Video is an extremely powerful medium. If you use eye-catching videos on your website chances are you will capture your website visitor's interest. Moreover, if you put video on your webpages, search engines will love you and will push your website in the top pages of their search results.
There are a lot of ways to implement videos on your website. Let's discuss some basic issues in this article.
You have two options (from the website visitor's perspective) when you want to put video on your website. Either let the visitor wait for the download of the entire video file and then view it, or use streaming techniques to immediately start playing the video file when the page loads. Streaming video becomes more and more popular every day.
Many web designers or webmasters think that the process of creating a video, editing it and uploading it to the website is a pain. The truth is that it does take time to do it, but it's not that complicated.
What you should pay attention to, is the bandwidth usage. Videos are real bandwidth eaters. You should also be aware of the various legal problems that may arise if you use video files that don't belong to you.
So if you decide to put video on your website you may first think if the value of the video justifies the time you need to spent to prepare the video and implement it on your website. Will the specific video help the website visitors? What technique of video implementation is better for you?
For example in a slow internet connection (56 kbps), a 1mb video file will take about 5 minutes to download. Is the value of the video high so that a visitor with a slow internet connection will wait for the file to download?
In other words, if you want to put video on your website make sure it's a good one. One that adds real value for your website's visitors and enhances your website's quality.
If you wish you could put videos on your website quickly without worrying about bandwidth issues and video quality then your wish came true. Have a look at this sophisticated video software that will help you put videos on your web pages in 3 easy steps. There's also a surprise bonus gift for you if you act on time.
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_119691_81.html
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
The Web 2.0 Effect: The Characteristics of a web2.0 website
The term web2.0 was originally presented by O'Reilly Media (A well known media company publishing books and websites on various computer technology topics). It's a term that refers to a new generation of websites (social networking websites, wiki-based websites etc). These websites take advantage of web application technologies and give web users the ability to collaborate and share their experiences, views, opinions and interests while they surf the web.
The web2.0 is a revolutionary phenomenon. Let's talk about the most basic characteristics of the websites using the web2.0 concept:
- A web2.0 website should be completely interactive and dynamic with a friendly user-interface based on the latest web2.0 technologies like AJAX.
- Web2.0 websites should deliver web based applications to Internet users and allowing them to make use of these applications through a web browser.
- A web2.0 website should implement social networking capabilities allowing users to interact with each other and create friend lists.
- A web2.0 website should be a democratic website where users will be able to add value by interacting with the web based application.
- A Web2.0 websites should allow it's users to exercise various controls over the website data and content (adding/deleting/editing content).
The conclusion is that web2.0 websites are build on participatory web based applications focusing basically on user experience and collaboration.
Examples of successful web2.0 websites
Although this new Internet revolution or trend is not widespread among web developers or Internet marketers yet, millions of users are actually participating in such websites. Not a lot of them are aware of the web2.0 concept but they are already an active part of it.
Here are some super-successful websites utilizing the web2.0 technologies:
- YouTube.com : The concept of YouTube is very simple. It allows Internet users to share their favorite video files with the entire world. YouTube gained so much popularity in such a little time. Everyone was surprised when the giant search engine Google bought the YouTube company for over 2 billions dollars!
- Wikipedia : The most famous online encyclopedia. It's free, it's huge, it's quite a resource for everyone and it's updated every single minute since anyone can edit it's contents. Which is why it became such a popular web place.
- Social Bookmarking websites like Digg.com : These type of websites like Digg.com offer users the ability to create friend lists and share their favorite websites, opinions, stories etc with people all over the globe. The popularity of these social bookmarking websites is increasing every day, making the website owners rich!
- MySpace.com : I bet you've heard of MySpace.com. This website will allow you to create your own profile, friend list and personal homepage adding whatever you want on it (text, images, videos, links, etc). It will also allow to share your profile and web page with other MySpace users. Amazingly simple but so clever. MySpace.com is now one of the most visited websited in the entire Internet.
What do all these websites have in common ?
The web2.0 concept. These websites are active web based applications. They all allow internet users to actively participate and customize the way the website looks and feels, thus giving the pleasure and impression of collaborating to the online community. The web2.0 is so evolutionary because of it's simplicity and it will become even more widespread among website designers and internet marketers.
A great resource for everyone interested in the web2.0 phenomenon is this step-by-step web2.0 E-guide that will teach you how to conquer any niche using the web2.0 concept. It's one of the first and most complete guides I've found that will teach you everything you need to know and more! There's a free web2.0 e-letter with loads of information waiting for you there.
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_143432_4.html
The web2.0 is a revolutionary phenomenon. Let's talk about the most basic characteristics of the websites using the web2.0 concept:
- A web2.0 website should be completely interactive and dynamic with a friendly user-interface based on the latest web2.0 technologies like AJAX.
- Web2.0 websites should deliver web based applications to Internet users and allowing them to make use of these applications through a web browser.
- A web2.0 website should implement social networking capabilities allowing users to interact with each other and create friend lists.
- A web2.0 website should be a democratic website where users will be able to add value by interacting with the web based application.
- A Web2.0 websites should allow it's users to exercise various controls over the website data and content (adding/deleting/editing content).
