Simple Website Design for High Rankings : A Legiti

Simple Website Design for High Rankings : A Legitimate Home Business Idea

by: Alexandra DeBoer

I began my adventure as an at home web designer almost three years ago, and today feel very pleased with the outcome. I started out wanting a website created for my home craft business, and had my husband Ben, a network administrator, show me some simple HTML. I gradually fell in love with the detailed world of web design, creating content, and figuring out what the search engines looked for in a high ranking web site.

Today, I have created several successful websites, many high ranking pages, written several articles, been interviewed, paid for my work, and taught many people how to create high ranking websites. I began without any formal training, and do believe that this field is wide open for anyone truly passionate about learning. It is a wonderful, and legitimate home business opportunity for anyone who has the desire to learn.

I really want to get the word out that a series of small, simple steps can successfully optimize a website, and that ANYONE can learn how to do this, and even charge others a good rate to do so!

I would recommend that anyone interested in this career should be:

Entrepreneurial in nature

Patient

Computer friendly and willing to learn some basic HTML

A good writer

A person who enjoys teaching others and communicating

The first step would be to create some websites in the computer for yourself, and practice, practice, practice. I would also recommend subscribing to some free web design newsletters in order to really keep up with what is going on with search engine and programming trends. Once you feel confident in your ability to design even a simple optimized website in a few hours, get a business license and start hitting the streets in your area. Talk to small business owners and find out which ones don’t have a website. Explain to them why they do need one, what your abilities are, and how much it will cost.

Don’t lie about your limitations or feel bad about charging an hourly rate for your work. Remember that a website you design will usually be less money than a large firm would charge, and that you probably know far more about web design than that business owner does! It may not hurt to locate a graphic designer who would like to do the artwork for the website, as search engine optimized websites are mostly about text, but look nice with some small business logos that match the ขthemeข of the businesses’ other advertising.

About The Author

Copyright 2005 by Alexandra DeBoer. For more information about the author or a career in web design, please visit her website at: www.webdesignfromhome.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 09

by Alexandra DeBoer

Why is search engine optimisation expensive?

Why is search engine optimisation expensive?

by: Rkd Unger

(Edited by Olya Crawley)

Many of our customers (http://www.internetmarketingaustralia.com) find search engine optimisation (SEO) services quite expensive. From the clientกs point of view the results are intangible and the process is lengthy. Therefore, the clients are often reluctant to commit to the additional expense.

Typically, a call for SEO comes after the website is already up and running. The quoted price depends on the clientกs needs, industry, positioning, etc. The price varies a lot, yet the cost of optimisation is comparable to the cost of Web design.

Is it expensive? You bet!

During the negotiations with the Web designers the client gets an expectation of having a beautiful and functional site developed for an X amount of dollars. The client is also getting a free hosting, free search engines submissions and other freebies. That is why the price looks reasonable.

Only at some later stage the client realises that there is not enough traffic (and potential buyers) coming through the website. Consultations with the Internet marketing gurus reveal that in addition to the extra cost there is a need to restructure the content copy. Why was it not done during the Web design phase?

The answer is simple. Skill sets of Web designers, graphic designers, programmers and Internet marketing people are different. Each of the specialists focuses on a different aspect of the Web site. Thus, when starting the search engine optimisation, we come across design obstacles that take time the clientกs money to overcome.

Consider this: we discovered that the client’s home page was overloaded with JScript and had only two sentences of actual readable text. To rectify the situation,we suggested and created new home page content (at least 250 words). We also asked the web designers to move the script out into a separate file.

The client had to pay for all the above services plus testing!

Wouldn’t it be smarter (read: cheaper for the client) to consider SEO issues during the Web design phase, rather than after?

Customers would be happier, the websites would perform better…

Will the Web design firms have enough courage to approach SEO at the initial stage?

We hope they will….

(From www.internetmarketingaustralia.com)

About The Author

Rkd Unger, Internet marketing consultant, founder of www.internetmarketingaustralia.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 27, 2004

by Rkd Unger

The Psychology of Color in Web Design

The Psychology of Color in Web Design

by: Lala C. Ballatan

Persons engaged in website design, here’s a scoop for you! Would you just like to know that by understanding the basics of cognitive psychology around color and patterns, we could further improve our Web design!

Designing a Web site does not only concentrate on making web pages of a certain site interesting and impressive. This skill and talent must also be used to ensure the userfriendliness of a certain site and must strive to reach the widest range of users possible.

