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17 Ways to Make Sure Your Website is Working for You

10 2011 Sunday

By Hannah Du Plessis in Featured

Is your website bringing in at least five new inquiries per day? If not, you need to look at its functionality.

Your website acts as a “storefront.” You should put as much thought and care into your website as you would to the display in your store’s window. Your website needs to attract customers and keep them coming back for more. The following should give you a place to start and a guideline of what a good website should have and what it should do:

1. Where Do Your Eyes Go First?

You only have a few seconds to catch a visitor’s attention. That means you need to make sure that you capture their interest immediately. You need a headline that stops them thinking whatever they’re thinking, and think instead: “hey, this looks interesting! I need to read this.”

2. Do You Know Right Away What This Website is About?

Don’t have any distractions from the message you are trying to get across. If you start talking about how great your company is instead of what the visitor is interested in, you lose them.

The Biggest Web Design Trends of 2011

08 2011 Wednesday

By Steve Loates in Featured

Since we are over seven months into the year I decided it was time to give my take on what may happen in web design in 2011. (At least I thought I should probably write it before the year was over.)

So, over the past several weeks I have read a number of my favourite web design magazines, web design blogs and articles and viewed a number of cutting edge websites, particularly outside of North America, so that I could share some thoughts about what appears to be some of the major trends in website design for 2011. There is nothing scientific contained here, just some observations.

1. Less Use of Flash

It is not the fact that Flash is not a great technology…(when used appropriately it is)…but in the past year or so it has been over used, misused, abused to the point that it has developed a bad reputation. Certainly, the ongoing shenanigans between Adobe (creator of Flash) and Apple (iPhone and iPad) are not helping the situation. Today, websites need to have a clean, uncluttered design, fast loading and above all must be Search Engine friendly. This is a problem for Flash and now with the coming of the new web coding languages of HTML5 and CSS3, together with the explosive growth of web surfing on mobile devices perhaps it is the beginning of the end of Flash in web design.

Bilingual Website Design – There Are Special Requirements

08 2011 Friday

By Brian Stephens in Featured

In many countries around the world, there is a high potential for you needing to produce a bilingual web design. This could be anywhere that the website owner is trying to reach a wider audience. Perhaps by catering for ex-pats or in fact where a country has more than one native language.

You may have to produce a combined English/French site but this could easily be English/Spanish, Portuguese/Spanish or any other combination for that matter. Also it does not necessarily follow that English will be the lead language e.g. you could be producing a French/English arrangement.

So now the question arises of how the site should be structured in order to be discovered by the search engines and in a way that gives the site proper recognition and appropriate ranking; so that it gets listed in relevant search engine results.

There are a few general rules of thumb to adhere to:

* try not to mix languages in side-by-side or above/below translations
* identify individual pages in the language they represent
* use the meta tag for language to tell the search engine what language is being presented
* provide links from one language to the other that are easy to follow
* for sites that are multiple language sites consider an entrance page as the ‘index’ page that offers all the available languages so that the visitor can decide which set of pages they would like to visit i.e. they select their language of choice

Expanding on the ‘linking from one language to another’ statement a little, there are a couple of options available. You could provide a link that takes the visitor from the page they are onto the replica page in the alternative language, or you could just take them to the ‘index’ page equivalent for the alternative language and let them navigate from there.

The latter is obviously easier and has some benefits in that it takes the visitor to the main welcome/landing page for the site so that they get the site message before moving onto the detail.

But this may not always suit the visitor who may see it as an unnecessary click. This is really a judgment call and probably a decision that needs to be made by the customer.

Either approach works for multilingual sites as well, although the navigation is a little more complex.

There are a couple of preferred ways of approaching how the language pages are collected together. Folders can be created for the alternative languages or alternatively sub domains can be created for the alternative languages e.g. fr.mydomain.com

This general approach to bilingual or multilingual sites does mean that the web designer needs to be fastidious in his site updates and to ensure that all pages where required get updated appropriately in all languages.

With respect to Google there are assumptions that are made on a sites geographic location based on the domain name that is used, what server the site is located on and to an extent the language used. To ensure that the site is targeted to the correct geographic location you can use Google’s webmaster tools to define a location. But this feature does need to be used with caution and this makes it worth searching their help files for information on how and when to do this.

