A UK Physio directory will be launched by us soon.

A local Physiotherapist asked us to make a databased list, so he can add newly qualified members.

1

Universal Selector – This sets ALL html tags to have zero border and padding. You then build your css up from there:

*{padding:0; margin:0; }

2

Image Replacement is the process of using images instead of text yet still using semantic html code. Whilst image replacement is great for static sites, the SiFR method is better for dynamic sites. Sifr uses a mix of Javascript and Flash to produce the text in any font. Both are great methods of making your site and typography more attractive and “designed”.

3

Comment tags are a great way of organising your CSS. Comments are inserted like

/* Details about the Css are help within is very useful tag */

They are very useful for breaking up sections of your CSS code. For instance you could have

/* ...All link styles ...*/
a:link, a:hover{ color:#f00; }
a:visited{ color#000; }
/*...Below is the left nav system section ...*/
#nav{ clear:both: float:left; }

Im sure you get the idea

4

Structure of the file ( the order in which selectors come etc ). There are many methods of doing this but the way I work is generally from the top of the page to the bottom. So the top divs and everything within those divs such as list items progress down the page. I tend to put generic html tags such as the links and list items before the main stucture:

*{padding:0; margin:0; }
a:link, a:hover{ color:#f00; }
a:visited{ color#000; }
li{ padding:5px; }
#nav {clear:both; float:left;}
#content{ width: 550px; padding: 5px 15px;}
..............
#footer{clear:both;}

This method is logical and therefore you can find things easily.

5

Shorthand:- This is a code saver and is quicker to type when you get used to it. Instead of
background-color:#f00;
background-image:url(background.gif);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-attachment:fixed;
background-position:0 0;

You can have:

background:#f00 url(background.gif) no-repeat fixed 0 0;

Another quick shortcut is for colours “#f00″ is short for “#ff0000″.

6

Centreing:- ( I’m from the UK) elements is very easy with CSS, simply give a width and a margin of “auto” to the left and right margins:

#div-id{width:550px; margin 0 auto;}

7

Font Sizes:- For accessiblility its better to use ems instead of pixels for font sizes. Simply set:

body{font-size:62.5%;}
p{font-size:1em;}

Setting the body to 62.5% rounds 1em off to 10px in most browsers. That allows you give almost pixel perfect measures, for example 1.3 em would be equal to 13 pixels.

8

Conditional Statements:- Internet Explorer is the enemy of most CSS designers and while version 7 is a lot more standards compliant, many users are still using version 6 and some are still using IE5. These browsers can easily be targeted by using Conditional Statements though.

I highly recommend you read this article about conditional statements if you are serious about web design!

9

DIVS:- Don’t be diagnosed with “Divitus”! While divisional (div) tags are great – don’t over use them

Larger Font size goes here as a heading
Smaller text goes in here, bla bla bla, like a paragraph

Can be rewritten as:

Larger Font size goes here as a heading

Smaller text goes in here, bla bla bla, like a paragraph

The 1st (the h2) and the 2nd ( the p) tag can then be targetted like this:

#mainholder h2{ font-size: 1.3em;} #mainholder p{ font-size: 1em;}

DIVS – Tip 2

CSS classes can be used twice for instance you could have:

Red Text
class="warning underlined">Red Text and underlined';
 ?>

At then this CSS:

.warning color:#f00; font-size: 1.3em;}
.underlined {text-decoration: underline;}

This keeps our stylesheet tidy and clean, which is never a bad thing.

10

ZERO equals ZERO:- Short and sweet for the last tip: There is no need to use any px or % when stating zero. For instance:

#divname{padding: 0px 4px;}

Can be replaced with:

#divname{padding:0 4px;}

Ok its not going to halve your CSS load time but every little helps.

SummaryHopefully these CSS Web Design Tips will help you order and code your web pages that bit cleaner. If you have anything to add or know of an ever better method please leave a comment.

The short answer – yes.

Long Answer:

You will need two main qualities if you want to do your own search engine optimisation. Time and the ability to learn and adapt quickly.

A lot of time will be required. Its not just the initial work of keyword research, competition, setting targets, link building and the actual editing that will have to be taken into account. Looking at industry trends, testing, monitoring results and adding new products or services will all have to be done after the first stage of search engine optimisation.

To learn the basics of seo will take a very minimum of a week of reading and understanding of the system. To carry out all the changes, updates and settings will take a minimum of 2 weeks. You will also need to add time for monitoring and adjusting the site after the initial seo updates.

Many people / businesses take on their own search engine optimisation to save money. However if you add up all the time, it may in most cases cost more to carry out seo in house.

There are other attributes though that you will need.

Patience – results will NOT take effect overnight. For a new site to just be listed can take anywhere up to 6 months. Changes that are made to the site can take up to a month to take effect.

A neutral and sensible thought process has to be understood. You have to look from within your business and look into your business. The site will have to read and present itself well, to both actual visitors and the search engines.

Some search engine optimisation work carried out internally by some businesses has been very successful, but there have also been some campaigns that have failed miserably. For every business or site that we know that has taken on its own successful seo campaign, unfortunately we know one that has failed. If you or an employee of yours intends in taking on your search engine work, be aware that sometimes they can put your sites rankings at a worse situation that currently exists.
Summary

If you have a lot of time and excellent business skills, there is a good chance that you will be be able to carry out a successful search engine optimisation campaign.

Do you want to secure your web projects with clients?

After downloading in Word Document format and in under 10 minutes you could have them printed out and ready to use with a client. These web design contract forms come coloured coded so that you can insert your business name easily and quickly.

We had these documents fully checked over and written by a well known lawyer firm in Scotland.

The 3 documents included:

1. The terms: the actual terms which you and your client agree to.
2. The works: the work that has been agreed to do.
3. The contract: ties everything together.

Some of the areas covered include:

1. Fees Payable ( % up front )
2. Maintenance fees
3. Third party operations ( hosting, domains etc)
4. Correction of errors
5. Search engine listings (SEO)
6. Supply of materials ( copyrighted images etc)
7. Approval of work
8. Rejected work
9. Overdue Payment
10. Offers and proposals
11. Intellectual Property Rights
12. Licensing

Go to download page and get the web contract

While these documents have been written and produced by a fully qualified law firm, we cannot accept any responsibility from any matters that may arise.