Professionalism: The Total PackageThere are two components to

Professionalism: The Total Package

There are two components to consider in creating a professional and trustworthy atmosphere for your virtual corporation: the way your site looks, and the way it reads.

Design. The appearance of your web site is extremely important. Remember, you have only three to ten seconds to capture the attention of your visitors and get them to stay on your site long enough to make a purchase. Many people believe that flashier is better-that using Flash animation and lots of cool-looking graphics will grab visitors by their short attention spans. However, graphics-heavy pages and animation take a long time to load, and web browsers usually don't want to wait for the page to display. Many will simply click the Back button and choose another web site from the search engine results they just ran.

On the flip side, a plain web site that is nothing more than a page of text is not only unprofessional-it's boring. When you design your web site, you should try to strike a balance between words and images that will load quickly, yet provide enough visual attraction to hook visitors. The best web sites incorporate a theme that ties together all the pages of the site, such as a sidebar with links to various sections, or a top header with the company name, logo, and a short, intriguing line of text. Using templates is a simple way to create a theme for your web site. You can also study several web sites you enjoy visiting and notice how they are designed. Make note of what you like and what you don't care for about the site, and then use the elements you like to create your own site.

Another important consideration in the design of your web site is navigation. Visitors should be able to move easily from section to section and quickly find what they're looking for. Side bars or floating drop boxes are good ways to provide site navigation. At the very least, you should include links to your home page, ordering page and contact page on every web page.

Web copy. In addition to your spectacular design, a professional web site needs professional copy-the text that appears on your web pages. Poor grammar and spelling is a major turn-off for web consumers; it either indicates incompetence, or says the business owner doesn't care enough about the company to bother with correct spelling. Your web copy should be carefully crafted, informative, targeted to your business, and free of advertising hype.

Font styles, sizes and colors are important considerations when crafting web copy. With the exception of your company name, which can and should be stylized, it's generally a good practice to use a standard font such as Arial, Helvetica or Times New Roman. Make sure the font size is large enough to read on the screen, but not so large that your web site seems to be shouting at viewers. Generally, 12- or 14-point fonts are good for most of your text, while you can use 16- or 18-point size for section headings, subheads, links, and other text portions you may want to stand out. Also, make sure your text color is easy to read against the background color of your site, such as white text on a black background or black text on a white or light-colored background. Bright text colors can be used for emphasis, but should not be employed for blocks of text, as they will be difficult to read. If your visitors' eyes start to water while they're trying to read your web copy, they will look for another site.