املأ الحقول بالبيانات المناسبة كما في الصورة
ثم اضغط زر الإرسال
لكي تتم العملية يجب أن يكون تسجيلك باسم غير محجوز من قبل
وبذلك يكون لديك حساب رصيده صفر حتى الآن
سجل الان بالضغط على الصورة التى بالاسفل
سجل لا تتردد
الثلاثاء، 5 مايو 2009
شرح طريقة كسب النقود من www.AWSurveys.com
املأ الحقول بالبيانات المناسبة كما في الصورة
ثم اضغط زر الإرسال
لكي تتم العملية يجب أن يكون تسجيلك باسم غير محجوز من قبل
وبذلك يكون لديك حساب رصيده صفر حتى الآن
سجل الان بالضغط على الصورة التى بالاسفل
سجل لا تتردد
الاثنين، 27 أبريل 2009
Guide to Buying Hard Drives
Apart from being one of the most essential parts of your computer, hard drive storage is constantly updating, in terms of both capacity of disk space and in physical size. When it comes time to upgrade your disk storage, there are a number of factors for you to take into account. Once you've made basic decisions about size, connectivity, speed and data transfer rate, and whether you want an internal drive or external, you can search through Myshopping.com.au to find the most suitable brand, and model, and compare the prices of different vendors.
Hard Drives
How A Hard Drive Works
Your hard drive has a number of magnetized platters connected to a spindle. The spindle spins the platters at a very fast speed while a series of read/write heads scan over them both looking for and writing information. This information is transferred via a cable system, or through a wireless connection to a hard disk controller, which in most systems is built into the motherboard, or in some systems installed as an add-in card. The information that comes from your hard drive through its controller is then made available to the components of your computer. The effectiveness of your hard drive (its performance) depends on how much of its capacity remains unused, how well organised the data is (known as fragmentation) and its data transfer rate, which in turn is dependent on its connection type and the drive's spin rate.
Internal Hard Drives
Most computers from, the most basic home models up to the most powerful servers, have an internally installed hard drive. Technology today ensures that they are all generally fast, reliable, and offer dependable storage ability. Most modern computers have installation slots and cabling to enable you to install additional hard drive. This allows you to increase your storage capacity without giving up your existing hard drive.
Internal Hard Drives
External Hard Drives
These drives are essentially the same drives as ones installed inside computers, but cased inside a protective, portable case. This is a good solution for people who work remotely and need to transport large amounts of data. If an external hard drive is your choice, make sure your computer is compatible with the interface that the hard drive uses. An add-in card, such as a FireWire card can help to increase your computer's capabilities. You can compare different brands of external hard drives simply at Myshopping.com.au and search on the connection type, or other specifications.
External Hard drives
Laptop Hard Drives
There have been many advances in miniaturization of hardware components for laptop computing, and hard drive technology is not left out of this loop. Laptop hard drives function in exactly the same way as internal hard drives on other computers, only they are designed to provide maximum storage and efficiency in the smallest possible package. For added flexibility, some laptop computers come with removable hard drives that can be easily installed and removed. However, before you buy a hard drive for your portable computer, check that the hard drive's specifications will meet the standards of your computer, as many laptop hard drives are proprietary, and are not compatible with other brands and models.
Laptop Hard Drives
Size
Your hard drive stores your operating system, its programs (games and applications), your working data, and your digital music and movies. Most new computer purchases have a minimum of 80 GB of hard disk space; many have considerably more. Hard drive space is one of those things, once you have it, you'll find ways to fill it soon enough. There is no real rule of thumb, but consider the cost per gigabyte of storage as a way to guide your purchase. If you work with large files, such as music, video and graphics, it pays to have a big storage space for your work. It may pay you to have two hard drives, one that houses all your programs and applications, and another for storing your work and projects.
You may want to compare the price of say a 160GB drive against two separate 80 GB drives. If one drive fails all is not lost. Today's hard drives however, are fairly robust pieces of equipment and providing they are not abuse, will serve you well for a long period of time.
up to 32 GB Hard Drives
32-64 GB Hard Drives
64-100 GB Hard Drives
100 GB and more Hard Drives
Interface
One key distinguishing factor between hard drives is the way in which they connect to your computer. There are a number of basic types of connection schemes used with hard drives. Each connection type has a range of differences in performance.
IDE (INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS)
This is by the most common connection methods. Because the hard drive controller is on the drive itself rather than on the motherboard, it helps to keep costs down. There different IDE standards available. Mostly, you will want to purchase the fastest possible standard that your computer can support. Most computers will support a standard that is faster than what the computer currently supports, so you can buy a faster drive, and update your computer at a later time. The different IDE standards, in order from most basic to fastest, are:
ATA (Basic). Supports up to two hard drives and features a 16-bit interface, handling transfer speeds up to 8.3 MB per second.
ATA-2 or EIDE (Enhanced IDE). Supports transfer speeds up to 13.3 MB per second.
ATA-3. A minor upgrade to ATA-2 and offers transfer speeds up to 16.6 MB per second.
Ultra-ATA (Ultra-DMA, ATA-33 or DMA-33). Dramatic speed improvements, with transfer rates up to 33 MB per second.
ATA-66. A version of ATA that doubles transfer rates up to 66 MB per second.
ATA-100. An upgrade to the ATA standard supporting transfer rates up to 100 MB per second.
ATA-133. Found mostly in AMD-based systems (not supported by Intel), with transfer rates up to 133 MB per second.
IDE / EIDE Hard Drives
Serial ATA Hard Drives
Ultra DMA 100 Hard Drives
SCSI (SMALL COMPUTER SYSTEM INTERFACE)
This is the hard drive interface standard used by many high-end PCs, networks and servers, and Apple Macintosh computers, except for the earliest Macs and the newer iMacs. While some systems support SCSI controllers on their motherboards, most feature a SCSI controller add-in card. SCSI drives are usually faster and more reliable, and the SCSI interface supports the connection of many more drives than IDE. While SCSI drives come in many different standards, many of them are not compatible with one another. So it's important be know that your computer supports the drive you plan to install. The different SCSI connections are:
SCSI-1. A basic connection using a 25-pin connector, supporting transfer rates up to 4 MB per second.
SCSI-2. Uses a 50-pin connector and supports multiple devices with a transfer rate of 4MB per second.
Wide SCSI. These drives have a wider cable and a 68-pin connection that supports 16-bit data transfers.
Fast SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus but transfers data at 10 MB Per second.
Fast Wide SCSI. Doubles both the bus (16-bit) and the data transfer rate (20 MB per second).
Ultra SCSI or Ultra Wide SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus and transfers data at 20 MB per second.
SCSI-3. Features a 16-bit bus and transfers data at 40 MB per second.
Ultra2 SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus and transfer data at a rate of 40 MB per second.
Wide Ultra2 SCSI. Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data transfer rates of 80 MB per second.
SCSI Hard Drives
Ultra320 SCSI Hard Drives
FIREWIRE (IEEE 1394)
The FireWire standard is becoming popular in portable hard drives because it can be connected and removed without having to reboot the computer. It supports data transfer rates of 50 MB per second, which means it is ideal for video, audio and multimedia applications. FireWire requires a dedicated add-in card and the hard drives in use require an external power source, but the interface can support up to 63 devices simultaneously.
FireWire Hard Drives
USB 1.1 (UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS)
Pretty much all computers today include USB ports on their motherboards. (On older model, you can install an add-in card.) USB controllers can be used to connect external hard drives, and can support as many as 127 devices simultaneously either through USB port hubs or linked in a daisy chain fashion. USB controllers do delivery power to devices connected to them, but many hard drives still use an external power source. USB is limited by its data transfer speed, the maximum rate being about at 1.5 MB per second.
USB Hard Drives
USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED USB)
A more recently introduced and far better connection standard that offers backward compatibility and data transfer rates of up to 60 MB per second. USB 1.1 system can use a USB 2.0 device; it will need a USB 2.0 controller card to achieve the higher transfer rates.
USB 2.0 Hard Drives
FIBRE CHANNEL
Fibre Cabling is mainly used for high-bandwidth network servers and workstations, providing very fast data transfer rates (up to 106MB per second), and connection at long cabled distances, although it is expensive and you need to install a special interface card.
Spin rate
Data transfer rate is crucial to how well your computer performs for you. Apart from the connection types above, the performance of your hard drive depends on its spin rate, measured in RPM. Higher RPM generally means faster data transfer rate. The lowest spin speed that is acceptable in computing today is 5400 RPM. The common standard at present is 7200 RPM. But higher speeds are available in SCSI drives, and it is one area of computer system technology that is constantly being developed.
3600 RPM Hard Drives
4200 RPM Hard Drives
5400 RPM Hard Drives
7200 RPM Hard Drives
10000 RPM Hard Drives
15000 RPM Hard Drives
A larger capacity hard drive will not necessarily make your system function any faster unless you are low on available disk space with your existing drive. But a drive with Ultra ATA/100 or ATA/133 and a 7200 RPM spin rate will pretty much guarantee an improved hard drive performance.
Other considerations
CACHE
Cache (pronounces 'cash') is additional temporary memory that acts as a buffer between the system and the drive. Frequently accessed data is stored in the cache for quick access. Cache sizes vary from 512 KB up to 16 MB on some SCSI drives. The larger cache you have on your drive, the faster your drive will transfer data. If you are working with large files, such as video, images and audio files, it pays to have the largest cache you can get (8MB or more).
SEEK TIME
The data on your disk is stored in tracks and sectors and when you instruct your hard drive controller to retrieve some data, it goes looking. The seek time is a measure of how long it takes the hard drive to find a specific track on a disk. Seek times can vary slightly from disk to disk and a drive with a faster seek time will always perform better.
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL TRANSFER RATES
These two rates tell how fast a drive actually reads the data and passes it along to the system. Internal Transfer Rate refers to the time it takes for a drives heads to read data from the platter and pass it to the drive's cache. The External Transfer Rate (sometimes called the Transfer Rate or the Burst Transfer Rate) is a measure of the time it takes to send the data from the cache all the way to the computer's memory. Naturally faster transfer rates provide better performance.
S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology)
This is a nice built-in feature in some hard drives that can help alert you to a potential hardware problem. Your computer's BIOS must support this in order for the SMART function it to work, however the drive itself will still work in a system without it.
Buying and installing a hard drive has some technical aspects that you need to take into account. Use Myshopping.com.au to compare different hard drive makes and specifications to find the drive that will work best for your needs and computer. You can compare prices and service offers from different vendors.
Author Bio
MyShopping.com.au helps you compare hard drives and buy online from top-rated online stores.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
Hard Drives
How A Hard Drive Works
Your hard drive has a number of magnetized platters connected to a spindle. The spindle spins the platters at a very fast speed while a series of read/write heads scan over them both looking for and writing information. This information is transferred via a cable system, or through a wireless connection to a hard disk controller, which in most systems is built into the motherboard, or in some systems installed as an add-in card. The information that comes from your hard drive through its controller is then made available to the components of your computer. The effectiveness of your hard drive (its performance) depends on how much of its capacity remains unused, how well organised the data is (known as fragmentation) and its data transfer rate, which in turn is dependent on its connection type and the drive's spin rate.
Internal Hard Drives
Most computers from, the most basic home models up to the most powerful servers, have an internally installed hard drive. Technology today ensures that they are all generally fast, reliable, and offer dependable storage ability. Most modern computers have installation slots and cabling to enable you to install additional hard drive. This allows you to increase your storage capacity without giving up your existing hard drive.
Internal Hard Drives
External Hard Drives
These drives are essentially the same drives as ones installed inside computers, but cased inside a protective, portable case. This is a good solution for people who work remotely and need to transport large amounts of data. If an external hard drive is your choice, make sure your computer is compatible with the interface that the hard drive uses. An add-in card, such as a FireWire card can help to increase your computer's capabilities. You can compare different brands of external hard drives simply at Myshopping.com.au and search on the connection type, or other specifications.
External Hard drives
Laptop Hard Drives
There have been many advances in miniaturization of hardware components for laptop computing, and hard drive technology is not left out of this loop. Laptop hard drives function in exactly the same way as internal hard drives on other computers, only they are designed to provide maximum storage and efficiency in the smallest possible package. For added flexibility, some laptop computers come with removable hard drives that can be easily installed and removed. However, before you buy a hard drive for your portable computer, check that the hard drive's specifications will meet the standards of your computer, as many laptop hard drives are proprietary, and are not compatible with other brands and models.
Laptop Hard Drives
Size
Your hard drive stores your operating system, its programs (games and applications), your working data, and your digital music and movies. Most new computer purchases have a minimum of 80 GB of hard disk space; many have considerably more. Hard drive space is one of those things, once you have it, you'll find ways to fill it soon enough. There is no real rule of thumb, but consider the cost per gigabyte of storage as a way to guide your purchase. If you work with large files, such as music, video and graphics, it pays to have a big storage space for your work. It may pay you to have two hard drives, one that houses all your programs and applications, and another for storing your work and projects.
You may want to compare the price of say a 160GB drive against two separate 80 GB drives. If one drive fails all is not lost. Today's hard drives however, are fairly robust pieces of equipment and providing they are not abuse, will serve you well for a long period of time.
up to 32 GB Hard Drives
32-64 GB Hard Drives
64-100 GB Hard Drives
100 GB and more Hard Drives
Interface
One key distinguishing factor between hard drives is the way in which they connect to your computer. There are a number of basic types of connection schemes used with hard drives. Each connection type has a range of differences in performance.
IDE (INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS)
This is by the most common connection methods. Because the hard drive controller is on the drive itself rather than on the motherboard, it helps to keep costs down. There different IDE standards available. Mostly, you will want to purchase the fastest possible standard that your computer can support. Most computers will support a standard that is faster than what the computer currently supports, so you can buy a faster drive, and update your computer at a later time. The different IDE standards, in order from most basic to fastest, are:
ATA (Basic). Supports up to two hard drives and features a 16-bit interface, handling transfer speeds up to 8.3 MB per second.
ATA-2 or EIDE (Enhanced IDE). Supports transfer speeds up to 13.3 MB per second.
ATA-3. A minor upgrade to ATA-2 and offers transfer speeds up to 16.6 MB per second.
Ultra-ATA (Ultra-DMA, ATA-33 or DMA-33). Dramatic speed improvements, with transfer rates up to 33 MB per second.
ATA-66. A version of ATA that doubles transfer rates up to 66 MB per second.
ATA-100. An upgrade to the ATA standard supporting transfer rates up to 100 MB per second.
ATA-133. Found mostly in AMD-based systems (not supported by Intel), with transfer rates up to 133 MB per second.
IDE / EIDE Hard Drives
Serial ATA Hard Drives
Ultra DMA 100 Hard Drives
SCSI (SMALL COMPUTER SYSTEM INTERFACE)
This is the hard drive interface standard used by many high-end PCs, networks and servers, and Apple Macintosh computers, except for the earliest Macs and the newer iMacs. While some systems support SCSI controllers on their motherboards, most feature a SCSI controller add-in card. SCSI drives are usually faster and more reliable, and the SCSI interface supports the connection of many more drives than IDE. While SCSI drives come in many different standards, many of them are not compatible with one another. So it's important be know that your computer supports the drive you plan to install. The different SCSI connections are:
SCSI-1. A basic connection using a 25-pin connector, supporting transfer rates up to 4 MB per second.
