Custom web site design directory: WebmastersLookup

Developing Your Audience with a Content Management System

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:30:58 +0100

By: Rob Rose

The potential of the Internet as a constructive force (and even as a disruptive one, if you consider how it has fundamentally altered interpersonal and organizational communication) has been proven without doubt today. Traditional hindrances such as distance and geographical proximity have been shattered, as the Web has given all businesses a level playing field, irrespective of their size. However, the same level of flexibility that has made the Internet so powerful brings with it a host of challenges.

With the Internet representing an ocean of information, your company’s Web site has to be positioned in such a way that it stands out. In a world where information needs change rapidly, Web sites need to be constantly updated with fresh content. Users and even search engines such as Google seldom visit Web sites that have stale content. In such an environment, developing an online audience that looks forward to your Web site is a daunting task.

This white paper describes some tactics you could use to develop your online audience, the challenges involved, and how a CMS can facilitate your organization’s ascendancy in the online space.

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What does a front-end web developer do?

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:49:13 +0100

An overview of all the things involved in the job of a "Front End Developer" (Interaction Designer). Created for an internal awareness program to explain what each section of the company does. (published at onlinetools.org)

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Content rich website is not enough

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 12:56:17 +0100

by: Badlu Dass

Although designing a website for the colorblind will not limit your color palette, you’ll need to be wary of the color combinations that you use. Make sure you are well aware of these plans before designing or optimizing your website. , how to minimize issues during check-out, designing the website for instant product reviews and actual delivery time, and scheduling fast delivery of orders and pick-up of returns?

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Design Choices Can Cripple a Website

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:19:11 +0100

by: Nick Usborne

”...just pause for a moment and think of all the design choices you have made over the last year, and the reasons why you made them. And think about the huge impact those choices might have had on the performance of the sites you worked on.”

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Annoying Website Design

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:24:03 +0100

By: Warren Baker, Internet business consultant.
Have you ever considered that your website may be annoying? When it’s comes to website design, knowing what visitors hate most is a must, unless you don’t want them to visit you again. This article describes what you should exclude from your website. If you know about an annoying website, feel free to send this article to its webmaster.

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Is Your Site Ready for the Average User?

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:59:43 +0100

by: Christopher Heng, thesitewizard.com

If you have been using computers and surfing the Internet for some time, as is likely the case since you're visiting a site for webmasters, you would probably have acquired a large number of skills that enable you to find things on the Internet, navigate a site, deal with the annoyances that some sites pose, and the like. The problem with such proficiency is that it is easy to lose touch with how a large portion of Internet users actually operate on the Web, and thus design a site that does not take advantage of the special needs of these "average users".

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How to Use Images on Your Website

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:31:24 +0100

By: www.webdesignexperts.net.au
A professional looking website uses images to raise the interest of its visitors. Learn how to make your website attractive and keep visitors interested using images.

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Designing for accessibility

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:45:22 +0100

By: onlinetools.org

Why accessibility? What does it mean?
Making web sites accessible means opening them for a wider audience than people with vision and the ability to use the internet with a mouse and a keyboard. This is a natural process in every media, books became printed in large print and braille, TV became captioned. As of start of this year in the US and in the UK it is necessary by law for certain web sites to be accessible.

Accessibility does not mean the end of web design and web development as we know it. It simply means the end of immature use of a new technology. When the web was new, everything that was different was a great success. Rollovers, status bar scrollers, dragable or moving elements, zooming and animation were used widely and, almost most of the time, unnecessarily. These gimmicks are cool, when you see them for the first time, but they don´t add any extra value to the web site. They are products of the design playground, touching the edge of what is possible. These times are over, we should grow up as designers and developers and think "What does make sense" rather than "What can be done"

Building accessible software or web sites generally means one thing: Making allowances for characteristics a person cannot readily change.

- If I am blind, I cannot become sighted just because your web site looks great and relies on graphical elements for navigation.
- If I am colour blind I might not be able to use the navigation, because it uses two colours that look the same to me for text and background.
- If I have bad eyesight I cannot focus on small buttons and miniscule pixel fonts to navigate around the page.
- If I am physically unable to use a mouse to navigate through a DHTML dropdown navigation, I cannot do so just to justfy the idea that those save time.

All these above problems have to be tackled by an accessible web site. That is the bad news. The good news is, that not much changes for designers.

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7 Tips To Make Your Website Super Accessible

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:33:19 +0100

By: Maneet Puri
Accessibility is a crucial factor in website designing. Investing thoughts and elements on how the website looks is all well but what is more important is how accessible the it is to visitors and prospective customers.

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Add unique content

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:50:23 +0200

By: Netlink.co.in

It is said that the content is king. A quality website design company knows this well. This is quite true since content is what coveys information and services. If the information that you furnish on the Internet is similar to content on ten other websites then what sense does it make to have ten similar websites conveying the same information. This is an important aspect to keep in mind during web development process.

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Why the .com is Still in Command

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:01:56 +0200

By Stephanie Nichols, Customer Service Specialist

Established in January of 1985, the .com is one of the five original generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs). It has become the most recognizable Top-Level Domain (TLD) available and investors continue to utilize its popularity for profit. In fact, according to VeriSign’s Domain Report in Sept, new registrations for .com alongside .net domains continue to grow by 20% percent year over year, with the .com remaining on top with more new registrations than any extension. Even with the introduction of new and targeted domain extensions, such as the most recent .mobi and .me domains, the .com still remains the top dog of TLDs.

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How to Troubleshoot Dropped Search Engine Rankings

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:23:18 +0200

By: Ross Dunn

Are you baffled about a recent drop in your search engine rankings? Do you know where to start and get a handle on what the problem might be and how to remedy it? One option to consider is using search engine forums as a resource. They are full of questions from people who have experienced similar situations and are great resources for an answer or two. But let’s say you really want to get to the bottom of the problem and you want to do it yourself. The following are some of the beginning steps StepForth takes when evaluating dropped rankings.

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Your Website from the Ground Up in 10 Steps

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:13:16 +0200

By: Scott Van Achte

So, you have finally decided to build yourself a website, but really have no idea where to start. The following 10 steps will give you some insight into what you need to address when creating a search friendly website from the ground up.

While this article is not an exhaustive list of everything you need to know, it does touch base on many of the important aspects of creating a new website.

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Mistakes To Avoid When Using Web Templates

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:59:23 +0200

by: Bo Sandkvist
Website templates are very affordable and they save you a lot of effort and time when you want to create a new layout for your website. However, a lot of people make mistakes in the process of choosing and using a web template and end up with something that was unlike the image they had in mind. Here are some guidelines to help you avoid those mistakes.

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80% of your Web site is Maintenance!

nospam@example.com (Hoogenraad) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:22:21 +0200

By: Judy Cullins

Once your Web site is up, you must maintain it. That means changes, and each time you make a change, you may make a mistake. I'm really grateful when people point out my Web glitches by emailing me, and these encourage me to be more proactive by checking my site each week.
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