Have you ever noticed that some people have really nice error pages when a page doesn't exist on their site? Wouldn't it be nice if you could make your error page match the rest of your site? Don't fret; you can do it! All you'll need to do is use a handly little file called .htaccess.
First thing you need to know is that .htaccess is a very powerful file that controls a lot of important parts of your site. Before you change anything, make sure to make a backup copy. If anything goes wrong, you can revert to the backup. ....
To be successful with your online business, whether you are selling your own product, services or are selling for other merchants as an affiliate, you need a Web site that focuses on that subject alone. The site must be easy to build, maintenance-free, low cost, credible, and a powerful traffic-builder and customer-converter.
Having the right tools or product alone will not insure the success of your website. There are many factors to be considered when designing your site. And unfortunately, most of these are usually ignored by Internet business owners. Here are eight simple steps to enhance your site and ....
Most of my students are Internet novices and ask many apprehensive questions about how to design a website. They worry about their ability to design an attractive site and are anxiously seeking the quickest and best alternative.
After years on the Net, I believe you need to learn how to design your sites yourself, and here's why ...
The Internet is made up of two elements:
1. Text
2. Pictures
Yes, audio and video technologies are growing fast. But if you hope to sell on the Net, it's critical to appeal to your audience, those folks who are willing to pull out ....
What are Meta tags? Meta tags are simply small pieces of information that can be attached to a web page. They are invisible to the user, but visible to the search engines.
Meta is the Greek word for "over", and the "meta-tags" were initially designed to carry all sort of meta-information, meaning "information-about". Using meta-tags for specifying keywords or a description for a webpage is not an HTML standard convention, but it is a widely accepted use of the meta-tags.
There are many meta-tag types, but from the search engines' perspective, the most important are the "keywords" meta-tag (carrying keywords associated with ....
If you're just starting out in your career as a web designer, you likely have a lot of work left to do before you have an established portfolio. After all, it's hard to convince potential new customers that you have the talent and skills to create a website if you have no portfolio to show them. You're caught between a rock and a hard place - you need clients to build a portfolio, and you need a portfolio to gain new clients. On the other end of the business is the solo web designer who has been successful for many ....
The Internet is full of web design companies pleading for your business. They
all look great! Not sure which company to select? By following these simple
steps, you'll be able to select the perfect designer for your business.
1. The search for a web
designer. Unless you really feel that face-to-face
meetings are a priority, there is really no reason why you can't
hire a web designer outside your local area. Most people turn to
search engines on the internet for their search.
2. The designer's portfolio. Once you stumble on a website
that catches your interest, look for samples ....
Do you have to sacrifice all of the creative and artistic elements of your web site to rank in the search engines? Later in this article I'll show you a real case scenario and the design and SEO approach used.
Thanks to the birth of professional search engine marketers the top ranks are saturated with the pages of companies that can pay for such insight. That said, it's certainly possible to employ high ranking tactics in your own website. Actually, the most basic tactics can move you up from an 800 position to a 300. However, it's the top of the ....
So, you've decided that your company needs a web site. Now what? Since we are ultimately talking about your "online business image", unless you yourself have web design experience, finding that perfect web designer to create your company site is a very important next step. If you've never had a web site created before, you will find that there is quite a lot to consider if you want your site to be successful, and you may have to do a bit of homework to find the right person for you.
Regardless of the type of site you want, to be successful, ....
The web started out its life as a collection of simple HTML pages which were, by nature, accessible. Many people with disabilities latched onto the web as a revolutionary new way for them to communicate. However, since the commercialisation and diversification of the Web, it has gradually become less and less accessible with many sites relying on the use of a particular browser, broadband connection speeds or proprietary software.
Some people with disabilities use Assistive Technology like magnification software, screen readers (speakable browsers) and desktop Braille displays to access the Web. Many more others simply modify their browser settings to their ....
Many people mistakenly think that they have to hire a hot web designer for thousands of dollars in order to create an eye-catching website. This is not true, especially for the do-it-yourselfer who wants more control over the look and feel of a website.
Most websites are based on only one web page template. That's right, just one. This means that all you have to do in order to get started is to buy a web page template that will work well for your web business and use software such as Macromedia DreamWeaver or Microsoft FrontPage in order to modify the ....
For the past year or so, there's been lots of chattering about this Web 2.0. The term came to life when Dale Dougherty of O'Reilly Media brainstormed with MediaLive's Craig Cline.
Is it just another term that Web experts and personalities are spreading to drum up followers and business? If nothing else, many (resources at the end of the article plus we'll skip quoting the ones that have been quoted a hundred times already) agree the Web is still maturing and it's changing from "I go get" to "come to me," says Thomas Vander Wal[1].
How To Make Sure Your Visitors Read What You Write!
- A Lesson From Journalism 101
When most people open a newspaper, they look for the most interesting, bold and colourful images on the page. There is no time to read a whole newspaper from cover to cover, just as there is no time to read every single word on a web page, especially if it is really full of text.
Readers today are generally referred to as "scanners" because that is what they do. They scan the page looking for the most interesting item on the page, which often makes the contents ....
Hosting and Domain: Most people do know about web hosting and domain names are these days, but every now and then some confusion might arise as to whether they are independent or one in the same. Basically, your web hosting is the space you "rent" on the internet to place your website. Your domain name, also called your URL is www.your_website.com. Some hosting companies will offer the purchase of your domain name at the same time you purchase your hosting account. Often times however, you purchase a domain name separately from a company such as Register.com or GoDaddy.com.
You spent countless hours designing a site with fantastic colors, attractive images and beautiful layout but it failed to click, did this ever happen to you? Many of the apparent reasons could be lack of planning or inappropriate design elements. A well thought site never fails to click. To avoid this kind of situation it is very important for a web designer to plan things in advance and foresee the impact of the site. Ask a couple of questions:
Who is the target audience?
What is the purpose of the site?
What all functionalities are to be included?
Building content rich 1000+ page SEO optimized websites in 2 days.
Here is the bare bone - no hype information and a link to the website I built using these techniques. So I'm not gonna lie to you about how much money you can make or how much I made. This article assumes you have a basic knowledge of HTML, Google Adsense, and Affiliate Advertising.
We've all heard the phrases "Content is King" and "If content is King, then relevance is Queen!". So I'm going to share with you how to build a site based on these principles for profit! ....
On September 1, 2005, I was contacted by Ivan Schneider of Award Kitchen Refacers. Award had confirmed participation as an exhibitor at the National Home Show in Toronto at the end of the month and wanted to have a website, logo and set of business cards that could be presented to the public to support their offline marketing efforts at that time.
Ivan and I sat down the next week and went through the various materials and sketches that Award had come up with for use on the website. Some of the sketches contained layouts and rough copy for ....
There are numerous choices when it comes to building web sites. One of the first choices you will have to make is whether to use an online or offline site builder.
Site Builders
Site builders can be divided into two categories, online and offline. An online site builder creates a web site with web forms over the Internet. With an online site builder, there is no need to install any special software. You only need an Internet browser.
An offline site builder is a program that you install on a computer from a disc or a download. This type of site ....
Okay, you are ready to join the masses and put up a web site. You’ve put a lot of thought into the design and are ready to go. Perhaps you should give more thought to using a web site template.
Web Site Templates
For many people, it makes more sense to use a pre-designed web template instead of creating a site from scratch. Using a pre-designed site template allows you to get a professional design at a fraction of the price a custom design would cost. A good template is automated or has HTML tags to show you exactly where ....
Every visitor to your web site is a precious potential client. It was hard work to get that site visitor there in the first place, so you should make every effort to encourage the potential client back.
The bottom line is that if the visitor found what they were looking for quickly and easily, they are much more likely to come back to your site. Here are six additional techniques you can use to help bring visitors back to your site. They are:
Some wise human once said "Learn from the mistakes of others. There isn't nearly enough time to make them all yourself." Hence this article. Here are five of the most annoying and common web design mistakes.
1. Slow download time - Don't be that site that is filled with the coolest gizmos in the world. You know, animation, music and other "cool" things. Why? Because nobody is going to go to it because it takes too long to download. A nice clean site that downloads quickly will get you much further than a site with all the fixings that ....
Once a visitor gets to your web site, you want to make sure they can find what they are looking for quickly and easily, or they will just go elsewhere. If a web site is easy to use and understand, visitors will come back time and time again.
Using intuitive navigation techniques will greatly improve the usability of your web site, and therefore user satisfaction and return rates. By intuitive navigation, I mean some sort of menu, map or list that is instantly understandable to most visitors to your web site.
Remember the color wheel? Colors arranged in a circle, similar to a rainbow, and all of the colors related? Red combines with yellow to make orange, yellow and blue combine to make green, and red and blue make purple, remember? Visit your local craft store and invest in a simple color wheel to get you going. Most of the art departments will have one, and EK Success now makes a fancy one just for scrapbooking. Any color wheel will allow you to use these simple ideas.
Let your picture be your guide in choosing a color scheme for your ....
There is nothing wrong with making your own website if you are looking to save some money. Be prepared however, for your finished product to resemble an after school project cutesy, homemade touches and all. It is pretty hard to make your own website and have it look professional but, there is an easier way that will leave you with fewer headaches in the long run.
You must first do some web research. Click around and find websites that have the look you are going for. Make some notes and jot down what it is you do and ....
Even nowadays, too many companies are essentially cutting up their printed brochures and pasting them online as the prime content for their website. It seems like the cheap and easy option – but actually it’s the very expensive one, and it will cost them countless customers and almost guarantee low search engine rankings. Here are the main reasons why you need to create content for your website from scratch – and not recycle existing print copy.
1. Your brochure is primarily aimed at one audience – customers. Your website is aimed at two – customers and search engines. People ....
In the physical world you can easily sell a product by your interacting behavior
and your marketing tactics. But in the e-world where there is no face to face
interaction and all marketing is totally a game of your site's interaction with your
visitor which may desperate them to turn into your healthy customers. While
designing your site you must know who your target people are and what are their
needs and will your website turns to be beneficial for them. A website's form and
content is what will determine if a visitor will stay just a visitor ....
If there is one thing we have all suffered through is waiting for a site to download online. It seems like it is the worse thing in the world and will never end. We actually either click off of the site or after the initial download of the frontpage completes, we then click off of the site because the subpages take too long to load. We have all been here and this article is to help make sure your visitors don't go through it as well.
The reason why a websites speed of download is important is actually very ....
As important as the design and the way a websites work, another important issue can actually have negative results on not only your customers but your business. Site speed is a very important topic and should not be overlooked when having your website designed or re-designed. It can actually directly hurt your sales and cut into your profits as people do not have the time to sit there and wait for your website to load. This is something that good sites take advantage of only having very small load times and bad sites seem to ignore(because they seem ....
Would you buy meat from a grocery store that left the
bad meat in with the good meat or wasn’t clean? Would
you buy a car from a sales lot that had totaled
automobiles on the front lot? I wouldn’t and neither
would you. Your website is your grocery store; your
car lot. You must have an atmosphere that is pleasing
to buyers. One that tells that buyer that you are not
an amateur, but instead a trained, seasoned
professional. Your site is a direct reflection of
your product and that is why that having a well
designed ....
Can you really get a website even without knowing anything
about code, and without paying a fortune? Find out.
The days when websites were primarily distinguished by their code are long
gone. Nowadays, the web is a true publishing medium that favors well
thought-out ideas. You can get a professional-looking website online in
minutes with many website building services and software. But what should
you look for? What are the features you really need and which are just
clutter?
CONTENT EDITING
Some website authoring software packages only allow you to entire plain,
unformatted text. Some of them allow you to entire ....
A nostalgic look back at 90s web design, and a warning to
anyone whose website is an accidental anachronism.
Remember the days when every PC was beige, every website had a little
Netscape icon on the homepage, Geocities and Tripod hosted just about every
single personal homepage, and "Google" was just a funny-sounding word?
The mid-late 1990s were the playful childhood of the worldwide web, a time of
great expectations for the future and pretty low standards for the
present. Those were the days when doing a web search meant poring through
several pages of listings rather than glancing at ....
Do you have your own website? Yes, great then you know some of the benefits it brings you. No, Then let me show you some reasons why you need a website.
If you don't have a website, then you might not realize all the great things it can do for you. Maybe you think that because your business is too small – or maybe you don't even have a business there wouldn't be any point! Perhaps you think it'd be a lot of work for little reward. Or maybe you spent a lot of money for a site back ....
In this day and age of online marketing, content has been heralded as king, and for good reasons. People flock to sites not because of the flashy graphics, the astounding features or the witty domain name of the said pages, but because of the information contained on the pages. They are looking for content they will answer their question of the moment.
Content is even more potent in winning visitors than, say, search engine placements You may derive a tremendous amount of traffic from the search engines, but if your content is junk, ....
All Internet business owners want their websites to be profitable.Here are a few tips that could help you make your website a profitable one.
1. Address your targeted audience on your business site.
Example: "Welcome Internet Marketers" or "Greetings Fellow
Dog Lover". If you have more than one, address them all.
2. Make sure your content and graphics are relevant to your website's theme. You wouldn't want to use a bird graphic on a business web site.
3. In order for a website to be profitable, it must have
repeat visitors. Offer your visitors incentives to get them
to return to your website. You could ....
Setting yourself up to earn a steady monthly income has to
be a pre-requisite to your success online. There is no
doubt that large sums of money can be made (and indeed are being made) from selling products or services online.
With over 500,000,000 internet users (and that figure is already obsolete even as I write this) the potential for long term wealth is very high indeed.
This fantastic new medium has brought untold possibilities
for the small trader operating in a niche market. In fact
the
internet is made for just that type of marketer. It
therefore goes without saying that anyone ....
Almost everything is available on the web… products,
services, e-books, software, audios, videos, membership
sites, or newsletters. Regardless of what you’re
promoting, there’s a never-ending supply of prospects and customers on the world-wide-web. Your goal is to capture and turn those prospects into paying customers.
Perhaps the best avenue is by the use of graphics. Three important sections of graphics that should be used for a compelling website are 1) header graphics 2) product cover
and 3) background graphics.
Let’s start at the top with the header graphics. Without excellent quality header graphics it won’t much matter what’s on the rest of ....
That’s been a lot of talk about landing page these days. So, what’s a landing page? It's the page your website visitor arrived at after clicking a link. The link could be on any page on your website or pay per click advertising or
banner ads or keyword search.
The goal of landing page is to cause your visitors to take definite action. You don't want your visitors to leave until you get them to do what you want them to do. To click on the buy button, to sign up for an affiliate ....
When you're ready to launch your web site and you're trying to select a good domain name, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration.
Select a Domain Name that Reflects Your Web Site
Above all else, your domain name should reflect what your web site is all about. For example, if your web site is about grooming a dog, you certainly wouldn't want to select a domain name like 'mybusinessname.com,' as this would have nothing to do with your web site's focus. You would want to select a domain name that tells the world ....
If you'd like to create and publish your own web site on the Internet, your first step should be to decide what type of web site you would like to create and what web design language you would like to use.
Although there are several web design languages to choose from, make sure you take some time to research your options to ensure you're making the best choice for your project.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
The easiest and most popular web design language is Hypertext Markup Language, better known as HTML. This language is so simple you can type ....
Why do some websites sell better than others? Do you need a
marketing degree to create a website? Does design have much
impact or is web copy the key?
