The answer lies in looking at the Internet, where trends to shift advertising budgets online began a few years ago and continues to grow. Websites have long since proved their effectiveness in getting the message across. An effective web design consultant can help ensure the website is created around what matters most – brand awareness – and around a budget a client is comfortable with. Lead building, search engine marketing, email marketing and list growth are the new keywords, and a targeted web design can capture these components to enrich any marketing plan.

Creative web design solutions are the new way to fight recession, while maintaining a hefty profit margin or at least not sliding down into oblivion. If your website is gathering dust, or is not search engine optimized, you are losing a viable existing marketing option. Seek out a web design consultant who can spruce it up for you and achieve the following:

Expand your in-house list: In recession, you might find it hard to spend money on capturing new clientele. In this instance, a good website will allow you to convert your in-house list by generated sales emails, targeted pitches, and limited time offers.

Focus on lead and referral management: Searching for clients through advertising is one thing; having them come to you from an existing or satisfied source, at a trade show or event, or as a visitor to your site, is another. Nurturing leads and referrals is important and your web design consultant can ensure this is part of your web strategy. An effective web design consultant will help you identify those who can be turned from potential customer into satisfied clientele by implementing creative web design solutions like an opt in list from an autoresponder (aweber or constant contact work well), landing pages and RSS feeds. The right offers make people want to buy into your products and services. Some examples include:

• Blog Invitations
• Downloadable PDF Brochures
• Teleconferences and webinars
• Videos
• E-Books
• White Papers or free reports
• Case Studies
• DIY Guides

Optimize landing pages: If your website is not optimized, you are already at a disadvantage. During tough financial times, it’s even more important to turn to simple yet creative web design solutions for answers. Research shows time and time again that optimized web landing pages can results in more leads for every dollar spent. Instead of you hunting for clients, a good keyword selection can ensure clients come right to your doorstep. Spend time on finding out how you can best maximize your investment by targeting first time buyers, buyers who are on equally tight budgets, buyers who have been categorized as ‘non-risk’ takers etc. If you don’t have experience writing optimized web content, your website design house should be able to find you a provider who can. A good marketing writer will also be able to recommend the right online marketing solutions for your business, such as PR, cross- link advertising, affiliate marketing etc.

Make use of available sales tools: With the advent of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter, it’s easier than ever to convert your website into a community. Adding on forums and discussion boards from companies like www.Vbulletin.com and www.proboards.com will further steer visitors to other pages within your website.

Make your site visible: While SEO might get visitors to your site, a great design will keep them there. In an earlier post Web Design Mistakes to Avoid, I had mentioned the importance of a good site design. I reiterate that a strong site designed by a professional web design consultant is important to help showcase your business’ details. If there’s one thing you need to invest money in, it should be this.

Add cost effective solutions: Online catalogues and brochures can cut back on printing and distribution costs. Online FAQ’s can work in lieu of a customer service representative. Receiving credit card payments online, or via PayPal can save you big in terms of fees paid out to banks. It’s important to find a web design company which is experienced in identifying easy, yet financially viable options.

In the end, there are a lot of online solutions which can save you thousands of dollars, money well appreciated during hard economic times. Creative web design solutions offered by an effective web design consultant will help you in capturing these options for your own benefit.

1. Followers do matter: Let’s play the numbers game. How many followers do you have on twitter ? Fans on Facebook? Connects on LinkedIn? Follow the leaders on these sites in your industry to see how many they have. Next, compare interaction levels between both your sites. Having someone follow you is cool, but it doesn’t really count if they are inactive and their presence static. It’s how your users behave which is important. Take the following two examples with Twitter and Facebook, and apply them to any social media tool you use, including blogs, YouTube, MySpace etc.

• Twitter: Do your followers retweet your message? Use your DM box? Follow you because you follow them, or because they are interested in your services? Act on your offers?

• Facebook: How many have signed up and has it been for a particular campaign? Do they comment/like your posts? Are they active on the wall?

