The RazorKnow Organisation

February 28, 2009

Natural Insomnia Remedies — Facts You Must Know About Valerian Root

Filed under: Nutrition Management — admin @ 11:52 am

Studies have suggested that valerian root is one of the best natural insomnia cures available.

What makes it superior to other natural and pharmaceutical remedies? For one thing, unlike other sleep medication, valerian is totally non-toxic. And it does not result in impaired ability to drive or operate machinery. For many persons, those are big advantages.

Certain double-blind studies have found that valerian root is a very effective sedative for insomnia patients. More importantly, it was found that using valerian improved the quality of sleep, which puts it well ahead of some other sleep remedies.

Unlike certain pharmaceutical formulations, valerian does not result in lethargy the next day.

The herbal product is usually available in dried form. The roots and rhizomes are used for treating insomnia. Given its advantages, valerian is often prescribed in anxiety-induced sleep disorders.

In some cases though, valerian seems to act as a delayed stimulant. It initially produces a calming effect that’s followed by an energy-surge a short while later. Obviously, that’s undesirable when you’re trying to treat insomnia.

Consuming a dose that’s higher than the optimum can result in grogginess later on. You need to consult your physician before using valerian.

Some practitioners have suggested that using extract from fresh valerian root instead of from dried root causes fewer problems.

You need to use valerian regularly for a month or so before it takes effect. Although it takes more time than other natural insomnia remedies, it does promote deep relaxation and refreshing sleep.

This root grows in dry heath land and in high pastures. You’ll often find valerian root referred to by one of its several folk names like garden heliotrope, red valerian, capon’s trailer and set well, among others.

Overall, given its absence of toxic reactions and its effectiveness at promoting high-quality sleep, valerian root remains one of the best natural remedies for insomnia.

Peter Walters is a successful author who has written extensively on natural cures for insomnia, effective sleep aids, insomnia treatments for fast results and many other related topics.

Cutting Calories - What’s Wrong With A Glass of Plain Water?

Filed under: Nutrition Management — admin @ 3:30 am

So, youre hooked to having a sugary drink with your meal?

It’s something I see people doing every almost every single day, with every single meal. I guess the general excuse is because since they’re eating ‘outside’, lets have a fancy sugary drink. Right? But what’s wrong with water? Do you really need a glass of iced lemon tea to go with your meal? It’s totally OK if you only do it once in awhile. But there are people I know who do this every single day. There are times I go to lunch with my colleagues, and suddenly, its as if the word ‘water’ has been removed from their vocabulary.

What’s wrong with having a glass of water at a your favourite restaurant? Nothing.

What’s wrong with ordering a glass of water at posh hotel restaurant? Nothing.

Must you order a glass of iced milo or teh-tarik just because you’re at a mamak restaurant?

To those of you who couldnt care less about consuming unnecessary calories, I guess this post wouldnt mean much. But there are those of you out there who try so hard to lose weight, complain that you’re overweight and that your diet isnt working, complain that you can’t seem to cut calories from your diet, but yet - overlook such an obvious mistake. Oil isn’t the only thing you need to be aware of when you’re counting calories. This one’s for you.

Sad to say, but these are unnecessary calories that are SO EASY to avoid. Why put so much of effort to run on a threadmill, or to carefully select your food, but then add damage all because you insist on having your ice-lemon tea, or iced milo, etc. Though its not wrong, I guess what I’m trying to say is that this is one area where you have complete control over.. so why waste the chance?

To those of you addicted to canned sodas, let’s take a can of regular Coke for example, which is 139 calories. Drink one everyday for a month, and thats an additional 4170 calories per month. If you didnt already know by now, an EXCESS of 3500 calories causes you to put on 1lb of weight. So, if that can of Coke is an excess of calories everyday.. now do you see the impact just a ‘drink’ a day can have? It’s a different story if you’ve factored in the calories to your diet already though.

