Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

8 Guidelines For Usability Testing

In professional web design circles, the usability testing session has become an essential component of any major project. Similar to focus groups in brand development and product launches, usability testing offers a rare opportunity to receive feedback from the very people the website is aimed at - before it's too late to do anything about it.But how can you get the most from these usability te. . .

Bargain Web Design Services

Many people are looking for a bargain, when it comes to finding themselves a person or company to build and design them a website. In this article I write about where to go to find this website design bargain.The market place for website design is very competitive, for this reason there are plenty of bargains to be found. There is no longer any reason why people should pay huge amounts of money. . .

Cheap Web Design In London

Due to the large number of people offering web design services in London, there is always a bargain to be found.Website design firms in London are in a very competitive market and some offer some great deals at various times of the year.People who are just starting out in a career building websites will often offer their services at a very reasonable rate, basically to build up a portfolio. Onc. . .

How to Design Website Which Google Likes

Are you going to design or redesign new website or thinking for it, then first read below given points, which google likes in a website, Google Information for Webmasters. There are more than 80 factors of your website that are taken into consideration when determining the ranking of your website, Following these guidelines will help Google find, index, and rank your site. Basic principles: 1) . . .

eCommerce Web Site Building: Where Do I Start?

Building a web site isn't something that is really cut and dry. There's a huge variety of products and services that can either help you get your web site where you want it or simply confuse you. It's also important that you make the right choices upfront so that you don't end up having to restructure your whole web site because of some problem in your design layout. The level of time investmen. . .

Basic Survival Tips For Printing Companies

For printing companies to survive and make a permanent mark in this complicated and continually evolving industry, they do not need magic tricks and special powers in order to do so. Having the most modern of modern machines and a large number of staff does not also guarantee success. The technique is only boiled down to three things: Generating more sales. Compare the output that they are maki. . .

Preventing Good Colors Turning Bad

Modern technology and equipments may be a big help in upgrading and making businesses better. Although there are still some printing companies that do not really adhere to the fast and efficient service that the modern world wanted. This can be seen more so in digital printing and photography.Printing colors pose the more complicated and needs more knowledge about problems. The mistakes are mos. . .

First Things First

How high is your expectation for the site you want to have? If online services is a major part of your business, then doing it properly and correctly to attain the desired result. People are given options regarding choosing a paid or free web hosting services nowadays. Taking the step towards what will make or break your company will be up to the choices that you will make regarding what to do . . .

Linking - This is it!

Linking – This Is It !Well I find it time to speak again about linking as I have a couple of times in the past two years. I think I have gone the cycle and I think I have arrived.What do we want linking to do for us and what can linking actually do for us?Well we want it to get us traffic. Most of us think it can get us traffic two ways. One way we hope to get traffic is by making the search en. . .

Flash, SEO and Optimization - How To Properly Use Flash O...

Flash movies can be a great thing. They can help catch eyes that are otherwise bored with static looking pages, and they can help tell a story better than plain text. However the use of flash must be tempered with the ability to rank in search engines. This article describes some of the considerations and recommendations when using flash on a website. Disney does it. And so does Oprah. Even. . .

5 Simple Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques

The lifeblood of any website/ecommerce business is traffic, and every webmaster knows the best type of traffic is natural, organic search engine traffic. There are two very important reasons for this: (1) it is extremely targeted, and (2) It is FREE! The hard part is getting top ranking for your sites keywords... or is it? The purpose of this article is to provide a few simple, effective, a. . .

7 Effective Homepage Tips that will have your Visitors Be...

The truth is how you present your website will determine how customers view you and your product. This can directly translate into how effective your website actually is and whether or not you get alot of sales or just a few. Think of it this way. Whenever you go into a store you usually always go in from the front entrance, not the side or the back, but the front. Just like when people visit y. . .

An Affordable Web Hosting Primer

Not all web hosting plans are created equal. How do you find an affordable web hosting plan that will meet your needs and still be economical? There are several issues that you’ll want to consider.Price is always an issue. If you’re just getting your site up and running, you don’t have extra capital to spend on web hosting, so you’ll want the most bang for your buck. Look at several provide. . .

