August 31, 2008

Creating a Website Design Using an Image Editor

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 9:00 pm

Anyone can draw up a design in Photoshop. That doesn’t make them a web designer. I have worked with artists and graphic designers that can create some pretty cool looking “layouts” but the problem is they can’t be converted to a web design. You don’t just paste an image into an HTML page and call it a website… it has to be cut-up and laid out with lots of thought and care. Knowing the rules, limitations, and constraints of web design will dramatically effect what you draw up in an image editor.

Before you draw anything, you will need to figure out some things first:

1) What resolution do you want to develop to?
2) What layout do you want to use?
3) Will your content be static, dynamic, or mixture of both?

The first thing to figure out is what desktop resolution you are going to develop to. Based on information from http://browsersize.com/, all web user desktops worldwide can be broken up into these percentages:

1024 x 768 - 56%
800 x 600 - 22%
1280 x 1024 - 13%
1152 x 864 - 3%
other - 6%

When actually drawing a website design up in an image editor, don’t forget to subtract 30px from the width for your layouts.? This is to accommodate the scrollbar that will appear to the right when content exceeds the screen height.? Example: for a resolution of 800×600, your design should be 770px in width.

The main number you want to look at here is the width (the first number). Scrolling down is fairly well accepted as normal behavior for a website by all users. So the height is not as important as the width. Scrolling across is a different story. You will never want your design to have horizontal scrollbars at the bottom of the page. You will need to pay special attention to the width of your design when developing. If someone’s desktop resolution is smaller than the resolution you designed to, they will have scrollbars at the bottom of their page and this will be deemed to be an unpleasant “viewing experience” for that user. The lower the resolution of your design, the more people that can be included in those that will have a nicer “viewing experience”.

Before you just jump to the highest used resolutions (1024 x 768), consider your market. Who are you developing your website for? If your website is a forum about Java Web Development or CSS Web Design, then it’s probably safe to figure that most of your users will be tech savvy. That means they will probably have nicer/newer computers, which means that you could probably develop to 1024 x 768 without worrying about to many people having a bad “viewing experience”. On the other hand, if you are developing a website for a non-profit organization that provides free food and clothing to families with low incomes, you probably want to stick to 800×600. Your target audience probably can’t afford the latest computers and may more than likely have older computers that were given away to them or purchased at a very cheap price. Another example is older people with bad eyesight - if your website draws in lots of senior citizens, they will probably want to see things at a lower resolution to make text and images larger.

You might also want to consider whether or not you want to ignore a quarter your market’s “viewing experience”. If your website is for a company that markets to the general public, I doubt their marketing department will like this. They will more than likely want something that looks appealing to everyone. This can be done easily by designing to 800×600 desktops. In fact, sometimes it’s nice to have a background for your design. For those people who use higher resolutions, you can create more of an esthetically pleasing look to your design by having a background.

The second thing to figure out is what layout you want to use. A layout is how headers, footers, content, sidebars, etc. are placed on your page. Not every page has to have the same layout. For instance, you may want a unique layout just for your index (entry) page. That’s fine, as long as most of the other pages on your site are consistent in their layout.

There are all sorts of layouts you can go with. There are those with menus on the side, menus on the top, some with sidebars and side boxes, and some without. There are those whose width stretch to fill your screen (liquid) and those whose width is a set size (static). Lots of possibilities here. A good place to look at some example layout can be found at the Layout Gala: http://blog.html.it/layoutgala/. This site provides the code for some of the most popular base layouts used in web design. All these layouts use valid markup and CSS, and have been tested successfully on Internet Explorer/win 5.0, 5.5, 6 and beta 2 preview of version 7; Opera 8.5, Firefox 1.5 and Safari 2. A great starting point for your web design. Again, keep in mind the two types of basic layouts: static and liquid. If you use a liquid layout, you will still need to determine the minimal width. It should be equal to the width of the resolution you have decided to design to. Your content should “float” appropriately as the browser is resized - either to the left, right, or center until they overflow, at which point they should float downward, pushing all your content down. Once you have reached your minimal width you have designed your site for, you are no longer accountable for your users “viewing experience”. The content can overlap and run into each other… this now acceptable. You can try and force it to be static once it has reached its minimal width, at which point it will show horizontal scrollbars. This is sometimes deemed to be more pleasant than letting your content overlap itself. This is up to you.

Finally, you need to consider your content. Is it going to be fairly static? Will the content be updated by users frequently? Is there dynamic data that is used for content that comes from a database? Does the site use a content manager? The important thing here is to design to your content. In general, you should avoid designing static height pages… they should stretch appropriately to accommodate the data that is present on the page. This is one of the mistakes I see a lot of from graphic designers that don’t know anything about the web. They code a watermark background that looks cool for a page of an exact height of, say, 600px because that was how big the page was with its content. But then a month later someone goes in adds some more content -now the website has an 800px height, and there is 200px at the bottom of the page that doesn’t have a watermark and is even a completely different color/look than what was used for the first 600px. As a web designer you have to be aware of when to use “repeatable background images” or colors for backgrounds with dynamic data. Sometimes you can use static images or horizontal repeating images at the top or bottom, as long as they gracefully blend into the main background eventually.

This is also important for menus. Using a static image, like a tab, is fine as long as you are willing to go into an image editor and create a new tab every time you need to. However, you might consider using repeatable images/solid colors with text that automatically stretches when content is added. To do this is more complicated, but will save you time in the future. Plus, if you’re using a content management system, this will be mandatory. You will have no idea how long someone might make their menu link, so you will need to be prepared for links that wrap and/or stretch dynamically. Again, solid colors or repeatable background can be used here. The doodlekit website builder tool is an example of when you would want to consider this.? Advanced web designers that use this tool will need to consider these rules when developing. Some of the more complicated designs used by doodlekit have repeatable images/colors in the middle, and static images at the top and bottom, or on the left and right sides that blend into the middle.

Once you have figured out the resolution you want to design to, picked your layout, and determined how dynamic your content is, you are ready to finally start drawing! Keeping these in mind will determine how and what you design. When it comes time to convert it to an actual website, your web designer/developer will thank you!

