|
|
|
12 Essential Web Site Design Tips
Web site usability and presentation is perhaps the most important factor in any web design. This is the driving factor that gives your visitors a positive, professional impression of your company and keeps them coming back to your website. This...
Free Website Templates - Top 10 Things You Need to Know
When building your website you might not have a large budget to devote to website design or a designer, so the best option for you might simply be to use free website templates. However, consider the following benefits as well as drawbacks before...
Learn from the Masters (of Web Design)
If you've ever been to the Louvre, you know it's chock full of art students, who spend hours in the museum with their sketchpads, copying the works of the Masters. Poets do it too; that's why English majors spend hours doing "close readings" of...
Top Ten Things to Ask Yourself About Your Website
1. Does it download fast? "Most website crafters are in T1s, LANs and DSL, yet only 7% of the market has broadband and that's leveling off," says Bryan Eisenberg, in "Future Now." "Most customers surf at 56k or slower and roughly 60% still surf at...
Web Source Web Design Tips - Using META Tags to Prevent Browser Cache
Meta tags are used to give detailed instructions, in regard to a web page, to the Search Engines and browsers. When visiting a web site, your browser will cache or make a copy of the web site for fasting viewing your next visit. This will prevent...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Your Web Site - Do It Yourself? or Get Serious!
FACT: Your web site appearance can make you
thousands of dollars OR it can kill your business - DEAD!
Why is it so crucial? Given a choice of restaurant, which
one would you enter? The one with the entrance under
construction, the bizarre color scheme and the hand
written menu? Or the one with an immaculately dressed
host standing in the doorway welcoming you to a table
where even the color of the menu coordinates with the
rest of the decor which is, well, just right?
Lesson: the first impression has tremendous IMPACT on
how visitors to your site perceive it from there on. The
exit is only a click away for the unimpressed!
Take a minute to review my story and see if it rings a bell
with you. Above all, learn a VERY important lesson:
I started on the internet about a year ago full of
enthusiasm to get my first web site up and running. I
dabbled with FrontPage. The first results were
encouraging - so I thought. Then I started noticing other
web sites out there - professional ones. Hmmm. Now I
was not quite so content. Compared to some other sites I
saw, the whole thing began to look rather 'amateurish'.
After countless frustrating hours fiddling with various
programs, kicking the computer and feeling more and
more frustrated, my site still looked like the work of a
greenhorn!
I liked the color scheme of black, red and orange for
some reason. After a couple of months some thoughtful
person who had visited my site sent a brief message:
"Sorry to say, I could hardly read a word on your site!
Your body text is orange, one of the worst choices you
can make!" I was shocked. The page looked so nice in
my Internet Explorer window. So orange was a big
mistake! Time for a redesign.
OK. Off we go again. I changed the colors to red and grey
with the body text in a dark grey. Very smart I thought.
After hours and hours laying out many pages and
formatting the paragraphs I was well pleased with the
results. I came across a copy of Netscape's browser and
decided to install it to see how my site looked to a large
chunk of the internet community who did not use Internet
Explorer. HORROR! What a mess! The page that looked
good in IE4 was totally disjointed in Netscape. The
paragraphs were all uneven and the tables didn't even line
up. Picasso would have been proud!
My dissatisfaction was growing. On top of that, I read a
comment from a savvy internet entrepreneur who said
there was only one design program he was aware of
which delivered clean html code which looked good in all
browsers. Which one? Dreamweaver from Macromedia.
Gulp! You mean I had spent the last four months
sweating with FrontPage only to be told that the design
program of choice is a different one? Could I stomach
another sharp and tedious learning curve?
Around this time I received an interesting offer from a guy
named Micah Cranman. He owns a web design firm, Sybren
Design and is also a subscriber to my ezine
The High Achievers Journal. He had taken a look at my site
and suggested a total reorganization. I was skeptical. After
all, I had given birth to this thing, we were bonded, it was
mine! Anyway, his offer sounded
good so I accepted.
After a couple of weeks the new site was ready for my
first appraisal. With great curiosity I opened it up.
First impression? Nice!
The colors of blue and grey were just right for
complementing the site theme of goal achievement and
personal development. Serious and business-like - that's
the effect I wanted.
The menu system and categorization were brilliant. It
made navigation so easy and piqued a visitor's interest to
investigate further from any page. Instead of the previous
mish mash of doorway pages, ads and serious articles
mixed into an undefinable soup, there was now purpose
and order to the site.
Now began an intensive period of communication with
Micah as we worked together on the small details. His
input was invaluable.
Out went some 'cheesy' looking bullet graphics to be
replaced by plain but professional list items.
The body text color was changed to black.
A small paragraph introduction was added to the top of
each category section.
The color and formatting of the hyperlinks and article
boxes was fine tuned.
At the end of the day do I miss my very own do it yourself
web site? Quite honestly NO. I now have a professional
web site I am pleased with and one which is now set up to
accomplish my business goals.
Have I got any results to boast about yet? Yes. My
visitors' behavior has changed radically. The tracking
records show visitors are now hitting an average of 4
pages per visit as opposed to 1 before. The navigation
system with categories has made sure of that.
