Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

Branding through Logo Design

The preliminary lack of customers and abrupt cash flows often causes new small business owners to put off designing a well made logo and promotion resources professionally "until they achieve a clientele" or "unless they get themselves started". Unluckily, designing their own promotion materials when they initiate their businesses instead of having them professionally produced will make getting. . .

Is Google Adsense Killing Your Business?

As an SEO expert, I do site evaluations daily. It amazes me how people are willing to put Google ads all over their pages in the interest of earning a few extra bucks without considering the consequences to their business. Think about it. If you are selling a service or product, why would you allow the ads of your competitors on your site? Are you willing to sacrifice a sale for the few pennies. . .

Web Hosting Checklist - Never Miss A Thing

Before rushing for a web hosting account, you need to check the following features which are important for any web hosting account. Many people overlook this features and pay the price later. So here are the important features you need to check with your hosting company before paying for it.Technical Support Technical support is one of the most important factor you need to consider when a choos. . .

A Guide To Writing Successful Website Copy

We all know that the lion’s share of web traffic comes through the search engines. We also know that keywords and links to your site are the two things that affect your ranking in the search engines. Your keywords tell the search engines what you do, and the inbound links tell them how important you are. This combination is what determines your relevance. And relevance is what the search engine. . .

Using Ready-Made Templates To Build Your Websites

If you’re doing business in China, you will need to learn Chinese. If you’re doing business in Japan, you would need to learn Japanese. If you’re doing business in Italy, you would need to learn Italian.What language, then, would you need to learn when you’re doing business online?Why, the language of the Internet of course! HTML, Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML is a series of codes and co. . .

Web Designer's Guide to Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the buzz word you will see everywhere in the internet nowsadays. Designing a website today is no longer about aesthetics. It must not only look good, it must be visible to the search engines as well. What should a web designer take note when designing a search engine friendly website? This article attempts to discuss some important pointers for web designers. . .

Website Traffic Is Not The Key To Success

Website traffic is deemed the single most important factor when it comes to the success of a website but that statement needs to be qualified. Although it's true that a constant stream of traffic is the lifeblood of a website, the quality of the traffic is far more important than the quantity.Of course, any amount of website traffic is better than no traffic at all but even if you have the most. . .

Shopping Cart Web Sites: 13 Ways to Evaluate an E-Commerc...

There are hundreds of vendors that provide eCommerce and shopping cart solutions on the internet. Trying to figure out which one offers what you need can seem more like a roll of the dice than an educated decision.If you're like most people, when looking for an eCommerce solution, you'll go to your favorite search engine and enter terms like: "ecommerce website", "ecommerce web site developer" . . .

Seven Best Practices for Corporate Blogging

Blogs have become one of the hottest communication tools on the Web. Offering the opportunity for anyone to create their own free Web site, encouraging opinions and interaction, blogs provide forums for individuals to create their own highly personal presentations to the Web audience. They also provide for consortia of all types to experience the sort of online community feeling that was pionee. . .

Top Ten Pages to Include in Your Website

1. Home page. Your home page is the very first page that someone will find when they input your domain name into their browser and press the enter key. Within seconds, they will form an opinion of you and your company. For that reason, make sure it is attractive, easy to read and easy to navigate. Simple is better. Use few colors and make sure that you do not use multiple fonts and font s. . .

Web Design By Example: www.cj.com

Commission Junction is a popular online advertising company and has a number of big clients including ebay in their portfolio. This site has a strong corporate identity and a very user friendly navigation system. I usually judge a website by my first impression and this site certainly got my attention.IdentityThe corporate colors are used effectively on every page. The headers of each section a. . .

Discover How To Make Your Web Design Easier

Whenever I thought of web design my face would frown, I just hated the fact that I had to do any kind of web design. I just couldn't see why web design was simple for other and not for me.Well, that all changed when I discovered this simple program, a web design machine made for those who just don't understand that you can do it if, you would only keep your web design as simple as possible.Sinc. . .

Getting Yourself Noticed On The Web

As we all know the internet has ballooned in size in recent years, so much so in fact that it can be very difficult for new people to come along and make an impact onto the web. Not only that but it can be extremely difficult just managing to get your site listed on the major search engines at all.There are however many ways that you can achieve top rankings on major search engines without havi. . .

