Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Choosing a Web Designing Service - What All to Look For?
When we plan to start a business, one of the first things which come to our mind is that of creating a website. But, we should have a good idea about what we are aiming to achieve with our website. A website can be used for various purposes like being a catalog site for listing all the services provided by the company and some explanation concerning each of them. On the other hand they can be full fledged interactive web sites with many online services. You should think about things like need of a separate login id for each of your workers, need of official email services for the employees, data entry forms etc.
Other details like categorizing the site based on various departments in the office and the budget for developing the website should also be decided prior to hiring a designing service. When we contact them after making an outline about our requirements, it will become easier for both of you to work together. The second thing to look for is the method adopted by a particular design team and the success of their mode of operation. This can be examined by collecting information concerning various methods used in website designing. To avoid any failure in the method used by your company, it is better to opt a service which is able to provide a website by incorporating different modes of service.
If you are having other competitors in the market, your website should be better than that of the others. For achieving this you should take the service of an experienced web designing company. Only such people will be familiar with various methods for bringing your website to top position. They will create a site with embedded tags which will aid in search engine optimization. Another feature of a good design team is related to their customer support and background monitoring services. They should be able to provide you the needed services in case you have to upgrade the site or to troubleshoot. It would be better if they could remotely analyze and solve the issues.
15 Tips for Better Web Design
The following is a small collection of web design best-practices...
No spelling or grammatical mistakes - This should go without saying, but a website with spelling or grammatical mistakes can lose credibility and look unprofessional. Thoroughly spell-check and proof read anything before putting it live on your website.
Avoid long pages - Whilst some vertical scrolling is tolerable, do not make your pages excessively long. If you have a large amount of content, consider dissecting it over multiple pages.
Harsh, conflicting colours - One of the most hated things you can do is put black text on a white background, or vice versa. There is such a harsh contrast here that some people get headaches from looking at it. You need to make it easier on the eye for the user, so if you're using black/white, considering playing around with different shades of grey.
Make sure your links are visible - The user should be able to easily identity what is a link and what isn't. Links will commonly be a different colour from the standard text and are often underlined.
Optimise your anchor text on links - When you're creating a link, try to avoid making the link something generic like 'click here'. For example; rather then saying "For a professional business website, click here", I could say "Such and such company can create for you a professional business website".
Avoid intro pages - The more steps a user has to perform to access your content, the more discouraging it will be for them. Quite often I see websites that have an 'intro' page, where all it is is their logo and an 'enter site' button. A pointless page that's only real purpose is to make the user work harder... avoid this!
Keep your website simple - This means keeping your navigation user-friendly and easy to follow, and not cluttering your website. If you have a substantial amount of content, break it up into smaller, more manageable pieces. LESS IS MORE!
Make sure your logo is clickable - Most users now have burnt it into their heads that clicking the logo will return them to the homepage, so make sure your's does this also.
Include your contact details - There is nothing worse than a website that has no contact details. It should be easy for a user to get a hold of you if they need to so make sure you have a contact page with your details, and other various direct links to that page throughout the website. If you primarily want user's to call you, consider placing your phone number at the top of every page.
Avoid audio - Most user's hate going onto a website that automatically plays off a video or some sort of audio. If you have embedded a video and music track, make sure it's up to the user to initiate it with a play button and don't force it upon them.
Do not open new browser windows - It's seems logical that if you direct links to other sites to open in a new browser window that the user won't leave your website, but there is a reason why browsers have a back button on them. Let the user control how links are opened... they will go back if they want to.
Grab their attention - Like I said at the start, you have only mere seconds to grab a visitor's attention. So whatever you have on your homepage, it must be compelling enough to make them want more. A great way to do this is with a slideshow or promotional banner of some sort. Keep the text short and to the point, and make sure there are links to the areas on the website you want traffic driven to.Also, make sure to keep the most important information towards the top and 'above the fold', as in, make sure the visitor can see it without having to scroll down. You want it to smack them in the face as soon as they hop on the website.
Simple fonts go a long way - It's easy to format your content with some new fancy font, but is it readable? There's no point in making the text look prettier if the user can't read it... There is a variety of different web fonts to chose from nowadays that are simple and elegant, but still give your website that bit of funk. A good website will probably only make use of about 2 - 3 different fonts; 1 - 2 for the headers and another for the text.
Font size - Whilst we're on the subject of fonts... make sure that the text is large enough so everybody can read it! Depending on the website, a smaller text might look better visually and fit in with the design better, however it won't be so easy for some people to read. I suppose it depends on your target audience... if its the older generation, perhaps the text should be a little larger.
Avoid flash - Flash-based websites aren't so user-friendly and can cause major headaches for some users. The occasional flash-based banner is acceptable, otherwise, avoid it like the plague.
Are Websites Really That Valuable?
Yes! A website can be an invaluable tool for any person or business. Read on to learn why...
A Website Can Help Your Business
Almost every business can benefit from starting a website. These days, 97% of all consumers use the Internet to look for products and services they want. That's a ton of potential customers! When people look online for products and services YOU offer, will they be able to find you? Will they only find your competition, because you don't have a website for your business?
A business website gives your potential customers an easy way to buy your products and services, any time, from anywhere. A website can also help with your public relations as well. For example, by posting relevant, interesting content on your website, you can show your target market that you know what you're talking about and establish yourself as an expert in your industry. This will help people trust you and your business more, which means people will be more likely to buy from you.
Even if you don't actually sell products or services online (and not all businesses do), a business website is still an important business tool. You can use your website to spread the word about your brand and establish your company's credibility. If people visit your website and like what you have to offer there, they'll be a lot more likely to visit your store or contact you about your services.
A Website Can Help You
It's not only business owners who can benefit from starting a website. A personal website it a great way to take possession of your name online. For example, if your name is Tom Brown, you could register that as a domain name (website name) - TomBrown.com - and make sure no one else can claim your name for their website address.
Plus, people Google everyone these days. Who knows who's looking you up online right now - your boss, your family, long-lost friends... the list goes on and on. The point is, people will look you up online, and if you don't have a personal website, you can't really control what people see when they search for your name. There's nothing wrong with having a Facebook profile or a Twitter account, but those aren't the same as having a real, professional website.
No matter who you are, getting a website is almost always a great idea. To learn a little more about websites and how to get one, check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZo1MxyBk0s&list=UUB1eLb-yEufIMrzCTTuEhmw&index=6&feature=plcp
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Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Build a Website From Scratch: The Best Tools and Tutorials for Beginners
When you fist begin to conceptualize what your website might look like you will have many good ideas. What will drive you to build on those ideas is your passion to bring them to reality. An integral and exciting part of this web development process is the research, learning and frustration as you seem to be confronted by difficult obstacles. Having the right tools to perform any task is crucial and this philosophy applies to when you build a website from scratch. There are various web development frameworks available and other tutorials which can provide excellent guidance for the foundation of your website.
If you consider that most new web developers began as you are and have shared their experiences in various forums and online venues, the sheer amount of knowledge and tools available to help you through the process is enormous. Gathering this experience will take some time and dedication, but it is a critical part of the website building process.