SCSI-2. Uses a 50-pin connector and supports multiple devices with a transfer rate of 4MB per second.
Wide SCSI. These drives have a wider cable and a 68-pin connection that supports 16-bit data transfers.
Fast SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus but transfers data at 10 MB Per second.
Fast Wide SCSI. Doubles both the bus (16-bit) and the data transfer rate (20 MB per second).
Ultra SCSI or Ultra Wide SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus and transfers data at 20 MB per second.
SCSI-3. Features a 16-bit bus and transfers data at 40 MB per second.
Ultra2 SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus and transfer data at a rate of 40 MB per second.
Wide Ultra2 SCSI. Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data transfer rates of 80 MB per second.
SCSI Hard Drives
Ultra320 SCSI Hard Drives
FIREWIRE (IEEE 1394)
The FireWire standard is becoming popular in portable hard drives because it can be connected and removed without having to reboot the computer. It supports data transfer rates of 50 MB per second, which means it is ideal for video, audio and multimedia applications. FireWire requires a dedicated add-in card and the hard drives in use require an external power source, but the interface can support up to 63 devices simultaneously.
FireWire Hard Drives
USB 1.1 (UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS)
Pretty much all computers today include USB ports on their motherboards. (On older model, you can install an add-in card.) USB controllers can be used to connect external hard drives, and can support as many as 127 devices simultaneously either through USB port hubs or linked in a daisy chain fashion. USB controllers do delivery power to devices connected to them, but many hard drives still use an external power source. USB is limited by its data transfer speed, the maximum rate being about at 1.5 MB per second.
USB Hard Drives
USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED USB)
A more recently introduced and far better connection standard that offers backward compatibility and data transfer rates of up to 60 MB per second. USB 1.1 system can use a USB 2.0 device; it will need a USB 2.0 controller card to achieve the higher transfer rates.
USB 2.0 Hard Drives
FIBRE CHANNEL
Fibre Cabling is mainly used for high-bandwidth network servers and workstations, providing very fast data transfer rates (up to 106MB per second), and connection at long cabled distances, although it is expensive and you need to install a special interface card.
Spin rate
Data transfer rate is crucial to how well your computer performs for you. Apart from the connection types above, the performance of your hard drive depends on its spin rate, measured in RPM. Higher RPM generally means faster data transfer rate. The lowest spin speed that is acceptable in computing today is 5400 RPM. The common standard at present is 7200 RPM. But higher speeds are available in SCSI drives, and it is one area of computer system technology that is constantly being developed.
3600 RPM Hard Drives
4200 RPM Hard Drives
5400 RPM Hard Drives
7200 RPM Hard Drives
10000 RPM Hard Drives
15000 RPM Hard Drives
A larger capacity hard drive will not necessarily make your system function any faster unless you are low on available disk space with your existing drive. But a drive with Ultra ATA/100 or ATA/133 and a 7200 RPM spin rate will pretty much guarantee an improved hard drive performance.
Other considerations
CACHE
Cache (pronounces 'cash') is additional temporary memory that acts as a buffer between the system and the drive. Frequently accessed data is stored in the cache for quick access. Cache sizes vary from 512 KB up to 16 MB on some SCSI drives. The larger cache you have on your drive, the faster your drive will transfer data. If you are working with large files, such as video, images and audio files, it pays to have the largest cache you can get (8MB or more).
SEEK TIME
The data on your disk is stored in tracks and sectors and when you instruct your hard drive controller to retrieve some data, it goes looking. The seek time is a measure of how long it takes the hard drive to find a specific track on a disk. Seek times can vary slightly from disk to disk and a drive with a faster seek time will always perform better.
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL TRANSFER RATES
These two rates tell how fast a drive actually reads the data and passes it along to the system. Internal Transfer Rate refers to the time it takes for a drives heads to read data from the platter and pass it to the drive's cache. The External Transfer Rate (sometimes called the Transfer Rate or the Burst Transfer Rate) is a measure of the time it takes to send the data from the cache all the way to the computer's memory. Naturally faster transfer rates provide better performance.
S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology)
This is a nice built-in feature in some hard drives that can help alert you to a potential hardware problem. Your computer's BIOS must support this in order for the SMART function it to work, however the drive itself will still work in a system without it.
Buying and installing a hard drive has some technical aspects that you need to take into account. Use Myshopping.com.au to compare different hard drive makes and specifications to find the drive that will work best for your needs and computer. You can compare prices and service offers from different vendors.
Author Bio
MyShopping.com.au helps you compare hard drives and buy online from top-rated online stores.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
Notebook or Desktop Computer, What is the Best Buy
The idea of purchasing a personal computer may be appealing to a lot of people, however they may feel undecided as weather to go for a traditional desktop computer or for a light weight portable notebook. Several aspects should be taken into consideration as for the purposes of such acquisition. If the main purpose of buying a computer is for occasional use, regardless if it is for work or entertainment activities, one may consider buying a traditional desktop computer taking in consideration that its price is usually lower than the portable version.
The maintenance and eventual upgrade of a desktop computer is also much easier to perform and less costly. If the buyer is looking to spend the least amount of money, definitely the desktop computer models offer more choices of finding better deals weather it is used or new. One may look around the local computer stores for special deals or may consider browsing the many possibilities offered online stores.
Perhaps the greatest feature a desktop computer has is the fact that quite often it can be upgraded and personalized to suit the user needs without having to be sent back to the manufacturer. In most cases a local authorized computer store can perform the technical changes or upgrades to satisfaction. The desktop computers are meant for work and leisure as well and regardless of its configuration or how fast it can perform, it seems that it became an everyday tool of modern times.
On the other hand, if the main reason for the purchasing of a computer is portability, then in this case the notebook will be the right choice. There are several brand names available on the market offering all kinds of configurations, from very basic up to the most sophisticated and powerful late models of notebooks. After a careful research on which model will better suit your needs, then you will still have the option to choose to buy a new, reconditioned or used unit for the sake of saving some money. Keep in mind that a reconditioned laptop purchased from a computer store, usually comes will full warranty, just like as if you had purchased a brand new model but for a much less cost.
Just like any other purchase, it is important to do a careful research to find out what exactly your needs are and what are you going to do with it. The lightweight and portable notebooks are much nicer to carry around even though they are usually more expensive. Also the lightweight models almost always have a smaller screen and a more compact keyboard than traditional models of notebooks. So, in this case if weight is not a critical issue, than you may just consider to purchase a traditional regular-model notebook as long as it meets your requirements. If you choose this later option you will certainly be saving a great amount of money.
If you are the kind of person who feels skeptical about purchasing a reconditioned computer, because it has been previously returned from the manufacturer, relax, some times there is absolutely nothing wrong with the returned unit. It may have just been a matter of model preference or some minor detail that didn`t quite match the previous owner`s preference. Keep in mind that a reconditioned notebook with a full warranty is just as good as a brand new one and maybe even better for the great discount it usually offers.
Also you may find some good deals in refurbished notebooks. Beware that the difference between refurbished and reconditioned notebooks is that the former is usually an older notebook that has been used and then reconditioned, often by a third party, and the later usually means that it had some problem, went back to the manufacturer, got fixed and now it is available at a fair discount price with full manufacturer guarantee.
The right solution for one`s computer related tasks, whether desktop or notebook, will depend mostly on one`s working or leisure needs. Search carefully for the best deals and avoid paying extra for accessories you will hardly use. Also take a look at reconditioned (full warranty) computers. The price will certainly surprise you. And the performance might too!
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
The maintenance and eventual upgrade of a desktop computer is also much easier to perform and less costly. If the buyer is looking to spend the least amount of money, definitely the desktop computer models offer more choices of finding better deals weather it is used or new. One may look around the local computer stores for special deals or may consider browsing the many possibilities offered online stores.
Perhaps the greatest feature a desktop computer has is the fact that quite often it can be upgraded and personalized to suit the user needs without having to be sent back to the manufacturer. In most cases a local authorized computer store can perform the technical changes or upgrades to satisfaction. The desktop computers are meant for work and leisure as well and regardless of its configuration or how fast it can perform, it seems that it became an everyday tool of modern times.
On the other hand, if the main reason for the purchasing of a computer is portability, then in this case the notebook will be the right choice. There are several brand names available on the market offering all kinds of configurations, from very basic up to the most sophisticated and powerful late models of notebooks. After a careful research on which model will better suit your needs, then you will still have the option to choose to buy a new, reconditioned or used unit for the sake of saving some money. Keep in mind that a reconditioned laptop purchased from a computer store, usually comes will full warranty, just like as if you had purchased a brand new model but for a much less cost.
Just like any other purchase, it is important to do a careful research to find out what exactly your needs are and what are you going to do with it. The lightweight and portable notebooks are much nicer to carry around even though they are usually more expensive. Also the lightweight models almost always have a smaller screen and a more compact keyboard than traditional models of notebooks. So, in this case if weight is not a critical issue, than you may just consider to purchase a traditional regular-model notebook as long as it meets your requirements. If you choose this later option you will certainly be saving a great amount of money.
If you are the kind of person who feels skeptical about purchasing a reconditioned computer, because it has been previously returned from the manufacturer, relax, some times there is absolutely nothing wrong with the returned unit. It may have just been a matter of model preference or some minor detail that didn`t quite match the previous owner`s preference. Keep in mind that a reconditioned notebook with a full warranty is just as good as a brand new one and maybe even better for the great discount it usually offers.
Also you may find some good deals in refurbished notebooks. Beware that the difference between refurbished and reconditioned notebooks is that the former is usually an older notebook that has been used and then reconditioned, often by a third party, and the later usually means that it had some problem, went back to the manufacturer, got fixed and now it is available at a fair discount price with full manufacturer guarantee.
The right solution for one`s computer related tasks, whether desktop or notebook, will depend mostly on one`s working or leisure needs. Search carefully for the best deals and avoid paying extra for accessories you will hardly use. Also take a look at reconditioned (full warranty) computers. The price will certainly surprise you. And the performance might too!
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
How Does VoIP Work
VoIP (www.tech-faq.com/voip.shtml) is said to be the technology of the future because it allows us to do things that were impossible just five years ago. Now, instead of having a public telephone network the VoIP technology allows you to use your broadband connection to make telephone calls. What's great about this is that you can use the phones you have always used; you just get to combine two services into one.
The VoIP technology works if you have a broadband connect and a device called a router. The router enables your phone to call just like it always has, but now it's over the broadband digital connection instead of through a conventional phone line. In addition to a router there is a VoIP gateway that connects you to a voice over network so that your voice can be converted into a digital sound instead of through the analog technology of the past. Information is basically sent in packets across broadband lines to give a great sound and seamless connection to those who have VoIP service and even those who do not. VoIP really is a revolution in combining internet access and telephone service because it utilizes the same technology for two very different things.
The VoIP is great because now you can have just one bill that allows you to have phone access as well as broadband service. Luckily, most companies can even allow you to be online at the same time as you're on the phone. There really aren't any limitations to the VoIP service and in the future it will only get easier. In the coming years digital phones will be made so that each consumer won't have to have a router, and VoIP service will probably be more common than those who have a public telephone network. If you already have a broadband connection you should definitely consider a VoIP phone connection because it's most cost efficient, it's practical, and it really is the way telephone and internet service is going!
Author Bio
Laura Rupert is a freelance writer who contributes to The Tech FAQ
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
The VoIP technology works if you have a broadband connect and a device called a router. The router enables your phone to call just like it always has, but now it's over the broadband digital connection instead of through a conventional phone line. In addition to a router there is a VoIP gateway that connects you to a voice over network so that your voice can be converted into a digital sound instead of through the analog technology of the past. Information is basically sent in packets across broadband lines to give a great sound and seamless connection to those who have VoIP service and even those who do not. VoIP really is a revolution in combining internet access and telephone service because it utilizes the same technology for two very different things.
The VoIP is great because now you can have just one bill that allows you to have phone access as well as broadband service. Luckily, most companies can even allow you to be online at the same time as you're on the phone. There really aren't any limitations to the VoIP service and in the future it will only get easier. In the coming years digital phones will be made so that each consumer won't have to have a router, and VoIP service will probably be more common than those who have a public telephone network. If you already have a broadband connection you should definitely consider a VoIP phone connection because it's most cost efficient, it's practical, and it really is the way telephone and internet service is going!
Author Bio
Laura Rupert is a freelance writer who contributes to The Tech FAQ
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
Blu-Ray set to take the world by storm
The Blu-ray Disc belongs to a new generation of optical discs capable of staging high density data. Blu-Ray technology is based on a blue-violet coloured laser. The blue laser operates at a wave length of 405 nm, while older technology such as DVDs and CDs are based on red and infrared lasers that works at 650 and 780 nm. Since the wave length is shorter with a blue laser, the new Blu-ray technology makes is possible to store much more information
The advantage with the Blu-ray technology is that the laser beam can be focused much more tightly at the surface of the disc. Tight focus means that a smaller spot will be produced on the surface on the disc, and when the spots become smaller there will naturally be room for more information on each disc. The minimum spot size of any laser depends on a naturally accruing phenomenon called diffraction. The narrow beam of light sent out from a laser will always diverge into a wider beam eventually, due to the natural diffraction of waves. Diffraction will also occur the waves meet an obstruction. By reducing the wavelength of a laser, we can affect the diffraction.
In Blu-ray technology, the diffractions is also affected by the fact that the lens used to focus the light has a higher numerical aperture than the lenses found in ordinary DVDs - 0.85 instead of 0.6. Blu-ray technology based appliances are also equipped with a dual-lens system of supreme quality, and the cover layer has been made thinner in order to prevent unwanted optical effects. All this makes it possible for a Blu-ray laser to focus on much smaller spots. The optical improvements are accompanied with a new method for encoding data which makes it possible to store even more data on the Blu-ray disc.
The standard for Blu-ray technology has been developed as a joint venture between several major manufacturers of PCs and consumer electronics, including Sony and Philips. The group is called the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The first Blu-ray recorder was launched in Japan in 2003, by Sony. Today, Samsung, JVC, Matsushita (Panasonic) and LG Electronics are all examples of companies using Blu-ray technology in their products. Hewlett Packard has announced that they will release desktop PCs equipped with Blu-ray technology in late 2005.
The main competitor for the Blu-ray technology is the HD DVD format which is also capable of storing more information than a normal DVD. The Blu-ray technology does however allow for more information per layer than the HD DVD format - 25 GB compared to 15 GB. The Blu-ray technology will on the other hand most likely be more expensive to support, at least initially, which can make the HD DVD a tempting alternative. In a Blu-ray disc, the data is stored extremely close to the surface. This made the first Blu-ray discs extremely vulnerable to scratching and many users preferred the tougher HD DVD discs. Since 2004, all Blu-ray discs are coated with a clear polymer called "Durabis" which makes them much more durable. According to the developers of Durabis, the TDK Corporation, a coated Blu-ray disc will work even after being attacked with a screwdriver.
Author Bio
Paul Colbert of Blu Ray World is an author of various articles relating to new technology and innovations.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
The advantage with the Blu-ray technology is that the laser beam can be focused much more tightly at the surface of the disc. Tight focus means that a smaller spot will be produced on the surface on the disc, and when the spots become smaller there will naturally be room for more information on each disc. The minimum spot size of any laser depends on a naturally accruing phenomenon called diffraction. The narrow beam of light sent out from a laser will always diverge into a wider beam eventually, due to the natural diffraction of waves. Diffraction will also occur the waves meet an obstruction. By reducing the wavelength of a laser, we can affect the diffraction.
