by Alice Parks

Web design can be tricky if you're not properly versed in the do's and don'ts. It's easy to become victim to the many pitfalls of business web design, but it's even easier to avoid them if you know what to watch out for.

To let your website live up to its greatest potential, always consider the following things. Doing so will enable your web design to really succeed in its purpose.

Website Keywords

By far the most fatal and common web page design problem - when a web designer builds a website with not attention paid whatsoever to keywords. Keywords are the root of any successful website and they are what get people visiting your website. When a user types in "diet program" for instance in a search engine, then your website needs to come up if that is what you offer. Without traffic to your web page design, a website is useless.

Always choose a web design firm that understands the importance of keywords. Also, when you write your website content, keep your keywords in mind. In order to find good keywords to use in your custom web design, use a free keyword suggestion tool like Google Adwords.

Once you have honed in on your ideal keywords, pay for your web design company to optimize them into your website. Just ask to get your web page design optimized for search engines and they'll know what you mean.

Website Homepage Exterior Links

Never ever place external links on your website's homepage. This is small business web design suicide. All experts say that all the links on your home page should be linked to internal pages in your HTML web design and never to other websites.

Even if you somehow support the other site, it's best to link to them on another page, a links page for instance. This way you have a better chance of keeping your customers browsing around your website (you also look more important to the search engines).

Search engines like Google look down on websites that have a lot of external links and they rank them harder. In other words, you will find it difficult to see your website on the home page of any major search engine.

Straightforward Website Navigation

If your web page design is awkward and confusing to use, potential customers will click away from your website just as fast as they clicked in. Every good web design company knows this - zero ease of use equals zero customers. Make sure you have a top menu and possibly a left-hand menu, as these are the most common forms of website navigation. You don't want your visitors to be lost on your website and stuck on your homepage.

Your custom web design should also have fast loading pages, even on a non-high speed internet connection. If your website takes longer than 5 seconds to load, it's too slow - possibly because it is bogged down with images. However, a reputable web design firm will be aware of this and will steer clear of slow-loading pages.

When it comes to a successful web page design you must always avoid the three pitfalls explained above. If you don't have the skills for custom web design, then consider hiring a top web design firm to build a website for you. Affordable web design services are never hard to find.

About the Author

5 Shades Media Inc. (http://www.5shades.com) specializes in Internet Website Design.

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