If you think you don’t have the willpower to do so, then you can always try switching to a calorie free soda first, like a Diet Coke, Pepsi Light, or H2OH. If you have the time, see my previous write up on Calorie-free Sodas on my site.

I’m writing this right after getting home from church on a lovely Sunday evening, after which they served some light refreshments… and though they served packet drinks and cakes, etc, I was relieved that they also had packaged water at hand. Excellent.

Can’t stand plain water? Some people find plain water with a twist of lemon to be easier to drink than water alone. It’s probably easier to get a lime here in Malaysia. But then again..personally, if you ask me - if you can’t stand the taste of plain water… what one earth is wrong with you? I would love to personally slap some sense into you. And perhaps a spank, if you’re cute. ;)

Learn to love a glass of water. It will do you so much good. Cheers! - (to a glass of water, that is).

Josh Stone, also known as DM, is the author behind the site http://www.dailymuscle.com which offers the author’s personal views on real-life fitness, bodybuilding, sports nutrition, cardio, fat loss, training information, and on all things that surrounds fitness.

February 27, 2009

How to Create a Professional Web Site in 24 Hours

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 8:18 am

While creating a Web site may seem like a difficult, time-intensive and expensive process, it’s actually possible to have a professional site up and running in less than 24 hours for under $50 with little to no prior Web development experience.

And whether your business sells products or services, you can use a Web site to increase your revenue and reduce your start-up costs. While you’re at school, your Web site can take orders, answer common customer questions and introduce potential prospects to your business, among many other possibilities. For example, Ryan Allis, a 19-year-old entrepreneur now attending the University of North Carolina, was able to successfully create and market a Web site that sold a product that helps people with arthritis. As a result of his efforts, his company was able to generate more than $1 million in sales by the time Allis was seventeen years old.

If you’re interested in taking your company to the next level with a Web site, simply follow the three easy steps below:

  1. Register a domain name. The first step in creating a Web site is choosing a Web address where your site visitors will be able to find you, such as yourbusinessname.com. ‘.com’ is the most common ending for a for-profit business, while ‘.org’ is the most common ending for a non-profit business. When choosing a domain name, it’s most common to use your business, product or service name or a variation of it as the address. You can register your domain name for under $10 per year at GoDaddy.com.

  2. Register for Web hosting. Web hosting allows you to store your Web site on a server that’s accessible 24 hours a day by anybody who has an Internet connection. For an introductory Web site, web hosting can cost less than $10 per month. For a list of Web hosting companies, visit WebHostList.com.
  3. Design the site. You have three options for how to design your site: Do it yourself, hire someone or purchase a template. Designing the site yourself will take the longest amount of time, but it’ll be the cheapest and give you a valuable skill you can use in the future. To learn more about creating your own site, visit WebMonkey.com.

Hiring someone else to create the site for you may cost the most money, but it will lead to a higher quality product in a shorter amount of time. Through sites like elance.com, you can hire professional Web designers from other parts of the world such as Asia, who charge as little as $10 per hour.

Using professional Web site templates allows you to get online in the shortest amount of time, but it may lead to a product that doesn’t perfectly match the image of your company. Through companies such as Pimil.com, you can purchase Web site templates for as little as $36.

Once you’ve successfully completed these three steps and created your site, you have to keep in mind that you’ve only just begun and that your business won’t immediately bring in millions of dollars. To have a business that effectively uses a web site, it’s important to constantly improve upon it to meet the needs of your current and potential customers. In addition, it’s crucial to promote the Web address on your marketing materials and through marketing campaigns so other people can find it. Good luck!

Reprinted with permission from Entrepreneur.com. Copyright © 2005.

Michael Simmons is the author of the best-selling book, The Student Success Manifesto: How to Create a Life of Passion, Purpose and Prosperity and an award-winning entrepreneur. He is also one of America’s top youth motivational speakers for college campuses. Read his online journal at young entrepreneur journey or click on the following link to download his free success ebook

February 26, 2009

The Significance Of Attention

Filed under: The Self Improvement Way — admin @ 1:27 pm

Firstly I would like to discuss the difference between attention and retention. Many in the past have deemed that attention is requisite to acquiring information. For without attention a profound impression cannot be made.

