Getting Started On Making Money On EBay

Before you can start selling on EBay you must know the basic facts about exactly how to make maximum money on EBay. There are some simple things that you should always bear in mind if you want to make real money on EBay. Consider these as your getting started tips. The outlined points below should be always kept in mind:

1.  What Should You Sell?

Don’t ever make the mistake to think that this is an unimportant and irrelevant question. This is the first and foremost question that you should ask yourself before starting out. You should always refrain from the mentality of selling a wide array of randomly selected goods. Say for example you are selling computer motherboards in one listing, makeup kits in another listing, spare parts of cars in another one etc… Got the point right? Most of the people who buy from a seller always check to see his backgrounds, his reputation and sales history and the type of products that particular seller is selling. Are you going to buy IPod from a seller who is also selling woolen garments?! Most likely, No. So the choice of a particular niche is always very important. Choose a niche which interests you or a niche, whose products you can get easily and cheaply so that you can sell them with a good profit. The more specific you are the more credibility and customer you will get.

2.  Market Study

So the question in your mind at this point can be that if a seller has to stick to niche then how can he make use of the opportunity of increased demand of particular products which is often seen in marketplace? Good question. In every niche in a broader sense there is always the scope of finding products which has high demand during some particular time of the year or due to some market trend or news flash. Keeping yourself up to date can be helpful in recognizing market trends. Obviously right at the beginning this expertise is not expected but it will develop with time and experience. You can also consider creating different EBay accounts if you are keen on selling varied products.

3.  The Business Mindset

Any business, offline or online takes time to build-up. It requires patience, nurturing and profit rolling. If you are unsuccessful in your first few listings and lose hope then very soon you have to bid your EBay seller’s dream good bye. So sticking with it is important, learning from mistakes and failures is important. This is the main thing to remember if you want to learn how to make money on EBay.

4.  Legal matters:

You must be aware with all terms and conditions and also the fees and taxes that you have to pay. If you want to build a real business and if you want to learn how to make money on EBay then also device your own terms and conditions, privacy policies and lead times and always stick to it. In this way you will soon earn reputation and integrity among your customers.

Habbo, Habbo Hotel and Online Virtual Worlds

Habbo Hotel

The impact of the internet has extended beyond that of business use into the leisure time of millions of users, perhaps the ultimate expression of this has been the influx of virtual worlds.

What Are Online Virtual Words?
Online virtual worlds are an escape from reality and a place to meet people from around the world who share your interests and to do so safely, one such online virtual world is Habbo Hotel.

What is Habbo Hotel
Habbo is more than a game, strictly speaking it’s not actually a game at all, it is actually an online virtual world. At Habbo Hotel you can be someone else, shed your real world persona and create an individual to your design, and the reality doesn’t end there. Habbo users each get a room which is there starting point in the world, they can invite other users to their room to chat and socialize with everyone in their room. Many habbo users embellish their basic rooms to encourage visitors to hang out with them, Habbo furniture and other Habbo products can be purchased using credits and coins that can be bought with money or won in competitions, even eBay and Amazon are involved with the buying and selling of Habbo based virtual goods so you are not limited to just habbo .

Fun in Habbo
The main activities in online virtual worlds id chatting and trading with other users, with every room representing a chat category there is never a shortage of rooms to visit and chat. Habbo competitions are also popular, involving Habbo related activities like the best room, with prizes like Habbo credits, Habbo coins or furniture they offer free ways to improve your room.

Habbo Finance
Habbo coins and credits can also be used to purchase collectibles, special offer virtual items that are offered as limited editions, and can be sold on – as can all Habbo items to other users, at a profit. The profits that can be made trading within the Habbo virtual world can be extremely lucrative, just like trading in the real world but much more fun. Trading is made more interesting with the fact that there are a number of rare or odd items available to users, some free, others purchased with Habbo credits. There is also a premium service – Habbo Club – that, for a fee, offers access to furniture and accessories available only to members, and premium access to rooms where standard members have to wait in a queue.

