Here is another great article by Kabir Bedi, our guest author.

Kabir Bedi is the senior Web Consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a premier web design company India that offers web design solutions, custom web development and Internet promotion services to its clients. He also advices clients to establish a strong online presence for their business.

How To Have Clean Markup In Website Development?

The trends and turn of events in the web world keep changing. And as the trends change, the website design also need to undergo transformation, like incorporation of new technologies, so as to keep up the pace of the website with the latest web trends.

Therefore, it is crucial to keep your site updated with those in-built changes so that your website can ride the current easily when a new wave approaches, instead of getting drowned in it. This article further discusses about the fundamentals of web standard and what importance does clean mark up has in website designing and development.

Clean Mark Up – A brief introduction

Clean markup is the one that should not be cluttered. It should be W3C standard compliant and using tags and structures as per each of the intended purposes. A search engine friendly site is the one that has more content and less code on the pages. This lets search engine crawl your website more often than it used to do earlier and the consequence is that your site comes on the top.

Clutter-free HTML or clean mark up is one that makes lesser use of tags, eliminates all the extraneous and accomplishes the tasks with as little markup as necessary. It avoids needless attributes, such as online CSS, and leaves each document structured and organized.

What is the need? It is working fine, Isn’t that enough?

Every project has to be completed within the deadline and to meet deadlines, web developers often end up doing sloppy codes and the desired clean and standard compliant mark up remains no where in the scene. They just say, it is working fine, and this is all that matters. It may work fine in the beginning but what happens after a year or two? After some time the ranking of your website will come down.

Therefore, to save both your money, time and grievances, do it right the first time. It is crucial for your website success that it should do well from usability factor and SEO perspective. The automatic coding done by using the tool is too horrible to do justice with the quality of coding. Coding done manually is always better, cleaner and valued in the eyes of search engines. Hence, making proper use of , , , tags help search engine crawlers to crawl your page more frequently and early.

Extent of accessibility, translation and future use

Today, Internet surfing is not only limited to desktops or laptops but Internet is accessed on other smaller gadgets like iphones, smart phones and palmtops. So the usability of web has reached to a new level and demands for an extended accessibility.

With the increasing trend of mobile browsing, there is an extended need of clean markup with XHTML that helps facilitate the ease of search on the smaller screen. Your site developed with W3C standard compliance and clean markup ensures you the success in the long run.

Let us take a look at some Do’s and Dont’s while achieving clean markup for your site.

Do’s:
1.Make proper use of the , , , tags to facilitate crawling by the crawlers.

2.Do Validate your HTML, XHTML, CSS with proper tools.

3.Name your CSS classes and IDs using meaningful terms.

4.Make use of alt tags as well as title tags in your Markup, as both have their own significance.

5.The first letter of each word in the title should be kept capital. Google prefers them more.

Dont’s:
1.Include inline styles or extraneous tags and attributes just because you have pressure to complete the project.

2.Use automated tool to generate codes. This will affect the proper functionality of the website and restrict the site from being SEO friendly.

A clean coding of the website is the key to SEO success. Therefore, coding manually is the right option for getting coding done and PSD to XHTML conversion. This may take a little longer time to get the project completed but the result you will achieve in the last would be more than satisfactory.

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Here is another great article by Kabir Bedi, our guest author.

Kabir Bedi is Web Consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a professional web development company that offers a full range of web design services along with SEO & internet promotion service. He has over 10 years of experience in the industry and leads a group of web developers to create effective web solutions for their clients.

Is Web Design Ruining Your SEO Efforts – 5 Things NOT To Do!

Search Engine Optimization is often thought of as a set of tips & techniques that, if done right, can shoot up your website ranking in search results and get it to the top! This is only half-truth though.

The process of optimizing a website starts right from the time you think about building a website. Yeah… contrary to popular belief, SEO is not something that follows website launch. Rather it is what you need to base your design process on. And just like there are best practices to optimize your website, there are also other stuff that can potentially have a negative influence on your SEO efforts.

