For those of you who don't know what an FFA site is, it's basically a website where you can post a link/add to your website for free. Generally it is also posted to many other sites at the same time and hopefully somebody sees your link...free advertising in other words. This also creates backlinks to your website. When you post a link, you are also giving permission (whether you know it or not) to receive confirmation e-mails back from the site owner.
What seems to happen though is many people see this as free advertising and get angry when, not only do they not see a flood of sales come pouring in, but they start receiving other people's offers. I know when the first time it happened to me, I couldn't figure out what was going on and was frustrated at the results.
Let's back up a moment and look at the bigger picture of what an FFA site is and its TRUE purpose. The true purpose of an FFA site is for the owner of that site to promote his/her business. It's really not just because he's a nice guy giving people a free advertising place.
(If it were such a goldmine for pulling in sales, he would be doing it himself). That is just the bait, getting people to his site to post their links, thinking they are getting free advertising, so he can respond with "confirmation" of your link, and his business ad.
Those confirmation e-mails are NOT spam. You had to agree to receive them in order to post your link. Who are reading these ads anyway? So is posting to FFA's a total waste of time? Not necessarily, you do get an occasional sale, people do go back to post their links and sometimes take a quick look through the links to see what's there while they're at it.
So what's the answer? Get your own FFA site to promote your business. There are many excellent resources out there. I have found from personal experience however,that many of the services offering FFA's sites, offer a free version or a paid upgrade. The phrase "You get what you pay for" comes to mind with these. I've used several kinds and found that the paid upgrades more than paid for themselves in sales. Shop around however to compare between companies.
You can promote any product through this method; information products, crafts, vitamins, whatever. You could have the very best on the entire internet, but if nobody sees your offer, it's not going to get the sales you desire. It takes traffic to get sales. These sites are options for driving those numbers to your site. Free classified ads sites are also in this same category with the same purpose and can be worth pursuing.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Website Design and Redesign
The website design your company commissioned a few years ago may hold a special place in the hearts of some within your company, but the market needs to be gauged regularly to determine if what worked then is what will work today. Your online presence must evolve if you hope to stay ahead of your competition. Mimicry and imitation of the #1 company in your sector is not the answer. Let DexterityMedia.com help you think ahead, employing not only proven design tactics, but revolutionary methods as well. As a leading Search Engine Optimization Company and Interactive Media Agency with offices in New York and Dallas, DexterityMedia.com is dedicated to achieving a strategic online presence for our clients through innovation, experience, constant testing and evaluation.
Working in close collaboration with your company, DexterityMedia.com's web designers and developers focus on usability, searchability and corporate branding, creating the most prospect-friendly, user-friendly online experience for your websites visitors.
While we do enjoy some of the more cutting edge tools and methods, we tend to shy away from gimmickry and the gratuitous use of "the next big thing," relying instead on proven and researched technologies that we predict will have staying power.
Affordable, innovative and strategically sound, DexterityMedia.com website designs focus on building your business.
DexterityMedia.com designers have worked for some of the biggest names in business. Contact us for a portfolio sample and URLs to some of our work or to schedule an evaluation of your website design or redesign needs.
Working in close collaboration with your company, DexterityMedia.com's web designers and developers focus on usability, searchability and corporate branding, creating the most prospect-friendly, user-friendly online experience for your websites visitors.
While we do enjoy some of the more cutting edge tools and methods, we tend to shy away from gimmickry and the gratuitous use of "the next big thing," relying instead on proven and researched technologies that we predict will have staying power.
Affordable, innovative and strategically sound, DexterityMedia.com website designs focus on building your business.
DexterityMedia.com designers have worked for some of the biggest names in business. Contact us for a portfolio sample and URLs to some of our work or to schedule an evaluation of your website design or redesign needs.
Domain Names And The Perfect Moniker
Did you know you could pay someone to help you come up with the perfect domain name? It’s true. A think tank of marketing experts can come together to help determine a perfect name for your online presence.
Why would something like this be needed?
It seems that most of the more obvious online names are chosen and it takes a bit more creativity to come up with a recognizable and easy to use domain name that reflects the core of your business.
The good news is you may not need to pay anyone to come up with a perfect name for your domain.
If you already know that your business name is in use on the web you might want to either alter your business name should you’re business still exist in the startup phase. In you already have an established business you could go with some of the suggestions you are likely to find on a domain registry site, but this often lacks a personal touch.
Invite your family and friends to assist in filling a piece of notepaper with words or attributes that describe you and your business. Find words that may describe the collective nature of your store.
For example you might have a ceramic store where you hand paint and fire a kiln to create one of a kind gifts based on the clients request. For the sake of this experiment let’s also say that you specialize in ceramic pigs, but sell other types of ceramics as well.
Start by listing either attributes or words that describe what you do.
Ceramics
Kiln
Paint
Hand-crafted
Gifts
Pigs
Flame
Fire
Paintbrush
Paint
OK, that’s just a few words that may describe what is happening in your business. As of this writing the following web address does not exist, which is why I am using it as an example. www.firethepig.com
Maybe not a perfect name, but it would be easy to remember and in a clever and memorable way describes the specialty aspects of the store.
When you visit a domain registry you can keep checking to see if a new choice in name is available. In some cases businesses will also buy domain names that may be similar or ones that feature a different web extension such as .net or .biz. These businesses will then redirect visitors who happen to type in the wrong address to the main site.
With competitive rates for domain names it has become much easier to lay claim to multiple domain names.
The truth is you can find multiple online businesses that can assist you in site development, design, graphics, audio, content and even naming your domain. In most cases you can learn the skills through a little research and even a bit of common sense and save money for your acts of ingenuity.
In a matter of minutes you can assess your skills as a business and see if those skills and attributes line up to create an online domain name that will stick in the minds of your site visitor.
Your site name is important to the marketability of your site. It may not be in your best interest to simply take the first idea that is available. Keep the domain as short as possible and keep things memorable.
Why would something like this be needed?
It seems that most of the more obvious online names are chosen and it takes a bit more creativity to come up with a recognizable and easy to use domain name that reflects the core of your business.
The good news is you may not need to pay anyone to come up with a perfect name for your domain.
If you already know that your business name is in use on the web you might want to either alter your business name should you’re business still exist in the startup phase. In you already have an established business you could go with some of the suggestions you are likely to find on a domain registry site, but this often lacks a personal touch.
Invite your family and friends to assist in filling a piece of notepaper with words or attributes that describe you and your business. Find words that may describe the collective nature of your store.
For example you might have a ceramic store where you hand paint and fire a kiln to create one of a kind gifts based on the clients request. For the sake of this experiment let’s also say that you specialize in ceramic pigs, but sell other types of ceramics as well.
Start by listing either attributes or words that describe what you do.
Ceramics
Kiln
Paint
Hand-crafted
Gifts
Pigs
Flame
Fire
Paintbrush
Paint
OK, that’s just a few words that may describe what is happening in your business. As of this writing the following web address does not exist, which is why I am using it as an example. www.firethepig.com
Maybe not a perfect name, but it would be easy to remember and in a clever and memorable way describes the specialty aspects of the store.
When you visit a domain registry you can keep checking to see if a new choice in name is available. In some cases businesses will also buy domain names that may be similar or ones that feature a different web extension such as .net or .biz. These businesses will then redirect visitors who happen to type in the wrong address to the main site.
With competitive rates for domain names it has become much easier to lay claim to multiple domain names.
The truth is you can find multiple online businesses that can assist you in site development, design, graphics, audio, content and even naming your domain. In most cases you can learn the skills through a little research and even a bit of common sense and save money for your acts of ingenuity.
In a matter of minutes you can assess your skills as a business and see if those skills and attributes line up to create an online domain name that will stick in the minds of your site visitor.
Your site name is important to the marketability of your site. It may not be in your best interest to simply take the first idea that is available. Keep the domain as short as possible and keep things memorable.
Blogging – Ways To Improve Visibility
Let’s say for the sake of argument that you have a business blog. You have participated in online forums in your industry and now want to pass along information in a more personally directed format.
Your blog is new and site visits are not as strong as you would like. You post a link to your blog in the signature line of forum posts, but you are still hoping more people will drop by.
Starting a business blog can be a bit like starting a website – it can take a while for it to gain a following or even for search engines to index and rank the blog site.
There are a couple of things you can do to improve the visibility of your business blogging missives.
1) Duplicate posts on one or more social media blog. This idea is useful when you have social media pages that include the ability to blog. Your presence on these sites may align you with a different audience than those who might visit your primary blogging site. In many cases you can cut and paste information and allow it to reach out to other potential customers.