Besides the knowledge provided by the various seasoned experts, you can research the work of other fledgling website builders and designers through community directed blogs and tutorials. For difficult and seemingly unsolvable problems, forums may prove a to be an invaluable tool where you can ask specific questions and receive help from those that have gone before you. In order to succeed on the internet you need to have your finger on the pulse of all the new trends including: social media, web site building tools, keyword research tools, traffic building tools and content creation tools.
Eventually, after many hours of planning and research, you will be ready to launch your website. You will feel great excitement and satisfaction launching your own internet business as you have achieved a goal that many others would not contemplate; therefore, be proud of yourself. A universal truth is that once you build one site you will want to build others on varying subjects and it will become easier and easier.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Facts About Mobile Websites
Today, individuals are using their mobile phones and other handheld devices for almost everything (other than making calls and sending messages). The most important use of mobiles in the current era is that they are internet compatible and allow users to surf the web. Studies have found that one third of the population (globally); make use of their mobile phones for browsing and using the internet. Therefore, you can understand the importance of having a mobile site to capture this vast user frontier.
Half of the online searches within the local contours, whether for services or products, are carried out via mobile phones. So businesses without a mobile websites will be losing heavily on local searches. Mobile sites or mobile friendly websites have garnered higher search engine rankings than the regular ones. This is because the mobile websites offer higher speed to users, making their browsing experience a pleasurable one. Furthermore, users of mobile phones can access the internet anywhere within reason which makes a huge difference. Therefore, having mobile websites will help businesses to reach out to millions via various handheld devices.
Browsing the internet through mobile phones is easy, quick and most importantly, versatile. This assists businesses contacting their potential users and customers anywhere or time. Mobile sites therefore, must be more informative for users, so that they can easily acquire the results without going through numerous steps. Once, your user is capable of finding what he or she needs with ease via a mobile website then they may well become your loyal customer. Mobile websites get higher search engine results, especially, for local searches.
Mobile sites provide an edge to their owners and help them fend off their competitors. Furthermore, it is not at all difficult to record and analyse the success of your mobile website because there are numerous tools and reporting systems available today. So, wait no longer, get going with the creation of a mobile website and make the most out of mobile communication!
How to Choose a Web Design Firm - Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring
So that leaves most people unsure of how to proceed. It's no secret that your business needs to have a web presence in order to achieve long term success. The secret is finding a company to help you build and develop your website without taking advantage of you or misguiding you with bad information.
The following list of tips should help you to separate the good from the bad when researching potential web design companies to help you move your business online.
Ask for information about the company's track record. Any web design company worth working with will have an impressive portfolio to share with new customers, like yourself. Ask to see their past work! There is nothing better than to see real life examples of what the company has produced for their clients. This gives you a realistic idea of what level of design quality you can expect from any given company. Other important questions regarding a company's track record might include: how long have you been in the business, do you have any client referrals I can contact or testimonials I can see?
Do you outsource any of your tasks, or do you handle all aspects of my project in house? This is important to ask because companies that outsource some or most of their design or development work generally get things done at a much slower rate. Not to mention, you won't be able to directly communicate with every member of the team who is actively working on your project. The best way to avoid these pitfalls and ensure the least amount of headache is to seek out a company which offers full service web design and does all of their work in-house.
Do you offer any online marketing services to help promote my new website? This one is huge, but is often overlooked by business owners. The fact of the matter is that someone could build you a spectacular looking website that was exactly the way you envisioned it, but that website will do your business absolutely no good if it just sits there online and no one can find it. After all, when you want to find something online, what do you do? Google it. That's how people will find your site too, so be sure the web design company you choose to hire has a good grasp on SEO and uses industry standards when creating websites.
Use these tips to make a short list of potential companies and do your research when it comes to building your business online. It will only end up paying off in the end!
How To Choose The Best Source For Affordable Custom Website Design
As a consumer, it's your responsibility to shop around, do your research and choose the best source to design your custom website. This article gives you a few tips on how to choose:
Tip #1 - Who Will Be In Charge Of Your Project? Name And Number!
It's very very important to know who exactly will be in charge of your custom website design project. Is there a huge team managing your project? Will you receive a response from a different person every time you ask to receive a project update? Is the person in charge available via email or via phone? Will they be available on weekends should you need to discuss a quick problem or suggestion? It's very important to know who exactly is in charge of your custom website design project. It's a horrible feeling to NOT know how many people are developing your website, and who's in charge. If you cannot get a name and number of the main individual in charge of your project, this can only mean one thing: NO ONE IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR PROJECT!
Tip #2 - Find Out Exactly How Long Your Custom Website Project Will Take
If the company you're about to choose for a custom website design cannot give you a good and accurate estimate on how long your website project will take, take that as a huge warning sign! When working with an experienced designer or design company, they will surely know just about how long a project will take, and they should be able to provide you with a very accurate estimate. Now, don't expect them to give you a precise day and time - let's not be too anal! But do expect for them to give you a monthly or weekly time frame. And, don't be scared to move on to the next company if they cannot get the job done within an adequate time frame.
Tip #3 - Find Out Costs, And If Payment Plans Are Available
Typically a custom website design company will have contracts and other legal paperwork (whether physical or electronic) for their clients to read over and sign. When coming across companies such as these, it's extremely important to look over these documents to figure out the final price of the custom website design project. Many times, large design firms will hide the final price within the terms and conditions. You thought your custom site was only going to be less than an arm and a leg - turns out they want to charge you 2 arms and 2 legs! Read over all paperwork and be certain about how much you're about to invest for your custom website. And don't be scared to ask if a payment plan is available. And if no payment plan is available, or if they are going to charge you large interest rates, move on! Find a designer or design firm who can work with you and your financial capabilities.
Tip #4 - Is This Company Actively Involved In Creating Custom Websites?
Be sure to ask to see recently completed website designs before working with a custom website design source. If they cannot show at least a few recently completed custom projects, this of course is not good. You want a company that is highly active in the industry and familiar with custom projects. If the company you're considering primarily works with templates, you may want to look at other options. You'll want a designer or company who specializes in "from the ground up" custom work. And yes, there is a huge difference between the two!
Tip #5 - Listen And Observe - If You Get A Good Feeling, Go For It!
It all comes down to how you feel. If the company you're considering hiring doesn't give you a good feeling inside, that isn't good! You definitely don't want to settle for less than the best, or choose a company because they're good at talking over you and using a crafty-worded sales pitch. Never be afraid to say "No thanks", and always go with your gut feeling. It's usually always good to have at least a short "real" and "down to earth" conversation with the company or designer, just to get a better feel for how they really present themselves. If they're easy to communicate with, easy to understand and easy to work with - looks like you have yourself a winner!
Simply put, do your homework when picking and choosing a designer for your custom website project. Yes, they should be affordable, and yes they should be straight forward when it comes to answering difficult questions. Knowing who will be in charge of your project is critical, and their level of activity in creating custom websites is equally important. So, be sure to work out a great deal that's both affordable and acceptable and keep in touch with whoever is in charge of your brand new custom website design from project initiation to project completion!