In Blu-ray technology, the diffractions is also affected by the fact that the lens used to focus the light has a higher numerical aperture than the lenses found in ordinary DVDs - 0.85 instead of 0.6. Blu-ray technology based appliances are also equipped with a dual-lens system of supreme quality, and the cover layer has been made thinner in order to prevent unwanted optical effects. All this makes it possible for a Blu-ray laser to focus on much smaller spots. The optical improvements are accompanied with a new method for encoding data which makes it possible to store even more data on the Blu-ray disc.
The standard for Blu-ray technology has been developed as a joint venture between several major manufacturers of PCs and consumer electronics, including Sony and Philips. The group is called the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The first Blu-ray recorder was launched in Japan in 2003, by Sony. Today, Samsung, JVC, Matsushita (Panasonic) and LG Electronics are all examples of companies using Blu-ray technology in their products. Hewlett Packard has announced that they will release desktop PCs equipped with Blu-ray technology in late 2005.
The main competitor for the Blu-ray technology is the HD DVD format which is also capable of storing more information than a normal DVD. The Blu-ray technology does however allow for more information per layer than the HD DVD format - 25 GB compared to 15 GB. The Blu-ray technology will on the other hand most likely be more expensive to support, at least initially, which can make the HD DVD a tempting alternative. In a Blu-ray disc, the data is stored extremely close to the surface. This made the first Blu-ray discs extremely vulnerable to scratching and many users preferred the tougher HD DVD discs. Since 2004, all Blu-ray discs are coated with a clear polymer called "Durabis" which makes them much more durable. According to the developers of Durabis, the TDK Corporation, a coated Blu-ray disc will work even after being attacked with a screwdriver.
Author Bio
Paul Colbert of Blu Ray World is an author of various articles relating to new technology and innovations.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
How to 'Download' Your Old Computer to the Highest Bidder
When you think trash, you surely don't think about your old, trusty personal computer. But that's exactly what will become of it when you make the inevitable move toward your next laptop or desktop. And, yes, buying a new computer is inevitable, considering the pace at which computer technology zips along. Just think-about a handful of years ago, a fast microprocessor for a laptop was at 233 MHz. Now you're looking at about at least 2 GHz! That's Giga, with a G.
So eventually, you will want a computer that can handle the latest software, the latest games, and the latest interactive Web sites, and then you'll have to throw away your old computer, right? Wrong. Try selling your used computer instead. Throwing out your computer is one of the worst things you can do. For one, your computer may be useful for someone out there, even if just for scraps.
Trashed computers and other digital equipment also make up one of the fastest growing, and most dangerous, new trash "categories" out there in your neighborhood landfill. On one hand, computers are generally bulky and made of plastic and other materials that won't be breaking down in a landfill for the next few million years. What's more, other materials in your old computer are highly toxic to the environment, like mercury, lead and cadmium. They're so toxic that their actually name in the waste-management field is "toxics."
You don't have to be a techie or a scientist to understand the danger in that-nor the benefits of selling your computer. On the Internet, there are a vast number of auction and classifieds sites, some better than others, where you can "download" you computer to a worthy buyer.
Before you boot up your replacement laptop or high-performance PC, however, be sure you read and compute the following tips. These tips will help you avoid the crashes and shutdowns that befall the computer seller who doesn't do his homework first.
Hold onto all of the operating system and software manuals that came with your old computer. This will add value to your sale, not to mention it will make you a trusted seller for offering up these helpful books to the buyer.
Erase all personal information from the hard drive. And we're not just talking about simply putting stuff in the "trash bin." It's extremely important to purge all data from your computer's memory repository, even from invisible backup files on the hard drive. If you're not sure how to do this, ask your IT expert at work or a techie friend for advice. You don't want the next user to have access to your bank accounts, old e-mails, and other private info, do you?
Uninstall any application from the hard drive that you'd like to use on your next computer, keeping the installation disk and the software serial number for yourself. When it comes to software, the manufacturers made sure that you never really own software, you license it. So you don't get free reign to keep software on multiple computers. You only get one license, so you need to bring your licensed version with you to your new computer.
Do your homework on your computer's worth. Just like you would for a car, check around at other classifieds and auction sites to see what other people are selling your make and model for.
Be sure you want to truly get rid of old faithful. You may be able to repair your old laptop rather than buy a new $2,000 Centrino model. Or you may be able to add RAM memory and a new hard drive to your four-year-old desktop rather than invest in a new $3,000 multimedia masterpiece. In other words, do a thorough cost-analysis of what it would take to rebuild your old computer, versus what it would cost to sell it and buy a new one. And check your heart too. You might be surprised just how attached you are to your old faithful.
Once you go through these steps, you are prepared to make your move and sell, sell, sell. And then, of course, you'll be ready to start on a whole new list of steps-for buying a new computer. But that's a topic for another article!
Author Bio
Donald Lee is the public relations manager for Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services. Buy, Sell and trade: auto, computers, household items, real estate, pets and much more. For global and localized classifieds, please visit http://www.buysellcommunity.com - Free Buy & Sell Classifieds
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com
So eventually, you will want a computer that can handle the latest software, the latest games, and the latest interactive Web sites, and then you'll have to throw away your old computer, right? Wrong. Try selling your used computer instead. Throwing out your computer is one of the worst things you can do. For one, your computer may be useful for someone out there, even if just for scraps.
Trashed computers and other digital equipment also make up one of the fastest growing, and most dangerous, new trash "categories" out there in your neighborhood landfill. On one hand, computers are generally bulky and made of plastic and other materials that won't be breaking down in a landfill for the next few million years. What's more, other materials in your old computer are highly toxic to the environment, like mercury, lead and cadmium. They're so toxic that their actually name in the waste-management field is "toxics."
You don't have to be a techie or a scientist to understand the danger in that-nor the benefits of selling your computer. On the Internet, there are a vast number of auction and classifieds sites, some better than others, where you can "download" you computer to a worthy buyer.
Before you boot up your replacement laptop or high-performance PC, however, be sure you read and compute the following tips. These tips will help you avoid the crashes and shutdowns that befall the computer seller who doesn't do his homework first.
Hold onto all of the operating system and software manuals that came with your old computer. This will add value to your sale, not to mention it will make you a trusted seller for offering up these helpful books to the buyer.
Erase all personal information from the hard drive. And we're not just talking about simply putting stuff in the "trash bin." It's extremely important to purge all data from your computer's memory repository, even from invisible backup files on the hard drive. If you're not sure how to do this, ask your IT expert at work or a techie friend for advice. You don't want the next user to have access to your bank accounts, old e-mails, and other private info, do you?
Uninstall any application from the hard drive that you'd like to use on your next computer, keeping the installation disk and the software serial number for yourself. When it comes to software, the manufacturers made sure that you never really own software, you license it. So you don't get free reign to keep software on multiple computers. You only get one license, so you need to bring your licensed version with you to your new computer.
Do your homework on your computer's worth. Just like you would for a car, check around at other classifieds and auction sites to see what other people are selling your make and model for.
Be sure you want to truly get rid of old faithful. You may be able to repair your old laptop rather than buy a new $2,000 Centrino model. Or you may be able to add RAM memory and a new hard drive to your four-year-old desktop rather than invest in a new $3,000 multimedia masterpiece. In other words, do a thorough cost-analysis of what it would take to rebuild your old computer, versus what it would cost to sell it and buy a new one. And check your heart too. You might be surprised just how attached you are to your old faithful.
Once you go through these steps, you are prepared to make your move and sell, sell, sell. And then, of course, you'll be ready to start on a whole new list of steps-for buying a new computer. But that's a topic for another article!
Author Bio
Donald Lee is the public relations manager for Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services. Buy, Sell and trade: auto, computers, household items, real estate, pets and much more. For global and localized classifieds, please visit http://www.buysellcommunity.com - Free Buy & Sell Classifieds
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com
How to Build a PC
Do you know what could beat the exciting feeling of having a new computer? Make your own PC!
Making your own computer from scratch is not only fun to do but cheaper as well. You can get to choose the parts you want to use on your PC. This gives you the control in balancing the price and the quality of your newly assembled PC.
Before we show you the steps, here are the necessary parts of the computer that you need to buy:
Processor Cooler
Motherboard memory
Graphics Card
Hard Drive
CD or DVD Writer
Floppy Drive
Sound Card
Computer Case
Power Supply
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Steps in making your own PC:
Step 1
The computer case includes motherboard spacers and screws. This helps set the motherboard in the case. Mount the spacers into the corners and to the proper side holes. It should match up with the holes in your motherboard.
If the motherboard has different jack arrangements from the case's I/O (input/output) shield, use the shield that comes with the motherboard. Mount it from the inside of the case.
Now, to install the processor, raise the lever on the side of the CPU (processor) socket. The CPU's pins are made in a way that it is possible to put the CPU into the socket only one way. Therefore, if you are doing it right, it should easily fit.
Hold the processor down and close to the lever. Before installing the CPU cooler, put thermal compound onto the top of the CPU (on core).
Step 2
Mount the processor cooler on top of the processor. Press down lightly. Clip the heat sink to the processor socket. Attach the CPU cooler's fan power to the motherboard's fan header. It is usually labeled "CPU FAN 1".
Plug in the memory module to the long sockets called DIMM's. Unlock both tabs and push the memory straight down. The clips on the slot's sides should close. Carefully push the motherboard against the I/O shield. Put in and tighten the motherboard screws. Do not force it.
The brown slot nearest to the processor is the AGP slot meant for the video card. Insert the video card evenly in the slot provided. Screw the card into place. Make sure that your AGP video card is placed properly.
At the corner of the motherboard, you can see two rows of pins. Connect case leads to the pins. These leads are usually labeled. Read your motherboard manual. See which label goes to which set of pins.
Step 3
Now we mount the floppy drive, CD/DVD drive and the hard drive. The motherboard usually has 2 IDE channels, each supporting 2 devices. If you install 2 IDE devices on the same cable, you will have the main to be the "master" and the other to be the "slave".
This is the same procedure for CD/DVD drives. Look for an HDD and CD drive manual for the correct jumper settings. You should do these before you screw drives into place.
Connect hard drives to a channel different from the CD drives. Floppy controller has a socket shorter than the IDE controllers.
Make sure the side of the IDE cable that has a red colored stripe lines up with pin1.
Lastly, plug in the main ATX power cable and connect all drives with the power supply. If you have more case coolers, you may also connect them.
Now, connect your monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers to the back of the case. Put in the power cable to the power supply unit. Double-check proper installation before the first boot.
You can now show your friends your first assembled computer.
Author Bio
The author of this article has been building PCs for 5 years and contributes to Computer hardware upgrade.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
Making your own computer from scratch is not only fun to do but cheaper as well. You can get to choose the parts you want to use on your PC. This gives you the control in balancing the price and the quality of your newly assembled PC.
Before we show you the steps, here are the necessary parts of the computer that you need to buy:
Processor Cooler
Motherboard memory
Graphics Card
Hard Drive
CD or DVD Writer
Floppy Drive
Sound Card
Computer Case
Power Supply
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Steps in making your own PC:
Step 1
The computer case includes motherboard spacers and screws. This helps set the motherboard in the case. Mount the spacers into the corners and to the proper side holes. It should match up with the holes in your motherboard.
If the motherboard has different jack arrangements from the case's I/O (input/output) shield, use the shield that comes with the motherboard. Mount it from the inside of the case.
Now, to install the processor, raise the lever on the side of the CPU (processor) socket. The CPU's pins are made in a way that it is possible to put the CPU into the socket only one way. Therefore, if you are doing it right, it should easily fit.
Hold the processor down and close to the lever. Before installing the CPU cooler, put thermal compound onto the top of the CPU (on core).
Step 2
Mount the processor cooler on top of the processor. Press down lightly. Clip the heat sink to the processor socket. Attach the CPU cooler's fan power to the motherboard's fan header. It is usually labeled "CPU FAN 1".
Plug in the memory module to the long sockets called DIMM's. Unlock both tabs and push the memory straight down. The clips on the slot's sides should close. Carefully push the motherboard against the I/O shield. Put in and tighten the motherboard screws. Do not force it.
The brown slot nearest to the processor is the AGP slot meant for the video card. Insert the video card evenly in the slot provided. Screw the card into place. Make sure that your AGP video card is placed properly.
At the corner of the motherboard, you can see two rows of pins. Connect case leads to the pins. These leads are usually labeled. Read your motherboard manual. See which label goes to which set of pins.
Step 3
Now we mount the floppy drive, CD/DVD drive and the hard drive. The motherboard usually has 2 IDE channels, each supporting 2 devices. If you install 2 IDE devices on the same cable, you will have the main to be the "master" and the other to be the "slave".
This is the same procedure for CD/DVD drives. Look for an HDD and CD drive manual for the correct jumper settings. You should do these before you screw drives into place.
Connect hard drives to a channel different from the CD drives. Floppy controller has a socket shorter than the IDE controllers.
Make sure the side of the IDE cable that has a red colored stripe lines up with pin1.
Lastly, plug in the main ATX power cable and connect all drives with the power supply. If you have more case coolers, you may also connect them.
Now, connect your monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers to the back of the case. Put in the power cable to the power supply unit. Double-check proper installation before the first boot.
You can now show your friends your first assembled computer.
Author Bio
The author of this article has been building PCs for 5 years and contributes to Computer hardware upgrade.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
What Is A VoIP Router
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP - www.tech-faq.com/voip.shtml) is a new way to talk on your phone through your broadband internet connection. A VoIP router is needed to help you use the same phone you have been using before your VoIP connection. If you have voice over internet protocol available to you, you'll need a router to sort of make it all happen. It's a small device that will take a little time to get used to, but once you've used it just a couple times you'll be able to use the whole system without a second thought.
Without a VoIP router your phone will not be able to figure out where datagrams should go from source to destination, so information will be lost. Routers will help control phone traffic, controls and maintains bandwidth, and ensures a good voice quality for each and every phone call. Basically, router is responsible for routing all the information in and out of your home so that you can get the services you are supposed to get.
It's said that because of ever expanding technology that VoIP routers won't be needed for much longer. With the invention of digital telephones the need for a separate router won't be necessary. But, until this newer technology becomes more widespread and cost efficient, the majority of VoIP users will need a router to use the voice over internet protocol features. Because of this newer technology, having VoIP service will become easier and more accessible to everyone in the very near future. But, don't let the idea of a routing device scare you off, as VoIP is very easy to use!
Author Bio
Laura Rupert is a freelance writer who contributes to The Tech FAQ
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
Without a VoIP router your phone will not be able to figure out where datagrams should go from source to destination, so information will be lost. Routers will help control phone traffic, controls and maintains bandwidth, and ensures a good voice quality for each and every phone call. Basically, router is responsible for routing all the information in and out of your home so that you can get the services you are supposed to get.
It's said that because of ever expanding technology that VoIP routers won't be needed for much longer. With the invention of digital telephones the need for a separate router won't be necessary. But, until this newer technology becomes more widespread and cost efficient, the majority of VoIP users will need a router to use the voice over internet protocol features. Because of this newer technology, having VoIP service will become easier and more accessible to everyone in the very near future. But, don't let the idea of a routing device scare you off, as VoIP is very easy to use!
