Your website is a selling point to your potential clients or customers even before they walk through your doors. If you maintain a professional and up-to-date website, then your customers will view your business as professional and up-to-date. However, if your website still uses concepts born and bred in the 1990′s,  then clients may look elsewhere for a business that keeps up with the times.

Rejuvenating your website is not a monumental task, but you should be sure to have members from all areas of your organization review your site as you are making updates. For example, your sales department should review the prices and packages that you are selling, since they are the experts in this area. Your designers should review the placement of your navigation and search box to assure that they are easily accessible. Keeping your team in mind, here are thirteen quick ways to make your website more customer-friendly and bring it back to life.

1. Update copyright dates. We’ve changed our calendars again, so you should update the copyright year on your website to match the current year. After all, you do not want to drive customers to your site when the copyright date hasn’t been updated since 2005.  This leads to the impression that you are not updating your site, which could be a deal breaker to some customers. If you want to retain the year that your website was launched, be sure to include a date span (such as © 2005 – 2010). Ask your developer if he/she can implement an auto-update feature so that the year will automatically change when the year changes. For instance, implementation of the following PHP script will assure that your copyright year is always current:
   

   <?php echo date("Y"); ?>

2. Check your links. One of the most frustrating website issues  is encountering broken links. Just when your client believes she has found the information she has been looking for, she is directed to a “404 Not Found” page. If this happens to your customer, chances are she will move onto a more reliable website. Review all links to assure that all are linking to the correct pages. Check your main navigation links first, since they are the bread and butter of your site. Next, double-check your secondary navigation links, and follow-up by checking links within your content. Pay special attention to links to external websites, as these are often the first links to break, as content is constantly changing throughout the World Wide Web.  A great way to check your website links is to use Google Webmaster Tools. Webmaster Tools is a free service that instantly reports “crawl errors,” including broken links from within your sitemap, broken links to your site from referring sites, and links within your content that lead nowhere. In these cases, your developer should be able to set up an “.htaccess” file, which redirects broken links to the correct links, or to a more informative error page.
3. Update and correct your content. Spelling and grammatical errors are a quick way to give an unprofessional impression. You should always take the time to proofread content before it is published, but you should also be sure to review your content months after it has been published as well. Errors that are not obvious at the time of writing are usually more obvious after you’ve taken some time away from the content. In addition to double-checking your spelling, you should also review important text to be sure it is up to date. Has your pricing, mission statement, or privacy policy changed? Do you offer more or less sales packages than you did last year? Have you recently moved and neglected to change your address or phone number? Be sure all of this vital information is up to date.
4. Update and optimize your images. If the images on your website include clothing styles from the ’70s, you may want to consider updating your images. You may take pictures yourself with your digital camera (as long as they are professional quality!), or you can purchase some stock photography. Also, adding new images will bring a refreshing visual update to your faithful website visitors. While reviewing your images, you should also take a look at the display resolution of your images, versus the  file’s resolution. If you have an image on your website that is being displayed at 250×225 pixels, but at full-size is 1000×900 pixels, then you should consider reducing the file’s resolution to the display size. Forcefully reducing image size through HTML not only compromises image quality, but also results in an unnecessarily slow page loading time. Ask your designer to optimize image sizes if this is an issue on your site.
5. Improve your credibility. No one likes to see a  “webmail” address listed on a website’s contact page. For example, email addresses ending in “@hotmail.com” or “@yahoo.com” are amateurish and have little place in business. These types of addresses are fine for personal accounts, but in the professional world, your email address should correspond with your website’s URL. Most hosting companies offer email solutions in addition to website hosting services, so talk to your hosting company if you require a professional email account.
6. Clarify your navigation. Your navigation is the backbone of your website. Without navigation, your customers will not be able to access the information they need. In addition, your navigation must be clear and easily understood by the customer. Visitors have come to expect navigation links such as “About Us,” “Services,” “Portfolio,” and “Contact Us.” While it’s fine to be creative and vary link names, deviating too far from the norm may frustrate your customer and may drive them to a competitor’s website.
7. Make your site more accessible. Not everyone can simply view your website on a PC or mobile device. Those who have vision impairments, are illiterate, or have a learning disability may use screen readers to review your site. Screen readers are programs that take what is being displayed on the screen and interpret the site’s content into audio or braille.  To make your site more accessible, be sure that your images include “alt” tags in the HTML, which can be read by a screen reader. Also, consider assigning a relative size value to your font sizes (in units of ems instead of pixels), so that those who cannot read small text will be able to increase the font size as needed. Image maps, in addition to being an outdated method of navigation, are often unreadable by screen readers and should also be removed from your website.
8. Add a site map. Site maps are a useful navigation item, as they provide a quick reference point for the link hierarchy of your site. Site maps list all pages within your site, providing an alternate method of accessing information to your customer.  As a bonus, site maps improve search engine optimization by ensuring that all pages can be located by search engine crawlers. In the past, site maps were often included as a link to a separate page away from the main navigation. The emerging trend is to add your site map as a part of your website’s footer area, creating a table of contents for your entire site. Your best approach to including a site map depends on the design and layout of your website, so ask your designer about best approaches.
9. Eliminate spam comments from your blog or forum. Spam is a nuisance to everyone and no one wants to read spam comments on your blog or forum. Spam takes away from the important information and can annoy your reader into leaving your site. Blogging software such as WordPress includes plugins that allow you to monitor comments before they are posted, which can greatly reduce the amount of active spam on your site. If you find that you do not update your forum or blog often and that there is more spam than actual content on either, you may want to consider removing your blog or forum completely.
10. Check keywords and site statistics. Are you including keywords throughout your website that are appropriate for your business? Make a list of words and phrases that customers might associate with your business, including what products or services you offer and your location. Then, be sure that these words and phrases are included in page titles, HTML meta tags and page content. Generally, each page should include one to three words or phrases that are related to your business. These are the keywords that customers will enter into a search engine when looking for businesses such as yours. Including keywords on your site improves the chances that your website will be crawled on a search engine and returned to the user. Also, consider integrating web statistics into your site. Statistics software, such as Google Analytics, not only shows you how many visits your site has obtained in a span of time, but also shows what keywords were entered to find your site. Statistics programs can provide insight into what campaigns work to drive business to your site, and which are falling short.
11. Add a News and What’s New section. Adding a news section to your home page is a great way to assure that content is constantly changing. Allowing the same old content to linger on your home page for too long gives the appearance that you have allowed your website fall by the wayside. Add a section with news tidbits from your business. Or, if you have a Twitter account that you update regularly, consider adding your Twitter RSS feed to your home page. This is a great way to update both your Twitter account and your website simultaneously.
12. Consider a redesign. All website designs become outdated with time. You should consider a redesign within at least two years of your last design update, as long as your are continuously monitoring your site and making tweaks and minor updates in between. Redesigning your website lets your customers know you are up with the times, and also gives you a chance to reorganize information that is more beneficial in attracting visitors. If you do not currently have the time or budget to undergo a complete website redesign, consider just redesigning the home page. This brings a fresh look to your site, while keeping the majority of your site familiar to regular visitors.