So what’s this about psychology? It simply implies that by understanding the capabilities of the human eye, we can produce Website designs that are more userfriendly. Being userfriendly means that our website design will not only cater for normal sighted Internet users but also to those partially sighted, blind or estimated 810% of men with redgreen colour blindness.

If you don’t know anything about vision and colorblindness and their reaction to various designs, then you must start learning now! กNormalก vision is subject to huge variances. Even the size of elements will affect an individual userกs perception of colour. The colours and the intensity of shades you choose to use in your Website design will be discerned differently by every individual who visits your Website.

Inconsistencies in color patterns are affected by changes in the ambient lighting levels. It’s like changes in your hair color depending on the amount of lighting it was exposed. Some people even see blue colors in some objects like clothing wherein others do not perceive. These persons just happen to have more blue sensitive cones (photosensitive cells which convert light energy into nerve impulses) in their retina. They seem to view the world with กbluetinted spectaclesก. As a web desinger, you have to be aware that these conditions are the reasons why your perception of your Web design may be different to other people and certainly are not the same with everyone elseกs.

The key aspect to contemplate to achieve accessibility, aside from impaired vision, is by being aware that your design might be manipulated by assistive technology. Screen readers or magnifiers are examples of this. They are software the physically disabled employ to enhance their experience of user interfaces. Some Web users can only read a certain combination such as yellow text on a black background, which allows no room for greyscale.

In order to have good legibility for users with certain visual difficulties and impairments, strong contrast can be a main ingredient in your design. Test the effectivity of this by manipulating screenshots of your design in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Try converting the image to greyscale then make the screenshot monochrome to see how it might be viewed using the most extreme visual manipulation do this by increasing the contrast level to +100. This is a particularly useful approximation of difficulties colour blind users may experience in discerning one colour or shade from another.

You can start adjusting your color application now and keep in mind that your designs will not be considered impressive if few people could discern them. 30

About The Author

Lala C. Ballatan is a 26 yearold Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a nongovernment organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.

Book reading has always been her greatest passion mysteries, horrors, psychothrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.

Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom – to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns imagined and observed, to bear witness.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 23

by Lala C. Ballatan

Attention Grabbing Web Design Will Kill Your Sale!

Attention Grabbing Web Design Will Kill Your Sale!

by: Per Strandberg

In the ofline marketing world it is all about trying to get the attention of the potential consumer to a commercial message.

The primary goal is to get noticed by the public.

It doesn’t matter if it is for radio, TV, magazines, newspapers or posters.

It all comes down to getting noticed.

On the Web this doesn’t work!

The reason for this is that on the web, the net surfer is actively searching and looking for information from this gigantic data repository and database that we call the Internet.

They are scanning and reading text on web sites and they are mostly blind to graphics and pictures.

In the ofline world the potential target is mostly passive and experience ads in a state of relaxation among other stimulations. Here you must scream out your message to market your product or service.

Offline people are passive!

On the Web people are active!

What does this mean for your web site?

For one thing, when anyone visits your web site, you at that moment already have their full attention. So, there is no need to get visual attention to attract your visitors.

They are on your site, already!

But, you normally have their full attention only until they have decided if your site is what they are looking for or not.

If your site is not what they are looking for or they don’t understand that your site is what they are looking for they quickly leave your site, never to return.

The time between they arrive at your site and decide to stay or leave is very short.

Normally around 10 seconds!

If you use flash or large graphics, which take to long to load, most people leave without figuring out what your site is about. The attention span on the Net is short!

The web surfers don’t look at graphic so much as they are reading the information you present.

When they arrive you need to keep their attention and inform them about what your site is all about and describe its benefits.

You need to keep their attention, but not by an attention grabbing web design!

Instead, use attention grabbing text!

The most important attention grabbing text is the headline!

The headline will break it or make it!

Does this mean that the web design can look sloppy or amateurish?

No!

It just means that the design of a site should not be made with extensive graphics or flash presentation. This will just confuse and take to long time to download.

If you make a clean and easy navigational web site you are much better off!

Yet, what one see on the Internet is to often sites with advanced web design that to often leave you asking what its all about and what its creators are thinking!

If website owners and webmasters concentrated much more of their effort on text information and less on design they would see much better response from their potential customers.

There is no need to hire a web designer and pay them several 1000 of dollars to make a site attractive and to make it commercially viable.

In most cases this is contraproductive.

The web designer often will kill your sale by creating attention grabbing web design.

Instead, put your effort on the text information on your site!

