Do You Want To Save Time With Your Web Design?

It starts off simply; a few HTML pages, a few hyperlinks, some affiliate links. Your mother is proud of her clever son. Then you install a forum, some more content, maybe consider using a Content Management System (CMS).

Before you know it, you have a monster on your hands. This monster is eating up your time and energy and money.

Here are a few tricks I've learned to save you time and money with your web design.

1. Avoid Windows servers, if you can.

I'll admit I've never used one. I've had too much trouble with Windows on the PC, to risk it on my web site. Most geeks favour Unix. It's been around longer, and is more stable. Web hosts offering Unix variants like Linux have always been cheaper. They also seem to offer a wider range of toys. I need SSI (Server Side Includes), SSH (secure Telnet), 10 MySQL databases, Cpanel, PHPMyAdmin and a UK IP number. And you can get this for $15 a month.

If you're in business for yourself, consider Unix/Linux. If you want to be a full-time employee, consider Windows/Microsoft. Many businesses use it, as it's compatible with their office software, they like that a major company supports it, and they distrust something that's free.

2. Server Side Includes are the poor man's CMS.

Each web page can be 'stitched' together using Server Side Includes (SSI). You can 'call' a header and footer HTML file, using SSI, in each web page. That way, you can make site-wide changes in an instant. For example, you can add Google Adsense to the top or bottom of your site immediately.

Dreamweaver (http://www.macromedia.com) can display SSI pages correctly. This is another reason, one of many, for its popularity as a HTML editor.

3. Which CMS to use?

A Content Management System is very handy if you have a community-based website, or want to let others add content to your site. It must have a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) add-on. This means a novice can type in formatted HTML the same way he could a formatted Word document. He presses on-screen buttons to bold or underline words, and make hyperlinks.

Another keyword to look out for is HTMLArea. This means someone has made an addon to cause all 'textarea' form boxes to have word-processor-style buttons above them. This allows someone who doesn't know HTML to add it to your CMS. Saves YOU having to do it, and that is good [grin].

Many are free. I can't really recommend one at the moment, except perhaps Mambo (http://www.mamboserver.com). I've tried quite a few others, especially PHPNuke.

A CMS allows you to set up a website with professional features in a day. The downside is you can spend weeks customising it. You may find, as I did with PHPNuke, that it's unsecure, that it can behave eccentrically, and that essential third-party addons may not work properly.

A CMS is for geeks with time on their hands. I would dearly love to be able to point to one and say to the small businessman "Put your trust in this". I can't yet.

4. Put keywords in the HTML.

Fairly obvious, but webmasters don't go far enough. *Any* image name, ALT tag, form field, bolded word or hyperlink can have a keyword in it. So why not do it?

This is where someone who tweaks his HTML code by hand gains a great advantage. Newlines and double blank spaces are redundant in HTML. A large document can have thousands of these. They obfuscate your Search Engine Optimsation (SEO) efforts.

Use a text editor that can strip them out, like Editpad (http://www.editpadpro.com), or a HTML optimiser. Broken lines are not ideal either. Dreamweaver can 'break' a tag or keyword at an inappropriate place. Why make it hard for a search engine to promote your page? Strip out the junk, and put in the keywords.

5. Put at least 500 words of paragraphed text in.

If your web pages have the same header, footer, left side-bar, right side-bar, and only a small bit of text in the middle, you may suffer a duplicate content penalty. This means a search engine deems your site has duplicate pages. It considers it an attempt to spam its database, and so shoves it way down its Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS).

If you can't write your own articles, get someone to do it for you at a freelance site like ScriptLance (http://www.scriptlance.com). You can get free articles at sites like EzineArticles (http://www.ezinearticles.com).

6. Offer people what THEY want, not what YOU think they should have.

This is most important. Before making a site, go for a walk in town. Sit down on a park bench, and try to figure out what people really want; not need, WANT. Then figure out how you can get in on that business with your site.

People want sex, drugs, gambling, money, a house, a car, good food, nice clothes, self esteem. The first three are disreputable. Promote them, and get cut off from sections of society.

