Color is often the last thing on the minds of website designers. We've all been subjected to websites with horrid color combinations. Yes, there are websites with purple text on a black background, and so on. You want people to view your website with ease. Hurting their eyes is bad for business.
What do you think when you visit a website with terrible color combinations? Your reaction is probably negative. Don't make this mistake with your website. Take time to carefully plan which colors you'll use for text, backgrounds, and links. You can increase your site's efficiency by paying attention to your color scheme.
The goal of any website is to attract and retain visitors. If your site's colors are headache inducing, visitors will run away screaming. Black text on a white background may not be exciting, but it's easy to read. That's why it's the best choice for reading text online. Visit any of the large, professionally designed sites and you'll see black text on a white or light background.
If unsure which colors fit together, look at a color wheel. You can get a list of RGB color values (or HEX values), and see which colors are appealing when grouped together. A color wheel will help you balance your color palette so all of the colors are complementary. Another thing to consider is the color of emotions.
Colors evoke emotions using what is called "color psychology". For example, white is often used to symbolize good. Purple is often used to symbolize royalty. And the most universal of them all is green, which often symbolizes money. Take this into account when choosing colors for your website. Also remember that different colors mean different things in certain parts of the world.
Here's a list of some colors and their positive and negative connotations:
Red
Positive: passion, strength, love
Negative: danger, blood, anger
Blue
Positive: stability, peace, confidence
Negative: coldness, obscenity, depression
Green
Positive: nature, wealth, fertility
Negative: inexperience, jealousy, greed
Yellow
Positive: sunlight, joy, idealism
Negative: hazards, cowardice, dishonesty
Purple
Positive: elegance, creativity, nobility
Negative: arrogance, profanity, confusion
Orange
Positive: energy, enthusiasm, playfulness
Negative: danger, warning, fire
White
Positive: purity, peace, security
Negative: sterility, defeat, cowardice
Black
Positive: power, sophistication, elegance
Negative: evil, death, mourning
The goal of marketing is to connect with the public. What better way to connect than emotionally? Color can help accomplish that goal. Color psychology may sound like a joke to some people, but it's been proven to work. By choosing the colors of your website based on color psychology, you can increase your sales.
The bottom line is you should pick your colors carefully. Don't pick a color just because you like it. Red may be your favorite color, but if your business is monetary issues, red may not be the best color for your site. You're free to try various color combinations, but remember the colors you choose may carry a set of preconceived notions.
Want Professional Graphics For Your Websites In Less Than 72 Hours! Let eCoverGeeks design your websites/blogs, guaranteed to boost your sales and conversion rates, check out our stunning portfolio at http://www.ecovergeeks.com
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in the Freelancing Field
Many high skilled freelancers in the field of web design
and web development doesn't give importance to SEO. For them
SEO is just a dirty web promotion technique and a waste of
time. Some of them are just concerned to the final output
of their web site, others are totally no idea about SEO.
Some of them can even produce fantastic websites but didn't
receive the deserved expossure for their site. and others
are too busy in web client hunting.
But wise freelancers who take advantage of SEO in their
freelancing are like packed rats, and ready for survival. They
know that applying SEO can bring them more chances of
clients.
If SEO rules and techniques are properly done, it will
produce a great result. Even looking for webclients is like
counting one, two, three. Since SEO will make your site high
in Search Engine Result Page (SERP), potential clients will
come to you automatically!
Not just looking for clients will be made easy but also
applying or making SEO as a part of your freelance services,
would be a great another source of income.
But before applying SEO. You must set your goals! You must
set your target keywords and must know your target
audience. Studying the most common search engine keywords and
studying your competitors techniques is a must.
SEO is easy but requires a lot of patience because the
result of your work is always based on the Search Engines
behaviour and the behaviour of your competitors.
But remember this, by applying your SEO knowledge doesn't
guarantee a continues web project from your prospect
clients. It will still based on your website appearance, website
portfolios and continues applying of SEO to your website to
keep its Search Engine ranking. Thinks SEO as a big back-up
help for your freelancing.
Glenn Dasmarinas is a Philippine based freelance web designer. Offering quality and affordable web design services with free basic SEO services to his clients. For more information please visit his website at http://www.gl3nnx.net , or email him at webmaster {at} gL3nnx.net
and web development doesn't give importance to SEO. For them
SEO is just a dirty web promotion technique and a waste of
time. Some of them are just concerned to the final output
of their web site, others are totally no idea about SEO.
Some of them can even produce fantastic websites but didn't
receive the deserved expossure for their site. and others
are too busy in web client hunting.
But wise freelancers who take advantage of SEO in their
freelancing are like packed rats, and ready for survival. They
know that applying SEO can bring them more chances of
clients.
If SEO rules and techniques are properly done, it will
produce a great result. Even looking for webclients is like
counting one, two, three. Since SEO will make your site high
in Search Engine Result Page (SERP), potential clients will
come to you automatically!
Not just looking for clients will be made easy but also
applying or making SEO as a part of your freelance services,
would be a great another source of income.
But before applying SEO. You must set your goals! You must
set your target keywords and must know your target
audience. Studying the most common search engine keywords and
studying your competitors techniques is a must.
SEO is easy but requires a lot of patience because the
result of your work is always based on the Search Engines
behaviour and the behaviour of your competitors.
But remember this, by applying your SEO knowledge doesn't
guarantee a continues web project from your prospect
clients. It will still based on your website appearance, website
portfolios and continues applying of SEO to your website to
keep its Search Engine ranking. Thinks SEO as a big back-up
help for your freelancing.
Glenn Dasmarinas is a Philippine based freelance web designer. Offering quality and affordable web design services with free basic SEO services to his clients. For more information please visit his website at http://www.gl3nnx.net , or email him at webmaster {at} gL3nnx.net
Monday, 21 December 2009
Focus & Information Overload - Internet Marketing Tips 3/3
All the tactics to fool the search engines are futile. We must play their game. We won't outsmart them. Their game is producing good, credible content around a tight niche. I can talk all day about on page and off page SEO strategies which I'm sure you know already.
....but working on one site for 1-6 months or even a year or more around your expertise and building your mailing list will lead to greater profits and personal satisfaction than building 20-100 sites in the same amount of time.
Figure out what about your work you like and which parts you eventually would like to give to someone else to do. Work towards eventually using other people’s time to get your goals accomplished. But even then, you need to know what you’re learning now to direct others to do what you want and at a price which is fair.
Think of your first year or two with IM (Internet Marketing) as going to college. Your rewards are your knowledge. Knowledge that will pay steady dividends in time
Here's a last tip. When you do what you like, it flows and you don't get as tired. When you feel bogged down, tired you are probably not doing what you love. Create a life around doing the things you love and success will come easier - and will have the added benefit of creating the emotions you would expect to have with that success.
It is a migration. You may not like everything about what you do right away. But by paying attention to your likes and dislikes, and finding creative ways to set yourself up, you will achieve a gradual migration from an empty life of just making money to a life of having fun with the inevitable byproduct of building wealth.
What good is all the gold in the world if you must sell your soul to get it?
--------------------------------------------------------
You know what I mean. Get started now and let's make 2006 our most successful year yet!
My name is Lawrence Touitou. I am a website designer and internet marketer. But while I do this as a professional I still very much consider myself a student.
I have been at it for several years and those who know me know can tell you that I am a quick study, and certainly not new to marketing, business, writing and knowing what works in the real world.
You may be surprised to know that a lot of the same tried and true principles that apply to offline business also apply to the internet. (So don't forget what you know.)
I don't believe in a lot of hocus-pocus, "get-rich-quick" schemes. I do however believe in creating wealth, knowing what works and being generous to others.
In the internet marketing arena, anyone with a strong desire to succeed, a willingness to learn, and some business sense can learn to do exactly what I do.
For more information and tips on Web Design, Internet Marketing or Online Publishing please visit myblueshoes.com.
....but working on one site for 1-6 months or even a year or more around your expertise and building your mailing list will lead to greater profits and personal satisfaction than building 20-100 sites in the same amount of time.
Figure out what about your work you like and which parts you eventually would like to give to someone else to do. Work towards eventually using other people’s time to get your goals accomplished. But even then, you need to know what you’re learning now to direct others to do what you want and at a price which is fair.
Think of your first year or two with IM (Internet Marketing) as going to college. Your rewards are your knowledge. Knowledge that will pay steady dividends in time
Here's a last tip. When you do what you like, it flows and you don't get as tired. When you feel bogged down, tired you are probably not doing what you love. Create a life around doing the things you love and success will come easier - and will have the added benefit of creating the emotions you would expect to have with that success.
It is a migration. You may not like everything about what you do right away. But by paying attention to your likes and dislikes, and finding creative ways to set yourself up, you will achieve a gradual migration from an empty life of just making money to a life of having fun with the inevitable byproduct of building wealth.
What good is all the gold in the world if you must sell your soul to get it?
--------------------------------------------------------
You know what I mean. Get started now and let's make 2006 our most successful year yet!
My name is Lawrence Touitou. I am a website designer and internet marketer. But while I do this as a professional I still very much consider myself a student.