You may not realize this but many of the successful internet
marketing businesses realize that design, or layout of the
website should be a marketing decision based on research done by
internet marketers - not designers.
This is in no way a reflection of the incredible talent that
website designers have. You will clearly have a much more
professional looking site when an ....
With all the emergence of graphic designs nowadays, how can you assure that yours will stand out among the many beautiful creations?
There are basically four C’s to remember on how to ensure success in your designs.
Commitment. The first C. Once the design process is already set, commitment takes action. This is all about carrying on the missions and goals. It is crucial that the designer should rise above all the challenges that he will encounter in the whole process. Every commitment seems to be challenged, so commitment has to come out victorious.
If you'd like to create and publish your own web site on the Internet, your first step should be to decide what type of web site you would like to create and what web design language you would like to use.
Although there are several web design languages to choose from, make sure you take some time to research your options to ensure you're making the best choice for your project.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
The easiest and most popular web design language is Hypertext Markup Language, better known as HTML. This language is so simple you can type ....
When designing or redesigning a website the most important part of the project happens before any graphics or code are created.
Start by determining the primary goals of your website. Are you using it to sell your products or services? Maybe it’s intended simply to advertise your offline business, provide support to your existing customers or build your company brand. Whatever the goals are, clearly defining them ahead of time will better guide you in the actual creation process.
Next, remember that first impressions mean everything. Your website design must be professional and portray the right image ....
Looking to establish an online presence? Then, your most affordable solution is to buy a web template. It is important to determine what kind of templates are there in the market before you proceed to but one. The following is a brief explanation of the most popular templates that you expect to find on the market analyzing the degree of expertise to develop them, the required tools and their functionality.
Flash Templates
Flash is a registered trademark of macromedia studios. Flash has really modified the way that web pages look. It has allowed for movement and interactivity ....
PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, better known as PHP, is a highly popular, server-side scripting language that can be embedded directly into HTML coding.
PHP can do anything that CGI can do, such as process form data and auto generate dynamic content, but PHP can do much more.
It can be used on all major operating systems and supports most web servers.
PHP is used by inserting PHP code inside your web page's HTML code. When the page is called, your server automatically executes the code. What's more, your visitors don't need any special plug-ins for the code to run, ....
If you're the least bit serious about promoting your website(s) online then you have probably heard the recent cry that one's website needs links coming into it. Lot's of links. And without these many, many links one is the proverbial billboard in the desert waiting to be seen by those thirsty for sustenance.
Well after these several years that I've been on the internet I too heard the call and have followed the many internet bandwagons that have rolled into e-town touting the next 'latest and greatest' snakeoil software to get one traffic that they won't believe.
Firstly the truth, you do not need some miracle to get listed in google in less than 24 hours. Getting listed in google in under a day can actually be quite easy and in this article I’ll show you exactly how to do it.
Firstly what we mean by your site getting indexed is when it shows up on the google search engine. To find out if you website is listed enter www.yourdomain.com into the search box. You will see “no results” appear, which means our website is new and its not in google’s index. Google doesn’t know your ....
Oftentimes, the most important facets of SEO are overlooked, even by webmasters and seasoned SEO experts. Why? Because somehow all the emphasis gets put on the importance of keywords, leaving all other SEO elements in the dust.
Equally important aspects of SEO include:
1. Reciprocal Link Exchange (Linking Strategy)
2. Page Rank
3. Avoiding getting penalized by the Search Engines, and more importantly, avoiding getting banned.
I am an online business owner and SEO specialist. I have seen people put emphasis on the wrong things, to the detriment of equally important elements.
So, how can you build a website that is completely ....
While professional SEO (search engine optimization) is becoming increasingly recognized as an extremely effective component of an overall marketing mix, the SEO industry itself is still very much in its infancy. Because SEO is a relatively new industry, many key decision makers are not even aware that professional SEO exists, or they simply believe that it could not work in their industries or with the existing marketing mix. This is not because these decision makers are ineffective or backward thinking, but rather because, in most companies, marketing efforts are focused upon activities that have already been proven effective ....
There are a good number of web link types, named depending upon the way in which the various web pages are connected to each other. A common term that is heard of when talking about the SEO web links is a ‘Reciprocal Web Link’. A reciprocal web link is a normal web link in which there is an exchange of two pages through the web link. Another web link is the ‘One-Way web link’, where one web page is linked to another without a web link back to the same page. Web pages can also be linked in ....
If there's one thing that Google loves, it's content. Done right, a content rich website is almost guaranteed to rank highly. But how to get that content? You can write it yourself, but that takes a lot of time. You can pay an SEO copywriter to write it for you, but that takes a lot of money. If only there was another option...
What if you could get your content for free? And not just a little bit of content; a lot! What if you could get an almost unlimited supply of keyword rich, expertly written content, specific ....
The Internet has opened a whole New World of opportunity for all of us. With the vast amount of information available at your fingertips, it has never been easier to communicate your message to the world.
A web site will enable you to create your own home on the World Wide Web. Your home may be as simple or dynamic as you'd like and is only limited by your imagination.
Although designing a great web site is an important part of developing a successful online business, it is only one small part of an overall plan.
There are millions of web sites on the Internet today with thousands more being added each day. The competition is fierce and in order to be successful, you must stay one step ahead of the game.
Although designing a professional web site is an important part of your strategic plan, it is only the first step. Before you begin the actual design process, you must first determine your overall strategy and design your web site accordingly.
Internet marketers have basically two choices:
-> Design a mini web site that focuses on just one product or service, with no other content ....
The appearance of your web site is one of the most important aspects of your success. Your product or service will literally be judged by the appearance of your web site.
Poor web design is one of the leading causes of small business failure. There are literally thousands of home-based Internet businesses struggling to make a living online. Most, make very little or no money and end up closing their site in defeat.
I have received many messages over the years from struggling Internet marketers wanting to know if I could look at their site and tell ....
Although the Internet has provided a wealth of opportunity for all of us, it has also created a breeding ground for scam artists. Internet users are very reluctant to make purchases online, and share their personal information.
For this reason, you must take every opportunity to convey your professionalism -- from your web site, products and services, to your customer service, each will play an important part in your success.
The moment your site loads, your visitors will have an instant reaction -- your site will either convey your professionalism or your amateurism. If your site doesn't look ....
Developing a successful web site takes a great deal of planning and preparation. An important part of your preparation is obtaining the essential tools of the trade.
HTML Editors
An HTML editor is a software program used to create and edit HTML documents.
Although some Internet marketers prefer to write their own HTML code, most prefer to use an HTML editor, as it can greatly simplify a somewhat difficult process. However, using an HTML editor has its disadvantages, as some editors have a tendency to add a lot of unnecessary coding and may not support the latest technologies.
An important part of developing a successful web site is attracting a steady stream of targeted traffic.
A significant amount of web site traffic originates from the major Search Engines. A Search Engine is a web site that indexes web pages. These sites run software programs called "Spiders" or "Robots" that continuously crawl the Internet in search of new web pages to index.
When you visit a Search Engine and you're looking for something in particular, you type in a few words that best describe what you're looking for. These words are known as keywords. The Search Engine will ....
An important part of developing a successful web site is attracting a steady stream of targeted traffic.
A significant amount of web site traffic originates from the major Search Engines. A Search Engine is a web site that indexes web pages. These sites run software programs called "Spiders" or "Robots" that continuously crawl the Internet in search of new web pages to index.
When you visit a Search Engine and you're looking for something in particular, you type in a few words that best describe what you're looking for. These words are known as keywords. The Search Engine will ....
Selecting the right keyword phrases for each page of your web site is the first step towards ranking high in the Search Engines. However, it is only the first step.
In addition to selecting targeted keyword phrases, you must also strategically optimize your page including:
• META description tag
• META keyword tag
• Title
• Image ALT tags
• Heading tags
• Image names
• Hyperlinks
• Body text
The META description tag will contain a description of your site. This description will be visible in some of the Search Engines when your site is returned in ....
A professional looking web site is a very important part of developing a profitable Internet business. However, your sales copy is just as important -- each will play a major role in your success.
The key to writing effective sales copy is simply learning how to write persuasive words specifically written for your targeted potential customer. You must feel their needs and write your copy with passion, excitement and benefits. Tell them exactly what's in it for them by writing copy that evokes a specific emotion and stresses your product's benefits.
When you're ready to launch your web site, you'll need to make two very important decisions -- what your domain name will be and where you will host your new site.
A domain name is used to locate a particular web site on the Internet. It is a part of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and instructs the browser as to where to find a particular web page.
When a web address (http://www.domain.com) is typed into the browser, the web server will look for a page called index. This page may have different extensions, such as .htm, .html, ....
Creating a successful Internet presence involves much more than designing a great web site or having the "perfect" product. Listing your web site with the Search Engines is your first step; however, you must not solely rely on the Search Engines to bring you traffic.
You must design a complete promotional strategy and work it every day. If you're launching a new web site, your first step will be to submit your site to the Search Engines and Directories.
Although there are many auto-submission software programs available on the Internet, make sure you manually submit your site ....
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become an essential weapon in the arsenal of every online business. Unfortunately, for most business owners and marketing managers (and even many webmasters), it's also somewhat of an enigma. This is partly due to the fact that it's such a new and rapidly changing field, and partly due to the fact that SEO practitioners tend to speak in a language all of their own which, without translation, is virtually impenetrable to the layperson. This glossary seeks to remedy that situation, explaining specialist SEO terms in plain English...
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a foreign field to a lot of people. Rarely does a day go by when I don't get asked a few questions on the subject. So I've decided to post this FAQ article in the hopes that it will help people understand the basics, and make them a little more comfortable with the whole domain.
Q: Why are search engines important to me?
A: 85% of all website traffic is driven by search engines. The only online activity more popular than search is email. 79.2% of US users don't go to page 2 ....
Recently I wrote an article discussing the merits of using free reprint articles on your website to increase your search engine ranking. (The article explained how Google loves lots of content on your site, how it loves that content to be regularly updated, and how you can get lots of keyword rich content for your site, absolutely free.)
A few days after publishing, I received a 'please help' email from Loren, a small business owner. Her website is all about glass art, and she wanted some clarification on some of the points I made in my previous article. Loren's ....
From the perspective of a business owner, webmaster, or marketing manager, the change exhibited by the Internet is profoundly exciting, yet profoundly disturbing. The information (and misinformation and disinformation) it offers, the business benefits it promises, and the rules it is governed by change at such a rapid rate that it’s almost impossible to keep up.
These changes have led to a growing appreciation of the value of quality web copy. This appreciation has, in turn, led to an influx of opportunistic ‘copywriters’ promoting themselves as website copywriters or SEO copywriters. Don’t get me wrong, there are quite a ....
As websites and electronic commerce are becoming more and more common, business owners and marketing managers are realising that quality web copy is every bit as important as impressive design. And with the ever increasing importance of search engine presence, the role of web copy has never been more critical.
But in such a relatively new field, customers are still coming to grips with what they can expect of their website copywriter. The question a lot of people are asking is, “How do I know I’ll get what I pay for?”
Before engaging a website copywriter for your next project, ....
As soon as you register your domain name, submit it to Google!
Even if you haven’t built your site, or written an copy, or even thought about your content, submit your domain name to Google. In fact, even if you haven’t fully articulated your business plan and marketing plan, submit your domain name to Google.
Don’t wait!
There are two reasons for this. Firstly, getting on the search engines has always taken a long time for a new site. Even assuming you do everything right, it takes months before your site is even indexed, and more months before it starts ....
Why are there so many Web Design and Search Engine Optimisation myths on the internet? The following article exposes some of the most common SEO myths effecting web design and looks at the reasons why they have become widely accepted as the truth by many web designers and Webmasters.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a complex and diverse topic that’s both never constant and constantly changing. There are hundreds of myths about SEO, some were once true but no longer apply (outdated information), while others were simply never true to begin with (disinformation).
As a result of search engine changes, linking with other sites is becoming an increasingly iportant way to generate traffic to your website. Links done properly will repay the effort and not be subject to the whims of the search engines. No more need to be concerned unduly about algorithmn changes and the "Google dance".
Why have a Links Page ?
A links page should give your visitors a choice of quality information and resources, not just a web page to improve your search engine rankings. Quality information on a links page is the best long-term strategy ....
A .htaccess file is a file that works on Apache and other NCSA-compliant webservers. The name is actually a bit of a misnomer due to the fact that hyper-text access is only a small function of what it's capabilities are.
The .htaccess file affects the directory it is located in and all directories below it on the directory tree unless there is a .htaccess file contained within a directory, in which case it will take priority for that directory and all directories located below it in tree. Thus if a .htaccess file is contained within the root ....
Are you going to design or redesign new website or thinking for it, then first read below given points, which google likes in a website, Google Information for Webmasters. There are more than 80 factors of your website that are taken into consideration when determining the ranking of your website, Following these guidelines will help Google find, index, and rank your site. Basic principles:
1) Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."
Untill recently, building a web site was not much fun. You had to know HTML, FTP and have good design skills. When it was finished you had to register a domain name and choose a web hosting service.
The alternative was to get a web site designer to do all of this for you but at a price. Generally a good price!
That was how things used to be done.
However, now the technology has moved on and anybody who is prepared can learn how to create a web site themselves. Today, we have all-in-one packages that ....
There are a lot of web hosting companies around the web that offer many hosting plans. Before you choose one you should consider a few things before purchasing. A few things that you should consider are how reliable the company is, how much space are they giving, and do they have the features that I need.
Reliability should be the main focus when looking for a web host. The host that you’re considering should have a guarantee uptime of ninety-nine percent. If your host is not reliable then you’re losing traffic to your web site that you ....
For new internet marketers, your immediate goal is to get your website into as many search engines as possible. These services can charge a tremendous amount of money and require recurring monthly service fees. Very tempting to new internet marketers with all the hype “Instantly submit your websites to 1000’s of websites” and “Get Your Website Listed in 24 hours.” Stop! Let me show you a few ideas, so you can achieve the same success and save yourself some money better spent on pay per click campaigns.
Its true many services can submit your website to ....
Are you always looking for new and better ways to market
your web site? Search engines are always on the look out
for fresh content. When doing a search you don't want old
content popping up, you want to have the most up to date
information. Search engines will generally reward those
sites which provide new content on a regular basis ie daily
or even bi-weekly.
One of the best ways to provide fresh content is to create
an RSS Feed.
What is an RSS Feed?
RSS stands for "really simple syndication". For example I
write articles every 2 weeks and place them on my web site.
I ....
It's getting increasingly difficult to reach your targeted
audience these days by simply using email. Even if you have
a large ezine list there's no guarantee your message will
be read. This is because today’s' spam filters and
firewalls may block or delete your email before it even
reaches your intended audience. A great alternative
solution is to use RSS.
In this article I will discuss:
1. What is RSS?
2. Benefits of RSS
3. What are RSS Feeds and Why You Need a RSS Reader?
4. RSS Tools You Need
5. How to Get Started With RSS
What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It's a new way
for ....
One of the most time consuming aspects of online marketing
is finding the most effective strategies to attract
visitors to your web site. If you set up a viral marketing
campaign correctly, you have the opportunity of gaining
1000s of visitors for years to come.
