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August 26, 2010

Recipe For A Good Looking Web Site

Filed under: Business — Tags: , — cailean @ 6:00 pm

We’ve all surfed the web and seen some awful web sites. Sites that never completely loaded. Sites with too many photos. Sites with no easy way to find what you wanted. Another way a site looks bad is when each page looks different. You’re not even sure you’re at the same site. It doesn’t have to be that way. Templates are the solution.

A template is a web page showing the basic elements of how you want the site to look. The navigation bar, title, banner, and copyright information are all there on each page. All that’s missing is the content. You can pay someone to do your site, but this costs more money. If you have a template to start with, all you need to do is add your content.

You can buy a template already created. Find a company with templates for sale, choose the look you want, and change it a little to make the look your own. Here are two template companies; (www.lcpeterson.com/s/websiterecipe.htm & www.lcpeterson.com/s/templatestore.htm). Choose a template and simply change the content and pictures to suit your needs. You can also pay companies to create an original template for you. Don’t want to create your own art work? There are numerous clipart and photo sites available. Remember, a web site look can be created from scratch; or, use a template made by someone else and change it to suit yourself.

If you want to do it yourself you will need a HTML editor. What HTML editor to use? I suggest DreamWeaver. It is expensive but if you want to create web sites for yourself and others this HTML editor is the best one. Remember, teachers and students can get educational discounts when buying. If you have never worked with HTML expect to spend some time learning and experimenting. Many free editors exist but I haven’t found them useful. If you aren’t sure, try a simple program such as Serif makes then move up to a more professional package. Web Monkey is great site for more web site creation information.

The main advantage of using a template is to maintain the same look and feel throughout the site so your visitors always know where they are. A new page can quickly be added without having to start from scratch. Professional web site developers use templates. Tip: always keep an original copy of the template.

Your web site’s look is one of your most important decisions. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Every time you need a new web page use your original template, make the necessary changes. This is the easiest way to a great looking web site your customers will love.

Author info: L. C. Peterson is a freelance writer and web site consultant. More web site articles and tutorials can be found at http://www.readysetgosites.com and http://www.lcpeterson.com

August 24, 2010

Appropriate Key Words Choice

Filed under: Business — Tags: , — anthony4biz @ 8:58 am

What do the key words represent?

Key words – these are the words that the users enter in a given search engine to find services or products you offer. It is extremely important to know what key words they will use. Selecting the appropriate for your activity key words is the first thing you have to do because all other strategies are built on their right choice.

How to select the appropriate for you key words?

Key words that will work best for you means to describe exactly what you offer and meanwhile to be well used by users. If your website is ranked number one in the search engines results, after using key words that nobody uses, your work will be useless.

? Don’t count just on you when selecting the appropriate for your business key words. The users might have a completely different view about what to insert in the search engines to find you.

Wonderful implement for defining the appropriate key words is a specialized database called Wordtracker. First make a list with appropriate key words that you think are similar to your products or services. You could make such a list by asking your clients how they would search your services or products in Internet or you could view your competitors’ websites about what key words they had used, but don’t copy their information. Just look if they had used some key words that could be useful for you. Then use the Wordtracker database, which will show you every key word’s popularity, and how competitive it is (i.e. is it used a lot by users and how many websites are optimized for it). As more they are, as harder your website will reach the top in the search engines ranking.

? The best choice will be if the selected word isn’t so competitive and has a very good popularity.

Besides Wordtracker gives you some additional possibilities for choosing key words, that weren’t mentioned before but are in reality very appropriate. Be sure that you alternate, combine the words, selected up to the moment. Much more appropriate words could appear, too.

? To understand the way Wordtracker functions, use its free version, although its paid version offers much more functions.

Never count on orphaned key words!

Two or more words combination is a much better variant than an orphaned word. The orphaned word is more common, while the phrase much more specifies the search purpose. Let’s suppose that you are a manufacturer of solid wood furnishings and take these two examples of key words.

