6 Reasons You Need A Website

By: Gregg Hall

If you don't have a website, then you might not realize all the great things they can do for you. Maybe you think there wouldn't be any point, because your business is too small - or maybe you don't even have a business! Perhaps you think it'd be a lot of work for little reward. Or maybe you paid big bucks for a site back during the dot-com 'boom' days, only to get nothing but trouble out of it and shut it down a year later.

Whatever your situation is, though, you need a website, and I'm here to tell you why.

1. People Will Look for You Online.

Sooner or later, someone's going to type your name into a search engine. What do you want them to find? Nothing? These are people who want to find you, and if you don't have a website then you're letting them down - they expect you to be online. For many people, you might as well not exist if you can't be found with a search engine. Not having a website is like not bothering to get listed in the phone book. Whether it's customers or old school friends you're hoping for, very few people are going to find you if you aren't online.

2. Websites Cost Next to Nothing.

Once, it cost a lot to run a website - but those days are long gone. There are 'pay as you go' services out there now charging as little as $1 per gigabyte of bandwidth. If you're sensible about the size of your pages, that dollar could last you a whole month, or even longer! If you don't want to pay for design, it's never been simpler to do it yourself, or find free software to do it for you. Really, it's never been cheaper to have a website than it is today.

3. Websites are Great Advertising.

Whatever you're advertising - your services, your products, or just yourself - a website is a great way to do it. Every other kind of advertising going costs a premium, especially if you want to target a specific kind of person, and there's no guarantee that they're paying attention. Websites are like brochures that are free to reproduce, interactive, and quickly distributed to people who are already looking for them. No advertising medium even comes close to the ease-of-use and effectiveness of a website.

4. A Website is a Worldwide Presence.

On the web, it doesn't matter whether someone is next door to you or on the other side of the world - they can see your website just the same as anyone else can, at no extra cost to you or to them. Phone and post both cost enormous amounts long-distance, but a website lets you send information anywhere without any extra effort or expense. You can make friends and contacts in places you've never been and will never go - suddenly, working globally is no more effort than working locally.

5. Your Website Can Make You Money.

There's a lot of money on the web, and it's not hard to get some - the longer you're online for, the bigger your share can get. If you have something to sell, you can sell it worldwide, thanks to credit cards. Doing business online eliminates almost every overhead there is: all you need to do is have the goods. If you've written something useful, you can put it out there with a few ads. You won't get rich overnight, but you can set up a steady trickle of income... and there's no limit to the number of trickles you can set up.

6. Your Website Can Save You Time.

Giving out information takes time, whether it's on the phone, or in brochures, or even if it's just emailing your family. Websites are designed to save you time. All your family and friends can read your online diary (known as a weblog), but you only had to write it once. Customers can see your whole product catalogue without ever needing to talk to you or visit you. This is the power of the web: things on it are written only once, but can be downloaded endlessly - a good website runs itself, and keeps being useful to people for much longer than you'd expect.

About the Author

Gregg Hall is a business consultant to many online and offline businesses and owns over 400 domains himself. Check out the virtual hosting at http://www.virtualwebhostingplus.com

(ArticlesBase SC #13510)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - 6 Reasons You Need A Website

Why Everyone Needs a Website Today

By: Thejendra Sreenivas

Today most people, whether self employed or working for someone, will definitely have an email id, a mobile phone and probably a business card. But most of them would say no or appear hesitant at the idea of having a website or blog of their own. The reasons for not having one could range from arguments like why to have one, lack of technical knowledge, embarrassment (or fright) of having a website and let the whole world know about them or some other reason. However, contrary to what most people think having a personal website or a blog has several advantages and immense benefits to everyone as outlined below.

1. A website is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of telling the world about your hobbies, talents, thoughts or business by spending a very nominal sum of money. And anyone who has some knowledge to share or sell will benefit from having a website today. In today's competitive world you need every advantage you can to showcase yourself and your talents. Your website can be used to promote and grow your hobbies and services, expose your talents to the world and customers who are interested in what you do, improve your personal and professional image, get acquainted with people who have similar hobbies and interests, sell your goods, give free or paid advice, etc. For example, if you are in a creative business like writing, publishing, arts, paintings, etc., you will definitely need a website to showcase your stuff. Unless you are an extremely famous person hounded by the press, paparazzi and hundreds of fans, you will need a personal website or blog that portrays who you are, what you do, what you know, your accomplishments and how to contact you. And contrary to what most people think your website need not be a super duper or glamorous one. It can be as plain and simple as possible.

