You've spent weeks and weeks working hard on your site. Finally, it's finished! You breathe a sigh of relief as you click around …everything is working the way it's supposed to. Now it's time to sit back and watch the traffic roll in.right? A week goes by, then a month, still with no results. Where's all the traffic? Where did you go wrong?

Whether you're just getting started on your first website or tweaking your fifth, internet marketing can be a hair-pulling experience. How do you know if you're hitting the mark?

Simple! Let the experts do the work.

Through years of experience, we've been able to construct a powerful list of 25 points that can help you to make all the difference between an internet flop and a smashing success. So how do you reap the benefits of our experience?

Simply read through the list below. If your site meets the criteria in a point, check "Yes." If not, check "No." When you're finished, click on the "Check your score" button below to see how your site measures up.

Is your Site available 24/7?

Your site needs to be available any time, day or night. Too much downtime or a site that's consistently offline will result in lost visitors and lost conversions.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your commercial business name visible on every page?

What's the point of having a website if you're not going to put your name on it? You want customers to know they are visiting your site, and differentiate yourself from the competition.

Yes

No

I don't know

Does your site support multiple browsers?

Not everybody is surfing the web with Windows and Internet Explorer. Your site should support multiple browsers, like Firefox and Apple's Safari, and you should test it while it's in the developing stages to make sure your visitors see what you want them to see.

Yes

No

I don't know

Do you have a clearly defined purpose, products, and services?

You want people to know why they're on your site. If they don't know why, or can't figure it out within a few seconds, they'll be long gone, never to return.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your site free of redirects?

Search engines are looking for content, not a springboard. Redirects won't get you any rankings with them, and usually customers aren't too pleased to see a message that tells them "please wait while we redirect you" when all they want is to see the site they clicked on.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your site free of splash pages?

Same concept as a redirect page. Search engines look closely at your home page to help determine your ranking. You need keyword-rich content here to give search engines (and visitors) an immediate idea of what you have to offer. The last thing you want to show them is a blank page with a catchy logo.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your site a mirror site?

These will land you a duplicate content penalty with many search engines. They see the same thing in two places and don't know who's stealing from who. Just avoid mirror sites. They're not worth the hassle when you need to work with the search engines.

Yes

No

I don't know

Does your site use cloaking?

Don't show the search engine spiders a different site than you show your users in an effort to get better rankings. Search engines hate that. You'll most likely end up getting deleted from the engine entirely instead.

Yes

No

I don't know

Does your site contain illegal material?

Self explanatory. You know how many people are getting arrested for putting illegal acts on YouTube? Don't be one of them.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is the language in English on your site?

Unless you're marketing solely to international users, your site's base language should be English. Few things are as frustrating as clicking on a website and realizing you can't read a word of it or, worse, being told you need to install a language pack to view it.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your site free of affiliate links?

Keep the ads and affiliate links to your site to an absolute minimum. With too many affiliate links, your site will look more like a link farm rather than a legitimate website. This can also harm your chances of getting your site into directories.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your site region-specific?

You're on the Internet. People will be visiting your site from all over the US and the world. It's all right to target your local market, but don't make your site so region-specific that outside users would be turned off by it.

Yes

No

I don't know

Does your site have missing images?

Those blank boxes with red Xs in them sure are pretty, aren't they? Actually, they're not. Your site will look pretty bad with a lot of missing images, so make sure they're all functioning properly.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your site under construction?

You're building a website, not reconstructing Interstate 40. Yes, sometimes you have to do maintenance, but if your site is always under construction, people will quit coming.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your design search-engine-friendly?

If you want to rank with the search engines, then you need to play by their rules. This includes having good, keyword-rich content, a clear site map, and getting directories to link to your site so search engines can find it in the first place.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your site free of broken links?

You don't want people to be visiting a 404 page every two clicks. That will quickly get frustrating, especially since they'll start to doubt if you even have the information they're looking for. If a link's broken, fix it or delete it.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is there a visible privacy policy?

Identity theft is a big problem in our technological society. Display a link to your privacy policy and let people know that you're not going to screw them over.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is your site free of title tag, meta tag, alt tag, and hidden text spamming?

Include relevant keywords, but don't stuff your tags or try to hide them with layers or font colors. This is not only ineffective, but it can actually get you banned from major search engines.

Yes

No

I don't know

Does your site contain your contact info?

You want people to be able to get in touch with you. They want to be able to get in touch with you. A contact page with multiple ways of contacting you (email, phone, mailing address) is a necessity.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is there a prominent phone # in upper corner of your site?

Again, you want people to be able to get in touch with you. A prominent phone number is an invitation to call immediately and talk to somebody if your customers like what they see.

Yes

No

I don't know

Does your site include a physical mailing address?

Let people know where you are. Some may have found you on the web and want to come visit your store. They'll want to know where your business can be found; don't make them hunt around for it.

Yes

No

I don't know

Does your site include a newsletter sign up?

Newsletters are surprisingly simple to do, and they have major benefits for you and your clients. Give your site visitors a quick, easy,free option for more information, and you get a chance to score tons of client names and emails.

Yes

No

I don't know

Is the text size on your site too small or have too many variations?

Your copy text should be a decent size and it should be readable. Text that's too small, or all different colors, or is in a really fancy font is going to give people headaches. Use a basic sans serif font like Arial 12 pt. If it's good enough for Google, it's good enough for you.

Yes

No

I don't know

If you are selling, does your site limit outbound links?

If you've got something to sell them, you don't want to be taking people away from your site. Too many outgoing links will make your site barely a blip on their browsing map. Reduce the number of outbound links and keep people on your site.

Yes

No

I don't know

If you have information, does your site have lots of outbound links?

If your site is a purely informational site, on the other hand, you need lots of outbound links. Show people where you're getting your information from, or where they can read more, and they'll be coming back.

Yes

No

I don't know

Congratulations! You've finished the test. Your website scores:

We hope that taking this test has given you a clearer idea of what your site needs to succeed.

Scored lower than you would have like? Was your score high, but you're still not getting the return you want on your investment? We can help! Fill out the contact form below for a FREE 10 minute consultation from one of the experts at Xeal. We look forward to hearing from you!