How to Build a Successful Website - Recommendations from Google Guy

By Ciara Carruthers

In a post on the 'Webmaster World' Forum, an ex-employee of Google, also known as Google Guy, provided the golden rules of creating a high trafficked website. The post, "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone" is truly priceless and I personally thank anyone who gives their time offering us all such treasured knowledge.

In this post, Google Guy covers 26 separate points which he feels to be important in the world of Google.Here, I shall pick out some of the points which I feel to be the most significant and easily applied:

1. Four of the 26 pointers by Google Guy speak of adding content.

Add, add, add. Google loves it, and your visitors will love it. Assure it is quality content though. You are looking for quality over quantity here.Sure, you can turn out 5 mediocre articles in the time it takes to write one excellent article. However, once that excellent article is on your site, people will bookmark your page and recommend you to friends and online contacts.

2. Your website should be clean and simple.

The simpler the HTML that you have on your website, the more the search engines will like you. Also, the more simply your visitors can navigate and read your site, the more THEY will like you.How simple is the layout of Google itself? Yes, very simple. How popular is it? Very.

3. Keep your pages small.

Aim for between 5K and 10K. Many of your visitors will still be using dial-up connections. Don't alienate these visitors by building pages that load slowly.

4. Keep your content pages to no more than 500 words, generally speaking.

If it gets longer, that's fine. Assure, however, that it is not rambling, that it NEEDS to be longer. If you can make it shorter, do so.

5. Use your keyword in the following ways:

Once in the title, once in the description tag, once in the heading, once in the url, once in bold, once in italic and once high on the page. Don't aim for misspelled keywords. The search engines are getting smarter and now often correct spelling mistakes as people search for them.

6. On each page, link to one or two highly ranked websites which relate to your industry.

Assure that the links are in context with the rest of the article. Use your keyword in the link.

7. Create links from one page to another within your website.

In this way, you even-out the entire PR of your website, as opposed to having one page which ranks very highly and other pages which don't. So, for example, if when writing one article, you mention a point which is covered in more detail in another article, link to that article. Use the keyword for the other article in the link.

8. Make your navigation system usable; both for visitors and search engine spiders.

For your visitors, assure that it is a simple and clean system. For the search engine spiders, assure that your links go no more than 3 links deep.This means that no page should be any more than one other page from the home page. Cross link from articles as much as possible.

9. Submit your website to as many directories as possible.

Here you will find an extensive list of available directories - "Strongest Links" Many are free. If you can afford it, pay the extra cash to have your site listed in Yahoo and Looksmart.

10. Request link swaps from related website.

Better yet, join a quality link exchange program. I use the "Link Exchange program" supplied for free by SiteSell.com, with whom I host my other website, "Barcelona Explore"

11. Write good, concise content.

Keep paragraphs short and to the point.

12. If you are using your website to promote your off-line business, don't just put up an online flyer.

Provide your visitors with information that they can use, not just information about you and your company. Unless they are specifically looking for information about you, they will click away from your site.

13. Study the information provided by your website statistics.

If your web host doesn't provide a good statistic program, use a free one like "StatCounter". Analyze the keywords that people have been using to find your site. If any surprising ones come up, use them in your site.

14. Partake in forums pertaining to your website.

Absorb all the information that is on there, and more importantly, become part of it. The networking with other people in your sector is invaluable and will prove it's worth by increasing backlinks, viral networking and recommendations.

These points are what I have taken as being the most important recommendations from Google Guy. The entire post is to be found here - "Webmaster World Forum - How to create a successful website".

Following all these points will speed up your success. Success at any speed, however, is a guarantee if you focus on offering your visitors value, by providing excellent content.


About the Author:

Ciara Carruthers is a successful website content writer. Employ her services or read her many website related articles by clicking here.

Someone Stole My Site: How To Defend Yourself When Someone Plagiarizes Your Text

By Karyn Greenstreet.

I knew one day it would happen. Someone stole the text from my website and used it on their own website. Dirty rotten scoundrels!

According to the US Copyright Office website (http://www.copyright.gov):

"Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work."

What Do You Do?

Here are some ways to discover which sites have stolen your text:

1. Find some text on your website that is so "you" that it's unlikely that anyone else would write a phrase or sentence that way. Go to http://www.google.com, and put that phrase or sentence into their search, within quotation marks. For example, one phrase that of my own that I searched on looked like this: "you'll end up struggling to make your business a success, and all your passion and enthusiasm will drain away." (Go ahead, type it into Google and see who's got my text on their site.) You have to put the phrase within quotation marks so that Google knows to search for the whole phrase with all the words right next to each other.

2. Make note of the sites that have the same text as yours. While it is completely possible in millions and millions of websites that someone might have written the exact same phrase, it's worth investigating every site that comes up.

3. Another great place to search for plagiarized sites is http://www.copyscape.com

Here are some steps to getting a site to take down plagiarized text:

1. Gather as much information about the offending site as you can.

2. Print out all pages from their site where the plagiarized text resides.

3. Try to find a contact name, phone number and email address from the site.

4. Go to http://www.internic.net/whois.html and get all their registration information. If they are not in the USA, go to Google and type in "whois" plus the name of their country. You should be able to find a whois site that can get their DNS record for you.

5. Go to http://www.alexa.com and find whatever information you can there.

6. Finally, write to the offending site owner and tell them that you found plagiarized text on their site. List the URLs of the offending pages along with the copyrighted URLs of your own pages. Give them two or three days to either delete the pages, or re-write them so that they no longer include your text.

This is not the time to play nice guy! Tell the offending site owner that you are copying their hosting company and domain registrar on the letter or email, and do so.

Make sure when you write this email or letter, you don't use any passive language, and do not say "please". Demand your rights. It is illegal and unethical for them to do what they did and they need to stop doing it immediately.

Another great resource is http://www.waybackmachine.org.

This allows you to check what their websites looked like throughout the years. You may be able to pinpoint the date when those people served themselves with a hefty spoon of your web content.

Someone pointed out to me that sometimes the offender is the website designer, not the owner of the site. If you are an owner of a site, and you did not write your own text, ask your designer where he or she got the text. Make it clear to them that you will not tolerate any plagiarized text and that you will hold them legally responsible in any charge or lawsuit that comes up over the copy on your website.

