Web design for serious, business applications:

Here is a collection of links which bring together in one spot several things we've found to be of interest to people in various stages of the journey to being proprietors of a web presence.

How To Write For Web Pages
Summary of findings from a research project on how users read on the Web and how authors should write their Web pages, done in the SunSoft Science Office by John Morkes and Jakob Nielsen. The medium is different, the format is different. and people read very differently than they do on the printed page. You must write differently for web pages if you want people to read them and to retain what you say.
Writing For The Web.

Code Checker
Keeping web page code error-free (or knowing that all the "errors" are ones you intentionally committed for a good reason) is complex as pages are revised and modified. This tool is one of the best for code validation. Even if you don't write your own code, use to it make your webmaster fix or explain any problems it flags.
HTML Validator

Monitor Adjustment
Don't try to evaluate the appearance of web pages with a monitor that's out of adjustment. Use this handy tool to adjust the brightness and contrast properly before shooting your graphics designer.
Monitor adjuster

Trademarking
Trademark law is a highly technical area and the subject of many new issues with respect to domain names. We do not presume to advise you on it. We do make available this link which will take you to a page maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office which will allow you to do a keyword search on registered trademarks
Trademark search

Privacy
It's a very good idea, and in some cases a legal requirement, to inform visitors of how you will use information you gather about them.
Click here to see what we can find out about you. In addition we collect e-mail addresses and other information that visitors supply us. Click Privacy Policy to see how we promise to use what we learn. Feel free to steal this as a model if you need a privacy policy statement.

Domain Name Availability
Getting your domain is the most urgent thing we can recommend to you if you haven't done it already. Names are disappearing VERY fast. (Last we looked, rabid-skunk.com was still available, but vulture.com was taken ... by a financial outfit!) We'll help you find a good domain and register it, but if you'd rather do it yourself, start here to check for availability.
Domain Name Check

Registration
The domain name is obtained from a registrar. It will cost you about $35 per year or less. Not all registrars offer all the same additional services, and not all are easy to deal with when you need to change something. The lowest price is often not the best deal.
Here's the registrar we use: SimpleURL.com

Site Hosting
Before choosing a hosting service for a commercial web site, BE SURE you understand the technical requirements of the web site functionality you require. If in doubt consult a webmaster. If you feel confident you understand these issues, here is a site that will let you quickly compare features and services offered by a large number of hosting services.
Hosting Providers

Search Engine Help

Directories are different than search engines, but related. Being listed on major directories is a plus for getting a high ranking on search engines. Being listed on Yahoo's directory is mandatory. Check here to see if you are.

options

Placement Specialists
If you are serious about search engine placement it's almost necessary to hire a specialist.

Sidereal's own easyMarketing service
Run by our ace designer and web-marketing expert, Len McGrane, who happens also to be one of the world's great search engine optimization specialists.

easyMarketing may suit your needs for less costly marketing assistance.

But if you need more, Len offers full-scale search engine optimization programs. Typical SEO programs can be expected to cost $750/month for the first three months, and less thereafter depending on the nature of the site and the keywords required. For an estimate from Len, let us know what you need at

Tools to improve your ranking

LinkSpider will identify the sites that link to any site of your choice and tell you how many sites link to each of them. Use it to identify popular sites that link to your area and then arrange reciprocal linking with them.

Click here to read about LinkSpider

WebPosition is the premier tool for helping you monitor and improve your search engine rankings. It will analyze your pages with respect to many variables from the standpoint of each of the major engines and recommend improvements. It has too many other features to mention!

To learn more about WebPosition, Click Here.

WordTracker is almost mandatory for anyone picking their key word or key phrase strategy. Find out the frequency of searches on keywords and their related words, and how many other sites are linking to each!

To learn more about Wordtracker, please click here