Smartphones, iPads, notebooks, oh my!
There’s a dizzying amount of mobile products available to the consumer now a days. Hell, I don’t think I can look around without seeing someone browsing the web or checking email on some mobile device. What does this mean? You should seriously consider making your web design responsive to multiple viewports.
What is responsive design you say to yourself? Responsive design is the practice of having one website that adapts to the device it is being viewed upon. Or, more simply: one website for all screens.
It is tempting to just create a mobile friendly site, but that no longer will satisfy your audiences. Increasingly, mobile sites include the option to visit the original site, which is fine. But if you do not offer the option or if your original site is not optimized to mobile standards, you are simply not moving forward with the times.
I have been following technology trends and reading articles in computer technology, people are predicting that the sale of smartphones and other “mobile” devices will outsell the personal computer in the coming years.
Just like King Arthur “One Land, One King.” or for the web world “One Website, All Screens!”
Check out some examples of responsive design:
How to Get the Perfect Web Site Design – Items to Consider
To keep up with my previous post on listing a few things that can help you get the perfect web site design here is part III:
Here are a few items that any web designer or web company will recommend to any client that approaches them for a website design. When looking for a web designer watch out when paying someone to build it. Not only do they need to offer you suitable and appropriate design abilities, but they also need to understand usability, recommend. critique and give you an evaluation of your company’s image and provide solid suggestions that will help and not hinder your business. Before picking a designer ask for references, look for testimonials, contact people that they have done work with in the past – do a little research it can go a long way. This is what will set a professional designer or professional design company apart from the guy that has the programs and gets templates and calls himself a designer.
I will go in further details on the following items to keep in mind, here is what you should keep in mind when getting the perfect web site design:
- Take your time
- Get professional advice
- Don’t be afraid to ask for changes
- Communication with your designer
How to Get the Perfect Web Site Design – Professional versus Non-Professional
To keep up with my previous post on listing a few things that can help you get the perfect web site design here is part II:
The battle for the ages comes down to cost in to a lot of businesses, especially in web design (or graphic design). The difference between a quality company and one which has a poor public image on the web is solely dependent upon web design and the design process that follows. Ask any web designer or web company and they will tell you that it is vital that you get the design right the first time. If you decide to go with the cheap designer there is a good chance that you will not get the proper image you want for your web presence. Failure to make an appropriate investment in your web presence will come back and haunt your business. By hiring a professional web designer or a professional web design company they can help take your online business to the next level.
Do not sacrifice quality for quantity. You will end up paying more in the end.
How to Get the Perfect Web Site Design – Introduction
More and more people are getting on the Internet and using it for information, by doing so it is becoming increasingly important to have a web presence for your business, your company, or just for yourself (keeping in touch with friends and relatives) – or most recently the events that happened in Iran (social media marketing at its finest).
To have a web presence is important and there are a number of reasons for this. First, a web presence will allow your customers and potential clients to view your products and services and be able to formulate questions before contacting you. Failure to have such things listed on your website can result in customers looking elsewhere and at your competition. In today’s world if you do not have a website or an online presence of some sort, you will simply be written off as a non-professional establishment in your field and people might not take you seriously. This is where hiring a professional web designer or a professional design company can help you brand your business and help get you noticed on the internet.
10 Usability Tips to Make Happier Users
As a business owner you should take into consideration these ten tips to help with website usability. By doing these you will improve your customers’ satisfaction with your brand, in turn ultimately increasing your conversions.
- Links should have meaningful anchor text. Example: “Click here” is meaningless.
- Make sure your content is short and sweet, edit it down. Most people won’t read more than 300 words of text on a single page.
- Bullet point your content and summarize it, for quick scalability.
- Create a humorous 404 page to help soften an otherwise annoying experience.
- Navigation should be ordered in importance and easily accessible.
- Be sure that your user can find our contact information quick. Especially your phone number.
- If you do update your site and update page names make sure that you redirect people to their new appropriate counterparts.
- Make sure you have clear headlines on each page, this helps tell people what the page is all about.
- Be sure you keep your pages updated with fresh and new content. If you start seeing pages that are not relevant to the user and only to you, hide them.
- Have a site map and breadcrumbs on your site. Make it easy for the user to know where they are in case they come in to your site on an internal page. Site maps are your friends and breadcrumbs on a page are crucial if you have deep pages.
Everything you do to make your customers life a little easier earns your brand that much more customer satisfaction.
Finding Free Fonts
To avoid licensing problems down the road, it is important to only use fonts with commercial licenses. The problem with most free font websites is that fonts are licensed only for personal use or require money for extended licensing. What should designers do? FontSquirrel comes to the rescue! Free of charge, they provide a carefully curated collection of fonts exclusively licensed for commercial use. Check out their gallery of fonts and if you are like me, you’ll end up with an over abundance of installed type faces to choose from.
Great Web Design Combines Functionality and Creativity
The Great Debate:
This discussion of design versus functionality is very essential in our industry, and open to much debate. Inevitably it seems a harmonizing act between developing a visually impressive website while not jeopardizing the usability is essential.