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Intuitive Website Design - Usability Tips for Web Designers
Here, we present to you some fundamental factors that have to be taken into account by the web designers when working on an intuitive web design -
Identify the needs of the users
"Your" goal for creating a website is to take the site visitors from point A to B. But what do the visitors actually want so that they can move from the starting point to the main point? Answer to this can be obtained through a comprehensive research. First find out what actions you want the site visitors to take on your site (for eg. - signup for newsletters, register for membership, login, list their businesses, edit their profiles etc.). After that, you have to find out the factors that can compel the site visitors to take the desired action based on their intuition. By understanding this, you can create layouts that are naturally intuitive.
Help users understand what you are saying through the design
Knowledge gaps exist everywhere. While one person finds a website design intuitive, the others may not. This knowledge gap can prevent some users to take the desired action, simply because they don't find the design intuitive. Therefore, a web designer must respect the varying knowledge level of the users, and build a website that is catered to everybody. By adding few statements that explain how to perform the particular task, can greatly help people understand what the design intends to say.
Take small steps
Starting your web design project with a small and basic idea is the most appropriate way to go about it. You can do better with a minimalistic interface than a complex layout. So, when you are working on a web design and you feel like adding everything, start with the element that should be at the core of your design. Begin with that element and eventually expand your design in a more comprehensive manner.
Borrow ideas from other websites and apps
Learning in web design never stops. Designers often learn different tricks and styles from each other and integrate them in their websites. When you are working on an intuitive web design, you can look at different websites and applications to understand the factors that make them usable and intuitive. You can list out the different intuitive factors you found on these websites and apps for future reference.
Testing helps, a lot!
The best technique to assess whether the site is actually usable or not for people from different walks of life, you should gather a group of people with different technical understanding level and demonstrate your website layout. The way they will interact with the site would, to a great extent, give you an idea how the actual users would engage with your site. Such trial runs help you identify mistakes that you missed before.
Building an intuitive web design requires a lot of efforts & time, and the above mentioned points can somewhat minimise the efforts and time consumed by helping you define the right pathway.
Monday, 17 September 2012
Make Your Website Awesome
Relax.
That's easy to say, of course, but not so easy to do. After all, you have "millions of things" to get through; there's no time to relax!
One of the problems of rushing through the information overload is poor decision-making. Another issue is the fact that we so easily misinterpret information because we do not have enough thinking time left any more. And for anyone running a business website there is another problem.
People rush through your website, missing those "buying signals" you have so carefully prepared. No matter how hard you try, unless you are a major brand which can spend millions on promotion, you just can't get enough people interested in what you do. And that's because they are rushing past your content so quickly they cannot really attend to it or make decisions about it. The result is fewer sales than you would like and a general lack of engagement.
There must be something you can do? Luckily, new research on how we perceive time has come to the rescue. Researchers at Stanford University have just conducted three different experiments on the concept of "awe" and how it affects our perception of time. Something that is "awesome" gives a sense of vastness, of wonderment and of being generally amazed by it. In one of the experiments, all that people had to do was read a story about looking over Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Then they had to complete a simple task. Compared with people who read a similar story about going up an unnamed tower and seeing a plain aerial shot, the people with the Eiffel Tower story had an increased sense of "being in the present", of peacefulness and happiness. Similar experiments which provided other ways of a sense of awe found that when people felt wonderment and peacefulness they tended also to feel happier and have a better appreciation of time.
You have surely felt this yourself when you have been on holiday or you have been to an awesome event. Your sense of time changes and you feel more peaceful and generally happier.
So why don't we feel like that online? The problem is far too many websites give you a sense of time rushing past - read this, look at that, here's something else you should read. That just contributes to our need to "get on" and so we miss all those buying signals.
Instead, if websites created a sense of awe, giving us the feeling of wonderment of space and of being somewhat relaxed, then there is a chance we will linger longer. Oh, now remind me, isn't that rather how the Apple website appears?
Making The Most Of Communication In Your Graphic Design Business
Offer Advice - Sometimes, taking on a client's graphic design project is not a viable option at the present time. Perhaps they are unwilling to pay what you have quoted them or your plate is already overflowing. In these cases, however, clients will appreciate it if you sit down and offer them some advice - just make sure whether they are okay for you to do this first, as some clients will not listen to unsolicited tips.
Recommendations - It is important for everyone working in the graphic design industry to network with other creatives. This way, when projects requiring that little something extra come along, you will be able to recommend people who can work with you to bring the project to life or instead of you if you are unable to complete the desired work. If you pass on clients to your networks, you can hope that they will do the same for you.
Emails - Poor email handling can really make or break a relationship within the graphic design industry, especially as this is often the primary form of communication. If you are going to be on hiatus for an extended amount of time, consider setting up an automated reply that lets clients know you will attend to their email upon your return. And, when you have access to your emails, make sure that you respond to them in a timely fashion.
Live Communication - Above all, don't forget about live communication. Working in graphic design often submerges you into an online world, allowing you to forget how to deal with clients and colleagues in a face-to-face scenario. Make sure that you conduct yourself in a professional manner in the workplace (especially in meetings) and that you practice a friendly and clear phone manner.
The key to the success of any business is effective communication, and this is no different for someone working in the graphic design industry. By following the above tips, you will be set to make the most of the communication avenues that are open to you, allowing you to develop deeper relationships with your boss, your colleagues, your peers and your clients. You may even get some ideas of methods that you can add to your repertoire, allowing you to help out in even better ways.
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
The Importance of Mobile Friendly Websites
Darwin's theory, 'survival of the fittest' holds truth in every era. Change is the only constant thing and when it comes to technology, it is evolving like crazy!
We want things right at our fingertips, so much so, that we are developing technologies to cater our social requirements. The biggest example of evolvement is the current development in smartphones, mobiles, tablets and other handheld devices. The use of these devices has affected businesses to a large extent because of the new demands on browsing on smaller screens and handsets. If your website is not mobile friendly or amongst mobile websites there is the potential to lose clients before they have even reached your product.
With the increased rate of mobile search conduction, it has become vital to possess mobile websites and not only the basics, but one that has all the functionalities and is user friendly too. Websites with too many details cannot be easily browsed via phone and thus make the process frustrating for the user.
As a society, people love to be able to do things on the move, eating breakfast talking on the phone - anything we can really. We cannot spend every second in front of the computer, while on the run to check out information. That is why mobile phones come in handy, especially, when you can do everything online through them. If you have a business and your clients are just like the above, then it will take them a little time to browse through your website and go to another.
The following are some of the rules that should be followed when developing mobile friendly websites.
Every effort should be made to reduce the download speed.Website users are very impatient and will normally avoid sites that take too long to load. A fast download speed helps lower bounce rates.Cut down on image sizes by making them smaller before uploading.Make the images attractive and colorful so that they are visually effective.Provide only required information and not irrelevant text to users.Get rid of flash animation from your website because most mobiles do not support flash animations and images.
With the advancements made in tablets and smartphones, the internet is being made available in every aspect of our lives and everywhere too. Thus, it is highly important for websites to become mobile friendly websites, in order to survive competition and retain customers.