About the Author

Heath Huffman is co-owner of doodlebit website designs & website solutions. They created the doodlekit website builder - an online tool that allows you to create and build your own website. doodlekit has the following built into it: page edit/creation, blogs, forums, photo albums, forms, shopping cart, file uploading, & website stat tracking. -
In the growing internet-driven economy, your business is considered only as good quality as the website design services that you choose. Even if you are able to undercut your business competitor for half percent, it still means nothing or it is useless unless you effectively get the word out there.

It is just the same for it holds true groundbreaking new products without a strong marketing medium; your victories are destined to remain private and confidential.
A good quality website design services company can do a lot more than just set up your site. Take note that a full-service business will aid you develop your idea into a practical and feasible site so that you can begin acquiring clients right away. As a fully incorporated shop, your website design services company can handle everything from your domain name registration and hosting to your e-commerce activity.
However, one of the best things that website design services have to offer is their one-stop shopping. You can imagine for a moment the headaches involved in outsourcing every one of your company’s requirements to a detach contractor. Do not forget you’d have to hire a registrar to manage your name, a hosting company to provide you your bandwidth, a design firm to lay out your navigation, and an IT guru to see to your tech needs, not to mention a full suite of marketing, advertising, and optimizing firms. Whew!
There can be an alternative as well. It is by bringing on a vertically incorporated website design services specialist to oversee your mushrooming business from set up to finish. Take note that a company like this can help you troubleshoot glitches, thereby keeping your clients contented even through unstable moments. Whether you like it or not, site hacks, server crashes, and disappearing domains are realities of the new economy.
It is important to note that the company you choose should be able to lift that visibility in any number of ways. This may require an online marketing campaign, a customer referral or affiliate business, or search engine maximization–or maybe all three. With this, it is wise to spend sufficient time browsing the market to see what various website design services are willing to offer in terms of products and features as well as price.


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What to Look For in a Website Designer

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 1:00 am

You’ve written a book and want to promote it. You’re starting a new business and want to attract new customers. You have an established business and wish to retain current patrons and tap into the growing world of Internet commerce. You need a website, but you have no idea how to design or maintain one.

There is no shame in admitting that you need assistance with website design and development. True, you may feel behind the times when middle school children are launching sites with ease, but remember that not all websites are the same, and not all websites are designed for the same purpose. The flashy, graphics-intensive look of a personal site may not suit the needs of a business, while a catalog site with extensive programming may be too much for what is essentially an online calling card.

The first important step toward building an online presence is to know what your website needs to do for you and your products. With the proper guidance of a competent, efficient website designer, you can achieve the perfect look and functionality for your brand.

But, with so many website design companies in business, how do you know which one is the right one to work for you?

As with choosing any service provider, a number of factors should be taken into consideration before hiring somebody to create your online headquarters. With dedicated research, you can find the perfect fit. Here are just a few things to look for when scouting potential web designers:

Web Presence

What does the website of the design company look like? Does it load quickly, and is the design attractive and effective? Is it simple to navigate? Is it loaded with ads, or is there relevant content available?

Check to see if there is an available portfolio of clients, and visit those sites as well. You may need to do some personal evaluation to determine if a particular client has a website appropriate for its purpose, or if it looks like it has been overdone with unnecessary bells and whistles. Contact a few clients and inquire about their relationships with their designers.

Check also for an About Us section with information on the company and its employees. What professional qualifications are included? How long has the company been in business? Is there a rate card available on site? Not every company will publish hard numbers, as custom design can vary according to a client’s needs, but one good thing to look for is a base minimum price set by the company. This will help you determine if the company is too high-end for your budget.

Customer Service

Does the company’s website have easy to find contact information? How quickly do they respond to an e-mail or phone query? Test the possibility of a few design companies with a general query, then make note of the timeliness and personable qualities of each reply. Are some e-mails more like form letters? If you are interested in maintain a constant, personal relationship with your website designers, you may want to consider the ease with which you can contact them. While an immediate automated response might not indicate the company is too busy to contact you, prolonged neglect should answer your question.

When you meet with potential firms, take into consideration their interest in you. Are they genuinely interested in your project, or does it seem like they want to sell you more functionality and services you neither need nor want? Website design companies offer different services like hosting, online marketing, and ongoing maintenance, so naturally it is in the best interest of such a company to promote these services. As you do your research, you may find you need some extras, but don’t feel pressured into anything you are certain you don’t need. Inquire about custom pricing for combination packages, and test the company’s flexibility. You will know if they truly want to aid your vision or are just interested in the sale.

Location

Where is the company located? Are they local or within the state? If you are interested in maintain close contact with a website designer, it would be recommended to find one you can visit if needed. Scout local website firms and note their locations. Does the company have an office, or is it a sole proprietorship operated out of a private home? Will the designer meet with you personally when you wish? What kind of equipment is used in design? Are employees in-house, or do they depend upon third party freelance work? If you are looking for immediacy in design and maintenance, this may be a deciding factor.

With so many potential companies to design your website, it may seem like a daunting take to whittle the choices down to one. Yet, with diligent research and a knack for personal intuition, you can find the proper designer to create your online presence and foster your brand.

The Write SEO writes content for CINIVA Systems, and award-winning Virginia Beach Website Design company.

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Cascading Style Sheets (or CSS for short) have slowly but surely become a website design standard over the past few years. It was not that many years ago that people used Frames to position their content across their web pages and Tables gradually replaced this. Many low-end website developers are still very comfortable with Tables, as it ‘does what it says on the tin’. However, more and more people are now moving over to CSS, as virtually all the layout options can be achieved using the code.

One major problem with CSS is that not all Web browsers produce the same results and it has not been helped in the past by the various browsers employing their own way of interpreting certain CSS conventions. You can think your CSS design looks OK in the current version of your preferred browser and can then be crestfallen when you view your Web pages in another version that has destroyed the formatting. Therefore, when moving over to CSS, it is important that you use the capabilities that are consistently supported across the entire range of popular browsers. It is interesting that the new version 7 of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has fixed a number of earlier anomalies, but many people are now waking up to the reality that IE7 has in fact caused problems arising from their earlier workarounds!

