Sunday, June 22, 2008

Simple Ways To Increase Web Site Traffic With Web Design Updating And An Optimized Press Release

Today, Orlando businesses use the World Wide Web more than ever to advertise and sell everything from products and services to special events. If you are not achieving the amount of customers you thought you were going to and your goals for passive income and sales are falling short, do not worry.

There are several simple ways to bring in new customers; sending out an optimized press release or rejuvenating your web content are just a few of the tips to try. To drive traffic and buyers to your site, try a few of these tips:

Rejuvenate Web Site Content

The rejuvenation of your web site 's content is vital to bring in new visitors to the site and hold on to the interest of returning customers. Blogs and forums are two tools that work great for this purpose. If you find that you are having difficulty coming up with new ideas for content, start with an idea cloud or mind map.

Set up a goal that requires you to refresh and add new content to your web site on a daily basis. When you begin to run out of content ideas, you can add to your web content through a "latest news" area and create an optimized press release. Here, you can announce the latest product and services that have been added to your business.

Get the Word Out

The most effective way to spread the word about your site is to visit the same sites and forums as your target audience. Here, you can give advice, comments, and suggestions along with links to your site. An optimized press release is also highly effective in promoting your site.

The information about new services and products can be posted into your news section as well as other sites that focus in your industry as well as social media sites and newswire services. In addition, on effective press release will also include two or three keywords related to your business. These keywords need to be placed in particular areas of your optimized press release so that search engines can rank you for those terms. Spread the word about your site to customers searching for businesses like yours; it is one of the best ways to build up your list of clientele.

Test the Performance of the Site

If it has been awhile since your site was last updated or if the direction or objective of the site has changed, it is probably time to update it. Sometimes even minor changes are all that is needed to improve your sales. This could include redirecting traffic to make reaching a target page more convenient, adding on additional pages in your site, or even providing information over a fold.

It is also wise to submit your optimized press release onto your home page weekly in order to increase the number of buyers that locate your site through your targeted keywords. Title, Description, and Keyword meta tags as well as Page Titles and H1 tags can be optimized on your site. If you are unsure about any of this, an Orlando Internet marketing firm will be able to work with you to evaluate your site after a short consultation.

Site Design Updates

The design of your website can significantly limit the amount of business you attract online. Visitors simply will not visit or recommend your site if it is difficult to use or understand. For example, content on a bright yellow background with white text will be almost impossible to read no matter how good the content is.

One of the easiest ways to learn valuable information about what designs are effective is to check out a few competing sites and write down what seems to work and what does not. If you feel panic rise at the mention of the word 'web design,' an Orlando web design firm would be happy to help redesign your site. In addition, future plans for the site and performance can be included into the new design. The redesign can also be used to spread the word about your site. To do this, compose an optimized press release about the redesign and submit it to media sites related to your business.

Driving visitors to your business' site is not as scary and stressful as it sounds. Patience and hard work are the keys to creating a successful site. Using methods such as an optimized press release or analyzing web design along with a little preparation go a long way to eliminating your concerns about web site traffic.

About the Author

Christine O'Kelly is an author for Dot Com Marketing. This Orlando web design company and Orlando internet marketing firm is specialized in optimized web content, SEO website marketing, and optimized press releases specifically for helping their clients successfully market their sites.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Friday, June 20, 2008

The Basics of Good Web Site Design and Promotion

Aesthetically designed pages, uniformity across the site, site that is built upon a great theme and associated keywords and key-phrases, excellent navigation between pages, good graphics, SEO techniques, and a great content are the primary requisites of a great web site that will attract many visitors.

To design and develop such a site requires mastery over the different related tools and topics. An experienced web site design and development firm can create the best web site, addressing every concerned issues professionally, but even a novice will be able to create a basic web site from the concepts mentioned in this article.
A well-planned and developed business web site absolutely requires professional help in constructing it. Search engine optimization will help it to rank higher in the search engines bringing in targeted traffic. This traffic is essential for the business, as more traffic means more potential customers, and would mean increased revenues.

The HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and web page editors will help the developer to construct the web site. Every help is available for the novice on the internet with free online tutorials and articles providing invaluable help in the construction of the web pages and the site.