By making some of these tweaks and adjustments to your current site, you will be well on your way towards running a user-friendly website that promotes your business and provides a strong professional image.

It goes without saying that Web site statistics should be regularly reviewed for changes in traffic patterns, but other evaluation methods should be used to ensure that your Web site is properly reaching your target audience:

• Evaluate your Web site on the newest versions of each of the popular Web browsers: Display capabilities change with each new browser version, so it is imperative that you stay on top of how your Web site appears on the latest browsers. At a minimum, test on the latest Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, and Netscape. If you have access to a Mac, be sure to test Safari as well. Some advanced statistical packages will also tell you which browsers are being used to view your Web site. If you are getting significant traffic using an alternative browser such as Opera, be sure that your Web site works with it as well.
• Evaluate your Web site at different screen resolutions: There are several display resolutions currently being used by the vast majority of Web surfers. Change your Windows display resolution to match some of the different resolutions and visit your Web site. If you have a difficult time finding information on it at a different resolution, chances are that your visitors are too.
• Search for and compare with online competitors: Just because you’ve always faced the same competition from the same firms since the inception of your business doesn’t meant that there aren’t new competitors out in cyberspace who are taking your business. You may be pitted against many competitors that you’ve never heard of and your Web site might not be stacking up well.
• Determine what questions an interested member of your audience would be seeking answers to on your Web site and determine if the answers are easy enough to find. Many Web site owners approach their Web site as being a method of “telling visitors what I want to tell them”, but the most effective Web sites are constructed to easily allow visitors to find answers to questions that they have. After all, your visitors are the reason that the site is there. If they cannot find the information they are looking for, then your Web site is not doing its job.