ASP vs. PHP

When building web sites, ASP and PHP are very popular languages. Here’s my opinion on whether ASP or PHP is bestASP v. PHPBoth ASP and PHP are languages used to build Dynamic Web sites that can interact with Databases and exchange information. ASP (Active Server Pages) is from Microsoft and is used with IIS (Internet Information Server) that runs on Microsoft Servers. PHP (Personal Home Pages) . . .

How to Really Annoy Your Web Site Visitors

It is quite easy to build a web site. It is even easier to really annoy your web site visitors.Build A WinnerAnyone can build a web site. Building a good web site is another story. Web designers can easily avoid some of the most common mistakes by watching out for the following pitfalls: 1. Pop-Ups – Pop-ups can really annoy a visitor as these advertisements that open automatically in a new win. . .

Benefits Of An Accessible Website: Part 1 - Increase In R...

The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) states that service providers must not discriminate against disabled people. A website is regarded as a service and therefore falls under this law, and as such must be made accessible to everyone.Some organisations are making accessibility improvements to their websites, but many are seemingly not making the accessibility adjustments. Disabled people don'. . .

Separate Text-Only Version? No Thanks!

In an attempt to make their sites accessible to all, more and more websites are now offering text-only versions of their sites. With the huge number of inaccessible websites out there, any attempt to make a website accessible to one and all is highly commendable.But is text-only the way forward? The W3C have this to say about alternative accessible sites:And if all else fails... If, after best . . .

Web Accessibility For Screen Magnifier Users

The needs of screen magnifier users are overlooked when implementing web accessibility on to a website. Screen magnifiers are used by partially sighted web users to increase the size of on-screen elements. Some users will magnify the screen so that only three to four words are able to appear on the screen at any one time. You can try using a screen magnifier yourself by downloading the Zoomtext. . .

Beyond Web Usability: Web Credibility

Web usability: It's old newsIf you've been developing websites on Mars for the past few years then you'll be forgiven for not knowing about web usability. You'll still be creating splash intro pages, having pages with massive download times and using more images than you can shake a stick at. Well, back in Earth these days have long gone and today web usability rules the web development world. . . .

Some Of The Biggest Flaws In Web Designs

1. Bad layout formatting. Try to use your judgment when it comes to layout. They will serve as your best guide. Do not just center on your body text. The text and content should be offset, and not overrun by graphics. Sentences should wrap nicely from left to right. Navigation should not take up half of the screen. Body text should not be 60 pixels high. Basically common sense issues that anyon. . .

“Mosaic Layouts”: How And Why To Avoid Creating Puzzle-Lo...

When your visitors browse a webpage, their browsing experience depends on many things that you already know - connection speed, computer hardware and software, internet provider are just a few. However, the role that good web design plays in browsing speed is often under-recognized. Pictures and graphics as a navigation aid are often a powerful ‘hook’ for customers, and can easily enhance a bro. . .

Using Keyword Density for Google AdSense

With the decline of meta-tags, keyword density ranges have become very important. They’ve also become very controversial. Here’s the thing: you want a high enough keyword density—at least 7%--that your keywords rank highly in the bigger search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, DogPile, and HotBot. But, you don’t want your keyword densities so high that they turn your content into over-hyped gobbl. . .

Back to Paragraphs

Some point in their careers, the best designers may have found some difficulty in setting the body texts of their works. How do you solve body texts problems?1. Indents. Paragraphs need to be separated; if not, readers will be faced with an endless block of text. Believe me, no reader would want to be put in that kind of situation.One common design device to separate paragraphs is to indent the. . .

7 Easy Secrets to Understanding Web Statistics

Understanding what your visitors do on your site is crucial information. If your visitors proceed to purchase a product but then a large majority leaves the site when they get to a specific page in the order process, you need to know about it. It could be that this page is confusing or hard to use. Fixing it could increase your sales by 200%. This is just an example; there are many reasons why. . .

How To Start Your Own Website

I’m one of those people that always wanted a website, but had no clue as to using the internet. I could check my email and that was about it. I never heard of ISP, FTP or all those other “words”. When I discovered that I had the website making program Microsoft FrontPages I was determined to learn something about html. Then when I discovered I could earn some money by having a website I want. . .

