Archive for April, 2009

How To Build Great Links For Your Web Site

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

 

Building effective links is one of the most time consuming and challenging aspects of web site design. Ultimately, link building can spell the difference between a high search engine ranking web page and one that disappears in a sea of similar web sites, so it is best to take the time to do it right.

There are certainly newer search engine algorithms being developed for the web but effective linking continues to be the most decisive factor in search engine optimization and will likely be for several years more.

Links as the name implies, are the most basic connectors to all the pages on the Interent and is the easiest way for a given application to gauge the relevance and integrity of a web page.

People love lists; find a way to integrate a list into your site. This can be anything from a list of tips or things to avoid or a list suggested reading, for example. Lists give the impression of being a definitive source of information and many people will want to link to them.

Often people will link to a site if they feel that it is an authority on a given subject; they will then feel confident about recommending that site to other people. That is what link building is all about after all, a sort of digital referral or stamp of approval.

Every web site should strive to have reliable and well-researched content. Try to keep your content informative but simple; if no one can understand what your web site says they probably won’t want to link to it! Check your text for spelling or grammatical errors; a web site riddled with poor spelling and bad sentence construction doesn’t seem very professional or authoritative.

Online news sites are a good way to establish links. Some of the things you can do are: submit an article for online publication or syndicate an article with a news site. Reputable sites usually enjoy a high search engine rank for their articles and receive plenty of traffic. You may also send press releases or trade articles with other sites…or even write an article about another site and ask then to link back to your site; most will be happy to repay the favor.

Establish contacts with the Better Business Bureau or the Chamber of Commerce in your area or the relevant city and state government offices. You may even look around closer to home by submitting your link to the local library or exchanging links with local businesses in your area; even non-competing businesses in the same field.

Consider starting an affiliate program; it may not lead directly to high SEO value but it can still prove useful in providing additional links.

Submit your site to directories that allow free submissions such as DMOZ (http://dmoz.org) or even paid directories. You can even take this a step further by creating your own directory of similar web sites. You can obviously link to your own site here and even include other important pages in addition to the home page. Quality listings are important here so if it is a useful directory to the most number of people, it will easily attract links.

You may want to post a link to your site in classifieds sites such as Craigslist or if you belong to user groups like Yahoo and Google groups it is often acceptable to post links to your site if you are asking or answering a question. Just make sure it is in the context of the discussion, as most people do not take kindly to being spammed.

Reviews are another great way to get people to link to your site. If you have a reputable looking site and carry informative, well-written reviews, there’s a good chance that your articles will receive high search engine rankings. Try to keep your reviews on-topic, informative and thorough, and be specific whenever possible.

Blogging has become an integral part of the Internet and is one of the most effective means of linking; you can either drop a few words of comment on someone’s blog or link to them from your own blog. Most blogs will be happy to link back to you. Try to update your blog regularly and post interesting content so people will want to link to you.

If your budget permits, explore the possibility of hiring a professional web-linking publicist (yes they do exist!) or consultant for your web site. If you choose carefully this will free you up to take care of other areas of your web site and leave the details of link building to the experts.

Those are a few things to do to create good links, what about things you should avoid? These methods will actually hurt your visibility on the web as it may cause search engines to ban your site or ignore it altogether!

Do not spam forums! Nobody likes a spammer and can usually tell if someone joins a discussion forum for the sole purpose of self-promotion. A sure way to annoy people is to post a non-relevant reply to a question and then include a link…or worse not even answer the question at all!

Choose carefully when submitting your site to directory services; a poor one won’t help increase your traffic at all and may carry out-of-date or off topic links.

When asking someone to link to your site, make sure that there is a good reason why he should; maybe your site is similar to his own in subject matter or your site showcases him, his products or his web site in a favorable light.

Take the time to compose a polite, well written personal request for linking. It doesn’t have to be long but the important thing is to make it seem like a genuine request as opposed to an impersonal, automated email. Do not pester a Webmaster with several, persistent emails; it is annoying and will not likely help your cause any. If you don’t get a reply, move on.