Tools

There are many powerful tools that are inexpensive or even available at no cost that can help you evaluate and evolve your Web presence:

Evaluation Tools

• Google SiteMaps. This free service from Google allows you to learn a great deal about the searchability of your Web site and even allows you to “push” new content to Google instead of waiting for their spider to revisit your Web site every few months.
• Advanced search engine. An advanced search engine that shows the popularity of searches will help you determine what your visitors are looking for but cannot find in any other way than through the search engine. These results will allow you to more properly position and develop your content.
• Advanced Web statistics. An advanced statistical package will show you which browsers at what screen resolutions are being used to view your Web site, which pages are being visited (and which ones aren’t), and more. Services such as WebTrends and Web Side Story can help you evaluate the effectiveness of new marketing campaigns and edited Web site content.
• Feedback solicitations. Perhaps the best way to gather feedback about the effectiveness of your Web site is to solicit feedback on every page of your Web site. This will not only make it easy for your visitors to submit their comments, but will show them that your company is committed to delivering the content that they are seeking. Survey tools can also be used to solicit feedback.
• Link checkers. Most modern Web sites are built in such a way that internal links (links to other resources on the same domain) are always accurate, but even if yours is built in this manner, mistakes can still happen and external links (links to pages or resources on another domain) are always at risk of being broken.
• Browser checkers. There are many resources available to automatically check the appearance of your Web site in multiple browsers, platforms, and screen resolutions.

Evolution Tools

• Web content management (WCM). Web content management is a simple solution that allows your Web site to be changed as quickly as the market demands it to.
• Dynamic reorganization of content. Your Web site can be set up so that popular searches and links appear more prominently on your Web site automatically to help visitors easily find what they are looking for.
• Personalization. Each visitor has his or her own unique needs and viewing preferences. Allowing your visitors to personalize your Web site to their tastes will allow them to stay more informed about your company. The drawback to personalization is that a login is required.

NuRelm offers complimentary, personalized assessments of Web sites with no obligation. To request a free assessment, please visit NuRelm’s Website assessment page and one of our Web experts will be in touch to present a professional analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your Web site.

• The typical scenario involves one project manager who must track numerous projects and people.  That person becomes responsible for following up with each and every person involved in each job, which quickly becomes too much to effectively maintain.
• Most existing project management software provides a good way to create a list of tasks, then assign them durations and resources.  However, they are not as good at providing an easy way to track every detail of every task – a project manager must use a lot of valuable time making many, many phone calls to gather information.
• Most project management systems do not provide a way to notify team members when they are either due to complete a task, when they are late, when a task date has been moved, with a summary of tasks they have due in the next 30 days, or any useful data such as this.
• Most companies have specific needs that are not covered by systems that are not customizable.
• Creating on-the-fly reports is impossible, and any reporting is done by the project manager who is controlling the tracking system.  Many organizations literally spend days each week generating reports for management.

Using the Web to Make Project Tracking Easy
Imagine how much easier it would be to track projects if individual team members could simply make updates on their own tasks directly, instead of requiring a project manager to transcribe that information into a tracking tool.  There’s no need to imagine this today, because this is precisely the sort of problem that the Internet is perfect for solving.

A Web-based project management system easily solves the problems listed above:

• Each member of a project team can simply enter task status information into the system via any Internet-enabled computer (no need to install software on each PC used because it is delivered via the Web from a server that houses the software).
• Project managers can use their skill where it should be used: for planning projects and handling exceptions, not for transcribing routine task data from team members.
• Project managers can use the project creation software they are used to (such as Microsoft Project) to create project task lists, then import them into a Web-based tracking system.
• Team members can enter more detailed information about individual tasks than might ever be collected by a project manager who is tracking thousands of tasks.
• An online system can notify team members automatically when it is their time to perform a task, and when they are late.  Team members can use a Web-based system to perform complex queries on their tasks, including which tasks are due in the next week, month, or year.
• Reporting in such a system is immediate, and always up-to-date.  Anyone, based on their permissions, can pull up a dynamically generated report from any Web-enabled computer.
• A Web-based system opens up new frontiers that are not possible using traditional tools.  For example, have you ever wanted to share certain information with clients, such as the status of their projects?  A Web-based project management tool can completely and securely automate such processes.

