Surfing for Site Success

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Surfing for Site Success
By Deborah Anderson

When designing or re-designing your web site, keep in mind that you are creating a site for the surfer, not for other webmasters. What works for you when you visit other sites? Now you have to take your webmaster hat off for this – you have to pretend that you are just an average person surfing your way through cyberspace.

Try this exercise -

* Spend 20 minutes surfing. Yes, kick back & enjoy...
* Use the search engines or directories or refer to
"Submit Your Site To..." to find some web sites that may interest you.
* Write down the web sites that "catch your eye" and make you curious and even interested. Bookmark these if you like for later retrieval and analysis.
* Analyze - What is it that appeals to you about these web sites? Is it the content? Is it the
eye-appealing aspect? Note: Don not confuse the "eye-appeal" with design. A poor design may still attract your attention - be it good or bad.
* Apply these observations to your web site. How can you improve the content of your web site? How can you inspire interaction from your web site visitor?

Please note that I said "analyze" not "copy." Also I am not advocating bad designs nor over-active, flashy web sites. The decision is yours - You are the analyst here.

I use this method often when coming up with new banner designs. If a banner catches my eye when I am NOT looking for it, then it must be a good banner - not necessarily a good design. Some of my best banners have been some of the most ordinary and un-appealing to me, but they resulted in a good click-thru ratio.

Try it...it will help...

Deborah Anderson of Anderson Creations publishes the weekly ezine, Webmaster Tips Weekly. Receive info that will help you design & maintain an exceptional web site! Subscribe free at http://www.andersoncreations.com/subscribe.shtml