Templates

Secondly we talked about the decentralized web and making sure your content gets the visibility it deserves through RSS (Really Simple Syndication) which lets you tap into a wealth of opportunity by offering your readers the ability to subscribe to your feed and receive regularly updated content automatically.

In addition I said your site had to be search engine and users friendly. Search engine and users friendly is as much a step back as a step forward; it means returning to the earliest ethics of the web while adhering to a few basic principles.

For example, the navigation should be easily decipherable establishing an easy to follow hierarchical layout. Meaning that there has to be a specific order of precedence among each individual element. Consequently that same order must be constant following that same pattern through every page.

Also we talked about what in my opinion, is the most important aspects of Web 2.0 and that is interactivity and collaboration. Why? Because nobody likes to be on the receiving end of a one-way conversation, good communication is a two way street. Similarly whether you are an internet entrepreneur selling a product, a small business owner providing a service or just a publisher of information you want to be sure to get your point across.

The best way to get your point across is by getting to know your audience. How? By providing some interaction or means of communication in other words, open a dialog. Consequently this type of feedback is invaluable in determining not so much what you want to say but rather, what your audience wants to hear. And hence enabling you to better market your brand and make the right decisions concerning your business.

Now that we’ve talked about some of the fundamental features of Web 2.0 let’s talk a little bit about how you can create or implement your very own web 2.0 ready site. One way to add all of the Web 2.0 elements I just mentioned instantly is to use a blogging platform to run your site.

Generally speaking, a blog is just a website usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or whatever the case may be. Moreover if you have been surfing the Internet for any length of time, then chances are you’ve read many blog posts whether you realize it or not. Even if you don’t think of your site as a blog, or maybe you just don’t feel your brand constitutes the bases for a blog or doesn’t fall under that heading; think of it as a Content Management System.

My personal favorite blogging platform or blogging software is WordPress. WordPress is both free and priceless all at the same time and you can download the latest version of WordPress (Version 2.5.1) right here http://wordpress.org/download/

Basically WordPress is what my site is run off of, likewise it is what I recommend my customers to use whenever they want a website that is search engine friendly, easy to use, interactive and relatively simple to customize.

The reason why is WordPress has a very easy to use administrative back-end that allows you update your site regularly; you just login and its almost like sending an email or using Microsoft Word you just hit publish and whoomp there it is! As apposed to having to learn some programming language or worse having to hire a web master again, and again even for the smallest modification.

Typically, WordPress is organized in reverse chronological order - that is, the newest, freshest content is presented first. Similarly all the content is linked and fitly joined together with a unique web address so that people can bookmark or link to any page and so the search engine can easily index each individual page.

In addition WordPress is instantly interactive because at the bottom of every post there is a comment box where people can talk to you and you can reply back to them and that opens up that line of communication or medium that as I’ve already mentioned it’s so important for getting that feedback.

Besides that, every time you add a post WordPress automatically notifies all of major directories (see Technorati, Bloglines, or any other feed-based aggregator) or at least most of them, likewise WordPress also automatically notifies anybody that is coming to you via their preferred feed aggregator.

So there you have it, all of the characteristics of Web 2.0 I just talked about and many more are made available by using WordPress and best of all its totally free. The last thing I want to mention also is to do with customizing your WordPress template commonly know as themes.

A huge factor weighing heavily on whether or not people who visits your site will remain there for any reasonable amount of time, or whether or not they may decide to make other return visits to your site depends upon the esthetic characteristics of your design or over all look and feel of the site.

To clarify this concept further, think of this comparison. Generally speaking, a person who wears clothes that fit properly, are clean and wrinkle free is said to be a well-dressed individual. Moreover their appearance may make us feel or act more comfortable or amicable towards then some might even see this as a clear indication of someone who is apt to be more fun to hang around with. Similarly, a website that has a neat and friendly surrounding environment will be more likely to retain its visitor.

WordPress templates
A WordPress template theme is a skin (theme or template) for this popular blogging platform – if you are not already a professional web designer I suggest you invest a little money on one of these. The cool thing about WordPress templates is that a professional web designer using the latest technology designs them.

In other words, as you can see here, people who have a real passion for and really understand typography, white space, layout things like that do all of the labor; skills you could only wish to achieve after years of practice as a graphic designer and or developer.

