3 Marketing Mistakes Web Site Designers Make When Selling Their Services

by: Jennifer McGroary

1) They don't have their own domain.

If you knew that you were going to the primo networking event of the year, would you bring business cards printed with your neighbors telephone number? Heck no!

So why would you waste your time and energy building a reputable web site design firm, under somebody else's domain? Somewhere down the road you'll eventually get your own URL, so start your business the way you want to finish it.

It costs just $8.95 to register your own domain with GoDaddy.com for a year. Reliable hosting service can be had for less than $20 a month.

I gleefully pay $18.95 a month for my service, and they include all sorts of neat perks. That's just 5 bucks a week, less than a dollar a day. If your biz isn't worth a $1 a day investment, then you should be looking for an alternative line of work.

2) They don't offer any indication of their price range.

Even if you don't want to give up the entire farm, always give your sites visitors some sort of indication of what your prices are like. This way if your design skills match what they're looking for, they have an idea on whether they can afford your services or not.

The best way to do this, is to simply give a price range on your 'Request a Quote' page. Here's a brief blurb that you can use:

"Each web site we design has unique elements specific for that particular company. Therefore we do not have set prices. However, just to give you some indication, our rates for complete site design basically range from $250-$10,000, depending on the complexity of the job.

If you'd like a precise quote for your Web site, please fill out the following form."

3) They use cool techie terms to motivate the prospect.

Let's say I'm relatively new to the Net, and I'm looking for a decent site designer. Somehow I stumble across your little home on the web. Your site looks good and it loads fast.

Then I and click on the link that describes your services and you have something like this:

"We use Java, Javascript, CGI-BIN and Perl programming, Cold Fusion, and DHTML to build your site."

Duh! I can barely figure out how to configure my e-mail filtering program, and now you're giving me a cold rundown of your technical capabilities. Assuming I'm not a technophobe, you're still bombarding me with too much techno-babble!

A better way to handle this situation is to tell me 'why' I'll need all this razmatazz that you're offering. Give me benefits on why Java is a good thing for my site, and not in my coffee cup. Tell me 'how' DHTML is going to make my life easier. Make believe I'm a client who has more than enough money to spend, but needs a little hand holding to understand all the technical terms.

Copyright 2005 Jennifer McGroary

About The Author

Article by Jennifer McGroary

The ideas in this article are based on the e-book, "The Web Hosts and Designer's Marketing Guide." If you'd like to gain IMMEDIATE access to 100+ strategies and tactics for promoting your web site design or hosting business, get your copy today.
http://www.WebBizInfo.com
REMEMBER, successful marketing is the main ingredient in most profitable web service businesses.

Finding the Perfect Web Designer 101

by: Teri Tucker

So, you've decided that your company needs a web site. Now what? Since we are ultimately talking about your "online business image", unless you yourself have web design experience, finding that perfect web designer to create your company site is a very important next step. If you've never had a web site created before, you will find that there is quite a lot to consider if you want your site to be successful, and you may have to do a bit of homework to find the right person for you.

Regardless of the type of site you want, to be successful, your site will need to do, at least, these 3 things:

- Look professional
- Function properly
- Get good positioning on the search engines

In achieving this goal, there's good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there are all kinds of designers out there, offering all kinds of services, and prices are pretty much across the board. The good news is that there are some simple points you can follow to help make this process easier.

So, how do you go about finding a designer?

Since there are so many different companies offering web design, you might start by making a list of what your specific needs are. Every site is unique so it's a good idea to know what you need before you start calling around or sending in estimate forms. Some things you might need to know are:

- Will you be selling a product online?
- Does your site require a database?
- Do you also need web hosting? or a domain name?
- Do you want to have your clients contact you through a form?
- How many pages do you think the site will be?
- Are there any pages or features specific to your business that you would like to have on your site?

Also, write down a couple of URLs of sites that you like. Or maybe you've seen a specific feature on another site that you would like to incorporate into your own site. Having a rough idea of the kind of site you're looking for will help you find the right designer for your project.

Referrals

One of the best ways I've found to find the right designer is to get a referral from someone you know personally who has already had their site designed and they are happy with the site, and their experience with the designer. So let your friends and family know that you are shopping around for someone to help you create your online business image. People who have had a good experience with their web design company will be more than happy to pass the information along.

If you do get a referral from someone, go and look at the designer's site and see what else they've done. If you're interested, you can fill out a free quote form on their site, or email the designer with the specs of your project.

Job sites

There are a number of online sites that will help you match your project with a number of designers who will then bid on your project. The one thing to be aware of is that these sites have all types of designers listed with their service from those with years of experience, to those who just bought themselves the latest version of Dreamweaver and have now labeled themselves "web designer".

Although these job sites do make it harder for less experienced people to be listed as a serious prospect, when they ask for your project description, you can include on there that "only serious professionals need apply". You can sometimes eliminate the amount of riff-raff that will send in proposals for your project.

The biggest problem people have with using these job sites is that potential clients are usually overwhelmed with the number of quotes they receive for their project. Be aware that you may have to rifle through a lot of proposals that are not what you are looking for.

These sites usually offer a Designer's Profile and some kind of a rating system, which can help you learn a bit about a potential designer. Reading the reviews listed from previous clients can also help shed some light on your choice of designers.

Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages ads are expensive so chances are that you will find professional design firms to successful web design individuals listed there. They will usually list their URL in their ad and it's always a good idea to go to their site and see what they have to offer before contacting them.

What you should be looking for in a designer?

Possibly you have a couple of designers you are interested in. But how do you know for sure? There are a few specific things that you should be aware of when picking your designer.

Portfolio

First and foremost, you want to check out their portfolio! This is the body of work that this designer has recently created and it tells a lot about what they offer. All web designers should have an online portfolio that you can easily access.

Take a good look at their own site and other sites they've created. Do the sites look professional? Is the style of the designer something you would like to have on your own site? In addition, you can contact companies that have had their site designed and ask them about their experience with this designer.

Price

Another thing to consider, although this is not the top priority, is price. Although there is no clear-cut rule as to what an "average" price for web design is, this is one situation where, in most cases, you get what you pay for. This is simply not the time to cut corners. So in considering price, also consider that you are paying for this individual's expertise, as well as their time and experience.

It is more important to create a successful site that has a good position in the search engine and one that you are very happy with the look and function of than to save a couple of bucks. If you get a good site, your site will be able to grow with your company and, hopefully, that's for a very long time!

Search engine optimization

The number one mistake that most first time web site owners make is that they don't know what to do with their site after it's designed. It is very possible to have a beautiful site designed for you and no one ever sees it.

A good designer will not only help you create a professional looking site, they will also ensure that your site gets a good ranking with the search engines so that your site can be easily found online. Make sure that your designer will optimize your site for the search engines and submit it to the major search engines.

Specialized services

Will you be selling your products or services online? Will you need a database driven site? How about Flash or embedded video or audio? Not everyone offers these services; be sure to ask specifically about what you will need for your site.

A couple of other things to consider is web hosting and domain name registration. Make sure if you need these services that your designer can help provide them too.

Compatibility

Lastly, when you are talking to potential designers, it should be someone you seem compatible with. Does the designer seem friendly and are they willing to answer all of your questions? Do they respond promptly to your emails and/or phone calls? Basically, is this someone you "click" with?

Communication with your designer is crucial. You need someone who is willing to answer any questions and keep you up-to-date on the status of your web design. A good designer will keep in touch with you every few days, at least. You don't want to get down to the final days of creating the site only to find out you don't like it!

Testimonials

Most designers will have testimonials from previous clients on their web site. It's a good idea to see what their customers are saying about their services, and again, calling one or two clients regarding this web designer's services is a really good idea.

Summary

There are many factors involved in finding and picking the right designer to build your company's web site, but the key is to remember that this is your business image, one that you hope to have for many years to come, so you want to pick your designer as you would pick a real estate agent to find your "dream house". If you pick the right designer the first time, you won't be looking for someone to redesign your site in 6-9 months.