I have been at it for several years and those who know me know can tell you that I am a quick study, and certainly not new to marketing, business, writing and knowing what works in the real world.
You may be surprised to know that a lot of the same tried and true principles that apply to offline business also apply to the internet. (So don't forget what you know.)
I don't believe in a lot of hocus-pocus, "get-rich-quick" schemes. I do however believe in creating wealth, knowing what works and being generous to others.
In the internet marketing arena, anyone with a strong desire to succeed, a willingness to learn, and some business sense can learn to do exactly what I do.
For more information and tips on Web Design, Internet Marketing or Online Publishing please visit myblueshoes.com.
Focus & Information Overload - Internet Marketing Tips 2/3
Don't let the email-list of other's sway you from your goals. Protect your valuable and limited attention from "Information Overload". Information Overload will happen when you are not focused. You will not be focused if you do not have goals.
Set small goals, "Take Baby Steps". Focus on it and complete it. Tackle new challenges as they arise - plan your work and work the plan. Again ask yourself how to make it more fun so you enjoy the process of your success. Why is this important?
To break up a boulder into little stones, it takes many swings of a sledge hammer. Each day is another swing. Eventually that boulder will bust and make you very wealthy. But that event takes only a second. Meanwhile your life has been spent on the process. If the process of obtaining wealth is making you miserable or getting you sick, what's the use?
Also, focus on creating a network and community. Help and give to others online and off - any way you can. Be a beacon of hope for others and by helping them you will enrich yourself, build credibility and in turn, find supportive people to network with. Don't be afraid to ask for help either. When you do you will usually help the people you ask too!
I’ll expand on this, “loving what you do” philosophy later. As you will see it will not only affect the content you deliver by bringing a viewpoint or level of competence that others don’t have, but even more importantly will transcend your excitement and enthusiasm to your business community and perspective clients.
My name is Lawrence Touitou. I am a website designer and internet marketer. But while I do this as a professional I still very much consider myself a student.
I have been at it for several years and those who know me know can tell you that I am a quick study, and certainly not new to marketing, business, writing and knowing what works in the real world.
You may be surprised to know that a lot of the same tried and true principles that apply to offline business also apply to the internet. (So don't forget what you know.)
I don't believe in a lot of hocus-pocus, "get-rich-quick" schemes. I do however believe in creating wealth, knowing what works and being generous to others.
In the internet marketing arena, anyone with a strong desire to succeed, a willingness to learn, and some business sense can learn to do exactly what I do.
For more information and tips on Web Design, Internet Marketing or Online Publishing please visit myblueshoes.com.
Set small goals, "Take Baby Steps". Focus on it and complete it. Tackle new challenges as they arise - plan your work and work the plan. Again ask yourself how to make it more fun so you enjoy the process of your success. Why is this important?
To break up a boulder into little stones, it takes many swings of a sledge hammer. Each day is another swing. Eventually that boulder will bust and make you very wealthy. But that event takes only a second. Meanwhile your life has been spent on the process. If the process of obtaining wealth is making you miserable or getting you sick, what's the use?
Also, focus on creating a network and community. Help and give to others online and off - any way you can. Be a beacon of hope for others and by helping them you will enrich yourself, build credibility and in turn, find supportive people to network with. Don't be afraid to ask for help either. When you do you will usually help the people you ask too!
I’ll expand on this, “loving what you do” philosophy later. As you will see it will not only affect the content you deliver by bringing a viewpoint or level of competence that others don’t have, but even more importantly will transcend your excitement and enthusiasm to your business community and perspective clients.
My name is Lawrence Touitou. I am a website designer and internet marketer. But while I do this as a professional I still very much consider myself a student.
I have been at it for several years and those who know me know can tell you that I am a quick study, and certainly not new to marketing, business, writing and knowing what works in the real world.
You may be surprised to know that a lot of the same tried and true principles that apply to offline business also apply to the internet. (So don't forget what you know.)
I don't believe in a lot of hocus-pocus, "get-rich-quick" schemes. I do however believe in creating wealth, knowing what works and being generous to others.
In the internet marketing arena, anyone with a strong desire to succeed, a willingness to learn, and some business sense can learn to do exactly what I do.
For more information and tips on Web Design, Internet Marketing or Online Publishing please visit myblueshoes.com.
Focus & Information Overload - Internet Marketing Tips 1/3
If you think of IM (Internet Marketing) as a get rich quick strategy, change your thinking. Everything I have learned as an IM has told me that, and I am convinced that if I had adopted that strategy years ago I would be in an even better financial situation than I am today.
So if you’re just starting out, make sure you have an income stream to absorb your basic minimum necessities/ expenses satisfactorily while you build your business. This, so you can focus on your long term strategy and you don't place dire financial expectations on your new business. Remember all along, you’re just out having fun.
Set attainable goals and a 6 month plan into the future. (Especially now that the new year is upon us.) Focus on your strengths (hobbies, things you like to do and know about) and see which avenues of internet marketing you will enjoy most.
Then break down your long-term plan into short-term tasks.
Also, you may list weaknesses in your knowledge that you would need to upgrade along the way to achieve your goals.
The purpose for this is to live proactively, not reactively. You want to have a part in your outcome.
Any entrepreneur has to have vision - believing with all his heart that something which doesn't exist yet is possible, and will happen as sure as the sun will rise.
My name is Lawrence Touitou. I am a website designer and internet marketer. But while I do this as a professional I still very much consider myself a student.
I have been at it for several years and those who know me know can tell you that I am a quick study, and certainly not new to marketing, business, writing and knowing what works in the real world.
You may be surprised to know that a lot of the same tried and true principles that apply to offline business, also apply to the internet. (So don't forget what you know.)
I don't believe in a lot of hokus-pokus, "get-rich-quick" schemes. I do however believe in creating wealth, knowing what works and being generous to others.
In the internet marketing arena, anyone with a strong desire to succeed, a willingness to learn and some business sense can learn to do exactly what I do.
For more information about Lawrence Touitou's Web Design, Internet Marketing or Online Publishing please visit myblueshoes.com
So if you’re just starting out, make sure you have an income stream to absorb your basic minimum necessities/ expenses satisfactorily while you build your business. This, so you can focus on your long term strategy and you don't place dire financial expectations on your new business. Remember all along, you’re just out having fun.
Set attainable goals and a 6 month plan into the future. (Especially now that the new year is upon us.) Focus on your strengths (hobbies, things you like to do and know about) and see which avenues of internet marketing you will enjoy most.
Then break down your long-term plan into short-term tasks.
Also, you may list weaknesses in your knowledge that you would need to upgrade along the way to achieve your goals.
The purpose for this is to live proactively, not reactively. You want to have a part in your outcome.
Any entrepreneur has to have vision - believing with all his heart that something which doesn't exist yet is possible, and will happen as sure as the sun will rise.
My name is Lawrence Touitou. I am a website designer and internet marketer. But while I do this as a professional I still very much consider myself a student.
I have been at it for several years and those who know me know can tell you that I am a quick study, and certainly not new to marketing, business, writing and knowing what works in the real world.
You may be surprised to know that a lot of the same tried and true principles that apply to offline business, also apply to the internet. (So don't forget what you know.)
I don't believe in a lot of hokus-pokus, "get-rich-quick" schemes. I do however believe in creating wealth, knowing what works and being generous to others.
In the internet marketing arena, anyone with a strong desire to succeed, a willingness to learn and some business sense can learn to do exactly what I do.
For more information about Lawrence Touitou's Web Design, Internet Marketing or Online Publishing please visit myblueshoes.com
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Starting Your Own Web Design Business
Here are a few tips for web designers who want to start their own web design business. I know it looks easy to start out, but trust me - It is harder then it looks. I am a full time designer and I have ran into nightmare projects as well as unwelcomed clients. Here are a few tips to keep things fairly easy and organized.
- Get your domain at godaddy.com with hosting too. Build your design website. It must have the following: home, about (optional), portfolio (important), and your contact e-mail.
- If you are having the issue of not having a current portfolio, just go to craigslist.com and make a few posting for a free website for people but make sure it's only 1-5 pages for this deal. Otherwise, there are some people out there who would gladly take advantage of you. Be sure to post your URL in the footer of the website once you have completed it.
- Make business cards, only if you can afford it. There are also places on the internet where you can get free business cards. The only cost is shipping, and the catch is that they will have their website address on the back. If you don't mind that, it's a preety good deal I would come to think.
- Create your Web Design contract. This is very important because if something happens like lets say, you complete the rest of the website layout and your client refuses to pay you - you will have a contract to show in case you decide to take this as far as the court room. It also gives the client a sort of reminder that your design business is serious when it comes to creating a website. There are a couple sites that give you examples of free websites that you can fish around for. Make sure the contract terms include website details of what is to be done, payment details, estimate and length of project, and full name and adress of your client along with phone number. Those are the essentials.
- Don't wait to get paid until after the website is completed: This is the first mistake I made when I first created a website for one of my first clients. The project I was creating, well he wanted revision after revision. A month went by and we were still doing the revisions. I finally completed the site and he decided he didn't want it anymore. So, all that work was spent for nothing but a good lesson was learned. That's also when I learned - a contract would have served me great in that situation. Always take payment after a preview of the layout or do it in 3 billing steps. Before, in the middle, and after. I prefer to bill my clients in 2 steps which is 50% and 50% for final website.