Some final notes:

Always put a copyright statement on your site. If it took you a long time to write your text, you should be the only one benefiting from it, not some unethical person who is looking for a shortcut.

If the site doesn't comply with your request, you might have to get your attorney involved. Only you can decide if the expense of an attorney is worth it for you.

I have written to the six sites that stole my text. Two have complied and taken down the offending pages within three days of my request. If the others don't comply, I will be posting their websites in my blog. I'm not afraid of a little publicity, but I bet they are.

About the Author:

Karyn Greenstreet is a Self Employment expert and small business coach. She shares techniques, skills and strategies with self-employed people to boost motivation, create clear goals and cohesive plans, and increase profits. Visit her website at http://www.PassionForBusiness.com

Internet Marketing - What Comes First?

By Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.

Someone asked me recently, if I were to expand an existing professional services business onto the internet, what marketing steps would I take first: set up a web site, a shopping cart, a newsletter, or a blog?

This is a very good question. Five years ago most Internet marketing specialists would have all responded in chorus, "A website, of course!" Then they would recommend their services to create an elaborate website with lots of bells and whistles.

I had an interesting email this week from a reader who asked me about website design fees. This is not my area of expertise. But this reader is a very smart guy. Why? Because he knows from my ezines, blogs and web site that I've been online for a few years and making a decent living from it.

He's a rabbi who has many years experience counseling people. He now has made a wise decision to start offering coaching services to people, and wants to leverage the internet to find clients, sell ebooks and other programs.

The First Step - Ask Questions

He has many questions about what to do first, where to invest his marketing dollars, and how to get set up so everything works seamlessly and automatically.

While I don't profess to have all the answers to his particular questions, I want to emphasize what's important here. He is asking questions!

Many people just go with their gut or common sense. It goes something like this:

"I need a way to find people online. Ergo, I need a web site. Who can do a web site for me, that doesn't cost too much? Oh, you can? Only $1000. Okay, that seems reasonable. Do it."

It's only later on down the road when they want to start an ezine, or a blog, or sell an ebook that they realize they need more than just a web site. That's when the web designer kicks in with hourly fees.

I've never heard a programmer say they can't do something. They always say they can easily set up autoresponders, gather email addresses, send out a newsletter, create a blog on your site, and even create a secure payment system for sales. I'm sorry, but here's the real news: programmers and web site designers can do all these tasks with your web site, but they will charge you for it, and it still won't do everything automatically. And you will be tied to their hourly fees (and schedule) forever.

Back to the question asked of me at the beginning of this article.

While my partner and I recommend an all-in-one solution and setting up all the elements together if your budget permits, there are a couple of ways to get started.

Unless you have a database of prospects, you will not sell your services or products. Therefore, we recommend getting started the right way by building your database - by offering an ezine or free content to attract people to your business. And, you need a place on the Internet where people can find you and subscribe to your content.

The first two pieces then, especially if you're just starting out and have a limited budget, are a blog and a shopping cart program with an autoresponder system.

Third Party Shopping Cart Systems

A third party shopping cart system is where you get an account hosted online by a company that specializes in providing automated database management, autoresponders, email broadcasting, online merchant credit card and payments, ad tracking, and affiliate programs.

When you start out, all you need to do is deliver your ezine and automated emails through autoresponders. You can get a basic level shopping cart account. As your business grows and you develop products, you can upgrade to get more features on your shopping cart, such as affiliate program management and digital delivery.

There are many online email broadcasting services to manage your newsletter. But be aware that an all-in-one solution such as a shopping cart program will save you time and money in the long run.

We strongly recommend starting off with a shopping cart program that can manage your database and newsletters under one roof. It is better to have all your automated marketing functions with one service provider, than to separate your database and newsletter out to another external email service provider.

For detailed information and questions to ask about how to pick a shopping cart system, there are a series of articles you can review: http://snipurl.com/Pick_a_Cart

What's next?

You have your shopping cart system, now what? We'll explore the issue of websites vs. blogs in our next article.

About The Author

As the The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman have teamed up to work with professionals to maximize their marketing strategies by implementing blogs, ezines and
ecommerce tactics. They are co-authors of "Secrets of Successful Ezines: A Guide to Writing and Publishing an Ezine that Gets Results." Get The Blog Squad's free report on the "Top 10 Reasons to do an Ezine and A Blog": http://snipurl.com/Ezine_Blog

Search Engine Optimization for the Rest of Us

By Nowshade Kabir

When you have launched your website, whether it is an eCommerce store or a corporate promotional site, you must have set certain goals regarding the quantity of traffic you are expecting to have on your site. If you did not pursue your goal with specific web promotional marketing strategies, chances are there you are not very happy with the results you have achieved so far. Although, there are numerous web promotional methods available to your
disposal, optimization of your webpages for search engines is the uncontested leader in this field. If you sell products or services through your website, it is even more so for you. Consider this. Out of various possibilities which include: going to a shop, calling a shop, etc. the prospective buyer decided to search for the product online. Then he or she used certain key-phrase to make a query on a search engine and then among other sites, he or she chose yours to click in. As a seller this is the kind of visitors you need for your site! Search engines have more than twice the e-commerce conversion rate of other traffic acquisition sources. You can get these results for your site with the help of search engine optimization.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

SEO is a set of actions carried out with a webpage to improve visibility of that webpage in search engines. The goal is to ensure top places in the search engine results for a specific query.

How important are the search engines? Data show 81 percent of Internet users find the sites they're looking for through search engines. Over 57% of Internet users search the Internet everyday. Up to 500 Million searches take place in a day. 55% of all Internet purchases originate at a search engine as oppose to 9 percent from banners. These statistics are pretty convincing, but surprisingly, according to StatMarket.com only 7 percent of websites are visible by search engines.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can really bring amazing results. Our page http://trade-leads.rusbiz.com recently started to show on the first page of Google for the search phrase "trade leads". Within the last month we have noticed almost 30 percent increase of traffic to this page which is pretty much inline with the available statistics. If your optimization efforts started to bear fruits and you ended up on the second or third page of Google search, you can expect a dramatic increase of almost 5 times more traffic than before and after two months it can be over 9 times! An upward move from 2nd and 3rd pages to the much coveted first page will bring an increase of around 30 percent. Along with the traffic the conversion rate - the quantity of actual purchases - also goes up significantly.