Be thorough, ask questions, look at samples, and you'll find the perfect web designer for you!

About The Author

Teri Tucker is owner of T&I Grafix Business Web Design, a full service web design company that offers custom web design, logo design, search engine optimization, Flash animation and web consulting services. For more information on our design services, please visit our web site at http://www.tigrafix.com or email us at teri@tigrafix.

5 Common Mistakes of Website Design

by: Lee Rummage

Huge Mistake #1: Creating a Website with Flash -- Did you know in a recent study, top internet marketers discovered that having a website created with Flash, actually decreased the response from prospects and customers by as much as 370 percent?

Here's why: Your prospects and customers are most likely visiting your website using all types of different computers, connection speeds and internet configuration settings...

What may look great to one visitor may not even appear for another! You could very easily have shelled out hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have a website created using the Flash technology, only to find out that some of your visitors will never see it! (Not to mention the loading times can cause your visitor to close your site, never to return again.)

Huge Mistake #2: The "Internet Catalog" Approach -- You see this everywhere. Good, honest and hardworking businessmen and women get online to sell their products or services, and have a site created for them that contains a link to just about everything they offer on one page. Their thinking goes along the lines of, "...well, I don't want to leave anyone out. If they come to my site, I want to make sure I have what they're looking for..." -- This way of thinking could not be further from the truth.

Here's why: There's an ancient rule that goes back to the very beginning of direct-marketing on the internet, taught by the richest, most legendary and well-respected internet marketers of all time...

"When you give your prospects too many choices, they become confused and aren't sure what to do next. Confused people never buy anything."

Huge Mistake #3: Optimizing Your Sales Site for the Search Engines -- You'll see this taught in nearly every "internet marketing" course, manual or eBook out there... "You must optimize every page of your website for the search engines!" -- In fact, this false teaching is accepted as 'gospel truth' so often that most web designers will offer to do this for you at no, or little extra cost...

What they don't understand is that certain words and phrases must be either re-worded (to make it "keyword rich") or taken out completely, just to be looked upon highly by the mighty search engines -- and this could kill your sales, literally overnight.

Here's why: When you or a hired web designer optimize your sales page (i.e. any web page designed to sell your products and services) to get a higher listing in the search engines, you're going to have to sacrifice the pulling-power of your sales copy (i.e. written sales material) just to get those higher listings. Sure, this can bring you more traffic -- but what good is all the traffic in the world, if your visitors arrive at your website and aren't compelled enough to read why they should order your product?

For years, it has been taught that you should always try to find a "balance" of SEO (Search-Engine-Optimization) mixed with promotional copy designed to sell your products and services...

Wrong Again! -- The truth is that you should never optimize your sales page for the Search Engines. Instead, you should create tiny "entry pages" for each keyword related to your product or service, (highly optimized for the Search Engines) and have them link to your main sales site! (We can show you exactly how to do this quickly and easily and get *massive* targeted traffic from the Search Engines - without ever *touching* your sales site!)

Huge Mistake #4: Having a "Graphics-Based" Website -- Sure, graphics can certainly help us to visualize a particular situation or circumstance, product or service... But did you know that having a graphically-driven website can actually distract your visitor away from your sales message?

After all, your sales message (or "web copy") is The #-1 most important factor in a website that makes money. If your visitors are paying more attention to your "professional graphics" than your sales message... you've just lost another sale.

Here's why: You've got approximately seven seconds from the time your visitor arrives at your site, to the time they decide whether to buy your product, get more information or leave. If you've got a graphically-intensive website, your website will most likely still be loading past your seven-second time limit.

That's a "customer-killer" in and of itself - however, the real reason lies within the fact that the bigger, brighter and more beautiful your graphics are, the more they will distract your visitor from your sales message. And if your visitor is distracted even for one second, it could mean the difference between getting a sale, and losing a customer.

Huge Mistake #5: Designing a Website with Zero Marketing Experience -- Most web designers have no idea how to make money on the internet, with anything other than their design services. It's not their fault - they simply have no or very little marketing and sales experience. After all, they're just website designers...

However, having your website designed by someone with Zero internet marketing experience is like buying a street-car without an engine... it won't go anywhere, and it'll just waste your time and money!

For help on website design please visit www.onlinewebconsultants.com.

About The Author

Lee Rummage is a certified SEO expert specializing in search engine marketing and search engine optimization. He also has a back ground in web design and website linking services. For help with any of this please visit www.onlinewebconsultants.com.

Rethinking Your Web Site Design

by: Florie Lyn Masarate

People fail to understand just how important web site design is to the online image that they want to project. Having a great product does not mean everything will work out successfully.

In order to achieve success online, one must have both wonderful products or services and a great design. People can be judgmental. If the web site looks unprofessional, they will think that what that site offers is inferior too.

Here are some tips to make sure your site does not express your business the wrong way:

1. Forget banners. Using a banner is like saying you are a newcomer. You should know that banner programs are oftentimes worthless especially if you are just starting out. Avoid the temptation of using every banner program you can get your hands on.

2. Clean and organized site, not “busy”. Do not make your site frustratingly busy. What do you feel when you visit a site that is full of animated pictures, fluorescent texts and colors, crowded pictures and huge texts? You hit the “back” button, don’t you? Do not make your visitors do the same.

3. Clipart galore. Clipart and clipart-like graphics are totally unprofessional. They seem to tell your visitors not to buy or use your product. Make your own graphics. Take the time to learn how to make them on your own using some helpful programs that are available. Try Photoshop.

4. Do not talk about you. Even if you have many wonderful things to say about yourself, no one really wants to hear you. Sorry but that is a common knowledge. Instead of talking about yourself, talk about how you can help them and the benefits that you are providing. Focus on them instead of yourself.

5. Test browsers. Look at your site with every type of browser because there are no standards yet on the internet. This basically means that every web browser interprets code differently. One can display your page awfully while on another it will look perfect. You might never discover that you are making large percentage of your readers run away because your site looks terrible in their browser. All this because you have not tested the browsers yourself.

To be able to be successful is to have a good marketing strategy on how you can get visitors, make them read all that you have to say and make them want to go back for more.

This is what web site success is all about.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.webplacements.com

About The Author

Florie Lyn Masarate got the flair for reading and writing when she got her first subscription of the school newsletter in kindergarten. She had her first article published on that same newsletter in the third grade.

Designing a Winning WebSite That Makes Sales for YOU!

by: Michael Tansey

Would you buy meat from a grocery store that left the bad meat in with the good meat or wasn’t clean? Would you buy a car from a sales lot that had totaled automobiles on the front lot? I wouldn’t and neither would you. Your website is your grocery store; your car lot. You must have an atmosphere that is pleasing to buyers. One that tells that buyer that you are not an amateur, but instead a trained, seasoned professional. Your site is a direct reflection of your product and that is why having a well designed website can make or break your sales.

The first thing to keep in mind when designing your website, is “surfability”. Take a few minutes to look around at several web pages. What makes them appealing? Were there some that you closed out of immediately? Why? Take notes and do your research. Keep in mind that when a person visits your site they have a goal in mind. They are either seeking information or shopping for a product. Give the person what they want without having to search for it. Be sure that all the information on your site is relevant to your product. Make the buyer think that they need your product to solve their problem.

Your main page serves a very specific purpose. It should be an avenue by which the customer can shop your site. It should be easy to view and load very quickly. This is your first impression and we all know that first impressions can either close the deal or loose the deal. Make it simple. It is best to have links that are easily viewable by the reader that will navigate them to where they want to be. Tables are often a great choice when deciding on a way to design the main page of your site. Your main page should load very quickly, chances are if it takes the page more than ten seconds to load even on a 56k modem, the customer will click away to save time, hoping to find the information or product elsewhere. To increase the loading speed of your main page you should avoid large graphics or excessive graphics. Too many banners or special effects can cause a page to load slowly as well.

