Monday, July 16, 2007

Accessible Website Design Tips

Here are some simple rules for developing modern accessible web sites. We will just touch on a few of the main rules, as there are too many to cover here, but sticking to these rules will get you off to a good start.

Unless you are new to web design, you will likely have heard of the Three Click Rule. This rule is recommended based on the way people use web sites, and it helps web designers create sites with intuitive, logical hierarchical structures. It addresses the important fact that important information on your web site should never be more than 3 clicks away from the index/entrance page. If we consider this web design challenge as one of maintaining the visitors interest, the three click web design rule makes sense. If users can't find what they're looking for within three clicks, they are likely to get frustrated and leave the site. More recent studies by useability experts have taken this further in stating that often when the three click rule is exceeded, the visitor will not manage to complete the task successfully. By sticking to this rule, the web designer can ensure that he/she is always thinking of the website navigation when deciding where is best to place content.

Use consistant web site navigation & layout

A key element of your accessible website is a clean, consistant navigation system coupled with a recognised, usable layout. Don't try and re-invent the wheel here. A clean, consistant navigation system allows users to instantly find important information and allows them to quickly find comfort in their surrondings. A traditional layout (2 or 3 columns, with a header and a footer) is excellent for accessible website design, especially for information sites. Remember to use CSS for all elements of style, including layout and navigation.

Keep download times to a minimum

The average web user will wait no longer than 8 seconds for a page to download before moving on. Bandwidth or the capacity to send and receive data is an important consideration when designing a web site or electronic document for distribution over the Internet. It is important that the link to the Internet (from the computer serving the pages to customers) has sufficient capacity to be able to handle the expected load. Otherwise, the response to users will be unsatisfactorily slow.

Most people today connect to the Internet using a broadband connection, however, many still connect over a phone line, typically using a modem with a speed of 28.8 to 56 kilobits per second (kbit/s). Hence it's usually best to work to the lowest common denominator, and presume that your user is connected through a 28.8 kbit/s modem.

Optimise those images!! - the most important thing you can do to decrease download times. Optimse just means save for web' in Photoshop, for example. Keep JPGs for photographs and Gifs for images with large blocks of flat colour.

Call up background images through CSS. It's possible to present images as part of the background, called up through CSS. - Browsers download background images after everything else. By using this technique, your text will load instantaneously and your site users can freely roam about the page while your 50kb fancy image downloads.

Minimise white space, line returns and comment tags. Every single letter or space in your HTML code takes up one byte. It doesn't sound like much but it all adds up. By working through your page source and eliminating unnecessary white space and comments, you can shave off up to, or even over (if your HTML is really inefficient) 10% of its file size.

Remove unnecessary META tags and META content - The most important tags for search engine optimisation are the keywords and description tags, although due to mass abuse they've lost a lot of importance in recent times. When using these META tags try to keep the content for each under 200 characters - anything more increases the size of your pages. Lengthy META tags are not good for search engines anyway because they dilute your keywords.

Use W3C technologies and guidelines

Web sites should be constructed using W3C technologies and guidelines. When this is not possible, or doing so results in material that does not transform gracefully, an alternative accessible version of the content should be provided. Many non-W3C formats (e.g., PDF, Shockwave, etc.) require viewing with either plug-ins or stand-alone applications. Often, these formats cannot be viewed or navigated with standard Web access or screen reading tools.

Non-W3C formats should be converted to HTML/XHTML although this does not always create an accessible document. Each page should be validated for accessibility and usability after the conversion process. Avoiding non-W3C and non-standard features (proprietary elements, attributes, properties, and extensions) will tend to make pages more accessible to more people using a wider variety of hardware and software. When proprietary or inaccessible technologies must be used, equivalent accessible pages must be provided.