Evaluating Net Costs
A customized Web-based tool sounds expensive, but it does not have to be.  The net price of such a system should be evaluated not only in terms of up-front and maintenance costs, but also in terms of potential cost savings, efficiency improvements, and additional revenues.

Determining cost savings is relatively easy.  Figure out how much time your project managers spend tracking projects, and cut that by 80% to 90%.  Calculate how much time is spent each week creating reports for other people, and cut that by 95%.  And so on …

Projections for additional revenues that could be generated is not as easy, but it is an exciting topic to explore.  How much more business will your sales people close (compared with your less forward thinking competitors) if they are able to offer instant, on-demand project status updates to clients?  How could your office staff utilize additional free time created by automating the tedious tracking process?  These are questions that require some creativity to answer, but they are the types of questions that, if addressed appropriately, can give you a significant edge on the competition.

The final important aspect is the initial and ongoing cost of a Web-based project tracking system, which is easy to determine if you start with a clear picture of needs.  Before approaching vendors for a quote, it makes sense to make a list, in the clearest terms possible, of what you want.  If you are pressed for time and anxious to get started, NuRelm, for a very small fee, can come in and help you assess which project management/maunal process can be automated in order to improve efficiency.  Separating that list into “must haves” versus “nice to haves,” or breaking it down into a timeline showing features needed by certain dates can help break down costs in a way that is more affordable.

Once a list is complete, and validated with the members of the team that would be using such a system, then take it to a few vendors for price quotes. There is a lot of room for variation, so be prepared to spend some time with each vendor making sure that they understand what you want, and that you understand what they are providing for the price they have quoted.

Project management Web technologies generally pay for themselves in less than a year in terms of cost savings and increased business.

Choosing a Vendor
Finding the right vendor for a large-scale Web-based project is challenging.  But, as with any custom service from Web application development to building construction, some simple common-sense rules will make that choice much easier:

• Look for examples of similar work that you want done within the vendor’s portfolio of work, and make sure you are comfortable with a vendor’s ability to easily map to your requirements.
• Call references, and make sure they are very happy with the vendor’s. performance on previous projects.
• Evaluate responsiveness.  A vendor should be able to help you quickly refine your requirements (sometimes through a separate analysis project) to the point that a meaningful proposal can be create, and provide an on-time, professional proposal.

Conclusion
Managing large projects will always present challenges.  But, a well-built Web-based system can eliminate the most tedious of those challenges, providing the people in your organization with more time to use their brains instead of performing the tedious tasks that a computer should be doing.

2.) Scheduling- Online course catalogs allow students to view available programs, choose dates and times, and check if a particular class is at capacity.  Most institutions use separate systems to enroll students in classes, however online catalogs can be integrated into existing systems to enable students to enroll themselves online.  Click Here to check out a great example of an online course catalog NuRelm developed for the Community College of Beaver County.

3.) Staff Communication- Students are not the only ones relying on the Web. Teachers and faculty can use the Web to make their jobs easier as well.  Intranets are a great way to give staff access to all the information no one else needs to see.  Policies, procedures, and grade books are just a few items that can be stored on a college-wide intranet.

4.) Event Management/Important Bulletins-  With the use of content management software, updates to the Web site can be instantaneous.  If important events or disastrous situations occur, the Web site can act as an instant mass communication tool.  Content management tools allow for all administrators to control content on the Web.  Some colleges elect an IT person to make content changes because of the required technical knowledge, however that knowledge is not needed with a CMS tool. NuRelm has set up several Online Demos to show you the ease a CMS offers. Not only does it enable the right people to make changes, it helps promote consistency throughout the site to give a more professional appearance.

5.) Online Classes- E-learning is a widespread education tool today.  E-learning applications can eliminate many costs involved with physical classes.  More students can learn with less teachers, reducing salary expenses.  Since most applications are built with customized reporting tools, manual grading is practically eliminated.  For the working adult who would like to further his/her education, E-learning is the best solution.
Spark any ideas?  If your college isn’t utilizing their Web site to eliminate manual processes or you think that more could be done, please contact NuRelm for ideas at 1.877.268-7356 ext. 204 or check out NuRelm’s Website assessment page for a free Web site assessment.