Fun and Games
Free games are available to Habbo users which allows a user to compete with one or more others in an attempt to win prizes of virtual items or money and sometimes just for fun. Interest in Habbo is wide from people looking for a social network to those just looking to relax in an online virtual environment, the individuality of Habbo compared to other social networks is represented by the ability to create your own individual room and avatar. teenagers make up the bulk of Habbo users, with over one hundred million users worldwide its probably the largest ever gathering of teenagers ever, even so Habbo is still an expanding world reaching into 30 countries and new countries coming online all the time there will be many more users in the future.

Buying a New Laptop if you are on Tight Budgets

For those of us on a tight budget, purchasing a laptop computer is a difficult task. To begin with there are laptops which use different processors, graphics cards, memory, screen sizes, as well as all of the additional extras available.

To make things even more difficult, there are new models constantly being released on the market. However, some of the newest laptop models are quite expensive, putting them out of reach for many people. Thankfully there are some dirt cheap laptops that are easily good enough for the tasks that laptops are usually used for. A lot of the expense with laptop computers comes with buying the latest graphics card, best processor and extras like fingerprint readers.

When we’re on a budget, a lot of us search for used laptop computers. However, refurbished models are a good alternative for finding a laptop that is like new. The benefit of buying a rufurbished model is that you know that any faulty parts have been replaced. So you are really getting a brand new laptop for a fraction of the original price. The only disadvantage is that you might not be able to find one of the newer models on sale.

No matter what your budget, a good place to begin is by always reading laptop ratings to get an idea of what models and makes are recommended. After finding any laptops that match your requirements, take a look on eBay or Google to locate the cheapest deals.

You will find that gaming laptops are quite difficult to buy as cheap as say student laptops. If you are looking to play all of the latest games though, you will need to balance price with components. For example, a high-quality graphics card is essential for gamers, but will be more costly.

There are plenty of laptop makes out there, so it’s quite simple finding a laptop that has the components that you want, and has a design you like. A lot of the top names like HP will even allow you to customize your new laptop, so you can choose components that you really want and save money on those that you don’t. This also lets you design your laptop according to budget.

The best way to find the laptop that gives you value for money is by researching properly. There are a lot of cheap laptops for sale, so reading reviews and ratings is a good place to start.

What Are The Top Ways To Make Money

Need money for your college education? Or just some extra funds to add to your allowance? You are probably asking, what are the top ways to make money while staying in school at the same time? Here are some answers:

Take up Freelance Writing Jobs
The demand for solid and professionally written articles for online publishing has been on a steady rise since the launch of Google and article marketing. If you take time to search the Internet, you will stumble upon sites that offer a few bucks for a set of articles. The good thing about freelance writing is that you earn according to the amount of effort that you give into it, so that if you turn in assignments quick, you can get more assignments and earn more than the rest. Also, the topics are usually easy and resources abound in the Internet. If you know your way around the world wide web, you will find things to be pretty easy.

Be a Virtual Assistant
The big companies, especially those that market consumer goods, receive a lot of emails from all over the world every day. Ever wonder how they manage their inboxes? Simple: they hire virtual assistants whose job is to open their inboxes, read their emails, and file or sort out the mails according to topic, relevance and urgency. Sounds like a no-brainer? Go for it!

Take Online Surveys
This is where you have to be really careful. While there are legitimate Internet marketing companies that do pay survey respondents, there are others who are only out to pick your brains, get you to give them your personal information, and don’t give you anything in return. If you want to try out earning by taking online surveys, be sure to research on possible websites or marketers that are safe to deal with.

Sell Stuff on Ebay
There are lots of ways to make money on ebay, sell your own stuff or sell other people’s stuff and get commissions out of closed deals. You probably already know how Ebay works. Some of those who have capital to spend find great deals or buy stuff wholesale and resell them on Ebay. Sounds like fun? It sure is.

Do Jury Duty—Virtually
If you think lawyers were born with perfect grandstanding skills, you are totally wrong. They don’t go to court without practicing their spiel. And just how do they do that? They stage mock trials before online jurors, whom they pay an average of $5 to $60 depending on how complicated the case to be heard is.