“furnishings”

“solid wood furnishings”

The first word is orphaned, so it is very common. When a user searches some information by it, search engine will sort all the sites where the word is contained, without anything precise. There are maybe lots of sites. Besides people using this word during their search are not from your target audience. They are not among the users that could buy your products, they are not interested in your products and services.

By using the next phrase the user is aware of what exactly he is looking for and defines, limits the search to some definite kind of furnishings (solid wood furnishings in that case) and the relevant search engine sorts better, more precise results. The possibility your products to be bought in that case is bigger than in the previous one, maybe because the user needs these furnishings as he/she searches that way.

? That’s why always add to a key word, corresponding to business like yours, some additional, specific only for your business words to define and to specify the process.

About The Author

Veselin Andreev is one of the Svilaves founders – website design and promotion services, the quality and effect of which are aiming at the successful development of their clients business. Read the exact details of their services on the address: http://www.svilaves.com

contact@svilaves.com

August 20, 2010

Tips for a Successful Website for Any Organization, NGO or GO

Filed under: Business — Tags: , , — mypets @ 5:58 pm

Most NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) don’t understand these important aspects of a successful website. Even many governmental organizations (GOs) could improve their sites by following these tips.

1. Everything should be viewed and evaluated with the eyes of the visitor: “What’s in for me” as the main benchmark for a successful website. That is pertaining to the copy and to the content what ever directed to members or non-members: “You will here find ….” is a better and more inviting statement at the home page, than: “We are the main organisation of ……”

2. Most visitors on the Internet are searching for information, so please provide them with that.

3. Concentrate content on themes, because that will give you an easier way to the attractive top search positions at the main search engines and to be included in some directories, (Google, MSN, Ask Jeeves, Yahoo, Open Directory, AltaVista etc.). Site-Build-It is probably the best approach to fulfil that requirement.

4. Make navigation easy and transparent on all pages.

5. Have a search facility, best on all pages. www.FreeFind.com offers a free and useful service. I use it on a number of websites, for example about photos: www.azfotos.com . In addition to the search facility for the visitor it gives you a record of what people have actually been searching for. In that way you can prioritise the stuff available for people on your website when you revise your pages. Google is also offering a search box, but only with the pages they have indexed, and you cannot get any record of the searches.

6. Try to organise the content of your website quite “flat”, meaning the visitor does not have to dig too deep into your website to find what he/she is searching after. Most visitors will at best not go further deep than to the 3rd level. This is the same with “spidering” bots of search engines.

7. Have your contact information visible on your home page (first page), including address, phone, fax, email, may be even postal giro, bank account etc. – All to make it more easy for people to find the kind of information they need about your organisation. Avoid to write the email address, use a script to hide it from email harvesters and spammers.

8. Make it easy for visitors to find information on people, their phone numbers and email address and keep them updated. Do the same for departments of the organisation.

9. Keep each resource in only one place and make many links to them around on other pages..

10. Make it visible when you have provided new material at the website.

11. Make your website SIMPLE and quick loading. Avoid heavy graphics, flash movies etc. They will not help your visitors, but only help them click away. If you use graphics, you have to optimise them for the smallest amount of file size. GifBot, http://www.netmechanic.com/GIFBot/optimize-graphic.htm , can do it free and online. Else use one of the picture editing programmes available with the function like ‘publish picture on the web’.

12. Keep your web copy short e.g. use a new paragraph for every 4th line. Make bullet points. files.

13. Manage to have at least your entrance page with a simple domain name, like www.iucn.org or www.ensi.org or www.nature.org

14. It is not enough to have a good virtual address by having an intuitive domain name on the internet. You also have to be registered properly in search engines and directories. The best way is to have other important sites to link to your site. In some months your site will be picked up by the spiders of search engines. For the directories it is best to do it manually, start with dmoz.org and yahoo.com

15. Make it easy for people to link to you. Provide them with a variety of text links, banners and logos and with simple instructions concerning the html code.

16. Encourage visitors to bookmark your site.

17. Exchange links with other relevant organisations. Include your important key words in your link text you ask them to use.

Implement these 17 tips and in half a year you will have many more visitors and they will be much more happy to come back to your organization’s website.

