Ten Benefits of Having a Web Site

Ten Benefits of Having a Web Site

If you have a business small, big or even minuscule it is very important to have a website, so that you can let your customers know that you not only exist but are also savvy about today's technologies. Here are a few other reasons...

Effective method of advertising
A web site is not a substitute for other advertising media but works very successfully alongside with the other advertisement media. You can add your domain name to other printed media - flyers, business cards, signs etc; from these are places many people will go to your web site for further information.

Enhance your credibility
People these days expect you to have a web site, infact the first thing people do after hearing about you is check you on the web. If you do not have a website they may believe you to be less credible and may not believe you are a 'real' business.

Enhance your communication efforts
A website is a great way to communicate with your customers as well as potential customers. A web site can provide all of your contact details, including email addresses. Many people prefer to make contact via email, as it is quick, easy, cheap and convenient. Interactive features, like feedback forms and customer query forms add another communicative dimension to your business. People can also sign up for a mailing list to receive information on your latest products and services.

24 x 7
Your web site works for you day and night 24 x 7 and gives you constant coverage. Users can access your information anytime and anywhere. You can reach current and potential customers 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

A global audience
By having a website you can reach out to a global audience. Your services will be available for viewing locally, nationally and internationally, creating a much broader awareness to a larger customer base.

Competitive edge
If you do not have a web site people cannot visit it, but if your competitors have web sites people will be visiting them! In short your competition will be getting all the business because he was smart enough to have a website. So remember a web site will give you the competitive edge.

Easily updated
The information on your website can be quickly and easily updated to include changes to your products, services, special offers or contact details.

Online trading
Your web site can act as an online brochure. People can contact you by email to make enquiries, and you can provide online order forms. You can even have an online shopping cart where the customer proceeds to a virtual checkout and pays by credit or debit card.

You don't have to carry lots of stock
You can have pictures and descriptions of your products and services on your web site. When you receive a request for a product you can order it in specifically for the customer. So you don't have to buy lots of stock upfront.

Catch the impulse buyers
People being impatient and impulsive and may not be prepared to wait for your other advertising efforts to reach them. If they have to wait a couple of days for your brochure they can loose interest or get it from somewhere else.

About Author:
Sahil kumar is a development expert working with a web design company india one of the top web development company in India.

E-commerce the Future of Commerce

E-commerce the Future of Commerce
Ecommerce, or Electric Commerce, is one of the most important aspects of the internet .It allows people to exchange goods and services immediately and with no restrictions of time or distance ,24 x 7 from anywhere on the globe.

Imagine you are living in a small city in India and are shopping in America sitting at home on your favorite chair ----it is possible through e-commerce.

E-commerce Steps
There are various steps you have to take as a merchant to create a successful e-commerce business: -

Getting an Internet Merchant Bank Account
Web Hosting
Obtaining a Digital Certificate
Finding a Provider of Online Transactions
Creating or Purchasing a Shopping Cart Software

Internet Merchant Bank Account
Internet Merchant Accounts are bank accounts specially designed for the merchants; they are approved and can receive payment via credit cards. Credit card companies have strict rules and requirements that have to be met before a merchant can open an account. Merchant Account companies act as a middle man between the merchant and the Credit Card Providers making sure needs are met on both sides. Internet merchant accounts do not hold funds for a long period of time. Transfer of payments to another bank account chosen by the internet merchants are done on a daily or weekly basis. The primary reason of merchant accounts is the application and verification processes which provide them with reliability. Cards are processed through an Internet Merchant Account either manually through store credit card terminal, online through a web based terminal page, or automatically through merchant's web shopping cart.

Web Hosting
A web hosting service is an Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to supply their own websites accessible via the internet. Web hosts companies provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity. There are many free and paid providers offering web hosting services. A customer needs to evaluate the requirements of the application to choose what kind of hosting to use. The website you place on the internet is your ambassador in the virtual world, so be very careful and professional when doing so.

