How to Add a "What's New' Page to Your Web Design
Copyright 2006 Mark Nenadic

By visiting a number of sites, you'll probably be quick to
notice that many of their web designs include "What's New'
pages or sections within other pages of the website design
such as the home page.  These sections are becoming
increasingly popular among web designers as they're an easy
way to keep the content of your website's design fresh and
informative.  These sections are frequently complimented by
"What's New on This Site' sections or pages, which also
allow for fresh content, and keep visitors interested in
returning to the site to find out what's happening.

It has been proven through the number of visitors and other
traffic statistics that any pages that highlight their
newest additions to the site will experience increased
traffic - likely due to a great deal of returning traffic.
Even if there are links to the different parts of the site
where the changes will have occurred, having those changes
stand out on the home page or with their own pages
increases their visibility, creating greater interest
through the larger number of people who notice that
something new is available.

Remember that just because the amount of traffic increases
on your site, it doesn't necessarily mean that the number
of unique visitors to your site has increased.  It could
mean that you are generating a large number of return
visitors.  This is great if you want to ensure that your
buying customers don't forget about you.  It helps to make
certain that when your clients think about the type of
product or service that you sell, you'll be the first
business that comes to mind.  This is among the best kind
of marketing that you can achieve.

So how do you know if a "what's new' section is for you?
Consider the following "qualifications' that would make
your site design a good candidate for a "what's new'
section or page.

. Your content is always being updated, changed, or altered
in some way
. Your site contains a very large number of different pages

If your page consists only of a main page as well as
reciprocal links or perhaps a guestbook or feedback form,
and perhaps a few small sub-pages, then a "what's new' page
is likely more work than it's worth, because it won't offer
much real benefit to your visitors.

However, with many pages, or pages that are constantly
growing or changes, this section will be a wonderful way to
flag what's new so that the visitors can head directly to
the fresh stuff that they're looking for, without having to
search through the site - or simply give up before finding
what they're looking for.

However, remember that even if your site doesn't change too
much, as long as it's large enough, you can still use a
"what's new'-type section to highlight the sub-pages that
are most popular on your site.  If anything, this will
provide a much easier navigation through your site.  Simply
change the name of "what's new' to something more
practical, such as "Popular Pages' or "Featured Pages'.

Remember that the main point of a "what's new' section is
just to make the lives of your visitors easier as they
navigate your site.  A web user simply won't search a full
website to see if anything just happens to be new.  Nor
will they look for very long to find what they want if they
haven't found it in the first couple of clicks.  Therefore,
use this as a tool to keep your visitors satisfied with the
ease of navigation of your site.

Within the "what's new' section, you can write whatever you
want, but the important thing is to make sure that whatever
you say displays the latest changes, additions, features,
or information offered by your site.  Remember that your
visitors aren't going to use the "what's new' section to
its full potential, but will simply use it for what
attracts their attention the most.  It's just a quick way
to "get there'.

A what's new section is great for those people who have
found your site, and those who intend to return.  It makes
the site much easier to use, and is very pleasant to see
upon landing on the home page.  Just make sure that your
site is large enough to make it worth the effort.


About the Author:

Mark Nenadic
Mark is the director and face behind FifteenDegrees-North
http://www.15dn.com , where you will find articles and
resources to help with SEO, marketing and Web design.

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