Web Page design requires conceptualizing, planning, modeling, and executing electronic media content and its delivery via the Internet using technologies (such as markup languages) suitable for rendering and presentation by web browsers or other web-based graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
The intent of web design is to create a web site (a collection of electronic files residing on one or more web servers) that presents content (including interactive features or interfaces) to the end user in the form of web pages upon request. Such elements as text, forms, and bit-mapped images (GIFs, JPEGs, PNGs) can be placed on the page using HTML, XHTML, or XML tags.
Displaying more complex media (vector graphics, animations, videos, sounds) usually requires browsers to incorporate optional plug-ins, such as Flash, QuickTime, and Java run-time environment. Other plug-ins are embedded in web pages, using HTML or XHTML tags.
Improvements in the various browsers' compliance with W3C standards prompted a widespread acceptance of XHTML and XML in conjunction with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to position and manipulate web page elements. The latest W3C standards and proposals aim to deliver a wide variety of media and accessibility options to the client without employing plug-ins.[citation needed]
Typically web pages are classified as static or dynamic.
 Static pages don’t change content and layout with every request unless a human (web master or programmer) manually updates the page.
 Dynamic pages adapt their content and/or appearance depending on the end-user’s input or interaction or changes in the computing environment (user, time, database modifications, etc.) Content can be changed on the client side (end-user's computer) by using client-side scripting languages (JavaScript, JScript, Actionscript, media players and PDF reader plug-ins, etc.) to alter DOM elements (DHTML). Dynamic content is often compiled on the server utilizing server-side scripting languages (PHP, ASP, Perl, Coldfusion, JSP, Python, etc.). Both approaches are usually used in complex applications.
With growing specialization within communication design and information technology fields, there is a strong tendency to draw a clear line between web design specifically for web pages and web development for the overall logistics of all web-based services.
Is Just Having a Website Enough?
Your small business needs an appealing and professional website but that is just the beginning. If no one visits your website and -- more importantly -- if it does not bring in new customers and allows you to sell more to your current customers, then your site is not effective. What do you need to improve your online marketing efforts?
The first step is to decide on a primary goal for your website. Is it to directly sell products or services through e-commerce? Or is the goal to capture leads so you can follow-up and make the sale by email and phone?
For e-commerce you need a website design with a shopping cart system, that encourages people to purchase products using the shopping cart. Both the design and written content should maintain this focus.
If your goal is to capture leads, the key is to have the content that provides initial information about your products and services that interests prospective customers. It should be easy for the prospective customer to fill out a contact form and hit the submit button or call your 800-number. The form should be submitted to a contact management system such as Salesforce or SugarCRM.
Getting it Done
Your business needs a professional website, which can cost between $2,000 -- $15,000 or more to design... depending upon the degree of sophistication needed.
The key to a professional website design is to work with a good designer who takes the time to listen to you and translate your vision into an effective website. Your designer must be as skilled in listening as in design.
Once the site is completed there must be an easy way for you - or someone on your behalf -- to maintain the website. The designer should provide you with an easy-to-use content management system (CMS), enabling you to edit your website without having to contact your designer. This saves you money.
Once you have a professional website you have the foundation for marketing online. You can build on that foundation and use the Internet as an effective marketing tool.
Search Engine Marketing...
- 4 Corners Publishing and Marketing
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