Digital Certificate
A digital certificate is an electronic file which contains personal information of its owner, lik the name and email address, as well as owner's public key. It acts as an identity card for each user; it is the proof of ownership of a public key. There are several companies, known as Certificate Authorities (CA), that issue Digital Certificates. The CA signs the certificates it creates, this enables users to know what CA created each certificate. The signature also ensures that the certificate has not been altered by a third party.

Provider of Online Transactions
To process online orders, you must present online payment options. There are many options for online payment, but the credit card is the most popular. Other methods of collecting payment are charging items to a phone bill, using electronic funds transfers (EFT), and paying by electronic check. These methods require payment processing either in the form of software added to your Web site or by linking to a payment processing service. To accept credit cards, you must set up a merchant account; your merchant account provider (MAP) can be a bank or any other institution that processes online credit card transactions. Most MAPs are local if you want to provide your product globally, you may need to search specifically for an international provider.

Shopping Cart Software
Choosing the best shopping cart solutions for your ecommerce venture is vital to the success of your online business. Shopping Cart are basically a series of scripts that keep track of items a visitor chooses to buy from your site until they proceed to the final checkout. The payment gateway service then pushes the requests and transfers relevant financial networks, including the Internet merchant account with your bank. Then it sends back verification back to the shopping cart software. If the customer is verified then the sale is completed.

For merchants a successful E-commerce venture can triple their profits and give them global recognition. It would definitely provide the edge needed in today's cut throat world of competition.

About Author:
Sahil kumar, is a development expert working with web development company Currently working on E-learning solutions india.

The Importance of Color in Web Designing

The Importance of Color in Web Designing
A website is basically a marketing tool, representing the companies, products and services it is also a reflection of the companies personality, ideologies and philosophies. It is definitely a heavy burden to carry for a mere website, but it dose. Huge corporations spend millions of dollars to determine the perfect color for the branding and packaging of their product. This is due to the fact that the perfect blend of colors increases the profitability of their product. The same rule applies to the designing of your website

Color impacts your user on many psychological and physiological levels. Your site's color scheme can have a dramatic impact, either positive or negative on your potential success. Color is an important element of website designing. In Website designing of color is as critical as the design of graphics and layout.

Color and its Effects on Website Designing
Once a visitor has come to your site you have around 8 to 10 seconds to visually appeal to the user and turn them into customers. Since Color affects our feeling, perceptions, and interactions, you can use colors to make a user feel welcome, comfortable, relaxed, and secure.

Before choosing the colors of your website it is important to get a basic understanding of color and its effects.

Warm colors
Warm colors are based on yellows, oranges, browns, yellow-greens, and orange-reds, colors. Warm colors have a tendency to be aggressive and exciting, so it's best to apply them in small doses.

Intermediary colors
Purples and greens are intermediary colors that are either warm or cool, depending on amount of red or yellow they have in ratio to blue. If the color contains less blue then it is leaning towards a warm hue, and if it has more blue then it is more towards the cool side.

Cool colors
Cool colors are based on blues, greens, pinks, purples, blue-greens, magentas, and blue-reds. Cool colors tend to be soothing, calming colors and can be used in large amounts.

Neutral Colors
Neutral Colors include white, black, gray and colors that contain a large amount of gray. Neutral colors are great for back-grounds and for enhancing the effect of warm colors.

Multi-color
Multi-colored sites have the lowest visitation time, as a combination of warm and cool colors confuses the user. It will often make the site seem cluttered and ambiguous. So it is best to choose a couple of colors and stick to them.

Color Harmony
Too much color can be disturbing and chaotic, whereas too little can be boring. It is best to use a balance. So it's best to Use only a few different colors on a page. Avoid using an excessive amount of colors, blend and use warm and cool colors.

Computer Color Display
Computer monitors display colors using different amounts of red, green, and blue, these are called RGB color. This is an additive form of color, because red, green, and blue light in equal amounts "add" up to white light. All other colors are formed on screen by mixing the amounts of the RGB color. Since RGB color is completely different from the way colors are set in print, it has to be used differently.