So why not bother with CSS, if Tables work for you? The principal advantages are as follows:

1. Web page code is generally much easier to follow;

2. The amount of code used to achieve the same result is much less. The general view is that by switching to a CSS layout, the typical page size reduction is between 50 - 60 per cent;

3. Download speeds for CSS pages are generally faster than their Table-driven counterparts. This is because browsers have to read through the table code twice before they are able to display the contents. They do this firstly to figure out the structure and then again to understand the content. It should also be recognised that a Table’s contents can only be presented to the screen in one go, whereas CSS content will drop in separately, thereby giving a better user experience. It is also possible to govern the order in which specific screen elements appear, so the user is not distracted by the more bulky and slower to load image files. Furthermore, because all the code involved with CSS page layout is held in one external CSS document and is cached, it is faster than Table layouts that need to be interpreted every time a new page is displayed;

4. It is much easier to edit existing pages and to add new pages, particularly in the area of subtle formatting amendments. For example, you can change the font or colour scheme across an entire website in literally minutes;

5. CSS delivers enhanced accessibility. In recent years the number of people using web browsers on hand-held devices has risen significantly and CSS plays an important function in delivering content to PDA’s etc through additional CSS documents. This just isn’t possible with Table-driven layouts;

6. CSS is considered to be more Search Engine friendly because they can spider CSS pages quicker. However, it remains to be seen if this has any tangible benefits such as an improvement on the your page ranking.

On the flipside, there are a few disadvantages to CSS web page design you should consider:

1. As compared with Tables, CSS involves a much bigger learning curve;

2. Because of cross browser support issues, the time spent implementing workarounds should not be underestimated;

3. New browser versions can catch website developers napping if you are not careful. You can find that earlier workarounds have been overcome and the look of your website has changed overnight.

Ultimately, your decision on whether or not to move over to see CSS will probably depend on your level of technical capability and the time you’re able to devote to understanding CSS layout alternatives.

About the Author

David Sielicki is Features Editor with Fetcher the UK’s products and services directory. He is also a freelancer with Web Affinity

August 30, 2008

10-step plan for effective website design

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 1:00 am

If you are thinking about creating a website, there are a number of key principles you should consider before setting out. If you follow this simple ten-step plan, you will be well on your way to sharing your creation with the World Wide Web community.

1. Choose a HTML Editor

Before you can begin designing your new website, you will need a piece of software called a HTML Editor or sometimes called Web Editor. Basically, this converts your visual design into a language called Hypertext Markup Language (or HTML for short). In turn, this is then interpreted by web browsers - such as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer - and delivers your website contents over the Internet. Virtually all Web Editors provide you with WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) functionality for ease of use and simplicity and there are many to choose from. You can consider freeware, shareware or moving up into the commercial applications there is the Microsoft FrontPage offering or the more complicated, but much loved, Dreamweaver product. Initially, it is probably worth trying out the free or try-before-you-buy applications that are freely downloadable from the Internet.

2. Simple design and structure

It is always best to keep the basic website design as simple as possible, not only because you are just starting out, but crucially because people dislike ‘busy’ content. Try to achieve a consistent layout across all the pages, making sure you keep logos, menus and content areas in the same place as much as possible. Think carefully about your directory structure, as websites can begin to ‘grow legs’ and it can be quite frustrating trying to make simple changes if you have web pages and images all in the same directory. For instance, separate out images etc within their own subdirectory. As your skills begin to develop you’ll also want to think about keeping the page formatting in one .css file extension.

3. Keep the design easy on the eye

Have you ever visited a website and immediately clicked away from it because of crazy, flashing images, ticker-tape text or just downright garish colours? This is something to keep in mind as you develop your skills. Remember, what appeals to you may offend someone else’s senses, so try to keep colour schemes as neutral as possible, almost to the point of being bland. Why do you think Google’s website is so popular? Clearly, it may be verging on the visually boring, but it does the job without fuss.

4. Simple navigation

Think about creating a simple navigation structure so the user remains in control and doesn’t get confused and frustrated. As you begin to create third and even fourth level pages, always make sure there are quick routes back to the key pages. As a general rule, ensure there is a link to the home page and people can contact you from more or less every page.

5. Content is key

Try to make sure your content is relevant to what your website is all about. It sounds obvious, but don’t just add content for the sake of padding it out and if you can keep the material original it will pay dividends in the long run. Essentially, this is because you want your visitors to return and the search engines will also give your website a higher ranking if it is full of original content

6. Webpage naming conventions

Have you ever visited a website where the individual web page URLs are so long you could never write them down? This is not good practice and it is helpful to both the search engines and visitors if the page names actually describe the contents wherever possible. For instance, if your website is all about garden ponds and you have a specific page about Koi carp, why not call it just that. Something like www.mydomain.com/koi_carp is better than ../page21.htm.

7. Titles and Meta tags

Make sure that each and every web page across your entire website carries a unique Title and Meta names that are relevant to each page. It is vital that you try to give each page a title that reflects the actual contents, as the search engines use this information when deciding the relative position of key word results. If you forget this important aspect, you will consign your web pages to the back of the search engine results queue. This is a basic schoolboy mistake that many accomplished website designers make from time to time, including me!

8. Domain Name

Unless you plan to use free web space provided by your Internet service provider for instance, you will need to think about purchasing a Domain Name. They are so cheap that they are accessible to virtually everyone and for most people it is a worthwhile investment. When choosing the name of your website domain, you might want to try and register a name that actually reflects what your website is about. Admittedly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to register unique domain name combinations, but it is possible if you use a certain amount of creative thinking. Again, using the pond fish example, something like www.yourtownpond fish.com is better than something nondescript like www.abcabc.com, as it contains relevant words about your chosen subject and even your location.

9. Hosting Package

Most people will want to buy a cheap hosting package to share their creative work with the public. With the massive competition that exists in this arena, you will only have to pay a few dollars a month for a basic offering. Try not to lock yourself into lengthy contracts, as you may want to shop around later on when you become concerned about the number of e-mail addresses, web space and bandwidth. For most people who are just starting out these are not important considerations, but they are likely to become issues for you after a while.

10. Links

The principal way in which the Search Engines determine the level of a website’s popularity is to take into consideration the number and quality of links from other websites. There are lots of other factors, such as the quality of the content, but you must remember that you need other websites to link to your website to achieve a reasonable search engine ranking. There are companies that will offer a service to achieve this for you, but it is not difficult to do. It will take you time, effort and patience, but it is worth it in the end. Essentially, you will need to contact the web administrator of those websites you want to share a link with, offering to exchange links. You might only get responses from 1 in 15 attempts, so be prepared to ‘waste’ a lot of effort.

