When It Comes to Web Design, One Thing's For Sure: Nothing Stays the Same

With the web constantly evolving there are important components to consider before your redo your website and invest valuable time and money.

Simplicity. In recent years, simplicity was hardly what was on the mind of many businesses with websites. The more graphics, banners, ads, Flash movies and other bells and whistles, the better. Not so today! Now it's about simplicity in design, helping your visitors get from point A to B in the quickest, easiest manner possible. The fewer page elements, the better. Ideally you want to bring your visitor from point A to B in three easy steps. You don't want your visitor to get lost in all the confusion, you want to help them stay focused on the goal! Think clean, minimalist, and intuitive.

Responsive to the needs of your target audience. More and more people are accessing the internet from Smartphone's, tablets and laptops - it's not the dinosaur ages anymore, when the only way anyone could go online was from a desktop computer! The fact is, over the next few years it's likely that even more devices will make it possible to access the internet on the go, and your website should be designed in a way that makes it accessible to these platforms. Sure it takes more time and ability to meet all of these demands, however reponsiveness is necessary.

Typography. Because the primary focus is content, what could be better than content that really stands out? Big, bold headlines that cannot be ignored. The web fonts available today allow web designers to indulge themselves. From big and beautiful to contemporary, sleek and just plain good-looking, content can be a beautiful thing today. Google fonts has created a seemless integration through code that can be embedded in your website to insure all browsers can see your styling.

Of course the most important thing is to deliver what your user wants in terms of information, services, products, etc. This isn't something you can guess. You need to take the time to understand your target market and what their needs are. However, with so many choices today and the rushed world we live in, people want what they want now, and the easiest way to get straight to it in the least amount of time is the best. When looking for a web designer to create a memorable online presence for your company, be sure to keep simplicity and responsiveness in mind!

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

Coding Tutorials - How These Can Save Hours of Turmoil

Programmers and developers do not realize one big fact that, no matter how good they are in their field, a simple mistake or overlook can cost quite high prices. If you are a programmer yourself, you would know that after hours of continuous work, the code becomes very easy to figure out and implement. Development becomes absolutely no problem. In fact, the speed of work is also enhanced. However, at the same time, the frequency of getting errors increases with the increasing hours of work.

One of the main reasons as to why this happens is because the mind gets tired and can't figure out exactly what is going wrong out there. Several programmers tend to change ways and plans of the project at this instant. But, is this the correct procedure after all? On the other hand, client satisfaction also comes into play where programmers cannot bargain with the software requirement specifications. At this point, you should realize the fact that tutorials can be a great help for your code inspection and walk through procedure. You must be a very good developer and an apt technician (only then would you be hired for the project, of course!), but a code walk through becomes severely necessary when detecting errors of this kind. The main advantage lies in the fact that tutorials have the same content as you are implementing. Once you go through the tutorial and check with your implementation, you can quickly differentiate between the two and get the problem solved.

New programmers need a lot of help. Once they start a new venture in their designing and developing career, they require a constant support to back them up. These people can be susceptible to quite a lot of problems and errors. They get highly benefited from the use of tutorials.

Specialized languages like JAVA, PHP, etc. follow certain syntax. Syntax are the forms or patterns of writing the code. These syntax can be availed from tutorials books and magazines. However, only syntax does not help always. Learners can face problems while implementing this syntax. One of the prime reasons behind this is that, books do not offer complete guides to all syntax. If that would have been the case then authors could not have managed covering huge number of topics in single volumes. At this point, only an article or blog related to your topic of interest can come to the rescue. These articles are written topic specific. So if your query is regarding HTML forms, you can get a detailed overview of the implementation of forms and its sub elements. In this way, a lot of time is saved for newbies, and professionals get the required backup help when they need it.

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

Getting Started With User Experience Crafting for Websites

Okay, this is a tough topic, because it involves really hard problems and really easy problems, however I'm not here to tell you how tough it is, I'm here to give you an easy introduction to crafting user experiences.

