Top 5 Tips When Designing Your First Website.

Top 5 Tips When Designing Your First Website

By Chris Mather

Keeping it simple when designing your first website. Top 5 tips for your first Website Design project

The concept of designing a website can be a very daunting process, however where to start is not something to agonise over. Website Design can be simplified by taking the following five steps. If followed you should be able to design your first website simply and stress free.

Step One: Why a website?

Decide why it is you want a website. Surprisingly most first time clients when queried cannot answer this question. Understanding why it is you want a website, will help you through the development steps and steer you in the direction that you need to take.

The most common reasons why a client wants a website are the following

• Marketing - Getting your name out there for potential clients searching the net to find your business and products.
• Business information - Your clients already know your business and its products, you're more interested in having a website that tells them who you are, how to find you and your company history.
• Online shopping - Giving your clients another option for purchasing, potentially opening your business up to clients who may not have access to your business in the past due to geographic restrictions.
• Because the competition has one - Although this is a good reason, it's important to still decide from the above points which type of website you want.

Step Two: Look at your competition

If your competition already has a website, it will pay to look at it and review the page content, decide what you like and dislike about the page. Ensure you take note of all of the information you gain from doing this as it will help your web developer to build the website that you want.

Although plagiarism is the ultimate compliment, you should never copy or clone a competitors website, instead, look at their website and consider the following:

• Content - Do you understand the content of the website? Is it to the point? If you were a client would you find what you're looking for?
• Colours - Are the colours of the site appealing to the eye?
• Font - Is the font easy to read?
• Navigation - Is it easy to navigate?
• What pages does your competition have? Would you add or remove some?

Step Three: Decide on the pages and content

Decide on what pages you want on your website. Most basic websites consist of a Home Page, About Us and Contact Us. Other pages that can be considered are Shopping Carts, Photo Galleries and Resources.

The content is also important to have drafted before contacting a web developer. It's not always vital to have finalised prior to choosing your developer, however having a draft of the content will expedite the go live date of your website, drafted content will also give your web developer an understanding of your business. Web developers can also provide you with ways to improve your content to allow search engines such as Google to find your business.

Decide on images that you want on your website. Some businesses chose to utilise their own images to personalise the site, others will utilise stock photos. Both have pros and cons depending on the type of website and clients you are pursuing.

If you chose to utilise the services of a graphic designer for website content, discuss this with your selected website developer. What many clients are unaware of is there are restrictions on the size and resolution of images on the web. Some developers will refer you to preferred graphic designers who already have an understanding of what is required of them as part of a website. They also may be a lot cheaper due to the amount of business generated by the web developer.

Decide on if you wish to update the content of the website, or if this will be managed by the web developer. If something simple changes such as your postal address or staff member name. Do you wish to update this yourself, or would you prefer to contact the web developer at a cost to do this on your behalf?

Step Four: Set realistic timelines and budget

Have realistic timelines set for your website milestones and go live date. Also understand that a milestone being missed may result in your website release being delayed. It would also help to discuss with your chosen web developer what action they take when a milestone is missed. Will he/she continue with development without the information, or will the process stall? Some developers will also continue to charge for costs until a milestone is met, ensure there are no surprises such as this.

Have a budget set for your website. A lot of businesses believe that a website can be an expensive product however this is not always the case. Many developers already have templates built which need only to have your content added. The cost of using a template website is minimal and for some clients free, as the developer gains more from the regular income of hosting fees than the initial development. Large costs are incurred for websites when they need to be built from scratch due to the uniqueness of what is require by the client.

Step Five: Research Web Developers

Research web developers on the market and check out their client's websites, just as you would have done with your own competition's website. Note however that a poor website may not be a reflection of the web developer but the result of a client's poor planning.

Create a shortlist of developers and speak to them about their business and what the product it is that you want. It is at this point that you may go back to the beginning of step one and start the process all over again after the website developer has given you more to think about.