• Google
  • Search box, with searched words, remains prominent at top
  • Option to view an “advanced” search page
  • Total number of results shown at top
  • Ajax-driven auto-complete for typed follow-up searches
  • Sponsored links at top and right
  • Paginated results
  • Results titles are large, bold, and hyperlinked
  • Searched words are shown in bold in a page snippet, in context
  • URLs shown in a different color under each result
  • Each result allows options to view “similar” and “cached”
  • Visited links are in a different color
  • Related search phrases listed at bottom
  • Search box with search terms repeated at the bottom
  • “Show options” link opens a sidebar for further filtering of the results
• Bing
  • Very similar to google but has some differences
  • Lists the user’s “search history” in the sidebar
  • The history to be cleared or turned off
  • The search history remains intact
  • Pagination unit at the bottom of the results page is more user-friendly
  • Pagination rolls over when moused
• Yahoo
  • Yahoo’s search results page includes a couple of JavaScript-driven enhancements
  • Ajax-driven slide-down unit that appears below the search box when a search query is being typed
  • “Search Pad” which allows the user to record notes on searches
  • “SearchScan” to help protect from harmful websites
• Youtube
  • Easily-accessible filtering options near the top of the search results
  • YouTube search result page lists detailed information
    • Including a thumbnail preview
    • Running time of the clip
    • User rating
    • And age
    • Also if a particular item is part of a series
• Twitter
  • Offers a very clean, intuitive JavaScript-driven interface that includes “Realtime” results
  • Their page also offers a list of “Trending topics” and a “Search tip”
  • Additionally, Twitter gives the user the option to refresh the page after it detects additional results in real time
• Digg
  • Each result on the Digg search results page includes the number of comments that have been posted for that particular story
  • In addition to other features that are unique to Digg, including “share” and “bury”
• Delicious
  • Lists search results in a very simple, list format that includes tags associated with each result
  • Plus the number of times the result has been bookmarked
• Amazon
  • Allows for the results to be sorted based on a variety of methods, including “Bestselling” and “Avg. Customer Review”
  • Amazon’s results page indicates if a book has the “Look Inside” feature
• Ebay
  • eBay’s search results page  allows for easy filtering via tabs at the top
  • eBay also has the option to view the thumbnail preview images in a different size:
  • Other features unique search results page are the options to change the amount of items displayed per page and the ability to go directly to a specific page by entering a number into a text box
• Flickr
  • Flickr  displays results by default in a simple grid-based format
  • Flickr also allows the images to be displayed either in a detail-heavy list-style view or inside of a Flash-based slideshow gallery
• Photobucket
  • Photobucket allows filtering of search results by “Most viewed” and “Most commented”. It also includes a link strangely titled “Follow”, which allows the user to enter their email address to receive notifications when the results for a particular search term are updated. A more appropriate title for this feature would be “Subscribe”, or similar.

For easy reference, here is a list of some of the best practices taken from Smashing Magaine’s Article:

• User should have easy access to the search box for follow-up searches
• Search terms should be clearly indicated at the top, and in context in the results
• Related sponsored links can be included below the search box, near the bottom, or on the right
• Titles should be clickable and clearly differentiated from details
• Visited links should be indicated
• Pagination units should be visibly block-shaped and have a hover effect, to easily differentiate from one another
• Related products, tags, or keywords should be displayed in a non-obtrusive section
• E-Commerce sites should allow the “view” to be toggled between “list” and “grid”
• Advanced search options should be easily accessible
• Should allow re-sorting or filtering of results
• Where possible, results pages should have RSS feeds or “subscribe” options
• For complex interfaces, clear, easy-to-access search tips or instructions should be provided
• Sorting and Filters should be JavaScript or Ajax-driven, where possible
• Popularity or star-ratings should be shown for individual results
• Include an option to increase the number of results per page
• To monitor future improvements, request feedback from users after searches are conducted
• If results span different sections of the website, indicate this by sub-headings or other dividers

So to sum it all up when building your own search engine try to come up with the best combination for your targeted audiance. But the overall goal should be your user’s experience and usability.

The 800 pound gorilla in the room, Google, is at the top of the Internet feeding chain and seems destined to stay there, at least for a while.  Google’s innovative online marketing programs are the best deal around for businesses that want to attract a large volume of motivated visitors to their Web sites .  If you don’t already know about it, you owe it to yourself and your company to get on-board with Google AdWords – a marketing program on the cutting edge of modern technology that actually delivers what it promises, IF you know how to work the system.