So if you are planning a website design in France or any other country that is going to be bilingual or multilingual make sure that the design is being approached in the correct way.

Affordable Web Design is now available to everyone.

You can choose between a templated static website design or create a WordPress blog and configure it to look like a static site at very low cost.

Stock Photos, Custom Photos, or a Blend of Both? – A SPN Exclusive Article

07 2011 Wednesday

By Gayle Hawks in Featured

spn_exclusive Over the past few years, the stock photography market has exploded and expanded exponentially. Iconic stock giants such as Getty Images, Corbis (privately owned by Bill Gates), Alamy, and Jupitermedia, Inc. (parent company of Jupiter Images) dominate high end publications and websites. Unfortunately, most of the images available from the companies listed above are simply too expensive for most small businesses to purchase for their web use, advertising campaigns, and media related ventures. Many times you’ll see images owned by these companies used in highly publicized magazines and websites such as Time, Sports Illustrated, CNN, and many others. So, how do small businesses locate quality stock images that they can use effectively to promote their business and/or products?

The answer lies within the microstock websites. This emerging group of sites (such as iStockPhoto, BigStockPhoto, and Dreamstime) allow customers to purchase high quality images at much lower prices. Each site has certain licensing options and distribution restrictions for images, but most of the time a customer can purchase the desired image and the necessary license for a relatively low price.

For most companies, finding a good, applicable image isn’t a problem. Just between the three stock sites listed above, there are over six million images. Yes, some of them are duplicates, with the same artist creating galleries on each site. However, there are still several million different images available.

A word of caution though when you are selecting an image to use – try to stay away from the most popular images. Why do I say that? Well, they are popular due to being sold and downloaded more times. Why do I caution you against using popular images? Because you don’t want to create branding material for your company or product that is being used elsewhere. Your business is unique… your product is unique… it may not be in your best interest to use an image that has been sold hundreds or perhaps even thousands of times.

What am I talking about? Well, perhaps it’s best to just use some visual examples. I came across this blog post which shows how three major electronics companies used the same image in various promotions. Check it out for yourself: http://www.brianbehrend.com/archives/2004/09/more_stock_foot.php

Better yet, here’s a nightmare scenario that you would never want to have occur for your company. Can you imagine the constant explaining that Design Matters has to do regarding their (lack of) association with Vagisil? You see, they both used the same image of a young teen girl in their promotional materials. Unfortunately, the link to the Vagisil ad is no longer active. The Wall Street Journal also featured an article on this dilemma several years ago that is still worth reading.

These examples are the risk that you run when choosing to use stock photography for your business. I am certainly not telling you to abandon the use of stock photography for your business! Please don’t misunderstand. However, I am recommending that you proceed with caution. There are very valid risks to consider. The customer’s perception of your business is on the line.

David Ogilvy said, “Always give your product a first-class ticket through life.” This incredibly important concept is applicable to not only a product, a brochure, or your website – but your business as a whole. Is purchasing an image for a buck or two really the best route to take? It can be if you navigate your way through the process wisely.

Choose a Photo That Matches Up With Your Purpose

Don’t just choose one to “fill space.” Rather than use a potentially risky or dull photo, fill that space with great content. Or, at times… empty space might be the best option. Space is good.

Be Creative in Your Choice

Instead of using a picture of a man or woman, (who isn’t employed by your company), perhaps a graphic of some sort will convey the same message just as effectively. Or better yet, hire a photographer to take pictures of your actual employees. It may be slightly more expensive to choose this route, but the end result will certainly be more genuine.

An example that comes to mind for me was a Sear’s sales flyer that I received in the mail not too long ago. It completely missed the mark with me. I flipped through it until about page 3. On that page, I finally realized that every person in every picture had well placed smudges on their faces. (The flyer was geared toward outdoors/construction clothing and accessories.) I even saw painters with paint on their hands and face…however, their painting clothes were spotless. I also wondered why the “architect or engineer” in the picture seemed to have a
big muddy smudge on his cheek when there wasn’t any mud around in that particular picture… he was standing on a nice, dry concrete slab.