Keywords - Don't Underestimate Their Importance

Everyone knows all about keywords right? Well, that's what most people think, and to a degree that are probably right. However, in this article we are going to look at not just the importance of having targetted keywords, but also which keywords you should use on your site, and in what order they should be listed in your META tags, and elsewhere on your site.Ok, so you've got a list of 100 real. . .

On Site Content Maintenance

One of the most common problems being encountered by site owners is what they call writer’s blog. To exemplify more, this basically means the need to produce great content day after day to be put into their web sites. Not all people have the capacity to write about things everyday. Even the best of the best writers have the tendency to “blocked out” every so often. For those who are prone to th. . .

Google AdSense – A Massive And Passive Income?

You may have seen "sponsored by Gooooogle" on many websites that you've looked at. This is Google AdSense - a simple way for website owners to display Google Ads on their website and earn money for each advert clicked on. Ads are targetted to the content of the page they are displayed on, so visitors to your page are more likely to want to follow those adverts. You can also use Google Search . . .

Gone in 10 seconds

The readers, that is. This would be their reaction 10 seconds after coming into your site and having an initial look at it. It is a known for a fact that people have the tendency to switch to another site when they are required to click on their mouse more than is necessary. It is also a fact that the people who go into sites are the ones on the rush to get the quickest information they can get. . .

Why Use Virtual Dedicated Web Hosting

Most webmasters on the net today are familiar with what the industry calls "shared" web hosting accounts. A shared hosting account is where you rent a small amount of space on a server which is shared among many other users. This is a cheap way to get started online but it has many disadvantages - you will encounter email delivery problems because of spam complaints against other sites on the s. . .

A Business Directory Just Isn't Enough Anymore!

Do you own a business directory? Are you having a tough time beating your competition? This article will help you towards leaving your competition far behind.The idea here isn't about getting as many business directory listings as possible. The idea we need to create is about more community within your directory.I always like using a "saying" I learned from network marketing: "I would rather ut. . .

So You’re Thinking Of Having Your Own Website...

If you’re daydreaming about having your own website and you’re reasonably new to the world of computers and the internet, there are a few basic things you really should consider first.I’ve listed 10 baby steps to take first that could possibly save you a world grief. Only wish I’d known it first! Firstly, before writing anything down, ask yourself the following questions. It will give you a . . .

New Directory Of Web Professionals, Are You Ready To Team...

New website for Webmasters and Webdesigners After a successful pilot during the summer months, WebmastersLookup will finally be launched! What is WebmastersLookup.com? WebmastersLookup is a collection of information about website builders and organizations involved in creating websites. Not exactly a new concept but improved and simplified. Not a long list of web designers but an efficient sea. . .

Macromedia Flash Work Practices

I thought I might put together some of my work practices. These are the steps I put in place to facilitate a good efficient work flow in Flash. These are my tips. I have found they have worked for me. It’s a matter of learning these practices so that you do not think about it. Just like driving a car. Then you can concentrate on being creative and working efficiently and quickly within Flash wi. . .

PHP:Form Series, Part 1: Validators & Client-side Validation

IntroductionWelcome to the first part of a new two-part series on the PHP:Form web component. In this part, I will give you an introduction to PHP:Form, its features, and why it is so useful. I will also discuss the inbuilt validators that PHP:Form supports. In the second part I will discuss the more advanced features of PHP:Form.What is PHP:Form?PHP:Form is a (new) web component, developed by . . .

How Well Is Your Website Designed to Sell?

Why do some websites sell better than others? Do you need a marketing degree to create a website? Does design have much impact on sales or is web copy the all important key to your websites success? You may not realize this but many successful internet marketing businesses have found that design, or layout of a website should be a marketing decision based on research done by internet marketer. . .

The Internet Marketers Answer to Frontpage and Dreamweaver

XSitePro is a new web site design package that creates entire web sites, not just individual pages, with ease.Unlike leading web design programs, XSitePro approaches the whole process of site design from an online marketer's perspective, incorporating easy-to-use features that differentiate XSitePro from other site design software."We are confident that XSitePro offers the alternative to Micros. . .

The 7 Deadly Sins Guaranteed to Get Your Website Banned!