About The Author

Per Strandberg is a software designer and web site maker! He has a web site which offer data backup information at http://www.databackupandstorage.com. Visit his site with web traffic generating tips at http://www.catchtraffic.com

This article was posted on February 09, 2004

by Per Strandberg

How To Save Money on a Website

How To Save Money on a Website

by: Talita Kindermann

Know what you want

Make sure you know why you want a website and what you want your website to do for you.

Write down some short term and long term goals. Establishing an Internet presence for your business is an important step – make sure you do it right! You need to have a clear vision before you start.

Surf the internet

Compile a list of websites that appeal to you in aspects of: colour scheme, content, layout and other related design properties. This will help your web designer factor in your personal tastes and preferences into the design process and produce a website you’re proud of!

Plan the content of your website

Draw a hierarchical tree menu structure (site map) so that you can see how everything will fit in and write down the names of your pages. You know your company better than your web designer! Write the content for your website – even if it is just in bullet points, a skilled copywriter can always step in from there. Keep in mind you need to write for your website visitors. As always, content is king.

Take some pictures for your website

Snapshots of staff, products, or your work environment improve the visual appeal of your website and familiarize your customers and potential customers with your business. You can save a lot of money by providing your website designer with photos you have taken yourself, rather then having them source relevant stock photography online.

Find a competent web designer

Make sure you choose carefully. Find a web design company that you feel comfortable and confident with in terms of credibility, portfolio, price and overall professionalism.

Interested in obtaining another independent quote on your website project? Please contact our web design team with your requirements and we will get back to you within 48 hours. Our engagement model includes a comprehensive preproject checklist & guide to help you further establish your website objectives.

About The Author

Talita operates a family web development firm based in sunny Brisbane, Australia. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and expertise in web design, ecommerce, email marketing and search engine optimisation. Visit her business website, Kintek: http://www.kintek.com.au/

This article was posted on April 24

by Talita Kindermann

Learn The Truth About Your Web Design Company By I

Learn The Truth About Your Web Design Company By Its Portfolio

by: Julia Ramyalg

When you start building your online business and search for a web design company that will implement all your needs for the web site you must understand that it is very serious step because you are entrusting your business along with its reputation and future.

That’s why it’s very important to make the right choice.

There are several factors that must define your choice, and one of them is portfolio of previous web design works the company has done. It can tell you more than all words and promises, just be attentive and try to analyze. I will tell you what you must pay attention to.

1) Presence of portfolio

Yes, it seems to be obvious that web design company must have own web site with portfolio of previous works. But don’t be astonished too much when you see one without it. There can be various reasons for this but I wouldn’t recommend you to tempt fate. Portfolio is like a ขfaceข and it’s pride of web design company, it must be full, substantial, and routinely updated…and IT MUST BE!

2) Total number of works

This can tell you much however there is no standard number that will guarantee you are going to deal with web design guru. Yes, 50 successfully finished projects is better than 5, but their quality is also important. Compare the number with period of time during which the company operates in the market and calculate average number of projects per year, month, or week. Remember that average web site design takes 24 weeks to be finished.

What this information can give you? Firstly, you can see that the company has got enough expertise. Then this shows that it has stable flow of works, adjusted schedule of development process, and enough staff to perform it, so if you commit your web site design to the company you can be sure that the work won’t be for them like a bolt from the blue or wellpaid but not feasible overloading.

3) Type of works

Look attentively at each work in the portfolio. How many projects are similar to the one you need by type of site, technology used, industry, and look and feel? At least 23? Good! More than 5? Excellent!! None? There can be a reason for this – owner didn’t want to make it published, or web site is no more live – so if all other works show professionalism and expertise, you should ask the company if they have ever done the task you need.

If you need any particular technology to be used for your web site implementation it’s more than necessary to see examples how the web design company worked with it.

However sometimes it happens if the technology is not common used and not very popular that the web design company hasn’t had chance to work with it for commercial purpose but it might be used for internal projects development, so you will loose nothing if ask the company to show you some examples if they exist.

If you need a web site for exact business, for example dating site or real estate site, it’s also better to view such previous works in the portfolio because there are can be specific features and it’s better to make sure that the web design company is experienced with them. Also some web design companies make demo packages that also can show you the abilities and experience.

