8 Must Have Features of the
Well-Read Website

1. Make a good first impression.  Make sure your site is calm and confident, and the visitor knows, within the first 5 seconds, what your website is about.  To do this, your headline and first paragraph should be a summarization of the website theme.   Who you are, what you're going to share with them, and why you decided to do so.  No one likes to read half a page of 'stuff' only to find the site didn't deal with their issue of interest.   No flashing lights, no neon headlines, no blaring music or boisterous sales pitches blasting away.
   
   
2. Provide an easy read.   Sentences should be no longer than 20 words. Paragraphs should be no longer than 5 sentences.  Each paragraph should have a theme, stated in the first sentence, and elaborated on through its conclusion.  Just as each article should have a first paragraph that summarizes the article, each paragraph should have a first sentence that states the purpose of that paragraph.
   
   
3. Talk to one person.  Rather than talking to the masses as a whole, write to a particular person.  Picture them in your mind and write as though you are having a private conversation with them.  - This is what 'you' should do.-  
   
   
4. Always focus on what your visitor needs.  There was a reason your visitor chose to visit your website.  Address that need.  How can you solve their problem?  Don't tell them what you have; they don't care.  Tell them what problem of theirs you can solve.
   
   
5. Tell your visitor what they need to do; give them a call to action.  (Don't leave this to chance and figure they'll know.)  Tell them to buy now, or click here, or what ever it is you want them to do.  And whenever possible and practical, finish with a post script (P.S.). Such as: P.S.  If you order the super duper item within the next 48 hours, I'll give you double for your money.  This is not only a call to action; it's a call to act quickly.
   
   
6. Start with a rough outline.  This will keep you from rambling on and off the subject.  In the first paragraph tell them what you're going to tell them (the brief summary of what the page is about), then tell them what you said you were going to tell them, and then tell them you told them (just a summary of what they learned).
7. Use an easy to read Font.  It's so tempting to put some fancy font on your website.  But if your visitor's machine doesn't support that font you have no idea what they'll see.  And if that were not enough, many of those fancy fonts are very hard to read; especially for some of us.   Stick to the basic Arial, Helvetica, & sans-serif fonts.  They're easy on the eye and most visitors' machines will support at least one of those three.  I also like to have my line spacing at 1.5.  Once again this makes the page much easier to read.
   
   
8. Never use passive voice.  (For those of us who write in Word or Word Perfect, we are constantly reminded when we've use 'Passive voice'.)   Always use active voice when writing.

If you follow these guidelines, your visitors won't want to leave.  They'll appreciate your thoughtfulness and stick around long enough to see what an absolute 'peach' you really are.

For more information on writing in general, check out  Easy Article Marketing.   Also our Free Online Tools  page will give you links to free services online to help with keyword research, webpage writing and a number of other nifty items.

Though, for the most part, I wrote this site myself (Joyce; header graphic not mine) there are other ways to get a website.  (For wonderful websites, go to Template Monster, or for Wealthy Affiliate members, you will have free access to the site Rubix.)  And last but not least, check out our recommendations for  Website Hosting.