Even when W3C technologies are used, they must be used in accordance with accessibility guidelines. If a page does not easily convert, developers should either revise the page until its original content converts properly or provide an HTML or plain text version

Design for Platform Independence

Don't assume everyone has got the same software has you While most web browsers can easily read HTML and display it to the user, several private companies have developed proprietary file formats for transmitting and displaying special content, such as multimedia or very precisely defined documents. Because these file formats are proprietary, they cannot ordinarily be displayed by web browsers.

To make it possible for these files to be viewed by web browsers, add-on programs or 'plug-ins' can be downloaded and installed on the user's computer that will make it possible for their web browsers to display or play the content of the files. Hence, it is a responsibility on the web page author to know that a compliant application exists, before requiring a plug-in. As assistive technologies move forward, it is anticipated that the occasions when the use of scripts and plug-ins are not supported will diminish significantly. The best way to support this is to create a link for the user to obtain the appropriate plug-in for the platform you are using.

Excercise caution when using Macromedia Flash

Flash is a propriety plug in created by Macromedia to infuse (albeit) fantastically rich media for your websites. The W3C advises you avoid the use of such proprietary technology to construct an entire site. Instead, build your site with CSS and HTML ensuring everyone, including search engine robots, can sample your website content. Then, if required, you can embed media files such as Flash in the HTML of your website.

Avoid using frames to design your website

If possible, avoid using frames. Some people have difficulty navigating within frames, either because the frames are confusing or because the software they are using simply cannot read frames.

When using frames, always offer meaningful NOFRAMES content for those people who cannot read framed information. If you must use Frames, ensure that each frame has a sensible TITLE (in addition to the NAME) which gives a clear indication of the content to be found in that frame.

Validate your HTML/XHTML

HTML is the 'language' that designers use to build websites. Valid HTML is code that validates to W3C guidelines, the organisation that develops good practices and standards for HTML.

Testing how your page looks in Internet Explorer is not sufficient. You can test for validity using the W3C Validator.

Use CSS to separate content from design

CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is a 'language' that website designers use to develop the style, look and feel of layout, text and colours on a website page. Used properly, CSS can be used to Separate design from content, making websites easier to use and ultimately, maintain. It can also help with download times as the CSS is downloaded only once and held in browser cache.

HTML tags were originally designed to define the content of a document. They were supposed to say, this is a header, this is a less important header, this is a paragraph and so on. The layout of the document was supposed to be taken care of by the browser, without using any formatting tags.

Netscape and Internet Explorer continued to add new HTML tags and attributes to the original HTML specification. It soon became more and more difficult to create Web sites where the content of HTML documents was clearly separated from the document's presentation layout.

To solve this problem, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) - the non profit, standard setting consortium, responsible for standardizing HTML - created STYLES in addition to HTML 4.0. All major browsers support Cascading Style Sheets, although some, handle them slightly differently, which an be a pain to the website designer! CSS allows website developers to control the style and layout of multiple web pages all at once.

As a Web developer you can define a style for each HTML element and apply it to as many website pages as you want. To make a site-wide change, simply change the style, and all elements in the website are updated automatically. Multiple styles will cascade into one style. Style sheets allow style information to be specified in many ways. Styles can be specified inside a single HTML element, or in an external CSS file. Even multiple external style sheets can be referenced inside a single HTML document.

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

Choosing Quality Website Design Company

In India so many different website design companies out there, Several times it is very confusing to choose the right website design company which can design or develop an professional websites that are very user friendly and trendy. You should choose company which can help with your requirement and make it appealing to your target market.

Read More | Visit Website

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Ecommerce web design solutions - keep it simple

Most of the web design enquiries coming through these days are requests for ecommerce web design solutions. Not only are we buying more and more of our products and services online, it would appear that many of us also want to sell online. Indeed, it's not only large corporate companies trading online nowadays. In fact most of the web design quote requests come from individuals trading from home. People are selling flowers, their own music cds, chocolates. So there is a definite market for ecommerce web design solutions. It is however a very particular market segment and offering the right product at the right price is the key to securing the ecommerce web design business.

