How to make an email link

Here is how to put a link on your web site so when visitors click on it their email (Outlook, Outlook express etc) is opened up with your address already inserted.

Insert this html code into the section of your web page where you want the link to appear.

<a href="mailto:youremailaddress@yourwebsite.com">Email</a>

Replace "youremailaddress" with your actual email address, and "yourwebsite.com" with your website address.

The finished product will look like this.

Email

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Flash - What is it?

Keep coming across the term Flash? Sounds like a way of describing something doesn't it? "That car is Flash", "Flash watch". When it comes to web sites it means something completely different though.

Flash is a type of web technology that is capable of producing interactive animations for web sites. All those cool looking sites with lots of things flying across the screen that follow your mouse around etc is done in flash.

Some websites are completely made out of Flash others have elements of flash in, like navigation buttons.

More web design terms explained

What is a dynamic website?

There are two types of website referred to as “dynamic”...

1. Dynamic content websites
Are the most common and work by generating content based on what is typed into a text box. An example of this is search engine, a visitor types in what they are looking for and a web page is dynamically created, which displays the search results.

2.Animated websites
Also referred to as DHTML websites (DHTML means Dynamic HTML), where part of the web page is animated. A normal web page is made with HTML and DHTML uses clever code called JavaScript to make sections of it move.

DHTML is not the same as a FLASH website, as FLASH doesn’t contain any HTML. For animated websites all professionals use FLASH, as DHTML has become redundant in recent years.

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Domain names - choose the right one

Choosing a domain is a difficult task; as soon as you find a name you like, you just as quickly find it has already been registered, as 93% of the words in the Oxford English dictionary have been registered.

More often then not people then try finding variations of what they originally wanted, different spellings etc, and produce a huge list of possible domain names. To reduce these lists follow these basic rules.


Eliminate domain names with…

• 
  Numbers in i.e. everything4you.com
  This will make it harder to remember, as there will be confusion between four and 4.



• Text spelling i.e. cars4u.com
  
  Mobile phone text language has become popular so more information can fit into a 160-character message. This limitation doesn’t apply to the web, so there is no need to use it, it will only confuse visitors trying to remember your website address.
  

Choose a domain name that…

• Has the .com and. co.uk (for the UK) available
  
  As there is often confusion remember between a .com and other extensions like. co.uk or .ie (Ireland)



• That you don’t have to spell out
  
  If you have to spell a domain name to somebody it is a sign it is a bad one, as it is less obvious and memorable.

A good domain name
Is a memorable one. Follow the advice above and you will be well on your way to picking the right one. However don’t get hung up on choosing one, it is very rare that a domain name will make you a successful website, its what you do with the website that counts.

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Online advertising, How much?

Have you ever wondered how much companies pay to advertise in search engines?

There is a simple way to find out. Overture allows companies to display adverts in Yahoo.co.uk and MSN.co.uk, the 2nd and 3rd largest search engines. They offer a tool so advertisers can see how much a company is paying each time an advert is clicked. The tool is called the Overture Bid Tool. Enter a search term related to your website and see what advertisers are paying.

Overture Bid Tool

Use this tool to help plan your budget for online advertising.

More useful web tools for ebusiness

What do people search for?

Below is a list of the 10 most popular search terms used on the Internet this week.

1 mp3

2 jennifer aniston

3 christmas presents

4 ebay

5 jo guest

6 cars

7 holidays

8 maplins

9 jobs

10 abi titmuss

source 50.lycos.co.uk

More useful web site information

Beginners guide to web design

Are you new to web design? Don't know your Analytics from your Zeitgeist? Then you need to read the Web design A-Z.

You could be setting up your first web site or having one built for your company, whatever your need learn the tools and tricks the professionals use, and improve your web site today.

Beginners Web design A-Z

You have questions, Yahoo have answers!

Yahoo have just released a new website called Answers. You can type in a question and get answers from real people on any topic. Although it is just a test version at the moment this promises to be a very valuable service for all web users.

