Social Network + Article + PR = Long Term Online Business
Website Design
Website Design – Guidelines For Using Text Correctly
Mar 19th
Of the many different website design considerations, text is one of the most significant, yet also one of the most overlooked. You can have the best layout and graphics in the world, but if visitors to your site cannot easily read what you have written then they will not stay on your site for more than a few seconds.
The good news is that getting the text part of your website design correct is not overly difficult. All you have to do is adhere to the guidelines laid out below…
- Only use fonts that are available on all computers, such as arial, helvetica and verdana. Though you may not consider these to be the most visually appealing fonts, they are the most practical ones to use. This is because they are the easiest to read on a computer screen. Also, every computer definitely has these fonts stored on them. If you choose a fancy font, then many computers will not have it stored, in which case the computer will automatically select another to display your website in, and so you cannot be sure how your website is going to render on other people’s computers.
- Do not display text in small font sizes; if it looks too small, visitors to your website will not even try to read it. You may have good eyesight but many people do not. Using a font size of 11 or 12 is generally recommended for the main body of your written content, with sub-titles and headings being a font size or two larger. Be consistent too, by ensuring that you use the same font sizes for your content, sub-titles and headings throughout every page of your website.
- Keep the width of your paragraphs to roughly 15 words per line. By doing this people will only have to move their eyes to read your content, and not their whole head. This number is based on research and studies that have been carried out which show that 15 words is as far most people’s vision will stretch. Not every line has to be exactly 15 words, as some sentences will a greater or lesser amount of small words such as ‘to’, ‘and’, ‘a’, etc., so you just need to use 15 words per line as a rough average.
- The color(s) you choose for your text should contrast sharply to the color(s) you choose for your background. A white background with black text is easiest for people to read, but it is not necessary to limit yourself to that if it does not suit the overall style of your website design. If the background color is light, then make your text black or a dark shade of gray, and if the background color is dark, then use white as the color for your text. Using non black, dark gray or white text hardly ever comes across well, so be extremely cautious if you are intent on using a different color for your text.
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This article was written by a website design expert who has more than 10 years experience in the industry. He is currently doing website design in Chappaqua, Westchester and White Plains and can be contacted at http://kinneymedia.com
Does Our Company Want A Website?
Mar 15th
Lots of business owners question whether a website can assist them. My reaction is yes! Just about every business can be assisted by an online presence.
These days, people have a total attraction in relation to researching what it going on and who they are dealing with. And all of this research is accomplished on the internet. This complete attraction is uncovering information is, of course, pushed by offerings such as Twitter and Facebook, which egg on their users to share their activities and feelings on a regular basis. This proliferation of obtainable information has developed a culture of reading and almost obsessing about what other people are doing.
So, how can this help the ordinary business? Obviously, for those with a product to sell they can publicize the product and make it available to purchase online. Retailers can even drop their high-priced shop fronts and just sell from a more cost efficient unit somewhere, using the website as their consumer facing product.
But for many small shops this is unrealistic. They might still have hundreds of product lines and loading and maintaining these on a repeated basis can be a nightmare. For these, a small brochure website that gives an general idea of the business would be enough to satisfy people’s wish for for more information. Add to this a Twitter feed and a link to a Facbook page and you are giving your customers plenty of reason to visit your website and be caught up.
Brochure style websites are enormously fashionable at the moment as they can introduce customers to the services around. Not every website can give the full purchase information and not every business is appropriate for a full all singing all dancing website that sells the product online. I have dealt with a array of people who just need a brochure website. One first-rate case of this is home insurance. All of the big websites will provide quote tools that will give visitors the quotes routinely online. But there are also big name insurance providers who will just accept the visitor’s contact details and then call them back for a quote later on. For the small insurance borker, this is a absolutely satisfactory way of getting online quickly and reasonably and benefit from the effects of the internet.