Be that as it may, don’t be misled – Yes WordPress templates are great for your site, nonetheless also for your competitors’ sites that bought the same template you did! On that note, I entreat you to consider the benefits of having professional template customization.

Our template customization are only $380 a pop, and they’ll allow you change the templates color scheme, font style, add your own logo and if need be, we will even installing WordPress on the server for you. What is more, we will customize any theme to fit your individual business needs.

The result is a unique interactive website that works intuitively to help your customers find everything they need (read more about our template customization process).

In the upcoming months I will introduce you to WordPress plugins and show you how to install then on your blog, we’ll definitely talk about the sites new redesign, give you more tips on customizing your template and I’ll also show you ways to start monetizing your blog.

Resources:
How to Analyze, Optimize, Publicize, Monetize and Troubleshotize the Ideal Web 2.0 Site in a Nutshell.
Is Your Site Search Engine and Users Friendly?
How Can Interactivity Increase Conversions & Make You Money?
Essential Web2.0 Skills

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Making your own template customizations is easy we can help you by providing the tools needed in doing this through comprehensive template editing tutorials and articles such as these. Yet we are aware that running your small business is foremost in your mind.

Consequently we can help you focus on that. Our basic template customizations package is very affordable. In addition we will plan and consult with you every step of the way to determine what your website needs. Our template customizations are always delivered on time and we make sure that you have the most standards complient web sites possible. In this article we will teach you a number basic HTML rules that you may very easily apply to change or update the look and feel of anyone of these website templates.

Are you a beginner struggling to learn basic HTML? Or maybe you have a template that you want to make changes too, but you are not sure how to proceed, well this article is just for you. Many people are put off building their own website or changing templates because they think that learning HTML very difficult. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Others also believe that creating your own website means purchasing expensive software. Yes there are many different programs out there that can be used to create a website for you, but basically you can do it all for free if you are willing to spend a little time learning the basics of HTML.

All over the Internet you can find websites offering template that you can download to your computer and add your own content too. Some of these templates are better than others, but even if you do find a high quality template, you still need to know some basic HTML otherwise website will have exactly the same design as everyone else who downloaded that same template.

Like everything else in life learning basic html just requires the right information.

So many times I have been asked by visitors to my HTML for beginners website how do I make my words bold? Or how do I make my text bigger? Using simple tags before and after the text involved will do this.

Here are some more Basic HTML Tags to get you started: -

< *b>Types the text in bold.< */b> This tag will make your words appear bold.

< *i>This should be italicized.< */i> This will give your words an italic look.

< *u>Underline this text.< */u> This text will be underlined

< *hr /> This forms a horizontal line. ___________________

< *font color="######">Change color.Text here< */font> This will change the color of (1) word. This (######) should be placed with the code for the color you want to use. For example if you wanted your words to be red the signs would be replaced with #ff0000

So your code will now look like this and your text will be red < *font color="#ff0000">Change color.Text here< */font>

< *small>This should be in small.< */small> Make your text small

Combining Basic HTML Tags

Perhaps you may want to combine some of the basic HTML codes above. Lets say you want to make your text bold and italic. This is what your code will look like.

< *b>< *i>Text in bold and italic< */i>< */b>

Notice we have put both the bold tag < *b> and the italic tag < *i> together to give us our bold and italic text. These combinations can also be applied to color. If you would like to make your text underlined and green, this is how the tag should appear.

< *u>< *font color="#00ff00">Change color of 1 word.Text here< */font>< */u>

In all of the above code the * should be removed to make your code work correctly. The * is used to allow you to see the actual code but must be removed when placed on your site.

These are just some of the simple things you can do to change the look and feel of your website. To learn more why not check out some of the online basic HTML tutorials to get you started and in no time at all you will be past the basics of HTML and onto pro HTML coding.

About the Author
Basic HTML is not difficult to learn. Visit Web Monster at his brand new blog http://html-code-for-beginners.blogspot.com to learn more about basic HTML coding.