Your position within the first page also makes a lot of difference. The top positioned web page in the sponsored - paid advertisement - receives 50 percent of all clicks and first three top ranked web pages garner 60 percent of all clicks.

Once you have decided to go for search engine optimization, your next step is to figure out for which search engine you should work on optimizing your site. After all there are so many search engines out there!

If you look at the latest statistics available for the month of November, 2005 compiled by Nielsen/NetRatings it, probably, won't be any surprise to you that Google at present has the most search market share. There were 5.1 billion searches done in November. Out of 60 search engines monitored, Google had a share of 46.3 percent,Yahoo - 23.4 percent, MSN - 11.4 percent, AOL - 6.9 percent, Ask Jeeves with its other affiliations MyWay, Teoma, Iwon and search sites of Excite Network has a combined share of around 6 percent, etc. This clearly shows that Google is the undisputed leader among search engines at this moment. That's why in your quest of getting more traffic to your site, you have to emphasize on Google. Other key indicators which favor Google as well are:

. Google is most favored by business people - 82.9 percent of all business users make their queries through Google.

. The Google users are more educated. They are more likely to have a college degree.

. The Google users are from higher income groups.

As mentioned earlier search engine optimization is a set of actions that you have to take regarding your web pages. Here are the key steps of the process:

Select keywords for search engine ranking
1. Make a list of keywords that you think buyers might use to search for products and services you sell.
2. Use a Thesaurus to check synonyms of the words and phrases that you have chosen. You may come up with additional keywords.
3. Eliminate all single words from the list!
4. Go to several of your competitors' websites and check out what keywords they are focusing on by viewing the HTML source of the pages.
5. Now go to Yahoo! pay per click search marketing site Overture, which has an excellent keyword selection tool. Google also has a similar tool located at
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordSandbox.
6. Get the search phrases or terms that are popular enough and fall into your criteria from above mentioned lists.
7. Check where you stand with these keywords or key phrases in main search engines. Find the needed tool for this here. http://www.marketleap.com/verify/default.htm.
8. Now try to find whether you should use your keyword in singular or plural, or which one of the two similar search terms or phrases are more desirable by going to the following page:
http://www.onfocus.com/googlesmack/down.asp. Remember, studies show that conversion rate for plural words are in general higher than singular!
9. Now that you have a number of keywords, cluster two to three of them for one single page. Remember, every page of your site should be built surrounding one single theme and focused on
maximum two to three keywords.

Optimize the pages for keywords

Place keywords in Title tag, Meta description, Alt tags, Heading tags, Comment tags. Here is an example:

<title>Search Engine Optimization for the Rest of Us</title>
<meta name="description" content="Article about search engine ranking at ezine.rusbiz.com">
<meta name="keywords" content="search engine ranking, optimizing web pages for keywords, SEO steps">
<meta name="author" content="Nowshade Kabir">
<meta name="copyright" content="Nowshade Kabir">
<meta name="robots" content="index,follow">

Create content

Now develop informative content using these keywords. Use your key words in headlines and alt tag of the pictures. Make sure that you don't over do it! If you stuff keywords more than
necessary for a normal text, search engines can ban your site for keyword spamming. Here is a tool for checking density of keywords on a page: http://www.gorank.com/seotools/. Maximum
preferable density is 3-5 percent.

Submit to search tools

Effective promotion of a website starts with submission of the site to various search tools available on the Internet. There are two different types of search tools - search engines and
directories. Search engines index their listings based on the information retrieved by their spiders which crawl through the hyper links constantly looking for new websites. The directory
listings are compiled by human editors from the URLs submitted to the directory. If your website is listed in the directories you can be sure that the spiders of different search engines
sooner or later will index your site. That's why you should start submitting your website to the directories. The major directories are GMOZ, Yahoo!, LookSmart, etc.

Link popularity

The quantity of links in different websites pointing to your sites is called link popularity of your website. The more popular is your site the more links you get from other websites and vice
versa. Link popularity is one of the key factors that search engines consider in their search algorithm while indexing a website. What would be the rank of a website in a search result
depends on its link popularity in a very big way. Work on getting as many backward links as possible, preferably from the web pages with higher page ranking than yours.

Track ranking

Search engine optimization requires constant monitoring and updating. Don't forget that the competitors are working relentlessly on achieving high positions. The search algorithms are also constantly changing and improving. That's why every now and then you should check out how your site is doing.

Track traffic

If your work started to bring good results and you are getting more traffic, but the visitors are not taking expected actions, this means, you probably have selected wrong keywords. Start all
over again with keywords analysis.

Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing web pages for natural or organic - as they are also called - searches. Once you are certain that you have done everything possible to
achieve maximum results in this sphere, you should consider pay per click marketing with Google, Yahoo and MSN. Effective web promotion requires a combination of both of these two search engine marketing strategies.

About the author:

Nowshade Kabir is the CEO of Rusbiz.com, a global B2B Portal, which helps companies build web store, buy and sell products and services using eMarketplace, eCatalog and other features. Rusbiz also offers website development packages: http://www.rusbiz.com/design_package.html

How Keywords Affect Your Rankings

By James Mahony

This article explains a few things about SEO, and if you're interested, then this is worth reading, because you can never tell what you don't know.

We all want to know how keywords affect our rankings, but to find out we'll need to do a little work. Many say keywords are the key to good search engine rankings, although they aren't at
all the only factor.

If you need a tool to help you decide on your keywords, try Overture's Search Term Suggestion Tool - it allows you to test your keyword rankings by showing you statistics on recent searches for them. It's a great tool when you have no clue which keyword you should choose, as it can give you a list of terms that were recently searched on.

Keyword Density.

Keyword density refers to the number of the keywords contained within your text relative to the amount of text there is. Preferred keyword density ratios vary between search engines, but you should generally try to keep them between two and eight percent (major search engines prefer the lower end). Keyword analysis tools can help to optimize a web page's keyword density. These tools are good if you're not sure of what you're doing, as they're very intuitive and explain things as you go.

Counting the Keywords.

Many SEO experts will tell you that the keyword density of your text isn't a very important factor, and that you should be careful not to overdo it. So is there a limit? How many times should you use your keywords? SEO experts won't be able to answer these questions for you, because no-one's really sure of the answer. The best answer is that it changes regularly, and you can never be sure - you have to experiment to see what works for you.