4) Quality of works

Learn carefully each live site (or the ones which are similar to the site you need). How long does it take to load the site home page? A few seconds? Great, the web designer knows how to optimize images. A few minutes? It’s normal if this is a Flash site because usually the whole site is loaded at one time, not only the home page; or it’s a Flash intro which goes ahead entering the site and also can load longer because of movie and sound. But if a simple HTML web site loads more than 23 minutes and you can’t see all images or they are shown partially, you must be watchful. Check another HTML sites from the portfolio – if they are also loading for ages, it’s better to search for another web design company because this one is not professional.

All of the aforesaid is correct only if bandwidth of your Internet connection is normal and usually you don’t have problems with loading web sites.

Test the site for userfriendly navigation, pay attention to colors combination, and estimate general impression from the site all this must reflect professional work. But sometimes a web design company is forced to design a site strictly according to the customer’s wishes, so if the customer lacks for good taste the site also looks tasteless. There can be one or two such sites in the portfolio, but not all!

5) Happy owners

Web design business is a highly competitive area and as in any business there are honest and dishonest players. Sometimes it happens that you see the same site in portfolio of two different web design companies and it’s difficult to find the truth to which of them the work really belongs. Some quirky companies place cheap templates in their portfolio with fake owners’ contact info.

That’s why it’s very important to know real references of real owners of the web sites the web design company has made. Ideally this info must be accessible on the web design company site under Portfolio, Testimonials, or Clients sections. Try to contact ALL of the persons listed there and compare their opinions. You may get to know some interesting facts.

6) Own site of web design company

And finally compare the own site of the web design company to web sites presented in its portfolio. Are they similar by quality, technology used, and overall feeling? If the works from the portfolio look much poorer than the own site this can mean that the own site was ordered from another web design company, more professional. Yes, it happens sometimes in web design business that startup amateur company commits its web site design to ขolderข professionals. In such case you better to continue searching for another web design company.

So these 6 rules can help you to make the right choice. Don’t be afraid to spend longer time for search and analysis, finally you will only benefit by it getting perfect web site that will give new prospects to your business and make it more successful.

About The Author

Julia Ramyalg

http://www.itinventors.com/

ITInventors is professional offshore web design company that offers affordable custom web site design at rate $10/hr. Services we offer: Corporate web site design, Ecommerce web site design, Content Management Software integration into existing web sites, Real estate web site design.

We are always ready to help you become owner of a great web site for affordable price.

You can view portfolio and references at http://www.itinventors.com/portfolio.php

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 08

by Julia Ramyalg

Earn On Offshore Web Design and Development

Earn On Offshore Web Design and Development

by: Julia Ramyalg

If you have some experience in web site design and want to make good money you can try acting as IToutsourcing partner. Learn more what you should know and how to start.

Why offshore web design and development

Offshore web site design and development help to keep prices at least 35 times less, for example, average hourly rate of web development services in USA is $3575; in UK $2550, in Ukraine $520.

How it works?

Typical plan:

You find a client who needs a web site, ask his/her requirements for the project and send to your offshore partner company.

The partner makes a proposal and gives you the project estimation basing on his hourly rate, for example, $10.

You mark up the rate $10/hour as high as you wish (and can taking into consideration competition in your region, level of demand for web design services, and other marketing factors), for example to $30/hour, and sends the proposal to the client. So if the web design project is estimated on 50 manhours of work, you charge the customer $1500, from which $500 you pay to your offshore partner company, and $1000 is your profit.

The partner company works on the project and delivers it to you along with copyright for the work.

You deliver the site to the customer.

Result you have a satisfied client and good profit from the marked up price.

How to start?

The first and most important step is to analyze market in your region and decide if it’s worth to start this business.

If you already have your own web design company it is easier for you because you already know situation in the market, gain certain reputation, have clients list, etc.

But don’t be afraid if you are new to web design business. Believe in yourself and work hard and finally you will be rewarded for all your efforts.

As in any type of business, starting the one in web design area, you must ask yourself general marketing questions:

Who will be your customers?

Why they will order the web design services exactly form you?

Where and how they will get to know about you?

Without having clear answers to these questions you shouldn’t try to start anything.

The second step is to find trustful and reliable partner – offshore web design company – that will work as ขdevelopment centerข for your business. This company must have good experience in web design and development area, good reputation, top level of customer care and communication. There are many resources in the Internet where you can find necessary information – search engines, web design directories, outsourcing portals.

For example, you can try searching in search engines for appropriate key phrases ขoffshore web designข, ขoffshore web site designข, ขoffshore web developmentข and analyze sites of your potential partners.

