On your own website, it's obvious to you what your company does and what your site is all about. However, the odds are high that your visitors won't automatically know that information the first time they come to your site.

Your website must quickly sum things up for your visitors so they can immediately understand the basic focus of your company or organization, as well as the services you offer.

That's where a site definition comes in. A site definition is a concise, objective statement explaining what a site does and it's operation coverage or, more specifically, where it is located. If the term "site definition" is new to you, there's actually another professional term for it, the Meta Description Tag . It's basically a one or two sentence summary of the focus of the site or even the individual page of a site.

"Your source for in-depth computer hardware info and supplies in Orange County Ca"

The site definition should generally appear in the upper left corner of the page near the logo if it's a short statement such as "Web Design". It shouldn't be an obtrusive part of the design, but it should definitely be available for visitors to see.

Placing a site definition on your hompage (and subsequent footers on additional pages) outside of the Meta Description Tag, has three benefits.

Firstly, a site definition helps you stay focused. When you force yourself to summarize your purpose in a single sentence, it's a 3-second, easy-to-remember plan for where your site needs to go and what you need to work toward in your own planning for your site. This can help prevent you from getting off track and winding up with a disorganized, unfocused project.

The second benefit is for your visitors. A site definition explains in a single phrase the basics of what visitors can find on your site. This is crucial, since many visitors will not have a clear understanding of what your company does. Your site's text or "copy" can help with this somewhat, but sales copy is generally un-objective, and it can take a while for the visitor to understand what it is you're selling. Although it's important to have sales-oriented copy, sometimes visitors just feel like saying, "But what do you DO?"

And finally, a site definition properly placed will give the search engines a summary of concise text to include in their search results, making your site and it's content easily identifiable.

If you aren't objective in your definition, the definition will lose credibility. Avoid saying things like "We're #1!" A site definition is not the place to use persuasive, hyped-up language.

A definition isn't the same as a tagline. Taglines are usually catchy phrases that don't necessarily help visitors understand your services. For example, XO's tagline (www.xo.com) is "Not just talk." This phrase doesn't actually define anything, so it doesn't help visitors understand the company. The same is true with Nike's tagline, "Just do it."

If you use terms that don't make sense to your visitors, the definition isn't going to help, because the definition itself will have to be defined. Try not to use words that aren't part of everyday English.

The exception would be if you know your target audience will understand some jargon. For example, if you have a website geared toward programmers, it's ok to use the term PHP. Although that term isn't an everyday word to most people, it is an everyday word to a programmer.

There are a few cases in which you probably wouldn't need a site definition. Occasionally, a site's main page makes it so obvious what the site sells that a definition isn't really necessary. However, this is rare, even for well-designed sites. It's difficult to explain what your site is all about as clearly and succinctly as you can with a definition.

A site definition would also not be necessary if your domain name is very descriptive. For example, UnixHoster.com or petproducts.com. These domains give a fairly good indication of the services provided on those sites, which is also why they're already taken! Aside from those exceptions, most other sites would benefit from a clear, concise definition. What's yours?

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Give Your Site a Definition

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