To open a blog through Google, you have to sign up for a gmail account and you use the gmail account to login in www.blogger.com and follow instructions on how to open a blog.
Post at least 10 articles on any topic and you start registering your blog with there sites:
reviewme.com
payperpost.com
blogsvertise.com
blogitive.com
sponsoredreview.com get more from google search. This sites send you site to review and write an article about, you then paste the article to your blog after confirmation by those sites they pay you according to the way the article can be of use to the company. Most of them pay through Paypal.
U can also go to monetization tab in Blogger and register for adsense.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Website Design Basics
Professional web design has become vital during recent years. A few years ago, it was estimated that a visitor to a web site took about 8 seconds to decide to stay on that web site or click the "Back" button. That was then, this is now: Your web site has only about 4 seconds to make an impression on the visitor. That is not much time at all! Today, people want instant results. Few people even wait to see the entire web design before making their decision. If your web design does not grab their attention immediately, they won't stick around. And if your web site does not offer something of benefit, they won't bookmark it and they won't come back (more on that later).
So, with that in mind, let's discuss some practical ways to grab the attention of web site visitors. Then, in a future article, we will talk a little about keeping their attention with good web site content. Remember, people spend most of their time on the Internet reading. They read search results, news items, articles and forums. A professional web design company will take this into account. But that is for later. First, we have to keep visitors attention (remember the 4 second rule).
Get to the Point.
We live in a fast-paced society and we are used to instant results: Microwave meals in 5 minutes, lose 5pounds in 5 days, 30minute oil changes, see results from fitness equipment in 20 minutes a day, and on and on.
The Internet is no different and it actually may be less forgiving of web sites that don't deliver results quickly.
The 4 second rule that we spoke of earlier does not mean that your entire web page must load in 4seconds. Rather, it means that a visitor to your web site has to at least see something interesting within that 4 second window. So, to test your site, while it is loading, ask yourself:
How much time passes before I see anything?
What is the first thing I see on the web page?
How much time passes before I can read some text?
How long would it take a visitor to determine what the web site is about?
Try this suggestion yourself and then try to enlist the help of some of your friends. The more people you have to test your web site, the more thorough your results will be.
Ideally, the site should load top to bottom and left to right. However, your design should adhere to the reading habits of your target audience. Some countries read from right to left so, make sure you know your audience. Also, the most eye-catching elements should load first. Once these load, they will grab the visitor's attention. Then, the rest of the page can finish loading.
What Graphics Format Should I Use?
This is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of web design. How many times have you visited a web site and cringed at the slow loading pictures. I'll bet you did not stick around to see everything load.
In most cases, web sites that have this problem were created by someone who bought a Web Design How-To book, created a web page that says "Hello World" and now think they are an expert. Or, possibly they are learning web design and created this slow loading site as a favor for a friend or family member. At any rate, hiring a professional web design company will prevent bad design from happening to you. In the meantime, here are some very basic guidelines regarding those very important web site graphics:
More about the.JPG file format:
.JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format allows images to contain up to 16 million colors. It also supports Variable Compression, which allows you to reduce the size of the image at the cost of some of the detail. In order to take full advantage of this feature, you will need a graphics program which will allow you to preview the image after you have compressed it. Some of the more popular graphics programs are Photoshop, Fireworks and Corel Draw.
JPG is not a good format for images with only a few colors or for text created as an image. The finished image will be of poor quality.
More about the.GIF file format:
.GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) support up to 256 colors. It also supports "transparency" which allows you to specify the background of the image to be invisible, thereby letting the web page colors show through.
Graphics in this format are also "looseless", meaning the final quality is not adversly affected by compressing.
Boiling it Down.
For the most part, here is a good way to determine what format you should use for the graphics on your web site:
If your graphic has many colors (such as a photo) use.JPG as the format, However, make sure that the file size is not so large that it prevents the web page from loading quickly. Find a good balance between image quality and file size.
If your graphic has only a few colors (such as a chart) use.GIF as the format.
Of course, this is somewhat oversimplifying the very important role of graphics in your web site design. If you hire a professional web design company to create your web presence, he or she should follow these guidelines during the design process. You should make sure that the rough drafts you receive from the designer adhere to good design standards.
Make Them Want More.
Of course, no matter how well organized your web site is and how effective it is at grabbing the visitor's attention, they have to view your web site as important. You have to give them reasons to stay and browse your site, to bookmark your site so they can refer to it again and to tell others about your site so you can build new visitors.
We will consider how to tackle this aspect of quality web site design in an upcoming article. That article will focus on three main ways to keep visitors coming back:
Offer something of value
Newsletter
Free tips
Monthly coupons
Good, quality marketing copy
Put effort into the words of your web site.
Remember, the Internet is made up of web pages and for the most part, pages are meant to be read.
Easy to use web site navigation.
If visitors can't get around easily on your web site, they won't stay very long.
So, with that in mind, let's discuss some practical ways to grab the attention of web site visitors. Then, in a future article, we will talk a little about keeping their attention with good web site content. Remember, people spend most of their time on the Internet reading. They read search results, news items, articles and forums. A professional web design company will take this into account. But that is for later. First, we have to keep visitors attention (remember the 4 second rule).
Get to the Point.
We live in a fast-paced society and we are used to instant results: Microwave meals in 5 minutes, lose 5pounds in 5 days, 30minute oil changes, see results from fitness equipment in 20 minutes a day, and on and on.
