8)Feedback Forms: The best websites always change, catering to needs of visitor. In order to find out what your customers need, it is important to solicit feedback from them. A common way to do this is by creating a feedback form on site, which includes questions that will help improve overall quality of Internet business.

9)Privacy Policy: With problem of spam, many people are afraid to give out personal information such as their email address and credit card numbers. To help alleviate this fear, you need to include a “Privacy Policy” section. Basically this page will let them know how all information is used and if they will be contacted in future. It is better to upfront about your practices than to be accused of mishandling information.

10)Email List: Top websites work on developing an email list of prospects that can be contacted in future. This should go without saying, but your email list subscription area should have a prominent position on your web page. In addition, include a quick blurb about any incentive that you offer to visitors for joining list.

11)About Us: Most website visitors appreciate knowing that a business is run by an actual human being. To help personalize your website, you need to include a little information about both you and your online business.

12)Sales Page: Even with best product descriptions, it is important to create a dedicated page that describes how your products are superior to your competitors. This section should be a summary of all your key features written in a dynamic tone. Basically, you want your visitors to read this page and immediately buy from you. An example of a sales page, can be seen from my own site: http://mizambar.com/whyevileye.html .

13)Refund/Return Policy On other side, there will be times when a customer is not happy. To help alleviate any fears that they might have about purchasing online, there needs to be a section where potential customers can read your rules on accepting returns and refunds. Carefully list how and if you accept refunds. If you do not, then be upfront about it.

Because there are over a million websites on Internet, it is now vital that you give your visitors what they need. Unfortunately, they will never tell you what is necessary. But, by including these 13 items in design of your website, you can assured that you will have a distinct advantage over your competitor’s Internet business. ===============================================================

Scott J. Patterson designed and promoted his own online store with NO computer experience. To find out how he did it, be sure to check out a FREE copy of his ebook:

2.) Editing images and graphics

Editing images would involve changing image colors, add/remove image layers, add/change text used in images etc. In order to make changes to images used in web template you would need to use PSD file. Almost all template providers would supply you with a PSD file (although some may charge you extra for file). PSD file is basically a layered file that is created using Adobe PhotoShop. This file is compatible with many graphic editing programs. Some good programs that can be used to edit PSD files are Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7, Ulead PhotoImpact 7 & 8, ImageReady and of course Photoshop. For more information on PSD files you can visit adobe.com.

In case you don’t have access to any of above mentioned software programs for editing templates, you may request your web template provider to give you BMP files instead of PSD files. A BMP file is a high quality bitmap image file that can be edited using any image editing software program.

Handy tips

1.) Change color of images to suite and enhance your text visibility 2.) If needed you can also replace images used in templates to add your own professional images. (One good website from where you can get professional images is ‘gettyimages.com’)

3.) Editing styles of a template

CSS style sheets are ones that allow you to make changes to style of webpage like changing font color, line and paragraph spacing, font size, link color etc. Style sheets are useful as they allow you to make changes to many WebPages by altering one document. CSS can be edited using any Html editor or text editor. Although there are some specialized programs available that are meant specifically for editing CSS Stylesheets like ‘TopStyle’ (bradsoft.com).

There are many web template providers who offer internal style sheets or multiple font styles. It is difficult to edit internal style sheets and therefore is not recommended. Always make sure to go for template providers who offer you with external CSS Style Sheets.

Handy tips

1.) Make sure to use contrasting text and background colors 2.) Make sure to use same font type through out a webpage. Making use of different font types can make reading difficult. Arial and veranda are best suited for online reading. 3.) Never use justification for your text as it can make reading difficult. 4.) Provide a site map

Quality tutorials to help you with HTML

If you are not familiar with html/CSS and need some start up lessons then there are plenty of free resources available over internet that will allow you to do just that. Some of best ones are ‘w3cschools.com’ and ‘webmonkey.com’. W3cschools offers best tutorials for html where as webmonkey offers best tutorial for CSS Style-sheets (just type ‘Mulder's Stylesheets Tutorial’ in a search engine like google or yahoo! to reach directly to tutorial page). For getting knowledge about web usability you can refer to ‘http://www.usability.gov/guidelines’. For researching keywords for your website content you can refer wordtracker.com or overtune.com. There are also many sites that give step by step instructions on how to edit templates. One good site worth visiting in this regard is ‘template-help.com’.

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http://www.icongalore.com is a quality web portal that offers high quality professional software icons. Their XP style icon come at extremely affordable prices and can be used for web designing, software applications and print media.

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