May 13, 2006 By 1 Comment

Benefits of a Dedicated IP Address

1. Use SSL encryption

SSL certificates are needed for accepting credit cards online. They are used to transmit sensitive data over the internet. The data is encrypted to prevent someone from intercepting the information. You can only use encryption (SSL) if your web site has a dedicated IP address. It won’t work on a shared IP address although hosting companies often use shared SSL where all web sites will share the same SSL.

This is not recommended if you intend having a very secure online store.

2. Anonymous FTP transfers

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Filed Under: Web Design
May 12, 2006 By 1 Comment

Shared or Dedicated IP Address

I recently decided to move my main web site to another hosting service which gives me the option of having a dedicated IP address or just using the same IP address as all the other sites on the server.

What type of IP address will be the safest and most effective for my web site?

Definition of an IP address

Every domain (ie www.domain.com) on the Web can be translated into numbers that is called an IP address. This is what it usually looks like: 64.21.80.8

What is a Dedicated IP Address?

A dedicated IP address may also be referred to a unique or static IP address. It is not shared by other domain names and is unique to your domain name and your space on the server. If you type that IP address into your browser you will be taken directly to that specific domain.

What is a Shared IP Address?

Most hosting services use “virtual hosting” where a number of Web sites reside on the same server. Because these sites share a server, they also share the same IP address.

Filed Under: Web Design
May 11, 2006 By 1 Comment

Create a Business Tag Line for Your Web Site – Part 2

continued from “Create a Business Tag Line for Your Web Site” – Part 1

http://www.drostdesigns.com/create-a-business-tag-line-for-your-web-site/#more-44

2. Group words together

Group words together that have a catchy sound, rhythm or rhyme. You may also incorporate your business or web site name in the tag line ie

DrostDesigns.com – Web Site Discussion

3. Usability

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Filed Under: Web Design
May 10, 2006 By 1 Comment

Create a Business Tag Line for Your Web Site

A tag line is often added to the business name on your web site or business card. It should be creative, memorable and convey the purpose or benefits of your business.

ie Honda: “what you need when you need it”

Nike: “Just do it”

How to create a business tag line

1. Research

Brainstorm keywords that emphasize the purpose and benefits of your business. Keep writing them down on a sheet of paper until you run out of ideas.

Use a thesaurus dictionary to find related words.

Use this great keyword generator and brain storming tool to find keywords people insert in the search engines to find specific information or products to buy.

Here’s how to use this keyword research tool:

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Filed Under: Web Design
May 9, 2006 By 4 Comments

Creating a Web Site Banner Using CSS

Most web site banners are created using images. However images can slow the loading of your web pages and search engines don’t read images particularly if they contain text. Many sites often use images for navigation. This prevents search engines from spidering them.

Using CSS you can replace the images and get the added benefits of fast loading, search engine friendly pages.

How to create a text banner.

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Filed Under: CSS
May 8, 2006 By 2 Comments

Web Site Evaluation Criteria

One of the most crucial aspects of maintaining your web site is to evaluate its effectiveness.
You should continually try to refine or improve its performance by asking the question:

How can my web site be more profitable by increasing its sales or subscribers?

7 Top Web Site Evaluation Criteria

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Filed Under: Web Design
May 7, 2006 By 2 Comments

Scroll Bars – How to Create a Colored Scroll Bar

Scroll bars always have the same basic gray color. If you wish to change it to a color that matches the colors of your web pages use CSS. By just adding a few lines of code to your web page or style sheet you can display a colored scroll bar.

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Filed Under: Web Design
May 6, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Convert HTML to XHTML – the ampersand

An ampersand (& – the “and” symbol above the 7 on your keyboard) within an attribute value must use its character entity reference.

For example, the URL below containing the & symbol:

<.a href="http://www.domain.com/cgi-bin/
class.pl?saturday&night&live".>foo<./a>

must be rewritten like this:


<a href="http://www.domain.com/cgi-bin/
class.pl?saturday&night&live">foo</a>

If the ampersand symbol is not used in the URL your web page will not vaildiate for correct XHTML.

Filed Under: Web Design
May 5, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Convert HTML to XHTML – attributes

All XHTML attributes must be quoted.

In HTML you don’t have to use quotes ie


<table width=100%>

However in XHTML all attributes must be enclosed by quotes ie


<table width="100%">

XHTML atributes cannot be shortened.

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Filed Under: Web Design
May 5, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Convert HTML to XHTML – all documents must be properly formed

Make sure all your XHTML elements are nested within the <html> root element. Sub elements must be in pairs and correctly nested within their parent element.

Here is the basic XHTML document structure:


<html>
<head> ... </head>
<body> ... </body>
</html>

Filed Under: Web Design
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