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Do It Your Self Web Design
This page is to give you some helpful tips and tools to create your masterpiece for the web. Try not to become overwhelmed by all the information. Keep in mind, that creating an effective business web site can be frustrating at times but also very rewarding. If you would like addition information or help, please contact us. We would be happy to help you with any areas that you would like additional information and or create your site for you.
WHERE DO YOU START? Gather as much data as you have available on your business. This might include letterheads, business cards, brochures, flyers, sales ads, and anything else that shows who and what you are. WHAT DO YOU PUT ON YOUR WEBSITE? A good business website contains all the basics: You need to think about what functions it's designed to fulfill. Is it financial, it could be to get more information about you customers or just to increase public awareness of your company? Sometimes it helps the consumer if you go further and expand on each of these basics. Using some of the more common questions that your customers ask you as a general rule when creating the text for your page. WHAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER IN CREATING AND DESIGNING A WEBSITE Bandwidth should be taken in to consideration because the browsing public tends to be very impatient. You don't want people to have to wait forever for your page to load. In fact, they won't! Your initial page should load in less than 30 seconds on a 28.8 line. Bear in mind, that target audiences in countries such as the USA, are more patient, and that viewers in the UK (who pay for telephone calls by the minute) as MUCH less patient! Web space However you decide to produce your web site, whether DIY, or professionally designed and programmed, you will need to host it on a computer which is connected to the Internet full time. You can do this in one of several ways: This kind of web space is often restricted to non-commercial use. Check with your ISP. You will often find that you are provided with a limited number of pre-programmed CGI scripts, allowing you to add page counters, and produce basic forms for data-capture. If you wish to do anything more complicated, you may find that your ISP won't allow you to use your own custom CGI scripts. This might become a problem later on. Again check with your ISP!
This is the most popular option. Decent web space providers allow custom CGI, Secure Socket Servers, a plethora of pre-programmed CGI scripts, automatic site usage statistics, multiple e-mail addresses, and a host of other benefits too numerous to mention. This is our recommended route!
This is by far the most flexible option. You decide what facilities will be needed, and configure your own machine as and when you see fit. There is of course a major drawback (isn't there always), and it is cost. This is the most expensive option, and would normally only be considered for extremely large, complex or very busy sites. It is more normal to start out at option 2, and work up to option 3 if, and when you need it. Which ever option you decide to opt for, you can still contact us; whether for a recommendation of a service provider, or to take advantage of our own services. We're more than willing to help!
Graphics are a plus on a site but must be used properly. You want to present a great-looking business image but you should also balance a good-looking image with a small file size. Cramming your web page with animated GIF images will NOT give a professional appearance. Use animated GIFs sparingly where appropriate!
CONTENT Content within a web site/page is very important. If it only exist for the purpose of being there, it will be a waste of everyone's time, not to mention the bandwidth used in pulling it. A bad site can reflect poorly on a business or person, and can even bring the anger of serious net surfers into play causing what is referred to as "flaming". The most important thing to remember about the content of a Web site is that it should be both informative and useful in some way. People will return and will also spread word on a site they find to be particularly good, so if your site is such, you will benefit from word of mouth advertising which can often be the best kind Design. Take your time in planning your site. As WWW browsers such as Netscape, Mosaic, Internet Explorer and others become more sophisticated, the design and layout of a site becomes more important. You have to really put some deep thought into what your site is communicating to the public, not only do you need to see that the site has useful information, but it should also be presented in a manner which people will find pleasing. In many of the browsers today, special features such as graphics, sound and even movies can be viewed with ease. Designing a web site is not as simple as it may sound. There are many "platforms" and browsers, and each must be considered when planning the design and coding. What one browser sees, another will not. This can make design difficult, but the extra effort it will take to design your site for multiple platform use will prove worthwhile in the long run.
Ok, you have your site ready to have the world see it! How do you get your site on the top ten sites in the search engines when there are literally thousands of sites on the same subject? In addition to having hundreds of search engine on the internet as well. Each search engine asks for different information from you when you register with them. The secret is 'key words' to your particular product. Break down your product to the smallest detail you can think of. For example, if you sell 'clothing', what type? Children, women, men, vintage, protective, special occasion, maternity, swimwear, any specialty sizes you carry and so on. The more specific you are, the better your chances will be to be found by people that are looking for your product. There is one more area you need to consider carefully in getting your site rating higher in the search engines:
There has been a lot of talk about the amount of time and thought that goes into creating the right usage of the 'key words'. This is very true. Your unique site will need them to get the attention and the exposure from search engines. However, there are many tips and tricks to successfully generating hits from key words. Searches will vary with each search engine. Some of them look to meta tags for page content and key words; others may index every word in an entire site. Always use meta tags but remember to use your words carefully, as they will help you generate hits on your site.
Click HERE for more information on this subject matter... Alternatively, to learn more about our Products & Services, and how we can help you achieve your goals in producing your web site!...click HERE http://nternet.com/search.html http://ls7-www.cs.uni-dortmund.de/html/englisch/servers.html/
Let's get started….DIY
There are pros and cons for each option. Lets take them in turn:
1. Free Web Space
2. Rent Web Space from a provider
3. Connect your own server
Graphics
GET THE WORD OUT
Meta tags.
Now, what about a Professionally Designed & Programmed Site?
HELPFUL SITES TO LEARN MORE
SUBMITTING YOUR SITE TO SEARCH ENGINES:
http://www.tiac.net/users/seeker/searchenginesub.html
http://www.submit-it.com
http://www.promotion101.com/metatags.html
http://www.multimedia.calpoly.edu/CPP/Weeks/WeekNine/meta.htmlGRAPHICS:
http://spring-board.com/123easy/library.htmlBANDWIDTH:
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