The Internet is no different and it actually may be less forgiving of web sites that don't deliver results quickly.
The 4 second rule that we spoke of earlier does not mean that your entire web page must load in 4seconds. Rather, it means that a visitor to your web site has to at least see something interesting within that 4 second window. So, to test your site, while it is loading, ask yourself:
How much time passes before I see anything?
What is the first thing I see on the web page?
How much time passes before I can read some text?
How long would it take a visitor to determine what the web site is about?
Try this suggestion yourself and then try to enlist the help of some of your friends. The more people you have to test your web site, the more thorough your results will be.
Ideally, the site should load top to bottom and left to right. However, your design should adhere to the reading habits of your target audience. Some countries read from right to left so, make sure you know your audience. Also, the most eye-catching elements should load first. Once these load, they will grab the visitor's attention. Then, the rest of the page can finish loading.
What Graphics Format Should I Use?
This is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of web design. How many times have you visited a web site and cringed at the slow loading pictures. I'll bet you did not stick around to see everything load.
In most cases, web sites that have this problem were created by someone who bought a Web Design How-To book, created a web page that says "Hello World" and now think they are an expert. Or, possibly they are learning web design and created this slow loading site as a favor for a friend or family member. At any rate, hiring a professional web design company will prevent bad design from happening to you. In the meantime, here are some very basic guidelines regarding those very important web site graphics:
More about the.JPG file format:
.JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format allows images to contain up to 16 million colors. It also supports Variable Compression, which allows you to reduce the size of the image at the cost of some of the detail. In order to take full advantage of this feature, you will need a graphics program which will allow you to preview the image after you have compressed it. Some of the more popular graphics programs are Photoshop, Fireworks and Corel Draw.
JPG is not a good format for images with only a few colors or for text created as an image. The finished image will be of poor quality.
More about the.GIF file format:
.GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) support up to 256 colors. It also supports "transparency" which allows you to specify the background of the image to be invisible, thereby letting the web page colors show through.
Graphics in this format are also "looseless", meaning the final quality is not adversly affected by compressing.
Boiling it Down.
For the most part, here is a good way to determine what format you should use for the graphics on your web site:
If your graphic has many colors (such as a photo) use.JPG as the format, However, make sure that the file size is not so large that it prevents the web page from loading quickly. Find a good balance between image quality and file size.
If your graphic has only a few colors (such as a chart) use.GIF as the format.
Of course, this is somewhat oversimplifying the very important role of graphics in your web site design. If you hire a professional web design company to create your web presence, he or she should follow these guidelines during the design process. You should make sure that the rough drafts you receive from the designer adhere to good design standards.
Make Them Want More.
Of course, no matter how well organized your web site is and how effective it is at grabbing the visitor's attention, they have to view your web site as important. You have to give them reasons to stay and browse your site, to bookmark your site so they can refer to it again and to tell others about your site so you can build new visitors.
We will consider how to tackle this aspect of quality web site design in an upcoming article. That article will focus on three main ways to keep visitors coming back:
Offer something of value
Newsletter
Free tips
Monthly coupons
Good, quality marketing copy
Put effort into the words of your web site.
Remember, the Internet is made up of web pages and for the most part, pages are meant to be read.
Easy to use web site navigation.
If visitors can't get around easily on your web site, they won't stay very long.
Website Design An Eye Opener
Have you ever thought about creating your own website but didn't know where to start? For some people, the thought has crossed their minds a few times, especially when they have opened a website and thought to themselves "Wow! That is a great website design!".
There are many reasons that a person or a company would want a website. Internet marketing is a huge reason a company would likely have a website on the internet. With the internet reaching millions of people a day, a company's best marketing tool is a website on the internet. On a more personal level, a person may want a website to keep an online journal or blog to stay in touch with family and friends.
For what ever reason you may want a website remember one important thing, web site design! Why is web site design so important? Think about it this way, have you ever opened a website and thought "This doesn't look so hot."? For the sites that you may have said that about, how long did you stay on that site? Probably not very long.
A company is considered to be professional and without a professional looking website, they might as well kiss their potential revenue goodbye. As a tool for internet marketing, a website must be eye catching, organized and the content must be well presented. If a site looks too cluttered or skimpy on information, a potential customer will close that site and as quickly as that site gets closed, he will open another.
The same would pertain to a blog or an online journal. This is a site where your friends and family will keep up with your daily life. Do you really want your friends opening a site that looks like they walked into your house and saw that is was messy and in need of a good dusting? No, you wouldn't.
There are software programs that help you with Utah website design. These can be purchased and installed on your PC. After installation, the website creation may involve some knowledge of HTML code or CSS code. There are other programs that may offer the WYSIWYG approach to creating a website.
A great way for a beginner to create their own website is to find an online service that provides a template type of web site design. It involves pre-designed templates that allow you to change the layout, the color and the text of the template. You may be able to add photos and other types of content. One advantage to an online service is that you can find many that will let you to use their service for free.
So, whether you are an individual or a company looking to reach friends or gain customers, a clean, professional website will do the job for you.
There are many reasons that a person or a company would want a website. Internet marketing is a huge reason a company would likely have a website on the internet. With the internet reaching millions of people a day, a company's best marketing tool is a website on the internet. On a more personal level, a person may want a website to keep an online journal or blog to stay in touch with family and friends.