So, first off, what do we mean by crafting user experiences? Put simply it's what users remember when they visit or use your site. It could be 'man, that site was the coolest' or 'oh, this is so buggy'.

Now, the first order of business is figuring out what you want your users to feel?

Do you want them to leave your site feeling happy? Excited? Efficient? Smart?

Second thing, who are your users? Give an age-span together with professional background. Do you know anyone like that? Excellent, go ask them when it where the last time they felt what you want your website to make them feel.

I assume that you already have a site, now take a look at that. No, really, exit this page, look at yours and return to this. Now.

First order of business, grab all the low hanging fruit. Read through all the popular material that's older than a week and look for obvious spelling-mistakes and sentences that sound strange. Remember, text is the gold standard for communication on the internet at the moment (video is quickly gaining ground though). Also check to see if your articles are up to date, it's usually better to cut than keep something that's stale.

Check to see if its easy to read and pay especial attention to contrast and fonts. Also try to increase the text-size and Google translate it to another language. If it's readable after that you have avoided the worst hurdles.

Also check to see that both images and links have alt-texts (texts that show up when you hover your mouse over them, among other things). Try to keep this text descriptive since it will be read by people with sight-disabilities and when your images stops working.

Last thing to look for is to consider button-sizes and the like. Beginning computer learners tend to use the mouse a lot and buttons and menu's should be of an OK size for them.

Now, return to your friends words on what makes them feel what you want them to feel and try to incorporate that into the page. This is where it gets very, very complicated very quickly, but remember, as long as the site is clear, informative and generally works, then you cannot go to wrong.

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

5 Web Design Tips for Beginners

Your business website must get great first impressions from your visitors. First impressions can greatly contribute to the number of new clients you might get. So web design is a critical process.

Here are some web design tips in order to make your site more appealing to potential clients and customers.

1. Make use of white space.

Do not congest your page with too many photos, images, colorful fonts, and backgrounds. Remember, less in more. You need to just keep it simple. White space makes your page more spacious but not almost-empty. It also makes your page looking more neat and organized. Make sure you have a good balance of images and texts. Do not make one side of your page too heavy on images or texts. Too many words that are not broken by any box with photo or image, would look so gray, boring, and hard-to read.

2. Make sure there are no broken links.

Before you upload any links to your web server, make sure they are correct and complete. One way to check for broken link is by uploading your site using online tools such as Net Mechanic.

3. Make sure your fonts styles and font colors are readable and look professional.

The worst way to make your page look so unprofessional is by making use of Comic Sans font style in bright green or pink. As much as possible, do not use this type of font and other fancy fonts with fancy curves, waves, and curls. Also, avoid using fonts that are not mostly available on other computers. If the font style you used is not available of the computer of your visitor, your site will automatically make use of the default font of his or her computer which delivers horrifying results. So, do stick with generic and professional fonts. The Verdana and the Arial are two of the most commonly used fonts that can give a more professional look to a website.

4. Makes sure your navigations are clear.

Your aim once a person visits your site is for him to dig in deeper. Having a clear navigation can make this possible. Put all significant links at prominent spots like the top part where website guests usually look at first. Put menu on the left side of your site since generally, people tend to look starting from left to right. Connect as many pages of your website as possible. Make sure all important information can be accessed from every part of your website.

5. Make sure you include a site search.

This is a very important element of a website. This will give users lesser and more convenient time looking for a specific thing or information in your website. Site searches are usually placed at the upper left corner of the page.

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

A Little Box of Ideas for the Logo Designers

A Logo must not say what a Company does

When it is about designing a brand, it is often harped by the ace logo designers that simplicity is the key. However, it should not be mistaken that a simple logo is generic. The minimalist approach should be adopted in the execution process of a logo design, but the concept needs to be innovative and appealing. A logo should not necessarily state the obvious, in other words, what a business does. Do you get to see the French fries and delicious burgers in the golden arches of McDonald's logo? Neither the Mercedes logo is a swanky car nor the Virgin Atlantic logo is an airplane. So if you are thinking of starting a dental clinic, your business sign need not revolve around a tooth! After getting the design brief from the client, a logo specialist engages in knowing his client's industry, checks out the inspirational logos so that his creative juice gets the required boost up. A logo should act as the trigger having a higher recall value for the targeted mass to connect to a brand, instantaneously.

