If you are a new web designer some of your choices while designing your web page can be fatal for your web site and also for your web business. This is especially true if your web site represents your business. We are intended to save you from those pit falls so here we present some of the most common mistakes to avoid at all costs, as it will not only save your web page it will save you from doing hours of after works.

1. Too Many Graphics

Having too many graphics (particularly large graphics), can cause your site to load entirely too slow. Visitors will get impatient and often times click out of your site never to return.

SOLUTION: When possible save your graphics as GIF files (gif.htm) rather than JPEG (jpg.htm). Also, reduce your graphic in actual size as much as you can without distorting the graphic or picture.

2. Counters

A visitor counter or hits counter should not be seen on your site unless you have tremendous traffic. The reason for this is visitors really don’t want to know which visitor they are, especially if they’re visitor number four. There’s no benefit to your visitor, nor is there any benefit to you. The only way showing a counter is advantageous is if you’ve had millions of visitors and wish to display the popularity of your site or would like to attract advertisers with the large numbers. Otherwise, you can use this space for a benefit-packed headline that leads your visitor to another part of your site.

SOLUTION: Most web hosts offer web statistics that reveal daily visitors, hits, referrers, etc. This feature will let you know how many people are visiting your site without the whole world seeing the information. If you’re just starting out, make sure your web host offers this free service.

3. Banners

Limit your banners to the bare necessities. Why? Because banners are graphics that can slow loading time and are a turn-off for many surfers on the internet. For most, “banner” is just another word for “ad” and they avoid clicking on them.

SOLUTION: If you do have a banner or two, place the banner at the very top or bottom of your page. Or you could place a small banner in your sidebar. Most people will look at the first picture they see and then start reading below the picture, so any writing or links that are above the banner may remain unnoticed. Also, the banners on your site should be related to your product or service. Remember, everything on your site should work together to benefit your target customer.

It’s safe to assume most of the dealer principles today in the automotive business have a basic understanding of a website, and what it can do for their business. But most of them are still having trouble with the concept of a web template! It is not surprising web template can be a confusing concept to many, in a nut shell a web template is a web site. It maybe designed for a different purpose but never the less it consists of programming languages in the web industry such as HTML, PHP, ASP, Javascript, and mixture of number of other languages. A web template can be used for many businesses since it is licensed to many rather specifically designed for one business. Hence the cost can be shared amount a few, making them more affordable compare to a custom developed website from a developer. Most of the web templates are customizable but it may not be customizable to someone without the understanding of the languages. You may still need to hire a web developer to modify your code for you.

Training for Affiliate Programs

Everyone knows that sales positions always have the potential to make a lot of money, as with any commission based job. But for many people the negatives outweigh the positives. Cold calls, long hours, quotas, and of course putting up with constant rejection are daunting.

What if there was a way to become a salesperson for hundreds of different companies with hundreds of products and services, with no quotas, no boss and only working a few hours every day from your home computer would you do it? That is what it’s like to be an affiliate marketer.

Why is it important for your pages to load fast you might ask.  The answer is easy; if your pages load slowly you will loose sales.  From a consumer perspective you have a fraction of a second to show activity.  Your page doesn’t have to load completely but they certainly need to see some activity right away.  Consumers are impatient and have been trained by the major sites that pages start displaying immediately.  If you don’t have fast loading pages, most consumers will go to the next site.  It’s not just consumers that value speed, major search engines have stated that it is important for pages to load fast if you want them indexed.  The faster page loads, the more pages you will get indexed.  Some search engines have come out and stated that they will even downgrade your paid search marketing if your pages load slowly.  What can you do to increase page load speed?  Below are the techniques I used to successfully decrease the time it takes to load web pages.

Web researchers found that you have about 2 minutes to make that first impression a good one. Visitors will judge your site in those few seconds on its professionalism and appropriateness to what they are looking for.

In fact, a website can lose about one-third of its potential customers due to poor design, according to a recent user study conducted by some professionals.

Take a long hard look at your site. Or ask a friend to give you a brutally honest review of your site. Does it pass the test of professionalism?