Website Design Company India - Dassnagar.com The best way to getting the right product to market is to start with the target clients profile and needs. Although we do design complex ecommerce web design solutions for corporate clients, there is a large market for the smaller customers. These customers are looking for 3 key product features: bespoke web design, budget price and simple to use. What is budget price for a bespoke ecommerce web design solution? And how simple should the web design solution be?

The web design industry is very competitive and sales is very price sensitive. Targeting the budget web design industry can be tricky. Price your ecommerce web design too low and run the risk of losing money or appearing too cheap. Price it too high and you could miss out on a whole range of the ecommerce web design market. Indeed, even an individual potential web design customer selling from home would expect to pay a price for a bespoke quality web design. People know that they have to pay a price to get a decent quality ecommerce web design.

Remember also that individuals selling from home generally require a simple backend from where they can easily upload their products. A standard and adequate web design feature set would include a dynamic category list, individual product image upload , title, description and price update through a simple secure backend page. This is all most potential ecommerce web design clients require to start selling online. Occasionally some clients may require special features like a simple stock management system. This is usually optional and is charged as an-add on from the outset. Keep the web design quote simple, transparent and explain everything before taking payment.

Security is an important issue as well. The standard ecommerce web design solution uses Paypal secure site to take credit card payments so security is less of an issue. However, if a web design customer requires secure credit card transactions on his/her own site then it is vital to use a reliable merchant provider and an ssl on the web site for security.

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Saturday, July 7, 2007

The Biggest Misconception

I have spent more than 5 years in the industry of Internet Consulting and website design & development in the India. One thing that has bothered me a lot during my career is the misunderstanding of what it takes to have a successful business website in place.

The biggest misconception is that a website is just a simple thing to do, and any teenager can create a very good looking website these days. This is very valid, but this will never get a business any benefit as the website is not an objective rather than a mean to promote a business website. It is like any other media; if used in the right way, it will pay back and with full speed more quickly than any other media.

So, what is it that you should look for as a business leader when deciding to take your business online? Simple: a professional or a company that starts bottom up.

What does this mean? This mean you need to have somebody to look at your business objectives and then transform them into an online business plan that enables your business goals and processes. It is like when you want to build a house, you will first need to hire an architect who will look into that landscape, your likings, the weather in that specific area, etc...

The price of making the wrong decision by having things done in a high level of ignorance and poor assumptions can be VERY HIGH.

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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Elevated web design - 5 must know business tips

Whether you are a freelance web designer or looking for a salaried position business sense is important. What to wear, what to say, how to price, how to hire; these are all things you will need to know. Below are a few helpful business tips related to the web design industry.

1. Be Professional

For the freelancer the need for professionalism is as important as in the white collar world. First impressions are everything, if you're gaining a new client or applying for a job some things are everlasting. You will need to be clean, dressed nice and mind your choice of words and topics. The handshake is important, not too soft not too firm. Looking and speaking in a concise, polite manner is key to executing a great first impression.

2. Be Prepared

Being prepared isn't easy, but the benefits are great. First if you're applying for a job, make sure you have researched everything about it. Going into a job you should know what the job is, if and why you're qualified and have all of the important paper work and identification. Make sure to have pens and possibly spare paper. Being prepared means you're organized and careful and this speaks volumes on one's character. It seems like common sense but make sure you have gas in your car, directions to meetings and plan your time well. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

3. Pricing & Contracts

To get a rough idea of what you should be charging do some diligence. The occupational handbook is a good place to start. Check out your local competition and get a few quotes. This will help guide you towards a pricing model. Also consider you talent level and personal costs. How much is it going to cost you at a minimum to do any given job? Can you fulfill all of your promises? If not then perhaps you should reconsider. Also make sure you understand what any contract you use means. Know what you're signing, and make sure your clients understand what they are shining.

