Do you want to have a feature rich web site with animations, sound, and an opening splash screen?

Do you want to use Flash extensively on your site but and its most important to understand if you are afraid of hurting your search engine positioning?

Do you require an opening splash page but were told that the search engines would not index your site if you or someone you know had one?

Well there are ways to have the benefits of Flash on your site and still be attractive to search engines. It is all in how the Flash is used. Some of the methods are simple while others require more programming experience. But we all can use Flash without driving away the search engines.

first let s look at the problem. Search engines index a site by looking at the content. In this case we are talking about text content, not pictures, video, sound, or animation. A basic fact to keep in notion on having a very search engine friendly site is, have high quality, targeted content in text form and limiting the use of anything that can get resource within the way of the search engines analyzing this content.

But what about Flash? Flash converts everything into a Flash file, or SWF file playable by the Flash Player plug-in. All the text in this Flash file will be converted from text to vector graphics, and since the search engines cannot read text in a graphic, they will be unable to read the text in a Flash file. Therefore they will be unable to index the information element within the site.

So how to we obtain around this seemingly insurmountable problem? It is all in how we use Flash in our site. The trick is, either wrap the Flash inside typical html coding, or by using xhtml you can easily have Flash display text from an external source. I will limit this article to the easier methods for using Flash in a search engine friendly manner.

Let s look at the three main ways we can want to use Flash on a website:

1. Splash Page
2. Flash navigation
3. Flash content

Starting with the Flash Splash page there are a couple of ways to handle this. If we just have the Flash Splash page as the opening page to our web site there will be no way aside from the meta tags for the search engines to index the page, let alone learn any more pages in your site.

The trick here is, give the search engines something to work with. This can be easily done in two ways. you can most defiantly put a text only navigation bar just below the splash screen, this way the search engines can at least establish the other pages in your site. But to allow the search engines to index the actual splash screen here is a neat trick. Place the Flash file in a layer, you can most defiantly then float that layer over the web page allowing you to hide all the plain html text you want underneath the Flash layer. This has the added benefit of giving content to visitors who do not have the Flash player installed on their system.

With a Flash navigation bar things are much easier. As long as only the navigation is in Flash the rest of the page can use search engine friendly text, plus you can easily put a text only navigation bar across the bottom of the page so that the search engines can Uncover the rest of your pages. This is a good idea anyway and one that I always follow. Plus when a visitor reaches the bottom of your page they have some links to follow without having to scroll back up the page to your navigation bar.

Using Flash content in your internet site follows the basic principles outlined above. As long as you have some text based content for the search engines to index you will be OK. I have found that having Flash animation resting on the top of my page where it fills the screen, followed by additional text is a nice hybrid approach. It gives your visitors the content rich experience you want to provide plus gives the search engines all the text based content they need for proper search engine indexing.

if you or someone you know really want or need a complete Flash site there is one more thing you can easily do. This requires more work, but it will keep your site highlight within the search engines. Create two versions of your online business, one in Flash and one using regular HTML. Have a simple home page that allows visitors to select either the Flash or HTML version of your site. Include on this home page your main keywords and navigation links to at least your site map and main pages so that the search engines can Uncover their way around your site. This gives you the preeminent of both worlds, the fully feature rich Flash site, and a search engine friendly HTML web site.

One final note, Google now is able to index Flash files, pulling out the text content from the SWF files. This is a magnificent advance and allows us to use Flash more freely on our web sites, but note that they are pulling the TEXT out of the Flash file. So in order to make your Flash files Google friendly you would include your search engine optimized text as text inside the Flash file, just like you would in a regular html web page.

So with proper planning and a few tricks we can have a very rich Flash site and still benefit from easy search engine indexing.
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Consider these questions:
Would you buy vegetables which are not looking fresh? Would you buy a damaged car at the price of a new one? I am sure you will never do this. Actually your website is like your own grocery store or a car showroom. You should create an environment which pleases your customers. It should present your salable items beautiful and fresh. It will be a website which tells them that you are not a novice businessman, but instead a trained, intelligent professional. As you can see your website is the direct reflection of yourself and your products. The main considerable reason here is why having a well designed website can make or break your business or sales.