With the linking capability in social media it is entirely possible your blog may be visited by those outside your network of friends as visitors click from one profile to the next in search of something interesting. Perhaps they will find something used on your social media blog.
2) Use your established connections on forums or message boards to your advantage. Beyond simply placing a link in the signature line of your forum posts make sure to see if there is a ‘water cooler’ or ‘open line’ section on your favorite forums. If so you have the capability of posting a summary or teaser in those general discussion areas with a link to your blog. This may resonate with those who are already familiar with your personality on the forum and they may be inclined to learn from your expertise. Make sure you abide by the rules of any forum you may use to implement this strategy.
You may encounter forums that do not allow outside links in posts or any posts that gives the hint of being business oriented. Know the rules of the forum before you utilize this strategy.
Your business blog can be an important way to reach out to others. This is true for those who may already know of your business as well as others who convey trust based on the sense of trust already extended by other forum members.
In essence you can use social media and forums to grow your blog presence as you wait for search engines to help make it easier for others to find you online.
The growth of business blogging would seem to be a strong indicator that this form of information marketing is not only a valuable resource, but also a great way to improve site traffic to your primary business site.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies remain the most useful key in the visibility of any site, but while you wait why not use every available tool at your disposal. In this case that would be forum and social media for improved blogging visibility.
Your blog is new and site visits are not as strong as you would like. You post a link to your blog in the signature line of forum posts, but you are still hoping more people will drop by.
Starting a business blog can be a bit like starting a website – it can take a while for it to gain a following or even for search engines to index and rank the blog site.
There are a couple of things you can do to improve the visibility of your business blogging missives.
1) Duplicate posts on one or more social media blog. This idea is useful when you have social media pages that include the ability to blog. Your presence on these sites may align you with a different audience than those who might visit your primary blogging site. In many cases you can cut and paste information and allow it to reach out to other potential customers.
With the linking capability in social media it is entirely possible your blog may be visited by those outside your network of friends as visitors click from one profile to the next in search of something interesting. Perhaps they will find something used on your social media blog.
2) Use your established connections on forums or message boards to your advantage. Beyond simply placing a link in the signature line of your forum posts make sure to see if there is a ‘water cooler’ or ‘open line’ section on your favorite forums. If so you have the capability of posting a summary or teaser in those general discussion areas with a link to your blog. This may resonate with those who are already familiar with your personality on the forum and they may be inclined to learn from your expertise. Make sure you abide by the rules of any forum you may use to implement this strategy.
You may encounter forums that do not allow outside links in posts or any posts that gives the hint of being business oriented. Know the rules of the forum before you utilize this strategy.
Your business blog can be an important way to reach out to others. This is true for those who may already know of your business as well as others who convey trust based on the sense of trust already extended by other forum members.
In essence you can use social media and forums to grow your blog presence as you wait for search engines to help make it easier for others to find you online.
The growth of business blogging would seem to be a strong indicator that this form of information marketing is not only a valuable resource, but also a great way to improve site traffic to your primary business site.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies remain the most useful key in the visibility of any site, but while you wait why not use every available tool at your disposal. In this case that would be forum and social media for improved blogging visibility.
How Can Small Websites Shine?
The key to a successful Website is content. Content alone will drive visitors to your site, and compel your prospects or customers to form a valuable opinion about your company. With over 7 million Websites being added every month, how will your site stand out? The way to get your Web site noticed by search engines and then to get those prospects to stay and keep coming back comes from the content on your Website alone. There are no two ways around this fact.
Enterprise Website owners have entire teams in place that can manually update and refresh content on a regular basis; small Website owners simply don't. In a world where information changes rapidly, Websites need to be constantly updated and monitored. This is extremely crucial as users - and even search engines such as Google - pass over stale Websites. Manual configuration and updating of Websites takes time and can be messy too, involving integration with multiple systems like campaign management or CRM. With a skimpy IT staff and shrinking budgets, most small Website owners find it challenging to ensure that their sites reflect their dynamic business needs.
Web Content Management Systems (CMS) – a must-have for small Websites
Content Management Systems (CMS) have emerged to address these issues. In simple words, a CMS is a tool that eases creation, maintenance and management of the content a Website. The biggest advantage is that it allows non-technical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to manage different aspects of a Website such as the general content as well as the navigation, page layout and links without any knowledge of programming tools.
Web content management is as necessary for small companies as it is for large organizations. Small Websites may not have mass popularity, but they have a simple advantage over large Websites: they are more focused and targeted. But still, that committed user community, though small in size, presents significant challenges for the small Website owner. Adding news items, making design changes or launching new products via separate Web pages is not a simple affair.
A CMS gives small Website owners the power to easily modify and change text, design and layout of their Website through well defined templates. It also becomes simple to quickly insert, delete or update anything from images galleries, forms, tables, styles or formatted lists.
Benefits
Traditionally, most small Website owners have relied on independent software consultants or vendors to keep their sites updated. However, as our experience shows us, multiple small changes conveyed for text or design is frustrating and wasteful. A CMS can ease these difficulties, providing users with a simple and non-technical way of managing the content and not the technology.
Key benefits include:
• Improved speed and ease of publishing content
Small Website owners can accelerate content publishing by giving SMEs tools that are simple to use. Content specialists can focus more on creating content and not worrying about publishing, approval processes and formatting changes--so the site still has the same look and feel.
• Maintaining consistency and link integrity
A content management system helps organizations maintain consistency across all pages of their Website (with style sheets, templates, etc.) so that branding and design are controlled to the level desired, regardless of who is responsible for the actual content. As a result, visitors have a consistent and professional experience. The CMS even helps to maintain link integrity –significantly reducing the chance of users reporting a missing link. This is critical, as a missing link in the Internet world means a missed business opportunity.
• Full control
Features like complete system auditing and reporting provide organizations the ability to manage and track history of all work, facilitating regulatory compliance. Files can be given a full document lifecycle, including check-in, check-out, versioning, rollback, approvals, and scheduling. A CMS has intelligent workflow automation, ensuring that content passes through appropriate quality gates before being published. Additionally, completely configurable workflows enable organizations to assign tasks to any person, with provisions to escalate in case defined thresholds are crossed. For example, e-mail alerts can be sent to content owners of specific sections on a Website, if these sections are not updated after a specific time period. This is difficult to do in a manual system.
In a digital world where content can creatively be used in a variety of forms such as whitepapers, podcasts or articles, effectively managing and using this content is critical for competitive advantage. A CMS can help in a huge way, by centralizing and streamlining the process of managing and publishing content. This centralized control medium also means that an organization, no matter what size, can effectively measure the success of various online marketing initiatives.
The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) angle
While a CMS helps business users manage content more effectively, organizations must also understand that content management systems can be expensive to procure, complex to implement and configure, and even more difficult to maintain.
To address these issues, organizations can consider using a CMS delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). With this software model, organizations are spared the high initial cost of purchasing the license. Also since the software is hosted, so there is no hardware to buy, no software to install and no infrastructure to manage. As a customer, an organization just pays on a fixed monthly or quarterly basis and leaves the task of managing, maintaining and upgrading the software to the vendor.
Organizations also save costs, as they do not have to budget for a developer who tweaks HTML code, or a Webmaster who actually takes care of hosting. Players such as CrownPeak even provide a dedicated account manager, as part of their Lifelong Active Support. By using a SaaS model, organizations can also minimize risk and choose different functionalities as they grow. Further, as billing is on a monthly or quarterly basis, costs are spread across the lifetime of a product’s usage. This is an extremely attractive value proposition when compared to the traditional software model, where costs are paid upfront and the risk of product implementation and adoption is totally on the customer.
If you have an online presence, you need a CMS
The Internet is a great equalizer – and a user will not forgive an organization because of its size, if it has missing, incomplete or old content on its Website. In a scenario where millions of Websites jostle for attention simultaneously, a small Website owner needs the guiding hand of a CMS solution to increase its value for a niche audience. The difference between being seen as a pearl or as flotsam on the internet is too great – it is up to the small Website owner to make the right choices.
Enterprise Website owners have entire teams in place that can manually update and refresh content on a regular basis; small Website owners simply don't. In a world where information changes rapidly, Websites need to be constantly updated and monitored. This is extremely crucial as users - and even search engines such as Google - pass over stale Websites. Manual configuration and updating of Websites takes time and can be messy too, involving integration with multiple systems like campaign management or CRM. With a skimpy IT staff and shrinking budgets, most small Website owners find it challenging to ensure that their sites reflect their dynamic business needs.