In the medium of retention there is an objective at the outset. That motive is to retain information. In the realm of attention that purpose may not be present but that does not mean that you are being inattentive. Let’s look at the denotation of the word attention. “Concentration of the mental powers upon an object; a close or careful observing or listening. The ability or power to concentrate mentally. Observant consideration; notice:”

Now if we look at concentration we get the following.
“The act or process of concentrating, especially the fixing of close, undivided attention. The condition of being concentrated. Something that has been concentrated. Chemistry. The amount of a specified substance in a unit amount of another substance.” Then concentrated would mean this. “To direct or draw toward a common center; focus. Then focus means to close or narrow attention; concentration.” By now you may be seeing something interesting here. That is, many words are cross referencing themselves

So attention is far broader than either concentration or focus. Attention if it has a motive will narrow down to its specific purpose. Therefore it becomes focus, or concentration or the acquisition of information known as retention. Attention is far more significant than any of the above.

Attention is observation and listening without specific aim but for the joy of exploring. Attention encompasses concentration, retention and focus yet it is not limited by any of them. This broadens the mind and goes beyond the ties of conditioning.

The principal difficulty in all this lies in the fact of understanding, which requires some active earnest thinking, and the majority of people are too lazy to indulge in such mental activity, yet without exercising this, I am not sure if you will ever live life to its fullest extent..

Sign up for our monthly newsletter at http://www.learningfromdvds.com and get your free e-book on memory, along with a wide selection of Yoga DVDs.

Paul Hegarty is the owner of learningfromdvds.com. A guide to educational DVDs with price comparisons, reviews, and free E-books. Read this month’s e-book on “How To Spot A Fraudulent Email”. Grab your free copy today.

February 25, 2009

Radware Expands its Intrusion Prevention and Denial of Service Protection Capabilities with DefenseP

Filed under: Technology Hall — admin @ 8:22 am

New DefensePro Inline Security Solution Extends Network Protection from the Data Center to Regional and Branch Offices

Extending security best practices beyond corporate headquarters to safeguard regional and branch locations, Radware (NASDAQ: RDWR) the leading provider of Intelligent Application Switching (IAS) solutions today announced the expansion of its DefensePro Product line. Unveiling DefensePro 100, Radware now delivers unprecedented end-to-end security from the network core, through the corporate gateway to the branch and regional offices. With signature matching, regular updates, anomaly detection and DoS/DDoS mitigation, DefensePro protects distributed networks with an unparalleled family of Intrusion Prevention security switches.

“There is an increasing number of application level attacks targeting data centers, network edges, and even LANs. Threats come from all directions - internal, external, or other corporate locations,” said Charles Kolodgy, research director of Security Product at IDC. “As a result, enterprises and carriers must protect applications with proactive Denial of Service and Intrusion Prevention systems that mitigate attacks along the whole network infrastructure.”

Hackers target not only corporate headquarters, but remote locations which often have less security devices deployed. To safeguard against this growing trend, DefensePro 100 leverages all of the Intrusion Prevention capabilities found at headquarters and optimizes them for regional and branch deployments. With the expanded product line, Radware prevents hackers from penetrating the branch and infiltrating through the corporate private network or VPN to headquarters by blocking worms before they hit any point in the network.

“Radware DefensePro protects our critical applications in the network core, and we are excited about the new DefensePro 100 which will extend protection to our network endpoints,” said Ken Myung, IT Manager at Audiovox. “We rely on our network to generate revenue and provide in-house employees and sales people in the field with productivity services, including email and other mission critical applications. DefensePro protection ensures the continuity and performance of both incoming and outgoing traffic, while giving us a unified management tool for attack monitoring and reporting.”

