Raven's Perch

Don’t Panic!

Raven — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:27:02 +0000

Raven’s Perch is still here. All of the great articles I had on computer-related stuff will be posted in the next 24 hours. I’m just switching things over to a blog so I can actually update the site more often and just pop in and post something whenever I feel like it.

Using WS_FTP LE To Transfer Files

Raven — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:22:24 +0000

WS_FTP LE (Light Edition) is a fantastic no-frills shareware program to transfer files. Do a Google search and you’ll easily find plenty of places to download it for free.

Once the file is saved to your hard drive, double-click on it to open it and begin installing. The program will ask a few questions - tell it that you’re an “other” user that will be using it from home for personal use. Accept the licensing agreement and allow the program to finish installing.

When you first start up WS_FTP you’ll have two windows pop up.

The one in front is Session Properties, where you will define your connection settings.

Profile Name: This can be anything that makes sense to you, such as Beta Brigade FTP, Jim’s Connection, your domain name, etc.

Host Name/Address: This is where you put the connection info for the server. Usually this is something like “ftp.yourdomain.com”.

Host Type: Leave this on Auto-Detect.

User ID: Put your ftp username here. Uncheck the ‘Anonymous’ box just to the right.

Password: Put your ftp password here. Be sure to check the ‘Save Pwd’ button just to the right (you may not want to do this if there are multiple users on your computer).

Account and Comment: Leave these two fields blank.

Click the Apply button so that WS_FTP saves your settings. Press OK to connect.

The Sessions Properties window will go away and you’ll be left with the larger transfer window behind it.

Transfer Screen:

The left-hand side of the screen will be a directory/file listing of your hard drive. The right-hand side will be a directory/file listing of your web space on the server. In short, we’re going to select one file from the left side (your computer) and send it to the right side (your web space).

This is the directory listing on your computer, starting in the directory where WS_FTP was installed. Double-click on the green arrow button to move up and out of that directory, and browse through your hard drive by double-clicking on folders to move into them.
This is your folders/files listing. If you have multiple drives you’ll see them listed at the bottom. Double-clicking on a drive letter will take you into that drive. You can FTP files from any drive (including CDs) on your computer. Single-click on a file to select it - you’ll note that it becomes highlighted in blue when selected. Choose multiple files by holding down the CTRL key while clicking on the files that you want to send. You can transfer multiple files at once, however you will not be able to do anything else with WS_FTP until all of those files are finished transferring.
This is the directory/folder that you are currently in on your webspace. Again, double-click on the green up arrow to move up and out of a folder, and double-click on folder names to move into them.
This is your file listing in your webspace. Remember that a web site’s directories and folders are laid out in the same type of folder/file listing as what you’ll find on your computer. After all, a web site server is simply a more powerful computer with a very large hard drive in which you’ve claimed a small amount of space.
This is the “extra info” window. You can type some commands into this field and have WS_FTP do them for you. Most commonly this is used to show hidden files, such as .htaccess or .htpasswd. To see hidden files, type “-la” (without quotes) into this field and click the Refresh button.
Here you select whether you want to transfer files in ASCII or Binary mode. Text, HTML, and scripting files (.cgi, .pl) should always be transferred in ASCII format. Complex files such as images (.jpg, .gif), zip files (.zip, .gz, .tar) and rich-text documents (.doc, .pdf) should be transferred in Binary mode.
These arrows actually begin the transfer process. Selecting a file on the left side of the screen (your hard drive) and pressing the right arrow will transfer the file from your computer to the server. Selecting a file on the right side of the screen (your web space) and pressing the left arrow will transfer the file from your web space onto your hard drive.
Files are always transferred from/into the directories that are currently showing on the transfer screen. Once a file is finished transferring, the window will refresh and you’ll see an updated listing of files.

