For those who are new to creating websites, the task may seem huge and complicated. However, even the more experienced website owners know that a successful website requires large amounts of effort. Fortunately, there are some tips that can easily be remembered to get started on the right foot.
There are four things to keep in mind when starting a website. These considerations will help a website owner plan carefully and execute such a plan accordingly. Before anything else, the owner should define the site's purpose, content, usability and design. When one of these things are overlooked, the website may not be able to realize its goals or even maximize its potential.
Defining the Purpose
When starting a new website, the very first thing any site owner should do is to clearly define its purpose. First, one has to decide the type of website. Is it a personal or business site? The next thing one must do is to list realistic, achievable goals like introducing a product or service, creating leads or closing sales. A well-defined purpose and set of goals will make the task of creating relevant content easier and more efficient.
Creating Content
Content creation may be the most critical of all all processes involved in creating a website. This is because both written and visual content are the ones that do the work of converting a visitor into a customer or client. Written and visual content should be appealing at first sight. It is widely known that any content only has ten seconds to impress and gain the attention of any website visitor. Those critical ten seconds can make or break a website. The home page is never the place for lengthy introductions about the company, nor is it the page in which all products should be presented. Also, it is wise to consider Search Engine Optimization during the content creation process in order to gain targeted traffic from search engines. Relevant keywords and phrases should be included in the content in order for the pages to rank well in search results. This is especially important for internet marketing.
Usability
There are three key elements to consider for webpage usability - ease of use, website speed and user interaction. It is said that a website should be uniquely well-designed and eye-catching. However, this does not mean that it has to be complicated. The entire website should easily be navigable through the use of clearly labeled menus and sitemap. If visitors could not get from one page to the next without being confused and rattled, they will leave, and with them leaves potential profit.
Page loading time is also important, as users have very little patience with slow-loading websites. The content, images and scripts should be able to load in only a few seconds. This is why images and scripts should be optimized properly, or else, they will take up a lot of time which will turn off visitors.
Design
A successful website is aesthetically pleasing. It should look presentable and professional, without sacrificing ease of use and page loading time. If a website looks as if it has been created by a student for a school project, visitors will lose faith in the website. A website should always be cleanly presented, and, when applicable, use current design trends. Investing on the services of a professional web designer is highly recommended. The website owner and the designer should work together in order for the designer to translate the website's theme and purpose into a beautiful, functional and usable design.
For site owners who like doing things by themselves, there are certain things to remember when creating a DIY website design melbourne.
- Keep the pages clean. As much as possible, avoid visual noise.
- Text should be in dark colors on a light background. The reverse (light text against a dark background) is very hard on the eyes and may cause eye strain after long periods of reading.
- White space is important for ease of reading.
- Use a maximum of two colors, one for text and one for background. Too many colors in one page screams "unprofessional."
Once these four aspects are clearly defined, the next thing to do is execute the plan. The owner should decide whether to hire a freelance writer or a company to provide content. Another is to decide between hiring a website designer or doing the web design by oneself. Budgeting also comes at this juncture.
To some, a bad website is better than no website at all. They could not be more wrong. Poorly written content and badly designed website will surely turn off potential clients. It is always wise to invest time and money for proper planning, creating, launching and small business online marketing. A great online presence is a bold website that catches the eye of the passing visitor, exudes professionalism, commands authority and persuades this visitor into becoming a client.
This is how a website can ensure success.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
What is 'CMS' and What is the Best CMS Available?
Throughout my years as a graphic designer for both print and web mediums, I have been asked many times what a CMS is, and what my opinion on the best CMS is. One of these questions has a definite answer and clearly defined benefits. One is rather open to personal preferences and desires, but both are questions that should be answered before anyone in today's data age purchases a website.
Simply put, a CMS is a Content Management System used in reference to websites that allow the user to edit the site content without the need for programming knowledge or dedicated software. The degree to which the content can be edited varies widely and a great deal of companies out there exist with their own Content Management Systems, offering different levels of customisation. This is a highly desirable alternative to the traditional system of having a website built for you by a web designer, then paying them exorbitant amounts of money each time you want to change an image, update your prices or add some news.