The Webdesign Business - 5 Surefire Ways To Fail

Several years ago, I launched a small web design company in a rural area of California. Market conditions couldn't have been better, my skill level was above average, and I had a large pool of aquaintences to which I could market.Within 12 months I went broke.My business failed because I made some very fundamental mistakes, and made them consistently.I now work in the web hosting industry. I ha. . .

Why Content is King of the Internet

The Internet is not merely a community or merely a new medium through which the people around this world connect and communicate with each other, crossing geographical and political barriers to communicate, trade, interact, entertain and inform, rather it has reached mammoth proportions and become an empire on its own. The Internet Empire does not belong to any one person but it belongs to and. . .

Pop-up Ads: To Be Or Not To Be?

Imagine surfing through the Internet, looking for information, or maybe just sauntering along, clicking upon whatever comes your way, not really paying attention to the content, when your eye is caught by a link to a site that claims to have content that really appeals to you at that very moment. You hopefully click upon the link, curious about what awaits you when suddenly you’re hit with one,. . .

Affordable Web Design In Birmingham

If you have a business, big or small you may be thinking of getting yourself a website.The world wide web is another way of spreading your message or selling your product.First you need to find somebody or a company to build and design your website. Some web designers charge a huge amount of money so it is quite difficult to make the right choice.One area you could try first is online auction w. . .

Your Site Made Easy

When visitors get into your site, for sure, you want to make sure that they will find quickly and easily what they are looking for. if they do not find it fast, chances are they will go on to another site. If your web site is easy to use and understand, these visitors have then tendency to come back again and again. Using navigation techniques can greatly improve the usability of your web site. . .

The Pricing Of Web Hosting

Get What You Pay ForWhy bother paying for hosting when there are plenty of companies offering free hosting? Well, in web hosting, when you pay nothing, you often end up with nothing. Most free web hosts offer limited services. Even though they are not charging you to host your website, they still need to make money. The most common way to do this to place advertising on your site. You probably. . .

Free Web Design Advice

In this article I will give advice and tips of where to find a low cost website design company and also about the best ways of producing a cool website.How many people or companies are advertising their services for web design?The answer is a great deal. They surely can not all be asking for huge sums of money to build and design quality websites. There must be some who offer cheap, affordable . . .

How A Beginner Can Create A Great Site From Scratch

It has now become apparent that the most valuable skill that a would-be webmaster should have is not necessarily the technical know how to set-up the site, but a winning idea.The proof is clearly visible in the hundreds of technically oriented webmasters who have sites that are struggling and some that have had to shut down. In fact many of the Internet success fairy tales we have all heard are. . .

User-Centered Design (UCD) - 6 Methods

User-centered design (UCD) is a project approach that puts the intended users of a site at the centre of its design and development. It does this by talking directly to the user at key points in the project to make sure the site will deliver upon their requirements.The stages are carried out in an iterative fashion, with the cycle being repeated until the project's usability objectives have bee. . .

Web Site Design By Using A Template

If you are like may others on the internet, then you would like to have a web site of your own. The problem is, you don't know how to design a web site, and you can't afford to pay a web site designer to design a new site for you. So how do you get around this problem? Actually it is very easy - and as always there are options! There are many talented web designers on the internet, and they wil. . .

Website Content & Usability

Writing for the web is totally different to writing for printed matter. We tend to scan content on the web hunting for the information we're after, as opposed to reading word-for-word. As a result of this, there are certain guidelines you should be sure to follow when writing copy for your website:1. Use clear and simple languageReading from computer screens is tiring for the eyes and about 25%. . .

Four Types of Ads To Avoid If You Want To Keep Your Visit...

It seems like most web sites are displaying ads on their web pages these days. Some ads are not too noticeable while others are so annoying that they push visitors away and possibly make them leave the site. Pushing away visitors or potential customers is never a webmaster's goal so it’s best to place ads in such a way as to avoid these kinds of problems. Pop-up and Pop-under AdsSome of the mos. . .