2. Test them: Gather the information you receive and test them. The simplest way to do this is to DM your community a message which allows you to gather their email via opt-in. Once you have gathered them legitimately, do a test run via your autoresponder provider (ePost work well to create test runs) to see response rates.

2. Measure visitors once they arrive: You can also measure audience using tools to capture page views, time spent on site, frequency of visit, and conversion rates. Web analytical tools like Google Analytics provide an easy means to gather information in one go.

3. Redefine your end goals: They might change over time, but keep up with the changes and consider the following: Social Bookmarking– who is adding your posts to sites like Delicious, Stumbleupon and Reddit? Your web analytical tool might allow you to track visitors who do so, or you can bookmark these sites and keep checking for your URL on a regular basis.

4. Cross-analyze linking to your site: You can also measure how many people are subscribing to your RSS feed, or link back to your site (WordPress has a feature which allows you to check this), or by checking on Technorati.

5.  Take note of less obvious measurement benchmarks: These are the good old fashion customer service tools to see if your customers are really happy with the services you offer, your SEO rankings, leads and referrals you receive etc.

6. Don’t forget the more obvious calculable ones: Like the investment that’s gone into your online marketing campaign, and the actual sales you’ve generated from it. Revisit your profits to see if your budgets can be sustained and need to be redirected.

7. Make PR your friend: Business owners often forget about public relations in its free or paid form, yet it can be a very strong measure of how well your business is capable of doing. Nowadays, PR and Marketing are almost becoming interchangeable, as what better way to get your message across than to brag about it on your blog or post it on twitter. If you can measure PR, you will be a strong position to measure social media.

Not much has changed since then- a good marketing strategy continues to be essential to any business. Without one, any efforts to attract customers and brand products and services will be ineffective. Before you write your marketing plan, you need to know the difference between a strategy and plan. A marketing strategy has been defined in many ways, but simply put, it’s one that’s shaped by your overall business goals and supports your end needs. Its sole purpose is to identify and communicate the benefits of what your business has to offer your target market. It outlines the approach you’ll use to meet your objectives.

A marketing strategy should include a description of your products and services, a target profile of potential and current customers, and your company’s stand with regards to competitors. It should also define strategies you’ll be using to build your business such as ‘improve online communication’ or ‘build brand awareness’ etc.

A marketing plan or a marketing tactic as it’s sometimes known, is a practical application of your marketing strategy. You have the means in place via a strategy, now all you have to do is apply them via a plan. A marketing plan cannot exist without a marketing strategy. In the above instance, your plan could be ‘sign up to social media sites and discussion forums to improve online communication’, or develop a newsletter to build brand awareness’.

A good Internet marketing strategy can do the following for you:

• Improve market visibility
• Build brand awareness
• Promote your services to the right target
• Gain customers
• Brand you as an expert
• Make your products/service more trustworthy

Before you begin drawing up your strategies, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is our industry going through any changes? Can I take advantage of them?
• What are the company’s strengths and weaknesses as defined by a SWOT analysis?
• What do customers really want?
• How can I target the right audience?
• Can I improve my customer service?
• Can I adapt or modify my products or services?
• Is the price right?
• Are my distribution channels enough, or do I need to explore further?
• Do I have tracking tools in place to ensure my campaign is being carried out correctly?

Running an online marketing campaign is obviously quite different from running one offline in say print on television. In some ways however, it’s easier as there are plenty of tools to help you do the job effectively and cost efficiently. Online marketing strategies follow traditional marketing campaigns in that they have to be both short term and long term.

• Short term strategies could include forum discussions, signing on to search engines etc.
• Long term strategies could include a well crafted website, blogging, social networking sites, opt-in lists etc.

A credible Internet marketing strategy focuses on where consumers are – in most instances, Google search engines can help you identify this. All searches start with a single keyword or key phrase, and your website’s ranking will be determined by Search Engine Optimization (SEO). So the bottom line is to know what your customers search for and tailor make your campaign around this search criteria.