Definition of viral marketing
This is the online term for word-of-mouth advertising. You
provide something that encourages others to spread the word
about your product, quickly and inexpensively with little
effort on your part. This potentially creates exponential
growth in the message's visibility and effect. The message
spreads in a viral form in a manner similar to the
spreading of a common cold virus ....
When visitors arrive at your web site you want them to find
the information quickly otherwise they will lose patience
and move on. A great way achieve this is to add a search
engine or search box to your web site. Since most visitors
are already familiar with using search engines such as
Google, they can easily use the search feature on your
site.
In this article I will discuss:
A. The benefits of adding a search engine
B. Types of search service providers
C. Where to place a search box on your site
D. How does the search engine work
If you ever want to create a link directory, state directory,
article directory or a dating site you need to know about
creating database driven web sites. This may seem like a
daunting task at first, if you have never done it, however
I was in the same boat as you. It is not as difficult as
you think.
Benefits of building database driven web sites
* Store vast amounts of information about your products or
services.
* Efficient data sorting and retrieval
* Complex queries and statistical analysis performed relatively
easily.
* Separate site design from site's content.
* Create new pages on the ....
If you ever want to create a link directory, state directory,
article directory or a dating site you need to know about
creating database driven web sites. This may seem like a
daunting task at first, if you have never done it, however
I was in the same boat as you. It is not as difficult as
you think.
Benefits of building database driven web sites
* Store vast amounts of information about your products or
services.
* Efficient data sorting and retrieval
* Complex queries and statistical analysis performed relatively
easily.
* Separate site design from site's content.
* Create new pages on the ....
Brothers and sisters I have sinned! I have been a sinner! I didn’t know I was sinning but the great Search Engine Spirits didn’t care. Don’t let this happen to you!
In reality, I didn’t commit all Seven of the Deadly Sins, but you don’t need to commit more than one to get banned.
The First Deadly Sin – Don’t Hide Text
When I first started one of my websites, I used a template from a large template company. There was nothing wrong with it. I just didn’t have everything in place to put into some of the Read More >> ....
You've got a brilliant idea for selling products online
that's been festering in your mind for a long time. This
means you need to build an ecommerce web site or online
store as others would call it, but have no idea what is
involved and how much it is going to cost you.
This article will put your mind at ease as I will try to give you
the necessary knowledge for creating, building and promoting
your ecommerce store.
Steps involved in building an ecommerce website:
1. Do the necessary online research - you first need to see
if your product is in demand. It's no point ....
You've got a brilliant idea for selling products online
that's been festering in your mind for a long time. This
means you need to build an ecommerce web site or online
store as others would call it, but have no idea what is
involved and how much it is going to cost you.
This article will put your mind at ease as I will try to give you
the necessary knowledge for creating, building and promoting
your ecommerce store.
Steps involved in building an ecommerce website:
1. Do the necessary online research - you first need to see
if your product is in demand. It's no point ....
Google Sitemaps is a simple and fast way for your site to
be constantly indexed and updated by Google.
This article will discuss the benefits of implementing this
new technology, who should use it, how it works and how to
create a Google Sitemap for your web site.
Benefits of having a Google Site Map
1. Speeds up the discovery and addition of your web pages
in the Google index.
2. Enables Google to quickly find web pages that have been
recently changed.
3. A method for your site to be listed and appear quickly
in Google.
4. Helps Google to keep search content fresh, so people
have the most ....
Part One I discussed the Benefits of HTML Validation.
For Part Two I will discuss:
A. What to validate your web pages for
B. The validation process
C. Validation Tools
D. Common validation errors
A. What to validate your web pages for:
1. Doctype
2. HTML or XHTML document ( or other coding languages you
have used)
3. CSS style sheet
4. Links
5. Browsers
6. Screen Resolution
7. Connectivity
B.The validation process
1. Use the correct DOCTYPE ( Document Type Definition, or
DTD)
This defines which version of HTML or XHTML your document
is actually using. It's needed by browsers or other tools
to process the document correctly.
Using an incomplete, outdated or no DOCTYPE at all, ....
You may not bother with html validation or writing simple
and clean code when designing your web site. Later you may
find your site is slow loading, appears incorrectly in the
main browsers and does not rank well for the major search
engines.
Now there are sites that still do rank well even though the
html code has many errors. This is because most of the
current major browsers are still very forgiving of html
mistakes, however future browsers will become more html
compliant as the Internet advances. Sites that have not
bothered with html code validation will then fall by the
wayside or take time and money ....
When I purchase something from a web site I first check who
is behind this site. If there is no contact information or
anything about the owner of the site or his/her company I
move on.
Unfortunately the Internet attracts some people who are
dishonest and prey upon unsuspecting people to make quick
money for themselves.
Therefore your web site must put your visitor immediately
at ease and convey honesty and integrity about it.
Here are 7 great ways to accomplish this:
1. Provide contact information � visitors will easily become
frustrated if they have a question to resolve but can�t
contact you. At least place an email address or contact
form ....
Then most difficult aspect of marketing a new product or
web site is to find enough people that are interested in it
so that they are ready to buy. Mastering Google AdWords
will enable you to drive traffic to your web site and start
making sales immediately. You can create a Google AdWord
campaign in a matter of minutes and be making sales within
24 hours.
Benefits of Mastering Google AdWords
1. Test Products - with Google AdWords you can quickly
test a product to determine if there is a demand for it.
If you generate a lot of clicks, this may mean you have
a winning product.
The problem with a new web site is that it often takes a long
time before it is indexed by the search engines. This means
you are missing out on getting traffic and making sales.
Google places new sites in the "sandbox" which means
they are on "hold" for a period of time before they rank.
Here are some ways to generate immediate traffic to your
web site:
1. Start a PPC (pay per click) campaign – you can begin a
Google Adwords campaign and start generating visitors the
same day you set it up. Of course it is going to cost you
some money but you ....
Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with the
expectation that you would get many sales from the 1000s of
web site visitors that read your ad?
Have you poured money into driving traffic to your web
site, only to have no one buying your product?
Maybe you have seen the ads, “Get 10,000 visitors to your
site, for only $20” . Wow, you think, that’s a great
bargain, I’ll go for it. The result – 10 people visiting
your site and no one buying. What’s the problem? You have
not effectively targeted your customers. Your field of
customers is too large. Most of them ....
A search engine optimization maintenance service plan will
ensure that your site will continue to increase in its
rankings, attract more visitors and make more sales. It's
not enough to simply design your web site, have it
optimized for the search engines and expect it to
continually rank well. If left alone, you may soon lose the
business your web site initially generated.
What should be included in a SEO maintenance service plan?
1. Monitor search engine rankings - there will be many
fluctuations in your search engine rankings. This may be
due to search engines changing their ranking formulas, or
competitors trying to get ahead of you. More sites ....
You can easily get confused by all the search engine
optimization companies and SEO experts that offer
SEO services. It's hard to know who to trust or what
should be included in a SEO proposal. I will endeavor
to clarify some of these points for you in this article,
so that you can make the best choice when looking
for SEO services. I don't profess to be a search engine
optimization expert but have attained top rankings for
my own site plus some of my web site design clients.
What a SEO proposal should include:
SEO objectives
Site Analysis
Keyword Research
Competitive Analysis
SEO Copywriting
Creation of Meta Information
Site Map Creation
Link Popularity Building
Web Site ....
Writing effective web copy begins with an understanding of
what the goals of your web site are. Are you trying to get
your visitors to purchase something or have them sign up
for your newsletter? Remember you are trying to get someone
you can�t see and have never met take a step towards
building a relationship with you or your company.
1. Create a customer profile � try to find out what are the
needs and desires of your visitors. Here are some examples
of questions you could ask:
Are they young, middle aged or senior?
Are they primarily male or female?
Are they financially secure or budget-minded?
What gets him ....
Designing without tables by using CSS layouts is fast becoming the new standard on the Web because of the benefits of CSS mentioned in my previous article. Web browsers used these days are now able to render web pages more proficiently. In this article I will endeavor to create a basic 2 column CSS layout which you can use for future design projects.
1. Divide your page into sections - the
tags allows you to create distinct divisions on your web page. They are identified with a unique id. You can then add a style (css selector) that specifically ....
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allows you to create fast
loading pages, increase your search engine rankings, and
modify your whole site with one style sheet. So why don’t
more people use them? This is because they got so used to
html design and are afraid or too lazy to upgrade their
skills. Some will also use ready made templates that
contain flashy graphics, bloated code and sometimes
even contains hidden code embedded in the page.
In this series of articles I will show you how to create a
simple web site using CSS, so you will have no excuse to
begin incorporating them into your future designs.
Author: Herman Drost
Have you ever received the dreaded " 404 error page not
found " message when you surfed to a web site?
This is usually due to typing the wrong URL or clicking
on a page link that no longer exists. If you are the site
owner, you lose the visitor and a potential sale. Creating
a custom 404 error page on your site will prevent you
from losing visitors and increase your web site traffic.
Benefits of creating custom 404 error messages
1. Stop link rot - as your site becomes larger, it's more
difficult to keep track of pages that once existed,
resulting in link rot.
When I surf the Net, I often see web sites filled with
beautiful graphics that strive to capture my attention.
Well, they do so for an instant, however I click away when
I don't immediately find relevant content. The content you
add to your web site needs to attract both visitors and
search engines.
Part I - How to add content to your web site to attract
visitors
Part 11 - How to add content to your web site to attract
the search engines
14 ways to add content to your web site and attract
visitors
1. Get into the mind of your visitor. Brainstorm all the
ways your visitor would ....
If you ever want to create a link directory, state directory,
article directory or a dating site you need to know about
creating database driven web sites. This may seem like a
daunting task at first, if you have never done it, however
I was in the same boat as you. It is not as difficult as
you think.
Benefits of building database driven web sites
* Store vast amounts of information about your products or
services.
* Efficient data sorting and retrieval
* Complex queries and statistical analysis performed relatively
easily.
* Separate site design from site's content.
* Create new pages on the ....
Wouldn't you like to take a vacation whenever you want, or
have your wife stop working so she can look after the kids
and still keep up the payment of your bills? Well, if you
wish to achieve this, you need to build a passive residual
income.
Definition of passive residual income:
The definition of traditional passive income is "Income
generated with minimal work from your investments such as
interest, dividends, or real estate rentals." However in
this article we are discussing creating a passive income
online. Investment of time and money is initially required
to build a passive income online, then possibly minimal
work thereafter.
When surfing the web, you often find websites with large or flashing graphics to grab your attention. While this may "wow" you initially, it does not pull the visitor through the site to get the order and make a sale. This should be the ultimate purpose of your site if you are trying to sell something.
On the other hand, writing effective sales copy will generate a much more favorable response, whether it is long copy or short copy.
16 steps on how to effectively write sales copy:
1. Research keywords - use wordtracker or the overture suggestion tool to find keywords ....
If you are looking for a fast way to market your products
or business, then Google AdWords is a great solution. You
can set up an AdWords campaign within a few minutes and be
making good money within days.
What is Google AdWords?
These are small pay per click ads that are displayed on the
right side of Google search results. The ads provide highly
targeted text or image ads based on what words people use
to search for your product.
Steps involved in setting up an AdWords campaign?
1. Read an overview of Google AdWords to become familiar
with how it works.
A few weeks before Christmas of 2003, Google suddenly
changed its formula for ranking web sites. Sites which for
years had relied on Google traffic to make consistent
sales, suddenly lost their rankings. Many site owners were
very upset because it was the only marketing method they
were using.
How could they have prevented this?
5 ways to instantly lose business and how you can prevent it.
1. One product - if you have only one product or service
that accounts for most of your sales, you make yourself
vulnerable to your competition. Your competition may undercut
your prices, your product or service may lose it's demand.
After running an online business (web site design) for a
number of years I built a reputation online that helps
me to gain and retain a continuous flow of customers. I had
no online reputation when beginning my business, but was
able to build it up step by step over the last few years.
Why is building your reputation important for your
online business?
People tend to purchase services or products only from
people they trust. For example you may have hired a
contractor do a repair on your house, that did not deliver
on what was promised leaving you very disappointed in his
service.
One of the most effective ways to passively promote your
business is to create an email signature file. People don't
often put much thought into this powerful passive marketing
tool and therefore lose out on an opportunity to gain new
customers.
What is an email signature?
This is usually a few lines of text placed at the bottom of
an email message, forum or newsgroup that identifies you,
your company and your product or service.
How to create an email signature file
This should include your name, company or web site title,
your web site address, your phone number, email address or
other contact information and a short message advertising
your web ....
If you don't create a successful strategy for marketing your web
site, you can't build a profitable online business. It's
therefore imperative to drive thousands of visitors to your web
site, then convert them to paying customers.
How do you accomplish this?
Use several marketing strategies
Don't put all your eggs into one basket by only employing one
marketing strategy. You could see evidence of this during the
latest Google update in which many commercial web sites which
once had top rankings, dropped out of existence, thus instantly
losing sales.
By creating more than one strategy to market your web site, you
can soon see which one works the best by ....
Why would you want to earn a few cents or dollars per click
from displaying Google AdSense ads on your web site? Can
you really make good money from this source of revenue?
Well, multiply those clicks for every page on your web site
and you will build a monthly residual income with very
little effort.
What is Google AdSense?
Here is an excerpt taken from Google's FAQ:
"Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website
publishers of all sizes to display relevant, text-based,
unobtrusive Google AdWords� ads on their website's content
pages and earn money. Because the ads are related to what
your users are looking for on ....
Until recently text-based email was the most popular way to
communicate, however with the advent of html email you can now
create and send beautiful graphics, create clickable links and
use interactive forms.
HTML email can have the same appearance as a web page. You can
include your favorite photos, create colorful newsletters or
charts for your friends or business associates.
It's now often used as a valuable tool in email marketing
campaigns.
HTML email has now surpassed text-based email in popularity.
Read this survey on email format preferences and and programs.
Let's first point out the pros and cons of sending html ....
An HTML email form is often used in email marketing to generate
a greater response from potential customers. However their is
not much information on how to actually create an interactive
html email form or template to achieve this.
Part 1 of this article discussed how to create and send simple
html email. In this article we will create an interactive html email form.
Benefits of creating an html email form
*generate immediate interactivity with your customers.
*use of visually appealing graphics, icons and forms.
*all the most popular email software now support html email.
*ability to track responses
*create interactive questionaires, surveys and newsletters.
If you want to improve search engine ranking of your web site,
you need to find a large number of high quality links from other
web sites. These are called inbound links. Gaining links from
high ranking sites that point to yours will increase your link
popularity in the search engines.
The most popular search engine Google, places great significance
on the link popularity of your web site. In fact, you can even
get listed in Google without submitting your site to them, by
getting other sites to link to yours. Finding many high ranking
sites that link to yours, will improve the search ....
If you want to increase web site traffic without spending a
dime, then write your own ezine article. It's one of the most
effective web site promotion strategies you could use. It can
even be more effective than paid advertising.
Not convinced?
Well, as you read Part 1 of this article and later Part 2, you
will gain a deeper understanding of why you SHOULD be using
this method to rapidly increase web site traffic.
The first part (Part 1) of this article will give you deeper
insights into the benefits of writing an ezine article.
In my previous article (Part 1) we discussed the 7 ways to
benefit from writing an ezine article.
Part 2 will cover the formula and format you can use to write
your own article as well as provide valuable resources where to
publish your articles for maximum exposure.
