The Tak Team Blog

The most essential choice among Wireless Internet choices is that your able to acquire the accurate selection for your family. What is effortless & amazing with reference to Compare Wireless Broadband is that the company primarily offer simple home broadband and mobile Mobile and Wireless guidance. Contrary to other services Compare Broadband UK provide free guidance around a variety of types of dealers, Compare Broadband UK assist to find the leading bargain for you yourself, so you will probably spend the least quantity of money possible and nonetheless still be given a magnificent agreement from your supplier.

Mobile Wireless Broadband the current name used to clarify a varied forms of gadgets that supply you with the most up-to-date faze located in technology, this is wireless high speed mobile broadband access without the wires and without a fixed line connection. Mobile broadband gives you the handiness to use your laptop where ever you yourself are sitting. All you are required to do put in your universal serial bus modem and off you go, simple wireless Mobile Broadband everywhere you are. There are countless great different offers to go for with many types of contractors. The providers are O2, Vodaphone, and Orange. These suppliers have all taken the lead with providing wireless broadband internet, although these mobile phone networks have initially focused on marketing both service to I book users. Get your hands on the best Orange Broadband Offers.

Wireless Wireless Broadband has converted into being remarkably attractive and just about 3 million United Kingdom broadband customers nowdays connect wirelessly to the mobile internet at the office. This is a number that always mounting as many clients get clued up to both benefits of broadband internet. Mobile and Wireless uses high speed Wireless Internet access this is because it commonly has a high rate of information transmission. Not only is it 10 to 100 times speedier than a dial up account it doesn’t tie up the telephone line so you can make and get telephone calls as regualr while you use the Broadband You will pay a simple monthly cost for all time on connection consequently there is no need to dial one hundred to get online, simply turn on the laptop & you’re connected.

You have an idea for a website and you are now looking for somebody to build you the site. You want it to be a smooth ride, and want to have a good working relationship with your web designer. You are also looking for a low cost website, so how will you make all of this possible?

I believe that if you make life as simple as possible for the website designer, you are likely to keep him happy and onside. This way you are also more likely to obtain a cheap quote.

Before contacting the designer or designers, have a clear picture in your mind about how you want the website to look. You will need to decide colours, graphics and content.

I would put all of the content into a word document, with all of the words checked for any spelling mistakes. It should be in a very readable state, with page breaks and titles for each page. The titles could be the key phrases in your subject matter which people are likely to search for. Try to think of the niche phrases as the more obvious ones will be harder to achieve top placements in the major search engines such as Google.

If you are struggling to find sufficient content for your website, you could add articles from various article websites such as:

http://www.searchwarp.com
http://www.goarticles.com

Once you have your word document completed you can then contact the web designer. You can forward the document and explain the type of graphics and colours you would like, but then give them a free reign to use their skills to produce what hopefully will be a low cost professional website.

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:

stuttering information

stammering therapy

hair loss center

What works best when promoting your web site.

Eight Simple, Yet Essential, Web Design Principles
by: Alan Richardson

As the internet evolves from its infancy into maturity, website development, design and marketing becomes more and more sophisticated - and more and more complex. Content manipulation, various scripting methods, fancy graphics and effects… and on and on… allow us to create some impressive web sites.

A good gauge of this complexity is the a slew of new internet-related acronyms which popup on a consistent basis. Heck, I don’t know what half of them mean. But one acronym I do know - and it’s not an internet creation - is nevertheless key to the development and design of any successful business website. Perhaps you’ve heard of it - K.I.S.S. As you probably know, it stands for ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid!’. And it’s a methodology widely employed by the best web developers, designers and marketers in the business. A philosophy that provides the foundation for all successful revenue-generating web sites.

From the largest, multi-product online business conglomerate to the one-page one-product mini-site, the purpose is the same. Provide visitors, whether internet savvy or first time surfers, with an online experience that’s fast, efficient, easy to understand - and dare I say it… yes, enjoyable.

