How To Build a Website
June 15, 2008 by Stephen S Alison · Leave a Comment
One of the principal keys to success on the Internet is learning and understanding how to build a website.
The appearance of your web site or your web design will to a very large extent, determine your success or failure as your product or service will be judged by the image conveyed by your website. Poor website design has already been identified as one of the leading causes of small business failure online.
So what really are the principal elements of good website design and are there any special “how to build a website” rules to follow?
In summary the following are the main good website design requirements:
- How to Build a Website Rule 1 – Your website should contain theme-based content;
- How to Build a Website Rule 2 – You should avoid using Banners;
- How to Build a Website Rule 3 – Your website should Not Sell. It must Presell;
- How to Build a Website Rule 4 – Pay close attention to your website’s Look and Feel;
- How to Build a Website Rule 5 – Pay close attention to your website Navigation;
- How to Build a Website Rule 6 – Pay close attention to your website’s Fonts;
- How to Build a Website Rule 7 – Pay close attention to your website’s Background and Text Colors;
- How to Build a Website Rule 8 – Your website should have Printer-friendly Web Pages;
How To Build a Website – Theme-based Content – So what exactly is a Theme-based Content website? It is a site based upon a theme. Each and every page of the site focuses on a single topic that is related to that theme.
For example lets say your theme is golf . Topical pages would include:
- The Masters;
- The British Open;
- Tiger Woods; and so on
We call each topical page a keyword focused content page. Your site could easily grow to over 150 pages, each of which focuses on a different golf-related topic. The net sum of all the information on all your pages forms the Content of your site – the first good website design element.
How To Build a Website – Avoid Banners – Retinal studies, conducted during usability testing, have shown that Web surfers actually avoid banners and banner ads. Yes, their eyes look away, so naturally your website traffic will be low.
How To Build a Website – Don’t Sell. PREsell – A common error made by many webmasters is …selling instead of PREselling. People resist sales efforts, so your click through actually goes down. A visitor arrives at a website that is no more than one, big sales site. Put yourself in that visitor’s shoes for a moment. You do not see interesting and inspiring content – you see a sales effort. But you were looking for content!
If your site is basically a “bunch of sales letters”, you are not building any credibility and likability with this visitor. Your visitor ends up feeling “pitched” by just another site doing the pitching. So, just like the banner ad, your visitor is not very likely to click through to your payment link.
How To Build a Website – Look & Feel – Select a style that matches your theme — choose the one that best matches the “Look & Feel” for your site’s theme. It’s a good idea to preview each style in a full screen (by clicking the Preview button in each style template) before making your decision. Start by choosing a Color Scheme for the style that you like best.
How To Build a Website – Navigation – When you begin designing your pages, please keep in mind that your visitors may enter your website from pages other than your home page (index page). So you need to make sure you include good navigational links on every page.
You should place your navigational links together at the top, bottom, left or right side of each page. Also you should use tables to align your links neatly and maintain a balanced, organized and uniform appearance throughout your website.
How To Build a Website – Fonts – One of the most important parts of a web page is text – both text font and text size. The way in which you display the text on your web page will have a great impact on your success as it can make your page look either professional or un-professional.
When placing text within your web page, always be consistent with your choice of fonts. In other words, don’t use different fonts throughout your pages. The standard fonts used on the Internet are Arial and Verdana. The standard text size is 2. Arial and Verdana are the standard simply because they are the easiest to read on a computer screen.
Headlines, which require a larger font size, are a bit different. A popular headline font used is Georgia, as it displays nicely in the slightly larger font size.
How To Build a Website – Background & Text Colors – Be selective of your background and text colors. Busy backgrounds make text difficult to read and may draw the attention away from the text. Also, always be consistent with your background theme on each page of your site.
Give some careful thought to your choice of colors, as colors affect your mood and will have an affect on your visitors as well.
How To Build a Website – Printer Friendly Web Pages – Reading from a computer screen is uncomfortable at the best of times, so users may often want to print the page they’re viewing. The problem is that web pages don’t usually lend themselves to print.
Unless your web page width is 600 pixels or less, the chances are that your page copy will not fit in the printed page, and important information will be cropped-out.
Additional Reading:
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Jeanine Strickland of Clayton ,NC discusses how to build a website … – Listen as Jeanine Strickland, a Independent Website Designer shares why your church, ministry, or business needs a website. Learn how to build your website as well.
