First of all you want to keep it simple, that's what web surfers really want. You always want your site to look clean and professional. In my experience most people simply hit 'Back' on their browser when they get to a cluttered site. If you keep it neet and organized most people will stay long enough to see what your site is actually about.
Create a "Site Map" on your homepage or index. A site map should contain links to every single page of your website. These maps can be helpful for people but even more so for search engines, because when a search engine "crawls" the "spiders" it sends will have an easier time accessing every page of your website. This will help your site get listed in many different search engines.Besides the site map, make a navigation bar or nav bar. These nav bars are alot easier for people to use and should be totally visible on every page of your website. Be sure to put links to every main page of your site in the nav bar too.Purchase or download some type of image creating/editing software. Your site looks alot better with a custom professional looking logo and other images.Add some type of attracting feature to your website. These can range from a Game of the week, to Joke of the day, Horoscopes, or any other thing that will get peoples attention, but be sure to update it as much as you say you will. This adds "stickiness" to your website and will attracted new visitors and hopefully keep old ones coming back.Make an archive or landmarks page. People enjoy reading about the past issues of your e-zine or goals your site has accomplished in the past.Add some interactive things to your site like a forum, or a live chat room. People enjoy talking to others about how good they think your site is. Forums and chat rooms also add stickiness to your site.Make a Partners page where you put links to other sites related to yours. Partner pages add stickiness to your site and if you swap links with your partner sites this will get your site ranked higher on search engines which means more traffic!Be sure to Advertise your site. Use your image software to make buttons and banners that other sites can use to link to your site.Make sure you have a webmaster e-mail. This way visitors and other webmasters alike can ask questions or comment your site.Make articles just like this used to help people. Visitors will enjoy reading about up to date topics. Pick only topics that interest almost all your visitors and is somewhat related to your site. Always update and create new articles as much as possible, this will create some REAL stickiness and the traffic will roll in.By following these simple 10 steps your website should become a growing masterpeice. You should get a non-stop flow of traffic and have a succesful website in no time. If you want to learn how to make your own 100% FREE website go to www.freewebs.com/aqndog/articleadd.htm