The benefits of having a CMS are plentiful and can help you achieve more with your website than you may originally have planned. Not only is it a cost effective means of keeping your site up-to-date, but it actually helps to improve your search engine rankings and user experience as well. If your site hasn't been updated for a few years and the content is old and irrelevant, search engines like Google will pick up on this and your page will rank lower and be harder to find. Users also want to know that your content is current and any information on your products, pricing, contact details or offers is still applicable.
There are a few things you should find out when seeking the right CMS for you and your business. Everybody has different needs and expectations when it comes to websites so the perfect CMS for one company may not be as great a fit for the next. These questions should help you work out which web design agency and which CMS is most suitable for your needs.
What are the capabilities of the CMS and how much am I really able to edit?
This is actually far more important than most people realize. Most people are aware of how important a CMS is to the success of a website, but this is usually as far as the knowledge goes. What many people don't realize is that not all Content Management Systems are the same, and the amount of customisation varies hugely from system to system. What might seem common sense to include as a standard editable feature to the client may actually attract additional fees, so it is always important to find out exactly how much can be edited within your site. Can you add pages? Can you edit and change the menu? Can you change the footer? Can you set the link name and title of each page? Can you edit the design? Is there an editable master page which determines the layout and design of every page? Can you add extra URLs to your site? Do you need to know any programming to make major changes to the site? If you do know some HTML or CSS, can this be added to site? The more you have control over the better, because everything else that you don't have control over will more than likely attract high fees if you ever decide to change them.
What CMS is being used, or is it a proprietary system?
This may or may not be important to your business, but it can be good to know. There are a number of open source Content Management Systems available that many web design agencies use, such as WordPress and Joomla as well as closed proprietary systems developed specifically for some web design agencies, their partners and their resellers. With a well known open source CMS, in most cases you will be able to host your website wherever you like and should you decide to switch hosting providers, you will be able to quite easily with minimal help from a web programmer to assist the changeover. With proprietary systems, sites must be hosted with the company who owns the system as no other hosts have the capability to use that particular data. Whilst this may sound daunting, it doesn't really have a large impact on your website as once you find the right web design agency for your company, you shouldn't need to change service providers anyway. A good web design agency using a proprietary system will offer incentives and bonuses to make it worth your while to use their system and their hosting.
Can I add applications to the website like forms, videos or image galleries and will these cost me extra?
One of the benefits of a CMS website is that in general you do have the option to add extra applications to your site without having to know how to program them. Things like catalogues, video players or galleries can be great additions, but sometimes these can attract more fees. Open source CMS sites and some of the better proprietary systems are also compatible with third party applications developed by programmers and this can greatly increase the capabilities of your website at little or no extra cost. The more available applications the better, as this increases the value of your investment, and if you have full control over the customisation of these applications without needing to program or code, then you've hit on a winner.
Is there a limit to how many pages I can have and will additional pages cost extra?
No one wants to be limited to a set number of pages but the unfortunate truth is that many companies have set page limits with additional charges to add extra pages. Larger sites with legitimate pages and content do rank better on search engines so having no page restrictions can be a highly useful thing. The ability to change the menu to accomodate the additional pages is also very important.
What e-Commerce is available?
If you're considering selling products through your website, it is important to know what sort of e-Commerce is available through the site. Will the site be able to integrate with your chosen payment gateways? Will you have full cart capabilities and invoicing? Full featured shopping carts can potentially add thousands of dollars to your website whilst basic carts can cost next to nothing. Make sure you know exactly what you need out of a shopping cart before getting your site built or this could come as a nasty shock.
Are the sites Flash, HTML/CSS or both?