How to write your own ezine article
1. Research a topic you are very familiar with or have a passion
about. This makes it easier to write and will show through in
your writing.
2. Take out a sheet of notebook paper and create an outline of
your article. Write down all the points ....
If you are thinking about, or you are in the process of creating a new site, you will most definitely find this article interesting and maybe even inspiring. Actually the term ‘interesting’ is not quite what I thought as I slowly and painfully reconstructed the pages on my mother’s website several times over.
I wanted to create a site that was going to be both incredibly user friendly and informative, and at the same time earn a bit of revenue from Google Adsense! Why not?
So with this great little idea, I blindly set off and started to create what ....
This hands on PHP Programming article provides the knowledge necessary to design and develop a search engine for your website using PHP version 4.0 and above. Making a search engine for your website with PHP is really easy and provides substantial functionality required by most of the small to medium websites. This article introduces every steps of the development, including both design and PHP programming. Basic computer skills and knowledge of HTML fundamentals are required. Ok, let's begin now.
Step 1: Design Search Box
Under your website root, make a file called search.htm or anything you like and type in ....
In this article I will shortly describe my own experience about how I now generate income through the normally useless and inevitable percentage of poor traffic getting on my website. This is new and amazing and was just not possible before!
I run a small web shop selling perfumes and other popular beauty products. My daily average visitors are between 1’000 and 1’500, so I get around 50K unique visitors every month. The site generates approx. 15’000 $ revenues a month. I really enjoy this business. However, the net income still does not ....
When it comes to building a website, most individuals and small business owners think you either have to do it yourself or hire someone to do it. Web builder software is often the better option for this group by far.
Even if you're a seasoned web professional, you should know what web builder software can offer private individuals and small businesses. Designers regularly waste time fielding inquiries from small-time website owners who don't realize the time, effort, and therefore cost involved in making a website from scratch. Or your brain may be picked endlessly by a would-be developer. Recommending ....
How you write and design your links is crucial to your visitors clicking them or not. Write them badly and they leave, write them well and they stay. Who knows, they might even do exactly that what you created your site for. Following are 7 guidelines how links should be written to improve the usability of your site.
Do it consistently
Visitors learn for example how a website marks the links or where the "related-content box" can be found. Consistently adhering to these established "codes" will make it easy to navigate and read the site.
Breaking these conventions will interrupt the ....
To most people the process of building a web site remains somewhat of a mystery. This confusion probably stems from the fact that there is a cornucopia of web sites on the Internet. Even with wide variety of sites, every single one can be divided into two sections: front-end and back-end.
The front-end is the first thing that it is designed. It encompasses the look and feel of a web site. This is probably the most established part of the web site production process. Design has been around since Guttenberg printed his first bible. Much of what has been ....
Let's talk a little more about using Text Links for better SEO placement becuase it's a very relevant tool that you have at your disposal and something that you should consider exploring.
Working with text links to help with your SEO rankings is going to involve a good solid chunk of time. So, don't think that this is an easy solution because it's not, but it is solid ... at least it is for now. Here's some search term improvement techniques for you to take into account:
1. Link Exchanges
Used to be everyone was exchanging links with anyone else who ....
Forums are an excellent addition to a website to attract visitors to interact with the site and to return to the website freqeuently. While there are many other website additions that can retain visitors and have them coming back for more, forums are perhaps the most engaging for visitors to your website and offer the most benefits to both the website's owner and the visitor.
Unfortunately, having a forum addition to a website does not guarantee its success and usefulness in gathering the hypothesized attention and attractiveness. A new forum with no content, no members or no active discussion ....
If you don't want people to loose interest in your website quickly then you will have to spend some time focusing on your content. Unless you offer a service(such as web design or webhosting ect...) your audience will demand that there be new content updated every day for them or they will stop returning to your website. The truth is that to offer your visitors an abundance of great material is actually very easy and best yet it is free. Your site will double in value and usability when you start updating your content each day. Trust me ....
Web hosting affiliate programs give webmasters the opportunity to earn commission by referring their website visitors to a web hosting company site. When a person signs up for a web hosting package and has been referred by an affiliate, commissions are usually paid in a lump sum ranging from $30-$60.
This provides a great opportunity for webmasters with community and web development driven sites to make extra revenue. As the general public becomes more and more internet savvy, an increasing number of people are putting their first websites online.
The truth is;
The web hosting industry doesn’t have a definitive industry ....
Squeezing the most efficient performance from your web pages is important. The benefits are universal, whether the site is personal or large and professional. Reducing page weight can speed up the browsing experience, especially if your visitors are using dial-up internet access. Though broadband access is the future, the present still contains a great deal of dial-up users. Many sites, ecommerce sites especially, cannot afford to ignore this large section of the market. Sites with a large amount of unique traffic may also save on their total monthly traffic by slimming down their web pages. This article will ....
It's a fact, Page Not Found, known as a 404 error, can harm your website Ranking with Search Engines as well as being a Turn-Off for Visitors.
A search engine that repeatedly gets a 404 error will de-list the page from its index. Too many 404 error pages on your website and its ranking with the search engines will suffer.
Visitors are always just one click away from clicking to another search and another website. Present them with a page not found 404 error and these days they'll not stick around long enough to search for your missing page.
Article: "The basics of Search Engine Placement and Keyword Selections."
Steps in this article.
1 – Finding your target keywords and implementing them.
2 – Understanding where your site stands in the search engine world.
3 – Link exchanges, Outbound/Inbound links anchor text and Page Rank.
4 – Maintenance and Upkeep of your site and its search engine rankings.
It is very important to have a target when you are picking your target keywords. It’s a good idea for you to figure out what keywords are popular and which ones are not. If you are unsure go to Overture’s Keyword Selection tool and see ....
Whenever you hire someone or a group of people that are outside of your business to handle business functions. This can include, auditing, payroll data entry and work in Information Technology.
Outsourcing is essentially hiring a contract employee for your business. While the concept can be used for businesses and projects of any size the work involved is about the same. You will still need to manage your work and employees, answer questions, make sure that work is completed on time and within budget. This guide will explain how to do all of this. In the next ....
Once you decide that you need web page either for your business, non-profit organization or simply a fun personal page, you then have the Herculean task of choosing a web host. Hopefully, the host you choose will be easy on the pocket, and offer maximum uptime, enough bandwidth support, appropriate web-space, and excellent customer service and support. Most web hosting services will not excel in all areas, however if you take the time to make an informed decision you can have it all!
The type of web services you desire and the purpose for which the web site is ....
One of the first things to do before starting up any business is to investigate the competition. Any business owner knows this is crucial; to determine how to position a business in the market, who to target, what prices to set and who to keep an eye on. The same is true of the internet marketplace.
However, this understanding is rarely transferred when a business decides to ‘go online’. Perhaps the initial setup is so daunting that little thought is spared for anything beyond the layout and content of a website. The internet, however is still a marketplace, and ....
Website design has become so complex, with scripting, and dynamic content and pulling content from RSS and ATOM feeds and Ajax enhancement and ad rotation and . . . and . . . and . . .
I’ve got a sticky note right on the lower right corner of my monitor. On it are four letters.
K-I-S-S
A glance at those four letters reminds me that there are many people who surf the web who have no clue what all the above stuff means. So I have to Keep It Simple, Stupid! I have to make sure that my website designs ....
Forums and online communities are excellent additions to websites that make them interesting and informative. Forums provide a means for your website's visitors to interact with one another to discuss about anything they wish, or about products and services you are offering. With human activity on your forums, visitors are more inclined to stay and interact with other members. What your forum members post may be added content to your website as they bring with them unique knowledge and experiences which are added to your website, thus expanding your offerings. Other visitors who are reading these forums may ....
There is paid web hosting and there is free web hosting. Most people tend to steer clear of free web hosting as they tend to believe that “there is no free lunch”. Free web hosting must have its catches?
Well, that really depends on your purposes and your position.
Why purpose?
If your web hosting is for your website which is for commercial purposes, such as an ecommerce web-store, you need absolute reliability and uptime. Every second of downtime is lost revenue. While some free web hosting providers guarantee uptime, you cannot hold it against them if their services do not ....
From the earliest times, human cultures have striven to define beauty. A study of nature, architecture, and art reveals that a common principle - that of pleasant proportion – is an universal characteristic that contributes to defining beauty. The proportion that is pleasing to the eye is the Golden Section, or simply the ratio of one relationship to another, or 1 to 0.618.
It is well known, that the important part of perception is perception of forms, sizes and symmetry. Harmonious correlation of sizes and forms is used practically everywhere in arts, design and technology. Golden section allows producing beautiful ....
Everyone knows all about keywords right? Well, that's what most people think, and to a degree that are probably right. However, in this article we are going to look at not just the importance of having targetted keywords, but also which keywords you should use on your site, and in what order they should be listed in your META tags, and elsewhere on your site.
Ok, so you've got a list of 100 really good keywords. Here are a few steps you should take:
1. Remove any keywords that are only one word (eg. money). These keywords will not bring ....
Not all web hosting plans are created equal. How do you find an affordable web hosting plan that will meet your needs and still be economical? There are several issues that you’ll want to consider.
Price is always an issue. If you’re just getting your site up and running, you don’t have extra capital to spend on web hosting, so you’ll want the most bang for your buck. Look at several providers and compare characteristics.
What kinds of traffic allowances do the affordable web hosting plans you’re considering offer? Some of the most affordable plans have more generous allowances than ....
If you are serious about improving search engine rankings, you
need to check the keyword density of your web site. In order to
do this you must integrate proper keyword phrases within your
meta tags and web copy.
What is keyword density?
This is the ratio of a keyword or keyphrase to the total words
(depth) on a page. It is one of the most critical aspects of search
engine optimization. To improve search engine ranking, your
keyword density must not be too high or too low.
Try to aim for a keyword density of 1% to 7%. To achieve 1% ....
When a prospect shows an interest in your product, if you don't deliver
what he wants immediately and follow up on him, you lose sales.
No matter what you're selling online, using an automatic responder to do
personalized follow up, can drastically increase the amount of sales you
receive. It can also dramatically cut down on manual follow up of your
prospects.
Once a prospect requests your information there are a million and one
things that can divert his attention from it.
For instance:
His computer crashed, he has to wait several days to get it repaired.
His wife called, her car ....
Web Site promotion should be the major part of your web site
marketing plan. It's not enough just to design a beautiful web
site and put in on the Net. Promoting your web site has to be
done constantly if you want to get a continuous stream of
traffic to it. If you don't drive traffic to your web site, your
online business venture will soon fail.
1. Create a web site marketing plan - if you fail to plan then
you default to a plan for failure. When designing your web site,
create a plan on how to market it as well. ....
Creating a web site without developing a web site marketing plan
is the same as planning for failure. A web site marketing plan
is essential not only just to survive but to continue to thrive
and expand your business. You should spend 80% of your time
marketing your web site. It's the life blood of your online
business.
When to create your web site marketing plan.
Most of us probably create a web site first before we plan
to market it. However just like a business plan, you should
prepare your marketing strategy ahead of time.
What's the benefit of doing this?
The further you plan ahead the ....
You finally got your web site listed in the major search
engines, however it is buried amongst millions of others and you
still have not seen an increase in traffic to your web site. Why
not? You need to improve your search engine rankings.
Here are the steps to increase your search engine rankings:
1. Check your listings
If you are going to see an increase in traffic to your web site,
you need to be listed in the top 20-30 sites.
Go to http://www.marketleap.com to see if you are listed
in the top 30 sites on the major search engines. If you are ....
Search engines are still one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your web site. This is because it is highly targeted traffic. A person searching for a particular phrase on a search engine, gets taken to your web site.
It makes sense then, to make your site as attractive as possible to the search engines, so your rankings will improve, giving you more visitors which leads to more sales - your ultimate goal.
Here are 17 powerful strategies you should implement, to substantially increase search engine traffic:
1. Keyword Density - the ratio of keywords to ....
Statistics show that only one of every four Web Sites have
Meta tags. However using these tags can give your site
an advantage over other sites that do not. Meta tags enable most visitors to initially find your site from the search engines.
What are Meta Tags?
These are HTML tags that provide information
that describes the content of the web pages that the visitor
will be viewing. Web Site owners use this resource to control their positioning and descriptions in the search engines. Most search engines incorporate reading meta tags as part of their indexing formula.
You have designed a beautiful web site and published it for the world to see and visit. You wait patiently, however there is either a trickle or no visitors at all and therefore no sales.
You may be 1 of 4 web site owners that has not optimized your site with keywords for ranking in the search engines. You say you have inserted keywords in your site, but are they targeted keywords?
My last article discussed “How to Use Meta Tags for Search Engine Optimization”. Let’s take a deeper look at how to use keywords to ....
Placing keywords strategically throughout your web pages will greatly improve your rankings in the search engines. Many sites, however, leave them out altogether so your Site won't get ranked at all. Inserting too many keywords in your web pages or repeating them too often, will result in your site getting banned from the search engines.
How do you sort all this out so you can effectively market your web site to the search engines?
My last article, discussed, what is a keyword and how to create targeted keywords for your site.
Next we will discuss where to ....
Many people give up trying to make money online these days because they have been duped by all the quick rich schemes. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Choose a business in which you will have sustained interest, so you can whether any little bumps in the road. Then build a theme-based web site.
Here are the steps you need to take for this idea to germinate:
1. Pick a topic you are passionate about. (I’ll choose camping as an example, since it’s what I love to do).
Opt-in email safelists are one of the best Internet marketing
strategies for getting your product or service immediately in
front of many thousands of people. In this article, I will show you how you can successfully work with them.
Benefits of Opt-in Safelists
1. Email to thousands - this can be done with free safe lists or paid safe lists. Even if you only get a 1% response from thousands, you interact with those that will respond.
2. It’s immediate – you can instantly send your ad and receive an immediate response from those interested. With ezine ....
The truth is how you present your website will determine how customers view you and your product. This can directly translate into how effective your website actually is and whether or not you get alot of sales or just a few. Think of it this way. Whenever you go into a store you usually always go in from the front entrance, not the side or the back, but the front. Just like when people visit your website, they probably always come in from the home page and go around your site. Sometimes they may come in from another ....
One of the most common problems being encountered by site owners is what they call writer’s blog. To exemplify more, this basically means the need to produce great content day after day to be put into their web sites. Not all people have the capacity to write about things everyday. Even the best of the best writers have the tendency to “blocked out” every so often. For those who are prone to these common problems, there are some techniques you need to know about that have worked quite well for some.
Most webmasters on the net today are familiar with what the industry calls "shared" web hosting accounts. A shared hosting account is where you rent a small amount of space on a server which is shared among many other users.
This is a cheap way to get started online but it has many disadvantages - you will encounter email delivery problems because of spam complaints against other sites on the same server. You will find your site's grinding to a halt when someone else does some heavy database work on your server. You might even find your site going ....
The readers, that is. This would be their reaction 10 seconds after coming into your site and having an initial look at it. It is a known for a fact that people have the tendency to switch to another site when they are required to click on their mouse more than is necessary. It is also a fact that the people who go into sites are the ones on the rush to get the quickest information they can get their hands into. They do not have all the time in the world opening flashes and even getting ....
You may have seen "sponsored by Gooooogle" on many websites that you've looked at. This is Google AdSense - a simple way for website owners to display Google Ads on their website and earn money for each advert clicked on. Ads are targetted to the content of the page they are displayed on, so visitors to your page are more likely to want to follow those adverts. You can also use Google Search linked into Adsense on your site, so when a visitor carries out a search, search-related ads are also shown.