4. Stay Smart

Some opportunities are great but others should be avoided. A bad job or client can rob you of precious resources; your time and money. A lot of customers will haggle with you on prices and try to underbid you, be wary of this and stand strong in your pricing model. The old adage "give them and inch, they take a mile" applies here. Don't discount largely for these customers and insist that your pricing is fair and work excellent. Also as a web designer your reputation is everything. Never do a job poorly to spite a rude customer and never talk bad about an employer.

5. Network

Networking is one of the most important things in business. It's not what you know, it's who you know. You could be the best designer in the world but web design doesn't sell itself. Personal marketing and branding is the key to success, people have to be able to find you and for freelancers word of mouth is often their bread and butter. Knowing people also presents rare opportunities. When you know someone you can often gain inside offers, deals or tips. And when you're in need having a strong base is always helpful.

These are good tips but always remember to study your craft, look for web design inspiration, learn how to write and design for humans.


Thanks to William Atkin, is a writer with WiWorks, Utahs leading web services company.

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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

5 Easy Steps to Design a Website

If you want to design a website for business or personal reasons it might seem like a tough task. Fortunately, there are many resources and tools online today to help you get a website up and running quickly on the World Wide Web (www)

Below are the five steps to creating your own website. 1. Decide on a website theme Choose a website theme that will flow with your business or personal goals. If you're selling search engine optimization services (SEO), choose a theme that fits well with search engine optimization services (SEO). Perhaps you'd like a website that offers training in a particular field or that provides useful information or services in fields such as health, insurance, marketing, finance, family, home and garden, web design, etc.

Use search engine optimization tools such as wordtracker.com to determine popular keywords in your field. This will help you narrow your theme and find a niche market. The more specific you are, the more likely you'll reach your targeted audience.

2. Choose a Domain Name You can visit almost any web host to find out what domain names are available. Your domain name is the web address people will type in to find your website and it is completely unique to you. It could end in .com, .net, .org, or a variety of other suffixes. Example: www.domainname.com Choose a domain name that meets the following criteria: 1. Not too long. 2. Easy to spell - even for kids. 3. Simple and easy to say. 4. Fits your website theme. 5. Easy to remember. Remember, your domain name will be used in all advertising campaigns whether in print or online, so keep it simple.

3. Choose Web Hosting Web hosting is a must for a website. This is the "web space" you'll buy so your website can appear on the World Wide Web. You can choose from thousands of web hosts today, but be aware of the pitfalls if you choose the wrong host. Choose a web host that is dependable, affordable, offers excellent customer service, and offers the features you need for your website. Free web hosting services are available if you're starting a personal website, but are not recommended for business websites.

Be aware that not all hosting services offer special add-on features such as PHP or MySQL capabilities. Not all hosting services offer a reliable control panel for site management and following your website's visitor statistics. So, be sure to choose a web hosting provider that offers what you need for now and future growth.

4. Design Your Website Once you choose a domain name and secure web hosting, it's time to design your website. You have two options: a) Learn web skills such as HTML and PHP so you can design your own website. b) Hire a web designer.

If you choose to learn web design, there are many tutorials and courses online to help you learn. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars taking a college course. Or, you can find a website that has the same features you want and ask who designed it. This will help you find a dependable designer who already has the skills needed for your project.

Either way, determine what type of programming language you will use beforehand. This will be based on the features your website will have.

5. Get Your Website Noticed

It's time to promote your website. You can promote in many different ways: search engine optimization, paid search engines, free search engine submission, e-zine advertising, and even off-line advertising. Include your website address on everything you print such as business cards, newspaper ads, letterhead, envelopes, etc.

Probably one of the most effective ways to promote is by adding content articles to your website. Articles get noticed by the search engines because they are informational and useful. The more information you offer, the better your search engine rankings will be. If you sell insurance, write many articles about insurance for your website or hire a writer to write them for you. Whatever your theme, provide plenty of content for your users.

Use these five steps to get your website going. You're on your way to web success!