It is not just persons who have a product to sell that can benefit directly from having a website. A new customer has a belief that he wants to get known to manufacturers. His plan from the website is that it might get seen by a few people and get them talking. He hopes that by making interest in his theory people will get to know about the reasons and maybe some of the big manufacturers might take up the suggestion, which is the result of his lifetime’s work!
For many businesses there are the possbilities of in truth earning more from your business by getting an online website sorted. By then mentioning the website in marketing etc, customers get to know about the site. If you then give them a motive to visit the website, some people will come along and could just increase your bottom line. By giving discount codes and vouchers on the website or by giving details of the latest special offers and new products on the website, then these people have a motive to visit your website.
Join these efforts with further methods such as the major social networking sites of Twitter and Facebook and you can haul in visitors. Extra services such as utube can also help a modern business draw in new and existing business for an increase in profitability.
For most businesses, a website is crucial!
If you want to know more about getting online, then call into our promotional blog. It is full of constructive information plus marketing advice.
Written by Keith Lunt, proprietor of janric.co.uk for website design Merseyside.
Find out pragmatic things to know about website traffic – read this publication. The times have come when proper info is truly only one click of your mouse, use this opportunity.
Your Website Design Sucks Because… Users Can’t Find Crap!
Mar 10th
I know ayh! A great title to start of another year of C2.0 Web Design Blog! : -)
To kick off the new year in Web Design, I thought it would be best to go through a couple of my tell-tale signs that can help you gauge if and when your website’s design sucks. Obviously, “Website design” in this concept does not only include the graphical elements of the page, but of course the Information architecture, usability, accessibility, etc. So without further ado– Let’s get going with round one of “Your website design sucks because…” with Your website design sucks because users can’t find crap!
1. What the heck are you thinking?!
Whether or not you are running a corporate information site or a 15,000 page e-Commerce store- your content should be easy to find! The biggest problem is people think that you ALWAYS need a search box. Search on a website comes in many flavours, and sure; a search box would be awesome- as long as the results are easy to understand and filter to the right place. Having said that, not all great websites have search boxes or website search for that matter – but most if not all of them [great websites, that is] make the user experience worthwhile by making their content easy to find. Here are a few tips:
* If you are running a blog, make sure there is at least a way for the user to find an archive of all your content. After all, one of the main calling-cards, if you like – of a blog, is the fact that it is a chronological listing of posts or entries. Other important elements that help users searching for content is Tags and Categories. Try to make sure your posts only belong to one parent category. I.e. Not “Sydney Web Design” AND “Web Design” — after all, 99% of the time, one of the two (or more) categories makes the most sense. Tags help users by allowing to search for other posts which they might find interesting based on a common interest; i.e. Usability.
* If you are running a website; other than a web log , make sure that there is a common, geographical structure to your pages. I.e. there should always be the same header and footer on all pages – including any side-navigation or side elements. Doing this makes sure that users learn where things are and helps elevate any problems in looking for things all over your website.
2. Some conventional wisdom
Most webmasters and/or designers usually get search from a UI point of view under control. I mean come on! It’s basically three elements– A label “search for:”, a text box, usually pre-filled with “type query here” or something of the sort, and finally a “go/search/find” submit button… Easy, right? Wrong! Whilst the front-end features of site search are seen as simple, most websites/intranets (even the big players) crash and burn on the search results page.
3. A case study in Search Usability: Australia Post
Ahh, good old Australia Post! I love the fact that they deliver to anywhere in the world and the prices are not too bad — and I haven’t had anything major get lost whilst sending out *so far*. However, one thing that drives me insane about Australia Post is their website; http://www.austpost.com.au — not only is this website in need of a “major” overhaul. Let’s start with the essentials of this particular topic; Search.
The search on AustPost is located at: http://search.auspost.com.au. Nothing wrong with that so far- In fact, it’s smart to have search on either a sub-domain or a sub-folder at search.domain.com or domain.com/search. Moving right along. Oh wait! That domain does not work (Under Construction!!) unless you append the following to it: “/cse/auspost/” making the FULL-URI http://search.auspost.com.au/cse/auspost/ – Tsk, tsk AP!