Be an Online Tutor or Give Webinars
You know things that others don’t. It could be expertise in MS Excel or in World of Warcraft or flower arrangement what have you. But remember that there will always be someone who will be interested to learn whatever you know. Work up a teaching module and explore how you can get people to sign up for an online course. Then follow through with online marketing tools like email blasts or social networking groups.

These are just a few ways to make money, there are literally thousands of variations and methods that you can use.

Acquire Passive Income This Summertime

DISCLAIMER: This posting is based on information widely available publicly online and medical journals that deal with losing weight and/or colons and/or beauty and/or teeth whitening. Nothing herein is intended to be or should be interpreted to be any sort of medical advice. For medical advice the reader should consult with his or her doctor or other medical specialist.

Passive income is a rent taken on a regular basis, with low effort needed to sustain it.

The American Internal Revenue Service categorizes income into three broad types, active (earned) income, passive income, and portfolio income. It specifies passive income as income from “trade or business activities in which you do not materially participate.” Passive income is your key to financial freedom.

Passive income is easy to generate by setting up an eBay shop. Discover how to do so at ebay success for dummies scam.

This May, the 3 Kardashian sisters have declared their recent partnership with a top-tier teeth lightening system. The Kardashian sisters, well famous from their TV show “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” have been hounded with queries about how they keep their teeth so pearly white.

Rather than certifying a third party teeth lightening system, they have resolved to create their own exclusive teeth whitening system. Kim also appears in a video recording promoting the “Kardashian Smile” line. Discover more about this at buy kim kardashian teeth whitening.

Proponents of colon cleaning think that toxins from your GI tract can cause a mixture of health problems, such as arthritis, allergies and asthma. They say that colon cleansing — also called colonic irrigation — removes these toxins, thus advancing good intestinal bacteria, advancing your energy and enhancing your immune system.Colon cleansing can be essential to your extended wellness. Learn more at ultra pure colon cleanse reviews.

Using Free PLR Articles To Create Your Own Product

When it comes to making money online, using Free PLR articles can put you miles ahead of the competition.

But if you’re like most online business owners, creating a complete product line will take hundreds of hours of your time, or thousands of dollars of your money! That’s why I put together this step-by-step plan to show you how to create your own product using Free PLR articles.

Step 1: Decide on Your Topic – Chances are you already have a niche area that you’re focusing on. If not, that’s the place to start. To do this, consider topics that you already have some interest in. Then browse the search engines, forums and even sites such as Clickbank and eBay to see what type of demand there is.

Step 2: Find the Content – I’m a big believer in using Private Label Rights (PLR) content as much as possible. It’s an affordable way to get some really unique content that you can use as your own. There are lots of sources for Free PLR articles so do a bit of research to find a few that will give you a variety of information on the same topic.

Step 3: Decide how you’ll use the content – There are many different types of products that you can create. A good idea is to have several options at different price points so that your customers have a good selection to choose from. This will also encourage them to purchase more than one product! When using PLR content, you can easily take Free PLR articles and combine them to create a special report, ebook or mini-course. For higher end products, record them to create an audio product or have them printed as a physical product.

If you’ve found a great PLR ebook but want to do something different, add additional articles to it, or bundle it with an audio to create a complete product. The key is to be creative and think about what will be of interest to your target audience.

Step 4: Combine content to create a unique product – As was mentioned briefly in step #3, combining Free PLR articles is a great way to create a product that is uniquely yours. Although others have access to the content separately, chances are that how you choose to combine it will be something that only you do. Select related information from several sources to create a comprehensive product.

Step 5: Add some of your own flare – If you’ve combine Free PLR articles from several sources to create your product, it’s not necessary to rewrite everything. But adding your own personal touch is always a great way to engage your customers. This can even be as simple as writing an opening and closing letter that gives your spin on the information presented.

Step 6: Get some feedback on your product – Always have a few people read over your product before you release it to the public. This can be a spouse, friend or colleague although if you choose potential customers you’ll get better feedback. And you may even get a couple of testimonials that you can use in your marketing materials.

Step 7: Put together a sales letter – Some PLR content comes with pre-written sales letters. Since you will have added some additional information you’ll need to modify these materials. Or, sit down and write your own sales letter that highlights all of the benefits of your product.