Soren Breiting has worked with a number of national and international websites for NGOs and NOs. Find more tools and tips at http://www.ALLeMarketingtips.com . Soren is also the editor of the ezine Stock Photo News http://www.StockPhotoNews.com – The first Modern eZine combining Stock Photography and Marketing.

How to Hire The Right Web Design Firm

Filed under: Business — Tags: , — bogcess @ 5:57 pm

Regardless whether you manage a small business, charitable organization, or Fortune 500 company, choosing the right web design firm can quickly become a full-time research project. With thousands of design firms to choose from, what factors truly determine which design firm is best for your business?

The primary considerations for choosing a web design firm are:

* Price
* Customer service/access to support
* Credibility indicators of the design firm
* Portfolio and design experience
* Other services offered (domain renewal, hosting, SEO)
* Turnaround time

Let’s take a closer look at each consideration in detail, and explore how to identify and qualify the right design firm.

Price

Like many products and services we purchase, both personally and professionally, deciding on a web design firm can often come down to price. But the value of the services rendered is really what’s important. A $200 web site usually turns out to look, feel and perform like a $200 web site.

The price of your site’s development will depend on three factors: the features of the site, the amount of content, and the service options included with the design package, such as hosting.

Because pricing varies by firm, here are several principles to use when determining the validity and value of a web design quote:

* Does the quote state one all-inclusive price for the entire project?
* Is there a reoccurring monthly fee for hosting?
* Is the site custom-built, or is it customization of an existing template?
* Is there a separate fee for content development, such as writing sales copy?
* Is domain registration/management included in the package?
* Will the firm provide multiple design concepts, prior to actual development?

It’s important to compare quotes from at least three firms to, determine the value of the services offered. Looking for the best value is important in a competitive service market.

Customer Service

There’s nothing worse than signing with a firm that offers a great product, only to find out they are impossible to contact. Consistent, open contact with your web design firm is important for ensuring success before, during, and after your web site is developed.

Throughout the design process, you may identify text, photos, or contact information you’d like to change before the site goes live. If you have immediate questions regarding your site’s development, you’ll be glad to have immediate contact with customer support staff by e-mail, telephone, or live chat.

If you are limited to e-mail technical support, consider other firms that offer a wider range of customer service options such as telephone and live chat support. E-mail is great for convenience ? when it’s convenient.

Credibility Indicators

Identifying "credibility indicators" can help ensure a firm is trustworthy, and will be around after your deposit or full payment is sent. Credibility indicators include, but are not limited to:

* Toll free telephone support
* 24 hour customer service
* Better Business Bureau affiliation
* Human e-mail address contacts
* Google PageRank of 2 or above
* Presentation of a hard-copy quote/design contract

Design Experience/Portfolio

Does the design firm have experience in working with similar types of businesses? Even if a designer doesn’t have a web site in their portfolio related to your industry, the firm you select should have a strong working knowledge of how to develop an effective site for your business type. Product and service web sites are not the same. Your designer should have a plan of action for developing a site that reaches the maximum number of prospective customers in your target market.

A few good questions to ask about a firm’s design experience include:

* Does the firm offer a number of diverse, finished web sites available for review?
* Will the firm conduct research regarding my competition?
* Will my web site highlight the features, benefits and value of my product or service?
* Has the firm outlined a plan of action for creating an effective site, start to finish?

Design experience need not always relate to the type of web sites the firm has previously developed. If you have a specific look in mind, ask the firm if achieving a similar design is possible. The ultimate goal is to know you’re going to get a tangible benefit out of your site through effective, affordable web design.

Additional Services

Many web design firms offer design, but do not provide other required services such as hosting and domain name registration. Ideally, your web design company should be a full-service firm, offering at least basic hosting, domain registration and search engine optimization services tailored to your needs. Research each firm to determine other key lines of business, so that any future expansion of your site will be seamless as your business grows.