There are benefits to both types of sites and it is important to look at this objectively before finding a web developer. With good Flash CMS providers, you will undoubtably have the highest level of flexibility and customisation, with the ability to change everything, right down to elements of the design itself. You will also have much more interactivity for your site viewers. The downside to this being that unless you are aware of how to save your images and content specifically for web, Flash sites can load slower than HTML-based sites. Some Flash CMS sites are also not SEO friendly, so make sure that if you decide to go with a Flash CMS, it is one which automatically creates the content in HTML as well so that your content can be viewed by anyone without Flash installed, search engines and people on smart phones. A site using a CMS like WordPress uses HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) which requires programming knowledge in order to change layout and design. You can add and change text, images and pages as well as add third party applications, however it is a lot more restrictive and much of the real customisation will need to be done by your web designer or programmer. Many low-end WordPress designers just modify pre-existing templates to add your logo, giving you a site which looks like a cheap blog, so if you go down this path make sure you choose a reputable web design agency.
Are the sites SEO friendly?
There are a few things to make sure of when finding out whether your site will be compatible with Search Engine Optimisation. Is the content going to be readable by search engines? Purely Flash-based content will not be read by search engines and must always have a HTML copy to ensure your site will be searchable. Can you set the page links? Are you able to set meta tags, descriptions as well as the page and site titles? All of this contributes to how well your site ranks on search engines and will be important if you are planning on ranking well on Google.
Are the sites templates or custom designed?
No one wants a site that looks like a cheap template design, but if you pay $200 for a website, this is what you will get. It takes a very long time to design and build a site from scratch and the only way that a $200 site is going to be profitable for the designer is for them to have used a template and simply changed the logo and colours to suit your company. Of course, if you're just starting out, a template site is better than no site at all but you can actually go and get a template website on a CMS for free, so why pay someone else to do it?
Can I switch my current site over on to a CMS?
If you have a website that you're happy with already, but want to be able to edit it yourself, it may be possible to rebuild the site on a Content Management System. Some parts may be transferrable, but some may not be compatible with the individual system. It is important to ensure that your desired web design agency has taken the time to view all current pages and content to make sure everything you want can be transferred or recreated using their system.
In terms of the best CMS out there, as I have demonstrated above I honestly do not feel there to be a single CMS which stands out as being perfect for every single situation. I prefer to evaluate the company's needs and from there choose a suitable CMS. It is rather like saying 'what is the best TV show?' or 'which car is the best'; without situational parameters it is just an open ended question. Hopefully, this guide will help you to make a decision on which web design agency is right for you.
small business online marketing & web design Melbourne
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6590278
Simply put, a CMS is a Content Management System used in reference to websites that allow the user to edit the site content without the need for programming knowledge or dedicated software. The degree to which the content can be edited varies widely and a great deal of companies out there exist with their own Content Management Systems, offering different levels of customisation. This is a highly desirable alternative to the traditional system of having a website built for you by a web designer, then paying them exorbitant amounts of money each time you want to change an image, update your prices or add some news.
The benefits of having a CMS are plentiful and can help you achieve more with your website than you may originally have planned. Not only is it a cost effective means of keeping your site up-to-date, but it actually helps to improve your search engine rankings and user experience as well. If your site hasn't been updated for a few years and the content is old and irrelevant, search engines like Google will pick up on this and your page will rank lower and be harder to find. Users also want to know that your content is current and any information on your products, pricing, contact details or offers is still applicable.
There are a few things you should find out when seeking the right CMS for you and your business. Everybody has different needs and expectations when it comes to websites so the perfect CMS for one company may not be as great a fit for the next. These questions should help you work out which web design agency and which CMS is most suitable for your needs.
What are the capabilities of the CMS and how much am I really able to edit?
This is actually far more important than most people realize. Most people are aware of how important a CMS is to the success of a website, but this is usually as far as the knowledge goes. What many people don't realize is that not all Content Management Systems are the same, and the amount of customisation varies hugely from system to system. What might seem common sense to include as a standard editable feature to the client may actually attract additional fees, so it is always important to find out exactly how much can be edited within your site. Can you add pages? Can you edit and change the menu? Can you change the footer? Can you set the link name and title of each page? Can you edit the design? Is there an editable master page which determines the layout and design of every page? Can you add extra URLs to your site? Do you need to know any programming to make major changes to the site? If you do know some HTML or CSS, can this be added to site? The more you have control over the better, because everything else that you don't have control over will more than likely attract high fees if you ever decide to change them.