Also here are several sites where you can find lists of offshore web design companies sorted by country.

http://webdesigners.bluegeckonetwork.com/

http://www.theoutsourceguide.com/

http://www.1234findwebdesigners.org/

How to choose the right offshore web design partner company?

There are 2 main factors that determine your choice – cost and quality of web design work.

Cost

Basing on the average web design prices in your local market and your competitive abilities you set prices that you will charge to your customers. There are several methods of web design price calculation, most used are flat price for fixed web site packages, and price based on manhour rate. Most web design companies operate with both and choose one depending on each project type and requirements.

Then you decide which profit you want to have and narrow down your search choosing companies with appropriate price range.

Quality

Consider the company reputation, portfolio of previous works, testimonials of previous customers, level of communication. Pay attention to payment policy and method, conditions of ready projects delivery, warranties, postdevelopment support and maintenance.

If all details are agreed you may start partnership. Sometimes the first project is quite simple to test abilities of both parties and if everything is going well the partnership will bring mutual benefits.

About The Author

Julia Ramyalg

Marketing Director

http://www.itinventors.com

ITInventors professional offshore web site design company.

We are located in Ukraine and due to local economy we can offer you affordable rate $10/hour for custom web site design and web development services. Itกs at least twice less than average Western European rates and more than 3 times less than USA rates.

We have developed more than 130 projects for dozens of satisfied customers, established strong relations with partners from USA and UK.

Services we offer: Custom web site design, Ecommerce web site design, Content Management Software integration into existing web sites, Real estate web site design, Flash sites design, Logo design, SEO. Visit our site http://www.itinventors.com for more details.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 20

by Julia Ramyalg

Travel Your Way To More Traffic

Travel Your Way To More Traffic

by: Ken Mowery

I am not a professional photographer nor am I in the travel business. However, I stay very busy these days taking scenic photographs and featuring them on my web site because my ขnot soข professional travel photos are bringing serious traffic to my web pages.

I consider myself a serious hobbyist when it comes to photography. It’s a hobby because so far no one is willing to pay for any of my pictures. I know it’s a serious hobby because I am never totally honest with my wife when she wants to know just how much I spend on photography. Over the years I have been privileged to see and shoot a few of the spectacularly scenic locations that exist in the U.S.

When I started designing web pages I was constantly on the search for fresh images. One afternoon my search for a waterfall took me into the basement of my home where my wife had stored dozens of shoeboxes filled with hundreds of ordinary vacation snapshots. I found the perfect scene for my project among the many photographs I had taken of Niagara Falls.

I scanned several of the Niagara pictures into my computer and tweaked them slightly with an image editor. I was very pleased with the results and decided to post the images on my personal website. I made a mistake when I typed the words and the file ended up as ขNiagraFallsข. I didn’t think that much about it because I only planned to publicize the Niagara Falls pages to a few friends and relatives so they could enjoy the pictures also.

A few weeks later I was checking the stats for my website and noticed that a number of guests had surfed in through search engines. To my surprise 30% of my visitors had come through a search for ขniagrafallsข. I went to one of the major search engines and keyed in that phrase and was amazed to see that my site was in the top ten returns.

I decided to see if other scenic hotspots might become ขvirtualข destinations of choice. I went through the same process with photos I had taken at Garden of the Gods State Park in Colorado Springs Colorado as well as a few other Colorado locations. I was pleased that ขgardenofthegodsข became another key search phrase that brings people to my site.

In the past I used my personal web pages to promote my web design and hosting business. Unfortunately, web design and hosting is not that relevant to my guests who come because of scenic interests. After some measure of trial and error I discovered that ขentertainmentข products market very well to the scenic seekers that visit my site.

I began a banner rotation on my photographic pages that link out to various entertainment sites which I affiliate with. So far the results have been very encouraging. In a future article I hope to explain what I discovered about keyword searches in the entertainment sector.

Let me summarize with these simple instructions. Get those vacation photographs out and upload them to your website. Build a separate page for each exotic location that you have been to. Be sure to enter the name of the place in your page title and in the keywords and description metatags. Set up a relevant banner rotation program and enjoy the traffic of virtual travel.

About The Author

Ken Moweryกs articles have been published in a number of magazines. He also writes a monthly column for the Greeley Tribune. He has been involved in web design and promotion for 8 years.

[email protected]

This article was posted on October 29, 2003

by Ken Mowery

About Your Web Design? Panic No More!

