How To Make A Bullet Point In HTML
By admin | March 2, 2009
Here’s a quick HTML coding tip that I thought you may be interested in. By the way, you can find more information on basic HTML codes at www.MakeAWebsiteSpot.com.
Inserting Bullet Points
Bullet points are great for separating a list in an easy to read format. The bullet point tag is as follows:
<ul>
<li> Item 1 </li>
<li> Item 2 </li>
<li> Item 3 </li>
</ul>
The code would appear as:
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
Inserting Circle Bullet Points
Bullet points are great for separating a list in an easy to read format. The bullet point tag is as follows:
<ul type=”circle”>
<li> Item 1 </li>
<li> Item 2 </li>
<li> Item 3 </li>
</ul>
The code would appear as:
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
I don’t know if this was anything that you were losing sleep over but I had to create some bullets and figured I’d pass the information online. Hope you’re having a good one!
Best regards,
David Lalumendre
www.WebsiteSpot.com
Topics: HTML Tips | No Comments »
Writing Valuable Content For Articles
By admin | February 23, 2009
I subscribe to quite a few SEO (Search Engine Optimization) newsletters and blogs. I received a monthly newsletter from a reputable SEO company that sends out a monthly newsletter made up of user submitted articles. I generally appreciate the content and the quality articles that I receive. That’s until the newsletter I received the other day.
I by no means want to call out the company so I won’t even say what the subject matter was about but the article was horrible. That gave me the idea for this post because I couldn’t believe that a newsletter that I’ve subscribed to for at least 4 years would actually authorize this mailing.
Writing content for a website, newsletter or blog has to provide valuable information that a reader trusts or they simply won’t return. This newsletter was a list of 10 things and each thing was made up of a one liner that kept me wanting more but they failed to deliver. Here’s what this newsletter was like, this is merely and example.
<Start>”1. Write good content to keep the reader interested.”<End>
As you can see the statement is true but it didn’t explain a thing. When you’re writing an information piece you need to keep your reader in mind. Sure you know the topic fairly well but the purpose of the visitor to your website because they’re looking for information. Take the time to explain your statement so that the reader understands.
A very important part of getting traffic to your website is keeping them there. The last thing you want to do is confuse them or leave them wanting more. If that’s the case, they’re going to look elsewhere and they just may never come back.
The person that wrote the article for the newsletter was simply writing an article so that they could plug their actual website at the end of the newsletter. The problem is that they article was written so poorly that I didn’t even visit the website because I could only imagine the content.
This post probably sounds more like a rant rather than an informational post but it’s actually the very opposite. I’m using a personal experience to help you so that you don’t lose out on valuable traffic when you get to the stage where you’re writing posts for blogs, articles or even newsletters.
Best regards,
David Lalumendre
www.WebsiteSpot.com
Topics: Writing Content | No Comments »
How To Register A Domain Name
By admin | February 17, 2009
I received an email the other day and was surprised with the question. I was asked how to register a domain name. The person thought that they had to have a business license to own a domain name. Needless to say, I explained to him the simplicity of registering a domain name and just how affordable it is.
I figured I’d take this time to explain the steps to register a domain for those of you that still may not be familiar with the process. Before you actually complete a registration I’d recommend reading the post on Domain Name Registration Tips first.
How To Register A Domain Name
1. Find An Affordable Yet Reliable Domain Registrar - You can register .COM domains for $7.95 for the first year and $9.95 for every year thereafter with WebsiteSpot.com. This is an annual charge, not a monthly charge.
2. Search For Availability - It’s likely that they “ideal” domain name that you’re looking for is already registered especially the .COM version. If not, great, you can move to the next step in the domain name registration process. If it’s already registered you’ll need to search for alternatives until you can find something that works for you.
3. Select Any Domain Name Add-Ons - As you continue through the registration process you’ll be asked certain questions like how long you’d like to register the domain for, whether you’d like “private” domain name registration and whether you’d like to select a web hosting or email package. Just keep in mind that all of this can be added later. If I would recommend any add-on, I’d select the “private” registration, this will keep your information private such as your name, address, email address, etc. All of this information is required for registering a domain name.
4. Complete The Payment - That’s it, there are no special forms, business registrations, etc that you’ll need for registering a domain name. Using WebsiteSpot.com makes the domain registration process extremely simple. You’ll receive reminders once your domain is coming up for renewal and be notified if anything tries to do anythign suspicious with your domain name or your account with WebsiteSpot.com.
Best regards,
David Lalumendre
www.WebsiteSpot.com
Topics: Domain Names | No Comments »
5 Popular Website Design Mistakes
By admin | February 12, 2009
Let me start by saying that this list of 5 “mistakes” is simply my opinion. I’ve been dealing with websites for nearly 10 years now and have come to recognize certain things on a website that screams “amateur” like the list of 5 popular website design mistakes below
Visitor / Hit Counters
This has to be one of the most obvious mistakes. Hit counters are the little graphics generally stuck at the bottom of a web page that goes up numerically by 1 each time the website has a visitor. I realize that if the number is large that it makes your website look popular but if the number is small it can have the opposite effect. Let your website tell your visitors about the popularity of your website.
I understand wanting to track your stats but Google offers a free analytics program that will give you pretty much any information you could ever want about your visitors. It’s completely free to use so visit Google Analytics to setup an account.
Too Many Ads
I understand the purpose of most websites is to make money but placing Google Adsense in every available location is annoying and is my first clue that the website isn’t a “quality” website.
