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Making Your Website Work: Design-It

There are many methods used to create websites and upload your content to the internet, however, there are many other steps you should consider in order to be successful with your online goals. An important consideration is how you approach these challenges; you should treat your website designs as “products” and not projects. This forces you to remember “why” you are creating new content. Your goals are to sell something and ultimately profit from those sales. Just like your company’s other products, you must make money from them in order to remain viable; we believe by treating your websites as products you are one step closer to reaching your target.
Your first step towards making your website work is to design it. The design phase involves many decisions that will affect your overall success.

The more prepared you are by asking yourself or your website designer some questions, the more time and money you will eventually save. It is not just about these savings though. You may be organized and ready to go but have you considered how your pages will “link together” and how you will use page navigation to move your visitors through your website pages the way you want? It is often useful to create a flow chart on paper to map out how your pages will be displayed and how visitors can be expected to interact with them. If you are creating the website yourself, you have a little more room to maneuver, however, if you are hiring a website designer, this particular part of the overall process can cause expensive delays.

Part of the design-it process is working on your “screen real estate” for various screen resolutions. We can safely recommend that you design your website pages to work with a 1024 x 768 pixel screen resolution as this is most commonly used. This being said, Windows 7 operating systems are becoming more and more widespread with more modern version of Internet Explorer that support higher resolutions. If you design your website so that your “above the fold” strategies are working with 1024 x 768 pixel resolutions, then any higher resolutions will only make your website look even better. You can safely ignore working your designs to support 800 x 600 pixel resolutions as these are just not that common anymore. Also, most mobile web devices are being upgraded with amazing new HD (high definition) displays like on the iPhone 4G. Amazing!

During the design-it process, remember that you should be using some basic website design best practices, including using strong on-page SEO strategies (i.e. – use strong page TITLE tags unique to each page on your site, include META description tags using keywords or keyword phrases limited to a maximum of 150 characters, use a H1 tag only once on your pages, etc.) Above all else, remember to include “quality content” on your website pages. After all, this is what your website visitors are looking for and have come to expect. if you fall short you can expect your “bounce rate” to increase significantly.

The next steps to follow are: build-it, check-it, share-it and track-it. We can help, right here and right now!

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Easy Site Structure Using ssi, css and Dreamweaver Template

When your website design was created using Dreamweaver template, and you want to make an update to a template, you will have to upload all the pages on the server even after making a small change to a template. However when you use ‘ssi’ or ‘php’ include files to built a website your maintenance work is greatly shortened to a minimum and maintenance process simple and easy. At one click you can update the navigation, footer or side bar of the whole website.

At first you need to set your website to Server Site with the appropriate extension in a control panel (shortcut: Ctl+U or Cmd+U). Once there click the “New Document” tab. Selcet the extension of your web pages, in this case .shtml or .php. From now all new pages wil have these extensions. Next create a template in Adobe  Dreamweaver. This technique was tested on Dreamwaver 8 but for the best result you need to use at Dreamveaver CS3 and up.)

Once you create a template, replace any parts of the website that show consistently throughout the pages and need frequent updates or future expansion, using ssi or php files to be included. This will give better control over updating your website design. 

How to create a ssi / php included file.

Highlight and copy the element you want to replace on the Dreamweaver template, for instance menu/navigation.
Create new html document
Remove all coding from it so you end up having empty page when you see it in code preview
Paste the whole element you copied from Dreamweaver template you want to replace
Save the file with extension ’ssi’.
Same can be done for ‘.php’ files.

When you have created copies of the website elements as ssi or php files, replace them with appropriate elements ssi or php depending on what is the technology of your website (shtml or php).*Note: php can include .ssi files as well as .php files with no problem.

The whole html / php element will show up on the page preview. Once the included files are included in Dreamweaver Template you need to upload updated included files without uploading the whole website since your DW Template will be unchanged. When pages are connected with the template the root file url will change to wherever the page is located. So no worries. You can also insert the ssi / php files by going to Insert>Server-Site Include.

This simple and powerful technique will save time for your future website maintenance as you will need to upload and change on single ssi / php file being included. You can include the whole page content or a single navigation file. It is very useful in designing a website that requires future expansion of the navigation, header or footer. You can use this technique to even a higher level website structure based on Server-Site technology.

Good luck.

Web Design Tips | Technetto

Here are some essential web design tips that every web site should follow. Design your web site by following these tips and I guarantee that visitors will have a great first impression of your site.