For what ever reason you may want a website remember one important thing, web site design! Why is web site design so important? Think about it this way, have you ever opened a website and thought "This doesn't look so hot."? For the sites that you may have said that about, how long did you stay on that site? Probably not very long.
A company is considered to be professional and without a professional looking website, they might as well kiss their potential revenue goodbye. As a tool for internet marketing, a website must be eye catching, organized and the content must be well presented. If a site looks too cluttered or skimpy on information, a potential customer will close that site and as quickly as that site gets closed, he will open another.
The same would pertain to a blog or an online journal. This is a site where your friends and family will keep up with your daily life. Do you really want your friends opening a site that looks like they walked into your house and saw that is was messy and in need of a good dusting? No, you wouldn't.
There are software programs that help you with Utah website design. These can be purchased and installed on your PC. After installation, the website creation may involve some knowledge of HTML code or CSS code. There are other programs that may offer the WYSIWYG approach to creating a website.
A great way for a beginner to create their own website is to find an online service that provides a template type of web site design. It involves pre-designed templates that allow you to change the layout, the color and the text of the template. You may be able to add photos and other types of content. One advantage to an online service is that you can find many that will let you to use their service for free.
So, whether you are an individual or a company looking to reach friends or gain customers, a clean, professional website will do the job for you.
Ideas For Web Design
Whenever a web designer gets a web design project, he or she will require to take a step back and go through the research process in order to complete the job. The research process is a tedious process, it determines how well, and successful will the result of your web design. Ideas for web design will share with you how to go through that research process smoothly and obtain results.
One fine day, you received a call from some client and he requests you to design a website for his company. Over the phone, he briefly tells you what his company is about and asks about the prices, you then fixed an appointment with him for discussion. You will probably get excited about it and starts to get more details of the company by checking them on Google, and thinks about some prelim ideas for the website. At this stage, your research process has already started.
RETREIVING THE DETAILS:
After meeting up with the client, you get a lot of details that will assist you in your design process.
This details applies even when you are designing a personal website.
1. Nature of the Company
2. Client Preferences (Example websites?)
3. Target Audiences (kids? Young adults? Everyone in the world?)
4. Platform (Flash? Html? Php? Asp? )
By organizing these details, you get a bigger picture of:
1. What are you going to design?
2. What style of design are you approaching?
3. Whom you should design for?
4. How will your design work?
5. How will your design please both the audiences and the client in order to be successful?
DETERMINING THE STYLE:
With the information you have on hand, its time to determine the style. For a start, you should base on the client's description of his company, his nature of the company to give a rough gauge on the design style. Examples below:
Example 1:
Web Hosting business >> High tech web design, sleek and professional design
Example 2:
Dolls and Toys business >> Kiddy, Girly, Colorful, Fun design
COLOR THEMES:
Having a good and suitable color theme on your web design will give users a pleasing experience while surfing through the web site you designed. One of the important techniques is to get a color chart from your local art store or use some color chooser tools to aid in your color selection. Your color theme will affect the mood and feel you want to create.
Colors also have their own meanings. For example, white is clean, blue is cool and corporate, having a white and blue color theme gives you a clean and corporate web design. Orange and yellow are warm and friendly colors, Grey is cool, combining a Orange-Grey theme will give you a friendly and fun mood. Dark colors are also popular among many, because they easily matched other bright colors. A common match is using a black background and light colored text as a combination.
There are thousands and one meaning to choose your color theme. Whether your color theme turns out successful depends heavily on the first step "Determining the style" of your website.
PHOTOS & GRAPHICS:
After getting the colors done, its time to think about the graphics and images. As a graphic says a thousand words, it is good to think about how you want to approach this portion. Here are some recommendations you can try:
1. Stock photos - Some are free, some requires you to pay a certain amount before providing you with high resolutions image. If your client has the money and there are suitable photos he would like to use, this is the way to go. Searching in Google for "stock photos" will give you plenty of results on this.
2. Take your own photos -When budget is involve, usually the project will require you to take a relevant photos and use them as supporting images on the website. Having a mid-range camera should do the trick as images for website are all on low resolution. Seldom there is a chance for you to use an image more than 640 x 480 pixels.
3. Creating Graphics Images - A web design will always need custom-made graphics images. For example, icons for a Shoe section, button for submitting informationYou will need some skills in creating the graphics of your needs, or you will feel stuck while designing. Consider looking for tutorials on creating certain effects, like rounded corners, Mac alike buttons, pattern backgrounds and more. Learn about vector graphics tool like Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Fireworks. They can help you to create graphics, mockups and layout fast and efficiently. This will greatly aid in your next web design project.
INSPIRATION AND REFERENCES:
If you already have some inspiration on how to design the layout, great, but if you do not, consider looking at related websites for some references on how they are being done. A search in Google also reveals some websites of the same genre. You can also check out ready-made templatesas well. I am not teaching you to copy exactly, but as a new learner, you should take reference and see how they are being designed.
One fine day, you received a call from some client and he requests you to design a website for his company. Over the phone, he briefly tells you what his company is about and asks about the prices, you then fixed an appointment with him for discussion. You will probably get excited about it and starts to get more details of the company by checking them on Google, and thinks about some prelim ideas for the website. At this stage, your research process has already started.
RETREIVING THE DETAILS:
After meeting up with the client, you get a lot of details that will assist you in your design process.
This details applies even when you are designing a personal website.