Author Bio
Laura Rupert is a freelance writer who contributes to The Tech FAQ
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
How to 'Download' Your Old Computer to the Highest Bidder
When you think trash, you surely don't think about your old, trusty personal computer. But that's exactly what will become of it when you make the inevitable move toward your next laptop or desktop. And, yes, buying a new computer is inevitable, considering the pace at which computer technology zips along. Just think-about a handful of years ago, a fast microprocessor for a laptop was at 233 MHz. Now you're looking at about at least 2 GHz! That's Giga, with a G.
So eventually, you will want a computer that can handle the latest software, the latest games, and the latest interactive Web sites, and then you'll have to throw away your old computer, right? Wrong. Try selling your used computer instead. Throwing out your computer is one of the worst things you can do. For one, your computer may be useful for someone out there, even if just for scraps.
Trashed computers and other digital equipment also make up one of the fastest growing, and most dangerous, new trash "categories" out there in your neighborhood landfill. On one hand, computers are generally bulky and made of plastic and other materials that won't be breaking down in a landfill for the next few million years. What's more, other materials in your old computer are highly toxic to the environment, like mercury, lead and cadmium. They're so toxic that their actually name in the waste-management field is "toxics."
You don't have to be a techie or a scientist to understand the danger in that-nor the benefits of selling your computer. On the Internet, there are a vast number of auction and classifieds sites, some better than others, where you can "download" you computer to a worthy buyer.
Before you boot up your replacement laptop or high-performance PC, however, be sure you read and compute the following tips. These tips will help you avoid the crashes and shutdowns that befall the computer seller who doesn't do his homework first.
Hold onto all of the operating system and software manuals that came with your old computer. This will add value to your sale, not to mention it will make you a trusted seller for offering up these helpful books to the buyer.
Erase all personal information from the hard drive. And we're not just talking about simply putting stuff in the "trash bin." It's extremely important to purge all data from your computer's memory repository, even from invisible backup files on the hard drive. If you're not sure how to do this, ask your IT expert at work or a techie friend for advice. You don't want the next user to have access to your bank accounts, old e-mails, and other private info, do you?
Uninstall any application from the hard drive that you'd like to use on your next computer, keeping the installation disk and the software serial number for yourself. When it comes to software, the manufacturers made sure that you never really own software, you license it. So you don't get free reign to keep software on multiple computers. You only get one license, so you need to bring your licensed version with you to your new computer.
Do your homework on your computer's worth. Just like you would for a car, check around at other classifieds and auction sites to see what other people are selling your make and model for.
Be sure you want to truly get rid of old faithful. You may be able to repair your old laptop rather than buy a new $2,000 Centrino model. Or you may be able to add RAM memory and a new hard drive to your four-year-old desktop rather than invest in a new $3,000 multimedia masterpiece. In other words, do a thorough cost-analysis of what it would take to rebuild your old computer, versus what it would cost to sell it and buy a new one. And check your heart too. You might be surprised just how attached you are to your old faithful.
Once you go through these steps, you are prepared to make your move and sell, sell, sell. And then, of course, you'll be ready to start on a whole new list of steps-for buying a new computer. But that's a topic for another article!
Author Bio
Donald Lee is the public relations manager for Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services. Buy, Sell and trade: auto, computers, household items, real estate, pets and much more. For global and localized classifieds, please visit http://www.buysellcommunity.com - Free Buy & Sell Classifieds
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com
So eventually, you will want a computer that can handle the latest software, the latest games, and the latest interactive Web sites, and then you'll have to throw away your old computer, right? Wrong. Try selling your used computer instead. Throwing out your computer is one of the worst things you can do. For one, your computer may be useful for someone out there, even if just for scraps.
Trashed computers and other digital equipment also make up one of the fastest growing, and most dangerous, new trash "categories" out there in your neighborhood landfill. On one hand, computers are generally bulky and made of plastic and other materials that won't be breaking down in a landfill for the next few million years. What's more, other materials in your old computer are highly toxic to the environment, like mercury, lead and cadmium. They're so toxic that their actually name in the waste-management field is "toxics."
You don't have to be a techie or a scientist to understand the danger in that-nor the benefits of selling your computer. On the Internet, there are a vast number of auction and classifieds sites, some better than others, where you can "download" you computer to a worthy buyer.
Before you boot up your replacement laptop or high-performance PC, however, be sure you read and compute the following tips. These tips will help you avoid the crashes and shutdowns that befall the computer seller who doesn't do his homework first.
Hold onto all of the operating system and software manuals that came with your old computer. This will add value to your sale, not to mention it will make you a trusted seller for offering up these helpful books to the buyer.
Erase all personal information from the hard drive. And we're not just talking about simply putting stuff in the "trash bin." It's extremely important to purge all data from your computer's memory repository, even from invisible backup files on the hard drive. If you're not sure how to do this, ask your IT expert at work or a techie friend for advice. You don't want the next user to have access to your bank accounts, old e-mails, and other private info, do you?
Uninstall any application from the hard drive that you'd like to use on your next computer, keeping the installation disk and the software serial number for yourself. When it comes to software, the manufacturers made sure that you never really own software, you license it. So you don't get free reign to keep software on multiple computers. You only get one license, so you need to bring your licensed version with you to your new computer.
Do your homework on your computer's worth. Just like you would for a car, check around at other classifieds and auction sites to see what other people are selling your make and model for.
Be sure you want to truly get rid of old faithful. You may be able to repair your old laptop rather than buy a new $2,000 Centrino model. Or you may be able to add RAM memory and a new hard drive to your four-year-old desktop rather than invest in a new $3,000 multimedia masterpiece. In other words, do a thorough cost-analysis of what it would take to rebuild your old computer, versus what it would cost to sell it and buy a new one. And check your heart too. You might be surprised just how attached you are to your old faithful.
Once you go through these steps, you are prepared to make your move and sell, sell, sell. And then, of course, you'll be ready to start on a whole new list of steps-for buying a new computer. But that's a topic for another article!
Author Bio
Donald Lee is the public relations manager for Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services. Buy, Sell and trade: auto, computers, household items, real estate, pets and much more. For global and localized classifieds, please visit http://www.buysellcommunity.com - Free Buy & Sell Classifieds
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com
You Can't Have My Money
If you are a business and expect to be taken seriously on the Internet, you need to shape up and project a professional image.
Please don't think this is a request. This is a demand from the Ritalin-popping-immediate gratification-generation surfing the net (aka 95% of your potential customers).
I want to give you my money...
I want your products...
I want to trust you...
but, I'm afraid that is impossible now that I have seen your website.
Flashing sunshine and rainbows are pretty. As a matter of fact some of my most pleasant childhood memories involve sunshine and rainbows. Also, multi-colored colored text exclaiming "Welcome to my HoMe PaGe on the world-wide internetz!" makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Will you be my friend?
No, scratch that, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit, but somehow I'll get through this. "GULP"
I have put the sunshine and rainbows behind me and just as I am about to send my payment to you at "LetsGetItOn6969@example.com", I think... Can I trust someone who uses an email address like that for their business transactions? Sure, my email address may be "EatinBaconNaked@whatever" but I am the customer, I can do that. Please for the love of all that is holy, just get an email address appropriate for business that is separate from your personal email.
And those animated icons that you send in your email, you know, the ones that make Outlook crash like it's coming down off a Pop-tart induced sugar high? Yeah those, keep em' coming.
Oh, and since I am your customer now, you have my permission to include me on your CC list of "friends" because I want to be in your life. OMG PONIES!!! ARE SOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!! ROFL.
While I'm on the subject, please learn the English language. I can't seem to find a "Childish - to - English" translator on the web. So, for the remainder of our business transaction I am going to have to ask you to speak and write a language with actual words. Sure, I "LOL" all the time but really, when is the last time you seen anyone "ROFL" or "ROFLMAO". Certainly, I would never "LMAO" when talking to one of my customers, but maybe I am just getting old...
BRB, I have to TMGARTF (Take my Geritol and read the funnies).
By the way, I enjoyed listening to the midi background music while I was browsing your website. Nothing gives me more confidence in you as a respectable business than an endlessly looping midi version of Metallica's Enter Sandman.
FYI: Midis were cool for about three days in early 1994, and you missed the boat.
You should also know, some of the pages on your website won't load in my browser. Is it possible that those pages don't exist? Wait, what does that little sign say... "Please Excuse The Mess, This Website is Under Construction". Don't worry, I won't mind the mess while your website is eternally under construction, I live in Michigan, I'm used to construction. I am also used to reading "Comic Sans" font in 48 pt type on an endlessly repeating 220 KB JPG background of clouds. That's just what we do for fun here in Michigan in the two weeks every year when there are no beer tents to be found. We throw a little "Dom Casual" on some animated shooting stars when we want to mix it up a bit.
I remember how proud I was in explaining to girls how Netscape 3 was the first to support frames and how it was clearly superior to Internet Explorer. I died a little bit on the inside today when I somehow managed to find your website ...and yes I was a lonely nerd, shut up.
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeez...
FYI: Frames are generally considered a bad idea for more than a few reasons.
Accessibility - Frames are a nightmare for screen readers used by the visually impaired; however I suspect in the case of your website, they are the fortunate ones.
Search Engine Indexing - Search engines will want to index your pages that actually have text content, however, because of the frameset, your content pages probably don't have any navigation links, thereby leading unlucky visitors in to sub-pages with no navigation.
Ah, but I forgot... you're the "professional". Let's just make a flash intro page with a huge animation with little or no relevancy to your industry and a big link that says "CLICK HERE TO ENTER". I guess that just fixes everything now doesn't it? Better yet, why don't you skip the enter link so we have to sit through your entire flash intro, that's how to really impress your customers. Now, tell me, why doesn't your website show up in the search engines? Must be some kind of conspiracy, yeah...
Is something following my cursor or is it my inner ninja just anticipating it's every move? Scary.
I know there is a ninja/pirate joke in there somewhere but I'm too distracted by all the pretty colors.
Yes! I would like to set your website as my home page, thanks for reminding me! And, I would "Send this page to a Friend", but all my friends are IRL (in real life).
Now, what was it you were selling?
Oh, I see, you're a web developer. Well, isn't everyone?
No, it's all right, I'm not crying. I'm just allergic to Geocities.
Author Bio
The author is a full time Web Developer for WebDevelopmentQuote.com. For a free no obligation Web Development Quote, visit Web Development Quote - This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Please don't think this is a request. This is a demand from the Ritalin-popping-immediate gratification-generation surfing the net (aka 95% of your potential customers).
I want to give you my money...
I want your products...
I want to trust you...
but, I'm afraid that is impossible now that I have seen your website.
Flashing sunshine and rainbows are pretty. As a matter of fact some of my most pleasant childhood memories involve sunshine and rainbows. Also, multi-colored colored text exclaiming "Welcome to my HoMe PaGe on the world-wide internetz!" makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Will you be my friend?
No, scratch that, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit, but somehow I'll get through this. "GULP"
I have put the sunshine and rainbows behind me and just as I am about to send my payment to you at "LetsGetItOn6969@example.com", I think... Can I trust someone who uses an email address like that for their business transactions? Sure, my email address may be "EatinBaconNaked@whatever" but I am the customer, I can do that. Please for the love of all that is holy, just get an email address appropriate for business that is separate from your personal email.
And those animated icons that you send in your email, you know, the ones that make Outlook crash like it's coming down off a Pop-tart induced sugar high? Yeah those, keep em' coming.
Oh, and since I am your customer now, you have my permission to include me on your CC list of "friends" because I want to be in your life. OMG PONIES!!! ARE SOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!! ROFL.
While I'm on the subject, please learn the English language. I can't seem to find a "Childish - to - English" translator on the web. So, for the remainder of our business transaction I am going to have to ask you to speak and write a language with actual words. Sure, I "LOL" all the time but really, when is the last time you seen anyone "ROFL" or "ROFLMAO". Certainly, I would never "LMAO" when talking to one of my customers, but maybe I am just getting old...
BRB, I have to TMGARTF (Take my Geritol and read the funnies).
By the way, I enjoyed listening to the midi background music while I was browsing your website. Nothing gives me more confidence in you as a respectable business than an endlessly looping midi version of Metallica's Enter Sandman.
FYI: Midis were cool for about three days in early 1994, and you missed the boat.
You should also know, some of the pages on your website won't load in my browser. Is it possible that those pages don't exist? Wait, what does that little sign say... "Please Excuse The Mess, This Website is Under Construction". Don't worry, I won't mind the mess while your website is eternally under construction, I live in Michigan, I'm used to construction. I am also used to reading "Comic Sans" font in 48 pt type on an endlessly repeating 220 KB JPG background of clouds. That's just what we do for fun here in Michigan in the two weeks every year when there are no beer tents to be found. We throw a little "Dom Casual" on some animated shooting stars when we want to mix it up a bit.
I remember how proud I was in explaining to girls how Netscape 3 was the first to support frames and how it was clearly superior to Internet Explorer. I died a little bit on the inside today when I somehow managed to find your website ...and yes I was a lonely nerd, shut up.
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeez...
FYI: Frames are generally considered a bad idea for more than a few reasons.
Accessibility - Frames are a nightmare for screen readers used by the visually impaired; however I suspect in the case of your website, they are the fortunate ones.
Search Engine Indexing - Search engines will want to index your pages that actually have text content, however, because of the frameset, your content pages probably don't have any navigation links, thereby leading unlucky visitors in to sub-pages with no navigation.
Ah, but I forgot... you're the "professional". Let's just make a flash intro page with a huge animation with little or no relevancy to your industry and a big link that says "CLICK HERE TO ENTER". I guess that just fixes everything now doesn't it? Better yet, why don't you skip the enter link so we have to sit through your entire flash intro, that's how to really impress your customers. Now, tell me, why doesn't your website show up in the search engines? Must be some kind of conspiracy, yeah...
Is something following my cursor or is it my inner ninja just anticipating it's every move? Scary.
I know there is a ninja/pirate joke in there somewhere but I'm too distracted by all the pretty colors.
Yes! I would like to set your website as my home page, thanks for reminding me! And, I would "Send this page to a Friend", but all my friends are IRL (in real life).
Now, what was it you were selling?
Oh, I see, you're a web developer. Well, isn't everyone?
No, it's all right, I'm not crying. I'm just allergic to Geocities.
Author Bio
The author is a full time Web Developer for WebDevelopmentQuote.com. For a free no obligation Web Development Quote, visit Web Development Quote - This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Why Have a Website
Many companies throughout the world today are operating their business with no website. When the internet keeps moving forward and advancing, your business needs to advance as well. If companies do not own or operate an online business as well as a physical business, they will lose out on sales and additional profits.
There are so many valid reasons why owning and operating a website is important. Reaching your target market in your own area is one thing, but having a website allows you to reach your target market world wide. Many more individuals and companies are becoming computer and internet savvy, this means to stay atop of the competition, you need to have a website that is not only informative but functional and professional. If marketed properly you should have sales or contacts via your website that are valid and valuable.
Every business needs to have an advertising campaign, and including your current website in that is vital to success on the internet. It's not good enough to just have a website; you need to invest time and money into your online business. Between pay per click advertising and the search engine marketing, it is more important than ever to keep the online public aware of the services and goods you provide. Whether you decide to hire out these tasks to a web design or marketing company or do the job yourself, it is the most important factor to getting your website awareness out there to the public.