Web Content Management Systems (CMS) – a must-have for small Websites
Content Management Systems (CMS) have emerged to address these issues. In simple words, a CMS is a tool that eases creation, maintenance and management of the content a Website. The biggest advantage is that it allows non-technical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to manage different aspects of a Website such as the general content as well as the navigation, page layout and links without any knowledge of programming tools.
Web content management is as necessary for small companies as it is for large organizations. Small Websites may not have mass popularity, but they have a simple advantage over large Websites: they are more focused and targeted. But still, that committed user community, though small in size, presents significant challenges for the small Website owner. Adding news items, making design changes or launching new products via separate Web pages is not a simple affair.
A CMS gives small Website owners the power to easily modify and change text, design and layout of their Website through well defined templates. It also becomes simple to quickly insert, delete or update anything from images galleries, forms, tables, styles or formatted lists.
Benefits
Traditionally, most small Website owners have relied on independent software consultants or vendors to keep their sites updated. However, as our experience shows us, multiple small changes conveyed for text or design is frustrating and wasteful. A CMS can ease these difficulties, providing users with a simple and non-technical way of managing the content and not the technology.
Key benefits include:
• Improved speed and ease of publishing content
Small Website owners can accelerate content publishing by giving SMEs tools that are simple to use. Content specialists can focus more on creating content and not worrying about publishing, approval processes and formatting changes--so the site still has the same look and feel.
• Maintaining consistency and link integrity
A content management system helps organizations maintain consistency across all pages of their Website (with style sheets, templates, etc.) so that branding and design are controlled to the level desired, regardless of who is responsible for the actual content. As a result, visitors have a consistent and professional experience. The CMS even helps to maintain link integrity –significantly reducing the chance of users reporting a missing link. This is critical, as a missing link in the Internet world means a missed business opportunity.
• Full control
Features like complete system auditing and reporting provide organizations the ability to manage and track history of all work, facilitating regulatory compliance. Files can be given a full document lifecycle, including check-in, check-out, versioning, rollback, approvals, and scheduling. A CMS has intelligent workflow automation, ensuring that content passes through appropriate quality gates before being published. Additionally, completely configurable workflows enable organizations to assign tasks to any person, with provisions to escalate in case defined thresholds are crossed. For example, e-mail alerts can be sent to content owners of specific sections on a Website, if these sections are not updated after a specific time period. This is difficult to do in a manual system.
In a digital world where content can creatively be used in a variety of forms such as whitepapers, podcasts or articles, effectively managing and using this content is critical for competitive advantage. A CMS can help in a huge way, by centralizing and streamlining the process of managing and publishing content. This centralized control medium also means that an organization, no matter what size, can effectively measure the success of various online marketing initiatives.
The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) angle
While a CMS helps business users manage content more effectively, organizations must also understand that content management systems can be expensive to procure, complex to implement and configure, and even more difficult to maintain.
To address these issues, organizations can consider using a CMS delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). With this software model, organizations are spared the high initial cost of purchasing the license. Also since the software is hosted, so there is no hardware to buy, no software to install and no infrastructure to manage. As a customer, an organization just pays on a fixed monthly or quarterly basis and leaves the task of managing, maintaining and upgrading the software to the vendor.
Organizations also save costs, as they do not have to budget for a developer who tweaks HTML code, or a Webmaster who actually takes care of hosting. Players such as CrownPeak even provide a dedicated account manager, as part of their Lifelong Active Support. By using a SaaS model, organizations can also minimize risk and choose different functionalities as they grow. Further, as billing is on a monthly or quarterly basis, costs are spread across the lifetime of a product’s usage. This is an extremely attractive value proposition when compared to the traditional software model, where costs are paid upfront and the risk of product implementation and adoption is totally on the customer.
If you have an online presence, you need a CMS
The Internet is a great equalizer – and a user will not forgive an organization because of its size, if it has missing, incomplete or old content on its Website. In a scenario where millions of Websites jostle for attention simultaneously, a small Website owner needs the guiding hand of a CMS solution to increase its value for a niche audience. The difference between being seen as a pearl or as flotsam on the internet is too great – it is up to the small Website owner to make the right choices.
Top Tips for Web Design
This article takes a look at the top 10 web design tips for users at any level. It will give you 10 complete different points to contemplate when you next begin a site design or when talking to your web design consultant/employee.
Design is never straight forward and web design has the additional unpredictable complication of technology thrown in. This means that you need to consider the consequences of your design decisions and how it will effect the most important people who see your site, the users themselves. The following tips should help you consider this and have a positive effect on your site and its users.
1. Navigation & Functionality
You should never sacrifice overall functionality for artistic extravagance. It is highly unlikely your site will ever achieve its purpose if the people who visit it cannot clearly and easily navigate around it.
Your site should look good but first and foremost consider how someone who knows nothing about the site would think when they landed there.
Something occurring in website frequently these days is Mystery Meat Navigation. This is a term coined by Vincent Flanders and it is used to describe site where navigation structures are so obscure and difficult to process that users cannot identify them at all and end up running there mouse across whole sections of a screen just to identify hyperlinks.
2. Images
People say images are worth a 1000 words and in web design that’s true in 2 ways. Firstly an image can do a lot more than text in some situation but secondly they are much, much bigger files with a higher download time.
It is widely accepted users will click away from a page that takes longer than 5-10 seconds to load and every time you put an image in a page you are increasing the likelihood of this happening. Additionally each image you imbed into a page design activates an additional HTTP request to your server so dividing an image into smaller ones or using lots of small images across a page does not solve the problem.
ALT tags should also be factored into the code of a website. They are a huge help to people who have either images turned off in a browse, mobile broswers that can’t read the images or a random error preventing the image from showing. They also hold a small SEO benefit.
3. Tables
It is advised that you use CSS and not tables to format a document but in some cases tables can be necessary. Remember one thing however, a table cannot be displayed until it has fully loaded. This can potentially cause a huge problem for users as they wait for the page to load, nothing appears then out of nowhere the whole page is done.
Someone is much more likely to click away when nothing is loading than when they can see progress.
4. Fonts
Don’t design sites to use fonts only you have, chances are they will be converted into some dull font and ruin the effect you were trying to achieve. Save special fonts for specific headers and convert them to images. Make the rest of your site in standard fonts so that as many browsers as possible will see it in the way you meant it to be. Recommended fonts for high scale compatibility are Arial, Verdana, Courier, Tahoma and Helvetica.
5. Plug-Ins
Plug-ins hold a lot of potential for both users and designers but it can easily be misused and misguided.
Plug-ins have a many forms and uses, the most popular being Java and Flash Player. I have heard a lot of people say that these plug-ins are “safe” and that everyone has them but this is simply not true. Every plug-in has a stack of different versions and connects differently depending on the browser the user is surfing with.
Think if your users will really want to browse to other sites to download a plug-in, restart the browser then navigate back. If the answer is no use other tricks at your disposal to make your page unique and save the big guns that are Flash and Java for times where it is essential.
6. Tags
The “tags” I am referring to hear are meta keywords and description, title, alt and h1 tags. Together these tags help manage your sites search engine optimisation (SEO) potential and this is defiantly something not to overlook. Helping people find your site will bring more traffic in and more conversion if you are a retail site.
The higher search engines rank you the more traffic will filter down and the more successful your site will be. Try to keep a constant theme running through all your tags but do so in a subtle way. Splashing the same word 1000 times on your page will only have negative effects so make sure you strike the correct balance between informative and spammy.
7. Browsers
In a perfect world everyone would use the same browser and your website would look the same on everyone’s screen but unfortunately this is not the case. Every browser has its own specific functions and styles and learning to make you code cooperate with both can present some serious problems.
The three you really need to concern yourself with are Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. These make up a good 95% of the browser market at the very least and while there are some additional popular browser I would not recommend you spend time optimising code for the rest.
The only thing you can do is do your best and stay away from browser specific functions, you’ll never make someone get a new browser.
8. Pop Ups
Something that is very important to remember is that the user should be in control of their browser and desktop. Do not place unnecessary pop ups and window opening links everywhere and the user will feel they have lost control of the site, become annoyed and close the windows.
There are some exceptions to using the (_blank) attribute but I would steer clear whenever possible.
9. Text Layout
Text is part of your design to and positioning it correctly on the page is very important. Try to get all the copy you need as early in the design process as possible. This means you will be able to design around the copy instead of trying to cram it into smaller spaces because someone wrote twice as much copy as they said they were going to.