Repeat these steps for multiple products at different price points and you’ll soon have a complete product line. It doesn’t get any easier than that!

Here is one of the largest selections of high quality PLR content on the web. And best of all, it won’t cost you a dime! Check out this amazing resource for Free PLR Ebooks, Free PLR Video, Free PLR software, Free PLR articles…and much more.

My First Website

Introduction

When I decided I needed a website for my business I had no idea of the planning involved. Like most people, I thought web design meant deciding on the graphics and the look of the pages and then by some magic it would all happen.

I have a friend who is in the business of web design and website development so I approached him for a quote. As a complete novice who is computer literate up to a point, I was amazed at the depth of initial questioning required to find out exactly what my requirements were.

I had no idea about the various aspects and the structure of the site and I found it mind blowing when I learned about the amount of work involved. So I thought other people would be interested to know more about this complicated process and I have asked my friend to supply the technical information for this article.

Stages in the Process

Target Audience

Before building a website there are important questions to consider. I was asked who would be my target audience. Who are my customers likely to be? Would they be children, businesses, home owners, sales people, parents or teenagers and so on?

The objective of the website

Then I was asked, what was the objective of my website?
Did I want to sell services on line or use it to market my business and get more leads for possible customers? Maybe I would want to use it as an online brochure to showcase products. Another possibility was to use the website to foster a community so that I was in contact with other like-minded people, with chat rooms, online discussion and being supported by advertising on the site.

I hadn’t quite realised the scope of a website but as I was asked these questions it became clear that a lot of careful planning went into the preparation before building a website.

How to be Found on the Web

One of the first questions I was asked was, ‘Do you want it to be found by Google the main search engine?’ If I did then there was a whole process of establishing Keywords. So finding the best keywords are vital if you want to be found in Google. Generally most users only look at the first page of results so you will also want to promote your website to get on this page for your chosen keywords. By using a keyword research tool you can find the single most popular keyword for your industry.

Your Domain Name

Choosing a domain name is often quite a challenge because every name you initially come up with will almost certainly have been taken. Domain names ending in .com are by far the most popular and internationally recognised; the snag is that it’s very popularity means that the majority of the shorter names have already been registered.

So looking at names with endings such as .net; .co.uk or .info may be able to provide you with the domain name you would like to have. When choosing your domain name it is very important to include one or more of your keywords if possible as this can apparently help with search engine rankings. So although the name of your business is the obvious choice for a domain name, it is not necessarily the only option.

Creating a Site Map

The importance of creating a site map is to get it clear in your mind of all the pages you will have on your website so you can prepare the content for each page and begin to design the flow through the website, such as when a user adds a product to their basket, then enters their delivery and billing address and makes the credit card payment in the correct order.

The aim is to make the site as simple to use as possible so that there are no barriers to getting into the website. For that reason often user name and passwordz are set for the customer so that they are not put off making a purchase by having to register.

For a non e-commerce site things are simpler with a contact form which allows you to receive enquiries by email without publishing your email address on the website, thus avoiding spam.Web forms can also validate the information before you receive it, so ensuring that the phone number provided does not contain words, and that the email address is in the correct format, for example. These things may sound very technical to us lay-folk but I assure you everything has to be decided in advance before starting on the construction of the site.

Copy

The next stage is preparing the copy. This is not the design of your website – just the words and visuals you want to have one each of the pages.

Having gathered all the above information you will need to decide what imagery you want to use within the website content. As we all know, a picture speaks a thousand words and remains in people’s memory far longer than just words.

For each image you should also have a caption, as the caption of an image is the next ‘most read’ words on the page after the page title. Images and their captions need to be clickable. When you click on a picture it should take you to the next stage of the process such as the sale page or placing an enquiry if your website is for lead generation.

Navigation

Another important aspect when building a website is how you want your navigation to work. You can have links within the content of your website, in the text, so there are not just links from the menu. You will need to decide whether the links will open into a new window, retaining your original page open. Next time you go online, you will realise how much thought has gone into the way in which a website works.