2. A website helps you promote and advertise your company worldwide. By having a website, you allow your customers to find you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are in a competitive business and your competitors have websites but you don't, then you are already light years behind no matter how great your products and services are. A website shows that you are in tune with modern times and new technologies. With a website you can offer complete details about your products and services than just listing your business in a microscopic yellow pages section or periodically providing some expensive newspaper or magazine advertisements. Another advantage with a website is you can update and revise your products and services as many times as possible with minimal cost and effort.

3. Websites and blogs today can also re-establish contact with your long lost friends and buddies. It provides a method of contacting you through search engines and social networking sites. Having a website also helps people distinguish you from someone who have an identical or similar sounding name. For example if people googled you and reach your website with your photo it will prove that you are not the same guy as that suspected serial killer the police are hunting for, who coincidentally has the same name as yours. :-)

4. Of course, as with anything there are Do's and Don'ts and your website must be managed responsibly. That means no posting of inappropriate information, your company's confidential information, foul mouthing people or your employers, linking to questionable sources, plagiarizing from other sources, peddling illegal stuff, etc. What you post on your website must be eligible personal information, shareable stuff and publicly available information that are freely available from other sources.

5. Finally getting a website need not be a complicated, expensive or frightening business. It is possible to get a simple website for as low as a hundred dollars. With some simple online software and tools it is possible for you to create a decent website within hours or days if you have the content ready. The content can be in the form of text or images. And there are several reputed organizations and freelancers who can create and maintain a great website for a small fee. Or if managing a website seems daunting you can easily get a blog, which is a vanilla version of a website that you can use to upload text and images very easily.

So go ahead and get one today !!!

About the Author

Thejendra BS is an IT manager and author of LIFE-365:-A Year’s Supply of Wisdom, Tips & Advice for Everyone. Visit http://www.thejendra.com to buy this extremely useful book that can change your life.

(ArticlesBase SC #462685)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Why Everyone Needs a Website Today

Top Five Reasons to do a Website Redesign

Small business owners need to monitor whether their investment in a website is providing a good return. Are your products and services easy to buy? If they aren't, you are wasting time and money and probably doing more harm than good.

Ask yourself the following five questions to see whether it's time for a redesign:

Author Bio
About Digital Media Works
Digital Media Works, Inc. (www.DigMediaWorks.com) is an Internet marketing and design firm that specializes in solutions for high tech and e-commerce companies. A seasoned 25+ year management/marketing professional, founder Stephanie Diamond is experienced in building profits in a broad range of product and services businesses. She created a highly successful line of multimedia software products that sold millions of copies for America Online, and has developed unique business strategies and products for a variety of companies, including AOL Time Warner, Redgate New Media and Newsweek, Inc.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Youtube Marketing - Do It Right!

By: Cher Pearce

YouTube is a brilliant way to generate free leads and traffic to your website and is something that all the serious network marketers use to their advantage. If you're involved with internet network marketing and you're not getting on board the YouTube wagon then you are seriously missing out on a great tool to build your business.

If you have a home-based business, such as MyInternetBusiness, Passport to Wealth or Success University or any other similar opportunity then YouTube will benefit you and your business greatly if you use it in a proactive way.

People/Prospects generally join programmes with a sponsor that they know, like and trust, and other than meeting someone face to face there is no better way, to let someone into your world and see what you are like, than the power of video. To really achieve successful lead generation and traffic via YouTube, there is a little more to it than just sticking a video on there and hoping people find it.

So below you will find my personal free tips that all network marketers should be using

Content.

Make sure the videos are useful and informative, you need to give your viewer a reason to keep watching so they benefit from the full message that you are trying to get across. Also I tend to suggest try not to go over 5minutes, people tend not to have the attention span for any longer and may switch off, of course if the content of your video is very high quality info that people will be very interested in then of course you can go over that, but don't forget you can make plenty more videos, maybe you could split your video into a part one and part two. Make sure that before you record your video, you know exactly the message that you are trying to get across to people, if you're all bumbling and forgetting what you are talking about then people will lose faith in what you are saying.

Title, description and tags.

This may sound very obvious but even some of the top marketers don't pay attention to this one, you really want to give a keyword rich title so that it will be picked up well in the searches, (don't forget YouTube videos get listed in Google organic results too) generally if it has any mention of money, success, work from home or home-based business you're probably onto a winner, but on the other end of the spectrum, don't overload it just for the sake of it, as it will probably look stupid.

In your description it is vital that the first thing you enter in that box is your website address that you want people to go to for more information on your product, this is one thing that so many people forget to do. When you view a video the description is always on the top right of your page, as you will notice the description is usually minimised so the only thing you can read is the first line, this is why it is vital that your website address is the first thing any viewer can see. Note: Don't forget to make it a clickable link i.e. http:// so that they can click straight on it, as opposed to having to copy and paste it. Now the rest of the description is where you can really play around, obviously give a little info on what the video is regarding, but after that you can put as many keywords as you like that have slight relevance to your video.

