by Melanie Denyer

Created on: February 23, 2008

The key to creating a hot MySpace layout is the same as that of creating any good web site: keep it clear. After all, whether you're a band, a visual artist, a writer, a venue or indeed anyone who needs to use MySpace to promote themselves, you want for people to be able to learn what it is that you are about and give them a chance to get to like you and buy into whatever it is that you're selling. And, believe me, you have to think of this as selling: there's a lot of MySpace pages out there, so yours needs to be better than the competition.

First, think about what image you are trying to project. If you're trying to launch a professional career, you need a professional image. You may not have made it yet, but you have to show the professionalism that will suggest you are going to be the next big thing. Sticking clip-art, page view counters, multiple animated gifs and piles and piles of video clips over the page is going to look amateur, like a toddler let loose in the art supplies cupboard.

You probably have about 3 seconds to capture the reader's interest before they consider clicking off elsewhere, so if you want people to stay on your page, you have to make it easy for them to see what they're getting. Keep it simple. Try and stick to a plain background. For one thing, it's less tiring on the eyes. For another, if you have text over a repeating pattern, it can be very hard to read and people frequently won't bother: they'll move on to the next person.

Pick just a couple of key photos for your main page and save the rest for the album - people can always have a look at them later if they like what they've seen on the home page, but you've got to get them interested in the home page first.

Think about what you write on your main page. What you write will reflect on you, so use a spell-check, think about punctuation and grammar and make sure you break down the text into legible paragraphs. Tell people about what they'll find elsewhere in your MySpace area, such as your blog, the photo album, any audio players. Be welcoming and friendly - anyone looking at the page is a potential fan, and you need to keep them on-side.

Read the comments people leave you on a regular basis, and delete anything inappropriate, such as people advertising random things like MLM schemes or whatever - there really are people out there spamming the comments sections of MySpace pages, and it makes the page look uncared-for if the stuff stays up there more than a couple of days. You also

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