Website Helpers.com

Articles, tips, and resources for webmasters

a project by Michael Bluejay | email

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Programming

Getting started with Perl CGI

Email

How to protect email addresses from spambots

Design

General web design tips
Problem Websites. My companion site where I document sites that or broken or unreasonably hard to use.

HTML

Basic HTML for beginners

Video

Choosing a video format for online videos UPDATED April '08
Video file formats compared UPDATED April '08
Putting video on YouTube UPDATED April '08

Security

Having a unique password for every site you use, without having to memorize them or look them up
Why your bank's login page is probably not secure

Resources on other sites:

Webmaster Forum. WebmasterWorld covers every issue of interest to webmasters, from beginning to advanced. I give and get help there.
Webhost. Dreamhost is the host I use. Pros: Best control panel in the business, integrated backups, incredible value. Cons: Mediocre support. You can't call them (email only), and may have to go round-and-round by email to get a resolution.
Design.
- Web pages that suck. Learn good design by looking at bad design
- Which font to use? Surveys of users show which fonts and sizes they prefer.
Small Business Help. Nolo's Small Business Center has lots of free articles on every aspect of starting and running a small business, including legal structure, bookkeeping, legal issues, marketing, home-based business info, and more.
Business philosophy. When you chase the money, you make less money. But if you focus on the customer, the money will follow. This article by Jennifer Laycock provides a good example.
E-Commerce: Increasing your conversion rate. 101 tips on how to turn visitors into customers.
Affiliate Programs. Even sites that don't sell anything can make money by carrying advertising. One way is with affiliate programs, where a webmaster links to a merchant site, and then gets a commission when someone clicks over to the merchant and buys something.
Website Marketing Tips. Here are tips for how to market your website from Saul Arora and WebmasterWorld.
Website Marketing Books. I went to Amazon to find some books to recommend on how to market your website. I haven't read these titles myself but I hand-picked them from the dozens that were available after scrutinizing the descriptions and publishing dates.
Copyright. Ten Big Myths about Copyright, and International Copyright Law.

My newest site:

Natural Magick Shop

This is an E-Commerce site selling over 200 pagan products (oils, incense) made by a local practitioner. I'm not pagan myself but I appreciated the opportunity to create what I hope is a model site that can serve as an example.

It's pretty, sure, but it's also insanely user-friendly. I aggressively minimized the amount of clicking and scrolling the user has to do from the first page visited all the way through shopping cart checkout.

There are also sales & visitor reports that run on the back end, and a completely integrated affiliate program created from scratch.

I'm sorry, but I'm not accepting any new clients.