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5 Ways to Increase Your Website Traffic Through Effective Web Design
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 by Kirsten Ramsburg
You’ve found cheap web hosting for your personal or business website and you’re ready to go. A few simple considerations while designing your website layout will help bring new people to your site and make them want to recommend it to others.
Attractive homepage
The first impression visitors get of your website is your homepage. Ask yourself what image you wish to present to your visitors. What kind of design gives the best idea of what your website is all about? If your site is a business site, does your homepage reflect a businesslike attitude? Your page's header is one of the few things that potential readers see in your homepage, so better make it impressive. Your homepage should be attractive, engaging, and interesting to look at in order to make visitors want to stay and see what the rest of your site has to offer.
Visually interesting layout
The rest of your website should follow the example of your home page. Not only should your layout be interesting to look at, it should also be easy on the eyes. Too many images, widely-varying text sizes, and flashy designs will detract from your site’s layout and are likely to drive visitors away. Aim to draw visitor’s attention with well-placed blocks of text, and use images only where necessary.
Easy navigation
Having the best content possible won’t make any difference if visitors can’t find it. If your site is difficult to navigate, chances are that visitors will give up and go to another site for what they want. Make sure that your menus are easy to use and that all of the links work. The more quickly visitors can find information on your site, the happier they will be, and the more likely to recommend your site to others. See tips from Smashing Magazine here.
Unique content
Why should people come to your website rather than other sites with similar information or products? Ask yourself this question as you build your design. Strive to present what your site has to offer as unique from everyone else’s and reflect that in your layout. Go for an eye-catching logo or header image that will stick in visitors’ minds. Arrange your most important content so that it immediately draws the eye. Give people a reason to use your site above all others.
Clear information
Now that you have a good idea of how you want to present your products or information, make sure it is presented clearly. The look of your content is just as important as the overall look of your site. Work within the layout you’ve developed and position content accordingly. Make use of lists and section breaks to deliver information in a way that is quick and easy to read. Visitors will appreciate being able to find what they need without hassle.
Having a website design that is easy to get around and nice to look at is the best way to attract new visitors to your site and keep them coming back. Coupled with a reliable web hosting choice, your site will draw traffic in no time.
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Own dedicated G5 server II
Friday, June 18, 2010 by Martijn Broeders
Today is the day.
The task has been completed. Our last client has just been moved to our own dedicated server.
- All of our own websites, including 4elements.com, has been moved.
- All our clients websites has been moved.
One big advantage of webmin/virtualmin is that it allows you to import cpanel based accounts painless into webmin/virtualmin.
Our next post will guide you in setting up a perfect working server on a PowerMac G5.
Stay tuned.
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Own dedicated G5 server I
Monday, June 14, 2010 by Martijn Broeders
After months of preparation / installation and configuration it's finally done, 4elements.com has it's own dedicated server.
Hardware:
- PowerMac G5 Dual 2 Ghz 64Bit
- 512 KB level 2 cache, per CPU
- 1 Ghz Bus speed
- 8 GB DDR SDRAM memory
- 10 TB HD (1 internal jive)
- 256 MB ATI RADEON 9600 video card
Network:
- 2 x 1GB ethernet
- Media Options: Full Duplex, flow-control
- Media Subtype: 1000baseT
1 for extrenal (8 IP's)
1 for internal network
Main Software:
- Mac OS X server 10.5.8
- webmin.com, virtualmin.com
Server Software:
- Apache 2.2.15
- Php 5.2.9
-- Zend Engine v2.2.0
-- eAccelerator v0.9.6
-- ionCube v3.1.32
-- Zend Optimizer v3.3.9
-- Suhosin v0.9.31
-- ffmpeg
-- Ruby GEMS
- Perl 5.8.8
- MySQL 5.0.86 (64Bit)
- Postgres 8.4.2 (64Bit)
- Dovecot 1.1.19 (64Bit)
- Postfix 2.4.3
- SSH Server 5.2
- BIND DNS 9.4.3
- ProFTPd 1.33 (64Bit)
- AMaVisD for virus and spam
- CalDav, WebDav
- and lots more....
Usage:
- Web-, mail-, ftp-server, hosting
- Local audio storage, private use
- Local video storage, private use
- Local photo storage, private use
- Audio, Video and photo streaming, Local
- TimeMachine backup, company and private comuters
The next thing to do is moving 4element.com and our clients websites to the new server.
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No more IE6
Sunday, April 25, 2010 by Martijn Broeders
As of today we stop supporting IE6 (Internet Explorer 6).
This due to the fact that IE6 doesn't support CSS the right way.
All our new project will support the following Browsers and protocols:
FireFox 3, 3.5, 3.6 (pc, mac, unix)
Safari 3, 4 (pc, mac)
IE 7, 8 (pc)
and all other larger browsers (Opera, Chrome)
CSS 2 and when requested CSS 3
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Webmin on a PowerMac G5, part I
Thursday, April 22, 2010 by Martijn Broeders
Chapter I: Intro
Chapter II: Installing/compiling Apache, php, mysql and others in 64Bit.
Chapter III: Installing/compiling Dovecot, Procmail and ProFTP in 64Bit.
Chapter IV: Installing Webmin and setting up Webmin.
I have an old Apple G5 Dual 2 Ghz standing in my server room doing nothing.
So I decided to change the G5 into a 64Bit web server, file server, streaming video server, Central Backup with Time Machine and more.
I checked several option:
- Running the latest Mac OS X server, 10.5.8
- Running Fedora PPC32/PPC64
- Running Debian and Ubuntu PPC64
Fedora 11 / 12:
The main problem of fedora is that it won't let you install a complete 64Bit system, just the 64Bit kernel. So what use does it has for a 64Bit server?
Also trying to setup a network between fedora and apple is buggy. Netatalk is great but it does not do what it promises, yet. The AFP from apple is one of the best network protocols I see around and works out-off-the-box.
Pros:
- Large community,
- Perfect for a x86_64 computer,
Cons:
- Unstable PPC64 version,
- Won't install out-off-the-box,
Debian and Ubuntu PPC64:
While Debian installed like a charm it never let me boot into it.
Ubuntu is one of my favorites, only the lack of a decent network protocol made me change my thoughts.
The network connection is one of the most important features I need, while all my computers are apple. Time Machine is perfect if you have a stable, fast network and lot's of HD space.
Using Mac OS X 10.5 server from apple is of course the perfect option, only problem are the settings and lack of a user interface for hosting.
The other downside is that all compiled programs are 32Bits while the system is 64Bits.
Webmin (webmin.com) is perfect for changing settings, setting up your DNS server and handle your databases.
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