Reflecting a Company's Culture and Values Aptly

A logo aids in building trust and credibility for a brand. A logo specialist needs to nail down the targeted audience so that shaping up a logo inclusive of a respective company's culture and values, becomes a plausible option. If you are designing a logo for a kids' clothing brand, stress on the fun and playful quotient while drafting a logo. However, if you are making a business sign for a law firm, you need to adopt a more professional approach and let go the fun factor.

When choosing the fonts and colors as a logo designer, you should do some vital market research as it helps in reflecting a company's personality, aptly. For instance, the food industry can opt for brighter red and orange as these vibrant hues represent hunger, excitement, passion, high-energy while the corporate logos exuding loyalty, credibility and professionalism are churned out using blue as the chief color. Sticking to one font or a maximum of two fonts help in retaining the professional quotient in a brand identity. An instantly memorable logo means it should make an ever-lasting impression in the minds of the targeted audience, having a timeless appeal.

Making a Business Sign Adaptable

A well-crafted logo offers visual consistency. In all forms of advertising materials, a logo should never fail to grab the attention of the targeted mass. A business sign should not lose out on the minute details when seen on a business card or a on a billboard. So shunning complexity is the key when crafting a logo design. The intricate designing elements might get muddled up when transforming it in different printing materials, so opt for keeping things simple for easier adaptability.

Standing out from the Not-So-Great Logos

Letting a client's brand to stand out can be successfully done by a zealous designer with his imagination and creative power. How a professional logo specialist go about doing things right are cataloged under:

Pay attention to every word of the client in the design brief Ask a volley of questions till you are certain about what you need to draft exactly Make a thorough market research Dig out the stylizing pattern, the colors, fonts that is used in a specific industry Derive influence from the other logos in the industry, but craft something fresh that will click with the targeted mass During the ongoing process of the signage project, take the needed breaks, plug in your ear phone and let your mind to roam freely. It stirs up your mind, enabling you to come up with new designing ideas. Revising your work time and again enable you to add the missing flavors to a logo. This also ensures a satisfactory output for your client Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

Three Negative Aspects of Ecommerce Websites That Drive Away The Customers

Nowadays, most small, medium and large businesses are taking their business online. The first and foremost step in this direction is to have a well-designed ecommerce website. However, simply designing such websites is not enough. In fact, an eCommerce web designer should also keep in mind all that could go wrong in the website designing process and the specific aspects that he or she need to avoid.

Let us look at some of the aspects of ecommerce websites that can drive away the visitors.

The site is not easy to understand

Visitors are disappointed when they arrive at a site and find that it is not easy to understand. This is can be due to various reasons but usually it is an outcome of presenting too much information/design elements on the web pages, something that leads to confusion in the minds of website visitors. Therefore, you must do away with all design elements that clutter the website and remove any content that is not relevant to your site. Instead, go for a simple and minimalistic design; use a basic interface and put crisp, clear and concise content on your ecommerce site.

The site is not easy to use

Your ecommerce site must have features that are easy on the eyes and easy to use. In the absence of such features, visitors have trouble using the site, in such cases it increases the chances of shopping cart abandonment. It's not that difficult to improve the usability of your site; all you need to do is follow a few tips.

Focus on making the navigation as effortless a possible. And for this, all that you need to do is place all the important design elements in places where the visitors are most likely to see them. These design elements include sidebars, call-to-action buttons, banners etc. Also, you must ensure that the layout and typography on all your web pages is proper, so that the site is easy on the eyes for the visitors.