Fast Web Design For The Skint Webmaster

About two years ago, I had a go at commercial web site design. I put a medium-sized ad in a London classified ad paper. Nothing fancy: "Web designer seeks work ..." etc. This was expensive, about £500 for a month's run.Got a few replies. Lesson number one: advertise where clients of the calibre you want will see it. The clients I got thought £300 was a lot for a web site. They didn't want to pa. . .

Web Sites Simplified

Web sites are an important tool for marketing and sales. Most companies know they need a web presence, but they’re not sure how it should look or what it should say. Unless you’re a web developer, the steps and lingo of web sites can be complex and confusing. Discussions about URL registration, hosting, content management, search engine optimization, meta tags, and site maps often cause glassy . . .

Is There A Best Web Design Program?

Any aspiring web designer seeking help from a forum about the "best" web design software will immediately be greeted by two very different responses. One will either be told to use a large, expensive, purpose-built design program such as Dreamweaver or to use something they most likely already have- Notepad. These are very disparate responses, and this article will explore some of the general r. . .

How To Design Your Website For Optimal Productivity

What works best when promoting your web site.As the internet evolves from its infancy into maturity, website development, design and marketing becomes more and more sophisticated - and more and more complex. Content manipulation, various scripting methods, fancy graphics and effects... and on and on... allow us to create some impressive web sites. A good gauge of this complexity is the a slew o. . .

Everything Needed To Optimize Your Web Site

Even the most talented writer can’t create copy that optimizes your business’ ability to maximize results, be it lead or sales generation, unless he has ‘the facts.’ By providing your copywriter with all essential and necessary information related to your web site promotion you serve as the foundation for the powerful persuasive copy that compels customers to queue up to the window, money in ha. . .

Choosing Your First Web Hosting Company

Suppose you just finished a great new web site. You have a beautiful design, an awesome domain name, and a large amount of content. The question is, “what do I do next?” Having a great web host is essential for a successful web site. A great site with a crummy host will be bogged down and will suffer as a result. It is important to consider many elements when choosing your first web host. Too m. . .

Use Full Web Add-On For Your Web

To improved your website, some web add-on is use full for your website.1. Hit counter to track how many visitor that visiting your site. This is very use full to track your visitor.2. Web stats to see information about your visitor.Some web stats can track country, IP, and how long your visitor visiting your site.3. URL direction to make your url address shortly.This make your visitor easier to. . .

Six Basic Reasons Why Visitors Stay On Your Web Site

1. The first page appears quickly.It's a good way to have your brief tagline in the starting page of your web site and your company logo. Highlight the benefits and advantages of your products on the starting page.But don't dump all the information on it so that it will appear quickly. Limit your graphic to a file size of 20 KB or less.2. It's purpose is immediately and clearly identified.Say w. . .

Top 10 Webmaster Challenges

Webmasters deal with a myriad of complex design challenges every day. This article will discuss the top ten challenges and provide solutions and tips for solving each problem.1. Browser Compatibility You must design your Web site so that it is viewable on both browsers: Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). Netscape Navigator is very strict when it comes to HTML tag completio. . .

Websites for Businesses

Web Site DesignThese days if you are in business and don't have a website you are missing out on an abundance of customers. Everyone that has a computer in their house will be using one of the search engines ( google, Yahoo, Msn etc ) to look for your business. There are over 20 million searches done every hour on the internet in the UK alone. If your business is not appearing on these search e. . .

Choosing a Web Designer

In recent years, the web design industry has experienced a growth rate of huge proportions, due entirely to the numerous companies that have appeared as a result of continued Internet expansion. The business world’s appetite for websites and ecommerce solutions show no signs of abating in the near future, and organisations and individuals who want to commission the services of a web design comp. . .

Why CSS Is Good For Your Web Site

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used within the HTML behind your Web site as a way of controlling how each page is laid out and what elements on it look like. For instance, you can use CSS to make headings in your copy a standard size across the whole of your site.CSS has been around for several years and is supported by all the major browsers available today, including Internet Explorer for t. . .

Small Business Ecommerce Web Design

If your small business is venturing into ecommerce, you may be daunted by the technical wizardry you think is involved. But fear not: complete web store software packages will keep all the technical wizardry safely behind the screen, so you don't have to worry about it. All you have to do is choose a design, stock your store, and promote it. Here's how to do that. Designing Your Online Store: C. . .