You can transfer an entire directory simply by selecting (single-clicking) a directory and pressing the appropriate arrow key. A confirmation window will pop up asking if you wish to move the entire directoy and its contents. Press “Yes” to continue. It is best to only do this when all of the files in that directory can be transferred in the same mode (for example, all image files), or if you have specified which files should be transferred in which mode (next).
The options button will allow you to define advanced settings in WS_FTP, including specifying which files should always be transferred in ASCII mode. Pressing this button will pop open a new window with many tabs and settings.
To specify which files should be transferred in ASCII mode, click the “Extensions” tab.

Here you can type in a file extension, then click the “Add” button to permanently specify that this file type should be transferred in ASCII mode. Add these extensions:

.html

.htm

.shtml

.shtm

.php

.php3

.php4

.cgi

.pl

.asp

.inc

.cfg

.htaccess

.htpasswd

.log

When you’re finished, click “Apply” and then “OK”. You can now check the “Auto” checkbox in the file transfer mode area (area 6 of our illustration above) and WS_FTP will automatically determine which files should be transferred in which mode. Anything that you did not specify in the Options Properties window will be transferred as a Binary file.

Notes:

Using the other buttons on the screen you can rename or delete files. Take care when doing this. While a renamed file can easily be renamed again if you make a mistake, deleting a file cannot be undone! Also, you cannot delete a directory that has any files in it. You must delete all of the files in the directory first (speed this up by selecting all of the files at once using the SHIFT key while you select the top and bottom files) first, then move up out of the directory (green arrow) and delete the directory itself. If you receive an error when attempting to delete a directory, it means that there is either a file still in the directory (it may be hidden, use “-la” to see it) or the permissions on the folder will not allow it to be deleted. See the “Working With CGI & PL Files” tutorials for more information on permissions.

Always keep a copy of your web site and all of its files on your computer’s hard drive. Web site servers do suffer hard drive crashes from time to time, or other unfortunate mishaps that cause your files to be lost. Keeping a copy on your home/office computer will allow you to have your web site back up and running quickly without having to rebuild everything from scratch.

Save time and bandwidth by updating all of your files on your hard drive first, then uploading the finished versions all at once. Don’t get into the time-consuming habit of working with one file, transferring it, then working with another file, transferring it; viewing them in your browser, making more updates, transferring again… this will eat away at your time. Do everything once and be finished with it.

To close your FTP session, simply press the “Close” button in the lower left-hand corner. The next time you open WS_FTP it will automatically come up with the last Profile you used. If you have multiple domains, simply use the drop-down button by Profile Name to choose which web site you wish to connect to.

Happy FTPing!

Getting Your Business Online

Raven — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:17:33 +0000

Originally posted July, 2000

So, you want to put your business online?

It’s true, any brick-and-mortar store is destined to go the way of the dodo bird within the next 5 years if they don’t have an online presence. By the trends I see, I’d say it’s sooner than that. Even SOHO (small office home office) businesses are seeing that they must have a website in order to be more easily accessible. With a website, your business can be available 24/7 to answer commonly asked questions, let customers browse and comparison shop, and above all - take orders. Imagine getting up in the morning to find that 30 orders have come in while you slept. There’s no way you could have done that without a website.

But if you build it, will they come?

Not necessarily. Just having a website doesn’t mean that you’ll be raking in the dough. People must know about it first. That means advertising in some form, and believe me, there are plenty of sharks on the Net who’ll take your money and promise you big things. Although the Net was made for everyone, when it comes to business online you’re swimming in a shark pool. Don’t be a minnow. Keep a level head, do some research, and prepare yourself so you won’t see your cash flow going straight out the door.

In this series we’ll cover what you need to have in hand before you build (or hire someone to build) your website, what to have (and not) in your website, how to choose a good website host, and getting people to come visit you online.

The single biggest factor in what makes or breaks a website is its content. Users will put up with endless download times and annoying flashy graphics if they can find what they came looking for. Develop your content before your first page is ever made. Get a pen and paper, and get ready to do some research.

