|
|
The Newbie?s Guide to Small Business Web Design
You've got a concept for a business, are excited about putting it out on the Internet, know a little bit about computers and the Internet, but know nothing about building a web site, or web design.
You can still be highly successful and save money by doing the job yourself so long as you've got the willingness to learn and the time to spend on the project. It can be fun ? and it should be.
The contents of this article will greatly improve your knowledge of web design without causing you to feel overwhelmed. Keep this article as a reference point, check off each part as you go through the process of development, and, in due time, you will have an effective web site for marketing the information, product, or service you wish to provide to your customers.
Domain Name
Keep it short and relevant to your business. Do not get frustrated trying to lock down a domain name by settling on anything to get you web space. You will soon realize that every word on your web site has relevancy to its success. Register for no less than two years. Serious businesses don't renew yearly. You have to show that you're going to be sticking around.
Web Hosting
Don't mess around with small time web hosting. Affiliate yourself with a reputable company that provides top-notch service, as the rewards with regards to security and support are worth the extra dollar.
Web Site Construction
The basis by which people choose to build their web site is at their discretion. Microsoft FrontPage is a worthy choice for those of you who are new to web development and starting from scratch. Instead of reading books to learn about web design and development, you may be much better off using Google, MSN, or Yahoo to find the answers to your questions. Use "quotations" around your question in a search bar to get more specific answers.
Layout
Building your web site on a template is a fine way to start, but you may want to learn how to build from nothing. The mistakes that you may make along the way will prove invaluable. It is strongly recommended that you go with Tables instead of Frames, and if you don't have a clue what either means, just do a little reading about the two on the Internet before you start building.
Resolution
It would be a safe bet to keep your web site at no more than 750 pixels wide, regardless of the fact that more and more people are going to 1024x768. If your site is geared towards older folk, then you can count on the majority being at 800x600 for easier reading. You don't want to alienate your visitors by having them scroll to see the whole page. Be sure to check that your web site pages show up the same in all browsers.
The Intro
Never ever put "Under Construction" or any other type of phrase that says that you are incomplete on your web site. Your site is young ? it is never incomplete. Try to refrain from saying "Welcome to ?". You should think of your web space as being real estate. The space you use up with unnecessary text is a waste of advertising.
The Text
Keywords, their place on a web page, whether they are bolded or not, and the number of times each word appears on a web page are factors that determine how high you end up in search results.
HTML Tags
Before I say anything further, don't get freaked out by HTML code. It not as hard as it looks. Again, do a little reading on the Internet ? this time about Meta Tags and Keywords. You will have to make sure that your Title, Description, and Keyword Meta Tags are bang on with the text on each web page you build. You can use many free Tag Analyzers found on the Internet to check relevancies.
Graphics
Graphics increase load time and looks. There's a fine line between too little and too much. Use customers, not friends and family to gauge what is appropriate for the way your web site will look.
Random Tips
You may need to read a little to learn how to implement some of these tips, but nonetheless, they are here for your consideration to improve the placement of your web site in search results:
1) Make sure your TITLE is right below the HEAD in the HTML code. 2)Use one or two keywords in an ALT Tag to describe your images. 3) Get links pointing at you from sites sharing similar content.
Austin Culley is the Chief Operating Officer for Oil-Net.Com Inc.
http://www.oil-net.com
How to Hire The Right Web Design Firm
Regardless whether you manage a small business, charitable organization, or Fortune 500 company, choosing the right web design firm can quickly become a full-time research project. With thousands of design firms to choose from, what factors truly determine which design firm is best for your business?
How to Make the Online Sales Copy for Your Website More Conversational
It has been said that the best online sales copy is one that talks to your prospect as if you are in together in a conversation.
You Need RSS, Atom, and ROR/RDF Codes on Your Website--Now You Need Google Sitemap as Well!
Do you have a website? If so, you need an ROR XMLNS code button which leads to a full ROR/RDF code page for your website. This code tells search engines all about the special details you input into the code about your website. For example, it tells them special details about each particular product (or certain special ones) that you sell on your site or sites, it tells the search engine bots your contact information such as your business address and phone number (without informing the entire universe, as the code is invisible to all but you and the search engine bots examining your website), it gives info on special other links you want the search engine bots to associate with your website, and it gives any other such major info that you want the big search engines to explore and know all about from your website.
Is Your Web Site Turning Visitors Away?
One of the biggest problems with Web sites is that the very first page on the site is turning people away.
