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| MEMBERS: | Simple SEO Web Site Development Tips
So, you've bought your domain, got some hosting. Now what? You need to make sure that your web site is as friendly as possible to the search engines so that they send you some traffic. This process is called "search engine optimization" or SEO for short. It is probably the most important - and most neglected - part of web site development. Here are some tips to help your SEO web site development. 1. Don't use frames Frames may help you to control the layout of your site but they are a nightmare as far as the search engine robots are concerned and will make it difficult for your site to be crawled by the search engine spiders. 2. Make sure there's text on your pages This even goes for the page featuring that expensive Flash movie that you're currently forcing visitors to your site to watch (or more likely press the "skip intro" link). Search engines don't know what's written on images or animations. They can only read text (the images search is their best guess based on the text on the page and the video search is based on the description of the video). So make sure they have text to read! 3. Separate style and content This means using CSS as much as possible to control the layout of your pages. That way the spider can read more of your content if all the "this is how it should look" stuff is self contained in its own CSS file. The biggest snag with this is that CSS needs to be really well written if it is to look nice at different screen sizes, on different browsers and with varying amount of text on the page. Test at least in Internet Explorer and Firefox and play around with the width of the browser to see how well or badly your site copes. 4. Use a title tag HTML design programs are good at putting in really generic titles such as "Page 1" or "Home Page" but they're almost certainly not what you want the search engines to think your site is about. Change the title to something meaningful. If possible make your title catchy and make sure it's short enough to be completely displayed when the search engine results are shown. This is basic SEO but you'd be amazed how many people don't do it. 5. Put in a meta description tag Despite what you may read, the description tag is useful. It isn't often taken into account when Google or whoever decide which results to show, which is why some people say it isn't important. But it's normally used as the extract that's shown below the blue clickable link to your site. So if it says "XYZ home page constructed with Dreamweaver" instead of something interesting, that's what will likely show up below your title. And if it's blank, you're giving the search engines free reign to put whatever they want there. 6. Keep it simple Spiders like simple. Despite all the advances in the internet, they're fairly dumb and the easier you make it for them to understand what your site is about, the more they will reward you.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Website Builder Tools
Web site builders are online tools which anyone can use to build a professional looking Web site without programming and have it hosted instantly. No software to buy, no code to learn, all you need is to be a little Internet savvy and know how to click your mouse. Most business owners today know that having a web site is an essential component of marketing. In the past, the choices were to hire a professional web designer, hire a local teenager to create a site for mall money, or learn to do it yourself. Often the last two options, which were the least expensive, were how small businesses had to go. The results are often not what businesses need to grow, reach, and impress new potential customers. If you operate, manage or are the owner of a business, you surely must realize the increase in e-commerce taking place today. Many businesses find themselves searching for the best way to increase their exposure on the internet, and for most a website is the first course of action. As most businesses operate on firm budgets, finding cost effective solutions are usually one of the first thoughts when looking to make new purchases. When it comes to creating a website there are many affordable software programs that can produce professional results. Business software should be capable of handling your needs today and in the future. Business are always changing, adding new products, changing or removing old products, offering specials, having sales, etc. By choosing a business website builder over a professional web designer you will be able to make changes to your website whenever you want to. Another benefit is that you will be avoiding the high costs associated with developing the website and costs for making any necessary changes. Website Builder tools advantages to you are increased revenue, cost control, caters to the large demand existing for web designing in the SME sector and can increase the client base without adding to your overhead. The advantage that your customers gets is a professional quality website, up and running in minutes and a User friendly and easily customizable interfaces and gives a complete website with all its frills and features and Sleek and attractive professional designs. As more and more people are starting their own small/home business many are finding that having a website is an important factor to consider. When one starts to consider building a website, especially the novice, many questions arise including.... can I create a website myself or should I hire a professional? Hiring a professional is a great way to go if you can afford to. Although there are several things to keep in mind: how much will it cost; how much will ongoing maintenance cost; what will changes cost; how long will changes take, etc. As a result, many people opt to build their own website and begin searching for software that can easily help them. As you start searching for an easy web site builder, there are some factors that you should take into consideration so that your new software will serve you now and the future. One of the first things to consider is your computer ability. If you despise computers and software and find them confusing and frustrating then building your own website can be quite a task, one that you may not want to finish. However, if you enjoy working with computers and learning new things or if you just have the patience to stick with it, then building a website is within your grasp. If you still feel that you want to build your own site you should choose software that is easy to use and user friendly. There is quite a variety of easy web site building software on the market today. In addition, some of the software available today is very expensive, geared more for the professional web designer, and come with a huge learning curve. A very important factor to consider, one that will vastly improve the ease of the program, is whether or not it includes a WYSIWYG editor. WYSIWYG stands for "what you see is what you get" and if you purchase a product with this feature you will be creating your website in an environment similar to a word processor - so if you are comfortable using a word processor creating a website shouldn't be too much for you. In the past, the options for small businesses to get a site developed have changed dramatically. There are now sophisticated "site builder" tools available to small business owners, bundled with many web hosting packages. By using templates, and a content management system to manage updates to the site, it became easier to set up and maintain a web site, and many development companies have canned this functionality, for a fee. Hosting providers are increasingly offering tools to automate the web site building process, and with good reason. This new option has many benefits, as long as the business owner recognizes that there are trade offs and limitations to getting a web site this way. One of the biggest attractions for site building tools is the cost. It won't necessarily cost less to get your site this way, but it does provide a way to spread the cost over time. Many people are concerned with building their own website, fearing boring designs and complexity. However, it is now becoming apparent that there are many custom web site builder software products on the market that promise dynamic layouts, professional templates, and user friendly web design tools. The professional web designers know there are a few more things to know, but sometimes they find some irony in the fact that web developers, in their quest to improve and better the web, have made themselves "optional". Most site building tools today are very robust, making it simple to add forms, searching, maps, guest books, calendars, and a whole variety of elements to a web site. Even better, the hosting company sometimes offers an entire suite of services - the site builder, email marketing, search engine optimization and statistics, all in one package along with the hosting. So, why would anyone hire a professional? First, the site building tools, though increasingly robust, often lack in design and layout flexibility. For example, they might depend on a standard layout that has a banner across the top, menu down the side. If you want to have your navigation across the top and perhaps a sub banner under it, you might not have that option. Many businesses have already outgrown their first or second site, and want something customized to their business. Since all site builders differ, it is possible that you could want features and functionality within your site which is not available within the system. Still, some site builders support development languages like PHP, making it possible to customize the site with the help of a programmer. Some site builders include ecommerce, but they do not all do it the same way. A few utilize PayPalŪ - but not credit cards. Some use a proprietary payment processing service and won't accommodate anything else. The bottom line is that it is important to look at sites that were built using the tool you're considering and research all of the features that are included; to be sure that everything you want to do is possible. There is also a possibility that the service will require you to keep some branding on the site telling people that you used their tool. This is more common with the free site builders - which pay for themselves by putting ads on your site. If your goal is to build a business web site, it's really not worth sacrificing your professional image by getting something free, which screams CHEAP. A tool can make things happen - but if you don't know what to make happen, it is either a useless tool or a dangerous one. There is a learning curve to knowing how to present information online (called information architecture in the profession), as well as for using the site builder. In other word, the fuller featured the tool; the more there is to learn. If you aren't familiar with color theory, use of typography, information architecture, navigation and interface design, page layout and design, you can potentially make something that will hurt your business more than help it. So, unless you are already computer and web savvy, figuring out all the features within your web hosting and site builder package can be time consuming and frustrating. Fortunately, there are ways that a small business can take advantage of these new options and still create a functional and professional web site. One way is simply to take the time to research the available tools, and find the one that has the most features and flexibility, meeting your functional requirements. In other words, spend the time to learn the things a seasoned pro would bring to the table. The internet is a massive library of "how to" information, where you can literally teach yourself anything - and with enough time spent, you could potentially learn how to layout information, what colors and fonts work well together, how to conduct your marketing online and optimize the site for search engines. Another approach would be to hire a professional designer simply to get you "off the ground" by handling the administrative set up of your new site package, creating the look of the site and developing the initial structure. That person could also teach you how to manage the content and make changes by yourself going forward. This middle ground approach ensures that your site benefits your business and makes a good impression. Depending on whether you use an editing tool or a site builder, you may still be able to take advantage of "pay as you go" pricing and the easy content management features of a site builder. The first step for a small business owner thinking about having a web site needs to be an honest assessment of how much time, money, talent, patience and computer savvy he or she has, with a clear understanding of the available options. Once this is determined, any small business which needs to be online can be. In addition, most dynamic website building software programs incorporate other useful tools that aid in the construction of a impressive site layout. Many programs include an html editor, text editor, and a WYSIWYG editor, making it easy for the novice or professional to achieve great results. There are many important factors to consider when purchasing an html editor / website builder. On of the most important benefits, in my opinion, is selecting software that can handle your ever growing business, today and in the future.
A Primer On Automatic Website Builder
In the recent past, the Internet has become the prime means of media connection around the world. Aside from providing a fast and inexpensive means of imparting and extracting information, cyberspace has also redefined the very lifestyle of people around the world. From shopping to taking up courses, people have found immeasurable uses for the Internet. No wonder then that everyone wants a space in cyber world. A website is the means of publishing personal or corporate information over the Internet. It is like a unique telephone number over a vast circuit of telephone lines; or better put, a unique address in the wide world of cyber space. However, it is a well-known fact that not everybody knows how to create a website. A vast majority of Internet users who would like their very own web address in cyberspace do not have either the skills or the time to learn the intricacies of creating a website. This is where an awb comes in handy. As the name indicates, an automatic website builder is an application or a group of applications that lets an individual who has no knowledge of underlying website software applications and languages involved build a website without sweat. Unlike an HTML editor which merely facilitates in the creation of correct HTML scripts, an automatic builder provides the user with web page templates that are already built and can be modified by the user according to his or her preferences. Aside from pre-fabricated templates, some awb provide other important features as well. A number of automatic website builders have Shipping Cart feature that enables web visitors to shop for goods offered at the website. Still, other programs have built-in survey counters that can monitor the traffic of users who visited the website. An automatic builder makes the process of putting the latest and most relevant information or content in a user's website quick and easy. Having the freshest content in a website means satisfied web visitors. This translates to higher traffic; therefore, improving a website's list ranking in search engines like Google. Some websites come with a price. The range of prices may be as wide as a few bucks per month for subscription setting to more than a hundred dollars for one-time purchase arrangements. Others can be availed for free. A purchased website builder provides premium features than a free program. A purchased program can come with unlimited number of website designs which could easily be a means to make money. By creating unique websites for friends and other customers, a user can easily earn additional income. Plus, this type of builder has tie-ups with other certified applications that can be enjoyed for free. A free application, like the one commonly used for blog websites, has a limited number of website design concepts. There is a high probability that using this type of builder will be prone to pop-ups and third party piggyback advertisements. However, while the uniqueness or even the security of a website may be compromised, a free automatic website builder has zero cost. Automatic website builders can be classified into to basic types; online and offline. An online builder enables users to edit the website they created using a web browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape. While an offline builder requires users to edit the site in a computer's local application before the edited website can be published. But no matter what type of automatic website builder application is used, the user is sure to have an efficient, effective and a fun way of building websites. For more internet marketing tips and strategies be sure to follow the link in the resource box below:
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