Know Your Customer, and Give Them What They’re Looking For

First, decide who your website will be catering to. This depends a lot on your business itself. Here are some examples:

If you’re running a telecommuting job from home, most likely the people visiting your site will either be your clients, or people interested in your services. You might devote one page to explaining the benefits of telecommuting and one page each for your resume, services provided, and client list, but don’t go farther than that for the audience. Focus on useability of your site by the clients you already have and make yourself invaluable to them. You’ll need an area where they can automatically send you emails without having to look up your address, password-protected areas for each client where you can place finished documents for them to download, a calendar that will show them projected deadlines, a journal (log, announcements) page to give them updates on the status of the project without having to contact you, etc. These tools will be especially invaluable to you if you have small children, and clients calling every five minutes to ask questions won’t go over that well with an unhappy toddler who’s just been woken up from his nap. Let your clients find their answers online in seconds.

If you sell flower arrangements, your customers are going to be people who want to buy flowers. Period. Give them what they want from the instant they hit your front page - a special offer, a few choice arrangements to look at, and then links to your catalog, how to care for their arrangements, how to contact you, etc. Don’t ramble on about your business on the front page; you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot. They want to see flowers and prices, and they want them now.

For more specialized or technical businesses, again you have to evaluate exactly who will be visiting your site. Talk directly to that person. If your research shows you that people already familiar with the technical jargon will be your main audience, then use that jargon. Don’t make them feel as if you’re talking down to them by explaining every little thing in layman’s terms. One it will bore them and two, they won’t be sure you are familiar with the jargon and therefore, your business! Give the “newbies” a link to follow that will explain things, but keep the majority of the site aimed at your peers. If, on the other hand, you think “newbies” will be your main audience, keep the jargon at a minimum and get ready to do some hand-holding.

Using Client Base & Competitors For Research

An invaluable tool for brick-and-mortar stores, or even from-home businesses, is the client base that you already have. In store, take a poll and ask your customers questions. You can do this with little flyers that they fill out while they’re there (offer a drop-box for completed forms and a prize or two for randomly drawn winners who completes the survey), or casually chat with them about being online while they’re there or ringing up purchases. For from-home businesses, call your clients and talk to them. Tell them you’re preparing to make yourself and your business even more accessible by being on the Net, and you’d like to find out how you can better serve them by being online. You could even send out a small mailing survey, but actually talking to your clients is always the best choice; as you’ll get a more specific answer and show them that you really care about serving their needs.

Some sample questions to ask:

Do they go online?
Would they like the convenience of browsing your store (and ordering) from home?
What kinds of information would they like to see on your website? (ie: how to care for flowers - tailor this to your service.)
What kind of features would they like to see? A used bookseller might offer a way for users to auction off their own collection or trade messages with other collectors. The flower arranger might offer a way for customers to design their own arrangements interactively with the site and then submit it as an order. Someone who sells childrens’ clothing might have a database that will remember each child’s clothing sizes so the customer can simply pick a child from a drop-down list and not have to re-type the information each time they order. Customers might like a “wish-list” where they can add items to a virtual shopping cart and then allow other people to view it and order items (good for weddings, new babies, birthdays, holidays).
How would they like to pay online? Remember, not all customers have credit cards. Online check? A virtual pay system like PayPal? Order now and snail-mail check or money order? One note: even though not all customers have credit cards, most banks now offer debit cards that work the same; so always offer a way to pay by credit card, and no matter how the customer is paying, make sure they are confident that their transaction online is secure.

Now that you know what your customers want, go visit your competitors online. Viewing your competition, put yourself in the shoes of your customer and use the information they’ve given you. How well does this site meet the needs of what your customers have told you they want/need to see?

How accessible is the information you want? Does the site try to overload you with fancy flashy fluff or does it deliver what you need immediately? Can you navigate it well - get to every major section of the site from every page in the site, or do you have to hit Back? Do they have a way to order products or services online? If so, what kind of payments do they accept? Is there a way to contact sales or customer service directly from the site? For brick-and-mortar stores, do they have clear directions and maps to help a customer come to their door?

You’ll need to include in your website all of the things that you find useful as a customer from your competitors’ sites, and throw out the things that aren’t. With a critical eye, think of things that these sites are missing and make sure you incorporate those missing things into your own site. Always be on the lookout to be better and more useful to the customer. Don’t worry about impressing a customer with fluff. Give them what they want.

