Get them right, and they become one major piece of a booming business online.

Get them wrong, and, well … *nothing* happens.

And that’s just the writing part.

If you’ve ever tried to *build* a landing page in WordPress, you know it can get very frustrating, very fast. The basic idea is to strip all the extras away — on that page only — so your reader focuses on the action or product you want them to focus on.

So, away you go…

Remove the sidebars. Change the header. But don’t change the header on all the other pages of your site!

PHP. HTML. Javascript. Track down the right images and graphics.

Play with color, add an opt-in form (one that actually looks good). Add video, add audio, and on and on and on.

Unless you’re a developer, this stuff can drive you crazy, and waste a lot of your time.

Here’s the thing, the Premise for WordPress landing page software was built to solve all these problems for you (and more).

Premise is a plugin for WordPress that takes all the hassle out of building effective landing pages that get results.

And it does it all, right from inside WordPress. Check it out here:

http://GetPremise.com

Beyond page building and design, you also get copywriting advice (right from inside WordPress), plus copywriting and conversion optimization seminars — all at no extra charge.

Premise for WordPress is the total package when it comes to getting people to take the action you’re looking for, without wasting hours trying to get your page just right.

Here’s a quick look at what you get when you buy Premise:

- Unlimited landing pages you can create
- Unlimited domains you can use Premise on
- Copywriting and conversion seminars
- Specific copywriting advice inside WordPress
- 1,100+ custom graphics library
- Technical support and updates

Anyway, if you want to take all the hassle out of building landing pages for your WordPress site, you should check out Premise right now:

http://GetPremise.com

If you’re not absolutely delighted with everything Premise for WordPress does for you and your bottom line, just use the clearly-marked contact form in the HELP section of the member area within the first 30 days and they’ll promptly refund your money.

                          

1. Outstanding Design. Hіring а сuѕtom wеb dеѕign ѕerviсe enѕurеs thаt your wеb lаyоut iѕ uniquе; and maintains а ѕophiѕtіcаtіоn thrоugh its соntеnt аnd deѕіgn. A сustom web dеsign ѕerviсe provіdеr wіll make sure thаt no сommоn temрlаtes are uѕed and thе laуоut translatеs grаphіcаllу the рhiloѕорhу and perѕonаlіty оf уоur brаnd and organizatіоn.

2.Hiring a professional is more cost effective then hiring an in-house team. Cоmpаniеѕ usuallу rіsk extravаgant exреnѕeѕ whеn thеу try to buіld an іn houѕe web dеvеlорmеnt team. When аnalyzеd – aррointіng а сustom wеb dеѕіgn sеrvісе providеr саn turn оut be a lоt more cost effective, mаіnlу bесauѕе of thе fасt thаt yоu are sіmрlу uѕing theіr prе-еxіsting reѕources. An іn-houѕe web desіgn team starts from ѕcratch and haѕ tо makе inveѕtments tоwаrds еmplоying thе ѕmallеѕt оf the wеb dеѕіgn tools. Thіѕ mаy lеаd to соmprоmiѕing the finаl quаlitу towardѕ thе web dеvelopment рrосеѕѕ.

3. Additional web marketing services. A custom web deѕіgn ѕеrviсe сan alѕo prоvіdе additiоnal ѕеrvicеѕ ѕuch аs sоcіal netwоrk markеtіng and seаrсh engіnе optimizatіоn. Theѕе ѕervіce provіderѕ allоw уоu tо build сrіsp соntеnt for SEO рurроѕes and рrоvidе rеlevant іnfоrmаtіon tо роtential cuѕtоmеrѕ аnd usеrs thuѕ drіving traffic towardѕ уour websіtе. An іn-hоuѕе team would probаblу laсk exреrіence in building strong Sосiаl Netwоrk Markеtіng аnd SEO ѕtrategiеs

4. Advice. Taking into consideratiоn the fаct that a сuѕtоm Wеb Devеloрment Cоmpanу hаѕ bеen in thе busіnеsѕ lоng еnough they can аdvice cоmраnіеs on dеѕіgnѕ and соntеnt trеndѕ keеping in mind the funсtional requirеmentѕ of thе future.