- The client is always right: I know that a lot of you web designers have a great sense of style and creative values. That's what we were hired for, right? Well, sometimes there are clients who come along and once we create their website - they want changes, correct? Yes! Most of the time this happens, but some of the people want their business website to look almost personal. For instance, I had someone who said to me "Let's have a yellow backround and falling raindrops for my site." Well, that would look terrible. But I guarantee if you argue with the client and say no, your out of money. Just politely do what they say. If you don't like the website you created for them, just don't add it to your portfolio. For instance, I only add the best websites to my portfolio. The ones I don't like are saved, but others just can't view it.
- Where do I find clients for my web design business? The best place to find clients is getafreelancer.com. It is a bidding site just like EBAY, but only for web design projects and data entry as well. However, if you don't have ratings on that site it is preety difficult to win the bids without feedback so I suggest using craigslist until you get a feedback of at least 10 or more on there.
To learn more about starting up your web design business, visit: http://webdesignsbyapw.com/?p=24
Adrianne P. Izaguirre
Effective Web Design
Use of graphics and content
You should use graphics very carefully and scarcely, in particular the use of flash and animation things unless you website is just only related to graphics. The reason for that is that they may distract the reader from the original content. In addition they take too much time in loading. But it does not mean that you may not use graphics at all. Too much text is also not a right way to put up your content. You need to mix the content and the graphics in a perfect way so that page is not so annoying and the user may not be frustrated.
Layout and design
A dull layout and design of your website's pages may make it unreadable and as a result difficult for you to keep visitors on your site. Some of such mistakes that lead to a poor web design are:
1. Text is too small to read
2. Color combination's of text and background are poor making the text hard to read
3. Large graphic files take too much time in loading
4. too much blinking content
5. Unclear navigation
6. large graphic content that does not fit to the screen
7. Non stop animations
8. Unnecessary scroll bars
9. Unorganized alignment of elements.
Some of the things that make your webpage an excellent page for viewing
1. Just stay away from bad design features that are given above.
2. Text must be easily read
3. Intuitive navigation buttons and bars
4. Fine use of graphics to divide large areas of text
5. A site map
6. Link colors must match with the color of the webpage
7. Once played animations must be automatically turned off
8. Pages download quickly
9. All pages have instant visual impact within 640 x 460 pixels
Planning
Planning for designing is a key to the success for your web design. The design must be nice looking, elegant, clean and eye-catching for the visitors.
Some of the points that you may need to look after while planning a web design.
Your choice of colors
Are these colors that you chose admiring?
What graphic elements you want to show to your visitors?
You may decide the layout you want to give to your website.
For more articles and resources about Web design visit Charlotte Web Design. Web Design Charlotte provides professional design for web, print and internet Marketing.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Youssef_Ali
Three Goals of a Great Website
Today I will discuss what separates a great website from the rest, essentially what are the goals of a website, and what each of those goals trying to accomplish.
The first goal of a great website is it gives your company a "face". Let me ask you this, how many times have you looked for a service or a product on internet and clicked on number of websites before you landed on one that you liked? Now think what made you choose that one website over the others? I am sure it was number of things, but one of them is the first impression. That is what I mean by a "face". A first impression is very important, we experience it every-time we meet our new clients, and same principle applies to a website. A great website will address this issue by having a proper layout, design and color use, the simplicity of it, and how the website captures your initial interest. All of these basic principles if structured properly will make your website stand out from the rest.
The second goal that a great website aims to accomplish is to relay relative information to your potential client using a properly written dialect. So many times I come across a website that seems to grab my attention but then I start reading a product or service description and I am lost, bored, resulting in me going to another website and doing business with someone else. I would have to say this is a number one mistake that many businesses make who have their own website that were done by an amateur. Every medium whether it is a book, newspaper, magazine, or web for that matter has their own style. They have those styles for a specific reason, to grab your attention, keep your interest, and in some cases persuade you. It is utmost importance that a website be copy written by a professional. A good copy written website will have relative information that is tailored to your target client, grabs attention from a potential client, make them stay on your website longer, and ultimately persuade them.
The third and last goal that a great website will accomplish is to properly communicate between you and your client. All website should obviously have a contact page with proper phone numbers, e-mail addresses, fax etc. That is good, but it is just the beginning. A great website will have "events" page that relays relevant information, it will have a blog page that will be updated weekly, and it will have an option for clients to sign up for news letters. This is important because it will remind clients about your services as well as provide relevant information, which will encourage potential clients to come to your website when they need their problems solved.
If your website accomplishes all of these three goals you will be well on your way to having a great website that does more then just sits in the vastness of internet among million other pages, it will start to generate additional revenue for you.
Eugene Yeroshevskiy
What You Should Know About Web Design and Hosting
I recently received a call from a business in the Healing & Health industry. This person asked her web design guru for a simple addition to her web page. He refused to do it and told her to log in and do it herself! When she decided to give the web design work to me to do, he deleted her entire web site and database! Are you ever the true “owner” of a web site that you paid money to own? The people that you as a business owner trust with your entire online business, are these people worth of your trust? Your business is the one way of serving online clients, are the people behind it worthy of your trust? It is no joke to lose a web site that existed for the past 6 years and the database with all your client contact details and the people you resell to monthly!
How can business owners protect their web sites and online assets? Web designers should make a full backup copy available to every site owner on request; right after the web design is complete and online. As the web design progress, a new backup copy should be available to you. Content managed web sites or the so-called Database websites, the actual database and a backup of your normal web design should be available to you. Ask your web design person up front, even before you choose a particular designer, if the source code and web design files would be available to you.
Graphics and content for your web site
If you as a business owner pay a person to design graphics and write up content for your web site, you are entitled to this content and in reality the owner of it. Web design Tip: Your web graphics are utilized on letterheads and business stationary – why pay another graphic designer for this – insist on the content that is rightfully yours. You own them because you paid for them.
Let us look at domain hosting.
I have also come across very suspect hosting companies. Some hosting companies physically disable the standard functions in the control panel of their server, so the owner of a web site cannot log in and create web site backups! Why would they do that? Yes there are space limitations on any hosting server, however why would one keep a backup on the same server? Should the hosting server ever have a problem it would only make sense to have your web design backed up elsewhere.
Let us look at Server Reliability.
Some hosting companies look very promising up front. The smaller company that is just entering the wild world of online advertising may find nothing wrong with his hosting company. Now it gets to a point where the business would like to start selling online and promote his services through having an online blog and a bigger better web site is required. Therefore, he pays the regular web design person to do the web design and host it where it was all the time… The business and site gains hacker attention and is down three out of five days! Make very sure your server is secure. If you have to, get your web design done and host it on a server for a probation period. If you are not happy, use your backup copy of your web design and get a reputable hosting company to move the web site for you.
Always think of the future
It is very unpleasant and unprofessional to have online clients get to your business web site and it is offline. Error pages drive visitors away and 90% of them will not return as they start to fear that your web site is not trustworthy to open on their computers. Everybody by now knows that often we get lead to suspicious web sites through e-mails. I personally recommend rather paying a little more for a lot more in future by hosting with a reputable company.
Support Does the hosting and web design company provide you with a phone number so that you can call them when you have a problem? Do you have to talk to a server through e-mail with hardly any human intervention? I have found that when hosting companies provide you with a phone number to talk to a real person, they more then likely have the structure in place to provide you the excellent service that you need for something as important as your business web site.
Web design South Africa, Hosting, SEO services. By Terence Coleman the company owner of a web design caompany in South Africa http://www.hosting-webdesign.co.za
The Web Design Business - 5 Surefire Ways To Fail
Several years ago, I launched a small web design company in a rural area of California. Market conditions couldn't have been better, my skill level was above average, and I had a large pool of aquaintences to which I could market.
Within 12 months I went broke.
My business failed because I made some very fundamental mistakes, and made them consistently.
I now work in the web hosting industry. I have had the opportunity to interact with numerous self-employed web designers and have found that the mistakes which I made are extremely common, and usually fatal.
If you are hoping to make a go of your business over the long term, you may want to memorize my top 5 mistakes, and avoid them like the plague.
If, on the other hand, you are determined to run your web design business into the ground, the following list may be used as an expeditious roadmap to failure.
1. Underprice your services
This is the most common mistake web designers make. The temptation is to break into the business by producing a few cheap websites in order to build a portfolio. Don't do it!
Remember that you will only be spending about 40% of your time designing sites. The other 60% will be spent hustling up the next client. If you think your time is worth $10.00 per hour, consider asking for $30.00. This will give you sufficient revenue to pay for all the non-paying time you spend marketing your business.
2. Fail to set and enforce boundaries
Everyone loves a nice guy, and the temptation to be one is a trap which many of us fall into. It's crucial to remember, though, that you are in business for one primary reason - to make money.
You will, doubtless, encounter clients who will pay you for a small website, then end up wasting all of your time with questions about how to remove spyware from their computer and requests to add "one small thing" to an already completed website.