What CMS is being used, or is it a proprietary system?
This may or may not be important to your business, but it can be good to know. There are a number of open source Content Management Systems available that many web design agencies use, such as WordPress and Joomla as well as closed proprietary systems developed specifically for some web design agencies, their partners and their resellers. With a well known open source CMS, in most cases you will be able to host your website wherever you like and should you decide to switch hosting providers, you will be able to quite easily with minimal help from a web programmer to assist the changeover. With proprietary systems, sites must be hosted with the company who owns the system as no other hosts have the capability to use that particular data. Whilst this may sound daunting, it doesn't really have a large impact on your website as once you find the right web design agency for your company, you shouldn't need to change service providers anyway. A good web design agency using a proprietary system will offer incentives and bonuses to make it worth your while to use their system and their hosting.
Can I add applications to the website like forms, videos or image galleries and will these cost me extra?
One of the benefits of a CMS website is that in general you do have the option to add extra applications to your site without having to know how to program them. Things like catalogues, video players or galleries can be great additions, but sometimes these can attract more fees. Open source CMS sites and some of the better proprietary systems are also compatible with third party applications developed by programmers and this can greatly increase the capabilities of your website at little or no extra cost. The more available applications the better, as this increases the value of your investment, and if you have full control over the customisation of these applications without needing to program or code, then you've hit on a winner.
Is there a limit to how many pages I can have and will additional pages cost extra?
No one wants to be limited to a set number of pages but the unfortunate truth is that many companies have set page limits with additional charges to add extra pages. Larger sites with legitimate pages and content do rank better on search engines so having no page restrictions can be a highly useful thing. The ability to change the menu to accomodate the additional pages is also very important.
What e-Commerce is available?
If you're considering selling products through your website, it is important to know what sort of e-Commerce is available through the site. Will the site be able to integrate with your chosen payment gateways? Will you have full cart capabilities and invoicing? Full featured shopping carts can potentially add thousands of dollars to your website whilst basic carts can cost next to nothing. Make sure you know exactly what you need out of a shopping cart before getting your site built or this could come as a nasty shock.
Are the sites Flash, HTML/CSS or both?
There are benefits to both types of sites and it is important to look at this objectively before finding a web developer. With good Flash CMS providers, you will undoubtably have the highest level of flexibility and customisation, with the ability to change everything, right down to elements of the design itself. You will also have much more interactivity for your site viewers. The downside to this being that unless you are aware of how to save your images and content specifically for web, Flash sites can load slower than HTML-based sites. Some Flash CMS sites are also not SEO friendly, so make sure that if you decide to go with a Flash CMS, it is one which automatically creates the content in HTML as well so that your content can be viewed by anyone without Flash installed, search engines and people on smart phones. A site using a CMS like WordPress uses HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) which requires programming knowledge in order to change layout and design. You can add and change text, images and pages as well as add third party applications, however it is a lot more restrictive and much of the real customisation will need to be done by your web designer or programmer. Many low-end WordPress designers just modify pre-existing templates to add your logo, giving you a site which looks like a cheap blog, so if you go down this path make sure you choose a reputable web design agency.
Are the sites SEO friendly?
There are a few things to make sure of when finding out whether your site will be compatible with Search Engine Optimisation. Is the content going to be readable by search engines? Purely Flash-based content will not be read by search engines and must always have a HTML copy to ensure your site will be searchable. Can you set the page links? Are you able to set meta tags, descriptions as well as the page and site titles? All of this contributes to how well your site ranks on search engines and will be important if you are planning on ranking well on Google.
Are the sites templates or custom designed?
No one wants a site that looks like a cheap template design, but if you pay $200 for a website, this is what you will get. It takes a very long time to design and build a site from scratch and the only way that a $200 site is going to be profitable for the designer is for them to have used a template and simply changed the logo and colours to suit your company. Of course, if you're just starting out, a template site is better than no site at all but you can actually go and get a template website on a CMS for free, so why pay someone else to do it?