5. Experience. Thе mоѕt ѕіgnificаnt rеаѕоn thаt motіvаteѕ cоmрanieѕ tо opt for cuѕtоm web dеvеlоpmеnt оptіоns іѕ theіr exреrience. It іs аn exеrcіѕе thаt the service рrovidеrѕ’ dеal іn daу in аnd dау оut. A new іn-hоusе team wоuld most likеlу be learnіng on the јob, makіng іt а timе соnѕumіng аnd еxреnѕive affair.

Evеntuallу it is the соmрany that bеаrs the fruіtѕ of an intеractive, attraсtіve аnd user-frіendly website. Thіs аreа of internet mаrkеting must nоt bе tаkеn lightlу аnd cоrrect buѕineѕs dеcіsіons must bе taken kеeріng іn mіnd the lоng-term rеturn оn іnvеstmеnt.

                          

Here are the best of these programs.

NetObjects Fusion is one of the better drag-and-drop website builders available.  It costs less than $200.  This product has stood the test of time; it has been around since the mid-1990s.  There is no need to know any code with NetObjects.  For most basic and intermediate sites, NetObjects is a powerful-enough design tool.  It even has built-in ecommerce and traffic tracking tools.

Freeway Express, a Mac-centered design program, is another powerful design tool for novices.  It offers a what-you-see-is-what-you-get environment similar to desktop publishing software.  The nice thing about Freeway is that you can upgrade to Freeway Pro, which allows more complete control of coding and advanced design elements.  If you are looking to grow your site or launch a freelance web design career, Freeway might be a good and practical place to start.

And then there is WordPress.  For very basic information sites, WordPress blogs might be a decent option.  These blogs are highly customizable because there are thousands of plug-ins and unique designs available.  There is a large community of developers, so if you need to troubleshoot, you can find help on the program’s forums.  There are numerous designs to choose from, though customizing often requires a bit of coding knowledge.  The best part about WordPress is that it is free to download, so you only have to pay for web hosting.

Joomla – If you are a little more ambitious, Joomla, a content management system, can integrate different parts of a web site together so that it is easier to control.  Using this program requires overcoming a bit more of a learning curve, but it is easy enough, even for novices, to build a site with, say, a blog, a chat forum, and photo gallery, without too much effort.  Like WordPress, it is free to download.

Realmac RapidWeaver is another Mac-oriented web design program.  It has themes and built-in layout designs that users simply have to fill in with their content.  Other programs might offer a bit more control, but if you are in search of a basic site building program and aren’t overly concerned about the small details, then this might be a good, low-learning-curve option that is even easier to use than the other design programs listed above.  If you want to eventually get into advanced site building, Freeway might be a better option, but for most designers, RapidWeaver is more than enough.

Microsoft Expressions – With all those Mac-centered web design programs out there, Windows users seem to have few viable options.  Microsoft Expressions is a good choice for designers.  The price is competitive with the other basic software out there, and the program is part of a suite with a code editor (for advanced users) and a preview tool.  There is also a souped-up version for pros that retails for over $500.

Coffee Cup Visual Site Designer is a cheap option for creating basic sites.  The good thing about CoffeeCup is that is produces lots of web design and development software, so you can upgrade or purchase different products that will work seamlessly with the sub-$50 WYSIWYG web site design tool.

SiteGrinder is a very interesting tool, especially for people who are already familiar with Photoshop.  The program allows you to design your page in Photoshop and then convert it to a web page with clickable content and automatic HTML coding.  This sounds great, but after a free trial, the software costs over $300, so it is only for people who really want to build a high quality site (or perhaps even sites) and are already very Photoshop-savvy.

Nicole Rodgers has been blogging about the tech industry for 3 years.  She currently helps people figure out how to do online faxing and enjoys wearing funny t shirts.

                          

Be a great employee

Do the job you were hired to do.
If you were hired to do web design, do the web design. Let the graphic designers do the graphic design, let the SEOers do the SEO, let the writers do the writing, let the web marketers set up the social media accounts. Make sure you are working on work related projects when you are on company time and equipment. Freelancing on the clock is a sure fire way to find yourself unemployed. Additionally, you could be handing over the rights of your freelance work to your employer.

Communicate.
There is nothing more simple than asking a question or giving a report. Daily to do lists and accomplished lists only take a few minutes out of each day. Daily meetings can update the whole shop on what is being worked on, what stage it is in and what the next priority is on each item is a really great way to keep everyone in the loop. Lack of communication is the biggest reason for project failure.