The following are some of the top Internet Marketing Strategies adopted by successful online companies over the past two years. In the great wide world of online marketing, things move fairly quickly and what’s new today might be very old news tomorrow. Having said this, the following strategies stand the test of time, and are easily adaptable to new technology which may arise.

Organic search results: Organic searches are results by indexing pages based on content and keyword relevancy, rather than from advertisements or from those who’ve paid money to gain rank, such as with overture.com. Google, Yahoo, and Bing are the top search engines, which provide both organic and non-organic search results.

Keyword research: There’s no getting past it; keyword searches are vital to the success of your online campaign. If you enter the wrong keywords, chances are customers will find it hard to find you. By targeting wrong keywords, you’re not only throwing away your money, but also the chance to gain a higher rank.

Social media like Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn: more and more companies are putting top dollars into social media with remarkable results. In 2009, results showed over 150 million active users on Facebook, 76 million for MySpace, and 50 million for LinkedIn.

Video marketing: In a recent blog post I wrote, I mentioned 90% adults, 18-30 years explore video-sharing sites like Youtube. If this is your target audience, can you really afford not to use video sites?

Public relations sites: You might have heard the saying ‘any publicity is good publicity’. While this is not always be the case – negative publicity can hurt your business – free publicity is another marketing strategy worth researching. And press releases rank pretty high up when it comes to free attention. Use the many public relations sites available to push your release forward and draw attention to the particular theme you’re promoting.

Blogging : There’s not much to say about blogging which this post, Is Corporate Blogging Right For Your Business? doesn’t already cover. The best part about blogging is that it allows you to built up a steady stream of loyal readers who will be willing to act on your advice.

Link building: Search engines adore popular sites, and one way to build popularity is by linking to other relevant posts and sites.

Web design: A good web site is designed around attracting and keeping audience attention on it, and allows visitors to be guided to choices they may make. It’s easy to make mistakes while designing a site so in this instance, investing in the services of a professional is a good idea.

PPC: Pay per click has become one of the most important online marketing tools, to the extent hundreds have  built businesses around it. The key to PPC advertising is to use attractive key words and key phrases; and the benefit in doing so? An easy and convenient solution to your marketing needs, with high returns.

Newsletters and email marketing: And last but not least, newsletters or ezines have blasted onto the scene allowing even the smallest of businesses to attract a large client following. Their main purpose is to keep clients and potential clients informed about products, services, and the latest happenings in the industry, but they also use to subtly guide the client into making well informed decisions such as investing in an ebook, buying a newly launched product, or signing up for a new service.

Identifying what you want them to do and actually getting them to do it are of course two different matters and contrary to popular belief, a higher readership doesn’t always translate into a higher conversion rate. Setting up a strategic plan is necessary which lays out step by step what you need to do to get visitors to actually take action.

One of the most popular conversion terms coined is ‘Call To Action’. What it simply means is that unless you call (not con) people into taking action, chances are they’ll read and enjoy your posts without doing anything about it. Think about the average visitor who browses a few sites each day – if he likes what he sees on your site, he might bookmark it to visit again. Will he voluntarily retweet or comment on your post? Maybe, if he enjoys your content, or if he’s building a marketing campaign and wants his brand noticed. On the other hand, if he’s visiting a site which sells information, products, or services, and can be converted into a potential buyer, will he do so without any urging? The chances of that are slim.

Call your reader to take action in your blog post, in your related site, in your navigation menu, on internal banners, and even in your comments (though that has to be handled subtly). As with all marketing tools, you need to experiment with what works best for you.

End your posts with an urgency. ‘Click here for more information’ is so boring and passé – people will not even bother to do so. Instead, try ‘Only 5 days remain to….’, or ‘A special SALES OFFER…’. People like to be offered something of value, which makes them feel special. Tap into this for your own sales.

