Web Tips

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Tip #1: WEB SITE BENEFITS

What are the real benefits of having a website? The following list is intended to help you consider the ways in which your business might profit from establishing and maintaining its own website.

Expand your hours of operation.
A website can allow your business to be "open" and operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing information and services right from your website.
Reduce information delivery and staff costs
Reduce or eliminate printing, faxing, postage, long-distance and some sales staff costs. Visitors can access information about your services right from your website and at their convenience.
Keep information up-to-date and always available
Unlike a printed brochure, business card or catalog, no one can misplace or lose your website! Website content can be changed in minutes, allowing you to keep your information accurate and timely and at far less cost than reprinting brochures, catalogs and business cards everytime updates are needed.
Expand your customer base with unlimited advertising
Whether your focus is local, regional or world wide, you can reach a larger audience on the web - in full color - sound - and even motion; all at a remarkably low advertising cost. Unlike other marketing mediums such as television, radio, print, there is no time, space or size restrictions to your digital "ad".
Sell your services and\or products
Your website can actually sell your products and services for you. Maintain your services\products online and allow customers to contact you via free email, a printable form for faxing or mailing.

 

Tip #2: WEB DESIGN: KEEP IT SIMPLE

"Keep it Simple" is possibly the most important rule of web design. As you make decisions about what elements will make up your web site, remember to bring simplicity to the planning table with you and apply the concept to both the look and content. Don't overwhelm your visitors with too much information or too many graphics.

Navigation Menus

Too many menu options can be distracting if not downright confusing. If possible, keep primary menu choices to a minimum; four, five or six are usually enough for most sites. Then use sub-menus for more detail where needed.

For example, if your company provides a number of different services, use a menu option called "Services" which links to a page called "Services" that has a sub-menu listing the different services.

If you need a larger number of main menu options, consider having two menus. For example, use one for content (services, products, profile, process) and one for site navigation (home, search, site map, help). Or you might want to use a site map or site index that lists and links to all of the content on your site.

Also, give your menu options short, meaningful names such as Products, Services, Profile, Process, Contact Us, etc.. Avoid obscure names and keep in mind that short names look better on "buttons" and navigation bars, and contribute to a clean, clutter-free, easy to navigate web site.

Graphics

Too many graphics can sloowwwww dowwnnnn youurrr paaggges. So can graphics that are too large (we're talking file size here, not necessarily image dimensions). People are busy... don't make them wait.

When planning your use of graphic images, keep it simple, colorful, and elegant. Use graphics sparingly to enhance your content; don't let them take over, clutter up and slow down your pages.

If you need to make large, detailed images available to your visitors, use thumbnails (or small representations of the images) that link to the full-sized versions, each on its own page. That way visitors can choose to wait (or not) for the bigger images to download.

Text Content

Many companies use existing marketing literature for their web site text... which is fine if this material is up-to-date, accurate, and interesting. If not, it might be a good time to give some thought to updating your message. Even if you're happy with your material, it will probably need some whittling down and editing for use on your site.

 

Tip #3: ADDING SIGNATURES TO EMAIL

To add a signature to outgoing messages
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Signatures tab.
  2. To create a signature, click the New button and then either enter text in the Edit Signature box or click File, and then find the text or HTML file you'd like to use.
  3. Select the Add signatures to all outgoing messages check box.
Tips
To use different signatures for different accounts, in the Signatures area, select the signature, click the Advanced button, and then select the account you want to use the signature with.
To use a signature on individual messages only, make sure to clear the Add signatures to all outgoing messages check box. When you compose the message, click the Insert menu, point to Signatures, and then click the signature you want.

 

Tip #4: ATTACHING FILES & PICTURES TO EMAIL

To insert a file in a message
  1. Click anywhere in the message window.
  2. On the Insert menu, click File Attachment, and then find the file you want to attach.
  3. Select the file, and then click Attach.

The file is listed in the Attach box in the message header.

Note
You can also add a text (*.txt) file into the body of your mail message by clicking the Insert menu and then clicking Text from File.
To insert a picture in a message
  1. In the message, click where you want the image to appear.
  2. On the Insert menu, click Picture, and then click Browse to find the image file.
  3. Enter Layout and Spacing information for the image file as needed.
Notes
If you cannot select the Picture command, make sure HTML formatting is turned on by clicking the Format menu in the message window and then clicking Rich Text (HTML). A black dot appears by the command when it is selected.
If message recipients are not able to view your inserted images, click the Tools menu, and then click Options. Click the Send tab, click HTML Settings, and then make sure that Send pictures with messages is selected. Then resend your message.

To insert a background picture in your message, in the message window, click the Format menu, point to Background, and then click Picture. Click the Browse button to search for the file you want to use.