Use the right alignment for the right situation, remember 99% of people will prefer left align and while justified look aesthetically better it can be very difficult to read in longer bouts.
10. Site Search
In this day and age finding what you want on a website in paramount. After you have followed the first tip on navigation you should also provide a search bar on your site so that a visitor who cannot immediately see what they are looking for can search. Many internet studies have seen the success of these smaller additions to your site and free ones are available from Google and many other SE operators.
Conclusion
Taking these 10 tips into account will help you design a more user-friendly and successful website, sometime it may seem like they are hindering your grand design but failing to take notice may result in your site being a very pretty stop sign for browsers. Just because you can find your way around your Flash menu system that takes 6 minutes to load doesn’t mean Mrs Smith who needs the product can.
Design is never straight forward and web design has the additional unpredictable complication of technology thrown in. This means that you need to consider the consequences of your design decisions and how it will effect the most important people who see your site, the users themselves. The following tips should help you consider this and have a positive effect on your site and its users.
1. Navigation & Functionality
You should never sacrifice overall functionality for artistic extravagance. It is highly unlikely your site will ever achieve its purpose if the people who visit it cannot clearly and easily navigate around it.
Your site should look good but first and foremost consider how someone who knows nothing about the site would think when they landed there.
Something occurring in website frequently these days is Mystery Meat Navigation. This is a term coined by Vincent Flanders and it is used to describe site where navigation structures are so obscure and difficult to process that users cannot identify them at all and end up running there mouse across whole sections of a screen just to identify hyperlinks.
2. Images
People say images are worth a 1000 words and in web design that’s true in 2 ways. Firstly an image can do a lot more than text in some situation but secondly they are much, much bigger files with a higher download time.
It is widely accepted users will click away from a page that takes longer than 5-10 seconds to load and every time you put an image in a page you are increasing the likelihood of this happening. Additionally each image you imbed into a page design activates an additional HTTP request to your server so dividing an image into smaller ones or using lots of small images across a page does not solve the problem.
ALT tags should also be factored into the code of a website. They are a huge help to people who have either images turned off in a browse, mobile broswers that can’t read the images or a random error preventing the image from showing. They also hold a small SEO benefit.
3. Tables
It is advised that you use CSS and not tables to format a document but in some cases tables can be necessary. Remember one thing however, a table cannot be displayed until it has fully loaded. This can potentially cause a huge problem for users as they wait for the page to load, nothing appears then out of nowhere the whole page is done.
Someone is much more likely to click away when nothing is loading than when they can see progress.
4. Fonts
Don’t design sites to use fonts only you have, chances are they will be converted into some dull font and ruin the effect you were trying to achieve. Save special fonts for specific headers and convert them to images. Make the rest of your site in standard fonts so that as many browsers as possible will see it in the way you meant it to be. Recommended fonts for high scale compatibility are Arial, Verdana, Courier, Tahoma and Helvetica.
5. Plug-Ins
Plug-ins hold a lot of potential for both users and designers but it can easily be misused and misguided.
Plug-ins have a many forms and uses, the most popular being Java and Flash Player. I have heard a lot of people say that these plug-ins are “safe” and that everyone has them but this is simply not true. Every plug-in has a stack of different versions and connects differently depending on the browser the user is surfing with.
Think if your users will really want to browse to other sites to download a plug-in, restart the browser then navigate back. If the answer is no use other tricks at your disposal to make your page unique and save the big guns that are Flash and Java for times where it is essential.
6. Tags
The “tags” I am referring to hear are meta keywords and description, title, alt and h1 tags. Together these tags help manage your sites search engine optimisation (SEO) potential and this is defiantly something not to overlook. Helping people find your site will bring more traffic in and more conversion if you are a retail site.
The higher search engines rank you the more traffic will filter down and the more successful your site will be. Try to keep a constant theme running through all your tags but do so in a subtle way. Splashing the same word 1000 times on your page will only have negative effects so make sure you strike the correct balance between informative and spammy.
7. Browsers
In a perfect world everyone would use the same browser and your website would look the same on everyone’s screen but unfortunately this is not the case. Every browser has its own specific functions and styles and learning to make you code cooperate with both can present some serious problems.
The three you really need to concern yourself with are Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. These make up a good 95% of the browser market at the very least and while there are some additional popular browser I would not recommend you spend time optimising code for the rest.
The only thing you can do is do your best and stay away from browser specific functions, you’ll never make someone get a new browser.
8. Pop Ups
Something that is very important to remember is that the user should be in control of their browser and desktop. Do not place unnecessary pop ups and window opening links everywhere and the user will feel they have lost control of the site, become annoyed and close the windows.
There are some exceptions to using the (_blank) attribute but I would steer clear whenever possible.
9. Text Layout
Text is part of your design to and positioning it correctly on the page is very important. Try to get all the copy you need as early in the design process as possible. This means you will be able to design around the copy instead of trying to cram it into smaller spaces because someone wrote twice as much copy as they said they were going to.
Use the right alignment for the right situation, remember 99% of people will prefer left align and while justified look aesthetically better it can be very difficult to read in longer bouts.
10. Site Search
In this day and age finding what you want on a website in paramount. After you have followed the first tip on navigation you should also provide a search bar on your site so that a visitor who cannot immediately see what they are looking for can search. Many internet studies have seen the success of these smaller additions to your site and free ones are available from Google and many other SE operators.
Conclusion
Taking these 10 tips into account will help you design a more user-friendly and successful website, sometime it may seem like they are hindering your grand design but failing to take notice may result in your site being a very pretty stop sign for browsers. Just because you can find your way around your Flash menu system that takes 6 minutes to load doesn’t mean Mrs Smith who needs the product can.
Search Engine Optimization
After you've opened your website and purchased unique domain, you want to be found by the potential users. Since the web space contains millions of websites , there is a constant struggle between websites over the first places in search engine results for competitive words.
Getting to the highest places in search results of Google or Yahoo is a very long and tricky process involving loads of work on your website and outside it. In this article I'll list some information about how Search Engines determine relevancy, a short preview on search engine optimization.
First of all, let's review two most important algorithms Google uses to determine page relevancy – Page Rank and Hilltop.
The basic concept of Page rank is : the more incoming links your page has, the more important it is. Page ranking is given per page and not per website so don’t be surprised if your website shows different ranking on different pages. Page Rank is calculated as follows:
PR(A) = log10((1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))) when :
0http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html
Getting to the highest places in search results of Google or Yahoo is a very long and tricky process involving loads of work on your website and outside it. In this article I'll list some information about how Search Engines determine relevancy, a short preview on search engine optimization.
First of all, let's review two most important algorithms Google uses to determine page relevancy – Page Rank and Hilltop.
The basic concept of Page rank is : the more incoming links your page has, the more important it is. Page ranking is given per page and not per website so don’t be surprised if your website shows different ranking on different pages. Page Rank is calculated as follows:
PR(A) = log10((1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))) when :
0http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html
Good Website Content
Reading a website is not similar to reading a book or a newspaper, therefore before you start spilling money on campaigns be sure your site is built in accordance with internet writing standards. Lets talk about few simple rules you don't want to break when building a website:
Don't waste your visitors time
Time is money. Most people decide whether they are interested in what the website has to offer in just to seconds. Therefore make sure your landing page provides the most crucial and appealing information about your business.
Number one time waster is a heavy loading pages with lot's of flash animations and pictures. Make sure your web pages are not too heavy otherwise you might loose your visitors before they entered your website.
Most of the visitors need to find what they are looking for fast, otherwise they look for it elsewhere. As a webmaster you must make sure your data is well categorizes and divided to relevant pages , categories, headlines and sub-titles. A visitor must be able to navigate your website easily and successfully.
Avoid too much "Special affects"
By this I mean don't include too much flash movies and avoid using music if you don't have to. As we mentioned earlier, Flash has a large loading time which damages viewer experience, besides too much flash may be annoying and search engines can't read it.
Music is a great thing, but somehow music and websites do not fit too well. If you want to put some background tune anyway, make sure a user can silence it quickly and easily. Or in contrary , let the user click "Play" and begin the music when he decides.
Pop-ups and new pages
If you have links in your site , I strongly advise you not to use the pop-up option and not to open these links in new window. Seemingly pop-ups and new windows are a very good idea if we don't want the visitor to navigate from our website but many years of experience shows that users prefer to click "Back" buttons. As to pop-ups , most of browsers tend to block them , and you don't want to waste your viewer time on enabling pop-ups.