If you own a business and it is not online, this is really a huge factor that needs to be considered. Not only will owning a website help your current clients, with items such as your office hours, prices or services available, it will allow your online audience to see what great products and services you offer, and possibly inspire them into action.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
There are so many valid reasons why owning and operating a website is important. Reaching your target market in your own area is one thing, but having a website allows you to reach your target market world wide. Many more individuals and companies are becoming computer and internet savvy, this means to stay atop of the competition, you need to have a website that is not only informative but functional and professional. If marketed properly you should have sales or contacts via your website that are valid and valuable.
Every business needs to have an advertising campaign, and including your current website in that is vital to success on the internet. It's not good enough to just have a website; you need to invest time and money into your online business. Between pay per click advertising and the search engine marketing, it is more important than ever to keep the online public aware of the services and goods you provide. Whether you decide to hire out these tasks to a web design or marketing company or do the job yourself, it is the most important factor to getting your website awareness out there to the public.
If you own a business and it is not online, this is really a huge factor that needs to be considered. Not only will owning a website help your current clients, with items such as your office hours, prices or services available, it will allow your online audience to see what great products and services you offer, and possibly inspire them into action.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Whose Site Is It Anyway
I spend a lot of time emailing with online business owners. Since that's my specialty, I find a lot of people asking me questions about my success. What amazes me is that many of those people are asking the wrong questions!
The questions I'm talking about come from site owners who want to know how to make themselves look good online. These site owners want to write copy that is all about *their* company. They want to have a flash home page because *they* like it. They want to use *their* favorite colors in the design.
The problem is, it isn't *their* site! Let me explain...
Think about it a minute. Why do you believe most department stores now willingly offer refunds? Years ago they didn't. In fact, it was a well-known fact that, if you bought it, you owned it for life. Yet, in just the last 15 years or so, that way of thinking has been completely reversed. The reason? Customer demand.
Retailers recognized a customer need, and they filled it. They understood that customers were the ones who made the purchases and, therefore, the ones who kept their retail stores in business. The smart thing to do? Reverse the refund policy and keep customers happy.
Was it the store's idea to offer refunds? No. If it were up to the stores, no money would ever be returned. After all, it's *their* store, isn't it? They can do what they want. Yeah, right! Not if they want to stay in business.
The same principle applies to your website. Sure, *you* may want to use certain colors on your site, but what would your customer prefer? Your favorite thing in the online world may be flash intros, but your customers might despise them. You may not like the idea of offering a guarantee, but what about your customers? Whose site is it, anyway? Yours? No, not really.
Before you get too entangled in making your site everything you want it to be, consider your customers' wants and needs.
ACTION STEP 1
Make Your Copy Customer Focused - Go back to your site and read your copy. Does it say anything similar to this? "Welcome to my website. My company does this, that, and the other thing. I am the best company of my type on the Internet. My site has been online since 1999. Buy from me." If so, you have some work to do.
Focus on your customers. What are their needs/wants? Rather than copy that says, "Me, me, we, us, I, I, I," you want copy that acknowledges visitors, makes a connection with them, defines their needs, and offers solutions to their problems.
ACTION STEP 2
Turn Your Site Into An Invitation, Not An Eviction - Do you have a flash home page? If you check your stats, I'll bet you'll find more people who skip the flash intro of your site than people who actually view it.
Flash is extremely popular with Web designers, but it is extremely unnerving to site visitors. Don't force flash on your customers.
ACTION STEP 3
Check Your Navigation - Can your visitors find their way around your site easily? How would you know? The best way to find out for sure is to ask a few people who have never seen your site before to surf on over and take a look around. Ask them to spend 10 or 15 minutes browsing. Then ask them to tell you about their experiences.
Paying due attention to your customers and their needs is one of the best things you can do to improve your online business. Put yourself in your customers' place. When you turn your site into a welcoming environment specifically designed for your visitors, they can't help but want to return again and again.
Author Bio
Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com
FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful)
Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your Business
Into A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
The questions I'm talking about come from site owners who want to know how to make themselves look good online. These site owners want to write copy that is all about *their* company. They want to have a flash home page because *they* like it. They want to use *their* favorite colors in the design.
The problem is, it isn't *their* site! Let me explain...
Think about it a minute. Why do you believe most department stores now willingly offer refunds? Years ago they didn't. In fact, it was a well-known fact that, if you bought it, you owned it for life. Yet, in just the last 15 years or so, that way of thinking has been completely reversed. The reason? Customer demand.
Retailers recognized a customer need, and they filled it. They understood that customers were the ones who made the purchases and, therefore, the ones who kept their retail stores in business. The smart thing to do? Reverse the refund policy and keep customers happy.
Was it the store's idea to offer refunds? No. If it were up to the stores, no money would ever be returned. After all, it's *their* store, isn't it? They can do what they want. Yeah, right! Not if they want to stay in business.
The same principle applies to your website. Sure, *you* may want to use certain colors on your site, but what would your customer prefer? Your favorite thing in the online world may be flash intros, but your customers might despise them. You may not like the idea of offering a guarantee, but what about your customers? Whose site is it, anyway? Yours? No, not really.
Before you get too entangled in making your site everything you want it to be, consider your customers' wants and needs.
ACTION STEP 1
Make Your Copy Customer Focused - Go back to your site and read your copy. Does it say anything similar to this? "Welcome to my website. My company does this, that, and the other thing. I am the best company of my type on the Internet. My site has been online since 1999. Buy from me." If so, you have some work to do.
Focus on your customers. What are their needs/wants? Rather than copy that says, "Me, me, we, us, I, I, I," you want copy that acknowledges visitors, makes a connection with them, defines their needs, and offers solutions to their problems.
ACTION STEP 2
Turn Your Site Into An Invitation, Not An Eviction - Do you have a flash home page? If you check your stats, I'll bet you'll find more people who skip the flash intro of your site than people who actually view it.
Flash is extremely popular with Web designers, but it is extremely unnerving to site visitors. Don't force flash on your customers.
ACTION STEP 3
Check Your Navigation - Can your visitors find their way around your site easily? How would you know? The best way to find out for sure is to ask a few people who have never seen your site before to surf on over and take a look around. Ask them to spend 10 or 15 minutes browsing. Then ask them to tell you about their experiences.
Paying due attention to your customers and their needs is one of the best things you can do to improve your online business. Put yourself in your customers' place. When you turn your site into a welcoming environment specifically designed for your visitors, they can't help but want to return again and again.
Author Bio
Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com
FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful)
Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your Business
Into A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
When to let go of your website designing ideas
As hard as it may be, but letting go of your website designing ideas and listening to the customer may actually be of benefit in the long run.
I know what you are saying, you've been in the web designing business long enough to know what works and wont doesn't, what would my customer know? Well after approaching web design in the same manner, I've unfortunately had no other choice but to give in to my best laid plans and comply with the wishes of my customers.
Construction of good websites usually means that it has to be appealing to the eye, as well as being fully functioning for Search Engine benefits, but ultimately it must display professionalism for the business represented.
Complying with W3C Standards (W3C Markup Validation Service) for both HTML and CSS validation is paramount to good design and programming (but not necessary for good Google PR, I will discuss in later posts), so when designing we like to use base HTML formatting and CSS text font like Tahoma 11pt, to make neat easy to read text and nice page image layouts.
I will list some cases of where letting go has benefits for both parties involved and how in some circumstances actually resulted in little or no web traffic for the website.
Case Study 1. Architectural Firm flash and font matters
Our customer wanted the use of Flash elements to display several architecture images with a nice fade between images and changes to original CSS Font used Tahoma 11pt font and replaced with Century Gothic 11pt, which is used in all their logos and architecture design work.
As most would know embedding Flash files into your website results in W3C Validation undefined source failure, thus rendering the site Invalid Markup. After explaining this, the customer felt the need to have a nice graphical flash style image far outweighed the importance of quality valid HTML Transitional Markup. To them the appearance and perception of their website to their customers was far more advantageous than complying with the W3C.
In addition they wanted the use of the Century Gothic font rather than Tahoma. By design Century Gothic has a much larger font height than Tahoma and when used increased the page height larger than when using Tahoma thus resulting in the site displaying with scroll bars when view under 1024 x 768 resolution, where previously it fitted in the whole page perfectly.
In the end the customer achieved the desired affects they wanted and ultimately it is the customer who 'always' knows best.
Case Study 2. Box supplier becomes boxed in
Our customer had started a new business supplying cardboard boxes for moving and packing. They wanted a simple site with heavy graphical image elements and little or no text on the home page.
Explaining to the customer the role of text based search engines results and that having no 'readable text' on the home page would limit their visibility, they choose design over results.
Why you may ask would a company limit their possibilities of being found on search engines? Well the question still burns with us too, but as mentioned earlier the 'customer always knows best' and the decision was solely theirs to make.
Their philosophy was simple, their website was purely to be used as a reference guide and not the source of extra business, as their marketing strategies would be enough to garner constant business.
To this day I still wonder why they limited their marketability and in particular their website which is always online and can be searched at all times of the day.
So in summary the best laid plans of mice and men (well in this case web designers) can be a utter waste of good management as what I have stated all along that the 'customer always knows best' and ultimately they are the ones paying for your service so sometimes its best to lay down your guns and concede defeat.
Author Bio
Craig Bucknall is the owner and Managing Director of the Sydney based Website Design studio Bullie Graphics. They have been producing quality website design for Australian businesses since 1999.
You can view his website at http://www.bulliegraphics.com.au/
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
I know what you are saying, you've been in the web designing business long enough to know what works and wont doesn't, what would my customer know? Well after approaching web design in the same manner, I've unfortunately had no other choice but to give in to my best laid plans and comply with the wishes of my customers.
Construction of good websites usually means that it has to be appealing to the eye, as well as being fully functioning for Search Engine benefits, but ultimately it must display professionalism for the business represented.
Complying with W3C Standards (W3C Markup Validation Service) for both HTML and CSS validation is paramount to good design and programming (but not necessary for good Google PR, I will discuss in later posts), so when designing we like to use base HTML formatting and CSS text font like Tahoma 11pt, to make neat easy to read text and nice page image layouts.
I will list some cases of where letting go has benefits for both parties involved and how in some circumstances actually resulted in little or no web traffic for the website.
Case Study 1. Architectural Firm flash and font matters
Our customer wanted the use of Flash elements to display several architecture images with a nice fade between images and changes to original CSS Font used Tahoma 11pt font and replaced with Century Gothic 11pt, which is used in all their logos and architecture design work.
As most would know embedding Flash files into your website results in W3C Validation undefined source failure, thus rendering the site Invalid Markup. After explaining this, the customer felt the need to have a nice graphical flash style image far outweighed the importance of quality valid HTML Transitional Markup. To them the appearance and perception of their website to their customers was far more advantageous than complying with the W3C.
In addition they wanted the use of the Century Gothic font rather than Tahoma. By design Century Gothic has a much larger font height than Tahoma and when used increased the page height larger than when using Tahoma thus resulting in the site displaying with scroll bars when view under 1024 x 768 resolution, where previously it fitted in the whole page perfectly.
In the end the customer achieved the desired affects they wanted and ultimately it is the customer who 'always' knows best.
Case Study 2. Box supplier becomes boxed in
Our customer had started a new business supplying cardboard boxes for moving and packing. They wanted a simple site with heavy graphical image elements and little or no text on the home page.
Explaining to the customer the role of text based search engines results and that having no 'readable text' on the home page would limit their visibility, they choose design over results.
Why you may ask would a company limit their possibilities of being found on search engines? Well the question still burns with us too, but as mentioned earlier the 'customer always knows best' and the decision was solely theirs to make.
Their philosophy was simple, their website was purely to be used as a reference guide and not the source of extra business, as their marketing strategies would be enough to garner constant business.
To this day I still wonder why they limited their marketability and in particular their website which is always online and can be searched at all times of the day.
So in summary the best laid plans of mice and men (well in this case web designers) can be a utter waste of good management as what I have stated all along that the 'customer always knows best' and ultimately they are the ones paying for your service so sometimes its best to lay down your guns and concede defeat.
Author Bio
Craig Bucknall is the owner and Managing Director of the Sydney based Website Design studio Bullie Graphics. They have been producing quality website design for Australian businesses since 1999.
You can view his website at http://www.bulliegraphics.com.au/
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
What is the color of your website
Psychology behind the colors that can make or break your website's success.
Did you know that the values associated with colors can have a significant impact on your website's success? And did you know that you can change your visitor's feeling, mood and reaction by using different colors on your website?
Some professional web designers do not realize the impact that a single color can have on their project when designing a website for their clients. In reality, the meaning of colors will send the first message of your website to your visitors. You don't have to be a genius to find out why since it is obvious that the first thing they (visitors) see is the color of your site!
I have studied one hundred visitors to evaluate their patience for uploading a web page. First, I tried a plain black background page and the average waiting time was up to 2.47 seconds. Then I tried a plain white background page and the average wait time for uploading the web page increased to 4.89 Seconds.
The reason is just fear. People are afraid from black and darkness and they feel vulnerable when they see a plain black page. I won't go in detail about this subject in this article but if you would like to know more you can always visit our site at websitedevelopmenttech.com and get more information about color psychology.
What color should you use when designing your website?
Before answering this question you should do some research about your target audiences and find out about their character, behavior, mood, emotion ... etc. I'm not asking you to go and find each individual and interview them to find out their feelings and emotions. All you need to do is find the answer of these two questions:
1. What is the market segmentation that you are targeting?
a. Age
b. Gender
c. Culture
d. Geographic location
2. Why are they coming to your website?
Let's take a closer look at these two questions.
A. Market Segmentation:
a. Age: What is the most appropriate color for the age group that your website is targeting.
b. Gender: Men and Women have different taste and they react differently to colors. For example, the color pink is more appealing to women.
c. Culture: Colors mean different things to different cultures around the world. People associate colors to special events in their culture. For example, white is the symbol of purity and virtue in some cultures while in others white is associated with mourning and grief.
d. Geographic Location: Sometimes geographic location can change people's interpretation of certain colors. For example, people that are living in a desert area tend to be more passionate toward bright colors from yellow to orange vs. people that are living in the mountains.
B. Why are they coming to your website?
a. That is a very important question which determines the mood and feeling of your visitors. For example, people go to a lawyer's or a doctor's website because they have a problem and they want to be FIXED. This means they are not really excited or happy about that issue. Although, this may not be the case all the time there are some exceptions such as plastic surgeons, patent attorneys... etc.
As a designer, once you know your target markets then you can decide what color to choose to get the best possible outcome for your site. Sometimes you may end up changing some colors that you thought would be interesting to your visitors.
Remember, no matter how much you know and how hard you try, there is no guarantee that you can make it the first time. That is why it is important to monitor the results of your website and know how visitors are interacting with your site so you can change your mistakes and learn from it.
Did you know that the values associated with colors can have a significant impact on your website's success? And did you know that you can change your visitor's feeling, mood and reaction by using different colors on your website?
Some professional web designers do not realize the impact that a single color can have on their project when designing a website for their clients. In reality, the meaning of colors will send the first message of your website to your visitors. You don't have to be a genius to find out why since it is obvious that the first thing they (visitors) see is the color of your site!
I have studied one hundred visitors to evaluate their patience for uploading a web page. First, I tried a plain black background page and the average waiting time was up to 2.47 seconds. Then I tried a plain white background page and the average wait time for uploading the web page increased to 4.89 Seconds.
