Web Site Design Tips - Interaction

In this installment of web site design tips, we're going to concentrate on an aspect of web design that a lot of designers ignore because it's more on the technical side than the actual design side. However, site interaction is very important if you want to give your visitors a complete web experience. This article will go over some of the basic things you should include on your web site in order to make your visitors feel like they're more than just, well, than just visitors.

As much as people like looking a web sites, especially if they're visually appealing, they also like to feel like they are involved with the site itself. That's why sites like blogs and social sites like Wikipedia and MySpace are so popular. It almost makes the person feel like the site is partially their own. In order to get this feel, there are some simple things you can do, even if you don't want to create something as massive as another MySpace.

The first, and probably easiest thing to do is include a search function on your site. The reason I say easiest is because you don't have to do any programming to accomplish this. All you have to do is head over to Google and get the code for this function. It will give your visitors the ability to either do an Internet search from your site, meaning find things at other sites, or do a site search, meaning find things at your own site. This will make visiting your site a lot more enjoyable.

Another thing you can do is set up a blog on your site where visitors can post their comments. If you want, you can make it so that they have to register to do this. Most will not mind. This will keep the spam comments to a minimum if the person has to give a real email address. Also, this is a great way to build a list at the same time, so you are killing two birds with one stone.

Another thing that you can do with your site, in order to encourage interaction, is to put things up on your site that people can comment on or even vote on. For example, you can put up polls asking people for their opinions on topics related to your site. There are tons of polling software around that you can get for free. Some of them you don't even have to install. All you need to do is go to a site, copy and paste some code on your page and you're done.

Another thing you can do is sign up with an autoresponder service like Aweber or Get Response and the include an opt in form for somebody to download a free report related to your site. People love free reports and this is another way to build your list.

These few tips are just the tip of the giant interactive iceberg. By keeping your visitors engaged at your site, you will keep them there longer and keep them coming back for more.

To YOUR Success