Well Known Design Practices

Your website is where your business resides — it’s like the headquarter of an offline company. Hence, it is important to practise good design principles to make sure your site reaches out to the maximum number of visitors and sells to as many people as possible.

Make sure you have clear directions on the navigation of your website. The navigation menu should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors know how to navigate around your website without confusion.

Reduce the number of images on your website. They make your site load very slowly and more often than not they are very unnecessary. If you think any image is essential on your site, make sure you optimize them using image editing programs so that they have a minimum file size.

Keep your text paragraphs at a reasonable length. If a paragraph is too long, you should split it into seperate paragraphs so that the text blocks will not be too big. This is important because a block of text that is too large will deter visitors from reading your content.

Make sure your website complies to web standards at www.w3.org and make sure they are cross-browser compatible. If your website looks great in Internet Explorer but breaks horribly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose out on a lot of prospective visitors.

Avoid using scripting languages on your site unless it is absolutely necessary. Use scripting languages to handle or manipulate data, not to create visual effects on your website. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your site and even crash some browsers. Also, scripts are not supported across all browsers, so some visitors might miss important information because of that.

Use CSS to style your page content because they save alot of work by styling all elements on your website in one go.

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How To Have Websites Built For You The Cheap Way

Good designer is needed to build your website, you must be prepared to dish out at least a few hundred dollars. All this can change if you know where to find the best deals, the best designs for the lowest price. Here’s a rough guide:

First, you must understand that it is a rip off to get companies to design websites for you. Have you ever seen those advertisements in newspaper classified ad sections that offer a 5-page website at $500? These companies are established companies with physical locations, therefore they have to increase the amount they charge to pay off some overheads: office rent, designer’s wages, advertising costs and so on.

Therefore, it would be wise to find freelance designers who work from home. These people are often working from home so they do not have a high operation cost like that of a company. On the other hand, they will be able to design images with quality similar to those of designers from big companies, so it’s a “no-brainer” choice.

However, choose freelancers with care. The best way to do this would be to go to elance.com. There, you can post the abstract of your project and get thousands of freelancers to bid on your project, so you will surely get the best deal. On top of that, you will be able to choose the designers based on their experience, past transactions and ratings, so your value for money is secured.

Another route you can take is to design your website yourself. Think about it, if you only need 5 simple pages to present some simple information, why waste hundreds of dollars for it? Just spend a little time to sit down and do it yourself. You’ll be able to design your own sites even if you do not know a single line of HTML code with the help of WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) programs such as Microsoft Frontpage, Macromedia Dreamweaver and so on. rf

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Search Engine Optimisation Is About Building Links Not Content

There are many different SEO techniques available on the market; there are many different strategies for achieving high rankings on Google, however only a handful of them work.

You see the problem is that many people use the age old saying ‘content is king’, this is a problem because many webmasters take it out of context, believing all they need to do is create a great blog or some great resources and watch the traffic come in.

This is not the case and definitely not the way to high rankings on Google which is the only real traffic source out there. The way to get those all important rankings is to build links, don’t get me wrong by all means build a great resource and focus on giving people quality content but don’t be under the illusion that this is enough.

Building links is not easy and that is why many webmaster dismiss it and it can be tricky for an online newbie, however there are few basics you need to know in order not to waste your time.

The first thing you need to be aware of is anchor text, remember you need to treat Google like a baby, let Google know exactly what your site is about by creating anchor text that is the keyword you are targeting. Anchor text is one of the most powerful link building tricks and is often the difference between sites that make money and sites that fail. Use article marketing, links exchanges, blog carnival submissions and directory submissions to get the anchor text you need.

All links are equal right? Wrong, if you own a ‘make money’ site then you do not want to be approaching travel agents for links, it is important that the links you create to your site are relevant and within your niche. Ask yourself what is the page title of the page my link comes from? What is the domain generally about? The closer the relevance the better the link and the higher you will rank.

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The Building Blocks To Good Search Engine Optimisation

Break it down into small bite size pieces, that is the key to understanding search engine optimisation and also do not be afraid of it, its actually very simple when you know how. Good SEO produces brilliant results, but what are the best SEO techniques?

For example many people get hung up on making sure their website is keyword rich and of course highly relevant to their chosen industry. This is called on page SEO.

Often overlooked during the whole search engine optimisation process and not particularly highly regarded by some but on page SEO can be the difference between fifth on Google to first, so give it some of your time.

Make sure you correctly add keywords to tags in images called ALT tags and also to the main meta tags within your web pages. Overlooking this may not damage your SEO campaign completely but will certainly not help. Be careful though because too many keywords on anyone page can be identified by search engines as Spam and could have a disastrous effect on your rankings.

Some black hat techniques like stuffing keywords into irrelevant areas are pushed by some so called ‘helpful’ SEO experts but this is definitely one tactic to avoid. Always attempt to add value to the reader.

