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SWeCS NEWSLETTER - 3 May
2004
In this issue...
- Is Your Site User Friendly?
- Free HTML Validator
- SWeCS Services Update
- Don't Pay $265!
- Resources For Small Business
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IS YOUR SITE USER FRIENDLY?
Web sites are often like art. What one person
finds attractive or interesting, another might
absolutely hate. But beyond individual tastes,
there are some basic rules you can follow to
generally improve your web site's
"user-friendliness".
- Navigation Structure. The navigation of
your web site is really important, and
has to be logical. People need to be able
to work out very quickly how to find what
they want. This means making your
headings as simple, yet descriptive, as
possible. For example, instead of having
a link that says
"Subscriptions", make it say
"Join our newsletter". Make it
clear.
Also, try to have the same navigation
structure on each page. That way, your
visitor doesn't have to re-learn how to
navigate the site each time they get to a
new page.
- Use plain English. Avoid sounding like a
lawyer, or a salesperson, and just say
what you need to say in everyday
language. People, unfortunately, are
often in a hurry and will click onto
another site if they can't understand
what you're saying.
- Put Your Contact Details EVERYWHERE. Some
web sites look great, but trying to find
their contact details is very difficult.
You should have your contact details
either on every page, or at least a clear
link to them.
- Ensure all your links and images work.
Having broken links and images that don't
appear is not only frustrating but
unprofessional. Regularly test the links
and images on your site.
- If your site is large, include a search
tool. For sites with many pages, it's
often easier for your visitors to search
for what they want through a search tool,
rather than by browsing each page. There
are some simple tools out there to
install search facilities on your site.
- If your site is large, consider a site
map. A site map is simply a page that has
a listing of all the pages on your web
site, in list form. It's a way for
someone to quickly browse through what's
on your site and find what they want.
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FREE HTML VALIDATOR
For those of you who handle your own web site
work, you may be interested in a free program
that will "validate" (check) your
coding for you. It's a great little program that
looks at your coding and lets you know if there
are any problems.
It's at www.htmlvalidator.com/lite/.
Why use it? Because even if your site looks
OK, there could be coding problems that are
stopping search engine spiders from properly
registering the page, or stopping certain parts
of the page working in different browsers. It's
worth doing.
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SWeCS SERVICES UPDATE
We've added a lot of new services over the last
several months, and we've found that some people
have asked us to clarify again what we do! Here's
a summary of our services:
Web site design and
updates
Web site hosting
Domain registration
Web site promotion,
including search engine ranking, basic
search engine submissions, web site
analysis (for search engine ranking), and
more
Email marketing
Competition management
Broken links checking
service
Web site templates
Training Courses (How To
Build Your Own Web Site, Affiliate
Marketing)
Ecommerce Strategic Plans
Free Newsletter
and more...
You should be able to find
information on any of the above at our site, www.southwestecommerce.com.
Contact us for a free quote.
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DON'T PAY $265!
We recently spoke to someone who said they
paid $265 for their Australian .com.au domain
name! Thinking it was a mistake, we checked out
the registration site and was surprised to find
that it's true.
Imagine their shock when they realised that
they could have purchased through our domain
registry service for only $88!
Don't pay $265 for your domain name. Don't
even pay $140. And if you've already got a domain
name, you can actually transfer to our system
now, at no cost, and then when your domain name
is due for renewal, you'll be able to renew
through our system at the lower price.
Simply visit http://domains.southwestecommerce.net
and click on Transfers.
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RESOURCES FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Ecommerce Library
Browse through the SWeCS Ecommerce Library,
full of FREE information about getting more out
of the Internet. Sections include Web Site
Development, Web Site Promotion & Internet
Marketing, Online Commerce, Computer &
Technical Issues, and Miscellaneous.
Newsletter Archives
The SWeCS Newsletter archives provides a
wealth of FREE information on small business and
the Internet. Browse through the main topics or
search for your particular query.
SWeCS Affiliate Program
Start up another income stream, by earning $60
for each referral who signs up for our search
engine ranking package. Also earn $50 for each
referral who signs up for our web site package.
Affiliate Directory
Browse through a list of reviewed Affiliate
programs. Let us do the work of testing it out
for you!
Do you know of a resource that should be added
here? Email us and let us know. There is only one
condition - it must be free.
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OTHER EMAIL NEWSLETTERS
Here's some other email newsletters you might
like:
www.southwestlife.com.au
www.dunsboroughbayvillageresort.com/news/newsindex.htm
www.west-oz.com/newsletter/newsletter.asp
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