Location of Keywords.

When testing the effects of keyword location, we found that pages with the keywords at the top and bottom of the page ranked higher on Google than pages with the keywords in the middle.

I trust that what you've read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

Many other search engines also give keywords more or less weight based on their location, but keep in mind that each search engine's algorithm is different. Here's a list of how most search engines prioritize keyword positions, from most to least:

1. Domain name.

2. Page title.

3. Headings (i.e. H1, H2, etc.).

4. Body text (the first 2 to 3 KB usually counts more).

5. Meta tags (especially description).

6. Links (including keywords in the URL or link text of links to you).

7. Alt text (the 'alt' descriptions for your pictures).

Really, though, keyword density is one of those areas where you'll have trouble on your hands if you try to second guess the search engines. Be cautious.

As your knowledge about SEO continues to grow, you will begin to see how SEO fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important
too.

About The Author:

James Mahony is the founder of http://www.searchmama.com - A site dedicated to Search Engine Optimization http://www.searchmama.com
http://www.thedomaintycoons.com
http://www.articlesforwebsitecontent.com

Successful Website - Secrets

By Jerry Goldfarb

Does your business have a presence on the Internet? Is it doing well? Did you know that the most important factor effecting your business on the internet is your web site? No matter how good your product is, no matter how low your product is priced at, success on the internet depends wholly on your website. If the website is not professional looking, the chances of your
success are slim.

This article assumes that you are conversant with HTML and includes a few tips on designing a professional looking website.

* The home page should load in the browser in less than 8 seconds at 56.6 Kbps connection. The customer never waits, costing you precious business.

* Search Engines are the agents that bring traffic to your site; about 80% of web traffic comes through search engines today. To make your website friendly to search engines, make sure that proper META tags are included in each of the pages. Before you edit the site or make one, make sure that you understand how to optimize the website.

* Choose your backgrounds and colors carefully. Dark colors and interesting backgrounds take the focus away from the content. Maintain the color and background theme throughout the site.
Colors have an effect on the mood of the visitor. Choose carefully as per your requirements.

* Choose not to use animation on you site. Animation causes slow loading speed and also looks unprofessional.

* The home page should contain relevant information on what you are offering. If the visitor cannot find the product or service at the home page, you will lose him forever.

* Avoid using banners. If you need to use them, keep them limited to 1 per page.

* Always display contact information on every page of your website. Also keep the response times minimal, within 48 hours to promote better relationships.

* Make sure all links and images are working properly on the website. Check for grammar in the content. A professional website should not have mistakes in it and should contain a logo on each page. Make sure that a visitor can get from the start to the end of his destination within 4 clicks.

* The navigation should be simple and easy. Keep all navigation links together.

* Java and frames should be used sparingly, to speed up loading times and to ensure search engine friendliness.

* Finally before uploading, check the site loading different browsers. All browsers are not made equal.

* Keep your site up-to-date and change content every fortnight. The regular visitors should have a reason to come back.

For more information and tips, visit http://www.cobbwebdesign.com/.

About The Author:

Jerry Goldfarb

For more information and tips, visit http://www.cobbwebdesign.com/.

Improving Conversion Rates

By David Andrew Smith

You have optimised your website and attracted a large number of inbound links by one means or another. The results of this are that your site now appears on the first page of the top three
search engines, Google, MSN and Yahoo, for your chosen keywords or phrases. You have cracked it! Now you are getting hundreds of visitors a day to your website. Unfortunately very few are staying to browse your site and even fewer are purchasing your products or enquiring after the services you offer.

You must look closely at your site to find the reason behind this if you wish to improve your conversion rates. There are two immediate actions you can take. Have you optimised your site for the search engines or your visitors? You should always optimise your site for your visitors as they will provide you with your income not the search engines. The search engines are simply a means to an ends.

It is better to have twenty visitors to your site 15 of whom purchase a product or service than it is to have 500 of whom only 5 make a purchase. When developing your site keep in mind your potential customers and put text into the site that they will appreciate, like and find informative. Never write your copy with the search engines in mind and those omnipotent algorithms. Algorithms do not make enquiries or purchases people do.

If your copy is attractive and readable and encourages real people to contact you or buy a product then it is highly likely to be equally attractive to the search engines. When writing your copy you should not be trying to 'sell' your product or service with blatant over the top advertising. Be more subtle. You are fulfilling a wish or a need or solving a problem so be
informative. People have carried out a specific search so the need is already there you have to now give them the information they need to convince them to purchase of you. So as always the
content is the key to making sales as well as attracting the attention of the search engines.

You must work hard at getting this content right. The second line of investigation is to analyse your sites visitor statistics carefully Look at each visitor and how they arrived at your site. That is what search terms did they use? What page did they land on? What pages did they navigate through? What page did they exit on? What area of the World or country did they come from? If they made no enquiry or purchase, look at their search phrase, and where on your site they went, and attempt to calculate why they left without making that enquiry or purchase. Was it because their search was not appropriate for ypour actual product or service? Do you not perhaps provide your service to their particular area? Did they miss or could not find exactly what they wanted on your site because of badly designed navigation paths? Or is it perhaps because the text is simply not up to standard?

If you think it is a structural problem then you can alter this so that people find it easier to navigate to places on the site that they actually want. It may also be a matter of your content so you can change this.

By constantly monitoring your site's statistics you can dramatically increase your conversion rates, that is, convert more of your visitors into paying customers. Finally do keep note of what you do so that you can accurately monitor the changes you make to find out if and by how much they are making a difference.

About The Author:

David Andrew Smith runs a successful contract cleaning company http://www.wesparkle.co.uk for both commercial and domestic customers in the UK. He has devoloped and maintains the company's website.

What Does Your Website Say About Your Business?

By Tim Knox

Q: 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.

A: 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 can not 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 2003. 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!"

What does your website say about your business?

Here's to your success.

About The Author:

Tim Knox Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker
http://www.prosperityandprofit.com
http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.smallbusinessqa.com
http://www.timknox.com

Affiliate Tip - Build A Website

By Nell Taliercio

One of the first things you should do as an affiliate marketer is to build you own website. Yes, you can market affiliate programs without it by adding links to your email or signature file on message boards, but you will be very limited in how much you can earn this way. Building a website allows you to expose the products you are promoting to a much larger audience with less effort.