The reason is just fear. People are afraid from black and darkness and they feel vulnerable when they see a plain black page. I won't go in detail about this subject in this article but if you would like to know more you can always visit our site at websitedevelopmenttech.com and get more information about color psychology.
What color should you use when designing your website?
Before answering this question you should do some research about your target audiences and find out about their character, behavior, mood, emotion ... etc. I'm not asking you to go and find each individual and interview them to find out their feelings and emotions. All you need to do is find the answer of these two questions:
1. What is the market segmentation that you are targeting?
a. Age
b. Gender
c. Culture
d. Geographic location
2. Why are they coming to your website?
Let's take a closer look at these two questions.
A. Market Segmentation:
a. Age: What is the most appropriate color for the age group that your website is targeting.
b. Gender: Men and Women have different taste and they react differently to colors. For example, the color pink is more appealing to women.
c. Culture: Colors mean different things to different cultures around the world. People associate colors to special events in their culture. For example, white is the symbol of purity and virtue in some cultures while in others white is associated with mourning and grief.
d. Geographic Location: Sometimes geographic location can change people's interpretation of certain colors. For example, people that are living in a desert area tend to be more passionate toward bright colors from yellow to orange vs. people that are living in the mountains.
B. Why are they coming to your website?
a. That is a very important question which determines the mood and feeling of your visitors. For example, people go to a lawyer's or a doctor's website because they have a problem and they want to be FIXED. This means they are not really excited or happy about that issue. Although, this may not be the case all the time there are some exceptions such as plastic surgeons, patent attorneys... etc.
As a designer, once you know your target markets then you can decide what color to choose to get the best possible outcome for your site. Sometimes you may end up changing some colors that you thought would be interesting to your visitors.
Remember, no matter how much you know and how hard you try, there is no guarantee that you can make it the first time. That is why it is important to monitor the results of your website and know how visitors are interacting with your site so you can change your mistakes and learn from it.
Use Creative Tools for Effective Website Redesigns
Redesigning your website to take advantage of new opportunities and solve problems can be challenging. Different political groups jockey for position and new ideas get shouted down or lost due to employee popularity or ranking. A technique that can strip away these "human" factors can make a big difference when planning and strategizing.
In the late 60's Tony Buzan developed a technique he called "Mind Mapping" to make use of the latest in brain research. His goal was to help people use all their cortical skills, i.e. word, image, number, etc. to learn and problem solve. This technique has grown and developed over the years as brain research becomes more sophisticated.
This method works very well in corporate setting where the audience has diverse skills. Rather than focus on skills, you focus on ideas. People feel they are on firm ground and are more likely to share ideas and look for solutions. This is exactly the kind of atmosphere you want to create when groups congregate to solve business problems.
In my work with Internet clients, I have adapted this method to take advantage of different creative skill sets among staff members. The marketing group has their way of looking at things, the developers theirs, and management, still another. When mind maps are applied to internet planning (or any business plan) it removes the barriers and helps each group apply its best creative knowledge.
There are four main advantages to using a mind map in an internet setting. The first is that it's non-linear. This makes all ideas important and eliminates ideas chosen by employee rankings. When there are open spaces on the map branches, the brain wants closure. Everyone wants them to be filled in. This promotes teamwork.
The second is it provides a look at the "big picture" and the details at the same time. This helps managers focus on their concerns while those tasked with the details can focus on their part of the puzzle and everyone can see the whole.
The third is it highlights omissions. When you follow the same process and look at the same lists you forget or "don't see" what's missing. Looking at the material in a new way helps you analyze it.
The fourth is it stimulates everyone's creativity by using pictures and colors, lines of different widths and spaces. Programmers use their special skills and designers and managers use their unique skills.
When you redesign your website, your main goal should be to make it easier for your customers to find information and buy products. This tools makes it easier to achieve success.
Author Bio
About Digital Media Works Digital Media Works, Inc. (http://www.digmediaworks.com/) is an Internet marketing and design firm that specializes in solutions for e-commerce companies. A seasoned 25+ year management/marketing professional, founder Stephanie Diamond is experienced in building profits in a broad range of product and services businesses. She created a highly successful line of multimedia software products that sold millions of copies for America Online.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
In the late 60's Tony Buzan developed a technique he called "Mind Mapping" to make use of the latest in brain research. His goal was to help people use all their cortical skills, i.e. word, image, number, etc. to learn and problem solve. This technique has grown and developed over the years as brain research becomes more sophisticated.
This method works very well in corporate setting where the audience has diverse skills. Rather than focus on skills, you focus on ideas. People feel they are on firm ground and are more likely to share ideas and look for solutions. This is exactly the kind of atmosphere you want to create when groups congregate to solve business problems.
In my work with Internet clients, I have adapted this method to take advantage of different creative skill sets among staff members. The marketing group has their way of looking at things, the developers theirs, and management, still another. When mind maps are applied to internet planning (or any business plan) it removes the barriers and helps each group apply its best creative knowledge.
There are four main advantages to using a mind map in an internet setting. The first is that it's non-linear. This makes all ideas important and eliminates ideas chosen by employee rankings. When there are open spaces on the map branches, the brain wants closure. Everyone wants them to be filled in. This promotes teamwork.
The second is it provides a look at the "big picture" and the details at the same time. This helps managers focus on their concerns while those tasked with the details can focus on their part of the puzzle and everyone can see the whole.
The third is it highlights omissions. When you follow the same process and look at the same lists you forget or "don't see" what's missing. Looking at the material in a new way helps you analyze it.
The fourth is it stimulates everyone's creativity by using pictures and colors, lines of different widths and spaces. Programmers use their special skills and designers and managers use their unique skills.
When you redesign your website, your main goal should be to make it easier for your customers to find information and buy products. This tools makes it easier to achieve success.
Author Bio
About Digital Media Works Digital Media Works, Inc. (http://www.digmediaworks.com/) is an Internet marketing and design firm that specializes in solutions for e-commerce companies. A seasoned 25+ year management/marketing professional, founder Stephanie Diamond is experienced in building profits in a broad range of product and services businesses. She created a highly successful line of multimedia software products that sold millions of copies for America Online.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Web Site Design and Choosing the Right Web Design Company
It's been several years since you had someone design your company web site and now it's outdated. You are losing business to competitors that have quality designed web sites with great layout and navigation. This may be your first company web site and you want to make the most of your money and time.
How do you choose a quality web design company that will understand your companies' objective for designing or redesigning this web site?
First, you need to answer a few questions.
1. What is your budget and time frame for completing the web design or redesign project?
2. Are you going to be using original content and pictures for building this web site?
3. If this is a website redesign, are you planning on getting updated images and content for this new look and layout or will you need the web design company to supply them for you?
4. Does any one at your company have basic editing skills and will they be able to update the website content or will this be an ongoing job for the web design company you hire?
5. Are you looking for a local web design company?
6. Do you already have an idea of your web design colors, layout, and navigation?
Knowing the answers to these questions, will help you when you locate the right web design company.
Now it's time to find the right web design company for your needs. Go to Google and search for local web design firms and you will see how many results show. Take "web design orlando" for example: Results 8,860,000. Wow, there are a lot of results for "web design orlando".
Don't panic, you will probably find a company that can do the quality web design work you need in the first 50 results. Quality web design firms will have a portfolio of work online that will show an example of their custom web design work. Start at the first web design result on work your way down.
Examine the portfolio to see if there is anything equivalent to the web design layout you are imagining. You will be able to tell immediately if this web design firm is right for your company and its look and feel. Find out how long they have been in the web design industry and compare that to how many quality web sites they have designed in that time.
If this is a redesign, find out how many web site redesigns that have completed and ask to see the web site before and after the redesign.
Find out if they have the staff available to work on your entire web design needs and that they know the programming necessary to complete the job in a timely manner. Ask for references, a top end web design firm will be glad to offer up references on the web design work performed. Most web design references will be glad to talk to you about the quality job your potential web design company did on their web site.
Depending on your web design budget, it may help to several quality web design companies to talk to. You will want to get at least 3 estimates and it never hurts to have more.
Remember, when it comes to your business and your companies exposure on internet, take you time locating a quality web design company. Your future may depend on it.
Author Bio
By Shawn Hickman - Internet Marketing Manager
source: Web Solutions of America
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
How do you choose a quality web design company that will understand your companies' objective for designing or redesigning this web site?
First, you need to answer a few questions.
1. What is your budget and time frame for completing the web design or redesign project?
2. Are you going to be using original content and pictures for building this web site?
3. If this is a website redesign, are you planning on getting updated images and content for this new look and layout or will you need the web design company to supply them for you?
4. Does any one at your company have basic editing skills and will they be able to update the website content or will this be an ongoing job for the web design company you hire?
5. Are you looking for a local web design company?
6. Do you already have an idea of your web design colors, layout, and navigation?
Knowing the answers to these questions, will help you when you locate the right web design company.
Now it's time to find the right web design company for your needs. Go to Google and search for local web design firms and you will see how many results show. Take "web design orlando" for example: Results 8,860,000. Wow, there are a lot of results for "web design orlando".
Don't panic, you will probably find a company that can do the quality web design work you need in the first 50 results. Quality web design firms will have a portfolio of work online that will show an example of their custom web design work. Start at the first web design result on work your way down.
Examine the portfolio to see if there is anything equivalent to the web design layout you are imagining. You will be able to tell immediately if this web design firm is right for your company and its look and feel. Find out how long they have been in the web design industry and compare that to how many quality web sites they have designed in that time.
If this is a redesign, find out how many web site redesigns that have completed and ask to see the web site before and after the redesign.
Find out if they have the staff available to work on your entire web design needs and that they know the programming necessary to complete the job in a timely manner. Ask for references, a top end web design firm will be glad to offer up references on the web design work performed. Most web design references will be glad to talk to you about the quality job your potential web design company did on their web site.
Depending on your web design budget, it may help to several quality web design companies to talk to. You will want to get at least 3 estimates and it never hurts to have more.
Remember, when it comes to your business and your companies exposure on internet, take you time locating a quality web design company. Your future may depend on it.
Author Bio
By Shawn Hickman - Internet Marketing Manager
source: Web Solutions of America
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Top Five Reasons to do a Website Redesign
Small business owners need to monitor whether their investment in a website is providing a good return. Are your products and services easy to buy? If they aren't, you are wasting time and money and probably doing more harm than good.
Ask yourself the following five questions to see whether it's time for a redesign:
Has the size of the site grown substantially?
If your site continues to grow and change like most business sites, you need to evaluate whether it's still meeting your objectives. As you add new products and services you need to re-organize your information. In addition, you should consider adding multimedia information (audio, video) to sharpen your message.
Is some of the content outdated or unnecessary?
Does your website have up-to-date content? Someone should be revising spec sheets, changing promotion dates and adding new material weekly. If your website appears static, it looks like you're not a serious business.
Is the most important content buried below?
Here's where you need to do an "easy to buy" audit. By that I mean you need to evaluate how easy it is to find information and actually buy your products. This sounds like common sense, but we've all purchased online and know that it can sometimes be frustrating.
Are you using the latest technology, instead of hard-coding?
If you created your website more than 18 months ago, you are probably due for a technology update. This is also true if you started with a very basic site and "hard-coded" everything. Ask your webmaster whether he has some suggestions. You can be sure he will.
Does the home page design suit your current business objectives?
Does your website communicate the depth and breadth of your current business? If you have changed the focus of your services, added new products or want to communicate a different face to your visitors, consider a redesign for your overall website.
Author Bio
About Digital Media Works
Digital Media Works, Inc. (http://www.digmediaworks.com/) is an Internet marketing and design firm that specializes in solutions for high tech and e-commerce companies. A seasoned 25+ year management/marketing professional, founder Stephanie Diamond is experienced in building profits in a broad range of product and services businesses. She created a highly successful line of multimedia software products that sold millions of copies for America Online, and has developed unique business strategies and products for a variety of companies, including AOL Time Warner, Redgate New Media and Newsweek, Inc.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Ask yourself the following five questions to see whether it's time for a redesign:
Has the size of the site grown substantially?
If your site continues to grow and change like most business sites, you need to evaluate whether it's still meeting your objectives. As you add new products and services you need to re-organize your information. In addition, you should consider adding multimedia information (audio, video) to sharpen your message.
Is some of the content outdated or unnecessary?
Does your website have up-to-date content? Someone should be revising spec sheets, changing promotion dates and adding new material weekly. If your website appears static, it looks like you're not a serious business.
Is the most important content buried below?
Here's where you need to do an "easy to buy" audit. By that I mean you need to evaluate how easy it is to find information and actually buy your products. This sounds like common sense, but we've all purchased online and know that it can sometimes be frustrating.
Are you using the latest technology, instead of hard-coding?
If you created your website more than 18 months ago, you are probably due for a technology update. This is also true if you started with a very basic site and "hard-coded" everything. Ask your webmaster whether he has some suggestions. You can be sure he will.
Does the home page design suit your current business objectives?
Does your website communicate the depth and breadth of your current business? If you have changed the focus of your services, added new products or want to communicate a different face to your visitors, consider a redesign for your overall website.
Author Bio
About Digital Media Works
Digital Media Works, Inc. (http://www.digmediaworks.com/) is an Internet marketing and design firm that specializes in solutions for high tech and e-commerce companies. A seasoned 25+ year management/marketing professional, founder Stephanie Diamond is experienced in building profits in a broad range of product and services businesses. She created a highly successful line of multimedia software products that sold millions of copies for America Online, and has developed unique business strategies and products for a variety of companies, including AOL Time Warner, Redgate New Media and Newsweek, Inc.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Top 10 Ways Websites Makes Me Suffer
I believe some people create and publish websites for the sole purpose of tormenting their visitors. Browsing various websites and navigating the Web can often be like trying to read on an airplane while a kid kicks the back of your seat and the baby next to you alternates between screaming, crying and drooling on you. There are some excellent websites out there to be sure, but there are also a lot of dreadful ones too. The latter are the bane of so many people's existence, especially those who use the Web regularly.
The Net continues to grow in popularity and importance for consumers and businesses alike. Therefore, the quality of sites needs to keep pace. Creating and maintaining high-quality websites is more important now than ever. Higher quality equals more revenue.
The following lists the top ten ways that a website misses the boat and contributes to hair loss and nervous breakdowns. Notice the common thread that runs throughout each of these. Namely, a bad website neglects to consider the site visitor's experience in some fundamental ways.
1. Animation
Seven year-olds like watching animated cartoons on Saturday morning, business people, professionals and most other adults don't. Sites that include showy Flash animations as an 'Intro', animated gifs on every page, or flying words are really annoying. They take away from the content and distract the visitor from achieving their goals. Unless your site is an entertainment site, try to avoid maddening motion. However, if your product or service can be better demonstrated using Flash, Quick Time, or other multimedia, which is common, offer your visitors the chance to click a link to view it. But don't force them.
2. Too much scrolling
Once I scroll down a full screen's worth, my eyes start to blur, I feel slightly lost, my head spins and my interest wanes. Computer monitors really aren't the best medium for reading. The Net and many sites are so big that it's important to always provide a clear frame of reference for your visitors at all times while they're on your site. If a page requires two full screens of scrolling or more, simply split it up into multiple pages.
3. Long, text-heavy and blocky paragraphs of unbroken text
I really have to be into a topic or desperately need to glean the information to trudge through big chunks of unbroken text online. If I'm just shopping around for a product or service, you've lost me if I have to endure this kind of torture. Again, it is harder to read text on the Web than in other mediums such as books. Additionally, Web users are notoriously impatient, so make your content easy to read and non-intimidating. Use titles, sub-titles, small paragraphs, bullets and numbering.