If you've got a minute, just take a look for yourself and
make your own appraisal.
http://www.vitalstop.com/index.htm.
What is my recommendation? Do it yourself web site
design is good to a point. It may satisfy your desire to
get under the hood and tinker with the engine. It can give
you a working knowledge so you can fine tune things
later. But quite honestly you can save yourself days and
weeks of sweat, frustration and grief. It took me about six
months to learn this lesson. You can learn it in five
minutes from reading this article.
THE LESSON: If you want to get a professional web site
up and running quickly which will be a spring board for
your business, do yourself a favor - Get the help of a web
site designer and GET SERIOUS!
ADDENDUM
99% of responses to this article so far related to the
experience and agreed with the conclusion.
One reader however related her nightmare experience after
employing a so-called professional web site designer. In her
own words, "The design that was presented to me looked like
the work of a 5 year old." She is now attempting to get her
money back.
If you decide to use a professional web site design service,
check it out first!
About the Author
Mike's web site at VitalStop.com is a great information
resource for Internet Business, Communication Skills,
Computer Proficiency, Creative Thinking, Goal Achievement,
Image Building, Power Vocabulary, Speed Learning and Time
Management. Receive a monthly notice of new content by
sending a blank email here:
mailto:highachievers-subscribe@egroups.com
|
|
|
|
|
| Web Development |
| This web summarizes the complete life cycle methodology for web development: planning, analysis, design, implementation, promotion, and innovation. |
| www.december.com |
|
| Web Development |
| Professional Web site design, graphic design, and Internet development services. |
| webdevelopment.com |
|
| Web Developer's Virtual Library: Web Development Tutorials and ... |
| News, tutorials, and reference material focusing on technical web development topics. |
| www.wdvl.com |
|
| Open Source Web Development Tutorials - Dev Shed |
| Open Source web development tutorials, forums, and tools. Topics covered include PHP, Apache, mySQL, Zope, Roxen, Jserv, Zend, XML, DHTML, and Javascript. |
| www.devshed.com |
|
| WebDeveloper.com |
| Hello all, I am new to web development. I have an understanding of website development, but no scripting experience. I have heard of JavaScript, PHP, ... |
| www.webdeveloper.com |
|
| LevelTen Web Design | Professional Website, Flash & Graphic ... |
| Offers logos, web sites, multimedia presentations, and custom media. Quote form. Based in Dallas, Texas. [Requires Flash] |
| www.leveltendesign.com |
|
| Web development - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| For larger businesses and organizations, Web development teams can consist of ... Since the mid-1990's, Web development has been one of the fastest growing ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Web Design - HTML XML - Web Development - Web Site Design |
| Web Design and HTML are all about creating a great Web site. Use Web development and Web site design to build Web sites that customers return to over and ... |
| webdesign.about.com |
|
| Agile Web Development with Rails—Second Edition |
| Dave Thomas, Mike Clark, David Heinemeier Hansson, Leon Breedt, Thomas Fuchs, Andrea Schwarz; Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2006, ISBN 0977616630. |
| www.pragmaticprogrammer.com |
|
| CYGAD's WebDevelopment - Welcome to CYGAD’s WebDevelopment! - The ... |
| CYGAD's WebDevelopment - The finest Resources for WEB-Design, WEB-Master and WEB-Developer! |
| www.webdev.cygad.net |
|
| Web Development Bookmarklets |
| Includes tools for viewing and testing CSS styles, viewing scripts and variables, and showing the structure of a document. |
| www.squarefree.com |
|
| SGI - Freeware - Web Development |
| Links to freeware web development tools, browsers, software, etc. |
| www.sgi.com |
|
| Webmonkey: The Web Developer's Resource |
| Resources for web site developers including how-to guides, code libararies, server technologies and authoring resources. |
| www.webmonkey.com |
|
| Web Development Tools - Web Developer's Journal |
| Tips on Web page design and development, HTML, graphics, scripting, favicon, development tools, Java, sql basics, building web sites, and much more for ... |
| www.webdevelopersjournal.com |
|
| Web Developer's Handbook | CSS, Web Development, Color Tools, SEO ... |
| Web Developer's Handbook is a list of essential web-sites, which make the life of web developers easier. Compiled and updated by Vitaly Friedman. |
| www.alvit.de |
|
| Ceonex Web Development & Web Design - Full Service Digital ... |
| Web design, web development, online branding, application development and other full service business solutions focused on prospect conversion and customer ... |
| www.ceonex.com |
|
| Cayenne Web Development - web design agency, Oxfordshire, UK |
| Specialist web design agency based nr Banbury, Oxfordshire, offering a complete website design and development service. |
| www.cayenne.co.uk |
|
| Web development mistakes | 456 Berea Street |
| When I visit a website, especially if it’s the site of a competitor or a prospective client, I like viewing… |
| www.456bereastreet.com |
|
| Web development mistakes | 456 Berea Street |
| Articles and news on web standards, accessibility, usability, and other things related to web development and web design. |
| www.456bereastreet.com |
|
| Anil Dash: Web Development Trends for 2006 |
| Here, then, is a random assortment of new web development trends to be ready ... Web Development trends 2006: Überblogger Anil Dash maakte (een paar weken ... |
| www.dashes.com |
|
|