Rethink your marketing campaign. What can you do that you are not already doing to make your reader conversion rates leap through the roof? Most of us will use standard marketing ploys – newsletters, free eBooks, articles on ezine directories etc. Begin to think outside the box. Does your WordPress or blogger page look okay? Can you add your own sales tools on it to boost sales? Where can you position this? What colors are you using? Do they make the ad pop? Do all the links work? (This is such a basic principle, yet most bloggers fail to check if links published are valid!). Again, it’s all about experimenting with what’s right for you. In this sense, tracking devices are invaluable in helping you calculate conversion rates.

Similarly, be ruthless and delete the unnecessary. Have you heard about too many cooks spoiling the broth? The same holds true for too many ads and links- they distract the reader. No one wants to visit a site for information and find themselves battling against an untold number of ads or sales links. Subtlety is the key to gaining higher conversions. It’s true you won’t get anything if you don’t ask for it; but it’s equally true you’ll lose a lot of potential visitors if your site feels unkempt and cluttered. Have a primary message (e.g. signing up to your newsletter) and build your secondary messages around it (e.g. selling your ebook and affiliate products in it), ensuring they all link together. This way, visitors know they are being led in one direction, not scrambling to choose between many unrelated paths.

And finally, don’t forget to use all the tools successful bloggers use to get their blog noticed and talked about including:

• Regular valuable content
• Text interspersed with videos and images
• Related keywords
• Comments and responses
• The occasional survey, interview, and guest post
• Plenty of links
• Incentive via gifts, discounts etc.

In the end you will find your blog evolves, matures, and changes over time, and your marketing plans need to be adjusted to keep up with it. But with consistency and a well-planned campaign, no matter the direction you’re headed, your customers will follow you.

One of the common threads you’ll see in all successful blogs, is daily content being posted with plenty of links. Links can be an excellent strategic way to build audience. Link building campaigns add on a slow audience trickle, which after awhile translates into a much larger flow. There two ways to achieve this; by adding links to other sites and by adding links to articles within one’s own site or blog. Lets see, step by step just how to start adding these links.

Offer regular content: As mentioned earlier, a simple way to ensure you have plenty of links is by adding regular content to your blog. Doing so generates link-worth material. Try and consciously begin by adding at least two links per posts. Don’t worry, gradually linking becomes natural and won’t feel so forced.

Add a blog: if your site doesn’t have a blog, now’s the time to add one. Most web hosting companies will allow you to build a blog as part of the site, but if not, WordPress and Blogger are great places to get started.

Take advantage of friends: If you’re not sure as to which links are compatible with your post and don’t have time to research them, keep links to friends sites and blogs of handy on your blogroll and link to them.

Make use of MySpace, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn etc: If your friends have obscure sites you can’t possibly link to, another way to add links is via your social networking audience. Twitter is especially great as no matter the size of your following, you’ll always find great sites to link to within them.

Join local organizations: As a writer, I’ve had some great responses from writing groups like Professional Writers Association of Canada of which I’m a member and through which I get business. My web links on these sites enable potential clients and coaching students to find me. It doesn’t matter the kind of business you’re in; you’ll always be able to find local bodies you can link to, and in turn, get them to connect to your blog.

Buy or exchange links on Ezines and newsletters: If you have friends or colleagues who have Ezines, you can always buy or offer link exchanges with them. Sometimes you might also be able to get a guest post created, which in turn will carry your web/blog- link.

Submit to ezine directories: Publishing in ezine directories like Go Article and Ezine Articles is a great way to get you site’s name out there. Submit quality articles and watch your readership grow. While most of these directories will not allow you to insert links into the text, you can promote your company in your profile which gets published alongside it.

Write a press release: Similar to ezine directories, press releases allow you to link back to your site and can prove to be an invaluable tool in promoting your brand. You can see samples on PR Web. Make sure you do have something press worthy before you write your release. A poorly written release can do more harm than help and can damage your company’s reputation instead of enhancing it.

