- By: Sandra Prior, 2008-05-23
You’ve planned your content, you’ve played with HTML and you’ve selected a color scheme. Now add some graphical spice.
As Internet connections get faster and cheaper, people are beginning to lose their prejudices about web sites that use a lot of graphics. Yet, there are those who will always browse with images turned off, but it is increasingly becoming the case that if you want people to look at your site, then it needs to look good.
There are exceptions, where content is so compelling that design doesn’t matter. Just remember, however good a site looks, it is nothing without quality content.
Ready-Made Graphics
When you decide to add graphics to your site, you have 2 basic options. Either create your own images or make use of the numerous collections of royalty-free web graphics. These can come from many sources, the most popular being direct from the web. If you look at the web graphics section at Yahoo you’ll find a varied selection of free images you can use for your site, including e-mail buttons, background images and horizontal rules. Other popular sources include the clip art collections that come with most graphics packages these days.
There are, however, a couple of caveats. First, the quality of these images can most charitably be described as ‘varied’ – some are pretty good, but some are downright awful. Second, you need to bear in mind that every other novice web designer has access to the very same selection of images, and it does tend to show. On the plus side, the graphics are almost always completely free and you don’t need any artistic skills to use them.
Home-Made Graphics
If you want to create a unique web site, you have to create your own graphics – simple as that. There is an ever-increasing array of software to help you do this, ranging from freeware and shareware to full commercial products. Some of the better packages will cater for every need from start to finish. All you need provide is the talent and imagination.
JPEG Images
Before you start, you need to learn about the two image formats used on the web. First there is the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). This achieves a high level of compression by separating the colors from the details and processing them separately. When they are recombined, you have a color picture. But this is more than you need to know. What is important is that this works very well for graphics with smooth color transitions and few sharp edges – typically photographic images – and looks terrible for line art and blocks of text. The result is that, when used appropriately, a jpeg image will achieve a very small file size alongside a picture with thousands of colors and little noticeable loss in quality.
GIF Images
The alternative is CompuServe’s GIF (Graphics Interchange Format). A huge image has its colors restricted to its own palette, which can contain up to 256 colors. GIF compression works by looking for repeating patterns within an image – hence large areas of a single color will produce a very small file – but GIFs are also ideal for any line or text where it is vital to retain the image’s detail.
GIFs can also be used to tailor an image to a computer that can only display 256 colors. By limiting an image to the standard palette of 256 web-safe colors, you can be almost certain it will appear the same in any browser. In practice, it is preferable to strike a balance between using web-safe colors and achieving the best image quality – then those users with better displays will not be restricted by the lowest common denominator.
The humble GIF has also a few tricks hidden up its sleeve. The first of these is the ability to set one of the colors in the palette to be transparent – which means that whatever this color appears on the image, the background of the web page will show through, allowing you to make the graphics blend in to a much greater extent.
You can also string a load of images together into one file to create an animated GIF. This means you can have animation on your page without requiring any extra plug-ins. Bear in mind that every frame added to an animation adds to the file’s size, and unless used sparingly, animated GIFS can become very tiresome.
X Marks The Spot
The main use of graphics on any site is usually to form a navigation system. One way to achieve this is to make each option a separate image, but often it can be neater to have your buttons as a single graphic. You can then use an image map to link different areas to different pages. In the past, the only way to do this was to create a server-side image map – the co-ordinates of a mouse click would be sent to the server, which would then redirect you to a specific page. But now any reasonably up-to-date browser supports client-side maps – a few lines of code in the page itself define the hotspots, and the link goes direct to the target page, with no fuss.
PNG Images
Soon you’ll be hearing about another image format – the Portable Network Graphic, or PNG. The file specification was designed with the web in mind, and is already supported by the next generation of browsers. The PNG performs much the same function as a GIF, with two main differences: PNG files are noticeably smaller than GIF, and they can use alpha transparency. In other words, the image can have varying degrees of transparency, so it will blend into any background. But don’t throw away your old tools yet – GIFs will be around for some time to come.
Sandra Prior runs her own websites at USA Computers and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Content is King, Traffic is Supreme
Content is King, Traffic is Supreme - By: Christopher Carter, 2008-05-14
"What should I put on my website?" That is the question I receive mostly from newcomers. The answer is very simple, content. You have to give your visitors and prospects a reason to go to your website, and keep going to your website.
The Content Thou Art King
The website's information; text, images, videos, audio, and other data are the content elements you provide. The flavor of the content should be unique, and entice the visitors to get involved in your website. The style of your writing, content will portray a personality in itself and provide flavor to your website.
For me, I personally write to people the way I talk, simple. I try to use visual references when possible to convey the complex message I want the reader to understand. I can take it up a notch and write in perfect English, and use big words that will bore or even scare my reader/visitor, but that would not be good for business/traffic.
When creating the content, you have to keep in mind the education of your target audience, what their likes and dislikes are AND what would they like to see on your website.
For example, when I look up a word, I use Google to search for the word and then got to a dictionary website to understand the meaning. Now most likely that dictionary website will not have video streaming on using the word, but will have simply what I am looking for, the definition and an example of usage.