Text
Use standard fonts which are supported by all browsers, like Arial and Times New Roman. You don't want your viewers to get gibberish and go away from your website. Don't use very small or very large fonts . You don't want your pages to smear for miles and you don't want to scare away people with poor vision .
Don't waste your visitors time
Time is money. Most people decide whether they are interested in what the website has to offer in just to seconds. Therefore make sure your landing page provides the most crucial and appealing information about your business.
Number one time waster is a heavy loading pages with lot's of flash animations and pictures. Make sure your web pages are not too heavy otherwise you might loose your visitors before they entered your website.
Most of the visitors need to find what they are looking for fast, otherwise they look for it elsewhere. As a webmaster you must make sure your data is well categorizes and divided to relevant pages , categories, headlines and sub-titles. A visitor must be able to navigate your website easily and successfully.
Avoid too much "Special affects"
By this I mean don't include too much flash movies and avoid using music if you don't have to. As we mentioned earlier, Flash has a large loading time which damages viewer experience, besides too much flash may be annoying and search engines can't read it.
Music is a great thing, but somehow music and websites do not fit too well. If you want to put some background tune anyway, make sure a user can silence it quickly and easily. Or in contrary , let the user click "Play" and begin the music when he decides.
Pop-ups and new pages
If you have links in your site , I strongly advise you not to use the pop-up option and not to open these links in new window. Seemingly pop-ups and new windows are a very good idea if we don't want the visitor to navigate from our website but many years of experience shows that users prefer to click "Back" buttons. As to pop-ups , most of browsers tend to block them , and you don't want to waste your viewer time on enabling pop-ups.
Text
Use standard fonts which are supported by all browsers, like Arial and Times New Roman. You don't want your viewers to get gibberish and go away from your website. Don't use very small or very large fonts . You don't want your pages to smear for miles and you don't want to scare away people with poor vision .
Build A Website : The Costs And Benefits
These days in a world ruled by technology, virtually anyone can build a website, but few have the skills to build a website that functions. Even though there are plenty of low cost tools and services out there, far too many web sites are virtually useless, gathering virtual dust on their virtual shelves.
You can design and build your website with a lot of effort. But that alone does not guarantee that your website will be a success. You have to give importance to factors that will encourage people to visit your website. You can market your website in many ways, to increase traffic to your website. However, online marketing is quite expensive.
When you are operating on a small budget it is essential that you build a website that is optimize for search engines. You will save a lot of advertising dollars by ensuring that all your web pages have quality keywords. Keywords are words or phrases that the world uses to find what they are looking for in the web.
If you want to make your web page appear live for the world to view, you simply need to research a hosting company with experience, register your domain name, create your account, build your personal site, and then publish it. It is a very simple process! The important part is finding a hosting company that provides you with a domain name (your personal website name) registration, site builder tools, and hosting.
Some site builder tools require you to be proficient in HTML (Hyper Tex Mark up Language). Otherwise look for site builder tool that does not require you to learn the language. To build a website that works require upfront planning. After deciding on what niche you want to pursue, you will need to come up with a name for your website, build a keyword list, register your website name, sign up with a hosting company, and submit your website to the search engines. All this can end up costing you quite a bit.
In summary, building a Website that works is going to cost you. But, you have control over how much it costs you financial and emotionally. All you have to do is to figure out exactly what you want the website to do, identify the resources that you will need, establish a budget, then go build your site. It is that simple.
You can design and build your website with a lot of effort. But that alone does not guarantee that your website will be a success. You have to give importance to factors that will encourage people to visit your website. You can market your website in many ways, to increase traffic to your website. However, online marketing is quite expensive.
When you are operating on a small budget it is essential that you build a website that is optimize for search engines. You will save a lot of advertising dollars by ensuring that all your web pages have quality keywords. Keywords are words or phrases that the world uses to find what they are looking for in the web.
If you want to make your web page appear live for the world to view, you simply need to research a hosting company with experience, register your domain name, create your account, build your personal site, and then publish it. It is a very simple process! The important part is finding a hosting company that provides you with a domain name (your personal website name) registration, site builder tools, and hosting.
Some site builder tools require you to be proficient in HTML (Hyper Tex Mark up Language). Otherwise look for site builder tool that does not require you to learn the language. To build a website that works require upfront planning. After deciding on what niche you want to pursue, you will need to come up with a name for your website, build a keyword list, register your website name, sign up with a hosting company, and submit your website to the search engines. All this can end up costing you quite a bit.
In summary, building a Website that works is going to cost you. But, you have control over how much it costs you financial and emotionally. All you have to do is to figure out exactly what you want the website to do, identify the resources that you will need, establish a budget, then go build your site. It is that simple.
Design Your Own Website- It Is Simple
Before you embark upon the process involved when you design your own website, you must select and register a domain name. That is your site's brand name and contact name. In order to be given a domain name of your very own, you must make a yearly payment to the appropriate registering entity to obtain the exclusive right to it.
Obtaining a domain name doesn't mean you have a web site or anything close. All you have is a name. It is similar to getting yourself set up with a name for your business is the "real" world - just obtaining exclusive rights to a name doesn't mean you are totally in business. You just have a name.
A web host commonly implements numerous computers that are all linked to the Internet to allow a very large number of web pages to be broadcast all over the world. The first step in making your new web page visible is to use a reputable web host that will give your personalized website a virtual home.
Thinking of a domain name is very much like thinking of a name for your company in the physical world. Similarly, a web hosting account is the equivalent of renting an office for your company. After you have come up with a domain name and signed on with a web host, you will then need to design your own website to attract visitors.
As a beginning web designer, you first need to design your own website in a attractive, and appealing manner. After you have got your basic web page posted you will be able to make any adjustments that you feel are needed. There are free web editors and commercial versions that are widely available.
When you choose to use free software, you can also learn more from a complete tutorial on the web. The step-by-step tutorial will guide you in the process of making your own web page, site map, and comment forms. It will also give you tips on the basic aspects of the software so you can continue to update and improve the site in the future.
A crucial aspect of web development is optimizing your site for search engines. This should be undertaken from the very start of the design process. In addition, there are a number of other concerns involved in developing web pages.
Obtaining a domain name doesn't mean you have a web site or anything close. All you have is a name. It is similar to getting yourself set up with a name for your business is the "real" world - just obtaining exclusive rights to a name doesn't mean you are totally in business. You just have a name.
A web host commonly implements numerous computers that are all linked to the Internet to allow a very large number of web pages to be broadcast all over the world. The first step in making your new web page visible is to use a reputable web host that will give your personalized website a virtual home.
Thinking of a domain name is very much like thinking of a name for your company in the physical world. Similarly, a web hosting account is the equivalent of renting an office for your company. After you have come up with a domain name and signed on with a web host, you will then need to design your own website to attract visitors.
As a beginning web designer, you first need to design your own website in a attractive, and appealing manner. After you have got your basic web page posted you will be able to make any adjustments that you feel are needed. There are free web editors and commercial versions that are widely available.
When you choose to use free software, you can also learn more from a complete tutorial on the web. The step-by-step tutorial will guide you in the process of making your own web page, site map, and comment forms. It will also give you tips on the basic aspects of the software so you can continue to update and improve the site in the future.
A crucial aspect of web development is optimizing your site for search engines. This should be undertaken from the very start of the design process. In addition, there are a number of other concerns involved in developing web pages.
Build Web Page Which Is Effective
There are a few critical places in building a web page where you must make the right decision, or you'll have to repeat this task again and again until you get it right. The better you grasp these essential points, the better your web page will work and the happier camper you'll be.
As a website builder, make sure you know what the project can do for you. If you are the owner of a business, you want to maximize your business opportunities. But if you are an employee who just has to get the job done, you may want to stick to something basic that will please the boss and not cause any headaches. And if your a volunteer, you may want to use this as a chance to increase your skills and do a good deed.
Make sure the needs of the business or organization are met when you build web page . Develop a brand identity and help potential clients and customers to find out who you are and what you do. An online brochure is a good way to start.
You're trying to enhance your brand or organization image. But this is very legitimate for some kinds of companies, especially local businesses or organizations that aren't trying to conduct national or international commerce. You want people to know who you are, what you do, where to find you, and how to contact you.
A good strategy is to provide product information that will improve local sales of your goods and services. Car sites are a good example. Car companies don't often sell their cars through the internet, but they guide people to local dealers. You can also sell advertising, but right now, there is more space than ads to fill it.
Though the industry is improving, internet advertising is rather under-priced. Sites that are portals for many other sites may be able to sell some advertising space, but this should not be a counted on form of revenue. Instead, view the revenue from advertisement space sales as a bonus.