About the Author

Nigel Robinson is a marketing manager with www.fetcher.co.uk the UK’s products and services directory. He is also a freelance web designer with www.webaffinity.net

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If you think that it?s practically easy to do website design, then you?re probably wrong. The process actually requires more than perfect combination of colors, use of animation and Flash.

If you think that it?s practically easy to do website design, then you?re probably wrong. The process actually requires more than perfect combination of colors, use of animation and Flash, as well as perfect structures of every web page.

What Should You Keep in Mind in Website Design?

If you have an online business, or if you are trying to promote your services and products through the World Wide Web, then you must know that your website will be your mode of connection to your Internet users. Hence, the website design being implemented will determine if you are going to be successful or not.

To help you out, you can remember these website design considerations:

1. Know the purpose of your website. Most definitely, you cannot build a website just for the sake of having one. Otherwise, you are not making the most out of your investment. You need to know the reason behind its creation so, you can also determine what kind of website design you are going to utilize. For example, if you are simply providing information to your target market, then you may want to make sure that articles are easy to scan. If you are selling products or offering services, meanwhile, you should have your own Products and Services page, with accompanying photos and descriptions that are both convenient to look at.

2. Make sure that all links are clickable. Dead links, or those that lead users and search engine spiders to removed or non-accessible pages, will definitely not become too pleasing to both Internet users and search engines. Basically, your target customers would not like to feel deceived or waste their time on dead links. Your website will also be getting supplemental pages, which can hinder your chances of getting excellent page ranks. Hence, when you are doing web design, check the links first before uploading the pages. They should lead you to the page with the right contents.

3. Strike balance among the different elements in your website. Though usability and accessibility will be two of your foremost consideration in creating a website, you should also make sure that your pages appear professional. Internet users still go for websites where contents are properly laid out, there are a number of photos or videos that accompany them, and that the right colors are chosen.

4. Website should be easy to navigate. There are only few people who implement the static Home button technique. This is when Home appears in every web page of your site. Normally, when you have too many pages, users can get lost while browsing. The Home button can help them start from scratch.

5. Site maps and proper headline tags do count. One of the goals in website design is to make all pages of your website easy to index. Hence, you need to add a site map, so it becomes convenient for search engine spiders to index your various web pages. Headline tags will also make you convenient to search in Google, YahooFree Web Content, and MSN.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Mahoney is a freelance author who writes about various technology related subjects. For more information about John visit his website: www.techstore.ie

August 28, 2008

RVTraderOnline.com’s Website Redesign Tailors to Advertisers and Presents New Opportunities to Target Leads

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 9:00 pm

March 14, 2006 Norfolk, VA - RVTraderOnline.com, an online showroom of over 75,000 recreational vehicles across the US and a division of Trader Publishing Company has undergone a website redesign to become more user-friendly and provide even more opportunities for dealers, suppliers, and manufacturers to target active RV enthusiasts.

With the advent of a Dealer Spotlight ad on the homepage, dealers are given the opportunity to outshine competing homepage ads with a larger ad on the left side of the page and directly to the left of the homepage search function. This way, no matter what the visitor searches for, they are sure to notice this particular ad and give the dealer maximized exposure and a superb chance to make a good first impression on RVTraderOnline.com.

Other opportunities such as the homepage skyscraper ad and the header banner ad have been increased in size to provide the advertiser with more space for branding. This is the best avenue for an RV manufacturer or supplier to establish branding and name recognition to a market of RV enthusiasts who are repeat visitors to the website. The skyscraper and header banner are run-of-site, providing advertisers a constant showcase so that the ad will be seen by visitors on a countless number of pages on the website. RVTraderOnline.com currently receives nearly 8 million pageviews per month.

Finally, buyers and sellers can find a table containing resources for their recreational vehicles on every page of the website. Resources like insurance quotes, warranties, generators, financing, parts & accessories, and various products for the RV lifestyle, are pages designed for suppliers to stage themselves where visitors are requesting products and services to supplement their new purchases.

Scott Vollmer, the Business Development Manager of RVTraderOnline.com shares his feelings on the website redesign, “this is a long-awaited change that we have been developing and testing for months. After nearly 5 years of the same website design, we’re ready for a new approach, more streamlined maneuverability for our users, and more unique ways for our advertisers to reach and harvest leads.”

RVTraderOnline.com is the leading online classified ad service bringing RV buyers and sellers together in one virtual marketplace with over 500,000 unique visitors per month, (WebTrends, 2005). Advertising their inventory on RVTraderOnline.com, dealers and independent owners alike are reaching RV enthusiasts who are interested in researching and purchasing new and used recreational vehicles online.

Headquartered in Norfolk, VA, RVTraderOnline.com is part of TraderOnline.com’s network of websites covering new and used vehicle categories such as boats, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, aircraft, equipment and collector car vehicles, and general merchandise. TraderOnline.com is a division of Trader Publishing Company, the nation’s largest distributor of photo-classified ad publications. For more information about RVTraderOnline.com, call toll-free 888-813-7304 or visit www.RVTraderOnline.com.

About the Author

Jackie Moniot is the Marketing Manager for RV Trader Online, a division of Trader Publishing Company, the nation’s largest distributor of photo-classified ad publications. -

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.

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 leanHealth Fitness Articles, 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.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aaron Nathan is a staff writer for Click Response a website marketing and design firm where you can get small business website design that works.

August 27, 2008

Affordable Website Design Company, Global Marketing Resources, announces its partnership program with eventplannersassociation.com

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 9:00 pm

Global Marketing Resources (GMR), a Irvine, CA based leading website design and web marketing company for small businesses, announces partnership program with eventplannersassociation.com; a California based company offering Insurance, Legal Assistance and Marketing advice to the event planning/amusement games industry. As part of the partnership, GMR will help eventplannersassociation.com market its services to the event planning/amusement games industry.

Irvine, CA, August 16, 2006…Global Marketing Resources (GMR), an Irvine, CA based affordable website design, web management and website marketing company announces partnership program with eventplannersassociation.com, a CA based company offering Insurance, Legal Assistance and Marketing advice to the members of the Event Planning/ amusement games Industry.

The partnership between gmrwebteam.com and eventplannersassociation.com includes the design and development of a new website by Global Marketing Resources and providing website marketing such as, affiliate marketing, pay-per-click advertisement, search engine optimization, etc. evenplannersassociation.com will advertise special website design package offered by Global Marketing Resources.