To make your web site more appealing to the eyes, you should stick to mild colors. If your site is a content site where the user will be doing a lot of reading, it is best to stick to black and white. Color can be added when using tables, as a way to brighten up the page, but remember to keep the overall look of the page professional and appealing to the audience that will be visiting most often. Since screen resolutions vary among monitors, it is a good idea to set the pixels to a standard 800x600. You may also choose to set the tables in your web page to span a percentage of the page rather than a set number of inches. This will be sure to accommodate all screen sizes. You should remember that a lot of Internet users will not use the same browser as you, and therefore you should be sure that your site looks as good on other browsers as it does on your own. You can do this by downloading several browsers through which to look at your page.

Be aware of the fact that the overall look of your website is a way to make money. The appearance of the site, if designed properly, can be an excellent marketing strategy for your product or service.

Copyright 2005 Michael Tansey

About The Author

Mike Tansey has been online since 2004. He can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... visit: http://www.Profit-Unlimited.net/pips.html
To Receive More Informative Tips and Articles, Click Below:
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Bargain Web Design Services

by: Steve Hill

Many people are looking for a bargain, when it comes to finding themselves a person or company to build and design them a website. In this article I write about where to go to find this website design bargain.

The market place for website design is very competitive, for this reason there are plenty of bargains to be found. There is no longer any reason why people should pay huge amounts of money to obtain a website.

The next question is trying to find the bargain of course. This would be my advice:

The search engines

The search engines is the first place I would try, searching under the search term of bargain web design service. The results on the right hand side of the search engine Google are the paid advertisements and are called Google adwords. These companies are actively seeking business and are therefore likely to offer you a bargain. The results on the left hand side are normally the more established companies who will probably try to charge a lot of money for their services. It still could be worth sending them an email however, if you do not ask, you will not get.

Internet auction websites

I know of many people who have found themselves a bargain on auction websites, like ebay. People or companies at times offer their services for a very cheap rate, normally to drum up some very much needed business. This is especially true around Christmas time.

Other areas to look are in places like the yellow pages, bargain pages, newspapers or by asking family or friends.

In my opinion for a basic website you should not be spending over £100. There are many great deals to be had out there for people who are willing to make lots of phone calls or send lots of e-mails and who are patient.

When finding a company or person to build the website always take a look at their portfolio as this will give you an insight into the work they do. Obviously if you are not impressed, there is no point in carrying on, even if it is very cheap.

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:

http://www.stammering-stuttering.co.uk

http://www.std-symptom.co.uk

http://www.coach-life-london.co.uk

About The Author

Steve Hill
Are you looking for a cheap web design company? If you are, you should go to http://www.internet-webdesign.co.uk. I have two other websites at:
http://www.eradicate-depression.com
http://www.stress-relief-info.com

Cheap Web Design In London

by: Steve Hill

Due to the large number of people offering web design services in London, there is always a bargain to be found.

Website design firms in London are in a very competitive market and some offer some great deals at various times of the year.

People who are just starting out in a career building websites will often offer their services at a very reasonable rate, basically to build up a portfolio. Once they have established themselves they then tend to increase the amount they charge.

I have even heard about one person who for a very short period of time was building websites for free! This is an extreme case though.

A friend of mine called Dave was looking to have an internet prescence for his small business a number of years ago. He did not have a huge budget, however was looking for a person or company to create him a professional looking website which would be search engine friendly.

He tried looking in many areas including yellow pages, ebay, bargain pages and also by asking his friends, to see if they knew of anybody.

He also searched in Google for the search term, very cheap website design in London. There were many different websites listed, after a few phone calls, he managed to find a very good deal.

There are plenty of people offering quality website design services, who do not charge huge fees, just keep looking and you are sure to find them.

About The Author

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:
http://www.aromatherapy-blend-essential-oil.co.uk
http://www.meditation-symptom.co.uk
http://www.insomnia-symptom.co.uk

Amazing And Free Web Design Tips

by: Steve Hill

In this article I give some amazing tips about web design and web promotion and its for free. I hope you enjoy the read.

Free web design tips.

There is no longer a need for people to spend hundreds of pounds to have a website designed and built. I believe you should only have to pay around £100 to have a standard or simple website built. The amount of competition in the internet web design sector means that there are some great deals available, in the next paragraph I will explain where to look for these bargains.

My advice on where to find these cheap website design deals would be by looking on internet auction websites such as ebay, internet search engines or in the Yellow Pages. Asking friends and family and also looking in the local and free press is also worth a go.

Free website promotion tips.

I would imagine that most people who own a website are looking at ways to increase the amount of traffic to their website or an increase in their PR rating. In general the higher the page rank you have the more visitors you are likely to get.

In my opinion the best way to increase this page rank is by building up the number of backward links your website has. You can do this by e-mailing other websites preferably in the same business sector as your own and asking if they would be willing to swap links with your site. This can be quite a tedious job however and it might be worth your while looking into a program such as linkmetro.

Writing articles is probably the best way of obtaining backward links, these are also links of more value as they are one-way links. By submitting these articles to article websites, other webmasters are then able to use your article on their website, thus giving you an extra link. This is because you are able to add a link to your website in the artice in the resources or author bio section at the bottom of the page.

You may also want to consider a pay per click program such as google adwords. This is where you pay to have an advert which will appear on the right side of the search results. This would be under the sponsored results of the google search engine for a specific key phrase. Always remember not to spend more on the advertising than you are likely to earn from the website.

If you would like to earn extra money from your website you may want to consider google adsense. This is where google put ads onto your website. When your visitors click on the ads you get paid.

About The Author

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:
http://www.chi-form-tai.co.uk
http://www.free-self-hypnosis.co.uk
http://www.alternative-therapy.co.uk

Getting A Website: How To Get A Better Price From Your Web Designer

by: Robin Porter

So you have decided you need a website. What next?

Before you contact some web designers to get a quote, you will save yourself time, money and trouble by first sitting down and thinking about what you actually need. The more you can “nail down” your requirements, the more likely you are to get a better price, and not be surprised by getting a bill for extras at the end of the project.

First, think about what you want from your website:

Do you want to sell products online, using a shopping cart and some method of accepting payments?

Do you want your site to be a “static” online brochure, showcasing your products or services?

Do you want your site to generate leads & enquiries for you to follow up directly?

Is your site primarily aimed at providing information for existing customers?

Is your site going to be a useable, interactive service e.g. searchable property database?

Now consider how many pages you will need. Web designers will use this as an important factor when quoting you; if you initially ask for too few, you may get a bill for extras. Ask for too many and you may be paying more than you need to.

Think about the titles of the pages you need (as they appear in the site navigation) As a minimum, you will probably need “Home”, “About Us” and “Contact Us”.

Now give some consideration to the design of the site. Do you have a colour scheme in mind? Do you want some Flash animation? What sort of imagery do you want used? TO get some ideas, surf the Net and note down any websites you find that you like the look of, and give the URL to web designers. This will help them get an idea of what you like.

You should also consider which technical issues are important to you.

Does you site need to be:

* Fast Loading? If your target market are home users, a large proportion may still be on slower dial up internet connections.

* Graphically Intensive? Perhaps you need to appeal to corporate users, by employing a strong, professional design.

* Optimised for a particular screen resolution? Do you want the site to look best on 1024 x 768 resolution screens, or perhaps your target market is more likely to have older PC’s with screen settings such as 800x600.

* Updated yourself? If you regularly need to change the text/images of your site, you may need to ask for a quote for a Content Management System (CMS). Ask fort his to be identified as an optional cost, so you can judge if it is cost effective for you. Alternatively, you could purchase web editing software (such as Macromedia Contribute) though you will need to make your web designer aware that this is what you will be doing.

* Aimed at specific end users? Perhaps your target market are printers or music industry professionals, who tend to use Apple Mac computers. If so, make your web designer aware of it – many designers do not pay much attention to checking web sites run correctly on Macs.

By taking a little time to consider the needs of your website, you will help your web designer immensely, getting the site you want at a cost effective price.

