Design Templates - 3 Hurdles and Pitfalls

Avoid the pitfalls to do it yourself site design

Do it yourself website design can be fun if you have the time and patients. Here are 3 major obstacles to avoid while using a template to design your own site.

Avoid this major hurdle

The top, most asked question I receive is: Why won't my site work?

The question comes in many forms and formats but the basic problem is: the template doesn't work the way I envisioned it.

This may be contributed to wanting more than the template has to offer. The scope and purpose of the website template is to allow you, the user, to quickly put content on line. There are several ways to do this:

• Wizards: Site Builder provided by hosting account.
• Hire a designer.
• Design it yourself with free or paid template.
• Content Management System (Dreamweaver, Frontpage, Joomla, Etc.)

Each comes with its own set of challenges, so avoid wanting too much from your choose of site building tools. Know the limitations, scope and purpose.

Do not alter important elements

All templates will have components you can edit, but should you?

When I first started out some years ago, I would often change items in the template coding because of my experience and knowledge of HTML plus training in Mysql...

I would end up spending hours making 'small' changes to the code. It was fun to me but not a very effective use of my time. Remember, the purpose of using templates is to QUICKLY PUT CONTENT ON LINE.

I suggest you alter only the items that the documentation require you to edit.

Scripts within the templates or tools used in building your site are especially sensitive.

Altering images that come with your template is an expert level manipulation function. Are you expert with PhotoShop?

You can find an image to replace the one you 'don't like'. Do not attempt to change the image that came with the template. Trust me, this will save you time and avoid unnecessary frustration.

Don't forget marketing

Change and include Meta keyword and description elements, update the title tag on each page of the site.

After all, you want to be found by search engines, friends and potential clients.

Build yourself a robot file and Sitemap. Make your site visible to the World Wide Web.

Conclusion

Designing with templates have many hurdles, limitations and pitfalls, but understanding the purpose and scope of the tool you use coupled with making required changes only plus including marketing concerns, will have you a professional site up and running in as little as 24 hours to 48 hours.

Do you want to learn more about how to promote? I have a totally free, no-strings attached course.

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Need helpful resources at no cost? Click here: Get Prepared

Anthony Morgan is an online marketeer and direct sales affiliate.
He is passionate about supplying entrepreneurs with systems and products that are effective in building personal success.

Evolution of Web Design

As a rule, web site layouts & designs evolve. At the beginning of the Internet era, many web site owners became captivated with "bells and whistles" that, on the superficial, might appeal to their target public. Java apps, Flash movies, gigantic animations and other graphic media has become increasingly prevalent over the years.

However, in the precipitate to have the "coolest" site layout design, web site owners forget whom they are creating their site for: Their target audience. Your audience might find that Flash movie irritating after viewing it multiple times. Your audience might not be able to find your site in the search engines. "Bells and whistles" are attributes of a web site that need to be measured and tested to see if they increase or drive away sales.

Below are the largely collective steps of web's evolution typically undergo:

Step 1 - Design Over Substance
Step 2 - Designing for On line Visibility
Step 3 - Designing for Your Audience
Step 4 - Site Redesign

Step 1 - Design Over Substance The first stage is to design a site that the CEO, venture capitalists, and ad agencies like to see. There are all types of "bells and whistles" in this design. An entire site might be a Flash site. Or there might be some beautiful Java-Script mouse over effects or drop-down menus in the design. It's always a pretty design, but the message is clear -- style over substance.

Step 2 - Designing for On line Visibility In Step 2, the reality of an ineffective web layout begins to hit, usually around 3-6 months after the first launch. A site will typically get rejected by many of the major portals, not be indexed by the major search engines, or not get the traffic or customers that were projected based on the various types of marketing strategies used. Typically, that's when corporates decide that they will try to hire a expert on line marketer to promote the site. Entrance page companies, in some way, profile or form, rear their horrid heads.

Unfortunately, many site owners fall for a entrance page company's pitch since the beautifully designed site couldn't possibly be the glitch with low site traffic. Google might have rejected a site, or the site might have been listed in Yahoo and the company cannot understand why they have no extra information. But in no way would many advertising agencies or doorway page companies want to tell potential customers the truth -- they simply did not design and write an effective web site -- because it would mean losing tons of money in business.

Step 3 - Designing for Your Audience By Step 3, afterward expenses an ridiculous amount of money on cool web site designs and various marketing strategies, web site owners generally assume out that they did not design or write an successful Web site for their target audience.

Typically, web site owners will bring in a usability expert to examine possible issues and present various solutions. Bringing in a search engine marketing expert to help with SEF design templates early in the design time can save a company thousands of dollars in on line marketing expenses.

Step 4 - Site Redesign After tender usability and search engine visibility analyzes, web site owners ultimately have an operational web site. A site that is crafted, coded and designed for user friendliness and search engine (SEO) visibility generally gets the the majority traffic and follow-on sales since it was written, planned, and designed for end users.

Conclusions Web sites be supposed to forever be designed with your target audience in mind, not your own individual preferences. Colors have meaning. Expert designers understand the psychology of color and the use of white space to superlative project the image your audience wishes to see.

If not the advanced technology unmistakably payback end users, do not use it on your site. If your venture capitalists like the site, ask if they are going to finish the thousands or millions of dollars to keep you in business. They're not.

Your target audience who will be the only one to determine the success or failure of your site.

Good talented designers meet at http://www.ZenLayout.com

Get the Best and Most Affordable Website Design

If you are getting your website designed and want it to be done in a cheap and affordable cost, then you will have learn to identify if the website design is affordable or not. You can say that the website design that you have opted for is affordable only when you see that there is return that you are getting for your investment in the defined time period. The cost of the website though is not limited to the building of the website only. You will also need to analyse the complete life cycle expectancy of the website. There are no doubt certain ways through which you can get affordable website design at the initial stage of the purchase itself.

To get a custom website design it will cost you time and money as you will have to travel all the way to the client and thus will have to do prior preparation. To begin with visit your local website designers and get as many quotes as possible. Once you have short listed the designers you it will take you more than one meeting to come to conclusion on who to choose for the job and this is when your preparation will come in handy for you. Thus being prepared helps you to strike a deal with your designer in fewer meetings.

The website designs are generally either very affordable or very expensive. But if you are clear about your requirements then it will help you to save more. You can access the templates available online and also website which are live and then further instruct the designer accordingly. But if you want the designer to work on your website right from the scratch then the cost that will incur for it will shoot high. The designs in vogue today in the market are simpler and hence if you choose for a simple design then it will not cost you much. If you have a company logo then the design can be worked out in and around the logo. This further simplifies the website designer's work and hence the cost goes down. To get the best website design concentrate more on the content of the website and your work will be done in a very effective and efficient manner.

After the designing of the website is completed you need to find a space to host your website. There are different forms of web hosting that you can choose from. To begin with identify what you need. For instance if your website is of ten page with a single page averaging 110 KB and you have plans of further growing the website by adding more page to it then you need to get a hosting space of around 11MB. However to be on the safe side you can opt for a space of around 35 MB as apart from the content there will images as well on your website.

So it helps to have a proper preparation before you start with getting assistance for an affordable website design.

For any help on Affordable website design, check out the info available online. These will help you learn to find the Best website design an instant go!