So just as much you need to do the right things, you also need to make sure you don’t do the wrong things:

Here are some design elements that you absolutely must NOT apply:

Drop Down Navigation or Mouse-Over Menus

This was a rage till recent past! Drop down menus not only saves real estate on a page but is a great way to arrange the navigation elements cleanly… Not to mention the sleek drop-down boxes that add to the visual appeal! However, when it comes to search engine optimization, drop down navigation drops down the value. Search engine crawlers cant fill out forms even if there’s just one pull-down. So, they cant get to those pages… least of all index the contents.

So make sure you have an alternate means of navigating those pages so that search engine crawlers can get there. You can include text links in the footer of your web pages or use image links or an image map. Also, chuck JavaScript and use AJAX or divs to get the same drop down and ensure search engine appeal at the same time.

Flash or JavaScript for Primary Navigation

Even though search engine crawlers have come off age and become smarter at indexing Flash contents, I don’t think its worth the risk. If your primary navigation needs Flash, Java or JavaScript to function, that puts a big question mark on whether search engine crawlers will parse through or not. Remember, search engine crawlers have a limited ability to deal with Flash, Java and Javascript. So any links that you put there have a good enough chances of not being seen by the search spiders.

A more reliable option is to count on semantically marked up HTML. You get what you want on your navigation pathway and search engine crawlers get what they come for.

Fully Flash Website

Graphic artists and ardent designers would swear by Flash but when it comes search engine appeal, its better to mellow down your ‘flashy’ instincts. If you want to score well in Google SERPs, then you have to create what is called search-friendly design. And as mentioned earlier, inspite of the increasing Flash-consciousness of search engine spiders, they still have a preference for plain text.

Keep the main textual elements of the page out of Flash along with all the page titles and section headings. And if at all (despite all the red signals) you have to use Flash, make sure you have an alternate text version within div tags. Also, don’t forget to use SWFObject, a standards-friendly method to embed Flash content.

Frames for Design

For one, Google clearly dissuades the use of frames as they tend to cause problems with search engines, bookmarks, emailing links etc. In fact, it can be a nightmare to scroll through a website that has frames. Since part of the page moves while others stay stationary, it gets pretty difficult to follow where to read and where to scroll. Moreover, not all browsers support frames so you can lose a considerable amount of audience. Worse of all frames create additional maintenance and server load.

So… really.. You are better off without it!

Pop Up Boxes

Pop-ups rely on JavaScript! And this is a roadblock for search engine crawlers just hate. Not only does the content within pop-ups not get indexed but they are a nuisance for website visitors. No wonder most people have installed pop-up blockers. And in case you dint know, Google toolbar and Yahoo Companion toolbar have built-in pop-up blockers.

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Here is another great article by Kabir Bedi, our guest author.

Kabir Bedi is the senior web consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a premier website development company that provides its clients with a range of web designing services along with internet promotion services. He has over 10 years of experience in catering to international clients.

5 Design Delusions That Can Take Toll On Your Website!

Plug-Ins Make Life Easier

Sure they do! But when your website totally relies on a plug-in, there is too much at stake. When you create a website entirely dependent on closed third party plug-ins, it can actually lead to serious backfire. Often people don’t have these plug-ins installed on their browsers and when they try to view your website, they would be only be irritated by the windows’ constant plea for installation. And more often than not, they just choose to leave instead of succumbing.

So try to stick to cross-browser, standards-compliant code and tools for your website that don’t require any additional work or installations from your visitors.

Reduce the Image File Size As Much As Can Be

It is always advisable to limit the file sizes on your website so as to enhance its usability and make web pages load faster. However, web designers often stretch this a bit to far and reduce image sizes so much that they appear ugly and jagged on the front end. While this may definitely reduce the weight of the website, the crappy look of images only serve to paint an unprofessional picture on the other end.

The decreasing number of dial-up internet users has pushed up the acceptable image sizes. So you don’t have to make things as small as can be lest it takes toll on the design appearance and reduce the apparent quality of your website. After you are done, make sure you preview your processed images on multiple monitors and negate any scope of distortion.

More Content = More Goodies

Content definitely is the king on the web. But that doesn’t mean you overload your website with information. Often designers, in a bid to serve more info to their audiences, tend to include too much content on a web page that it ends up creating a feeling of clutter and ruining the visual readability of the page.

