Digg it UP - Internet and Businesses Online

Why You Need A Website Gestalt
'Wired' magazine published an intriguing article entitled 'Very Short Stories' where they asked a number of authors to create a story in only six words. At first this seems to be an impossible task, but as you'll see it's an excellent example of how the principles of Gestalt can help marketers develop powerful marketing messages on their websites or in any other marketing venue.One of the best 'Very Short Stories' was by Canadian novelist, Margaret Atwood, "Corpse parts missing. Doctor buys yacht." This macabre six-word tale tells us a complete story. We need no further details or explanation to understand exactly what has happened. This is an example of what the Gestaltists call 'closure' the ability of the brain to fill in the b

nty for design options. Sure, not as many as 256 colors or 16 million, but still plenty to accomplish what you want or need to do with color.

Calculating Trade Show ROI
"If you're not keeping score, it's just practice" – Vince LombardiCalculating your trade show ROI (return on investment) can be difficult for most businesses. Unless you take orders at a trade show, you must rely on accurate tracking throughout the year in order to figure out how valuable the show was for you. And because clients tend to need several different "touch points" before buying (seeing a magazine ad, hearing a colleague speak of your product or service, receiving a sales call, etc.), it's tough to tell where the sale actually came from. You can, however, estimate your trade show ROI – here's how:Meet with your sales team to determine a few things first–1. The average number of qualified leads it

So, what's in a website design anyway? And, how do you get a design that is appealing to the broad and varied tastes of all those Internet surfers out there?

This is critical. Your website design is the first impression you make on your customers and visitors. There are a few sites in my favorites and bookmarks that I consider poorly designed. I still have them, because they have information I want. Lucky for the site owner that their content was that good! But one day I will find another site with the same information and a better design. Then guess who will be in my favorites and who will be left out? Maybe your content is great too, but don't take chances on a poor design. Think how much more repeat traffic and referred traffic you will get if you have both great content and great design.

Design Taste Varies - OK, design is a matter of taste and target audience to some degree. What looks good to one visitor may not be so great to another. Here we have the old adage of "one man's trash is another man's treasure". But there are solid basics that go into good site design. Creating a distinctive visual style and applying it consistently is the best way to bind a series of subjects and web pages together.

Layouts - The layout of your site is an important design element. A webpage is a document, plain and simple. It is like formatting a letter, an outline, a report, or an advertisement. Establish a layout grid and a style for handling your text and graphics, then stick with it to build a consistent rhythm and unity across all the pages of your site. Make it easy to follow, pleasing to the eye. Learn to use tables and nested tables, lists, and even well designed frames for controlling layouts.

Color - Color has a lot to do with target audience as well. What appeals to a teenager may not work with a target audience of baby-boomers, and so forth. But anybody can appreciate color coordination. Color coordination can be learned. Yes, it's a lot easier if you have a natural "knack" for these things, but you can learn basic color coordination techniques that make the difference between "tacky, yuk!!!" and "soothing to the eye".

Safe Colors - Everyone does NOT have 16 million colors on their computer. Learn to use the websafe 216 colors. Notice that's 216 colors, not 256 colors. This is a matter of video card capability and you are at the mercy of the viewer's personal computer system. Your best bet is to stick to 6 x 6 x 6 bit color resolution (216 colors) to cover the majority of Internet users. The 216 color palette gives you plenty for design options. Sure, not as many as 256 colors or 16 million, but still plenty to accomplish what you want or need to do with color.

How to Increase Sales Page Conversion Rates Part I
Good conversion rates are essential to successful internet marketing, and if you know how to increase sales page conversion rates you should be a winner, irrespective of what form of internet marketing you are involved in.The term ‘conversion’ relates to changing a visitor to your sales page into a customer, and the conversion ‘rate’ is the proportion of customers to total visitors. If you increase the conversion rate you turn more visitors into customers, and so make more money.Your success in doing so is very dependent on how you present your sales page, and what offers you provide to make the purchase a more attractive proposition. Your headline should immediately attract the visitor’s eye, and provide them with an immediate r

but don't take chances on a poor design. Think how much more repeat traffic and referred traffic you will get if you have both great content and great design.