You can avoid this, somewhat, by establishing clear boundaries with the client from the very start. A contract is useful here. Make sure that your client knows exactly what can be expected of you, and what you expect of them.
If your client asks for extras, and you're amenable to providing them, give them a quote. Never toss it in for free. The only thing you have to sell is your time and expertise. Don't give away either.
Remember, you're in business. Try asking a service station owner for a little free gasoline. They would be shocked by your question. Likewise, you should be shocked when someone asks you to provide free service.
3. View your clients as temporary
Many of us get into this business because we love creating something new. By the time we finish a website, we're tired of that site (and sometimes that client) and we're ready to start a new project, and put the old project well behind us.
This attitude can cut deeply into your potential gross.
Over time, your client will need numerous updates to his or her website. updates are sometimes bothersome, but can add a significant revenue stream to your business. More important, a satisfied client becomes one of the major links in your marketing network.
4. Ignore recurring revenue opportunities
During the best of times, web designers live from project to project. While finishing one project, you will be lining up the next.
Every business, however, has slow stretches.
Unfortunately, your own creditors will still expect payment, even when your own revenue slows down.
A wise web designer looks for ways to provide his business with some sources of recurring revenue. Even $400 a month which you can count on can get you through a dry spell.
There are numerous ways to set up some recurring revenue. Take a look at maintenence contracts with your clients, reselling webhosting, etc.
5. Build pretty websites which do nothing
Your best source of advertising is word of mouth. Nothing generates great word of mouth like a satisfied customer. You can build the flashiest, prettiest, most cutting edge websites on the net, but it's all for naught if your site doesn't perform.
Every website has a purpose. That purpose might be to sell goods, leverage an advertising budget, disseminate information, assist in personnel management, or one of a million other possibilites.
Your first job, as a web designer, is to ascertain what the web site is supposed to do. Once you find that "thing" - the thing it should do - make sure that the site you deliver does that particular thing like nobody's business! By doing so, you will ensure a client who will sing your praises at the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce meetings, and to his or her friends and family. A client like this is golden, and will bring a steady stream of customers to your door.
John Pierce is the Customer Service Manager for 123 eCart - http://123ecart.com - and the webmaster of the Find My Shopping Cart Directory - [http://findmyshoppingcart.com]
Saturday, 21 November 2009
5 Big Design Mistakes - Learn how NOT TO KILL your Buisness
The first thing you should remember when creating a web page: MAKE IT EASY TO NAVIGATE!
No one will give two pennys on your super designed site if they cannot find what they need! Create a site so that it will combine design and usability!
I have made a list of what I consider to be the worlds biggest web-page design mistakes. Look at this mistakes and learn from them!
I.Stupid, useless and annoying elements that don’t let the visitor find what they want.
1.STUPID SPLASH PAGE. Ok, maybe you will say that a splash page(if it is well done) could look cool. Yes it could. But think of the visitor’s time. That splash page is very often longer than it should. You could actually kill your sales. What do you think that a potential customer would prefer? To stay and look hours at your splash page or to go and buy the product that he wants so much? When you create a site, try to think more at the potential customer than how to expose your flash-creator skills. They don’t care about you, they care about themselves!
2.APPLETS AND PLUGINS. Use them ONLY if you really need them. Not just to spice up your website. Again, think again more at the visitor. Maybe they don’t have installed a certain plugin and your content wwill not work. Then, your website is useless and the potential customer goes to the competition. Now that’s really cool.
II.Thinking at Internet Explorer as the supreme ruler
Any professional-made website should be compatible with any internet browser. This is a rule. Always check your website to be friendly with all major browsers: Opera, Firefox, IE. Don’t send your visitors to the competition just because they don’t use IE.
III.Stupid created navigation.
A thing that any webmaster should do: Spend hours and hours thinking how to simplify the navigation! Ofcourse I’m jocking but when the site is created one of the first question you should ask yourself: “Is this site easy enough to navigate?” If your answer is no, then is bad. Really really bad. The visitor should be able to know at any time where in your website he is; He should now in just a few seconds how to reach the information he needs!
IV.To much information on one page
Structure the information. DO NOT put everything on just one page. Do not put to many menus on the page. Try not to kill the visitors eyes. Try to keep a easy to read layout. Most of the visitors hate to scroll.
V.Text
Do not use small texts. Why there are so many sites on the Internet with texts of such a small size? I have no idea. I tell you again: kepp your webpage easy to read. Use texts big enough so that the visitor can see what you are trying to tell him through the page.
This article was created by Lighezan Alexandru webmaster at SourceGsm: cell phone specifications.
Choose the Best Colors for Your Website
Color is often the last thing on the minds of website designers. We've all been subjected to websites with horrid color combinations. Yes, there are websites with purple text on a black background, and so on. You want people to view your website with ease. Hurting their eyes is bad for business.
What do you think when you visit a website with terrible color combinations? Your reaction is probably negative. Don't make this mistake with your website. Take time to carefully plan which colors you'll use for text, backgrounds, and links. You can increase your site's efficiency by paying attention to your color scheme.
The goal of any website is to attract and retain visitors. If your site's colors are headache inducing, visitors will run away screaming. Black text on a white background may not be exciting, but it's easy to read. That's why it's the best choice for reading text online. Visit any of the large, professionally designed sites and you'll see black text on a white or light background.
If unsure which colors fit together, look at a color wheel. You can get a list of RGB color values (or HEX values), and see which colors are appealing when grouped together. A color wheel will help you balance your color palette so all of the colors are complementary. Another thing to consider is the color of emotions.
Colors evoke emotions using what is called "color psychology". For example, white is often used to symbolize good. Purple is often used to symbolize royalty. And the most universal of them all is green, which often symbolizes money. Take this into account when choosing colors for your website. Also remember that different colors mean different things in certain parts of the world.
Here's a list of some colors and their positive and negative connotations:
Red
Positive: passion, strength, love
Negative: danger, blood, anger
Blue
Positive: stability, peace, confidence
Negative: coldness, obscenity, depression
Green
Positive: nature, wealth, fertility
Negative: inexperience, jealousy, greed
Yellow
Positive: sunlight, joy, idealism
Negative: hazards, cowardice, dishonesty
Purple
Positive: elegance, creativity, nobility
Negative: arrogance, profanity, confusion
Orange
Positive: energy, enthusiasm, playfulness
Negative: danger, warning, fire
White
Positive: purity, peace, security
Negative: sterility, defeat, cowardice
Black
Positive: power, sophistication, elegance
Negative: evil, death, mourning
The goal of marketing is to connect with the public. What better way to connect than emotionally? Color can help accomplish that goal. Color psychology may sound like a joke to some people, but it's been proven to work. By choosing the colors of your website based on color psychology, you can increase your sales.
The bottom line is you should pick your colors carefully. Don't pick a color just because you like it. Red may be your favorite color, but if your business is monetary issues, red may not be the best color for your site. You're free to try various color combinations, but remember the colors you choose may carry a set of preconceived notions.
Want Professional Graphics For Your Websites In Less Than 72 Hours! Let eCoverGeeks design your websites/blogs, guaranteed to boost your sales and conversion rates, check out our stunning portfolio at http://www.ecovergeeks.com
Top 20 Tips to Make your Website Successful
Avoid funky colors
The Fox Internet Marketing Solutions
A Division of the Fox Advertising Agency, Inc.
9114 58th Dr. East, Suite 103
Bradenton, FL 34202
Phone: 941.758.2404
FAX: 941.756.6484
Email: info@foxadv.com
Website: http://www.foxadv.com
Are Webmasters Actually Ninjas?
1)Webmasters enjoy working at night when no one else is around and it is quiet. Ninjas work at night under the cover of darkness.
2)Ninjas where tight fitting black clothing and black shoes. Webmasters wear tight fitting black T-shirts.
3)Ninjas rely on cunning skill and black magic tricks to accomplish their mission. Webmasters often resort to black hat SEO tricks in order to get their pages ranked well in Google and Yahoo.
4)Ninjas use smoke bombs to disappear. Webmasters are much more advanced in this area. They do not even need smoke bombs. They often disappear without notice. You have a better chance of getting a Ninja on the phone in 2005 than you do your programmer.
5)Ninjas use deception as a tactic to confuse and spread fear. Webmasters deceive everyone. Only they can understand their massive file structures.
6)Ninjas use their special insight to view the source of their enemy’s power. Webmasters use ‘view source’ as an age old intelligence gathering technique about their enemy.
7)Ninjas use a secret code to communication to other ninjas. Webmasters use heavily coded languages to IM other designers. No one has any idea what they are talking about.
8)Ninjas have been known to throw sharp metallic objects when encountering an enemy. Webmasters have been known to throw metallic data processing units across the room when encountering a blue screen.
9)Ninjas are hired because the client doesn’t want to confront the enemy himself. Webmasters are hired because the client doesn’t want to confront “HTML for beginners” himself.
Steve Hansen
Work at Home as a Webdesign Freelancer
It's not important if you don't know how to program, design, optimize sites or do similar things. You can still earn money doing things everybody knows. Start working from your home today, without any extra investments.