Can I switch my current site over on to a CMS?
If you have a website that you're happy with already, but want to be able to edit it yourself, it may be possible to rebuild the site on a Content Management System. Some parts may be transferrable, but some may not be compatible with the individual system. It is important to ensure that your desired web design agency has taken the time to view all current pages and content to make sure everything you want can be transferred or recreated using their system.
In terms of the best CMS out there, as I have demonstrated above I honestly do not feel there to be a single CMS which stands out as being perfect for every single situation. I prefer to evaluate the company's needs and from there choose a suitable CMS. It is rather like saying 'what is the best TV show?' or 'which car is the best'; without situational parameters it is just an open ended question. Hopefully, this guide will help you to make a decision on which web design agency is right for you.
small business online marketing & web design Melbourne
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6590278
Successful Websites - How To Get Started!
Starting a website can seem like a huge task if you are not sure where to begin. Creating a successful website is an even more herculean task, even if you know what you're doing. Luckily, there are some handy hints available that will help you get started on the right track!
Before you start getting ahead of yourself, there are 4 points that you should consider. These points will determine the proper course of action for you to take in order to get the most out of your new website. These are - purpose, content, useability and design. Without properly defining your intentions in each of these areas, your site will be doomed to failure before it has even been created.
Purpose
The purpose of your site needs to be the first thing you consider when starting a new website. Is the site for a business or is it personal? What are you trying to achieve by creating a website? Is it to create more leads and/or sales? Is it to showcase your services/products? Is it just so you have somewhere to direct prospects to in order for them to gain more information about you or your service? The more clarity you gain on the purpose of your site, the easier it will be for you to create content that is relevant and will drive the right traffic to your site.
Content
The actual content (both written, and visual) on your site will determine whether you gain a client or not, so it is of utmost important that it appeals to the right target market. The home page of your site is often the hardest to write content for, as you have about 10 seconds to convince the potential client to visit the rest of your site or risk losing them completely. You should never use your home page as a place to brag about your company or write copious amounts of information about your products. Remember, when marketing your business online or offline, it's all about the customer and their wants and needs. You should also take SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) into consideration as you write your content. If you want to gain traffic through search engine hits, you will need to include relevant keywords and phrases into your content.
For more information on creating content for web, stay tuned for my 'Writing for the Web' article.
Useability
Useability references a number of key issues that must be considered when creating your site:
Ease of use
Quick loading times
User interaction
If your site has numerous menus and confusing, twisted paths to get to each page, then chances are your viewers will give up trying to navigate fairly quickly and you won't be able to communicate everything you want to before they leave. It is generally agreed that you should be able to access any page on your website in just 3 clicks or less, otherwise your site navigation needs to be changed and simplified. Your site also needs to load quickly, so limiting your image file size by optimising them for web whilst saving is important.
Design
Your site design needs to be attractive and modern, not only to yourself but to your target market. If the design looks as if it was made by the son of a friend of a friend, then it isn't going to look professional, and it won't sell your product or service. Your site design should stay up to date with current trends, and when in doubt, always trust your designer. Designers spend most of their time researching the competition and current trends in design to ensure that your site will communicate the right message and will appeal to the right people. Interfering with this process can cause more harm than good. However if you do decide to design it yourself, remember the following:
Keep it clean. If there's too much going on it will look messy and will be hard to digest any information.
Ensure your copy is on a light coloured background, and is not reversed (light on dark) as this makes it harder to read.
Keep plenty of white space around your sections of text for ease of reading.
Don't use too many different colours and fonts, this looks unprofessional and does not help to reinforce your company branding.
