Graphics - (Gifs, Jpgs or BMP) The most preferable type of graphic to use is a gif. It can be optimized for very fast loading. Use a jpg format whenever it is important to maintain the high color density of a picture for effectiveness in your presentation. A picture is worth a thousand words. This is very true on the web. Imagine buying something as simple as a box of cereal in a grocery store with only a description of the ingredients to guide your decision. Too many graphics, especially on your home page will cause the page to load so slow that a visitor may leave before it even loads. Use graphics sparingly and only to build excitement on the home page. If a lot of graphics are necessary for a particular product and/or service, consider a picture page and indicate at the top of the page that it will load slowly but the wait will be worth the visitors time.
Text - Plan, write and re-write text until it truly becomes effective. Be aware that what you say and how you say it is all important when this is the only representation of you that a viewer can see. Remember that people are used to reading from left to right and plan your pages in that manner. Too much centering of text will turn a viewer away from your site. Use centering for emphasis only. And use a lot of white space to draw a viewers eyes to statements that are the heart of what you are trying to say.
Theme - Work at developing a slogan for your company. Think about the big successes and how they developed a line that was representative of what they are about. Fill in the blanks. _______ that's the name and away go troubles down the drain. or Things go better with______. This is what I mean by a slogan. You know what the product is by looking at the line.
Java/Animation - Both Java and Animation are cool, but even with todays high speed modems they can cause too much delay in the loading of pages. Instead use styles such as for the links witin my site. They cause the colors to change when the mouse goes over them, adding coolness to the site without the burden of increased load time. Once again, the load time of your pages is critical. Avoid the use of too much of these goodies.
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