Modern technology and equipments may be a big help in upgrading and making businesses better. Although there are still some printing companies that do not really adhere to the fast and efficient service that the modern world wanted. This can be seen more so in digital printing and photography.
Printing colors pose the more complicated and needs more knowledge about problems. The mistakes are most often done in converting files to CMYK. The result is always distorted images, the colors tuning out so bad when printed that one would not be able to tell that it is the ....
Building a web site isn't something that is really cut and dry. There's a huge variety of products and services that can either help you get your web site where you want it or simply confuse you. It's also important that you make the right choices upfront so that you don't end up having to restructure your whole web site because of some problem in your design layout. The level of time investment neccessary for mastery in a lot of these software packages can range from little to a VERY significant amount. Because of this I feel it's ....
How high is your expectation for the site you want to have? If online services is a major part of your business, then doing it properly and correctly to attain the desired result. People are given options regarding choosing a paid or free web hosting services nowadays. Taking the step towards what will make or break your company will be up to the choices that you will make regarding what to do with your web site. The important thing is for your site to be able to get your desired customers, get recognized and maintain a stable ....
The lifeblood of any website/ecommerce business is traffic, and every webmaster knows the best type of traffic is natural, organic search engine traffic. There are two very important reasons for this: (1) it is extremely targeted, and (2) It is FREE! The hard part is getting top ranking for your sites keywords... or is it? The purpose of this article is to provide a few simple, effective, and most important, search engine friendly strategies to help boost your websites' ranking and ultimately your traffic.
1. We will start with the Meta Tags. I know you have already heard of, ....
Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with the expectation that you would get many sales from the 1000s of people that visited your site or read your ad?
Have you poured money into driving traffic to your web site, only to have no one buying your product?
Maybe you have seen the ads, “Get 10,000 visitors to your site, for only $20” . Wow, you think, that’s a great bargain, I’ll go for it. The result – 10 people visiting your site and no one buying.
What’s the problem?
You have not effectively targeted your customers. Your ....
Here are some of the most effective ways to promote your online business without spending a fortune and gaining great results.
To get the best out of these methods, you need to:
Target your market – make sure you are “on target”. Don’t try to market to everyone.
Promote consistently – start a daily, weekly and monthly regimen or promotion.
Track your progress - test out different ads. Keep a record of your marketing plans and which method is the most effective.
1. An Effective Web Site – I put this first, because even if you get thousands of visitors to ....
Have you been following up on your contacts by hand and found it very time consuming? Do you want to increase your chances to make more sales, keep more of your customers?
An autoresponder should be part of your marketing arsenal.
How it Works
An autoresponder delivers instantly by email. It can work for you 24 hours per day delivering information without being at your computer.
By placing your marketing message on your autoresponder customers can request information any time of the day and instantly have it in their mailbox. This will save you hours of manually filling out forms.
Since you may spend most of your time on the Net with your
business, you may overlook the significance of finding highly
targeted customers in your local area. Why should you bother?
Isn’t it easier to just do all the marketing from your computer without
getting your hands dirty?
Well, let me share with you some of the reasons why you should
try this method:
1. Highly Qualified
Chances are, that you live in a small town
in a big city, where you may run into the same people
throughout the year. It may be at the local bookstore, church,
coffee shop or supermarket. ....
Flash movies can be a great thing. They can help catch eyes that are otherwise bored with static looking pages, and they can help tell a story better than plain text. However the use of flash must be tempered with the ability to rank in search engines. This article describes some of the considerations and recommendations when using flash on a website.
Disney does it. And so does Oprah. Even my favorite pizza place does it. That is embed their primary navigation and important content inside a flash movie. In fact in all these cases, a good part of ....
Well I find it time to speak again about linking as I have a couple of times in the past two years. I think I have gone the cycle and I think I have arrived.
What do we want linking to do for us and what can linking actually do for us?
Well we want it to get us traffic. Most of us think it can get us traffic two ways. One way we hope to get traffic is by making the search engines think we are good because of all the links to us. ....
Is your business ready to be part of the internet? In need of a quality web site, but need to find a web designer to fit your budget? Your web site will become your new online store for others to see. When It comes to the internet appearance is everything so it is important to have a web designer that cares about you and your company.
When it comes to web design it is very important that you pick the right person to design your site. Taking your business online is just like opening a new store for the ....
If you think that all money to be made online has already been made then you have not heard of niche marketing As Internet marketing evolves the one thing you must do to attain success is focus on a specific niche and work it thoroughly.
A niche web site is one that is dedicated to a single topic where you promote one or more products or services that are devoted to solving a particular problem or filling a need.
According to the experts, the more you focus on one topic the better your chances of success.
Information that is posted on the internet in the form of web pages includes business information, family photo albums, book contents, school courses, even stores where you can place orders with your credit card and have your products shipped to your home without ever speaking to a human.
Of course, the value of having business information posted on the internet is its ability to be displayed to potential customers 24 hours a day. The internet is a very economical way for businesses to advertise. For a nominal monthly fee they can post a great deal of information on a ....
There are a lot of reasons your site may need a re-design. Some may be more obvious than others. You may have asked yourself the question: Can my site benefit from a re-design? Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will have an answer. The most common reason to redesign a site is that it's outdated. If your site hasn’t been updated in the last 3 to 5 years you may want to have it evaluated. Some new programming has come out over the last few years. Today’s newer sites have ....
Getting your web site listed in the major search engines is an
absolute necessity. Why? Because 85% of all people on the
Internet use them when searching for information. When they
type the keyword or keyword phrase in a major search
engine, up pops your web site, or at least you hope so.
The easiest, fastest and free way to get listed in any of the
major search engines is getting links from other related sites
that point to your site. Once you get your web site listed in one
major search engine or directory, your site will appear in the others.
Submitting your web site to the search engine directories
will give you a great boost in traffic. A listing in a large search
engine directory like ODP (Open Directory Project) enables your
web site to get indexed for free by the major search engines such as
AskJeeves, AOLSearch, Google, and Lycos. Directories will also
help increase your page ranking. However getting listed in the
search directories is more difficult than the major search
engines. Preparation and patience is needed.
In Part 1 we covered
How to Get Your Web Site Listed in the Major Search Engines
So what's the difference between the major search engines and major
search engine directories?
Herman Drost
The rules for search engine directory submissions are very different
than the rules for getting listed in the search engines. Therefore please
read the general submission guidelines in my previous article (Part 2),
before proceeding with the more detailed explanations below for each
search engine directory.
Yahoo Submissions
Yahoo uses Google (for now) in its Web Search results, but not
in its directory. (Although Yahoo! has announced that it plans to
drop Google from its results--until that happens, though, getting
indexed by Google will show your site in the Yahoo search engine
as well). This will change as Yahoo acquires Inktomi in the coming
months.
1. To Establish A Presence
Approximately 750 million people worldwide have access to the World Wide Web (WWW). No matter what your business is, you can’t ignore 750 million people. To be a part of that community and show that you are interested in serving them, you need to be on the WWW for them. You know your competitors will.
2. To Network
A lot of what passes for business is simply nothing more than making connections with other people. Every smart business person knows, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Passing out your business card is part of every ....
If you’re daydreaming about having your own website and you’re reasonably new to the world of computers and the internet, there are a few basic things you really should consider first.
I’ve listed 10 baby steps to take first that could possibly save you a world grief. Only wish I’d known it first!
Firstly, before writing anything down, ask yourself the following questions. It will give you a clearer idea of what your website is all about and open the doorway to possibilities that you may not have considered before:
What do you know about websites, web design, the World Wide ....
Do you own a business directory? Are you having a tough time beating your competition? This article will help you towards leaving your competition far behind.
The idea here isn't about getting as many business directory listings as possible. The idea we need to create is about more community within your directory.
I always like using a "saying" I learned from network marketing: "I would rather utilize 1% of a hundred people's effort, then utilize 100% of my own to market my business." If you keep this in mind, there is nothing you can't be successful at.
XSitePro is a new web site design package that creates entire web sites, not just individual pages, with ease.
Unlike leading web design programs, XSitePro approaches the whole process of site design from an online marketer's perspective, incorporating easy-to-use features that differentiate XSitePro from other site design software.
"We are confident that XSitePro offers the alternative to Microsoft's FrontPage and Macromedia's Dreamweaver that Internet marketers and other web designers are looking for," says Paul Smithson, president and CEO, of Intellimon Ltd. "Our customers can create professional Web sites in a fraction of the time it would take them using other ....
Why do some websites sell better than others? Do you need a marketing degree to create a website? Does design have much impact on sales or is web copy the all important key to your websites success?
You may not realize this but many successful internet marketing businesses have found that design, or layout of a website should be a marketing decision based on research done by internet marketers, not designers. Some very basic websites actually sell much better than their "Flashy" counterparts.
This is in no way a negative reflection of the incredible talent that website designers have. You ....
Welcome to the first part of a new two-part series on the PHP:Form web component. In this part, I will give you an introduction to PHP:Form, its features, and why it is so useful. I will also discuss the inbuilt validators that PHP:Form supports. In the second part I will discuss the more advanced features of PHP:Form.
What is PHP:Form?
PHP:Form is a (new) web component, developed by TGP PHP Scripts (http://phpscripts.pallettgroup.com). It is designed to help you create forms with a lot less effort. When you're creating a new PHP script, you will undoubtedly have to create forms to ....
John Reese, Jason Potash, and Joe Vitale are all very well known online marketers that have achieved conversion rates of 10% or more. Now, why does these online marketers have such high conversion rates while the majority of sites on the internet are only obtaining about a 1% conversion rate? It's simple. They invests lot of time and effort into improving their conversion rate. They know that small changes to a web site can make huge impacts to your bottom line. Here are some simple changes that can make a dramatic difference in your own profits.
When it comes to your website you cannot rely on your webmaster or programmers to brand your website. It is vital that your website is created by a branding firm like Glazer and Kalayjian, Inc. and its subsidiary GK namebase who not only are experts at branding, strategy, communications and design, but also have a team of expert programmers to do the back end. You have probably noticed how so many websites look the same or are very confusing, busy and junky… that is because they are done by “web designers”, programmers who also try to be designers, ....
In my last article, ‘Web Analytics – Getting It Right’, I discussed some of the powerful ways that web site statistics can be used to improve an ecommerce business. That article was about success. This article shows that no matter how hard you try, you can still get it wrong. This is a story about failure.
It is often difficult and embarrassing to admit failure and sometimes it is even difficult to see it, even when it is right in front of us. But only by examining our failures can we hope to improve and progress. Hopefully, this article ....
If you want your site listed on search engines then make sure that you have correct HTML code. Many search engines cannot properly catalog or index a site that has HTML errors. This can greatly reduce the amount of traffic your web site receives from search engines.
The lowest form of "browser" out there is the search engine. The search engine is about the equivalent of a version 2 browser. It can't read flash, DHTML, JavaScript, dynamic pages, - even having trouble at times with frames. Search engines may ....
By Herman Drost
You've just redesigned some pages of your web site. The
pages have high search engine rankings that you don't want
to lose. How can you safely redirect web site traffic from
your old pages to the new pages without losing your
rankings? You can do this by using a " 301 redirect "
What is 301 redirect?
301 redirect is the best method to preserve your current
search engine rankings when redirecting web pages or a web
site. The code "301" is interpreted as "moved permanently".
After the code, the URL of the missing or renamed page is
noted, followed by a space, then followed by the new
location ....
Maintenance of your web site is an absolute necessity if
you want to keep it from becoming stagnant and losing
visitors. It can be compared to a garden that is not
weeded, it soon disappears from site as a result of the
weeds blotting out the sunlight. Maintaining your web site
means continuously updating it with fresh content, keeping
it free from errors (ie broken links, sloppy code) to
maintaining a high position in the search engines.
Let's look at the 7 essential strategies for web site
maintenance:
1. Check for broken links - broken links will annoy
visitors making them click elsewhere off your site, thus
losing a potential customer. ....
Many web site designers don't design their sites for the
search engines. This is a huge mistake because they miss
out on attracting lots of free traffic. Your beautifully
designed web site may have cost you thousands of dollars
but it still needs to attract visitors to be profitable.
Here are 12 highly effective strategies for designing a
search engine friendly web site:
1. Research highly targeted keywords - do this even before
you begin designing otherwise you may have to go back and
clean up some of your web site design. Use the keyword
research tool, Wordtracker to research the most popular
keywords that pertain to the subject matter ....
Are you in a dilemma whether to create a mini site or a
content-based web site for your new product or service? The
purpose of creating a web site should be to attract visitors and
convert them to paying customers. Is a mini site with a few
pages enough to do this or should you spend more time and create
a content-based web site which contains many content pages?
Let's look at some of the Pros and Cons:
Mini Sites
Pros
1. Easy to set up - you don't have to be a programmer these days
to create a mini site. Web site templates or software allow most
of the ....
Normally I don't like moving objects when I arrive at a web
site. It distracts visitors from getting to the content.
However, many web sites can enhance their visitor's
experience by creating an image rotator on their home page
by using an image rotation script.
.
Here's a good example:
http://www.omelettechef.com
Let's look at some of the benefits of an image rotator:
1. Visitors don't need to drill down to the internal pages
of your web site to find your images. All your images can
be placed on the home page for easy viewing.
2. "Pictures are worth a thousand words" - If the rotating
images are high quality and provide an ....
Frame web sites are generally frowned upon by most web site designers
because they not supported by all browsers, take longer to load and are
not search engine friendly.
Why then would you want to create a frame web site or frame page?
In this article I will discuss what is a frame web site, the pros and
cons of frame pages and give a practical example of how to utilize
and design a frame page. I will also provide you with advanced
resources should you decide to pursue frame web sites a little deeper.
Web forms allow site owners to gather information about their site visitors. Web forms can be as simple as an email newsletter subscription box, or as complex as an advanced ecommerce checkout page. Here are some tips on making the most of your web forms.
Not All Web Forms Are Created Equal
Some web forms are extremely basic and only email forms to administrators. Others are integrated into databases and lead management software. Here is some thing to look for when choosing web form software.
Targeted Lead Generation
Web forms allow site owners to gather valuable information, including contact information, referral web ....
As your Internet business grows, your free time will dwindle. Site changes will become time consuming and stressful. Automate your site and you can use your time for better purposes.
Automating
Automating a web site can cut out tedious tasks such as updating HTML, FTPing pages and changing site designs. Advanced automated web sites can send follow-up emails, send out newsletters, manage sales, do invoicing, track users visits and more. There is practically no function that can’t be accomplished.
There are many different types of automated web sites. Typically, the platforms break down into two categories, prepackaged or made to order. ....
Many excellent web designers know next to nothing of web marketing, and this can be a big problem. Marketing a site in search engines requires that the site be designed in a search engine compatible format. Many beautiful sites do not fare well in search engines at all simply because of the way they have been designed. Here are some things web designers should know about web marketing.
Load Times
Beautiful sites with lots of graphics may look awesome, but are often so slow to download that web visitors, particularly on dial-up connections, will simply go elsewhere before the site ....
You probably work hard to promote your online business but without a Website that appeals to your potential customers, your other marketing efforts will be a waste of time. No matter how many visitors come to your website, if you don't have a comfortable stimulating environment, they just go away and never come back.