1. Nature of the Company
2. Client Preferences (Example websites?)
3. Target Audiences (kids? Young adults? Everyone in the world?)
4. Platform (Flash? Html? Php? Asp? )
By organizing these details, you get a bigger picture of:
1. What are you going to design?
2. What style of design are you approaching?
3. Whom you should design for?
4. How will your design work?
5. How will your design please both the audiences and the client in order to be successful?
DETERMINING THE STYLE:
With the information you have on hand, its time to determine the style. For a start, you should base on the client's description of his company, his nature of the company to give a rough gauge on the design style. Examples below:
Example 1:
Web Hosting business >> High tech web design, sleek and professional design
Example 2:
Dolls and Toys business >> Kiddy, Girly, Colorful, Fun design
COLOR THEMES:
Having a good and suitable color theme on your web design will give users a pleasing experience while surfing through the web site you designed. One of the important techniques is to get a color chart from your local art store or use some color chooser tools to aid in your color selection. Your color theme will affect the mood and feel you want to create.
Colors also have their own meanings. For example, white is clean, blue is cool and corporate, having a white and blue color theme gives you a clean and corporate web design. Orange and yellow are warm and friendly colors, Grey is cool, combining a Orange-Grey theme will give you a friendly and fun mood. Dark colors are also popular among many, because they easily matched other bright colors. A common match is using a black background and light colored text as a combination.
There are thousands and one meaning to choose your color theme. Whether your color theme turns out successful depends heavily on the first step "Determining the style" of your website.
PHOTOS & GRAPHICS:
After getting the colors done, its time to think about the graphics and images. As a graphic says a thousand words, it is good to think about how you want to approach this portion. Here are some recommendations you can try:
1. Stock photos - Some are free, some requires you to pay a certain amount before providing you with high resolutions image. If your client has the money and there are suitable photos he would like to use, this is the way to go. Searching in Google for "stock photos" will give you plenty of results on this.
2. Take your own photos -When budget is involve, usually the project will require you to take a relevant photos and use them as supporting images on the website. Having a mid-range camera should do the trick as images for website are all on low resolution. Seldom there is a chance for you to use an image more than 640 x 480 pixels.
3. Creating Graphics Images - A web design will always need custom-made graphics images. For example, icons for a Shoe section, button for submitting informationYou will need some skills in creating the graphics of your needs, or you will feel stuck while designing. Consider looking for tutorials on creating certain effects, like rounded corners, Mac alike buttons, pattern backgrounds and more. Learn about vector graphics tool like Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Fireworks. They can help you to create graphics, mockups and layout fast and efficiently. This will greatly aid in your next web design project.
INSPIRATION AND REFERENCES:
If you already have some inspiration on how to design the layout, great, but if you do not, consider looking at related websites for some references on how they are being done. A search in Google also reveals some websites of the same genre. You can also check out ready-made templatesas well. I am not teaching you to copy exactly, but as a new learner, you should take reference and see how they are being designed.
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 others 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 yourself if, you would only keep your web design as simple as possible.
Since using this program I have been able to launch two websites with my own web design style within two months, these websites aren't perfect, but they do look very professional.
And, they carry my touch, yes, at last I can boost to my friends how easy web design is for me, because they have no clue that I am using my little secret weapon for my web design.
What does it take to design your own website?
Now, for those who don't understand what it takes to design your own website from scratch, I will give you five important steps you need to master, before you can get your website to the next level.
Five steps for perfected web design:
1) You Need Some Type Of Web Design Software
No one and I repeat no one, is doing web design the expensive way (The truth: Some are still wasting money paying for web design). Those who has enough money, pay for their web design, and those who can't will have to get their hands on a easy to use web design software that gets the job done.
2) You Need To Know Some HTML
No matter what type of web design software your using, you must educate yourself with a little HTML. There is no way around that. Once you get the feel for simple little HTML code snippets, you will notice that you never ever need to know more than that, because you already have my little secret weapon ( My secret web design software program, that I will lead you to very soon).
3) You Need To Know How To Layout Your Website
Wow, another killer, I had no clue how or what to do, much less layout a web site. That all changed when I bought my little secret weapon, it came with a manual loaded with tips on not only how to use the software, but also how to layout your website template.
4) You Need To Master Internal Linking
If you going to design your own website, you must know how to internally link you website together. Ah, well, not really if you have my secret web design software you won't need to know how. This is taken of by the program, it creates all your internal linking,
without you even understand how it's done, isn't that cool.
5) You Need To Keep Your Web Design Simple
This one should have been number one, because it is so important and yet so overlooked. Look around the web and notice the top sites online, they are all use very simple web design with lots of white space. Don't get flashy if your building a website for profit.
Look at Google and Yahoo, they are very simple and that's what you need to do when you design your website.
Anyway, I have given you some tips that should set your web design on fire, if you follow and study successful web sites online, you will see the trend, simplicity wins the web design war.
And now, for the long awaited secret weapon, just browse over to this simple web designed site and watch the video, you will understand why this is a secret weapon that only the guru's use, once you try it.
Be advised, your web design doesn't get return visitors, it is well written and informative content, so why spend thousands on web design, while searchers are only looking for information.
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 yourself if, you would only keep your web design as simple as possible.
Since using this program I have been able to launch two websites with my own web design style within two months, these websites aren't perfect, but they do look very professional.
And, they carry my touch, yes, at last I can boost to my friends how easy web design is for me, because they have no clue that I am using my little secret weapon for my web design.
What does it take to design your own website?