For example if your video was about the MLM industry you could literally add all the top MLM company names into your description, regardless of whether you specifically mentioned them in the video, therefore even if you were talking about Amway in your video, people searching Kleeneze would find your video in the search too, due you mentioning it within the description. The tags are pretty much the same too, however just put the most relevant keywords in that section.

Video quality

This may also seem simple, but it is really important that you do all you can to ensure that the quality of your video recording is good, if there is bad quality sound or the camera is jittering all over the place then people WILL switch off. Believe me; I have watched enough videos to tell you that one of the most annoying things that make's me switch off is a bad quality video. Not only is it annoying but it looks unprofessional too, which is obviously not the message that you are trying to get across to people.

Captivate the audience

If you really want to stand out from the crowd, try and make your video different to everyone else's, use your imagination here. Whether it is through humour or telling someone something that they don't already know or surprises them, try and think out of the box, as it will really capture their attention and you may stick in their mind.

I have seen some great videos during my time on YouTube and there 3 or 4 that really stick out in my mind because they were really different and imaginative, and that is what you are aiming for. I really hope that I have managed to share with you something that you didn't already know, I find anymore than 1000 words is too much to absorb so check back soon for a some more tips on YouTube marketing that I will be writing soon.

About the Author

Cher Pearce; has been making money online fulltime since 2008. To learn more about Cher Pearce & to gain access to her free internet training video bootcamp, be sure to visit her blog. http://www.Cher-Pearce.com

(ArticlesBase SC #1785698)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Youtube Marketing - Do It Right!

Why Does Your Small Business Need a Website?

Why Does Your Small Business Need a Website?
By Jonathan Hook

"But, why do I need a website? I have been in business a long time and never needed a website"

Well, that is a good argument and may be valid. However, the times, they are a changin´.

Having a website is like having a sign that says you are open for business. It is just a little part of doing business but it can make your business seem more legitimate to your clients.

Why?

You automatically:

- look more professional
- have more credibility

When you give a person your contact information, it makes you seem more established. When people see that you have your own website, right away it looks like you care about your customers and want to give them information. It is all about positioning yourself and setting yourself apart from the competition. If someone just rolls into town and they look up 3 different businesses and yours is the only one with a website, the others will look poorer for it.

When you have a website, it shows that you are up-to-date and current with your marketing. People expect to see your website address. They may never go and visit your site - they may not need to, but that doesn’t matter. You need to have a site and you need to get it out where people can see it. It can set you apart from other businesses in your town that do not have a site.

Another good reason to have your own website is that you can convey your image to people right inside their own homes.

Someone sitting in their living room can look you up online and find out about your business, the products or services you offer and get to know a bit about you before they even leave their house to buy your product or service. When you buy advertising space, usually the more you buy, the more it costs. A ½ page ad in the phone book costs more than a ¼ page ad. Then they charge you extra for colours and so on.

When you have a website you get to leverage your advertising dollars. Now all you need to do is market your website address and drive traffic there. Once people get to your website, you have basically all the space you want and it doesn't cost extra! Now you can have pictures, audio, video, demonstrations, coupons, information, details, features, benefits, colours, logo, and anything else you can think of - at little or no extra cost! Far more than you can include directly into the various types of media you are currently utilizing.

So now you have a great "advertisement" - your website - but you are able to buy smaller, less expensive ads in the media. This can be very powerful to your advertising budget.

Having your own website name means you can have an email address at your-own-business-name.com (for example). It becomes part of your identity. It means you can have a company email address. Everyone needs an email address just like everyone needs a phone. Some people just prefer to use email over the phone and by not having one, you could be leaving those people unserved. Do not discount the value that a website - even a simple one - adds to your small business.

Jonathan Hook works with small business owners to help them use the power of the internet to grow and expand their business - even within local markets. If you are a small business owner, you can get more free information at http://www.themarketersmind.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathan_Hook
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Does-Your-Small-Business-Need-a-Website?&id=2885593

How to Save Thousands on Website Design

By V Wilson

If you are considering a website project or re-design, there are a few key things that you should consider, prior to contacting a website design company.

Conversely, if you have ever been through the web design process, you know how stressful and time consuming it can be. However, just by formulating a web strategy ahead of time can save you hours of time, headache, and thousands of dollars.

The best way to have a website that meets the objectives of your business model and remains within the budget is to create a realistic strategy and a plan. To help develop your plan, here are a few questions that you need to answer before pursuing your website design project.