It makes me laugh when I see pornographers saying 'it's just a business, I'm not doing any harm'. They're making money *because* their subject matter is taboo. Most people don't want to be associated with pornography or pornographers. Likewise, a bar owner isn't welcome everywhere, and casino bosses rub shoulders with the underworld.

If you ever want to be on the school board, or run for local office, keep away from dubious content.

Look at what people really want, AND which will make your family proud, and then proceed with gusto.

About the author: T. O' Donnell (http://www.tigertom.com) is an ecommerce consultant in London, UK. His latest projects are a mortgage calculator and ebook, available at http://www.tigertom.com/mortgages-uk.shtml

---

Understand Your Color

Any design on a web application involves the effective input... Read More

Why Use Professional Web Site Designers For Your Next Web Development Project?

Probably you know someone who has created a web site... Read More

12 Essential Web Site Design Tips

1. What's the purpose?The most fundamental thing to do before... Read More

Website Design: Color Me Blue

Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him... Read More

Making Good Websites that Stand Out

Websites, there's literally billions of them out there in cyber-space.... Read More

The Contrast And Similarities Between A Web Designer And Web Programmer

The concept of web designing based on the nature and... Read More

How Do You Make A Website?

No, that's not the real question. The real question is... Read More

How to Make a Website (Minus the Headaches)

There is nothing wrong with making your own website if... Read More

10 Nifty Ways to Prolong Your Visitors at Your Website

Increasing the length of time a visitor is on your... Read More

A Web Site That Sells Is All One Needs To Have A Successful Online Business!

There are more than billions of Web Sites, running Online... Read More

Your Free Guide To Obtain A Cheap Web Design Quote

Website design is a very competitive area and there is... Read More

Alternative to Web Site Templates and Design Software

Before I discovered the concept of Web site templates, I... Read More

Building Your Website to Save You Money

Does your website make you any money? Does it SAVE... Read More

10 Ways Web Site Text Can Impact Your Readers Buying Decision

10 Ways Web Site Text Can Impact Your Reader's Buying... Read More

Increase Your Website Sales Instantly

If there's one thing that I've learnt so far, it's... Read More

Top Six Ways To Make Your Visitors To Hate YOU!

We will take a look at why your visitors may... Read More

Selling Multiple Products? Avoid These Top Blunders

When your web site sells more than a dozen items,... Read More

Content - the Key to Long Term Success

Every day internet marketers are inundated with the latest fad... Read More

A Landing Page is Not an Order Page (and why it matters)

To explain my point I need to first confuse the... Read More

The Secret To A Profitable Website

Whether you are planning on having a website built for... Read More

What Drives Repeat Visitors To Your Site?

There can be zillions of reasons why your visitors return... Read More

Build Web Pages from the Top Left Corner Down

There are two important reasons to build your website from... Read More

Speed Up Or Lose Out! How To Improve Your Websites Download Speed

So your web site's online and you've got high rankings... Read More

Immutable Laws Of Effective Navigation - Part 1

The first immutable law of effective navigation: It's gotta be... Read More

What Content to Publish on Your Website

Many businesses want a simple website where they tell people... Read More

404 Error - The Page Cannot be Found

A "404 Error" happens when the web server you are... Read More

Text Is King!

Are you building your website? If so, STOP! Take a... Read More

5 Instant Tips for More Online Sales

Even after you've managed to bring traffic to your site... Read More

Why Dot-Coms Fail - a Webmasters Perspective

Everyday we hear that another company goes out of business.When... Read More

So You?re Hiring a Web Designer?You Have the Right to Demand these 7 Perks

Whether you're hiring a designer who has created 10 sites... Read More

Is Your Website?s Copy Up to the Mark?

The Internet is a relatively new medium. What works for... Read More

How to Make Your Site Attractive to Potential Link Partners

Every now and then, I receive a link exchange request... Read More

Use Feng Shui Techniques To Design a Harmonic Website For Your Business

By following feng shui guidelines and techniques, you can build... Read More