Bad projection of products and services

If the presentation of your products and services on your site is not up-to-the mark, visitors wouldn't want to buy them, would they? Why would they take a call to action in the first place, when they are not impressed with what you are offering on your site?

You must therefore, display your products and services in such a way that they can instantly leave an impression on the visitors. Make sure that the product description is flawless and informative (keeping the users' point of view in mind) and put up a clear image of the same so that the visitors can understand what they are about to buy.

Additionally, you should also pay attention to other details of the site such as listing the products and services suitably under various categories.

In conclusion

So, if you are aspiring to become an eCommerce web designer, then make sure that you don't commit these major errors the next time you design or redesign your websites.

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

The Key Elements of Web Design

There are several elements of web design that create the final product of your website. All the elements must be present in order for your company's website to be effective in getting your name out there and drawing in potential customers. Here are the essential elements:

Mood: Mood is the look and feel of your website. Depending on your company or your business model, your website will emit a different aura to attract a variety of customers. If you are creating a website for a business management company, it should look professional and sleek. If it's a marketing or advertising business, you may want to make it look artsy and fun. If you are creating a website to sell women's clothing and makeup, you may include pink colors and cursive fonts. Remember, your website to do a good job of attracting your target audience. Talk with your web designer about the look and feel you want to portray. Content: Content is usually a collaboration between you and the web designer. Some web design companies will hire a copywriter for certain projects. Others will look to you to write your own content. Depending on your writing skills, you may be able to write your own content and send it to the web designer to place on the website. Some people prefer to write their own because they know exactly how they want to be portrayed on their website. But hiring a copywriter has its advantages, too. Copywriters specialize in wording and grammatical structure, so they can help write your company the way you want it to sound. Either way, content is an extremely important element of website design. It lets the viewer know what your company is all about. Functionality: How your website functions is extremely important when it comes to attracting website viewers. All the bells and whistles on your website are elements of functionality. Graphics, text effects, color changes, moving pictures, etc. are all achieved by a web developer. Flash and JavaScript are just two examples of applications used to create neat effects for your website design. Usability: Web usability ensures that your website is easy for visitors to navigate. You want to make sure your website downloads quickly and that the applications work properly. You want the website to appear efficient, eye-catching, and reliable to your visitors because this is the impression they will get from your company. Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

What Aspects Make Content Informational and Not Just Meant for Sales

Your website has been developed primarily to become a marketing tool for your business. Although this is the case, you should not forget that aside from bringing in sales, your site is also a place where you can provide information to your target market. It is something you can use to educate and to offer value to your prospects.

The content in your website should not just all be about your products or services. Keep in mind that even if your site visitors may have already landed in your site, they are not there to purchase something or avail of your services just yet. You should ensure that your site is not just about you and your business. It should also be about what you can offer your visitors and what they can really glean from you.

Below are some aspects that will make your content more informative and not just about making a sale:

Not Limited to Products or Services

This is where you should take the opportunity to educate your target market more about the services or products you are offering. Your content should not be focused on what you are offering, but rather on what they can do or provide to people. This should be contained in such informative materials like eBooks, white papers, videos or other educational content.

Through your content, you will be able to foster an informed relationship between your prospects and yourself even before they are ready to become your customers. The probability of their availing of your services or buying your products will also escalate if you offer them something of value instead of always pitching to them to make a sale.

Talks "With" and Not "To" Your Target Market

In writing your content, make sure to do so as if you are talking "with" your target market instead of "to" them. This is especially if you are talking about something that is related to your products or services.

Always use words like "you" and "your" instead of always alluding to you and your business. Make your target audience relate to you by humanizing yourself more. Avoid using corporate jargon at all times. Instead, write or talk in a language that is simple and easy to understand. In everything that you do, always observe transparency because this will breed trust among your visitors and your prospects.

