And yada yada yada.

One of my favorite Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoons has two panels. The first panel - titled: "What We Say to Dogs" - has a man is scolding his dog. The man's word-balloon says: "Okay, Ginger! I've had it! You stay out of the garbage! Understand, Ginger? Stay out of the garbage, or else!?"

The second panel - titled: "What They Hear" - is drawn exactly like the first panel. But this time the man's word-balloon says: "Blah blah GINGER blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah GINGER blah blah blah blah blah."

As an owner of two very spoiled Siberian Huskies, I know this is true about dogs! Did you know this can also be true about your Web site? Very often, text just takes up space because it is never read.

Usability expert Steve Krug offers a solution for unnecessary text in his book, "Don't Make Me Think." Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left. In other words, be ruthless in your quest for good content.

What kind of text can be eliminated? Here are is an example to get you started:

Limit Happy Talk. We all know "Happy Talk" - it usually starts with the words "Welcome to..." It is supposed to welcome us to the site, tell us how great it is or what we're about to see in the section we've just entered. Unlike good promotional copy, it conveys no useful information. Get rid of it! Don't focus on saying how great you are; focus on how great your solutions to your reader's problems are.

What difference does clear, concise make?

• It makes the useful content more prominent.
• It reduces the noise level of the page.
• It makes the pages shorter. Users see more of the page without scrolling.

Get rid of useless text and welcome visitors to your Web site with a clean page, useful content and intuitive navigation instead.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

When I am in the layout stages of designing a Web site, I often use something called Lorem Ipsum.

What is it?

Lorem Ipsum is simply "dummy text" composed of Latin words. It has been used by the printing and typesetting industry since the 1500's when an unknown printer scrambled type to make a specimen book. It has survived all these years and is now also used in such things as desktop publishing and Web design. Lorem Ipsum generators can be found in software and on the Internet.

Why do designers use Lorem Ipsum?

Because it makes us look really, really smart. Just kidding. Actually, because Lorem Ipsum resembles the normal distribution of letters, it looks like readable text. This makes it easier to focus on the overall layout presentation and not be distracted by the words.

Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum viditur - Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.

Cogito ergo sum - I think therefore I am

Veni vidi vici - I came, I saw, I conquered

In vino veritas - In the vine, the truth

Sona si latine loqueris - Honk if you speak Latin.

Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere - If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Age. Fac ut gaudeam - Go ahead. Make my day.

Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni! - Beam me up, Scotty!

Vale, lacerte! - See you later, alligator!

Annette Riley Web Design combines an art background and many years experience working in small business settings.

My clients are small to medium size businesses, which I have watched grow and change over the years. Other clients, locally and around the country, have hired me to do updates and periodic maintenance on their web sites, even though I am not the original designer.

I enjoy helping other business owners grow their businesses. I measure my success by their successes.

You are good at your business. I am good at Web sites. Let's put our talents together! Call or e- mail me so we can talk about your business and how I may be able to help you.