DefensePro features inline security switching and accelerated, stateful, deep-packet inspection - using Radware’s industry leading StringMatch Hardware Engine - to bi-directionally scan and protect all network traffic against application level attacks. DefensePro intercepts over 1,500 malicious signatures, hidden worms and viruses, blocking application attacks at an unmatched speed of 3-Gigabits/Sec. Identifying and mitigating protocol and traffic anomalies in real-time, DefensePro prevents DoS/DDoS attacks and SYN floods, safeguarding against all illicit traffic patterns and hacking. DefensePro isolates attacks by dynamically managing bandwidth to stop propagation across users and resources while ensuring the complete continuity and performance of all secure traffic to proactively control impact and limit damage. Combining high processing power with advanced application security services DefensePro secures mission critical applications across high-speed/high capacity environments.

“The DefensePro Product line now delivers the most flexible and comprehensive IPS offering in the market with protection for all enterprise access points,” said Assaf Ronen, VP R&D, Radware. “As the number and severity of application vulnerabilities continues to grow, Radware DefensePro provides an end-to-end solution security solution that prevents the flow of intrusions, viruses and worms.”

Radware (NASDAQ:RDWR) is the Global Leader in Intelligent Application Switching, enabling the full availability, maximum performance and complete security of all mission critical networked applications while dramatically cutting operating and scaling costs.

Radware’s integrated Application Security , Application Infrastructure and End-to-End Connectivity solutions are deployed by over 2,500 enterprises and carriers worldwide. Radware offers the broadest product line in the industry meeting application needs at every critical point across the network including Web and Application Servers, Firewalls, VPNs, ISP links, Anti-Virus Gateways and Cache.

8 Things You Must Know To Build A Great Website

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 5:51 am

Last week we talked about how a bad website can do your business more harm than good. That column brought several emails asking what is the key to building an effective business website. I replied with the same answer I always give: building an effective business website is a simple matter of definition.

Before the first graphic is drawn or the first line of code is written, you must define the website’s budget, purpose, target audience, design, navigation, and content. And when that’s all said and done you must define the marketing that will bring visitors to your site.

It sounds easy, but you’d be amazed at how many really bad business websites there are out there. Yours might even be one of them. If so, listen up. For nearly ten years now my company has been building and rebuilding websites for every kind of business you can imagine: from mom-and-pops to multinationals. We’ve designed (or redesigned) a couple hundred websites and along the way I have come to the conclusion that most business websites do a pitiful job of working for their owners.

What’s that, you didn’t know your business website should work for you? You think it should just sit on a server somewhere taking up digital space and collecting digital dust?

Wrong. Every website, business or otherwise, must serve a purpose, and that’s usually where most websites falls short. They serve no purpose because the website owner never gave much thought to it. It’s not the website’s fault. A website is inanimate. It is only what you make it. The only life a website has is the one given to it by its designer and owner. If the human element doesn’t do a good job of defining the building blocks, the website will serve no purpose and eventually die a digital death.

Building an effective business website isn’t brain surgery, thank goodness, since that’s how I make a nice percentage of my living. Building an effective, well-designed website that works for its owner, that actually serves a purpose, is all about definition.

Define the Budget
Every website, no matter how large or small, must have a realistic budget, with “realistic” being the key word. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat with a potential client as they listed off the eight million cool things they wanted their website to do, only to find out that their budget was just a few hundred dollars. I always feel like saying, “Well you just wasted three hundred dollars of my time, so here’s your bill…”

Define the Purpose
Every website must have a purpose. Purpose drives everything: the audience, the design, the navigation, the content, and the marketing. I could do an entire column on purpose, but suffice it to say that there are five categories of purpose under which most websites fall: the purpose to inform, to educate, to entertain, to generate leads, to sell, or a combination thereof. If you fail to define the purpose of the website, all else is just wasted effort.

