Website Design: Now we are getting to the good stuff! Your plan may be to have a ONE page special. If that is the case GO TO "FREE WEBSITE" page and start immediately.  But, for most of us, we need to design a more informative website to catch the customers attention. To offer a lot more product or service information. Your website may be very simple or something a little more involved, but that is purely up to you. The choices are here for you to use or not. The definition might be a bit  on the simple side, but more information will be available if requested. Top Ten Things I like to See on a Web Site: What is it trying to accomplish - Am I able to tell instantly what it's for at first glance. Tell me what you're all about up front. A great site will make me feel welcome by targeting me. If it's not for me, I can tell up front, so I can decide to stay or not. I love it when they draw me in, at the same time explaining what's there. I like it when the author tells me just how their site is going to benefit me and make my life better.  When I find that, I want to click deeper, I want to stay. Readable / legible text.   Easy to read - good font.   Is it professional, playful, exciting or relaxing? Good fonts:   Serif   or san serif Lazy Navigation - I want to look at the buttons and know what is behind them.  To be able to move around and find what I am looking for. Truly well planned navigation delivers that - lots of planning before site is built.  Be sure to link your home page to all your other pages. Eye Catching Graphics are still worth a thousand words.  A cool logo or photos.  Product pictures can show what is for sale.Few choices  -  Few links on main page. Load banners and links at bottom, like an afterthought. Clear layout - links in one place.  Text in certain place and extras in another, is good.                  OTHER POINTS TO CONSIDER:   Make it easy to navigate. Makes clear and sure links connect and deliver what is expected. Link to your home page from all pages. Make a good first impression. Make it interesting. Show clearly what the rest of the site contains. Important links should be set on first page at Bottom Right. Offer free information and useful articles. Copy free articles from where you can. Make products look attractive  -  use graphics and photos - keep downloading time fast. Keep design simple. Provide lots of information. Test on multiple clients and machines. Make compatible with all connection methods and speed and technologies.     Great site to learn more information about how to build a website.                            http://www.how-to-build-websites.com/ Go here to learn more about how to put it all together: http://www.weballey.net

		Editing: There are three types of editing and depending on your website, you will be using at lease one or more in everything you add to your site.   Proofreading is the basic type, usually done with a grammar and spelling checker, such as in Microsoft Word. This essentially checks (and corrects) the basic errors, but be on guard because these programs usually don't distinguish between different meanings with the same phonetic spelling.  If this 'bee sew' how do 'eye no'.  By reading it several times, or have someone else read it.   Publishing type editing, best done by a second party, looks more to the content.   Is it coherent?   Does it follow a logical path, or jump around?   Does it get the message across?   Is it easy to read?   Could simpler words be used?   Are there too many words, for what it says?   Website Editing is the last type which is functional check.  Do your links connect?  Do they lead to the correct place?  Do the buttons work? Are your instructions and descriptions explicit?  How easy is it to get back to a starting point or "HOME" page.  Does it lead you off in tangents?  Is the logic or path fuzzy? As in any other aspect of website development, these are services for hire, depending your needs and complexity.

		Theme: Your customers want to find what they are looking FAST!. They will use the Search Engine's and zoom in and make a judgement or a decision to buy! Is your's ready? Keep in mind that a shopping mall approach is a waste of time and money. Too much, spread too far, with too many places to get lost. Don't do it! Also, having a lot of little one page sites around the same theme on the web has difficulty when it comes to using the same keywords in Search Enginers. They can choose not to accept your 2nd and 3rd sites. You'll find you can only advertise under any given keyword or keyword phrase only once. with the same service. Building three different domains offering the exact same keywords or affiliate programs on each site doesn't make sense, it is more trouble than its worth. Micro site focuses on only one product. This is not a good way if you are looking for affiliate marketers. Cannot add value to your customers doing things this way. So be sure to build a content rich theme based site, that way your customers will stay longer and more likely to buy from you.