1. YOU NEED A WEBSITE
Back in mid-1990s most businesses did not have or see the benefit and need of having a site on the web. Now today, if you are in business, having a web presence is an essential part of your business, customer service, sales, human resources and operations.

What was previously a brochure or printed sales materials for a business, is now represented on-line via the web.

Without question, websites are vitally important for providing information about your company, your products and/or services, your contact details such as email and physical store or office location. A website provides 24 hour operation, so your customers and potential customers have access to your business outside of normal business hours.

Today, websites also support brand image and awareness. Customers are becoming far more savvy and conduct thorough research prior to making purchasing decisions. Even more, potential business partners and future employees will also view your website, often prior to meeting you. Having a good, informative and accurate website could mean winning the client, getting a new business partner, or hiring your next employee.

2. DETERMINE THE TYPE OF WEBSITE YOU NEED
Websites may simply provide information or be more complex with e-commerce shopping functionality. Further, sites may even be designed to support interactive or community functions such as a blog, a message board or forum, or video content to enhance visitor participation.

No matter the additional features, the purpose of your website should always serve the needs of the visitors and customers you are hoping to attract. Before deciding on the extra "bells and whistles" features (Which often cost extra), make sure the features are appropriate for the visitor experience and interaction with your brand.

3. ESTABLISH A REALISTIC TIME FRAME AND BUDGET
The financial consideration is often the most difficult part of the process, as you may not be aware of the costs; However, it is important to establish a realistic budget and a reasonable time frame for high-quality web design and development.

Costs can be largely associated with the type or customization, features/functions, and time frame requested for a website. Consider the type of website needed, (Is it a brochure website or an on-line catalog featuring 5000 products with e-commerce capability), graphic design elements (Logo, Flash, custom images), level of complexity in programming (For example, Flash or interactive/user specific features often require specialized programming), and also the time required to complete the site.

Generally, depending on the complexity of the site, a reasonable time frame to expect for a standard custom Website, may be anywhere from 6 -12 weeks and absolutely longer if the site requires specialized programming.

As well, much of the time frame is affected by the nature of the site, required functionality, delivery of content, number of changes and revisions, amount of programming required, Q&A testing, and your level of participation and involvement in the process.

Furthermore, it is not suggested that you spend all of your marketing budget on the development of your site. On the other hand, many businesses try to cut costs by hiring a student, an unqualified employee or a friend to build their website - this is not recommended for the following reason:

Unless the person (student, employee, or friend) is a professional web designer, pursuing this option is not a good idea for your business image on the web. Most likely your site would be at a loss in visual appeal, reliability, stability, speed, ease of use, search engine-friendliness, technical functionality and ongoing expertise or support.

When it comes to website design and development, cost-cutting does not always equate to long-term savings or return on investment. In fact, cutting corners early-on could even cost you more money later to correct the inevitable issues that you will encounter by taking a what could be perceived as a short-cut solution.

The one thing to always remember is that you should always be realistic about your budget and the goals of what you are hoping achieve with your website. Consider what sort of return on investment you need, and attempt to set your budget accordingly. If you need to cut costs, always start with the 'bells and whistles' features that may not be necessary or essential to your target audience.

A professional web designer will provide more accurate quotes based on the information and details that you provide in your responses to the questions posed within this article. The more detailed the information, the more exact the quote.

4. MAKE YOUR SITE WORK WITH YOUR BUSINESS
Websites can often offer services to support and integrate with your existing business. For example, you might offer convenient on-line shopping, or generate email lists for special promotions, or provide access to account information (View statements, billing procedures, make payments).

As well, your website can increase the effectiveness of your marketing, product support, and sales by presenting your products/services with extensive information or catalogs, emailing information to opt-in recipients, and providing information about support or return policies.

It would be within your best interest to also set up an FAQ section on your website and encourage your visitors to read this area before contacting your office, rather than spending extensive amounts of time on the phone unnecessarily answering the most common questions.

5. IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE AND HOW THEY WILL GET TO YOUR SITE
Marketing your site is critical and absolutely necessary. It is important that you think about the marketing strategy BEFORE website development, as it will impact the process and the manner in which your site is built.

Who are you trying to reach and who is your ideal customer? For example, if my product is a high-end $10,000 sound system, my average customer will need to have a certain level of disposable income. More specifically, my average customer is probably not under the age of 25, as well most likely not female. However, my product would most likely appeal to professional males over the age of 35 interested in home entertainment. The more specific you can identify your target market, the more success you will have in marketing your site.