The pictures were a complete bust for me. I didn’t look at anything in the catalog with the mindset of “hey… I wonder what’s on sale”; instead, I was just looking at the ridiculous pictures. In my opinion, the whole catalog was a ridiculous attempt to get me to purchase something…and it didn’t work.

Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative Real Estate Business Card websites. We’re eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com for Print Business
Cards. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding online business cards design or business card management.

Website Personified: Making Your Business Website Interesting – A SPN Exclusive Article

06 2011 Friday

By Kevin Pahlau in Featured

Creating a business website can be a difficult task. Not necessarily from a technical standpoint, but rather from a design and communication standpoint. How do you make a business or corporate website interesting and include some personality in it? You need a professional presentation but that does not mean you cannot be creative or personable. You need to create interest in the business and persuade visitors to venture further into the site and learn more about the company which can lead them to contact the company or make a sale on the site itself.

As a designer, it can feel as though your creativity could become stifled when you first begin to work on a corporate web design project. This does not need to be the case though. You should be able to incorporate some interesting and creative aspects into the design and ultimately make the visitor’s experience a pleasant one. But how?

Break Out of the Cold Shell

There are many types of businesses besides large corporations that can appear dull and send the visitor into a light sleep very quickly. Business websites like insurance agencies, real estate companies, wealth management and consulting firms can all appear cold and lifeless. Yes, they are professional in presentation, but that does not mean creativity and personality cannot be included in the website.

As a designer working with any type of business, you want to explain to your client the importance of making a connection with the visitor to their website. This does not have to be something distracting with a lot of animation or as a client once said to me, “We need more wiz-bang.” It can be subtle and still be direct.

One of the keys to accomplishing this is to find the starting point for a conversation with the visitor. Simply invoking the right question, or a laugh can be the perfect ingredient to make the visitor want to stay on the site just long enough to make your point or to make a sale.

For example, to help set the tone you may want to incorporate friendly or imaginative photos of the owner of the business or employees at the company on the home page giving the site a welcoming feel to any visitor.

Even if you just have graphics with calls to action, it could be enough to invoke your visitor to stay and find out more about the products or services that are being offered. There are many websites that feature these minimalist characteristics. Their presentation focuses mostly on typography. They ask the right questions or have a direct approach in saying who they are. They do not offer too much information or answers on the home page and invite the visitor to look further into the site and find out more. These are great ways to include a little personality and create interest at the same time.

Welcome the Visitor

Large businesses and corporations could learn a lesson from some small businesses. When a visitor arrives at a website, they do not want to feel like they just walked into the giant lobby of a company and there is nobody there to greet them, answer some questions they may have or direct them to their primary destination. You certainly do not want to drive people away from the website by not offering enough information.

Sometimes smaller businesses have an easier time making visitors feel welcome. This is true with both the brick and mortar businesses as well as their websites. Simply featuring a friendly photo or graphic on the home page of the website or maybe a quote about an approach to business, outside interests, or an approach to life itself can offer a small connection and invite the visitor to stay.

Incorporating the personality of a small business owner can also offer the right kind of personal connection. Using this approach can make the visitor feel like they know what the owner is like. There is a feeling of trust and value in their presentation making you feel like doing business with them. Showing the typical stock photo of a handshake, a missing puzzle piece or a picture of a large glass building are not the kind of elements that will draw the visitor’s interest. You want to make them feel welcome and offer them a reason to stay. They are taking time to stop by and visit your website, so welcome them and take advantage of the opportunity.

Tell Them More but Do Not Repeat

In web design, it is common practice to include an “About Us” – or a “History” – page on a site. Stop and think how often you see an “About Us” or a “History” link on a particular website and then you visit the page only to be disappointed in finding out that it is exactly the same information that you read on the home page.

Why? Why repeat what has already been presented and frustrate the visitor? The “About Us” or “History” page is a prime opportunity to make a personal connection with your visitors. On this page you should dig deep and elaborate more about who the company is or who you are as a business owner. This doesn’t mean you have to divulge a favorite dessert or a favorite sports team.