Global Marketing Resources India based resources will be doing all the website maintenance work, plus taking care of all marketing activities to make the site generate revenue for the company.

Speaking about the development, Mr. Ajay Prasad, Founder and President, Global Marketing Resources said, “I am really excited about this partnership opportunity. Eventplannersassociation.com is an enterprising company providing services focused on event planning/amusement games industry and this partnership would expand services eventplannersassociation.com offers to their clients, and provide ongoing source of revenue for Global Marketing Resources. This is a truly win-win relationship.”

A representative of Evenplannersassociation.com responsible for the website said “I am amazed at the capabilities of Global Marketing Resources. We engaged them to just design our website, but it soon became apparent that Ajay’s knowledge of marketing and his India based resources can accelerate our business significantly. We were always focused on providing best of the services for event planners; our association with GMR truly lets us offer our services to our target industry.

About Global Marketing Resources Global Marketing Resources is a marketing-focused company, actively involved in affordable website design, web marketing, and website maintenance. Global Marketing Resources has been helping small businesses market their products since its inception in 2001. The company started to focus on the website needs of small businesses in 2003 and designs turnkey websites, manages it, and offers web marketing support at lower rates that allows good returns on website presence investment by small companies.

Headquartered in Irvine, CA, Global Marketing Resources has a development & marketing team of over 40 employees based in Hyderabad, India.

About Event Planners Association (eventplannersassociation.com) Eventplannersassociation.com is a CA, based company dedicated to helping the event planning community in US and Canada.

For details or clarifications write to:

info@gmrwebteam.com or visit us at www.gmrwebteam.com

Event Planner’s Association at info@eventplannersassociation.com or visit us at www.eventplannersassociation.com

About the Author

Ajay is the President of Global Marketing Resources, the marketing consulting and fulfillment firm in US. Prior to GMR, Ajay had over 17 years of marketing & business management experience at senior executive positions in marketing at large, medium size, and start-up companies. Ajay has been quoted in major newspapers (Dallas Morning News, San Jose Mercury News, The Wall Street Journal, etc.) about his views on car navigation. -

Does your website need a re-design? Here are some questions to ask yourself when you are looking for investing in your website redesign.

1) Is your website fresh - Having a website fresh helps your visitors to stay on your website rather than skipping your website? When I mean fresh, fresh with content, Every website owner should have their website updated with latest content, Search engine spiders index new content and in turn your website will rank high on search engines.

2) Create a professional image for your website. Out dated graphics and look of the website can turn away your visitors to your competitor’s website which is Eye-catching and easy to use and functional website. A clean looking website gives a professional image to your business and it creates leads and sales.

3) Forbidden code which can lead to be banned by search engines also outdated codes of your website is pretty hard for search engines spiders to read your website. As technology changes it is a must for website owners to get updated with the latest technology on your website other you business will be left out in the competition.

4) Design flaws which is difficult in getting listed in search engines and directories.

5) Updating your keyword which is a key to your success of your website, Identify new keywords and increase your keyword density for effective placement for your website optimization

6) Replace your outdated and flashy images with fast and furious loading images which is quick to upload and you can keep your visitors in your website. Even though internet has come out of age still there is a large amount of user who still uses dialup connection for using internet.

7) Check your website is compatible with your all browsers. If you browse the web you see numerous websites that are non compatible to different browsers.

8)There are out sites on the internet where you would be searching for links and it is pretty hard and frustrates the visitors so having a easy to locate links on your website will help visitors to find information which they are looking for this in turn will increase sales and leads.

9) The other reasons are your website just needs an update.

Yes website re-design is a must for all website, if your website is out of date and the website is not working as it you need to be Website redesign is the answer.

Every website needs revamping and improvement in design and look of the website.

Many factors go into making an effective web site.

You need to look at the usability of the site to make a site effective. Navigation, colors, fonts and download time are just some of the main aspects.

The key is to understand the basics and then looking at adding specific features that apply to your web sites niche. A poorly designed and unattractive website will not do your company justice. A simple change of image can dramatically increase sales.

Redesigning a website is not a costly procedure, but can be a very effective way of enhancing your company’s image and boosting business sales.

About the Author

This article was written by Thomson Chemmanoor a freelance website designer and website promotion expert websites - http://www.website-promotion-expert.com, http://www.digitallabz.com, http://www.articlenetworks.com http://www.ppcmanagementguide.com

August 26, 2008

Why is Website Design Important?

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 9:00 pm

A well-conceived and consistent design helps draw attention to what has changed as the visitor moves from page to page. Ideally, what changes is the most important part of the page, the stuff your customer is interested in.?

If you get stuck in room with a group of web designers you’ll hear a lot of talk about page load times, HTML and XML, color and page sizes, animated graphics, and the latest design gizmos. Designers love to talk about the tools they use and the latest design trends. But hidden in all of this conversation are the real issues that you should pay attention to such as how a certain type of design is used to improve usability or create a strong sense of trust between a website and a visitor. You also might hear discussions about how different types of fonts are used to improve readability or how page links are used to help break up text into smaller, more easily readable sections. This is the “language” of design that you should always be on the lookout for.???

The Web’s strength as a visual medium is unquestioned. Often, a site is as much about what it looks like as what it says or does. Some sites exist for no other reason than to push the envelope of what’s possible in web design.???

?Your website will not be one of those sites. But, your site should exhibit some aesthetic sensibility. As several design experts and professional aestheticians have asserted, there is no undesigned object. In the world of commercial products at least, design pervades everything from cell phone face plates to toilet brushes. Surrounded by “designed objects” at every turn in their everyday life, visitors to your site will likewise expect your website to have a “design.”???

Design in this sense does not imply avant-garde or cutting edge, but rather it means produced with a purpose. A designed site employs visual discipline to support the site’s mission and connect with its visitors.???

?As focus does, design helps determine if something–an advertisement, logo, image, text block or other graphical element–is appropriate for the site. Not “appropriate” in terms of its content, but appropriate in how its size, color, and composition affect the site’s design for better or worse.???