Don’t argue.
I understand you think that because you have been trained in web design, you think you have the ultimate opinion on all things web design related. Offer your opinion and try not to take it personally if your opinion isn’t acted upon. It’s not often that the web designer is also the expert in SEO, marketing, branding, company culture or any other factor that goes into the web design. Sometimes it’s better to take the advice of the marketer, client or owner who has done years of research.

If you have a question, ask.
If there is someone sitting nearby that can answer a question, ask! Check with the people in the office before you go online searching for an answer. If you are a new employee, your coworkers might be more familiar with the client or website you have a question on.

Keep a do to list.
If one job stalls for any reason, like waiting for customer feedback or the hosting to be set up, have something else lined up to work on. Do not sit idle while waiting for feedback. If you are using Basecamp or some other project management software, stay on top of it.

Be a tenacious problem solver.
Half hearted efforts will come back to haunt you. Always doing your best work is a good habit to get into. Doing it right the first time is the fastest way to get something done. Become the linchpin.

Keep learning.
Many employers provide on the job training and resources to keep your skills up-to-date. If they don’t, it will be your responsibility to continue learning. Think of each website as an opportunity to learn something new. Push your skills further each time. Challenge yourself to learn new technologies as they come out.

Everyone messes up sometimes. Deal with it and move on.
Mistakes are part of the learning process. Try to deal with it as gracefully as possible. The website is not out to get you. Neither are your coworkers, most likely. Or those browsers you hate. Well, IE6 might be. If you did something wrong, admit it, apologize, figure out a way to make sure it doesn’t happen again and move on. Keep your attitude in check.

Be presentable at all times.
You never know when you might get invited into a meeting with a client. If you were a freelancer with a home office, it was probably okay to skip showering or ignore the comb for days at a time. That is not the case in an office where there are other employees and customers. The same goes for your desk and work area. Keep it clean and free of food. Keyboards are not fond of crumbs. Take your garbage out before the whole office can smell it.

Design great websites.

Keep your code clean.

• Delete extra styles in the CSS.
• Remove unused PHP from the functions file.
• Remove old analytics code if it is no longer needed.
• Delete unused or unnecessary plugins.
• Consolidate your javascript and CSS whenever possible.
• Clean up files while you are working and make sure all files are organized and clean before the site goes live.
• Comment your code clearly.

Do cross browser checks as you work.
It’s far better to frequently check as many browsers as possible as you work than to try to fix many things at the end. All too often, fixing one thing means breaking something else.

Validate code. Validate code. Validate code.

Pay attention to the details.
As Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said: “God is in the details.” The details will make or break a design. It’s okay to be a perfectionist.

Test everything.
Never publish anything without testing it first. All forms must be tested. Test in multiple browsers and platforms. Have your friends test it. Have others in the shop test it. Make sure it works as it should before publishing live content.

Take care of the company, the company will take care of you.

Be mindful of billable time.
Be as accurate as possible on time estimates. If you think something will take five hours, it will probably take ten. An estimate of 8-10 hours would be accurate. If you spend 12 hours on something you said would take one hour, who takes the loss? Likely the company you work for. If you as the web designer cannot bring in enough billable hours to cover your own pay, you will not stay employed.

Be mindful of proprietary information.
If a project has not been launched yet or your company is working on a new product or service, keep it under your hat. Do not post links to websites that are under construction or contain proprietary or sensitive information. Not only is this a bad idea for your company, it can get you fired and sued.

                          

Weed out the weak

This is done by asking questions. There is no such thing as too many questions. By the time you leave the first meeting, you should be able to understand the problem at hand and have a good idea of how to solve it.

A web design questionnaire is absolutely crucial. If you don’t have one, write one. If you need help with the questions, Web ReDesign | Workflow that Works by Kelly Goto & Emily Cotler is a good place to start. The book has a sample questionnaire to base yours on.

The answers to the questions are almost as important as how the questions are answered. For example, “What is the budget?” actually means, “how much research has been done?”

“What technology would you like to see used?” means “how many bids have you gotten?”

“Do you have a sitemap or website structure?” means “how serious are you?”

Know when to walk away.