There are also a few grey hat techniques that some people adopt like using white text on a website with a white background. The benefit being that the reader cannot see this text but the search engines think it is rich in content.

Grey hat techniques are not quite forbidden but they are time consuming and very low impact on your SEO ranking so I really would not bother if I was you. Just construct your website using your own value adding content and you will get better results.

One great SEO tactic and often overlooked by website owners that are promoting a product is a blog. Now this doesn’t mean to have to update it daily although that would help but weekly or even monthly posts would be considered good on page practice.

So what about off page SEO? Well this is the most important element in boosting your search engine placement and will take the most time so patience is a very useful trait to have during this point in the process.

Many sites, forums and blogs will all say the same thing – its all about the link juice, and they are right. Getting backlinks to your website is by far the number one most important part of all SEO and don’t let anyone else tell you different.

However don’t be a fool and start back linking to just about any old site. You must make sure the sites that link to you are appropriate and if possible highly relevant to your own site. That said, linking to competitors is not advised!

The golden rule when link building is not to opt for the bulk back linking systems and farms out there that offer multiple links to your site within days. Google will just see that you are trying to manipulate their algorithm and bin your site. It really is not worth it.

Structured link building is the most important part of the entire process but this is all undone if your website is not capturing the sale because your website and its content is not targeted or interesting enough. Use a sales funnel process and entice the visitor in. After all what is the point of SEO without sales etc!

SEO is actually not that difficult and when applied correctly can bring you many rewards, traffic and sales that you never use to have. SEO is all about the timely application of basic process, it certainly is not rocket science.

How To Use Web Analytics

A website owner would know the significance of web analytics. You need to keep a track of number of people visiting your website, to do well with your website. To be able to do it, you would need a web analytics tool. One option would be to read through the log file. It is however a huge hard work to review the log book manually, for there may be so many records in it. For this reason, a web analytics tool is the right choice for you. With this tool, you would get clear and simple reports about your website traffic flow. You must know how to proceed with your web analytics and below is your guide to accomplish the same.

To start with, you must collect the data. If you have a web analytics tool installed, it may already be doing the stuff for you. You need to include all aspects of your website that collect data. Such aspects include CGI logs, Web logs, forms, and other kinds of data that your website generates.

The successfully collected data now needs to be transformed. It is certainly a huge task to review the log file manually. You are therefore required to transform the available data into user friendly data that can be manipulated at ease. You analytics tool will do this functionality as well. In case you have no web log formatted data, such as CGI; your analytic tool may not help.

Now that you have all the data available to you, in an easy to understand format; you need to start your analysis. This should be the most interesting part of your web analytics task. What you should be looking for is the trend in your web traffic. Following are some of the points to figure out the trend:

Is there a specific time when most of your visitors visit your website? What are the most visited pages of your website? How many pages does an average user view before quitting your website? On an average, how long do your visitors stay at the website? Does your traffic come from the search engines? What are the most common pages that most of visitors exit your website from? Who is linked up to your website?

After having done the data collection, and transformation of the same into reports, it is time to set new goals. Now that you know what your good and points are; you can build up on the good points and improve on the weak points. You may wish to add business links to your most visited pages, and promote the lesser visited pages. The idea should be to bank on your strengths to achieve more, and lift up your weakness to convert them into strengths.

Your potential visitors need to know what updates you have made to your website. Unless they are aware of the updates, your hard work would go in vain. This certainly calls for the promotion of your website, highlighting the newly made updates, to attract the visitors.

You would need to repeat the above discussed procedure on regular basis. This procedure is an ongoing exercise that you must do always.

Creating Yourself A Presence On The Web

It’s probably the biggest information sharing medium in history, over 1.3 billion people use it, yes you guessed it, I’m talking of course about the Internet.

It is the ideal place to go to buy/sell things, to conduct research, to contact people and to do an endless list of other things. There are hundreds of traditional methods of doing things that are slowly being phased out by the Internet.

So surely if the Internet is that big it’s nearly impossible to obtain a noticeable presence without getting lost among the crowd?

To be honest yes, this is exactly the case. The Internet is so vast that it has almost become a double edged blade in that, yes there are millions of customers out there to be had, but the chances are that there are a million other people trying to get them and you will be lost among the crowd. Or if you simply don’t bother with an on-line presence and stick to traditional methods, you may well get sunk by the competition that do use on-line techniques.

But with all the fast moving new technology on the internet, how do you stay afloat? Well, step one goes without saying, create a web site, or get one created for you.

Just having a website though, is not enough to get you noticed online. Hundreds of millions of people have websites and you need to get yours noticed above the others.

One method of achieving this is to employ an effective advertising plan, placing ads for your website in as many places on the web as possible. You will also want a top search engine optimization service. If you intend to get someone to build your site for you, I suggest getting someone who knows about SEO to do it so that they will make it readable to search engines which is really, the most important thing in promoting a website.