Now that you’ve done some research and know what your customers are looking for, it’s time to design your site. No, I’m not talking about the graphics - yet. I’m talking about the content. Remember, the web may be multi-media, but it’s built around reading.

Think It Out

On paper, outline the structure of your website. It should look something like this:

Keep in mind that accessibility to information is king and navigation is the key to keeping a customer on your site. Let them know what they’re going to find when they click on a link before they click on it; and then deliver that content to them immediately once they’re there. Don’t make them go four pages deep to find information on widgets when the link said “What is a widget?”

Write Your Content

You know what your customers want and you’ve designed a site to fill those needs. Now grab yourself a word processing program (even Notepad will do) and type out exactly what you want your visitors to see on each and every page of that website you’ve just designed. Read over it and judge it as a customer would. Too much jargon? Too little? Keep in mind who your visitor will be. Run-on sentences? Keep your information clear and succinct; Net surfers have very limited attention spans. Do you clearly communicate what you’re trying to say, or clearly explain the product you’re selling (even if it’s yourself)?

Once you think you’re done, spell-check it. Keep in mind that spell-checkers (or speel chickens, as I like to call them) don’t know the difference between you’re and your, they’re and their, etc. Proofread your pages. Then put it all aside for at least two hours (overnight would be better). Then come back and read it again with a fresh eye that hasn’t been chin-deep in this content already. Does it still seem as clear to someone reading it for the first time? If not, go back and revise.

When you’re done, get someone else to read it for you; both as a customer and as an editor. Make sure they’re an excellent speller and know those differences like your and you’re. Using their input, revise again… incorporating only those things you feel are good suggestions. Your mother, for example, may be a great proofreader but she may not represent your target audience. If she feels the content is “above her head” and tells you to talk more plainly, you may not want to do this knowing that your customer is going to know all of the jargon.

Congratulations!

You’ve just overcome the most frustrating part of building a web site - getting your content ready. The time you’ve just spent will save you countless hours when actually publishing your site to the Web. As a web designer, nothing is more frustrating than making a site for a client and waiting endlessly for content to fill it. As someone who does their own web sites, nothing is more frustrating than getting excited about a site and designing the graphics and layout only to find that the content you decide to put into it will demand a different layout approach! Without having the content laid out beforehand, either you or your web designer will suffer endless re-writes, and often one of both of you will lose the enthusiasm for the project.

Now that you have your content and a firm idea on how you want your site structured, it’s time to look into what you will want as far as graphics and dynamic effects; and more importantly, what you don’t want.

Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold

There’s one important thing that a web site owner must remember when building a web site:

Just because you can have it doesn’t mean that you should.

Sure, an entrance page with a Flash movie makes you look fancy. But honestly, how many people stick around to watch it? Even users with high-bandwidth connections utilize links to skip past movies, because they want information. If they wanted to watch a movie, they’d be at a movie site or watching television.

As a rule, steer clear of anything that requires your customers to download a plugin, element, or program. This would include Flash, Comet Cursors, Shockwave, special Midi players, etc.

I know what you’re thinking. “But my site will be so… plain!!!”

Not at all. Your visitors will love you because your site downloads fast and doesn’t require extra junk to clutter up their system. They won’t have boxes popping up on their screens asking them if they want to download this or that. You can use alternative, faster loading effects such as DHTML and javascript to produce those fancy effects (even Flash-like movies); and you won’t spend extra dollars or time getting something specially-made for you. (Hint: Designers charge in the thousands to make Flash movies for web sites. Doing it yourself requires buying the program and learning it, which is again thousands of dollars and far too much time.)

Skip The Animations

A mailbox with a hand popping out of it clawing for email is cute, but what business does it have on your business site? Flashy animated graphics do many things, most of which the site owner never intended. They take attention away from the rest of your page, make downloading your site slower, and (with enough animated graphics in your site) you can overload your visitor’s video memory and cause their computer to freeze up.

