Weiss Report Blog

Favorite icon appears to the left of your link in either address bar or in favorites menu of your browser. It gives your website more personality, better visibility in favorites menu and is easy to create.

You’ll need:

• Image editor software
• Icon Editor Software.

If you need icon editor, I recommend you PixelToolbox, which you can download for free. http://www.axiomx.com/PixelToolbox/

Using your favorite image editor create 256 color, 16×16 pixels image and save it as a .gif, or if you are using PixelToolBox .png or .bmp file.

Open your Icon editor software and import the image you just created.
If you are using PixelToolbox, on the start screen select Windows Icon; 16×16; 8 bit 256 color pallet; click start.

In the new window click Import and navigate to the image you created.
Edit image if needed and save it as favicon.ico on your hard drive.

Upload the icon to the root folder of your web site.

Browser will automatically look for and display the icon you created. However, if you want to help browser find the icon put following between head tags of your web page:

< link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.your-website.com/favicon.ico">

To test your icon, delete all temporary internet files from you machine, go to your web site and add it to your favorites folder. See how your icon looks between other links. You want your icon to stick out, so you may want to change some colors or shapes. Just make sure to clear your browser cache before you test new icons.

Emir Plicanic
http://www.bewebmaster.com

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 navigation, I mean some sort of menu, map or list that is instantly understandable to most visitors to your web site.

One of the first points to making a site easy to navigate is to have a consistent menu that is on every page. By having a menu that is on every page of your site, users can move from each section from any other section, with out having to go back to a home page or menu page.

Keeping the menu in the same location, and in the same style throughout your site ensures that visitors quickly recognize how to navigate your site. If you have a different style menu on every page, users may get confused and not as easily comprehend how to navigate your site.

Another useful tool a Webmaster can include for visitors is a site map. A site map is a page containing an organized list of all the pages or sections of the site. Instead of moving through the site’s menu system and down through categories by clicking on links on different pages, a visitor has the option of going to the site map and clicking directly to the page they are seeking.

Though there are many fancy buttons, graphics and rollovers that can be used for your navigation menu, sometimes simple text links are the best bet. For one, text link navigation menus are fast loading. Many web surfers are on slow connections and do not want to wait for a complex navigation system to download. Text navigation menus also can add relevant text to search engine results, whereas image navigation bars cannot. Text navigation also helps ensure your users understand what the links mean.

If you do opt to use graphic navigation menus, you may wish to consider adding a redundant text navigation menu at the bottom of the page to ensure viewability and search engine spidering.

Many new Webmasters are tempted to use frames to create a navigation menu that will appear on all the site’s pages. The benefit is that the navigation will stay in sight even when the rest of the page is scrolled. But because frames piece pages together from other pages a Webmaster cannot be sure that a web page using frames will be viewed correctly. If a visitor comes to a page through a search engine that was designed to have a navigation menu added with a frame, the user will see not see the menu. Because of this, it is important to add a link to your home page on every page, so viewers can see your site as it was intended.

Even if you are not using frames, it would be helpful to have a link to the home page of your website on every page, to ensure users can find the “beginning” of your site.

Keeping the navigation menu near the top of the web pages ensures that surfers will be able to see the menu as soon as the page loads. If a user has to scroll to navigate to other pages of your site, they will be less inclined to do so.

In closing, it is important to keep in mind that when it comes to site navigation, simplicity is key. If a user does not immediately see what they need, they will not spend much time trying to find it, but will rather move on to the next site.

Halstatt Pires is with the Internet marketing firm - www.marketingtitan.com - a San Diego Internet marketing and advertising company offering automated web site systems through www.businesscreatorpro.com.

Web design or Web development has become immensely popular over
the last few years. In these short few years, many new code
standards, technology and design concepts have come to the fore.
There has also been an immense amount of knowledge distribution
and with it the demand for more functional and independent web
design packages and tools.

The knowledge distribution has also led to shift in demand to
the content management systems which facilitate content updates.
These updates have become immensely necessary to keep the
consumer’s interest for visiting the web site again and again
and also to keep the consumer abreast with latest happenings
regarding the company and its products and services.

CMS or Content Management Systems are becoming more and more
popular with web design organizations. They have come to realize
that CMS is the future of web site design and may be left behind
in the industry if they do not begin offering CMS services.

CMS does not in any way spell doom to web designers. CMS
certainly saves the company’s time it spends on web design and
allows tem to put more efforts into marketing. CMS gives the
company the freedom it needs by providing them with an ability
to update the site when needed, not when convenient. CMS also
saves the company’s costs by not having to run to the web
designer every time an update is needed.

Any typical CMS consists of the following features - Provides an
interface to Add/remove/edit pages. - Provides easy interface to
update content of each page. - Capability to add or remove
images where needed. - Interface to update contact information.
- Display updated listings (ex: Mortgage and interest rates). -
Facilitates addition of news on the industry everyday.

Inference

A web design organization should seriously consider offering CMS
to their clients to prepare for the future. It is still at a
nascent stage, so if a web design and development organization
is considering developing a customised CMS and marketing it,
they can still see success in the near future. More information
and tips are available at http://www.cobbwebdesign.com.

The need of the hour is to analyze successful websites so as to obtain clues on designing and marketing your own site. Since this is a business that is growing in leaps and bounds, it is necessary to learn the good aspects to ensure you adapt all good aspects of the craft. While this industry is still in its infancy, the prospects are very good and this appears to be a business that is here to stay.

Aspects to Assess.