Brothers and sisters I have sinned! I have been a sinner! I didn’t know I was sinning but the great Search Engine Spirits didn’t care. Don’t let this happen to you!In reality, I didn’t commit all Seven of the Deadly Sins, but you don’t need to commit more than one to get banned.The First Deadly Sin – Don’t Hide TextWhen I first started one of my websites, I used a template from a large template. . .

Niche Marketing - The Way to Succeed Online

If you think that all money to be made online has already been made then you have not heard of niche marketing As Internet marketing evolves the one thing you must do to attain success is focus on a specific niche and work it thoroughly. A niche web site is one that is dedicated to a single topic where you promote one or more products or services that are devoted to solving a particular proble. . .

Small Business Web Design

Is your business ready to be part of the internet? In need of a quality web site, but need to find a web designer to fit your budget? Your web site will become your new online store for others to see. When It comes to the internet appearance is everything so it is important to have a web designer that cares about you and your company.When it comes to web design it is very important that you pic. . .

Selecting the Best Web Design Language for Your Project

If you'd like to create and publish your own web site on the Internet, your first step should be to decide what type of web site you would like to create and what web design language you would like to use. Although there are several web design languages to choose from, make sure you take some time to research your options to ensure you're making the best choice for your project. Hypertext Marku. . .

Linking - This is it1

Linking – This Is It !Well I find it time to speak again about linking as I have a couple of times in the past two years. I think I have gone the cycle and I think I have arrived.What do we want linking to do for us and what can linking actually do for us?Well we want it to get us traffic. Most of us think it can get us traffic two ways. One way we hope to get traffic is by making the search en. . .

Should I Re-design My Site?

Why would my site need a redesign?There are a lot of reasons your site may need a re-design. Some may be more obvious than others. You may have asked yourself the question: Can my site benefit from a re-design? Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will have an answer. The most common reason to redesign a site is that it's outdated. If your site hasn’t been updated in the last 3 to 5 years. . .

Search Engines and the Importance of Creating a Search En...

Information that is posted on the internet in the form of web pages includes business information, family photo albums, book contents, school courses, even stores where you can place orders with your credit card and have your products shipped to your home without ever speaking to a human. Of course, the value of having business information posted on the internet is its ability to be displayed . . .

Build Websites Easier With Premade Templates

To most people the process of building a web site remains somewhat of a mystery. This confusion probably stems from the fact that there is a cornucopia of web sites on the Internet. Even with wide variety of sites, every single one can be divided into two sections: front-end and back-end.The front-end is the first thing that it is designed. It encompasses the look and feel of a web site. This i. . .

Web Site Navigation

Once a visitor gets to your web site, you want to make sure they can find what they are looking for quickly and easily, or they will just go elsewhere. If a web site is easy to use and understand, visitors will come back time and time again. Using intuitive navigation techniques will greatly improve the usability of your web site, and therefore user satisfaction and return rates. By intuitive n. . .

Good Links: 7 Guidelines How To Improve Usability

How you write and design your links is crucial to your visitors clicking them or not. Write them badly and they leave, write them well and they stay. Who knows, they might even do exactly that what you created your site for. Following are 7 guidelines how links should be written to improve the usability of your site.Do it consistently Visitors learn for example how a website marks the links or . . .

Website Buying Guide Checklist

Can you really get a website even without knowing anything about code, and without paying a fortune? Find out.The days when websites were primarily distinguished by their code are long gone. Nowadays, the web is a true publishing medium that favors well thought-out ideas. You can get a professional-looking website online in minutes with many website building services and software. But what . . .

Text Links for Better SEO

Let's talk a little more about using Text Links for better SEO placement becuase it's a very relevant tool that you have at your disposal and something that you should consider exploring.Working with text links to help with your SEO rankings is going to involve a good solid chunk of time. So, don't think that this is an easy solution because it's not, but it is solid ... at least it is for now.. . .

Why is Optimizing Your Site For Speed is Important? Tips ...

If there is one thing we have all suffered through is waiting for a site to download online. It seems like it is the worse thing in the world and will never end. We actually either click off of the site or after the initial download of the frontpage completes, we then click off of the site because the subpages take too long to load. We have all been here and this article is to help make sure yo. . .