Thanks to IT Global Solution, is a website designing company, offering cheap web designing services for corporate with quality web designing UK, Canada, and USA at affordable Prices. For more information please visit Website Design and Development Company

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Wednesday, May 9, 2007

10 Questions to ask your prospective web designer

It can be a daunting task setting up your on-line presence for most. The whole prospect of talking about "domain-name registration", "hosting services", "arranging content", "payment gateways" and "merchant accounts" etc... can seem a totally alien experience for even those initiated with plenty of on-line experience.

So, to help those that are seriously thinking about getting their business hosted on the Internet here are some Top Ten Tips you should be asking a Web Company before you consider taking on their service.

1) "How long have you been in business?" While there is nothing wrong with going to a one man start up company (we all started somewhere) you may feel safer going with an established company where you can gather testimonials and feel more secure that the company has a history with hosting etc. You don't want to lose your hard-earned website if the developer decides to close down.

2) "Do you have a portfolio?" First and foremost you have to see samples of work, without seeing this how do you know the Web Developer can do what you're asking? Also, make sure these are live sites and that they actually work!

3) "Do you have any testimonials?" All good web design companies should be able to provide you with testimonials from previous satisfied clients. We at 360inovate are always happy to provide you with a list of testimonials if requested.

4) "Who works for you and can I meet them?" You need to know that the company you are hiring can deliver what they claim, ask questions such as "What are your designers histories?" and "How many years of experience do they have in this field?". While all companies out-source at one point or another you need to be safe in the knowledge that your prospective company has staff on hand to deal with urgent queries etc and do not constantly have to rely on a freelancer. Finally, any company worth their salt will willingly let you go into their office and meet with the designers, beware of companies who refuse...what are they hiding?

5) "What is the process in developing a site?" You and the web design company have to be clear right from the word go what part each of you have to play in developing the site. At certain points your designer will require content and feedback from yourselves and you have to be aware when this will be required.

6) "What happens if I need changes?" All websites will need updated at one point or another, find out whether this is included in the price or an additional cost.

7) "What can you do to make my site visible?" If your web design company also offers Search Engine Optimization and you are considering this service, ask if it's possible to have a short meeting with the SEO specialist. You'll know quickly if they are up to scratch and they should also be able to supply you with previous Search Engine reports and show signs of successful SEO results.

8 ) "Do I own my site at the end?" You don't want to go through the process of developing a website only to lose the rights to it if you decide to get hosting from another company after a few months. Ask if its possible to obtain a full copy of your website on completion.

9) "What software/languages do you use?" You probably don't really care about the answer to this but it is good for you to know your site will be created using industry standard software etc to allow the files to be worked on at a later date with a different company if needs be. Look for software names such as Adobe Macromedia and try to get developers with more than just basic HTML knowledge such as ASP, PHP - should you wish to upgrade your site to a dynamic site it will comfort you to know that your designer will be able to oblige.

10) "Do you provide hosting?" All good web design agencies should be able to set you up with hosting and emails and you shouldn't feel that you are paying over-the-top for this service. If they say they can't and you feel the costs are high then be extremely suspicious!


Thanks to Lynne Foster, is a Senior Web Developer at 360innovate - a leading and award winning media company

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Thursday, April 5, 2007

Guidelines for Effective Web designing

Web design, the important aspect of a website has its relevant worth and significance in promoting, developing and garnering traffic to a web site. It needs to be unique and eye catching backed by rich and intuitive layout and copy. Following are a few guidelines of web designing.

Catchy Content Content, if rich and valuable will surely enrich the value of your web designing. It needs to be unique, error-free and well researched so that people can get relevant information and find it easy to browse through your site just according to their needs and requirements.

Good Graphics "First impression is the last impression". While concentrating over web designing, one needs to focus on this aspect and put due effort towards creating quality graphics and photos. Web designing should be in tune with proper optimization of photos and graphics.