If you type “test” in the search box and click the search button of the main page you get diverted to a search results page; which is okay so far– However, the diverted results page is a TOTALLY DIFFERENT website (in terms of overall look and feel). Check it out for yourself.
Australia Post Search Box – Main Page
Australia Post Search Box – Main Page
All good so far… Let’s see what happens when we get diverted to the ‘actual’ search page.
Australia Post Search Results Page – Search.austpost.com.au
Australia Post Search Results Page – Search.austpost.com.au
Oops! Something went completely wrong. Did I, as the user kill the site? Or is it meant to be a completely different site followed by a completely different user experience? [Both valid questions you don't need a visitor to your website, especially your search page asking!].
As Homer Simpson would say in a time of crisis; Doh! Different Logo, Different colour scheme, Different tab system, Different IA… Well, at least the logo is generally in the same place as before. Granted, I don’t know the reasoning behind this– Maybe they are in the process of moving sites across to a newer(?) design – but nonetheless, I think being a government corporation, this is pretty bad usability!
Anyway, let’s move right along… As if that first problem wasn’t bad enough, let’s see the search results form. Below is a screenshot of the “general” search form. By general search form I’m referring to the non-advanced variety!
Search Results Box
Search Results Box
Wow, okay — where to start, where to start. Let’s rattle off some of the issues with this search box/form.
1. Why have a “Show search options >>” as well as “‘Advanced Search”. That is not only confusing, but a waste of visual space/real estate. Why not make general search easy to use with no extra-ordinary features, and leave advanced search for those people that need to dig deeper into the data mine. Ahhh, I slowly started to realise why, and you will see why soon!
2. See the “Select All” and “Clear All” check boxes? They only select/deselect one option — and that is the “Australia Post Website” check box. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING AUSTPOST DESIGNERS/DEVELOPERS!!! Give me three good reasons why this is necessary on this page (in its current format) and I will stop using Facebook for a month… Okay, a week! 
Not only is this stupid from a usability/IA point of view, but it’s NOT needed here. Why?, you ask?
1. When you actually decide to click on “Search” you really DON’T end up having a choice in the matter, because the “Australia Post Website” check box is auto-ticked when the page has reloaded with the search results! Oh Oh!
2. It’s a waste of a control to begin with! The same thing could be easily achieved with one button which toggles through the selections. I.e. starts off as “Select all options” then changes to “De-select all options” upon click… However…
3. There is NO need for the control at all since there is NO other option/area to search from. I.e. If there was “Australia Post Website” and “Australia Post PO Box Search”, etc., then it would make sense — however, there is no other option!
3. The “Exact Phrase” check box control is USELESS in all formats of the word! In theory, the “Exact phrase” should let you search for the term “test” instead of the term test. What this ultimately means is that in reality, “Exact Phrase” should only find the search query if it exists EXACTLY in that format, and not part of other words, or as part of a phrase, etc. The only problem with this is that selecting “Exact Phrase” does NOT change the result set; in essence, returning the SAME number of results as well as in the same order! Yay for happy searching — Not!
4. Clicking “Show search options >>” reveals two fields/controls which are apparently meant to help the user whilst searching but not be enough to warrant the name “Advanced Search”. When you click this link, two new fields pop down; a) Format, and b) Modified. Fair enough, you say. They are letting the user choose what type of file format to search; i.e. PDF, Word, etc. as well as the ‘age’ of the document(s) in question or when they were last updated. So what’s the problem here? Let’s take a peek!
Search Results – Modified drop-down
Search Results – Modified drop-down
Wow! That’s probably the best word to describe this drop-down. Sure, Australia Post must feel great giving thier users so many options to choose from, but on what planet would you be from if you need THAT many options in sorting last modified periods? Surely, a) “Anytime”, b) Past 24 hours, c) Past week, d) Past month, and e) Past year – would suffice? No? Granularity of options is something worth your time as an Information architect or Website designer/developer investing in! The more options you give the user that they don’t necessarily need or will never use, the more they have to think. The experience should not make them think! Just give them results, and quick!