Use online directories: Submitting your site to online directories can work well for you, but only if you select the right ones for your business. There are hundreds of directories like jayde and Dmoz and it’s easy to get caught up in registering with all of them, but the results cannot be measured and your inbox will fill up with useless junk mail. Instead, do research for the ones most appropriate to your business and stick to them.

Experiment with social bookmarking: Like online directories, social bookmarking sites can work well if correctly targeted. The trick here is not to just bookmark your site and blog posts, but to bookmark a number of other sites/posts which interest you. In fact, you might even be penalized if you only stick to bookmarking your own offerings.

Build internal links: And finally, don’t forget to build internal links, by connecting to older articles and posts within your site. This way you’ll be regenerating forgotten posts, and encouraging visitors to move around your site.

Linking takes time and patience especially if you are to do it so it seems like a natural progression to your blogging skills and not blatant self promotion. Yet, if done correctly, it can bring in a targeted audience, promote your brand and services, and connect you to hundreds of other companies who in turn will be happy to refer back to your site.

The following list is by no means comprehensive. In fact, if you have a particular ‘niche’ you are interested in, this site should help you get to something more specific. The list I’ve compiled is general, and includes sites which are a must-follow, if you are to learn more about how to use social media, how to network effectively, and what popular and current topics being discussed are. While all of them will provide you with fresh ideas you can adopt on a daily basis, some of them can be used in turn to promote your own products and services, brands, and website.

Note the list is of English speaking sites. If you are interested in learning more about social networking in other languages, this post on link building is a good place to get started. And if you want to see who’s using what in countries around the world, this here. Brian Solis takes the same one step further in his post, The State of Social Media Around the World 2010.

So here you go, 8 excellent sites to explore and get hooked onto right away:

Mashable: One of the top 10 web blogs and with a following of over 2 million, it’s a comprehensive guide to social media. Founded in 2005 by Peter Cashmore, it has today among its guest post authors, Geoff Livingston, Brian Solis, Sarah Evans, and even San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom. As the guest posts are unpaid, you’ll be certain they are written because their authors are passionate about topics they select.

ReadWriteWeb: ReadWriteWeb was created in 2003 by Richard MacManus and has grown to be a popular site for in the tech savvy community. It explores emerging trends and offers daily Internet industry news.

Social Media Examiner: As its tagline says, it’s a ‘guide to the social media jungle’, and covers everything social media related, including case studies and interviews with top players in their field. It was started by the ever popular Mike Stelzner, author of the book Writing White Papers, and man behind Social Media Success summits.

Chris Brogan: If you want to hear from someone who really knows what he blogs about, Chris Brogan is your man. He’s said to be one of the top social networking gurus, yet his style is friendly and down to earth. Chris recently authored Social Media 101 (link).

Brian Solis: And speaking of men who know their stuff, Brian Solis is another blogger to follow. His blog has been ranked top 10 consistently, and he’s considered one of the original thinkers who paved the way for social  media. With such credentials, can you afford not to subscribe to his posts?

The Social Media Marketing Blog : Scott Monty is head of social media for Ford Motor Company and this is his personal blog. But don’t be fooled. It covers all you should know about social media in the real world setting, and more.

Social Media Explorer:  The site can at times get a bit ‘salesy’ but overall, it provides fresh insight into common social media issues and concerns.

Kikolani : The name is catchy and so is the blog. It’s a great site for bloggers and social media enthusiasts to check out.

There are a number of other sites like Technorati and Digg, whose powers should not be underestimated. Learn more about them here and enjoy transferring this knowledge to your own applications.

People are also  more willing to download free eBooks, pay in full for courses, and attend seminars and lectures delivered by ‘experts’ in the industry? Remember though while marketing and media can get you ahead of the pack, it’s knowledge and true expertise which will keep you there. As an expert, you’ll need to continue to learn and grow before being in a position to teach others to do so. But first, let’s examine what you’ll personally gain from an expert status.