In a well-designed site, areas of pages with different functions are separate and consistent across all the pages. A site’s design should clearly delineate areas of a site by function. For a small website, that primarily means designing a site with distinct areas for your logo or brand, navigation buttons and links, content, and a page footer, which might hold a copyright notice, page modification date, email link to the webmaster, and other short, site usage information. Larger sites might also designate web page real estate for other purposes, such as tools (search, shopping, or account management) and marketing, advertising, or promotional messages.???

The creators of cluttered sites have “bent the rules” too many times, resulting in a visual mishmash that confuses visitors. As the proverb goes, a room full of people may refuse to acknowledge the elephant in their midst. But a site that has grown bloated without regard for an overarching design principle will be noticeable to all who see it.???

People can easily become disoriented on the Web. A well-designed site is an antidote to the problem.???

Bloated sites often have a disturbing “designed on the fly” look to them. Like something shiny in the monkey cage, a new website feature captivates the bloated site builder and diverts attention from the rest of the site. On a good small site, the latest-and-greatest look is avoided so that a design that’s simple and customer focused can be maintained.????

A well-conceived and consistent design helps draw attention to what has changed as the visitor moves from page to page. Ideally, what changes is the most important part of the page, the stuff your customer is interested in. The rest of the site recedes to the periphery, getting attention from the visitor only when necessary. By abandoning consistent design from page to pageBusiness Management Articles, visitors to a bloated site are forced to concentrate on how the site is organized rather than on how the site and the business can benefit them.????

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shonda Miles is a business consultant and business coach. Gotta Take Action provides informative articles and advice to women-owned businesses who are ready to skyrocket their profits. Learn more about how to catapult your business success by visiting http://www.gottatakeaction.com for more information.

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Does your website need a re-design? Here are some questions to ask yourself when you are looking for investing in your website redesign.

1) Is your website fresh - Having a website fresh helps your visitors to stay on your website rather than skipping your website? When I mean fresh, fresh with content, Every website owner should have their website updated with latest content, Search engine spiders index new content and in turn your website will rank high on search engines.

2) Create a professional image for your website. Out dated graphics and look of the website can turn away your visitors to your competitor’s website which is Eye-catching and easy to use and functional website. A clean looking website gives a professional image to your business and it creates leads and sales.

3) Forbidden code which can lead to be banned by search engines also outdated codes of your website is pretty hard for search engines spiders to read your website. As technology changes it is a must for website owners to get updated with the latest technology on your website other you business will be left out in the competition.

4) Design flaws which is difficult in getting listed in search engines and directories.

5) Updating your keyword which is a key to your success of your website, Identify new keywords and increase your keyword density for effective placement for your website optimization

6) Replace your outdated and flashy images with fast and furious loading images which is quick to upload and you can keep your visitors in your website. Even though internet has come out of age still there is a large amount of user who still uses dialup connection for using internet.

7) Check your website is compatible with your all browsers. If you browse the web you see numerous websites that are non compatible to different browsers.

8)There are out sites on the internet where you would be searching for links and it is pretty hard and frustrates the visitors so having a easy to locate links on your website will help visitors to find information which they are looking for this in turn will increase sales and leads.

9) The other reasons are your website just needs an update.

Yes website re-design is a must for all website, if your website is out of date and the website is not working as it you need to be Website redesign is the answer.

Every website needs revamping and improvement in design and look of the website.

Many factors go into making an effective web site.

You need to look at the usability of the site to make a site effective. Navigation, colors, fonts and download time are just some of the main aspects.

The key is to understand the basics and then looking at adding specific features that apply to your web sites niche. A poorly designed and unattractive website will not do your company justice. A simple change of image can dramatically increase sales.

Redesigning a website is not a costly procedure, but can be a very effective way of enhancing your company’s image and boosting business sales.

About the Author

This article was written by Thomson Chemmanoor a freelance website designer and website promotion expert websites - http://www.website-promotion-expert.com, http://www.digitallabz.com, http://www.articlenetworks.com http://www.ppcmanagementguide.com

Quality Website Design At An Affordable Price

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 1:01 am

I always have people asking me if I know of anybody who can build them a website which is affordable but also professional looking. They want the website to be search engine friendly, there is no point in having a website if no one can see it, and fully optimised.

I am sure there are many people looking for something similar. In my opinion you should not have to spend a lot of money for such a service.

With such a lot of people now offering web design and optimisation services in the UK, there are bound to be some good deals to be found. In reality you should be able to have your website built for between ?50 and ?100.

The question is where do you find these great deals?

These are the areas I would try:

search engines such as Google

internet auction websites such as ebay

yellow pages

newspaper advertisements

shop window advertisements

asking family and friends

If you are willing to spend a bit of time, making lots of phone calls and sending lots of e-mails you will soon find the right web design quote.

It is not just the cost that is important however. There is no point accepting a quote of ?20 per website if the site will be of poor quality and not search engine friendly. It is therefore advisable to look at the person or companies portfolio and see if you like their previous work. I always look to see the page rank of the sites they have previously built and run a few searches on the key phrases relevant to each website.

About the Author

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:

panic attack information

free reflexology chart

stammering information -

Have you ever used an online website design builder? If so you may have been left with a less than professional website. Most of these tools are not what you would call a professional solution for designing or building your website. No matter how hard you try they are not going to turn out a professional website.

These tools will insert poor code and a lot of time your website will suffer from “code bloat” in other words there will be a lot of extra code that you are not even using. Although this is behind the scenes and your visitors can see it unless they do a “view source” and look at your code this causes serious problems concerning load time and it can affect your search engine rankings. Think about it, if you have all this “extra code” in your website then the search engine spiders have to dig through this junk just to get the relevant information they are looking for.

Online website design tools are just programs written by people, they cannot think, they cannot make recommendations or tell you that some element in the design you are creating is not going to be best for you. These programs will do exactly what you tell them to do so unless you are an experienced website design professional you will probably be in trouble and besides if you were a website design professional you would not be using a tool like this.

Is your competition using some online website builder? If you think so then think again. How will you expect to outsell or out rank your competition on the search engines if you are driving a Volkswagen and they are driving a Ferrari? It’s just not going to happen.

What is the difference between online website design builder tools and Content Management Systems or CMS? A lot! The online website design builder tools are for designing the layout of your site, the code behind your site and the elements that will make your site usable by your visitors and viewable and rank able by search engines.

Content Management Systems will allow you to update the content of your website and keep it fresh for your visitors and for the search engines. Unlike online builder tools a good Content Management System fits inside an already designed professional website layout.