Whether your an entrepreneur building your own web site, or reviewing one built for you by a web development and design expert, it is important your web site, your online business, adheres to these eight simple, yet essential, design principles. Heed them, and online success is sure to follow. Ignore them, at your peril. Here they are.

Each web page must have a purpose - and that purpose must be clearly stated. While a consistent design ‘look and feel’ is vital across all pages of your web site, each page has a specific function to perform. And that function should be clearly understood by all visitors to your web site. Whether it’s to elicit feedback, provide feedback, promote your company, present product information, etc., all play a role in your ultimate goal of growing your business.

Navigation around and through your business web site must be clearly visible and easy to use. See my article on web site navigation for more details.

Avoid distraction and clutter by minimizing usage of fancy flashing and moving objects, which provide more sizzle than steak, and make your essential products or services harder to find.

All business websites should have contact information clearly visible. A ‘Contact’ page is minimum. It’s also advisable to include contact information on every page of your web site. You never know when the urge to turn from prospect to customer will strike your visitor.

Not everyone has broadband. Yes, there are still a fair number of users surfing the internet with slower, less efficient, dial-up access. That may change in the future, but it’s a reality today. Ignore this substantial customer base and you’re business will surely suffer. To avoid this pitfall, pay careful attention to eliminate internet-clogging elements on your web site. When possible, use text instead of graphics, static graphics instead of animation, several smaller pages instead of one large page. Do this and you can feed quite well on the desertions from your flashier competitors.

For those who are broadband users, who are not negatively effected by all those ‘bells and whistles’, who may actually enjoy such an impressive display, remember, ‘form follows function’. This is especially important on a business web site, where functionality is key. All else is fluff and distraction.

For those of us who may be ‘visually challenged, make sure your web site is easy to see. Avoid fancy fonts and use the more legible standard-bearers, such as Times New Roman, Courier New, Arial and Verdana. For standard text, use font sizes of at least 10 pt… 12 pt is better. On many a web site, font sizes of 8 pt or less are used, perhaps in an effort to avoid the need to scroll. Let me tell you… it’s much better to scroll than to squint. For when I squint, I usually stroll… right out of the site. It’s also a good practice to limit the use of italics as they too are harder to read. Lastly, pay attention to text and background color. Although white text on a black background looks cool at first glance, it can quickly strain the eyes. You don’t want to do anything that will cut your visitor’s journey through your business web site..

Whenever possible, limit page lengths to no more than two page-downs. It is better for performance (page loading) and visitor attention when pages are short, quick reads. If necessary, breakup your text into multiple pages, with a ‘continued’ designation at the bottom of each page.
There you go. Eight simple, yet essential, web site design principles that can spell the difference between online business success or failure. Always remember, you’re never more than one-click away from visitor abandonment. K.I.S.S. your website and it will reward you abundantly.

Alan Richardson is a well-known internet consultant and publisher with http://www.optimalwebservices.com - a Web resource firm in North Easton, Massachusetts, offering free advice and information for web-based small businesses and entrpreneurs.

To read other articles by Alan, click here.
To signup for the free ‘Optimal Web Services for Small Business’ ezine, click here

Alan Richardson is a well-known internet consultant and publisher with www.optimalwebservices.com - a Web resource firm in North Easton, Massachusetts, offering free advice and information for web-based small business entrepreneurs.

To read other articles by Alan, click www.optimalwebservices.com/articles

To signup for the free ‘Optimal Web Services for Small Business’ ezine, click www.optimalwebservices.com/subscribe

That’s right. According to a recent study by Nielsen/NetRatings, Amazon.com converts 12.8% of its visitors into sales.

Do you know how they do it? (I do…)

I’m about to let you in on a little secret that 99% of online marketers (even most of the so called “experts”) don’t seem to understand…

The smartest, most successful online marketers and businesses invest as much time and money into improving conversion rates as they do in building traffic.