About Your Web Design? Panic No More!

by: Maricon Williams

The Net is bombarded with different kinds of websites. When you visit from one website to another, you can’t help but compare. In some instances, you do not even have time to compare, involuntarily, you are clicking away from the site. If you wondered what was lacking in those sites that you disregarded, or what was common with those sites you wellliked, well the answer will be just as easy as clicking away. It’s the web design. It catches the initial attention. If it is successful in doing so, then the visitor can prolong the visit. If it doesn’t, in a matter of 5 seconds your prospective client will easily turn away from you.

The key element in achieving a ‘marketable’ website is planning. Studying what is essential and applying it is indispensable. Working with a power team composed of a skilled web designer and writer is a good initial step. During the planning stage tell them what you envision your website to be then they will advise you on how you as a team will accomplish it. In connection with design, layout, color, logo and the design per se should be taken into consideration. It must complement to the personality of the company or business. Same with the design, the content’s pictures, text and information must be needed by the design and vice versa. Bear in mind that these elements must work as a team. They must not drag the other element down because it also entails the downfall of the whole.

For a web design to be amazing it has to be eyecatching, functional and practical. Flashy websites are useless if they don’t have the information that the visitors want. Visitors will also be easily bored by lousy content. Another instance is when pictures, graphics, and flashy texts are put altogether in a page which results to an overwhelming eyesore! To be guided, the website must exude total equilibrium, so to speak. A balance between all its elements, that way, no overlapping and no lacking will exist and the full advantage will fall to all parties involved.

As a web principle, web sites are intended to be read, if not the message won’t get through. Another, we should maintain the website’s attractive, neat and engrossing environment but it doesn’t mean to say that it should be boring! There are many tools available to create flashing and twirling effects. Whistles and bells are also favorable options. However, overdoing it makes it hard for the visitors to read and to follow. Refinement and sensibility as well as simplicity are still the best standards of web design!

About The Author

Maricon Williams

I love reading. Give me a book and Iกll finish it in one sitting. Reading is the chance to be transported to a different world and so is writing. Iกm more enthusiastic about writing however, since you can relay your ideas to someone else. I can only imagine that feeling when I hear a complete stranger talking about my ideas which read on an article somewhere. To relay my message to as many people is the same as touching people with music. Only mineกs less harmonic. I try to make up for it with the color I bring with words. And most of the time, it’s more than enough.

For additional information about 4 color printing, visit http://www.4colorprintingservices.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 14

by Maricon Williams

Choosing the Right Web Designer

Choosing the Right Web Designer

by: Andy Quick

Introduction

Creating your web site can be a tricky process. Choosing the best web design company for your site is extremely important. Unless you run a webbased business, you probably do not have web design experience within your company. Building your web site will take time and a little homework!

To create a web site for your business, follow these 4 simple steps:

Establish your goals

Determine your budget

Pick a web design company

Pick a web hosting company

Establish Your Goals

Before you begin looking for company to help you design and build your web site, take the time to understand the goals of your web site. This will be extremely important to help set expectations with the web design company you choose.

In order to set your web site goals, ask yourself the following questions:

Why do you want a web site?

Are you selling something?

Do you have a catalog of products that changes on a regular basis?

Who is your target market?

Do you already have a brand?

What is your industry?

Who are your competitors?

Do they already have web sites? If so, what do they look like?

If you’re selling something, will you accept credit cards over the internet?

How soon do you want your web site?

What happens if you never create a web site for your business?

Take the time to answer each of the above questions and if you have time, write the answers down on a sheet of paper. These are the same questions most web design companies will ask you before they begin to create your site. If you have these questions answered up front, you will have some criteria for choosing the right web design company. For example, if you are a real estate agent, and want to publish listings on your web site, you should seek a web design company that knows about the real estate business and has created web pages for other real estate agents.

Determine Your Budget

How much do you want to spend on your web site. Web sites can cost you anywhere from $100 to $100,000 depending upon what you want it to do. Know your spending constraints before you begin negotiating with design companies. Whatever you do, do not tell a web design company what your budget is!! Always get pricing based on your needs, not you budget.

Pick a Web Design Company

Your choice of a web design company is a very important step. Take your time to investigate all of your options. Here are some important items to consider.