Construct a web page and become an Internet direct seller of products or services. You want to engage in e-commerce and sell to a domestic or worldwide market. You will have a system for ordering one or more products, or maybe you will feature an in-depth online catalog. Your online service may offer delivery over the Internet, or it may be initiated online.
Build web page earn affiliate commissions for sales and leads generated through links on your web page. Savvy marketers are building micro sites designed to generate search engine traffic for a particular hot product or service. When a visitor clicks on one of their links, he is referred to an e-commerce site, and, if a sale results, the affiliate gets a commission. Perhaps a form on your site generates leads or subscriptions for another company.
As a website builder, make sure you know what the project can do for you. If you are the owner of a business, you want to maximize your business opportunities. But if you are an employee who just has to get the job done, you may want to stick to something basic that will please the boss and not cause any headaches. And if your a volunteer, you may want to use this as a chance to increase your skills and do a good deed.
Make sure the needs of the business or organization are met when you build web page . Develop a brand identity and help potential clients and customers to find out who you are and what you do. An online brochure is a good way to start.
You're trying to enhance your brand or organization image. But this is very legitimate for some kinds of companies, especially local businesses or organizations that aren't trying to conduct national or international commerce. You want people to know who you are, what you do, where to find you, and how to contact you.
A good strategy is to provide product information that will improve local sales of your goods and services. Car sites are a good example. Car companies don't often sell their cars through the internet, but they guide people to local dealers. You can also sell advertising, but right now, there is more space than ads to fill it.
Though the industry is improving, internet advertising is rather under-priced. Sites that are portals for many other sites may be able to sell some advertising space, but this should not be a counted on form of revenue. Instead, view the revenue from advertisement space sales as a bonus.
Construct a web page and become an Internet direct seller of products or services. You want to engage in e-commerce and sell to a domestic or worldwide market. You will have a system for ordering one or more products, or maybe you will feature an in-depth online catalog. Your online service may offer delivery over the Internet, or it may be initiated online.
Build web page earn affiliate commissions for sales and leads generated through links on your web page. Savvy marketers are building micro sites designed to generate search engine traffic for a particular hot product or service. When a visitor clicks on one of their links, he is referred to an e-commerce site, and, if a sale results, the affiliate gets a commission. Perhaps a form on your site generates leads or subscriptions for another company.
Make Your Own Website: Achieve Success With Your Site
There are many reasons for you to make your own website. You may want to sell a product or service, or you may want to share your thoughts and dreams with the world. No matter what you want to do online, you can design a website to do it. When you are thinking of making a site on your own, there are a few things to think about.
The first thing you will want to decide before you make your own website is what you want to accomplish by doing so. This is the most important thing you can do when you are ready to make a website . Knowing the purpose will allow you to make any other decisions more clearly.
After you have completed these stages, you need to locate the company that will be your web host. This company will provide several important pieces for you. At a minimum, they will be responsible for registering your name and associating it with an appropriate web address. In general, you will be running your service from their space, so the host takes over administrative and physical security responsibilities. If you choose to use their equipment, you must sign an agreement concerning additional charges should you need more bandwidth or disk space than the minimums.
Dedicated web space is space that you paid for. There are no advertisements on dedicated web space unless you want there to be. Unlike free hosts, paid hosts will not insert ads onto your site. If you make your own website and pay for the hosting, therefore, you have more control. Choosing your own domain name allows you to personalize the site even further.
There is a ton of information about website building online. Some companies offer website building tools, while others only use HTML code. You will be able to find lots of HTML tutorials online if you are interested in learning. Doing a quick search in your favorite search engine will find hundreds of links to websites that offer these tutorials.
The sky is the limit from here. You will be able to create a personalized and snazzy site. How it ends up is up to you. You can put as much time into the project as you want. Either way, when you make your own website, you will end up with something that is entirely your own. This is almost a form of art.
You can visit (http://www.buildyoursite.com/) for more info...
The first thing you will want to decide before you make your own website is what you want to accomplish by doing so. This is the most important thing you can do when you are ready to make a website . Knowing the purpose will allow you to make any other decisions more clearly.
After you have completed these stages, you need to locate the company that will be your web host. This company will provide several important pieces for you. At a minimum, they will be responsible for registering your name and associating it with an appropriate web address. In general, you will be running your service from their space, so the host takes over administrative and physical security responsibilities. If you choose to use their equipment, you must sign an agreement concerning additional charges should you need more bandwidth or disk space than the minimums.
Dedicated web space is space that you paid for. There are no advertisements on dedicated web space unless you want there to be. Unlike free hosts, paid hosts will not insert ads onto your site. If you make your own website and pay for the hosting, therefore, you have more control. Choosing your own domain name allows you to personalize the site even further.
There is a ton of information about website building online. Some companies offer website building tools, while others only use HTML code. You will be able to find lots of HTML tutorials online if you are interested in learning. Doing a quick search in your favorite search engine will find hundreds of links to websites that offer these tutorials.
The sky is the limit from here. You will be able to create a personalized and snazzy site. How it ends up is up to you. You can put as much time into the project as you want. Either way, when you make your own website, you will end up with something that is entirely your own. This is almost a form of art.
You can visit (http://www.buildyoursite.com/) for more info...
Create Your Own Website: A How To Guide
Nothing is as invaluable as a website when it comes to airing your ideas, authoring opinion pieces, distributing photos, or marketing your business products. Having your very own website can be a boon to you, but there are a few things you should know first before setting out to create your own website (http://www.buildyoursite.com/).
Decide why you want to create your own website. Do you want to let others know of your political leanings, do you want to write fiction, or are you looking for an online store? Each of these will lead to a different kind of website, and each will have a different audience.
Next step is to determine how comfortable you are with web page creation. If you are not proficient in computers, try to hire a professional. If, on the other hand, you enjoy learning how to do new things on the Internet, then using a free or inexpensive do-it-yourself type of hosting should be enjoyable.
You need to determine what level of control you desire. Utilizing the free hosting will provide you with a few different background colors and styles. If you have further needs or wants, you may have to pay additional fees, or even use the services of a professional.
Another thing to consider when you create your own website is to choose a template. Many free hosting vendors have a variety of templates that you can choose from. You can decide which colors and style will be most attractive to your future audience. You will probably be able to alter the template in minor ways, but the overall style will remain the same.
You will want to think about obtaining a domain name. There are many companies that sell domain names. If you want to make a website, you will need software. This software will help you design your website, and it is important if you want to control a lot of different areas of your site. It is possible that you will need some knowledge if you want to make a webpage from software.
If you don't know what to do first, choose one of the free step-by-step instructional guides found on the Internet outlining how to create a website. For other ways to learn about how to create a website (http://www.buildyoursite.com/), many e-books are offered that incorporate free HTML tutorials, website software, information of registering domain names, guides to website design, and more.
Decide why you want to create your own website. Do you want to let others know of your political leanings, do you want to write fiction, or are you looking for an online store? Each of these will lead to a different kind of website, and each will have a different audience.
Next step is to determine how comfortable you are with web page creation. If you are not proficient in computers, try to hire a professional. If, on the other hand, you enjoy learning how to do new things on the Internet, then using a free or inexpensive do-it-yourself type of hosting should be enjoyable.
You need to determine what level of control you desire. Utilizing the free hosting will provide you with a few different background colors and styles. If you have further needs or wants, you may have to pay additional fees, or even use the services of a professional.
Another thing to consider when you create your own website is to choose a template. Many free hosting vendors have a variety of templates that you can choose from. You can decide which colors and style will be most attractive to your future audience. You will probably be able to alter the template in minor ways, but the overall style will remain the same.
You will want to think about obtaining a domain name. There are many companies that sell domain names. If you want to make a website, you will need software. This software will help you design your website, and it is important if you want to control a lot of different areas of your site. It is possible that you will need some knowledge if you want to make a webpage from software.
If you don't know what to do first, choose one of the free step-by-step instructional guides found on the Internet outlining how to create a website. For other ways to learn about how to create a website (http://www.buildyoursite.com/), many e-books are offered that incorporate free HTML tutorials, website software, information of registering domain names, guides to website design, and more.
What a Website Needs to Succeed!
Every business needs a website. It is an absolute MUST! Nowadays, it’s like not being in the phone book. The Internet is a digitally-indexed database that is searchable. Whenever anyone wants to know more about anything, they look it up on the Internet, in their own time, 24/7, without the pressure of a sales person. With search engines, such as Google.com or Yahoo.com, the information they are looking for can be found in seconds.
