We all know the expression don’t put the cart before the horse. Frankly there are more times we should think about that than we actually do. Most of us humans tend to get excited and shot out of a cannon when we decide to start a new idea and therefore try and swallow it whole or put the proverbial cart before the proverbial horse. The irony is both the cart and the horse are valuable and useful tools.

The same principles apply to those of us tackling the Internet arena. For those of us starting or maintaining a web business we need to be careful we don’t get ahead of ourselves. Sometimes less is more. And there will be other times that it is time for more. We are going to apply this mindset to web design and the fancy shmancy flash web graphics.

Flash first appeared as Macro media in 1996. It is now more commonly known as Adobe Flash. It is a multimedia platform. It is very diverse in its applications. Due to its capability it is a favorite with web designers into animation and interactivity uses. Advertisers tend to prefer this kind of media because of all the bells and whistles. In fact its uses go beyond the computer. It has application in cell phones, games, movies and any other embedded doohickeys.

Basically it allows the simultaneous application of images, audio/video streams, and all kinds of graphics going on to “blow up” your design. It truly is eye pleasing and stunning, which is another reason why web designers love it. It is satisfying to put a site together and see the results of the Flash software.

If you have built your web business to a high level, then by all means it is time to consider a web design using the Adobe Flash. But don’t forget the horse always comes first.

Yes, flash is great but flash is also cash. As in it can be costly to have a professional web design put together with it. And there is no guarantee that the web designer knows as much about search engine marketing and optimization as he does design. That can be trouble right here in River City. “Oh boy I have breathtaking web page and no one knows about it” is what you will be saying. That is because sometimes there is a lot of cart and no horse.

Never forget every web site needs to have SEO friendly components. Starting with the old star of the show: content. If you go ahead and build a masterpiece of a web page and leave out the SEO components it may cost you some mucho dinero to fix the “over flashed” showpiece. Sometimes it can be deceiving too. There may appear to be adequate content in the form of text only to find out later that the “state of the art” flash font is unreadable by search engine keyword finders.

A common mistake is text is buried in images which even Google has warned web masters and designers of in the past. This is also the spot in the article where I remind you that many people still use dial up or DSL connections. An over flashed web page is going to get “lost in translation” meaning it isn’t going to load up in a large percentage of homes and businesses. The rule of thumb is if 5 seconds go by without a site appearing, “the feces have hit the oscillating blades”.

“Okay, I’ll forget the flash! Are you happy now?” some of you are thinking. No, flash is mega cool and there will likely come a time when it can be productive and beneficial. Just never forget the horse always should be in the front of the cart.

The general consensus among the web “hierarchy” is appropriate splash of flash and an abundance of good ole textual SEO friendly content.

We all square here? The horse’s name is SEO friendly content and the cart is called Flash. The floor is now yours.

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In business a great deal of time and money is spent in advertising. Companies are hired to write a great ad or even perhaps a fantastic commercial. Choosing the right message and communicating that message is vital to get your money’s worth out of advertisement. Content is King. But just as much time and money is invested in the visual aspect of an ad when it is for print, TV, or the Internet. In fact some would argue that more often than not people remember the visual parts of an ad more than the words.

When it comes to marketing on the Internet, the same principles apply when it comes to presentation and advertisement. Images in fact are very influential in web appeal. So while you want to spend significant time and energy in getting people to your web site, it is just as important that you keep them there. You want them to seriously consider doing business with you or cheerfully make a purchase from you. If you are a business than the first thing you want is a killer logo. What makes a logo killer first of all?

Well if I were to simply say “the golden arches” or “the swoosh” would not McDonald’s and Nike immediately come into your mind? Using those as examples it is apparent that a great logo is simple, clever, innovative, and well presented. Then there are examples like FedEx who utilize the same ingredients and yet incorporate the company name into the logo. Burger King has also used their name woven into the logo and been very successful. Or Harley Davidson for example not only uses there name but was able to include what their product is. As you can see there are plenty of references you can use to help you decide on your logo.

In fact if you have a memorable logo then, it will likely enhance your traffic when consumers are on the search engine. When they see your site come up in their results your logo will pop into there head and increase the possibility of your site being selected.

Once you establish your logo however, it is important to arrange your content in an eye appealing manner. It is important to have thorough information and directions on your site but it is also important for it not to be cluttered and too busy.

Having appropriate illustrations and/or graphics is always a nice touch. Using a symmetrical style is usually the best way to go also. That too has an eye appeal.

Often times your pictures are basically an ad in themselves so choose pictures that “tell” people the most information. Have you ever heard the old expression a picture is worth a thousand words? Well make it the best thousand words you can say. Look at it from a buyers view. Be careful not to flood your site with pictures though. You will dilude the effectiveness.