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The Must Have Features For Any Mobile Website Design
There are a number of differences between designing a website for a desktop computer and a mobile device - the web access between the two is completely different, the screen sizes are worlds apart, and even the situation of the user is unique (as in, the user of a mobile device is generally on the move and cannot browse at leisure). If you work extensively with mobile website design, there are four features that you should ensure you include in every project you tackle:
Auto redirect
This redirect should take users to your desktop computer website. All mobile websites should have the functionality to detect what sort of device is being used to access it and be able to send the user to the most appropriate site. If they are using a desktop computer, you will be able to provide the user with a very different experience than they would receive with a mobile site.
Call to contact button
This is the name given to a certain type of functionality that allows a user to press a button that automatically dials the number of your business. If a user is on the road, they may not have a pen and paper to jot down your contact information or be able to memorize your phone number, so this makes it easier than ever for users to contact you.
Driving directions
This should be something that is included on all mobile websites, but it is often the feature that most designers leave off. By not including driving directions, you are going to send users away from your website (to other sites like Google Maps and Melways) to find you. By including directions on the website, they can remain on your page for longer.
Location map
Posting a Google Map on your mobile website design can be critical in helping users to find your business. Whilst posting your address can be helpful, being able to actually see where you are located in relation to nearby streets and landmarks can mean that they get to your store or office much faster than if they had to pull over and plug your address into their GPS.
If your business is just branching out into the world of mobile website design, it is important that you ensure the four features outlined above are included in every project that you work on. This will ensure that users are given the most rewarding experience possible, as well as making it easier than ever for them to contact and locate you. And, if you have already created a number of mobile sites, you should go back and make sure that each of these features has been included.
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Tuesday, 11 September 2012
The Future of Website Design - HTML 5 and CSS 3
The internet has really taken the world with a storm since its inception and the early days when it was merely an instrument for academic research and limited military usage. From the humble and relatively anonymous beginnings, the tide has really changed and these days the cyber space invades our lives almost equally as the physical space.
Having a presence on web or cyberspace means that continuous improvements in the design of websites and the tools used for such design. HTML and CSS are undoubtedly one of the most widely used tools, simple yet versatile, capable of handling most situations. There have been continuous improvements and versions of HTML and CSS since their inception and the HTML-5 and CSS-3 are the latest kids on the block.
HTML has been in existence since 1990 and it was long time back in the year 1997 when the version number 4.0 was released. It was only recently about a couple of years ago that the web scientists started to think about the latest version which can take care of the current limitations and flaws of HTML-4 though it also means that the version was so stable that it lasted for over 15 years in a space where technology changes drastically literally every year.
There are lots of features which are there in HTML-5 which are syntactical in nature such as video, audio and canvas elements. Scalable vector graphics are also integrated in this latest version.
Experts are expecting this to be completed somewhere around 2014, so in about a couple of years time.
Similarly CSS or cascading style sheets are used to provide aesthetic appeal to a page and serves to separate the content from the layout and design. The standards of this are being taken care of by the W3C.
The latest version CSS-3 provides a lot of features which help web designers to break the previous boundaries and express their creativity in a much better manner. It won't be possible to elaborate on the features in this elementary article, still to describe in brief these enhanced features include those related to animation, borders, masks, text columns and so forth.
On the whole it can be said that apart from the rise of the internet, the websites which form a part and parcel of that cyberspace are also improving technologically as the tools used for creating those sites keep improvising. Once the HTML-5 and CSS-3 standards are fully functional in the near future, the web designers would certainly have a much better arsenal of tools.
Hence it can be seen that in the future of website design, HTML-5 & CSS-3 will play a very important role by providing a better platform for website development. This will certainly be a boon for the coders who feel themselves limited within the previous versions of HTML and CSS as well as the clients who can now get their dream websites converted into actual portals in a much more efficient manner.
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Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Tips That Will Help You Become A Better Web Designer
If you aspire to know more about the techniques of web design, then read on! You are going to learn what it may take to get started if you want to get into webdesign, but you will also get some solid, general website design information as well. There's a lot of knowledge out there, and nobody can possess it all. You can learn and improve your skills regardless of how much web design experience you already have.
The design of your website should not look anything like other websites selling similar products. To make sure this does not occur, have a look at the websites of your competitors. Remember that if your website is too similar to that of one of your competitors, you will not seem unique, and you might even accidentally send business to your competitor. You'll just be another version of the same old site to visitors.
If you have a professional to speak with, do so. Web design veterans can offer valuable insight into tips, tricks, traps to avoid, hurdles to jump and a variety of other information, that can boost your initial efforts. By doing this, you are helping to guarantee that one day you too will be a professional, because you are willing to take the time and gain the knowledge to do things the correct way.
If you've hired a web design professional or firm, paying your bill promptly is crucial. These people are responsible for the maintenance of your website, which is probably the cornerstone of your business. If anything comes up you'll find that they won't be willing to help you until you pay your debts, leaving your website unavailable or worse. Paying your bill promptly establishes rapport with the company and can ensure that your concerns are addressed quickly.
Do not feel that you have to hand-craft every portion of your website on your own. Web design requires knowledge of many different areas including graphic design, user interface design, web programming, search engine optimization and content creation. Do not hesitate to call in the experts when needed. You can pick and choose which areas you need help in and farm it out accordingly.
Be aware of the background on your website. Your background should not be too distracting and allow your reader to read the text easily. Choose a background to work with your website, not conflict with it, and your visitors will be able to better read and understand your site, and your point of view.
Try you best to write an informative and interesting "About Us" page. There are a lot of websites that do not utilize compelling or original content for their "About Us" webpages. Therefore, it is a good idea for you to spice things up a bit! Provide some insight for your visitors; tell them how and why you built your site and what goals you want it to reach for your company.
Keep your site fresh and up-to-date, and promptly remove any outdated content. If you have something on your site that lists an event that happened months ago, chances are you have lost some readers. People want the most accurate information available, and by leaving outdated information online you're showing you don't really care what they want. Set a review schedule to update content and remove items that are no longer useful.
Using shared hosting is an affordable alternative to buying your own server. Considering you cannot be certain about the level of traffic that your website will generate, you should utilize a hosting solution where you are only responsible for covering the cost of the amount of bandwidth that is used.
Think like you're an artist when designing websites. Keep your mind open to inspiration at all times. If an idea for your website strikes you while you are out eating dinner, make a note on a napkin. Or if you are not in a position to jot things down, give your cellphone a call and leave yourself a message so you can pick it up at a later time.
Do not hire a loved one to assist in designing your website. If you are looking for a web designer, you should probably avoid enlisting the help of a family member or close friend. If you are not satisfied with the work, it can be hard to fire someone you know well.
It is wise to buy some books that will help you learn how to web design successfully. Start with books around your skill level, so that you don't skip any necessary information.
This is rather obvious, but it is important. Be sure that you look over every word on your site to ensure that there are no typos on your site. Nothing looks more unprofessional to a visitor than misspelled or poorly-written content. Unprofessional appearances will likely cause you to lose your visitors quickly.