Solves Problems

Keep in mind that prospects are almost always turned off by language that flaunts your self-worth. So, it is not advisable for you to sell yourself too much. Never use such boastful lines like, "we are the best". You should instead use "this is what you can get from our services or products" or "this is how we can be of help to you". Let your target audience know that you are there because you want to help solve their problems. Let them feel that you care.

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

Tell Me What It Takes To Create A Website!

A well designed, efficient website is important to any business, brand or organization; however, it is not always obvious how to accomplish such a goal. There are pros and cons associated with both hiring a designer and trying to build it as a DIY project. In general, it is usually better to leave such work to a professional, especially for business purposes. Not everyone can afford such services; new companies and non-profit organizations may be forced to initially create an internet presence themselves. When facing such a situation, knowing how to create a functional, attractive website can be learned through research. Below are tips on this subject.

Building Basics

In order to create even the simplest of websites, a basic understanding of HTML and CSS or the use of an HTML editor program like Adobe Dreamweaver, Komodo IDE, CoffeeCup or UltraEdit is required. These programs can provide much of the necessary code to build each page. Some of these applications even offer free versions and allow for the addition of different types of interactive elements. There are always scripts that can be found online if what is needed isn't included in the coding software; with practice and learning more about this important subject, coding can be done manually.

Design Basics

The difference between basic development and design of that all important internet presence is that the design contributes to the look and feel of a website while the development is responsible for improving usage and functionality. Having a knack for creativity, or at least the ability to draw inspiration from other websites, is essential to achieve a fresh looking internet presence. The arrangement of colors, patterns and fonts are extremely important for a great end result. Poor use of design concepts will ensure that visitors won't stay long.

Research should be done on design concepts a few basic colors should be chosen and subdued patterns added that do not distract from the main content. Caution should be exercised when choosing fonts since it is very easy to overdue with different typefaces. White space is frequently more valuable than filled space and using the right images can enhance any development plan; however, the images need to be sized and placed correctly. Although it seems unlikely, design can be just as intricate as coding.

Navigation Basics

Understanding how to implement good navigation is very necessary as this is a large factor in usability. Being able to link pages that allow users to get from a home page to a shopping cart or any desired information while avoiding dead end pages does take some effort; however, the efficiency gained is worth the effort in the long run.

SEO Basics

While most optimization efforts involve generating new and relevant content, an understanding of how meta tags, captions, labels, sitemaps and other elements related to the website structure are essential as well. SEO advantages result from collective efforts that have to happen in all stages of the building process.

Though there are many small details involved in making a perfect website, the recommendations listed above represent main areas of focus for anyone wanting to completed such a task on their own. It is not an impossible feat, as there are thousands of people are able to create their own internet presence without too many problems or a poor result; ultimately, whether it can be accomplished successfully is the ultimate concern. If such a task doesn't seem a realistic possibility, other options include hiring graphics students, hiring freelance designers from the internet, or even using a template design. All of these options are a great choice to gain an exclusive internet presence for any company!

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

Important Benefits of Having a Website W3C Compliant!

The main purpose of any website is to be a functional tool for a business or brand. If it is not functional, does not work well for viewers, is poorly designed, or is otherwise incapable of working efficiently, it is a waste of time and money spent for its creation. Internet development and design has been without any sanctioned organizations that encompassed the entire world of web development. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) an open-source member organization and it has undertaken the task of working with large internet design developers and corporations to create a set of guidelines for standards called W3C.

Effects of No Standards

Many of the problems preventing some internet locations from being efficient tools are related to construction, coding problems, and other issues related to internet developers uniquely designing based on education, preference, or other factors. While this can be innovative, it can also introduce problems that are dependent upon how each website is viewed and could include what kind of code is used, incorrect use of SEO, outdated code and more. This can create is slow-loading websites that are invisible to crawlers and do not function as desired. There are so many variables when it comes to keeping all of this technology current, functional and efficient; it is almost more than what should be expected to keep track of, winding up with an end result of a bogged down Internet with many websites not providing the best user experience.

