Employment opportunities on the Internet part1

When it comes to making a living online, the chances have never been brighter! You already see that there are plenty of people who are seeing a great deal of success when it comes to making money online, but what might not be immediately apparent is how you can join them. Search engine marketing, particularly through pay per click services, is becoming quite popular when it comes to earning a living from the comfort of your own home, but remember, you need to be critical of the opportunities that you will find. Take a look below for some tips that will steer you towards the right opportunity, and don't go forward until you can tick every single one off of your list.

Find out how much time you can devote to this opportunity.

The best opportunity for you will be one that will fit into the time that you have slotted for it. It doesn't matter how great an opportunity is if you are constantly trying to get more work, or it constantly expects more from you than you can give.

20 RULES FOR BETTER WEB SITE DESIGN Part4

16. Go Easy on the Gizmos.

Though the free-enterprise system is trying hard to make it one, the Web is not currently set up to be

a multimedia entertainment center. I once heard morning radio jock Howard Stern joke about how

he waited an hour to download a movie clip that eventually played in a grainy frame about twoinches

wide. He suddenly realized that in the next room was a life-size TV hooked up to 120 clearchannel

cable stations. Why do people continue to squeeze basketball-size media files through a

connection the size of a garden hose? Your visitors will reward you if you chill out on the special

effects and don’t force them to download dozens of plug-ins to view your pages.

17. Make Good Use of Page Titles

This is a simple but often-overlooked design tip. The words you put between the tags show up at the top of your visitor’s browser. Those words are also indexed by many

search engines. Make sure they describe the specific page, your name, and some reference to your

brand image. Commercial HTML editing programs generally provide an easy way to insert page

titles.

18. Stick With Standard Link Colors

Certain standards have developed on the Web. One of those standards concerns the colors given to

various types of hyperlinks. Blue is used for unvisited links, red for an active link as it is being

clicked, and purple for links that have been recently visited. With all the skepticism that exists on the

Internet, your brand will benefit by providing your visitors with some surfing standards they can

count on.

19. Use Hyperlinks, Especially Within Your Site

One of the most appealing aspects of the Web is its interconnectivity. Some of the best sites

encourage visitors to bounce around from page to page within the site—or even section to section on

the same page. One article can reference a topic covered in another article. Instead of plainly stating,

You’ll find more information on Labradors in my FAQ on hunting dogs, make the words FAQ on

hunting dogs an active hyperlink that takes the reader straight to that page.

20. Conduct Informal Usability Research

Once you’ve come up with a site design plan you’re happy with, invite a few friends over who know

little about your planned site. Have them visit your home page. Ask them to tell you what the site is

about; then ask them to browse around and click what interests them. Observe the pages they go to

and which navigation links they use to get there. Next, give them specific tasks: Place an order;

subscribe to the newsletter, and so on. Note which steps come easily and which ones reveal obstacles.

This isn’t rocket science; but this kind of casual research will help you find your site’s strengths and

weaknesses quickly.

20 RULES FOR BETTER WEB SITE DESIGN Part3

11. Provide Navigation Along the Top, Left Side, and Bottom

When people surf the Web, they love to slip and slide from site to site and page to page. Make sure

each of your pages has easy-to-find navigation options along the top and bottom of the page. When

visitors come to the end of an article, don’t make them scroll all the way back up to the top to get to

their next destination. Most well designed pages also have menu options in a left column. In this

column, you can either duplicate the navigation options you offer at the top and bottom or create a

separate set of links to pages directly related to the content on that page.

12. Adhere to the Three-Click Rule

Many experts advise that any piece of information on your site should be no further than three clicks

away from your home page. I suggest you go further and limit the rule to two clicks. Think of your

home page as the first level. All pages you provide a link to from the home page would be considered

the second level. Any additional pages you direct people to from the second level would be

considered the third level. Third-level pages are two clicks away from the home page. Don’t create

pages that go any deeper than the third level, if you can help it.

13. Stay Away From Autoplay Sounds

For some reason, many Web site owners love heaping musical ditties on visitors the minute they

arrive. It may seem like a good idea; but autoplay sounds take extra time to load. They can also come

blaring out of someone’s speakers when he or she least expects it, for example, at work near the boss’s

office or at home when the baby is sleeping.

14. Check for Browser Compatibility

The most common Web browsers display pages in pretty much the same way; but there are

variations. The last time I checked statistics; close to 80 percent of Internet users listed Microsoft’s

Internet Explorer as their browser of choice. You definitely want to make sure your site is designed

to accommodate Bill Gates’ favorite browser. However, Netscape Navigator is still used by a

significant number of people, as are many other, lesser-known browsers. Try to view your Web pages

using different browsers to make sure everything displays correctly. Three sites that can help you

determine the browser-friendliness of your pages are Net Mechanic

(http://www.netmechanic.com/maintain.htm), Web Site Garage (http://websitegarage.netscape.com/),

and AnyBrowser.com (http://www.anybrowser.com/).

15. Update Your Site Often

While your goal should be to make your site appealing to first-time visitors, you also need to give

visitors good reasons to return. Keep your site fresh by adding new content on a regular basis. That

doesn’t mean you should make radical changes to your design all the time, but you can add new

articles, products, giveaways, and so on.