AdWords is an advertising tool that a rapidly growing number of businesses and marketing professionals are using to generate highly targeted online leads for their products and services.  Adwords uses a Pay-Per-Click system, meaning that you pay Google every time someone clicks on your ad.  It’s really not expensive considering that not many keywords are over $5.00 and a lot are under $1.00.  Sounds like the ultimate advertising tool, right? It can be, if you (or your online marketing vendor) understands the numerous tricks to get your ads ranked higher and noticed by your best prospects.  For those who want to boost sales by improving their online lead generation skills, here are the top 10 useful tips for Google AdWords.

1. There should be a viable online market for what you do before you start. You can go to google.com/trends and type in keywords that you believe encompass your business. If the trend is going downhill you may want to rethink your online business model.
2. Once you know that you have a target audience, you need to figure out what they are searching for (keywords). You can use the keyword tool in AdWords to see what keywords are most popular and which ones attract the most traffic. Another helpful site is www.askhowie.com/freewords. This site shows you what the top keywords are in that market.
3. Put someone in charge of your AdWords campaign. If there are too many people working on these campaigns, you won’t be able to see what trends are happening because they will be changed too often without notice. There is a lot to know about AdWords  so it’s best to put someone in charge that will spend time researching and implementing a cohesive strategy.Tip: The AdWords Learning Center is a huge help! You can study all there is to know about AdWords in either text or multi-media format, whichever works best for you. There are quizzes for each lesson to assure that you are absorbing the information. This is a great way to begin because it helps you learn the basics quickly so that you don’t make novice mistakes.
4. Quality scores matter! You should not have every campaign going to the same page on your Web site. Direct them where you want them to go. They aren’t going to sign up for your newsletter if they are landing on the contact page. If you test an ad for a month and it has received little or no clicks, either delete or pause it, because it is affecting your quality score. Don’t bid on keywords that people aren’t using. If there are no impressions, there will be no clicks.
5. Don’t assume you know everything there is to know about AdWords. It seems easy at first, but the more you learn about it the more complicated it gets. A great resource is AdWords for Dummies.
6. The goal is not who gets the most clicks! You want people to either buy a product, become a lead, or sign up for something. You must make sure that your landing pages are interesting and full of content. Web surfers are impatient. Make sure all your links and buttons are functioning properly.
7. Writing ads can be tricky. It’s hard to tell which ones are getting traffic because of what they say. The best way to “test” ads is to do different ad variations. Use the same content but change it around a little. See what works better, such as numbers or text.  Just put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Think about what you would look for and apply that to your ads. Google automatically rotates them and shows them when the search is most relevant for that ad. Then you can compare and see which one is getting more clicks. Take your time…Rome wasn’t built in a day.
8. Don’t think you can be tricky and use keywords that have absolutely nothing to do with your ad. Google has figured you out. Your ad will be considered irrelevant and moved to the end of the sponsored list, or Google will stop showing your ad all together. Make sure your keywords match your ad.
9. Make sure your ad is relevant to your Web site. For instance, you cannot claim that you are the best at something without having a third party confirm it on the landing page of your Web site. You also cannot offer Free downloads or 50% off of a product if that information is not available on the landing site. And of course, the trick of all tricks, having something like Paris Hilton Pics as your headline will not work. Not only will you get into trouble with Google, you will be paying for clicks and no one will be taking action on your Web site. These practices could have your ad placed at the end of the sponsored list or not shown at all.
10. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If your ad is doing well, it doesn’t mean that you should only do one campaign.  If your ad is doing poorly, don’t give up. It takes a lot of time and patience to make an AdWords campaign work. The key is to switch things up until you hit the sweet spot. You’ll never know what really works until you try a little bit of everything.