If the site is tricky to navigate (http://lostworldsfairs.com/atlantis/) then customers will certainly leave the website altogether, which beats the objective of obtaining a web reputation to promote the business or success of the website/company and help increase product sales in the first place
The responsibility lies with the design to ensure whichever page the user lands on carries impact and keeps the user interested. The page needs to stand out from the millions of others, it needs to look beautiful, it needs to inspire, it needs to be creative, it needs to have the ‘wow’ factor.
But what’s the point if no thought has been given to the functionality? What’s the point of having the most creative, inspiring, impact-full website out there if it doesn’t work? Or worse still, if nobody can find it?
After countless research and working with many clients over the years I have found that functionality goes together with recognizing your viewers. This is critical to the structure of the entire internet, as web designers and a web company we will have to get the website usable and attractive to the market.
For example, a website built for information or to showcase products and services to the senior generation of online user’s needs clearness, bold navigation that will comfortably guide the audience around the site and doesn’t alter from page to page, the user will need reassurance that they are on the same site. Design will need to compliment the way the pages are layed out, the articles, products and other content will also be important.
For the more youthful target audiences or maybe the design community, an opportunity arises to let the creativity flow and allow for some experimentation.
My Closing Arguments on the subject:
Creative design must work hand in hand with functionality. There must be cohesion for example, between the visual impact of a search area on a site and the ease with which to find and use it. We, as a web design company, at no point must let the user be left guessing what a button does and where a link is going to take them
Functionality needs to be given clear thought from the inception of the project, clients need to understand that you can have both creativity and functionality. When getting creative with the visuals all designers should go back and think “how is this going to work?”
My closing arguments about design versus functionality is knowing and understanding your potential audience and keep a constant principle throughout all design philosophy.
Google Say Goodbye To Minisites!
Looks like Google has announced a major algorithm change that will, according to their official blog, go to great lengths to further eliminate spam results from search results.
According to the article, just under 12% of search queries will be affected. Sites that are being targeted are what many in the industry refer to as “lean” sites, meaning low on original or quality content. Additionally, according to Google, sites that contain higher level of original research, in-depth reports and thoughtful analysis will be rewarded.
This new algorithm update has potentially profound implications for many in the internet marketing field as many marketers rely on, what we call, mini-sites or micro-sites.
Micro-sites or mini-sites are typically very small sites that focus on interlinking articles all based around a niche subject. The sole purpose of a mini-site is to drive traffic through an affiliate program. Typically, not all the time, they are updated infrequently and contain generalized content.
Careful note should be taken to these changes by Google and also note the fact that Google compared the data to it’s Chrome browser extension.
Search Engine Optimization: How it can help you!
Search Engine Optimization should be a fundamental part of your website. After all, what good is a great looking site if your potential customers can’t find you? Here is a quick synopsis on why you should consider Search Engine Marketing.
Why?
Millions of people use Google, we don’t need statistics to tell you that, when you talk to people or even watch commercials on TV all you hear is “Google this or Google That”. Whether it is researching a product, buying a product, or researching companies for job searches. If people can’t find you, then how can you help them?
What are the Benefits as a company to optimize our site?
Well, I gathered all the top scientists in the world to verify that it is a good idea to have your website at the top of Google, and this will help benefit your business.
Your website is one of the best sales tools that you can have, it works 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. If you dramatically increase the number of visitors and potential customers to your site, that means increasing the potential leads to more sales and placing up on top of your competition.
If you would like further information on how to grow your business through Search Engine Optimization please do not hesitate to contact me.
Colors can be vital to your website
Did you know that visitors that come to your website end up forming an instant opinion. They form it about your company and what you are offering. They can’t help themselves, their instant opinion is formed in their subconscious. Why does this happen? This has nothing to do with your content or the imagery that is on your site, even if you spent a great amount of money on your site.
The color scheme on your web page can tell your visitor different things. A particular color scheme could convey a certain emotion – good feeling, anger, depression. In essence, you might send a sense of trust, warmth and belonging. The following list can give you an idea of the emotions that are associated with colors:
RED
Excitement, energy, danger, love, leadership, sense of power, strength
ORANGE
Comfort, steadfastness, cheerfulness, courage, confidence, playfulness, friendliness
YELLOW
Curiosity, brightness, organization, intelligence, joy, amusement, caution
GREEN
Harmony, nature, money, healing, health, life, food
BLUE
Trustworthiness, stability, peace, tranquility, love, acceptance, patience
PURPLE
Nobility, dignity, independence, royalty, luxury, ambition, wisdom
BROWN
Reliability, nature, comfort, tribal, earthiness, durability, primitive
BLACK
Sophistication, dramatic, power, formality, style, health, elegance
WHITE
Innocence, cleanliness, fresh, goodness, easy, simplicity, purity
When you decide to design your website, you need to ensure that the color scheme you decide to use is consistent with what you are trying to tell your visitors. The difference between the right and wrong color scheme on your website can mean the difference between someone staying or someone leaving your site right away