Define the Target Audience
Your target audience refers to that segment of the public that you hope to attract to the site. For example if you sell shoes, your target audience would be anyone with feet. Taking it a step further, if you only sold women’s shoes, your target audience would be women (with feet) Why is defining your target audience so important? If you have no idea who your audience is, how can you expect to design a website that will appeal to them? Your target audience could be customers, investors, job seekers, info seekers, etc. Define your target audience, then figure out how to serve them.

Define the Design
Website design theory has changed over the last couple of years, primarily because the search engines now ignore graphic heavy websites and give preference to those that take a minimalistic approach to design. If you look at some of the big boy websites like GE, Oracle, Raytheon, HP, and others you will see that in many cases the only graphic on the homepage is the company’s logo. Search engines now give higher preference to websites that offer keyword-rich text over flashy graphics. Don’t fight the design trend. You will lose.

Define the Navigation
Bad navigation is the number one reason website visitors abandon a website. Navigation refers to the chain of links the visitor uses to get around your site. If your site has an illogical navigational hierarchy or too few or too many links or is simply impossible to get around, you’ve got problems. We live in a microwave society. We stand in front of the microwave tapping our foot and glaring at our watch wondering why it takes so damn long for a bag of popcorn to pop. Why can’t a three-minute egg be done in thirty seconds? If it takes a visitor more than 3 clicks to get to any page on your site, your navigation needs improvement.

Define the Content
Content refers to the information on your website, be it graphics, text, downloadable items, etc. Since the top search engines no longer use HTML Meta tag data to index websites, it is vital that your website content be text heavy, succinct and well-written to appeal to the search engine spiders.

Define the Build Method
Next, who will build the website for you? Will you do it yourself using one of the point and click website builders or will you hire the kid next door? Will you hire a freelance designer or a professional firm? Budget usually dictates the build method, but be warned, when it comes to website development, you get what you pay for. Sure, the kid next door will throw up a site for you if you buy them a pizza or make your daughter go to the prom with them, but you will end up a with a website that looks like and performs like it was designed by the kid next door.

Define the Marketing
If you build it, will they come? Not on your life, at least not without a good marketing campaign. Your website should become a part of all your marketing efforts, online and off.

Put the website address on your business cards, brochures, letterhead, and all collaterals. Include the address in your ads; print, TV and radio. If you prefer to do online marketing, figure out where your target audience surfs and advertise there.

If marketing is foreign to you, do yourself a favor and call in an expert. Many businesses fail because they simply do not know how to market their products and services effectively. This is also the downfall of most business websites.

Here’s to your success!

Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies and is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs. www.prosperityandprofits.com - www.smallbusinessqa.com - www.dropshipwholesale.net

Great Way to Get Flat Abs - Get the Right Mindset

Filed under: Be Fit Now — admin @ 2:45 am

Do you see yourself in this status also? Observing that your middle section is inflating or just pointing due south. Is there too much belly for too little trousers waist? Are you understanding that the wasted, horizontal TV time, eating up french fries and drinking beer has at long last caught up with you, and you are wearing love handles? Would you like to get a sixpack? Don’t worry too much. There are others in this spare tire crisis and things are promising for you.

If you want to melt away the ab fat to reveal the muscle you should start some ab exercises (ab-exercises.org). Whether you are a man or a woman, you can benefit from a stronger back. When your abdominals are strengthened your back is also fortified. There are simplified exercises to drop off the spare tire, such as sit ups and crunches.

With a focus on your lower back try lying on your tummy. Raising your feet and knees off of the floor and lightly kicking your legs as if you were swimming. Fifteen seconds of kicking, thirty seconds of rest and then repeat.

While you’re at it, why not trim down on the sodium consumption. We tend to link salt and sodium loaded foods with heart disease and stroke. Salt also results in water retention which can make a large belly look even bigger. Avoid processed foods and adding extra salt. A fat tummy can also be cut by drinking water. Water not only helps to keep the body hydrated, it also helps your body to metabolize stored fat into energy and cuts your appetite.