The more you keep at it, web design gets easier and easier. Try some easy web pages with C+ and HTML to learn the basics. It's important to practice to make sure you know the ropes of web design.
Make sure you sign up for things like newsletters, so that you always have saved information on different web design information. This way if you for some reason lose sight during your web designing efforts, you can get straight back into it. Web designers can derive great benefits from newsletters, whether they are self-taught amateurs or experienced pros.
Keep in mind that designing your website does not have to be expensive. Most expensive design tools have a cheaper or a free equivalent you have to look for. For example, free open-source software can usually help you to accomplish the exact same tasks that paid software does. Therefore, using open-source software can save you a large amount of money.
Now that you have gained some valuable knowledge about web design, you can feel more confident when it comes to taking that step in designing your own website. Be sure to always watch for new sources of knowledge, as the more you learn the more you will perfect your web design skills.
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The Top 5 Web Design Trends of 2012
It may seem as if the trends of web design never stop changing. New applications and design schemes are being developed and tested constantly to the point that it is hard to tell what trends are most effective. To stay on top of your website and take advantage of all the web traffic, you can follow the top five trends of web design for 2012.
Maintain function and visibility on mobile devices. There is no denying that people are accessing the Internet from a variety of devices nowadays. With the influx of smartphones and tablets, it is no surprised that more users are more likely to log on to websites with an iPhone instead of an iMac anymore. Too often businesses do not have a functioning and visibly attractive mobile version of the website and users turn to sites that are more friendly for mobile devices. Be careful to only include low-resolution images and videos to ensure that the site loads quickly even over a 3G network. Streamline the content to get information to your users on the go.
Integration with social networking websites is a must. By now, you should have at least set up a Twitter and Facebook account for your business, but there are many other social media sites to consider as well, including Pinest, one of the latest sites to emerge. These social networking and media sites can generate serious revenue, but only if done correctly. You must directly connect your website to your pages on sites like Facebook to keep the user active and interested. Your customers are looking for opportunities to share your content and feature your website, but you have to make it easy for them.
Keep browsing focused with fixed navigation. Too often, users have a tendency toward impatience and end up scrolling and clicking all over the website and before long they are lost in a web of pages. By using fixed navigation, the logo as well as the top and left navigation tabs will remain visible regardless of scrolling up or down or clicking on a new page. Fixed navigation keeps users focused on the most important things about your business and presents the content in the best light possible. Be wary of how much screen space the fixed navigation takes up, however, because they can claim much of the viewable space.
Allow for easy navigation with a multi-column menu. The debate is finally over about which type of navigation menu users prefer. Many studies have shown that users spend more time and find more value in websites that use a multi-column menu. The single column menu does not allow the user to browse through the content as quickly and does not provide the user an overview of the website. For this reason, users are showing a strong preference for the multi-column menu despite any concerns about the submenus becoming too burdensome.
HTML5 and CSS3 are the new tools in web design. Although these coding languages are still being developed and evolving as you read this, web designers everywhere are already in love with the advantages and applications of HTML5 and CSS3. Now you can feature complex animations without all the messy lines of code that ultimately limit the load time of your website. Features that are now possible with HTML5 and CSS3 include creating shadows around boxes and text, rounding corners and rotating through multiple background images.
As you consider updating your web design in 2012, you must implement these five top trends. With all of the advances in web design, this list is just scratching the surface of possibilities but all great websites need to have these elements.
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Top Most Important Tips for Selecting a Graphic Designer
There are various graphic design studios that are willing to work enthusiastically for businesses dealing in different sectors. The design companies take a note of all the requirements in advance and make sure to follow the same path to give the right look. The businesses are using highly specialized graphic design services to give a new look to their business stationary, website and other marketing materials.
While the options are many, it is important for you to make the right selection to work with a designer. The top most important tips for selecting a graphic designer are mentioned below:
1. Previous Work Samples: It's important to judge the degree of detailing in their work. If you find their previous work appealing to your eyes, you will surely able to achieve the desired results to engage your target market. You can pay attention to the styling, visual appeal and color combination to make the final decision.
2. Reference Check: Only work samples will not give you the clear idea about their work. It is important to check few references about their working pattern during the project. The satisfied clients will, of course, be a relief to you that you will get quality results without any botheration.
3. Ready to Experiment: The main idea behind working with professional graphic designers is that they have a fresh and unique approach. So, you shouldn't hesitate in experimenting with your project. When you have a chosen a good graphic designer, you have better chances of a successful experiment with your design. So, wear a positive attitude and go ahead with your deal.
4. Sign the Deal: A professional design studio will never worry to sign the deal with your company. It can be your deciding factor while looking out for a reliable company. Be clear about your requirements and sign a written agreement for clarity. This will assure you peace of mind and harmony with the design studio.
While you are sure about your option, you must start working on your project. In this tough competitive world, it's important to impress the target group with the first impression. So, be ready to engage your target group with the right approach and appeal.
A professional graphic design company will make sure to include your personal touch to the graphic design material so that you can relate yourself with the end-results. So, don't worry much and use the above tips to make your search successful.
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Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Using HTML Descriptions Tags in Your Web Design Project
HTML Description Tags: Do You Use Them to Best Advantage?
Description Tags Explained by Web Hosting Provider
Let's start at the beginning. A conversion is a sale. You, the web site owner, convert a visitor to a buyer. Point one.
Point two: Conversion rate or conversion ratio (same difference) are measures of the percentage of total visitors who actually make a purchase, opt in, request sales information of perform some other desired action from the total pool of visitors who reach your site.
The whole objective of a website is to convert and site owners spend hours and days tweaking their sites to optimize for conversion. But are they using all of the conversion opportunities available to them. Many aren't.
Your First Chance to Convert is the Search Engine Results Page
A lot of marketers believe that the first chance to convert is the access page the visitor reaches via SERPs or links. Not true. If there's a link on the SERPs to your site, and the search engine user didn't click on it, you didn't convert. Heck, the visitor never even saw your site.
There are a couple of suggestions for improving SERPs conversion, i.e. getting more people to click on your organic links. One is your site's HTML
The HTML syntax for creating a Meta description tag is:
Why the sales pitch? Because the content in your description tag is what appears below the SERPs link on Google, Yahoo or other search engines. Now, you'll see some web owners stuff these description tags with keywords. Which link would you click on?
Or
Stuffing description tags doesn't make a sale. In fact, most smart web shoppers avoid these links because of the gibberish contained below the SERPs link.
The Real Functions of Description Tags...
... and how to use them to best advantage.
There's disagreement within the SEO ranks on everything. Part of it is due to a lack of reliable science. Sure you can test, but the rules of the game change every time Google tweaks its SERPs.
One point SEOs disagree on is whether search engines give any credence to the content of description tags. In an excellent, un-cited post on HighRankings website, the writer states:
"I used to believe that the purpose of the Meta description tag was twofold: to help the page rank highly for the words that were contained within it, as well as to provide a nice description in the search engine results pages (SERPs). However, today it appears that, similar to the Meta keywords tag, the information you place in this tag is *not* given any weight in the ranking algorithms of Google, and only a tiny amount of weight in Yahoo's."