Navigation of site Studies shown visitors want to get in to one site within 3 clicks and not more than that. Taking this 3 click rule under consideration, make your site easily reachable. While web designing, make sure every area of your website is easily accessed within 3 clicks. If needed, navigate in all major web sites.

Proper Links no frames Check the links of your site to determine that these are valid and lead to the original destination. Take assistance from the free online services which are specially set up to check the links of sites. Avoid frames to be used in your site as very often they make it hard to book mark individual pages of your site.

These are a few of several important guidelines that should be taken in to consideration while website designing. Your site should be unique in all respect, it should draw more traffic and garner more clicks. And it is only a good and effective web designing that ensures the same.

Summary: Web designing needs to be object oriented. It should be intuitive and value loaded. It needs to be unique and eye catching backed by rich and intuitive layout and copy. Here are a few guidelines about effective web designing.


Thanks to Tarun Gupta, is one of the most prolific writers in the affiliate marketing domain with his articles being published in numerous search related websites and newsletters. He is the founder director of web development and Web Designing India

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Thursday, March 29, 2007

Getting into web designing

This article is an overview aimed at people who want to get into web designing as a pastime or as a professional career. This is a complex subject but it can be simple if your going to go in a straightforward path especially on building a website for personal use.

When starting on making a web design is to have a beginning point which is being passionate about it for it will help you be more persistent when working on a design.

Once you have a starting point, you need to have the equipments you will need for making a website. Surely, you'll need a computer and internet connection. Get yourself a software to help you encode your web design. For beginners, there are lots of freeware/shareware you can download on the web. As you become more experienced with web designing you will want to invest on commercial software such as Adobe Photoshop, Flash or Dreamweaver. Aside from having the hardware and software it'd be better if you can get yourself some reference books as figuring out the technicalities of web designing can be quite frustrating, and you can also get some tips and tutorials on the web.

As your web designing skills improve, you will eventually look at other innovations on web designing which includes using new software, concepts from other people's techniques, new concepts and new design codes. After a few weeks you will begin to consider studying web page scripts such as CSS and javascript.

For the last part, once you got your web design done you will need to put up your website on the public or the Internet. You would need to buy a domain name and a web hosting package for your website, it's best if you check out what your ISP can offer you for free. Once everything is set and you get to the point where you are publishing your website design you are going to enjoy taking pride on what you did. The best part is when you start attracting visitors for your website. Have fun!

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Sunday, March 18, 2007

Web Design Tips for Real Estate Websites

When it comes to web design there are certain things that should be considered and one of them is what the website is about. Real estate websites are one of the many types of websites on the Internet today. And for these websites to be successful they need to take into account certain design factors. The following tips will help any realtor design a successful real estate website.

First of all, you want to include photos of all the real estate that is for sale. If you have listings without photos you will miss out on most of the traffic and potential online sales simply because people want to see what they are buying and this is especially so with real estate. If I want to sell my property then the first thing people want to do is see photos of the home or else tour it in person. The next question is the price.

When people want to buy property they want to see the photos first and then know the price. This allows people to quickly determine if they can afford the home or not. Of course, I may be willing to sell my house for cheaper than the asking price but giving potential buyers an idea of the selling price will help you get more hits. That's because people today want instant information. They don't want to call or email you for photos or for the price. They want to see photos of the real estate on your website along with an asking price. Then, if they are still interested they will be willing to ask for more information. So, make sure that you also include a "submit a question" link on your website so that potential buyers can ask about your different properties.

Another great design tip is to break up the real estate photos in sections by location. So, all the real estate of one city in one link and real estate of other cities in other links. That makes it easy for people looking for real estate in one particular location. Or you could separate real estate by zip code. These design elements really depend on where you live and the amount of links or zip codes you would need to include.

These are just some tips for real estate websites to really gain traffic and do a good job of selling real estate over the Internet.