Turnaround Time

An effective website should take 30-60 days to go live, from the start of production. Unless you’re offering hundreds of individual products or services on your web site, the entire development process, start to finish, should take no longer than 60 days. Turnaround time should include:

* Upload of your web site to the hosting provider
* Configuration of any scripts or forms on your site
* Domain propagation (accessing your web site and e-mail via yoursite.com)

Hiring the cheapest, fastest, or most elaborate web design firm does not always equate to hiring the right web design firm. A limited amount of front-end research can save time and money in the long term, and maximize the sales revenue from your web presence.

Jim D. Ray is a seasoned web developer and president of Web Presence, a national web design firm serving the small business market sector. To learn more, or for a free quote for your own web site, visit the Web Presence at http://www.web-presence.net.

August 15, 2010

What Does Your Website Say About Your Business?

Filed under: Business — Tags: , — grosirgrosir @ 5:55 pm

QUESTION:
My business is very small, just me and two employees, and our product really can’t be sold online. Do I really need a website? — Robin C.

ANSWER:
Congratulations, Robin, you are the one millionth person to ask me that question. Smile for the cameras, brush the streamers and confetti from your hair and listen closely, because I’m about to answer for the millionth time what has become one of the most important and often-asked questions of the digital business age.

Before I answer, however, let’s flash back to the very first time I was asked this question. It was circa 1998, during the toddler years of the Internet, just after Al Gore laid claim to having given birth to the concept a few short years before.

I was giving a speech on the impact of the Internet on small business at an association luncheon in Montgomery, Alabama. My motto then was: Feed me and I will speak. I have the same motto today, but I now expect dessert to be included in exchange for the sharing of my vast wisdom.

In 1998, which was decades ago in Internet years, the future of electronic commerce or "ecommerce" as it’s come to be known, was anybody’s guess, but even the most negative futurists agreed that all the signs indicated that a large portion of future business revenues would be derived from online transactions, or from offline transactions that were the result of online marketing efforts.

So, Robin, should your business have a website, even if your business is small and sells products or services that you don’t think can be sold online? My answer in 1998 is the same as my answer today: Yes, if you have a business, you should have a website. Period. No question. Without a doubt. Thank you, drive through. Now serving customer number one million and one?

Also, don’t be so quick to dismiss your product as one that can’t be sold online. Nowadays there is very little that cannot be sold over the Internet. More than 20 million shoppers are now online, purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to real estate to jet airplanes to natural gas to you name it. If you can imagine it, someone will figure out how to sell it online.

Internet marketing research firms predict that online revenues will range between $180 and $200 billion dollars in 2004. They also predict that the number of online consumers will grow at a rate of 30-50% over the next few years. These numbers alone should be enough to convince you that your business should have a website.

Let me clarify one point: I am not saying that you should put all your efforts into selling your wares over the Internet, though if your product lends itself to easy online sales, you certainly should be considering it.

The point to be made here is that you should at the very least have a presence on the World Wide Web so that customers, potential employees, business partners, and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.

That said, it’s not enough that you just have a website. You must have a professional looking website if you want to be taken seriously. Since many consumers now search for information online prior to making a purchase at a brick and mortar store, your website may be the first chance you have at making a good impression on a potential buyer. If your website looks like it was designed by a barrel of colorblind monkeys, your chance at making a good first impression will be lost.

One of the great things about the Internet is that it has leveled the playing field when it comes to competing with the big boys. As mentioned, you have one shot at making a good first impression and with a well-designed website; your little operation can project the image and professionalism of a much larger company.

The inverse is also true. I’ve seen many big company websites that were so badly designed and hard to navigate that they completely lacked professionalism and credibility. Good for you, too bad for them. You also mention that yours is a small operation, but when it comes to benefiting from a website, size does not matter. I don’t care if you are a one-man show or a ten thousand employee corporate giant; if you do not have a website you are losing business to other companies that do.

Here’s the exception to my rule: It’s actually better to have no website at all than to have one that makes your business look bad.

Your website speaks volumes about your business. It either says, "Hey, look, we take our business so seriously that we have created this wonderful website for our customers!" or it says, "Hey, look, I let my ten-year old nephew design my site! Good luck finding anything!"

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim’s latest books include “Small Business Success Secrets” and “The 30 Day Blueprint For Success!” Related Links: http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

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