About The Author

Robin Porter is CEO of London web site designer Arpey Internet. He can be contacted via the company website at http://www.arpey.co.uk

Sensational Web Design Advice

by: Steve Hill

Are you one of those people who would love to have your own personal or business website, but feel you are unable to afford it? In this article, I explain about how to obtain a quality web design on the cheap. There are also some superb website promotion tips.

How to obtain a website on the cheap.

Many people wrongly believe that you have to spend a huge amount of money to obtain an internet prescence. In my opinion for a basic website, you should only be looking to pay around £100, to have a website built. The amount of competition in the internet web design sector means that there are some great deals to be found, if you are willing to be patient and to make lots of phone calls.

To find these deals, my advice would be to first of all, look on the auction website, ebay. I have seen many people offering affordable web design services here. You can also try internet search engines or the Yellow Pages.

Website promotion tips.

I am sure that most people who have a website are looking for an increase in traffic to their website or an increase in their google page rank. In general the higher the page rank you have, the more visitors you are likely to get.

To increase this page rank it is important to build up the number of backward links your website has. You can do this by e-mailing other websites preferably in the same business sector as your own and asking if they would be willing to exchange links with your site. This however can be very time consuming and at times can have little reward.

I believe the best way of promoting your website, which is also cost free, is by writing articles like the one you are reading here. By submitting these articles to article websites, other webmasters are then able to use your article on their website, thus giving you an extra link. This is because you are able to add your information and web address in the author bio at the bottom of the page. You also obtain a one way backward link from the article website which accepted the article.

You may also want to consider google adwords. This is a form of pay per click where you pay to appear on the right side of the search results in the paid advertising section of the google search engine for a specific key phrase. Always remember not to spend more on the advertising than you are likely to earn from the website.

If you would like to earn extra money from your website you may want to consider google adsense. This is where google put ads onto your website. When your visitors click on the ads you get paid.

About The Author

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:
http://www.stammering-stuttering.co.uk
http://www.free-poker-help.com
http://www.cancer-therapy.com

Small Business Website Design Do's And Don'ts

by: Charles Preston

For a small business a website can have a massive impact on whether that small business thrives or dies out. There are several very important differences between a website built for a large business and a website built for a small business. It’s important that a small business and the website design company who builds the website for that small business are aware of those differences so that the website has the greatest positive impact.

First of all don’t try to look and act like the big boys. If you are a small business please do not plaster your site with platitudes like “family owned since 1642” or “customer service is our specialty” blah blah. IBM and Coke can get away with having pretty sites that blather on and on using all kinds of corporate jargon but a small business cannot do that. Here’s why…

Big companies are already established brands. They can rest on their laurels now; at least they think they can. A small business website needs to grab the visitor by the throat with some hard hitting headlines and copy and get busy proving its case because before visiting that website it’s likely the visitor has never heard of that small business.

Think of it like a courtroom. The small business is on trial it’s products and services are suspect from the get go. That small business needs to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that it can provide the best value over its competitors. What’s worse is that you only have about 8 seconds from the time the visitor hits the homepage to the time they click the back button to hook them into your sales copy.

The number one difference here is the copy. A small business website needs to be a life support unit for its unique selling proposition or USP not a contestant in this year’s flashy foo foo web design award contest. Win customers not awards. Forget the animation and music and go easy on the images. What a small business needs is a lean, mean conversion machine.

Studies show the visitors don’t even consciously register images until after they have absorbed the copy on the page. Makes sense because what they came for was information not the old receptionist at the desk on the phone pictures that we have seen over and over again. They want to know who the heck you are and what you can do for them and make it snappy!

It’s brutal but that’s the way it works. A small business that knows this and applies this to their website has a huge advantage over those who don’t. So if you are a small business owner and need a website keep this article in mind or if you have an existing website take a look at it and reevaluate it’s effectiveness in light of this information. Small changes can have dramatic effects on sales conversion.

Copyright 2005 Charles Preston

About The Author

Charles Preston is President of Click Response (www.clickresponse.net/website_marketing_services.htm) a website design and marketing firm where you can get small business website design that converts more visitors into sales.

The Golden Rule Of Website Design

by: Chuck Larrieu

Ever browse any of those personal improvement books that crowd the bookshelves at the booksellers and the libraries, not to mention the coffee tables of your friends and desks of your coworkers? Ever notice how they all say the same thing? That’s because there are very few truths in life.

The same goes for website design, where the Golden Rule applies every bit as well as it does in your personal interactions. Design your website for your visitors as you wish they would design their websites for you.

For example, are you thoroughly annoyed by popups, especially those that run complex scripts, take forever to load, seize other browser windows for themselves, require interaction before you can continue with your reading or research? What makes you think you are the only one? What makes you believe your visitors will be more tolerant of such antics that you are?

Ever been confronted by one of those popups telling you to click here to do a registry scan or a virus scan? In the current atmosphere, with legitimate concerns about spyware and trojans, do you think you are building trust with your visitors by appearing to attempt to download malware onto their computers?

The common wisdom is that you should have no more than one popup, preferably an exit popup offering one last chance to buy your product or service, or asking your visitor to join your mailing list. However, even a single popup can be extremely annoying, especially when just about every site out there has one or more. Besides, with the advent of some very good popup blocking software, especially those incorporated into the Google and Yahoo toolbars, what makes you think your popup is even going to be seen? We surf quite a bit in our daily activities, and we see most popups being blocked by our free toolbar software. Therefore it is much more effective to write good tight succinct page content that attracts your visitor’s eye, keeps him interested, makes her want to bookmark your page for future visits.

Then there are those raucous audio blasts. These days, many people listen to music or radio programming via their computers while they surf. There is nothing more annoying than to have your favorite music interrupted by some obnoxious sales pitch, sound effect, or someone else’s idea of listening enjoyment. Sure, those audios make your website “kewl”, or so you think. But be honest. When you walk into a brick and mortar store, are you sometimes put off by the walls of sound that greet you? When you are surfing, do those audios interfere with your chosen listening enjoyment? Think maybe your web visitors feel the same?

Ever tire of those never ending sales letter websites? You know the ones, where you read and scroll and read and scroll, and finally give up, scroll to the end, looking for that place where you can buy, or request further information, only to find that what you want isn’t there, but is buried several paragraphs up? Most people do NOT want to read long and winding web pages, with a lot of repetitive information. What most people want are the essentials, and a means of finding you again later. You don’t have to give a long sales pitch with the expectation that your visitor is going to buy then and there after reading your convincing content. Your visitors are looking for general information, with the idea of purchasing your product of service later, after having comparison shopped. Think about it. When you walk into a store, do you want the salespeople to engage you in a twenty minute pitch, or do you want to look around first, see what’s available, and then consult the sales staff for more specifics? It is no different on the web, and your website should reflect this reality.

Lastly, take care what features you incorporate into you website. Are your visitors going to have to download or upgrade software in order to view your content? Are they going to want to? A lot of people don’t think they should have to upgrade to the latest and greatest, just because that’s what you have. There are still a lot of older computers and older operating systems out there which don’t support the absolute state of the art toys. Do you really want to exclude those people from your target audience?

Yes, website development, like life in general, benefits from the thoughtful practice and application of the Golden Rule. Build your website for others, as you would have them build their websites for you. By practicing this advice, you will build meaningful content and attract the kind of traffic that will result in sales and success for you.

About The Author

Chuck Larrieu is a common sense voice of reason in the world of business marketing and website design. His company, The Leisure Group, provides information, advice, products, and services to those who want to run successful home and internet based businesses.

http://www.theleisuregroup.biz

A Business Case For Accessible Website Design

by: Faheem Razak

More enlightened businesses recognise that accessibility is a huge commercial ROI opportunity rather than a regulatory straightjacket. Disability comes in all kinds of shapes and forms. The market in the UK alone is worth billions of pounds per year.