Website Design

Finally we come to the design of your website. I asked my friend in web design Nottingham to comment about this and he says it is one of the most difficult stages of the process because it’s subjective. What one person might like, another person might not like. If you are setting up a website for yourself alone then you will probably have some idea of what you want to see on the site. But if, as so often happens, the website is for a large corporation there will be inputs from many people or departments and you can be sure that they will never all agree!

There are a number of ways to approach website design but ultimately you need to create a design brief for the designer(s) to work from. Look at other websites and your competitor’s websites to find out what you like or dislike. The design brief should give reference to the logo, any existing brand guidelines or schemes and fonts and colour schemes, and should also detail which pages of the website that the designer is being tasked with creating visuals for.

The very best results will be achieved by using a graphic designer, and beware – not all graphic designers are the same. A graphic designer who designs specifically for print is working in a different discipline than a graphic designer who designs for screen and specifically the web. So choose your designer carefully, look at other work that person has done and determine whether or not you like their style.

If you are working in the big time and budget allows, use multiple graphic designers who have all been given the same design brief and request three concept designs from each designer. If the client themselves also do a graphic design, even if it’s a back of the envelope scribble, you will then have 10 concept designs. The next step is to get them all together and select the preferred elements from each design. Then give the work to the preferred graphic designer to work up as the final artwork.

The artwork should be finalised and agreed on by everybody before construction of the site begins.

Production

Finally the preparation has been done and the site is ready to be built. Now for the more technical stuff! You will need to have decided which programming language to use to build the website. There are two main types for developing a website, one is Unix based, and the other is Windows based. Each one has pros and cons. If you are starting from scratch then it probably won’t matter, so you can go with the preference of your professional doing the work. My website is built on the Unix platform (apparently!) which is the same as many of the more well known websites such as Ebay, Facebook, Google and Amazon. Also your website hosting must be compatible with the development language with which your website is built.

Accessibility and Compliance

The website has to meet the current standards for website coding and doing so insures that disabled users, such as the visually impaired, can still access the entire website if they are using a Braille web browser.

Website Development

The best way to develop a website is on the web Server where the site is going to live. This way, those involved in reviewing the work can see work in progress and provide feedback throughout the development.

Unforeseen items

There are always some things that arise in any project which you suddenly realise you have forgotten, so no matter how well the web designer prepares and asks the right questions, there will always be a last minute change or addition. The main aim is to minimise the number of glitches that might arise because they aren’t calculated in and they could cause extra costs and delays on the date of the site going live.

Launching Your New Website

The moment of excitement comes when your site finally gets launched and you see the results of all the thought that has gone into the whole process. When the demolition company site went live it was a relief but I was really pleased with it.

Reporting and Monitoring

Once your website is up and running, you might like to know how many people visit your website and from that number how many actually buy the products or place an enquiry. From these statistics you can work out the ratio of visits to sales and gradually make changes to improve the ratios. There are some reliable statistics packages such as Google Analytics or Web-Stat.com which allow you to collect and review website visitor data in near real time. All you need to do this is to have a small block of code inserted into each web page on your site.

Another useful service that Web-stat.com provides is to monitor the website and warn you by email or text message if the site is not reachable.

Marketing

Once the website is live there are lots of things you can do to market your product or service. The first step is to submit it to the search engines and at the same time write articles, and press releases. Getting links to the site from forums, blogs and other social networking spaces are other options. For more on this subject ask your agency about SEO

Conclusion

Wheww. What an amazing amount of work! I hadn’t realised when I started the process of getting a website up and running, how complicated it all is and how many factors you have to consider before even designing the website. The word web design is really a misnomer, as people often think it’s just about the graphic design on the home page, and the branding of the product. Unless you are a computer buff, most people have no idea how much goes into designing and building a website and the systems that support the work you want it to do. I hope that this article will give readers an understanding and insight into the whole process of website development from start to finish.