W3C Goals

Leaders in internet software and development that are joining together to work on a set of standards to be used by the rest of the world as a tool in website building and designing can accomplish a number of important and welcome goals. It puts more internet pages on an even keel with indexing and SEO, helps to ensure that designers unaware of newer methods learn about them, and collectively makes the internet an easier experience for the majority of users across many different platforms and ways of access. In short, by adhering to a set of guidelines and standards being developed by the people who write website building software and programming, the Internet can indeed become a more user-friendly, productive environment.

Main Focuses

Currently, a few of the main focus areas in W3C website development and compliance are: making all of them more user-friendly through the implementation of standardized coding; making them more SEO friendly; making them easier to maintain because of standardized coding; and making it easier to keep track of statistics and overall quality of the code used that is the basis of the whole W3C effort. There are free programs available In an effort to encourage participation in standardized performance and efficiency, there are free programs available to check code for W3C compliance and indicate any outdated or messy code that can be handled in other ways. Websites that fit the standards suggested by W3C can proudly sport a badge stating this fact as an indicator that it should provide a quality user experience.

Internet technology continues to develop at an amazing rate, which allows for the fact that it can indeed get a little bit disorganized at times. W3C now offers a way so that all technology and development can be used more proficiently while cleaning up what has over the years become an expansive, exhaustive catalog of pages and websites with every kind of compliant and non-compliant coding known. Besides supporting a great global internet effort, websites that are W3C make a positive statement about working to increase user capability, productivity and overall effectiveness, making W3C compliance a welcome goal to attain!

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

What Essential Elements Make Good Quality Content?

Usability and design are very important considerations when you're having a website developed for your business. They are not the only things you have to consider though. There is another thing that is equally as essential as these factors and that is your content.

Content is Essential

Content is one of the aspects that could spell the success of your website. Inbound online marketing is very popular nowadays, so you should pay close attention to the information you are offering on your site. You should make sure that your web copy can answer the questions your target market has. This is what search engines are keeping their eyes on and also what web users are looking for.

Your content will aid greatly in capturing the volume of visitors you want for your site. It also plays an important role in converting your prospects into leads and then into paying customers.

The Message Should Answer Basic Questions

Your primary concern when it comes to your web content should be the message. Before you publish anything on your website, make sure they answer these four basic questions:

1. Will it show what your target market can get out of the products or service you are offering?

2. Can your target market clearly understand the message in your content?

3. Have you given clear directions on what they should do after reading your message?

4. Have you stated your reasons clearly on why they should avail of your products or services instead of going to your competition?

It is imperative that your site visitors will know the answers to all these questions the moment they read your web content. Be straightforward to them when it comes to what your site is really all about. You have to let them know what they can get out of it and what they can do while they are on your site. They should also be told why they should make a move on the service or product you are offering them.

To make sure that your target audience will really understand the message you are sending out, here are some things you can follow in writing your content:

- Use sub-headlines.

These will allow you to provide answers for the number 4 question above. With your sub-headlines, you will be able to present a powerful value proposition for your visitors, letting them know why your offer is better than the competition. Here, you must veer away from clichés, corporate jargon or terms that sound like gibberish.

- Present Calls to Actions or CTAs along with the next steps to follow.

These should be infused where appropriate. They could be in the form of links that you can place within your web content. You can also add links leading to the next course of action at the end of your copy. Never forget to provide these directions as these will egg on your target market to do something.

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

Website Templates - An Economical Solution For Those On A Budget

In the old days people would always hire a professional website designer because they felt this was the best way to ensure they got a professional looking website made. Companies and individuals were willing to spend thousands of dollars for the chance to create a web presence that would give them a good image. Nowadays, especially because of the state of the economy, many companies and individuals are deciding to go with website templates instead of a website designer or developer. There are a multitude of reasons for this.

The first reason would be because hiring a web developer or designer is going to consume far more time than getting website templates. Think about it, you have to explain to the web developer exactly what you want. You have to go over it with them again and again and again. You will have to monitor what is being created and make adjustments during the project. Once the project is finished it is probably going to be behind schedule, and adjustments will need to be made that might cost you more money and more time.