Decide on a Topic

Your first step is to decide what you would like your website to be about. Find a topic you like, something you are passionate about. You will be spending a lot of time creating content for your site, so it may as well be something you enjoy reading and writing about. Your enthusiasm for the subject will shine through as well, and will get your visitors interested. Once you have your topic, make sure there are affiliate products available that compliment the site and that there are people interested in buying it.

Pick a Domain Name

Use a site like register.com, or your web host's site to research available domain names. It helps to have one of your major keywords in your domain name. So if you decided your website will be about growing roses, try to work "rose" in the domain name. You want your domain name to be easy to remember and easy to type. Try to avoid using dashes in the name and find something that's available as a dot com address.

Hosting

The next step is to set up a web hosting account. You should be able to get by with a basic personal website package to begin with. Get some recommendations from others when it comes to choosing the actual hosting company. You want a service that is reliable and has good customer service. After all, you won't be making any money when you site is down. I have been using Dayana hosting for years and highly recommend them.

Site Builder or Software

Let's talk about how you can build your website. Your options are using a site builder, like internetbasedfamilies.com or software like Microsoft FrontPage, or my favorite x-site pro. A site builder is usually easier to use in the beginning and hosting is included. You will pay a monthly fee for the software and hosting combined. If you build your site using software like x-site pro or FrontPage, you have the added initial expense of buying the software, but your monthly hosting costs are usually lower. Of course a third option is to have someone else design the site for you. You should still get familiar with the site builder or software, so you can make changes to the site.

Getting Traffic To The Site

Your last step will be getting traffic to your site. Optimize your pages for search engines to get free traffic. You can also write articles and submit them to article directories. Pay per click advertising and buying ads on other related sites or newsletters are also great ways to drive traffic to your site.

About The Author:

For more information about websites go to http://www.mommysplace.net and for more information about affiliate marketing go to http://www.nellnews.com

So That's What Goes on a Home Page!

By Marcia Yudkin

In the early days of the World Wide Web, the word went around that the thing to do on a home page is to heartily and sincerely welcome the visitor. Today, this is unnecessary, cliched and ineffective. Instead, an effective home page needs to quickly orient the visitor to what the business or professional practice offers, distinguish these offerings from competitors' and direct the web site visitor what to do if they are interested in learning more.

It's especially important to make a strong and clear presentation on the home page if you want perfect strangers coming from a search engine to spend more than 10 seconds on the site when determining whether or not it is relevant to them. Getting business from such strangers is one of the major payoffs of having a web site, and they lack the patience of someone who has already had contact with you or been referred by a trusted source. Even people seriously
inclined to hire you don't have endless patience to wade through hot air, jargon or superfluous preliminaries.

Therefore, a home page must make it possible to answer these questions within 10 seconds:

• What is being described or sold here? What kind of business is this?


• Why should I do business with this company rather than its competitors?


• What should I do to find out more or get in touch?

In judging web sites for the Webby Awards, I have seen as many rich, large companies as small ones overlook the first essential for a home page - set the context. Orient the visitor. The perfect stranger may need to know things that you assume everyone already knows, such as:

1. What business are you in? Include a commonly understood industry name or the generic name of your primary product or service prominently in the home page copy, if it's not already part of your business name or in the tag line. When this information isn't plainly and obviously stated, many visitors are screaming to themselves, "What IS this?" as they hit the back button on their browsers.
2. Who do you serve? So many businesses - banks, restaurants, dentists - leave it unspoken what state or province and even what country they are in when that's essential to someone figuring out whether or not this business meets their needs. When location plays a crucial role in service, make it unmistakable where the business is. Other times, the answer to this question is more subtle. You need to indicate that you work with Fortune 500 companies, or mostly with authors, or with ambitious fitness professionals and health club owners.
3. Why should someone do business with you? The best kind of answer to this question involves presenting the benefits someone gets from buying your products or services. Indeed, I recommend putting such benefits right in your home page headline. For instance, for a caregiving support site I created this headline: With Support, Caregiving Becomes a Rewarding Journey. For a site about a book on outstanding women scientists and artists, the headline read: Learn From Accomplished Women Role Models How to Create a Fulfilling Lifelong Career. Note the inviting tone of these headlines. Within the paragraphs of the home page copy, refer again and again to what customers get and what makes you different from competitors.
4. What should I do next? Even though you provide navigation links for people to choose where to go next at the site, it's effective to say explicitly what someone with such and such an interest should do. Your call to action might have more than one part, such as: To learn more about how Hyana Heights Club helps you stay healthy and fit, click here. To book your free tour and complimentary aerobics class, click here.

Use these guidelines to create or redo a home page, and you'll enjoy a significantly improved response from your web site both from people landing on your site from search engines and those already somewhat interested in what you offer. There's much more involved in turning web site visitors into customers, but you'll certainly thereby have laid the groundwork for a reasonable return on your web site investment.

About the Author:

Marcia Yudkin (marcia@yudkin.com) has helped to judge the Webby Awards for six years, as well as the Inc. Magazine Small Business Web Awards. The author of Web Site Marketing Makeover and 10 other books, she performs web site reviews, web site makeovers and creates marketing-smart web sites from scratch. See her sample home page makeover at http://www.yudkin.com/sample8b.htm .

How To Display An XML Feed On Your Website

By William Lee

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) has taken off in a big way. Just as satellite television beams more channels into your home than you can watch, RSS allows to you display an endless amount of other peoples content. Whilst RSS XML feeds are plenty, there's not as much in the way of clear, simple instruction when it comes to making use of those feeds.

If you're one of the webmasters who uses a content management system that makes using RSS XML feeds as simple as specifying a feed URL then you're fortunate in that respect. For others, the options available tend to be offered by developers of the software and the usage instructions provided can often be riddled with technical jargon. Many cry, "Use my feed", but fewer tell you how.

One of the best and easiest ways I've found to show the content from an RSS XML feed on one of my websites is to use a ready made PHP parser. Now, don't worry about what that means, just think of it as somthing that someone has already created; a blackbox that makes it easy for you to use content from RSS feeds and display it on your website.