Now that you know this “secret”, ask yourself:

“Do I spend more time and money building traffic than I do improving my website’s conversion rates?”

If you are like most online marketers, I’ll bet you answered “yes” to that question.

Why do companies like Amazon.com invest so much time, effort and money into improving conversion rates?

It’s simple… They know that even small improvements in your conversion rates can produce huge impacts on your bottom line.

Often, boosting conversion rates by even 1% can double or triple the effectiveness and profitability of your traffic building efforts.

Do you ever wonder how some of your competitors can afford to bid 2 or 3 times as much on certain pay-per-click keywords as you can?

The answer is simple… Their websites are more effective at converting traffic into sales.

Let’s say your site converts 1% of your visitors into customers, and you earn a $100 profit on each sale.

With those numbers the most you can afford to spend on each visitor is $1.00 per click. (And, if you want to make a profit, you need to bid less than that…)

Now, if your competitor is selling the same $100 profit, product and his website converts 2% of visitors into customers. Your competition can afford to bid $2.00 per click to break even. (The worst part is… Your competitor can out bid you at $1.01 per click and earn a $0.99 profit per visitor, while you are just breaking even at $1.00 per click!)

The bottom line is this…

If you double your website’s conversion rate, you double the effectiveness of every marketing dollar you spend.

Want to improve your conversion rates? Eric Graham is the CEO of several successful online companies. Internationally recognized as a top authority on eCommerce, Website Conversion & Internet Marketing, he’s an in-demand speaker & consultant.

Visit http://www.web-site-evaluations.com today for an in-depth evaluation to boost YOUR websites conversion rate!

Get expert tips, advice, news and commentary on improving conversion rates, split testing, web usability, copywriting, internet marketing and more. Just visit Eric’s popular Blog:
http://www.conversiondoctor.com/conversion-blog/

How can you use pictures, photos and other images that create a connection with your website visitor?

Proper use of images can emulate an immediate personal connection with
your website visitor.

First and foremost, DO NOT over use or overload your website with images,
photos or picture. Overuse slows your website loading down and
ineffective images are just a waste of space. Images need to give
insight into your company and your brand. They don’t need to just be
pretty pictures. There are 5 types of images or photos that need to be included
on almost every website.

1. Who you are. A photo of the owner, board of directors and a complete
team picture or other person that reveals passion, drive, excitement or
confidence can fulfill this need. Why do we need this type of photo?
Your website visitor wants to know that there is a really person behind
the words. It builds trust right from their first glance. Who knows how
much a picture can really say?

2. Your workplace. This image can be portrayed in
the photo that show who you are, but if you own a yoga studio or a place where the
environment is important to the visitors, you may want additional photos.

3. Pictures of informational products. Whether you have a digital e-book
or an electronic magazine, you must have a picture of your product. Make this a
picture that gives your user an idea of what the product includes. This
not only gives your visitor an image for them to associate with the
product, but also gives your product more dimension and character.

4. Sign your work. Do you like getting a snail mail letter from a dear
friend? Think about how exciting it is when you receive the envelope in
the mail with your hand-written address. Place an image of your signature
at the end of the web page like you were signing a letter. This gives the
reader that warm fuzzy feeling of receiving a snail mail letter.

5. Logos. Dont forget to include your logo in the top right hand corner
(where people look first when they visit a web page). AND logos of any
affiliates, strategic partners, alliances or previous employers and add
website links to each logo. These logos are like testimonials, as they
provide reference to your credibility.

Now that you know what types of images should be included to make your
website effective, remember to consider image quality and brand
representation. If your images are not representing you and your brand,
you must reconsider your selection.

Jen Blackert, The Online Success Coach, teaches small business owners how to brand and market their website with her simple eBranding success system. Visit her website at http://www.brandterra.com and her online reality blog at http://www.ibrandweb.com.