Don't Build Your Web Site In Flash – As pretty as it may be in small doses, a Web site entirely in Flash still presents a poor user experience. No one wants to sit through that. I don’t care how indexable it is. There are still far better ways to present that content. …
Website Design Tips – Need help in setting up your up own web site? Information is available in free videos and articles from LinksParadise. This a free site with how-to and videos on such subjects as How to build a website, creating web site graphics and …
Do you have a website? Make it PROFITABLE – Marketing should be well planned before you start a new website. If you already have a website, don’t worry, it’s not too late to build free, targeted traffic to your site. There are three simple steps to follow to make your website …
Five Pointers On How To Build Links To Your Website & Improve Your … – By having your keywords and your website URL in your signature, you create many links to your website when participating and making posts in these forums. Some of these forums have high popularity rank, so by having links to these sites …
How to Build a Website If You Don’t Know HTML – Don’t let not knowing HTML stop you from building a website – there are a number of editors available that will help you design pages and install them on your web hosting server. These editors – often called WYSIWYG editors (for “what …
Make A Successful Web Site with This Four Key Steps – There are four main steps you must take in order to build a successful Web site: 1. Select your target market or audience 2. Create your site 3. Monetize your site 4. Promote your site Depending on… [[ This is a content summary only. …
How to Build a Website For Free in 9 Steps – This is the simplest of ways to get a real website up and running, but did you know that maintenance and updating can be labor intensive? And if you want to add different functionality such as a registered-users-only area, …
Tags: how to build a website, presell, theme-based, web design, Website BuildingEuropean Domain Name Registration
June 6, 2008 by Stephen S Alison · 1 Comment
Just a few short hours ago I published my post about European Domain Name Registration and I stated that “…anyone who has recently tried to register a generic .EU domain name will “testify” that someone else is or some individuals are already, quietly and silently, gobbling up European Domain Name Registrations as part of their domaining portfolio!
Just a short while ago I read the following Press release:
Hecta Media announces domain portfolio acquisition 6/6/2008 4:22 AM ET – (RTTNews) – Hecta Media Inc (HCTA.L: News, Chart, Quote ), the web consolidator, said it has exercised its option to acquire the first of two additional portfolios of domain names for a cash consideration of US$734.8 thousands to be financed from existing cash balances. The domain name portfolio comprises mainly German and other European parked domain names that receive direct navigation and search traffic which can be monetized through search links to generate click-through advertising revenues. Hecta Media believes that the domain names are likely to make a positive contribution to earnings in the current year.
Obviously, I have no knowledge of the .DE and/or .EU domain names portfolio mix. But at current market prices you can register 75,000 .EU domain names for the $ amount mentioned above.
So go figure.
And in case you are wondering, the answer is no, I did not have inside information!
So, is European domain name registration the new holy grail of domaining and domainers?
Why not get a head start and get your European Domain Name Registration today?
Tags: .DE, .EU, Domain Names, Domaining, European domain name registrationEuropean Domain Name Registration
June 6, 2008 by Stephen S Alison · 3 Comments
One of the most important and rewarding attributes of a good investor is to have an eye or the knack for identifying rising trends in society and commerce and to capitalize on this information ahead of the pack. The same concept applies to the fledging industry we call domaining.
Opportunities for making a small mint from finding and selling premium domain or generic names are getting fewer and far between by the day and already savvy domainers are looking for the next big thing in domaining or domain names. One blogger even referred to this trend as “predictive” domaining.
Domain name investors or speculators have already gobbled up all the LLL.com and LLLL.com domains and are now discussing whether LLLLL.com is the next domain name area to offer sizeable income opportunities.
Also several forums are already discussing the declining returns from domain parking and whether domain parking, a major component of the domaining revenue model, is dead.
So where should we turn our speculative efforts?
The recent release of the .ASIA TLD has proved very popular and this has stimulated some bloggers to opine that perhaps the next big TLD would be .IN (INDIA).
So is the next domaining gold rush to be found, not in the domain name itself, but in the top-level domain (TLD), which is the last part of an Internet domain name i.e. the letters which follow the final dot of any domain name?
With some 76 million websites already registered, .COM is by far the most popular TLD. But what about .EU Domains, the European Domain Name Registration TLD?
The European Union currently has a population of 490 million people from 27 independent countries sharing 1 common TLD – the .EU. The European domain name registration TLD or top level domain name .eu has fast become one of the most popular domains for companies, organisations and individuals within and doing business in the European Union (EU).
The European Commission proudly made the recent announcement and reported that European domain name registrations are the 4th most popular choice amongst Europeans, and 9th worldwide.
Of course, many companies are letting their customers know they are based in Europe – just like them. And by having a European domain name registration shows they are ready for business in the European Union.