Mikhail Tuknov
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/how-to-build-great-links-for-your-web-site-72298.html

 

Web Page Design Tool for VW Camper Vans

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

 

If you are looking for a web page design tool then there are a few things you will need figure out, such as:

How experienced you are in web page design
What is the purpose of the web page you’ll be designing
How detailed will your page need to be
How experienced you are using HTML editors
What kind of a budget are you working with

If you don’t have experience use wordpress like VW Camper Vans. How experienced you are in web page design? I ask this because some web page design tools are built for the novice while others are built for the experienced. As you might imagine a web page design tool for the more experienced will have many more features than those that are created for the beginning web page designer.

If you are new to designing a web page then they are many things you will need to learn about how a web page is laid out and the things you can do with a web page. My suggestion for the novice is to find a web page design tool that provides step by step instructions and allows you to point and click to design your web page.

Next we have to decide why we are building a web page. Though this seems like a silly question it makes a difference in whether we can use a simple web page design tool or if we need one with more tools and options. Most of the web page design tools provided by many of the internet service providers are find for a simple profile type web page, but if you are going to use your web page to make money over the internet then you will need a web page design tool that is a bit more sophisticated.

That brings us to our next point, how detailed will our web page need to be. Again, if you are just starting out and you don’t have a whole lot going on your page then you can use a very simple web page design tool versus a complicated HTML editor.

If you don’t have much experience then you will want to find a web page design tool that is simple to use yet will allow you to create a professional looking page. Most web page design tool or HTML editors will require a basic knowledge of HTML code and how to lay out a web page, if you are brand knew to building a web page then you’re going to have to either spend some time studying HTML code or find a step by step type web page design tool. In the beginning I would suggest starting off with the simpler web page design tool then work your way into the more complex ones after you have some experience building web pages.

Cost is another issue to consider. A web page design tool price will range from free to a few hundred dollars. A warning about free web page design tools, most of the ones you find will have many limitations and you will soon find yourself looking from a new program. But there is also no reason to go out and purchase the most expensive web page design tool out there. You can find a number of them at a very reasonable price that will do everything you will need to do.

Remember, when choosing a web page design tool think about how much help you will need, how detailed your web page will be and what your budget is. Happy Web Page Designing.

 

 

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Web Design and Quality Assurance

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Web design and Web hosting

Present day’s software programming techniques have reached to a new height to cope with the ever-changing scenario of web design and web hosting principles. With the growing security concerns and increasing need of quality assurance, the task of web development has become increasingly challenging for today’s IT community. To ensure highest data security, new tools like PHP programming, .Net programming, etc. have evolved over the years. With rapid development in the e-commerce activity, web hosting has become the new way of existence for the business community. Mere knowledge on software programming is no more enough for achieving success in web development. In a single word, web design and web hosting calls for all the efficiency of software programming coupled with administrative skills, business awareness and a quality expertise on the multimedia art.

Phases of Web design

Basic understanding of HTML and Microsoft’s FrontPage, in addition to expertise on .Net programming and PHP programming, are essential in order to establish greater quality assurance in web development and web hosting fields. Following are the different phases of web design, if followed meticulously success can be achieved without much difficulty.

(a) Phase I: Defining Scope. Every web development project should have a defined scope outlining the need of gathering related information, risk and budget analysis, defining constraints, etc. The scope should be defined keeping in mind the business needs and existing technology of software programming.

(b) Phase II: Project Planning. Information gathered is now required to be re-evaluated with complete quality assurance guidelines. Formalities regarding web hosting also require to be conceptualized now.

(c) Phase III: Design and Testing. Now the actual designing should start. Testing also needs to be accomplished along every stages of web development in order to provide a consistent degree of quality assurance. There is a wide spread belief within the IT community that testing can be tasked at a later stage; but that is not fruitful and goes against the ethos of software programming technology.

(d) Phase IV: Production and Implementation. In this phase, content and layout are merged to give a final shape to the web development. Uses of PHP programming and .Net programming techniques are very important in this phase as they are the state-of-the-art tools for such purposes.

(e) Phase V: Maintenance and Updating. Once the web hosting is completed, maintenance and updating at regular intervals are mandatory to keep the website purpose-worthy.