1. Fonts are an important attribute of a Web site.  It is essential that fonts are large and clear enough for viewers to easily read.  Although it is tempting to use fancy, script-like font styles, the content’s message is lost in translation.  Not only can some fonts be hard to read, all computers do not have the same font files, causing them not to load properly.  Universal fonts are safe to use, including Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana.  The standard font size advised is 10 point.  If you have another style or smaller size of font on your current Web site, you may want to reevaluate its use.
2. Branding is an important online marketing practice.  A company usually has a unique color scheme/logo that sets them apart.  To build more effective branding, the online presence should reflect offline marketing materials.  If different colors or images are used, consumers may become confused or think that the company is unprofessional.  If something familiar doesn’t immediately jump off the home pager, they might not even recognize you.   Always consider offline marketing materials when designing or redesigning a Web site.
3. Imagery is as important as the content of a Web site.  Results-oriented imagery is the most effective way to get the consumer’s attention.  Consumers can better relate to seeing a happy family standing outside of a brand new house rather than Joe President or Mary Saleswoman on the home page.  Imagery needs to assure consumers what they can achieve with the product or service being marketed and produce imagery that reinforces those feelings.
4. Web site content should always be in text format.  Web site content in an image-based format wards off search engines.  If you are not sure, ask your Web developer how the content is formatted.  This can seriously hinder the Web sites search engine rankings, because search spiders cannot easily pick out important keywords that are partially responsible for boosting your rankings.
5. There should never be broken links on a Web site.  It is a simple task to periodically check the links of a site to verify that they are working properly.  Broken links are a huge setback in search engine optimization, especially for an issue that can be easily monitored and fixed.
6. Clear navigation is another very important feature of a successful Web site.  Confusing navigation is a major reason why Web surfers leave Web sites.  Setting goals and tracking the steps to achieve them can help analyze the effectiveness of a site’s navigational structure.  For example, submitting a Contact Us form on a Web site is a very important goal.  Using Web statistics software, like Google Analytics, is an efficient way to track the path prospects must take to submit the form.

Creating an effective Web site can be a challenge and there isn’t a clear-cut path to success.  However, there are many aspects  you can control that will help the process.  Streamlining and regularly maintaining a Web site’s content, links, and images may not solely drive a business to become a Fortune 500 company, but it can help  to significantly increase the bottom line. Take advantage of NuRelm’s free Web Site Assessment services that can help you drive more relevant traffic to your company’s Web site.  To speak with a NuRelm representative about your Web site, please call 1-877-2NuRelm.

5 Networking Sites (In no particular order):

• Facebook
  • Can be used for professional or business use
    • A way to network with other people
    • A way to list your business for others to see
    • A way to share media
    • A way to post events
    • Free advertising
  • Specific examples where Facebook could be useful
    • A web developer could search for others in their profession
    • A company can create a fan page then link their blog to it
      • Blog posts can automatically be updated
    • With a fan page a company can have contests or other incentives
    • With a large enough network, you can use Facebook to get information and perform your own market research on connections.
• Myspace
  • Another Networking tool
    • A way to network with other people
    • A way to list your business for others to see
    • A way to share media
    • A way to post events
    • Free advertising
  • Specific examples where Myspace could be useful
    • A great way to reach a certain audience
    • A company can create a page and list all their business information
    • With a fan page a company an have contests or other incentives
    • Although Myspace is a great social networking tool, I wouldn’t necessarily recommended for a lot of businesses
      • Myspace is REALLY good for music and bands
• Twitter
  • Micro Blog
    • By building a follower list you can network with others
    • Also can broadcast your business to a specific audience
    • Also can research trends on what people are talking about
    • An easy way to get the most up-to-date information
  • Some ways Twitter can be useful:
    • A way to research if anything is being said about your company and/or competition
    • A way to keep people up-to-date on company’s goings-on
    • A way to find and meet up with other people
• LinkedIn
  • Another Networking Tool
    • A way to network with other professionals
    • A way to get your business listed
    • Great way to find answers to questions
    • Great way to discreetly promote your blog
  • Some ways LinkedIn can be useful:
    • Can have your blog linked to post automatically to your profile
    • With LinkedIn Polls, you’ll be able to find answers to your research questions by asking your network and other professionals
• Sphinn
  • Internet Marketing news forums and discussions
    • A way to find out hot topics, share news and start discussions
    • Specifically geared toward online marketers
    • A way to find out upcoming events and meet networking friends in person
  • Some specific examples of  Sphinn uses:
    • Great way to keep up with the on-goings on the web
    • Great way to meet other social networkers online
    • Could be a great source of inspiration for blog articles and discussions on forums

3 Social Bookmarking Sites

• Del.ic.ious
  • Delicious is the biggest collection of bookmarks online, and can point you to high quality resources for just about anything.
    • A good way to share your bookmarks with people and get bookmarks in return
    • Discover useful and interesting things on the web
    • Can bookmark any site
  • Good things about Delicious
    • You can upload all your bookmarks already in your browser
    • Toolbars are also available  to bookmark sites as you find and not have to  go directly to delicious
    • Easy way to share and network sites on the web
• StumbleUpon
  • Similar to Delicious
    • Alternative way to search for web pages
    • Community based searching
  • Good things about StumbleUpon
    • Rating system on whether or not you liked a page
    • Can write reviews of a page for other people to see
    • Also has a browser toolbar for easy marking
• Digg
  • Another social bookmarking website much more similar to StumbleUpon
    • Great way to see top stories and breaking news across the web and share them
    • Community based searching
  • Things that are good about Digg
    • Has a browser toolbar
      • I REALLY enjoy this toolbar, it shows you stats on the certain item before you “digg” it
    • Also has a rating and review system
    • Enjoyable interface

5 Useful Social Networking Tools

Why get Feedback in the first place?