But anyone who has recently tried to register a generic .EU domain name will “testify” that someone else is or some individuals are already, quietly and silently, gobbling up European Domain Name Registrations as part of their domaining portfolio!
There are many benefits of a European Domain Name registration including the protection of a valuable brand in Europe, the creation of a recognizable European identity in 27 European Union countries and it is perfect for marketing products and services in Europe.
But there are also tremendous virtual real estate opportunities!
So will you try to get ahead of the rest of the pack and get your European Domain Name Registration today?
Additional Reading
Domain Name Investment – And where to buy these domain names? Well, the cheapest .eu domain name seller I’ve found is BuyDomains, which works out about £6 per .eu domain, while 123-reg seems to be a decent balance between cost, at approx £3 per .co.uk domain. … Domain portfolio acquisition – The domain name portfolio comprises mainly German and other European parked domain names that receive direct navigation and search traffic which can be monetized through search links to generate click-through advertising revenues. … .eu domain names now only 99p!! – 99p registration applies to customers registering a new .eu domain name. 99p registration applies to the first year of domain registration only. In subsequent years, the domain(s) will be renewed at the standard renewal rate. … Join Us at Domainer Meeting in Paris on June 19th and 20th – Register now at the Domainer Fusu at the Domainer Meeting in Paris – Fusu, the Domain Stock Exchange, invites you to join them at the Domainer Meeting in Paris, Thursday, June 19 to Friday, June 20, 2008. This European meet up for domainers is a great opportunity to discuss not only Fusu, but the state … Euro 2008: The websites – Switzerland & the Czech Republic – No wonder they’ve opted for the neutral www.football.ch as their website domain name. It is very noticeable that despite being on the verge of hosting their biggest football event since the World Cup in 1954, the Swiss FA has very … DomainerMeeting Paris Keynote Speaker announced – With more than 300 visitors expected, Domainer Meeting in Paris is going to be the largest European domain industry event ever. It will be held on the 19th and 20th June 2008 in Paris, only 2 days before the ICANN Meeting … New domain name ADR mechanism for the Netherlands – Further, either registration or use in bad faith must be established, rather than both (source: article in World Trademark Report by David Taylor and Brechtje Lindeboom, Lovells LLP, Paris). When Domains Go Missing – If you have an annual re-registration for your domain, you will need to ensure that your internal administrative management procedures will ensure that the domain name is renewed prior to the expiry date – and be warned, …
Meeting Paris online Registration and Agenda. You won’t want to miss the SnapNames Live Auction …
Today in Domaining
June 5, 2008 by Stephen S Alison · Leave a Comment
Domaining – the art and science of buying and selling domain names as virtual real estate investments. Here is an in-sight on what is happening today in domaining:
Free Access to Exclusive Domaining Content Free domaining tools, web apps & scripts, literally hundreds of domaining links in “Mark’s Bookmark Vault”, How-To articles, and …
Domain Buzz: This Week in Domaining DotSauce Article – Facebook: Social Domaining: “Facebook and other social networks will play a large role in the ever increasing exposure of the domaining industry in the next couple years. The closer we work together and learn from …
A Good Guide for Domaining Recently I read a book on the subject of domaining. ==> www.marktse.com/cb.php/panda31/blog/ It’s called the ‘Domain Profit Guide’ – and in 107 easy-to-read pages, the authors gave me a complete grounding on the exciting possibilities …
Domaining and Address-Bar Driven Traffic Did you know that Direct Navigation traffic converts twice as much as search traffic? Learn about this growing practice among consumers and how domains can drive more qualified traffic to your business. Monte Cahn, CEO & Founder, …
Major League Domaining and All Star Plays Whether buying and selling the various foundations of the web or in the actual development upon those foundations, Domainers who have the foresight to start mastering the many skills which encompass the many realms of domaining will be …
Domaining – extensive how to Head on over to domainingtips.com and read the newest article by Lord Brar on his domaining strategy . A good read and a step by step tutorial for wannabe domainers.
