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 services. 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

A hugely valuable website design element is planning your search promotion strategy and choosing the most relevant keywords for your business and industry.

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. Every SEO or web designer will tell you this and it really is very very important. By using a keyword research tool you can find the single most popular (trophy) 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. You will also need to research buying keywords, geographical variants and long tail keywords, these are keywords that are much more likely to convert into a sale but have lower search volumes, you can find out more information about these types of keywords by performing a web search.

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 registered 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 register 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 purchase.

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 spam 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 separate 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 stage 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 challenging 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 web design project just for yourself then you will probably have a clear 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.

To create a brilliant ecommerce web design UK focussed website, it’s sensible to spend a lot of time researching other ecommerce websites particularly those produced by British companies and notice the subtle differences from US based ecommerce websites.

Look at competitor’s websites in mind of your ideas 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 a suitable 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 workup the final artwork.

All parties need to agree on the final artwork before building 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 marketing 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

A skilled online marketing Kent programmer is required in order to properly install statistics software on your website but the information provided by your website users can be invaluable.

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.

Aspen Colorado offers visitors and tourist a lot of exciting places to visit. The landscape around Aspen is dotted with carved valleys and beautiful crystal clear streams. Nature photographers will find these pristine areas very appealing so make sure to bring your digital camera with you. You may also want to photograph the high mountain meadows filled with delicate wildflowers. Garden buffs will have a lot to brag about when they get back home. If you want to be close to this magnificient scenery you might not want to stay in the heart of Aspen. It would probably be best if you stayed in Aspen hotels which are located around the countryside where it would be a lot easier for you to explore the outdoors without dealing with the traffic in the city. Most Aspen Hotels located away from the busy commercial areas have a more relaxing atmosphere that is good for the soul. No need to strictly plan your activities around traffic since you can do some exploring at a moments notice.

Aspen is also a good place for golfers to visit. If you want to play a round of golf in Aspen, you can choose among many fine public golf courses in Aspen. Each of these golf courses have unique services, facilities and amenities to offer discriminating golfers. There are also hotels close to the fairways of many of the golf courses. You can easily find these hotels in Aspen by researching and booking your hotel reservations online well in advance to ensure you get the accommodations you want.

Some Google Adsense publishers have let this simple form of making money online take over their lives. 100’s of hours are spent by these people Split test Adsense, changing and manipulating, all in the hope of making enough money to tell the boss “I’m leaving”.

54% of all Google Adsense publishers admit addiction to click income. A recent online study conducted by a small group of Google Publishers found that 54% of all Adsense publishers where addicted to the income potential of Googles Pay Per Click system.

Some Google Adsense Publishers Need Therapy
It was also found that some publishers were so addicted they where checking their Adsense statistics up to 50 times per day.

Google Adsense is a system where individuals who own content rich website’s can earn money by placing small targeted ads within the content of their website.

The ads can be customised to fit within the scheme of the website and some successful publishers can earn in excess of $200,000 per month.

One publisher stated that her addiction started the day she placed the Adsense code into her html code. “I was introduced to Adsense by my boyfriend, who makes around a $1000 a month”. She went on to say that she doesn’t blame Google for her addiction, but the fever in which forums and blogs promote the fact that anyone can become rich with this scheme inspired her to keep adding pages and checking her stats.

Kate, did state that she was earning a reasonable amount of money from Google Adsense, but told us she also spent a considerable amount of money on scripts, ebooks and promises of gaining all you would ever want to know about Adsense, from forum gurus claiming they had made their fortunes and where willing to share their secrets if you deposited $97 into their PayPal account.

Rags to Riches in 51 Days
Another publisher I spoke to told me his addiction had made him a rich man in 51 days. “I was browsing the net on October the 15th last year and came across a website that had a photo of a guy holding a Google cheque for nearly $200,000 dollars. Under the picture it stated that this was just a 1 month pay check from Google. Lights and bells went off in my head as I thought, Man, this is what I have been looking for”.

David, had been dabbling in online money making schemes for about 6 years and to date had not been very successful. But he did have 3 website’s which had 1000’s of visitors to them and after reading all he could on the subject, David placed 2 small Adsense ads on each page of his 1000 page website. “I didn’t sleep that night. I was so excited, I checked my stats every 10 minutes all night” he said. Just when he was about to give up for the night, David did his final stats check. “It was 5.50am exactly and I nearly fell off my chair. 1000 impressions, 98 clicks and a total of $18 income. I couldn’t sleep that day as I checked my stats every 15 minutes and watched the income rose to over $58 for the day. I was addicted to this thing, this scheme was going to make me rich and I wasn’t going to miss a minute of it” David said.

David had gone from $32 in his Bank account to over $6,700 in just 51 days. He had checked his stats on average 60 times per day and had spent more than 612 hours during that 51 days optimising his sites and adding content. David also admitted just like Kate that he had spent quite a bit of his profits on “how to” books, but stated that it was money very well spent.

“I am addicted to Google Adsense” Kate told me, ” but what better addiction could you have than earning money, while doing something you love”.

Everyone talks online concerning how easy it is to design a website that makes money online. Is is really that easy or pure buzz to get you to buy the next great thing to hit the online arena.

All I have to say is that it is not that easy to design a highly profitable web site. But, you can learn make a web site, that will be fully optimized for the search engines and highly profitable in a couple of weeks, using the same simple tricks I use daily. It doesn’t matter if you want to create a website for free or for profit.

To win online, you have to learn how to design your own website that gets free traffic from the search engines, and use other simple traffic methods like: forum posting, using ads in ezines, submitting your site to link directories, review posting for new products, three way and PPC.

First you have to learn how to do your onsite optimization, and for that you will have to:

1) Insert your own keyword into the title of your page

It amazes me how many websites online don’t have their main keyword in the title page. Just make sure to always include your best keyword in the tile page of your site.

2) Add Meta Tags

Not as important as it used to be, but I like to include it on each site I build. Add Description meta tags and your keywords meta tags. Use one or two keywords per page only. Add your main keyword into your page description.

3) H1 Header Tags

Use your H1 header tag on each page, I always like to use a smaller font size, like 14pt.

4) H2/H3 Header Tags

Try and use at least one H2 or H3 Tags within the first three or four paragraphs

5) Last and First Paragraph

Make sure to start your first paragraph with your main keyword and to end your last paragraph with your keyword

6) Bold, Italize ad Underline your keyword

You must Italize and bold your main keyword just once, and you must use your main keyword to link out of your site to another website (use that link to create an underline keyword) , at least once.

7) The Alt Image Tag

Well, this is very useful if you have a foto that you would like to includeon your site. Try to use the Alt Image Tag for your pages, I use the alt image tag on my website header.

Those are the only onpage optimization tips that you should use on each and every web site you build. Try to not make it look too robotic, and over do your web site optimization. Learn to create a website the easy way by just following the simple tips I have outline here.

For more optimization tips, visit http://www.how-to-build-website.com. This is the best and most understandable website about building fully optimized websites online.