And believe me, having a great Website content and state of art navigation system will not help you if your visitors feel overwhelmed by your colors or your text is too hard to read.
Seriously, red color on blue background? I’m leaving… Surprisingly enough, red text ....
Choosing an effective domain name is just as important as choosing a company name or even the line of business itself. There are a number of guidelines that you must adhere to that we will look at, but apart from those, you have total control and artistic license to create whatever domain name you wish. But will it work for you, or against you.
The Guidelines
1. Domain names must contain a minimum of two characters but no more than 67.
Nobody in there right mind should want to use 67 characters in their name. The more memorable your ....
As significate as landing on the moon was, your spot in cyberspace can be just as memorable. I find that the better looking and working a site is then the more it makes me want to come back and use it. When a person first lands on your website they need to be amazed at not only the design but the content and what you offer. Each part of your website should leave a mark in the visitors mind and make them want to stop in every time they jump online. Just same way you want to stop ....
If you just decided to build a home based business then you must get a website. Good, so that seems obvious... but some things are not so obvious. Or at least not at first. If you are planning to get in direct sales or network marketing, you may have a company provided website, meaning that your website is just like everyone else's and this is not good! If you ask yourself how came then keep reading this. There are several reasons why you need to get a website of your own.
If you have been struggling to set up forms on your web site
using cgi, then definitely read this article. Installing a
simple PHP form is much easier and faster than installing a cgi
form and doesn't need any programming experience.
How does a PHP form work?
PHP is short for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor". It is a
server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language.
A server side scripting language allows you to create dynamic
web pages. Web pages that have been enabled with PHP are
treated just the same as any other HTML page, and PHP even lets
you create and edit them the ....
Writing for your web site is not the same as offline writing. The fonts used for print media are different than web fonts. This is because it's harder to read text on a computer screen and visitors tend to scan your web pages rather than read them word for word. When deciding on what web font to use, take into consideration the character of your site and whether the web font type is widely available (accomodates different screens and operating systems).
If you use the wrong web font, your web pages will may appear unprofessional and you may lose visitors ....
Have you ever tried to design your web site with a beautifully
selected fancy font, only to realize that most folks don't have it
installed on their computer?
This means your web page won't look great to the majority of
your viewers. They will only see the font they have on their own
computers.
The Problem
Most computers come with only a certain number of fonts. An
older computer will contain different fonts from newer ones. ie
if you include a font from your Windows XP operating system for
your web site design, it may not show up for folks that use the
Windows ....
Recently a person asked me if I could replace 125 web pages of
her web site with a new drop-down navigation system. If she had
to do this manually, she would have to change each page and
upload it separately to the server. This would take hundreds of
hours. So, what’s the answer – use Server Side Includes (SSI)
What is Server Side Includes (SSI)?
This is where you can insert one line of simple code to update
any web page . This line of code “includes” any file
(i.e. navigation bar, header, footer) you wish to insert in each
or all ....
When surfing the Web these days, you often come across web
sites that suffer from stagnation – they look old, obsolete or
appear to have been designed by an amateur. Your web site needs
continuous improvement to capture and engage your visitor’s
attention. If not, they can easily click away to your
competitor’s site.
12 steps to prevent web site stagnation
1. Define a clear purpose – when visitors arrive at your site,
they should immediately know what your site is all about.
You should introduce this in your first paragraph. A graphic
may help to supplement your explanation.
Running a business without building a web site, is like a fish
swimming in a small pond. The fish needs a vehicle to reach
the ocean. If you are a small business person who wants to reach
millions quickly and easily, building a web site is a necessity.
There are many ways to build a website but I'll just give you an
overview of the most popular ones.
Before you begin to build your web site, register a domain first
(read my article "How to choose, register or transfer domain
names" This means you are serious about your business.
Are people visiting your web site but not buying? This may be a
sign and the time to do some redesign of your web site. Often
you are so close to what you have created, that you can’t see
obvious design mistakes. I often do the same when writing an
article – everything looks fine when I have finished, yet when I
review it the next day and I’m amazed at how many mistakes I
have made.
Let’s look at some of the most common Web Design mistakes:
1. Sloppy Web Site Copy – your heading and first paragraph should
clearly indicate the ....
You are staring at the your monitor waiting for the image to
download. It finally appears but it has blurry edges. You go to the next page but can’t read the text because of the dark image in the background. The next page has animated images, that don’t seem to stop. The spinning globes keep spinning. The last page has a large graphic on it, which is a link. You click on it for more information but it goes nowhere. You leave the site in frustration.
Images are an essential ingredient for Web Site design.
You want visitors to have an ....
When surfing the Web, you will have noticed web sites where the images load very slowly whereas other images don’t match with the theme of the site or appear blurry. Presenting a professional image for your business means your web site design must be professional also.
Part one of this article discussed when to use images for your web site and what image file formats to use on the Web (www.isitebuild.com/imageoptimization1). In this article (Part 2), we will discuss how to optimize your images for the Web.
Image optimization is the art of making your images suitable for ....
Image optimization significantly improves your site's effectiveness. Whether your success is measured in revenue per user, page views, unique visitors, or pure profit, accelerating your Web site makes a huge difference.
Part 1 of this article discussed when to use images for your
web site and what image file formats to use on the Web.
Part 2 discussed how to optimize your images for the Web
Part 3 will present more ways to optimize your images so
your web pages will be fast loading.
Studies show that a one-second improvement reduces click-aways up to 65%. Faster page views means more ....
It seems that everyone from the 15-year-old child to their Grandmother is able to design a web site these days. You could also build the site yourself using a word processor or other web site program; however if you choose this route, plan on spending quite a bit of time learning, to get your site to look professional. Creating a web site is not as simple as typing a letter.
If you want your site to look professional, it is imperative to have a designer that will be with you from the start to the finish of your web ....
Have you ever set off in the car to your destination, without a map, naively believing you will find it? Several frustrating hours later, you are either lost or stressed out. Your wife says, “I told you so – you should have brought the map!”
This is the same situation when you create a web site without planning. The end result will be an unclear purpose, target market goals and structure. Ultimately, you will lose visitors and end up with little or no sales.
Let’s look at each of these points:
Define Your Purpose
Without a clear purpose for your site, ....
If your web site visitor can’t find the information on your web site, within 10 seconds or less, you will lose them. Two of the largest factors that contribute to this, are the lack of clear purpose and poor layout of your web pages.
Let’s look at how you can resolve each of these issues.
Lack of clear purpose – the first page of your web site must have a clear title and description, which immediately states what your site is about. If you need help to determine the purpose of web site, read:
If you think this sounds too good to be true, you may not be aware of the new and exciting trend in online advertising. Studies have shown that while traditional "single click" advertising can bring in a return on investment (ROI) of around 120%, double-targeted advertising can bring in over a 700% ROI. FS Sales is an innovative company that can help your business to get the most serious buyers to your site and limit the number of false clicks and clicks by consumers who are just curious.
Well, there is an exciting, innovative, and successful way to advertise ....
Web development has greatly increased in popularity over the last 5 years. Many new design concepts, code standards, and technology advances have happened in a short amount of time. With that, so has the knowledge and demand for better, more independent and functional web design packages.
More and more we are starting to see a shift in consumer demand for the increasingly popular website content management system.
Most website owner's are typical business entrepreneurs who don't have the time to chase down their web design company for some minor updates that usually cost an arm and a leg. Updates for ....
Remember one thing that stays true. A Web Design Firm is only as good as their last design. My name is Anthony and I will be your guide today(saying this is a professional but fun voice). Ok, lets get down to business. A web design is there for one thing, remember this. That is to make money. Like most businesses they are offering a service to you in return for payment. Yes they do want you to be satisfied with the work they do, but do they want more? Do they want to show off their best skills ....
You’ve decided to automate your web site. Now what? Here are some ideas to help you choose how to automate your site.
A bit of programming is going to be necessary if you want to automate a site. There are many types of programs that can be used to automate a web site including JavaScript, PHP, Perl, ASP, Java and more. So, which do you use? For many, it is a personal choice.
I prefer PHP for programming. PHP is a particularly useful programming language because it allows for advanced programming and is easy to integrate with web pages. Another ....
So you need your site online and looking good, though your budget isn't the biggest? Well, this is what alot of new sites and companies face each and every day. You are looking for an alternate route to get your site online but don't want to break your bank account. Oh, there you go. You didn't think I would see you looking at one of those templates sites online. Go ahead browse around, I'll wait.... Ok, back with me now. Great. Now you may be thinking to yourself "these sites looking pretty good" and "the cost of them ....
In this age of electronic communication, more and more consumers are turning to the internet to purchase products or services in the comfort and convenience of their own homes. Research suggests that there are well over 500 million people who access the internet world wide, and that 70% of consumers who browsed online in the UK alone, went on to make a purchase. As technology progresses, consumers feel more reassurance that online shopping is safe.
Does your competitor have one?
As markets are constantly changing, keeping an eye on your competitor gives you an incite into industry specific market trends ....
Welcome back to Part 2 of Web Hosting Fine Print Exposed.
The entire guide with comment forms is available at best-webhosting-provider.com
We continue with another 4 points:
Web Host Who?
What’s the registered business name, address, phone number of the webhost?
Why do you want these? Obviously, you want to know who you’re going to do business with. If the info is available—good; if not—not good.
If the info is available you may want to check that’s it’s accurate. It never hurts to be cautious. You may want to get a credit report even though that depends on how critical your web site is.
This series of articles reveals 14 points about web hosting fine print--things you should know and be aware of when looking for a web host.
The entire guide is available at best-webhosting-provider.com
Part 1 of the guide gives you 3 practical points, complete with explanations, under which you can evaluate your potential web host.
Be patient in finding your web host: there are thousands of web hosting companies and gazillion offers, so you better take the time to evaluate them and find the one most suitable for your needs.
Please do let us know if your opinion differs, or you have additional ....
Many surfers use the Google or Alexa toolbars that integrates into their web browsers which and makes it easier for them to search and navigate through Internet. However, how many of these same surfers have the “overall page rank” indicator on these bars which shows either a ranking or the importance of the page?
The overall page rank in directories like Google, Yahoo or Alexa is the key factor while doing a search. It decides which websites or pages deserves the top places in the results of the search of a given keyword. The search engine basically uses several ....
One of the most important steps for a new business to take is to build a website. The reason for this is that a website provides a presence for your business on the Internet 24 hours a day, 365 a year. Because of this, anyone can access your companys information, buy products, and the like at any time they want anywhere in the world. This is very powerful. There are many benefits your company will realize from starting a website that includes saving money, more customers, convenience, a professional image and staying ahead of the competition.
So let’s get straight to the point. Is your website breaking the law? Well, in October 2004 we reached the deadline of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), 1995 in which the DDA ordered service providers to make "reasonable adjustments" to the physical features of their premises to ensure the services they provide are accessible to people with disabilities.
The 175 page code of practice for the DDA published in May 2002 specifically mentions websites. The relevant sections are included below.
2.13 - 2.17 (p11-13): “What services are affected by the Disability Discrimination Act? An airline company provides a flight reservation ....
The object of every webmaster is to get their site listed in a search engine, but what do you do to make that happen? There is so much competition out there.
Here are some ideas and things I've noticed with my websites. First of all Google likes urls that don't have question marks. Sure, we've all seen those type of urls in Google, but they are less likely to appear than short static looking urls. Add that to the fact that search engines love updated content, and what do you think might come in handy? Well, a message board ....
The telephone does not begin ringing as soon as a website is operational. It is quite simple to identify how many enquiries flow from a website; however, it’s impossible to calculate how many visitors have not even reached your website, because it has not been marketed effectively. 3 basic steps you must take to make your website work for you are:
Step 1
Look critically at how easily and quickly visitors on your website can find what they are looking for. Web users are notoriously impatient and move to an alternative site at the least excuse. Some of the most ....
Have you ever experienced the frustration of waiting for a web site to download, then giving up and moving on to another? This is because most web users lose their attention after 10 seconds.
If your site takes longer than this to load, you will be losing
many visitors. This means that the web designer must use images sparingly and choose file formats carefully.
How to Calculate Download Time
1. Check the size of the HTML file and any associated images, files or programs. You can do this by right clicking on the file or image and reading its properties. For ....
Searching for the right information on a web page can be a very frustrating experience. Have you ever encountered web pages that are so cluttered with information and graphics, that you leave, totally exasperated?
The same situation applies if you have a web site designed with animated graphics, pop ups, revolving text etc. It may dazzle your visitors, but if it takes more than 10 secs to load, you will lose them. See: How to Calculate and Speed-Up the Download Time of Your Web Site
Start With a Simple Plan – to design a good web site you must ....
A ship captain traversing the open seas without a good navigation system will surely get lost. Maybe he’ll strike sharp rocks and his ship will sink. A visitor who arrives at your site and can’t navigate it for the information they seek, will surely get lost also and leave in frustration. Your ship (your web site) will also sink if this continues to happen.
Good site design means a good navigation structure for your web site. This means the visitor can find the information with ease.
Put yourself in the shoes of your Grandmother. Would she quickly and effortlessly ....
Searching for information on the Web has recently become like a mine field. You find the site you want, only to be greeted by pop-ups when you enter, pop-ups when you are on the site and pop-ups when you leave. Other sites use a flash introduction, make you wait several minutes (which feels like hours), until the page finishes loading. Heck, you just want to find the information as swiftly as possible without having to watch out for these mine fields.
A fast and simple navigation structure is essential for a successful web site. Visitors must have a good ....
When designing a web site, you are never sure how it appears to
all people. This is because people use different browsers,
resolutions, computers and connection speeds to the Internet.
Your site may look good with your browser, but absolutely
horrendous in other browsers. This is why you should test the
usability of your site, before you expose it to the world.
What is usability testing?
This indicates the ease with which folks can use your web site.
Let’s look at a few usability factors.
Who is winning the browser war?
Here are the browser statistics:
39% Internet Explorer 6.0
51% Internet Explorer 5.0 2% ....
Herman Drost
Is it possible to host two or more sites with two or more
domains on the same hosting account? You may want to
register and market another domain name but don't want to
pay for another hosting account. The best solution is to
create an add-on domain.
What is an add-on domain?
An add-on domain is a new domain that is added on top of
your main domain. It creates a sub directory within your
main web hosting directory but can show a different web
site. The add-on domain collects the information from the
sub domain directory using the same space and bandwidth as
your main account, however it won't ....
You may have delayed cgi script installation due to the apparently complex
process. Well, I avoided it also for several years, however if you want to
increase your web site's interactivity it's a necessity to know how to do it.
It's not hard to learn and you don't have to be a programmer.
What is CGI ?
Common Gateway Interface or CGI is a program that can interact with an
html form on your web site, and processes the results on your server using
a cgi script. The result generated is a dynamic web page. The cgi script is
written in a language called PERL ("practical extraction ....
Every professional business should be keeping up with the
demands and needs of its customers, if it is to survive. One of
the essential tools of any business these days is to have a
professional web site. This begins with choosing and registering
a domain name that will clearly identify and brand your business
online for many years to come, so you need to choose wisely.
How to choose a domain name
1. If you want your web site to have an added advantage in the
search engines, think of a domain name that includes keywords
visitors would search for in the main search engines. ....
