First let me say this, mine does! I've got a number of websites now, and after looking through them all, I've decided the home page of my first site, bizweb2000.com is now outdated. Very outdated.

In today's issue, I'm going to plan a quick makeover. As I make my plans, I'll share the resources I plan to use. If you're planning a site makeover, or even a new site, this issue should come in handy.

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OK, first things first. My domain name is lame. Bizweb2000.com -- what was I thinking? Well, it WAS 1996 when I put the site up, so I guess I was thinking of the future. Just not FAR ENOUGH into the future!

But changing my domain name at this stage of the game may not be wise. I mean I've got thousands of sites linking to mine now, so I'd have to setup redirects and all that ugly stuff. And that could hurt my search engine ranking.

I've managed to get on the first page of Google for highly popular search terms such as Internet marketing, website marketing, small business marketing and many more. I certainly would not want to jeopardize those rankings because I'm tired of my domain name.

So I'll focus on the look. Actually, it's the look that bothers me the most. It's just too basic, plus surfers are on MUCH different systems than they were when I built the site. A check of my stats shows that monitor sizes are now MUCH larger than back in 1996. Based on a sampling of my last 30,000 visitors, here is the screen resolution the average surfers are seeing websites with in 2005...

1024X786 - 52%
800X600 - 34%
1280X1024 - 7% (and growing fast)
1152X864 - 3%

Those stats show me that the average monitor size is now 17" and still growing. After viewing my home page in those different resolutions, I was not thrilled with it.

If you have not seen your site with higher resolutions, you may be surprised at what it looks like. I suggest you take time to view your website with different resolutions right now. Here's how...

Windows users:
Click the Start button,
Select Settings,
Select Control Panel,
Double-click on Display,
Click the Settings tab at the top (note the original resolution)
Drag the screen area bar to the desired resolution.

MAC users:
Click the colored apple in the top left,
Choose Control Panels,
Choose Monitor and Sound,
Note original resolution,
On resolution, use the drop down selector to set your resolution.

*Imac, emac, G5, etc. would click on the "Apple" and click on Preferences (not control panels) then click on displays.

So obviously, the first thing I need is a new, up-to-date layout.

A Template to the Rescue?

OK, I'll be the first to admit it, I'm a lousy web designer. In fact, I can't design much of a site at all. The web page for my BizWeb eGazette that you are reading right now, was built in about an hour using a website template. So naturally, I'm going to use a template on my new BizWeb2000.com home page.

I figured the best way to get a template would be to load my very own ezWebBusinessBuilder CD into my computer and click on "Select a Website Template". Rather than use one of the free templates, I spent about 15 minutes and poked through the database of discount templates under the business category.

After my usual decision process (honey, what do you think of this one? ) I settled on the following template...

So, in a week or so, that is what my BizWeb2000.com home page will look like. I'll probably migrate a handful of my sub pages to that new look as well, to keep things uniform. Actually, if I had time, I'd change ALL my pages at the site!

(More after this important message.)

A Few Quality Photos Would Help...

Next I hopped on over to Clipart.com and searched for a few fresh photos. While the images at the pre-built template look decent, chances are I'll grab a few fresh photos there, since I can get as many as I need for just $14.95. (Heck, I've paid hundreds of dollars for a single CD containing images of that quality.)

If you need photos, or any other web images for that matter, I suggest you search that site by keyword. Chances are you'll find some great images for your site, and you'll get them for a song! (They also offer an affiliate program, but I was in too much of a rush to join, so that's just a regular ol' link above.)
 

The Text Needs Direction...

I started reading through the text at my home page and was not too impressed. If I were visiting my site, I'd want to know the different ways it could help me.

So I'm re-writing the site text completely. The new script will include lots of components that ALL sites should have...

1. Some testimonials I've received through the years.

2.  Buttons to an About Us page, my top Products and Services, this Newsletter, a Contact page and a few other key areas.

3. Links to my Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Submit URL page, etc.

It'll take me a few hours to get it all just right, but with that template I'm sure it will look sharp when it is done.


Finally, Let's Lead Visitors by the Hand...

The last step I want to take is to guide my visitors along the right path... to the products and services that will help them achieve their goals!

So I'm now gathering a tightly focused list of my best products and services. That's what I'll plug into those "Feature Areas" of my site, beside each of the images.

I want the site to share ONLY the best ways I can help visitors make money online.

In the next issue of BizWeb eGazette I'm going to share my new BizWeb2000.com Home Page with you. I'll also share some more details of the makeover, including the time it took and the problems I ran into. If you're considering a new site or a site makeover, you should find the next issue helpful.

To your online marketing success,
Jim Daniels - JDD Publishing
Creator of ezWebBusinessBuilder.com - the world's first View it and Do It software for profiting from the web.

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