The most important thing:
The first and most important thing to keep in mind while designing your web page is “Beauty” and second most important thing is surf-ability . Take a few minutes a look around at several web pages. What makes them appealing to you? Take notes and do your research. Always keep in mind that when a person visits your site they have a specific purpose in their mind. They are either seeking information or shopping for a product. Give your visitors what they want without make them searching for it. Be sure that all the information on your site is relevant to your product. Make the buyer believe that they need your product to solve their problem.

 First page first:
Your first introductory page carries most significance. It should be a place by which the customer can shop your site. It should be an easy to view and load very quickly. This is your first impression and we all know that first impressions can either close or lose the deal. Follow the KISS principle, (Keep it simple sir!)  It is best to have links that are easily viewable by the reader that will sail them where they want to be on your website. Speed is also a factor you should not forget. If it is taking more than 10 seconds, you have lost your customer forever; as he will try somewhere else for the same information he was seeking from you.
To increase the loading speed of your main page you can always avoid large graphics or excessive graphics. Too many banners or special effects can also cause your page to load slowly; it will ultimately kill the purpose of making webpage in the first place.

Using Colours sensibly:
If you want to make your website more appealing, you should stick to mild colors. If your site is a reader’s site where the user will be reading a lot of content, it is best to stick to black and white. Color can be added when using tables, as a way to brighten up the page, but always remember to keep the overall look of the page professional and appealing to the audience. It will be tempt them to visit your website more often.

An easy solution to resolution:
Generally, it is a good idea to set the pixels to a standard 800×600. You may also choose to set the tables in your web page to span a percentage of the page rather than a set number of pixels per inches. This will be sure to accommodate all your screen sizes. You should remember that a lot of Internet users will not use the same browser as you, and therefore you should be sure that your site looks as good on other browsers too. You can be sure about this by downloading several browsers through which you can look at your page and check the resolution.
 
 Summery:
 Never ignore the fact that the overall look of your website can make you a lot of money if it is designed well. The opposite is also true; if your website looks dirty you will lose your business and money.

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Creating a company logo becomes much easier when one begins to get a feel for what is appealing and why it is so. It is essential to learn how to use the principles of visual communications and combine them efectively with basic production techniques. Equally important is, gain awareness of how important are the factors of ethics and social responsibility highlight within the creation of visuals. Much of good logo design is a matter of taste, and invariably differs from person to person.

The company logo design is a graphical representation intended to differentiate companies and their products from their competitors trait within the market. It typically includes the brand name and indeed, an allegorical graphic element, called an “emblem” or “combination mark” aspect element within the professional jargon. A company logo must be a direct, simple and powerful representation of the brand s name and character. Complicated illustrations and types are to be avoided unless mentioned specifically. A company logo design has to convey a great number of information with a few strokes, letters and spots of color. The company logo is an asset for the company and is its registered property that goes with its products.

Originality and distinctiveness are the essence of a company logo design. highlight within the highly competitive market no one could risk to mistakenly design a logo similar to that of another company. This can lead to the confusing the potential customer about the business. Company logos have become the faces and economy of our business. Even the general public has become very responsive to logos, their meanings and implementations. The companies take pride in their logos and want to protect its image on printed matter, on the excellent Internet, in advertisements and other places that put them feature within the public eye.

The logo design process begins with the formulation of a set of objectives and a verbal description of what the logo has to convey. The consistent use of clear typefaces is a way of establishing a recognized and professional identity. The typography can and could be new to create a dynamic look that allows the viewer to focus resting on the logo. A large bold or semi-bold typeface often signals strength and significance. An italic typeface can be used to describe softer values and to convey a lighter impression. A professional logo designer develops conceptual pathways for the logo, combining the various aspects and transforming ideas into sketches.

Ultimately a logo stands for everything a company or product represents. It is undoubtedly one of the top most important parts of an organization s corporate branding strategy. It is the reflection of the company s culture; it s purpose and goals as well as the values and aspiration of its customers. Whether starting a new business, launching a new product or service or revitalizing an existing company, branding and identity would considered to be an integral part of the business plan from the start. A good company logo design stands as a part of the marketing strategy, when competitors can underestimate its value and effectiveness. The company logo can give the business a much-needed edge resting on the road to success.