That's what I expect, and that's why I usually return to that particular site so I no longer have to use Google because I have found what I am looking for when I need “word help.” I simply bookmark it. The Webmaster of that dictionary site understands what I need, and is able to deliver it. Before you even begin to write content you have to get into the mindset of the targeted user of your site. You have to think like they think; what do they expect, and what can you deliver.
Then create content around that targeted visitor. Create videos, images, audio, text information, news archives, and press release with that perfect visitor in mind.
Caution: a lot of people go off on a tangent since they hear things like "Google sends the most traffic, so I have to create a site Google Likes."
However, the #1 guideline Google gives is:
1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.
Link: http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/tenthings.html
Google focuses on the user rather more than any other variable to guide them when creating great products and/or services. That's exactly what you need for your website. Concentrate on the user’s experience. Giving a user great experience relies on one thing … CONTENT.
If you have unique, and INTERESTING content on your website, that cannot be found elsewhere (unique content) on the Internet, you are winning the competitive battle. Others will attempt to copy you, but as long as you keep innovating, and taking the "Unique-ness", and "Interest-ness" to the next level, the competition will always fall short.
The Traffic Thou Rains Supreme
Traffic is the lifeblood of any site. The easiest way to get traffic is having great content!
Having the #1 spot on Google doesn't do you any good if your website is lacking in interest, and flavor. In fact if you attain a #1 top spot for a high-ranking keyword, it can only be through having great content and valuable information on your site. So great content, the greatest content and the #1 ranking is kind of a self-fulfilling philosophy.
Most traditional traffic comes from Search Engines, and unfortunately a lot of well-meaning gurus tell people to increase their traffic on search engines as if it is the be all and end all of traffic online. It's not.
• Traffic can come from anywhere and everywhere. Traffic can come from web 2.0 sites like Digg.com, Del.icio.us, or StumbleUpon.com. These sources can be intense on some days and mediocre on others. But when it hits, it hits hard. Despite the daily gyrations, generally you will usually see a steady stream of traffic monthly from this type of traffic.
• Traffic can comes from Blog comments that you posted on other people's blogs. Backlinks, or even the nofollow links, still allow people that read the comment the opportunity to go to your site. They are more likely to follow your link if you say something interesting.
• Traffic can come from participating in forums, or online chats that allow you to put your website as a link in your signature and/or profile.
• Traffic can come from Yahoo Answers, a place where people can go to ask questions of experts in the industry. Register as an expert and give your 2 cents. I believe Google has Answers too.
• Traffic can come from YouTube (tons of it), Metacafe, and other online video sites. If you have a tutorial video for example of your services, post it up on the video site, and put a link in the description of it to attract more visitors. Also add a watermark and place the URL in the beginning and ending of your video. The amount of traffic you see will vary but if your subject is viral, you can see visitors topping 100,000 a day, if DONE RIGHT.
• Traffic can come from RSS feeds of your content to RSS aggregators, like Google's BlogSearch. RSS feeds are another great subject that can be like steroids to a website's traffic.
• Traffic is endless and it is infinite. In my opinion, it is a good strategy to keep your traffic from one source always under 40%. For example Google, the Big G, is sending you more than 40% of your traffic; you have to decrease it by increasing the other sources of traffic you get. Now I don't mean reject Google traffic, but always trying to supplement it. But if you know you know how all of this works together, you will say, wait, if I increase my backlinks, YouTube videos, etc, that will give me a higher PageRank and increase the Google traffic even more. Yep, it’s a hell of a snowball affect; just make sure you continue increasing other sources of links, and you will not be at the mercy of 1 source of traffic.
Ying Yang
Content and Traffic are like Ying and Yang; one cannot exist without the other. If you solely concentrate on traffic, you will find out that you can gain 1,000 visitors an hour, but most will leave within 1 minute, since your content is lackluster. But on the other hand, if you have great content, traffic will flow like a river.
My suggestion is to use 80% of your energy on creating great content and 20% on driving traffic. The reason; traffic is the easiest thing in the world to get … a couple thousand directories links, article submissions, video submissions, web 2.0 bookmarks, and bam easy 2,000 visitors a day. But without the great content, you will be wasting your time as visitors leave in droves. Obviously this depends on your industry as a whole, and the length of time it takes for you to generate all the great content you have.
So, Content is King, Traffic is Supreme! Creating unique content and expand your exposure on the Internet, and you will do great!
Optimum7.com is an Internet Marketing Company with primary focus on Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises (SME’s). Optimum7.com offers a rich consultative approach that our clients find refreshing. We actually listen to our clients to learn exactly what their problems and objectives are. Content is King, Traffic is Supreme.
"What should I put on my website?" That is the question I receive mostly from newcomers. The answer is very simple, content. You have to give your visitors and prospects a reason to go to your website, and keep going to your website.
The Content Thou Art King
The website's information; text, images, videos, audio, and other data are the content elements you provide. The flavor of the content should be unique, and entice the visitors to get involved in your website. The style of your writing, content will portray a personality in itself and provide flavor to your website.