1. Bad layout formatting.

Try to use your judgment when it comes to layout. They will
serve as your best guide. Do not just center on your body text.
The text and content should be offset, and not overrun by
graphics. Sentences should wrap nicely from left to right.
Navigation should not take up half of the screen. Body text
should not be 60 pixels high. Basically common sense issues that
anyone with a clear head can understand and appreciate.

2. No content or outdated content.

No information or content to go along with the site is a
terrible mistake many are making. It is not surprising why your
visitors leave at first glance. Know that people wait and spend
money to view your pages. So it is a courtesy and a necessity to
provide something to reward their efforts. By content, it means
something people would want to see or read. It is not just a
string of clipart, GIF animations or “under construction” signs.

3. Sloppy navigation and orphan pages.

Allow easy access to pages. Always include a link back to the
main page. Oftentimes, only a “back” button is all that is
provided when a guest has penetrated into an inner page. Many
sites, especially those with frames, can be accessed by search
engines into a portion of a complete page. These have no links
to the main page and leaves visitors stranded and can be
considered “Orphan Pages.” Try to put a link back to your main
page on every page, so that visitors would not be trapped.

4. The use of technology.

Do not bombard visitors with technology just for the sake of
using them. Technology is great fun to use, if used with wisdom
and care. You may think it is cool, but 99% of the world does
not think so. All Javascripts, Java applets, VRMLs, and other
high-tech and possibly error-prone technology should be used
only when the page calls for it. Do not use it just because it
is there for the taking.

5. Midis and non-stop animations.

Nothing on pages should be continuous and without a way to stop
them. MIDIs are nice little add-ons that can add atmosphere to a
page. Provide a way to stop it before your readers become
irritated. If you doing these things to your site, stop now
before it is too late. For those who does not, do not even think
about it.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit
http://www.ucreative.com

The Internet is a terrestrial-based system, and satellite Internet technology utilizes an extraterrestrial-based system, i.e. satellite, to get connected to the Internet backbone. The need for the access through satellite is the lack of DSL and cable lines in remote areas and in mobile situations such as seafaring vessels.

Satellite Internet access works through a dish at the customer’s location, which sends radio frequencies from the computer to the satellite. The dish is usually of 1.2 m diameter. The customer’s location may be equipped with a satellite modem to convert digital information into analog form. The customer’s location may be a single PC or networked workstations. This obviates the need for telephone lines.

At the other end, the satellite sends back the frequencies to the teleport at a ground station where a number of large aperture dishes are placed. From here, the data is sent to the network system, which consists of routers and optical cables that connect to the Internet backbone. As the Internet backbone is shared by many service providers, the bandwidth availability is restricted by the terrestrial Internet infrastructure.

At the user’s location, the access is determined by the level of service required, whether it is one-way or two-way satellite service. One-way service may require a regular dial up service. A user may need to have a minimum of Windows- or Mac-supported PC with a networking capability. Other requirements include Ethernet port. Other than hardware requirements, software programming to manage interfaces is required.

Broadband access through satellite is a costly alternative to cable modems and DSL. The access is limited by the costly installations and the weather conditions. Besides, the uplink speed is limited by the dial-up speed just like dial-up Internet. The long-haul distance between the dish and satellite results in delay of the access.

Satellite Internet provides detailed information on Satellite Internet, Satellite Internet Services, Satellite Internet Access, Satellite Internet Providers and more. Satellite Internet is affiliated with High Speed Internet Services.

The ideal solution for high end bandwidth users where connectivity is essential for operations isn’t a simple T1 or DS3 dedicated line…you need an “OC” fiber optic network. So just what is OCx, what can it do for you, and what do you need to know?

What is an OCx Circuit?

‘OC’ stands for Optical Carrier and is used to specify the speed of fiber optic networks conforming to the SONET standard. SONET, (Synchronous Optical Networks), includes a set of signal rate multiples for transmitting digital signals on optical fiber. The base rate (OC-1) is 51.84 Mbps. Certain multiples of the base rate are provided below with bandwidth amounts. Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) makes use of some of the Optical Carrier
levels.