Issues of Quality Assurance

Quality of design and quality of conformance are the two types of quality issues that we generally come across with the web development. Quality of design calls for a sound knowledge on the software programming techniques, especially knowledge of PHP programming and .Net programming are very much essential in order to ensure quality assured web development. Quality of conformance is the degree to which the design specifications are met during the development and implementation stages. Web site quality assurance plan should include the ways and means of design specification evaluation, procedures of audits and reviews, prescribed ways of monitoring defined standards, mechanism for error reporting and error tracking, etc.

Mansi Gupta
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/web-design-and-quality-assurance-185234.html

Web Site Design and Choosing the Right Web Design Company

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

It’s been several years since you had someone design your company web site and now it’s outdated. You are losing business to competitors that have quality designed web sites with great layout and navigation. This may be your first company web site and you want to make the most of your money and time.

How do you choose a quality web design company that will understand your companies’ objective for designing or redesigning this web site?

First, you need to answer a few questions.

1. What is your budget and time frame for completing the web design or redesign project?

2. Are you going to be using original content and pictures for building this web site?

3. If this is a website redesign, are you planning on getting updated images and content for this new look and layout or will you need the web design company to supply them for you?

4. Does any one at your company have basic editing skills and will they be able to update the website content or will this be an ongoing job for the web design company you hire?

5. Are you looking for a local web design company?

6. Do you already have an idea of your web design colors, layout, and navigation?

Knowing the answers to these questions, will help you when you locate the right web design company.

Now it’s time to find the right web design company for your needs. Go to Google and search for local web design firms and you will see how many results show. Take “web design orlando” for example: Results 8,860,000. Wow, there are a lot of results for “web design orlando”.

Don’t panic, you will probably find a company that can do the quality web design work you need in the first 50 results. Quality web design firms will have a portfolio of work online that will show an example of their custom web design work. Start at the first web design result on work your way down.

Examine the portfolio to see if there is anything equivalent to the web design layout you are imagining. You will be able to tell immediately if this web design firm is right for your company and its look and feel. Find out how long they have been in the web design industry and compare that to how many quality web sites they have designed in that time.

If this is a redesign, find out how many web site redesigns that have completed and ask to see the web site before and after the redesign.

Find out if they have the staff available to work on your entire web design needs and that they know the programming necessary to complete the job in a timely manner. Ask for references, a top end web design firm will be glad to offer up references on the web design work performed. Most web design references will be glad to talk to you about the quality job your potential web design company did on their web site.

Depending on your web design budget, it may help to several quality web design companies to talk to. You will want to get at least 3 estimates and it never hurts to have more.

Remember, when it comes to your business and your companies exposure on internet, take you time locating a quality web design company. Your future may depend on it.

Shawn Hickman
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/web-site-design-and-choosing-the-right-web-design-company-98615.html

Small Business Website Design Company

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

In the ever changing world of globalization, for small business companies to stay profitable, every available option for marketing should be utilized. The easiest and most effective method for small business firms to capture a major share of the local and global markets is to provide their products and services online. To help small business firms to have more business opportunities, a number of website design companies are now offering competitive web design services for their clients.

Having a professionally maintained website can greatly help your business reach greater heights. The majority of website design companies aim at cost-effective and reliable website design services. For beginners in online business, these web design companies also provide consultation services to make them aware of the benefits of ecommerce through online business.

Depending on the individual requirements of small business firms, website design companies can design websites in a wide variety of options ranging from simple, basic design modules to advanced website designs using cutting edge web technologies such as Java, PHP, Flash, and Ajax. These web design companies have the services of expert professionals including graphics designers, content developers and web optimizers.

For attracting more traffic to your website, search engine optimization (SEO) services provided by website companies play a key role. The organic optimization technologies being implemented on client web pages greatly help them to achieve top search rankings in global search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Being implemented online, it is also much easier for small business firms to add and extend the range of products and services in the future.

To help small business firms establish their own identity in the online business scenario, most website design companies also have logo design, banner design and template design services. They can give your existing websites a more professional look by redesigning them, suiting the trends of the modern age. Thus with effective optimization of your business website, your small business venture can achieve increased growth by securing more customers internationally.