You can do many "non-technical" things. Some of them are writing (articles, reviews ...), data research/collection (finding specified info on the web), data entry (mostly copy/paste), translation and many more. Off course for all those technical people, there are things like programming, design, seo and others.
Sites to find jobs/projects:
Ranoo.com - This is a great website. Most of my projects were done on this website. And I recommend it. While it's name determines that most of the jobs are in web development, there are other not so technical jobs as article writing, data entry, data collection (research) and others. You don't need to pay for sign up, their fees are one of the lowest (4%) or 4 $ and you can withdraw money in many ways. They also offer escrow system, so you are ensured from cheaters. Users can leave a feedback about each other - which is a nice option.to post a project is free and the webmasters are not charged.
Rent A Coder - I did only one project over this one. The overall mood on this site somehow isn't right, but never the less, you can find lot's of different jobs there, not just coding. Also there are some restrictions that make communication with the buyer a little difficult, and they don't offer bank wire withdraw - which I like to use. Their fee is 18%, one more reason for me not to use it to much.
Freelancers Network - This is a UK based website. So naturally many of the jobs are UK specific. Of course there are many jobs that you can work from anywhere in the world from your home. The good thing it's FREE, yup no fees, at the same time, that's the bad news, and it might happened that you finish the job, and not get paid. That cannot happened when using escrow systems.
There are many other websites. But these should be enough for you to start. Eventually you will realize that it's best to concentrate on one or two of this websites. Mainly for the reason of feedback. Most freelance websites offer a way that buyers rate service providers after project is completed, and few good rates, with some nice words about you can work magic in getting future bids.
you will realize that many of the people which you found over this sites, will contact you latter for some additional work (if you worked ok for the first time) - so you will start to build your regular clients.
Good luck with your bids!
Friday, 20 November 2009
The Web Design Business - 5 Surefire Ways To Fail
Several years ago, I launched a small web design company in a rural area of California. Market conditions couldn't have been better, my skill level was above average, and I had a large pool of aquaintences to which I could market.
Within 12 months I went broke.
My business failed because I made some very fundamental mistakes, and made them consistently.
I now work in the web hosting industry. I have had the opportunity to interact with numerous self-employed web designers and have found that the mistakes which I made are extremely common, and usually fatal.
If you are hoping to make a go of your business over the long term, you may want to memorize my top 5 mistakes, and avoid them like the plague.
If, on the other hand, you are determined to run your web design business into the ground, the following list may be used as an expeditious roadmap to failure.
1. Underprice your services
This is the most common mistake web designers make. The temptation is to break into the business by producing a few cheap websites in order to build a portfolio. Don't do it!
Remember that you will only be spending about 40% of your time designing sites. The other 60% will be spent hustling up the next client. If you think your time is worth $10.00 per hour, consider asking for $30.00. This will give you sufficient revenue to pay for all the non-paying time you spend marketing your business.
2. Fail to set and enforce boundaries
Everyone loves a nice guy, and the temptation to be one is a trap which many of us fall into. It's crucial to remember, though, that you are in business for one primary reason - to make money.
You will, doubtless, encounter clients who will pay you for a small website, then end up wasting all of your time with questions about how to remove spyware from their computer and requests to add "one small thing" to an already completed website.
You can avoid this, somewhat, by establishing clear boundaries with the client from the very start. A contract is useful here. Make sure that your client knows exactly what can be expected of you, and what you expect of them.
If your client asks for extras, and you're amenable to providing them, give them a quote. Never toss it in for free. The only thing you have to sell is your time and expertise. Don't give away either.
Remember, you're in business. Try asking a service station owner for a little free gasoline. They would be shocked by your question. Likewise, you should be shocked when someone asks you to provide free service.
3. View your clients as temporary
Many of us get into this business because we love creating something new. By the time we finish a website, we're tired of that site (and sometimes that client) and we're ready to start a new project, and put the old project well behind us.
This attitude can cut deeply into your potential gross.
Over time, your client will need numerous updates to his or her website. updates are sometimes bothersome, but can add a significant revenue stream to your business. More important, a satisfied client becomes one of the major links in your marketing network.
4. Ignore recurring revenue opportunities
During the best of times, web designers live from project to project. While finishing one project, you will be lining up the next.
Every business, however, has slow stretches.
Unfortunately, your own creditors will still expect payment, even when your own revenue slows down.
A wise web designer looks for ways to provide his business with some sources of recurring revenue. Even $400 a month which you can count on can get you through a dry spell.
There are numerous ways to set up some recurring revenue. Take a look at maintenence contracts with your clients, reselling webhosting, etc.
5. Build pretty websites which do nothing
Your best source of advertising is word of mouth. Nothing generates great word of mouth like a satisfied customer. You can build the flashiest, prettiest, most cutting edge websites on the net, but it's all for naught if your site doesn't perform.
Every website has a purpose. That purpose might be to sell goods, leverage an advertising budget, disseminate information, assist in personnel management, or one of a million other possibilites.
Your first job, as a web designer, is to ascertain what the web site is supposed to do. Once you find that "thing" - the thing it should do - make sure that the site you deliver does that particular thing like nobody's business! By doing so, you will ensure a client who will sing your praises at the Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce meetings, and to his or her friends and family. A client like this is golden, and will bring a steady stream of customers to your door.
John Pierce is the Customer Service Manager for 123 eCart - http://123ecart.com - and the webmaster of the Find My Shopping Cart Directory - [http://findmyshoppingcart.com]
9 Ways to Gain Your Visitors Respect
The internet is filled with sites and they are good and bad. Some have been
known for a long time and some still struggle to get the respect and fame they think they deserve.
Although not all your visitors are web design professional they still can put
their finger on a good site and sense the ones that are not that ok. But how
can you convince people your site deserves to be known and respected? How can
you make them feel your site is better than other thousands they could find on
the same subject?
Elegant design
You need a nice looking site. Don't overdo this either, but try to offer your
site a unique and nice feeling. Branding is also important. Try to come up with
a nice logo.
Create a nice layout, try to have a consistent colour theme and use nice fonts.
Don't use templates unless they are unique and you have got the only copy. There's
nothing worse for your "respected" site than a theme people have seen for 50
times before.
Avoid animated gifs, annoying backgrounds and music.
Good and interesting content
Don't just throw links and downloads. Nowadays people need more, not to mention
the search engines would love your site more if you offer them some content.
Organize the content logically and update it frequently.
Good way to advertise
We all need to live and some try to do this from the site they run. It's ok to
have an ad campaign or two. Just don't over do it. Don't fill your pages with
many banners and advertising links. They would make people lose respect for you
not to mention ruin the entire layout.
A good behaviour online
Don't think people cannot trace you just because you are "anonymous" online.
wrong. if someone wants to trace you all the way to your lair, there's nothing
you can do against it. But you can use this in order to get known, in a positive
manner.
Post in forums and respect. People will come to know you eventually from seeing
your good posts and nice behaviour. When they'll see your site this could mean
more visitors and perhaps some clients that are almost convinced you really mean
business.
Respect towards your visitors
Don't treat your visitors bad, offer them a pleasant experience and make them
love the place. Offer them a feed-back form and respond as fast as possible to
any questions they might ask. Word of mouth is a serious promotion. Use it in
your behalf.
Good organization
Don't take prisoners, let people know what's on your site and how they can reach
the information they are looking for. A sitemap is a good thing to add to your
site if you've got more pages. It's also a good trick for the search engines
optimization. Have a good navigation system and don't make people have to guess
what's going on in your little place online.
About information and contact page
For a business and even a personal page, a good about and contact page can do
wonders. When people see a nice site they tend to want to know something more
about the person running it or the business presenting it. And a contact page
is a must on every site. For a business offer phone numbers and addresses, for
a personal page at least an email address.
Updates
Frequent updates make search engines love you, not to mention your visitors.
If you cannot update the information on a daily basis, try at least a monthly
update.
Jonathan Yates
http://www.internetworldchat.co.uk
Internet World Chat is a discussion forum for webmasters to get tips or advice.
Shameless Flashers - Using Flash Tools To Create Spectacular Websites
Flash is a powerful technology that can help you create spectacular websites, tutorials and demos. Find out which inexpensive tools are available to you that have very low learning curve.
SWFText
SWF Text is an author tool of Flash text animation. It embraces 150+ text effects and 20+ background effects, and users may also customize all the properties of a Flash, including font, text color, and layout, etc. With SW FText, a user without any experience of Flash development can easily create a Flash banner or an introductory page within a few minutes. And all you need do is to input text, select font and animation effects. While a veteran Flash designer may use SWF Text for text animation in a project, which sure greatly saves your time and effort.
Sothink SWF Decompiler
Sothink SWF Decompiler is a tool to browse, view and parse Shockwave Flash movies (.swf files). It can extract sounds, images, movie clips from a Flash movies. What's more, SWF Decompiler can decompile the action scripts in a Flash movie and turn them into neat and readable code. Sothink SWF Decompiler can convert your SWF to FLA. It supports exporting the whole movie file in FLA format, compatible with Flash 6 and Flash 7. Sothink SWF Decompiler supports Action Script 2.0 fully. It supports exporting ActionScript 2.0 while converting swf to fla and supports exporting the .as file and Flash Project file (flp) while the swf file contains AS 2.0 class. Within the program, it can decompile the code written in Action Script 2.0 and display the readable code in Action Script window, with syntax highlighting.