It is very important not to be intimidated or confused by the website developer. If they use terms that you are not sure of, don't be afraid to ask them to clarify. The relationship you build with a web developer will continue for the life of your website, if you feel uncomfortable or confused by the information they are providing you with initially, it will only continue into the future.

Finally, ask questions about ongoing costs such as web hosting, support and future development to the web page.

Ultimately you are the client and the client is always right. Going through the above five steps will help you get your first website online simply and without a break down. If the task becomes too difficult ask yourself question one again to get back 'on track'.

Chris Mather is a Project Manager for CMather.com and Bendigo Web Hosting. We offer expert advice on Web Design and Development Services. Similar articles can be found on our popular blog.

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How to Make or Create Your Own Website for Free.

How to Make or Create Your Own Website for Free

By Cedric P Loiselle

People, who are in the internet business and those who want to create a blog online, try to learn how to make a website. Since most people nowadays are computer literate, they can easily promote any products that they have to those who are going to come across their website. It's the same thing with those who want to express themselves through a blog. It's convenient for them, because the internet as a medium is a good way to express how people feel, and they also get to share a lot of things to different people. If you want to join the internet business and are interested to know how to create a site, here are some tips to help you out:

• There are some webpages online that can teach you how to create a website. These pages would already have customized page designs that you can choose from, which are more convenient, because then, you won't have to do everything on your own. They also offer self help modules that will allow you to navigate things alone and add features that would make it look more attractive.

• These websites operate for free, however, they do this to attract more clients in the future. As you learn and expand more, you'll start wanting your own domain name and other features that will make your page look good and easier to use. Take note that at this point, these things will require certain fees. Try to comply with it, so that you can fully enjoy the features.

• There are a lot of free web hosting companies online, and all you have to do is choose a particular site that is convenient for you. If you will notice, ads will pop up from time to time. If you want to get rid of this, you have to upgrade and pay for a particular fee.

• In learning how to create a website, you don't have to stress yourself out, because these websites begin by giving a thorough description of what you have to do during the whole process. Make sure that you try to list down all of the information that you have given, like your email address and password, because this will be your log in requirement when you are using the program.

• Choose a name that can easily describe your blog or the business that you have. This will make it more accessible to those people who are going to visit it. Since it's free, your webpage will have the domain name of your host. Don't worry, because you can change it anytime, once you decide to buy it later on.

• Once everything is up and ready, you can start creating your own page. Try to upload pictures and write articles to make it more attractive.

Free website hosting is convenient to use, if you are planning to create your own. This is a good way to start, especially if this is your first time to make one. It's easier because you don't have to make everything from scratch. They have ready-made page designs, and all you have to do is fill it up with your own content!

For more information about how to make a website, visit our website http://www.allaboutyourownwebsite.com/.

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2 Easy Ways To Get Free Traffic To Your Website.

2 Easy Ways To Get Free Traffic To Your Website

By Randall A Magwood

There are many ways to get traffic to your website, but you should know that only a core few will bring you the most results. Getting traffic to your website is something that is very essential for your online business. But regular old "traffic" isn't good enough... you need targeted traffic that will get you more interested visitors, and that will increase your sales.

In today's lesson, I want to share with you some of my favorite ways to get traffic. These methods are free methods, but when done consistently on a daily basis, they can get you more customers and can supercharge your profits like nothing else. Here's the first traffic strategy that I want to share with you:

1) Affiliate program marketing

Do you have your own affiliate program? If not, then you should. This is one of the easiest ways to get more new visitors to your site, and also to have hundreds or even thousands of people promoting your product each and everyday. This is something that you will want to add to your arsenal of internet marketing techniques.

Promoting your affiliate program is very simple. All you have to do is create an affiliate sign up page, and then submit this page to all of the affiliate directories online. These kinds of directories get visitors each and everyday looking to promote the next new product on the market. This is how you can promote your product.