It is imperative to have the concepts ready and use good fonts, graphics, audios, videos, and colors that are suitable. A good page layout can easily be planned using the free and paid online tutorials. Avoid using frames, too many graphics, animations, videos on the site as it slows down the process of loading the web page. Use graphics only to enhance the page and help the relevancy factor.

The most important part of any web page is its content. The content should be of excellent quality and be relevant to the theme of the site. Professional writers can help produce high quality content at nominal price. Hyperlinks to other pages on the site is a much overlooked issue, so plan the flow of the site well, and check that the links are not broken.

The content has its own subdivisions, like the title, the different headings, the meta tags and keywords, the placement of the keywords and key phrases, and the overall beautification using appropriate fonts, colors, length of the paragraphs, and associated graphics. Usage of correct grammar and the flow of the story are of paramount importance. Try and keep the content to an ideal length to maintain readers interest and readability.

Advertisement are a source of additional income the advertisement programs like Google Adsense come equipped with relative ads in text and graphics format. Contextual advertisement is the hallmark of Google Adsense. It is, therefore, recommended to use these advertisements on your web site. A word of caution here, Google Adsense follows a strict code of conduct and requires its users to follow its program polices. There are many other such programs that can be used for web site revenue through contextual ads.

Search engine optimization helps the site to rank well in the various search engines, especially Google and Yahoo! SEO and the resulting traffic will make the site popular. A good web site having a good traffic, especially a targeted traffic, is a winning combination. So, hiring a professional firm experienced in the SEO techniques can work wonders to the web sites popularity. Updating the site regularly is another important factor not to be overlooked.

There are various other issues related to the web design concepts, some more advanced than the others, but the basics of web design are the same as stated, and they can help any type of web site. A professional firm should be consulted and hired if a commercial site or even a better personal site is required, because the visitors will always love a well planned professional-looking web site fulfilling their needs.

About the Author

Wmoadv.com is a Kansas City Web Site Design company the specializes in web development, creative design solutions and result oriented strategic SEO services.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Web Design Series: Fixed Width Vs Liquid Layouts

As every experienced web designer should know, there are two types of layout that you can choose from when designing web pages. One is the fixed width layout and the other is the liquid layout. The fixed width layout sets the width of the web page at a specific value, no matter how wide the viewers internet browser window is, whereas liquid layouts adjust their width depending on the width of the visitors browser window. The choice between these two layouts is not always an easy one and we will explore in depth the factors that will influence your final decision.

Fixed width layouts mean that you have a preset width which you will design the rest of your web page around. The main advantage of this approach is that it gives you greater direction and control over the eventual organization of your web page. Fixed width layouts are best used with print backgrounds, because these help maintain a consistent appearance even across different internet browsers and operating systems. In a liquid layout, however, the overall layout of your page is a percentage function of the size of the browser window being used to view it. They are useful for maximizing the use of space provided by any screen resolution or browser window size. Web designers who are tasked with conveying as much information as possible in a limited amount of space will often choose a liquid layout. It is important to both you and your web design company that you understand which layout would suit the needs of your client better.

Which layout you eventually choose will greatly affect the final look and feel of your web site, not to mention the functionality of the site. The ease with which visitors can scan through your site for relevant information and identify the content that they wish to find is largely dependant on your choice of layouts. It is thus absolutely essential that you understand the needs of your client and the kind of website that they want you to build in order to design a web site that reinforces the marketing strategies of your client. Your web design company is also likely to stress the importance of choosing the right layout when you take on any projects.

The Web Design Benefits and the Drawbacks

The pros and cons of each layout type are listed below, so you will be able to make a better-informed decision regarding which type of layout you should use for a particular project.

Fixed Width Layout

Pros

Pages that you design look exactly the same when viewed using any internet browser or operating system.

Images and other non-textual objects will not overwhelm the textual content of the page, regardless of the size of the browser window or viewing monitor.

The scan length of your pages stays constant no matter how wide the viewers browser window is.

Cons

Viewers using smaller browser windows or monitors to view the site will probably have to scroll horizontally to see the entirety of the page. This tends to annoy online visitors.

A large amount of whitespace is usually generated when viewers use large browser windows to view the site, resulting in wastage of otherwise useful space. Also, more vertical scrolling may be required than should be necessary.

Font size changes can adversely affect the overall layout of the page. Large increases in font size can cause the layout of your page to become distorted, making it messy and unappealing.

