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Often taken for granted, header graphics on a web site are crucial. It
is the first opportunity to make a great impression on a new arrival
and anything less is likely to lose them. A successful introduction
will draw the visitor into the site and then provide or effortlessly
guide them to concise and functional navigation. Grab their attention.
Be convenient. Nothing drives a new visitor away as frustration does.
While a great header graphic is no guarantee of a repeat visitor, a
poorly designed header will certainly guarantee against them. The first
step to ensuring that a web site header is a boon rather than a
hindrance is to develop a plan. A lack of planning results in a poorly
designed header. A great plan results in an effective header that will
attract visitors and up the chances that they return.

Know the type of visitor that the web site is targeting. Examine sites
that target similar audiences and consider their header graphics. Note
the aspects that make a header effective and compare those against
those less so. Being unique is critical. A header that invokes another
enterprise could create unintended connotations.

Plan to integrate visual elements that blend into the site’s motif. A
site should always tie in a visual scheme that makes it easy to read. A
header that is overly effective at seizing attention may distract
readers and detract from the site’s overall concept.

Pay careful attention to size because it is vital to strike a balance
in this area. An extremely large header will certainly grab attention.
It will also gobble up valuable screen real estate. It may also
inadvertently influence visitors to form the impression that the site
is light on content. The flipside of this is a header so small that it
effectively serves no purpose at all.

This is the reason why carousel-style headers have become so prevalent.
Used effectively they provide the best of both worlds. The header
graphics can be large, loud and eye-catching. It can also alert
visitors to the abundance of content on the site while incorporating a
lean, central navigation.

Download 5000+ incredible and latest Header Graphics.

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The single most important graphic element on your Web site or blog is,
without a doubt, your header graphic.

If your site lacks an eye-catching, targeted and topic-specific header
graphic, it runs the risk of being ignored by untold numbers of
potential clients and readers. But an attention-grabbing, well-designed
header graphic does three things that are absolutely essential for your
site to survive and thrive:

1. It lets people know what your site is about instantaneously.
Congratulations, someone has visited your Web site! Now, whether he
stays to look around or immediately hits the back button to escape
depends largely on your header graphic.

Your header graphic is the first page element your site visitors will
see when they arrive at your Web site or blog. An effective header
graphic assures site visitors that they have arrived at the correct
destination and it confirms that your content or product is exactly
what they are looking for.

If your header does not clearly communicate your site’s topic, visitors
will leave in search of another site that fulfills their needs and
expectations better.

2. It distinguishes your site as professional and authoritative.
Your Web site or blog visitors must trust your expertise, whether you
sell a product or relay information, in order for your site to be
successful.

A sloppy, fuzzy, boring or poorly designed header graphic indicates
amateur site management and will earn you the skepticism of everyone
who sees it. A polished, error-free header graphic with clear images,
sharp fonts and site-specific art, however, will earn your visitors’
trust because it lends credibility and sophistication to your site.
If your site design looks professional, visitors will expect that you
are, too.

3. It brands your site with a unique identity.
Identity recognition is everything when it comes to building a
successful business or personal reputation. You want your site visitors
to be able to recognize your site next week, next month and next year,
even if they only visited it once before.

A strong, unique header graphic combined with a positive user
experience at your Web site or blog will ensure that your site visitors
never confuse you with someone else. If your header graphic is doing
its job, your site will stand out from the crowd and convey the message
that visitors can count on you for products, services and information
they won’t find anywhere else.

Download 5000+ incredible new Header Graphics.

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Increase your conversion rates with these tips on web design and development

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Good web design and development is more than just coding. You need to consider more than just a visually pleasing page. With very few exceptions, websites are there to make money. Sure, it’s true that you’ve got to have good content and plenty of it in order to raise your search engine rankings. However, once your visitor arrives, it’s imperative that the visitor can quickly and easily discern what you have to offer.

You need to make it easy to navigate your site as well, placing links to other pages on your site which are relevant to that reader’s interest. While it may seem obvious, your web design and development plan must include the assumption that your visitor does not necessarily land on your homepage. You need to organize each page accordingly. Your general page layout and screen size are other factors which contribute to usability. In a nutshell, usability is most important to your success. Here are a few tips that will increase your conversion rates.