Bob Kruse
http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/small-business-website-design-company-657329.html

Why not Have a One Web Page Design Until you are Ready for a Full Web Site?

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

 

A number of web design customers coming to us have only recently set up a business. In fact some have not even set up their business and are exploring ideas with regards to a web design. Designing a full fledge web site can be costly, depending on what type of web design you are looking for. If you are not sure about your business, your products and services, let alone your corporate identity, you might not be ready to invest into a web design project. If you have just started your business a one page web site or web page design might be the answer for you. The one web page design has several advantages.

Nowadays, whether you like it or not, every business has its web site. More than likely you need a web page design as well. But you do not require a full several pages web design from the outset. You can still have a web page with your logo, a nice web design, your contact details, some texts about your business, products or services and be part of the online business community.

Indeed, there are a number of web page design companies that are offering affordable web design solutions for small businesses which are not ready to invest in a large web design project. One of the most popular web page design web sites are those that allow you to have your web page design, a domain name, a hosting and your web site online in a few simple steps. How does it work?

Discount Web Design offers such a web page design product which is popular with business starters. Just visit the site, select Business Starter Web Page Design and follow the simple 5 step web page design process. First, check if your domain name is available. Then choose your web design from a number of templates. Just click on the web design that best suits your needs and proceed to step 2. Here you can easily upload your logo if you have one or order a logo online. Step 3, type in your company contact details and some text in the boxes provided. Preview your web page design, if you like what you see, click on the order button to securely pay online. Once your payment is cleared, allow 48 hours for your web page design to be published online on your own domain name.

Once your web page design is published you will also receive five email addresses with your domain name. The web page design will look professional and you can have your own web site, on the internet within 48 hours at a very affordable price. Discount Web Design will also place a link to your web page design from our web site which is already indexed by the major search engines. This means that your web page design will also get picked up by search engines in time. Having a web page design online will help your domain name and web site with Search Engine Optimisation. The longer your domain name is online, the better it is. Obviously, in time you can use the same domain name and hosting account to publish a full web design with several pages. Until then, your web page design will be accumulating Search Engine Optimisation by just being online. Search Engines like established sites, even if it is a one web page design.

There are then some definite advantages to getting your one page web design online as soon as you can. It’s easy and affordable. Your customers can see your web presence through your web page design and it is working in your favour with the search engines.

Ralph Ramah
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/why-not-have-a-one-web-page-design-until-you-are-ready-for-a-full-web-site-125389.html

 

Baby Boomers Collect VW Campervans and Impact Your Website Design!

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

 

If you haven’t thought of Baby Boomers in regard to website design, you’re not on top of things. Not only do they surf to collect information and purchase cult objects such as VW Campervans, they need websites they can read clearly if they are going to buy.

The first of the Baby Boomer group are turning 60 and they are retiring. Why should you care? For starters, Baby Boomers are the largest segment of our population. That would be a lot of people to ignore. And their needs and desires are going to differ from those of the, up to now, very young computer users.

The first of the Baby Boomer group came to computers late. Although they might not have warmed to the idea of a computer driven world if left alone, a huge segment of this population has been forced into the computer world by their employers. Having gained some comfort with computers in the workplace, Baby Boomers have become much more likely to make computers a staple item in their homes.

Although I am aware of the dry statistics about Baby Boomers, much of what I am saying about Baby Boomers is from first hand observation.

I live near Palm Springs. The population in this area on a year round basis is an older population than that of most locals across the country. Many retirees have made this their full time home because of the climate. And, every fall and winter our population balloons when many retirees flow to our community in RV’s for the season. Plus another large group who maintain winter homes here.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because maybe I know some things you may not have thought about. You see, I know, from first hand observation that these retirees, many of them Baby Boomers, bring lap top computers in those RV’s. And many who have Winter homes here, have them equipped with desktop computers. I also know, that these Baby Boomers are not just sending email and jokes. They are surfing!

Baby Boomers are not sitting by the window watching the neighbors go by. These people are busy. They love to shop, they love to travel, they have money. Baby Boomers are going to spend some of their time online shopping and if you want your share of that market, you’d better be ready to meet their wants and needs in planning your website design.

