Time’S Ripe for You to Refresh Your Website
We are always talking about fast-changing technology when the discussion veers round to computers and websites. But in practice, a large number of the 146 million-odd websites on the net are caught in a time warp! They have not moved away from the last century! So is it time to refresh and renew your business/company website? In this article we'll look at some signs that will tell you that the time to do it is now.
Invention of Web
But before going into that let's take a trip back in time and go over the invention of the Web, whose 20th anniversary was celebrated this year. This backdrop will help us to get a better idea about Web technology and its advancement. We all have heard of CERN, the European nuclear and particle physics facility in Switzerland which made headlines first for announcing that its scientists had broken the speed of light or rather, had discovered the 'God particle' which they claimed to have hurtled faster than the speed of light, and then recently when one of its scientists was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics for the same. It was at CERN in 1989 that Tim Berners-Lee invented the Web which turned public in 1991. It was made free to all in 1993, without the need to pay any royalty, and the web world has turned on its head since then. Latest figures show that internet users have grown to 2.4 billion in 2012 from 361 million in 2000.
Static websites
The first websites were simple, static and read-only ones. The term Web 2.0 came into being in 2000. It was made with reference to interactive sites, the social media, commenting and sharing and so on. Newer and better tools like Java, Ajax, Ruby, and HTML5/CSS3 have enabled web developers to churn out dynamic, interactive sites. So keep the following things in mind so that your website is refreshed and is keeping up with the times.
Have prominent calls-to-action
The chief reason for a website's existence is to get inquiries from prospective customers and generate leads - in short, get visitor feedback. When this is not happening it's not accomplishing its main task. This is when your calls-to-action come into the picture. If they are not placed in obvious spots on your site or if they are not varied or exhibited at several places (don't forget the homepage), then you're in trouble. Calls-to-action must tell the visitor what to do, like 'download', 'request demo' etc.--something that will eventually lead to a sale.
What's the competition doing?
You have to be on top of what your competition is doing. Your audience will eye your competitors if they are not satisfied with your services. Only if you know everything about your competition will you able to beat them in the race. You must learn your rivals' business tactics and you should review their sites regularly to learn get some ideas that will help you make your site better than theirs.
Copy's too heavy!
Though text is very relevant to your site, content that's stuffed with too much text will not work well. Your text must answer visitors' queries no doubt, but you have to use the digital media and videos judiciously too. Remember, web users want fresh and appropriate content. If your content is stale besides being too heavy, they won't read it; they'll go to your rivals' site!
Flash slows things down
Flash was used to display visuals on websites and is not a novelty anymore. In an age when speed is essential, they slow things down. Besides, not being search engine friendly (and so bad for search engine optimization), they lack usability.
Invention of Web
But before going into that let's take a trip back in time and go over the invention of the Web, whose 20th anniversary was celebrated this year. This backdrop will help us to get a better idea about Web technology and its advancement. We all have heard of CERN, the European nuclear and particle physics facility in Switzerland which made headlines first for announcing that its scientists had broken the speed of light or rather, had discovered the 'God particle' which they claimed to have hurtled faster than the speed of light, and then recently when one of its scientists was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics for the same. It was at CERN in 1989 that Tim Berners-Lee invented the Web which turned public in 1991. It was made free to all in 1993, without the need to pay any royalty, and the web world has turned on its head since then. Latest figures show that internet users have grown to 2.4 billion in 2012 from 361 million in 2000.
Static websites
The first websites were simple, static and read-only ones. The term Web 2.0 came into being in 2000. It was made with reference to interactive sites, the social media, commenting and sharing and so on. Newer and better tools like Java, Ajax, Ruby, and HTML5/CSS3 have enabled web developers to churn out dynamic, interactive sites. So keep the following things in mind so that your website is refreshed and is keeping up with the times.
Have prominent calls-to-action
The chief reason for a website's existence is to get inquiries from prospective customers and generate leads - in short, get visitor feedback. When this is not happening it's not accomplishing its main task. This is when your calls-to-action come into the picture. If they are not placed in obvious spots on your site or if they are not varied or exhibited at several places (don't forget the homepage), then you're in trouble. Calls-to-action must tell the visitor what to do, like 'download', 'request demo' etc.--something that will eventually lead to a sale.
What's the competition doing?
You have to be on top of what your competition is doing. Your audience will eye your competitors if they are not satisfied with your services. Only if you know everything about your competition will you able to beat them in the race. You must learn your rivals' business tactics and you should review their sites regularly to learn get some ideas that will help you make your site better than theirs.
Copy's too heavy!
Though text is very relevant to your site, content that's stuffed with too much text will not work well. Your text must answer visitors' queries no doubt, but you have to use the digital media and videos judiciously too. Remember, web users want fresh and appropriate content. If your content is stale besides being too heavy, they won't read it; they'll go to your rivals' site!
Flash slows things down
Flash was used to display visuals on websites and is not a novelty anymore. In an age when speed is essential, they slow things down. Besides, not being search engine friendly (and so bad for search engine optimization), they lack usability.
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