While browsing the internet and coming across sites that offer subscriptions, make a habit of analyzing them for their functionality, their design and structure. Some of the components that must be assessed are:

1. What is your initial reaction to the site?

A site has a positive effect on you when it meets your specific requirements. Many internet users do not like to be distracted by banners and advertisements. These are considered as distractions and therefore, many sites are constructed in a user friendly manner. These are constructed to give information to those who seek information on ‘need to know’ basis. The links and directories are available but require proactive steps from the user to access.

2. Does the site make a statement in terms of what it is meant for?

The site must make a statement in terms of its reason for being. A simple button ‘About Us’ provides information such as Who are they? Why are they here? and What do they want from you?

3. Has the Subscription Button placed prominently?

When the site requires you to subscribe, the information for subscription as well as costing should be prominently available. When you want people to subscribe, it should be made easy for them. The pricing page and payment details should be placed in several locations. Some sites place a Subscribe button on every content page that is made available to the public.

4. Are security aspects looked after?

The most important issue to look at is whether you are entering your personal information on a secure page. There are many sites that require you to enter your credit card number and information on an insecure page. This can lead to misuse of your important information.
The best way to look or confirm if the site or subscriber page is secure is to look if the page has a SSL certificate. This can be confirmed by a small gold lock that appears at the bottom right hand corner of the browser when using Internet Explorer or a solid key in a small blue block appears that is available in Netscape Navigator. Another way to confirm this is by checking the site address; the “http” in the url changes to “https”.

5. When you subscribe do you have to wait for an email with your username and password or do you get immediate access?

A great way to attract and keep subscribers is that they should not wait when they subscribe. As soon as they subscribe, they should be able to access the information they have paid for. To attract subscribers, do not make them wait.

These are some of the aspects that must be assessed when looking at sites that require subscription. These will allow you to design your site for users who are internet savvy, and can spot weaknesses without any effort. The design of the site should be catering to a customer base that is accustomed to using the internet and does not tolerate weakness in design and execution.

A great example would be to consider the internet as an expressway where these tips are exit ramps on which you do not want your customers. The site should be so designed that the customer is propelled towards the tool gate, is able to pay tool easily and can gain access to an unrestricted road beyond.

This article was written by Craig Dawber of smarket-associates.com
Need advice and guidance with your online
business check out the resources found in this website.

So, you want to increase your online sales and land your
business to the peak of success? Then, employ the best marketing
strategies to make your dreams a reality.

Today, having a successful online business is just as important
as any kind of business available in the market today. It also
requires a lot of knowledge, perseverance, and determination
coming from business owners like you in order to succeed online.

With online business, success can be measured through sales.
Whether you have increasing or decreasing sales, still, it is
the most important variable that should be taken with utmost
attention and consideration. This only means that if your online
sales are increasing, good for you. But if your online sales are
on the other way around, then, you really have to do something
about it.

Taking your online sales for granted will mean the end of your
online business. This is because the minute you did not analyze
the status of your online sales, you will never know if you are
still making any profit.

If in the event your online sales suddenly made a downfall, try
to investigate the matter and look for any reasons why it
happened.

Nevertheless, if you really want to increase your online sales,
whether it is continuously escalating or not, here are seven
practical and guaranteed ways to increase your online sales:

1. Convert your visitors to customers by encouraging them to
some impulse buying activities.

You can increase your online sales by converting your visitors
into customers. You need to entice them that what they have seen
on your site is not just a want but also a need and that they
really have to buy them now or they will miss the chance of
having it.

You can start by recommending or suggesting some related
products. There are instances wherein your customers may not
have thought of buying the product or have forgotten to
purchase, but after you have suggested them through your ads,
they instantly decide on purchasing it.

You can also create a buy now phenomenon by advertising some
limited offers on your site. Having a countdown on an item
will entice them to make an immediate purchase.

2. Make good impressions.

It is relatively important to have creative designs on your web
site so that it will be worth bookmarking. In order to make
your customers bookmark your site, your site should be able to
suffice the generally necessitated information of your would-be
customers.

Keep in mind that people who are online are most likely those
who need some pertinent information, and if they see that your
site can be useful, they will take note of it. So, try to make
use of freebies, useful articles, eBooks, ezines, etc.

3. Recommend some online-only exclusives

Usually, people who use the Internet are just browsing for some
information on different web sites. With regards to sales, most
people would normally browse the Internet to know something
about the product they wish to buy and to know the current
amount of the product in the market.

After obtaining the needed information, they would leave the
site and go on buying the product from their local store.

Hence, it would be better if you will promote an offer that your
customer can only avail on your site. You can also tell them
that they will be getting some freebies like free eBook once
they decide to purchase your product at once.

4. Provide some complete product information and some colorful
and clear photographs of your products.

Like what the consumers would usually do when shopping in their
local department store, online buyers would also love to see
what they are buying.

Moreover, they want to know more information regarding the
product and the benefits they can derive from purchasing it.
Hence, it would be better to provide some detailed information
and clear pictures of your product.

5. Make registration and sign-ups easy.

There are instances wherein buyers are really enticed to buy
your product but the minute they realize how hard it is just to
sign-up, chances are, they would drop the subject and browse to
other sites.

Hence, it is important to make the registration process as easy
as 1-2-3.

6. Gain some trusts

Because the Internet is such a wild place and fraudulent
activities are just about anywhere, it would be better to
provide some privacy statements or trust certificates that
would suggest to your customers that you could be trusted.

It is important to let your customers know that any transactions
they will have with you are safe and that you will never use
their information to any other purposes.

7. Use the mailing list

One of the best and guaranteed ways to increase your online
sales is to use mailing lists. These mailing lists provide you
with email addresses of your customers. These are important
tools in order to get hold of your customers contact information
so that you can send them some promotions about your new product.

Indeed, with all these things in your web site, you can surely
expect notable increases on your online sales the next time you
evaluate your online business.