If a potential client is just in research mode, keep the meeting short and don’t waste time on a proposal. Point them in the right direction to help with their research, like your blog and eNewsletter, leave a card and add them to your mailing list.

Sometimes they are serious but not clients you want to take on. Watch for anything outside of the scope of your business plan. If you are just starting out and willing to take on most types of projects, beware of PITA (Pain In The rear) clients. If you are up to the challenge of a PITA client, make sure your bid reflects the extra headache. What is it worth for you to do the job?

Sometimes they are just trying to get a better deal from someone else. They are working with another web design firm and they just want your quote as a baseline to try to get them to lower their price. You can usually find out by asking the right questions.

Solidify the strong.

Listen, don’t sell.

Talk about the website at hand, not past websites or clients. You are there for one reason – to help them. Offer suggestions and solutions. Show them you understand the challenges they are facing and you can help them to meet their goals head on. Of course, you have to be able to do this. If you realize at any point during the meeting the goals and requirements for the website outside the scope of your business plan, gracefully bow out. Refer a more fitting web designer if you can.

Be trustworthy.

As a web designer, you will have access to passwords, email accounts and other sensitive information. Your potential customer has to trust that you will do a good job. They have to feel at ease trusting you with this, and that isn’t something that can be faked.

Be honest.

Business owners can smell BS a mile away. If they couldn’t, they wouldn’t be in business very long. If you don’t know an answer, don’t give an answer. Look into it and get back to them.

Set clear expectations.

Before you leave the meeting, prepare them to receive the proposal. Let them know what your standard contract terms are. Give an estimated price range if you can. State the up-front costs. Handle any objections immediately. No surprises allowed. The potential client should be in agreement in all but signature before you put any time into writing a proposal.

The proposal

Research everything.

Know what kind of research to do and do it. Keep notes of all apps, themes, fonts, graphics, programmers, writers and anything else you might need. If you have to get an outside quote, get it now. If you have more questions, call the client. If you will be using new applications, download them, install them, and try them out. You have to know the potential pitfalls before setting a time line and price. Assume the proposal will be accepted when it is presented and get all of the information you need to begin working right away.

The proposal.

The size of the proposal should be proportionate to the size of the job. For a small website that will have few changes, a one or two page proposal can outline the job and include the terms. If the job is a two year long project that needs to be approved by many levels of management, it will be several bound pages and might include charts and graphs. You don’t need to include every detail, just enough to establish boundaries of the job, payment schedule and a time line.

                          

As a person who learns by doing, I have three separate Drupal installs going at once and I expect to have two working websites out of the deal within a month.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated.

I am using Drupal 6.16.

First thing I ran into is the register_globals is enabled issue. To correct this, you need to add a line of code to the php.ini file. You might not have one of those. You can create one if you are feeling especially creative. I tried. It broke my site. I am using Hostgator hosting which I highly recommend [affiliate link]. To get a php.ini file that works, just hop onto the Hostgator chat and request one.

Once you have that php.ini file, just add this to the end of the php.ini file:

php_flag register_globals 0

I usually use Coda for code editing. I know there are better apps out there for this, but I really like the ftp editing abilities. I save, the file is uploaded and done. No download and change, upload, etc. It’s easy and I like it.

The point is, you can’t use Coda for this. You have to log in to the cpanel and select FILE MANAGER. Select the newly added php.ini and edit.

Add that one line of code to the end and save. Problem solved.

Note: this works for Hostgator hosting. If you are on another web host there are other options available. Here are a few: http://drupal.org/node/216882

                          

A selector’s specificity is calculated as follows:

* count 1 if the declaration is from is a ‘style’ attribute rather than a rule with a selector, 0 otherwise (= a) (In HTML, values of an element’s “style” attribute are style sheet rules. These rules have no selectors, so a=1, b=0, c=0, and d=0.)
* count the number of ID attributes in the selector (= b)
* count the number of other attributes and pseudo-classes in the selector (= c)
* count the number of element names and pseudo-elements in the selector (= d)

The specificity is based only on the form of the selector. In particular, a selector of the form “[id=p33]” is counted as an attribute selector (a=0, b=0, c=1, d=0), even if the id attribute is defined as an “ID” in the source document’s DTD.

Concatenating the four numbers a-b-c-d (in a number system with a large base) gives the specificity.