As you may have read in the past, I run www.makeawebsitespot.com and have added ads in only 2 positions. I have Google Adsense on the right hand margin and two small banner ads on the left navigation. If I added Adsense in many more positions on the page it would look like a giant advertisement rather than a website filled with valuable information on making a website.
Too Much Distracting Animation
You will have been to pages that flash, spin, throb and change color. How long do you usually stay? A few seconds? That’s longer than me. Those animations may be “cute” but if you’re interested in keeping visitors at your website and want to portray a professional look do EVER use them. Take a look at GameQuarium.com.
Writing For Search Engines
Don’t get me wrong, writing for search engines is important but not like in the sense that a visitor to your website is unable to make out the content or easily navigate. Take look at LanyardSupply.com, I’m sure that they are a great website that offers great products, great service and great prices but their website was written for search engines. I’m sure that I don’t need to explain this one much more.
Not Planning For Older Technology
I could break this up into a few categories but I said that this was 5 popular mistakes, not 10. The thing about this mistake is that people think that everyone has kept up with the latest technologies. There is a huge population of users that still have dial-up and very small monitors.
You need to take this into consideration when you’re developing your site in regards to the amount and size of graphics on your website as people with dial-up service could leave your site before even seeing what you have to offer because your site takes too long to load.
In regards to small monitors, if you don’t plan the size of your website those with smaller monitors will have the horizontal scroll on the bottom of their monitor which is a big no-no.
In Conclusion
I could go on and on about web design mistakes to avoid but this is a nice place to start. As you build more websites you’ll find that there are certain things that you should avoid and learn from those mistakes.
Best regards,
David Lalumendre
www.WebsiteSpot.com
Topics: Web Design | No Comments »
Common Domain Extensions
By admin | January 23, 2009
I was registering a couple of domains the other day and was thinking about how all of the different domain extensions available and how this could be confusing to someone who is new to domain name registration.
What I’ve done below is list some of the more common domain extensions. I welcome any additions or corrections that you may have. You’ll find that you can register every one of the domain extensions at an affordable price through WebsiteSpot.com. Let’s get started.
TLD - Top Level Domains
There are three types of top-level domains that are classified by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) which I’ve described below.
TLD - These are the most common extensions that you’re probably familiar with. They are made up of .COM, .NET & .ORG domains.
ccTLD - These are country code domain name extensions and they are generally made up of 2 characters. Some of the ccTLD extensions that you’re probably familiar with are .US for United States, .CA for Canada, .JP for Japan and .CN for China.
gTLD - These are generic TLDs and are generally made up of 3 or more letters. Some of the gTLD domain extensions that you may be familiar with are .BIZ, .INFO, .NAME & .MOBI.
Common Domain Extensions
Below you’ll find some of the more common domain extensions and the domain extension meaning.
.COM (Commercial) - Generally intended for commercial use. By far the most recognized domain name extension.
.NET (Network) - This was originally intended for network oriented sites such as internet service providers. This definitely isn’t the case any longer. People will register .NET domains for commercial use, generally if the .COM extension isn’t available or if they’d like to protect their main .COM domain by registering all available extensions.
.ORG (Organization) - This domain extension was originally intended for non-profit or trade organizations. Again, this is no longer the case and is generally registered by anyone looking to protect their main domain by registering all available domain extensions or simply because a better extension isn’t available for registration.
.BIZ (Business) - This is a gTLD that is generally registered to classify their website as a business. Although it’s not a commonly recognized extension, I feel that it’s a great alternative if the .COM extension isn’t available and for only $8.95 per year through WebsiteSpot.com it certainly wouldn’t hurt to register the extension so that your competition doesn’t try to squat on it.
.US (United States) - This ccTLD generally refers to US based companies. Although the domain has been out for quite some time now it’s possible to find some very good domain names with this extension.
.INFO (Informational) - This gTLD is generally used as an extension for informational websites. I believe that other than .COM, .NET & .ORG, it’s the most popular domain extension used. If you are developing an informational website it’s definitely a domain extension that I’d register.
.MOBI (Mobile) - This domain extension, as of this writing, is fairly new. Although majority of the domain name owners registered their domain name with the .MOBI domain name to protect their brand, it is primarily reserved for website built for displaying on mobile devices.
.TV (Television) - In my opinion it’s used primarily for media, primarily video, related websites.
.WS (Website) - This is actually a ccTLD for Western Samoa but was converted to a domain extension commonly used as an acronym for ‘website’. Although it seems that it would be a great extension I don’t feel that it really ever took off and you can find very good domains available with the .WS extension.
.ME (ME) - This is the newest domain, as of this writing. It was originally the ccTLD of Montenegro but would generally be used for personal related websites such as family websites or blogs another option would be to pose your resume or even artwork that you may have done. The other use would be to create a very memorable personal email address.
.NAME (NAME) - This is a gTLD that’s intended for personal use. You’ll find that this extension is used for personal / family websites or simply used for name related email addresses.
.CA (Canada) - This is a ccTLD that is generally reserved for Canadian based businesses.
.CO.UK (United Kingdom) - This country code domain is generally reserved for commercial related websites based in the United Kingdom. Although it’s not restricted to just UK based business, I see very little value in registering the domain extension unless you plan on doing some sort of business in the UK.
.CN (China) - This is the ccTLD for China. This domain is not restricted to companies based in China and can basically be registered by anyone that would like a .CN extension.
That’s about it, there are many more extensions that I haven’t covered but I feel that these are the extensions that you may consider when registering a domain name. Don’t hesitate to take a look at the article I wrote on domain registration tips before registering your domain names.
Best regards,
David Lalumendre
www.WebsiteSpot.com
Topics: Domain Names | No Comments »
