Why is any site special?
Is it because the site is unique? Is it because the site loads the quickest, has the freshest content, is easiest to use, or contains the best resources? Is the site so useful or so much fun that people SIMPLY CANNOT stop talking about it?
You guessed it, it's all of the above (and more!).
Making any website a "wow!" takes time, and there really are no quick-fix solutions. But it is possible to make your site special - a site that visitors bookmark without you asking; one that they willingly tell ALL their friends about.
=> USE THIS RESOURCE
Use your brain! It is *the* single best resource you have when trying to create a website with wow-appeal. It is vital you use your brain to be creative, to be inventive, to be different! (I mean just how interested are you in yet another version of (the brilliantly simple) http://www.amihotornot.com ?)
If you have yet to build your site, I can recommend Site Build It!, however (http://buildit.sitesell.com/shopping101.html). Site Build It! lets you use your brain, lets you explore your passion. It provides the tools to allow you to build (and promote) a site that pleases both the search engines AND site visitors. Quite simply, you concentrate on your business (or passion), let Site Build It! do the rest!
=> OR COMBINE THESE SERVICES
Intelligent and imaginative use of these excellent services WILL make your website a compelling place to visit, a website with "wow!"
http://www.moreover.com Add a newsfeed
http://www.everyone.net/main/html/community_tour.html Create a community
http://subportal.iboost.com/subportals.html Offer free stuff
http://www.atomz.com
Add search to your site
http://contests.about.com/shopping/contests/mpboards.htm Offer a prize or competition
http://www.hi2.com
Let visitors play games
http://web-source.net/write.htm Write an article (or three)
=> OR DO IT YOURSELF!
The web is literally brim-full with free website building tools that can really improve your website. Again, you are only limited by your own imagination (or creative combination of other people's imagination!). I recommend you visit all of these sites, and get thinking...
- http://www.bignosebird.com (script called birdcast) - http://cgi-resources.com/Programs_and_Scripts - http://reallybig.com
- http://www.zdnet.com/developer/ - http://www.builder.com - http://www.web-source.net/web/ - http://buildit.sitesell.com/shopping101.html
=> READ MORE...
Think for a while about the sites that *you* really like, and think why it is that you like them. And always be on the look- out for good ideas, both online and offline.
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Make your site a "wow!", and get everyone talking about (and visiting) your site. Sounds simple, doesn't it! It isn't, but there are lots of tools and resources on the Internet to help you. Just add your brain... then create a buzz!
Steve Nash edits Promote! Promote! Promote! a twice-monthly newsletter. Subscribe, and learn more about promoting your business (or site) online: mailto:pppromote@getresponse.com This article appears on his latest site called How I Promote My Website - http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/bin/ap.pl?find-out