They key is not to fill in disparate information on a single area of your web page. Even though there may be times when you need lots of content, make sure you pay attention to the organization. Place your content in a consistent and attractive manner so that visitors get all that they need to know without seeing a mess.

Variety is Nice!

It sure doesn’t hurt to provide your users with a variety of options but when it comes to design, its better to maintain a little consistency. It shouldn’t be the case, when visitors hop from one page to another, they shouldn’t feel they have landed on completely different terrain.

Users are more comfortable when they become familiar with the look and functioning of a website within a few seconds. If you present them with something drastically different every few pages, they would only be confused and have a less efficient experience. So practice consistency!

Ads Make Great Business Sense

While ads are a great source of revenue, often times they serve to detract visitors from your message and erodes on your professionalism. Littering web pages with ads can seriously bring down its aesthetic feel. Moreover, web users have come to ignore ads altogether so there is a huge question mark on their real effectiveness.

So, make sure you consider carefully before you place ads on your website!

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2009 is drawing to a close. I can’t believe that another year has gone by so quickly.

One of the things that I had set out to do this year was to take web development to another level. We did redesigned the eBusinessDomains.com website and launch a few other sites such as BrandingSuccess.com.

We also wanted to launch 2 full-scale brands before the end of 2009. That will not happen as one project took most of our time. Well a lot of key developments here at eBusinessDomains.com and in my other businesses took most of the time.

So in the end we only did some serious work on Aeroplanes.com. We have been working on the Aeroplanes.com project for some months now. I am truly excited about what is coming.

The developers have been busy for some while now creating, customising and integrating a lot of technologies.

In the research phase I contacted a lot of developers. I did promise to have some web developers handle different aspects of the project. However due to the complexity and sheer scale of the project, I have decided to contract only one company instead. So, if you are one of the developers that I had previously approached, please don’t feel insulted or sidestepped. I’m sure that after the launch you will agree that this was a job for one company.

I was hoping to have Aeroplanes.com launched by the end of November. This will not be a reality, obviously. As they say, choose 2 and sacrifice the other of time, quality and money. I am not sacrificing any. Period.

The project is a huge and complex one. Another reason why we would not be able to meet the deadline is that one of the technologies that we are planning on using is still in beta, and we will not be launching until this technology is given the all clear.

So, this may take us into 2010. This will be my last blog post for the next 3 weeks. I have some urgent and pressing matters to focus on elsewhere. When those matters are dealt with, I will then need to give the Aeroplanes.com project my full attention. By then, we should be in the testing phases and I will need to be on the ball getting the project ready for launch.

I will also need to start focusing on the strategies that will need to be implemented prior to and after the launch.

So, as for the next few months, it will be less domaining for me, and more web and brand development.

eBusinessDomains.com will take a backseat until we get Aeroplanes.com at cruise control heights. Taking off is one of the most key aspects of a flight. So, we will be doing a lot of checking and preparation before take off, and then a lot of work once we are in the air, web and brand development-wise.

When we focus again on eBusinessDomains, our main and only objective will be to decisively take our business to end-users. By developing Aeroplanes.com we are now end-users, and as such we should have some very intimate knowledge about ebusinesses.

I say again, web development is hard work. Laugh all you want. It is not as hard as doing manual labour in the tropical sunshine. But, it is nothing close to the minisite-level of web development (design) that some people only seem to be able to associate web development with.

There is web design, web development, business development and brand development. If we were launching a mini site we would have had a site up in July without even having to wink. We would only need to simply send an email and a Paypal payment to one of those minisite service providers. Minisite creation is barely web design. We are doing full-scale business and brand development.

In 2010 we will shake off the domainer mentality, block out the noise, and get clothed in the entrepreneurial spirit by launching full-scale Internet brands and doing business with like-minded entrepreneurs.

I’m blogging about the Aeroplanes.com project here as we don’t have any sort of temporary functional website setup yet at Aeroplanes.com, and our corporate site (WidestMedia.com) won’t go live until next year.

