1. Content is King.
Why are certain sites more popular than others? One of the most important factors is the type and amount of content. Good content sites will always be rewarded and rise to the top of the rankings. Keep that in mind when you craft your content.

2. Solid web design
Put some effort into creating the best web page you can. While the web site design does not necessarily guarantee strong rankings, it influences your readers and creates a positive impression.

3. Site relevancy
Always keep in mind to stay within the topic of your web site. You can't be all things to all people. By staying in your niche, it will help create an "authority" like status for your website. Of course this is in conjunction with solid search engine optimization SEO practices.

4. Design complete sites.
When you start on any new web design project. Consider the overall look and feel of the site, not just individual pages. It is important to have a site that has consistency, as this is one of the main factors that differentiates the amateurs from the pros.

5. Navigation.
Your viewer should be able to navigate easily to any page in your site. Link your web pages in a consistent and logical manner so that your viewers have no troubles understanding how to get to pages and where they are at If are selling a product or service, make it easy for people to follow through. This will help increase your conversion ratio. Also be sure to display your contact information on every page. This is typically your email address and phone number. This invites your customers to contact you with questions.

6. First impressions
When a visitor enters your site, think about what the first impression is. Do not create a homepage that is too busy. You want to tease the visitor to dig deeper into your site to find more information. Also, if you are truly serious about your business, don't use a free hosting service (e.g. Geocities) and buy your own domain.

7. Objective and constructive criticism
Once you have completed your website, be sure to ask friends and family members whose opinions you trust to objectively comment on your website.

8. Check your markup!
Once all final changes are made, be sure to run your site through the HTML and CSS checker. W3C provides excellent tools.

9. Promote your new site
Start promoting your web site by doing link exchanges, submitting to directories and finding other sites relevant to yours to place some content and links from.

10. Keep your site current
The search engines love and rewards sites with content that is always updated and fresh. Revisit your site every so often to keep it up to date.

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