There are a few clear benefits to multi-location retailers for keeping a single Web site rather than maintaining multiple and separate sites per location or category, which we discussed in part three of this series. There are also some clear pitfalls that can easily be avoided, such as the following top five:

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Remember when mobile phones were just for talking? Then came texting, which reinvigorated American shorthand and made live conversations practically obsolete. Now, most people with mobile phones also surf the Internet with them, use them for maps and directions and even shoot photos and videos with them. With the world literally at their fingertips, mobile phone users, or smartphone users, count on mobile Web sites that are quick to load and easy to use in the small interface.

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Content Optimization

Knowing how to optimize your content means knowing your audience. What key phrases do they type in when looking for your products or services? What language do they use? Your audience conduct queries using their own vocabulary, so plain spoken content rich with these specific phrases is always the way to go. Avoid using industry jargon or clever turns of phrase. Headlines are the most important pieces of content on the page to optimize linguistically...

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Your Web site is not a video game. And even if it were, balancing technology with user needs would still be necessary. Most Web users are familiar with multimedia environments. Most people, whether they're technical or not, understand how to click on an image to enlarge it or use player controls to watch a video online. The use of multimedia on your Web site should serve a purpose-it should not only engage and immerse your audience, but make your content more accessible to them as well.

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People use Web sites, not the other way around. We all have the goal of conversion, whether it's a sale or a lead. But most business owners tend to forget that the best chance they have to accomplish this lies in getting out of the way.

A well-structured navigation system goes unnoticed by users. It allows people to find information effortlessly. The labeling, layout and relationships among content is intuitive, anticipating what users want and allowing them to find it quickly. The goal is to get out of the users way and allow for comfortable and confident exploration.

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Landing pages are lazy pages. They're used by people who don't want to take the time to integrate a campaign into their overall marketing efforts. Your home page is your best landing page. It can be versioned for different offers and will convey a much deeper experience of your business, leaving prospects with a balanced understanding of who you are.

There are four main reasons not to use landing pages:

1. They lack context.
2. They bounce enough traffic to beat rubber balls.
3. They turn people off.
4. Your home page should be your best converting page.

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Since the advent of royalty-free stock photography, Web sites selling such imagery have mushroomed into a flourish of what are known as microstock photography Web retailers. These Web sites sell royalty free imagery at very low prices, often 10 to 20 cents per photo, which has attracted a slew of small businesses, affiliate marketers and freelance designers. Microstock photo Web sites source their imagery from a wide range of photographers including amateurs and hobbyists, thus the lower prices they are able to offer. While this may seem like a smart alternative to higher-end photography agencies, there is more to the price than you might think.

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