		Color Scheme: Color plays a very important part in website design.   Colors give both strong and subtle psychological reactions.   And knowing how to use color effectively is a powerful marketing tool.   Color can be used to alert you, to calm you, to cheer you up, or to give you confidence in the message.   They can also be confusing, irritating or depressing.   Do not pick colors just because you like them, think of the effects they will have on the people viewing your website for the first time.   The warm colors, reds, pinks, orange and yellows engender feelings of strength, cheerfulness, health and vitality, are good for accenting or highlighting, but can be overdone, particularly in the deeper tones.   The cool colors, green, blue and purple, bring out feelings of stability, security and authority, and the paler tones are soothing.   The neutral colors, black, brown, gray and white, tend to be conservative, solid and down to earth, and can be dull and stodgy if overused. They are often used as contrast to the other color groups, or to outline or highlight.   For a much fuller understanding of the use and effects of color, we recommend clicking on to “the Small Business Guru”, and reviewing the article “Understanding Colors” by Jay Conrad Levinson.   The Small Business Guru - Real World Answers, Ideas and Resources

		Clip Art An ideal way to liven up your website is to use CLIP ART, Graphics can be downloaded and added to your website.  Clip art can be forms, animation, photographs, "Smiley Faces" and similar icons, cartoons and even (pseudo)  3-D art.  There is a wide range of these available, free for the taking and use, with instructions on how to download.  This is as simple a click, copy and past, into your choice of files. To find, go to Google.com and search for "Clip Art".  CAUTION:  animation is great, but it easy to overuse it, to the point where it becomes a distraction from your main message. A good site for a variety of type of free downloadable graphics is: http://www.clipart.co.uk

		Copy and Paste This gives you the ability to write anything anywhere in a document Or on your website, Move it anywhere else, like to your website, USE your Notepad or Wordpad, Highlight the article you want to copy, right "click" on the mouse, choose "copy" move it over to where you want it to be and right "Click" on mouse and choose "Paste".   WOW!  it is copied over and now you have it both places. Notepad or Wordpad In Windows 98 and up Click on "Start" "Programs" "Accessories" and "Notepad" Notepad is used as a Transfer mode. You create your thoughts on a subject. Correct it, spell check, grammar check and when ready you highlight it and drop your text into your website location. Notepad is also used for your Signature files, HTML coding, notes, etc. So anything you want to write and then transfer over to your website you can use Notepad. Wordpad is in the Windows versions.  It works exactly the same as above. Both Notepad or Wordpad are excellent places to keep things you have created, such as letters, your vital information, thoughts, advertising ideas, html links, your signature files,etc.  Set up a specific folder to hold all these on your desktop so they are available when you need them. All you need do is Copy and Paste them later.

		Navigation: This is the term used for how visitors move around in your website. If your visitors have problems doing this, they will probably just go away and not come back. It is up to you to make this as simple and effective as possible. On your home page, are your main topics or products clearly shown, can your visitor link down to more extensive detail. There is a fine balance between having everything show on the first page, and having so much that the visitor is turned off by having to dig for their interest. Whether to group several related topics under a single heading on the home page is a subjective question, often with no easy answer. One solution in the design phase, is to draft this out both ways, and ask others to critique it for you. Your home page will probably have a block showing the standard topics such as;  "about us, privacy policy, disclaimer, etc", and the group headings about the content of your site. Can your visitor link from each of these to the approrpiate page. On your following pages is it easy for your visitors to see how to link onto:  "How to buy"  "How to get more information"   where to link to next  How to return to your home page?  All links must be clearly visible and labeled, without being overpowering. (we have all seen huge "BUY ME NOW" buttons - are they a cue or a turn-off?).

