Since 1996 More Articles | About American Builders Network | Home Is Your
Web Site Too High-Tech? The design elements and techniques that make your web site unique or cutting-edge may be the same elements that make it unfriendly to search engines and your target market. Those bells and whistles can make your web site unfriendly to search engines and to visitors who don’t have the latest computers, updated browsers or fastest connection speeds. Advances in web technology do not occur uniformly across all platforms. Some innovations may be incompatible with the hardware and software typically used by your audience. And new software is often made available before it’s ready for prime time. Programs are often rushed to market with lots of fanfare – but also lots of bugs. If your goal is to extend your reach to the broadest population, it’s vital that your site is compatible with search-engine robots and as many browsers as possible. The Problem Web sites that use frames, JavaScript, and Flash, that require plug-ins, that create pages from databases, or have a splash page can be cumbersome for both search engine robots and older browsers, and require special handling to make them readable by the search engine robots. Heavily designed pages can cause older-version browsers to freeze and older computers to crash . . . very irritating to someone you want to sell a home to. So unless you’re focusing strictly on a high-tech market, these "special-effects" methods can work against you. A Solution If you decide your web site is too high-tech, there is a solution - have your Web site designer recreate your site, but this time using basic Internet design elements and HTML coding that can be seen even on older version browsers. Next, before uploading your recreated site to the web, hand it off for final editing to someone who understands what search-engine robots can and cannot do. This solution should cost considerably less than what you paid for your original site because text and graphics are already available and can be cut and pasted to the new pages. An
Even Better Solution Here's an alternative solution to changing your corporate web site. An inexpensive and effective option that will let you keep your high-end site and still get your message to those home buyers with older computers and browsers. Have American Builders Network create and market a brochure-style web site for you on www.americanbuilders.com. These web sites are created with basic HTML coding. They position well in search engines and frequently outperform the members' company sites in both traffic and leads. Because of its strong network of links and good search engine positions, American Builders Network is able to congregate more home buying traffic than stand-alone web sites. You’ll have a search-engine- friendly Web site that describes your company and homes and provides a link to your more "high-tech" company Web site. You'll be impressed by both the low cost and the additional sales opportunities you get. Conclusion Today’s technology is giving us new tools for delivering our messages. But it’s easy to get so wrapped up in the technology that we forget that "getting the message out" is still what really counts. Too often, web site creators design for their peers, not for the general population. Make sure your Web site designer knows exactly who your market is and understands that many people are still using older computers and browsers, at slower connection speeds. If you suspect your site may be too high-tech, try experimenting with new design techniques – or try a marketing program such as that offered by American Builders Network.
More Articles | About American Builders Network | Home American
Builders Network, Inc. |