Keep It Simple - But Not Stupid

The secret to having a professional-looking website is knowing when to say “No” to special effects. Remember, you’re not out to impress your friends with your fancy fluff - you’re there to serve your customers. Give them what they want and do it quickly. Constantly review other websites and ask your customers for suggestions as to how you can improve your site.

In short, don’t lose your head just because you’re stepping into the ocean of the Net and you’re not sure if the old rules of “sink or swim” with your business apply. Keep it simple, focus on the most basic concept - pleasing the customer - and you’ll do fine.

HTML By Hand - An Ebook

Raven — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:14:28 +0000

HTML By Hand is packed full of information, covering everything
from defining your purpose in making a web site all the way through to
advanced topics and making your web site look as great as it can.

There are also tons of resources listed; including opinions on many of
the most popular ‘free’ hosts, where to get the tools you need, free
resources for interactive elements to add to your site, where to get
the best free cgi, php, and javascript scripts, and more! Full
examples are given, code is clearly highlighted and source code for

samples is given as well.
This book may be printed out for easier reading (make yourself
comfortable, grab a cup of coffee and learn!) and contains URLs to
valuable resources online.

Format:
Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP

Contents:

The Basics Do You have a Purpose? Getting The Tools Start At The Top Text Is Everything Using Images Anchors Away Finishing Up	Getting More Complicated Full URL vs. Specifying the Path Meta Tags Tables Tables 2 Frames Frames 2 Wrapping Text Around Images	Really Addicted Now Javascript & DHTML Server Side Includes (SSI) Server Side Includes 2 CGI Scripts CGI Permissions PHP Scripts Unix/Shell Commands
Fun Stuff! Embedding Music In Your Page Javascript Drop-Down Menus Auto-Refreshing Pages How To Make Text Follow Your Cursor (like you see so much here on eBay!)	Resources Free Hosting Sites Tool Programs Mentioned Web Sites (where to get a free/cheap computer and more) CGI Scripts Graphics & Templates Freebies (message boards, sticky tools, etc.) Color Chart ASCII Text In Html Interactive Color Picker Get Hosted (for-pay hosting) Getting The Best Response Out Of Your Web Site	Business Resources Free News Feeds Services (your own free instant messenger for your site, free email @your domain, calendars, intranets) Sticky Tools (feedback forms, games, polls, promotional tools, postcards, etc.) Graphics

Actual Screenshots From The Book:
(Click on a picture to see a larger version)

About The Author:

Carrie Bartkowiak has been designing web sites by hand since early 1997. Her expertise of computers in general earned her Author of the Week status at Themestream.Com, where she authored many very successful articles such as Illegal Operations in Windows 98 and its companion, Illegal Operations in Windows 95. Windows 98 has been featured in many widespread ezines and publications, and has received the honor of being a Must-See article from ExpertCity.Com. Another favorite is Have Your Domain Name and Use It Too-For Free!. Before Themestream went debunk, her articles there had earned over 300,000 views. Also, Carrie is a BriefMe.Com Editor in the Computer:Webmaster ezine, where she has published many lead reviews of web sites that are of particular use and interest to Webmasters of any level of expertise.

Carrie is also an accomplished computer technician; having managed a national xDSL installation company contracting for such customers as BellSouth.Net, Ameritech, and Telamon. She also freelances from time to time at ExpertCity.Com, and has there a 100%, 5-star rating from her customers.

Born and raised in Maryland, Carrie has lived all along the East Coast. She currently resides in Virginia with her husband and two sons. She complains of dreaming code in her sleep and is constantly striving to learn new techniques in webmastering and computer knowledge in general. Her interests include all types of programming, creating exquisite handmade items with polymer clay, and feeding her passionate interest in politics and current events.

For ebook sellers: This book
is NOT available for resale, packaging with other ebooks/software/auctions,
etc. It is copyright 2000-2002 and anyone caught violating the terms
stated above shall be prosecuted to the fullest extent of Software

Piracy law.

Download Now!

Note from 2006

When this ebook was originally released, it was a very nice hit. It sold plenty of copies on eBay, got passed around virally, and sold more copies here from Raven’s Perch.