The content you place within the pages of your website will affect your sales and your search engine rankings but there is little danger that you will destroy your website by using a good CMS.

About the Author

Anthony McMurray is the owner of Proimpulse Website Design a 6 year old professional website design and marketing firm offering website design services and website marketing services.

August 25, 2008

Website Design Advice And Information

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 1:00 am

Most of us at times need advice on different aspects of life and the thought of obtaining a website can be quite a daunting task for many people. There are so many people offering cheap web design services, therefore how do you know who to choose and what to look for.

In reality you should be able to find some great deals out there due to the competitive nature of website design. You should be able to get a good looking, search engine friendly website built for between ?50 and ?100. The websites mentioned at the bottom of this article were designed and uploaded for under ?50!

Where do you find these web designers, willing to build a website for this affordable price?

These are the places I would be looking:

internet search engines

yellow pages

asking family and friends

newspaper advertisements

shop window advertisements

internet auction websites such as ebay

When you have found a designer who is going to build your website, you need to find the content for your website, choose colours and graphics and think of the page titles for each page. The page titles could be the key phrases people are likely to search for in your product area or even better the niche phrases.

Once the website is built you then have to think about promoting your website. Building up your backward links is becoming increasingly important and will eventually lead to higher search engine positions and therefore more traffic to your website.

Writing articles like the one you are reading is also of value as people are able to use them for free on their website, thus creating you an additional backward link.

If you would like to earn a little extra money from the website you could try google adsense. These are ads that the search engine google will place on your website. When a visitor clicks on the ad you earn money.

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So you decided you need a website and you need to hire someone to make it. Well lookout! You need to be very careful. To stay with a reasonable budget and good service, please follow the following 6 steps to protect yourself.

1} Customer Service: This is the most important step. Make sure you can always talk to a real person. If you have to keep using a web support form and phone messages. Then move on. Web design needs real people to create it, and if you cannot talk anytime you want, then your doing business with the wrong company.

2} Domain Registration: Make sure the company you pick can buy and maintain your domain. Make sure they know how to set it up correctly for your new website and they make sure it gets renewed every year.

3} Web Hosting: Every website needs to be hosted. Does your design company have their own servers? Many do not. Its always nice to only call or contact one company to handle your web design needs and your hosting and Email needs.

4} Web Design: Websites do not need to cost you a second mortgage. Most of the time, a simple site is all you need. But many designers build sites as they see it. They normally do not think about how the site needs to perform for the search engines and clients with slow internet connections. A good designer will use basic technology and will be aware of the search engine needs.

5} Web Maintenance and Updates: This can be a killer. Make sure your design company includes updates and changes in their package, or you can be nickeled and dimed to death at 40 to 80 dollars an hour. Look out for gimmicks and games. Find a company that truly wants to be your full website provider, including changes.

6} Web Marketing: This is just as important as customer service. You can pay as much as you like for a website, but it is useless without traffic. Make sure your design company builds a good marketable website for you and provide you the services you need to get your site submitted to the search engines. They may also have programs to help with web pay advertising.

You need to ask every web design company about the 6 items above and how much they cost. A truly good web design company will have all 6 items to their package. If not, you will be facing a web design nightmare.

For any questions about the services above, feel free to visit http://www.necustomwebs.com or http://www.nwcustommarketing.com . Or email nwcw@nwcustomwebs.com at 541-390-8128.

About the Author

http://www.nwcustomwebs.com and Http://www.nwcustommarketing.com

August 24, 2008

Understanding the Pyschology of Color in Website Design

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 1:01 am

So you?ve bought the domain, you?ve got some great sales copy, ensure your meta and alt tags are doing they?re job, have a few graphics thrown in for good measure and are all set to publish your design to the web. Right?

Wrong. But though you?re on the right track, you might have overlooked what research is now calling one of the most crucial elements in site design: color. Having the right color scheme might be one of the ways to make or break your site. Since you only have about the first ten seconds of a user?s attention span, you need to ensure that what they first see catches their eye.

The fact that users are visiting your site means you?ve got the core elements of design on target, but now you have to keep them there. True, you?ll need great a great sales pitch and copy but don?t underestimate the importance of a color?s pyschology.

Colors mean different things to different people and can symbolise different things in different cultures. For instance, if you?re marketing your website for Asian users, a green hat with a white carnation as a corporate logo might seem creative but it might also get you backlashed and I?ll explain why. A green hat in China means a man?s wife is cheating on him and the white carnation symbolises death in Japan. Using the two in conjunction is a definite no-no.

Similarly, each color has a different meaning behind it which is subjective and relative to each user?s past experience.

Take the color red for instance, it could mean different things to different people based on their histories and associations with the color. It could mean a source of extreme pleasure for one and symbolise anger for another.

On the upside, websites created with different shades of blue or a blue-white combination are generally quite popular. Why? Blue typically represents a sense of calm, trust and security besides being easy on the eye.

However, using bright blue or bright of any color is a bad idea since the human eye will need to adjust to each color and it will put unneeded strain on their eyes.

Pink normally represents softness and gentility, which is why it is often used in baby care products while orange which symbolises potency and power is normally used in vitamins and health products, energy drinks etc.

Consider?s Newton?s first law ? every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. For each color that you choose, there will be a dfferent reaction to it by every user approaching that site. The question now becomes: how do you know which color won?t affront?

Try basing your color choices on what your site content and product sells, considering the audience & culture and gender preferences. Men and women prefer different variations of color ? men often prefer brighter colors and are generally okay with grays and blacks, while women prefer softer tones likes pastel shades. Cultures vary regarding color usage ? for instance a yellow and black site could be a wonderful combination for Americans, but might serve as a reminder to Nazi Germany for an Israeli, hence enforcing that those two colors should never be used in conjunction when designing a website for a Jewish corporation.

Let?s say you just love the blue/purple combination and have a nature-based website. Users do not often associate purple or blue with nature. Green and yellow might be more useful, with yellow used sparingly and green used predominantly due to its generally calming nature.

Multicolored websites have the least visitation span with the span reducing with the introduction of each new color. In general, not more than five different colors should be used on a single page.

Concluding, each website is defined not only by the content but by its color ? an indirect approach to marketing and propagating a message. While we use body language, websites use colors to demonstrate the subtleties and finer text.