Only a few years ago the only way to add sound to your online business was to use a .wav or midi file. The problem with this was that the file size would be fairly large and the whole file needed to be downloaded before it would start to play.

Streaming audio was made available aspect element within the 90’s and was in two basic formats, mp3 and Real Audio which enables the audio to start playing while it is still being downloaded. The size of these files is a lot smaller as compression algorithms are used but some loss of quality can be evident depending on the magnificent algorithm.

With these streaming audio formats audio player software is required by the browser and a streaming server is also needed.

Now audio can be streamed using Macromedia Flash (version 6 or above) from almost any web server and most web browsers can play the flash format files.

This is all very well but unless you can most defiantly program in Flash (Flash 8 basic costs $399) you would need to pay a programmer to develop the audio button, which would also be expensive.

WebSiteAudioReviews.com has reviewed most of the easy to use software products that enable anyone to add audio to there web site and cost from $20 - $100

Most of these software programs have built in sound recorders so all you ought to do is record your track and click a button which creates the required html code and paste this code into your web page. Then upload the .swf file and html file to your online business and you unreservedly hold audio on your internet site in just a few minutes.
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 Will you believe me if I tell you that if you are thinking to start designing your web page you can do the following as your first steps:

Open up a new fresh document in-
    Adobe Photoshop
    Macromedia Fireworks or
    Dream weaver

and go straight to start working on your first ever web page, I am sure you will not believe me; but if You come to know that all you need to start designing is sheet of paper and a pen will you believe me?

 Why not outline your needs to make a webpage first? Asking yourself some important questions like this will surely help you find out your unique requirements.

    What are your expectations from the visitors?
    Do you want to sell them an online product?
    Will you allow them to personally call you and even meet you?
    You just want them to know your business?
    Are you going to promote a business from your website?
    How you want to communicate with your website visitors?
    Are you going to tell them who you are?
    Are you going to tell them what you specialize in?
    Are you going to tell them what you do?
    Are you going to tell them what you sell?

Which are the ways you want your business to come across?
 You want it to be Faster or Slower, Novice or Professional? You are the one who can answer this question.

Don’t you think you need a map before you start your journey?

Let us explore an example:

And let s set our goals-

What are my main expectations from this website?

May be your answer will tell you that you want to raise awareness about your business, you have started a new Marketing Consultancy business and you want to encourage website visitors to contact you online and also you are hoping to build a client base by using may be a contact form. Potential customers should find this information useful and it should tell them why they should make use of your services.

Which people will attract to visit my website?

and your answer will again tell you about your potential customers, may be Professional people from various size of organizations who are looking for marketing services because they want to increase their exposure.

What will be the expectations of my potential customers when it comes to the feel of my website?

May be your answer to this question will tell you that your visitors will expect a professional look. They will also expect a logical navigation and lots of info about the services you are providing them. It will also tell you the nature of website; here they will not appreciate playful things like music, pictures, movies etc. They will expect information served quickly.

Other services:

Which are the services your business is going to offer them? In this Particular example you will probably offer copy writing, advertising, Public relations, brand promotion and product marketing. If these, you feel are your core services, you should have links these services or buttons on your homepage.

From the point of view of website design and structure, try to visibly separate services and other stuff.

When it comes to Deciding between Horizontal and Vertical Navigation try to choose Vertical Navigation as it is easier. Try to limit the width of your website into 760 pixels limit. this is the standard width of 800X600 resolution screens also these does not includes scroll bars.

While selecting horizontal navigation you should think of the navigation options and categories, such as “products”, “services”, “company” and “downloads”.

Why Footer is necessary?

Footers have many advantages as it includes copy write tag and also tries to help your visitors by actually ’spoon feeding’ and not letting them search the required page by themselves. After all you want to make a user friendly website don’t you?

In a nut shell:

A website which is suitable to your needs is the best website. Try to avoid the pit falls of making an unsuitable one will be the best advice for the starters.

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