Now, for those who don't understand what it takes to design your own website from scratch, I will give you five important steps you need to master, before you can get your website to the next level.
Five steps for perfected web design:
1) You Need Some Type Of Web Design Software
No one and I repeat no one, is doing web design the expensive way (The truth: Some are still wasting money paying for web design). Those who has enough money, pay for their web design, and those who can't will have to get their hands on a easy to use web design software that gets the job done.
2) You Need To Know Some HTML
No matter what type of web design software your using, you must educate yourself with a little HTML. There is no way around that. Once you get the feel for simple little HTML code snippets, you will notice that you never ever need to know more than that, because you already have my little secret weapon ( My secret web design software program, that I will lead you to very soon).
3) You Need To Know How To Layout Your Website
Wow, another killer, I had no clue how or what to do, much less layout a web site. That all changed when I bought my little secret weapon, it came with a manual loaded with tips on not only how to use the software, but also how to layout your website template.
4) You Need To Master Internal Linking
If you going to design your own website, you must know how to internally link you website together. Ah, well, not really if you have my secret web design software you won't need to know how. This is taken of by the program, it creates all your internal linking,
without you even understand how it's done, isn't that cool.
5) You Need To Keep Your Web Design Simple
This one should have been number one, because it is so important and yet so overlooked. Look around the web and notice the top sites online, they are all use very simple web design with lots of white space. Don't get flashy if your building a website for profit.
Look at Google and Yahoo, they are very simple and that's what you need to do when you design your website.
Anyway, I have given you some tips that should set your web design on fire, if you follow and study successful web sites online, you will see the trend, simplicity wins the web design war.
And now, for the long awaited secret weapon, just browse over to this simple web designed site and watch the video, you will understand why this is a secret weapon that only the guru's use, once you try it.
Be advised, your web design doesn't get return visitors, it is well written and informative content, so why spend thousands on web design, while searchers are only looking for information.
Macromedia Flash - Making Text Work For You
Since it entered the market in 1996, Macromedia Flash has become one of the most extensively used software in the web design industry all over the world. Like many countries, the popularity of Flash web design has increased manifold due to the creativity and interactivity that it brought to the area of web designing. These days, hardly any web designer or website company can afford not to know or not use the Macromedia Flash in its website. In fact, these days there sites which are entirely based on this new web technology.
One of the reasons for the popularity of this new technology is that it is revolutionary in nature. It not only allows the web designers to use their creativity in graphics but also in texts. The simplicity holds the key to its success of any software and in macromedia flash's case, it holds true. The web design and Flash animation not only helps the creator to express oneself more creatively but also appeals to the viewer. In other words, Flash often helps to attract viewers of a website or web page on the net. The more creative it is, better are chances of success.
It is often said that if the animation is the body of a website, text is its soul. No website can succeed if the quality of its text is not up to the mark. But, if one is given the option of putting creativity in texts as well, there is nothing better than that. It is extensively used in web designing as it offers the web designers an opportunity to go creative with text. One of the greatest advantages of Macromedia Flash in terms of text maneuverability is that it is able to treat letters both as text and graphic objects. This property is absent in many software which is why one cannot do much when it comes to texts. However, this is not the case with macromedia flash. Flash uses text-rendering engine and allows the designers to use the text at the please in a Flash program.
One of the reasons for the popularity of this new technology is that it is revolutionary in nature. It not only allows the web designers to use their creativity in graphics but also in texts. The simplicity holds the key to its success of any software and in macromedia flash's case, it holds true. The web design and Flash animation not only helps the creator to express oneself more creatively but also appeals to the viewer. In other words, Flash often helps to attract viewers of a website or web page on the net. The more creative it is, better are chances of success.
It is often said that if the animation is the body of a website, text is its soul. No website can succeed if the quality of its text is not up to the mark. But, if one is given the option of putting creativity in texts as well, there is nothing better than that. It is extensively used in web designing as it offers the web designers an opportunity to go creative with text. One of the greatest advantages of Macromedia Flash in terms of text maneuverability is that it is able to treat letters both as text and graphic objects. This property is absent in many software which is why one cannot do much when it comes to texts. However, this is not the case with macromedia flash. Flash uses text-rendering engine and allows the designers to use the text at the please in a Flash program.
How To Get A Website
There are many possible answers to the question of how to get a website, because at least part of the solution will depend on your existing level of knowledge and experience. However, I will assume that anyone who needs to ask that question is a relative newcomer to the fields of web design and development, so this article is written with the intention of providing guidance for those with little or no technical knowledge.
Before diving into the world of website design, it is worth giving some consideration to what the purpose of your website will be. What you want your website to do for you will have some bearing on the kind of options open to you for creating it. What I mean is that if you only want a site in order to get certain information online and then tell people you already know where they can find it, there are fewer things to consider compared to the need for your site to attract large numbers of new visitors through search engines.
Apart from simple sites for families or friends, the need to show up in search engines and attract new visitors is usually the requirement for most websites, and certainly for business websites. Getting a few pages of information onto the web is one thing, but getting information online in a way that it will show up on search engines and be found by lots of visitors is something else. This 'something else' is known as search engine optimization (SEO) and is a separate, huge subject, but you need to at least be aware of it before starting on a website.
However you choose to create your website, there will be three initial stages to getting it up and running.