Liquid Width Layouts

Pros

Layout adjusts its size to fit any browser window size.

All the available space in the browser window is utilized, enabling larger windows to display more information while not compromising the viewing experience using smaller window sizes.

You can achieve consistent relative widths, ensuring that your web page can accommodate your clients varied design requirements such as font size changes.

Cons

Liquid layouts do not allow you to fix the width of the page and other elements on the page, making proper organization difficult in some situations.

Columns containing text may become either too wide or too narrow for comfortable viewing of the text.

Fixed width elements on the page may not be correctly displayed. Some browsers may attempt to correct for a lack of space for fixed width elements by increasing the width of the element, thus disrupting the order of the other elements in your layout.

Often, the best approach to use is to use both types of layout within the same web site or even within the same page. The type of layout you use may be dependant on which part of the site you are currently working on. A good example is fixing the width of the central column of the page so that text contained does not become distorted while allowing the layout for the rest of the page to be liquid, making viewing of side-bars and other elements more flexible. With practice and diligence, you will eventually learn the best combination of both layouts to use in any situation that you encounter.

About the Author

Moe Tamani is a SEO web design consultant Dallas Web Design.

Article Source: Content for Reprint

Website Useability: Make Your Website Appeal To International Users

More and more people around the world are using the Internet, and the numbers are increasing everyday. The Internet has become the primary source of information for many, and because of that, web sites have to constantly improve the content and image of their web pages in order to keep users interested in accessing their sites.

What are the measures that should be implemented by web designers in order to make their sites more appealing to users around the world? Here is a list of issues that can be encountered in web design and the necessary action to be considered:

1. Availability of basic features
First, the design of a web site should be compatible to any browser. It should be able to pass HTML and CSS validation tests. Second, web sites should be able to cater to disabled users. This won't be a problem as long as designers adhere to web standards. Third, the process of navigating a web site should be simple enough for all users. No user likes to encounter a new site, and then he or she has to figure out how to navigate around it. Fourth, status bars should be available. It shows the destination of links as the cursor is being moved. The status of the current page is also displayed as it loads.

2. Appearance of the pages
There are four elements that make up the appearance of a web site. They are the fonts, color, graphics, and writing.

Fonts are not just a matter of personal preference of the user and the designer. The primary importance of font choice is that it affects how fast the users can read the information being presented. Arial fonts are usually recommended over the Times New Roman and the Verdana.

When applying color, it is important that there is enough contrast between background and foreground in order for the content to be readable. To achieve maximum contrast, black text against a white background should be used. Link colors should be established at standard settings.

When it comes to graphics, bear in mind that some pages get too overloaded because of the use of too much images. As much as possible, use graphics only to support the content being presented to users. A lot of people actually have the tendency to shut off the images when browsing for information.

Web designers should remember the distinction between writing for the web and writing for print. Web content should be short and straight to the point.

3. Site performance
There are three factors that determine the overall performance of a web site. These are speed, tables, and connections.

Since everyone is hankering for more bandwidth, the best that designers can do is to avoid the usage of design that will take up too much bandwidth, because not every user has access to fast Internet connections.

To avoid making the site appear like it takes forever to download, avoid loading putting a whole page inside a table. Instead, divide the page into several tables.

Web designers should not cloud a page with too much items for the simple reason that each item requires a separate browser for the whole page to be downloaded.

4. The occurrence of bugs
Of course, no one wants to have bugs in his system. To avoid this, body text should be set up with relative font sizes. One has to consider that there are users out there who have poor eyesight, and they would like to adjust the font sizes through their individual settings in order to read the text more clearly. The relative value recommended for this would be:

font-size: -1

or

font-size: 100%

In case of URLs, it should be simple and short, containing no punctuation or spaces. Users should be able to copy a URL and paste it into an email message without it being wrapped in multiple lines. To avoid dead links, redirects should be established, in order to avoid the breaking of bookmarks and links.

Web designers should make sure that navigation features will be present at all times, whatever the size of the window the user is using. Browser windows should be maximized when applying design, because not every user will be surfing the Internet in a maximized window.

About the Author

5 Shades Media is a successful website design company that has been designing professional websites for small businesses for over half a decade. We are the only professional website design company that offers a full 100% Money Back Guarantee and Unlimited Website Changes during development.

Article Source: Content for Reprint