Another consideration is will search engine-driven traffic (Via Google - the most common) be the primary way in which you plan to attract visitors to the site? If so, your website will need to be designed and developed in search engine-friendly manner and your page content will need to be optimized with relevant keywords for search engines.

Appearing within search results organically (Un-paid search listings are known as "Organic"), requires that page titles, meta tags, keywords, and page content are all harmonious and represent the nature of your business (Titles, tags, and keywords should all correspond to your target audience).

When designing your site, it is important to include the proper structure as mentioned for indexing by search engines. Also, keep in mind that it may take anywhere from 3-6 months before you see your site listed within the organic search results.

6. UPDATING THE CONTENT ON YOUR SITE
Updating content on a regular basis on your site is important. Outdated information is useless and may reflect on your credibility and professionalism. However, regularly updated content contributes largely to your ranking in the search engines and indicates to your audience that you have a proactive interest as an informative source.

To reduce ongoing costs, consider having your developer include a Content Management System (CMS) for your site. A good CMS will allow to easily update the content on your site pages yourself, instead of paying your web developers an hourly rate to update your content (This will eventually become a more costly option). A good CMS will allow you to add or edit page copy, add or change images, and also create and/or delete site pages when needed.

7. CHOOSING A WEBSITE DESIGNER OR WEB DESIGN COMPANY
Choosing a website design company depends on the type of site you need to have developed and your budget.

The type of site you need largely depends on the features that you are hoping to have on your site (As previously mentioned within this article). For example, are you planning to sell products through your site (An e-commerce site), will you need to update or change your content on a regular basis, or do you need to capture visitor information and store in a database for emailing promotional material, do you need a logo, and do you need fancy graphics or Flash?

Website design should be a very customized process. Some designers offer templates and this will greatly reduce cost, however you should be aware that with a template site, your design is not exclusive and anyone else can purchase the same design (Including your competitor).

If you are interested in long-term presence, it is within your best interest of building your name and brand on-line, a custom built site is recommended. Your Website should stand apart from your competitors with a custom, unique design. Yes, it will cost more up-front, however just as any investment it will cost you less in the long-term.

Important considerations when selecting a website design company include:

Do they have an on-line portfolio?
Have they created sites for similar business clients (See portfolio)?
Are the designs custom or template?
Are they familiar with the latest technology?
Do they have a Project or an Account Manager for you to work with?
Can they provide ongoing website support for questions?
Do they provide any type of marketing for your site?
What other resources do they have (Copywriter, Marketer, or Photographer)?

It is best to find an established website design company with qualified staff, who can develop a plan according to your needs.

8. RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Lastly, it is important to recognize that your Website is an investment and despite what you may or may not have heard, it is not about getting rich quick.

Building a site, garnering traffic and converting them into paying and repeat customers takes time and money (Sometimes months or even years). When choosing a web designer, listen to their advice and technical expertise, but most important, consider them a member of your team and choose the company that you can growth with into the future success of your business.

Valerie Wilson is the CEO of VendorServe.com (A B2B Marketplace for IT Services), Get FREE, Competitive Quotes from Qualified Web, IT, and On-line Professionals! [http://www.vendorserve.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=V_Wilson
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Save-Thousands-on-Website-Design&id=1268675

15 Website Designing Tips

By Anu Pillai

Website designing does not just contain artistic designs which please the visitors eyes and keep them awestruck by the creative designs. A website should have certain basic standards that not only help the visitors but also the webmasters. The following list will help you understand what should be kept in mind while designing a user friendly website.

1. Design It For Beginners:

• A website is visited by all sorts of visitors.
• So design a website keeping in mind everyone and their ways of using a website.
• If you design your website for novice internet users , they are quite aware of how to browse through a website so you may restrict your user count to just a handful of people.
• But, if you design your website in such a way that even the beginners can benefit from it then your website traffic can include both beginners and novice users.

2. Clear Reading:

• The website should have a very attractive look, but at the same time, it should not prick your eyes if you look at it for a very long time.
• The background colors should be wisely chosen (avoid using very bright fluorescent colors).
• Match your background & font colors systematically.
• Use clearly readable font types and sizes. The font type should also gel with the theme of your website.
• In short the look should be pleasant but not dull.
• The vibrancy in a website look is appreciated only if it is not disturbing enough to divert your focus away from its contents.

3. Follow Uniform Format:

• Follow uniformity throughout your website.
• If your website displays its headings in font size 13 then use that font size for all the headings in a website.
• Use the same font size or color for all your text contents on your website, then stick to the same method throughout the website.