There are 8.6 million registered disabled people in the UK which amounts to 14% of the population. (Disability Rights Commission)

There are 1.6 million registered blind users. (Employers' Forum on Disability)

Two million UK residents have a sight problem. (RNIB)

One in 12 men and one in 200 women have some form of colour blindness - 9% of the UK population (IEE)

3.4 million people have disabilities preventing them from using the standard keyboard, screen and mouse set-up with ease. (Employers' Forum on Disability)

There are 12 million people aged 60 or over. (UK government)

UK population is also becoming older which means businesses will increasingly need to tap into an older - and often affluent - demographic.

Online businesses are potentially losing out on some £50-£60bn per year buying power. (Employers' Forum on Disability)

Accessible websites are search engine friendly meaning better search engine rankings.

Accessible websites are smaller in file size which means that pages are served faster. Users/customers can find what they want more quickly.

Accessible websites are more readily adaptable for handheld and other devices.

About The Author

Faheem Razak is the CEO of 1075 Web Design Agency (www.ten75.com) based in London specialising in accessible standards compliant website design.

Have your website tested for usability issues, register for a free at http://www.ten75.com/offers/website-usability-review.htm.

Free Web Design Advice

by: Steve Hill

In this article I will give advice and tips of where to find a low cost website design company and also about the best ways of producing a cool website.

How many people or companies are advertising their services for web design?

The answer is a great deal. They surely can not all be asking for huge sums of money to build and design quality websites. There must be some who offer cheap, affordable websites.

If you think about a company or person who is just starting out, they have not got a very large portfolio of previous work and clients to show, and in this situation are likely in these early days to offer you a competitive rate. Once they become more established they will then no doubt increase their prices.

To find these companies which are just starting out, I would advise looking on auction websites like ebay, looking in Yellow Pages, looking in newspapers such as a paper we have here in the Midlands called bargain pages. Looking on the internet on search engines and asking family and friends is also other avenues to explore.

Once you have found a company you need to think about the content for your website, the colours and also about graphics. Do you want it have flash design? These are all things to think about.

You then need to think about hosting, who will host your website? It may be worth asking the web designer if they can recommend a host.

Then once you have had your site built you need to promote it. Building up a regular and constant stream of backward links is very important as this will result in your website obtaining a higher page rank and more visitors.

About The Author

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:

http://www.natural-health-cure.co.uk

http://www.bipolar-symptom.co.uk

http://www.lasik-laser-treatment.com

Are You Being Scammed By Your Web Design Company?

by: Martin Lemieux

This is a growing concern among many business owners. Does your web design company own you? This may be possible if you've allowed them to host your web site for you and also register your domain name for your company.

Web design companies have a lot of control over their clients. I refer to this as "False Power". The sad reality is that most of their clients don't even know they are stuck in this potentially painful predicament. This power is usually exercised when a client of a web design company finds a better deal on hosting for their web site and they simply want to switch their hosting provider, or when the "client" wants to upgrade their web site for a better rate than their current web development provider is offering.

Here's what usually happens to so called "traitor clients":

- Current web design company sends their client a hefty bill for switching
- The web design company cancels their client’s account
- They may point the domain name to another place
- They sometimes take down the entire website until further notice

You get the point! Too much power is given to the web design company. I truly believe that it is your right to shop for better prices and it is your right to own your domain name even if you didn't have a hand in registering your domain name.

As the owner of the website, you put your trust into your web design company to represent your business appropriately and honestly, only to find out down the road that honesty isn't in their vocabulary.

I truly believe there should be a law against web design companies that can be summarized as such: For any domain name registered by the web design company on behalf of their client, the domain name may not be disputed or need to be disputed, the domain name is automatically owned by the client and is automatically bound by their web development contract.

With every new venture, there is always going to be loopholes. From the aforementioned example, what if there is no contract? If you are reading this and are in the process of searching for a web design company, please ENSURE that you have a contract drafted, outlining everything you are entitled to and that you have sole rights to your domain name.

See what most business owners fail to realize is that their domain name is as important as registering their business name itself. I will repeat that... Your domain name is "hot real estate", would you want someone else owning your property?

The same applies for your domain name. Don't get caught with your pants down while asking, why don't I own my domain name. It is as important as owning your own company name. There are people out there searching for suckers to take their domain name - don't be the one who gets caught!

How to avoid this "Power Stricken" disaster:

The best solution is to go out and register your domain name BEFORE you hire a web design company. This ultimately gives you the power over your domain name. At any given time, you can go back and log into your "domain name registrant" in order to switch your web site to any hosting company you choose.

When searching for an "all around" package for your web design project, make sure that your hosting is suitable for your needs. 95% of all web design projects don't need a large hosting package that costs between $150-$500 a year. The most you should pay for your hosting in this case is around $100.00 a year, no more.

You only need a large hosting package if:

- Your web site is 1000+ pages in size
- You’re going to buy traffic in the 1000's every month
- You need over 25 email accounts setup

Ask questions when shopping for a web design company! Here are a few questions you should be asking right away before you sign any contract...

- Do you provide a contract for all your projects?
- If you register my domain name, will it state in my contract that I own the domain name under all circumstances?
- If I am late making payments, is it your company policy to cancel the account?
- Why are your hosting services so high in price? Why wouldn't I go somewhere else for $100 a year?
- Does it state within your contract that I cannot switch to a different hosting company later on?
- Going forward, am I going to be able to hire any web developer for my website updates, if I am able to negotiate better prices?

This is another important note:

Make sure your web design company gives you the "FTP (File Transfer Protocol)" access to your website. The FTP allows you to hire another web design company to go in and update your website at any time. Without the FTP information, no one can update your website besides the original web development company or hosting company that you hired.

In Conclusion:

Be weary of web design companies that don't provide contracts for all of their projects. Be careful with your domain name; make sure that in the end, you own all rights to your domain name, not someone else.

I hope this article helps you out!

For more of Martins articles, go here: http://www.smartads.info/newsletter

About The Author

Martin Lemieux
President of Smartads

International: http://www.smartads.info

Canada: http://www.smartads.ca

Internet Marketing Tips: http://web-marketing.smartads.info

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Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article within your newsletter or website as long as the entire article remains in tact including the resource box. To download more articles, click here: http://www.smartads.info/top-10/download

Affordable Web Design In Birmingham

by: Steve Hill

If you have a business, big or small you may be thinking of getting yourself a website.

The world wide web is another way of spreading your message or selling your product.

First you need to find somebody or a company to build and design your website. Some web designers charge a huge amount of money so it is quite difficult to make the right choice.

One area you could try first is online auction websites such as ebay. There may well be a new company who is just starting out and who are looking at building up a portfolio. They may well at this early stage be offering their services quite cheaply. This method also applys to web promotion and optimisation/optimization.

Alternativerly I advise people to look into the yellow pages, look on the internet or ask family and friends if they know of anybody.

You are normally able to find somebody who will do a very good job and will design you a professional looking website at an affordable price.

Always look at the portfolio page and have a look at the websites they have already built. It might be worth seeing what the page rank of these websites are like and you are also looking to see if you like the style.

Once the web designer has built your website ask them if they would add a link from their homepage to your new website. Also ask them if they would submit the site to all of the search engines.

About The Author

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:

http://www.epilepsy-chart.co.uk

http://www.debt-specialist.co.uk

http://blog.hgh-supplements.co.uk

Fast Web Design For The Skint Webmaster

by: T. O' Donnell

About two years ago, I had a go at commercial web site design. I put a medium-sized ad in a London classified ad paper. Nothing fancy: "Web designer seeks work ..." etc. This was expensive, about £500 for a month's run.

Got a few replies. Lesson number one: advertise where clients of the calibre you want will see it. The clients I got thought £300 was a lot for a web site. They didn't want to pay web hosting. They wanted a lot of bang for their buck. 'Mission creep' was a term I grew to know and loathe.

This set me thinking: how could I give these people all they could ever want, but not spend a lot of time and money? Lately, I realised how.

So how can you get a full featured site up in a day? Easy (ish!).

