Six Simplified Steps To Creating A Great Website

To someone who’s just starting online, setting-up a website can be very stressful. They’d have to think about domain names, designs, their target market, and so much more! It can become so confusing that anyone can get easily overwhelmed if they’re oblivious to the whole process.

If that’s the kind of situation that you’re at right now (regardless if you’re a beginner or an old timer), I can guarantee you that after reading this article, you’ll have a better way of handling things. You won’t end-up doing everything ALL AT THE SAME TIME and you’ll have a clear direction of what you need to do. More importantly, you’ll see significant progress in what you’re doing on a daily basis!

As I share with you my six simplified steps to creating a great website, I would very much like you to think about your own way of doing things and share it in the comments section below. The more people who’ll share, the more we can help others that’s struggling. This is an awesome way of giving back to the community, don’t you think?

Planning

Since planning seems too broad of a word to use, I’ve created a list of questions below to aid you in this step.

- Who is your target market?
- What kind of brand image do you want to project?
- What kind of functions does your target market want your website to have?
- What kind of unique features will you add to your website to make your visitors stick?
- What kind of feel does your target market want your website to have?
- What website theme and plug-ins will you use? What are the people saying about it?
- From whom will you buy your hosting and domain name? Are they credible?
There are a lot of things to consider but if you answer these basic questions, you’ll surely be on the right track.

Research

Simply answering the questions in step one without giving it enough research will cost you A LOT!

Basing your answers on facts or advice from experienced professionals will help you avoid making critical mistakes. I strongly suggest that you give this enough emphasis to make sure that your decisions are based on solid foundations.

These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself when doing your research. - Is your target market viable? Consider oversaturation or the longevity of your business.
- What kind of brand will your target market most likely react to?
- Are there surveys on the web that relates to your kind of business? If so what are the results?
- How much are the plug-ins that you’ll need and do you have enough know how to make it work? What are the reviews saying about the plug-ins?
- Did you find a theme that fits your brand? If so, how much is it and is the seller reputable?
- Are you buying your domain name and hosting from a reputable company? Consider their customer service and what people saying about them.

Analyze

On this step, you should compare your step one and two results. After you’ve gone through step 2, you should be able to determine whether your step 1 answers are feasible or if it will produce ideal results.

Here are some of the questions you can ask. - Are your goals achievable based on your research?
- Are the website components that you’ve decided upon cohesive or is it causing conflict within itself?
- How do you think will your target market reacts to your website’s feel and function?

An important tip to remember when you’re in this stage is to avoid analysis paralysis. Notice that I keep on saying ENOUGH research. I emphasize on enough because people get all scientific about this.

What I suggest is that you base your decisions on what authority websites say. As an example, if you are thinking about SEO, search for reputable companies like SEOMOZ and stop looking somewhere else. There are way too many contradicting ideas on the web that it's so easy for you to be distracted and misled.

Implement

After going through all the planning, research, and analysis, you’ve got to start making things happen. This is where you start putting the pieces together to start seeing results.

Be sure to base your implementation on the previous steps to ensure that everything is in place. This step can be very scary for most people but to those whose done an ample amount of research and planning, this is the most exciting part!

Assess and measure

This step is just as important as the rest. Others neglect to do this THOROUGHLY because they’re ecstatic to see the results of their hard work. Although giving yourself time to appreciate your work is important, honest assessment is just the same.

When doing this, be sure to go through the questions that you’ve asked on step one. If there are goals you haven’t met, then you’ve got to take care of it in step 6.

Solve and improve

Whatever goals you’ve missed, you should have already determined that in step 5. From there, you can start working on the missing parts of your site PLUS, make some improvements to make sure it exceeds your expectations.

Going through each of these steps CRITICALLY is important if you want the best results. Simply giving each step a half-baked effort will only result in mediocre success or worse… FAILURE.

If you don’t want to get overwhelmed by the entire process of building a great website, then simply follow these steps and you’ll surely be on the right track.

I hope to hear from you about what your strategies are in building a great website. Please leave share it on the comments section below.

Aileen Galsim is a blogger for Showcase Creative a UK based printing company that provides Custom Presentation Folders, calendars, and other printed presentation products.

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Online Marketing Guide - Introduction

As businesses compete in today’s world of online marketing, there is a growing need for wise investments within this global market. Having the correct marketing strategy is crucial to your company's growth.

