July 31, 2008 at 8:10 pm · Filed under Web_Design
Are you looking at lowering your annual hosting costs? Are you fed up with having to pay hosting fees? Are you unsure which company to use to host your new website? These are questions that many people would answer yes to. I myself have a large number of websites and the cost of hosting them all, does at times annoy me. In this article I look at alternative options that I have recently heard about which could be the answer to some of these hosting cost frustrations.
The popularity and demand of web designers has never been greater. More and more people are looking into the benefits of having their own website/s. This could of course be used to promote their own business and to even sell their products online. It could just be a site to promote their sports/social club or just a website about their family. A growing number of people are looking to make money on the internet by selling advertising space on their site, this could be in the form of a program like google adsense or some other form of adverts. As you can see lots of people want an online prescence for lots of different reasons and web designers have never had it so good.
All of these people once they have had their site built then need to find a company to host it for them. This area can seem like a minefield with so many different options. Should you just simply go for the cheapest price? What is the difference between all of the companies? Should I stick with a UK company or should I go with a US company? Most people find all of this hosting business quite confusing and quite a pain. What people need is a simple solution.
A few months ago I heard about a company who was combining web design and web hosting under one type of umbrella. They basically stated that they would be a happy to build a site for so much money and would host if for you for free. This is a great idea and the price they quoted was very reasonable. I looked at their portfolio and was very impressed, I will be recommending them to many people in the future.
This is what could be the future of web design and web hosting. It certainly would make it a lot easier for the average man on the street.
Stephen Hill helps to promote a number of websites including:
stuttering information
cheap hosting
best hosting rates
Tags: business, cheap web hosting, free web hosting, online, web design, web hosting, web hosting costsbusiness, cheap web hosting, free web hosting, online, web design, web hosting, web hosting costsShare This
June 19, 2008 at 6:11 am · Filed under Web_Design
How many times have you read in an online forum or a web design tutorial that embedded midi (Musical Instrumental Digital Interface) files are “bad”? Probably more times than you care to remember. For the most part, embedded sound files of any kind have been categorized as web site “bling-bling”, right along side animated gifs, flashing banners and complex frames layouts. Essentially, they just contribute to unnecessary glitz and clutter that does nothing more than distract visitors and significantly slow page download times.
There is historical justification for this stereotype, as many beginning webmasters tend to go overboard with the bells and whistles on their first web design attempts. This is just part of the learning process and should not be judged too harshly.
With all the bad press that embedded midi files get, some of the more accomplished web designers tend to avoid using them. This is unfortunate, because if implemented and managed properly, midi files can add benefit to some types of web sites, both for the visitors and the web site owners. In fact, I’m going to go as far as to say that an appropriately implemented midi file can actually drive more traffic and even increase sales! Sound fishy? Maybe so, but just hear me out.
The key to using a midi file effectively is to help create a desired mood in conjunction with the color scheme, graphics, and layout of a given web page. Let me give you an example.
Let’s pretend that John and Jane have just lost their precious little Maltese of 12 years to kidney failure. They are surfing the Web, looking for a perfect pet memorial to celebrate the life of their dear friend. They have narrowed their search to your site ‘A’ and a competitor site ‘B’. Site ‘B’ has a professional looking site, reasonable prices, adorable pictures of other pets whose owners have bought from and recommend them, and detailed descriptions and images of the various memorials. It almost brings a tear to your eye. Almost.
Now, your site ‘A’ has comparable professionalism, prices, emotional design, etc., but in addition, you’ve included an embedded midi file that plays a sad little, heart-tugging, piece of music in the background. Those eyes that were almost ready to tear up at your competitor’s site now start watering full tilt as the background music helps them remember all the wonderful times they had with their pup. Who do you think they’re going to buy from? Exactly.
The previous example may be a bit over-dramatized, but the theory is sound. Sometimes, little psychological nudges in the right direction can mean the difference between a two-week vacation in Cancun and a day trip to the local water park.
The real problems with embedded midi files arise when webmasters do not give their visitors any control over the sounds emanating from their web pages. Most people become frustrated and annoyed when they are forced to listen to music that they cannot shut off at leisure. Using the example above, I imagine that even John and Jane would be getting pretty annoyed around the 10th time the background music loops as they are still trying to decide between the granite and the obsidian plaque.
The IE browser makes it a bit easier in cases like this because the toolbar stop button is capable of stopping midi play, along with page download and all other animation, of course. However, other browsers like Mozilla Firefox that have to rely on a QuickTime or other third party plug-ins do not have this luxury. If the site designer does not supply a control console of some type, the visitors are held prisoner and will likely escape at the first chance they get.
There is no voodoo involved with displaying a midi console on a web page. The basic EMBED code is fairly standard. You’ve probably seen or used something similar to this in the past:
< EMBED SRC="filename.mid" HIDDEN="false" AUTOSTART="true" VOLUME="60" height="25" width="200" LOOP="true" >
The trick is getting the darn console to display properly across all browsers using different plug-ins. The embed statement shown above, for example, will not display properly in Firefox or Netscape using the QuickTime plug-in.
I have had decent success implementing midi consoles using BGSOUND with the following javascript. I make no guarantees, but I’ve seen this work in the newer Firefox and Netscape browsers using the QuickTime plug-in as well as in IE with QuickTime or Windows Media Player.
x=”midifilename.mid”;
document.write(’< NOEMBED >< BGSOUND SRC="'+x+'" AUTOSTART=true LOOP=true >< /NOEMBED >< EMBED SRC="'+x+'" WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=45 AUTOSTART=true LOOP=true > ‘)
Don’t be afraid to experiment. If you have an existing web site or are in the process of building one that you think might benefit from a bit of midi psychology, then track down an appropriate file and give it a whirl. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Bob Davis is a professional database consultant, web designer, graphic artist, and Internet marketer.
If you’d like some solid tips on starting your own legitimate internet business, then read his free ‘Home Internet Business Guide for Beginners’ at http://www.internetbusiness-home.com
Here are some of Bob’s other sites you may enjoy visiting:
http://www.petsnfamily.com
http://www.cats-furniture.com
Tags: benefit, design, embedded, files, increase, midi, online, sales, sound, webbenefit, design, embedded, files, increase, midi, online, sales, sound, webShare This
