On August 27, 2008, Microsoft released Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 in English

, German, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese.

“Is my web site ineffective ?”

Of all the e-mail questions I receive, this one amazes me the most.

I used to answer these e-mails by saying the best way to figure out if your site is ineffective was to look around at the different sites in the non-profit world, look at all the Daily Design Discussions, and notice the similarities between what I mention and what’s on your site.

The key to marketing has always been getting one's product recognized by as large a group of people as possible. Advertising has always been the key to any marketing effort. Companies spend millions on ad placements in trimedia campaigns that encompass print, radio and television.

Print, radio and television have traditionally been the main medium for marketing. However, in the past decades, another form of paid advertising has found itself on the rise, and this utilizes the internet.

A regional web page is one that focuses in on a specific area such as a city, county, state, country or area of the world.

You do not have to have a regional website

Last week a sales rep from a local printing company walked in to my office to pimp his company's "superior" printing services. I gave him a few minutes and he proceeded to give me his pitch, walk me through his large list of printing capabilities, and show me a smattering of past print jobs that included an impressive mix of brochures, folders and binders with fancy die cuts, foil stamping and intricate embossing.

If your website does not create a sense of trust in your visitors, all your efforts will be in vain. Your online business will not succeed. That's the bad news. The good news is that it is very easy to create and build trust in your online visitors. Below, I have listed all the techniques used by the hundreds of websites I have helped launch. If you have additional techniques, please add them to the líst.

Developing a corporate writing style will unify your company's communications and create a unique 'voice' that enhances corporate recognition and brand awareness.

To ensure that your corporate writing style is applied consistently, you need a style-guide.

As well as link building and on-page optimisation, there are some other very important SEO factors which can help your website index and rank in search engine listings.

The following techniques are grouped into the category named 'website optimisation' and should not be overlooked when preparing an SEO campaign.

The layout for a website is as important as the content that is chosen for the website itself.

This is because the layout decides how easy a website is to navigate and how easy it is to find things on it.

You have probably noticed yourself that there are layouts which are fast and easy to use and ones that you spend more time looking for what you want than it takes to obtain the information once you have found it.

I've seen it many times. A new entrepreneur is excited because their website just went live after weeks, or even months, of hard work. But the excitement doesn't last long when they see that they have yet to make a sale. Or maybe they've only made one or two. They're not covering their expenses, and they're certainly not making enough to live on.

I make sure to tell them not to worry, because it's happened to all of us. Especially with a new website. And there is an answer. Or, I should say, a few answers.