Colors should not be used to support information, but rather to represent the site?s message and remain consistent throughout the website.

Currently a freelance writer with expertise as a Technology Analyst for dotDNA. My experience in the fields of Computer Science and Information Technology help in writing technical documents, user manuals and any other work that comes my way.

I have worked as a Web Developer for the last four years and am now branching into freelance writing, a path I have taken for the last eleven years. I own and manage a writer’s community with a free quarterly ezine at DesiWritersLounge.net.

I write short stories and novellas in my spare time.

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Website Success By Design
Submitted By: Ron Seawood iSnare Expert Author
 
 

You never get a second chance at first impressions. Not only does this truth apply when developing personal relationships it also applies in the world of website design. As I have traversed the World Wide Web I have found sites that have been thoroughly impressive and others not so much. You would be surprised at the lack of understanding of the first impression principle.

In the age of information it is important to make your information as accessible as possible. If a customer cannot find what they are looking for on your site they are likely to leave and find it on your competitor’s.

People go to the internet for two things:

1. Find information on a product or service they intend to purchase
2. Make a purchase

There is no doubt the importance of website design as a tool for marketing goods and services. Upon visiting a website the mind of the customer is made whether they will stay or go as soon as your site downloads. Your ability to keep them perusing your page is in based on a design that creates compelling exchange.

Regardless of what anyone says all humans look on the outside rather than the inside. It is our human nature to make judgments based on looks rather than substance on first encounters. If the cover of your book(your website) is not appealing than you will find that you have been judged only by your appearance and not the quality of the character of your site.

If the design of your website placed emphasis on deep and rich content yet losses a customer because of first impressions then you have wasted your time. When your website is perceived as confusing and uninteresting then your product or service will be perceived in the same manner.

A great example of this comes from Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence - Science and Practice, a woman owned an Indian Jewelry store in Arizona who recently purchased an allotment of turquoise jewelry.

The store owner had a hard time selling any pieces of this particular jewelry. She tried many sales tricks such as shifty their location to a central spot in the store, no luck. She had her sales clerks push the jewelry hard upon customers –with no success. One day the owner went on a buying trip but prior to leaving she left a note for her head saleswoman stating, “Everything in this display case, price x 1/2,” in hopes of getting rid of the offensive jewelry, even at a loss. The store owners handwriting must have been horrific because the saleswoman mistook “1/2″ to be “2″, and the entire allotment was sold for twice the original price!

The jewelry only sold because a higher price led to a perceived higher value. You see, “Perception is the key to the mind”.

If you place your website in a side-by-side comparison to your competitor, both offering the same product, the same price and the same value, the one who wins is the one with the best design hands down. Take time to think of what you are communicating to your customer and how it is best communicated. Through the creation of your compelling exchange your customer will find greater value in your website by “Design”.

Copyright ? Ron Seawood


iSnare Articles Trademark Balls

August 23, 2008

Bad Website Design - Avoid Them At All Cost

Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 1:01 am

Avoid the mistakes of other website designers who make bad website design choices

Websites and blogs are easier than ever to setup. Gone are the days when setting-up sites can only be done by IT guys or web geeks. Using free Content Management Systems or blog platforms, everyone has an even chance to have their own online presence. However, the easy road to setting up sites does not always translate to websites with good website designs. At some point or another, you must have seen websites with bad designs. A bad website design is very easy to identify. Unconsciously, we determine a site to be ugly based on some common characteristics. This article discusses the common traits of bad website design. With this knowledge, you, as a website designer, will be fully armed to avoid these bad website design mistakes. Here are a few pointers to help you get started.

Background And Text

Dark background, incompatible color combination of background and text, or very small font size makes for very hard reading. Stay away from stylish fonts but instead use sans-serif fonts for your contents. Having the proper color mix and good font size will increase usability of your site and make a big impact on the visitors’ experience.

Communication Style

It is nice to appear smart and intelligent but geek speak or highly intellectual postings will not be perceived well by your visitors. Each of your webpage should not be used for showing off your linguistic prowess or technically-laden lingo. The usual rule here is to clearly communicate with your visitors in an easy to understand, grammatically-sound, direct to the point format. Technical details should be presented in the language level of your visitors.

Graphics

Having nice large graphics is only appropriate for printed advertisement. On the Net, it is better to utilize easy-to-load graphics so webpages are loaded quickly. If your website can’t serve up information swiftly and the longer your visitors become idle, the faster your visitors will leave your site never to go back.

Templates and Navigation

As much as possible, have a consistent look and feel in your website thru the use of templates. If your visitors have to re-familiarize and re-learn the headers, navigation and footers for every webpage, your visitors will eventually get tired and leave.

Pop-ups

Unless you can justify it, never use pop-ups. It is by far the single most frustrating thing your visitor encounters while surfing. When visitors close the pop-ups, they will also close your site, never to be irritated again.

As regularly creating websites for my clients, I see a lot of web designers both good and bad. More oftenFree Reprint Articles, the bad web designers have mastered the science and art of bad and ugly website design. I’m pretty sure this article uncovers your eyes and will help you spot the difference between the two.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William D. Jimenez runs a website that uncovers the complexities of website design that can rank high in the Search Engines. There are 33 things you need to know before choosing your web design team. To take advantage of this cool stuff and more, make sure you check out William’s site at www.will2design.com.

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Website design is important in your online business, and don?t not overlook obvious faults or omissions with it. There are some simple glaring errors that you might fail to notice because you are not using your own website yourself, and others that you do nothing about because they do not seem important.

One of the major difficulties that people new to internet marketing have to learn to overcome is to be able to look at their website as a visitor would. Because you know your product, or know a lot about the subject of your site, the layout makes perfect sense to you, but how does it look to somebody not as conversant with the topic as you are. Have you made assumptions that others might need explained to them? Are you assuming a knowledge that is not there?

Ask a friend or relative who does not have your knowledge to run their eye over your site, and then act on any comments made. It is easy for experts to pitch a website with too high a level of assumed knowledge.

Have you tried to use your own site? Have you checked every navigation link? There is nothing better designed to prompt a visitor to navigate away from your site than a broken link. If you are that sloppy with your site, what like are your products? That is the way people think, so make sure that all your links work on a regular basis.

Want to learn more about it? Download the free ebook, Steps to Article Marketing Success.

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