In conclusion, in order to acquire a great presence on the net, there are a few slightly varied ways of doing it, but they all boil down to pretty much the same thing, search engine optimisation and online advertising. Finding an SEO company that will build you a site as well as optimising it for you may cost a bit more than you wanted to spend (but it may not) but I really would advise it over any other way. After that you simply have to find some good advertising space, preferably that offers you something else as well, like a load of links to your site or something.

The Technological Revolution

In much the same way as the industrial revolution changed the financial landscape of the developed world, the past few years has seen the gathering pace of the latest revolution to affect our world. This time however, the benefits are not limited by accessibility in the same way that used to exist.

Up until the explosion of the Internet into our lives, it was virtually impossible to compete nationally with market leaders in any field, let alone globally. The only advertising mediums were either TV advertising which represents a significant cost barrier to entry, or magazines which are again expensive and quite often niche, national newspapers a costly medium again, or regional advertising in the Yellow Pages. This is one of the most expensive ways of advertising nationally, but until the swift take up of Internet technologies, was a reliable method of finding customers.

At several points throughout history, the organisations that adapt to changes in technology the quickest and the most effectively, thrive where others fall. In many cases, the way has been led by pioneers. Henry Ford is a prime example, he nearly invented the mass production line on his own, and in doing that, cut his expenses, vastly improved the consistency of product quality, and created a huge advantage over his competition.

There is often a significant difference between organisations that move with and adapt to new technological advancements and those that are set in their ways. This is truer than ever now as the technological advancements are always coming thick and fast.

The wall that had previously blocked potential entrepreneurs from fulfilling their potential has been removed by the Internet. Many good business ideas went to waste because of the lack of financial backing, but all that has changed with the arrival of the Internet.

The potential held within the realms of the internet is unreal. A decent website and a year or two of good quality search engine optimisation will cost around 5,000-10,000 in total, and could result in your website being seen by billions of people. Before the Internet, an advertising campaign may have cost in excess of 100,000 and would not have gained nearly as much potential exposure.

Although we have all become accustomed to the Internet’s massive presence in the world of commerce, it is still in it’s infancy. Around 98% of onine information isn’t accessible to strangers becasue it is unreadable to search engines. It is for this reason that, despite the power of the Internet, many good ideas are still going to waste. Search engine optimisation has only recently come to light amongst the public, so what will the Internet be like in 10 years time?

The organisations who adapt now to the technological advances at hand, will be the ones that are on top in 10 years time.

The Internet is undoubtedly the business tool of the 21st century and a fantastic provider of equal opportunity for anyone with a good idea and little bit of money for a website to make that idea a reality.

Web Promotion in a Recession

During this time of economic downturn, when business is diminishing and your counting every penny, it is essential to invest in your business’s future growth. The last 10 years have seen the world wide web grow into a whole new medium that wasn’t around during the last recession. Business is booming unbelievably online and the rate of the internet’s growth is matched only by the contraction rate of traditional enterprises.

The internet is primarily seen by the majority as a place to find either the solution to a problem, and answer, or the cheapest of an item. It is the perfect window shopping venue as it allows you to compare many shops in a few clicks. This has been a boon for many, but for others who do not sell on price it has worked against them.

One thing we know for sure is that the internet has traffic, and traffic is fairly easily measurable. We know where this traffic goes and what the people are looking for, and based on that, we can place websites in their path to meet the users needs. This method has become a great way of “buying” customers, which is essentially what every business does when they advertise. If you compare the cost of customer acquisition online to the equivalent amount of high street advertising, you will see that online, it is far more cost effective.

The companies that position themselves now by increasing their spend on marketing and promotion are the companies that will weather the storm of recession. The economy is forecast to contract by 3.5% this year before returning to some mythical Darling growth forecast in 2010. Whether this happens or not, is not the subject of this article, but if we see growth in 2010 then this will be the shortest, least damaging slump on record. After all, with 7% unemployment, we still have 93% in work, shopping and spending money.

Intelligent business owners in the country will be investing in market share during the slump during which time their competitors will be struggling to survive. Some companies are still growing in spite of the downturn, in order to be one of them, it’s as simple as moving with the times and taking advantage of the online oppertunities that are available.

It is said that in times of economic boom, every 10 you spend on adverts, you will return 19, in an economic dry spell however, you will return 51 for every 10 spent on advertising. This is because during a recession there are fewer businesses advertising, therefore there are more potential customers to be had with every advert.

The options available to increase website traffic include search engine optimization, which is the practice of positioning your website at or near the top of the Organic search engine rankings, primarily Google which accounts for over 80% of all search traffic. Pay Per Click Management involves positioning your website at or near the top of Googles paid listings. This is a near instant process unlike search engine optimization, but does depend upon you paying a sum each and every time your advert is clicked upon.

Combine both of the above with an email newsletter to keep your clients informed with what you are up to, a blog and article submission and you will build your self an online presence that will ensure that your company survives and thrives the current downturn.