If you spend any time surfing the Internet, you've probably encountered a few error messages.
Error messages have numerous causes, such as misspellings, outdated links or internal server errors. When an error is encountered, your server will display specific generic error pages according to the error. These error pages are not only dead ends, but they are also very frustrating for your potential visitors.
When your visitors mistype your web address or click on an outdated link and receive the dreaded error page, they'll most-likely click on their back button and never return. However, you can recover a majority of ....
Designing a professional looking web site involves much more than simply displaying text between your body tags. In order to organize your page, you must use tables.
A table is an HTML element, also referred to as a "tag," and is used to display your web page content in an organized fashion.
Your page can be set up in columns and rows, you can display your table cells with or without a border, and you can even have a color or image patterned background.
Tables can be used in an unlimited number of ways including:
If you've been on the Internet for a while, you've probably filled out a number of online forms. Forms are used to obtain information from your visitors right through your
website. Your visitors can input their information into your form, click on a "submit" button and their information will be directed to a location you specify.
If you're running a business on the Internet, using a form to process your customer's orders is an absolute must. I'm amazed at the number of websites that are still processing their customer's orders via snail mail. If you're not automating your ordering process, ....
In part one of this series we focused on setting up a basic form on your website. We discussed the Form Element Attributes and began the Form Element Properties. In part two of this series, we will continue with the Form Element Properties and move on to some more advanced form options.
If you missed part one, you can find it here:
http://www.web-source.net/html_forms1.htm
In part one of this series, we went over Text boxes, Hidden, Password and the Checkbox Form Element Properties. We will now continue with the remaining properties.
Web Designing is as easy as 1-2-3, claim some of the software tools on the market that "generate" your pages for you. Unfortunately, many web designers today have fallen prey to this marketing gimmick - and the results are obvious. Every now and then, one comes across a website that looks good with a particular browser and a particular screen-resolution; but view it with a different browser, and you can't even read the plain text on the page. Worse still, given the number of operating systems that are used by netizens worldwide, these pages will never be seen ....
Most NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) don’t understand these important aspects of a successful website. Even many governmental organizations (GOs) could improve their sites by following these tips.
1. Everything should be viewed and evaluated with the eyes of the visitor: "What’s in for me" as the main benchmark for a successful website. That is pertaining to the copy and to the content what ever directed to members or non-members: "You will here find ...." is a better and more inviting statement at the home page, than: "We are the main organisation of ......"
2. Most visitors on the Internet are searching ....
With a plethora of website design and website building tools available today why does anyone need a web designer? In fact, if you shop around, you can build a well presented web site for free. So why pay a web designer? This short article will not try and persuade you to pay a web designer, but show you why you should use a professional web designer.
A good website needs to address multiple challenges:-
- Websites need visitors and in turn it must convert those visitors into customers.
- Websites need to work across ....
So, you've decided that your company needs a web site. Now what? Since we are ultimately talking about your "online business image", unless you yourself have web design experience, finding that perfect web designer to create your company site is a very important next step. If you've never had a web site created before, you will find that there is quite a lot to consider if you want your site to be successful, and you may have to do a bit of homework to find the right person for you.
There has been a big craze lately, everybody wants their site as a database driven site or Content Management System (CMS). There are many advantages to using a CMS over ordinary static page site, the main on is site structure. You can change the structure and the hierarchy of the site instantly.
A Content Management System could be best described as integrating elements of a web site such as design, content, media and database into one easy to use package. The System is normally controlled by using a web interface (a form) which will capture the data and store ....
It's a proven fact that the use of popup windows is a highly effective marketing technique that produces great results. However, they can be very irritating to your visitors. How
can you use this powerful marketing technique without offending your visitors? Compromise and use a popup window that only displays the first time your visitor enters your site.
Your first step in creating your popup window will be to create an HTML document that will contain your window contents. The key to using this technique effectively is to give your
visitors a reason to respond to your offer. For example, if ....
Although there has been a great deal of controversy over the use of pop-up windows, the fact remains; pop-up windows are highly effective. The latest pop-window trend to hit the Internet is the pop-under window. Pop-under windows are less intrusive than the pop-up windows and are believed to be even more effective.
If you spend any time surfing the Internet, then you've probably encountered several examples of pop-under windows. A prime example is X10.com's pop-under ads for their wireless video cameras. X10's pop-under ads were popping up on prime media sites like MSN, the N.Y. Times and Alta Vista. ....
After reviewing thousands of web sites over the years, I have come to the conclusion that many business web sites are missing the boat.
For example, I've been working on some offline promotions and was searching for a simple targeted mailing list. I searched through about twenty sites and not one of those sites were, what I would consider, professional. Their standard blue links were enlarged to about a size 16 font, busy backgrounds, flashing images and very unorganized.
Did I purchase a mailing list from any of those sites? Absolutely not. Why? The way I see it, if those ....
There are millions of web sites trying to get listed in the top 20 spots of the major search engines. That amounts to an awful lot of competition and even after spending hours and hours on Search Engine Optimization techniques you may still not be able to achieve a high ranking for your competitive keywords!
However, if it proves too difficult for you to get high rankings directly, there are still ways that you can get to the top.......indirectly!
So, just how do you do this?
Firstly, look up the top 20 web sites on the major search engines under the ....
You will note from the title that this article is for the beginners. The very first thing to consider is what kind of software you will use. I admit, my personal favorite is Microsoft FrontPage. It is what is known as a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web site editor. It enables webmasters to create websites without knowing any HTML. Those of you who write HTML code like a second language will probably not care for it very much. The latest version, FrontPage 2003, has great improvements from the older versions, like the split screen ....
Have you discovered that within months your website becomes out of date and becomes a headache to maintain? DotNetNuke is the answer to your problems.
DotNetNuke® Overview
DotNetNuke® is a portal content management system (CMS) ideal for creating any type of website from commercial web sites, corporate intranets and extranets, online publishing portals, to a personal blog.
DotNetNuke® is provided free, as open-source software. It allows individuals to do whatever they wish with the application framework, both commercially and non-commercially.
The Static Website Problem
So you’ve created your static website using Dreamweaver, Frontpage, or programmed it manually in HTML?
To succeed at your online business (whether you are selling your own product/service or are selling for other merchants as an affiliate), you need a Web design must be just for that - a simple, focused site. One that is easy to build, maintenance-free, low cost, credible, and a powerful traffic-builder and customer-converter.
Having the right tool and the right product alone doesn’t insure the success of your website. There are many factors to be considered in effective website design. Unfortunately, most of these are overlooked by offline business owners using the internet to promote their business.
Are you looking for dynamic, automatically refreshing, sticky content to spice up your website?
If you are a webmaster, you'll know how difficult it is to create fresh content to attract your subscribers and new visitors to your website. Paying freelance writers can cost you a fortune when you are just starting out and don't have site revenues to fund expenses, and writing the articles yourself takes way too much time and takes you away from other important tasks (like actually running the site and making sales happen).
Luckily, there's a little-known but extremely easy tool that you can use ....
Do you have to sacrifice all of the creative and artistic elements of your web site to rank in the search engines? Later in this article I'll show you a real case scenario and the design and SEO approach used.
Thanks to the birth of professional search engine marketers the top ranks are saturated with the pages of companies that can pay for such insight. That said, it's certainly possible to employ high ranking tactics in your own website. Actually, the most basic tactics can move you up from an 800 position to a 300. However, it's the top ....
JavaScript is a scripting language designed for use within a web page and/or on a web server. It is used to create special effects within a web page. Elements such as links, images and forms can be manipulated using this powerful technology.
Unlike CGI scripts, JavaScript can be placed directly into your HTML code. It can also reside on your server and be called from a small code within your web page.
This powerful scripting language can be used to create special effects on your web page such as link effects, mouseovers, image roll overs, navigational systems and much more.
JavaScript is a scripting language designed for use within a web page and/or on a web server. It is used to create special effects within a web page. Elements such as links, images and forms can be manipulated using this powerful technology.
Unlike CGI scripts, JavaScript can be placed directly into your HTML code. It can also reside on your server and be called from a small code within your web page.
This powerful scripting language can be used to create special effects on your web page such as link effects, mouseovers, image roll overs, navigational systems and much more.
Are you taking advantage of the powerful automation technology available on the Internet? Common Gateway Interface, better known as CGI, is one of the most widely used server applications on the Internet. This software resides on your server and automatically performs specified functions on your web site.
If you've been on the Internet for a while, you've probably seen many examples of CGI use and didn't even realize it. Search Engines, Directories and Forums all use CGI scripts. Scripts can run everything from a form on your web site to an affiliate program. They can give you the power ....
RSS is quickly becoming the standard choice for delivering syndicated web content. Have you ever wondered how some of the large content sites deliver their headlines? Or, have you ever wanted to display news headlines, but didn't want to display the standard "Content Provided By..." info? Or, have you ever wanted to syndicate your own content? RSS may be the answer you've been looking for.
RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. It is an XML format specifically designed to share content. Netscape originally developed RSS to drive channels for their Netscape Netcenter. Formerly known as ....
If you've been on the Internet for a while, you've probably seen numerous examples of JavaScript use. JavaScript is a powerful scripting language used to create special effects on your website, but did you know it can also be used as a very powerful web design tool?
Have you ever joined a new affiliate program or created a new publication that you wanted to add to your existing navigational set up, but dreaded having to manually add the links to every page on your site?
You can use JavaScript to enable you to dynamically update every page on your website ....
Your key to success in online marketing and promotion is your web site. From your title, keywords, meta tags, and text, to your over all site design, each plays a very important role when optimizing your site. If your site doesn't rank in the top 10 or 20 when doing a keyword search at the top search engines, your target audience won't be able to find you.
About 80 percent of all web site traffic originates from the eight major search engines. Most people will go to a search engine, type in a keyword or keyword phrase and look ....
A website should firstly be searched out by visitors before talking about attracting or retaining those visitors. Nowadays, a “well designed website” does not only relate to a web site’s visual attractiveness but more importantly, how friendly it is with search engines.
Below are 10 SEO friendly website designing tips where web designers should pay attention to during the early stage of their web designing process.
1. Avoid creating menu on the left-hand side of a website. If unavoidable, an alternative way is to put some text with rich keywords at the top or above the left-hand menu so that ....
RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. RSS is an XML-based format for content distribution. Webmasters create an RSS feed containing headlines and descriptions of specific information. The majority of RSS feeds currently contain news headlines, current articles, breaking information but you can find a feed on just about any subject.
Webmasters can use these RSS feeds to help add relevant content to their webpages and move their site up the search engine ladder. The key to using these feeds is to have it show up in your websites page code so when search ....
When creating a web site design, it is easy to fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people. In reality, the key to a good web site design is focus, focus, focus.
We Don’t Need No Stink’n Distractions
It happens ever few weeks or so. I am sitting in front of the computer contemplating the meaning of life, i.e., why my numbers aren’t being picked in the California lottery. A frustrated person calls and wants to know why their site isn’t converting. Shaking myself from my revelry, I valiantly pull up their site and here ....
Have you ever visited a web site and noticed the "Site Map" button jammed somewhere near the bottom of the page? Ever click on it? Probably not. So, why do sites have site maps?
The Site Map – Very Important
In the old days of the net [about three years ago], experts proclaimed every site should have a site map. From their ivory tower, they proclaimed the site map as the extraordinary method to assure potential customers could easily navigate the site and find what they needed. Once they found it, they would buy it and you would be rich, ....
A reciprocal link is when a web site links to you and you link back to them.
If you own a website, I'm sure you've received emails asking for link exchanges. This article's purpose is to help you decide who you should be linking to and why.
Look before you link!
Indiscriminate linking can be harmful to your search engine rankings and your reputation. When considering another website for a link exchange, always check out the potential link partner's web site and the page that your link is going to be placed on.
Five essential rules to follow when choosing a link ....
Link exchanges can be quite a time consuming task when it comes to search engine optimization. After spending time researching potential link partners you must add their link to your site and then send out an email asking for a reciprocal link sometimes to never hear back. Although key link exchanges are still important in search engine optimization there are ways to increase your incoming links that prove to be more rewarding.
There are great ways to get people to link to you and the overall idea you should remember is "give and you shall receive". Well what is ....
A domain name is an alias for an IP address. Now what is an IP address? An IP address is a numeric code that signifies where to look through the Internet for content. An example of an IP address would be 22.226.141.25. Rather than typing in a long and easily forgotten IP address, a domain name helps you by typing an easily remembered name to access the same site.
For example, www.domainsatretail.com is a domain name that points to a specific IP address. People can remember a domain name such as www.domainsatretail.com much easier than they can a long ....
One thing that I have learned in over a decade developing web sites is that the 'Net is continually changing, and to keep up you need to change with it. One of the more recent developments in web design is the use of CSS and semantic markup. CSS and semantic web design has several benefits: clarity in code, browser and other web-enabled devices compatibility, seperation of content and presentation, smaller burden on bandwith, and better visibility to search engines.
Back in the day, we designed sites with tables and hacked those tables into doing things that they were never ....
Bringing potential customers to your business website is an ongoing task, not a single decisive event. First you need to ensure that your pages are adequately "Optimized" for the search engine robots which index the internet. This means that the content is written so as to be 'robot friendly'. You can achieve this crucial first step by double checking your keywords for an ideal balance of keywords. Above all else, make sure that these keywords are also in your 'title tag' which is that text that you can see at the top of the page. The title is ....
The only activity that should preface keyword research is the brainstorming you do to come up with list of potential themes for your web site. Think about things that you find interesting, are passionate about or that leverage your skills. Once this is done you are ready to find out which topic on your list will be the most profitable to pursue.
Keyword Research
Keyword Research will reveal answers to 3 critical questions:
1. Is there a demand for what your site offers? If not, you need to keep moving down your list until you find something that people are already ....
Don't just put your slogan in the title tag when you formulate the copy of your website. The formulation of the title tag is the most important single aspect when you fine-tune your website:
1. It is what people first read when the listing of your site turns up in Google and other search engines.
2. It is the single element of your website that the search engines pay the highest emphasis on.
If you look up the source code, the title is what is between these tags: title and /title in the hard brackets. You can get the length of ....
Since I made the switch 6 months ago to a tableless design on my main site, I’ve noticed some interesting things:
* My search engine rankings have dramatically improved
* My bandwidth usage has dropped about 50-75%
* I can now make changes to the look and feel of my site easily by just changing the one file, the stylesheet.
Let’s look at why my search engine rankings improved. Now that I have less un-indexable code on my pages, the search engines can now spider my site quicker. Less code, more content, therefore a better ranking. Makes sense, ....
The most basic type of web page is a static one – a page that rests
docilely within your browser window. It doesn’t do anything. You can
view it, then hit your browser back button and go away again. This is
not the sort of page one normally sets out to create (I hope), but
rather a minor but important lesson in what to avoid. Web pages exist so
that the visitor can interact with them. There is an exciting quid pro
quo between a site and its viewer that simply doesn’t exist in any other
medium. It’s important to take advantage of that. So, what ....
Margaret spent a lot of time and money to get her web site just
right. The big photo of a professional at work beckoned visitors
to stay and learn how they, too, could be as successful.
Links to her main pages flashed when a vistor's mouse passed over
them. She even featured a classy animated mailbox at the bottom
of the page to encourage visitors to send her email.