ScreenFlash Professional
If you want to build animated, interactive software tutorials in the shortest time, ScreenFlash is your best choice. It is the easiest and most effective tool for demonstrating your software product, adding animations to your application's Help system, or training novices. ScreenFlash captures the action and sound from any part of Windows desktop and saves it to a Macromedia Flash movie file. You can also edit the movie by adding button, sound, picture and text, which can create an integrated interactive demo.
More Flash Resources:
SWFText
http://www.deprice.com/swftext.htm
Sothink SWF Decompiler
http://www.deprice.com/sothinkswfdecompiler.htm
ScreenFlash Professional
http://www.deprice.com/screenflashprof.htm
John Deprice owns and operates http://www.deprice.com
6 Steps To Your Own Website
A lot of people these days are interested in getting their own place on the world wide web. Whether it´s a personal site like a blog, or a business site, they all need to have a decent plan before they get started.
A few years ago I started designing and creating websites myself. I started just to show off to others, but I noticed it wasn’t as easy I thought it was. I mean, it is easy to get a site online; you just buy a template, pay a coder, and pay some one to insert content and advertise for you then you’re done. But if you want to do things yourself, that’s where it gets tricky.
After a few sites, I managed to find a certain pattern in the process of creating and managing my websites.
1. I always start with an idea for subject and content. Believe me - never create a website about something you hate and know nothing about. Instead create a website about something you know a lot about and like to tell other people about. What also works is writing about a subject you would like to know more on, after doing your own research. Newbies can explain information to other newbies easier then pro´s explaining information to newbies.
2. Then I think of a design to go with it, to reflect its idea. Like if your subject is Boats, then don’t go with a flaming red design. Sure it could do it, but I would prefer for a blue, water-like design to reflect its subject.
3. If the design is done, you need to get it coded. Some create their designs while they code, but I prefer to use a graphical program to first create the whole design, just the way I want it to be. Then I slice it all (contact me if you want to read an article about that) and save it for the web. I usually have a small group of coders I trust to code my designs and they send it back to me when it’s coded.
4. Well then everything is almost done you would think. You got a design coded and everything. But the answer is NO. You are just starting. Sure you have a site and all, but you do not have hosting or a domain name. In order to get your site up and running, you will need something called hosting. It’s like when you buy a house it needs to be on ground. Well the hosting is the ground here, and your website is the house. Without hosting, your site is almost useless. These days you can choose between free hosts, which in my opinion aren’t great, but if you want to start and try out, I’d suggest you work with a free host first. And then there is paid hosting, you pay for a certain amount of server space and bandwidth and sometimes extra features.
5. Now if you have chosen to go for a free host, then please skip this step, cause you probably won’t be able to use it. A domain is needed for people to find your website. For example if you website is called BoatFish, then you could make the domain http://www.boatfish.com or http://www.boatfish.net, whatever you choose for. There are quite a large number of extensions you can go for. But I always suggest you go for a .com domain name. People tend to look for them more often than for a .net or any other extension.
6. The most important part of your website is your content. People stay or come back to your website because you have good content, or leave if you don´t. So please write up some good content for your site before launching it; this can cost you a lot of visitors. I can’t show you how to submit content, or what kind of content you should be submitting, this is something you should look into yourself.
7. Now you got everything you need to get your site online. And still you are not done at all. You can site around and wait for people to come to your website, but not many will. That’s why advertising will be your best bet to go for. You can link exchange and/or go for SEO. Search Engine Optimization is a great way to get many hits towards your website. I do not have any websites that haven’t been optimized for search engines, because I know seo’ing brings in many visitors, and customers. SEO means Search Engine Optimization, which means that it will try to rank you as high as possible at search engines. If some one searches for a keyword regarding your website they will see your site and click on it. This is seriously a great way to get many, many visitors.
8. Now your site is done and you can keep submitting content to your site, to keep visitors coming back. Good luck! And let me know if this helped you in any way.
---
If you want to get more articles or Webmaster related information go to Http://http://www.webmasterspalace.com. It’s a place for all webmasters to unite and get their resources from. My name is Klaas Koopman and I am a Dutch Webmaster. You can contact me if you need anything Webmaster related. Thank you for reading. For Designs go to http://www.kkportfolio.net.
Effective Webdesign
The Basics
Before starting on how to design a website effectively, how about clearing some basic web design concepts? Designing Effectively
Now that you know what web design and related terms mean, lets get down to the real thing: Designing Effectively How to balance artistic design with practicality and functionality.
Use of graphics and content
Unless your website is all about graphics, how to make them, edit them or just a bunch of links to graphics websites, I suggest you use graphics sparingly, especially the flashing, twirling kind. They not only detract readers from the content, but they also take ages to load. You do not want your readers to leave your website because your graphically attractive page does not seem to load fast enough. Then again, too much text is boring. So mix and match the graphics and text on your page, having enough white space so that the page is not plain annoying.
Layout and design
While designing, keep in mind that poor layout and design will make your pages unreadable and difficult to keep your visitors on your website for long. Some of the things that make a poor design and layout:
- Text that is too small to read
- Color combinations of text and background that make the text hard to read
- Large graphic files that take forever to load
- Multiple things that blink
- Unclear navigation; over complex navigation
- Paragraphs of type in all caps, bold, and italic all at once
- Graphics that don't fit on the screen (assuming a screen of 640x460 pixels)
- Animations that never stop
- Complicated frames, too many frames, unnecessary scroll bars in frames
- Cluttered, not enough alignment of elements
Some of the things that make a webpage stand out from the crowd:
- Stay away from bad design features listed above.
- Background does not interrupt the text
- Navigation buttons and bars are easy to understand and use
- Good use of graphic elements (photos, subheads, pull quotes) to break up large areas of text
- A large site has an index or site map
- Link colors coordinate with page color
- Every graphic link has a matching text link
- Animated graphics turn off by themselves
- Pages download quickly
- All pages have the immediate visual impact within 640 x 460 pixels
Planning
Most of the time, all it takes to design your website effectively is a little planning. When designing a website, it needs to be clean, uncluttered, attractive and easy for users to read and find what they need. Begin with a webdesign plan:
- what colors do you want to use?
- Are these colors complimentary?
- What items - text, images, data - do you want to put in your pages?
- What layout do you want? Look at other websites and then decide.
Follow the above steps to get a website that speaks for itself and your business. You can always contact me for suggestions and webdesign projects.
Tasneem Rangoonwala is a freelancer Web Development Co-ordinator at D.zigns Enterprise Solutions, offering webdesign, development and other related services.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Effective Webdesign
The Basics
Before starting on how to design a website effectively, how about clearing some basic web design concepts? Designing Effectively
Now that you know what web design and related terms mean, lets get down to the real thing: Designing Effectively How to balance artistic design with practicality and functionality.
Use of graphics and content
Unless your website is all about graphics, how to make them, edit them or just a bunch of links to graphics websites, I suggest you use graphics sparingly, especially the flashing, twirling kind. They not only detract readers from the content, but they also take ages to load. You do not want your readers to leave your website because your graphically attractive page does not seem to load fast enough. Then again, too much text is boring. So mix and match the graphics and text on your page, having enough white space so that the page is not plain annoying.
Layout and design
While designing, keep in mind that poor layout and design will make your pages unreadable and difficult to keep your visitors on your website for long. Some of the things that make a poor design and layout:
- Text that is too small to read
- Color combinations of text and background that make the text hard to read
- Large graphic files that take forever to load
- Multiple things that blink
- Unclear navigation; over complex navigation
- Paragraphs of type in all caps, bold, and italic all at once
- Graphics that don't fit on the screen (assuming a screen of 640x460 pixels)
- Animations that never stop
- Complicated frames, too many frames, unnecessary scroll bars in frames
- Cluttered, not enough alignment of elements
Some of the things that make a webpage stand out from the crowd:
- Stay away from bad design features listed above.
- Background does not interrupt the text
- Navigation buttons and bars are easy to understand and use
- Good use of graphic elements (photos, subheads, pull quotes) to break up large areas of text
- A large site has an index or site map
- Link colors coordinate with page color
- Every graphic link has a matching text link
- Animated graphics turn off by themselves
- Pages download quickly
- All pages have the immediate visual impact within 640 x 460 pixels
Planning
Most of the time, all it takes to design your website effectively is a little planning. When designing a website, it needs to be clean, uncluttered, attractive and easy for users to read and find what they need. Begin with a webdesign plan:
- what colors do you want to use?
- Are these colors complimentary?
- What items - text, images, data - do you want to put in your pages?
- What layout do you want? Look at other websites and then decide.
Follow the above steps to get a website that speaks for itself and your business. You can always contact me for suggestions and webdesign projects.
Tasneem Rangoonwala is a freelancer Web Development Co-ordinator at D.zigns Enterprise Solutions, offering webdesign, development and other related services.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Make It Easy To Buy From Your Site
You can also offer a money back guarantee so that people will feel confident about buying from you.