4. Loads Quickly:

• People on an average spend only 10 seconds per webpage. So if a website takes too long to load its contents completely, then you may run a risk of loosing visitors.
• Your website is not the only website on internet to give information about a particular thing and you will definitely agree with this fact after running a search for a thing in a search engine and come across millions of websites with similar contents.
• So avoid too much of graphic contents on every webpage which takes a long time to load.
• To avoid a visitor's annoyance, restrict the size of a webpage to 40-60K.

5. Easy To Navigate:

• Moving from one page to another should be easy in a website.
• The links like "Home", "Contact Us", "About Us", "Sign Up", "Sign In", "Account Information" etc. should be present in every webpage of a website.
• If you expect that everyone is going to use the back button on their browser to return to the previous page then you might be wrong, not all might be aware of the button's use and in some websites the programs in it disable the use of back buttons which might annoy the users as much as a pop-up window. So avoid such things.

6. Labeling of Hyperlinks:

• Always keep in mind that hyperlinks should be appropriately labeled.
• The visitor should know that by clicking over it should lead to a webpage that he wanted to go.
• If a content of a website has hyperlinked images then label the image saying that clicking over it might do so and so thing as not all of the website visitors might be aware of the hyperlinked images

7. Get Your Own Domain Name:

• Your website name should be quite easy to remember, so accordingly choose your own domain name.
• There are various websites which provide free website services where the name of your website becomes [http://www.yourwebsite.freewebsites.com] Now the domain name won't have as much as recall value as a website with the name http://www.yourwebsite.com.
• For more tips and advice for domain name registering click here.

8. Use "Click here" signs more than underlined hyperlinks:

• "Click here" sign enables the visitors to understand that the text is hyperlinked and clickable
• A new visitor might not understand that a particular underlined text is hyperlinked and clickable.
• Make the hyperlinks as clear as possible to your visitors.

9. Add "Contact Us" link on each webpage:

• The "Contact Us" information should be very conspicuous and easy to reach out for.
• It should be present on every webpage.
• This assures the visitors that the website is transparent and trustworthy and its owner could be contacted whenever required.

10. Do Not Make Every Keyword Bold: Whenever you want to attract a visitor's attention to a particular word, make it bold or change it font size or font type or font colour but then the frequency of this technique should be limited and care should be taken that you don't make most of the words in your text content bold and cause the visitor to overlook the actual important words. Sometimes too many intermittent bold words may also annoy the visitors.

11. Big websites should have a search feature: If you own a very big website, then you definitely need to install a search feature in it, as you would not like your visitors to struggle for a small piece of information on your website which they could easily locate by a search engine feature embedded in your website.

12. Website should be useful for visitors:

• A website should be designed in such a way that it benefits the visitors.
• If possible provisions should be made on your website to write reviews about your website and this could enable you to understand where your fault lies, what the user wants and what you could provide.
• At least gather reviews from trustworthy friends about your website and ask them to suggest improvements.
• All this will lead to a user friendly website highly beneficial to the visitors.

13. Good Grammar Usage: Try using good grammar in your text content wherever possible. This will definitely leave a good impression on the visitors, but, keep in mind not to be too verbose or else you might just scare away your visitors.

14. Point wise representation:

• Point wise representation of views is preferred to paragraph representation. It makes your points clearly understood and readers don't find it too lengthy, time consuming or boring.
• But, if content demands paragraph representation then go for it.
• Also do not crowd your contents with too much of bullets and numberings and make it difficult to understand what you wanted to say.

15. No crowding of ads on a webpage:

• Placing ads wisely is definitely important, but that doesn't mean you crowd your webpage with too many ads from all the possible internet advertising companies.
• These ads might then start overshadowing your contents and finally decrease the importance of your website.
• So wisely place limited handpicked ads which will ensure you maximum revenue.

With the application of the above information, a website will not only be a creative piece of work but also a useful internet tool.

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A Website Checklist

By Jane McLain

If you’ve just finished building your new website (or revamping your old one), how can you be sure it’s "ready for prime time"? Or maybe your site’s been around for awhile and you think it may be due for a makeover. Because Web technologies, techniques and standards change so rapidly, even a website that seems "cutting edge" when it’s built can look obsolete a year later. Or maybe you started out with a barebones website and finally have the time and/or money to take it to the next level. If you’d to give your website the once over, here are ten aspects you should consider:

Compatibility: Will your website display correctly for most people regardless of their computer hardware, operating system, browser and monitor resolution? Make sure your site renders properly for as many users as possible. If any features of your website require certain browser plug-ins, provide a download link. Remember that not everyone will have Javascript enabled and that graphics can be turned off by the user; make sure your site will still work without them.