For this guide, I've used MagpieRSS because it's compact, works well and is distributed under the GPL, which basically means it's free for you to use. Now, MagpieRSS is written in PHP so you'll need a compatible hosting account that allows you to execute PHP scripts.

For the purposes of this guide, I'm assuming you've some level of basic knowledge about websites e.g. you know how to FTP, change file permissions etc. Covering the basics of running a
website is beyond the scope of this article.

Instead, let's cover what are probably the most difficult steps; displaying the content from an RSS feed on your website.

1. Download the latest stable release of MagpieRSS.
2. Extract the contents of the ZIP file onto your computer.
3. The core files you need from the ZIP package are rss_cache.inc, rss_fetch.inc, rss_parse.inc, rss_utils.inc. You'll also need the extlib folder together with the Snoopy.class.inc file inside of it.
4. Create a new file to display your RSS feed. I've called mine, index.php. Inside this file, copy and paste the contents of the file referred to below and save it.
5. Upload all of the files and the folder mentioned in steps 3 and 4 to your hosting account. Put them into the desired location, but ensure that the Snoopy.class.inc file is still within the extlib folder.
6. Then visit the file you created in step 4 using your web browser.

That's the basics of it. Once you've got this far, customising the way you present the content of the feed is relatively easy. Just refer back to the MagpieRSS website for guidance on how to do this.

About The Author:

William Lee is the Internet Marketing Fool (http://www.internetmarketingfool.com). The MagpieRSS website is http://magpierss.sourceforge.net/. The code to copy in step 4 can be found at http://snipurl.com/example_code.

4 Tips To a Better Looking Website

By Kaleb Brody

There are many conflicting theories about color and layout of a website, however I would like to list a few rules that will help you improve your website visitor experiences.

I have seen literally hundreds of landing pages and websites that have great sales copy, are promoting quality products, and have a lot of potential to be a great, but the page looks horrible. Today we are going to focus on the readability and layout of a website.

The purpose of a landing page or website is to get your visitors to read what you have to say. Whether you're selling products and services, or providing useful information, you need to be able to effectively communicate with your visitors for them to take the action you desire. That action could be clicking on a link, signing up for a newsletter, or purchasing a product. The size and color of your text play a huge part in communicating your message to your visitors. Having Black Text, on a white background is THE easiest form of text to read.

Using color schemes that clash, or cause the text to be difficult to read will many times cause your visitors to leave your page immediately. If you want to use a different color background or text color, make sure that readability is not negatively affected. Below are a few rules that will help you improve your website.

1. Do not use dark text with a dark background. Dark text on dark background makes it hard to distinguish text from the background color. Thus making your eyes have to focus harder.

2. Do not use text colors that clash with background color. White text on a black background has a "glowing" like affect that makes your text hard to read. Red on blue also creates a negative glowing affect.

3. Do not use large text for your main sales copy or body paragraphs. It is ok to use larger text for links and headlines, but the main text of your page should be Arial Size 2 (12pt). Arial Size 2 is the internet standard.

4. Do not waste the space at the top of the page with unnecessary graphics, flash, or banners that have no purpose. Simply listing the name of your website, or domain name is a very poor use of this prime real estate space. The first fold of your website is the most important space that you have because it is the section of the page that is visible as soon as your page loads. Do not take up this space with unnecessary graphics, flash, or banners. A Strong headline that states the benefit of your product or service is always better than a banner that has no purpose.

If you are struggling with site design or if its taking too much of your time, here's some tools that can greatly help you.

Site Rubix: Not free but well worth the investment. Cost less than most website builders. This website builder enables you to create professional looking websites within 5 minutes, all without any Html knowledge.

DreamWeaver: This software is allows you to build visually appealing websites without Html skills, but may take you awhile to get past the learning curve that the software presents. DreamWeaver is one of the more popular but expensive website builders.

Nvu: It's free, but will take you longer to make a website and generally the site will not look as professional.

Remember, your website serves a purpose, whatever that purpose is make sure your visitors can easily read and understand message. I hope the tips provided above assist you in creating a professional looking website that you can take pride in.

About The Author:

Caleb Caldwell is a full time Internet marketer and web designer. If you're interested in learning more about how you can quickly and easily build a professional website with no Html skills, the be sure you go to http://www.siterubixone.com for more info.

Domain Name Promotion And Web Site Design/SEO

By Jay Johnson

If you do not have one million dollars in your pocket, you might find reading what I have to say worth a moment of your time.

I've bought my Domain Name. Now What?

First a transfer of Domain into your free account takes place on sellers end at no cost, money, time or frustration to you.

After a successful transfer (usually 12 to 24 hours) it will be up to the new owner of Domain to set the DNS (Domain Name Servers). This process usually takes less than five minutes and if purchased from 11J.com I'll be happy to help buyer with DNS or anything else for a smooth installing of a new Domain Name.

The obviously next step after purchasing a Domain Name is to build a web site for your new Domain. Easier said than done? Maybe so, but I'm about to give to you a little of my experience
to iron out any bumps on this road ahead of you to web design/development. In fact, if you will take the time to carefully review the steps below you will find earnings far greater than a miserly one million dollars and this I personally Guarantee!

The Art of Web Design

There are two rules that you absolutely must strictly adhere to for success with your new web site:

1. You must have an idea for your new web site from the ground up. This means from the beginning while sitting directly in front of a blank Notepad screen, to the successful completion.

2. You must enjoy the topic of your new web site to the point of money having absolutely no bearing on the intensity of your passion for that topic.

So you don't have the foggiest idea for your new web site? Not a problem in the least, please allow me to share a piece of my experience to guide you to conquering rule #1.

Being brand new to the Internet I did not have a clue what the difference was between HTML and a web site was. Source Code? Are you kidding me?? And yet, from scratch I built not one, but three huge multi-page web sites that I am positive could have sold from anywhere between $500 and $3000! Total cost: $100 per site. Of course, not having the foggiest idea what SEO meant all three web sites flopped. Domains expired and those web sites floated off into cyberspace.

I'll get to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in just a moment, but first for those that don't have an idea to pursue for web site design please allow me to share the two simple steps to a potential $3000 web site for your chosen topic/passion. And at a cost of no more than $100 for your new web site.