You can write a clear, concise paragraph to direct your prospects to your order form so that you can minimize the chances of them getting lost. First, you will want to check that people can find your order form easily and hassle-free. Eliminate any chances of that to maximize your profits! Convincing your prospects to purchase from you is a hard job, but have you ever thought that you're making the process twice as difficult for both parties if your prospects are convinced but don't know how to buy from you? No matter how good you are at convincing your prospects, they won't buy if they find the process cumbersome. Is your order form secured using encryption technology? You would want to look into SSL for this.
As a conclusion, it would be very pitiful if you sold hard and sold well to a prospect and something goes wrong when he or she is ready to pay. How about after sales support? Who do they contact when they have problems after purchasing? Alternatively, you can add customer testimonials, your contact information, address, and so on to boost your prospects' confidence. Also, do you offer multiple payment options? Some people may feel comfortable paying via Paypal, some may only want to pay with their credit card and others might want to send a cheque. On the other hand, you will want to prove that you are a credible merchant. The more options you offer, the better your chances of covering your prospects' desired payment method.
Make them feel safe about buying something from you, a total stranger to them on the other end of the Internet. After all, it wouldn't make any sense to sell hard to a prospect only to find that they won't be able to pay you when they want to. You can also reduce the chances of losing prospects by putting a prominent link to your order page from every other page on your site.
You can write a clear, concise paragraph to direct your prospects to your order form so that you can minimize the chances of them getting lost. First, you will want to check that people can find your order form easily and hassle-free. Eliminate any chances of that to maximize your profits! Convincing your prospects to purchase from you is a hard job, but have you ever thought that you're making the process twice as difficult for both parties if your prospects are convinced but don't know how to buy from you? No matter how good you are at convincing your prospects, they won't buy if they find the process cumbersome. Is your order form secured using encryption technology? You would want to look into SSL for this.
As a conclusion, it would be very pitiful if you sold hard and sold well to a prospect and something goes wrong when he or she is ready to pay. How about after sales support? Who do they contact when they have problems after purchasing? Alternatively, you can add customer testimonials, your contact information, address, and so on to boost your prospects' confidence. Also, do you offer multiple payment options? Some people may feel comfortable paying via Paypal, some may only want to pay with their credit card and others might want to send a cheque. On the other hand, you will want to prove that you are a credible merchant. The more options you offer, the better your chances of covering your prospects' desired payment method.
Make them feel safe about buying something from you, a total stranger to them on the other end of the Internet. After all, it wouldn't make any sense to sell hard to a prospect only to find that they won't be able to pay you when they want to. You can also reduce the chances of losing prospects by putting a prominent link to your order page from every other page on your site.
Building Your Mailing List with Downloads
A mailing list is the lifeblood of your online business.
However, slapping together a simple download and putting a link on your website won't be enough to attract qualified prospects. First of all, you must place your download form prominently on your website. That way, there is no way your visitors cannot find the download page, and when they do, you'll get some of them converted into your prospects! Also, you have to put a little effort into promoting your download. You can actually build up a targeted list of prospects that are interested in your products by offering a relevant download on your website. You might think why would anyone want to pass on a freebie, but most of your visitors would be too lazy to take the effort to download it because most of their downloads just sit on the harddisk collecting virtual dust.
Preferably, dedicate a page to it and link to that page from every other page of your website. The important thing is that your download offers enough value for the prospect to be willing to give away his/her own email address to get it. You will have to do some homework in order for your lead-generating mechanism to work well for you. It is hence important to show your visitors why they should download your freebie. For example, let's take a look at a very good example -- apple.
Com. When you download the free iTunes and Quicktime software from their site, they will ask you to fill in an optional name and email form so that they can send you offers on songs that you can purchase via -- guess where -- iTunes! In reality, you do not need to offer such a "heavyweight" download such as a full-feature software like iTunes. Explain and elaborate on the values of the download, and why your visitors should download it. You can attract prospects equally well with some quality freebies such as a simple report, a free wallpaper, and so on.
The old adage "the money is in the list" cannot be true enough -- if you had a targeted list of prospects to contact each time you have a new product, you will be able to save a lot of effort by marketing it to your existing list of targeted prospects.
However, slapping together a simple download and putting a link on your website won't be enough to attract qualified prospects. First of all, you must place your download form prominently on your website. That way, there is no way your visitors cannot find the download page, and when they do, you'll get some of them converted into your prospects! Also, you have to put a little effort into promoting your download. You can actually build up a targeted list of prospects that are interested in your products by offering a relevant download on your website. You might think why would anyone want to pass on a freebie, but most of your visitors would be too lazy to take the effort to download it because most of their downloads just sit on the harddisk collecting virtual dust.
Preferably, dedicate a page to it and link to that page from every other page of your website. The important thing is that your download offers enough value for the prospect to be willing to give away his/her own email address to get it. You will have to do some homework in order for your lead-generating mechanism to work well for you. It is hence important to show your visitors why they should download your freebie. For example, let's take a look at a very good example -- apple.
Com. When you download the free iTunes and Quicktime software from their site, they will ask you to fill in an optional name and email form so that they can send you offers on songs that you can purchase via -- guess where -- iTunes! In reality, you do not need to offer such a "heavyweight" download such as a full-feature software like iTunes. Explain and elaborate on the values of the download, and why your visitors should download it. You can attract prospects equally well with some quality freebies such as a simple report, a free wallpaper, and so on.
The old adage "the money is in the list" cannot be true enough -- if you had a targeted list of prospects to contact each time you have a new product, you will be able to save a lot of effort by marketing it to your existing list of targeted prospects.
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Improve Usability of Your Website
Ensure that your site loads fast if you do not want to lose visitors.
Most internet users will leave a website if it doesn't load completely within 15 seconds, so make sure the creme de la creme of your website is delivered to the visitors as soon as possible to retain their attention. The longer a single line of text is, the greater the line-height of each line should be. Make it easy for visitors to find content that they want on your site. Some sites have 10-pixel-tall text in Verdana font; while that may look neat and tidy, you have to really strain your eyes to read the actual text. There is nothing more effective in tarnishing your professional image than broken links, so be very careful about that.
The first method is to make sure the typography of your content is suitable. If you have thousands of articles on your site and a certain visitor wants to find one single article from that pile, you have to provide a feasible means to enable visitors to do that without hassle. Be it an SQL-driven database search engine or just a glossary or index of articles that you have, providing such a feature will make sure your visitors can use your site with ease. If you have large blocks of text, make sure to use CSS to space out the lines accordingly. Here are some tips to improve the usability of your website to ensure it serves its functions optimally.
Last of all, test each and every link on your site before it goes online. Also, make sure the font size of your text is big enough to read easily. No matter how brilliant your website design is, if it is hard to reach the content of your site then your site is as useful as an empty shell.
Most internet users will leave a website if it doesn't load completely within 15 seconds, so make sure the creme de la creme of your website is delivered to the visitors as soon as possible to retain their attention. The longer a single line of text is, the greater the line-height of each line should be. Make it easy for visitors to find content that they want on your site. Some sites have 10-pixel-tall text in Verdana font; while that may look neat and tidy, you have to really strain your eyes to read the actual text. There is nothing more effective in tarnishing your professional image than broken links, so be very careful about that.
The first method is to make sure the typography of your content is suitable. If you have thousands of articles on your site and a certain visitor wants to find one single article from that pile, you have to provide a feasible means to enable visitors to do that without hassle. Be it an SQL-driven database search engine or just a glossary or index of articles that you have, providing such a feature will make sure your visitors can use your site with ease. If you have large blocks of text, make sure to use CSS to space out the lines accordingly. Here are some tips to improve the usability of your website to ensure it serves its functions optimally.
Last of all, test each and every link on your site before it goes online. Also, make sure the font size of your text is big enough to read easily. No matter how brilliant your website design is, if it is hard to reach the content of your site then your site is as useful as an empty shell.
The Importance of a Sitemap
- Navigation purposes A sitemap literally acts as a map of your site.
If your visitors browses your site and gets lost between the thousands of pages on your site, they can always refer to your sitemap to see where they are, and navigate through your pages with the utmost ease.
- Organization and relevance A sitemap enables you to have a complete bird's eye view of your site structure, and whenever you need to add new content or new sections, you will be able to take the existing hierarchy into consideration just by glancing at the sitemap. Through this way, you will be able to keep your website easily accesible and neatly organized for everyone. There is no need to get the "big picture" of your site by reading through each page, and by doing that you will be saving your visitors' time.
- Conveying your site's theme When your visitors load up your sitemap, they will get the gist of your site within a very short amount of time.
- Site optimization purposes When you create a sitemap, you are actually creating a single page which contains links to every single page on your site. From the above reasons, it is most important to implement a sitemap for website projects with a considerable size. By highlighting the importance of having a well constructed sitemap, you will be able to tailor your own sitemap to suit your own needs. Imagine what happens when search engine robots hit this page -- they will follow the links on the sitemap and naturally every single page of your site gets indexed by search engines! It is also for this purpose that a link to the sitemap has to be placed prominently on the front page of your website.