Example(s):

Some examples:

* {} /* a=0 b=0 c=0 d=0 -> specificity = 0,0,0,0 */
li {} /* a=0 b=0 c=0 d=1 -> specificity = 0,0,0,1 */
li:first-line {} /* a=0 b=0 c=0 d=2 -> specificity = 0,0,0,2 */
ul li {} /* a=0 b=0 c=0 d=2 -> specificity = 0,0,0,2 */
ul ol+li {} /* a=0 b=0 c=0 d=3 -> specificity = 0,0,0,3 */
h1 + *[rel=up]{} /* a=0 b=0 c=1 d=1 -> specificity = 0,0,1,1 */
ul ol li.red {} /* a=0 b=0 c=1 d=3 -> specificity = 0,0,1,3 */
li.red.level {} /* a=0 b=0 c=2 d=1 -> specificity = 0,0,2,1 */
#x34y {} /* a=0 b=1 c=0 d=0 -> specificity = 0,1,0,0 */
style=”" /* a=1 b=0 c=0 d=0 -> specificity = 1,0,0,0 */

In the above example, the color of the P element would be green. The declaration in the “style” attribute will override the one in the STYLE element because of cascading rule 3, since it has a higher specificity.

                          

1. Do not buy software that does not have a manual or help files.
   If a company doesn’t take time to write out a FAQ or help page, how well do you think the software is written?
2. Do not deal with Hostway.
   There is no nice way to say that. Hostway has perfected the art of pissing people off.
3. Do not buy web design from a pawn shop.
   Seriously. Don’t. They use Hostway.
4. Always get the user manual and read it from cover to cover.
   Even if it’s an eBook. I know it hurts to read a book sized PDF, but sometimes it’s worth it.
5. Say no to jobs that are outside of your business plan.
   Sometimes even long time customers have to be cut loose if the project will take time away from reaching your goals.
6. If someone wants flash drive graphics, refer them to your least favorite competitor.
   They also probably want a one page website that just shows different things when you click. They might also want 40 high res graphics that load fast and look exactly the same on every monitor. They also probably know everything about websites so they don’t need to listen to you.
7. Test new software for at least a month before paying for it.
   See also #1.
8. Accomplish something every day.
   Taking on large projects means a project will not be finished or checked off the list every day. Try to have a few small projects that can be checked off because finishing a project feels like progress and progress = happy.
9. Help someone everyday and expect nothing in return.
   It’s good for your Karma. Check twitter. There are always people asking for help on something or other.
   
10. Clients do not make the rules.
    Just because a client really, really wants this website live ASAP does not mean you have to spend every day and night working on it. One client is not worth burning yourself out on. Steady pace wins the race.

What have you learned this year?

                          

What I learned is there is a proper order for transferring WordPress sites to a new hosting account. It goes like this:

- Clean up existing Blog
- Use EXPORT tool from old wordpress
- Apply for new hosting (transfer existing domain)
- Propagate DNS nameservers
- Fresh install of WordPress (via Fantastico/Simplescripts/Independent) on new hosting
- Adjust permalinks on new hosting
- Use IMPORT tool in new wordpress
- Transfer via FTP images from wp_content/uploads
- Upload/Transfer current theme to new hosting
- Install new plugins to new hosting
- If necessary, meddle with .htaccess on new hosting

Thanks to Pigduck over at wordpress.org for that information.

Even if you do everything right and in the correct order, sometimes the themes cannot transfer correctly. Notice Custom Design Tool’s new design? It’s not the only site that is looking a tad bare today. This is my own custom child theme based on the Hybrid Theme framework.

Another thing I learned is that if you and tech support are having communication problems of any sort, get off the line with tech support immediately. It is just not worth the headache to try to work through it. Actually a dental implant procedure would be less stressful than a difficult tech support call.

                          

The culprit is the the Google toolbar that people often install in their browser. Part of the AutoFill feature is to highlight in yellow, #FFFF80, the fields that AutoFill can fill. These are form fields with names like “Name” and “Email”.

How do I get rid of the yellow?

You can specify a background color to the form field. Not just specify, but really, really specify with the !important css hack.

Add this code to your css:

/* non-yellow autocomplete */
input { background-color: #ffffff !important; }