Browser Friendly Fonts

Browser friendly fonts is a collection of fonts that are met the web standard. It means that they would be displayed as is when your visitor access your website, no matter what kind of browser is used.

As a web designer or web developer, we have freedom to express our web. But it doesn't mean we're sacrificing our visitor needs. We also want to make sure that our visitor get the valid information just like what we want to inform them.

The WYSIWYG concept (what you see is what you get) was applied here, but it's not only for you who design the site, it's also for your dearest visitor.

Some fonts that met the web standard are Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Verdana, Impact, Courier, and Courier New.

CSS Versus Table : Never Ending Story

Since CSS layout invented, most people are leaving the Table Layout. Most think that CSS layout has faster performance than Table Layout. The question is, "is that true?"

Ok, let's begin the argument,

There are many mis-informed people that think that CSS Layout reduces the web page's size dramatically for a large table using CSS. The clue here is "large table". .Let's see 100 to 500 or more rows.

" Using CSS Layout would make a 500 row table display faster." 

Have you ever actually written the CSS Layout for a 500 row table? It's incredibly large to say the least. Next, the user would have to download the CSS Layout stylesheet for a 500 row table and that the CSS Layout stylesheet could easily be larger in size than the data in 500 row table in the first place. You could easily be asking the user to essentially download your CSS Layout 500 row table web page twice!!

What good is it to say that CSS Layout is faster than tables when you can't even make or maintain a CSS Layout table in the first place? That's even worse than saying, "The fastest way down this mountain is to jump off the edge of that cliff over there." CSS Layout , realistically, cannot and should not be used to make a 10, 20, 100, or 500 row table in the first place as you couldn't even maintain it, or for that matter, even build a 500 row table in CSS Layout anyway. So CSS Layout loses on the very point it trumpets to the world: 'its so-called advantage of speed over tables'. Second, CSS Layout loses again on another point (that's just as important), maintainability."

Evolution Web 1.0, Web 2.0 to Web 3.0

Like any other technology, the web is evolving and it is evolving rather quickly. Due to lack of standards, there seems to be a little bewilderment regarding its evolution and versions but the most acceptable stages of evolution are as follows:

• Web 1.0
• Web 2.0
• Web 3.0 (Also known as Semantic Web)

Web 1.0 – That Geocities & Hotmail era was all about read-only content and static HTML websites. People preferred navigating the web through link directories of Yahoo! and dmoz.
Web 2.0 – This is about user-generated content and the read-write web. People are consuming as well as contributing information through blogs or sites like Flickr, YouTube, Digg, etc. The line dividing a consumer and content publisher is increasingly getting blurred in the Web 2.0 era.
Web 3.0 – This will be about semantic web (or the meaning of data), personalization (e.g. iGoogle), intelligent search and behavioral advertising among other things.

Here's a video that might be help you to understand.

Preparing your web : Web Design Style

We take a first look at web design styling considerations and how to present content information to your audience.

Website style is defined through page layout, design and personalization of your site's web pages.
We need to blend in with our target audience so once they arrive; they will feel right at home (so to speak). Styling is really the combination of determining audience and content considerations.

Now we know what our visitors are expecting when they arrive at our site, how are we going to present our site to them? In the need to envisage design thoughts for our site, we should appreciate:

• simplicity is king; always.
• web surfers are most comfortable with standard design techniques that they are used to.

When writing web page content, the document usually becomes part of a larger collection. It's important that the site follows a common structure so all the documents are available in a logical place. Bear in mind each individual document will likely have its own structural considerations.

The style of a document helps a reader to browse through it, in order to find the information they are looking for. All documents should share the same style (i.e. all your pages should be of uniform design throughout the site). This makes it easier to understand any particular document, and to jump to related information.


Using the same template to create all documents will ensure each element is used for the same function in all documents. This also helps maintaining the documents in the long term because all documents share the same markup (page coding) style.

