In many ways, the layout of a Web page is the hardest part - mostly because it's the primary part. Deciding what should go where, how wide or narrow, tall or short everything should be can be very difficult. Many designers just throw things down on the page, white board, or graphics program until they have a design that looks "right" to them. I used to do that too. It's a lot more fun to just push images and blocks around on a blank piece of paper, than to try to figure out if there's some scientific way of composing the page.

What is the Golden Ratio

In a golden rectangle, it can be divided into a square and a smaller rectangle. The ratio of the width of the small rectangle to the width of the square is the same as that of the width of the square to the entire rectangle. In fact, when you divide a golden rectangle into a square and smaller rectangle, the smaller rectangle is a golden rectangle as well.

Golden Ratio in Nature 

The most common example of the golden ratio is the nautilus shell (see image). As it spirals in on itself, the spirals get smaller and smaller in the same proportion to each other as they do to the whole. You can also see the ratio in things like sunflower petals, and the curvature of fern fronds (see image).

Golden Ratio in Design 

The golden ratio (also known as the golden rectangle, the golden mean, or the divine proportion) has been used for centuries to create a design that is aesthetic and pleasing to most people. The golden ratio is a visual representation of the number phi (1.618033988749895). It is discovered in ancient architectural design such as the Parthenon and is still used today in architecture and design.When the golden ratio is used it design, it builds on a natural language that your brain is hardwired to understand. Because Phi is all around us, it is a comfortable ratio, and so you have been trained to find it attractive. Designers who use this create designs that are more effective and visually compelling.

How to Use the Golden Ratio in Web Design

 It is very easy to create a design using the golden ratio:  

1. How wide is your design? You can design a page using the golden ratio using fixed or flexible widths, but in order to use the ratio you have to have a number. For this example, I'll say I'm designing for an 800x600 resolution monitor, so my page won't be more than 780 pixels wide. I'll make my width 760px.

   2. Divide by Phi. Once you know the width, divide it by Phi (1.62 rounded is fine). 760 divided by 1.62 is 469.14 or 469 (Web browsers prefer whole numbers). That is the width of my main column.

   3. Subtract the main column width from the whole width. This will give you the second column width. 760 - 469 = 291.

 From this calculation, I should generate a 2-column site that has a main column 469 pixels wide and a secondary column 291 pixels wide. If I do this, I'll have a site that is aesthetically pleasing, without having to do anything else.You can do this same calculation with percentages for a flexible width layout: 100% / 1.62 = 62% for the wide column and 38% for the wide column.Note: Many sites recommend using the ratio 3:5 to get your golden ratio, but this ratio, while close, is not exactly the golden ratio. If you're designing something quickly or you have a grid that you're working from, this can be a great rule of thumb to get close to the perfect proportions, and is great if you really hate math or don't have a calculator.

Use the Golden Ratio for More than the Page Layout

 If you think about how elements within your page are placed, you can use the golden ratio within them to create mini-golden rectangles. These will be just as aesthetically pleasing. Use it for captions on images, text flowing beside and around images, advertising space, and your navigation. If you create navigation buttons that have the same proportions as the golden rectangle, each one will look nice on the page.

 To be honest whenever I hear the term email marketing one of the first things that enter my mind is the word “SPAM”. Perhaps, for this very reason, legit businesses are shying away from email marketing. However email marketing is actually different from spamming and not using it as part of your marketing campaign could prove to be a mistake because it does bring results and is one of the cheapest marketing strategies available.

So how can one benefit from email marketing?

1. Determine your target audience. Though sending mass emails indiscriminately can get some people’s attention we all know that this is spamming, and that is a big NO. The most effective people to email would be existing customers/subscribers. Referred leads are also good targets of email marketing. Remember though that whether you email existing customers or potential clients you should ALWAYS put an easy way for people to unsubscribe from the mailing list.
2. Make sure the email gets noticed. You do this by thinking of an effective subject line. It is best to always put the company/website name of the subject line to let the recipient know who the email is from at a glance. Put the most important info on the subject line but make sure you keep it short. DO NOT use subjects such as “Phoenixrealm SEO Email #21” because not only does it look boring but it also doesn’t give any indication as to the content of the email.
3. Make sure that the emails have content that are of value to the subscribers. If you keep on sending plain ads chances are even your loyal subscribers will start to just delete your emails. Stuff you can include emails would be important announcements regarding new things on your website, exclusive promo codes, industry news, informative articles, and even birthday greetings.
4. Organize the info. People don’t always read the entire email so make sure you place the most important information you want conveyed at the start of the email. If you’re sending an image make sure you still put at least a short text content before the image to get the attention of people whose email service automatically block images from being viewed so that they will want to manually see the image at least.
5. Have a call to action. Remember this is email MARKETING. Your end goal is to get conversions. To do this your email should contain phrases that will get people to do what you want which, in this case, is to click on a link. Be creative with the anchor text of the link to encourage people to click on it.