Depending on the type of business and the size of the company, there are many ways you can make a personal connection with potential customers. If it is an older established company, tell your visitors about the rich history of the company and how your approach to your customers has not changed through the years. If it is a fairly young company, then you could explain to visitors about how you can provide a more one on one approach to business as opposed to some larger companies where that personal connection may become lost. Take it a step further and discuss company or individual accomplishments within the industry. Has the company won awards or have people within the company accomplished achievements in their work? Is the company involved with any charitable organizations? Do employees take part in giving their time and talents to a particular cause outside of work? If this is the case, tell the visitors about it. Show how employees have been recognized for particular accomplishments or how the company gives back to the community. These are all great ways to make a connection with your visitors and show there is more to the company and its employees.

Conclusion

Creating an interesting business website by including some personality can be very beneficial. You want to grab the visitor’s attention in a professional manner. You want to let the visitor know what services or products you have to offer.

You also want to make a connection with the visitor and not offer a cold presentation. Hopefully the ideas and suggestions mentioned in this article will help you in creating a business website that is interesting and inviting to any visitor. By adding a little personality to your business website, you can create the interest needed that will persuade your visitors to stay and hopefully develop a long lasting business relationship.

Kevin Pahlau is a web and graphic designer and has over eight years experience in web and multimedia development. He has worked in both broadcast and print media and has been a contributing writer for a variety of online publications.

Creating Art on the Web through Website Design

05 2011 Wednesday

By Kevin Germain in Featured

The web is a wild place. It is an art gallery without the admission fee. Web designers are artist of a different medium. Like artists not all of the website designs that they create are going to work. Some websites are truly annoying. Take for instance a painter that really likes the color blue. If it is used in every piece of art the painter makes it will visually not stimulate our eyes and we will become bored or annoyed with the artists art. The same is true for web design. As a website developer you need to make sure that your “art” is different for each client and you need to avoid common mistakes that draw attention away from the client’s product or service. There are several things to steer clear of when designing websites to ensure a perfect site for your client.

Top Five Most Annoying Website Design Techniques

1) Colors that assault the eye – If your clients insisting on using every color of the rainbow in their site design it is your job as the website designer to talk them out of it. Even though they think it adds just the right touch of pizzazz to their site you know better. Colors that are too bright or morbidly dark will not be suitable to promote your clients work. Even if you are promoting a circus keep the main site colors down to a maximum of two or three. Do not give in to the more is better philosophy with color.

2) Background sounds – Nothing is worse that a site that replays the same sound bit throughout the entire site. Or worse yet a slogan that plays each and every time you click on a new page within a site. Full songs are also an absolute annoyance. It is best that the site visually provides the entertainment leave the background noise out of future web designs.

3) Spelling Errors – You are using a computer with a spell check button make sure you use it. Nothing is worse than bad grammar, incorrect punctuation or pour spelling. Before you go live with any site make sure multiple eyes have looked over all text. Even if the client has provided the text for their site do not trust that it is correct. Always double and triple check for errors or inconsistent tenses. They will thank you for catching the error before the site has become viewable to their clients.

4) Font Size – If you use all capital letters in your design people will feel like the site is shouting at them. Using all small letters will make people feel like you are whispering. It is best to stay consistent with normal text and punctuation. This way it will make the website feel as if it speaking to the viewer in a normal voice which will make it more pleasing to read.

5) Blinking links and popup windows – These items are to the web what junk mail is to our mail boxes. Useless information that gets in the way of important information. Stop using popup windows and blinking lights to attract attention to your art because the reality is that they are just annoying.

Remember in web design it is all about how your website design is perceived by the people viewing it. Make sure the art you present does not detour anyone from visiting the websites your clients have had you design.

If you have enjoyed this article from Kevin Germain at CPS please visit http://www.cpsmi.com today. You will find useful information on website development.

Website Redesign Best Practices – Part 1

04 2011 Tuesday

By Ben Kemp in Featured

web-design-history Website redesign proposal checklists should take careful account of the current status of the existing website. Rather than just rush headlong into the web redesign / rebuild process, an assessment of the good and bad elements of the original site should be made. Include consideration of SEO aspects. All too often, the website makeover results in a dramatic downturn in search engine rankings! Don’t underestimate the value of the existing indexed pages… or the benefits of current organic SERPs. Run the rebuild idea past an SEO consultant.

