good if your visitor can't find what they are looking for. Stick to simple menus for navigation. Flash and Java menus can be slow to load and some visitors can't even see them. Simple HTML links can be made to look very fancy with some style sheets (CSS).

Check for broken links. Nothing is worse for a visitor than not finding

There are many small businesses that, even in this day and age, don't have a website or have one that just sits there and does nothing. What they want is a website that makes money instead of costing money. A site that is search engine friendly will assist in accomplishing this goal. That way the search engines will help them by sending them traffic. When it comes to business on the Internet, traffic is everything.

You don't have to be a fortune 500 company. You don't have to wait years or even months. You don't have to have a multi-million-dollar budget. Anyone can compete, even mom and pops. You just need to know the right way to go about promoting your websites as well as optimizing them for the search engines.

One thing I've discovered is that when it comes to building web sites for businesses, there really are no shortcuts. If you cut corners, it will always come back to haunt you. This could lead to many, many changes or, in the worst case, a site that just doesn't work well.

What is a small business to do?

Even if you don't want to do any or all of the work yourself, there are things that you should know, to make sure the job is done right.

1) A clean looking site that is easy to navigate is first and foremost. The best content in the world and a million visitors a day won't do you any good if your visitor can't find what they are looking for. Stick to simple menus for navigation. Flash and Java menus can be slow to load and some visitors can't even see them. Simple HTML links can be made to look very fancy with some style sheets (CSS).

Check for broken links. Nothing is worse for a visitor than not finding w

ing them traffic. When it comes to business on the Internet, traffic is everything.

You don't have to be a fortune 500 company. You don't have to wait years or even months. You don't have to have a multi-million-dollar budget. Anyone can compete, even mom and pops. You just need to know the right way to go about promoting your websites as well as optimizing them for the search engines.

One thing I've discovered is that when it comes to building web sites for businesses, there really are no shortcuts. If you cut corners, it will always come back to haunt you. This could lead to many, many changes or, in the worst case, a site that just doesn't work well.

What is a small business to do?

Even if you don't want to do any or all of the work yourself, there are things that you should know, to make sure the job is done right.

1) A clean looking site that is easy to navigate is first and foremost. The best content in the world and a million visitors a day won't do you any good if your visitor can't find what they are looking for. Stick to simple menus for navigation. Flash and Java menus can be slow to load and some visitors can't even see them. Simple HTML links can be made to look very fancy with some style sheets (CSS).

Check for broken links. Nothing is worse for a visitor than not finding

websites as well as optimizing them for the search engines.

One thing I've discovered is that when it comes to building web sites for businesses, there really are no shortcuts. If you cut corners, it will always come back to haunt you. This could lead to many, many changes or, in the worst case, a site that just doesn't work well.

What is a small business to do?

Even if you don't want to do any or all of the work yourself, there are things that you should know, to make sure the job is done right.

1) A clean looking site that is easy to navigate is first and foremost. The best content in the world and a million visitors a day won't do you any good if your visitor can't find what they are looking for. Stick to simple menus for navigation. Flash and Java menus can be slow to load and some visitors can't even see them. Simple HTML links can be made to look very fancy with some style sheets (CSS).

Check for broken links. Nothing is worse for a visitor than not finding

l.

What is a small business to do?

Even if you don't want to do any or all of the work yourself, there are things that you should know, to make sure the job is done right.

1) A clean looking site that is easy to navigate is first and foremost. The best content in the world and a million visitors a day won't do you any good if your visitor can't find what they are looking for. Stick to simple menus for navigation. Flash and Java menus can be slow to load and some visitors can't even see them. Simple HTML links can be made to look very fancy with some style sheets (CSS).

Check for broken links. Nothing is worse for a visitor than not finding

good if your visitor can't find what they are looking for. Stick to simple menus for navigation. Flash and Java menus can be slow to load and some visitors can't even see them. Simple HTML links can be made to look very fancy with some style sheets (CSS).

Check for broken links. Nothing is worse for a visitor than not finding what they think they are clicking on. Be sure to have a custom 404-error page, so that if someone does click on a broken link, you can give them a chance to find another page in your site instead of leaving.

The first page will likely take you the longest to design. It will be the model for the rest of your pages. Take the time to get the look of the first page right. If you make a mistake here and don't fix it you will have to fix it many more times later. All of the other pages should be copied from your template so the look is consistent and people will know when they are on your site. They will also know when they are leaving.

2) Have good quality content and lots of it. Write good descriptions of your products. Search engines love text, so make sure to include actual text and not pictures of words. Some people will spend hours and hours (or hire a firm) to optimize their site for the search engines. They initially get a high ranking and then see their rankings plummet when the new search engine updates kick in. If you provide good content for your visitors, the search engines will reward you with a high ranking which won't change every time they update their algorithms.

Make it good enough so your customer will not need a picture to know what they are getting and then, in addition, give them a good p