? Copyright 2005, Rozey Gean

It's so easy to annoy and drive away your website visitors without even realizing it. Ensuring your site is user-friendly--and not annoying--is one of the most important factors in creating a successful online presence.

To guarantee your website is ready for traffic, consider the following 5 points before kicking your advertisements into high gear:

1. Remove any "under construction" signs.

People are visiting your website because your promotional message triggered their fancy. Nobody wants to be directed to a site that holds a welcome message and a sign that states, "under construction."

Frankly, sending traffic to unfinished website only defeats the purpose of advertising in the first place.

The idea is to cater to visitors, as long as possible, in hopes of getting them to join your list or to buy. Neither is possible when you're promoting a site that isn't ready to accommodate the traffic it receives.

2. Create your subscription forms.

You can't walk without putting one foot in front of the other. The same holds true for your mailing lists... You can't build a list without offering plenty of sign up forms.

To prepare, place the forms in a prominent box on your web pages and offer an incentive to join.

- Know who you're talking to and speak to them directly.
- Address the problems that your list will solve for them.
- Answer your prospect's question, "What's in it for me?"
- Ask them to take specific action to join.

This not only makes your mailing list enticing for newcomers, it also allows you to connect with them after they're gone.

3. Include an easy-to-use navigational system.

The truth is, your visitors are going to be pressed for time. This is the way of the world-wide-web and the more you can do to make surfing your site -- EASIER -- the better!

A navigational system using understandable links or buttons that lead deeper into your site, as well as making sense to the end-user, is nothing short of surfing bliss!

If all else fails, use a site map page!

4. Work smarter... not harder. (Build it one section at a time)

If you're creating a large site, rather than using "under construction pages" that cut off the natural surfing flow for visitors, consider building it one section at a time.

If you're erecting a home and garden site, decide what to put in front of the public first; the home section or the garden area. Then proceed to build it.

The great thing about structuring web pages in this fashion is how nicely your website will flow, while the rest of the site is being designed offline!

5. Think community!

People like to feel as if they're a part of something special. Your job, as a site owner, is to make this a reality for every person who visits your website.

- Be yourself and let your personality shine through.
- Offer more than a quick one-liner in your outgoing emails.
- Think relationships first - sales second.
- ASK visitors what their pressing problems are and help solve them.
- Provide adequate community tools and add to them, frequently.
- Provide tons of free information to help educate your end-users.

Every person, who is a part of a target market, shares common traits with others in that community. That's a fact! I suggest you build your site around these shared attributes. You simply can't go wrong with this mindset.

Before you tackle the job of website promotion, make sure your website meets all the criteria listed above to guarantee it is ready for the traffic surge it is about to receive.

Now... go forth and promote for prosperity!