Without the right marketing plan in place, your business can crumble at any time. Having the best sales team, highly motivated workers, and an excellent product sometimes cannot produce the client base you’re seeking. That’s why you need a good marketing plan. Budgetary constraints are often alluded to as the reason why many companies delay investing in marketing. This, however, is a very unwise decision to make. But with many online marketing companies on the market, business owners are now able to access these online sources to help them get their business off to a good start.

Companies like Teckpert can help you find the answers to all your online marketing needs at affordable costs. Their experts are equipped with reliable and well-proven strategies. They have successfully developed these strategies over time to create the perfect online marketing campaign that will enhance your business, something that will result in spontaneous and solid growth.

The key objective of this type of strategy is to help generate new leads for your business and then turn these leads into sales. The process of learning about your business and defining your target audience is a unique one. Companies like will be able to use their expertise to spread your message by combining advertising and quality content for both your social media accounts and your website.

So here are a few key concepts to remember for successful online marketing:

Relationships

Building a strong relationship with each client is crucial to online marketing. Web designers must ensure that, while new customers are important, it is more critical to build an online marketing environment where existing customers keep coming back while they tell others about you.

Never forget the importance of the respect you need to have for both your audience and market. You should focus specifically on the needs of your customers rather than your own needs. This means that you must make a commitment to creating a quality experience for your clients.

Content marketing

The backbone of effective online marketing is the consistent delivery of interesting and captivating content deliberately and intensively. Creating offers where customers can benefit in exchange for hard cash sometimes is a great way to improve your online presence.

Sell something worth buying

Selling is inevitable, and everybody is into selling something, whether it’s an idea, product, service, download, or a worthy cause. Just ensure, however, that whatever you have up for sale is worth the price you are asking. Readers are prone to move quickly away when the quality is way below the asking price.

The importance of Internet marketing is critical to the start and upkeep of a businesses and, therefore, should never be underestimated. If your business is to survive in today’s fast-expanding global market, then you must ensure that you are armed with the right strategies. This can only be had from selecting an online company that has a proven track record of delivering quality service continuously.

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Web Design Mistakes You Should Stay Away From

It is easy to make mistakes when you are new in the world of web design. This article will provide an overview of some common web design mistakes that beginners and experienced people make alike. It is important to acknowledge your mistakes so that you can move forward. You can’t keep moving in the same direction because the negative consequences will appear quickly.

Not having a search function

The search function allows the visitor to know immediately if your website provides the piece of information that he is looking for. The alternative for him would be to scan your content looking for that bit of info. This is not efficient though and the user may give up all in all and will end up looking somewhere else where the content is more readily available. Pay attention when implementing the search function because it can mislead visitors and your business may lose potential customers.

Having too little white space

White space is important on a website because it improves readability and directs the attention of the user toward the things that you really want him to see. The sign up button for example is sometimes buried in the page by lots of flash content. The sign up button will be missed and you will lose subscribers that may eventually turn into clients. If you will take a look at successful websites, you will notice that the web design is neat and there is lots of white space.

Another option to increase readability is by choosing large enough fonts and a white background. Choosing an image as a background doesn’t look professional. Since your purpose is to send the exact opposite message in order to establish trust, you must take all the necessary measures to look professional even though this includes seeking the help of a web design expert. All these techniques are used by Web Design Leicester in order to implement the best results.

Having pagination for the wrong reason

Pagination is useful when there is too much content on a single web page. Keeping lots of content on one page reduces the load time which annoys the user. Another thing that annoys the visitor is the unnecessary use of pagination. An article that may be very well displayed on a single page is broken down into several parts and displayed on multiple pages. The visitor has to click “Next” if he wants to see the rest of the article.

Site owners who make money out of advertisements choose to implement pagination because they want more page views. Still, they are not thinking about user experience and if you will also disregard this, you will notice a drop in the number of visitors unless you have really good content that can’t be found anywhere else. This also applies when your site looks like a MFA (made for Adsense). The user just can’t stand closing pop-up windows repeatedly. They neither understand why it is necessary to go to another page after reading only 100 words.

In conclusion, do the following to have a professionally looking website: don’t have pagination unless it helps the user, leave plenty of white space and implement a search function.

Resource box:

Alisa Martin is a freelance writer passionate about web design. She advises to get professional assistance from companies like Web Design Leicester to attract customers.

