Every advice on this website is intended for the "not so advanced user", i.e. 2-3 years computer use should be enough to understand everything.

The webpages on this website are grouped into two main groups: website design and website promotion. Please be aware the borderline between these groups is very much "floating".

Many design decisions affect the promotion, and many promotional decisions affect the website design. Website design and promotion go together like two lovers, each giving strength to each other.

Website Design: is about how to design Internet webpages so that both your visitors and the search engines get what they want in the way they want it.

1. Home: Here you find website design and promotion advice for those not so very advanced webpage designers who want to do it themselves.
   
   
2. Website Design Services: Website design services offered to smaller maritime companies world-wide.
   
   
3. Free Backgrounds: Free background pictures with some comments on how to use a background on your site.
   
   
4. Free Internet Pictures: A collection of free decorative pictures and links to internet sites with hundreds of thousands of free photos.
   
   
5. Website Design Handbook: The Handbook gives step by step do-it-yourself advice on the whole website design process of designing a website or webpage (incl. layout and webpage code), from the planning stage to uploading and maintaining the website, including links to information and free tools. Statistics for screen size and browser usage 2004-2006 are included.
   
   Additional associated pages: Certain sections in the Webdesign Handbook are discussed in greater detail on these pages:
   
   
   • HTML Code for Frames: The page gives the HTML code and shows how to make webpages in frames.
     
     
   • Nested Table Code: The page gives the HTML code for writing nested tables = tables inside layout tables.
     
     
   • "Advanced" Layout Tables: The purpose with these layout tables is to present search engine spiders first with the text and very last with the site menu.
     
     
   • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) - Pro and Con: This page discusses what is good and not so good with Cascading Style Sheets, and how and when to used it. As content management is closely related to the use of style sheets, it is discussed together with desktop search and CSS.
     
     
   • "No-index" Tag: If you have one or several pages you don't want search engines to show, then you need a "no-index" or something equivalent. This page tells you how to do.
     
     
   • How to Write Internet Webpages: The page is giving some advice on writing text for webpages with options on different codes to use.
     
     
   • Website Menu and Site Level Search: Site level search is a logical extension of the website Menu. Therefore both are treated together on the same page.
     
     
   • Character Sets and Language Tags: The character set tells the browser what characters to use and the language tags explain for both the browsers and spiders what different languages you use on your page.
     
     
   • Download vs. Display Time: This page explains the difference between display and download time as well as suggests how to structure your page to give your visitors faster download.
     
     
   • Time Zone Explanation: Explains time and longitude differences and their importance for the selection of server location.
     
     
   • Validate your Page Code: Once your site is up and running you should check your code is correct. This page explains why and how.

Computer Viruses and Worms: The Internet is a hostile environment where your computer needs protection. It's like the jungle, full of viruses, worms, and spiders ready to attack your computer. Some information for Linux users is included.

• How to Hide my Email Address: The page explains how to avoid spamming spiders and discusses different methods to avoid dirty email after one's email address is present on a webpage.

Website Promotion: is about how to get visitors to your website and how to keep them coming back again and again.

1. How to Change Domain Without Loss: This is the story how I moved my website from a free server to a paid service in a different country. At the same time I also changed domain name and was back in Google's search results within 2 weeks.
   
   
2. How to Choose Website Colours: Here you find advice on how to choose website colours considering physical (medical) and cultural differences in colour reception from the designer's viewpoint.
   
   
3. How to Change my Pictures and Photos: A discussion of mostly technical aspects on preparing pictures (photographs) for internet browsers.
   
   
   • How to Reduce a Picture Size: Here you find advice on how to change and reduce the physical size of your pictures and images.
     
     
   • How to Clear Shadows and Bright Light: With an example of a photo it's shown how to bring forward details from the shadows without making the picture too bright.
     
     
   • How to Protect my Pictures and Images: Especially after Google started image search Jan./Feb. 2005 the stealing of pictures/images on the Internet has increased strongly. This page discusses several ways to protect your pictures and images.
   
   
4. Webpage Optimization: The page explains the differences between optimizing for the search engine (SEO) and for your human visitor and why optimize webpages.
   
   
   • Search Engine Optimization Check-List: The check list gives step by step advice on optimizing your webpages for the search engine spiders (robots) by using the most popular important keywords.
     
     
   • "Alt" and "title" Tags: The correct terms would be alt and title attributes. This page describes the alt and title attributes ("tags") and their use in webpages.
     
     
   • Meta Tags and Search Engines: The most attractive webpages for the search engines are those that give information in the way each search engine wants it. Meta tags play a role in this and here you find out why and how to make meta tags.
     
     
   • How to Find Popular Keywords: Popular keywords and key phrases can be difficult to find. Here you get some advice on how to find them and how to select the most efficient key phrases.
   
   
5. Website Promotion: What is website promotion and what tools can I use to promote my website.
   
   
   • Internet Web Browsers: Different groups of professionals use different browsers. This page discusses internet web browser use from the designer's ( code writer's ) viewpoint.
     
     
   • How to Maintain my Website: A website is a marketing tool - to fulfil its purpose your website has to be maintained in working condition. The goal is to build and maintain a good reliable reputation. Here you find advice on why and how to maintain your website.
     
     
   • What is "Visitors Statistics" ?: You get an explanation of the term visitor statistics and suggestions on how to use traffic data to maintain and develop one's website. Sources to free data collecting tools are included.
     
     
   • List of Internet Country Codes: You see the country (and territories') codes at the end of any site's server's domain name (instead of .com or .org etc) including email; for instance .de (Germany). All extensions on this page are in actual use, they have all been collected from my own website traffic data.
   
   
6. Search Engine Marketing: Search engine marketing means you use the search engines as a medium, so when you are selling something on the Internet, you could call it "click-marketing". Search engines are the keys to the Internet. Here you find basic information on how search engines work and how to make search engine friendly websites and/or webpages.
   
   
   • What is Google's Sandbox ?: The Sandbox is a filter that's employed with the purpose to cut out spamming (keyword stuffing), which is what some designers do trying to fool the search engines to give a website a better ranking than it deserves.
     
     
   • What is Google's PR-number ?: The PR number can be said to be a popularity index (indicator) because the more incoming links a webpage has the more popular it can be said to be.
     
     
   • XML Sitemaps: In the beginning of 2006 Google introduced their XML Sitemaps. In November the same year Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft agreed to use these sitemaps together.
     
     
   • Latent Semantic Indexing: Latent semantic indexing is a technique for analyzing and indexing documents. It means increased relevance and speed when retrieving data from a data bank. This page explains basic latent semantic indexing and how it relates to the Semantic Web as well as how webmasters and website owners can use it.
     
   
   
7. List of Search Engines: A list of Global (International) and regional search engines with indications on which ones accepts free listings. Also some advice on how to submit your site.