If you aren’t where people are looking, you CAN’T get the sale.
Even if you aren’t planning on selling anything online, you still need to have an Internet presence, telling your story and being a 24/7 sales person for you. The Internet is information. So, even if you just have an informational website, people can find out more about you, your company, what you have to offer, and why they should choose you over your competition. A website gives you the opportunity to get all of that across to your potential customer.
Following, are proven components of a website and why you will need them in yours.
A Home Page is the window into your website and should be short, sweat, and to the point. Statistically, it has been proven that you get about 3 seconds, once a person arrives at your website, to get them interested enough to click for more information. If you can get them to click, then you have them! If you try to give them all of the information at once, then you will lose them.
Some websites try to give you their inventory on the home page, or write a story that scrolls forever. This is not good. A home page should not scroll. This is a big “No No”. When people get to a home page and see paragraphs, trust me, they go on to the next website. It needs graphics that represent the services, happy pictures, happy customers, and a quick sales pitch. Remember, people are lazy and won’t read large amounts of text, unless they have a need to. And included on the home page, needs to be quickly gotten across, why someone should use you over your competitor.
The About Us page sometimes gets left off, in favor of making the home page the About Us page. You will want to have an About Us page that explains in detail what you have to offer, your history, your mission statement, and a good reason that a potential customer should use buy from you over your competitor. This can be seen as the detailed version of the home page. However, it is a mistake to forgo the About Us page in exchange for a detailed home page. Again, this will just push people away who do not want to read all of the details to find out who you are and what you have to offer. This information should be available for those who wish to see more information after they are intrigued by the home page.
Design rules. For uniformity and good design, websites (any marketing piece) should have rules for graphic elements and text. For example, all headings should be the same size/style/color, etc. All subheads should have their own size/style/color, etc. This helps the eye make sense of what it is looking at. Guide your visitor with well-placed graphics and text.
Make sure that your website has good navigation, with buttons/links for all main sections of your website. And be sure to keep these navigation buttons/links visible on ANY page. There is nothing more frustrating than to not be able to find your way while browsing a website. People will leave before becoming too frustrated. Don’t let this happen on your website!
The constant, flashing email (or other) button/advertisement is a "No No" these days. In the old days, flashing and blinking graphics were used. As websites became more graphically sophisticated, these types of elements were not used any more. It can be annoying to see something flashing just off your vision, when you are trying to read the web page.
Text links at the bottom are rarely used any more. They were implemented back in the day of the text-based websites, when they were just starting out. This was for the dial-up users who had the option to turn off graphics for faster web page loading. When this happened, there were no links for navigation, unless a webmaster placed text links at the bottom. Nowadays, most people have broadband connections, and this just isn't necessary any more.
The biggest problem I see with websites these days is that a person has to read quite a bit to see what, exactly, a website is selling. When people show up at your website, you get about 3 seconds to peak their interest. Get it across very quickly, with icons/graphics/bullet points that are easy to understand. Tell them why they should choose you over your competition. And then tell them where to go to get started.
Another very important element is testimonials. More important than telling them why a potential customer should use your services over your competitions’, is a customer of yours saying the same thing. Not only is a testimonial someone who used your services, but they can say "how" you were able to help them. This gives new potential customers ideas on how your services will help “them”. Testimonials are also sales pitches from your happy customers, people just like them. They are people who were in the same position as they are right now and they got through it, so they can too. They also build credibility. When you are endorsed by other people, you have credibility and that you can do what you say you can do. And even though they may be saying the same thing that you are saying, it is coming from someone just like them, and not someone who is trying to sell them anything. They have nothing to gain by saying this. You do. So they need to hear from them. You absolutely MUST have endorsements for your business; otherwise, you are just blowing your own horn!
The next best thing to a testimonial page is an FAQ page. An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page answers questions for your company 24/7, when you can't be at the phone to answer, and for people who would rather look over your information than speak to someone who might try to sell them something. FAQs also help to give scenarios of how they can be helped, by answering questions that other potential customers have asked, and they might not have thought of themselves. This gets them thinking and gives them answers in a risk-free environment. It is VERY important to have an FAQ working for you 24/7. It's like having a free sales person working for you around the clock, fielding all questions that might come up! It's a MUST-have for ANY website!
Your website should also have a clear "call to action". A lot of websites say that “we are here and we do this”, but they don't tell them how to get started, or tell them where to go to get started right now... no call to action. Now that they have the information, now what? People are like sheep. They must be led. You must lead them to the next level; otherwise, they probably won't get there. You should have calls to action by all services, and on your home page. You should sprinkle testimonials throughout, as well, leading them back to the full testimonials and then to the call to action, which should be placed on the testimonials page, as well. You could offer a FREE Consultation by calling right now… or click HERE now to email us 24/7 for a FREE Consultation… something that tells them where to go from here and a reason to get started right now and how.
There also needs to be graphics to help tell the story; high-end icons that help draw the eye to the item of interest, to get them to read it. Having a text-only page usually does not get read. People are lazy and will not usually read paragraphs of information in hopes of getting the information they are looking for. They would have to first be extremely interested before reading the “fine print”. And to get them interested, it should be broken up with graphics that represent each section. They will see the related graphic first, and then move to that area if interested. But to give them a page of information usually doesn't work.
You also need meta tags. This is very important to search engines. These are hidden key words and phrases that describe what you offer, but also your location, etc. Search engines rely heavily on key words and phrases in order to give your website as a result in a search done for your type of business. In fact, it is also good to have misspelled keywords that people might type in order to find you. Obviously, you won’t want to have misspelled words or phrases on your page, since this will give the wrong impression of who you are. With meta tags, misspelled words are hidden in the code of the website, but can be used to bring people to your website who may not be able to correctly spell some your services. Even putting your competitions’ names and products in your meta tags can help get traffic to your site, so that they can compare your products and services to your competitors’.
Another item that puts you high on the search engine results listing is having articles about your type of business, both on your website, and other websites that link back to yours for more information on the subject. Offering free information makes you an authority on the subject, not just someone trying to sell their wares. This plays heavily in search results, along with one-way links back to your website. When you get one-way links back to your site for more information, this gives you much credibility and definitely helps to make you an authority that other sites rely on. So when someone looks up your type of product or service for more information, obviously the search engine will give a site that has the most helpful and free information (and one that other sites rely on for more information on this subject) a higher rating and puts them higher on the search results list.
A FREE Tips & Tricks or Hints page is also a good way to get relevant traffic. People are always looking for How-To's and DIY information on all types of subjects. On my site I have FREE Tech Tips that get hits all the time, which pertain to my services. Again, a percentage of these hits click on my services. And the only way I got them there was because of the FREE How-To's that I offer. So, you have to entice people to your site, by offering more than your competitor's website. This is where these types of pages come in handy.
It is also good to have a Privacy Policy page. This shows integrity and also builds credibility and a higher ranking in the search engines. This is one item that search engines look for, in particular. Websites with a page dedicated to a Privacy Policy get a higher ranking and your site will show up higher in the search results.
A Guarantee page is also a good idea. Again, this gives credibility and will give you an edge over your competitor, who may not offer a guarantee. A website that has a guarantee, but is hard to find, makes a potential customer feel like they have something to hide and may not purchase from that website. However, if you have an easy-to-find Guarantee that you put right in their face (whether you dedicate a page to it, or you put it right on the Home page), it eases potential customers into a buying position.
You may want to have a form that allows a customer to request more information about your product or service, and which also lets the customer type in their personal information and what they are looking for. This not only helps you by getting their contact information, it also helps by prompting the potential customer into thinking about other aspects. By doing it this way, you will also get all of the information needed to correctly quote a product or service more effectively, without having to make additional phone calls to the customer. The more common way of requesting information is just by posting an INFO email address and hope that the person requesting the info knows enough about what he is looking for to provide all of the info to get a good quote. This is not usually the case. Most of the time they need a form to fill out. In most cases, there is info that is left out. A form ensures that you get everything needed to quote the product or service accurately. And, also, by offering a form to request more info, leads will be generating 24-7 for you. All you have to do is the quote and give them a call. This reduces the need for cold-calling, and gives you an excuse to call and close the deal.
If you incorporate all of the above pages, along with the “way” these pages should be shown, your website will have a higher ranking in the search engines, which puts your website higher in the search results, thus significantly increasing the traffic to your website!
The above categories aren't the only things you can do to increase traffic to your website. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) should also be done, as well as swapping links with relevant websites, and posting articles and links back to your website from online article and content websites.