Top Ten Website Design Secrets for Internet Marketing Success
When it comes to marketing your website, you should really work on the design of your site and optimize it so it makes you the maximum amount of money per visitor as possible. The design of your website is very important and plays a huge role in your website's success or failure. Consider the following tips when designing your website:
Website Design For Small Businesses
There are many different website design companies, offering different facilities such as flash design, however what should a small business look for when seeking an internet prescence?
Your Site Map: Spider Food or Just A Light Snack?
Mechanical spiders have to eat. In fact, they usually have bigger appetites than the real-life spiders you squish under your shoe. What spiders am I talking about? The automated programs sent out by search engines to review and index websites. These "spiders" (sometimes called "bots") are looking for a reason to list your site within the database of their particular search engine. It's hard work roaming around the 'Net non-stop, and these little guys need some nourishment from time-to-time. In fact, when spiders find some hearty "spider food" (a.k.a. a site map with some meat to it), they sit down to stay a while. That's a good thing!
Essential Strategies To Make Your Web Copy Attractive To Your Target Audience
Reading on the web is different than reading in all other formats. People approach it differently and you need to have strategies that capitalize on those differences so you can connect with your prospects. Creating website copy that attracts your perfect clients, holds their attention and gets them to take action and connect with you should be your only goal when writing your website copy.
Web Marketing: Design Mistakes That Drive Customers Away In Droves
They may look cutting edge, but if you want a web site that contributes to your bottom line here are some design ideas you will want to avoid:
Color and Web Design
Color is one of the most important but least understood elements of web design today. Whether they know it or not, visitors to a site respond to colors and other visual elements on the site on a psychological level. Color affects the emotion of the audience, and emotion drives decision-making. An intrigued visitor is more likely to engage in the goal of your site -- whether it is meant to inform, entertain, or to sell products or services. If the colors are unsuitable, the eye will reject the site and your product may be rejected too, no matter how good it is. A well-considered color scheme is frequently the difference between an okay web site and a great web site. It can also make a site unusable if the scheme used is too outrageous and hard on the eye.
Increase Your Credibility With Web Site Awards
Web Site Awards are given from other sites to reward your site for a specific reason. They will usually give you an award graphic or text link to include on your site if you win. Awards are great to display on your Web site because they will give your business more credibility to your visitors and customers.
Title Tags - How to Make Them More Effective
The title tags of your web pages are more important than most web authors realize. Once you understand why the title is so important, you can easily write more effective title tags.
7 Tips To Increase Sales With Your Ecommerce Web Site
Ecommerce is just exploding right now on the Net. More and more people are doing their shopping online. Some Internet retailers are even beating out their offline counterparts. So what does this mean to you? It's important that you are taking full advantage of your web site to get your share of the billions of dollars spent online every year. In this article we are going to cover 7 tips that you can put into practice immediately to increase your sales and revenue with your ecommerce web site.
What is ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a new programming framework from Microsoft for developing next generation web Applications. It is a framework built on the Common Language Runtime and introduces a new paradigm to server-side Web development.
Keep Them Coming Back - Update Your Site
If you are anything like me, your website is a reflection of yourself. It contains your thoughts and communications, exposed to the entire world at all times. Look at virtually any non-commercial web site and you will get a glimpse at the person behind the monitor.
14 Ways to Add Content to Your Web Site - Part 2
7. Create high quality content - make clear points with each paragraph you write. Each paragraph should build on the previous one, so that you are pulling your visitor through your page naturally. You are trying to pre sell the product or service to your visitor. This puts them in a natural frame of mind to buy (unlike many sites which may just have pictures of the products and a shopping cart).
Affordable Web Design In Birmingham
If you have a business, big or small you may be thinking of getting yourself a website.
The Top Ten Checklist For Low Web Site Sales
You have good traffic, but low client sign ups and other sales. Web sites are only as good as their copy. If your Web sales are down, check your copywriting.
Sales Versus Customer Oriented Websites
Should Generating Revenue From A Website Be The Prime Motivator?
Design Your Site For Your Customers
The most important person that you need to please when you design your site is your potential customer. I can not stress that enough.I have clients who have told me "I don't like this design or that one or I like these colours", etc. I want to please my customers so I try to create a design for them that they will be happy with, of course. But my clients don't often think of their site visitors or their own potential customers when they ask me to design their site. Sadly most are thinking primarily of one thing - how to make money from their website. And because their focus is on making money rather than pleasing their customers, more often than not, the website won't sell. And as much as I try to advise them on how they can improve the quality of the site, they stick to their own ideas of what the site should look like. Then they email me later on and ask me what are they doing wrong. Oh brother!