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SEO Optimization Services - How do they Boost the Traffic

Every organization that holds a web site should opt for Search Engine Optimization if they are trying hard to get their website as high as possible on Yahoo, Google or Bing search results page which is an ingredient of their growth strategy. At its basic part, "SEO" refers to finding techniques to boost your website's presence in the search results of the web visitors. This generally leads to more traffic to your website.

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Boost Rankings With Google Authorship Today

One of the newest tools offered by Google to help businesses stand out in Internet searches is Google Authorship. What it allows businesses to do is to interlink all their content through one easy system that follows them around the internet. Furthermore, it makes companies stand out in searches by placing their logo right next to their content. Not only does this help businesses climb to the top of search results, but it also helps them immediately stand out.

Google rankings are the search engine rankings that drive business in today’s world. Niche market businesses in particular, such as chicken coop manufacturers or 3^rd party logistics providers, can really benefit from a rankings boost. All a business has to do is maintain relevant content on their blog and website, and get involved in relevant blogs elsewhere. This doesn’t mean they need to resort to traditionally complex SEO techniques. Google Authorship does all the heavy lifting.

How Does It Work?

Although Google Authorship is specifically designed for writers, it doesn’t mean that a small business can’t act as a writer. The internet is all about content. The only difference is in how the content is presented. Most businesses today are also blog content providers, and searches for meaningful content related to their market are powerful drivers of new traffic, which can easily be converted into new clients.

Setting It Up

Setting up Google Authorship is incredibly simple. The first step is to sign up with Google+. When setting up your company profile, make sure to include the logo as the profile picture. This Google+ page should be treated as a primary marketing tool in its own right.

The second thing you’ll need is a blog or a place online to fill with intelligent, industry-relevant content that can drive traffic. The most popular choice today for blog content is WordPress, but Authorship can be added to any byline on any website just as easily.

Once these two elements are set up, all you need to do is connect WordPress to your Google+ account. This is done by copying and pasting your profile link into your WordPress profile. In the latest versions of WordPress, all you need to do is go into the dashboard and look for the appropriate box, marked Google+.

The final step is to link your blog right back to Google+. You do this by entering the “Edit Profile” screen in your Google+ dashboard. Look for “Contributor to” and edit the list by adding your blog URL and any other website URL that contains your content.

That’s all there is to it. Wordpress versions 3.5 and up make it extremely easy to integrate Google Authorship.

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Can You Increase Profits With a Web Site?

When you are running a business, everything is about balancing your income versus your expenses. You just can't have high expenses and a low income. Your business will eventually go under. So running your business becomes a matter of increasing income and decreasing expenses; this sounds like a rather easy concept to put into action, but it can actually wind up being a little difficult, and that is why a lot of business fails.

Increasing Income

Increasing your business income always comes with an expense. One of the more popular ways that businesses all over the world have started to increase their income is by getting more exposure for their business. The more eyes that see their business, the more chances they have at increasing their income. You could think of it as fishing. The more bait you have in the water, the more fish you can catch.

What Are Businesses Doing to Reel In the Customers?

Most businesses are looking towards the digital age to get more customers. They are setting new sights on a digital horizon by creating valuable virtual real estate properties. These virtual real estate properties are called websites, but they come with an expense. So, businesses need to find a web agency London that is affordable and reliable.

What Is the Best Way to Do This?

Finding the answer to this question is why many businesses are scurrying around like rats. The answer is there hidden like a tiny morsel of food in the cellar. The easiest way to find a good reliable web agency is to look on the Internet. It only makes sense that a good web design company should also have a really good web presence of their own. If they are not on the Internet currently showcasing their talents, what makes them a leader in their field? Why would you want to hire them? The simple answer is this. You would not want to hire them.

Keep Your Eyes Open

When you are looking over your search results, pay very close attention to the design and layout structure of the companies that you are thinking about hiring. You can learn a lot about a company simply by visiting their website and taking a look around. Take everything in, and make sure you pay a visit to their online portfolio. This is where you really need to take out the magnifying glass and start scrutinizing everything that you see. This is where you will get the best idea of their past accomplishments and what the future may hold for you and your business website.

Just How Much is this Going to Cost You?

Remember the whole reason this was started was to increase income and lower costs. Don't overlook the costs associated with creating your new website. It can be really easy to fall in love with a design and then have buyer’s remorse once you see the bill. Most web design companies will offer some sort of price quote or estimate. Make sure you take full advantage of this.

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