This is the second part (of two) on Website Mistakes. Avoid these
mistakes and your site will be steps ahead of your competition. If
you'd like to read Part One, go to www.techlh.com/newsletters/

6. Orphan Pages
Every website has a heirarchy, a sort of tree that branches out from
the Home Page. While most of your visitors visit you through your
home page, there are times when a page further down interests
someone, and they may copy that link and send it to a friend. This
is where you need to pay attention. That friend may like what you
have to offer, but they can't find out how to contact you, or how to
get back to your Home Page. That's an orphan page. Every page on
your site should, at a minimum, have a link back to your Home page.
I would suggest adding a contact link at minimum.

7. Frames
Frames at one time were the talk of the industry. They were the
original Content Management System (CMS) for your site. Nowadays
they are few and far between. If you are designing a site, don't
use frames. Newer technologies such as server-side includes are
much more common and accepted. Your pages look fresher and those
silly bars don't get in the way.

8. Disabling the BACK button and excessive Pop-Ups
Have you been to a website and decided that it wasn't the
information you were looking for? When you clicked the BACK button,
did you suddenly get a barrage of windows (or, pop-ups) to your
dismay? These things rarely actually work, and worse off, the
reason you hit the BACK button is because you DIDN'T want any more
information from that site. Don't break the BACK button. There are
other ways to get your user's attention.

9. Slow loading pages
While personal and hobby sites may normally be slow, there should be
no reason for your business or other professional website to be slow
loading. Today's Internet surfer won't wait long for information
from your site - there are too many others with the same thing!
Make sure your pages load quickly. If the server is slow, consider
a different host. If your webpages are full of applets or large
graphics, consider a page/site redesign.

10. Using Leading-Edge Technology
While the Internet is all about new and fancy stuff, don't be the
first to do it. While it may 'look cool' to you, you ultimately
need to decide if it actually enhances your user's experience. Do
the flashy cartoons make your customer more apt to buy from you?
Probably not. How many of your customers have to install a Plug-In
just to see your page right? Do they have to upgrade their browser
to contact you? Not good. Wait until the technology is either more
of a standard or gone - you'll save face with potential and future
customers.

Thanks again for reading the 10 Design Mistakes to Avoid. If you'd
like to contact us about a site redesign, write us at
sales@... or visit our website: www.techlh.com
---------------------------

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Create an Automatic Redirection Page
Do you have a new URL? Were you hosting your site with a FREE ad-
driven host and now you have your own site? Some of your visitors
may be unaware of your new site URL, others may have bookmarked your
site. You need to let then know that you have moved.

With a simple redirection script, you can send them to the new site,
and make them aware of the change. Consider our following example:

"We have moved to our new domain. You are being automatically
redirected. If you are not redirected in X seconds, please follow
this link: http://www.mynewurl.com. If you preciously bookmarked
this page, please update it to the new URL."

To install the automatic redirection feature, paste the following
HTML code in the <HEAD> tag of the redirection page:

<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV=REFRESH CONTENT="X;URL=http://www.mynewurl.com">
</HEAD>

where X is the number of seconds before the visitor is automatically
redirected, and http://www.mynewurl.com is the new domain.

It is recommended that you set X to about 5 seconds, to giving
visitors time to read and understand what is happening.

By following this simple tip, you will be able to move your site to
your own domain, and your visitors will automatically follow you.
-------------------------

Want to do something really cool with your website, but don't know
how? Need a custom script or database driven site? We can help.
Check out our new Custom Services listed on our Home Page
(www.techlh.com).
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As always, Lighthouse Technologies thanks you for your interest in
our newsletter, and hope you have a great week! Good luck in your
future business ventures, both online and offline!