If you want to be notified of the launch of Aeroplanes.com or participate in any of our beta tests, then you can subscibe via email at Aeroplanes.com.

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After over 3 months of intense research, conceptualising and planning, we are now ready to build the monster. Yes, Aeroplanes.com will be a monster of a website.

I cannot tell you in private or public what we are coming with. But even if you use your wildest imagination, I doubt you would even come close to figuring it out. I personally want the project to have the shock effect, so I’m not going to say any more on this project.

Given the sheer size and complexity of the project, it may still be a while before we go live with Aeroplanes.com. We were aiming to launch at the end of November, but given my schedule before Christmas, and the amount of testing and tweaking that will be involved, it could be as far as January 2010. Well, Mint.com took 2 years to be launched, so, as they say “good things come to those who wait”.

Aeroplanes.com will be powered by numerous technologies, from all around the world. Most of these technologies power very popular websites/Internet destinations on their own. We are talking about sites within the top 1000 Alexa rankings, some even within the top 100. Yes, some sites only use one, anyone of the technologies we are using. So, you should imagine the sheer magnitude of what we are coming with!

I am a very fussy guy. I take great care in what I eat, where I live, what I wear, what I drive, which women I date, and the list goes on. Of course you already know my obsession with quality domain names .

So, when I decide to launch a new brand, you know it has to be the crème de la crème of web development. Anyway, enough of the hype (although my hype will have loads of substance to support it ).

Aeroplanes
Well, if you read this blog you will know from the comments on previous posts that the word “aeroplanes” (airplanes) is not so popular with Americans.

I love aeroplanes. I’m truly fascinated by these man-made beasts. It’s really hard to imagine how these things take-off and stay in the sky under the perfect control of a human being.

The Airbus A380 Aeroplane
The world’s largest passenger aeroplane is the Airbus A380, which is a twin deck aeroplane.

What is truly fascinating about the Airbus A380 is how it is built. Now, stay with me. There is a reason why I’m sharing all of this with you.

The Airbus all-new design Superjumbo, the A380, is the world’s first twin-deck, twin-aisle airliner.

Airbus’s A380 aircraft sections is transported from sites in Broughton (UK), Hamburg (Germany), Puerto Real (Spain) and St Nazaire (France) in a specially constructed huge roll-on / roll-off vessel, the “Ville de Bordeaux”, built by Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, China.

First, the front and rear sections of the fuselage are loaded on an Airbus RORO ship, Ville de Bordeaux, in Hamburg, northern Germany, whence they are shipped to the United Kingdom. There the huge wings, which are manufactured at Filton in Bristol and Broughton in north Wales, are transported by barge to Mostyn docks, where the ship adds them to its cargo. In Saint-Nazaire, western France, the ship trades the fuselage sections from Hamburg for larger, assembled sections, some of which include the nose. The ship unloads in Bordeaux. Afterwards, the ship picks up the belly and tail sections in Cadiz, southern Spain, and delivers them to Bordeaux. Doors were specially made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bangalore, India. A special IC was also made in India and delivered to Airbus specially for A-380.

From there, the A380 parts are transported by barge to Langon, and by road to an assembly hall in Toulouse. New wider roads, extra canal systems and barges were developed to deliver the massive A380 parts. After assembly, the aircraft are flown to Hamburg to be furnished and painted. Final assembly began in 2004, with first aircraft (MSN001) displayed in January 2005.

This is an aeroplane, with parts made not only in many factories, but many countries.

A Visual Representation of True Web And Brand Development
Now, I am going to provide a link below to a video on YouTube, showing the construction of the Airbus A380 in 7 minutes. I have always said that web development is hard work. It took me over 3 months just to conceptualise and plan the aeroplanes.com project, and to acquire/order all the relevant technologies (from various countries). This is before the developers were even identified.

Now, when you watch the video, use your imagination. I want you to imagine that they are not building an aeroplane, but rather developing a website (that will become a powerful brand). If you can do that, then you will understand my perspective of web development. You will also understand the complexity and sheer magnitude of the Aeroplanes.com project.

Click here to watch the video on YouTube - Building the Airbus A380.

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