For me, I personally write to people the way I talk, simple. I try to use visual references when possible to convey the complex message I want the reader to understand. I can take it up a notch and write in perfect English, and use big words that will bore or even scare my reader/visitor, but that would not be good for business/traffic.
When creating the content, you have to keep in mind the education of your target audience, what their likes and dislikes are AND what would they like to see on your website.
For example, when I look up a word, I use Google to search for the word and then got to a dictionary website to understand the meaning. Now most likely that dictionary website will not have video streaming on using the word, but will have simply what I am looking for, the definition and an example of usage.
That's what I expect, and that's why I usually return to that particular site so I no longer have to use Google because I have found what I am looking for when I need “word help.” I simply bookmark it. The Webmaster of that dictionary site understands what I need, and is able to deliver it. Before you even begin to write content you have to get into the mindset of the targeted user of your site. You have to think like they think; what do they expect, and what can you deliver.
Then create content around that targeted visitor. Create videos, images, audio, text information, news archives, and press release with that perfect visitor in mind.
Caution: a lot of people go off on a tangent since they hear things like "Google sends the most traffic, so I have to create a site Google Likes."
However, the #1 guideline Google gives is:
1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.
Link: http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/tenthings.html
Google focuses on the user rather more than any other variable to guide them when creating great products and/or services. That's exactly what you need for your website. Concentrate on the user’s experience. Giving a user great experience relies on one thing … CONTENT.
If you have unique, and INTERESTING content on your website, that cannot be found elsewhere (unique content) on the Internet, you are winning the competitive battle. Others will attempt to copy you, but as long as you keep innovating, and taking the "Unique-ness", and "Interest-ness" to the next level, the competition will always fall short.
The Traffic Thou Rains Supreme
Traffic is the lifeblood of any site. The easiest way to get traffic is having great content!
Having the #1 spot on Google doesn't do you any good if your website is lacking in interest, and flavor. In fact if you attain a #1 top spot for a high-ranking keyword, it can only be through having great content and valuable information on your site. So great content, the greatest content and the #1 ranking is kind of a self-fulfilling philosophy.
Most traditional traffic comes from Search Engines, and unfortunately a lot of well-meaning gurus tell people to increase their traffic on search engines as if it is the be all and end all of traffic online. It's not.
• Traffic can come from anywhere and everywhere. Traffic can come from web 2.0 sites like Digg.com, Del.icio.us, or StumbleUpon.com. These sources can be intense on some days and mediocre on others. But when it hits, it hits hard. Despite the daily gyrations, generally you will usually see a steady stream of traffic monthly from this type of traffic.
• Traffic can comes from Blog comments that you posted on other people's blogs. Backlinks, or even the nofollow links, still allow people that read the comment the opportunity to go to your site. They are more likely to follow your link if you say something interesting.
• Traffic can come from participating in forums, or online chats that allow you to put your website as a link in your signature and/or profile.
• Traffic can come from Yahoo Answers, a place where people can go to ask questions of experts in the industry. Register as an expert and give your 2 cents. I believe Google has Answers too.
• Traffic can come from YouTube (tons of it), Metacafe, and other online video sites. If you have a tutorial video for example of your services, post it up on the video site, and put a link in the description of it to attract more visitors. Also add a watermark and place the URL in the beginning and ending of your video. The amount of traffic you see will vary but if your subject is viral, you can see visitors topping 100,000 a day, if DONE RIGHT.
• Traffic can come from RSS feeds of your content to RSS aggregators, like Google's BlogSearch. RSS feeds are another great subject that can be like steroids to a website's traffic.
• Traffic is endless and it is infinite. In my opinion, it is a good strategy to keep your traffic from one source always under 40%. For example Google, the Big G, is sending you more than 40% of your traffic; you have to decrease it by increasing the other sources of traffic you get. Now I don't mean reject Google traffic, but always trying to supplement it. But if you know you know how all of this works together, you will say, wait, if I increase my backlinks, YouTube videos, etc, that will give me a higher PageRank and increase the Google traffic even more. Yep, it’s a hell of a snowball affect; just make sure you continue increasing other sources of links, and you will not be at the mercy of 1 source of traffic.
Ying Yang
Content and Traffic are like Ying and Yang; one cannot exist without the other. If you solely concentrate on traffic, you will find out that you can gain 1,000 visitors an hour, but most will leave within 1 minute, since your content is lackluster. But on the other hand, if you have great content, traffic will flow like a river.
My suggestion is to use 80% of your energy on creating great content and 20% on driving traffic. The reason; traffic is the easiest thing in the world to get … a couple thousand directories links, article submissions, video submissions, web 2.0 bookmarks, and bam easy 2,000 visitors a day. But without the great content, you will be wasting your time as visitors leave in droves. Obviously this depends on your industry as a whole, and the length of time it takes for you to generate all the great content you have.
So, Content is King, Traffic is Supreme! Creating unique content and expand your exposure on the Internet, and you will do great!
Optimum7.com is an Internet Marketing Company with primary focus on Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises (SME’s). Optimum7.com offers a rich consultative approach that our clients find refreshing. We actually listen to our clients to learn exactly what their problems and objectives are. Content is King, Traffic is Supreme.
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