Get your web site ready for 2009by Anna Suutarla

It’s a New Year, a new beginning. While you have your resolutions to get fit and organized, you might want to add something to your list. If you listen very carefully, you might hear a little voice. Just get close to the screen, your web site is trying to tell you something! It wants to be in with the popular Google crowd, attract a good paying customer and best of all it’s willing to work 24/7 for you.

Top 12 web site resolutions:

• I resolve to be compatible with the new browsers coming out in 2009
  In addition to Google’s just released web browser Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer version 8 and Mozilla Firefox version 3.1 will be released in the first half of 2009. So make sure your website is ready for these improvements.
• I resolve to be easy to navigate
  When a visitor can’t find contact information and hours of operation (in a business site), help (for an application) and search (for information sites) they will hit the back button pretty quickly.
• I resolve to display relevant and short content
  People don’t read on the web, they scan.
• I resolve not ask you to “click here”
  Instead of using the words “click here”, write keyword rich hyperlinks that tell people what they will find.
• I resolve not link to a PDF without telling the visitor
  Ever thought you were going to a web page and an 8 MB pdf started to open? 'Nuf said.
• I resolve not be an afterthought in my marketing plan
  When you think web, think marketing. 
• I resolve not be an afterthought in my business plan
  Your web site is an asset; use it to grow your business.
• I resolve to dedicate myself to customers and prospective clients, not my owners
  Always keep the audience of your web site in mind.
• I resolve not to put 2 or 3 buttons or hyperlinks right beside each other that do the exact same thing
  Don’t make web site visitors think. 
• I  resolve to have a clean home page; splash pages are so 1996
  Don’t make visitors wait around for the flash intro to load.
• I resolve not to use clever or generic labels for my navigation
  Navigation needs to be self evident. Be descriptive.
• I resolve to have keyword rich title tags
  Your organization name or the name of the page just won't cut it with the search engines.

So there you go, 12 web site resolutions, one for every month of the year. Um...and a bonus one for 2010.