Completeness: None of your website should be "Under Construction". Websites tend to evolve over time and are never truly "finished", but that's no reason for your website look like a construction zone. If you must include pages that aren't completed, at least put some informative content on the page to motivate people to check back later. Otherwise leave out the section altogether until it’s ready for prime time.

Content: Do you need to update the text on your site? Have you added services, expanded your product line, targeted new markets, or changed your business strategy? Is your website’s description of your company current and accurate, including your contact information? Could the content be written more clearly, convincingly, or succinctly? Could your website be more informative, helpful, interesting or relevant? Would customer testimonials or an FAQ section strengthen your sales message? Check all of your site content for incorrect grammar, spelling errors and typos.

Graphics: Do your graphics contribute to or detract from your website? A website with no graphics would be uninteresting, but a site with too many graphics, animations, and different fonts is overwhelming and distracts from your sales message. The trick is to find the right balance. Use animations sparingly, especially those that "loop" (play over and over). They can easily become annoying and distract from your sales message. Remember that banner ads count as graphics, too, and one or two per page is plenty.

Interactivity: You might consider making your site interactive by adding a mailing list, message board, poll, ezine or guest book. A contest or trivia quiz can attract visitors and bring them back more often. Rotating content like a joke, quote, or tip of the day keeps your website interesting. Don't feel obliged to add all the latest bells and whistles just because you can, but ask yourself whether some advanced features might give your website the edge. If you don't want to provide the content yourself, check into content available from syndicators (just keep it relevant to your target market and your other site content).

Links: Are all the links on your website working? First make sure any links between pages on your site are directing site visitors to the correct page. Check all of your links to other websites, too; the webmaster may have renamed the page or removed it altogether, and those dead links will make your site look unprofessional and frustrate your site visitors. If you’ve removed some of the pages from your own site, set up a custom 404 page that redirects your visitors to your home page (or a search page) when they try to access a page that no longer exists.

Speed: Does your site load quickly enough in the viewer's browser? The "Eight Second Rule" is a good rule of thumb, meaning no site visitor should have to wait longer than eight seconds to view the opening page of your website. After eight seconds have elapsed, chances are good the viewer will give up and go elsewhere. If you have graphics or animations that take awhile to download, provide some engaging content to hold their interest while they wait. Adding graphic elements always comes at a cost in terms of slower loading times, so only include graphics if they really contribute to visual impact of your website and strengthen your sales message.

Navigation: Is it easy to find information on your site? The opening page should tell visitors, at a glance, who you are, what you do, and how to find what they’re looking for. From there your visitors should be able to follow a logical path to learn more about various aspects of your business. If you list products or services on your site, organize them in a logical way. If you decide to use graphic icons instead of text, make sure their meaning is obvious. Make it easy for your site visitors to find what they came for.

Search engine optimization: Is your website optimized to rank for important keywords in the most popular search engines? Double check your page titles and meta tag keywords and descriptions to make sure they are accurate and descriptive. Did you work your keywords into the actual page content as well (including variations)? Is your website focused on a specific theme, and do you have plenty of informative content related to that theme? Is your website spider-friendly (meaning search engine spiders can access every page and read the most important content from the source code)?

Style: Is your website’s style consistent with your business goals? Ask yourself what you want your business image to be, and make sure your website enhances that image. Is your company’s style polished? Friendly? Trendy? High tech? The look and feel of your site should reflect that style. Does your website still compare favorably with those of your competitors? Your website should reflect favorably on your business and help you to build your corporate image. If yours doesn’t, maybe it’s due for a makeover.

Usability: Usability refers to how easily site visitors can use your site. The best measure of usability is feedback from users -the people who visit and try to navigate the site. If you have received complaints, comments, questions, or suggestions from site visitors, change your site accordingly. Of course, dissatisfied customers won’t always let you know. That’s why you should also analyze your Web logs to see whether visitors quickly abandon certain pages or don't visit some of your pages at all. Think in terms of building pathways through your site that visitors can follow. A well-designed website leads visitors deeper into the site without frustrating or confusing them and doesn't lose them along the way.

Jane McLain is a Web developer and SEO specialist and the webmaster of EClaunchsite.com, an online resource center for netrepreneurs with tools and information to help you plan, build, launch and grow your e-business.

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Tips For Choosing The Right Freelancer

By Sean James

The decision to choose a freelance web developer, as oppose to a web development company, often arise from a client’s budget constraints. The idea of soliciting the services of a "company" can be very intimidating to someone on a tight budget since web development companies are known to be much more expensive. This being the case, anyone in need of web site design and development can have it done without hurting their pockets. However, the most important thing that people often overlook is that all freelancers are not created equal.