1. Helps avoid mistakes
   1. A costly problem caught early can be fixed
2. Higher quality of work
   1. Instead of getting stuck with a less than great project you can strive to make a higher quality result
3. Keeps everybody on the same team
   1. If everybody checks in on what’s going, nobody well get a surprise with end result
4. Newer or better ideas can get implemented
   1. Sometimes great ideas come after approval of a design or project. This is a way you can get your ideas heard

General Rules

1. Get out materials in advance
   1. If everybody is prepared ahead of time, nobody is bombarded and put on the spot.
2. Keep things brief
3. Provide feedback, but not discussions
   1. Set up a time after the meeting for discussions
4. Keep a recurring order with conversation
   1. Give everybody an equal amount of time to talk

Getting Feedback

1. Start by clarifying the objective
   1. Make sure everybody is on the same page
2. Be specific with the feedback you want
3. Listen
   1. Keep an open mind, because you’re looking for a different insight in the first place
4. Invite constructive criticism
   1. Remember everybody is on the same team
   2. Don’t let your pride get in the way
5. Take the advice
   1. Not everything, but use what you get to make good changes to your project

Giving Feedback

1. Be respectful
   1. Follow the golden rule
   2. Take into consideration who you’re talking to and the situation at hand
2. Be specific
   1. Give examples with your feedback; the more specific, the better
   2. If the person can get a better understanding why you want them to change something, they may more readily accept that change.
3. Provide justification
   1. Give reasoning with your feedback
   2. If they know why you feel that way, they may understand it better
4. Balance the positives and negatives
   1. Keeping a healthy balance of pros and cons keeps everyone happy
5. “Have you Considered?”
   1. Use this phrase to gently give another opinion
   2. This gives the designer the opportunity to offer their reasoning and not feel “under attack”

Don’ts

• DON’T tell anyone what they can or can’t provide feedback on
  • By doing so you defeat the purpose of having feedback
    
• DON’T try to solve problems in the critique room – it’s too time-consuming
  • This is a chance to hear other perspectives.
• DON’T be a jerk, be constructive
  • This mostly goes without saying. You’re all on the same team.

All in all, when it comes to feedback, a respectful relationship is needed. If you respect each other’s opinions and feelings as well as keep an open mind, getting feedback on projects doesn’t have to be a nightmare.

1. Create primary points of focus – keep names the same. Using creative names detracts from usability. Also, avoid design that will be distracting or confusing for the user to understand and find what they’re looking for quickly.
   1. Once you figure out what parts of your website are “primary” and what parts are “secondary,” you can establish a visual hierarchy that enhances usability.
   2. Primary links are usually accessible from every page and located near the primary links. This shows the user that this information is important.
   3. The prime idea would be to design the secondary links likewise to show a hierarchy of importance.
2. Include A Search Box, typically on the right side of the website as a part of the navigation.
3. Avoid “Surprise” Drop-Down Menus. Drop-down menus  are quite prevalent in modern design because they simplify cluttered layouts.
   1. Visually indicating whether a navigation link will reveal a drop-down menu when the user mouses over it is best practice. This is most simply accomplished with a downward-pointing triangle, but whatever works for your design is fine also.
4. Before you design a horizontal navigation menu, consider link names, section hierarchy and any other factors that could affect usability.

When it comes to designing your own navigation bars though, common sense is key. What may make sense to you might not make sense to a user. Although horizontal navigation is now mainstream, having a vertical navigation isn’t out of the question if it works for your design. As long you have your hierarchy of importance set and it is obvious to the user, the sky is the limit. I personally do enjoy horizontal navigation bars and the fun things you can design to go with them;  Apple being one of my favorites for clean looks and simple navigation.  Last, who knows what the future holds for us web developers, for the internet is an ever-changing beast.