If you don't want to create an affiliate sign up page, then you can easily submit your affiliate program information to a site like ClickBank or Paydotcom. Both of these sites have thousands of affiliates just waiting for the next product to come out to promote. You will want to sign up for both to get the most exposure as possible.

Here's another way to get free traffic to your website:

2) Social marketing

Social marketing is big right now. Almost everywhere you look, people are promoting their Twitter and Facebook pages to connect with people all over the world. This is a great way to get "personal" with your readers, and to interact with them other than a static article on your website.

Some people have various different ways to enforce their social marketing strategy. Some people use Twitter, some people use Facebook, and some people use both. And then, some people only stick with blogging. All of these ways are great ways to enforce your social marketing strategy.

It will take some time to start profiting with Facebook and Twitter, but you should continue to keep marketing using these 2 websites. Eventually down the line, you will see that your efforts have been worthwhile, and that you should continue to do it to see more growth in your business.

Both of these methods of getting free traffic to your website work well, and are here to stay. The more you use both of these strategies, the more your website traffic will increase, and the more money you will make.

Good luck with using these 2 strategies to earn more money in your internet business.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Randall Magwood is one of the most respected and highly-regarded online marketing experts on the internet. He has a website about internet marketing that helps small business owners learn how to market their business online simply and easily. To learn more, simply visit his website here: http://www.internetmarketing-rules.com

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Increasing Website Traffic - 5 Quick Ways to Do It

Increasing Website Traffic - 5 Quick Ways to Do It

By Steve S Prescott

Increasing website traffic is one of the best things you can do when it comes to increasing your profits. Why? The more people visit your site, the more people you get signing up to your list. And the more people sign up to your list, the more people in your marketing funnel, which almost always leads to more sales.

The trouble is, most people think increasing website traffic is difficult and complicated, and so don't even attempt it. Well, nothing could be further from the truth, and here are five quick ways to increase website traffic easily.

Increasing website traffic

1. Create a blog. Many people think blogging is no longer effective, because there are so many blogs out there. It is true there are more blogs out there, but most of them are not particularly relevant to a market. Create a relevant blog and you stand head and shoulders above the competition. More people will read it, and more people will tell other people about it. All that means more interest and more traffic. It's that simple.

2. Blog regularly and often. The search engines - and particularly Google - loves websites with fresh, constantly-updated information. A blog with new stuff posted just once a month just doesn't really cut it. Blog three times a week and the search engines will send you more visitors. Even better, once you have some decent traffic you can analyse the keywords and get new ideas to blog about - which leads to more content and more traffic yet again.

3. Write articles. One of the best ways to increase website traffic is to write quality articles and submit them to article directories. These articles can appear in the search results - a source of traffic in themselves - or website traffic can come directly from the article directories themselves. The great thing is the that traffic from article directories is highly-qualified traffic, and that's just the type of traffic you want.

4. Get your name out to the public. Writing articles will do this to a large extent, but you should also go onto forums and read other blogs, and post useful, relevant content. The people reading those blogs and forums will be highly-qualified to your market, and some of them will visit your blog and - if you've written good stuff - become regular readers, and possibly customers.

5. Use offline traffic-generation methods. Most of your traffic may come from online sources, like those mentioned above. But there's no need to forget things like the humble business card and flyer, especially if you operate in a local market. And even if you don't, this technique can still work like gangbusters. Simply advertise an offer of a free report on your business card, for instance, and ask people to visit your website to get it. There they have to provide an email address to download the report, which means more traffic, more people on your list, and more customers in the long term.

This stuff is not difficult, and it really only takes a decision to do it, and then stick with it. Do that for a couple of months, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at your results.

Want to discover more about effective small business marketing?

Get yourself over to my website and grab a copy of Smart Business Power Marketing, a packed report that shows you exactly how to generate leads and slash advertising costs at the same time.

Even better... it won't cost you a penny.

Go to:

>>>>>> http://www.mrsteveprescott.com/powermarketing

Your free report is waiting for you.

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