Once your visitor has made a decision to stay, draw their attention to what you feel they should see first; in other words, guide them through your site. Styling is personal but you must make it appealing to your target audience for effective results.

It's beneficial to surf around to get ideas from other sites on how they present site content to their audience. It's best to research sites of similar nature as your own as the content will be comparable. Remember, your site must have its own unique identity which is why you can't copy exact content and design from other sites.
As previously mentioned in this tutorial, no one single approach is right. All websites should reflect their own personality in the theme they are projecting. Styling is personal to the site owner and by being creative and working within accepted web design considerations as mentioned above, your site will be working to the full potential of its goals.

Preparing your web : Writing Page Content

Writing content for a web page involves many considerations. I explore issues and offer tips here.

Before you attempt to write the content of a web page, you should first understand the purpose of your page. Don't make people guess what it's about. Conveying its purpose in a descriptive title at the start of the page is a good idea.

Decide what you want on the page and then write a draft copy. It might help if you act like you are writing for a speech or as if you were talking to somebody about what's on your page. Don't worry too much at this stage what and how much text you write as you'll likely need to edit later to keep only relevant text and discard anything non-essential. You should aim for 200 to 500 words in your web page.

You have to ensure the document is clear so that it may be more easily understood. Using clear and simple language promotes effective communication and benefits people whose native language differs from your own.
You should also appreciate your web page document is a standalone page on the web (but within the context of you website). People may search for information exactly what your page is about. A web surfer might enter your site through this page but we have to use specific keywords within your text to match with a related search query.

By keeping your page focused on one topic and using the selected keyword or key-phrase within your text, your page stands a better chance of being ranked higher in search engines for that specific query. There are lots of theories and opinions regarding 'page optimization' through use of keywords. We will likely explore this important area elsewhere but you have to understand its importance. We are however writing principally for our human readers so we must still produce a well written, well edited web page document.

You should also understand the web page's relationship with the rest of your site. How does this page relate with other pages if somebody enters your site through any page other than your home page? You may have to consider some page navigation links within the pages if it forms a series etc (like much this planning tutorial you are reading here).

The visitor entering via a web page within your site will not first see your home page. Commonly only your home page will convey the meaning of your website so you should add some context within your pages to address the theme of your web site in general.

Some of the many considerations in writing quality and effective content for your web pages are:

• Simplicity - always strive for simplicity in your content. Readers should grasp your message immediately through use of easy to understand wording. Web readers scan pages so provide easily digestible chunks (sentences/paragraphs) of text.
• Benefits - always focus on the benefits for your reader. People are only interested in what's in it for them so you must clearly convey the reader's benefits through use of lists and well constructed bolded headlines.
• Linkage - support your text with links to other pages (within your own site or elsewhere) for further details.
• Personality - try and write in a friendly manner while maintaining a professional appearance. Convey empathy in your writing by making you text less impersonal. By making your content interesting and 'connecting' with your reader, you visitor will better understand, enjoy and respond to your content.

Writing quality and effective web content is a skilled job. You can ably do this yourself by reading more on the web, learning by common mistakes and practicing writing yourself. You can read more web content writing tips here to further your understanding of good web writing principles.

Preparing your web : Website Content Development

You should already have a good idea of who your target audience is. The site is being created to fill its purpose and interact with people that will have some interest in the theme of this website.

Can we now develop our website's content to benefit our targeted audience?
We have to place ourselves in their shoes and ask, "What will I come to this site for?" We must:

• figure out the psychology of our likely visitors to make our site appeal
• provide useful content our visitors may want and even expect
• think of ways we can keep our visitors engaged at our site and how we can entice them back again

We have to also:

• make a good first impression
• establish need, honesty and reliability
• make our content (information) clear and concise
• provide good organization so our visitors can find information easily
• make our site interesting