Web Color
A common problem on the web is that color often does not reproduce correctly in Websites. The reason is related to bit-depth, a color may be beyond the range of the viewing display setting. Alternative colors may be reproduced, or color shifting may happen. Even if a visitor's system is capable of displaying a color, technical features like hardware age to Gamma control may cause color distortion. Such problems not only cause aesthetic problems but ay also result in visitor retention issues. Given today's technology, color management in the Web can be taxing.

Browser-safe palette
The browser-safe palette of 216 colors gives consistent and conventional results across the Mac OS, UNIX, and Windows platforms. Even though computers today can render millions of colors, you should use browser-safe palette if you think your website will be viewed from a 256 color computer, which can be the general case.

It'll be more effective if you limit the color palette to 2 or 3 major colors with shade variations, as it is visually more appealing. Plus limited colors means smaller file sizes and faster loading.

Text Colors
Be exceptionally careful when setting text and background colors, Readability must be preserved at all costs. If the text is light colored then the background has to be dark and vice a versa. White and black always make a good combination, and red and blue are useful for highlighting. Try avoid using the combination of black as a back ground with warm color text, as it might be great clarity wise but has a tendency to make visitors nauseous.

Color Chart
When dealing with international visitors, it's easy to get messed up by the meaning of color.

Blue: - represents peace, tranquility, calm, stability, Harmony, unity, trust, confidence
In China, blue is associated with immortality. In Colombia, blue is associated with soap. In India blue is the color of Krishna In the Middle East blue is a protective color.

Black: - represents power, sophistication, formality, elegance, anonymity, unhappiness wealth, mystery, fear, evil
In USA black is for mourning.

Green: - represents nature, health, good luck, renewal, youth, vigor, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy
In India green is the color of Islam. In Ireland green has religious significance (Catholic). In some tropical countries green is associated with danger.

Orange: - represents energy balance, warmth, enthusiasm, vibrancy, flamboyancy
In Ireland orange has religious significance (Protestant).

Purple: - represents royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment

Red: - represents love, danger, desire, speed, strength, violence, anger, and blood.
In China red symbolizes celebration and luck, used in many cultural ceremonies that range from funerals to weddings. In India red is the color of purity (used in wedding outfits).

White:- represents purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, innocence youth, birth, good, and marriage,
In Japan, white carnations signify death. In eastern cultures white symbolizes coldness and sterility. In USA it signifies virginity.

Yellow: - represents joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, and cowardliness
In Asia yellow is sacred, and imperial.

Conclusion
Colors are a powerful tool, it is the first the first impression of your site, so keep the above points when deciding on the color scheme of your site.

Offshoring Outsourcing

Offshoring Outsourcing
Adam Smith the economist once said in his treatise The Wealth of Nations, "If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, it is better to buy it of them." Outsourcing therefore is simply a progression of an idea that has existed since early days of trade.

From Outsourcing to Offshoring
In outsourcing we have simply progressed to another step that is "offshore outsourcing" in which the buyer of the service is located in some other country then the provider of the service.

Offshoring is best described as work traveling from large corporations, halfway across the world technology to savvy small IT companies. Behind every project that is offshored a multifaceted decisions process is involved selecting the right mode to suit a particular business need or scenario.

Many developing countries are attracting business from developed countries due to factors like manpower, Knowledge, infrastructure facilities, Legal and business environments, not to mention the huge amounts of costs it saves. Offshoring also enables the companies to save on staff, equipment, training and maintenance.

The Indian Connection
Offshoring has become tantamount to India as the IT personnel and infrastructure in India is far superior to its counterparts. Not only do we have the latest and most advanced knowledge base, English is our second language. There is also the fact that IT infrastructure in India is far more highly developed and widespread than any other developing country. Just for this reason IT Companies across the world outsource their IT, web design and development requirements to India.