That brings us to what this all has to do with website design. Bifocals! Reading glasses! Many people at or soon after 40 find that reading is not as easy as it used to be. Even many who have always had good vision and never before needed glasses find that reading can be difficult. Anyone designing a website should know that reading online is harder than just reading a book. Whether you do your own website design, or have a professional design your website, keep this in mind. Making your website an easy read is important for all your visitors. It is especially important as Baby Boomers become such a large part of your potential market.

The Baby Boomer phenomenon is just at it’s beginning. The Baby Boomer segment of the population will span most of the next twenty years. The last of the Baby Boomer group will be 42 this year.

Consider the size of your fonts when designing your websites. Contrast is another important factor. I see many websites that not only have tiny fonts, but they are often in muted shades even a twenty year old would find a challenge.

Many elements of website design are important, when you consider the needs and the tastes of the group you are marketing to. Audio with no surfer control, flash, colors that are hard on the eyes, small fonts, lack of contrast between font color and background could all be a turn off.

Considering the following five factors could be important to the degree of success you have in your online business over the next few years.

1. Baby Boomers are surfing.

2. Baby Boomers like to spend money.

3. Baby Boomers have money.

4. Baby Boomers will have time in the coming years to surf and shop.

5. Baby Boomers as the years go by will be from the younger segment of this population and will have had more time and experience using computers and the internet.

Will Baby Boomers shop with you? Or, will they find another website that has implemented into their website design what these folks are looking for, and are comfortable with? Baby Boomers will be the largest segment of our population for most of the next twenty years. Make this a consideration when you plan your website design.

Illa Maden
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/will-baby-boomers-impact-your-website-design-34195.html

 

New York Website Design Company That Aims for Excellence!

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

 

A company that can offer quality, comprehensive and cost-effective web design and total content control solutions is undoubtedly going to be the top among New York Website Design firms.

If total content control confuses you, here is the simple explanation for this highly in-demand term that professional New York Website Design firms catering to a wide-cross section of industry clients puts it as: Total Content Control refers to the ability to change the images, words and other content of a website. Using any computer connected to the Internet, a business owner can change the descriptions of services or product inventory and even include new pictures so that your website design comes up looking new and attractive each time. This is one major way in which, technology has made life easier for expert New York website design companies that are dedicated to achieving affordable and effective web design ideas for varied clientele.

In a bid to widen their network and reach out to more and wider customer base, market-attuned new York website design companies, such as Davill Design and others that are client-centric, are looking to expand on services offered lists. This has now grown to include related and additional services like Email Marketing Solutions; informing and providing clients with one-to-one consultancy and newsletters that give detailed information about the company’s newest plans into relevant services like Internet marketing strategy research and customized report planning to create just the right website design based on target audience needs for the client, and other such. Much of these additional services have a lot to do with New York website design firm owners realizing that e-mail is a great way to stay in touch with their own clients and keep them coming back; thus, they are sharing the secret for great web communication with their own clients looking for effective and immediate solutions to re-connect with their ideal website visitors and generate sales or enhance web presence!

The professionally managed New York Website Design firm, Davill Design, is helpful enough to reveal a trade secret to the rest of the world looking for the ideal web communication tool and that is a perfectly designed and wisely-worded newsletter promoting their website. The firm designs beautiful HTML email newsletters and promotions and creates the sign-up form on their client’s website so they can opt-in. What works for them is the universal truth that doing good for others within ethical boundaries of e-commerce and personal profitability is sure to win results and customer satisfaction. Therefore, it comes as no surprise then that this Sacramento website design firm has thought one step further to accommodate client’s need for effective e-mail marketing after ensuring excellent quality of website design, then following it up with management services that track the results and ensure the clients are in compliance with the SPAM laws.

 

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Best Web Site Design Software for a VW Camper Site?

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

 

There are many different ways to build a web site, some are easy and some a little more complicated but one thing for sure it’s a lot easier if we can find the best web site design software.A shortcut is to use template systems like blog software (see VW Camper for an example) such as blogger or typrepad.

