Tips and Tricks to help with Computing

GIVING VISITORS OPTIONS!

You've probably learned by now that speed or perceived speed on the Web is critical. Regardless if visitors are using a slow 14.4 modem or a zippy T-1 connection keeping download times in check may make the difference between them viewing one page or many.

However, every once in a while your visitors may opt to wait for a longer download from a large graphic, audio or video clip they may be particularly interested in.

Here are a few tips on how to more effectively include larger files on your site without losing visitors.

* Use smaller "thumbnail" graphics that when clicked on go to a larger version of the image.

* Optimize your graphic file size before you use them on your web page. It simply is not necessary to use for high resolution, print quality, images since viewing is limited by monitor resolution.

* Use images sparingly, more is not always better.

* Clearly label any file above 50K with the file size, so that your visitors will know exactly what to expect if they decide to download it.

* Give users the ability to start or stop video and audio clips.

BE A REGISTRATION REGULAR

One of the most common misconceptions about search engine registration is you only need to do it once. This is simply not true. Many search engines may revisit your site to update the listing, but that process may take months. The best way to ensure that your listing is current is to register your site on
a regular schedule. Keeping into consideration the 2 to 4 weeks it generally takes for a search engine to process a re-registration request we recommend re-registering no more than monthly.

Re-registering to often, such as daily, may cause negative registration effects-stick to a monthly schedule unless the site has gone through major redesign and content changes.

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MAKE YOUR URLS CLICKABLE

The best way to include URLs in your newsletter is simply to type them in, with the http:// part, and without any other characters touching it. For example:

Good:    http://theshoppingmall.bizhosting.com/
Bad:     http://theshoppingmall.bizhosting.com.
Bad:     <http://theshoppingmall.bizhosting.com>

This ensures that the URL is clickable in as many e-mail programs as possible. If you want to make sure that the links are clickable for users in AOL you'll have to enclose the link in a standard href tag, like this:

<a href="http://theshoppingmall.bizhosting.com">Click here for The Shopping Mall</a>

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KEEPING FOCUS

The tip this week is more of a word of caution. After surfing through thousands of Web sites we have seen some beautiful displays of color and font combinations, and on the flip side we have seen many blunders that simply make pages hard to read. The harder a Web page is to read the more likely your visitors will simply click off to another site.
The point is to make your background, font color and size selection high in contrast, so the elements are not competing with each other for your viewer's attention. A high contrast combination would be the most widely used black text on white background or a light or pale color background with a bold primary color font. Monochromatic color or very busy, boldly, colored backgrounds schemes with text tend to blend together making pages hard to read. High contrast is the key to your visitors keeping their focus on your Web pages.

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