By understanding the make-up of our intended visitor, knowing how we can appeal to their needs and interests in an effective way and by creating a good first impression through a confirmation of their expectations, you stand a much higher chance of success as determined by the goals of the site. You might find it hard to get started on your content process so the best way to kick things off is to see what is already out there on the web. We are only interested in sites of similar nature as your intended theme so search for potential competing sites for ideas.
You can't copy information you find but get ideas on how these sites offer their content. Principally of interest, we want to:

• study what they offer
• see how they layout their content
• analyze site structure (navigation of pages)
• notice ways they engage their audience
• note outbound links to other complementary sites

Be objective while researching sites and always think, "How can I expand on this and make my site better". Be critical but honest and open-minded when researching other sites. Act like you are a web surfer looking for information this site is offering. Did they (the website):

• make a good first impression with you?
• better inform you with their content?
• address and answer your needs?
• use clear and simple language that was understandable?
• convey honesty and friendliness?
• make it easy for you to find what you were looking for?
• offer reasons to return to the site again?

These are just some of the more important checks you should carry out when evaluating these sites. Understand no single approach is right so collectively make notes of things you liked, disliked and more importantly, how you can improve on these ideas. You will quickly form ideas on what you should be offering with your own site when carrying out this type of research. Gather ideas attained from other sites and integrate them with your own ideas to develop content for your site. Be original, informative and helpful and your site will be a winner.

SEO = Search Engine Optimization

What is Search Engine Optimization (also known as SEO)? A broad search engine optimization definition is that search engine optimization is the art and science of making web pages attractive to the search engines.

The goal of search engine optimization is to get a web page high search engine ranking. The better a web page's search engine optimization, the higher a ranking it will achieve in search result listings. This is especially critical because most people who use search engines only look at the first page or two of the search results, so for a page to get high traffic from a search engine, it has to be listed in those first two pages.

So search engine optimization focuses on techniques such as making sure that each web page has appropriate title tags and meta tags, and that the keyword or keyword phrases for the page are distributed throughout the content in a way that the particular search engine will like. Search engines find and catalog web pages through spidering software. Unfortunately, not all search engine spidering software works the same way, so what gives a page a high ranking on one search engine may not give it a high ranking on another.

One of the things that search engine optimization specialists do is keep track of all the changes in search engine operations so they can optimize pages accordingly. They also keep up with changes in the different search engine submission policies.

When you choose a designer to create a business website, you should ask him or her about search engine optimization, as search engine optimization should be built into your pages. While it's never too late to optimize or tweak pages that have already been published, it's a lot easier and more sensible to include search engine optimization when the page is first written.

What is Web Content and Why is it so Important?

A word you'll likely see around a lot is "web content" but what is that and why is it so important? By definition, content is the 'stuff' that makes up a website. This could be words (text), pictures, images or sounds.

In essence however, when we talk about web content, we are essentially referring to content in a textual nature. Content therefore in this sense is the 'information' a website provides.

It's a fact most people use the World Wide Web (WWW) as a resource for seeking information. This is why the vast majority of sites on the web are information-centric, that is, they provide text-based information as their main content.

Relative to the purpose of your new website, you must satisfy this need for information by developing high quality content that will benefit your intended target audience. The web content you devise, layout and development are arguably the most important area of your site. However, many other issues come into play which we must understand.

The web does not work in linear ways like print. In print, the user is focused on the entire set of information. On the web, we'll likely need to split each document into multiple, hyper-linked pages because web users dislike having to scroll down and read long pages.

It's estimated that reading from computer screens is 25% slower than from paper. Your web content therefore should have approximately 50% of the word count of its paper equivalent. Other studies show over 75% of web users scan web pages instead of reading word-for-word.
We must also consider people connect via the Internet:

• from literally anywhere in the world
• with different connection speeds
• with varying types of technology (PC's)
• using various forms of (browser) programs and methods
• speaking different languages
• with varying degrees of online 'know-how' or knowledge

In other words, we must understand that our web audience may have accessibility, disability and other limitations that are 'foreign' to us.Our website (content) as a whole must address these limitations by creating a site that is 'user-friendly' to the wider audience.