A sitemap is often considered redundant in the process of building a website, and that is indeed the fact if you made a sitemap for the sake of having one. As a result, you will have a perfectly organized site with everything sorted according to their relevance.
If your visitors browses your site and gets lost between the thousands of pages on your site, they can always refer to your sitemap to see where they are, and navigate through your pages with the utmost ease.
- Organization and relevance A sitemap enables you to have a complete bird's eye view of your site structure, and whenever you need to add new content or new sections, you will be able to take the existing hierarchy into consideration just by glancing at the sitemap. Through this way, you will be able to keep your website easily accesible and neatly organized for everyone. There is no need to get the "big picture" of your site by reading through each page, and by doing that you will be saving your visitors' time.
- Conveying your site's theme When your visitors load up your sitemap, they will get the gist of your site within a very short amount of time.
- Site optimization purposes When you create a sitemap, you are actually creating a single page which contains links to every single page on your site. From the above reasons, it is most important to implement a sitemap for website projects with a considerable size. By highlighting the importance of having a well constructed sitemap, you will be able to tailor your own sitemap to suit your own needs. Imagine what happens when search engine robots hit this page -- they will follow the links on the sitemap and naturally every single page of your site gets indexed by search engines! It is also for this purpose that a link to the sitemap has to be placed prominently on the front page of your website.
A sitemap is often considered redundant in the process of building a website, and that is indeed the fact if you made a sitemap for the sake of having one. As a result, you will have a perfectly organized site with everything sorted according to their relevance.
How To Have Websites Built For You The Cheap Way
Have you ever seen those advertisements in newspaper classified ad sections that offer a 5-page website at $500? These companies are established companies with physical locations, therefore they have to increase the amount they charge to pay off some overheads: office rent, designer's wages, advertising costs and so on.
All this can change if you know where to find the best deals, the best designs for the lowest price. Think about it, if you only need 5 simple pages to present some simple information, why waste hundreds of dollars for it? Just spend a little time to sit down and do it yourself. The best way to do this would be to go to elance. Another route you can take is to design your website yourself. You'll be able to design your own sites even if you do not know a single line of HTML code with the help of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) programs such as Microsoft Frontpage, Macromedia Dreamweaver and so on.
There, you can post the abstract of your project and get thousands of freelancers to bid on your project, so you will surely get the best deal. On the other hand, they will be able to design images with quality similar to those of designers from big companies, so it's a "no-brainer" choice. On top of that, you will be able to choose the designers based on their experience, past transactions and ratings, so your value for money is secured. Com.
Normally, if you want to have professional designers custom build your site, you must be prepared to dish out at least a few hundred dollars. Here's a rough guide: First, you must understand that it is a rip off to get companies to design websites for you. However, choose freelancers with care. Therefore, it would be wise to find freelance designers who work from home. These people are often working from home so they do not have a high operation cost like that of a company.
All this can change if you know where to find the best deals, the best designs for the lowest price. Think about it, if you only need 5 simple pages to present some simple information, why waste hundreds of dollars for it? Just spend a little time to sit down and do it yourself. The best way to do this would be to go to elance. Another route you can take is to design your website yourself. You'll be able to design your own sites even if you do not know a single line of HTML code with the help of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) programs such as Microsoft Frontpage, Macromedia Dreamweaver and so on.
There, you can post the abstract of your project and get thousands of freelancers to bid on your project, so you will surely get the best deal. On the other hand, they will be able to design images with quality similar to those of designers from big companies, so it's a "no-brainer" choice. On top of that, you will be able to choose the designers based on their experience, past transactions and ratings, so your value for money is secured. Com.
Normally, if you want to have professional designers custom build your site, you must be prepared to dish out at least a few hundred dollars. Here's a rough guide: First, you must understand that it is a rip off to get companies to design websites for you. However, choose freelancers with care. Therefore, it would be wise to find freelance designers who work from home. These people are often working from home so they do not have a high operation cost like that of a company.
Good Design Practices
Use scripting languages to handle or manipulate data, not to create visual effects on your website.
Keep your text paragraphs at a reasonable length. Make sure your website complies to web standards at www. They make your site load very slowly and more often than not they are very unnecessary. Also, scripts are not supported across all browsers, so some visitors might miss important information because of that.
If a paragraph is too long, you should split it into seperate paragraphs so that the text blocks will not be too big. If you think any image is essential on your site, make sure you optimize them using image editing programs so that they have a minimum file size. Use CSS to style your page content because they save alot of work by styling all elements on your website in one go. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your site and even crash some browsers. Make sure you have clear directions on the navigation of your website.
Your website is where your business resides -- it's like the headquarter of an offline company. W3. Org and make sure they are cross-browser compatible. The navigation menu should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors know how to navigate around your website without confusion. Avoid using scripting languages on your site unless it is absolutely necessary.
This is important because a block of text that is too large will deter visitors from reading your content. Hence, it is important to practise good design principles to make sure your site reaches out to the maximum number of visitors and sells to as many people as possible. Reduce the number of images on your website. If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but breaks horribly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose out on a lot of prospective visitors.
Keep your text paragraphs at a reasonable length. Make sure your website complies to web standards at www. They make your site load very slowly and more often than not they are very unnecessary. Also, scripts are not supported across all browsers, so some visitors might miss important information because of that.
If a paragraph is too long, you should split it into seperate paragraphs so that the text blocks will not be too big. If you think any image is essential on your site, make sure you optimize them using image editing programs so that they have a minimum file size. Use CSS to style your page content because they save alot of work by styling all elements on your website in one go. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your site and even crash some browsers. Make sure you have clear directions on the navigation of your website.
Your website is where your business resides -- it's like the headquarter of an offline company. W3. Org and make sure they are cross-browser compatible. The navigation menu should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors know how to navigate around your website without confusion. Avoid using scripting languages on your site unless it is absolutely necessary.
This is important because a block of text that is too large will deter visitors from reading your content. Hence, it is important to practise good design principles to make sure your site reaches out to the maximum number of visitors and sells to as many people as possible. Reduce the number of images on your website. If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but breaks horribly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose out on a lot of prospective visitors.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Generating Revenue With Good Planning
Divide your site into major blocks, ordered by themes, and start building new pages and subsections in those blocks.
For anything to work well, care must be taken to make firm, workable plans to execute it and the same goes for website designs. For this very reason, the advertisement blocks on your pages need to be relevant to the content, so a themed page fits that criteria perfectly. For example, you might have a "food" section, an "accomodation" section and an "entertainment" section for a tourism site. Gradually, the webmaster will not be motivated to update it anymore and it turns into wasted cyberspace. With a well thought out website design, you will be able to create a site that generates multiple streams of revenue for you.
Hence, start tapping in on this lucrative stream of profit right away! As Internet becomes more widespread, advertising on the Internet will bear more results than on magazines or offline media. You can then write and publish relevant articles in the respective sections to attract a stream of traffic that comes looking for further information. In fact, may websites turn into online wasteland because they are not well planned and do not get a single visitor. When you have a broader, better-defined scope of themes for your website, you can sell space on your pages to people interested in advertising on your page.
You can also earn from programs like Google's Adsense and Yahoo! Search Marketing if people surf to those themed pages and click on the ads. The crucial point of planning your site is optimizing it for revenue if you want to gain any income from the site.
For anything to work well, care must be taken to make firm, workable plans to execute it and the same goes for website designs. For this very reason, the advertisement blocks on your pages need to be relevant to the content, so a themed page fits that criteria perfectly. For example, you might have a "food" section, an "accomodation" section and an "entertainment" section for a tourism site. Gradually, the webmaster will not be motivated to update it anymore and it turns into wasted cyberspace. With a well thought out website design, you will be able to create a site that generates multiple streams of revenue for you.
Hence, start tapping in on this lucrative stream of profit right away! As Internet becomes more widespread, advertising on the Internet will bear more results than on magazines or offline media. You can then write and publish relevant articles in the respective sections to attract a stream of traffic that comes looking for further information. In fact, may websites turn into online wasteland because they are not well planned and do not get a single visitor. When you have a broader, better-defined scope of themes for your website, you can sell space on your pages to people interested in advertising on your page.
You can also earn from programs like Google's Adsense and Yahoo! Search Marketing if people surf to those themed pages and click on the ads. The crucial point of planning your site is optimizing it for revenue if you want to gain any income from the site.
5 Important Rules in Website Design
When it comes to your website, extra attention should be paid to every minute detail to make sure it performs optimally to serve its purpose. Here are seven important rules of thumb to observe to make sure your website performs well.
1) Do not use splash pages
Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back" button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.
2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements
Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead, provide more valueable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being pushed to buy.
3) Have a simple and clear navigation
You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.
4) Have a clear indication of where the user is
When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion means "abandon ship"!
5) Avoid using audio on your site
If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.
1) Do not use splash pages
Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back" button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.
2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements
Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead, provide more valueable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being pushed to buy.
3) Have a simple and clear navigation
You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.
4) Have a clear indication of where the user is
When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion means "abandon ship"!
5) Avoid using audio on your site
If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.
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