All About  Web Sites

When Asked to do this project I guess I didn't know what I was in for. I have been designing web sites and promoting websites for some time now and I have too tell you. I still Love my job. I do miss my hair!

As stated I am a designer so this may seem a bit one sided to many of you. but the truth is The Internet is with us too stay.  You need to get your business online. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

1. The Net is full of want-to be web designers who know 1/4 of what they need to know to do the job right. Be careful who you hire. Learn as much as you can about web sites before you pick  a designer.

2. The Net works on Content NOT FLASH. (There are thousands of sites on the net that look nice and are never seen) (See #1)

3. Site Design and site promotion are two separate challenges However a good designer will work promotion into the design.

4. If your site is not indexed right and not designed to be indexed right it simply will not be seen or will be buried in the internet basement.

5. Your site should be updated often! (even sites that are designed to let people know your alive need to be changed from time to time. It keeps them fresh & keeps the search engine bots indexing your site.

6. If your planning to do online sales you need to take credit cards. you also need to make sure that you use a reliable service for them.  (If a buyer looks at your site and thinks for just a second that his credit card numbers are not safe he will move on)

7. INFORMATION SELLS on the net.  The more content the better! so make how too sections and tips sections and so on

8. E-mail Spamming, Bulk E-mail, Banner ads, so on, so on, so on can only help you if your website is ready. In truth I feel that the search engines can take care of most promotions without having to revert to bulk e-mails and such.

9. Remember that no designer has a passion for your business like you have for your business.  You need to be active in your web design. Hire a pro and allow him to deal with content and getting you indexed, however Never hand a designer a business card and expect them to have your passion.  Share your passion with them and if they are good you will see a work of art.

10. Always check your competition for new ideas (Good artists copy, Great artists steal)  Now who was it that said that?   Truth is there are millions of web sites. Why not mix your ideas with what you can find. Remember the copyright laws. But there is no better place in the world to research anything besides the net.  Use it.