Conversely, Danny Sullivan posts on Search Engine Watch:
"The meta description tag allows you to influence the description of your page in the crawlers that support the tag... "
Two SEO professionals with polar views. And, if you want to take the time, you can find divergent opinions on virtually every SEO topic, despite the desire of many SEOs to create a science out of something as amorphous as search engine optimization.
However, the point isn't which SEO is right and which is wrong. The point is that there is little hard science to back up any aspect of SEO. The best way to determine the effectiveness of description tags is to conduct simple, single-variable testing that will deliver empirical results - irrefutable metrics. Something you can rely on.
Simple A/B Testing
While the focus of this post is description tags, the application of A/B testing is useful in determining which tactics and strategies work and which don't. There are means for multi-variant testing in which several variables are changed, but if you're just starting out and metrics analysis isn't all the fun you thought it would be, stick with single-variant, A/B tests on any changes to your web site. You'll get understandable, utile results and you'll get them quickly.
Start by using a couple of top tier keywords in your description tag. These will be highlighted on the SERPs pages as a direct hit. However, avoid description tag stuffing. Bots don't much care for any kind of keyword stuffing because it dilutes the relevance and usefulness of the SERPs. Still, you see lots of site owners who use their description tag to stuff with keywords. (See beading examples above.)
There's Bot Territory and Human Territory
Bots crawl the HTML or XML code used to create a web site. It's all letter strings to these data collector agents. This is where search optimization (designed for search engine bots as the name suggests) takes place. Below anything that will be seen by a human.
Humans only see the description tag on SERPs - but they do see it. Yes, the SERPs were machine generated, but a human is looking over those links now. An attractive, two-line description and welcome will draw many more site visitors than a tag filled with keywords.
Want proof? Don't take my word for it. A/B test it.
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Why Your Business Needs A Web Designer
Website designers play a big role in the overall effectiveness of any website. If you're a business owner looking to launch a new website for your company or to retool your existing site, you definitely want to consider hiring a professional designer to help you. Hiring a full-time website designer may not be practical for a smaller company, but that doesn't mean that you can or should scrape by without one.
Website design is a broad field that encompasses all of the different skills necessary to construct and maintain an effective website. Although it's an easy field to get into, it takes a great deal of time and effort to cultivate and maintain truly professional-caliber website design skills. When you're looking for a designer to handle your business's website, the stakes are simply too high to leave your site in an amateur's hands. The speed and convenience of working with a real professional will easily justify the expense of hiring one.
If your business is, like most small companies, tightly focused on your area of expertise, it's unlikely that you have anyone on your staff with real website design expertise. If you have an employee dedicated to handling your IT needs, he or she just might possess enough web design knowledge to handle your company's site. Otherwise, you're looking at hiring an outside consultant. This is by far the most cost-effective way to secure the diverse skill-sets that a professional website designer can offer you.
When you go looking for a web designer, you'll soon see that it's a very busy marketplace. Because all of the work can be done online, there's nothing stopping you from a hiring a designer who's based in a different hemisphere. Be cautious about outsourcing your website design work across national and cultural boundaries, though. Being able to communicate your needs to your website designer clearly and unequivocally is vital. If you're not certain exactly what you need from your website, working with a local web designer might be worth the minor added expense. Being able to discuss your concerns with your designer face-to-face can save time and prevent confusion.
In order to determine how much good web design is going to cost you, you have to look at many different factors. Your decision to hire local or long-distance, as discussed above, will make a big difference in the cost. So will the amount of work you demand out of your website designer. If you need many revisions and alterations to get exactly what you want out of your website, expect to pay more. Also, you need to keep maintenance expenses in mind. Having a broken or out-of-date website is little better than having no website at all. You should expect to have an ongoing relationship with your designer, although maintenance costs will be far less than the cost of initial set-up.
Choosing the right web designer takes some real time and effort. Hopefully, this article has given you a good framework for making that decision. The more you understand about the web design process before you go looking for a designer, the faster and better your selection will be. Here's hoping that you end up working with a real professional!
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Website Design Errors You Should Avoid
Creating a website for your business is a great way to put your company name out there and display your business model to potential clients almost anywhere in the world. But before spending all that time and money on a website design company, you need to make sure you are getting your money's worth. You want your website to attract customers, increase website traffic, and draw in more business. Here are a few blunders you should avoid when planning out your company's web presence. Keep these in mind when consulting with your website design company.
Give the viewer some room to breathe:
Cool images, videos, and fonts can be good for your company's web presence; however, you need to know when enough is enough. Don't have too many animations or widgets that take a long time to load--people won't want to wait. Too many images and videos can also distract the viewer from the actual content of your website. Remember, the goal of your website is to promote your business model. Some fancy web design features are good, but keep the main focus on the content of your website.
Spelling and Grammar:
Speaking of content, you want to make sure you have good spelling and grammar. This may sound like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised how many errors appear on company websites. Take the time to proofread and edit your content. If you have typos, your readers won't find you credible or trust the quality of your service.
Don't Be Afraid of White Space:
You may have the urge to take up every square inch of white space on your web pages. But stop and think about using the white space to your advantage. White space can make images pop and make your content clearer. Too much color can distract the viewer and be too overwhelming. Contrast between content and design can be a good thing, forcing the reader to appreciate the design and still focus on the content.
Don't Forget About SEO:
You want to make sure you content is search engine friendly. Create an SEO plan and figure out how you want to incorporate your website design and content. High quality content with key words related to your business will help put you higher on the search results page.
Your company's website should do its job of informing people about your business and projecting your company name on a global scale. It's important not to make these blunders so that your website can be effective, alluring, and informative.
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Monday, 27 August 2012
What Is Occam's Razor Principle And How Can It Be Applied To Web Design?
Occam's Razor is a philosophical principle named about William of Ockham, a 14th century logician and theologian. According to the principle, the simplest explanation is usually true. In terms of web design, Occam's Razor implies that we should do something in the simplest manner possible because simpler is, usually, better. So, how can you use Occam's Razor to design better websites, whilst at the same time enhancing the user experience? You've come to the right place to find out how:
Simple design for the internet is basically all about removing barriers. These days, designers are too focused on creating a website that is "cool" - they forget about the goals they are trying to achieve and whether their navigation is easy to understand or not. This leads to an endless cycle of expensive tweaking and even complete redesigns.
Coding
There are actually a number of reasons why simple coding should be a primary focus in web design - it loads much faster and, generally, encounters very few problems. Developers, however, tend to bloat their code out due to a lazy mentality or lack of knowledge. Both of these habits need to be squashed, as slow loading websites greatly affect the user experience - who wants to wait around for pages to load?
E-Commerce
Simplicity is key when it comes to e-commerce websites, as trying to sell visitors your products will be completely irrelevant if they cannot figure out the purchasing process - they'll take their business elsewhere. The process can be simplified by: making the search box a prominent feature of the web design, avoiding asking visitors to duplicate information, and spacing out your products for readability.