Unfortunately, time passes, and this ebook is sorely in need of an update that I just don’t have time to write. So rather than continue to sell an outdated ebook, I’ll just give it away for free now. If you like it, come on back and leave me a comment.

Click here to download HTML By Hand for free

You’re welcome!

Be Considerate To Your Surfers

Raven — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:10:16 +0000

Originally posted in July, 2000

We’ve all been there. It’s the most interesting link description you’ve seen all day, and you’re eagerly awaiting for the little bar at the bottom of your screen to stop moving so you can get down to the nitty gritty - surfing the site.

But as you wait, and wait, and wait… your anticipation turns to resentment and you start wondering if you should get up and refresh your coffee. Upon returning, you find that not only are you not on a page where you can read anything, you’ve just spent all of that time downloading a really impressive huge “splash” graphic and an annoying midi that’s woken up the baby in the next room.

Grumbling, you look for somewhere to turn the music off - only to find none. The child screams louder and your hopes for having him fall back asleep dwindle away. Having no faith now that clicking on anything in the complex image map of the splash graphic will actually get you to something you were interested in and could possibly bring up even more music you can’t turn off… you close your browser in disgust and disappointment.

I’ve been designing web pages for three years now. I admit, I too get caught up in the latest DHTML and javascript goodies that do incredibly neat things. I can spend days surfing around free CGI script sites and have often been shocked at dawn coming through my window as I was tearing apart a java applet code snippet to make it do what I want. The web, with all of its many languages and challenging cross-browser milestones, is such an exciting place to create something. Where else can you type in the equivalent of hieroglyphics and turn it into a beautiful masterpiece of artwork and information?

But no matter how pretty, or cool, or interesting your page is, you must always follow the golden rule - Be Considerate To Your Surfers.

Sure, in this age of 56k modems, cable or DSL connections, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that many people are still out there surfing around with 21,600 connections trying to enjoy the internet just as much as we are. Too often when you get into making webpages you end up buying the fastest connection you can just so that you can upload and download without turning gray. But that blazing fast connection that suits your needs shouldn’t make you forget the days when you, too, were bumbling along and watching that status meter crawl. You are putting your page up for someone else to read; so be kind to them. After all, they’re doing you a favor by visiting your site.

Splash Graphics:
Splash graphics can be incredibly beautiful and quite impressive. However, unless you’re selling graphics sets and need to show off your talent, or your web site is for a web design business where you want to show what you can do, that splash graphic is only there to feed your ego. Surfers come to your site to find something, not to ooh and ahh over an image they just spent minutes loading and has nothing to do with what they came for.
Midis/Wavs:
This is probably the most offensive of all no-no’s when designing web pages. Sure, a midi might perfectly fit the “mood” of your site, but if someone doesn’t want to listen to it and can’t turn it off, they will leave. Be sure to give your surfers a highly visible button where they can stop the music if they want to.

