Hi Jerry,

Here are some simple but constructive suggestions for making your website more successful as a sales tool:

-> First and foremost: Do you have a marketing plan? The baby boomers are a HUGE market. Can you marktet to a subgroup within this demographic? This will help you do some "profiling" and then you can really hone your marketing message. ie. what is your key value proposition? Why you instead of all the others? I need to know this AS SOON AS I GET TO YOUR SITE.

-> Conduct some Search Engine Optimization before doing any redesign or rewriting of your copy. No point reinventing the wheel twice! Download GoodKeywords (free) and determine what key words you would like to include in your copy and header tags.

-> Now you can add appropriate titles and headers. Bold and italics is a nice way to highlight some of your keywords but don't overdo it. If you overload your pages with too many keywords (say more than 5-10% keyword density), the engines may think you are just "spamming" them.

-> Definitely decide on a theme for your site and logo. How do you want your target market to feel when they arrive at your home page? Excited? Relaxed? Soothed perhaps? Your home page must immediately build credibility in their eyes.

-> Put an excerpt from one of your articles somewhere in the top fold of your home page. Then use well chosen anchor text from that blurb to link straight over the full article.

-> Remember, usability usability usability. The more useful and user friendly your site is, the more the engines will probably like it and the more repeat traffic you will get also.

-> The photos are too small and don't convey a message to me. What is your key value proposition? Everything must flow from this! A few well placed graphics or photos complimented by tags (alternate text description) are nice to have and help your SEO a wee bit too.

Hope this gives you some food for thought!

All the best and let me know if I can be of further assistance,
Karri Flatla, B.Mgt.
snap! virtual assistance inc.
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