Over the years outsourcing has become a specialty for India, many outside countries like USA, Canada, Australia have turned their IT operations of all kinds like, web development, software solutions, web designing etc. to us, so that they can concentrate more on their business's core competency.

There are many modes of Offshoring:
Joint Venture Offshoring
In this type of contract an organization ties up with local company either by taking an equity stake or forming an independent company in which each company contributes resources.

Subsidiary/Captive Development Center Offshoring
In these organizations simply become subsidiaries of the International companies. They are known as offshore development center (ODC), captive development center or in some cases simply branch or local office.

Service Provider Offshoring
This is the most popular and advantageous method of all Offshoring, to minimize risk and get the best of both worlds, companies outsource projects, programs and individual work orders to offshore vendors.

Service Provider Offshoring
The JV and subsidiary models of outsourcing may involve deep commitment on the part of a client organization, a move that management at traditional companies may sometimes be averse to. To counter the perceived risks of these models and to capitalize on the benefits of offshoring, companies resort to outsourcing projects, programs and individual work orders to offshore vendors. Depending on your business need and your contractor you can decide which option gives you the maximum benefit.

Conclusion
There is no doubt that Outsourcing Offshoring is here to stay, and India has become the largest player of this arena.

Web Designing Services in India

India is a culturally diverse nation full of contrasts. One part of India may be ignorant while the other part is creating masterpieces in the web development services.

Web Services
Web development Services are the most vital technological innovation for this century. Web Services are a totally novel and different way of developing software. Companies and individuals can circulate their services on the web using standard internet protocols.

Web services include
Website/ Webpage Development,
Software & Technology Solutions,
Database Design & Development,
Online Business Development,
Search Engine Optimization,
E- Commerce Solutions,
Payment Gateway Solutions,
Domain Name Registrations,

The Internet can be used as a catalyst to improve business processes and achieve greater productivity.

Web Services in India
India may have been a late bloomer in the field of internet but once it caught up, it grew at the speed of lighting spreading to all parts of the country. Web development services and software development services became India’s niche. This is maybe because India’s youth are choosing careers in web development, services like designing, integration, web services, content writing, database integration, e-commerce etc.

Content rich solutions, documentation, presentation, security and Interactive User Interfaces are just a part of what is being offered by the Indian Web designers. Flash based tools to initiate dynamic products, XML, SOAP, WSDL Java, J2EE and client-server technologies, and the latest cutting edge technologies are also part of the Indian web development package.

These web development services are designed to offer maximum online presence providing a functional and profitable e-solution.

Globally the Internet has proven to be the most profitable and powerful medium to promote and operate businesses. Marketing and brand promotions, customer acquisition and engagement, new market penetration or simply information dissemination and branding, corporate web sites and Internet platforms have become an absolute imperative.

Marketing with the Internet
Globally the Internet has been accepted as the most profitable and powerful medium to promote and operate businesses. In marketing and brand promotions, customer acquisition and engagement, new market penetration or information dissemination and branding, corporate web sites and Internet has become the most crucial element. Websites attract billions of customers every day searching for dependable and efficient product or service providers.

Although every organization recognizes the importance of being present on the Internet, but very few are actually doing something about it. Not having an Internet presence may be making you loose millions everyday.

A website is an extremely valuable tool that creates global and domestic opportunities for marketing and reinforces your existing marketing, sales, recruitment and communications effort.

The Internet has a strong impact on markets both international and domestic as…

• The Internet functions 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has the most inexpensive and widespread marketing capabilities.
  
• The Internet is an excellent way to market your business and sell your products and services as it has a broad audience base.
  
• More and more customers are logging on, making purchases, buying services and researching choices and information through the Internet.
  
• A well designed website will help you reach and retain customers; you can use it to interact with your customers send information to customers, reply to emails day and night.
  
• You can reply to your customers or potential customers automatically without you having to get involved at all with "autoresponders".
  
• Websites can be used simply to let potential customers know you are there instead to just sell, particularly those that rely on a local customer base this can be an invaluable source of additional customer enquiries.
  