90s Web Design: A Nostalgic Look Back

A nostalgic look back at 90s web design, and a warning to anyone whose website is an accidental anachronism.Remember the days when every PC was beige, every website had a little Netscape icon on the homepage, Geocities and Tripod hosted just about every single personal homepage, and "Google" was just a funny-sounding word?The mid-late 1990s were the playful childhood of the worldwide web, a tim. . .

Why Pay for Website Submission Services?

For new internet marketers, your immediate goal is to get your website into as many search engines as possible. These services can charge a tremendous amount of money and require recurring monthly service fees. Very tempting to new internet marketers with all the hype “Instantly submit your websites to 1000’s of websites” and “Get Your Website Listed in 24 hours.” Stop! Let me show you a fe. . .

Choosing a High-Quality Web Host

There are a lot of web hosting companies around the web that offer many hosting plans. Before you choose one you should consider a few things before purchasing. A few things that you should consider are how reliable the company is, how much space are they giving, and do they have the features that I need.Reliability should be the main focus when looking for a web host. The host that you’re con. . .

Build a Web Site for Peanuts

Untill recently, building a web site was not much fun. You had to know HTML, FTP and have good design skills. When it was finished you had to register a domain name and choose a web hosting service. The alternative was to get a web site designer to do all of this for you but at a price. Generally a good price! That was how things used to be done. However, now the technology has moved on and any. . .

Site Planning is Crucial!

If you are thinking about, or you are in the process of creating a new site, you will most definitely find this article interesting and maybe even inspiring. Actually the term ‘interesting’ is not quite what I thought as I slowly and painfully reconstructed the pages on my mother’s website several times over. I wanted to create a site that was going to be both incredibly user friendly and infor. . .

Need a Website? You Have 3 Options

When it comes to building a website, most individuals and small business owners think you either have to do it yourself or hire someone to do it. Web builder software is often the better option for this group by far.Even if you're a seasoned web professional, you should know what web builder software can offer private individuals and small businesses. Designers regularly waste time fielding i. . .

Turning Poor Quality Traffic Of Your Site Into Sweet Prof...

The answer is YES, thanks to TrafficCleaner.com!In this article I will shortly describe my own experience about how I now generate income through the normally useless and inevitable percentage of poor traffic getting on my website. This is new and amazing and was just not possible before!I run a small web shop selling perfumes and other popular beauty products. My daily average visitors are bet. . .

Make a Search Engine For Your Website With PHP

This hands on PHP Programming article provides the knowledge necessary to design and develop a search engine for your website using PHP version 4.0 and above. Making a search engine for your website with PHP is really easy and provides substantial functionality required by most of the small to medium websites. This article introduces every steps of the development, including both design and PHP. . .

How to Choose a Web Host

Once you decide that you need web page either for your business, non-profit organization or simply a fun personal page, you then have the Herculean task of choosing a web host. Hopefully, the host you choose will be easy on the pocket, and offer maximum uptime, enough bandwidth support, appropriate web-space, and excellent customer service and support. Most web hosting services will not excel i. . .

The Truth about How to make Website More Attractive

In the physical world you can easily sell a product by your interacting behavior and your marketing tactics. But in the e-world where there is no face to face interaction and all marketing is totally a game of your site's interaction with your visitor which may desperate them to turn into your healthy customers. While designing your site you must know who your target people are and what are. . .

The Web Developers Field Guide to Outsourcing

What is Outsourcing?Whenever you hire someone or a group of people that are outside of your business to handle business functions. This can include, auditing, payroll data entry and work in Information Technology.Outsourcing is essentially hiring a contract employee for your business. While the concept can be used for businesses and projects of any size the work involved is about the same. You . . .

Ten Simple Web Design Principles

Website design has become so complex, with scripting, and dynamic content and pulling content from RSS and ATOM feeds and Ajax enhancement and ad rotation and . . . and . . . and . . .I’ve got a sticky note right on the lower right corner of my monitor. On it are four letters.K-I-S-SA glance at those four letters reminds me that there are many people who surf the web who have no clue what all t. . .