4. No obvious ways to contact the company
If all you supply is an email on your website, your legitimacy may be questioned. Why can't you answer the phone? Why hide behind an anonymous and cold email address? Make it easy for your existing and potential customers to talk with you.
5. Unchanging or out-dated content
If I start reading content on a site and soon discover that the content was written three years ago, I split. Since there's so much information out there, my reasoning is there's got to be comparable information online that's more current. If you keep your content fresh your site will attract repeat visitors. And repeat visitors are more likely to turn into customers.
6. Long page downloads
It's amazing that this is still a problem. When I click on to a site and have to sit there waiting for it to appear in my browser, I start sweating, picking my teeth, tapping my toes, rolling my eyes and soon want to throw my computer through my office window. I'm obviously a little impatient, but again, I know there are other sites out there with the same information that will download more quickly, so why wait? I'm gone.
7. "Me, me, me!" instead of "You, you, you"
Generally speaking, no one cares about you, your company or your thoughts. What they do care about is what you can do for them. So sites that show pictures of the company building or tout their deep philosophy on the way business should be conducted really don't bode well for keeping the interest of site visitors. On the other hand, sites that speak directly to potential customers about how they can solve their problems, make their lives easier, safer, richer or more comfortable have a much better chance of keeping the eyeballs glued.
8. Non-explanatory buttons or links
Here are some examples of buttons that leave me dazed and confused: A wedding site with a button called 'Blanks', a boating site with a button named 'The Lighthouse', a book site with a button called 'The Inside Story', or a Web design site with a button called 'Tea Time'. They sound like Jeopardy categories. Imagine trying to find your way on a highway where its various signs read 'Over Here', 'Moon Beams', and 'Lollypops'. Good luck navigating your way through. It's the same with navigating websites. Button and link names need to tell the visitor where the link leads to. Make it as easy as possible for a visitor to know where they're going before they click. However, there are times when naming a link an ambiguous name may pique the curiosity of a user and get them to click on it. But as a general rule, keep your links and buttons as descriptive as possible.
9. Inconsistent navigation
Imagine sitting down at a restaurant and the waiter comes over to you and hands you five different menus, one for the appetizers, one for the soups and salads, one for the entrees, one for the desserts, and one for the drinks. Annoying. Now imagine if each menu had a different format, layout and method for listing the items. Brutal. I really don't want to work that hard at picking out my dinner, I'm hungry and I just want a meal. Don't make your visitors work hard either by expecting them to re-learn your navigation system each time they enter another section of your site. They too are hungry; for useful information and they're even more impatient.
10. Inconsistent look & feel
When the look & feel completely changes from one page to another in a website, I think I am visiting another site, another company, a partner or subsidiary. I get very confused. This screams poor planning and often results from tacking on new sections later after the original site was built. This can lead to design-drift. It may be tempting to stray from the original design; you may have a better design now. But wait till you do a complete next-generation re-design of the entire site before introducing a new look & feel. If not, lots of visitors will be scratching their heads with one hand and possibly clicking away with the other.
Finally, any site that employs a number of these notorious features is particularly painful to experience. When I click to a website that has five different fonts and colors, scrolls down to the core of the Earth, incorporates zinging words and big fat blocks of text, lists no phone number and has content written and dated in 1996, I scream and know deep down inside that pulling my fingernails out wouldn't be as torturous as having to remain there a minute longer.
Author Bio
Jason O'Connor is president of Oak Web Works, LLC http://www.oakwebworks.com/ where you can get a free webmaster newsletter and read many other original Web design and marketing articles.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
The Net continues to grow in popularity and importance for consumers and businesses alike. Therefore, the quality of sites needs to keep pace. Creating and maintaining high-quality websites is more important now than ever. Higher quality equals more revenue.
The following lists the top ten ways that a website misses the boat and contributes to hair loss and nervous breakdowns. Notice the common thread that runs throughout each of these. Namely, a bad website neglects to consider the site visitor's experience in some fundamental ways.
1. Animation
Seven year-olds like watching animated cartoons on Saturday morning, business people, professionals and most other adults don't. Sites that include showy Flash animations as an 'Intro', animated gifs on every page, or flying words are really annoying. They take away from the content and distract the visitor from achieving their goals. Unless your site is an entertainment site, try to avoid maddening motion. However, if your product or service can be better demonstrated using Flash, Quick Time, or other multimedia, which is common, offer your visitors the chance to click a link to view it. But don't force them.
2. Too much scrolling
Once I scroll down a full screen's worth, my eyes start to blur, I feel slightly lost, my head spins and my interest wanes. Computer monitors really aren't the best medium for reading. The Net and many sites are so big that it's important to always provide a clear frame of reference for your visitors at all times while they're on your site. If a page requires two full screens of scrolling or more, simply split it up into multiple pages.
3. Long, text-heavy and blocky paragraphs of unbroken text
I really have to be into a topic or desperately need to glean the information to trudge through big chunks of unbroken text online. If I'm just shopping around for a product or service, you've lost me if I have to endure this kind of torture. Again, it is harder to read text on the Web than in other mediums such as books. Additionally, Web users are notoriously impatient, so make your content easy to read and non-intimidating. Use titles, sub-titles, small paragraphs, bullets and numbering.
4. No obvious ways to contact the company
If all you supply is an email on your website, your legitimacy may be questioned. Why can't you answer the phone? Why hide behind an anonymous and cold email address? Make it easy for your existing and potential customers to talk with you.
5. Unchanging or out-dated content
If I start reading content on a site and soon discover that the content was written three years ago, I split. Since there's so much information out there, my reasoning is there's got to be comparable information online that's more current. If you keep your content fresh your site will attract repeat visitors. And repeat visitors are more likely to turn into customers.
6. Long page downloads
It's amazing that this is still a problem. When I click on to a site and have to sit there waiting for it to appear in my browser, I start sweating, picking my teeth, tapping my toes, rolling my eyes and soon want to throw my computer through my office window. I'm obviously a little impatient, but again, I know there are other sites out there with the same information that will download more quickly, so why wait? I'm gone.
7. "Me, me, me!" instead of "You, you, you"
Generally speaking, no one cares about you, your company or your thoughts. What they do care about is what you can do for them. So sites that show pictures of the company building or tout their deep philosophy on the way business should be conducted really don't bode well for keeping the interest of site visitors. On the other hand, sites that speak directly to potential customers about how they can solve their problems, make their lives easier, safer, richer or more comfortable have a much better chance of keeping the eyeballs glued.
8. Non-explanatory buttons or links
Here are some examples of buttons that leave me dazed and confused: A wedding site with a button called 'Blanks', a boating site with a button named 'The Lighthouse', a book site with a button called 'The Inside Story', or a Web design site with a button called 'Tea Time'. They sound like Jeopardy categories. Imagine trying to find your way on a highway where its various signs read 'Over Here', 'Moon Beams', and 'Lollypops'. Good luck navigating your way through. It's the same with navigating websites. Button and link names need to tell the visitor where the link leads to. Make it as easy as possible for a visitor to know where they're going before they click. However, there are times when naming a link an ambiguous name may pique the curiosity of a user and get them to click on it. But as a general rule, keep your links and buttons as descriptive as possible.
9. Inconsistent navigation
Imagine sitting down at a restaurant and the waiter comes over to you and hands you five different menus, one for the appetizers, one for the soups and salads, one for the entrees, one for the desserts, and one for the drinks. Annoying. Now imagine if each menu had a different format, layout and method for listing the items. Brutal. I really don't want to work that hard at picking out my dinner, I'm hungry and I just want a meal. Don't make your visitors work hard either by expecting them to re-learn your navigation system each time they enter another section of your site. They too are hungry; for useful information and they're even more impatient.
10. Inconsistent look & feel
When the look & feel completely changes from one page to another in a website, I think I am visiting another site, another company, a partner or subsidiary. I get very confused. This screams poor planning and often results from tacking on new sections later after the original site was built. This can lead to design-drift. It may be tempting to stray from the original design; you may have a better design now. But wait till you do a complete next-generation re-design of the entire site before introducing a new look & feel. If not, lots of visitors will be scratching their heads with one hand and possibly clicking away with the other.
Finally, any site that employs a number of these notorious features is particularly painful to experience. When I click to a website that has five different fonts and colors, scrolls down to the core of the Earth, incorporates zinging words and big fat blocks of text, lists no phone number and has content written and dated in 1996, I scream and know deep down inside that pulling my fingernails out wouldn't be as torturous as having to remain there a minute longer.
Author Bio
Jason O'Connor is president of Oak Web Works, LLC http://www.oakwebworks.com/ where you can get a free webmaster newsletter and read many other original Web design and marketing articles.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Image and Online Success and The Importance of Good Design
Naturally there are many aspects to succeeding online but the nature of business hasn't swayed. You must have a professional image and you must provide a great service for your clients. This is what makes a business grow. This is not another article telling you to be sure you have Meta tags, linking and all the other wonderful Search Engine friendly includes. This is a bare bones old school reflection on how companies are losing sight of the bigger picture.
Put some heart into it
Most entrepreneurs have that essential vivacious approach to starting up a business and the truly successful ones will maintain that level of excitement to help cultivate a healthy and steady growth. A web site can help establish your business as a serious contender or just another hole in the wall. Which one are you? Some businesses place more emphasis on what they're going to have for lunch rather than the image they portray to their clients. Your excitement about your business shows in everything you do.
When getting a web site for your company be certain you place your trust and hard earned dollars with a design firm that is passionate about their work and has a proven record of accomplishment, understand why one charges $500 and another $3000. You will have a much better project if the designer has foresight and desire to see their work succeed and not just become another bank deposit.
If you surf online and scope out the millions of companies, it is amazing to see how many tired looking sites you'll come across. I can't imagine a company that sells from a brick and mortar store, allowing the front of their building to become decrepit with their sign barely hanging on by a couple of bolts. Not a good way of attracting customers off the street and into your establishment.
The heart of your business
Do what you do best. Sell the products and services that define you and earn the capital. Promote your business in the best way possible, keeping honesty and integrity at the forefront. Do not sell yourself short. Invest into your growth and future developments.
There are countless articles on Search Engine Optimization and how to make money quickly. Have we forgotten the core of doing business and how the market is stimulated? There are plenty of ways to promote your business online and expand your demographic just be sure to focus on the important facets that make a company great. Provide and honest service and quality product. More than just attracting customers to your web site you want to retain long lasting relationships which will only draw more clients as time goes on.
Search Engine Friendly
No doubt search engine optimization is an extremely important aspect for the success of your business but can't stress enough that the importance of having a solid image must tie in. What many articles fail to point out is that SEO isn't the only thing to achieving online success. The focus tends to be on one aspect and never the whole picture. Business like everything involving human interaction revolves around the senses.
Okay so your site gets to the top of the search results and gets a click thru. Upon arriving to your site, which lacks any sense of presentation is quickly scanned, forgotten and on to the next site they go. The attention span of surfer's is on the decline. Yes you must have relevant content but it better be presented in the best possible way so when your competitors are visited by the same potential customer you stand out. It's all about standing out and making your presence known. When you first write your business plan (you do have a goal right?), one of the main things is to define your sole purpose and what the business hopes to achieve and how you stand out from everyone else.
Building that niche
It is ideal to focus your efforts and find that little pocket where you can shine and grow. This is very helpful when creating your online image. Custom designed graphics, tailored to your business will help secure your position within your chosen niche market. A beautiful looking web site will not help your ranking but it will help secure client interest and entice sales. Many SEO specialists overlook the importance of branding, which is number one in order for a company to separate themselves from the pack. Don't allow customers the chance to forget your name. Be remembered and maintain your presence.
Author Bio
Tyson Fenech is the Creative Director for Core Creative Concepts. Designing web sites and print materials for the past 7 years helping both small startups and Fortune 500 companies. http://www.coregraphicdesign.com/
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Put some heart into it
Most entrepreneurs have that essential vivacious approach to starting up a business and the truly successful ones will maintain that level of excitement to help cultivate a healthy and steady growth. A web site can help establish your business as a serious contender or just another hole in the wall. Which one are you? Some businesses place more emphasis on what they're going to have for lunch rather than the image they portray to their clients. Your excitement about your business shows in everything you do.
When getting a web site for your company be certain you place your trust and hard earned dollars with a design firm that is passionate about their work and has a proven record of accomplishment, understand why one charges $500 and another $3000. You will have a much better project if the designer has foresight and desire to see their work succeed and not just become another bank deposit.
If you surf online and scope out the millions of companies, it is amazing to see how many tired looking sites you'll come across. I can't imagine a company that sells from a brick and mortar store, allowing the front of their building to become decrepit with their sign barely hanging on by a couple of bolts. Not a good way of attracting customers off the street and into your establishment.
The heart of your business
Do what you do best. Sell the products and services that define you and earn the capital. Promote your business in the best way possible, keeping honesty and integrity at the forefront. Do not sell yourself short. Invest into your growth and future developments.
There are countless articles on Search Engine Optimization and how to make money quickly. Have we forgotten the core of doing business and how the market is stimulated? There are plenty of ways to promote your business online and expand your demographic just be sure to focus on the important facets that make a company great. Provide and honest service and quality product. More than just attracting customers to your web site you want to retain long lasting relationships which will only draw more clients as time goes on.
Search Engine Friendly
No doubt search engine optimization is an extremely important aspect for the success of your business but can't stress enough that the importance of having a solid image must tie in. What many articles fail to point out is that SEO isn't the only thing to achieving online success. The focus tends to be on one aspect and never the whole picture. Business like everything involving human interaction revolves around the senses.
Okay so your site gets to the top of the search results and gets a click thru. Upon arriving to your site, which lacks any sense of presentation is quickly scanned, forgotten and on to the next site they go. The attention span of surfer's is on the decline. Yes you must have relevant content but it better be presented in the best possible way so when your competitors are visited by the same potential customer you stand out. It's all about standing out and making your presence known. When you first write your business plan (you do have a goal right?), one of the main things is to define your sole purpose and what the business hopes to achieve and how you stand out from everyone else.
Building that niche
It is ideal to focus your efforts and find that little pocket where you can shine and grow. This is very helpful when creating your online image. Custom designed graphics, tailored to your business will help secure your position within your chosen niche market. A beautiful looking web site will not help your ranking but it will help secure client interest and entice sales. Many SEO specialists overlook the importance of branding, which is number one in order for a company to separate themselves from the pack. Don't allow customers the chance to forget your name. Be remembered and maintain your presence.
Author Bio
Tyson Fenech is the Creative Director for Core Creative Concepts. Designing web sites and print materials for the past 7 years helping both small startups and Fortune 500 companies. http://www.coregraphicdesign.com/
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Maintaining your company's website
Internet technology has progressed by leaps and bounds resulting in number of websites being launched on the internet. When the website gets firmly established on the net your success is determined. Irrespective of the objectives of your website, it has to be maintained.
There are myriad reasons why the websites need to be maintained. Your website is your company's profile on the net which helps in converting your site visitor into your customer. It is essential to maintain this profile on the net.
The websites are subjected to cyber crimes like phishing, spamming, spreading viruses, fooling around with people's personal accounts etc. which are instigated by destructive hackers. In order to deal with these anti social elements maintaining the websites have become imperative. Company websites are generally maintained by their own IT department or EDP division. Some times the work is outsourced to companies who specialize in the domain of maintaining websites.