The latest figures on screen size indicate that upwards of 80% of users use the 1024 x 768 screen resolution, so it’s best to design your page to that size. A three column page makes a good composition, but in order to be sure your sales propositions are clear to the other 20% of visitors using the smaller screen resolution, it’s best that your sales propositions be placed in the left hand column. For example, if you have an e-newsletter, place this offer in the left hand column.

Remember what we said about not assuming your visitor lands first on your homepage? A good web design and development plan means that you must place your offer for your e-zine in the same position on every page. You’ll increase your readership exponentially, since every visitor will spot your offer.

This brings us to the scrolling factor. Unless you make your purpose and value proposition visible in the top portion of the page, without the user needing to scroll down, chances are good they’ll never see it. All such messages should be displayed in the left hand, or second column, as appropriate.

Your web design and development plan must tackle the complex problem of each page’s organization of content. Knowing that a first time visitor can land on any page on your site, introductory material must be written such that your visitor is not confused. Make the purpose of that material clear, on that page. Do not write it as a continuing saga with the assumption the reader has read the previous page. This isn’t really tricky, as long as you apply the principle of the material being standalone information.

Now for navigation aspects. Let’s say you’ve got a gardening website. One page contains an article on the general care of roses. Your web design and development plan needs to address the question of which of your other pages might be most relevant to that reader, and place links to those other pages in an easily found location. As your traffic grows, you’ll begin to see user patterns to refine your links to suit your traffic.

Incorporate these tips into your initial web design and development plan and watch your traffic grow. Pretty isn’t enough, but fortunately, you can have both beauty and function.

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Setting up a website? Your web design layout is more important than you might think

You’ve located a perfect marketing niche for your product or service. You’ve got your business plan and marketing strategies ready to go. You have your domain name and hosting service in place. What you don’t have is your web design layout. While you may plan on hiring a web design firm to make this happen, you’re well advised to put in a little effort of your own before hiring a professional.

No one knows your business better than you do. You know the flavor of the appearance you want to convey to your customers. While a good web page designer may have the visual elements of good graphic design down pat, only you know what will be of special appeal to your niche market base. You also may have the inside scoop on marketing techniques that will edge you up in your search engine rankings. These factors may be totally out of your web design layout expert’s purview. They are looking to create a pretty page that will please a visitor, once they’ve landed on your page. Web page designers are not usually conversant in SEO issues or spider turn-offs. So it’s worth your while to make a mock-up that takes these important issues in to account.

Your page composition is a good starting point. Your home page must be inviting, while fulfilling sales objectives. As soon as your visitor hits your home page, you want them to see your main sales offerings, without having to scroll down. A good web design layout makes these sales points immediately visible, not hidden in the last half of the page. You want them to find your most valuable propositions right off the bat. Make a mock-up of your site’s web design with this in mind. Ad placement is another important component of a good web design layout. Make sure you make it clear what ads you want your visitors to see up front. Your web designer is skilled in visuals and graphic design, but may not understand the importance of ad placement.

Good web design layout must also take into account what type of software will be detrimental to your search engine rankings. Flash(R) slide shows used to be a huge problem. The search engine spiders would essentially flip out when they encountered Flash(R) displays, resulting in no future visits, or indexing, of that page. While the spider bots can now deal with them, after a fashion, there are still a number of details to be taken into consideration before integrating these sophisticated software programs without damaging your rankings.

A good web design layout must also consider different browsers. When you engage a web page designer, make sure they know the problems associated with dealing with different browsers. The majority of web surfers use Internet Explorer. However, Firefox and Opera are competitors. Each of these browsers display your web design layout differently. If your design layout accommodates IE exclusively, you’re going to lose out on that segment of potential customers using a different browser. Your page may appear distorted and unprofessional in appearance, with strange effects that will have that visitor surfing away forever, never to return.

If you make the effort to create a mock-up that incorporates these marketing concerns into your web design layout, you’ll end up with a site that draws the maximum number of visitors. Let your web master take care of the graphic elements.

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