However, these templates are just the beginning and many of these programs give you a lot of flexibility.  You want your website to be the best it can be, which means knowing how to take advantage of that. It all comes down to making your website user-friendly. That means that it should be nice to look at and easy to navigate.

We’ve collected the most basic tips from web-designers in cyber world to help you get the most from your site and avoid the mistakes that even the best web design software won’t stop you from making.

First of all, make sure that the menu is available and clearly visible on every page. The more links are accessible from any given page the more people are likely to click on them. Of course, be careful not to overwhelm the user and always keep things organized.

Some design programs have a lot of really neat tools and it can be tempting to try them all out at once. Resist the temptation. Keep in mind that the most readable text is still old fashioned black on white. The users are on your site because they want to know what you have to say. They don’t need to be distracted by too much visual stuff going on.

This brings us to the topic of images. Sure, sure, a picture is worth a thousand words. And a few small icons can add color to your site and make it easier to navigate but don’t go overboard. Make sure that whatever pictures you do add are consistent with the feel of the site. Try to stick to what will be useful and add to the content not just decorate it. Too many pictures can make a page take longer to load and the last thing you want is for potential users to lose patience before they’ve even seen your site.

A lot of web design programs offer some sort of professional design advice in addition to the do-it-yourself software. They also have tips and design guides to help you make the most of the tools they provide.

Designing your own site can be a lot of fun and its worth making sure that your users enjoy it as much as you do!

The advantages of Joomla may not be obvious to new users, but they are worth reviewing.

• Joomla is free and works well with shared web hosting packages, and this combination makes it possible to build powerhouse websites with an extremely reasonable operating budget.
• Joomla is ideal for businesses, non-profits and multi-media sites.  This content management system is especially suited to sites hosting forums, newsrooms and other user-generated content.
• With over 6,000 extensions to choose from, Joomla makes it possible for websites to perform nearly any web-based action.
• Joomla is an open design platform that can be used by any design company, so if you use Joomla you won’t be obligated to stay with your web designer if the relationship sours or your budget changes over time.
• URLs created using Joomla don’t have any query strings, which makes them SEO friendly.
• Once installed, Joomla is relatively easy to maintain.
• It is easy to modify Joomla’s core system to reflect your specific needs and preferences.

On the other hand, the disadvantages of Joomla are often touted by nay-sayers are reasons to choose an alternate CMS.  If you’re considering Joomla, you should be aware of the disadvantages so that you can make an informed decision on your own.

• Joomla is slightly more difficult to install and setup than other content management systems (such as WordPress), and may require professional assistance.
• Users looking for a straightforward blog site may still prefer the simplicity of WordPress over the more complex offerings of Joomla.
• Many users complain that Joomla has difficulty accommodating sites that receive more than 50,000 users per day.
• Users often complain that Joomla sites run more slowly than sites built with other content management systems.

Although it may be impossible to find a CMS that is entirely perfect, Joomla seems to come pretty close.  If you’re starting a blog, you may still be better off with WordPress, but if you have your sites set on popular site or a multimedia presentation, Joomla may very well be a good option for you.  Just make sure that you’re familiar enough with the technical aspects of building a website so that you’ll be able to maximize the building process.  If not, you may want to hire someone to help and to teach you how to proceed independently.  With a bit of technical know-how, you should have no trouble maintaining a successful Joomla website.

Reseller Hosting for Webmasters

If you’re in the business of building websites, you’ve probably found that after the initial building of the site, a client becomes merely a sporadic source of income instead of a constant source of work.  Reseller hosting will keep you connected to each client on a regular basis and will provide you with residual income long after the initial project is complete.  Although your income from reseller hosting client won’t be significant, the combination of a few sales of hosting packages will provide noticeable results on your overall income.

In addition, if you’re a savvy businessperson, you’ll be able to sell parts of the web hosting account separately to your clients.  Many of your clients, especially those who aren’t specifically web savvy, will be willing to pay you for reports that come standard with most web hosting packages, because it will prevent them from having to access the reports and analyze the data independently.  Likewise, you can make even more money by selling additional site security packages, domain names or other add-ons with each web hosting package.

Reseller Hosting for Web Designers

As a web designer, you probably know about the basics of building a website, even if you’re not an expert webmaster.  By taking your knowledge of what it takes to build a website, you’ll be able to explain to your clients why they need hosting services, and why buying them from you will be easier than buying a web hosting package directly from the hosting company.  While you probably won’t be using the host directly, you can take advantage of this arrangement by having reselling hosting services that can directly benefit you, such as those with a site builder that you can use to easily edit your pages.