First, you need to have your own domain name. This is a unique address on the internet where people can find your website. Next, you need a web hosting company to host your website for you. All websites are stored on computers by companies known as web hosts, and they provide a service which allows visitors to your site to download and view your pages and files at any time of day of day of night. This typically will cost a few dollars a month, and often includes a domain name in the package. Finally, you need to create the actual web pages themselves, which is the website design stage.
The way these three aspects interlink to give you your website is as follows: You create your web pages and upload them to the server of your web host. Your pages are now stored on the hard drive of the host's computers. When you have registered your domain name, you then tell your domain registrar to point the domain at the address of your web host's server, where your website is stored. So that anyone typing in your domain name will then be directed to your web host, where they will see your web pages.
Registering a domain name is extremely quick and simple and can be done with any one of thousands of domain name registrars. Finding a web host is easy enough, in so far as there is no shortage of them, though great care must be taken to find a reliable one, as well as one that offers a goodvalue hosting deal. It is best to check recommendations and reviews carefully before signing up with a host. Of the three things involved in creating a website, it is the website design part that can be a bit more involved.
Clearly there are many experienced website designers who will charge you to design your site for you. Unless you are an existing successful business with money to spare for such things, this is unlikely to be an option, so you will need to find a way of doing this yourself. One option is to spend a long time learning the language of web design (hyper text markup language, cascading style sheets, etc) and do it from scratch. Most people simply do not have the time to invest in all that would involve, which leads us to web design tools that do not require any technical knowledge.
There are various website design tools available which are aimed at people who do not want to have to get into any strange languages or technical stuff.
Before diving into the world of website design, it is worth giving some consideration to what the purpose of your website will be. What you want your website to do for you will have some bearing on the kind of options open to you for creating it. What I mean is that if you only want a site in order to get certain information online and then tell people you already know where they can find it, there are fewer things to consider compared to the need for your site to attract large numbers of new visitors through search engines.
Apart from simple sites for families or friends, the need to show up in search engines and attract new visitors is usually the requirement for most websites, and certainly for business websites. Getting a few pages of information onto the web is one thing, but getting information online in a way that it will show up on search engines and be found by lots of visitors is something else. This 'something else' is known as search engine optimization (SEO) and is a separate, huge subject, but you need to at least be aware of it before starting on a website.
However you choose to create your website, there will be three initial stages to getting it up and running.
First, you need to have your own domain name. This is a unique address on the internet where people can find your website. Next, you need a web hosting company to host your website for you. All websites are stored on computers by companies known as web hosts, and they provide a service which allows visitors to your site to download and view your pages and files at any time of day of day of night. This typically will cost a few dollars a month, and often includes a domain name in the package. Finally, you need to create the actual web pages themselves, which is the website design stage.
The way these three aspects interlink to give you your website is as follows: You create your web pages and upload them to the server of your web host. Your pages are now stored on the hard drive of the host's computers. When you have registered your domain name, you then tell your domain registrar to point the domain at the address of your web host's server, where your website is stored. So that anyone typing in your domain name will then be directed to your web host, where they will see your web pages.
Registering a domain name is extremely quick and simple and can be done with any one of thousands of domain name registrars. Finding a web host is easy enough, in so far as there is no shortage of them, though great care must be taken to find a reliable one, as well as one that offers a goodvalue hosting deal. It is best to check recommendations and reviews carefully before signing up with a host. Of the three things involved in creating a website, it is the website design part that can be a bit more involved.
Clearly there are many experienced website designers who will charge you to design your site for you. Unless you are an existing successful business with money to spare for such things, this is unlikely to be an option, so you will need to find a way of doing this yourself. One option is to spend a long time learning the language of web design (hyper text markup language, cascading style sheets, etc) and do it from scratch. Most people simply do not have the time to invest in all that would involve, which leads us to web design tools that do not require any technical knowledge.
There are various website design tools available which are aimed at people who do not want to have to get into any strange languages or technical stuff.
When You Purchase A Website Template
When you purchase a graphic template, you will be able to customize it to an extent or even build a totally new design based on it! What's the point of using the template then, you say? Well, it serves as a source of inspiration and ideas for a totally new design. You can't derive anything from a blank canvas, right?
When it comes to graphics, most Internet marketers shy away from using graphic templates whether it's ebook covers, website layouts or promotional banners because they firmly believe that by using graphic templates, they are tarnishing their own business. They want to own a unique identity and hence will always find a professional graphic designer to do the job. Well, you're in for a big surprise!
On top of that, you are actually saving a lot of precious time that you can otherwise spend on more important matters like developing new products or market your products. When you buy a pre-made template, you only need to edit a thing or two to give it an identity of your own, and that gives you more time and flexibility to work on other stuff.
Okay, let's say you argue that hiring a designer to do the job is equally fast. That may be true but don't forget, hiring a professional designer to do a custom design for you will cost you a lot of money. Unless you need a totally unique identity that you are aiming to establish firmly in your niche market, you don't need to get a designer to design it for you.
Not all graphic templates are suitable, so you have to be careful when choosing one. Consider quality over the price, and you're on your way to creating a positive image for your business while saving more time for more productive chores!
When it comes to graphics, most Internet marketers shy away from using graphic templates whether it's ebook covers, website layouts or promotional banners because they firmly believe that by using graphic templates, they are tarnishing their own business. They want to own a unique identity and hence will always find a professional graphic designer to do the job. Well, you're in for a big surprise!
On top of that, you are actually saving a lot of precious time that you can otherwise spend on more important matters like developing new products or market your products. When you buy a pre-made template, you only need to edit a thing or two to give it an identity of your own, and that gives you more time and flexibility to work on other stuff.