• If your business needs to produce brochures or any kind of sales literature it is cheaper to have the customer download it to his machine and print it.
  
• Many people prefer to search for a company on the Internet rather than search their local Yellow Pages or newspaper.
  
• Websites are an effective and efficient way to communicate with potential customers, employees and suppliers.
  
• Websites can be easily updated, keeping your product listings and prices always accurate, everyone can see updated information without having to wait.
  
• Web sites offer an ideal way of showcasing your previous work and accomplishments to potential customers and you can build reputation, credibility and trust with potential customers.
  
• No matter what your size, a website offers your business the same advantage as your biggest competitors so with a well designed website even a one man operation can have the same presence as a multi-national corporation.

Offshore - Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the process of handing over some of the secondary work to any third party so that companies can focus on the core functional area; these third parties are usually in different countries -- offshore...

The current economic recession has forced markets of USA and Europe to reduce their costs IT and otherwise. There answer to this was to outsource a majority of their work especially web development services to countries like India where there is both skill and technology.

Why Outsource to India
There are many other countries that have interests in getting outsourced work, but India seems to be the first choice. India currently controls 90% of the market; the reasons for this are numerous…

• Indian outsourcing agencies offer services in the areas of training and deployment solutions, complete information architecture, application integration, design, e-strategies and overall web development.
  
• Indian Web Design Outsourcing agencies provide technologically advanced internet solutions to clients internationally. The outsourcing agencies provide quality services at minimum cost and optimal timeframe.
  
• There are many such agencies that provide best quality, and adequate staff to fulfill the web development needs. This project implementation method works towards delivering near perfect web solutions.
  
• Looking after back-end support requirements of the customers through outsourcing methodology is the main strength of web solution outsourcing. These outsourcing units provide maintenance and ongoing support to upgrade the needs of the businesses universally.
  
• Most Offshore Development Companies have formed subsidiaries, these Offshore Centers provide clients with highly technical IT and BPO resources globally. They help companies cut down on costs and improve return on investment (ROI).
  
• These web outsourcing agencies also provide offshore Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). Offshore staffing, offshore project management and establishment of offshore offices.

The reasons for India’s popularity are ground on a solid base as India provides the best service in terms of quality and cost….

• Inexpensive IT Instruction -- IT education is relatively inexpensive in India than anywhere in the world, ensuring a large numbers of workers.
  
• Skilled Workforce -- The vast resources of skilled web development workers in India is tremendous.
  
• Fluency in English -- Most Indians are fluent in the English language, this has led to a choice of careers in web development, software and other English understanding work activities and an easy client understanding.
  
• Government motivation -- The Indian Government appreciating the potential of IT in improving the economy has started several programs to encourage and improve the industry. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology is developing an infrastructure that supports information technology. The IT Bill passed in 2000 provides a legal framework for the recognition of electronic contracts, electronic filing of documents, etc.

Conclusion : -
Web development is on the threshold of a new era, abounding with opportunities and prospects; therefore it is an absolute must for businesses big and small to not miss this chance to create an online Internet presence. The best and most economical way to do this would be to get someone who has both expertise and technology; in short India is the best possibility for web development services.

Intricacies of Web Layout

Intricacies of Web Layout
In website designing an important but often ignored aspect is the layout of the site. In the muddle of SEO or complex scripts or images or flash, layout is forgotten. But remember if your layout is not appealing or user friendly, users are not going to come back.

Here are a few of the very basics of web layout pointers............

User-Friendly
A user friendly website is simple and uncomplicated, so keep it that in mind when you begin planning the layout. It's best to avoid complex navigational links with complex scripts or images that are hard to view. Curtail the use of huge images which take long to load, instead use smaller icons. Also avoid too many colors, tables or types of fonts, as this gives the site a cluttered look.

Placement
If elements are logically placed they connect to form a structure to your design. It is important to group similar elements as this communicates to the viewer the concept and theme of your site. These elements can be color, spatial relationships, shape, texture and typeface If there is no pattern to the placement of elements, it creates a confusing and often difficult to navigate situation for the viewers.