5. Don’t even get me started on the “Advanced Search” link! Let’s just say that it’s a little more advanced than what an “advanced search” needs to be. So much so that a PhD in Comp. Science would definitely help! I mean for Pete’s sake, there is a field called “Custom query” which lets you, quote “Create a query using search operators (and, or, not, near, quotes and parenthesis) and system fields.” unquote! WHAT THA?!?! Sure, I may get it, hell you might even get it as a developer or designer, but your average Joe who might need just that little bit more input into his or her search would most likely freak out! Take it off PLEASE! I’m not searching the CIA Central Repository here, people!
3. In conclusion…
Okay, so I must admit at this point in time that I’m getting a little bit more critical and more importantly a touch “harsher” in my blogging and reviews — but I think it’s important to look at problems like these that normal web browsers would AND DO encounter on a day-to-day basis surfing the Interweb! So hopefully you have picked up a few pointers from this blog post that will help you with your upcoming search page design/re-design. Remember, these are above all just some ideas of what not to do, but the field is huge! Make sure you get people with limited Internet experience to trial all software you create (if possible!) but more importantly, keep in mind some of these ideas for next time and I’m sure your users will thank you!
Thanks for comin’ back guys. Please leave your comments or critisisms below – and be sure to Subscribe to the RSS feed so you can keep up-to-date on all the latest goss and posts from Elastique Web Design Blog. Till next time, Cheb.
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Fresh Photoshop Web Layout Tutorials.
Mar 10th
Useful Tips for Effective Web Design
Listed below are some useful and rather important tips for designing a professional and high quality web site:
*Neat and Easy Navigation: Navigation of links on your site plays a big role in determining the stickiness of your site (how long your visitor stays and explores your site). Ask yourself this, What do visitors do as soon as they open your site? They would probably read the content of the present page and then look around to find any other page that interests them. Read our article on Web site Navigation Tips.
*Clean Layout Design: A clean layout that uses a lot of white space enhances a site’s looks. Try to keep the focus on your content, use dreamweaver templates for this. Use fonts that will be available on all computers to prevent your site looking messed up.
* Program using pure CSS: The world is moving away from table based websites to pure CSS websites because it offers accessibility, reusability and considerably reduces file size apart from giving greater control over the look of your website. The single most important skill you can learn today to become a quality web designer is CSS programming! Even if you are not an expert at CSS you can learn to use the following simple CSS Styles Effects to enhance your website:
1. Cool Text Effects using CSS Styles: Text Links Rollover, Text Case Setting, Text Spacing, Line-through Effect.
2. Bullets in HTML or Deamweaver: Using CSS Styles with bullets (shapes, decimal, roman-numerals, images, etc.)
3. Links without Underline: Use CSS Styles to display links without the appearance of the underline.
*Optimum Load Time: Make sure your load time is low. For this you must:
Minimize Graphics, Flash and scripts: They hugely increase your file size.
Optimize your HTML & script code: Make sure that your site doesn’t have any unwanted tags or unused scripts.
Use Server Side Include (SSI) files where ever possible. SSI files once called from the web server reside in its cache so on subsequent requests they load faster.
* Website Layout for all Screen Resolutions: A site that is easy-to-use always encourages visitors to stay and read your content. For site with long pages of content this is very crucial as the amount of scrolling required is reduced. Suppose your site doesn’t look good for a particular resolution it is very probable that the visitor will close the browser window feeling that the web page is not for their viewing. Designing stretch layouts that fit any screen resolution ensures that you know all your visitors see a visually appealing and professional site.
Read our article Designing for all Screen Resolutions for more.
*Ensure Web site scalability: Make sure your code and design is scalable. As technology advances and configuration of computers & their monitors keep increasing and varying it is impossible to test your site in all screen sizes and platforms.
*Cross Browser Compatible: Make sure you check your site for Internet Explorer 5+, Mozilla Firefox 1+, Opera 7+, Safari 3+ and Netscape Navigator 6+ as they constitute 95% of the worlds browsers.