The conclusion is that web2.0 websites are build on participatory web based applications focusing basically on user experience and collaboration.
Examples of successful web2.0 websites
Although this new Internet revolution or trend is not widespread among web developers or Internet marketers yet, millions of users are actually participating in such websites. Not a lot of them are aware of the web2.0 concept but they are already an active part of it.
Here are some super-successful websites utilizing the web2.0 technologies:
- YouTube.com : The concept of YouTube is very simple. It allows Internet users to share their favorite video files with the entire world. YouTube gained so much popularity in such a little time. Everyone was surprised when the giant search engine Google bought the YouTube company for over 2 billions dollars!
- Wikipedia : The most famous online encyclopedia. It's free, it's huge, it's quite a resource for everyone and it's updated every single minute since anyone can edit it's contents. Which is why it became such a popular web place.
- Social Bookmarking websites like Digg.com : These type of websites like Digg.com offer users the ability to create friend lists and share their favorite websites, opinions, stories etc with people all over the globe. The popularity of these social bookmarking websites is increasing every day, making the website owners rich!
- MySpace.com : I bet you've heard of MySpace.com. This website will allow you to create your own profile, friend list and personal homepage adding whatever you want on it (text, images, videos, links, etc). It will also allow to share your profile and web page with other MySpace users. Amazingly simple but so clever. MySpace.com is now one of the most visited websited in the entire Internet.
What do all these websites have in common ?
The web2.0 concept. These websites are active web based applications. They all allow internet users to actively participate and customize the way the website looks and feels, thus giving the pleasure and impression of collaborating to the online community. The web2.0 is so evolutionary because of it's simplicity and it will become even more widespread among website designers and internet marketers.
A great resource for everyone interested in the web2.0 phenomenon is this step-by-step web2.0 E-guide that will teach you how to conquer any niche using the web2.0 concept. It's one of the first and most complete guides I've found that will teach you everything you need to know and more! There's a free web2.0 e-letter with loads of information waiting for you there.
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_143432_4.html
Friday, June 29, 2007
9 Important Tips for a fast loading web site
It is important to have a reasonably fast loading web site so that viewers are not made to wait for a long time and to accommodate users on slow internet connections. Search engine algorithms also do take into consideration your load time.
Follow these tips while designing and developing your site:
1. Optimize your HTML code: Make sure that your site doesn't have any unwanted tags and that it is optimized.
2. Effective Table designing: Design using nested tables instead of using cell merges and splits. Use separate tables where ever possible. Not designing for 100% height is better as if you use just one outer table, the web page is displayed only after the table is loaded fully. If many outer tables are present [you can have different tables for the header, content, footer, etc.] the page displays the content of each table as soon as its elements are loaded.
3. Maximize content area: This not only reduces load time, it enhances the readability of your site.
4. Minimize use of graphics, Flash, scripts: These are the major contributors to the size of your web page, so try minimizing them. Try using background colors and fills instead of heavy images.
5. Optimize all heavy files: As much as possible optimize heavy graphics, Flash files and scripts. In editors like fireworks and flash you can see the various options in the preview panel to reduce the sizes. See how popular web sites like google and yahoo have pages that are very small in size and thus load in seconds.
6. Stick to simple designs: Most fast loading sites have very simple designs. Take the hint! Complicated designs will slow down your pages.
Spread out your content: In case you find yourself having very long pages of content, break them down into separate sections and thus bring down the sizes of the individual pages.
7. Use Text Links instead of graphic buttons: basically try to make use of HTML as much as possible. Use CSS Styles for text links to make them as attractive as buttons. Read our CSS Styles tutorial
8. Use Server Side Include (SSI) files where ever possible. SSI files once called from the web server reside in its cache so on subsequent requests they load faster.
9. Using Layers instead of tables is a new concept for better load time. We will be bringing out an article on it soon.
Source : http://www.smartwebby.com/web_site_design/fast_loading_websites.asp
Follow these tips while designing and developing your site:
1. Optimize your HTML code: Make sure that your site doesn't have any unwanted tags and that it is optimized.
2. Effective Table designing: Design using nested tables instead of using cell merges and splits. Use separate tables where ever possible. Not designing for 100% height is better as if you use just one outer table, the web page is displayed only after the table is loaded fully. If many outer tables are present [you can have different tables for the header, content, footer, etc.] the page displays the content of each table as soon as its elements are loaded.
3. Maximize content area: This not only reduces load time, it enhances the readability of your site.
4. Minimize use of graphics, Flash, scripts: These are the major contributors to the size of your web page, so try minimizing them. Try using background colors and fills instead of heavy images.
5. Optimize all heavy files: As much as possible optimize heavy graphics, Flash files and scripts. In editors like fireworks and flash you can see the various options in the preview panel to reduce the sizes. See how popular web sites like google and yahoo have pages that are very small in size and thus load in seconds.
6. Stick to simple designs: Most fast loading sites have very simple designs. Take the hint! Complicated designs will slow down your pages.
Spread out your content: In case you find yourself having very long pages of content, break them down into separate sections and thus bring down the sizes of the individual pages.