Design vs. Build

Depending upon the scope of your web site, you may need to choose two different companies. Building a web site is a highly technical process. Designing a web site is a highly creative process. Many advertising firms specialize in web site design which does not necessarily require any web development skills whatsoever. The process of creating a web site is similar to the process of building a new home. Before you ask a construction company to start building, you first seek out an architect who creates a blueprint of your house taking into account what you want (number of stories, square footage, etc.). Creating a detailed blueprint before construction begins can help you accurately estimate the final price. Without the blueprint, you may end up paying a lot of money for a house that does not fit your needs. Creating a web site is exactly the same except most web site กbuildersก also claim to be กdesignersก. The good news is that you can look at other sites a web design company has created (like looking at other homes that a home builder has made). Make sure you ask the web design company what their process is for designing a web site vs. building a web site. They should understand the difference between these two concepts. If they don’t, they’re probably builder that think they can also architect.

Evaluate Experience

Has the web design company created web sites similar to yours? Do they have relevant industry experience? As with any services company, choosing someone that has relevant experience. If you want to sell products through your web site and accept credit card payments, does the web design company you are considering have experience doing just that?

Review the Portfolio

A well established web design company will have a solid portfolio of web sites that they have created for other clients. Ask for links to other site the design company has created and review each one. Do you like what you see? Do the sites have a style that appeals to you? In addition to reviewing web sites, ask for customer references. Contact their clients and ask them about their experience with the web design company. Were they happy with the results? Did they get what they paid for? How much did they pay? Would they recommend them? How long did it take? What didn’t they like about the company? How responsive was the company when they had questions?

Compare Prices

Pricing for creating a web site can vary. Typically, web design companies will charge one of three ways:

Time and materials: price is variable based on the actual number of hours spent working on your site. For example, a web design company may charge you $75 per hour. If it takes 100 hours to create your web site, your price would end up being $7,500.

Fixed Price: some design companies will charge you a fixed fee based on a fixed set of requirements. If you outline your requirements very carefully, many web design companies will quote you a single price.

Component Pricing: some design companies will charge กby the pageก. By creating a price based on the number of pages, you can control the cost by designing a specific number of pages. Buyer beware: some design companies will charge by the page but will have กspecial pricingก for components such as custom graphics, animated images, and the like.

The most important step in pricing is to make sure the potential design company outline all of the prices associated with the work and puts it all in writing. Never enter into a deal unless all of the costs are well understood up front. Also make sure that you understand what กdoneก means. Try and structure the payments such that a significant portion of the fees (20%) are not due until you กacceptก the final web site. Include the agreedupon dates in your contract and provisions for what will happen if these dates are not met.

Solicit bids from multiple web design companies and compare both the pricing models and the prices themselves.

There are thousands of web designers across the country and they should all fight feverously for your business! Be picky! If a web design company dismisses any of your questions regarding their design process, pricing, or client references, take your business elsewhere!

About The Author

Andy Quick is cofounder of Findmyhosting.com (http://www.findmyhosting.com), a free web hosting directory offering businesses and consumers a hassle free way to find the right hosting plan for their needs. Feel free to contact Andy at [email protected] in case you have any questions or comments regarding this article.

This article was posted on May 2, 2002

by Andy Quick

What the Heck is a Blog?

What the Heck is a Blog?

by: Andy Wibbels

Summary: The big deal about blogs and why your business can use one.

Everybody is talking about blogs. They are everywhere: on the TV, in the newspapers, and all over the internet. With the number of blogs doubling every five months, there is no stopping the power of blogs.

But what the heck is a blog? For the elegant simplicity and beauty that blogs create, they certainly have an ugly, ungainly name. Blawg sounds like some kind of gurgling sound your cat makes before coughing up a hairball.

A blog, short for weblog, is often described as an online diary. The most recent entries (called posts) appear on the homepage of the blog with links to archives of older posts. Archives are organized by date and often categorized by topic. Often, each post will have a form for readers to add their own comments and to give their opinion or reaction to the postกs content.

But thatกs just what a blog looks like it doesn’t really tell you why a blog is different from a conventional website. The real genius in blogs appears in the process of how they are written.

You can update your blog instantly from any internet connection on any computer anywhere in the world even from your summer home in Tahiti (as you sip an icecold island cocktail). Blogs are designed for people who don’t want to learn (or don’t have the time to learn) HTML or web design. You use a special type of blogging software (called a blog tool) to create and update your weblog. You type your latest post into a simple online form. You click กPublishก and it is instantly available online for the whole world to see. Itกs supereasy. If you can send an email, you can publish a weblog. So my updated description of a weblog is:

A blog is an easy, instantly and frequently updated website, focused around a topic, industry or personality.

One big reason businesses (especially small businesses and entrepeneurs) flock to blogs is because they reduce dependency on a web design team to get ideas and announcements online. Developing a website for your business can take weeks, sometimes months, from shopping for a designer and doing project negotiation phase to getting the final site launched. Developing a website can be not only costly, but time consuming.