		Uploading and Downloading: These are essentially the same process, a file transfer, except that they are in different directions, and use different methods of transfer.  Downloading is bringing a file into your computer, from another computer or server.  Common ways of downloading files are : -  A website will ask  "do  you want to download this (file, E-book, message,etc") and if so "click here".    then it will ask  "where do you want it? (C drive, printer, etc), and click on the desired response.    Next, it will ask if you want to name it and provide a title block.    Lastly, it will tell how long it will take to download (seconds or minutes) and a "proceed" or "download now" link to click on.  Since the download may be in one of a variety of protocols, you should have the newest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader  - version 6 - installed to allow proper transfer into your format.  (Below is a free Copy). http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html   Another common download is when a software program, such as, Microsoft updates or McAfee Firewalls or virus scan, etc. advises you on your screen, there is an update recommended, and asks you click on "YES" or "NO", then steps you simply through the download.  The key is whatever the download, you will be stepped through the instructions on your screen. Uploading is transferring a file from your computer into another computer or server is the same process as the above but in reverse. Here is a site that will validate your HTML once you have it written and working on your website.  They will analyse it and give you a report. http://www.Validator@W3.org

		Copywriting/Copyrighting Copywriting is the actual writing of text or copy for your site whether it be for an ad, a description, an article or topic, or that E-book you have always wanted to write. How you write is to a good extent governed by the topic and who you are trying to reach. If you are writing an ad, for example, your goal is to create text that is brief, informative, eye catching and will stick in the ememory. On the other hand, if you are writing a newsletter, you want it to be friendly, personable and interesting enough to make them want to keep reading. In all of these, the basic rules:         grammer         punctuation          spelling are important, but the content of what you write is the prime factor. Writing is a major field, well beyound possible coverage here, and help is available ranging from brief articles to full college courses and degrees. In fleshing out your website, a great deal of material is available on the web.                 Copy reprints directly into you site.                 Or to be used as a basis for an article of your own creation. This is where Copyrighting is important. Articles or information which can be copied into your site are generally labeled as that, but if it is not, then you should not use it, without permission. To do so would be infringing on someones copywrite protection, and could lead to legal action against you. Go here to this government site and check out your rights and the copyright law: http://www.c-site.org

		GOOD OR BAD WEBSITES: We are on our way now!!!    What you need to find out is:    What Is a Good Website and  what is a Bad Website! Go on the Internet and browse through different sites, Before you start make up an EXCEL form for yourself and check each site for these features.      This will give you the experience of looking at sites and then comparing each site you see with this list as you go along:    Does it catch your attention?? Do you see what is it trying to accomplish?  Does it get its message across instantly? A great site makes you feel welcome by targeting you; if it's not for you,  you can tell up front right away. So you can decide to stay or not. Does it draw you in and at the same time explaining what is there? Does it tell you how it is going to benefit you and make your life better? Is it drawing you in, making you want to stay? Is it easy to read using a good font, is the style professionally done, is it exciting or relaxing? Is the graphics eye catching? Does it show what is for sale? Is it easy to navigate and get from page to page easily and back? Is the grammar and spelling correct?   Check these sites out and what do you think?         This is a great site because it add humor and we can laugh at ourselves and also at these websites: http://www.websitesthatsuck.com     For anyone starting a small business either on the internet or in real life this lady has a wealth of information on many subjects - go see what you think: The Small Business Guru - Real World Answers, Ideas and Resources       Kim Komando sends out emails for daily "Computer TIPS" and interesting "COOL SITES".  She also emails a Monthly "NEWSLETTER".  Every issue has added a wealth of information to my vocabulary for internet knowledge. Sign up today: http://www.komando.com     Here is a way to see all kinds of newly created websites asking for your opinion. Just sign up to get "Credit" towards advertising your own website when yours is ready. In the meantime, this is a fast and great way to see what is out there.  Once your in, just choose a subject and it will set it up as your "favorite" and will display other's websites for your opinion. All you have to do is click "good"  or "bad" (there is no right or wrong only how you feel about them). This is fun and also educational on which way do you want to set up your website http://www.Clickthru.com                                         Back to Top                                 OR                                       GO TO HOME