Mambo Content Management System http://www.mamboserver.com

I wish I'd found this software a couple of years ago. It's freeware. The default set-up allows people without web design skills to update the site. It has a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) option. This adds HTMLArea code to text input form fields. Each HTML code input box becomes a mini HTML editor.

If you can use Microsoft Word, you can add formatted HTML code to the site.

To get it running you need to know how to install MySQL databases, or have PHPMyAdmin as part of your web-hosting package.

You can add articles, edit them, send emails to members, and be contacted by users.

The only criticisms I have of this software are:

1. The admin interface is confusing. It's all there, just finding and using it is the problem!

2. You need to search around template sites to find ones suited to your site purpose. I wanted simple, clean, business ones. Most of those available seem to have a fat graphic which covers half the screen. There are more restrained ones out there.

These are minor gripes, compared to the relief of finding what is essentially a web site in a box. It can be installed in an hour, once you get familiar with it.

To add ecommerce to your site:

Oscommerce Shopping Cart http://www.oscommerce.com

Again, this is a full-featured, freeware software. You can add lots of freeware 'plug-ins' to it, to get a professional shopping cart.

Therein lies the danger. Some of these plug-ins require altering or overwriting the default cart files. When you try to upgrade the cart version later, you may 'break' it, by overwriting a plug-in, thus creating errors.

The trick here is to only install plug-ins that add files (rather than overwrite them) or that require minor alterations to existing files.

What I do is download all the versions of the plug-in type I need e.g. a WYSIWYG editor. I then choose the one which has the least files, or which creates a new directory for its files. If it requires that important files be overwritten, or is complex, I chuck it.

Mambo and Oscommerce. Don't try to integrate them! Hyperlink from one to the other. I've tried integrations of other softwares, like PhpBB and PhpNuke. Fine, when it works, but when you upgrade one or the other, arrgh!

*Keep databases separate*. If one goes skew-whiff, then at least the other will still work. Same goes for adding chat rooms and the like. If they're all running off the one database, and that database becomes corrupted ...

It may offend your sense of tidiness for your visitors to have to sign up twice at your site, but you'll thank me for this sage advice later. Remember KISS is the basic rule of computing (Keep It Simple, Stupid!).

About The Author

T. O' Donnell is an ecommerce consultant and curmudgeon living in London, UK. His latest project is an ebook on conservatories, available at http://www.tigertom.com/conservatories-uk/index.shtml. T. O' Donnell freeware may be downloaded at http://www.ttfreeware.com.

Is There A Best Web Design Program?

by: Eric Lester

Any aspiring web designer seeking help from a forum about the "best" web design software will immediately be greeted by two very different responses. One will either be told to use a large, expensive, purpose-built design program such as Dreamweaver or to use something they most likely already have- Notepad. These are very disparate responses, and this article will explore some of the general reasons this rift occurred.

The Two Sides

"Dreamweaver" and "Notepad" are the classic examples usually provided, though they are not exhaustive. The central conflict is generally between those who advocate the use of "WYSIWYG" programs and "text editors". WYSIWYG is an only slightly more efficient way to say "What You See Is What You Get." WYSIWYG programs employ a user interface designed to provide an accurate or nearly accurate preview of the end output while the content is being created. WYSIWYG web design programs endeavor to allow a user to edit their site information as it might appear in a browser when published to the web.

"Text editors" are simply that, small programs designed to edit text documents, of which most web pages are actually built on a "nuts and bolts" level. Very briefly, the web pages seen in a browser are simply lines of text with "markup," the "M" in "HTML." Markup is the series of tags that tell the browser what the document is, how to order it, and in many cases, how to display it. In order to edit a web page using a text editor, one has to know HTML. This is where the 2 web design camps diverge. WYSIWYG programs are basically designed to bring editing to those who do not know HTML.

"Controversy"

Many web designers take the view that one must learn HTML in order to design, and that WYSIWYG programs are, to quote a few common complaints, bloated, unnecessary, and produce poor code. Using Notepad, or any of a similar crop of basic text editing programs, seems to be a kind of "street cred" among those designers that value this knowledge. Although the ever increasing feature set ("bloat") of many WYSIWYG programs cannot be denied, I found having more tools available is generally not a bad thing. Further, anyone who levels the "bad code" charge has probably not used modern WYSIWYG programs like Dreamweaver 8. In the past there have been WYSIWYG programs guilty of producing very bad code, FrontPage, for instance, but this is mostly a relic.

Novices are welcome to ignore these weak arguments and find a WYSIWYG program with which they are comfortable. One of the key benefits of a good WYSIWYG program is the ability to learn the code while using the program. Making changes in a "preview" mode and watching how the underlying code changes is a useful way to discover HTML. As a designer who started out using Notepad, I moved on to Dreamweaver for another important reason, convenience. Knowing the underlying code, I was able to quickly make changes in the "design" mode with a good knowledge of what those changes did to the code. I could also work in the "code" mode and see what the results might look like without having to upload them or preview in a browser. Most modern WYSIWYG design programs have strong underlying code editing systems, providing those who wish to use them with a "Notepad" like experience should they wish to use it. Modern WYSIWYG design programs also provide additional convenience of site management, re-useable code, custom templates, and a personal favorite of mine, spell check.

Conclusions

Don't be shamed into trying to learn HTML via a text editor if that's not right for you. Web design is a learning process and WYSIWYG software can provide an excellent learning platform. The only thing to be afraid of is, perhaps, the price tag of most WYSIWYG software. Notepad and similar text editors are certainly economical. There is some "middle ground" in the debate. Some "advanced" text editors do exist that are built with web design in mind and provide some basic luxuries. There is also a wide variety of online site builders that automate the design process beyond even that capable by expensive WYSIWYG software. There is no "best" web design program, only the best program for an individual designer.

About The Author

Eric Lester has served for 4 years as the webmaster for ApolloHosting.com and previously worked in the IT industry an additional 5 years, acquiring knowledge of hosting, design, and search engine optimization. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers. Established in 1999, Apollo prides itself on the highest levels of customer support. Click for more hosting articles.

Web Site Design By Using A Template

by: Colin Visser

If you are like may others on the internet, then you would like to have a web site of your own. The problem is, you don't know how to design a web site, and you can't afford to pay a web site designer to design a new site for you. So how do you get around this problem? Actually it is very easy - and as always there are options! There are many talented web designers on the internet, and they will allow you to purchase a web site design from them for a very reasonable price. The designs available to you are as varied as the people that made them. There is literally something for everyone - a design for all tastes and all purposes - just waiting for you to come along and use it.

These pre written web sites are called web site templates, and some of them are extremely well done. Web site templates are usually created one of three ways - they are : Html, Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash. If you know how to edit html, a template can be a quick and easy way to turn your ideas into a new web site. I can already hear some of you saying "That's no good to me, I can't write html!". That's ok! There is the photoshop style of web site template that you can try. Do you have a digital camera? Have you ever put a title on your photos? Have you edited your pictures or made a collage out of them? (multiple pictures joined into one..) If you have, then you can probably make your own web site using Adobe Photoshop - or a similar photo editing application. The photoshop templates do all the initial design work for you, you just have to fill in the text areas with whatever you want to say. It really isn't that hard to do. The software will do most of the work, you just need the 'content' to fill in the provided spaces. Have a go at home using your own digital photos, and when you have made a couple of pages download a photoshop template and make a complete web site. Of course you will need someone to host your new site, but as most ISP's include a small 'home page' area with every account, you can probably put your new site there to begin with. The next type of web site template uses Macromedia Flash to create it. Web site templates designed using Flash are usually animated and can have some quite advanced visual effects. The downside to using Flash templates is they are not really intended for novice web designers - the Flash software is quite complicated - but the results can be well worth the effort.

As a side note, search engines have a very poor understanding of Flash web sites, and if you want to create a commercial or business web site, then you would be better off using html or photoshop for your design.

