So now you have your own website. It’s not exciting? You’re ready to start putting your website to work for you. What will you do first? So many ideas go through your head… you want to make it the best website on the internet. You want it to be unique and different from the others.

So many ideas going in and out of your head that you want to do so many things. After all, besides the things in our home, when can we really design anything? Before we know it we’ve added a little bit of this and a little bit of that and maybe a little more of this. It’s almost like passing a magic wand over everything by coloring and embellishing it. For us, our website looks great, we have color and we have animated graphics, we also have a lot of content, after all, that’s what makes the site famous, isn’t it?

But wait, take a closer look, is all that content really necessary? We know that Google likes content, but some of us may not know what kind of content Google is looking for. I admitted it, I once thought that content is content. But I was very wrong, not all content is the same. If your website is a business related site, then your content should also be business related. Your content should be interesting and useful. Something you know your visitors would enjoy. Color and graphics are not useful content.

Many websites have articles on their site. This is probably some of the best content to have on your site. Most of the articles are interesting and provide useful information. What makes the articles on your site even better? If they are your articles. Articles are not difficult to write, just pick a topic you are familiar with and write an article about it. Just remember to keep your article topics related to the type of site you have.

Let’s talk color, is all that bright color really what our visitors want to see? Some colors are too bright and can be sensitive to people’s eyes. If you need to have color, make them more realistic, not something that will make your visitors want to run from your site. Not having any color is also good. Color is optional, just choose wisely.

Animated graphics, who is to blame for that? I know I am, and it’s understandable since they’re cute and neat to look at. Or are? Too many things flashing on your site is not attractive. Also, too many graphics will take attention away from what is really important, and that is your text. Your text is your message to your visitors. If you insist on having them on your site, I’d suggest maybe just having one. Make sure your visitor is focused more on your text, not graphics.

Another point to consider is “keyword rich text”. You want to mention your keywords throughout your website. At every opportunity you get, mention your keywords. Work them into your prizes. When writing articles, make sure to add some of your keywords to the title of your article. This also helps your website get noticed by the SE (search engines).

I write this article because I want everyone to learn from my mistakes. I am guilty of all of the above. It took a new computer to realize how strong my color was (previous computer color looked dull). After realizing how brilliant it was, I panicked. It was like a slap in the face because I thought what a horrible color and if I thought that about my own site, what would my visitors be thinking? I asked the advice of a good friend and thank God this friend is open and honest in her opinions. She helped me take a step back and really look at my site. My only thoughts were, “What have I been thinking?”

I don’t even remember when or how my site got the point it did. I felt like I had a whole other life that I didn’t know anything about and that person was taking over the design of my site. But thanks to the new computer and my good friend, I have regained control of my site, and since doing so, my site visitors have doubled and the length of the visit has also increased. I am back on the road to success.