7. Use Text Links instead of graphic buttons: basically try to make use of HTML as much as possible. Use CSS Styles for text links to make them as attractive as buttons. Read our CSS Styles tutorial
8. Use Server Side Include (SSI) files where ever possible. SSI files once called from the web server reside in its cache so on subsequent requests they load faster.
9. Using Layers instead of tables is a new concept for better load time. We will be bringing out an article on it soon.
Source : http://www.smartwebby.com/web_site_design/fast_loading_websites.asp
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Top Ten Absolutely Free Websites for Downloading Cool Fonts
The following list of websites is the best compilation of sites on the web where you can download many different fonts totally free. Also, there are a variety of different types of fonts and styles you can download from the following sites so start searching today. Keep in mind that these sites are not listed in any particular order.
#1 www.1001freefonts.com/links.htm
Great site because it ranks other font websites in order of popularity as well as having more than 1,000 different fonts to download for free. This website is certainly a great resource if you need a lot of fonts and don’t want to pay for them!
#2 www.acidfonts.com
This is also a great website if you simply want to visit one site and download fonts without having to search multiple websites. At acidfonts.com you will be able to download a variety of different fonts for your PC and even convert the fonts over to your Mac if you want. This website will certainly provide you with the fonts you need for your website and business.
#3 www.1001fonts.com
This website may easily be confused with the first website listed, however it is completely different and also has a great selection for free font downloads. There are fonts available for the PC as well as Macs, so anyone can get the fonts they need from this website for free.
#4 www.coolarchive.com
This website is really cool, as it says in its name, because not only can you download over 1000 fonts completely free, there is also clipart, sounds, icons, applications, bars, bullets, and arrows. Most anything you need to design your website just the way you want is available on this site. If you are not sure how to download and install a font then read the FAQs to find out how.
#5 www.fontfreak.com
This is an amazing website with literally thousands upon thousands of fonts to download and dingbats as well. This is a highly rated website and completely free.
#6 www.downloadfreefonts.com
This is another great website because when you enter you can either choose Mac or PC or the top 20 font websites. From either Mac or PC you will be able to download the fonts you like most or you can visit all of the different top websites to check out the font availability and diversity.
#7 free.sinoa.com/FreeFonts/index.htm?29
Check out the different fonts available and then download the ones you like best or that suit your purposes best all for free!
#8 www.highfonts.com
A wide variety of fonts are available on this website, not to mention over 1001 free fonts to choose from. This site has a lot to offer and directs you to some good free font links as well.
#9 www.abstractfonts.com/fonts/
Great website for free fonts as well as other font related information you might find helpful.
#10 www.freefontsnow.com
This website has fonts for both Mac and PC and is yet another great way to search for fonts as well. You can either search categories to look for particular styles of fonts, or you can search by first letter if you already know the name of your font.
Michael Turner reveals his foolproof way to increase website traffic in his free 7 part mini-series. Grab it free right now at http://www.powertraffictactics.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Turner
#1 www.1001freefonts.com/links.htm
Great site because it ranks other font websites in order of popularity as well as having more than 1,000 different fonts to download for free. This website is certainly a great resource if you need a lot of fonts and don’t want to pay for them!
#2 www.acidfonts.com
This is also a great website if you simply want to visit one site and download fonts without having to search multiple websites. At acidfonts.com you will be able to download a variety of different fonts for your PC and even convert the fonts over to your Mac if you want. This website will certainly provide you with the fonts you need for your website and business.
#3 www.1001fonts.com
This website may easily be confused with the first website listed, however it is completely different and also has a great selection for free font downloads. There are fonts available for the PC as well as Macs, so anyone can get the fonts they need from this website for free.
#4 www.coolarchive.com
This website is really cool, as it says in its name, because not only can you download over 1000 fonts completely free, there is also clipart, sounds, icons, applications, bars, bullets, and arrows. Most anything you need to design your website just the way you want is available on this site. If you are not sure how to download and install a font then read the FAQs to find out how.
#5 www.fontfreak.com
This is an amazing website with literally thousands upon thousands of fonts to download and dingbats as well. This is a highly rated website and completely free.
#6 www.downloadfreefonts.com
This is another great website because when you enter you can either choose Mac or PC or the top 20 font websites. From either Mac or PC you will be able to download the fonts you like most or you can visit all of the different top websites to check out the font availability and diversity.
#7 free.sinoa.com/FreeFonts/index.htm?29
Check out the different fonts available and then download the ones you like best or that suit your purposes best all for free!
#8 www.highfonts.com
A wide variety of fonts are available on this website, not to mention over 1001 free fonts to choose from. This site has a lot to offer and directs you to some good free font links as well.
#9 www.abstractfonts.com/fonts/
Great website for free fonts as well as other font related information you might find helpful.
#10 www.freefontsnow.com
This website has fonts for both Mac and PC and is yet another great way to search for fonts as well. You can either search categories to look for particular styles of fonts, or you can search by first letter if you already know the name of your font.
Michael Turner reveals his foolproof way to increase website traffic in his free 7 part mini-series. Grab it free right now at http://www.powertraffictactics.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Turner
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