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If the headline itself didn’t give you a heads-up, this is a tongue-in-cheek guide to what NOT to do. Following these tips is an almost sure-fire way for your site to be less user-friendly, less understandable, and more likely to make your visitors finally throw their hands up in disgust and find another business.

1. Make a background with lots of moving features and crazy colors that distract from the text on the page. If it’s almost impossible to read the text, that’s even better. After all, why would you want visitors to be able to read what your site is about?
2. Make sure your website is packed with huge image files, especially if they don’t really relate to the topic of the site at all. This will make your site take forever to load, which will give your readers the perfect opportunity to relax after already struggling to read your text. (more…)

With almost all web-hosting transactions done online, it’s hard to get a human read on which web hosts will work best for you. However, Web Hosting Geeks has taken on the tough task of reviewing the many options available to businesses and consumers alike. The Geeks are tough but fair, and honest about each host’s strengths and weaknesses. Here are some of their favorites if you’re looking to start your own site.

1. Inmotion Hosting is very popular, especially for businesses. That’s because the risk is very low and the reward is very great. Inmotion offers an industry-record 90-day-money-back guarantee, and they offer different levels of hosting so your site can grow with your business. The only downside is some problems with sales agents, but overall they are well known for their technical support. (more…)

For a small business or organization, getting your name out there can be the hardest part. Having a well-designed web page can help. Web design doesn’t have to be a scary thought, especially with the variety of companies out there offering affordable web hosting. Once you find a server and have a basic design in mind, these tools can help you bring your vision into reality.

• Firebug: This Firefox tool gives users the ability to look at the code behind any website, whether it is CSS, HTML, or Javascript. This is great for seeing how a good-looking site operates. Alternatively, you can also change the code in real-time if, for example, you were interested in seeing how your own logo might look on the site. (more…)

When it’s time to take a break from coding or designing for the day, what do you pick up for some light reading? You could choose the latest New York Times Bestseller, but a better option would be to stay at your computer and turn your browser to A List Apart, the magazine “for people who make websites.”The magazine started as a mailing list in 1997, edited by web developers Brian Platz and Jeffrey Zeldman. The dedicated developers then hand-coded 159 issues before a new publishing system (designed by Brian Alvey) made it possible for them to make the magazine look even better, more easily. New issues are now released on Tuesdays as time and content allow. (more…)

What kind of domain extension does your site need? The answer: it depends, on what your blog will be providing to readers and on what readers will be most likely to search for. Here is a handy guide to the extensions that are most in use.

• .biz stands for “business” and is only for official business use, and offers an opportunity for businesses to use domain names that were already registered as .com’s. Personal users and forums cannot use this domain.
• .co is a domain type that becomes available on July 20. It was originally Colombia’s country domain, but research found that it was associated with “company” and “corporation”. It will most likely be used by businesses.
• .com stands for “commercial” and is the most commonly-used extension. Blogs, business sites, and discussion forums all use this extension, and it is also what viewers will look for first when searching for a product (i.e. batteries.com rather than batteries.org). (more…)