Optical Carrier lines provide content providers, ASP’s, ISP’s & large enterprises with dedicated Internet connectivity. These Optical Carrier Level circuits are an ideal solution for high end bandwidth users where connectivity is essential for operations. Some examples are large data centers, high tech research facilities, university infrastructure, airport
complexes, and casino video security and data systems.

What is an OC3?

An OC3 can be three DS3s (T3s) or one 155M pipe. The benefit in using DS3s is that each can be separated back out as individual T1s (each with 24 channels). To put it into perspective, the speed of an OC3 connection is 155Mbps. This is equivalent to 3 T3 lines or 100 T1 lines. An OC12 connection is 622Mbps, equivalent to 14 T3 lines or approx. 414 T1 lines.

What is an OC12?

An OC12 is approximately equal to 4 OC3s and runs at 622 Mbps. which makes it an excellent point-to-point IP delivery connection. The greatest benefit to an OC-12 is that bandwidth can be added to a business as it grows without any major system overhauls. An OC12 can also allow a business to have unlimited IP addresses which insures that growth is never limited…

What is an OC48?

An OC48 works as a reliable fiber optic backbone for large networks which require volume extensive voice/data/video traffic. It is a long-haul backbone fibre connection capable of transmitting data at 2.45 Gbps. To put it into perspective the speed of an OC48 is the equivalent of having 48 T3’s OR 1,344 T1 lines.

The pricing for these type of connections can vary widely depending on the carrier, location of service and the exact application for which the connection is intended to be used. Due to this complexity it is suggested to use the services of a consultant such as “DS3-Bandwidth.com” to
research available providers and find the best fit to meet a specific requirement.

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications….including Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you’re always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.

The approach you should take to build your eCommerce site should be same like when you start a new business, launch a new product or start a new marketing campaign. Success in all these endeavors to a large extent depends on a well-written detailed plan. You can increase success rate dramatically for any project if you have a realistic implementation plan. The major challenges you will face while creating development plan for your eCommerce website are as follows:

• Selecting the primary goal of the website
• Coming up with needed business objectives to accomplish this goal
• Selecting the right functionalities to achieve those business objectives
• Having right content material the site functionalities should produce and need

Primary Goal

Not all eCommerce sites are online stores. Apart from selling products and services directly from the virtual store there could be many other reasons to have an eCommerce site. Some of them are listed below:

• Build brands
• Enhance existing marketing programs
• Sell products and services
• Launch new product or service
• Develop a better understanding of the customer’s need
• Improve after sales support

Based on your primary goal, you have to take different strategic approach to planning your site.

Business Objectives

Business objectives are list of processes you need to have on your website in order to attain your goal. If your goal is to sell products through your website you have to display pictures and specifications of your products to the site visitors, have a shopping cart so that a buyer can select products, a payment system to carry the transaction, etc. These are your business objectives.

Site Functionality

System functionalities are a list of the types of site capabilities you need to achieve your business objectives. If one of the site’s business objectives is to send regular emails to buyers, you need to have an automatic mailing system. To display product information, i.e. product picture, specification, sale’s terms, etc. you will an electronic catalog system. For processing a payment you require a payment gateway.

Information requirements

This is the information material the site functionalities have to generate to achieve business objectives. To display product information you require product picture, product specification, sale’s terms, shipping terms, payment terms, etc. To send mails to your buyers you need a list of email addresses. For executing a transaction required information would be payment options, information for credit card processing, etc.

Once you clearly identified your single most important business goal for developing the website, and jotted down the needed business objectives, site functionalities and information requirement to realize the business objectives, you are ready to proceed with step by step development of your website.