We must ensure all users interacting with our site are minimally obstructed with the textual content, site navigation, orientation and general functioning of our site. In a word, our site must strive for 'simplicity'.
Simplicity is the main, web design principal for websites. Web design is about good content design and making life easy for the user to read, navigate and interact with your content. This does not automatically mean your site must look dull, be boring and is lifeless; it simply means our site is addressing issues for greater audience participation and use.

Now we know what web content is and why is it's so important for websites to have it presented appropriately, we can move on and explore ways in developing content for your own site.

Preparing your web : Target Audience

Now we know the purpose and theme of our site, we need to know who it is we have created this site for.


We must first address - what is a Target Audience?
Definition: A specified audience or demographic group for which an advertising message is designed.
Now we know the purpose (the reason why the site exists) and theme (what the site is about) of our site, we have to ask ourselves:

Who is it we must reach to achieve the goals of the site?
We need traffic (visitors) to our site or our efforts are in vain but we cannot be everything to everyone. A determination must be sought on the types of people that will want and need to interact with our website.
We need to understand our intended target audience might belong to a specific:

• gender
• race
• age group
• geographical locality
• profession

We need to consider also their:

• technology limitations
• economic situation
• knowledge of the Internet
• online experience
• interests
• hobbies

Once we understand who our target audience is that this site was intended for (website purpose), we can start planning a site that will appeal to this particular audience. In other words, your site has to reflect the needs and interests of its target audience, providing high-value, complementary content that is styled to appeal to them.

How do you find out the needs and interest of your target audience?

• Read - Industry journals, trade magazines, selected news sources.
• Visit - Online forums, message boards, discussion groups, classified ads, other competing websites etc that are based on your target audience's interest.
• Subscribe to - Online ezines and other mailing information of interest to your target audience.
• Belong to - Associations that closely link in with your targeted market.
• Reference - Related online directories and search engines for a wealth of available information.

All of the above are just some examples of where to begin to get into your target audience's shoes. Most of the above will lead off into areas you probably didn't consider. Once you know the type of audience you are seeking, you can start to become them, think like them and anticipate their motives.

Website Theme = Relevancy

Why is having a theme so important then? This can be answered in one important word; relevancy. The relevancy of themes for websites has become increasingly important for search engine ranking with the adoption of theme based indexing. Theme indexing is a process used by search engines to determine an entire site's primary theme. In other words, your complete set of web pages is indexed as one, and defined as one main topic.

Google has been using theme indexing since its conception.

When a search engine determines (through complex computations) that a website is completely centered on one main focal point, the website receives a boost in relevancy. This works on the theory that if every page of the site is focused around the same idea/subject, it must contain good information about a single topic.

When submitting your website to directories, it must be placed in the most appropriate category. This will normally be reviewed manually be a directory editor but failure to understand or even have a focused website theme, could lead to rejections in directory submissions.

With reciprocal linking, we only want sites that complement the theme of our site (i.e. both sites must be mutually complementary). We'll need to find related sites that offer content, products, and services that will help and interest our website's visitors. This has a double benefit in that it will likely help ranking in a theme based search engine, which uses its collected theme data to detect links that are in or out of context of your website.

What is a Website Theme?

A theme is essentially a simple and accurate description of your site's focus. If you can't accurately answer in one sentence what your website's focus is, then you have a problem. It's going to be difficult attracting your target audience and even keeping them at your site. If they can't quickly figure out what your site is about, they won't hang around for long.

Web users are always looking for something specific, with minimum hassle and quickly. Your website's theme must be conveyed clearly and accurately to attract and keep that targeted visitor at your site.

Preparing your web : Website Goals and Subjective

The success of any website can only be measured on the goals of it. Having no goals will not mean your site is a failure but simply just an achievement! You may have made it your goal to have your own website and that's great but you're still going to have goals set for your site.As with the website's intended purpose, we have to get focused and have a clear and complete understanding of what we want this site to achieve.