Getting a great deal on web development services is not the same as getting a great deal on tangible goods for sale. When searching for a freelancer to work on a web site, the client will often get seduced by numerous offerings of very low prices. Concerns about the quality of the finished project is overshadowed by the excitement of getting a great deal. Such an oversight will often leave the client feeling disappointed in the end. There are many different types of freelancers out there and all with varying levels of skill and experience. Choosing the right one requires a keen sense of knowing what to look for and what questions to ask.

When searching for a freelancer, a client should only consider those who are able to provide an online portfolio of their work. If a freelancer cannot direct you to a personal website to view their body of work, but instead emails you a few url’s of past projects, that is a sign that they might be new to web site development. Stay clear of this type of freelancer. The quality of work in an online portfolio should reflect the client's taste and represent examples of the direction the client would like their new web site to take. A portfolio should also contain a sizable collection of quality web site projects. The number of projects displayed as well as the nature of the websites within a portfolio collection should give an indication of how long a freelancer has been in business as well as the level of their experience.

If after viewing a freelancer’s portfolio, and the quality of the work seems to meet expectations, the next thing to do would be to inquire about their work process and pricing. Here is where the decision to choose a particular freelancer is made. The client will always try to get a quote from more than one freelancer in an attempt to get a reasonable quote that is compatible with their budget. Many clients will make the mistake of deciding on a freelancer solely because the freelancer offered the lowest rate and not because of the freelancer’s quality of work. It’s always a good idea to get as many quotes as possible. This will give a general idea of how much the intended web project will cost and help the client determine how much they would be willing to spend for a professionally executed web site.

The following are descriptions of some of the different types of freelancers that are competing for business in the freelance market:

The Newbie Freelancers:

Design Ability: low

Technical Ability: low

Experience: low

Anyone with access to a computer, internet service and a rudimentary understanding of web page creation can decide to start offering freelance web design services. All that is required is a very inexpensive purchase of an HTML editor software and you are ready to start soliciting clients. This group may range from the typical high schooler working out of their bedroom, the college student, or just someone who decided to start dabbling in web design while working a regular day job that is unrelated to the web industry. Because of their inexperience and limited knowledge of web technologies, your precious web project ends up becoming a learning experience for these freelancers. The risk of not receiving timely customer service and not having your web site completed on time becomes very high. Consequently the finished product will most likely convey an amateur-like workmanship. These freelancers will offer the lowest prices out there since they are learning on the job while trying to get there feet wet in the freelance pool.

The Overly Artistic Freelancers:

Design Ability: medium - high

Technical Ability: low

Experience: low - medium

You will most likely receive a decent, to very attractive, looking website from these type of freelancers mostly in part because they tend to be very visually artistic. This group has the ability to produce attractive web sites, but the inability to produce one that is functionally efficient. Their artistic skills far out weight their technical skills. The end product often results in a web site that takes too long to load in a web browser due to the inefficient use of very large or numerous images. These web sites also do not do well in search engines such as Google or Yahoo because the freelancer will ignore the underlying code to the web page while paying most, if not all, attention to the way the site looks. Artistic freelancers are also hardcore advocates of building an entire website using Flash. Flash allow designers the freedom to do almost anything artistically as related to a web site. If executed properly, a very visually appealing, graphics heavy website can load very quickly without delay within a web browser. With their lack of technical know how, the overly artistic freelancer will focus more on getting the web site to look great and ignore the technical aspects of optimizing the flash web site to load very quickly.

The Techie Freelancers:

Design Ability: low

Technical Ability: medium - high

Experience: medium - high

This group is often very technically savvy and has the ability to produce a fully functioning and technically efficient web site. Where they fall short is in the visual design department. Clients looking to build a visually appealing web site using the services of such freelancers will most often end up being disappointed. These freelancers are known to be web programmers and developers who are trying their hands at designing as well. This attempt often results in a horrible visual experience for the web site visitor. Even though the finished product may be a solid, functioning web site, the look of the web site might leave visitors with the impression that it was created by an amateur.

The Well-Rounded Freelancers:

Design Ability: medium - high

Technical Ability: medium - high

Experience: medium - high

A client will usually be satisfied with the work produced from this group of freelancers. Because of their level of experience in the field and rare ability to be both artistically as well as technically savvy, the workmanship of their work is usually top notch. Among the vast population of web freelancers, the well-rounded freelancers are the minority. The prices from this group might be a little higher than a rookie freelancer, but the client will be able to have confidence that the final product will most likely be quality, professional work.

Sean James is a Creative Director - Web Developer in the Orlando, FL, area.
To view his body of work go to http://www.seanjamesinteractive.com

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