There are several factors that are considered while maintaining the website.
Website traffic:
To understand the popularity of your site it is necessary to analyze the site traffic. Site traffic relates to the hits received daily by your website from different sources. This report gives an in depth analyses of pages on your site that are more popular and also tells you about the sources from where it is being visited. Based on these reports the website can be refurbished ensuring apt site promotion.
Link Validation:
Link validation is the most common part of web maintenance regimen. This includes checking all the links on your website ensuring that they all are in working condition. Having dead links gives a bad impression to your site.
Revising Content:
Content on any website is updated on regular basis depending on the type of industry and variety of visitors. Details like new address, phone number etc are regularly updated irrespective of the industry type. A company needs to make these minor but important additions to their existing content. Generally article publishing sites add graphics to their websites.
Optimizing the Images:
Images make websites more attractive. However these images take up lot of space on the website. To ensure the image downloads faster on the visitors page maintenance is essential. Optimizing the images is highly necessary as it affects the loading speed and the performance of the website.
Link Popularity:
This is done by search engine optimization or SEO. SEO relates to exchanging links with other websites of related domain. Link popularity is measured on the basis of the incoming and outgoing links on your website. Greater the number of links on your website, higher is the page rank. Maintenance helps in make the website more search engine friendly.
Content Archival:
Article or newsletter websites are rich in content. These sites should a mechanism by which old content gets archived and is available on request. These websites have huge database of content which has to be managed accordingly. This is done through web site maintenance. However in this case people specializing in maintaining databases are required. This is highly significant and time consuming job profile of website maintenance.
Web Server Maintenance:
Server is the home of your website. Most of the companies have third party hosting their websites. The hosting company handles the technical maintenance of your company. The routine maintenance of your server includes monitoring disk space, data transfer and efficient performance. This type of maintenance is a regular affair and quite easy to undertake.
Changing Layouts:
Layout changing is not a normal routine of website maintenance. Layout changing includes changing the entire design and the structure of the website of either the homepage or any particular pages. They may include additional graphics, flash, images, content etc.
The objective of any company web site maintenance program is to keep the web site appealing, up-to-date and to attract and retain visitors. Company web site maintenance is a full-time and highly responsible job, especially for web sites that have constantly changing content. Also, being a very highly technical job, a lot of software tools have come up to automate the process, but the uniqueness of each web site does not aid the automation fully.
The focus of maintaining a website is to keep it looking fresh, up dated and appealing to its visitors. Maintaining a website is a highly serious business as you deal with a company's entire persona on the net.
Author Bio
Pegasus InfoCorp (P) Limited (http://www.pegasusinfocorp.com/) was formed with a single powerful belief among its two founders that the Internet could enhance and transform businesses in an amazing way. This belief continues to drive us towards our mission of helping discover and implement the best online strategy for businesses, institutions and professionals.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
There are myriad reasons why the websites need to be maintained. Your website is your company's profile on the net which helps in converting your site visitor into your customer. It is essential to maintain this profile on the net.
The websites are subjected to cyber crimes like phishing, spamming, spreading viruses, fooling around with people's personal accounts etc. which are instigated by destructive hackers. In order to deal with these anti social elements maintaining the websites have become imperative. Company websites are generally maintained by their own IT department or EDP division. Some times the work is outsourced to companies who specialize in the domain of maintaining websites.
There are several factors that are considered while maintaining the website.
Website traffic:
To understand the popularity of your site it is necessary to analyze the site traffic. Site traffic relates to the hits received daily by your website from different sources. This report gives an in depth analyses of pages on your site that are more popular and also tells you about the sources from where it is being visited. Based on these reports the website can be refurbished ensuring apt site promotion.
Link Validation:
Link validation is the most common part of web maintenance regimen. This includes checking all the links on your website ensuring that they all are in working condition. Having dead links gives a bad impression to your site.
Revising Content:
Content on any website is updated on regular basis depending on the type of industry and variety of visitors. Details like new address, phone number etc are regularly updated irrespective of the industry type. A company needs to make these minor but important additions to their existing content. Generally article publishing sites add graphics to their websites.
Optimizing the Images:
Images make websites more attractive. However these images take up lot of space on the website. To ensure the image downloads faster on the visitors page maintenance is essential. Optimizing the images is highly necessary as it affects the loading speed and the performance of the website.
Link Popularity:
This is done by search engine optimization or SEO. SEO relates to exchanging links with other websites of related domain. Link popularity is measured on the basis of the incoming and outgoing links on your website. Greater the number of links on your website, higher is the page rank. Maintenance helps in make the website more search engine friendly.
Content Archival:
Article or newsletter websites are rich in content. These sites should a mechanism by which old content gets archived and is available on request. These websites have huge database of content which has to be managed accordingly. This is done through web site maintenance. However in this case people specializing in maintaining databases are required. This is highly significant and time consuming job profile of website maintenance.
Web Server Maintenance:
Server is the home of your website. Most of the companies have third party hosting their websites. The hosting company handles the technical maintenance of your company. The routine maintenance of your server includes monitoring disk space, data transfer and efficient performance. This type of maintenance is a regular affair and quite easy to undertake.
Changing Layouts:
Layout changing is not a normal routine of website maintenance. Layout changing includes changing the entire design and the structure of the website of either the homepage or any particular pages. They may include additional graphics, flash, images, content etc.
The objective of any company web site maintenance program is to keep the web site appealing, up-to-date and to attract and retain visitors. Company web site maintenance is a full-time and highly responsible job, especially for web sites that have constantly changing content. Also, being a very highly technical job, a lot of software tools have come up to automate the process, but the uniqueness of each web site does not aid the automation fully.
The focus of maintaining a website is to keep it looking fresh, up dated and appealing to its visitors. Maintaining a website is a highly serious business as you deal with a company's entire persona on the net.
Author Bio
Pegasus InfoCorp (P) Limited (http://www.pegasusinfocorp.com/) was formed with a single powerful belief among its two founders that the Internet could enhance and transform businesses in an amazing way. This belief continues to drive us towards our mission of helping discover and implement the best online strategy for businesses, institutions and professionals.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Let's Design A Website That Sells
Would you buy meat from a grocery store that left the bad meat in with the good meat or wasn't clean? Would you buy a car from a sales lot that had totaled automobiles on the front lot? I wouldn't and neither would you. Your website is your grocery store; your car lot. You must have an atmosphere that is pleasing to buyers. One that tells that buyer that you are not an amateur, but instead a trained, seasoned professional. Your site is a direct reflection of your product and that is why that having a well designed website can make or break your sales.
The first thing to keep in mind when designing your website, is "surfability". Take a few minutes a look around at several web pages. What makes them appealing? Were there some that you closed out of immediately? Why? Take notes and do your research. Keep in mind that when a person visits your site they have a goal in mind. They are either seeking information or shopping for a product. Give the person what they want without having to search for it. Be sure that all the information on your site is relevant to your product. Make the buyer think that they need your product to solve their problem.
Your main page serves a very specific purpose. It should be an avenue by which the customer can shop your site. It should be easy to view and load very quickly. This is your first impression and we all know that first impressions can either close the deal or loose the deal. Make it simple. It is best to have links that are easily viewable by the reader that will navigate them to where they want to be. Tables are often a great choice when deciding on a way to design the main page of your site. Your main page should load very quickly, chances are if it takes the page more than ten seconds to load even on a 56k modem, the customer will click away to save time, hoping to find the information or product elsewhere. To increase the loading speed of your main page you should avoid large graphics or excessive graphics. Too many banners or special effects can cause a page to load slowly as well.
To make your web site more appealing to the eyes, you should stick to mild colors. If your site is a content site where the user will be doing a lot of reading, it is best to stick to black and white. Color can be added when using tables, as a way to brighten up the page, but remember to keep the overall look of the page professional and appealing to the audience that will be visiting most often. Since screen resolutions vary among monitors, it is a good idea to set the pixels to a standard 800x600. You may also choose to set the tables in your web page to span a percentage of the page rather than a set number of inches. This will be sure to accommodate all screen sizes. You should remember that a lot of Internet users will not use the same browser as you, and therefore you should be sure that your site looks as good on other browsers as it does your own. You can do this by downloading several browsers through which to look at your page.
Be aware of the fact that the overall look of your website is a way to make money. The appearance of the site, if designed properly, can be an excellent marketing strategy for your product or service.
Author Bio
Glenn McDonald can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... To learn more, visit: www.AutoProfitCash.com/pips.html
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
The first thing to keep in mind when designing your website, is "surfability". Take a few minutes a look around at several web pages. What makes them appealing? Were there some that you closed out of immediately? Why? Take notes and do your research. Keep in mind that when a person visits your site they have a goal in mind. They are either seeking information or shopping for a product. Give the person what they want without having to search for it. Be sure that all the information on your site is relevant to your product. Make the buyer think that they need your product to solve their problem.
Your main page serves a very specific purpose. It should be an avenue by which the customer can shop your site. It should be easy to view and load very quickly. This is your first impression and we all know that first impressions can either close the deal or loose the deal. Make it simple. It is best to have links that are easily viewable by the reader that will navigate them to where they want to be. Tables are often a great choice when deciding on a way to design the main page of your site. Your main page should load very quickly, chances are if it takes the page more than ten seconds to load even on a 56k modem, the customer will click away to save time, hoping to find the information or product elsewhere. To increase the loading speed of your main page you should avoid large graphics or excessive graphics. Too many banners or special effects can cause a page to load slowly as well.
To make your web site more appealing to the eyes, you should stick to mild colors. If your site is a content site where the user will be doing a lot of reading, it is best to stick to black and white. Color can be added when using tables, as a way to brighten up the page, but remember to keep the overall look of the page professional and appealing to the audience that will be visiting most often. Since screen resolutions vary among monitors, it is a good idea to set the pixels to a standard 800x600. You may also choose to set the tables in your web page to span a percentage of the page rather than a set number of inches. This will be sure to accommodate all screen sizes. You should remember that a lot of Internet users will not use the same browser as you, and therefore you should be sure that your site looks as good on other browsers as it does your own. You can do this by downloading several browsers through which to look at your page.
Be aware of the fact that the overall look of your website is a way to make money. The appearance of the site, if designed properly, can be an excellent marketing strategy for your product or service.
Author Bio
Glenn McDonald can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... To learn more, visit: www.AutoProfitCash.com/pips.html
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
How to Optimise Web Pages for AdSense Ads
If you are using Google AdSense or any similar program for earning revenue from your web site, then it is high time you realize the secrets of earning high Click Through Rate hence high revenue from your web pages. If you keep following points in mind then you may be able to increase your revenue appreciably.
Page Content
• AdSense can't interpret images without captions, the value of alt attribute in the img tag and surrounding text, so keep images to a minimum. If you are forced to use images, use proper captions and alt attributes.
• A single page of yours should have preferably same content to get more contextually relevant ads. Segregate pages having different content.
• Choose keywords on your page carefully. Certain keywords have a higher CPC.
Page Size
• Just have the right amount of content on your web page.
• If you have a large amount of content on any topic, still keep the pages short, because same amount of content spread over smaller pages make room for more pages. More pages mean more place for advertising meaning more revenue.
• However, keep in mind that if you breakup any article unnecessarily into more pages, it may be irritating to the viewer. Hence, choose placing your same type of content on different pages carefully e.g. If there is a natural break in the content, or the paragraph heading changes, the content may be spread over different pages.
• Keep the page width in mind. Cater for people who still keep their screen size to 800x600 or less. As far as possible, avoid requirement of horizontal scrolling.
Refresh Page Content Regularly
• Search engines really appreciate new content. Take a bit of effort to provide content that appears new. You may not be able to change the reference content however; you can have RSS feeds from relevant sites to refresh the content regularly.
• The idea behind fresh content is that people should keep coming back to your site again and again.
Ad Positioning
Studies have shown that ad positioning is crucial to content revenue generation. Positioning means the physical position of an ad on a web page, the size of the ad, and also which page(s) on a site carries an ad.
• You need to tweak your ads in terms of positioning regularly till a design that gives you the best CTR.
• Most studies show that ads positioned above the fold at the beginning of the page do better than ads lower on a page as the people don't have to scroll down to read down your Ads.
• One major positioning issue is context. Position your ads in such a way that they are contextually relevant and generate a high revenue.
• Donot overload pages with Ads.
Ad Style
There is no secret formula to tell you that which AdSense color or color pallete will work best. Results are different for different sites and experimenting and monitoring the results may give the best option. You can chose two options that you can choose:
• Use the color palette to match your site, this way, some users may click on the ads because they think they are part of your site, not ads. Click here to see an example.
• Use a color choice that starkly contrasts with your site. Your ads will be more noticeable, and thus it is more likely that they may be clicked. Click here to see an example.
The end point is, you will have to constantly tweak your ads in terms of positioning and placement. If you can track your ads, nothing like it as you will be able to know which ads and pages are giving you a higher revenue so that you can use similar templates for other pages.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
Page Content
• AdSense can't interpret images without captions, the value of alt attribute in the img tag and surrounding text, so keep images to a minimum. If you are forced to use images, use proper captions and alt attributes.
• A single page of yours should have preferably same content to get more contextually relevant ads. Segregate pages having different content.
• Choose keywords on your page carefully. Certain keywords have a higher CPC.
Page Size
• Just have the right amount of content on your web page.
• If you have a large amount of content on any topic, still keep the pages short, because same amount of content spread over smaller pages make room for more pages. More pages mean more place for advertising meaning more revenue.
• However, keep in mind that if you breakup any article unnecessarily into more pages, it may be irritating to the viewer. Hence, choose placing your same type of content on different pages carefully e.g. If there is a natural break in the content, or the paragraph heading changes, the content may be spread over different pages.
• Keep the page width in mind. Cater for people who still keep their screen size to 800x600 or less. As far as possible, avoid requirement of horizontal scrolling.
Refresh Page Content Regularly
• Search engines really appreciate new content. Take a bit of effort to provide content that appears new. You may not be able to change the reference content however; you can have RSS feeds from relevant sites to refresh the content regularly.
• The idea behind fresh content is that people should keep coming back to your site again and again.
Ad Positioning
Studies have shown that ad positioning is crucial to content revenue generation. Positioning means the physical position of an ad on a web page, the size of the ad, and also which page(s) on a site carries an ad.
• You need to tweak your ads in terms of positioning regularly till a design that gives you the best CTR.
• Most studies show that ads positioned above the fold at the beginning of the page do better than ads lower on a page as the people don't have to scroll down to read down your Ads.
• One major positioning issue is context. Position your ads in such a way that they are contextually relevant and generate a high revenue.
• Donot overload pages with Ads.
Ad Style
There is no secret formula to tell you that which AdSense color or color pallete will work best. Results are different for different sites and experimenting and monitoring the results may give the best option. You can chose two options that you can choose:
• Use the color palette to match your site, this way, some users may click on the ads because they think they are part of your site, not ads. Click here to see an example.
• Use a color choice that starkly contrasts with your site. Your ads will be more noticeable, and thus it is more likely that they may be clicked. Click here to see an example.
The end point is, you will have to constantly tweak your ads in terms of positioning and placement. If you can track your ads, nothing like it as you will be able to know which ads and pages are giving you a higher revenue so that you can use similar templates for other pages.
Article Source: http://www.articlegeek.com/
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