Dear Sirs -or- Is Anybody Home?
You've read all about the all-important need to provide quality customer service - follow up - if you're selling ANYTHING online (or off).Now, before you groan and flip further into this ezine, take a moment and read on!Customer service CAN and DOES make or break your business.How often have you purchased some service or product online only to wait and wait to hear from that company? I'm not talking about the "here's your receipt" autoresponder, though of course that is vital, too. I'm talking about that personally written note that says you meant something to that merchant!Think about it... Somewhere someone is online at this very moment spending their own hard- earned cash to purchase something from some

element. A webpage is a document, plain and simple. It is like formatting a letter, an outline, a report, or an advertisement. Establish a layout grid and a style for handling your text and graphics, then stick with it to build a consistent rhythm and unity across all the pages of your site. Make it easy to follow, pleasing to the eye. Learn to use tables and nested tables, lists, and even well designed frames for controlling layouts.

How to Make Money on the Internet: A Beginner's Blueprint Part 8
A little about Google AdWords.You may want to jump start your traffic by advertising your website. I like Google AdWords. Google’s the biggest and I think the easiest to work with. Google can be a little tricky though and if you don’t know what you’re doing Google can get very expensive real fast. Google is more than willing to take your money even if you're making simple mistakes. Now you need to invest in your education. You’re going to need to buy a book. Get a book written by a real expert on Google AdWords. You should be able to find one on-line for about $50.Yes, I bought a book. After reading the book, I wished that I had bought it sooner. I found myself logging into my AdWords account to fix stupid mistakes while

r coordination can be learned. Yes, it's a lot easier if you have a natural "knack" for these things, but you can learn basic color coordination techniques that make the difference between "tacky, yuk!!!" and "soothing to the eye".

Common Mistakes in Trade Show Exhibiting
Failure to implement a consistent marketing plan. Your exhibiting efforts must be part of an overall marketing scheme that is consistent and engaging. Many exhibitors start from scratch when designing their trade show display, and their booth ends up looking entirely different from the rest of their marketing material. While it is important to have a fresh look at every trade show, it is also important to implement a consistent marketing plan to build brand recognition.Failure to set goals for your trade show experience. It is important to set measurable goals months in advance of your trade show. How can you possibly determine whether or not your exhibiting experience was a success if you never established what you wer

nty for design options. Sure, not as many as 256 colors or 16 million, but still plenty to accomplish what you want or need to do with color.

Page Load Time - Now I'll be the first person to admit that I have made *personal* web pages which have large graphics or music .wav files and other things that take awhile to load. The point here is, they are my personal websites, *not* my professional or commercial websites. I may use these long loading pages for demo-ing several techniques, or chatting with friends and other developers, but never never never for professional site design (unless my client insists, in which case I do not use their site as a demo to other potential clients!). This doesn't mean you have to give up everything on professional sites. It just means take it easy, use only one high-load-time element or two, learn to compress your graphics properly, and if you've got that much "stuff" then break it up into more than one page.

Don't Overdo IT - A typical mistake among developers is to overdo it when putting together a website. Try to use extras in moderation. Some common things that get overused are:

graphics
background images
bevels and other graphic tricks
excessive frames
text scrolling, animated .gif's, page fade-ins

Too much of something just comes off as being "cutsie", tacky, or unoriginal...but used properly it can add just the right touch. Learn to use things that compliment your site's content, and not to overdo it with extra techniques and tricks.

Readability - Make your pages as easy to read as possible. Black text on a white or off-white background is the easiest to read. There are plenty of hard-to-read pages that use backgrounds the same shade as the text (dark text on a dark background and light on light), or what I call the "neon" look with bright color on bright color.

Learn to use the tag and give your readers a font that's easy on the eye. I always think it's such a shame to see a site full of great content and then left in the default Times New Roman font. Use a sans-serif font - arial and verdana are good choices, then put "sans-serif" generic font in your last html tag attribute to cover anyone that may not have a specific font you listed as a first choice or second choice.

Browser and Monitor Compatibility -. Learn to make your web pages compatible with both Microsoft Internet Explorer(IE) and Netscape Navigator. After preparing a site, test it in both browsers and ondifferent screen sizes or resolutions. Typical figures are 80% of Internet users are on the IE browser, 80% using 800 x 600 resolution, and most on a 15" or 17" screen....but, can you really afford for your site to look poor to 20% of the market? The answer is NO. Make your site compatible with both browsers and take that silly "best viewed with..." graphic off the site! Furthermore, use alt tags in your graphics for people who surf with images turned off, or on smaller browsers which don't support them.

Using Java - Personally, I like Java and use it in site design. However, you have to remember many people turn it of

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