With any general goal-setting we undertake, there must be some variables to set our goals on. Therefore, our goals must be:

• Specific: Describes what you want to accomplish with as much detail as possible.
• Realistic: Goals you know you are actually capable of obtaining.
• Challenging: Takes energy and discipline to accomplish rewarding goals.
• Prioritized: Sets goals by time and importance into clearly specified target completion dates.
• Measurable: Describes your goals in terms that can clearly be evaluated.

Writing down your goals creates the roadmap to your success. Although just the act of writing them down can set the process in motion, it is also extremely important to review your goals frequently. Remember, the more focused you are on your goals; the more likely you are to accomplish them.

With respect to the development of your site, the principal question is: What do you want this site to accomplish? (For you and your visitors). Every website will have different objectives while every website owner will have set different goals for it. Any site will have varied reasons for existence. These could be:

• Product brand awareness
• To market detailed product information
• To target international communities
• Provide the latest new product or service information to customers
• Market yourself
• To make money from an online business

It's clear that a business orientated site will be more objective in its goals than a site of a personal nature but the site must have a reason for existing.

We also want a way of knowing if our website is performing its goal(s) as intended. It would be beneficial to the site's owner to get visitor feedback. A simple way is to simply ask or gauge from visitors through a feedback form or a survey.

We also suggested in determining website purpose previously, to dedicate a page in the form of a mission statement. If you decide to do this, you can list your site goals and objectives here also. That way, your visitors will clearly know what your site is trying to do for them!

Preparing your web : Website Purpose

The first important step (that is often neglected) in the website creation process, is to determine the purpose of your web site. Oftenly a website lacks the focus of a clear purpose and visitors are quickly confused and click away.

It's an established fact that Internet users today are increasingly impatient and intolerable. A website visitor will not spend their precious time trying to figure out what the site is about (or how it can benefit them). A website with a well defined purpose stands out and a visitor should instantly recognize it without effort.
Clearly defining the purpose of your website before its creation, will ensure that your website is optimized to achieve the required purpose. After all, you can only meet your goals when you know what they are.

For your part, you need to first focus and understand why you are having this website?
You might be trying to:

• provide a service
• sell a product
• present information on a topic
• make an announcement
• inform people about yourself
• create a forum that addresses a certain issue
• deliver news on a particular subject

You might even (quite commonly) be trying to perform a combination of the above things. If you are providing a service, you'll be providing marketing information and other related content. That's fine but understand the principal purpose of the site in this case is to provide a service.


Consider devoting a page to your site's purpose. Some sites do this through a mission statement or a dedicated page explaining the purpose of the site. It will effectively address why the site was created, what it's about and what it hopes to achieve for the user (site's goal). This is a very efficient method to combine two of your website's objectives.

You can research other site's statement's of purpose for ideas but remember only you can determine what the purpose of your own website is or is going to be. Understand the purpose and goals of your website are what get projected in search query results (i.e. asking a Search Engine to find you something you typed in). You have a brief window of opportunity to advertise the benefits your site will offer the potential visitor so this must convey the site's purpose (and benefits) effectively and efficiently.

Having a clearly defined purpose will benefit you also when it comes time to submit your website to directories. The Directory will ask you to provide a limited description of your website. You must be able to quote a purpose/benefit description effectively within two sentences; ideally in one sentence.Once your site is listed in the directory (and search engines for that matter), it's your website's purpose that people view. You must therefore be crystal clear about the purpose, leaving nothing to doubt. Visitors will quickly determine the relevancy of their interest on arrival at your website (if they get that far).

One last point, don't ever mislead or trick people thinking your site is something it's not. This is a counter-productive measure that could get your website barred from search engines and or directories.

What does a web means?

Ok, let's start from here. The Web or Word Wide Web, according to wikipedia, means "a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet".

Nowadays, web has become the most powerful engine to share information. Every minute, every second, more and more websites are released.

 So, here with me, if you want to learn more about the web, let me guide you.


Fight ON!
mumu