Once you are clear on each of these four aspects, decide on how you are going to have your site made. Are you going to approach a website developer or a freelance web designer? Are you going to try build it yourself? What is your budget and what are your specific goals pertaining to your website? Whilst it may sometimes be true to say that it's better to have a bad website than no website at all, think about the damage that you could be doing with a bad website. How many people have visited your website thinking that because of the unprofessional image portrayed by the site, the rest of the company would be the same? If it is not in your budget currently to get a professional site, consider web developers who offer monthly contracts with no upfront fees, or perhaps utilise free and low-cost online directories, template websites and social media strategies.
Remember that a professional web design can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to thousands, depending on your requirements and level of interactivity you want. You also need to commit to constantly updating your site in order to achieve success online. However, if done correctly, a good online presence is well worth the time and effort. So take time to plan, and reap the benefits!
Small business online marketing
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6437253
Before you start getting ahead of yourself, there are 4 points that you should consider. These points will determine the proper course of action for you to take in order to get the most out of your new website. These are - purpose, content, useability and design. Without properly defining your intentions in each of these areas, your site will be doomed to failure before it has even been created.
Purpose
The purpose of your site needs to be the first thing you consider when starting a new website. Is the site for a business or is it personal? What are you trying to achieve by creating a website? Is it to create more leads and/or sales? Is it to showcase your services/products? Is it just so you have somewhere to direct prospects to in order for them to gain more information about you or your service? The more clarity you gain on the purpose of your site, the easier it will be for you to create content that is relevant and will drive the right traffic to your site.
Content
The actual content (both written, and visual) on your site will determine whether you gain a client or not, so it is of utmost important that it appeals to the right target market. The home page of your site is often the hardest to write content for, as you have about 10 seconds to convince the potential client to visit the rest of your site or risk losing them completely. You should never use your home page as a place to brag about your company or write copious amounts of information about your products. Remember, when marketing your business online or offline, it's all about the customer and their wants and needs. You should also take SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) into consideration as you write your content. If you want to gain traffic through search engine hits, you will need to include relevant keywords and phrases into your content.
For more information on creating content for web, stay tuned for my 'Writing for the Web' article.
Useability
Useability references a number of key issues that must be considered when creating your site:
Ease of use
Quick loading times
User interaction
If your site has numerous menus and confusing, twisted paths to get to each page, then chances are your viewers will give up trying to navigate fairly quickly and you won't be able to communicate everything you want to before they leave. It is generally agreed that you should be able to access any page on your website in just 3 clicks or less, otherwise your site navigation needs to be changed and simplified. Your site also needs to load quickly, so limiting your image file size by optimising them for web whilst saving is important.
Design
Your site design needs to be attractive and modern, not only to yourself but to your target market. If the design looks as if it was made by the son of a friend of a friend, then it isn't going to look professional, and it won't sell your product or service. Your site design should stay up to date with current trends, and when in doubt, always trust your designer. Designers spend most of their time researching the competition and current trends in design to ensure that your site will communicate the right message and will appeal to the right people. Interfering with this process can cause more harm than good. However if you do decide to design it yourself, remember the following:
Keep it clean. If there's too much going on it will look messy and will be hard to digest any information.
Ensure your copy is on a light coloured background, and is not reversed (light on dark) as this makes it harder to read.
Keep plenty of white space around your sections of text for ease of reading.
Don't use too many different colours and fonts, this looks unprofessional and does not help to reinforce your company branding.
Once you are clear on each of these four aspects, decide on how you are going to have your site made. Are you going to approach a website developer or a freelance web designer? Are you going to try build it yourself? What is your budget and what are your specific goals pertaining to your website? Whilst it may sometimes be true to say that it's better to have a bad website than no website at all, think about the damage that you could be doing with a bad website. How many people have visited your website thinking that because of the unprofessional image portrayed by the site, the rest of the company would be the same? If it is not in your budget currently to get a professional site, consider web developers who offer monthly contracts with no upfront fees, or perhaps utilise free and low-cost online directories, template websites and social media strategies.
Remember that a professional web design can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to thousands, depending on your requirements and level of interactivity you want. You also need to commit to constantly updating your site in order to achieve success online. However, if done correctly, a good online presence is well worth the time and effort. So take time to plan, and reap the benefits!
Small business online marketing
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6437253
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