The benefits of being an expert are numerous. Apart from the above listed opportunities – promote your products and services, being one step ahead of your competitors, gathering fans and subscribers – you’ll also have the satisfaction of helping others along the way. An expert status helps you:

• Help others
• Become a trusted source
• Stand out from the crowd
• Get publicity for your own business
• Make selling your own products and services just a little bit easier

Social media is key in today’s online world, in helping companies and individual entrepreneurs get their name out there. The following are 5 ways by which to get your name recognized, your status appreciated, and your following built, by using social media tools appropriately.

1. Select a specific niche: Experts have their own niche, around which a keyword rich domain is built. It’s hard to compete with everyone, but easier to select a few to stand out from. Yaro Starak is one such example: in a short while, he built on his niche, bloggers and internet marketers, to become a multi-million dollar success story. Here’s his take on niche building: In today’s e-commerce landscape, content is the driving force behind traffic and purchasing decisions online, so topic selection is a big deal. You have to learn how to choose a niche before even choosing a niche!

2. Be active, daily: This doesn’t mean simply adding daily posts to your blog (though that would help). What it does mean is to work with selected social media sites on a daily basis. This could include a post, a couple of twitter messages, updates on Facebook, a note in MySpace, comments on other blog posts, and chats in forums. The more a person is online, the greater the chances of interacting with newer and targeted audience. Length is not an issue; the focus is not on creating 1000 + worded posts daily, but rather on providing timely and valuable content, even if it’s a 140 character tweet.

3. Learn from the best: To be the best you need to learn from the best and this means reading books and visiting sites of experts in the field. It also pays to participate in forums and chats- ask questions, contribute your own knowledge, and get the ball rolling.

A note here about accreditation: does it really help? Think of all the qualified medical practitioners offering online health and wellness guidance. Certification does help and it’s wise to upgrade knowledge with the latest that’s being offered in your field. There are plenty of online courses and distance education classes available; just ensure you learn from a reputable organization which you’ll be happy to attach your name to.

4. Pay special attention to branding: Branding is a powerful visual tool, which relays the company’s message across all sites. Spend time on creating and designing your brand before you launch the company. Your brand should be consistent across all social media sites (and you can take it offline too), so eventually people will recognize your logo, colors, and images, as much as they do your name.

5. Give as you receive: Experts give back as much as they receive. While the ulterior motive might be to sell your products and services, you can do this only by sharing generously the knowledge you’ve accumulated along the way, via social media sites, and also online courses, videos, and teleconferences. There’s no quicker way to be recognized as an expert, than by acting like one.

It takes a while to gain expert status, but as you work through these steps consistently, you’ll find yourself getting into the swing of things, and as you grow, and your brand gets established, so too will your client base grow. The satisfaction you derive from that, along with the money your company earns, will make it all worthwhile.

Before you pour your corporate heart out into your blog, it is important to step back and think about if blogging is really right for your business. That’s correct; not all companies elect to have blogs, and the success of those who do, depends on a number of factors, some of which can be challenging. If you think a corporate blog is a good idea for your company, there are a few considerations to ponder.

For instance, what is the Goal of your blogging attempt? Most people, business owners or otherwise, get carried away with the idea of starting a blog. It’s easy to set up and run a blog, but harder to maintain it. And without a well defined goal, a blog lacks direction. This means the audience you attract will be varied and without focus. An easy way to determine your goal is to do the following:

• Visit competitor blogs, lots of them
• Read about blog publishing
• View comments
• Participate in blog forums

Once you have a goal is mind, the next step to consider is the Voice of your blog. Who will be writing it? The company’s CEO? Marketing Manager? Publicist? A freelance writer? Will you have guest posts? Set up forum groups? Who will manage them? This is a big step to blogging. Almost all blogs fail in their first year of being set up, because of a lack of time and commitment in maintaining them.

