What Is an ASP File? Files created with Active Server Pages have the extension .ASP. This story is an example; take a look at the address above. With ASP files, you can activate your Web site using any combination of HTML, scripting such as JavaScript or Visual Basic?

Is It Hard to Use? I don't know about you, but whenever people start talking about doing things on the server, I start to get nervous. I think a lot about threading issues, synchronization, and generally stuff without a user interface. I assume it's going to be hard to do. Well, using ASP is about as easy as anything I've come across in years.

Aw, Mom. Not Another Object Model! I really hate doing this to you, but I'm going to have to use that overused and overcomplex term "object model" again. Here's how it works. When a browser requests an ASP file from your Web server, your Web server calls Active Server Pages to read through the ASP file, executing any of the commands contained within and sending the resulting HTML page to the browser.

Are potential customers slipping through your fingers? Consumers searching the Internet for product information will frequently spend only a couple of minutes looking at a particular website before moving on to another. A solid website design, built to provide answers, will keep the customer around long enough to plant the hook and reel them in. A good website design starts with the basics: good web standards, a sensible structure, and scannability. Standards. One of the most common mistakes with web design is using web standards that confuse customers and therefore, decrease their overall satisfaction with your site.

A few common web standards include: . Place company logo in the upper left corner of the page. . Change the color of visited links to help with navigation. . Place the account login and help information in the upper right corner of the page. Structure. The structure of the site needs to be catered to the customers' needs, and not to how the company organizes itself on the back end. For example, let's say you sell bubble gum. It may be logical for you to organize your gum in a certain color order for inventory, but on your site, your customers may be expecting the gum to be organized alphabetically by the name of the flavor, or from the lowest price to the highest. Scannability. Face it. In the end, customers just want the answers. They want to learn about a product, or know the easiest route to purchase a product they seek. They don't want to waste a lot of time reading every word, so they will quickly scan until they find the information they need. Website creators need to recognize that if visitors cannot easily find the information they seek, they will just as quickly try another website.