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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Web Designing Tips

More and more people are getting fond of web design. Whether for work related purposes or for personal-use purposes. Some people get short courses to study web designing and some rely on e-learning and get web designing tutorials on-line. For people who works as a web designer, they know the do's and dont's of web designing, for most of them at least. For those who don't, especially those who are new in the field, here are some basic tips that would help in enhancing your web designing skills.

Keep your index page short

For the convenience of your visitor, don't place all your content on the index page. Remember that you can use several pages on making a web site. Having a single-page site with all the contents there will make a visitor dizzy and confused.

Create a toolbar or menus easy navigation This will make your visitors stay in your site longer. After reading the content of your page, it is more likely that your visitor will look for other pages on your site that would interest him. Using short, clear and precise words will also help the visitor know the content of the page where your link is going. I suggest to place the navigation menu on top and the other main links on the right hand side menu. You can also use a drop-down menus if you have many links.

Clean layout design

Align the contents of the page properly. You can use as many tables as you need to be able to insert the images or whatever you need for the page. Beginners tend to put as much images as they can, thinking it would be nice to look at, but it is advisable to put minimal photos. For a safer design, you can also use templates.

Use uniform fonts

As much as possible, use only two to three kinds of font face and the suggested sizes are ten to fourteen points. Just use different font styles, italics for instance, to emphasize keywords. Also, use a font that is available on all computers to prevent having a messed up design.

Cross browser compatible

Keep in mind that there are other internet browsers other than what you are using. At least make sure that your codes and design are compatible to the major browsers like Internet Explorer 5+, Mozilla Firefox 1.0, Opera 7.0 and Netscape Navigator 6+ .

These are just basic tips and suggestions on web designing but are guaranteed useful. These can be used as guide on building your own site but still the overall design is in your hands.


Thanks to Mets Aquino, recommends ProAdultOutsourcing -- the leading provider of Internet Offshore Outsourcing Solutions

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Thursday, February 15, 2007

5 Tips to Create a Great Website

While the design layout and desired goals of nearly every web site are different, there are some common elements that go into creating a great web site that will appeal to your visitors and the spider-bots of search engines willing to index your pages.

1. Be descriptive with page titles and on-page section headings. Your web site's main page should never be titled "Home". Use titles that describe exactly what the page or site is about so that the search engines and humans who see your site listed in search results will know what clicking the link to your page will offer them.

2. Keep your graphics and other media to a minimum, and file sizes as small as possible. Obviously this rule doesn't apply to image galleries or other similar pages, but for the average web page nothing can turn visitors away faster than large media files that take too long to load. With images that you do use, be sure to include a descriptive "alt" tag. This has two purposes, for visitors who are viewing (or listening to) your web page in text-only mode, it lets them know what your media file represents, and for search engines it gives their spider-bots more information to rate your pages on.

3. Use valid XHTML coding. There are an increasing number of people browsing the web on mobile devices and you'll make more friends (and repeat visitors) with them if your pages load properly and fast for them. Unless you have the knowledge or money to provide a special mirror of your web site that is designed specifically for mobile devices--which is the best option--by using valid XHTML you will at least insure that your pages are optimized as much as possible for the widest range of mobile device users.

In addition, most search engines seem to favor web sites that are using valid XHTML more and more, so it is to your benefit all the way around to use it.

4. Don't stuff your text with keywords just because you've heard that can raise your search engine rankings. First, the search engines are getting better and better at recognizing this tactic and penalizing sites that use it. And second, all of your SEO work should be done with the goal of increasing your site traffic, but what good is getting lots of traffic if the stuffed content on your pages only turns your visitors right away? Create your content for human visitors, then develop your SEO strategies around it. Not the other way around.

5. Avoid trend-scripting. By this I mean that utilizing the latest web technologies and scripting techniques is fine when it improves your user's experience on your web site, but don't add fancy do-hickies just for the sake of having them.

If you run a web site about Goldfish, visitors will be coming to find information on Goldfish there, not to be impressed by your fondness for AJAX and Web 2.0 functionality.

