SiteMap

• How to analyze a website - How to analyze a website is the first, and most important step, in the website design process.

  • Analyze audience - The more that you understand your audience the better are your chances of capturing their attention.

  • Analyze content - This is the big job...gathering all the content that you want to include on your website.

  • Website design tips - What are the secrets of the successful websites? Why do some websites succeed while the others fail?

  • Website journal - It is important that you maintain some sort of journal for your website. If you don't have a method of recording your ideas they may be lost forever.

  • Effective communication - The primary purpose of any website is communicating ideas and emotions that lead the visitor toward a specific goal or action.

  • Target audience - Unless you know who is visiting your website your efforts will be less successful than if the site is focused on a particular audience.

  • Demographics - Demographics and marketing sources interact in the business world. Demographics allow you to find out about and understand your customers (your visitors/your market).

  • Website goals - In order for webmasters to convey their message effectively they must have a clear idea of what they wish to communicate.

  • Website design tips - This checklist of website design tips covers the primary points that you must include in your website design plan if you want a successful site.

• How to Organize a Website - Creating a great website requires good organization. Take the time to organize your project and the rest will fall into place.

  • Balanced Webpage - The backbone of any website are the webpages that make it up. Study the basics of webpage design and your site will take on a professional appearance.

  • Balanced Webpage Layout - No matter which alignment style you are using, keep it consistent. If you want your website to have a professional appearance all of your pages should use the same rules of alignment.

  • Database Navigation - The database or grid design of website navigation is made up of multiple main divisions and each division is linked to its own database. This type of navigation can be used effectively when large amounts of data are required in the website design.

  • Hierarchical Navigation - The hierarchical design goes from the general to the specific; from a home page to main sections to subsections and databases. The goal of any hierarchical navigational system is to offer the user a clear and simple way to access all pages in a site.

  • Linear Navigation - Linear navigation is used for a website where you want the visitor to go from one step to another in a particular order. This is usually used within a website but seldom as a stand alone design.

  • Focal Point - You must present a focal point on each page that draws the eye to the main topic of the page and make it easy for your visitors to decide if this is the information that they are seeking.

  • HTML Editors - There are many HTML editors to choose from some of them are free while others cost varying amounts. But, it is best to learn the basics of HTML.

  • Poor Webpage Layout - Poor webpage layout will result in a poor website. Among the biggest mistakes webmasters make is the improper use of alignment.

  • Titles Tags Links - In your HTML coding, meta tags and links should always provide a descriptive title for your web pages. . .and they should reflect what's on that particular page.

  • Unbalanced Layout - If the arrangement of the text and graphics on a webpage is boring there is nothing to interest the eye. Even with good graphics it would be difficult to make this type of page look professional.

  • Webpage Design - You want to use contrast to guide the eye around your pages. And, to be effective, the contrast must be bold. Also, any good web page design must have a focal point.

  • Webpage Hotspots - When a webpage is being viewed there are some universal reactions by your visitors to be considered. Certain areas of a webpage stand out to most people who will visit your website.

  • Webpage Layout - If you follow certain basic rules for your webpage layouts both you and your visitor will be happy. Stay consistent with the following rules of page layout and your website will take on a professional appearance.

  • Webpage Specials - A webpage should not overwhelm the visitor with unnecessary animations, flash novelties or music. All of these things can detract from the content of your page.

  • Website Basic Layout - A website is composed of three main divisions. They are the homepage, main sections and subsections.

  • Website Content - Content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available. Content is the key to the perfect website.

  • Website Navigation - It is important to have a clear idea of your navigational system before you organize your website. Help your visitors find the information they need with the least number of clicks.

  • Website Sections - Determining and naming the main sections of your site is very important. Sections should contain material grouped according to visitor needs.

  • Website Structure - Now we're going to look at the overall structure of a website. This is different from the individual pages within the site (i.e. content). The structure of your site is composed of the different sections of your website and navigation within those sections.

  • Website Theme - What you are doing, with a theme, is providing cohesiveness to your site - letting visitors know they are still in the same place no matter what section they are viewing.

  • White Space - White space refers to the blank areas around your text and graphics. It is not the color white. It provides a way to group text and graphics into blocks so that the eye can follow the flow of information.

• How to Develop a Website - The development of a website should be a complete and deliberate process. You will have many files and graphics that support your site and they need to be kept organized as you develop your website.

  • Sitemap Construction - By providing your visitors a sitemap you help them to focus on the subject matter that they are most interested in. Your sitemap is an important element of your website navigation scheme. Every website should have a sitemap.

  • Webpage Construction - To produce continuity on your website as well as make navigation easier, break what you see on the screen into areas such as header, footer, body, links, and images. Put the same information in the same areas on each page. This is a prerequisite to professional webpage construction.

  • Website Assembly - Website assembly is best performed in logical steps. If you keep the essential elements of your website design in an organized pattern the work will go much faster. Here is a list of such steps to get you started.

  • Website Construction - The techniques used in the constructing the physical site itself can add a professional touch to your work. This can be accomplished by the use of consistent elements throughout the site and the application of certain basic rules.

  • Website Graphics - When creating or selecting graphics, keep in mind that you want your pages to load quickly . Web users will not wait to see what's on your website if it takes over 30-45 seconds to load and display the first page.