1. Go to http://www.scriptlance.com/.

2. Scroll through all projects listed. (I have no affiliation with scriptlance, merely sharing my experience to help others succeed).

To steal another's idea is not only ridiculous but also will put one on a path to collapse. But what can be done for those with no idea for a profitable web site is to closely glance through all projects requesting assistance to find a web site to mold around whatever ideas might come to mind. After the merging of your idea into a potential web site possibly found on scriptlance or anywhere else, a Free account must be opened to place your idea in the hands of a designer/developer.

Are you still with me? If so, it is important to realize that most designers on Scriptlance are from overseas living in third world countries. The importance of keeping this in mind is due to the fact that the US dollar has a completely different value in other countries. How much does the common laborer in China make? $0.70 per day? I've worked with the Russians, the Romainians and Indians and call tell you those I've worked with speak better English than me! Communication is not an issue and the value of money takes on a whole new meaning.

(Should I condense this into a cheap free e-book? Maybe so. But hold on, the best part is yet to come!)

If you are interested in success with your new web site, please believe me when I say utilizing Scriptlance will be a mind blowing, mind boggling, and an absolutely wonderful pleasant and enlightening experience!

Before I go any further, there is one web site/school that is an absolute must for web site design/ownership. Memorizing tons and tons of code is just plain stupid! In fact IMOH I really don't believe all those HTML codes even can be memorized! But in order to explain to web designers (those that fix your site when down) problems you may be having, a basic understanding of HTML code truly is necessary. For this education in HTML, please head
over to http://www.w3cschools.org/. A Free internet school to help you understand the basics of HTML code which will prove to be invaluable if you are to own/run a new web site.

Okay, so now I have my Domain Name, and my web site. Can you promise me at least one hundred thousand visitors to my web site daily? I'm glad you asked. Because the answer to that question is a big fat NO. Why? Because I'm about to give to you directions to bringing far more than merely a hundred thousand daily. For those that have taken the time to read though my words of wisdom I'm about to give absolutely free of charge 100+ steps to an unlimited amount of visitors (REPEAT VISITORS) with the potential for an unlimited amount of earned income!

I would find it difficult to believe that anyone can start at step one and move beyond step ten. But the good thing about this list is the ability to pick and choose those steps your feel up to implementing.

I talk too much don't I? Suppose so, so here ya go:

1. Submit articles to article directories.
2. Conduct link exchange activity with other blogs and websites.
3. Run a teleseminar.
4. Be a contributor on Yahoo/MSN Answers
5. Create a blog and join MyBlogLog.com
6. Create a MySpace.com account and make friends with your target market.
7. Create a viral report with links coming back to your website.
8. Generate a software product that you distribute free but advertise your website in it.
9. Build an article directory for a hot niche market
10. Produce a useful web-based software for public use
11. Ask thought-provoking questions
12. Build viral videos and upload them to Youtube.com
13. Buy links from Text-link-ads.com
14. Submit classified ads to USFreeAds.com
15. Publish content based on the latest news or unique items to tap on long tail traffic
16. Optimize your webpages for meta tags, title tags and H1 tags
17. Run online contests with kick-ass prizes
18. Run article exchange campaigns with HTML links in them
19. Generate your own social networking site
20. Produce an unbelievable product and sell it on Clickbank.com
21. Auction off cheap digital items on eBay
22. Write articles for major sites like About.com
23. Create a regular PDF newsletter
24. Talk to 5 people every day about one piece of content on your site
25. Visit online guest books and leave a comment
26. Visit other blogs and contribute actively on a regular basis
27. Use banner advertising on banner exchange programs like BannersgoMLM.com
28. Seek out joint venture partners to promote your site/event
29. Purchase leads from a co-registration service
30. Write an offline book
31. Distribute flyers
32. Sponsor an event with prizes that have your website on it
33. Run a charity event
34. Submit a press release to PRWeb.com
35. Use resell rights promotions
36. Produce a web or blog template using Open Source license
37. Create a community with a community badge/chicklet for identity
38. Look for newsworthy information and syndicate to Digg.com
39. Use your MSN nickname/message
40. Provide a free download on your site with a message on the back of your business card
41. Leave an email signature
42. Have a tell-a-friend form
43. Newspaper advertismenets
44. Direct response mail
45. Regular podcasts
46. Run a "live" seminar
47. Create an affiliate program
48. Get invited to events
49. Run a 24-hour answering service
50. Give people the right to syndicate your content
51. Keep your content fresh
52. Create multiple offers
53. Use ping sites for your blog
54. Use article submission services like ArticleAnnouncer.com to create backlinks
55. Give a DVD out for free that requires opt-insk
56. Car decals with your website on it
57. Generate a member-get-member promotion
58. Offer a 50% sale for products on your site
59. Create an online community of friends
60. Invite 10 people to visit your site on a regular basis
61. Print t-shirts with your URL
62. Advertise in trade magazines
63. Advertise in the main newspapers
64. Radio interviews
65. TV interviews
66. TV advertisements
67. Use Google Adwords
68. Use MSN Adcenter
69. Use Yahoo Search Marketing
70. Use Adbrite
71. Getresponse Co-registration service
72. Optimize your website for a specific, targeted key phrase
73. Use PayPerPost.com to get bloggers to write about your site

74. Run a Web 2.0 community
75. Advertise in the Yellow Pages
76. Directory submissions
77. Affiliate directory submissions
78. Direct email campaigns with list owners
79. Use direct response postcards
80. Build a free software directory
81. Build a free image directory
82. Offer a bonus product during a product launch to JV partners
83. Use well-optimized websites and content
84. Bait providers to visit your website through eLance.com and Scriptlance.com
85. Purchase outdoor advertising space at targeted locations
86. Create an Opt-in mailing list
87. Visit and participate in forums related to your niche.
88. Build more backlinks for popular keywords
89. Narrow your market to a specific niche
90. Build more websites within related niches
91. Attend more seminars to gain connections
92. Use a Feed Reader to subscribe to RSS feeds - comment on targeted posts
93. Have multiple distribution locations for a physical product

94. Create your own products and let affiliates sell them
95. Blog controversially
96. Deliberately start an online war (flaming - not recommended)
97. Look for related websites in #1 position and buy advertising space from them
98. Set up account with Squidoo.com
99. Set up account with Hi5.com
100. Set up account with Multiply.com
101. Set up account with iConnectE.com
102. Set up account with Huminity.com
103. Do a giveaway rights promotion
104. Build a presence on 43 things
105. Create an affiliate promotion with Clickbank
106. Run a Cost-Per-Lead program
107. Find a Cause to support and promote the cause
108. Get people involved in your community
109. Use a tell-a-friend script and place this automatically with people have opted-in
110. Run a blog carnival
111. Use games to "tag" people
112. Encourage article exchanges
113. Request people to submit articles that you will display on your blog for free
114. Build a free online widget that people will use
115. Join discussion groups on Google, Yahoo or MySpace groups
116. Advertise on Alexa.com
117. Use Global SMS service
118. Leverage Craigslist.org

Was this list enough to make you dizzy? If this information is not worth a million dollars then I don't know what is!