Give your visitors exactly (and only) what they expect and want from your page, and they will say you've created a great web site.


Thanks to Scott Bannon, earned his first online revenue in 1995 and has made a full time living online since 2000. Get valuable advice and tips from Scott's free blog for webmasters, O'Bannon's Leap, where he chronicles the ongoing leap of becoming a webpreneur.

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Saturday, January 20, 2007

How Can I Make My Own Website

Believe it or not, websites are very easy to create. It just takes a little understanding of how all the different parts come together.

Let's start with the two main components of a website: web space and a domain name. The web space is the place where people will find your website, once you get it up and running, and the domain name tells them how to get there.

Buying a Domain

Purchasing a domain, the first step in the process, can be challenging, especially if you are looking for a one word name that pertains to your business or reflects your interests. However, it is important that you find a domain that is relevant, while at the same time easy to remember. GoDaddy.com is a great place to start in your search for a domain name.

Finding a Web Hosting Provider

If you plan on having a quality website then you are going to have to find a quality web hosting provider. It is just that simple. There are free hosting services available, but, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Most free hosts are not as reliable, they lack features, and don't have the bandwidth or space to support a quality website.

In the end, you will find you are much better off going with a reputable web hosting provider, where you will get much better reliability and support, at really good prices. In fact, if you go with someone like Host Excellence, Host Gator or 1and1, you will pay no more than $2.99-$6.95 a month. A great deal for the quality of service.

Get an FTP Program

As soon as you get your domain and hosting set up, you will need to upload your website's files to your server. To do this, you are going to need an FTP program. Some web hosting companies provide their own upload tools, which allow you to upload your site to the server. Web design programs like Frontpage and Dreamweaver have FTP programs built in and are easy to use.

If you need an FTP program, try coreftp.com. It is easy to set up and use.

Developing a Website

Building a website requires an understanding of HTML. HTML, or Hyper Text Markup Language, is a surprisingly easy programming language to learn. There are several good books on the subject, though I found "Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML" to be a thorough and easy to understand introduction to the subject. There are also several free resources, including HTML Goodies, HTML Codes Tutorial and W3 Schools.

In addition, there are several free, and very user friendly, web development programs available, including NVU.com, Google Page Creator and BlueVoda.com. If you can use Word, you can use these programs.

The key to a successful career in internet marketing starts with the ability to create a good website.


Thanks to Mike Rogers is a contributing writer to several internet marketing sites. Did you find these tips on building a website useful? You can learn a lot more about building websites at WealthyAffiliate.com

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Thursday, January 11, 2007

Is It Easy to Create our own Website? What is HTML?

Creating a website is not so much a feat, if we compare it to the education of other technical skills. Most people tend to give up and pack their bags as soon as they hear the word "programming" and "technical". They think it`s too much of a hassle to actually learn a whole computer "language". HTML, the most basic computer language in building websites, is actually pretty simple to understand, as long as we have the interest in learning new things.

What is HTML?

HTML is the acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. For learning purposes, just think of it as a language that the computer understands. For example, as humans, we were taught different languages; i.e. HTML as a language, is mostly and specifically used to create a website. The web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, will then decipher and interpret the code or rather, language(HTML), and display it in a way we can understand it, just like in a basic webpage.

Coding.

Coding the HTML language might be a bit tough for some people, so we can actually purchase programmes, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, or even Microsoft Frontpage. These programmes are solely created to help individuals in designing professional webpages/websites.

Furthermore, one could also gain access to online web-builders, website builders that are inbuilt and can be directly controlled from the net. There are many different and specific builders online.

Books and magazines contain guides that can help in offering tutorials and ways to put up our own websites. Even online tutorials are credible, as in the modern world, information technology is the best and most cost efficient way in retaining knowledge, especially in this particular field.

So, you could start and build one right away. If you enjoy coding, it might even become a favourable past-time.


Thanks to Mike, has his site Unblock MySpace

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