Your web page is your internet business’ front to the world, and the impression it makes is what will make or break your business. There’s been an awful lot of design thought put into making web sites more attractive, some good - some bad. Here are a few Web Marketing Strategies we’ve learned since the web first started going commercial in 1993.

In addition to the colors being consistent, the theme and layout should also remain the same throughout the site. This is part of your image and you want it to be consistent.

Worse yet, it makes it seem cluttered. Look to Google for an example of a de-cluttered web site. It’s got a logo, a text box and three links on a plain white background, and it’s the most widely trafficked web site in the world.

Avoid using components that require the user to download plug-ins to view. You can probably expect someone to have a Flash, Shockwave or PDF plug in, and a Java Virtual Machine is all but standard these days but anything that requires a download and install is a barrier to entry. On a similar note, recall that usability is king on the web. Don’t overuse special effects and images; waaay too many web sites out there look cluttered because they have a bajillion animated GIFs strewn about, on top of a flashy (and unreadable) color schemeusually with an annoying piece of music running on a constant loop in the background.

Your theme choice and color scheme will compensate for missing out on the snazzy gee whiz options. It will do you more good in the long run to focus on the message, on the content, within a decent framework that won’t cause your readers to stick their eye out with a fork.

When designing your site, it is important to let people know what your contents are right away. Have a good site index and clear intentions. Your messages need to be conveyed in a clear way without using jargon that most people would not understand.

You want to reach as large of an audience as possible, so communicating clearly is crucial for web marketing strategies. Communicating on your web page is much like conversation in real life. If your information and what you always have to say remains the same, people will get bored and probably not engage you in conversation much with you. The same applies to your web page.

Similarly, if you do have content that requires user interaction, please keep it in the bounds of a widely established plugin: Flash, Shockwave, PDF and Java are all acceptable. DIVX, Windows Media, Quicktime and whatever else out there may not be - it depends on what you can expect people who’re hitting your site would have installed as a matter of course.