For practical things to know about the topic of website traffic – read the publication. The time has come when proper information is truly only one click away, use this possibility.
Save On Startup Costs With Your Website Business Venture
Mar 8th
Opening a small business requires willpower and preparation. Oh, and it also requires cash. Just how much cash you would need will depend on the kind of business venture you aspire to start. For an internet business venture, you can make that aspiration come true and save some money during the process.
What’s the first thing that folks ask about relating to a business venture? More often than not it’s “What will it cost me to start with?” By way of an online business you’re already ahead of the game since you shun lots of the expenses that come along with owning a traditional brick-and-mortar business.
Even so, there will be some expenses that you have got to shoulder. Even if your capital is limited, one can still get things up and running. It might take a lot of labor and time nevertheless it’s absolutely feasible.
Here’s the three main costs involved in creating an online business enterprise.
Domain Name Purchases – In order to have a presence on the world wide web, you will need a website address or URL. There are actually specials on a regular basis for domain purchases, but you can get your domain name for less than $10 a year in nearly all cases. Take care not to get sucked into buying all of the extras nearly all domain name registrars try and get you to purchase when you buy a domain. Stick to only purchasing the domain name and only purchase from reputable domain registrars.
Web Hosting – In order for your website to actually show up in the Internet you will need to acquire hosting for your domains. You can purchase this as low as $7.95 a month through reliable hosting companies like HostGator.
Site Design – In the event you aren’t adept in website design or HTML, you will need someone to set your website up for you. There are some different options for getting this accomplished:
• Hire a Web Designer: This can be the costliest means to have things done.
• Website Building Software Programs: You’ll be able to build your site personally and save money.
• Integrated with Hosting: Look for offers with your hosting company.
Here’s some tips for buying additional things you will need to operate your enterprise via the internet.
1. Negotiate – All you can do is ask for what you want. With regards to buying computers and additional office equipment, there’s some room for haggling. Locate the most advantageous payment plans possible that will help you to offset the cost. This goes for phone services, answering services and high-speed Internet rates as well.
2. Shop around – Buying computers online at websites akin to Dell.com enables you to include the features you’re after and pay the price you would like to pay. Printers do not cost as much as they used to. If you want a fax machine and a printer, look for offers on all-in-one equipment so you can save money.
3. Buy in bulk – At what time you may need paper, copier ink and supplementary office supplies, get as much as you are able to every time a deal comes along. Even if it takes you a whole year to use the paper, you’re confident that you will use it so it doesn’t matter.
4. Ask for guidance from other individuals – By way of example, you will require hosting for your site. Although one can find dozens of website hosting businesses to choose from, both paid and free of charge, everyone’s needs differ. What are your requirements? If you know other web based entrepreneurs, ask who they use. Needless to say high price does not necessarily equate with first-rate quality, just like low price does not always mean mediocre quality.
5. Avail yourself of what you already have for now – The best thing regarding a web-based business enterprise is that it can be operated from your computer. Most people already have one of those. It might not be the top end of the line model, but if it has high speed Internet access as well as a word processing program, you can get started.
You will discover overheads that you can avoid by starting an internet business versus an offline one, but you still have to spend some money. The above five pointers might help you to definitely cut down the costs you do have even more. This enables you to get your new enterprise going as soon as possible. And, don’t forget each one of these overheads can be written off on your income taxes so do not forget to maintain records.
Great Design Practices
Feb 25th
Your blog is where your business resides — it is like the headquarter of an offline business. Hence, you should practise excellent design rules to be sure your own web-site reaches out to the most number of visitors and also sells to as much individuals as possible.
Be sure you have clear instructions for the navigation of your web site. The navigation menu needs to be uncluttered and concise so visitors can navigate around your web site without confusion.
Decrease the number of images in your website. They make your blog load very slowly and more often than not they’re really not needed. When you believe any picture is important on your website, make sure you optimize them utilizing image editing programs so they have a minimum file size.