Many of my clients have found blogs a great way to start out online while they are building their business with the eventual goal to move towards a more robust web design solution. Others have moved all of their web sites into a blog format and have vowed to never look back.

You can create a blog and have a website in less than fifteen minutes, for less than $10, with hosting and software included and, all without having to know anything about web design. With a blog thereกs ten thousand less decisions to make.

Blogging is the fastest, cheapest, easiest way to build a website in the time it takes to watch a sitcom.

About The Author

Andy Wibbels is a blogging evangelist and creator of the Easy Bake Weblogs seminar that has helped hundreds of small businesses all over the world leverage blogs and RSS news feeds to increase profits and save time. You can download his free special report on business and blogs at http://easybakeweblogs.com/.

(C) 2005 Andy Wibbels.

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 18

by Andy Wibbels

The Future of Web Design What is DotNetNuke®?

The Future of Web Design What is DotNetNuke®?

by: Lee Sykes

Have you discovered that within months your website becomes out of date and becomes a headache to maintain? DotNetNuke is the answer to your problems.

DotNetNuke® Overview

DotNetNuke® is a portal content management system (CMS) ideal for creating any type of website from commercial web sites, corporate intranets and extranets, online publishing portals, to a personal blog.

DotNetNuke® is provided free, as opensource software. It allows individuals to do whatever they wish with the application framework, both commercially and noncommercially.

The Static Website Problem

So you’ve created your static website using Dreamweaver, Frontpage, or programmed it manually in HTML?

Your next job is to promote your website and keep it up to date with lots of fresh content that the Search Engines love.

You soon discover that keeping your website up to date with the latest news and articles is a lot of work, within a few months your website becomes out of date and the site becomes a complete headache to maintain.

CMS – The Benefits

Using the DotNetNuke® Content Management system enables you to:

Login to your website from anywhere in the world and update your content live

Quickly and easily publish articles, images, documents, news, important information and more

Save Money – Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) you no longer need to pay a webmaster to maintain your site

Support for an unlimited number of content contributors (ie. Give permission to members of staff to login and update certain sections of your website)

Easily change the look of your entire web site with just one click using skins

Extremely extensible admin interface to add and move content, panels and more.

Security Every element of your website can have specific security settings applied to allow or deny users from seeing, editing, or administering the different parts of your site

Once you have used DotNetNuke®, you will not look back your old web design programmes will gather dust!

What do you need for DotNetNuke®?

To run DotNetNuke® you need to use a web hosting package that provides ASP.NET and a Microsoft SQLServer database.

The DotNetNuke® Community

An advantage with DotNetNuke® being opensource software is the vast number of users out there. There are many developers contributing in the form of improving the DotNetNuke® core code and ‘modules’ which provide extra functions to your website, such as photo galleries. There are designers creating ‘skins’ which you can use to change the graphics of your website, and there is also a central forum area where you can ask DotNetNuke® related questions.

This community is rapidly growing by the day and it demonstrates how DotNetNuke® is the web of the future.

Where do you get DotNetNuke®?

You can download the DotNetNuke® code for free from: http://www.dotnetnuke.com simply register with the website to gain access to the downloads.

How do I learn DotNetNuke®?

There are many resources out there supplying documentation, videos and tips from installation and programming, to web design using DotNetNuke®.

You do not need to be a programmer to use DotNetNuke®; the hardest stage is installing DotNetNuke®. This is just a matter of uploading the correct files to your hosting provider and setting up your SQL database. DotNetNuke® will then automatically install when you open your website.

All you now have to do is add the content!

Beginner Resources

To see the functions of DotNetNuke® in action, there are two free beginners’ guides available from DNN Creative Magazine:

An Introduction to the principles of DotNetNuke®

http://www.dnncreative.com/Tutorials/IntroductiontotheprinciplesofDotNetNuke/tabid/75/Default.aspx

and

DotNetNuke® Quick Start Guide Video (25mins)

http://www.dnncreative.com/Tutorials/DotNetNukeQuickStartGuideVideo/tabid/73/Default.aspx

About The Author

Lee Sykes is the Director for DNN Creative Magazine. He is a professional web designer specialising in DotNetNuke® websites.

DNN Creative Magazine is a monthly online magazine providing tutorials, reviews and tips for web design using DotNetNuke®.

http://www.dnncreative.com

This article was posted on September 13

by Lee Sykes