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In a previous post, Is Your Site Search Engine and User Friendly, we discussed a number of ways to make your site both search engine and user friendly. Essentially the whole idea is to ensure that your site helps users find their content easily. In other words, is the content organized in an easy-to-read hierarchical layout? Are we using HTML links on every page? Moreover, do your pages contain relevant information that clearly and accurately describe your focus and is that text clear, crisp and legible? In this article we will learn how to apply that same practicality focusing primarily on the home page.

The most important part of any home page is the upper portion; the part that is viewable without having to scroll down to look at what else is included on that page. It is tempting therefore to cram everything you can into that top portion, to ensure that all the important stuff can be seen as soon as the page loads.

But this can be a big mistake. In this world of graphics, content and images, less really can be more. Our ever increasingly impatient society has an attention span which stretches to mere seconds, not long enough to scan and digest even a fraction of what many people try and cram onto their home page.

It’s advisable therefore to go back to basics and make a note of what your website is really all about. What do you want your visitors to get from it? What is the single most important message you want to get across? What would you like your visitors to do? Sign up for a free newsletter? Click through to other pages on your site?

Whatever actions you would like your visitors to perform, you need to make sure they are visible and accessible on that first screen. Don’t overcrowd your home page; instead, make sure you have a nice clear and clean border around that sign up box you have for people to fill in and join your email list. It will stand out more and get a better response if you do.

When you are planning or redesigning your home page, think about adding smaller blocks of easily readable content, rather than adding a long article that would be better saved for another section of your site. Don’t overwhelm people as soon as they arrive, let your home page point towards other areas of interest, while remaining clear and simple to understand itself.

Creating a good home page that converts visitors into sign ups and encourages them to explore the site in more depth takes time and experimentation. It is certainly an ongoing process, but each improvement you make will have a direct bearing on how well the site performs as a whole , so it’s worth persevering.

About the Author
Pro Wordpress Themes is a collection of high-quality, professional Wordpress themes designed by world-class graphic artists and made available to download free of charge. To download a free Wordpress theme please visit Free Website Templates.

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Many of the best examples of web 2.0 have some elements that make them, well, Web 2.0 style. Yet Web 2.0 is an oft-overlooked design style, and even more often misunderstood especially in terms of value and implementation. Making a site interactive and yet still comprehensive is not an easy thing to do.

Wikipedia describes Web 2.0 as “a second generation of web-based communities and hosted services such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies, which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing among users”. While this is an accurate description of the term, nothing says Web 2.0 more than central layout, big text, strong colors, round corners and an intuitive navigation.

Centralized layouts: As apposed to jamming everything in one place (e.g. left-orientated scalable layouts), Web 2.0 templates centralized layouts bring simplicity into focus by positioning the content in the center of the page. It’s not overwhelming, there’s less information to process and the right allocation of large fonts and white space presents a better more amicable experience.

Example Template No. 16962

Navigation: The ease of navigation needn’t be compromised. The Web 2.0 template style of navigation is typically horizontal, utilizes large fonts and is always clear and concise.

Example Template No. 18099

Brighter color surfaces: The old Web 1.0 always felt a little drab, part of the reason for that was the almost total lack of color. Web 2.0 templates are typically characterized by color. The colors are bright, fluorescent like, cherry colors – blue, orange, lime-green and a myriad of rich surfaces and reflections harmoniously twined with white space to deliver an open and friendly feeling.

Example Template No. 15360

Bigger fonts: Another component of Web 2.0 templates are clear large fonts. Large font can help place the eye on the things you feel should stand out. Large fonts are perfectly acceptable on the web, as long as you employed them judiciously.

Example Template No. 18117

Rounded corners: Boxes with rounded corners aren’t anything new; the only difference with Web 2.0 is that they’re now standards-compliant. The trick is Web 2.0 templates use CSS to implement the illusion of curves, instead of the old fashion method that involved slicing the top and bottom of a rounded rectangle, a table with three rows and a lot of time on your hands.

Example Template No. 18579

Web 2.0 falls right into the category of design where many people think it’s easy, yet an understanding of layout and white space and, even more, an understanding of communication, is vital. All of the elements (centralized layouts, strong colors, round corners, big text) readily attributed to Web 2.0 templates are carefully crafted by professionals who are passionate about design. On that note, we entreat you to consider the convenience and practicality of obtaining professional customizations. The result is a unique product that works intuitively to help the user (your customer) find anything on the site.

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