Choosing a Web Host for Resale

Many web hosts offer reseller programs that can enable you to make money easily while providing your clients with quality web hosting.  Before you make a deal with a specific host, consider the pricing and packages that they offer as well as your projected needs.  If for any reason you’re not able to sell part of the package, you’ll want to minimize your loss.  On the other hand, if you’re able to sell more than you’d originally planned, you’ll want to be working with a web host that will be flexible enough to meet your needs.

Good luck with this new part of your business!

What makes Wix stand apart is that it looks like a web design company but acts like a web hosting provider.  While hosting services such as iPage and Just Host offer free advertising credits, few (if any) web design services offer similar credits…until now.  As a new partner of Network Solutions, Wix is now offering $50 in Facebook ad credits and $75 in Google AdWords credits.  In addition, Network Solutions will be hosting any site created by Wix for free for one year.

Another benefit of the Wix premium plan is integration with Google Analytics, a feature that is not only rare in the world of web design, but is not especially common in most web hosting packages either.  Google Analytics is a program designed and supported by Google that allows site owners to see who is coming to their site(s), where their visitors are coming from and what pages are getting the most traffic.  It is a great way to learn about your user behavior so that you can maximize the success of your site.  And, while it may be a free tool, having it integrated into the Wix package (and having support available to help) provides a dramatic advantage.

A final perk of Wix is that it makes it incredibly easy to create a Flash website.  While many other web design services support Flash files or offer Flash templates, none offer the customization abilities that Wix offers.  Although this is not a specifically new offering, it’s important to realize that if you want to create a Flash site Wix will offer unparalleled options.

There’s no uniform do it yourself web design service that will serve the needs of every webmaster or business owner.  I am merely suggesting that if you’re looking for a reason to choose one from a handful of do it yourself web design companies it’s worth looking beyond the standard offerings to see how each service enhances their service.  Because after all, being a smart consumer is about getting the best bang for your buck with a product or service that works – and Wix is clearly giving other web design companies a run for your money.

1. Do you want a custom domain? Many free hosting services require you to take their domain name onto yours.  In other words, instead of having mysite.com, you’d have mysite.yolasite.com if you’re using Yola’s free hosting service and a similar extension if you’re using the free services offered by Wix, Network Solutions or one of the other dozens of free hosting providers available.
2. Do you want an ad-free website? Many free websites impose placement of advertising on websites built through their platform.  This may not bother you if you’re starting a family blog (or even a personal blog) or are just using the website to test out the features of the web host before committing.  If you’re looking to create a professional web presence, however, you may not want irrelevant ads cluttering the design of your site.
3. Do you need significant storage space or bandwidth? If you’re planning on hosting a site that contains video or audio files, you may need more storage space or bandwidth than most free web hosting service offer.  Likewise, if you’re planning on having heavy traffic to your site or hosting a database for your site, you’ll need a significant amount of storage.  Many free web hosting providers offer only 5-10 MB of storage, which is insufficient for sites that are more than just a few pages of text.  If you’re looking to post your artistic portfolio, to sell items through a product database or to stream videos directly from your site, you may want to pay for a web hosting service such as FatCow which offers unlimited storage for a very reasonable monthly fee.
4. Do you want a completely custom design? If you’re choosing free hosting services through a web design company that offers a free package you’ll likely be limited to specific design options instead of having the flexibility to choose from the full array of options.  If you’re choosing a free hosting option through a hosting provider such as i6Networks you’ll probably have full customization abilities – if you have the technical prowess to design and build your own site (and if you don’t, you’ll need to pay a significant sum for this service).
5. Do you plan to expand the scope of your site in the near future? If so, you’ll need to consider whether you’ll eventually outgrow your free hosting plan, and the expense that will be involved in transferring it to another web host, domain name or design.  These fees can add up – so if you think you’ll need to pay them soon, you may end up saving more money by paying for web hosting straight from the outset.
6. Do you want a search-engine-friendly site? Many free websites are not particularly search-engine-friendly and will not assist you in achieving natural web traffic.  If you’re looking to expand your audience through search engines, you may want to consider a paid web hosting service that is located in your country so that you can better target the audience you’re looking for.

Although free stuff always sounds appealing, when it comes to free hosting it’s important to remember that saving money now may not actually save you money in the long run.  However, the true benefit of using a free hosting package is because it allows you to test out the hosting service (and web design service when relevant) to see if you like it and whether you want to continue using this service in the long run.