A great idea would be to cease the alcohol drinking to reduce caloric intake. Im sure that youre just as let down as I was to hear that alcohol doesnt serve the same purpose as water being that they are both liquid. Alcohol contains a lot of what is referred to empty calories which for men have a tendency to get fixed around the gut creating love handles. No need to cut alcohol out altogether, just keep a tally of the quantity you booze and adjust as needed; just as you would if you were following what you eat.

February 24, 2009

Italy Leaves UK Behind in Mobile Broadband Race

Filed under: Consumers Den, Technology Hall, The Telecommunication Way — admin @ 1:35 pm

As Italy gears up for the launch of a mega fast mobile broadband service, it is the latest country to have left UK behind in the race.

Just recently, the Australian telecom firm Telstra announced that it would launch its 21MB mobile broadband service, which would first be available to the company’s business customers, and then to the general public in April. Not to be left behind, Telecom Italia has been working in collaboration with the Swedish company Ericsson, and it plans to launch its 28MB service this year. Milan would be the first city to have access to this service in June, which will be followed by a nation-wide roll out later in the year.

Ericsson, the telecom technology provider is leading the HSPA development, and is putting in a lot of effort for the growth of network technology. The collaboration with Telecom Italia will make use of the MIMO (Multiple Input and Multiple Output) technology, which allows transmission of data through two or more antenna branches, and enables much faster download speeds. The expected speed of the new service in Italy is likely to be up to four times that of the 3g broadband availability in UK. Although, the usual mobile broadband problems like long distance from the base station, cold weather, local conditions, network traffic etc. are expected to lower the connection speed available to the consumer.

The pricing is yet to be finalized, but if the high prices being charged in Australia can be seen as a hint, users may have to pay some premium to avail these fast broadband services.

February 21, 2009

Zimmer Durom Cup Lawsuits Not Good for Hip Implant Recipients

Filed under: Great Legal Resources Tips, Help + Advice — admin @ 11:02 pm

Alot of people who had zimmer metasul durom used in their hip cup replacement surgical operations are encountering that there are negative ramifications that far surpass the average expectations for recuperation. These poor people are experiencing a lot of needless anguish for longer time periods, looking forward to revision surgeries and increased medical costs, and losing revenue by not physically being able to work at their official businesses. Although Zimmer Holdings, Inc. is demanding that that their implant is not conceivably malfunctioning and have basically denied blame for the faulth cup hip implants, many poor people are filing lawsuits against them and receiving settlements.

During the month of October, 2008 Zimmer announced that it had reserved $47.5 million to pay for lawsuits they had filed against them and received. Many MD’s are not 100% convinced that the durom cup hip implant is not the problem as the company has publicly stated. As A Matter Of Fact, when Zimmer extended on-line training to docs in order to instruct them what was supposedly more correct techniques for performing the implant surgery, half of the docs refused to participate. Therefore, the entire situation continues to be trying for everyone participating, but none more than the hundreds of individuals who are looking forward to revision surgical procedure due to the issues with their implant not staying snug in the socket.

These hurt patients definitely deserve some aid and compensation which is the reason product liability attorneys are supporting them by telling them to start the filing of lawsuits. hip implant recall has been resolving these claims before they go to court. Nevertheless, even if the settlement they are being offered sounds like alot to them, in numerous cases poor people are deciding too fast and without clause being made for on-going problems if it happens again. If they don’t hold off and wait, to find out what cases are actually going to be worth, people could find themselves incurring alot more expenses from their own pocket when more problems start to surface.

If your orthopedic Dr. informs you that you will need to undergo a revision surgical procedure to repair your Zimmer Durom hip replacement device, get in touch with an attorney right away.

Once your attorney tells you that you have a case, be prepared to wait in order to get the best settlement that your lawyer will be able to negotiate for you. Take the advice your attorney provides for you and do not rush the process including the restitution. Being patient at this stage of the case can pay off vs. just rushing the process.