If you’ve heard the saying, Content is king, then it holds all the more true in the instance of blogging. Recycled posts, copied posts, and boring posts, have a limited lifespan. Blogs which are popular produce fresh output on a regular basis. Various companies set up their content delivery in different ways: weekly posts, an editorial calendar based on the corporate calendar, daily headlines etc. Whatever you elect to use, it should be consistent so readers know what to expect. How you acquire this content too is important. Most blogs will get theirs the following ways:

• A designated in house person writes it
• Via PLR and recycled content
• Paid freelance writers
• Guest bloggers
• Free ezine articles

Some bloggers will talk of their life, hopes and dreams, and this works well if the blogger has some kind of celebrity status which others may wish to emulate. Other bloggers will try and sell their products and services directly on their blog. This too works well, but only with a limited audience. The best way to market a blog is via a soft sell approach, and by providing information which matters.

Blogs also face their own set of Challenges, namely trying to attract both a large audience, and a correct audience, to make it worthwhile. There are also certain technical aspects to running a blog which need to be fully understood, before a blog can be promoted. In addition, comments need to be managed, rules and policies implemented, and guidelines drawn out. In certain instances, there are legal implications which need to be addressed, and most corporate blogs will get their legal department involved to a limited extent.

While it’s true that corporate blogging can be a highly valuable communications tool for a company, it’s equally true that its creation and success depends on a strong time-money commitment, and the decision to start a blog therefore needs to prove its value. Unless you can justify this time/money outlay for your business, blogging may not be the right marketing tool for your company.

If you have designed the site by yourself, or used an amateur designer, beware of web design traps which are easy to fall into. Check to see if your site has any of the following:

Extensive text: Unbroken text on a screen can be monotonous, and pushes visitors straight out the door. Web text ideally should be short and catchy, with links to longer articles and documents. If you do need to upload lengthy text onto your site, make sure you use the following:

• Headings and subheadings
• Highlighted keywords
• Numbered lists
• Short tight paragraphs
• A simple writing style, even if the document is technical
• Plenty of blank space between text

Jumbled fonts and flash animation: While it’s important to use headers and highlights, it’s equally important not to overpower the screen with different fonts, sizes, colors, and the worst, constant animation! The eye is more adept at reading still font online. Similarly, keep in mind that users are a diverse range of people, so avoid tiny fonts which are unreadable, and stick to a more standard Arial or Times Roman 12 point font. And never ask visitors to download files in order to view data on a site. Most people are skeptical of downloading from unknown links, and the rest simply don’t have the time to do so.

Links that open to a new window: Click on a link, and a new window pops open, directing the audience to it. They read what they want to, close the window, and the original site remains open. Sounds familiar? Recent research however suggests a number of users don’t actually realize a new window has been opened, and stay confused when their ‘back’ button is grayed out. Scared that users may hop sites if the article you direct them to is better than the one on your site? Don’t worry. If the content you provide is interesting, visitors will use the ‘back’ button to return to it. Alternatively, let them open in a new window which is easily visible and opens up automatically (such as within this blog post), and not one which hides at the bottom of the screen.

Overuse of web advertising: When banner and pop up tools were first invented, they must have generated massive interest. But over the years, web users have long since been inured to their charms. Most Internet users browsing websites will in fact close anything which looks like an advertisement , even before scanning to see what it offers.

Long download times, and drop down buttons: You probably can identify with the frustration long download times cause; after all, unless you have no choice but to wait to download a document, you will probably go elsewhere. But did you know that drop down buttons can also drive a visitor off a site? Users should be able to view all navigation options upfront, and without having to search through individual menus to access it.

Registration requirements: Over 90% of your site’s visitors will land on your site for information, pure and simple. Ask them to register to receive it, and chances are they’ll be off to your competitor’s site. Questionnaires, registrations, and quizzes can drive away an impatient user. Similarly, it’s against the law to subscribe a visitor to a product or service, unless he’s given you explicit permission to do so.

