In the previous two articles, we covered the basics of image crawls, and how to avoid some of their weaknesses and design them without major glitches or problems.  For this final article, we’ll discuss a few extra options for these crawls.  As a reminder (or to bring you up to speed if you are not reading the series sequentially), an image crawl is a form of code that causes thumbnails to slowly move across the screen.  As we’ve discussed, image crawls are great for websites where you want people to get a good view of a wide variety of product images, such as with jewelry, photography, and graphic design.

One of the weaknesses we had discussed earlier was the speed at which the image crawl moves.  This makes them poor choices for general shopping navigation; they’re great for browsing your photographs, not so much for finding the perfect piece of jewelry to buy as an anniversary gift.  This can be exasperated if the crawl only moves in one direction at a fixed rate.  If something catches a user’s eye and they don’t click it in time, they would have to wait for the entire crawl to loop around before they see it again.  User-friendly that ain’t.

It can be a useful idea, thus, to allow users to control the crawl.  The first way to do this is a simple “onmouseover” function that causes the crawl to stop, generally by clearing the timer.  When the mouse moves off, another function restarts the timer, continuing the crawl.

In some cases, though, you might have other animations or functions that are going off that same timer (it’s easier on the computer to track everything on one timer rather than having to keep multiple timed functions going simultaneously).  In this case, you can use a Speed variable to determine how many pixels the crawl moves with each instance of its function being called.  On mouse over, the Speed is set to 0, causing it to stop.  It returns to 1 (or whatever) on mouse out.

Even if you stop and start the crawl with timeouts, though, a Speed variable can be useful.  People have different preferences, and having buttons or a control that lets them change the speed can easily make the site a bit more dynamic and convenient.  It’s also not hard to set the crawl up to go forward or backward, so if someone sees a photo or piece of jewelry they like and just miss hitting it, they can just reverse the crawl’s direction.  In fact, the code snippet from the previous article is designed for calculating the loop in both directions.

A speed and direction control is the last piece of a good image crawl.  All told, it’s a fairly simple piece of functionality, easily doable with less than a hundred lines of code, and probably less than fifty.  It adds a nice touch to photography, graphic design, jewelry, and other sites where visual appeal and an aethetic product presentation are critical.

Dustin Schwerman is the head web designer for Truly Unique Website Design. Truly Unique works on websites of all varieties; their clients may offer products and services ranging from religious jewelry to glamour photography.

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com

No matter what you business is, you need a website. These days it’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity. When you’re in business people expect to be able to learn more about you on the internet. You may be thinking that in order to have an effective website you need to be ready to fork over thousands and thousands of dollars for the latest technology and high-end customized graphics. This is absolutely not true!

I’m not against technology or graphics; in fact I utilize them quite extensively on my own site. BUT that’s not where I invest most of my time, resources and energy and neither should you.

My focus is on communicating with my visitors because that’s where the money is. People do business with those they know, like and trust and this is true online and offline. Which is why I spend my time on writing articles and blog posts, and creating video and audio recordings, mediums that allow me to communicate my message.

Effective communication doesn’t require thousands of dollars, the latest technology or high-end graphics. So, what do you need to communicate effectively?

First, determine your target audience.

When you’re writing copy for your website (or a speech or recording a message) you need to be very specific about who you’re speaking to. Who’s that ideal person you want to attract? Man or woman? What age group? Are they parents? What level of education? You get the idea.

Also, get very clear about how you can serve this audience. What is their big challenge or problem that you can help them solve?

Copywriting Strategist, Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero uses an interesting technique she calls the TARKET FACTOR. When she writes copy rather than writing to a group of people she writes to a single person – her “tarket” – (target market) who is a representative of the majority of her ideal customers.

Then, develop a rapport.

The internet is impersonal by nature so there’s an even greater need for developing rapport when you’re selling a product or service online. Here are a few suggestions that will help you establish that relationship with potential customers:

- Make the person reading your copy feel as if you are writing directly to them. You can do this my using the words “you” and “I”.

- Focus on them. Instead of describing the ins-and-outs of your product or service, talk about how they will benefit from it.

- Be authentic and sincere. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through. People do business with those they can relate to.

Finally, have a clear call to action.

It may seem obvious but people need to be told what to do, clearly and specifically, and they’ll be far more likely to do it. Make it as easy for them as possible – they shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to figure out how to “order now”.

However, and this is very important, your objective should not always be to close a financial sale. Your goal is to develop long-term relationships so an important strategy is to entice them to sign-up for your newsletter or download your free report or tip sheet. This allows you to begin building a relationship with them and convert them into buyers.

So remember to follow these three steps to make your website work (and sell) for you:

1. Determine your target audience.
2. Develop a rapport.
3. Have a clear call to action.

These three steps will work effectively whether you have a high-tech, sophisticated website or a very simple “brochure” website. Business is all about marketing and marketing is all about communicating!

Kim DeYoung (aka “The Metromom”) is committed to helping moms—with entrepreneurial spirit—to be successful in all aspects of life. She provides dynamic coaching and trainings at Metromom.com, an interactive community for moms in home-based businesses. Order your own FREE CD – “5 Surprising Secrets Every Mom Entrepreneur Must Know” and learn more at www.metromom.com. To see if you’re in fact a Metromom, check out her 3-minute video at http://TheMetroMomMovie.com.

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com

A content management system makes it easier to add to your website. Without knowledge of HTML, you can put up new content and web pages by using a content management system. Constantly updated content boosts your search engine rankings and allows you to add new products, services and information effortlessly.

Registering your domain name and finding a reliable web host is just the beginning. Once your online presence is established, you need to choose a content management system that makes it a breeze to update your website as needed. Popular content management systems today include WordPress and Drupal.

In days gone by, you had to know HTML or have someone design a website for you. While many people still opt for professional website design, content management systems make it possible to do-it-yourself. Instead of having ongoing website maintenance, you can keep track of your own site and make additions and deletions as required. New information can be added in minutes rather than days or weeks.

Content management systems offer multiple advantages. Instead of dealing with the inefficiency of Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word, you have well-managed content and images that work well together. You no longer need to update pages manually when content is added. Content management systems usually allow you automatically update all pages at once.

Consider a few of the top reasons why businesses adopt content management systems to organize their websites:

* the website supports multiple audiences and a content management system allows you to channel content for various audiences;

*your website has more than 70 pages of content – even a small website with about 100 pages benefits from using a system such as WordPress;

*if your website has been around for several years, a content management systems help to update and manage pages so tired old content isn’t at the forefront;

*if updating the content on your website takes days or weeks, it’s time to get a content management systems to get in the game – the online world moves quickly today and even a couple of days can be an eternity in Internet time;

*if you maintain multiple websites, a content management system makes it much easier;

*a content management system is beneficial in defining and organizing multi-lingual content to make your business more international.

Give your business website the boost it needs with a content management system. The ability to add content quickly and simply will also add to your overall profits!

David Tanguay is the owner of Interactive Online who provides Web Hosting and Reseller Hosting services.

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com