Copy
As most web designs will rely on their content to explain their services, products and other ideas, it really does make sense to ensure that this text is phrased in a way that is easy to understand. Try saying what you need to as briefly as possible - don't worry about trying to sound intelligent by cramming in big words and dictionary definitions. Make sure that your copy is interesting and engaging and your visitors will read on anyway.
As you can see, applying Occam's Razor principle to web design can be achieved without even thinking about it. All you need to do is focus on simplicity in your work - better websites and an improved user experience will flow naturally from this practice. The next time you are working on a design, ask yourself whether the code has been simplified, whether the shopping cart is easy to use, and whether the copy is understandable.
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The Must Have Features For Any Mobile Website Design
There are a number of differences between designing a website for a desktop computer and a mobile device - the web access between the two is completely different, the screen sizes are worlds apart, and even the situation of the user is unique (as in, the user of a mobile device is generally on the move and cannot browse at leisure). If you work extensively with mobile website design, there are four features that you should ensure you include in every project you tackle:
Auto redirect
This redirect should take users to your desktop computer website. All mobile websites should have the functionality to detect what sort of device is being used to access it and be able to send the user to the most appropriate site. If they are using a desktop computer, you will be able to provide the user with a very different experience than they would receive with a mobile site.
Call to contact button
This is the name given to a certain type of functionality that allows a user to press a button that automatically dials the number of your business. If a user is on the road, they may not have a pen and paper to jot down your contact information or be able to memorize your phone number, so this makes it easier than ever for users to contact you.
Driving directions
This should be something that is included on all mobile websites, but it is often the feature that most designers leave off. By not including driving directions, you are going to send users away from your website (to other sites like Google Maps and Melways) to find you. By including directions on the website, they can remain on your page for longer.
Location map
Posting a Google Map on your mobile website design can be critical in helping users to find your business. Whilst posting your address can be helpful, being able to actually see where you are located in relation to nearby streets and landmarks can mean that they get to your store or office much faster than if they had to pull over and plug your address into their GPS.
If your business is just branching out into the world of mobile website design, it is important that you ensure the four features outlined above are included in every project that you work on. This will ensure that users are given the most rewarding experience possible, as well as making it easier than ever for them to contact and locate you. And, if you have already created a number of mobile sites, you should go back and make sure that each of these features has been included.
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The Top 5 Web Design Trends of 2012
It may seem as if the trends of web design never stop changing. New applications and design schemes are being developed and tested constantly to the point that it is hard to tell what trends are most effective. To stay on top of your website and take advantage of all the web traffic, you can follow the top five trends of web design for 2012.
Maintain function and visibility on mobile devices. There is no denying that people are accessing the Internet from a variety of devices nowadays. With the influx of smartphones and tablets, it is no surprised that more users are more likely to log on to websites with an iPhone instead of an iMac anymore. Too often businesses do not have a functioning and visibly attractive mobile version of the website and users turn to sites that are more friendly for mobile devices. Be careful to only include low-resolution images and videos to ensure that the site loads quickly even over a 3G network. Streamline the content to get information to your users on the go.
Integration with social networking websites is a must. By now, you should have at least set up a Twitter and Facebook account for your business, but there are many other social media sites to consider as well, including Pinest, one of the latest sites to emerge. These social networking and media sites can generate serious revenue, but only if done correctly. You must directly connect your website to your pages on sites like Facebook to keep the user active and interested. Your customers are looking for opportunities to share your content and feature your website, but you have to make it easy for them.
Keep browsing focused with fixed navigation. Too often, users have a tendency toward impatience and end up scrolling and clicking all over the website and before long they are lost in a web of pages. By using fixed navigation, the logo as well as the top and left navigation tabs will remain visible regardless of scrolling up or down or clicking on a new page. Fixed navigation keeps users focused on the most important things about your business and presents the content in the best light possible. Be wary of how much screen space the fixed navigation takes up, however, because they can claim much of the viewable space.
Allow for easy navigation with a multi-column menu. The debate is finally over about which type of navigation menu users prefer. Many studies have shown that users spend more time and find more value in websites that use a multi-column menu. The single column menu does not allow the user to browse through the content as quickly and does not provide the user an overview of the website. For this reason, users are showing a strong preference for the multi-column menu despite any concerns about the submenus becoming too burdensome.
HTML5 and CSS3 are the new tools in web design. Although these coding languages are still being developed and evolving as you read this, web designers everywhere are already in love with the advantages and applications of HTML5 and CSS3. Now you can feature complex animations without all the messy lines of code that ultimately limit the load time of your website. Features that are now possible with HTML5 and CSS3 include creating shadows around boxes and text, rounding corners and rotating through multiple background images.
As you consider updating your web design in 2012, you must implement these five top trends. With all of the advances in web design, this list is just scratching the surface of possibilities but all great websites need to have these elements.
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Sunday, 26 August 2012
Top Most Important Tips for Selecting a Graphic Designer
There are various graphic design studios that are willing to work enthusiastically for businesses dealing in different sectors. The design companies take a note of all the requirements in advance and make sure to follow the same path to give the right look. The businesses are using highly specialized graphic design services to give a new look to their business stationary, website and other marketing materials.
While the options are many, it is important for you to make the right selection to work with a designer. The top most important tips for selecting a graphic designer are mentioned below:
1. Previous Work Samples: It's important to judge the degree of detailing in their work. If you find their previous work appealing to your eyes, you will surely able to achieve the desired results to engage your target market. You can pay attention to the styling, visual appeal and color combination to make the final decision.
2. Reference Check: Only work samples will not give you the clear idea about their work. It is important to check few references about their working pattern during the project. The satisfied clients will, of course, be a relief to you that you will get quality results without any botheration.
3. Ready to Experiment: The main idea behind working with professional graphic designers is that they have a fresh and unique approach. So, you shouldn't hesitate in experimenting with your project. When you have a chosen a good graphic designer, you have better chances of a successful experiment with your design. So, wear a positive attitude and go ahead with your deal.
4. Sign the Deal: A professional design studio will never worry to sign the deal with your company. It can be your deciding factor while looking out for a reliable company. Be clear about your requirements and sign a written agreement for clarity. This will assure you peace of mind and harmony with the design studio.
While you are sure about your option, you must start working on your project. In this tough competitive world, it's important to impress the target group with the first impression. So, be ready to engage your target group with the right approach and appeal.
A professional graphic design company will make sure to include your personal touch to the graphic design material so that you can relate yourself with the end-results. So, don't worry much and use the above tips to make your search successful.
ExperTrans language - multilingual services
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Friday, 24 August 2012
Why Your Business Needs A Web Designer
Website designers play a big role in the overall effectiveness of any website. If you're a business owner looking to launch a new website for your company or to retool your existing site, you definitely want to consider hiring a professional designer to help you. Hiring a full-time website designer may not be practical for a smaller company, but that doesn't mean that you can or should scrape by without one.
Website design is a broad field that encompasses all of the different skills necessary to construct and maintain an effective website. Although it's an easy field to get into, it takes a great deal of time and effort to cultivate and maintain truly professional-caliber website design skills. When you're looking for a designer to handle your business's website, the stakes are simply too high to leave your site in an amateur's hands. The speed and convenience of working with a real professional will easily justify the expense of hiring one.