Over cluttered web pages: Received awards and recognition? A member of various professional organizations? Have client’s you’d like to mention? It’s great to add their banners to your site, but too many fonts and graphics lead to clutter. Instead, lay out any recognition in a separate section, where it’ll receive the attention it deserves.

Poorly thought out URL’s: Search engines allow visitors to find a site, and the URL which features in them is an important, yet often, underused tool. Search engines will cut off lengthy titles, so keep yours short and catchy. Also, if a user bookmark’s a page, the system typically does it alphabetically. To keep your page from being at the bottom on the pile, avoid URL’s starting with T’s-Z’s, unless they’re easy to remember.

Other points to remember are that first impressions do count. If a user arrives at your site and likes what he sees, chances are he’ll return. On the other hand, providing too many options can confuse and distract the visitor. Instead, let him read what he wants, download what he needs, and move on to the next topic. Understanding the user’s requirements is important; and this should be reflected in your tone of voice, and message your site carries. And finally, check and double check all web content to see the information provided is up-to-date, the grammar is correct, and the links are working. There’s nothing more unprofessional than having someone click on link to be taken to a dead page.

There’s a lot more that a professional web designer will offer you in terms of design advice, but these are a few important points to bear in mind before your launch your website.

Creating an interactive site is simply a question of adding some of the following features to it. Don’t go overboard and stick them all on your site, you risk the chance of making it too busy. Instead, select the ones you think will work best, and test them for 6 months. If you feel you can do better, experiment with various options till you get it right.

Newsletters: These are the most popular and often the easiest to create. Sign on with sites like Aweber and Constant Contact. They are fully automated, and help you build your mailing list with minimum effort. Always provide your audience with the chance to unsubscribe; it’s required by law and shows your customer they have an out should they wish to take it.

Forums or message boards: These take a little more effort, as with every discussion board you need to have a moderator or someone who can monitor and guide discussions. These work really well however if you have an online retail store, as they allow customers to chat, ask questions, review products and discuss features; actions which are guaranteed to draw visitors back to the site. Keep your board open or private depending on your store. Another option is a chat room http://chat-forum.com/ which works in real time- people type in messages, to which others in the chat room can respond to. Chat rooms however work well only when the time is predetermined and a message sent out to everyone inviting them to join.

Surveys or polls: Surveys are fun to do, as long as they are short and to the point. Long surveys usually call for some incentive in the form of free offers, discounts etc. Don’t forget to post the results of the survey for all to see.

Guestbooks: Can visitors leave comments or sign a guestbook? If you are using these features, be sure to enable the ‘approval’ button, so you can screen the comments before they get published. Testimonials too work like comments/guestbook, only in this, people usually review the product/service they’ve already used so others may get a better idea before buying it.

Search feature: This is a great little tool which allows visitors to search your site for particular information, saving them time and effort. Most visitors will appreciate a search button and you can add either a ‘search the site’ or ‘search the web’ button. The former is more valuable in keeping your visitors on your site, but works well only in you have enough content. The latter will direct visitors away from your site to related links on the web. Gather the data to track what your visitors are really looking for.

Referral services: If someone likes your site, services or products, allow them to share it. You can do this via share buttons, or by integrating a widget that generates an email of the article, product/service, with your website’s URL. What better way to get the word out than have your fans do it for you?

Other features to consider include:

JavaScript, which allows you to add current date and time, visitor counters etc.

An FAQ area, updated with user questions.

Personalized postcards, which are great for image rich sites like travel and photography sites. Use your own site photos to create free postcards.

A calendar of updated events, if your site holds online or offline events, teleconferences, group meetings, etc.

A news column which automatically updates itself.

A blog which is one of the easiest ways to draw visitors to your site.

And last, but not least, interactive games and quizzes, which provide your audience with some fun time. They can be branded, and the quizzes tailor-made with your product information incorporated.