Writing the development plan

This will require deep understanding of your business goals, site business objectives, content material and milestone goals for overall development process. You will be able to acquire enough knowledge by analyzing existing sites of competitors and researching data related to your specific industry. At this
stage you will also clarify resources necessary to build you site and assign responsibilities.

Register domain for the website

While you are still in the process of writing your development plan you should register a domain for your website. You probably heard about the amounts companies have shelled out for domain names like business.com or sex.com. There is no point wasting money on fancy domain names. Any name is fine as long as it
is more or less consistent to your business line. Keep in mind two things: avoid special symbols in domain name and don’t select a name which is too long.

Create a one page simple site

After registering your domain name, you should start using it immediately. Design a single page mini site with information, what the upcoming site is going to have, and publish it online. The idea is to get online as soon as possible, because the older your site is the better from the point of view of search engine spiders.

Meta Tags for your home page

Write title name of your site, description of your site, keywords, etc. Use them on your mini site.

Start registering your address in various directories

Now start registering your mini site in various directories and search engines. Don’t use the companies that promise for certain small amount they will register your site in hundreds of search engines and directories. You only need to be in the major ones and most of them require manual insertion of site information.

Accumulate content

Now start collecting, selecting and writing contents for your website. This is going to be a time consuming job. A good eCommerce site should have minimum 80 to 100 pages. That means you will need a lot of content for your website.

Site plan

Loosely define the pages needed for the site and links between them.

Create project scope

Scope is the way that you describe the objectives and functionalities of the web project. This gives you a clear picture of the site from technical point of view. It shows the boundaries, i.e. what the project will deliver and what it will not deliver. For larger projects, it can include departments involved, business processes and workflows that will be touched, the data types incorporated, etc.

Design home page and one of the main pages

Finally, it is the time to start designing your web pages. Start with creating layout, sketch and design of the first page and at least one of the other major pages. You will probably need one or more designers for your site.

Create content surrounding two three key phrases per page

Meanwhile, select keywords and key phrases for these and other pages and start developing content surrounding these words and phrases. You might need to involve content developer and search engine optimizer for this.

Select design and layouts for rest of the pages

If you are happy with the look and feel of the home page and the other page that you have created it is time to build layouts for rest of the pages.

Programming

Actually, you should start working on this the moment you finished writing your project scope. You will need programmers and data base specialist to work on this part. The quantity of specialists required will depend on the complexity of the project.

Create rest of the pages

Now is the time to develop physical look of rest of the pages. Don’t forget to create Meta Tags for these pages.

Installation on your local server

All your work will be done on a local server and the trial version of your site will reside there.

Testing and debugging

Now that the site is ready it is time to test all the functionalities of the site, check pages for broken links, and other errors.

Let others review your site

If possible, at this stage, request your best customers, industry colleagues and friends to check out the site thoroughly and give you honest feedbacks. Make changes according to the suggestions that you deem extremely valuable.

Publish

Finally, the big day came! Publish your website on the Internet. Make sure to issue a press release covering the usefulness of your eCommerce site.

Constantly monitor and update

In order to serve your audience better you will need to monitor your site. What is working well and what needs improvement? Update your website periodically with specific and quantifiable enhancement.

Promote

Having a great site is not good enough! You have to work on promoting your site so that enough targeted traffic visits your site to make it profitable.

Companies can reap tremendous profits from a robust, well-designed and well-managed eCommerce site with essential functionalities. This includes among others:

• Sales increase, some times by many folds
• Better customer satisfaction
• More sales per head
• Less work for sales force
• More profit per sale

While building a website, take a systematic approach so that you can have your website developed on time, with allocated resources and without unpleasant surprises. For more information on web development and web promotion read other
articles located at http://ezine.rusbiz.com/archive/

Nowshade Kabir is the CEO of Rusbiz.com, a global B2B Portal, which helps companies build web store, buy and sell products and services using eMarketplace, eCatalog and other features. Rusbiz also offers website development packages: http://www.rusbiz.com/design_package.html