Complimenting all of these items is your color scheme. There are many studies that give advice on what colors, induce what moods, and under what scenarios. Consider the vibe you want to portray. Experiment with a few options. Is there reason to appeal more to one gender over another? What are your demographics concerning age?

These types of questions should also be a part of our decision making process throughout the entire web site building process.

Use your past experience reading web pages. You know what pages kept your attention. You recall which ones lost you in the first paragraph or at first sight. You remember which pages just went on and on and on, and which web sites told you exactly what you wanted in a palatable way. Build your site the way you would want to see a site presented to you.

What if you are hiring someone else to take care of all these details for you? In the end it is important that you stay involved in the operation. Don’t just be an observer but be a contributor. Have an idea of what you want your site to look like in the end. Be hands on.

In the long run you want to optimize the traffic and maximize the attention of your visitors. You want them to use your site and immediately feel like they should come back again. So get at it and good luck!

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So the fam and I are traveling along the road and were hungry. Not much to see here on the interstate in the way of restaurants, but “oh looky there”, that handy little blue sign says there is a pancake house and a burger joint off of the next exit. Oh the power of suggestion.

More like an invitation isn’t it? A friendly reminder showing us our options? In fact we are accustomed to these info signs when we travel. In fact along the highway we are also exposed to host of billboards. A long time standard when it comes to roadside advertisements.

The info signs are carefully placed as exits come upon us. They alert us to the amenities nearby within easy access to the road we are on. Billboards on the other hand are a little more aggressive and meant to be eye catching. It is more of a visual and presented more like a commercial. It is a classic advertisement.

Guess what? Now you have a better understanding of some of the ads used to attract “travelers” or surfers of the Internet. As people search the web and “choose an exit” by clicking onto a specific page they will use the info signs and billboard style advertisements offered on many sites if they are there. The fact is it is an on-line business just as it is a business in the “real” world. It just works a little different.

On a highway the info signs are provided as a courtesy in most cases and probably do not cost the local restaurants and hotels a cent to be listed on those information signs. Even if it did cost them, they would be wise to participate nevertheless.

In the case of a billboard, of course, this is more of a standard advertisement. The business displayed there, pays an advertising company a fee to put their billboard together. Now you can be in the advertising business. How is that?

For the answer to that let’s go back on-line. Let’s say you are like most people and you are just the “amateur” or “novice” to Internet money making. Let’s say in your case you have your own web page where you offer free instructional exercise routines. You have a section that gives nutritional advice and you have step by step directions for a daily work out. Throughout your site you have professional images and photos to help your readers get the flavor of what you are explaining. All of this is great. Why not earn an income from your hard work? Even if it is just to pay for your generosity of providing the site, you can make some money from your site on the side.

Two very popular and successful ways to do this is by adsense ads and/or what is called a web banner. Both have a similar function but are slightly different in basic ways. If you review our traveling ‘on the road’ scenario you will get a general idea of the difference.

Adsense has less of a commercial presentation to it. Although it is still effective, it is less aggressive and more subtle in its application. (See previous article “Making Cents of Adsense” for more on an adsense program.) It is more like the courtesy info signs we mentioned previously. For the sake of this discussion we want to talk briefly about web banners.

When it comes to banners you want to have the billboard image in your mind. It is simply an image or billboard style ad embedded on your web page. These web banners are usually constructed in what is called GIF, JPEG, PNG, or Javascript or sometimes a multimedia object using Java, Silverlight, Shockwave, or Flash that may result in animation, sound, and/or video. How they are crafted and embedded is something you can easily learn from personal research or asking others who know. Perhaps even consulting a computer related topics forum. These banners can be shaped to fit the symmetry of the content of the page.

So picture your page of exercise routines and photos. Then for example, across the bottom or perhaps along the side imagine a long rectangular shaped box with a logo of a local gym or a workout video someone is selling. The best part of this banner is not only is it a visual ad but when clicked on it is also a link to a web page set up by the business you are displaying the banner for. As people use your page to link to the business who your banner is leading them to, you can earn a small fee for directing people to their site.

Another appealing aspect to a banner is the Internet offers many banner building sites where you can increase traffic to your site by building your own banner and putting it on free host sites like Myspace or Facebook and so on. You also can make the banner available to your friends who have sites to post your banner. And thus they can build a banner for you to place on your site.

So whether you want to make a little income from advertising for on-line businesses by posting their banners or you just want to make an eye catching banner for your site, by all means mind your banners. Why not use them for everything you can use them for and get more out of your on-line experience? It’s fun and you might make more money than you thought was even possible.

Hey we all use the signs on the road don’t we? So what makes you think that people wouldn’t use the “signs” on the Internet?

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