The final option for designing a web site by template is to find a template that you like the look of, and have someone else turn it into your web site. By purchasing a web site template you will greatly reduce the cost of the design of you new web site - and as a bonus, you will know from the start what it will look like when it is finished :-)

When you use a template to design a new web site please be aware that you are not the only person on the web that is using that template. There could be other web sites using the same design - but with the enormous number of web sites on the internet it is unlikely that you will ever find one of those sites. If you want to guarantee that your web site is completely unique, then you need to design it yourself, of you will have to get it designed just for you. Good luck with your new web site!

About The Author

Colin Visser is the owner of http://webdziner.gotdns.com/ and also http://webdziner.biz/http://webdziner.gotdns.com/email.html. Services : web site design & english proof reading. Proof reading for web sites, software, help files, email and news-letters. Free quotes. Please send comments using

Some Of The Biggest Flaws In Web Designs

by: Florie Lyn Masarate

1. Bad layout formatting.

Try to use your judgment when it comes to layout. They will serve as your best guide. Do not just center on your body text. The text and content should be offset, and not overrun by graphics. Sentences should wrap nicely from left to right. Navigation should not take up half of the screen. Body text should not be 60 pixels high. Basically common sense issues that anyone with a clear head can understand and appreciate.

2. No content or outdated content.

No information or content to go along with the site is a terrible mistake many are making. It is not surprising why your visitors leave at first glance. Know that people wait and spend money to view your pages. So it is a courtesy and a necessity to provide something to reward their efforts. By content, it means something people would want to see or read. It is not just a string of clipart, GIF animations or “under construction” signs.

3. Sloppy navigation and orphan pages.

Allow easy access to pages. Always include a link back to the main page. Oftentimes, only a "back" button is all that is provided when a guest has penetrated into an inner page. Many sites, especially those with frames, can be accessed by search engines into a portion of a complete page. These have no links to the main page and leaves visitors stranded and can be considered "Orphan Pages." Try to put a link back to your main page on every page, so that visitors would not be trapped.

4. The use of technology.

Do not bombard visitors with technology just for the sake of using them. Technology is great fun to use, if used with wisdom and care. You may think it is cool, but 99% of the world does not think so. All Javascripts, Java applets, VRMLs, and other high-tech and possibly error-prone technology should be used only when the page calls for it. Do not use it just because it is there for the taking.

5. Midis and non-stop animations.

Nothing on pages should be continuous and without a way to stop them. MIDIs are nice little add-ons that can add atmosphere to a page. Provide a way to stop it before your readers become irritated.

If you doing these things to your site, stop now before it is too late. For those who does not, do not even think about it.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

About The Author

Florie Lyn Masarate got the flair for reading and writing when she got her first subscription of the school newsletter in kindergarten. She had her first article published on that same newsletter in the third grade.

Web Design Tips

by: Halstatt Pires

Web Design is an art, yet following basic steps can help lead even a non-artist to a good design. For the novice or the expert, there is always more to learn with these web design tips.

Web Design Tips

1. Graphic Design of the Site

There is a saying “First impression is the last impression.” The design of the site is one of the most important aspects to be considered while creating a web page. If the design is good and easy to understand then visitors are more likely to view many pages of the site. An ugly, unclear site is likely to result in pages being closed without looking at the content at all. The layout of the entire site should be consistent and each web page should look as a part of one web site. The same content presentation style and color scheme should be followed throughout the pages of the site. The content of the site should be divided into logical sections. For purely artistic sites, there are obviously exceptions to these rules. For sites aiming to make money these guidelines should almost always be followed.

2. Limit the Use of Plug-ins Required to View Your Site

Try to avoid the use of extra components which the user needs to download to view the web page. People tend to avoid downloading unnecessary plug-ins and they might close the web page without viewing it if they have to download and install a new plug-in. However, some external components have become very common. Components such as Java Applets, Shockwave and Flash components, and Active X components are becoming standards for web development.

3. Avoid Unwanted Tools and Effects

Don’t use every tool that is freely available on the market. Page statistics buttons are common, yet most decent web hosts provide the same service with no advertisements required. People also use effects like fade-ins and outs, which can slow down a user looking for information. This is a potential source of irritation.

4. Clear and Concise Content on Web Site

In most cases, the content of a site should be clear so that the visitor knows from the very first page what the site is intended for. To reach the most visitors, the information should be clearly conveyed without the use of jargon that an average person might not understand.

5. Update the Site Regularly

If you want people to revisit your website then make it a point to regularly update your site. If visitors always find new information on your site then they are likely to visit again. If the information is always stagnant then it is very difficult to keep a visitor's long-term attention.

6. Limit the Use of Graphics

Using many images can cause page downloads to be slow. Slow web sites are irritating to visitors on slow connections and fast connections alike. Further more, search engines do not index text in images.

7. HTML Coding Standards

Proper coding standards should be followed for cross browser compatibility. For example, many people omit the use of alt tag for images and people with slow internet connectivity might have problems viewing the images. If alt tag is present then at least the visitor will know what is missing. Proper height and width attributes ensure the page is viewed correctly as the page loads. http://www.w3.org/ provides a widely used standard.

Web design tips can help you over a hump with a site. Use them to get the most bang for your buck.

About The Author

Halstatt Pires is with the Internet marketing firm - http://www.marketingtitan.com - a San Diego Internet marketing and advertising company offering automated web site systems - http://www.businesscreatorpro.com - for e-commerce solutions.

History of Web Design

by: Maricon Williams

History is the replica of the present. Thus, we have to press our flashback imaginary buttons in order to have a sojourn in the times of yore.

We have to know the beginning in order to relate it to the present and the future. In the case of web design, history is conclusive and clear and it is interesting to dwell a tad in a world of imagination, art and craftsmanship. Together we go back…

In the late 1960’s, internet was used to transfer data between computers through the telephone network system. The transfer was made possible by transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP). It was developed by Advanced Research and Projects Agency. It was primarily developed for US military needs however, it was later used by some universities.

In 1969, aside from the creation of ARPANET, Generalized Markup Language (GML) was also created. This was made possible by the brilliant minds of Charles Goldfarb, Edward Mosher, and Raymond Lorie. GML was then used to facilitate text management in large information systems.

It was in 1980 when American National Standards Institute (ANSI) committee built on GML and published a working draft of Standard GML, or SGML. This was later on adopted as the standard system by government agencies, research companies and schools. Few years after, a scientist working at CERN, the Nuclear Particle Physics Laboratory in Switzerland, by the name of Tim Berners-Lee, invented the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to define the structure of Web pages. It is a standard hypertext language protocol and browser program that interrupts the html version and converts it into text. HTML was used in a lot of contents and multi-media images or anything that uses tables, graphics, audio, video, and mathematics symbols.

Berners-Lee is also responsible for the early developments in the web’s ability to link academic papers like books researches and studies electronically. Another contribution was the inception of the concept of internet to answer the intellectual and emotional queries of people around the world.

It was also in 1980’s when the web experienced a rapid evolution. The changes are now used by business, education, government and other companies and entities. This is the ear when the World Wide Web was developed by a scientist who has explored communication methods through computer network.

Early on, browser programs were only capable of viewing texts, but nowadays, they have already developed into a wide range of computer platforms. Aside from that, there is also lots of authoring software available these days. In fact, it has turned very user-friendly that children can very well understand and use it!

About The Author

Maricon Williams

Please visit Web Development Services Pros site at http://www.webdevelopmentpros.com for comments and inquiries regarding this article.

7 Pointers about Web Design

by: Maricon Williams

In order to master the art of web design, designers must follow the subsequent pointers:

1. Web designers are marketers per se. Web sites are all about advertising products, ideas and services. Thus, a web designer has to understand the mindset of marketers in order to create a design that sell.

2. Read, read and read. We do not experience everything. Thus, our tendency is to learn from others. Reading web design books, newsletters and tips are pretty valuable since they can save you time and effort. Basically, books are more conclusive than newsletters and tips however, they are for free and mostly updated.