Fast Loading web site designs – This is the number 1 tip that every web designer should follow. You might design a web site that looks fantastic but few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load. Your designs should be optimized for the web and should not take more than 15 seconds to load. Remember, you might have a great design but very few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load.Website Designing
Clear Navigation – Once a visitor has come to your site you need to make them go through your site. To do this you need to have clear navigation. Make sure all your important links are at prominent places. Preferably right on top – that’s usually where a visitor first looks. Make use of menus on the right and the left. Try to link to as many pages of your site. Let your information be accessible from all parts of the site. You never know what a visitor may be interested in. Try to also use the footer for your important links.
All Resolutions – Today, there are computers with all kinds of resolution. They range from 640 x 480 to 1024 x 768 and go even higher. Your job is to design your site for all these resolutions. The best way to do this is to design your site in terms of percentage and not pixels.
Browser Compatibility – Make sure your site is browser compatible. Your web site should look good in Netscape as well as in Internet Explorer. Don’t stop designing your site as soon as you find that it looks great on IE. Usually Netscape gives some problems, especially when you try doing complicated HTML designs. But don’t give up too soon, usually with patience these problems can be easily fixed.
Readable and professional looking fonts – Don’t ask me how many times I’ve clicked out of a site just because the font is in Comic Sans and the color is a bright pink or green. Just by looking at the font you feel that the site is not a professional site. Don’t use Comic Sans and other fancy fonts that may not be available on most computers. If the font you use is not available in a visitors computer the web site will use the default font of your computer which is much worse. So try to keep to common and professional web fonts. The fonts that I always stick to areArial and Verdana.Web Development
Minimize the use of images – I believe that sometimes simple designs are the most effective for the web. Keep your site simple but neat. Don’t clutter your page with big, bulky images that take ages to load. Instead use tables creatively and design eye – catching icons that will draw a visitor’s attention to a particular section of your site. Tip – Visitors are usually more interested in content than in design.
Use of white space – Try not to clutter up your page with too many images, backgrounds and colorful fonts. Again use the Keep It Simple principle by minimizing the use of graphics and using a lot of white space. White space gives a sense of spaciousness and overall neatness to a site. Notice the white space in our site.
Check for broken links – Always check for broken links within a site before uploading it to your web server. InDreamweaver you can check for broken links by right clicking on any file in the Site Files Window and then clicking on Check links – Entire Site. If you don’t have this facility you need to upload your site and then check it using online tools like Net Mechanic.

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How To Make A Website

How to Make a Website

Hi folks,

In today’s online world having a website for your small business is an absolute must.  The good news is that it’s very easy to learn how to create a website. This article will quickly teach you how to create a nice and inexpensive website for your business.

There are many companies that will host your site for you. Some common ones are homestead and Office Live. I prefer homestead for my website as they have over 2,000 free templates to choose from. This lets you make a website that appears very customized and professional for a low price. Homestead’s basic website package includes 5 pages (which should be perfect for most of you) and it only costs .99 a month. Through homestead you can track exactly where consumers are finding you on the web (google, facebook, etc.).  Follow the link at the bottom of this article to view my website. On my website I have a homestead link that will take you to the basic website building feature of homestead.

First off, you need to get yourself a domain name. I suggest GoDaddy for domain names. Make a free account there and purchase your domain name from GoDaddy. Domain names usually are around .00 but that depends on how popular the name is that you’re looking. Once you have your domain name you are ready to start building your site.

Your website can be as simple or complicated as you’d like. For most small businesses a simple 5 page website for .99/month is perfect. If you’re using homestead, then download their site builder program for many more tools. The program is free. With this program your website will be up and running in minutes. You can also change anything on the site any time of day with the program. Once you have the program downloaded you can begin to name your pages and add the text to them. You can change colors, add videos, play music etc. Play around for a bit and get it looking good. Once it’s what you’re looking for click the “publish all” button and your website will be ready to go. Homestead has a form to fill out with your domain name to get it all set up. They will give you “nameserves” that you need to place in the nameservers box on GoDaddy. Once this is done your website will be up and running online. Homestead has many different products but the one I described above is the one that is cheapest and best for small businesses. Follow the link below to my website where you can find a link to this exact homestead product. Just click the homestead banner to go to this product. I hope this information was helpful! http://www.person2persononline.com/Website-Services.html

Thanks for reading!

Mac Struthers

Creating your Own Dreamweaver Templates Files

If you have built websites, you understand how frustrating it can be to have to update the look and feel of a lot of web pages.

Fortunately, Dreamweaver has a built in system which will help you to update as many pages as you want very quickly.

To use a Dreamweaver template, you simply need to create a new Dreamweaver template file.

This can be done by choosing the ‘New’ button in Dreamweaver, and then choosing what type of template you want from the ‘Template pages’ menu (you can choose HTML or PHP etc…)

Once you have created a template, you can create any look that you want for your website. You might add a table and a website banner.

You also want to add at least one ‘editable region’ to your template (editable regions can be found in the dropdown menu for template objects).

Once you have done this, you can save the template and start creating your website pages based on this template by applying a template to a page.

The point is to build many pages of content based on one DWT template. Then when you want to update the layout of these pages, instead of having to update each one, you simply update the main .dwt file.

It is really simple to do and worth taking a few minutes to figure out.

If you want to see this in action and learn step by step from video tutorials which teach you about Dreamweaver templates, be sure to visit http://www.dreamweaverhowto.com.