Keep the textual content paragraphs at a reasonable size. If a paragraph is just too big, you need to break it into seperate paragraphs to ensure the text blocks will not be too big. This will be relevant because a block of text that’s too big usually deter website visitors from reading the subject material.
Ensure that your internet site complies to web site standards at www.w3.org and then make sure they are cross-browser compatible. If your internet site views excellent in Internet Explorer but breaks horribly in Firefox and Opera, you will lose out on a lot of prospective visitors.
Stay away from scripting languages on your website unless it is totally necessary. Make use of scripting languages to take care of or manipulate data, not to create visual effects in your website. Heavy scripts will slow down the loading time of your web site as well as crash some browsers. Additionally, scripts will not be supported across all browsers, so a certain amount of visitors may miss important info because of that.
Use CSS to style your web page content for the reason that they will save alot of work by styling all elements on your web site in a single go.
Wordpress is the most popular and effective platform to use when creating your blog. Create unique wordpress themes in minutes without having to meddle with any form of coding by using this WP Theme Creator software.
Say Goodbye To Expensive Wordpress Themes or Designers!
Find pragmatic advice in the sphere of internet marketing – study this page. The times have come when proper info is really within your reach, use this possibility.
Viral Content Magic Review – How To Develop A Profitable Website From Start To Finish
Feb 24th
So what is Viral Content Magic? According to the developers, David Wood, Kenny Gregg, and Jim Chao, Viral Content Magic is a segment of video modules designed to give you a step by step strategy to make your video and article content viral. Viral content refers to marketing strategies that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of computer viruses.
You may be wondering why you should care what David Wood, Kenny Gregg, and Jim Chao have to say. These gentlemen are all well respected Web Marketers and are able to create very successful online businesses with the tools they teach in Viral Content Magic.
The end goal of Viral Content Magic is to train the average person how they can create a web entity or blog from nothing with the correct design strategies, plugins, and search engine marketing required to become successful online. Viral Content Magic covers EVERYTHING from a to z to create your business online. The following subjects, valued at over $1,000 if purchased in separate courses, are covered in Viral Content Magic: Massive Traffic Creation, Blogging Secrets, Article Marketing, Keyword Research, Video Creation, Content Promotion, Sponsoring Secrets, How to Convert Leads into Sales, and an encompassing game plan that brings it all together.
The fear that many have when they decide on purchases like this is whether or not they will be able to find any help from the developers of the course. I can personally vouch for these professionals and say that any problems I’ve had has been answered via Facebook, Twitter or email. It is NOT a program that just speaks about the psychology of creating a business and then never teaches us how to actually do it. You will get an EXACT diagram and a step by step program of what you need to do to be outstanding in this industry by promoting viral media and viral ads to targeted places throughout the Internet.
What we have researched in the past six years of advertising online businesses for myself and over eleven years of creating websites for others is it doesn’t matter how much a financial education program costs as long as you are able to harvest a return on your investment quickly. Even for someone with my knowledge, it only takes ONE successful technique that I can personally apply right now to make a purchase worth it. This Viral Content Magic Review would be a waste of time without mentioning just how much the product retails for. You can obtain Viral Content Magic for a one time price of 497.00; this includes lifetime updates. This may be a cause for concern for individuals who are just beginning, but the difference between the successful and those who struggle all their existence is the ability to make judgments based on value and not cost. The value gained from following all ten video modules from this team is second-to-none. Anyone with the determination to succeed has all the techniques needed from start-to-finish to jump out of the depressing 9 to 5 rat race and make something of themselves. The knowledge gained from this one-time fee will last a lifetime, and let’s face it…it’s almost impossible to pay for an entire semester of college for $497. Let’s face it, time is our most valuable and irreplaceable asset. The time we waste “trying to learn it on our own” is a recipe for disaster and depression; trust me I wasted at least a year in the past doing this same thing. If I had this knowledge ten years ago, I would probably be relaxing on an island somewhere sipping an exotic drink and getting a message. The decision is yours.
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