One site I will never return to? I found a page once where I had to hunt for the teeniest control panel for the midi - small enough that the stop button didn’t even show and I had to right-click in order to turn the music off. Once I did, however, I found that a second copy of the midi was playing in the background. Checking the source code, I found that the webmaster had that midi set to load three different ways upon entering the page, ensuring that no matter what the surfer did, they could not escape the barrage of sound. Not only was I a disappointed surfer, I was an angry surfer. Don’t force me to listen to something I don’t want to - and this was obviously force rather than a simple mistake of not knowing how to implement a control panel.
Java Applets:
In a word? Slow. Java applets may add some really cool effects to your page, but they are a bear to download. Also, older browsers can’t see them, some browsers freeze up entirely, and that big gray space as its loading simply looks ugly in your page. Leave the news tickers to the news sites, and the lake effect for the postcard sites.
Javascript:
Unlike java applets, javascript loads quickly and still delivers dynamic elements to your page. However, tie down that javascript with multiple mouseover images or put five different scripts on one page and you’ve just blown the whole point of this fast-loading code. Remember that the more text that is in your html file, the larger the code itself is to download before anything else even starts popping up. Keep the javascript to a minimum.
Hand Coding:
I can’t say enough about hand coding. Have you ever looked at the source code of that editor you’re using? Is there truly any reason you should start each paragraph with bold, center, font, alignment, and size tags only to end them and start a new paragraph with all of that junk again? No. This can triple the file size of your page and slow down its loading. Code your pages by hand - they’ll be slimmer, faster loading, and they’ll do exactly what you want them to do.
Pop-up Windows:
Even more annoying than a midi that won’t quit is a pop-up window. Sure, if you have your page on a free site, sometimes you can’t avoid this one. So leave the pop-ups to those who suffer that fate… there really is not anything important enough to tell your visitors to justify raising their ire as they have to close window after window just to see your page. If it’s that important, put it at the top of your page in a different colored text so that it will be noticed rather than ignored.
Ad Banners:
Who is really making money off of advertising for someone else? Unless your site has over 100 visitors a day and the ad is for something relative to your content, trust me - it’s not you. Don’t get duped into providing free advertising for a huge company over the promise that you might make $25 in a year. The flashy, annoying animated banner is both slow to load and detracts from your page.
DHTML Entry/Exit Scripts:
Ugh. Need I say more? I want to see the page, not watch a window blind effect slowly reveal what lies underneath.
Thumbnails:
Have lots of pictures? Be sure to index them in thumbnails so that a surfer can click on what interests them and choose what to spend time downloading. Your surfers will appreciate you for it, and most likely will end up clicking on all of your thumbnails out of mere curiosity. Force them to download ten full-size pictures though, and they’ll be gone before the second one is finished.
SSI:
Server side includes can be an incredibly useful tool, especially for a webmaster with a large site. But again, everything in moderation. Don’t put more than two SSI tags on one page. Remember, the key words are “server side”… the server has to work to hunt down and serve up that include content, which detracts from the speed of your page.
Background Graphics:
Probably the most overlooked element of a page is the background graphic. If you use one, pay attention to it. Tiled backgrounds should be no larger than 100×100 pixels, and that is the maximum. Try to keep them to 50×50 at the most. For bordered backgrounds, make sure that surfers with higher display settings won’t get your border repeated in the middle of your page - make the width at least 2050 pixels.

Confused as to what I’m saying? Make a border background that is 800 pixels wide and then set your screen display to 1024×768. You’ll have a border right in the middle of your page’s text. Not good. Keep the larger display size surfers in mind when putting up backgrounds.

Another note on border backgrounds - a border’s purpose is to add to your page, not be your page. Choose a border that is slimmer - your surfer is there to read content, not look at half a screen of graphic. If you do have a wide border, be creative with it - use it for a site menu, or plop graphics right on top of it for an interesting and quite different effect.
What’s New:
This is the smallest of all offenses, but nice if you take the time to acknowledge it. Don’t make your surfers hunt through your entire site trying to find out if anything is new. Either put it right on the front page or vibrantly promote a link to one page where they can see everything that’s been added recently and go straight to it. Besides, it will serve you as well; giving you a timeline on how often you update your site and a pattern of what you tend to do when adding.

An addendum to the golden rule could be “Everything In Moderation”. Having the coolest page on the Net means nothing if your surfers close their browser before they even get your first page loaded. Pick and choose the elements that you’ll add to your site and upload the “new and improved” page somewhere that only you can get to it. Then check it out. How fast does it load? Does it actually say anything? If you were following a link from a search engine or someone else’s page, would you stick around to wait for this to load or just hit Back? Would you be interested enough to go one more page into the site? Two more pages?

Criticize your site with the eye of a stranger rather than a parent proudly beaming over their child’s latest accomplishment. If you can’t do this, have someone else preview the page for you - especially if they have a slow connection and can be honest about what they’re seeing.

You’ll watch your hits go up and your server log will reflect more than just preemptory clicks to your front door, and your surfers will love you.

The unspoken mantra of good webpage designing - imitation from a competitive site might be the sincerest form of flattery, but having a surfer bookmark your page is the ultimate measure of your web design talent.