This tutorial is very simple and easy to follow, and you can use this for image roll overs, buttons, and navigation…  Once you’ve done this a couple times it becomes very simple.
CSS Rollovers can be done with either two images or one single image.  I prefer to always do only one image as it allows for faster loading.
The first step is to make our images.  For this example I used an image with a height of 25px and a width of 100px.
For this tutorial because we are only using one image we will have to double the height.  Make sure when you make your image that you have it aligned perfectly so the roll over looks smooth.  Here is a demo first (more…)

Having a successful website is important, it can be very easy to loose your focus when building a website.  When a website is built properly it preforms as a revenue generating tool for your business.  A website  is not all about showing off your creativity its about getting results.  Before you can do that you must understand the 5 keys to an effective web design:

Simplicity:
A successful website is able to draw in visitors and make it easy for them to navigate around the site.  Do not be afraid to use white space.  If your website has to many flash animations, drop down menus, and graphic you are going to distract your visitors from what is really important and they will be leaving your site fast.

Content:
The old saying content is king still holds true.  Having unique content is still one of the best ways to climb up the search engine ladder.  Great content is fresh and updated regularly.  Make sure that the content on your website is useful to the visitors on your website .  If the content doesn’t come up as immediately useful then you need to find new content.

Titles:
Make sure you put titles for each web page that is relevant.  Titles are still one of the largest contributing factors for SEO.  You need to have unique titles for every page and make sure that your titles have your keywords.  There is no reason to put your business name in the title a common mistake a lot of websites make.

Fonts and Colors:
Pick a font and stick to it.  Do not use different fonts through out your entire website.  The only time it is OK to use different fonts is for headings and sub headings, but make sure that your headings and sub headings all use the same fonts as well you need to have a uniform and professional look through out your site.

SEO:
Make sure you take the time to optimize your website.  A web design is worthless if it does not generate results for your business.  Search engine optimization is a must in today’s market.  You will need to do SEO as an on going project set time away each week just to focus on SEO aspects of your website.  Link building, blogging, forum posting, and more it all helps make sure you are doing it.

There are many more elements to a successful web design this is just a small outline of some.  If you implement these you are on your way to having  a successful online presence.