 

Finding the Best Nintendo Wii Price Today

Nintendo Wii prices don’t really seem to fluctuate. They change depending on if they are in a bundle package or if they are used. Otherwise expect to pay the full Nintendo Wii price. Great places to find a Wii are your local Best Buy, Target, Walmart and Toys R Us. You can simply call these stores and find out if they have any special such as any coupons towards the purchase or a free game with a Wii purchase. If you do want to purchase in a bundle then look at those prices as well. Buying used will give you many more options.

Finding the best Nintendo Wii price today isn’t as easy as one might think. There are lots of packages you can purchase that includes a set of games, the Wii and a controller that really give you the best deal but may not be what you are looking for. Trying the suspect Wii vendors may come with better warranties, but perhaps the best deal might be from your local craigslist?

When deciding to purchase a Wii one must also figure out whether they will need an extra controller or any particular games. Especially during the holiday season Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Target and even Walmart will have bundle deals with an extra controller and two or three games for a price that doesn’t even sound like the down-payment on a car. Now if you were thinking that you can find a friend who works at one of these stores to buy the game console for you I’m going to disappoint you by telling you that these stores don’t give any discount for the game consoles to their employees. You can tear up that Best Buy application.

The cost of the Wii is $250 plus taxes. Or you can get a bundle that comes with 2 remotes and 3 games for about $550. It really just depends if you are planning on using the games offered in the bundle. Call your local Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, and Circuit City in the mornings to see if they even have the Wii in and to find out the Wii prices. Sometimes they are difficult to locate. The best thing about purchasing the Wii at Best Buy is that they offer a warranty plan on their electronics that extends past the warranty that Nintendo offers.

Now I know that some people find offense to purchasing items online but if you aren’t one of those people then great! You can purchase the Nintendo Wii through any trusted 3rd party seller directly at Amazon or EBay. Sometimes you might even be able to purchase one at less than the original store price. But I would be weary of used consoles. If something does happen then you are out of luck and if it is delivered and it is broken it may be difficult to get a refund from a seller in China. Sometimes you can find the Wii at game stores as well.

If you do want it for less consider signing up for a Best Buy card and getting the discount they offer you once you open the account. This may be the cheapest new route for Wii prices. If you don’t mind a used Wii then go out to the pawn shop or look in the paper. This way you can actually see if the console works before purchasing it. Used systems are also sold at EBgames or Gamestop. Used consoles would also be on craigslist. Wii prices are usually still high because it is a popular console. If you go to the game store you can even sell your old console or games and use it as credit towards the new Nintendo Wii. Good luck in your search for the best Wii price.

Website Generator Software Guide

Website generator software has several built-in functions that help affiliate marketers make the building of sites fast and easy.

First time shoppers of these tools need to know what to look for in these site generators to make the most of their time and money spent using them.

One of the most important features to have is a way to monetize or make money from the sites these generators create.  A web site generator should make it easy to add an affiliate ID to the links that redirect to the affiliate program site or individual merchant product page.  Ads or links to the main affiliate programs such as AdSense, Clickbank, Amazon and eBay should be included in the design or templates.

Website generators should eliminate or minimize the need to tweak any code such as HTML or PHP.  Although it should still allow users who are comfortable with code to add it to the sites they are building. It should have a clean and intuitive user friendly admin panel where data can be entered to configure or modify elements of the site.

A basic set of templates should be supplied for users without web design experience to help them get started quickly.  These templates should allow users to easily modify or customize the appearance so sites can be unique or different from other sites built using the same site generator. On-page SEO factors that help with the ranking of a site in the search engines should be built into the templates supplied.

Developers of web site generator software should also have a support system in the form of a ticketing system or forum set up to take any questions users have, whether to get help using the software or to report technical bugs.  A helpful response should be given back in a timely manner.  For those who need additional help, articles or videos demonstrating how to use the website generator software features should also be made available.

The reason anyone would use site generator software is to save time by avoiding the need to learn how to design or code a site from scratch that will make them money online.  The features and functions discussed should be a basic guide on how to select the right website generator tool.

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The Process of Website Design

Introduction

The term ‘Web Design’ creates a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. The word design suggests graphics and layout so many people think that’s what designing a website is all about. Most people think that website design is very simple, all you need to do is install the company logo, add the relevant wording, decide on the arrangement of the pages and that’s it.