  • Website Templates - A great way to start your website is to use a ready-made website template. This is especially true if you are new to web page layout and graphics techniques in general.

• How to Implement a Website - Here we will be dealing with the final checkout and uploading of the website.

  • Fine Tune Website - You've organized your files, created the directories and uploaded your web pages. Once your site is online, the first thing you should do is go through each and every page as a visitor would, checking to make sure all the graphics are displaying and the links work.

  • FTP Final Checklist - Before you upload your web pages to the Internet, there are a few things you should check.

  • FTP Website - FTP stands for "file transfer protocol" and it is a method of transferring files between two computers. FTP allows you to get access to files stored in the disk directory of a remote computer that is connected to the Internet.

  • Upload Organization - When you are ready to put your site online, be sure and use directories to organize the different components of your website. If you are going to design/create more than one website, have a separate directory folder for each site.

  • User Interaction - How will visitors interact on your website? Your first response might be that they don't really need to interact with you, this is not true. Interactivity is the key to engaging your guests in a dialogue, silent or active, that leads them in to taking an action.

• Maintaining a Website - Maintaining a website is just as important as building it in the first place! Unfortunately, most designers put much more effort into the initial design and launch of a site than they do in keeping the content fresh and keeping the site growing to best serve all visitors.

  • Links Tracking - Tracking the visitors who surf you're website is essential if you want to provide them with the content that they are looking for.

  • Link Baiting - The number and quality of the links pointing to your website determine how much importance search engines place on the relevance of your listing in their search results. Link bait is one way that you can get some of those all important links.

  • Marketing Website - Your website should not be a passive thing; Web sites should generate activity and this activity is the key to successful marketing.

  • Viral Marketing - The term "viral marketing" refers to the idea that people will pass on and share with others content that is interesting and entertaining.

  • Website Promotion - There are four main types of website, each one gains traffic through a different method.

  • Product Sales - Because of the reach and interactivity of the Web it has become possible for people like you and me to earn some cash right in the privacy of our own homes.

  • Affiliate Programs - Affiliate programs are among the simplest methods to earn revenue with your website. Basically all you need is a website and some strategically placed ads provided by the sponsor and you are on your way.

  • Online Services - Information is the number one best-selling product on the Internet. If you have developed an interesting or informative ebook, service or program then you should consider selling it on the Web.

  • Optimize Website - Search engine optimization is crucial to your traffic flow. Having your website listed on the first page of a search engines results will give you maximum exposure. And, the closer you are to the top of the page the greater the number of visitors you will receive.

  • Keywords - Keywords are truly the keys to being well ranked on search engines. These tips and tricks will help you use the right keywords in a way that they can increase your standings in on-line searches.

  • Content - Using your website content to optimize for Web searches is one of the best ways to increase traffic to your site. Content is the heart and soul of any website and correctly applying a few simple rules will make it more valuable to your visitors.

  • Website Traffic Analysis - Every time someone visits your website information like their IP address, time and date of access and error messages are recorded into log files that are saved on your servers (i.e. your web hosts) computer. These files can be used to analyze your website traffic.

  • Increasing Website Traffic - Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.

  • ROR RSS Sitemap Generator - Resources of a Resource (ROR)/Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an XML format for describing the content of an internet resource or website in a generic fashion so this content can be better understood by search engines, spiders, web applications, etc.

  • Summary - Webmasters Tutorial - By now you have a good understanding of what it takes to create a website and the elements that make one up. If you apply what you have learned here you will have a website that is above the average. And, in time you will enjoy the bounties of the World Wide Web.

• Rocketface(R) Workshop Newsletter Index

  • Classified - A collection of links of interest to the webmaster.

  • Features - Articles and essays on the role of webmaster and the internet. Includes tips and tools to help attain success on the Web.

  • Forum - Internet forums dedicated to the sharing of knowledge between webmasters.

  • History - A look at the events in history by date. What was happening in years gone by.

  • Link - Add a link to the Rocketface® Workshop.

  • News - The latest news from the internet aimed at the aspiring webmaster.

Website design links - A collection of links to website design resources.

• Domain Names - Practically speaking, your domain name (web address) is the core of your Internet identity, your online brand. Your customers and friends will remember this name and use it to find your website, your products or your services.

  • Domain Name Registrars - These links will provide you with access to services which can show you how to register your domain name, the mechanics of domain names and their construction.

• Web hosts and website hosting - Web Hosting is the storage of your website or home page on the internet so that others can see it and interact with it. It is important to find a high quality, dependable Web Host that can publish your website and provide you with an easy to use interface (i.e. connection) with their server.

  • Free website hosting - There are many internet companies that offer free website hosting. Not only do they offer free website hosting but they also provide site templates and help in developing your website.

  • Private website hosting - Sometimes free web hosting doesn't provide the flexability needed to present a unique website. Private hosting gives you total control over your website.

A beginners guide to effective email - I believe strongly in the value of electronic mail in both corporate and personal domains. Email is cheaper and faster than a letter, less intrusive than a phone call, less hassle than a FAX.

So, you want to make a Web Page! - A beginners guide to HTML. This tutorial will show you how to construct webpages using basic HTML commands.

Webmasters Article Archive - A collection of articles and mini tutorials covering website design, managment and promotion.