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Top 7 Web Design Tips for Beginners

Are you a newbie to web design? If so, then you can really make use of these incredible web design tips provided in this article. Apply the given techniques properly and designing your website will become much easier even if you’re still a beginner.

1. Simplify the Layout
You don’t really have to use all kinds of effects on your website. Even if you have amazing photo-editing skills and know how to do tricky programming scripts, it’s not necessary to apply everything because it will only make your site look complicated and disorganized. Just pick the best techniques that will fit the theme of your website so that the layout will be cleaner and easier for visitors to browse through.

2. Use Suitable Colors
The colors used on your web design should reflect what your blog or business is all about. For instance, select pink and other pastel colors if you’re selling feminine products; use green if you’re advocating environmental issues; and pick white and gray if you’re going for a more professional and classy look.

3. Pick the Right Fonts
The fonts should also match your site’s theme. You can use a modern font for all the text contents, and choose another one for the main headings. Cursive fonts go well with feminine websites; serif styles look good for corporate businesses while modern sans serif font types complement any kind of blogs, most especially about technology. Be creative in matching fonts and colors, and choose the best design for your website.

4. Use HQ Images and Videos
Always put high-quality pictures and videos because they make your website look more visually appealing. Plus, it can also encourage your visitors to avail of the products and services you provide especially if the images you use are very impressive.

5. Format the Contents of the Website
The site’s contents must be properly formatted to encourage visitors to read your posts. Misaligned texts are never pleasing to the eyes, so make sure the paragraphs are arranged well. Choose a narrow layout because they’re much easier to read compared to text that extends sideways. Keep your blog posts informative and relevant to your niche as well, and remember to constantly give fresh updates.

6. Follow a Consistent Style
There must always be uniformity in your web design. Stick to a particular style and apply it throughout the entire site. Use the same fonts, colors and layout so that your readers won’t be annoyed and distracted by the design.

7. Make Your Website User-Friendly
Remember that the reason you built your site is to gain more traffic and increase your rankings, therefore it is important that the website it easily accessible for your visitors and potential clients. Always provide a helpful menu bar, comment box, FAQ page and contact information should your visitors have further questions for you.

Web design is not really a complicated process. Simply follow the tips given above and working on your website’s layout will turn into a less difficult and more enjoyable task.

www.mlwebco.com – Website Design Tips The Standard Website Layout – In this video, I talk about the standard layout that can be used for every website.

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How to Make a Website – The 5 Vital Steps

How to make a website?

Here are the 5 key steps to building a website;

1. Decide whether you need a small website with just a few pages, or a larger website. This will help you decide the answer to step two.

2. You either need website software, website templates or a web host that has website designs/templates as part of the package.

3. Webspace to host your website.

4. Learn some basic HTML.

5. Research the keywords to use for each page of your website.

Let’s look at these steps in more detail;

The size of your website.

You may simply want a single page that tells people a little about what you do. My first website was about 3 pages. I didn’t understand the power of the Internet at that stage. I just thought that having a web page would save me money because I wouldn’t need expensive leaflets any more that told people about my business. The website could do it all. I had my domain name printed onto business cards and was very happy to keep it at that level.

After a few years my website started to get free visitors via the search engines and that’s when I started to explore how to make a website in depth.

The larger the website you build, the more visitors you will get (as long as you understand Search Engine Optimisation, more on that later). So, if you are building a website to either promote an existing business, or to make money from the website in it’s own right (for example by having adverts on the site from which you make an income), bigger is usually better.

Website templates or sofware and webhosting.

It’s very tempting to look for free templates and the cheapest software because we all like to save costs don’t we. However if you want to build a website bigger than a single page, don’t cut costs at this stage, it’s a really false economy. I started out using 1&1 who provide web hosting, design templates and much more. I still have some of my early websites hosted with them. They are very good. However about 3 years ago I came across an even better option. I have dedicated an entire section of my main website to them because I have been so impressed. More about that shortly.

Basic HTML.

Whatever system you decide to use, a basic knowledge of HTML is useful. (HTML is a code used for building webpages). There are plenty of websites which will give you the basics for free. Just do a search for ‘HTML codes’.

Research your website subjects keywords.

This is a very crucial part of the website building process. Most people focus on creating a nice design and think that if the site looks attractive they will get lots of visitors… Wrong! People won’t even find your site (unless you spend heavily on advertising it) unless you understand keywords. The web package I now use exclusively, not only shows you how to make a website (they have an in-depth video and online written course) but importantly it includes an invaluable keyword tool like no other I have ever used. The result of that tool is that a website I built 18 months ago is getting 600+ visitors a day with no advertising costs. A website I built 5 years ago, when I didn’t even know about keywords, is getting about 10 visitors a day. And that’s inspite of the fact that the website looks great!

Finally, learning how to build a website is going to take time. There’s an awful lot to learn, but when you consider that a properly built site can create a long-term passive income for you, it’s well worth it. Plus, it can be great fun and very satisfying.