Well I am about to shock you by outlining the many complicated processes involved in web design. Think of it this way; when an architect designs a house all we see is the way he lays out the rooms, how the available space is arranged. We normally do not concern ourselves with the amount of technical detail that goes into the design. The architect has to work out the stresses on the walls and the weight of the roof. If there are fireplaces he has to know about draughts and the shape of chimney for it to do the job. He has to plan heating systems, plumbing systems, drainage and sewage, what type of windows to use, door fittings and many other details so that when it’s finally complete the overall effect is pleasing and suitable for the purpose intended. Web design is similar. A customer may have an idea of the layout of the website but will need the services of the Web Designer to make it all happen.

Stages in the Process

There are many items to be decided on before even starting to build a website. Some of the important questions to consider are:

 

Who will be the target audience?

What is to be the purpose of the website?

Do you want it to be found by the search engines?

What is the domain name for the site?

What links need to be in place?

What type of graphics do you want to use?

Do you want to include photographs?

Do you want a system of monitoring visitors to the website?

 

Once the webmaster has the answers to these questions then she can start the process of designing the site to give you what you want.

Target Audience

What sort of people are going to use the new website? Are your customers likely to be businesses, sales people, home owners, parents, teenagers or children and so on?

Objectives of the Website

Is the website to be used to sell products on line, or to market your business to get leads for new customers? Maybe you wanted it to be an online brochure to showcase your products. Balloons for trade have a website for resellers only so that they can look up the products before placing an order. Because there is no selling on line there are no contact details on the site. You may want to use the website to foster a community to be in contact with other likeminded people. You would need a design that incorporates a chat rooms and online discussions.

Being found on the Web

One of the first things to consider in website development is how you want your website to be found on the internet. This involves a whole process of establishing keywords for your products or services. The first step is a search of key words in the industry. Finding the best keywords is vital if you want to be in the top ten listed in Google. By using a keyword research tool you can find the single most popular keyword; the one everyone puts in. For example people looking for a vacuum cleaner might type in Hoover although this is in fact a brand name.

Domain Names

Domain names can be the hardest part of setting up your website, because nearly every name you come up with will most certainly have been taken already. By far the most popular are domain names ending in .com as they are internationally recognised. For that reason alone the majority of shorter names will already have been registered.
Choosing names with endings such as .net; .co.uk .org .info may provide you with the domain name of your preference. When choosing your domain name it is a good idea to include one or more of your keywords. Although the name of your business may be the obvious choice for a Domain Name, it is not necessarily the only option.

So as you can see choosing domain names and keywords right at the beginning of the process will determine how the site is constructed so that it is suitable for the purpose required.

A brand new domain name space has just been created.

Companies can now apply for their name in this brand new .tel name space and it is intended to replace the telephone directory. When the domain name is viewed in your web browser it will provide the companies details and telephone number.

Creating a Site Map

It is very important to have a site map to outline the pages on your website, e-commerce website or forum space. It shows the design and flow through the website so that when selling on line, items work in order such as; adding product to basket, entering delivery and billing address and on to making credit card payment. The site map helps to identify how user friendly the website is so that there are no difficulties in getting onto the site. Often the user name and password are set for the customer so there is no hindrance to achieving the initial sale.

Non e-commerce sites are easier because it is possible to receive enquiries by email, without publishing the email address on the website. By using a contact form you will avoid junk mail and also validate the information before you receive it. The aim is to create a balance between discouraging junk mail, and making it easy for the enquirer to use the site.

Links

An important consideration when designing a website are links. These can be links to other pages of content within your website, and links within the content of your website in the text, as well as links from the menu. Consideration has to be given to whether the links will open in a new window so you still have your original page open or will the new window replace the previous one.

The Copy

The copy is the words and visuals you want on your website. Having made decisions about the target market and relevant links, along with the keywords and using the site map information, the next step is to decide what imagery you want displayed. A picture speaks a thousand words and remains in people’s memory far longer than just words. So images are important to reach your audience. Each image needs a caption which is the ‘most read’ words on the page after the title. The caption of an image need to be clickable so that when you click on a picture it takes you to the next stage of the sales process.

