strategically worded links in the body of your articles.

3) Have a simple and clear navigation

Your menu system should be simple and straightforward. Make it easy for your readers to know where they are and where they need to go for the information they want. Otherwise, they will leave your site in a hurry.

4) Make it clear where the reader is on your site

Put up some ‘you are here’ signs on your pages so the visitor does not get lost. If they get confused, the easiest way out may be the exit button and you want to make sure they don’t press that too soon!

5) Video and audio may be useful but use them wisely

Nothing causes a reader to leave a site more quickly that the unexpected blaring of their speakers when the site first loads. They may not appreciate the same music you do and will express their opinions by leaving immediately. If you use sound or videos, give the reader control over whether it plays or not and some way to adjust the volumne levels.

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