Featured Links

Other Topics
Sponsored Links







Quote of the Day

"I don't have a bank account because I don't know my mother's maiden name."

Paula Poundstone





Click here for eBay Motors!


 






 
Featured Business Articles

3 Simple Ways to Start Your Home Based Internet Business Right Now
So, you've finally decided to take that giant leap of faith and start your very own home based internet business. You've decidedthat it's finally time to step up to the plate and claim your shareof all those internet riches you keep hearing about. Only ...

Best Work at Home Business
Many people have tried or are currently trying to make money online today. Only a small percentage of these people though have actually gone on to make money. The reason for that many failures is that people simply just do not know how to create a home ...

Business Networking puts More Money in Your Pocket
Business networking puts more money in your pocket by helping you overcome the number one biggest problem facing new business owners. Prospecting for new customers. Business networking events can go a long way towards making the whole prospecting problem ...




Planning a website to market your home based business part2
 
Hello again!!
In part1 of this article I covered defining the purpose of your website and planning it on paper.

In this second part I will cover designing the page elements of your site. The look and feel of a site is very important, and it must convey what your site is about.

A site for an artist would be a lot different in style to a site selling electrical goods.

Having planned your site already on paper you know where you want the page elements to go, but now you must give some thought to their design.
What will they look like? Do you want a simple background to your page or do you want something a bit different?

One of the most important things to consider is the download time of a page. Most people won't want to hang around while complicated large graphics slow down the time it takes for them to view your site.

Keep the background simple. White of a very pale colour with dark text is best. If you do want an image don't go for anything complex or large. Make the image file size as small as possible and make it very pale so that you can easily read the type over the top. Don't make the background image fight against the text!!

Typeface
Only use one typeface in your website. Just decide on a typeface and stick to it.

Text
Just use a normal size type for the main text on your page. The page heading should be a larger size and maybe in bold as well.
Use a dark text on a light coloured background. Reading text on a computer screen is always harder on the eyes. Most people wouldn't appreciate red text on a green background!! They would probably leave your page very quickly.

Break the page up with lots of headings and small clumps of text. People read differently on a computer screen in comparison to reading a book or a paper. They tend to scan a page looking for interesting bits of information that stand out.

If you want to highlight any words that are very important either use bold or a second colour. Don't underline text as it will look like a link.

Navigation
The main navigation bar is usually on the left of the page or under the header.

Make the main navigation bar consistent throughout the site and give it plenty of space so that it's easily seen.

Don't use large graphics for navigation buttons as it makes the page slow to download.
Rollover buttons can look good but make sure that the graphics are optimised first so that they are as small as possible.

Debabblizer is great for optimising images and supports many different file types.
http://www.equilibrium.com/Internet/Equil/Products/DeBabelizer/index.htm

If you don't know how to create rollover buttons they are very simple and just require two small images both of which are the same size.
Make sure that both graphics are in the same directory and name them image1.gif and image2.gif

Here is a tutorial that you may find useful, it shows you how to build rollover buttons using javascript. You don't need any knowledge of programing. http://www.p5interactive.com/home2/rolltut/roloverl.html

A good graphics program which is inexpensive and capable of doing lots of things with graphics is Paint Shop Pro.
Download it from here at just $99 and get $75 free software
http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN.Entry17c?CID=86740&SID=5152&SP=10007&PN=5&PID=534751&DSP=&CUR=840&PGRP=0&CACHE_ID=86740
You can create images using it's advanced drawing tools or import your own.

Also if you use graphics make sure that you use alt tags with descriptions. this is a good idea as if the buttons take a few seconds to download the alt tag will appear first. It's also good for the visually impaired.

If you use plain text links in your navigation bar instead of just giving the page name e.g. "blue widgets", make it more interesting encouraging visitors to click on the link. e.g. "For an outstanding, hard wearing blue widget click here"

Logo
Design a logo for your site. This will appear at the top of every page in your site. Keep it simple and make sure that the image doesn't take more than a couple of seconds to download. Design it on paper first and then create it using a graphics program.

Building a website isn't difficult. Knowing what your site is about, carefull planning,(maybe some basic knowledge of HTML) and some software is really all you need.
There are also many tutorials and articles on the internet which can help.

About the Author
Kathy has her own mlm online business which you can visit at http://www.healthandbeautytowealth.co.uk
She has written several other articles which you can find at http://www.healthandbeautytowealth.co.uk/articles/articles.html


Google


Business News

Warning: Call-time pass-by-reference has been deprecated - argument passed by value; If you would like to pass it by reference, modify the declaration of xml_set_object(). If you would like to enable call-time pass-by-reference, you can set allow_call_time_pass_reference to true in your INI file. However, future versions may not support this any longer. in /mnt/web7/31/89/51742389/htdocs/business/rss1.php on line 36


Quantum Named a 2009 Best Channel Vendor by Business Solutions ...
CNNMoney.com - 6 hours ago
(NYSE: QTM), the leading global specialist in backup, recovery and archive, today announced it has been selected by Business Solutions magazine as one of ...
Xiotech Named a 'Best Channel Vendor' by Business Solutions Magazine PR Newswire (press release)
A2iA Voted a Best Channel Vendor for 2009, Excelling in the ... Reuters
Datalogic Mobile Named Best Channel Vendor Retail Solutions Online (press release)
Business Wire (press release) - PresseBox (Pressemitteilung) (Abonnement)
all 56 news articles

Better Business Bureau unveils grading system
Bizjournals.com, NC - 1 hour ago
The Better Business Bureau of Columbus is turning to a more detailed rating system for area businesses so consumers can look even deeper before they leap. ...
Better Business Bureau now assigns grades to companies Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Better Business Bureau shifts to letter-grade ratings Louisville Courier-Journal
Check to see whether a local business is reliable Tampa Bay's 10
Appleton Post Crescent - Bizjournals.com
all 24 news articles

Seattle Times

Microsoft names Muglia president of server business
Reuters - 19 hours ago
O) said on Monday it has promoted longtime executive Bob Muglia to president of the company's server and tools business. Muglia's new title makes him one of ...
Microsoft promotes Bob Muglia to president of Server and Tools ... Seattle Times
Bob Muglia moves up in the Microsoft world VNUNet.com
Microsoft's Muglia Makes Comeback Wall Street Journal
Microsoft Watch - Seattle Post Intelligencer
all 51 news articles

Gauging Small Business Owners' Confidence
BusinessWeek - 3 hours ago
By Karen E. Klein Even as retailers suffered and the stock market closed out one of its worst years, the December Discover Small Business Watch showed a ...
Save your business in tough economy Laconia Citizen
Staples Small Business Survey Reveals People Have Become ‘Mouse ... WELT ONLINE
Small-Business Owners Cut Spending, Jobs as Revenues Fall Gallup.com
Frantrends Magazine - CanadaOne
all 11 news articles

Mass. business confidence sinks to 17-year low
Bizjournals.com, NC - 4 hours ago
Massachusetts business confidence plunged in 2008 to its lowest level since it has been tracked, according to a recent report. The Associated Industries of ...
Local business confidence index plummets Boston Globe
New Low For State Business Confidence Worcester Business Journal
all 6 news articles