Design

The final design of the website is often the most difficult stage of the process because it’s subjective. In a large corporation, many people from various departments will have an input for their division. Everyone has their own ideas of what they think the site should look like and trying to gain a consensus can be a nightmare because nobody will ever agree.

If you are setting up a ecommerce web design project for yourself alone then you will probably have some idea of what you want to see on the site. But even then unless your ideas are workable in the medium, you may have difficulty getting something you like. Firstly to achieve a great design it is recommended you review other websites and find out what you like or dislike about them. Look at competitor’s websites to make sure your design will be an improvement on what is already in the market place.

Once you have done that you will need to create a design brief. The design brief should have a reference to the logo and any existing brand guidelines, colour schemes and fonts adding in any other relevant information.

Having done a design brief look for an experienced graphic designer. Choose your designer carefully, finding one who designs specifically for screen and the web to achieve the very best results. Beware of choosing a graphic designer who designs for different discipline such as print as they are very different processes. Look at other works the designer has done and decide whether or not you like their style.

Using several graphic designers is the best option if you are working in the big time and budget allows. Give each designer the same brief and request three concept designs from each one. The client might also do a design, even if it’s a scribble on the back of an envelope, there will then be ten concept designs. Get everyone together and choose the preferred elements from each design. Once the items you want are selected choose one graphic designer to do the final artwork.

All parties need to agree on the final artwork before construction of the site begins. Consideration should be give to the fonts used for the titles and buttons etc. Fonts have to be licensed so if the designer has not supplied something then the developer will need a copy of the fonts to achieve the task. Professional graphic designers will usually provide the artworks in a layered Photoshop file so if titles are not going to be in plain text get the designer to also supply the fonts.

Production

At last all the preparation has been done and the site is ready to go into production. This is where it gets technical! You may not want to go into the detail in which case leave it to your Web Master to choose for you. There have to be decisions about what language to use, either Unix or Windows based, to build the website. Each have advantages and disadvantages with multiple variants but sites such as Ebay, Facebook, Google as well as other well known websites are built on Unix. Your website has to be built with the development language of your web host provider so that they are compatible.

Accessiblity and Compliance

These are current standards for website coding to insure that disabled users, such as the visually impaired, can still access all sections of the website.

Development

Development of the website is best done on the web server where the site will reside. Those involved in reviewing the work can then monitor work in progress and provide feedback throughout the development.

Unforeseen Items

As the site building progresses the customer suddenly thinks of something they must have. No matter how well the web master prepares and asks the client the right questions, there are always some last minute adjustments to the programme. The main aim is to minimise last minute additions because they aren’t calculated in and will generate extra costs and cause delays to the date of the website going live.

Going live

At last your site is up and running and you see the results of all the preparation that has gone into the whole process. There is no substitute for real world testing so as soon as the site is live ask your friends and colleagues to view the website from their own computers and give feedback.

Marketing

Once the site is up and running it’s time to turn your attention to promoting your products by submitting the site to the search engines, writing articles, and press releases and generating links from forums, blogs and other social networking spaces.

Reporting and Monitoring

The value of monitoring and reporting on your web design project regularly is not to be overlooked. Use a reliable statistics package such as Google Analytics or Web-Stat.com to collect and review website visitor data. All you will need is a small block of code inserted into each web page on your site to collect visitor information to help you assess the success of your products in near real time. Web-stat.com also monitors the website and alerts you by email and text message if the site goes down.

Conclusion

The title ‘Web Design’ is a bit misleading in that people often assume it means the graphic design on the home page and the branding of the product. Unless you are a computer expert, most people do not realise the amount of work that goes into designing and building of a website. Clients are not aware of the amount of complicated technical work necessary to build the systems that support what they want the website to do. In such a complex process anything that gets tacked on at the end will end up incurring more cost to your budget.

The degree of initial questioning is an indicator of how competent your Web Master will be. Every aspect of the construction has to be decided upon before you even start the design. These things may sound very technical to us non techies but it is essential for the Web Master to find out exactly what is required so that everything can be costed accurately and built into the design from the beginning.

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