Okay, let's say you argue that hiring a designer to do the job is equally fast. That may be true but don't forget, hiring a professional designer to do a custom design for you will cost you a lot of money. Unless you need a totally unique identity that you are aiming to establish firmly in your niche market, you don't need to get a designer to design it for you.
Not all graphic templates are suitable, so you have to be careful when choosing one. Consider quality over the price, and you're on your way to creating a positive image for your business while saving more time for more productive chores!
Monday, July 6, 2009
What To Look For In A Web Design Program
You've decided that you interested in Web design. You're ready to jump into the game, but you're going to need some education on how to design Web sites first. With a focus on Web sites; how do you decide which program meets your needs?
Skills taught in a Web Design program,
Web site designers require a vast array of skills, not all of which are (or can be!) taught in the classroom. However, there are certain skills that all Web designers should know. First among these is HTML (HyperText Markup Language) code, which comprises the building blocks of the Web. All Web sites, no matter how fancy or how focused on Flash animation, consist of HTML at their core.
Although most designers now use Web editing programs such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver to design Web sites, in order to understand what is actually happening when the Web site loads, you need to know HTML. For entry-level positions, this markup language can be enough, but for more advanced positions, you should learn one or more other markup languages, such as XML (eXtended Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), as well as one or more scripting languages, such as JavaScript
and ActiveX.
You will also need to learn the basics of making a Web site look neat and professional. Although it may seem elementary, there are a wide range of techniques involved in creating a Web site that flows well. A logical site is designed to allow the user to quickly understand the purpose of the Web site, and to easily find the information he or she needs. Although this is obviously more of an art than a science, there are many techniques that help users navigate each page within a site more effectively and quickly. As a Web
site designer, you should be fluent in these techniques.
To work on Web sites, you'll also need to understand the basics of how a computer operates. These technical skills enable you to set up and modify the Web site. Being able to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) clients to add pages and upload site changes is paramount. So is being able to modify the site contents manually by using text editor software. Some of this software allows you to view changes instantaneously, such as the Real-Time HTML Editor, which is available online. Other text editors are included with your
office computer, or can be installed, enabling you to work on site contents outside of a site editing program.
Finally, depending on the specific career path you have in mind, you may need to have other skills. If you are focusing more on the graphic design aspect of Web design, you will need to focus on learning about vector and raster graphics. Raster graphics, comprised of grids of tiny pixels, are dependent on the size and quality of the image -photographs are raster images, for example, and can look blurry or sharp, depending upon image size and resolution. Vector graphics use geographical points and coordinates
instead of pixels, and can be resized without losing image quality. Typography, or the art of choosing and using fonts and typefaces, is also important. Page layout, or the skill of combining pictures, text, links, and animated images on a Web site to create a pleasing overall design, is also very important.
If, however, you are more interested in the technical aspects of maintaining a Web site, you will need to focus more on server administration, namely by learning to use Web server software (such as Microsoft IIS or Apache), and understanding how to run log analysis so you can track who visits the site, and how frequently you receive unique visitors. There are other specific domains in the field of Web design, including site optimization, security, usability, and quality assurance. Each sub-specialty in the Web design field requires the knowing the design basics described above, plus additional skills which you can learn in class and on the job.
In summary, these are the type of Web design classes you can look forward to taking:
HTML and other markup/scripting languages
Web site graphics and layout design
Some technical skills necessary to publish a Web site
Other skills related to the specific type of Web design career you want to pursue.
Skills taught in a Web Design program,
Web site designers require a vast array of skills, not all of which are (or can be!) taught in the classroom. However, there are certain skills that all Web designers should know. First among these is HTML (HyperText Markup Language) code, which comprises the building blocks of the Web. All Web sites, no matter how fancy or how focused on Flash animation, consist of HTML at their core.
Although most designers now use Web editing programs such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver to design Web sites, in order to understand what is actually happening when the Web site loads, you need to know HTML. For entry-level positions, this markup language can be enough, but for more advanced positions, you should learn one or more other markup languages, such as XML (eXtended Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), as well as one or more scripting languages, such as JavaScript
and ActiveX.
You will also need to learn the basics of making a Web site look neat and professional. Although it may seem elementary, there are a wide range of techniques involved in creating a Web site that flows well. A logical site is designed to allow the user to quickly understand the purpose of the Web site, and to easily find the information he or she needs. Although this is obviously more of an art than a science, there are many techniques that help users navigate each page within a site more effectively and quickly. As a Web
site designer, you should be fluent in these techniques.
To work on Web sites, you'll also need to understand the basics of how a computer operates. These technical skills enable you to set up and modify the Web site. Being able to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) clients to add pages and upload site changes is paramount. So is being able to modify the site contents manually by using text editor software. Some of this software allows you to view changes instantaneously, such as the Real-Time HTML Editor, which is available online. Other text editors are included with your
office computer, or can be installed, enabling you to work on site contents outside of a site editing program.
Finally, depending on the specific career path you have in mind, you may need to have other skills. If you are focusing more on the graphic design aspect of Web design, you will need to focus on learning about vector and raster graphics. Raster graphics, comprised of grids of tiny pixels, are dependent on the size and quality of the image -photographs are raster images, for example, and can look blurry or sharp, depending upon image size and resolution. Vector graphics use geographical points and coordinates
instead of pixels, and can be resized without losing image quality. Typography, or the art of choosing and using fonts and typefaces, is also important. Page layout, or the skill of combining pictures, text, links, and animated images on a Web site to create a pleasing overall design, is also very important.
