Webmasterspot - Website creation and management
Exploring Web development and everything that goes together with trying to run a website!

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Put your visitors first!

Nowadays there is an alarming amount of webmasters that are only in it for the money. They churn out hordes of websites consisting of pages filled with little or no real content and which are created purely to cash in on some high-paying keywords or topics. The Web is now littered with these “sites” that are only out to create as much revenue as possible from any unfortunate visitors that end up there.

Webmasters like these are nothing more than glorified spammers and fraudsters. Not only does this make it increasingly hard for people to find what they are looking for, but it also degrades the value of the Worldwide Web as a whole. You might be able to make a few quick bucks this way, but in the long run it doesn’t pay and you can be sure that you won’t be seeing any return visitors.

Being a good Webmaster is about having the right mindset. You should always create a website with your visitors as your main focus. Think about what your visitors would want to find on the site. Put yourself in their shoes and look at it from their point of view. If you can create a site that you yourself would like to visit you are on the road to success.

By focusing on your visitors and providing them with the best user experience possible your site will be able to stand the test of time. You’ll have sustainable traffic, visitors will return to your site regularly and they will refer people to your site.
After all, word of mouth is the best form of promotion.

Once you have finished optimizing your site for user experience (UEO or User Experience Optimization) you can start thinking about generating revenue from the site. The easiest way would be to add advertising such as Adsense and banner ads from other advertising networks. Once again you should take user experience into consideration when deciding on the placement and type of advertising.

A visitor-orientated site will generate a sustainable income, which should prove much higher than any “fly by night” site could offer in its short lifespan. Visitors are much more likely to click on ads, donate money, or subscribe to sites that they enjoy visiting.

So put your visitors first, your revenue generation second, and you will have a win-win situation for both you and your visitors.

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