But something went wrong. When Margaret checked her web site
visitor statistics after one week, she noticed most people
clicked to her site, then clicked away after just a few seconds.
No sales.
The most important thing you can do for your business and your website is develop relevant keywords that are not too competitive yet generate targeted traffic to your website.
It's called keyword optimization. Why is it important?
Because Keywords and keyword phrases do a couple of things for you:
- With the right keywords, you will attract the viewers most interested in the items or services on your site.
- You will rank higher in the search engines for your chosen keywords, saving you thousands of dollars in advertising.
It all starts, however, with the best keywords that pertain to your product or ....
Before you start reading this article I must warn you - everything that was written here is my own experience in link exchange. This article should not be referred to as official advice or proven techniques. I only want to share the experience of the helpful methods I used.
When you started your website you probably knew that two major factors play the biggest role in search engine placement: links and content.
1. The first recommended way to get links is to develop useful, unique and original content. Webmasters who visit your website will see that content is good and ....
You must have heard the stories how people became rich and famous with their websites. How could they achieve this? Their websites took a first position in search engine listings targeting popular keywords. Sounds easy, right? Wrong! To be honest, chances for a regular small business website to get to the top of the search engine listings are close to zero and each day they become smaller and smaller as a number of new and old websites grows.
Let's examine the situation from the beginning. Search engines just need your content to deliver it to searchers. If a searcher ....
As a working mother of two, I must admit that sometimes my house isn’t ready for
company. Yes, you might trip over a few pairs of shoes when you walk in and you
might have to wait for dinner while I dig around for some frozen pot pies and some
clean dishes to serve them in.
However, as Web Mistress of http://www.allparody.com, I’m always prepared to
have company come into my “home. Here I can easily hide all the dirty socks under
the bed but the only thing you’ll see is is my best foot forward. When you present a
website for your readers, you ....
Say you're at a party. One of those Hollywood extravaganzas.
Four hundred people wandering contentedly about a five acre
estate complete with mansion, guest houses, and pools.
Joe, the fellow you're talking with, says, "Here's a guy you
should meet." As you approach, you notice the Gucci shoes and
Armani suit right off.
"Hi, Jeffery," Joe says. As the man turns, Joe continues.
"Want you to meet Bill Cathers."
The handshake is firm. The smile is gracious and it somehow
shows in his eyes. You clearly have his full attention.
Joe has wandered off as you chat. "Have you a card?" Jeffery
asks, offering one of his own.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is on the tip of
a lot
of tongues these days, of those hoping to break through
into a
new and better way of doing business. But the real
strength of
this idea isn't new at all. In plain English it simply
means
putting your customers first. Many successful merchants
have
utilized this approach for years. They even know it's far
better
to refer a customer to a competitor who can provide what
they
need, than to seek to sell something in stock that isn't
going
to make it in the long run. This is not fancy theory. It
works.
Likely the best hardware store in your neighborhood is run
with
customer support as ....
Picture a pink elephant dancing the two-step in a bright blue
skirt. Got it? Are you sure? If not, reread this paragraph.
If you really have it, you won't be able to forget it if
asked to do so. Pictures in our minds are simply too powerful
to be erased on command.
We Think In Pictures
If I ask you what you had for breakfast, you'll bring up a
memory of your plate, then tell me what you ate as you "watch"
yourself doing so. While some think in the abstract, just sort
of rattle off a list, most of us will picture ourselves eating
breakfast, then hold ....
1. You'll be able to communicate with your visitors.
They'll begin to trust you and get to know you on a
more personal level. People will purchase products
quicker from somebody they already know and trust.
2. People will revisit your web site to participate on
your discussion board or chat room. They will meet
other people with similar interests and your web site
will become a hang out were they can chat.
3. You can learn important information about your
visitors by reading the conversations they have. They
may chat about your web site or products. With this
information you could learn to market your products
more effectively.
I remember my very first website. I thought it was the most
amazing thing ever created; it had Flash, Javascript, an
animated graphic I designed all on my own, plus various
bits of 'artwork' placed at strategic locations throughout
the site. Plus it used frames, something I thought would
ease navigation for my visitors. What an astonishing
display of talent!
Now when I look back on that first website, I'm forced to
come to an inescapable conclusion:
It sucked.
You see, like so many beginners, I had succumbed to the
lure of 'technology'. Instead of designing my site
according to what my *visitors* wanted, I designed it
around what *I* wanted ....
Think you have a successful site? Maybe you really do, but chances are it might need
a little mending. Here's some simple ideas to remember when trying to create a
friendly, worthy site.
1. Looks aren't everything.
Most sites can be categorized in two ways. Informative but lacking the helpful and
pretty interface, or completely useless, but good-looking. Though I can't tell you how
to make a great looking and informative site, because then they'd all look the same,
what I can say is first, avoid the single-page web site, and the black-on-white, all
blotched together default look. Add your own creativity to the looks. If ....
We all put keywords in the title and then the meta tags, but
we often forget or skip the next most important place, in a
headline
tags
. We know that they are important
but we try to design attractive pages and use nice graphics
that look better and can't work in a good way to use big
headlines reasonably.
Well, I'll let you in on a valuable secret. Big headlines
don't actually have to be as big as you might think. There
are two parts to this trick. The first is to shrink the
size of your big headline by using the font tags inside the
headline. Don't shrink ....
First impressions are extremely important if you hope to do
business on the Web. After you refine your ads, and if you make
your pitch to a targeted group, you will start to get visitors to
your web site. Here is where many would be entrepreneurs drop
the ball.
Putting up a web site is not a difficult task, but designing a
good one is, and if you don't pay attention, it might be working
against you. Think about it, the web site is not only the first
impression of you and your business, it is crucial to your
success or failure.
I'm sure you've experienced this before... you visit
a website and a small window pops up out of nowhere
asking you to subscribe to an E-zine, or maybe
something similar.
You might be wondering where it came from? Or think
how do I get rid of this annoying window that won't
go away!
It's a love, hate thing...
Visit any Internet Marketing web forum and you'll
find someone talking about the virtues and pitfalls
of pop-up windows. In short no matter what some might
say, love them or hate them they get the results you
need.
There was one article I read recently where someone
received 78% of their subscribers from the ....
As you're designing your new web site, you'll be tempted with web design
ideas that could turn into fatal mistakes. This is especially true if
your web site represents your business. Below are five of the most
common mistakes to avoid at all costs...
1. Too Many Graphics
Having too many graphics (particularly large graphics), can cause your
site to load entirely too slow. Visitors will get impatient and often
times click out of your site -- never to return.
SOLUTION: When possible save your graphics as GIF files (gif.htm)
rather than JPEG (jpg.htm). Also, reduce your graphic in actual size as
much as you can without distorting ....
Have you heard yourself saying, "I don't understand? I have
a gorgeous site, a really cutting-edge splash page with a
flash introduction, up-to-date technology, I paid a small
fortune for this site, and I'm getting plenty of hits but
no one is buying or staying in the site."
Well, you may be one of a growing number of businesses,
both large and small, who believed all the hype about the
latest in new technology. Many business owners want their
website to have that cutting-edge look, and so will ask for
things such as animation, music, flash, and other "bells
and whistles" that would be detrimental ....
First impressions count and the first impression a visitor receives when
they arrive at a site is the look or visual appeal of the design. The
visual design of a site is referred to as the interface. Judging a Web
site by it's interface design is similar to judging a book by its cover
or judging a person by their looks. It may not be logical but it is
typical human nature.
Outward appearance presents the image and professionalism of the site
company or owner and it can affect the comfort level of the visitor.
Interface design consists of specific elements, all or some of ....
Your website's navigation ability is extremely
important to your success online. Your visitors
will only turn into paying customers if your site is
easy and fun to navigate.
Believe me, you want your visitors to stay as long as
possible. This is the only way your site is going to
succeed. Your site must be interesting, persuading, and
easy to navigate.
First let me tell you a couple of misconceptions about how
to design websites.
1. Many people assume that because the internet is so "big"
and covers such a vast amount of areas around the world, their
website has to be everything to everybody. They design their
website for "everybody" ....
Unlike creating a horizontal vertical line by inserting an
tag, a simple html code is not available to insert a
vertical divider line into your web page.
However, there are two simple ways to insert a vertical
divider line...
1. Create a "Graphic" Vertical Divider Line
You may insert a graphic image (.gif) as your divider
line and align it next to your paragraph. Although
you'll be forced to use this method if you need a
divider line that has an odd shape or color, this
is not the most efficient method.
By using a graphic as a divider line, you'll risk the
graphic line not being lined up correctly ....
There are a few essential checks that you must make before
uploading your pages.
Check the basics - spelling, grammar, terminology. I've seen
a lot of arguments for and against using only US spelling on
web sites - I think this is a personal choice, but having
made your decision, be consistent! Terminology - don't use
words or phrases that aren't common around the world. I read
a software review recently - sadly, I didn't understand the
phrase used to describe the program, so I don't know if the
reviewer was recommending it or condemning it!
Check your coding. It's easy for little mistakes to creep
into your HTML ....
Coding your HTML by hand gives much better results than
using a WYSIWYG program. You can get the layout that you
want, and make small adjustments easily.
NotePad comes free with Windows - but a much better text
editor is NoteTab Light. This has a sidebar with HTML tags -
double-click to enter the tag you want, with a dialog box
for those that have options or preferences, such as size,
colour, placement, etc. Download it from
http://www.notetab.com/ . There is also a NoteTab mailing
list, where you can ask questions, and exchange tips and
tricks - subscribe to the basic list by sending a blank
e-mail to mailto:NoteTab-Subscribe@eGroups.com
Don't rely on technology alone to create a great Website for you or
your company. It's great to have cool technology but you need to
leave a favorable impression on your user. Instill confidence and
create an engaging and memorable experience for your user. Do that,
and they will stick around, buy something and come back another time.
Use good design to bolster the great content and cool technology of
your site. The user will remember the way all three elements work (or
fail to work) together.
When designing your Website, be sure to look to established design
elements for inspiration. Your Website needs to function as ....
One of the most commonly overlooked elements of an effective E-Business is the very thing that is essential to your success. Something as simple as the design of your website can make or break your business. Each consumer has their own set preferences of what they find appealing, and it’s impossible to please everyone. However, there are some simple rules to follow to ensure that your website will appeal to the vast majority of Internet surfers.
1. Toss Out The Clutter
Does your website bear an even passing resemblance to the junk drawer in your kitchen? In an effort to ....
Designing your own successful web page can seem difficult and nearly impossible if you do not do a little research first. The reason you need to know the basics of web page design is because the design of your website will actually influence whether or not people continue to visit your site and ultimately, whether they will buy from you or not. Obviously, a lot is riding on your website design so it is worthwhile to take this seriously and put some effort into doing it right the first time.
Brochures are not created just to have your company or business displayed. Like other print jobs, they have a deeper intent that is in favor of you. By giving people your brochures; you display what you have to make them want to have them themselves. If they get it, you get yours. That is, in terms of sales and not to mention, money. Your brochures should have the proper presentation that can make it readable, intriguing and interesting. It should catch the attention of the people and make an impact. These are the things that your brochure ....
Link Exchanges are a very time consuming project. The time it takes to find the sites to exchange with, contact them and place a link on your page can seem like an eternity. The hardest part about link exchanges isn’t the research, it's the waiting. This article will give you some tips to help speed response time to your requests.
"How long does it normally take?" you ask. The average wait can be 2 to 3 weeks, sometimes even longer. The reason for this is that many people operate their web site as a hobby or side business and ....
Place the most important offer, feature or product of your
site closer to the top of the page. Give it prominence so
visitors will not miss it. Having a big logo taking all the
valuable space at the top of your web pages will not help your
bank account. The upper section of your page is the first thing
that your prospective clients will see as soon as they enter
your site and this will be the area that will determine if
they stay to see what else you have to offer or they proceed
to the next website. To get ....
Flash design? Is it all it's cracked up to be?
In this article, we'll be confronting all the questions head on:
What is Flash? What's good about it? What's bad about it? And,
most importantly, what will it do for your online business?
INTRODUCTION
When Flash was first introduced by FutureWave Inc. in August 1996,
it was known as "FutureSplash Animator." Macromedia acquired
FutureWave in December and renamed the application to "Flash."
What made FutureSplash unique was the fact that FutureSplash's
images were created in "vector format."
As you may know, most images you see on the Web (such as the logo
that appears on http://www.worlddesignservices.com/), are drawn
by thousands, ....
Many businesses want a simple website where they tell people what their business is about, some information on the products they offer and a means of contacting them.
However, content is vital in the growth of your Internet presence. Information is your asset and all you need to produce it is the knowledge you attain over time.
For some, they simply don’t know where to start. Here are some things to consider that could lead you to providing great content and a value-adding website.
1. Write what you know
Knowledge is power. Post articles to your website that show that you are ....
CSS is a new option for website designers that have been using HTML and tables for most of their web designing careers. Of course, it is a huge change and requires learning a new language and skill, however most people are saying CSS is worth it and it will give you more control, options, and is easier to edit. Consider the following 7 reasons why using CSS is a must and see if it convinces you to change your method of web design.
Reason #1 Present Data Logically
When you use CSS in the layout of your website you can ....
With the Macromedia’s release of the new version of Dreamweaver, the Dreamweaver MX 2004, creating data – driven pages have several requirements before you can begin making them. Unlike Dreamweaver 4, a previous version of Dreamweaver, wherein you can just dive in and everything you need are there in the application already, Dreamweaver MX requires some bits and bobs that should be in order and set up your environment.
There are three things you need. Here are they:
1. A Web Server – now, don’t panic with this! You can run some free web server software in your computer, for ....
We've heard it over and over again - adding graphics to a
website is a GOOD thing. They can generally make your site
more appealing, illustrate points or products, and provide
creative icons for people to click through for more
information.
So you are developing a website, and you really want
to add cool graphics. But how?
Well, you can run out and buy a bunch of expensive graphics
programs and 'dummies' books to learn how to use them.
Or you can sign up for courses, on or off-line, for various
amounts of money. But you'll probably be old and gray by the
time you sort through all the ....
So you have a product that you want to market, and now
you want to start promoting it through your own web page.
You have all the information your audience might need,
so all you have to do is put it on the page, right?
Well, you probably also want to find some ways to make
sure your web site stands out from all the millions of
others that are out there. Just as with any other type
of advertising, you want your web site to be easy to
access (in terms of finding it), easy to process (in
terms of understanding it), and easy to respond ....
Time and again I come across a web site with ages of load time,
nearly illegible copy and a lack of content but full of
irritating gimmicks. Often I cannot help wondering: "Horrible!
Didn't they see how their Internet appearance does them a
disservice? If their web site is looking like that - however
will their core business be ... ?" Then, upon second thought, I
have to say to myself: "Well, there's only one reasonable
explanation: They *really* didn't see it."
Indeed, when you are developing your web site, you do it
strictly LOCALLY on your computer. That's a great difference to
how it will come out ....
Many designers are overlooking the vitality of colors in creating a web site. Why is it vital? It is because it creates a mood – it can annoy, irritate or interest and uplift the spirit of the visitors. Your site can end up plain and boring or chaotic if you don’t take a look at your colors minutest details.
If you are not an expert in colors, you can consult the color wheel to achieve safe colors. You can opt for complementary colors, those that are found across another color, for safe choices. Orange and blue implies excitement. Green ....