3. Narrow down your target market. You cannot please everybody same thing that you cannot be good at everything. Thus, this fact calls for the narrowing of your target market. Even in the interface of the so-called web design, a designer cannot claim that he is an expert at anything or everything about the needs of a website. It is better to pick a certain audience and try to be good at catching their attention, preference and choice. This practice allows you to be best at a given area thus developing expertise.

4. Answer your target audience’s needs. In order to answer the visitor’s needs, web designers must know what kind of visitors his site is welcoming. Do they belong to the younger generation or otherwise? What do they want from your site? Are these information, details and pleasures in your site in order to get their undivided attention and loyalty? Bear in mind that colors, font size, style of graphics, contents and the entirety of the site affects viewer’s decision and choice.

5. Know the basics of SEO and copywriting. Though Search Engine Optimization and copywriting are not directly related to designing, still, designers must have basic knowledge about them. This is because web designing is intertwined with marketing, use of keywords and visibility.

Aside from that, designers must also have knowledge of the programming basics. If not, the tendency is waste time or to create a mediocre or unsatisfactory design to the detriment of the sites.

6. The primacy of functionality. If ever you are faced to make a decision between a web site’s aesthetic form and its functionality, you have to be firm in upholding the latter. Not everything that is pretty is ‘saleable’. Besides, you don’t create web sites for the sake of making it nice-looking.

Above anything else, the site must be functional so as to cater to every visitor’s wants and needs. Appearance is a means to catch visitor’s attention nevertheless, it is not the end. If a designer prioritizes appearance alone without considering its primary consideration the web site’s marketability will suffer.

7. Know when to break the rules. Rules are only guidelines, if you feel that the rules are inappropriate for a certain creation follow your heart’s desire and venture on an experimental adventure.

About The Author

Maricon Williams

Please visit Web Development Services Pros site at http://www.webdevelopmentpros.com for comments and inquiries regarding this article.

Web Design’s Infallible Rules of Thumb

by: Maricon Williams

The essence of creating a website is not just launching it. Every detail on its own, must count!

The fact is – details mater a lot. Hence, every site must be a product of careful planning, conceptualization and concentration to details.

Effective website is all about stepping into the shoes of the visitors. Every designer must have the same mindset as the visitors so as to be intimately related to them. To know what to expect and to feel about a certain site is an advantage that can only be reckoned if you place yourself in the place of another person. To know the wants and the needs is also another added factor. This will enable designers to deliver to the visitors what they expect and need.

Understanding specific needs, benefits and concerns gives us the idea of what we should create - from page layout to graphic design and overall site organization. Anticipate the queries that might come out upon seeing the page. Be sure that these queries and objections are answered and understood so as to draw out loyalty and trust.

In order to be sure of what you are designing here are the rules of thumb in designing:

1. Provide simple, clear and straightforward directions. Do not forget to emphasize the ‘call to action’. This is the most important aspect of web designing thus, make sure it is not overshadowed by other aspects.

2. Aside from emphasizing the ‘call to action’, also emphasize the functionalism of the site. Make the benefits more understandable and apparent. These are your weapons to achieve persuasion. As we all know persuasion is the most important factor that affects the purchasing decision of visitors. This should not fail so as not to fall short in the site’s objective.

3. Objections must also be answered. If the visitors have hesitations, this may hinder his decision to buy or subscribe. Hence, the site must remove the clouds of doubt in order to direct the visitor to buying or subscribing.

4. The goal is to draw a path that leads to the site’s goal. Bear in mind the link between the ‘call to action’ and the end goal they must result to the site’s satisfaction. The design must motivate a person to do the next big thing and that is to do the ‘call of action’.

Finally, after doing the web site, evaluate whether each element are present and that principles are practiced. That way, you are secured that you are producing an excellent site!

About The Author

Maricon Williams

Please visit Web Development Services Pros site at http://www.webdevelopmentpros.com for comments and inquiries regarding this article.

How To Design Your Website For Optimal Productivity

by: Alan Richardson

What works best when promoting your web site.

As the internet evolves from its infancy into maturity, website development, design and marketing becomes more and more sophisticated - and more and more complex. Content manipulation, various scripting methods, fancy graphics and effects... and on and on... allow us to create some impressive web sites.

A good gauge of this complexity is the a slew of new internet-related acronyms which popup on a consistent basis. Heck, I don't know what half of them mean. But one acronym I do know - and it's not an internet creation - is nevertheless key to the development and design of any successful business website. Perhaps you've heard of it - K.I.S.S. As you probably know, it stands for 'Keep It Simple, Stupid!'. And it's a methodology widely employed by the best web developers, designers and marketers in the business. A philosophy that provides the foundation for all successful revenue-generating web sites.

From the largest, multi-product online business conglomerate to the one-page one-product mini-site, the purpose is the same. Provide visitors, whether internet savvy or first time surfers, with an online experience that's fast, efficient, easy to understand - and dare I say it... yes, enjoyable.

Whether your an entrepreneur building your own web site, or reviewing one built for you by a web development and design expert, it is important your web site, your online business, adheres to these eight simple, yet essential, design principles. Heed them, and online success is sure to follow. Ignore them, at your peril. Here they are.

Each web page must have a purpose - and that purpose must be clearly stated. While a consistent design 'look and feel' is vital across all pages of your web site, each page has a specific function to perform. And that function should be clearly understood by all visitors to your web site. Whether it's to elicit feedback, provide feedback, promote your company, present product information, etc., all play a role in your ultimate goal of growing your business.

Navigation around and through your business web site must be clearly visible and easy to use. See my article on web site navigation for more details.

Avoid distraction and clutter by minimizing usage of fancy flashing and moving objects, which provide more sizzle than steak, and make your essential products or services harder to find.

All business websites should have contact information clearly visible. A 'Contact' page is minimum. It's also advisable to include contact information on every page of your web site. You never know when the urge to turn from prospect to customer will strike your visitor.

Not everyone has broadband. Yes, there are still a fair number of users surfing the internet with slower, less efficient, dial-up access. That may change in the future, but it's a reality today. Ignore this substantial customer base and you're business will surely suffer. To avoid this pitfall, pay careful attention to eliminate internet-clogging elements on your web site. When possible, use text instead of graphics, static graphics instead of animation, several smaller pages instead of one large page. Do this and you can feed quite well on the desertions from your flashier competitors.

For those who are broadband users, who are not negatively effected by all those 'bells and whistles', who may actually enjoy such an impressive display, remember, 'form follows function'. This is especially important on a business web site, where functionality is key. All else is fluff and distraction.

For those of us who may be 'visually challenged, make sure your web site is easy to see. Avoid fancy fonts and use the more legible standard-bearers, such as Times New Roman, Courier New, Arial and Verdana. For standard text, use font sizes of at least 10 pt... 12 pt is better. On many a web site, font sizes of 8 pt or less are used, perhaps in an effort to avoid the need to scroll. Let me tell you... it's much better to scroll than to squint. For when I squint, I usually stroll... right out of the site. It's also a good practice to limit the use of italics as they too are harder to read. Lastly, pay attention to text and background color. Although white text on a black background looks cool at first glance, it can quickly strain the eyes. You don't want to do anything that will cut your visitor's journey through your business web site..

Whenever possible, limit page lengths to no more than two page-downs. It is better for performance (page loading) and visitor attention when pages are short, quick reads. If necessary, breakup your text into multiple pages, with a 'continued' designation at the bottom of each page.

There you go. Eight simple, yet essential, web site design principles that can spell the difference between online business success or failure. Always remember, you're never more than one-click away from visitor abandonment. K.I.S.S. your website and it will reward you abundantly.

About The Author

Copyright Alan Richardson

Alan Richardson is a well-known internet consultant and publisher with http://www.optimalwebservices.com - a Web resource firm in North Easton, Massachusetts, offering free advice and information for web-based small businesses and entrpreneurs.

To read other articles by Alan, http://www.optimalwebservices.com/articles

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