If your business is, like most small companies, tightly focused on your area of expertise, it's unlikely that you have anyone on your staff with real website design expertise. If you have an employee dedicated to handling your IT needs, he or she just might possess enough web design knowledge to handle your company's site. Otherwise, you're looking at hiring an outside consultant. This is by far the most cost-effective way to secure the diverse skill-sets that a professional website designer can offer you.
When you go looking for a web designer, you'll soon see that it's a very busy marketplace. Because all of the work can be done online, there's nothing stopping you from a hiring a designer who's based in a different hemisphere. Be cautious about outsourcing your website design work across national and cultural boundaries, though. Being able to communicate your needs to your website designer clearly and unequivocally is vital. If you're not certain exactly what you need from your website, working with a local web designer might be worth the minor added expense. Being able to discuss your concerns with your designer face-to-face can save time and prevent confusion.
In order to determine how much good web design is going to cost you, you have to look at many different factors. Your decision to hire local or long-distance, as discussed above, will make a big difference in the cost. So will the amount of work you demand out of your website designer. If you need many revisions and alterations to get exactly what you want out of your website, expect to pay more. Also, you need to keep maintenance expenses in mind. Having a broken or out-of-date website is little better than having no website at all. You should expect to have an ongoing relationship with your designer, although maintenance costs will be far less than the cost of initial set-up.
Choosing the right web designer takes some real time and effort. Hopefully, this article has given you a good framework for making that decision. The more you understand about the web design process before you go looking for a designer, the faster and better your selection will be. Here's hoping that you end up working with a real professional!
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Using HTML Descriptions Tags in Your Web Design Project
HTML Description Tags: Do You Use Them to Best Advantage?
Description Tags Explained by Web Hosting Provider
Let's start at the beginning. A conversion is a sale. You, the web site owner, convert a visitor to a buyer. Point one.
Point two: Conversion rate or conversion ratio (same difference) are measures of the percentage of total visitors who actually make a purchase, opt in, request sales information of perform some other desired action from the total pool of visitors who reach your site.
The whole objective of a website is to convert and site owners spend hours and days tweaking their sites to optimize for conversion. But are they using all of the conversion opportunities available to them. Many aren't.
Your First Chance to Convert is the Search Engine Results Page
A lot of marketers believe that the first chance to convert is the access page the visitor reaches via SERPs or links. Not true. If there's a link on the SERPs to your site, and the search engine user didn't click on it, you didn't convert. Heck, the visitor never even saw your site.
There are a couple of suggestions for improving SERPs conversion, i.e. getting more people to click on your organic links. One is your site's HTML
The HTML syntax for creating a Meta description tag is:
Why the sales pitch? Because the content in your description tag is what appears below the SERPs link on Google, Yahoo or other search engines. Now, you'll see some web owners stuff these description tags with keywords. Which link would you click on?
Or
Stuffing description tags doesn't make a sale. In fact, most smart web shoppers avoid these links because of the gibberish contained below the SERPs link.
The Real Functions of Description Tags...
... and how to use them to best advantage.
There's disagreement within the SEO ranks on everything. Part of it is due to a lack of reliable science. Sure you can test, but the rules of the game change every time Google tweaks its SERPs.
One point SEOs disagree on is whether search engines give any credence to the content of description tags. In an excellent, un-cited post on HighRankings website, the writer states:
"I used to believe that the purpose of the Meta description tag was twofold: to help the page rank highly for the words that were contained within it, as well as to provide a nice description in the search engine results pages (SERPs). However, today it appears that, similar to the Meta keywords tag, the information you place in this tag is *not* given any weight in the ranking algorithms of Google, and only a tiny amount of weight in Yahoo's."
Conversely, Danny Sullivan posts on Search Engine Watch:
"The meta description tag allows you to influence the description of your page in the crawlers that support the tag... "
Two SEO professionals with polar views. And, if you want to take the time, you can find divergent opinions on virtually every SEO topic, despite the desire of many SEOs to create a science out of something as amorphous as search engine optimization.
However, the point isn't which SEO is right and which is wrong. The point is that there is little hard science to back up any aspect of SEO. The best way to determine the effectiveness of description tags is to conduct simple, single-variable testing that will deliver empirical results - irrefutable metrics. Something you can rely on.
Simple A/B Testing
While the focus of this post is description tags, the application of A/B testing is useful in determining which tactics and strategies work and which don't. There are means for multi-variant testing in which several variables are changed, but if you're just starting out and metrics analysis isn't all the fun you thought it would be, stick with single-variant, A/B tests on any changes to your web site. You'll get understandable, utile results and you'll get them quickly.
Start by using a couple of top tier keywords in your description tag. These will be highlighted on the SERPs pages as a direct hit. However, avoid description tag stuffing. Bots don't much care for any kind of keyword stuffing because it dilutes the relevance and usefulness of the SERPs. Still, you see lots of site owners who use their description tag to stuff with keywords. (See beading examples above.)
There's Bot Territory and Human Territory
Bots crawl the HTML or XML code used to create a web site. It's all letter strings to these data collector agents. This is where search optimization (designed for search engine bots as the name suggests) takes place. Below anything that will be seen by a human.
Humans only see the description tag on SERPs - but they do see it. Yes, the SERPs were machine generated, but a human is looking over those links now. An attractive, two-line description and welcome will draw many more site visitors than a tag filled with keywords.
Want proof? Don't take my word for it. A/B test it.
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Website Design Errors You Should Avoid
Creating a website for your business is a great way to put your company name out there and display your business model to potential clients almost anywhere in the world. But before spending all that time and money on a website design company, you need to make sure you are getting your money's worth. You want your website to attract customers, increase website traffic, and draw in more business. Here are a few blunders you should avoid when planning out your company's web presence. Keep these in mind when consulting with your website design company.
Give the viewer some room to breathe:
Cool images, videos, and fonts can be good for your company's web presence; however, you need to know when enough is enough. Don't have too many animations or widgets that take a long time to load--people won't want to wait. Too many images and videos can also distract the viewer from the actual content of your website. Remember, the goal of your website is to promote your business model. Some fancy web design features are good, but keep the main focus on the content of your website.
Spelling and Grammar:
Speaking of content, you want to make sure you have good spelling and grammar. This may sound like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised how many errors appear on company websites. Take the time to proofread and edit your content. If you have typos, your readers won't find you credible or trust the quality of your service.
Don't Be Afraid of White Space:
You may have the urge to take up every square inch of white space on your web pages. But stop and think about using the white space to your advantage. White space can make images pop and make your content clearer. Too much color can distract the viewer and be too overwhelming. Contrast between content and design can be a good thing, forcing the reader to appreciate the design and still focus on the content.
Don't Forget About SEO:
You want to make sure you content is search engine friendly. Create an SEO plan and figure out how you want to incorporate your website design and content. High quality content with key words related to your business will help put you higher on the search results page.
Your company's website should do its job of informing people about your business and projecting your company name on a global scale. It's important not to make these blunders so that your website can be effective, alluring, and informative.
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