Repetition
Repetition of elements throughout a design can be used to enhance and reinforce information. Repetition lends to the visual appeal of your design. The repetition of graphic elements specially works to create visual unity.

Consistency
While designing you must always remember to maintain an overall aesthetic authenticity. It is important to keep visual and typographic elements simple and clear. It is also necessary to apply them uniformly. An inconsistent design results in decreased user effectiveness. There should be an overall visual system to the text, graphics and spatial relationships.

Dimensions
One of the most important aspects of layout is keeping track of the dimensions. It is best to limit the width and height of the webpage, so that the important content of the webpage lies within the top 600x600 area without scrolling. Limit the content of the page to four scroll lengths and if more content needs to be added, shift it to a new page, with a navigational link.

Color Balance
In Website designing color is critical for the layout. Balance your color wisely too many contrast or heavy or dark colors create visually unappealing sites. Color can also be used to define or create spaces. Multi-colored sites have the lowest visitation time, as a combination of warm and cool colors confuses the user. It will often make the site seem cluttered and ambiguous. So it is best to choose a couple of colors and stick to them.

File Size
File size is another major issue. It is very important your site to keep loading times to a minimum. Most users use a slow 56K modem to access the internet so it's necessary to keep file size small. Keep small pages as they load faster, also avoid too many graphics as they delay loading. Target for page size should be below 35K for at least the home page.

Conclusion
The importance of a visually pleasing and quick loading layout cannot be stressed enough; it is the back bone of your site.

Importance of Web Maintenance

Importance of Web Maintenance
Imagine your self going to an important meeting in a tattered suit, messed out hair and incorrect information, what sort of image would you have. Do you think you would be successful? To answer the question------------ absolutely no way, you would not even be considered.

Your website is your representative on the Internet; it is the reflection of your image. A tattered, messy website with broken links, incorrect content, missing metadata is also not worth considering.

The sole reason for a web site is to advertise to the world in large about yourself or your company. Imagine what sort of advertisement such a messy and un-maintained site would do. Even the best developed website needs constant maintenance and up gradation to remain at the top of the search engines and keep users coming back.

Website Maintenance is composed of six areas.

• Publishing - to keep content up-to-date.


• Quality Assurance - to spot errors on a site.


• Feedback Monitoring - communication with website visitors.


• Performance Monitoring - to measure activity on a site.


• Infrastructure Monitoring - to ensure a sound technical footing for a site.


• Change Control - to manage ongoing technical or other changes in co-ordination.

Maintenance & Up gradation

Website Maintenance encompasses various actions needed to guarantee the operational integrity of a site.

This means regularly checking off : -

• Broken links.


• Missing content, e.g. images.


• Missing page titles.


• Spelling and grammar of content.


• Missing metadata.


• File sizes of pages to ensure they are not too large.


• Browser compatibility.


• Applications are functioning correctly, e.g. online forms.


• Server Side Scripting or other languages function correctly.


• legal and regulatory guidelines are being adhered to.


• Pages conform to your organization's Web-Accessibility standard.
  

You should also update your site when : -

• When your company has a value addition - like gotten a new accreditation, licensing or some sort of recognition.


• New products or services - launch of a new product or a new service should be included at once for sales generations.


• Completed a successful project - If you've just finished a project, include it on your website. Create an online portfolio, add a case study advertise it.


• Added to your client list - get a testimonial from each of your successful client projects. Updating your testimonials regularly will also show clients who have visited your site your strengths.


• Add an article - Writing article is a great way to keep your website Information current and to put more content on your site. Search engines choose content-rich sites, and visitors will keep coming back for new information.


• Press releases - post all press releases and other information you publish about your company to your website.


• Changes in your business - Any change in the company status quo should be added to you website.

Conclusion
Just as you do not compromise with you're the maintenance of your business, you should not compromise with your web sites maintenance. A well maintained site brings in the ultimate big bucks.