Domain Buzz: This Week in Domaining DotSauce – GoDaddy simplifies domain ownership transfer process: “Sellers no longer have to ask the new owner their mailing address, phone number and other private contact information.“ SimplyGeo reports on the fraudulent listing of …
Site Review – LiveEditions.com Today we are reviewing a domaining and web design blog, which can be found at www.LiveEditions.com. This blog is very new but is slowly gathering members and comments. Starting from the top down, the header is quite nicely done with a …
The Domaining Manifesto You’ve included knowledge in this book that’s taken domain industry pros like us years to learn. This so called Domaining Manifesto of yours will give people an unfair jump start into making serious money with domain names. …
Welcome to The World of Domaining Have you heard about the new internet business called domaining yet? If you haven’t then you need to check out Randy Charach social networking website for Domainers about domaining. His website covers the basics for the domaining …
Today in Domaining Domaining is big business these days and lots of savvy online marketers are making a splash in this relatively young industry. re you a seasoned domainer or a noob? Are you looking to buy a domain and resell it quickly or hold a domain …
Introduction to the World of Domaining If you are a full-time domainer (or a very heavily involved part-time domainer), one of the toughest things to do is explain to people what it is you do and how exactly you make money. I often find a more confused face once I finish …
Domaining 2.0: Welcome to a Brave New World As the domaining industry shifts focus towards developed domains, so should your strategies for development. Domain Development Diversification is the idea of using many different strategies with your domains and learning which one’s …
Free Domaining Resources at DotSauce One of my favorite domaining blogs is DotSauce, written by Mark Fulton. One of the things that makes his website special is the premium content section. In this section, he offers additional tools, bookmarks, coupon codes and articles. …
The Who’s Who of Domaining – Part I In my pevious article The Different Types of Domainers a lot of names were dropped, here is my attempt at connecting you directly to these people and what I know of them. I’m calling this post Part I as there are a LOT of people and …
Domaining Domainers Definition of the Domains Industry Some cool insights into the domaining world by an expert. I’ve never seen all the info in once place like this. 8 Vote(s)
New Domaining Tool: Domize.com In my never ending search to bring readers the newest domaining tools to hit the scene, take a second and familiarize yourself with Domize.com. 5 Vote(s)
What is Domaining? I myself had been involved in domain industry for quite sometime. I am late to the industry but i love this industry so much that I abandoned my interest in web development and going deeply inside domaining. …
Three books to help you build your domaining business Thats why I thought Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards by Patrick O’Keefe would be of interest to developing domainers. However, this book is not about making …
Domaining “Domaining” means buying and selling domains for profit. It’s only tangentially related to affiliate marketing in some instances, but in other instances it’s extremely pertinent. For example, if I buy a great domain name…
This is My True Story and This is My Domaining Strategy – MUST … There was a time when I was extremely frustrated with my domaining business. I was seeing people sell domains for hundreds of thousands of dollars and yet I had so many domains which no one was willing to pay even registration fee for, …
Selling Domain Names For Profit momscashblog posted 8 min 16 sec ago — A fun way to make money online is buying and selling domain names. Most people think all the good domain names are taken, so “domaining” isn’t such a hot topic as it used to be. But the truth is, …
Domaining 101 – The Very Bare Essentials for Beginners My own personal success, and the success of our company, DnZoom.com by Bido.com, really depends on the changes in the domain industry. Because of those changes, I often come across a lot of questions that seem to get asked time and time …
The sad story Of UK domaining company and what lessons we can learn Back in the day, a UK company based in London, bought, caught, snapped and built a stunning portfolio of generic .co.uk domain names. However, a couple of months ago, domainers began licking their lips as nearly 80 prime LLL.co.uks and …
Learn About Domaining Check out “DomainInsider.info” to start learning about domaining and domain industry.
Sued for using hyperlinked images. G’day, James here, I’ll be filling in for Shane whilst he currently works out some personal issues, I’ll be bringing you the best developing and domainer news around till Shane gets back. My first blog post will report on a very serious …
Available Domains List #64 A fair amount of domains from past lists have been tasted and dropped so if you’re willing to search through them you might be surprised at some of the domains that have become available again. Thanks for visiting and happy domaining. …
Emerging domaining niches… For those of us getting into the game late, “predictive” domaining is one of the most attractive avenues for new domain registration and development. Several of my own registrations include domains that deal with PGD technologies, …
My top 10 list of domaining sites I often like to see lists of domaining sites that others use, so here is a list of domaining sites/tools that I use and why I like them. These are listed in order of sites that I use the… Visit Adamdicker.com to read more of this …
What is Domaining? Domaining is the art/skills of investing in domains where domains act as commodities. To understand what this means we should look at what “Investing” stands for…
SMX Advanced: Good Domaining Tools Domain Tools. Premium Drops. Buy data from url shortening services to see traffic patterns.
So that’s it for now in the blogsphere of today in domaining!
Tags: blog, Domain Names, domainers, Domaining, domains, today in domaining, traffic, web, web design, web design blog