If, however, you are more interested in the technical aspects of maintaining a Web site, you will need to focus more on server administration, namely by learning to use Web server software (such as Microsoft IIS or Apache), and understanding how to run log analysis so you can track who visits the site, and how frequently you receive unique visitors. There are other specific domains in the field of Web design, including site optimization, security, usability, and quality assurance. Each sub-specialty in the Web design field requires the knowing the design basics described above, plus additional skills which you can learn in class and on the job.
In summary, these are the type of Web design classes you can look forward to taking:
HTML and other markup/scripting languages
Web site graphics and layout design
Some technical skills necessary to publish a Web site
Other skills related to the specific type of Web design career you want to pursue.
Creating A Good Web Design
There are many different types of web design, from those built using website templates and 'build your own' site building applications to complex content managed and e-commerce web designs such as those used by big brand names like Amazon, eBay and Tesco. Some companies, even some big name companies, have unprofessional looking and badly designed websites. Some have amazing looking websites but because of their high graphical content and minimal text content can take an age to load, are not user friendly and do not provide what the visitor wants.
Good Website Design
Though many aspects of website design differ from site to site, many things remain the same throughout the majority of websites on the internet. Most notably is the navigation or menu. The way in which a website's menu works and looks is very important, as ultimately, visitors to a website are looking for certain criteria that will make them either stay and interact or leave. This ability for a website to keep visitors interested is sometimes referred to as stickiness. Visitors want an attractive visually exciting experience, but perhaps more importantly, they want 'ease of use'. Website usability is a key factor for websites that want their visitors to stick around, make an enquiry and ultimately complete a transaction and order a product or service.
Easy to Use Web Design
Internet users tend to prefer easy to use websites, because they do not want to have to learn how to use a website every time they find a new one. They should be able to use a website after only a few seconds of looking around a homepage, any more and they will leave and browse elsewhere. The need for fast user interaction is vital and therefore having a fast loading website is also important for a website to succeed. Even with faster internet connections such as broadband, internet users don't want to wait around.
Just imagine, if you go to a shop on the high street and are totally ignored by shop assistants at the counter for 5 minutes, even after you have made it clear you want help. There is a correlation here to how an internet user may feel, when they arrive at a website that has been poorly designed, is difficult to use, unfriendly and slow to load. Making sure that a website has been well thought out and designed with the user in mind, displays a company's unique selling points within easily recognizable eye catching calls for action and has a clear, easy to use menu is key to its success.
Flash Web Design
With recent web design advancements, such as the introduction of Flash animation and high definition video content, impressive websites have been produced to take advantage of much higher levels of visual effects and interaction. However with this 'high end' web design, comes a price, more often than not, web designs which rely heavily upon Flash content are often ridiculously slow to load. They often have a progress bar, which slowly goes across the web browser to signify when the website will finish loading.
This is much like the progress bars that you may be familiar with if you use video editing or 3D rendering software, or if you use games consoles where they are displayed whilst you wait for games to load. Internet users on the whole do not want to wait 3 - 5 minutes for a web page to load even if it does feature high resolution images, animation or video. They want fast informative content rich websites. If they wanted to watch an animation or video they would watch TV.
Good Website Design
Though many aspects of website design differ from site to site, many things remain the same throughout the majority of websites on the internet. Most notably is the navigation or menu. The way in which a website's menu works and looks is very important, as ultimately, visitors to a website are looking for certain criteria that will make them either stay and interact or leave. This ability for a website to keep visitors interested is sometimes referred to as stickiness. Visitors want an attractive visually exciting experience, but perhaps more importantly, they want 'ease of use'. Website usability is a key factor for websites that want their visitors to stick around, make an enquiry and ultimately complete a transaction and order a product or service.
Easy to Use Web Design
Internet users tend to prefer easy to use websites, because they do not want to have to learn how to use a website every time they find a new one. They should be able to use a website after only a few seconds of looking around a homepage, any more and they will leave and browse elsewhere. The need for fast user interaction is vital and therefore having a fast loading website is also important for a website to succeed. Even with faster internet connections such as broadband, internet users don't want to wait around.
Just imagine, if you go to a shop on the high street and are totally ignored by shop assistants at the counter for 5 minutes, even after you have made it clear you want help. There is a correlation here to how an internet user may feel, when they arrive at a website that has been poorly designed, is difficult to use, unfriendly and slow to load. Making sure that a website has been well thought out and designed with the user in mind, displays a company's unique selling points within easily recognizable eye catching calls for action and has a clear, easy to use menu is key to its success.
Flash Web Design
With recent web design advancements, such as the introduction of Flash animation and high definition video content, impressive websites have been produced to take advantage of much higher levels of visual effects and interaction. However with this 'high end' web design, comes a price, more often than not, web designs which rely heavily upon Flash content are often ridiculously slow to load. They often have a progress bar, which slowly goes across the web browser to signify when the website will finish loading.
This is much like the progress bars that you may be familiar with if you use video editing or 3D rendering software, or if you use games consoles where they are displayed whilst you wait for games to load. Internet users on the whole do not want to wait 3 - 5 minutes for a web page to load even if it does feature high resolution images, animation or video. They want fast informative content rich websites. If they wanted to watch an animation or video they would watch TV.
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