February 19, 2009

Web Standards - Should my Business Site be Compliant?

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 7:31 am

Web standards is the new buzz phrase on the web. What are web standards? Web standards are basically the use of correct web coding standards as laid out by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The web standards which are of most concern to modern business are XHTML and CSS coding practices. In the words of the W3C, “The XHTML family is the next step in the evolution of the internet.”

In order to achieve appealing presentation it used to be the case that various HTML hacks would have to be utilised by web designers to make a page look appealing. The most commonly know ‘hack’ (which is still in use today) is the use of tables to layout page structure. Thankfully these days are coming to an end, as web browsers have evolved and XHTML and CSS are now commonly supported standards. It is now possible to make sites which not only look great but are also constructed to the correct web standards.

This is all well and good, but should your business switch to a web standards based design? What are the business benefits of getting standards based re-designs?

One of the disadvantages of getting a web standards based design is that it can be difficult to find a designer who will make an attractive site which is also web standards compliant. A lot of very talented web designers do not create sites which are web standards compliant due to the time involved and the lack of appreciation received from the client for doing so.

The slow conversion to standards based designs is in part due to the ease in which a non-standards based site can be created. With the boom in ‘what you see is what you get’ (WYSIWYG) site creation tools like Dreamweaver it is now relatively straightforward for talented graphic artists to create professional looking sites with little code knowledge. Although the sites look great, the construction can leave a lot to be desired. Poor page coding, although not always visually apparent, can result in your business losing money as well as make your site inaccessible to a large audience, difficult to navigate and difficult to maintain.

A quality web standards based web site separates the look of your web pages from the written content of your site. This addresses the negative points about a non-standards based site mentioned above. By separating style from content, standards based sites allow people using screen readers, mobiles, PDA’s and other web browsing methods to be able to navigate your site. These devices have trouble displaying table based layouts and big images so non-standards based sites are largely unusable. In the second generation of the web there is a wider range of platforms than ever before. Using web standards is the only way to ensure a high degree of uniformity across multiple platforms with your site. If your site isn’t accessible then your message is restricted to certain customers, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this isn’t good in business.

A potential downside to a standards compliant website is some site add-ins such as certain bulletin boards, calendars and other dynamic content may not be written in a standards compliant manner. This becomes a problem when the add-in content is the only one that exactly fits your functional requirements. Sometimes in this scenario it may be necessary to forgo full standards compliance on pages where your non-standards compliant dynamic content is needed and migrate the page once the developers adopt standards.

A plus side of web-standards based sites is that maintenance is made easier, meaning your site can be more easily altered. As style is handled by an external (CSS) Style Sheet it is possible to change a sites whole colour scheme by changing a few key values. Also, as no styling information is in the HTML it is much tidier and greatly reduced in size making it easier to read and alter. Smaller file sizes mean that pages load quickly (providing a better experience for customers on slow connections), consume less bandwidth (reducing hosting costs to your business).

The final benefit of well constructed standards based websites is that as well as being accessible to your customers, often it will also be more accessible to search engines. Poorly structured inaccessible websites can often mean that some of the relevance of your text is misinterpreted by search engines. This means you could be losing out in search engine listings. By having a cleanly structured web standards website you are helping to ensure that your site (and its keywords) are correctly represented in search engines and is considered more relevant than non-standards based sites in your industry.

The obvious conclusion to this article is that web standards bring real tangible benefits to business. Although finding a design company that will construct a standards compliant site is more difficult than just finding a web designer, the benefits speak for themselves. By moving to a standards based web site businesses can ensure they have accessible sites which are maintainable and future proofed. Increased customer exposure and search engine prominence can all improve the level of business that comes to you via your website. Web standards are the future of the internet and to ignore it could leave your business trailing behind the online competition.

Thomas Ashworth
NuBlue Digital Web Solutions
http://www.nublue.co.uk

Next Page »