But no matter which web site design software we use there are a number of mistakes we should avoid:

Mistake #1: Using too large of a graphic header on the top of your page.
Mistake #2: Using “washed out” colors that make your web site feel drab and lifeless. Or
using colors that are WAY too bright.
Mistake #3: Using more than four colors (one of those being black!) on your web site.
Mistake #4: Using more than four different TYPES of fonts on the same page.
Mistake #5: Displaying your sales “message” on a dark colored background!
Mistake #6: Using too many “tricked out” scripts at once which causes browser “freeze”
Mistake #7: Cramming way too much content into too small of a space. (Not enough white space.)
Mistake #8: Using “busy” or “watermarked” background patterns.
Mistake #9: Specifying fonts that are TOO SMALL!
(This isn’t so much a design mistake as it is one related to the overall process…)
Mistake #10: Not clearly identifying your offer.

It doesn’t matter if you have the best web site design software on the planet if you make these mistakes your web site is doomed to fail. So which web site design software should we use? That really depends on a number of factors, level of experience, the product you’re promoting, how detailed you want you site.

Normally I don’t promote a product in my articles but since we’re here to talk about the best web site design software, I’ll mention a couple of them. The first is CoffeeCup HTML editor, this is the first web site design software I ever used, I found it bulky and hard to use, the next was a web site design software called Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is a decent program but it’s pretty tuff for the beginner to use.

The Best Web Site Design Software I’ve found is called:
Design Dashboard: http://www.jbvh.com/DesignDashboard.html.

As far as I’m concerned this is the best web site design software there is. It walks you step-by-step through what to do and how to do it. Every step is clearly laid out and labeled with big, blue numbers and step-by-step screen caps (with support by video as needed).

Saves you tons of time. All you do is click and follow the instructions. You don’t have to try to figure out what’s next. You just click the next icon and follow the steps. The step-by-step screen caps make it much faster and easier to use and follow than programs that are all videos.

Something for you if you’re a beginner or advanced student. Design Dashboard was created for beginners. But there are a few steps for advanced students as well. For example, you get EXCLUSIVE patterns that beat the heck out of the defaults in Photoshop or Elements. Those alone are worth the price.

I hope I’ve made your search for the best web site design software a little easier.

Victoria
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/best-web-site-design-software-95039.html

 

Creating a Website like The Chicken Ark Using Web Design Templates

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

 

It is common knowledge that designing a website for either personal or business use can take a substantial toll on anindividual’s time and wallet. But, that same website, regardless of price or effort, can be critical to the
success of an individual or a company.

Web design templatesoffer an economical solution.  by providing.a design with a professional appearance for a bargain price.

Once the decision to avoid the high-priced expert has been made, the hardest part of designing a website can be selecting the perfect web design template. There are many things to consider when selecting a web design template. The most important is the purpose of the future website as well as the knowledge of the amateur designer.

Areas to consider include: Website Purpose There are many reasons to design a website. Individuals may create a website to showcase family pictures, while small business owners might create a site to begin an online marketing campaign. The vast number of web design templates available supports any designpurpose. It is important to find the appropriate design thatsuits the needs of the designer. A website devoted to family updates will not need the same features as an online catalog.

Individual Expertise While web design templates are intended to simplify the process of creating a new website, there is still a prerequisite of computer and internet knowledge required. Some templates additionally require some knowledge of programming or coding to obtain the maximum results. By carefully selecting a template, a user should be able to find one that fits his specific knowledge base. If he requiresadditional help, almost all web template providers have support and customization features available at no or low rates.

Nature of Business If a web design template is being used to create a business website, it is important to decide the image the website will convey. Bright bold colors with Flash animation might be perfect for one business line, while subdued colors with subtle designs could be crucial to the success of another. The large variety of templates available online easily facilitates this decision. Need for Updating If a website will require constant updating to reflect changes or new information,a web design template should be chosen to accommodate this need.Quality web design templates will be simple to update and upload.Template Design One of the most crucial aspects of website success is the ability for patrons to easily navigate the website. When selecting a web design template, follow all basic design principals to aid usability by searchers and potential customers. Area to consider includes:

* Background and foreground colors * Size and location of links * Monitor display principals * Icons * Logos * Animation * Depth or number of pages

Article written by Ashwin Kumar.

Selina
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/creating-a-website-using-web-design-templates-58482.html