Forum Moderators: mack
Only problem is my site is still using the dreamweaver frames style that I built initially. The code is cluttered, my ftp is a mess and I want to make it more professional looking as I'm hoping to make this a part time business this year.
I'd prefer not to pay someone nor spend the next 6 months nose deep in programming books if I don't have to.
If possible I'd like to focus on one coding style and later bring more into it as my coding skills progress.
What would be the best route and code format to make my site really stand out, make me some good money and have ppl actually want to navigate the site rather than load and leave.
Thanks for your tips and I'm looking forward to being active on this site. I wish I'd found it last year.
First I would suggest getting rid of the frames. You'll find an increase in traffic from the search engines and people who bookmark your site. A framed site doesn't allow you to bookmark anything but the frameset page and is not very intuitive for the average surfer. Your visitors will thank you.
Next, run your code through the W3C validator and clean up any errors. This will help the SE spiders and your visitor's browsers to traverse your site without difficulty.
Then if you have the inclination...look into CSS and XHTML. That will future-proof your site to some degree and allow you to serve your users smaller files.
That should be enough to keep you busy for a little while ;)
I do agree with the problem of bookmarking when dealing with frames, but I disagree with frames being a problem with search engines. I have several sites that utilize frames, and with the correct use of the <noframes> tag, both sites have done remarkably well in the search engines. Both rank #1 for various 2 and 3 highly competative phrases that return 1.3 and 1.5 million in the SERPS of many of the major engines.
I'm sure I read some where on a Google web page that frames definitely aren't good.
If you do them right you won't be hurt but I haven't made a framed page in over five years and have no problems displaying the content.
WBF
I pay $19.95 a month for a dedicated ip and unlimited bandwidth
...I would suggest that, if there is going to be significant income riding on this site, you double or triple-check your hosting provider! 'Unlimited' bandwidth doesn't exist, and many hosts that offer such are more than a bit dodgy; people on these hosts tend to find themselves suddenly cut off when their sites actually begin to attract major traffic.
(Find the price of a cheap dedicated server and try the math - I think you will find that a provider can't really host more than a few sites using the bandwidth your site is now using - and at $19.95, they won't be able to afford that dedicated server for long...and even if they can cover the cost of the server, it's hard to see how they could afford to support it. Lastly, remember - the promise of 'unlimited bandwidth' will attract customers with high bandwidth requirements...)
-B
I'm sure I read some where on a Google web page that frames definitely aren't good.
I got around that by putting the code in all my pages on the site. It's worked well as each page brings up specific ads to that pages content. After watching what ads do come up, I'm going to start using the alternate ads to better support my audience.
My host really does have unlimited bandwidth. That’s why I choose them. 90% of my BW is from video downloads. I'm using a business class account and after my bandwidth spiked to 144 gigs I called them to make sure I would be ok. They said yes it's unlimited and we have no plans to shut you down. I'm at 185 right now and still up. 1 day left in the month so I'll keep my fingers crossed and call tech again just to be sure.
If they do, I just move up to the next account level.
What would be the best route and code format to make my site really stand out
While good clean code and a good layout/navigation structure are of course essential, graphics are a big part of it as well. If you really want to make your site 'stand out', try hiring a graphic designer for a couple hours of consulting. Even if they just give you some suggestions about colors, layout and graphics it will be well worth your money.