Have a Great and Wonderful and Spectacular Day! And remember if any help is needed with DNS or Site Design or anything else please check out my `Links' page or feel free to email me.

About The Author:

Jay Johnson is a full time Internet marketer and has a wide variety of domain names for sale at affordable prices. http://www.11j.com

How To Build A Better Website Without Building A Website

By Richard D S Hill

The most important thing to think about, when first thinking about any website, is the user. Like so much marketing websites are, unfortunately, too often developed `inside out' (company focused) rather than `outside in' (customer focused).

All website users have their own reasons and objectives for visiting a site. No matter how targeted any website has to communicate with a wide range of individual users.

To be successful therefore, every site has to give each and every user a thorough but simple presentation of the site's content so that the site achieves your objectives e.g. registrations, leads, sales.

To do this successfully users want:

Simple navigation

Navigation that is clear and consistent.

Probably the worst issue is `lost visitors' - those who are in a maze and don't know where they are in the site.

The site should always allow users to easily return to the home page and preferably get to any page with one click.

Studies have shown that users want to find things fast and this means that they prefer menus with intuitive ranking and organizing and multiple choices to many layers of simplified menus. The menu links should be placed in a consistent position on every page.

Clarity

Users do not appreciate an over-designed site.

A website should be consistent and predictable. For maximum clarity, your site design should be built on a consistent pattern of modular units that all share the same basic layout, graphics etc.

Designing websites that meet their objectives

Everything above is pretty simple, but how do you ensure that you can achieve it?

The answer is website architecture - an approach to the design and content that brings together not just design and hosting but all aspects of function, design, technical solutions and, most importantly, usability.

The distinction may seem academic but imagine trying to publish a magazine using just graphic design and printing whilst ignoring content and editing. It just would not work yet that's what too many people still try to do.

Website architecture

Defining a website using web architecture requires:

- Site maps
- Flow charts
- Wireframes
- Storyboards
- Templates
- Style guide
- Prototypes

This planning saves you (the client) money. The better the site map, flow chart, wireframe, storyboard, templates, style guide and prototype the more time and money you save because it gives the designer who has to do the graphics and the developer who has to do the programming a blueprint.

We are constantly amazed that people who wouldn't think about building a house, car, ship or whatever will still build a website without an architectural plan.

The benefits include:

- Meeting business goals
- Improved usability
- Reducing unnecessary features
- Faster delivery

Site maps

Many people are familiar with site maps on web sites which are generally a cluster of links.

An architectural site map is more of a visual model (blueprint) of the pages of a web site.

The representation helps everyone to understand what the site is about and the links required as well as the different page templates that will be needed.

Flow charts

A flowchart is another pictorial or visual representation to help visualize the content and find flaws in the process from say merchandize selection to final payment.

It's a pictorial summary that shows with symbols and words the steps, sequence, and relationship of the various operations involved and how they are linked so that the flow of visitors and information through the site is optimized.

Wireframes

Wireframes take their name from the skeletal wire structures that underlie a sculpture. Without this foundation, there is no support for the fleshing-out that creates the finished piece.

Wireframes are a basic visual guide to suggest the layout and placement of fundamental design elements on any page. A wireframe shows every click through possibility on your site. It's a "text only" model to allow for the development of variations before any expensive graphic design and programming but one that also helps to maintain design consistency throughout the site.

Creating wireframes allows everyone at the client and developer to see the site and whether it's `right' or needs changes without expensive programming. The goal of a wireframe is to ensure your visitors' needs will be met in the website. If you meet their needs you will meet your objectives.

To create a wireframe requires dialogue. You and your developers talk to translate your business successfully into a website. Nobody knows your business better than you and your
developers should listen to ensure the resulting wireframe accurately represents business. You, however, must answer the questions; questions such as:

- What does a visitor do at this point?
- Where can a visitor go from here?

and ignore questions about what your visitor sees at this point. Sounds easy, but!

Storyboards

Storyboards were first used by Walt Disney to produce cartoons. A storyboard is a "comic" produced to help everyone visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. When creating a film a storyboard provides a visual layout of events as they are to be seen through the camera. In the case of a website, it is the layout and sequence in which the user or viewer sees the content or information.

However, the wireframe provides the outline for your storyboard. Developers and designers don't need to work in a vacuum - the wireframe guides every design, information architecture, navigation, usability and content consideration. Wireframes define "what is there" while the storyboards define "how it looks".

Templates and style guide

Templates are standard layouts containing basic details of a page type that separates the business (follow the $) logic from the presentation (graphics etc) logic so that there can be maximum flexibility in presentation while disrupting the underlying business infrastructure as little as possible.

Style guides document the design requirements for a site. They define font classes and other design conventions (line spacing, font sizes, underlining, bullet types etc.) to be followed in the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) used to provide a library of styles that are used in the various page types in a web site.

Prototypes

A prototype is working model that is not yet finished. It demonstrates the major technical, design, and content features of the site.

A prototype does not have the same testing and documentation as the final product, but allows client and developers to make sure, once again, that the final product works in the way that is wanted and meets the business objectives.

Now you have built your virtual site it's a lot quicker, easier and cheaper to build the real one.

About The Author:

Richard Hill is a director of E-CRM Solutions and has spent many years in senior direct and interactive marketing roles. E-CRM provides EBusiness, ECommerce and Emarketing and ECRM. http://www.e-crm.co.uk/profile/message170807.html