Site Unseen?If your Web site gets more misses than hits, the hang-up may be your home page.

There's a warning on kids' video games that reads:"While watching certain images, you may experience dizziness,motion sickness or nausea." The grown-ups' version ofdigital fun, the World Wide Web, should also come with a warning:"While waiting for images to load, some viewers may experienceimpatience, frustration or distress." And flashing on everyhome page should be the caution: "The links on this page maycause some viewers to suffer from indecision, uncertainty orvacillation."

Because your home page is your e-commerce storefront, it has tobe welcoming and inviting. That means fast load times and easy sitenavigation. But how many times have you reorganized your penciltray, gone to the fridge or taken a bathroom break while waitingfor all those images to squeeze through the phone cord and ontoyour screen? Despite the supposed "Star Trek" speed oftoday's modems, graphic links and other images still take theirsweet time popping up. Take a good look at your Web site'sfirst impression, and be sure it's not such a laggard thatit's turning people off.