After the challenging economy of 2008, businesses know that they have to make every dollar and second count. Most businesses also realize that this means their online marketing efforts have to be effective. As Tim Ash of SiteTuners explains in this video interview, having an optimized landing page is a big part of making your online marketing efforts more effective.Getting traffic to your site is obviously important, but even more important is the task of getting visitors to take action. At SES Chicago, Tim recommended that sites have a simple layout containing a header on the top of the page and a left-handed navigation. The header should be in dark colors or in bold print.The number of navigation categories should be between 6 and 9 plus sub-navigation categories per page. Make sure that each interior page has a “Home” button as part of the navigation. The visitor should never feel lost on the site.Clutter is the biggest problem a landing page can have. The call (or calls) to action should be simple and include little choices. There should be only 1 call to action per page. Tim says buttons should only be used for actions and links should only lead to information. Although it may look good, Flash animations and JavaScript result in visual distraction.While the above pointers are a good general set of rules to follow, Tim suggests always testing the content on your site to see what the visitors prefer. Testing leads to overall efficiency and ultimately generates more revenue. For more information on landing pages, check out Tim Ash’s best-selling book available on Amazon.