| Many small business owners have a hard time seeing | | | | fast or slow connections. |
| the value of a website redesign. They believe "if it ain't | | | | 3. Accessibility |
| broke, don't fix it." And this is understandable. Unless | | | | Rapid advances in wireless communications have |
| you are eating, breathing and sleeping technology and | | | | made it easy to surf the 'Net using PDA's and cell |
| staying up to date with the moving target of Internet | | | | phones. Tabular page layouts simply don't display |
| business, you're not likely to know intuitively if your site | | | | properly on small screens. A business that wants to |
| needs a redesign. | | | | be accessible to anyone, anywhere now and in the |
| And as a small business owner, you may be | | | | future needs to have a website that can be viewed |
| concerned about the up-front costs of a website | | | | on mobile devices. |
| redesign. But once you understand how a redesign | | | | CSS design also greatly improves the user experience |
| can help you drive traffic to your site, convert more | | | | for the visually impaired, as they cause fewer |
| users and even save money, you'll feel more positive | | | | problems for screen readers and Braille programs. |
| about making the investment in your business. | | | | 4. Search Engine Benefits |
| Old School Web Design - Tables-Based HTML | | | | It has been estimated that up to 80% of all purchases |
| Not long ago, fax machines were the best way to | | | | online begin with a search engine. And an entire |
| deliver business documents fast. But now it's so easy | | | | industry is dedicated to helping businesses rank highly |
| to scan and email documents, and even capture digital | | | | for specific search terms to take advantage of the |
| signatures through email, the fax machine is quickly | | | | power of search engines. |
| going the way of the typewriter. With email, recipients | | | | Although the relevance of a webpage to a search |
| can choose to read and archive the message online, | | | | term is determined by HTML elements like title tags |
| or print it out themselves on their own desktop printer. | | | | and heading tags, content is still "king" because visitors |
| No need for individual telephone lines for the fax | | | | are looking for content, not code. When you have a |
| machine, taking up desk space, replacing toner, | | | | high code-to-content ratio, your keyword density (the |
| uncurling fax paper and listening to screeching fax | | | | relative frequency of your targeted keywords on your |
| machine tones! | | | | page) is diluted by HTML instructions for how tables, |
| Tables-based HTML websites are like the fax | | | | fonts, styles and colors should be rendered. With CSS, |
| machine. At one time tables were the best way to | | | | there are no tables, and formatting information is |
| render information on the Web. But like curled paper | | | | contained in one style sheet. So search engines see |
| and fading ink, tables left something to be desired. | | | | more keywords and less code. |
| Designers were constrained by tables that allowed | | | | Search engines are more and are more likely to index |
| data to be rendered only in tabular form. The clean, | | | | deeper pages of your site and send you more referral |
| professional and creative layouts today's best | | | | traffic. |
| designers create with Cascading Style Sheets could | | | | 5. Bandwidth |
| never be achieved with tables-based HTML. | | | | Cascading Style Sheets can save you money and |
| New School Web Design - Cascading Style Sheets | | | | increase the number of eyeballs that see your page in |
| Cascading Style Sheets separate the presentation | | | | other ways. "Bandwidth" refers to how much website |
| elements of a website (code) from its content (words). | | | | traffic your hosting company will allow you to have |
| CSS allows web designers and developers to format | | | | each month. Because every time a user lands on your |
| the layout and style (fonts, spacing, text size, colors | | | | site, he or she must load your pages in his or her |
| and so on) of multiple Web pages using one file, rather | | | | browser. Not only visitors, but search engine spiders |
| than entering the code to each individual page. Making | | | | consume bandwidth too. The more code your pages |
| changes to styles and layouts is much quicker and | | | | have, the more bandwidth you use. |
| easier with CSS as well, as updating one file | | | | If you exceed bandwidth usage your site will be |
| "cascades" the changes to every page on the site. | | | | suspend until you buy more bandwidth or reach end of |
| There is less room for error, and the website maintains | | | | the month. Suppose your site receives a sudden surge |
| a professional consistency. | | | | of traffic shortly after a popular magazine features |
| But web designers and developers are not the only | | | | your company. That would be the worst possible time |
| ones who benefit from CSS. You as a business | | | | for your website to go offline! CSS makes for a more |
| owner benefit even more. How? | | | | efficient use of bandwidth, and reduces the chances |
| 5 Solid Reasons To Redesign Your Website With | | | | of such problems. |
| CSS | | | | So Are Tables Taboo? |
| 1. Branding and Aesthetics | | | | Absolutely not. There are bona fide reasons to use |
| Consumer behavior experts tell us that, presented with | | | | tables to display certain types of content. The beauty |
| many similar product or service options, and little prior | | | | about CSS is that you still can use tables when you |
| knowledge and experience with these brands or | | | | need to, but you don't need to use tables for |
| companies, consumers will rely on mental shortcuts to | | | | everything which significantly reduces your "code load." |
| make purchase decisions. The way your website | | | | How Do I Know If I'm Already Using CSS? |
| looks compared to your competitors has a large | | | | A quick test to see if your site is using CSS is to load |
| influence on how a visitor perceives your company's | | | | your website in your browser (any page will do). Right |
| professionalism and goodwill. If your website looks | | | | click anywhere in the window, and a menu box will |
| modern, crisp and clean, you leave a positive | | | | appear. Click "View Page Source." You should see |
| impression on your visitors about your company. | | | | keywords like rel="stylesheet" or type="text/css" near |
| 2. Better Usability | | | | the top of the window that pops up to view your |
| CSS also reduces the amount of HTML code a | | | | source code. |
| website requires. Tables and extra tags for fonts and | | | | If you're already using CSS, there may be other ways |
| colors cause pages to load slowly. The longer it takes | | | | your business could benefit from a website redesign. |
| for your page to load, the more likely a visitor will hit | | | | Driving traffic, improving the customer experience, |
| the back button. Even though the majority of people | | | | making your website more accessible to users and |
| use a broadband connection, many are still using dialup. | | | | saving time and money on webmaster updates make |
| And others may be using a high speed wireless | | | | it well worth the investment. Whether you choose to |
| network which, depending on how many others are | | | | redesign now or in the future, make sure that your |
| sharing the same wireless channel, may experience | | | | web designer and developer are skilled in CSS. |