There’s two ways to get a website developed - pay, or design it yourself. If you’ve chosen the latter, you’ll need several things. First, you’ll need web hosting. Web hosting can range from $2 to $200 per month, depending on your needs. Consult a web hosting review site for more information. Next, you’ll have to have some background in computing or internet programming. You’ll need to know at least HTML. Thirdly, you’ll have to have a way to upload your files. Some hosts have online uploads, others require FTP.

Today’s web design encompasses many different technologies that must blend seamlessly to allow for the best combination of form and function in a site. If you’ve decided to design your first website, it can be a daunting task. Rather, most professionals suggest finding a low-cost alternative. Many web developers have a forte - either design or programming. Finding a well-rounded website design firm or individual is difficult, but the business’ portfolio is the best indication.

In order to be certain of the firm’s abilities, further scrutinizing is imperative. The firm has a nice looking site that flows well and has an aesthetic appeal, a great testament to their abilities. But does this eye for the creative flow through its clients’ sites, too? It’s importance to be certain of this question. Browsing through the portfolio alone often isn’t enough. Get feedback from the clients if possible (with the firm’s approval). Are they satisfied? Do they feel that the firm was easy to work with? And moreover, is there site an adequate representation of what they wanted?

Once you’ve found a firm that you feel is worthwhile, it’s time to ask for a quote. Hopefully, the firm has a questionnaire that you can easily fill out. These surveys will ask questions about how many pages your site will have, whether writing is necessary, and if there is any extra functionality. You probably already have a budget in mind, but it’s better for a company to tell you what they think the work is worth. They know how many hours of work are involved, and will (hopefully) break down the price for you to let you know exactly what you’re paying for. Web design can range from $5 to $100 per hour, and many web designers have a forte that they will charge more for. Sometimes, it’s even necessary to work with multiple firms to get the best deal.

Today’s trend is outsourcing. Many Indian and other overseas programmers and designers are willing to work for exponentially less than American web designers. This trend has its pros and cons. While the money saved is beneficial, the overseas designers rarely speak fluent English. Communication is an imperative part of web design, and often projects can go awry without it.

Obviously, you have a difficult design ahead of you. With all the great web design firms out there, sometimes cost does equal quality. Make a decision, get a second opinion, and always be thorough in your explanation of what you’re looking for.

About the Author

Take a look through Red Fly’s portfolio, compare to other Irish web design firms, and you’ll see that the company has a lot to offer. Web Development Ireland -

Here are a couple of mistakes that newcomers to the Internet tend to make. See this as a learning opportunity and a way to avoid making these mistakes, since making them will really be detrimental to the success of your website.

There are two types of mistakes that are common:

Technical mistakes and Management mistakes. Let’s take a look at both and how they can be avoided.

Technical mistakes arise from a lack of understanding of the Internet and the technical environment within which the Internet operates. You have to realise that you are working within certain constraints on the Internet - namely hard disk space and bandwidth.

1. Ignoring bandwidth restrictions.

Bandwidth is the most important one that will have an impact. There is a big difference opening a photo or document on your local machine and downloading it from the Internet. If you place photos or documents on your website that are huge it will be very difficult for your visitors to navigate your site and even view your web pages. Pictures especially are the main culprit, since normal text take up very little bandwidth.

All pictures and photos should be optimised for the Internet. A good photo editor program (even the Microsoft Office Picture Manager) is essential to do two things:

a) To scale the picture down so that it can fit onto a web page - pictures should not be larger than 800 pixels or even 1000 pixels wide. Do ensure that you select to retain the ratio when you scale pictures down so that the picture retains the right proportions.

b) To resize the picture physically so that it takes up less physical space. JPG pictures especially can be saved at 60% to 70% compression without the naked eye being able to see it. Use JPG for real life photos with gradual color changes, but rather use GIFs for drawn graphics, sold blocks color and text. Be careful if you use JPG for these since the compression WILL be visible to the naked eye.

2. Cluttering your website with pictures and animations.

Be aware of the latest style in website design. DO NOT clutter your website with animated gifs such as envelopes posting themselves, rotating animals or any distracting elements. These are very old fashioned in Internet terms by now and instead of attracting or drawing attention, these elements will cause your website visitors to leave - quickly.

3. Using non-standard fonts

Do not use exotic fonts on your website. Each font that you use needs to be installed on each local machine of your website visitor and you have no guarantee that if you are using Acanthus in your website design, that each and every person in the world that opens that page will also have the Acanthus font installed. The results might be unpredictable, to say the least.

Stick with fonts that are common to most Windows and Mac installations. These are Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, TImes New Roman and Georgia.

4. Not building your website for search engines.

A common error is building a site that ignores search engine needs. The result is that search engines don’t list the site in their search results. Internet browsers don’t learn about the existence of the site and the site stays unknown.

5. Not hosting your site with a provider that is scalable.

A few individuals host sites with companies that are not scalable. The result is that when you have outgrown your current package you cannot upgrade in terms of bandwidth or hard disk space. Scalability is an important criterion to be kept in mind while hosting sites. Otherwise, the site is unable to accept new visitors when the traffic peaks.

Management mistakes arise from a lack of understanding on how to conduct business on the Internet. Conducting business on the Internet is not just a hobby, in fact, if you do not see it as a serious business that is going to consume a lot of your time and resources, your website will fail.

1. Lack of business plan

Make a definite business plan and to stick to it. The business plan should not be abandoned if the business progresses slowly in the beginning. Also, the plan must ensure spending on marketing. You are going to have to market your business as well as market your website if you want to really see a return on your investment. Most businesses make the mistake of depending on the Website to carry all the advertising burden for the business, whereas the actual website actually needs its own marketing budget before it will start to contribute positively to the business.

You must define your target group and invest in advertising which targets them - both offline and online. Patience and persistence are needed, because you may not get immediate results. Networking with family, friends and co-workers also helps. Make yourself visible to the online communities. Avoid spamming, which has a negative effect.

2. Not ensuring that you plan for the lean periods.

You might need the help of your bank or other source that can provide short term capital, advice and resources. You will have to invest in your business and re-invest once you start to have some cashflow. On the Internet (as with any business), things do not happen overnight. It takes time to be successful. Make a budget and keep track of your cash flow. Before you pay yourself a high salary or buy a car, think about whether you can really afford it. Your own business, whether offline and supported by a website, or whether wholly online consumes a lot of time, energy and money and you have to be prepared to invest that in order to be successful in the end.

About the Author

Christine Anderssen is the owner of Tailormade4you - a web hosting and web design company that specializes in Webhosting, Web Design and Web Development services for small to medium sized businesses. Read the original on http://www.tm4y.co.za/general-tips/website-design-and-hosting-mistakes-to-be-avoided.html

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