When people first hit your site, the first thing they see is your header. As this is your only chance to make a good first impression, it is important that your header look as good as it can be. Because of this, it is imperative that you understand the different ways to create headers.

First and foremost, do not use text as your header. There is no way to come off as anything besides cheap, and that is not a good thing. By using text, you also lose control of how your name is displayed, and that may cause some interesting display issues. If you are even debating that, then track down some the various scripts that use tiles for your letters; some of them do look very nice. At the very least, they aren’t straight text, which always looks bad.

The basic header is an image file that displays the site title and company logo. Done well, they can work for your site. After all, they get the point across clearly and succinctly, and are great for potential customers that are using dial-up. But keep in mind that you can make some interesting mistakes. Keep in mind that you want to have some fun with the header, even if it’s a slight image. Try to keep any contact information in a separate section.

Also, keep in mind that you can have some fun with the header graphic; this is best exemplified by the animated header. They aren’t that hard to create, and can supply some much-needed action to an otherwise staid design. Just don’t make them too complex, and remember to have some fun with them. An ideal animated header not only looks good, but also has a clean loop (you shouldn’t see when it starts over). A bad one is choppy, loops messily, and just looks horrible.

The most complicated header is the Flash header. By incorporating Flash into your header, you can use it as a nice way to identify your site, as well as add some navigation to your header. You need to be really careful with these; some programmers get so into the header that they make it bloated, and so anyone using dialup connections can’t even get into your site because the header is taking so long to load, and all of your navigation is in the Flash header. Just remember that any limitations that apply to your other images apply to your header as well (like keeping it under 100K in size). Also, remember to have another way to navigate around your site; some people do surf with images turned off (usually a dialup connection, but others like the enhanced speed), so that if you limit navigation to just your header then those people won’t be able to use your site, and you lose those customers.

When you design your headers, have fun but remember those on dialup or using text-only browsers. Do this and you will be surprised how it helps your numbers.

Andy Eaton is by far the best graphic designer I have ever come across! Not only does he create quality graphics, which actually do increase your website sales he actually goes one step further and teaches you his exact methods to crank out profit pulling graphics. Check out his work at http://quickpaypro.com/x.php?5086_u20

FTP is an abbreviation for the term “File Transfer Protocol”
which is a method used to transfer files from one computer to
another over the internet. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is
used to display web pages and related files, but not to transfer
them. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is used to transfer
email via the internet, but not files. While there are other ways
to transfer files from one computer to another via the internet,
FTP is the simplest method for transferring electronic files as
it uses the TCP/IP protocols of the internet to complete the
transmission. FTP functions are actually complementary to HTTP
functions due to the fact that web pages that are uploaded to the
internet to be displayed using HTTP are generally uploaded via an
FTP process. So, is FTP web hosting necessary for your internet
business?

Well, the importance of FTP web hosting to your business is
largely dependent upon whether or not you will be transferring
files via the internet. If your internet business involves the
sharing of files – if you provide customers with large documents
or graphic files, or if you receive large documents or graphic
files from other sources, FTP web hosting can be pretty useful.

Of course, you can email large files back and forth between two
computers; however, if you’ve used email for very long, you are
probably aware of the limitations of some email accounts and
email service providers. More often than not, email servers have
a limit on the size of file that can be received via email. FTP
web hosting is an alternative to having to deal with email
limitations.

With FTP web hosting capabilities, you can actually develop
directories of files that are stored on your web hosts servers
allowing for easy access to the files through the internet.
Others can access and download the files via the internet. With
FTP web hosting, others can also upload files to you via the FTP
technology. You may be thinking that you wouldn’t want just
anybody to have access to your files. This is certainly something
to consider when reviewing, evaluating and choosing a FTP web
hosting provider.

With FTP web hosting, security is essential. When your website
has FTP web hosting, and relatively, FTP download and upload
capabilities, you have the ability to organize your files on your
FTP site and to determine which files will be publicly accessible
and which ones will remain locked. User names and passwords can
be set to limit access to files on your FTP website that you do
not want to be publicly accessible. For public FTP websites, it
is standard for the user id to be “anonymous” and for the
password to be the email address of the individual attempting to
access and download from, or upload to, the FTP website.

With FTP web hosting for your site, your site visitors will be
able to access the FTP connection using common web browsers like
Netscape or Internet Explorer; however, downloading files through
FTP access is more efficient and more secure if a software
application called FTP Client is used. FTP web hosting that uses
FTP Client is best because of the security potential it provides
along with other features like resume capabilities which are
rather crucial if an interruption in the internet connection
occurs during a download.

Most web hosting companies offer FTP web hosting with the
capability of transferring files from your computer to your web
server as a standard feature, but sometimes you have to ask to
have the capabilities enabled. For FTP web hosting with public
access capabilities, some web hosts charge extra for it. When
selecting a web host for your website, whether or not you foresee
the need for FTP web hosting, it is a good idea to select a web
host that provides FTP web hosting with both uploading and public
access capabilities without added fees.

Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
advice you’re getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing,
or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your
internet business at http://BiznessTips.com

This is our top 10 list of things you shouldn’t do on your website:

1. Do not underline words unless they are a link. It is a design standard to underline links. If you underline other words on your web page that are not links, viewers will click them. When they don’t go anywhere, it will lead to confusion. Make it obvious what is a link and what isn’t.
2. Use a font without serifs. Serifs are the little lines at the end of letters that make them easier to read in print. On a computer screen, however, sans serif fonts like Arial and Verdana are actually easier to read and lead to greater comprehension of your message. For example, this is serif and this is sans serif.
3. Optimize your graphics for the web. If the file size of your pictures is too large, they will take too long to load and most users won’t stick around to see them. Pictures can be optimized with only slight changes in overall quality.
4. Put the navigation for your web pages on the top or left hand side. This is where most users automatically look to find them. Don’t stick it on the right just to be different. This is not where people’s eyes go to look for navigation. Be consistent with your navigation placement; it should be in the same spot on every page.
5. Don’t use more than three or four colors on your web page. Any more, and the user will be overwhelmed and not know where to look first. If your message is competing for attention with color, your site will not be as effective as it could be.
6. If you are selling on-line, put the prices of your products or services where people can easily find them. Don’t make them look too long, or else they will give up, leave your site, and spend their money elsewhere.
7. Avoid horizontal scrolling on your web pages. Ensure your site fits on a screen resolution of 800 by 600 so that viewers don’t have to scroll left to right. Vertical scrolling is okay, but horizontal scrolling is annoying and unnecessary.
8. Do not collect email addresses without a privacy policy. In Canada, there is a privacy law that states that every site should have a privacy policy, even if they don’t collect any information. Read more at the government of Canada web site.
9. Avoid unnecessary animated images. The flashing and movement on the screen will distract the eye from the main message. Don’t get me wrong, flash and animation is cool, but only when they support the main message.
10. Remember to give each of your pages a unique title. Search engines use titles to help rank your pages. Bookmarks use page titles, too.

When designing your site remember what visitors to your site want

• Text they can read
• Text that answers their questions
• Simple navigation
• Fresh, up-to-date content

Happy Designing!

Colleen Happ designs effective and affordable websites. View her portfolio at http://www.happconsulting.com. Colleen offers free one hour consultations to show how an effective website can benefit your business. She can be reached at 403-807-8225.