If you aren’t where people are looking, you CAN’T get the sale.
Even if you aren’t planning on selling anything online, you still need to have an Internet presence, telling your story and being a 24/7 sales person for you. The Internet is information. So, even if you just have an informational website, people can find out more about you, your company, what you have to offer, and why they should choose you over your competition. A website gives you the opportunity to get all of that across to your potential customer.
Following, are proven components of a website and why you will need them in yours.
A Home Page is the window into your website and should be short, sweat, and to the point. Statistically, it has been proven that you get about 3 seconds, once a person arrives at your website, to get them interested enough to click for more information. If you can get them to click, then you have them! If you try to give them all of the information at once, then you will lose them.
Some websites try to give you their inventory on the home page, or write a story that scrolls forever. This is not good. A home page should not scroll. This is a big “No No”. When people get to a home page and see paragraphs, trust me, they go on to the next website. It needs graphics that represent the services, happy pictures, happy customers, and a quick sales pitch. Remember, people are lazy and won’t read large amounts of text, unless they have a need to. And included on the home page, needs to be quickly gotten across, why someone should use you over your competitor.
The About Us page sometimes gets left off, in favor of making the home page the About Us page. You will want to have an About Us page that explains in detail what you have to offer, your history, your mission statement, and a good reason that a potential customer should use buy from you over your competitor. This can be seen as the detailed version of the home page. However, it is a mistake to forgo the About Us page in exchange for a detailed home page. Again, this will just push people away who do not want to read all of the details to find out who you are and what you have to offer. This information should be available for those who wish to see more information after they are intrigued by the home page.
Design rules. For uniformity and good design, websites (any marketing piece) should have rules for graphic elements and text. For example, all headings should be the same size/style/color, etc. All subheads should have their own size/style/color, etc. This helps the eye make sense of what it is looking at. Guide your visitor with well-placed graphics and text.
Make sure that your website has good navigation, with buttons/links for all main sections of your website. And be sure to keep these navigation buttons/links visible on ANY page. There is nothing more frustrating than to not be able to find your way while browsing a website. People will leave before becoming too frustrated. Don’t let this happen on your website!
The constant, flashing email (or other) button/advertisement is a "No No" these days. In the old days, flashing and blinking graphics were used. As websites became more graphically sophisticated, these types of elements were not used any more. It can be annoying to see something flashing just off your vision, when you are trying to read the web page.
Text links at the bottom are rarely used any more. They were implemented back in the day of the text-based websites, when they were just starting out. This was for the dial-up users who had the option to turn off graphics for faster web page loading. When this happened, there were no links for navigation, unless a webmaster placed text links at the bottom. Nowadays, most people have broadband connections, and this just isn't necessary any more.
The biggest problem I see with websites these days is that a person has to read quite a bit to see what, exactly, a website is selling. When people show up at your website, you get about 3 seconds to peak their interest. Get it across very quickly, with icons/graphics/bullet points that are easy to understand. Tell them why they should choose you over your competition. And then tell them where to go to get started.
Another very important element is testimonials. More important than telling them why a potential customer should use your services over your competitions’, is a customer of yours saying the same thing. Not only is a testimonial someone who used your services, but they can say "how" you were able to help them. This gives new potential customers ideas on how your services will help “them”. Testimonials are also sales pitches from your happy customers, people just like them. They are people who were in the same position as they are right now and they got through it, so they can too. They also build credibility. When you are endorsed by other people, you have credibility and that you can do what you say you can do. And even though they may be saying the same thing that you are saying, it is coming from someone just like them, and not someone who is trying to sell them anything. They have nothing to gain by saying this. You do. So they need to hear from them. You absolutely MUST have endorsements for your business; otherwise, you are just blowing your own horn!
The next best thing to a testimonial page is an FAQ page. An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page answers questions for your company 24/7, when you can't be at the phone to answer, and for people who would rather look over your information than speak to someone who might try to sell them something. FAQs also help to give scenarios of how they can be helped, by answering questions that other potential customers have asked, and they might not have thought of themselves. This gets them thinking and gives them answers in a risk-free environment. It is VERY important to have an FAQ working for you 24/7. It's like having a free sales person working for you around the clock, fielding all questions that might come up! It's a MUST-have for ANY website!
Your website should also have a clear "call to action". A lot of websites say that “we are here and we do this”, but they don't tell them how to get started, or tell them where to go to get started right now... no call to action. Now that they have the information, now what? People are like sheep. They must be led. You must lead them to the next level; otherwise, they probably won't get there. You should have calls to action by all services, and on your home page. You should sprinkle testimonials throughout, as well, leading them back to the full testimonials and then to the call to action, which should be placed on the testimonials page, as well. You could offer a FREE Consultation by calling right now… or click HERE now to email us 24/7 for a FREE Consultation… something that tells them where to go from here and a reason to get started right now and how.
There also needs to be graphics to help tell the story; high-end icons that help draw the eye to the item of interest, to get them to read it. Having a text-only page usually does not get read. People are lazy and will not usually read paragraphs of information in hopes of getting the information they are looking for. They would have to first be extremely interested before reading the “fine print”. And to get them interested, it should be broken up with graphics that represent each section. They will see the related graphic first, and then move to that area if interested. But to give them a page of information usually doesn't work.
You also need meta tags. This is very important to search engines. These are hidden key words and phrases that describe what you offer, but also your location, etc. Search engines rely heavily on key words and phrases in order to give your website as a result in a search done for your type of business. In fact, it is also good to have misspelled keywords that people might type in order to find you. Obviously, you won’t want to have misspelled words or phrases on your page, since this will give the wrong impression of who you are. With meta tags, misspelled words are hidden in the code of the website, but can be used to bring people to your website who may not be able to correctly spell some your services. Even putting your competitions’ names and products in your meta tags can help get traffic to your site, so that they can compare your products and services to your competitors’.
Another item that puts you high on the search engine results listing is having articles about your type of business, both on your website, and other websites that link back to yours for more information on the subject. Offering free information makes you an authority on the subject, not just someone trying to sell their wares. This plays heavily in search results, along with one-way links back to your website. When you get one-way links back to your site for more information, this gives you much credibility and definitely helps to make you an authority that other sites rely on. So when someone looks up your type of product or service for more information, obviously the search engine will give a site that has the most helpful and free information (and one that other sites rely on for more information on this subject) a higher rating and puts them higher on the search results list.
A FREE Tips & Tricks or Hints page is also a good way to get relevant traffic. People are always looking for How-To's and DIY information on all types of subjects. On my site I have FREE Tech Tips that get hits all the time, which pertain to my services. Again, a percentage of these hits click on my services. And the only way I got them there was because of the FREE How-To's that I offer. So, you have to entice people to your site, by offering more than your competitor's website. This is where these types of pages come in handy.
It is also good to have a Privacy Policy page. This shows integrity and also builds credibility and a higher ranking in the search engines. This is one item that search engines look for, in particular. Websites with a page dedicated to a Privacy Policy get a higher ranking and your site will show up higher in the search results.
A Guarantee page is also a good idea. Again, this gives credibility and will give you an edge over your competitor, who may not offer a guarantee. A website that has a guarantee, but is hard to find, makes a potential customer feel like they have something to hide and may not purchase from that website. However, if you have an easy-to-find Guarantee that you put right in their face (whether you dedicate a page to it, or you put it right on the Home page), it eases potential customers into a buying position.
You may want to have a form that allows a customer to request more information about your product or service, and which also lets the customer type in their personal information and what they are looking for. This not only helps you by getting their contact information, it also helps by prompting the potential customer into thinking about other aspects. By doing it this way, you will also get all of the information needed to correctly quote a product or service more effectively, without having to make additional phone calls to the customer. The more common way of requesting information is just by posting an INFO email address and hope that the person requesting the info knows enough about what he is looking for to provide all of the info to get a good quote. This is not usually the case. Most of the time they need a form to fill out. In most cases, there is info that is left out. A form ensures that you get everything needed to quote the product or service accurately. And, also, by offering a form to request more info, leads will be generating 24-7 for you. All you have to do is the quote and give them a call. This reduces the need for cold-calling, and gives you an excuse to call and close the deal.
If you incorporate all of the above pages, along with the “way” these pages should be shown, your website will have a higher ranking in the search engines, which puts your website higher in the search results, thus significantly increasing the traffic to your website!
The above categories aren't the only things you can do to increase traffic to your website. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) should also be done, as well as swapping links with relevant websites, and posting articles and links back to your website from online article and content websites.
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