So the next time you get stuck designing a website, or want to impress somebody try http://answers.yahoo.com/

More useful website design tips

How do I advertise in Google?

To advertise in Google you need to sign up to their Adword program, it is quick and simple todo. Once you have signed up and written your advert (which they help you with), you set a daily budget of how much you wish to spend, say £5 a day. Your adverts will be displayed along side Googles search results instantly, it really is that simple.

Sign up to advertise on Google

Learn more about advertising on the Internet

Getting into Google

Websites that are in Googles results are ones that it has found. Unless you tell Google your website is there, or another website links to yours, Google will never find it.

Tell Google about your website

All you have to do is tell Google where to find your your site. You can do this by going to http://www.google.com/addurl/ and submit your site, easy.

A word of warning it may take several months to appear in their results, so be patient, and remeber it is free.

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Cheaper website design

The cost of website design has dramatically reduced from the booming dotcom days. However the price of having a website designed for you still isn't cheap, especially for small business or individuals setting up.

Reduce the cost of your website

Instead of paying a web design company to design you a professional looking website use a web design template. You can pick one up for as little as £20, rather then paying anything upto £1000 for a bespokes one. They will even customise them for a small fee.

Web design templates

More useful tips on website design

Which search engines do people use?

There are so many search engine on the Internet, but which ones are actually used? Does everybody really use Google?

Google 36.5%
Yahoo 30.5%
MSN 15.5%
AOL 9.9%
ASK 6.1%
InfoSpace 0.9%
Others 0.6%

What does this mean to you?

You can use this information to plan which search engines to advertise your web site in.

Find out how professional get to the top of search engines.

Jpeg's and GIF's when to use them

Alot of people get confused when designing a website with what type of image file to use jpeg or gif.
Each has its own strengths and weakness. This is what you need to know though.

Use Jpegs for...
Images that include photographs

Use Gifs for...
Flat graphics that don't include images
Images that need transparent backgrounds

That's all you need to know.

For more useful information on website design visit www.giantmouse.co.uk.

Useful web tool for ebusiness

Have you ever wanted to know more about a competitors website? Of course you have, especially If your running a ebusiness or e-commerce site.

To find out who is linking to your competitors (a huge factor in ranking well in search engines), and what other information search engines know about their site use this web tool...

www.urltrends.com

Learn about more useful web tools

Browsers - What you need to know

A Browser is the program you use to view pages on the Internet. The chances are you are viewing this page with Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s version. However there are other browsers you can use.

Why would I want to use another browser?

In many people's opinion Internet Explorer is a bad browser. Its starting to show its age, it doesn't have the latest features and because it is the most popular browser it is also the main target of attach for hackers, which means it has security risks.

THE alternative

There is another browser that is a real alternative to Internet Explorer. You may have heard of it, its called Firefox. Depending on whom you ask it is estimated that 10% - 20% of people now use it instead of Internet Explorer.

The reason for this is that Firefox is technically a better browser. It allows you to view multiple pages in one browser rather then have ten copies of Internet Explorer, which slows most people's computer down. Firefox has a whole host of other features to discover, find out why it is becoming so popular.

Download Firefox by clicking here

Useful?

If you found this information useful visit www.giantmouse.co.uk for more like this.

Useful business tools for your website

The Internet is full of tools you can use to improve your website. But which ones are anygood? GIANTmouse.co.uk has research the must have web tools for your website.

Learn what competing website are upto, find out what your visitors are doing on your website and get upto date with all the latest news from you industry, all for free.

Check out the list of web tools for ebusiness list at www.giantmouse.co.uk - your guide to running a website.

Hope you find it useful

GIANTmouse.co.uk team

GIANTmouse.co.uk Guide begins

First Blog to inform and share information about www.giantmouse.co.uk - your guide to owning a website.

If you are looking for a guide to running a website check out www.giantmouse.co.uk.

GIANTmouse.co.uk team