Internet Insider/Website Design & Layout

Now To The Point Of This Weeks Topic!

If you are serious about having a website that sells and and makes money, you need to have your own web presence and make an honest commitment. Having some self proclaimed Guru setup your site and hosting for you will usually end up in disaster. This is usually due to the fact that you really get nothing, except maybe information, for free. If you are ever told the opposite, RUN!

Depending on what you are selling, whether it’s an ebook, affiliate program or even just adsense, you need a theme. Relying on a plethora of flashy banners and buttons are proven losers, especially with people in search of information. Your visitors need information, and you have about 8-10 seconds to capture their attention before they move on. My first site was a real cookie cutter. A clone site set up by a real smooth marketer! Cookie cutter Clone sites are a big waste of time, not only for the expensive hosting, but also for the time it takes to manage and be a submissive affiliate to someone who set the site up for you in the first place.

This of course is how most of these Free Website Gurus make money. Website hosting, in which you and anyone else with the same clone site pay for it monthly!

One day I decided to take a step back and start thinking about websites [especially my own] with a more reasonable focus. With some advice from others and a recommendation from a friend, “your site looks BUSY,” he said. He was right. I looked at it now with a more objective eye, instead of a $ sign eye. The layout was unorganized and confusing, even to me; I then wondered what it was doing to my visitors. I guess lack of sales confirmed this.

I decided I needed a change. I started to read up on design techniques from both free, and paid sources. Most of what I read made sense. I also took a good look at how the bigger successful sites were doing it. Most of these sites had a familiar pattern, and that of course consisted of a SIMPLE layout, design and keyword rich text. What a discovery, keep it simple! This doesn’t mean lame, or lacking in content. Quite the opposite; less banners and more keyword focused text.

Note: I am not knocking banner ads or pictures as they do serve a purpose. What I am trying to convey here is a tasteful and moderate implementation of such. If you are still confused, please check out my homepage by clicking on the top left nav bar. It is a good example of a simple design that works.

Another few words of advice is to make your pages easy to read with a white background and darker text, such as plain black, but any inoffensive dark color will do. I have actually seen sites with white text and black background color. Being different and using new ideas are good, but it can make your eyes fuzzy and some browsers can’t handle it. So why? Also using adsense on a white background isn’t only effective, it is easy to implement. Simply make your ad borders white and blend it in with the text to achieve a nice borderless eye catching layout. This is one aspect of design where simple is obviously the way to go.

Awards and Trophies

This is one area I have experimented with as well. Plainly put, it is my opinion you don’t need them. These are the Certified Website, or BBB logo’s (if you can get one) and other types of Better Internet Bureau buttons that a lot of Guru’s say you need on your site to gain trust and boost sales. I actually used a BBB banner linked to an affiliate program, (which legitimately was a member of, I might add,) and displayed it proudly on my homepage. Needless to say I was eventually told to remove it.

The point is that it made absolutely no difference in sales, click through rate or much else for that matter. I was a little bitter in having to remove it, but I soon realized it was of no consequence anyway. I also experimented with a few others to no avail. And that is all I think I need to say about that! So be careful out there, a heck of a lot of B.S. is taking place. Do your due diligence and don’t be afraid to think. Live and learn as always!

P.S. Do searches on Google or Yahoo to verify for your self that what I am saying is true. Take a look at some of the top sites for search. And yes you find some extravagant designs and structure. But as always, look at the majority and big picture so to speak. Not everyone can afford high tech, and tastefully simple does sell well!

Next week we be talking about,,,. Well wait and see. I haven’t decided yet!