The Risks to Current Rankings

Be aware that existing search engine rankings can all too easily go down the toilet! Why? Well, that’s the consequence of not planning and executing strategies to cover the threats.

Page Redirection

Without a trail of breadcrumbs to find out where the old content went, all search engines are left bewildered and floundering in a sea of 404 Page Not Found errors.

1. Top-Ranking Pages: Should be identified, preserved and enhanced.

Designing for SEO – A SPN Exclusive Article

04 2011 Tuesday

By Rand Kramer in Featured

web-design-history Is it possible to design a great looking website and achieve a high level of search engine optimization (SEO)? It sure is and we see evidence of this all over the web, as well as in mobile platforms. In recent years the heavy emphasis on web standards has enabled designers to develop more creative, engaging interface designs without compromising SEO goals. Effective SEO is no longer a mystifying goal that only trained SEO consultants can achieve. Think of the combination of good SEO and quality design as just sound site development. To dig in further, this article takes a closer look at how to achieve both without having to sacrifice design principles or effective SEO.

Lessons from the Design Studio

Here are some things to think about well before, and during, the design process:

1. When setting up a page structure and composition, designers tend to start with a specific defined grid system. Designers look at the grid as a foundation for positioning elements on the page. You should take it a step further by considering how the grid can support elements for SEO. Not only where images and text will be placed on the page, but also setting up a clear hierarchy of information, logical page titles and text links, headings and sub heads. This approach not only supports users’ browsing behavior but also makes it easier for search engine spiders to move throughout the site.

Creating Art on the Web through Website Design

03 2011 Wednesday

By Kevin Germain in Featured

Top Five Most Annoying Website Design Techniques

1) Colors that assault the eye – If your clients insisting on using every color of the rainbow in their site design it is your job as the website designer to talk them out of it.

Even though they think it adds just the right touch of pizzazz to their site you know better. Colors that are too bright or morbidly dark will not be suitable to promote your clients work. Even if you are promoting a circus keep the main site colors down to a maximum of two or three. Do not give in to the more is better philosophy with color.

They will thank you for catching the error before the site has become viewable to their clients.

5) Blinking links and pop-up windows – These items are to the web what junk mail is to our mail boxes. Useless information that gets in the way of important information.

Stop using pop-up windows and blinking lights to attract attention to your art because the reality is that they are just annoying.

If you have enjoyed this article from Kevin Germain at CPS please visit www.cpsmi.com today. You will find useful information on website development.

5 Ways to Improve Your Local Business Website

11 2010 Sunday

By Colette Mason in Featured

When customers don’t stay on your website for long, it’s hardly surprising you fail to connect with them and build the trust needed for them to get out their credit cards and buy from you.

The great news for you is there are tons of quick and easy – usually free ways – to make your website more appealing to your customers.

Here’s 5 you can apply today.

1. Site Search

When you have more than 20 pages, it’s a good idea to add a search facility. If you have a site search, make sure it’s prominent. Usability guidelines tend to prefer the upper-right corner of the page. Keep the button label simple and clear – “Search” still works best for most
sites. Don’t unleash your powers of lateral thinking and swap in a word like “Retrieve”. Keep it simple.

To Do: Just using your search, try to find 3 pages of content. Is that process “quick, easy and straight-forward?” Or is it “hit and miss?”

2. Ensure Your Webpages Can Be Skim-read Easily

Few people read word for word online; the vast majority skim-read to get a sense of the page before they read any of it in detail. Make it easy for visitors to skim-read your content. Always use headings and bullets to break up text.

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17 Ways to Make Sure Your Website is Working for You

The Biggest Web Design Trends of 2011

Bilingual Website Design – There Are Special Requirements

Stock Photos, Custom Photos, or a Blend of Both? – A SPN Exclusive Article

Website Personified: Making Your Business Website Interesting – A SPN Exclusive Article

Creating Art on the Web through Website Design

Website Redesign Best Practices – Part 1

Designing for SEO – A SPN Exclusive Article

Creating Art on the Web through Website Design

5 Ways to Improve Your Local Business Website

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