When you hire a professional web developer to make a website for you, it is also going to cost way more money. There are low-priced developers, and then there are high-priced developers. But no matter what you are going to end up paying way more than what you expect. Each one comes with pros and cons. Low-priced website designers are not going to be that experienced, but that is why their prices are going to be so low. This does not mean that they do not have the skills; they just are not proven enough yet to warrant a high price.

When it comes to the high-priced website developers, they are going to have a reputation to back them. They are going to have a portfolio of professional websites they have created that are going to speak for their work. High-priced website designers are going to have people who could vouch for them as well as have a very strong web presence. This is the reason why they are going to be priced so expensively, because what you are really paying for is a degree of certainty, not necessarily superior quality.

With website templates you can get the best of both worlds. You can get something that is low-priced, was made by a professional developer, and is going to have at least a semi-professional look that should suit you just fine. These designs have been developed exclusively for professionals and individuals who want a simple solution. You will be able to add your own images, content, etc. to the site. As far as price goes though, it can definitely fluctuate. You can find low-priced templates or higher priced website templates.

I would say the number one benefit to website templates is that they're going to save you from having to wait for somebody else to get done with your website. You won't control don't you? Well website templates allow you to have a personal website set up within a few days after purchasing. All you would need is to select the platform you want and then choose templates that are going to suit it. Now compare this to trying to do everything yourself or hiring a professional web developer. It can take days before the product is even ready to get started.

Website templates are also extremely well coded. What does this mean to you? Well let's assume you do not know anything about coding. You are going to want to make small changes to the templates, but you may not know what you are doing. Learning how to make these minor changes will only take a few minutes in most cases. These templates are very well coded, usually with the most up-to-date coding methods. So you will never need to worry about this. Not to mention the fact that website templates are very search engine optimization friendly.

You might be worried that the designs you find for website templates are not going to be as attractive as you need them to be. We all want nice looking designs for our websites, no matter how little money we might pay. Well here's the good news, website templates you find on the Internet are going to be designed in a very attractive fashion. Even when you find templates you are not happy with, you're going to have countless thousands of templates you can select from until you find something that is just perfect for your business, individual needs, or niche. You just have to be willing to look.

You can also find website templates that are designed for content management. This means if your goal is to create a content-based website, such as a blog, you will have an easy time managing the content. You will be able to easily create and publish unlimited blog posts, and all without having to have knowledge of web programming like HTML, CSS, PHP, etc. One of the best templates for content management would be WordPress and also Joomla. There are other options available as well that you might be more comfortable with.

The bottom line is website templates might at first seem like they are unprofessional and they would not make sense for someone who is serious about business. The reality is they are economical and a perfect way to get set up quickly and easily. Why spend thousands of dollars you can allocate towards the marketing of your business when you can spend a fraction on these templates instead? Remember, these have been designed by professional web developers in the first place; You're not going to be getting a low-quality product.

In some cases you can even find website templates available in suites. This means you will be able to get more than one template for a set price. This is going to work on different levels, because it means you will have several options you can pick from if you do not like a particular theme.

Designing a Mobile Website: What To Consider   

Things to Consider While Outsourcing Your Dealership's Website Designing

Auto dealerships should consider building a website that is effective in attracting potential customers and promoting sales in order to succeed in today's competitive digital environment. Building an effective website is, however, tricky, unless you have a thorough understanding of the topic. Before you can use your website to draw sales for the business, you should make it visually appealing and easy to use. In this context, you should outsource the website designing to a company of good repute and expertise. This article seeks to highlight important points to consider while outsourcing your web designing.

Reputed and reliable website developer The repute and reliability of a developer is measured in terms of how effective and consistent they are in delivering successful results to their clients. It is important to analyze the track record of the developer by looking at how many projects they have handled, how many were successful and how many new clients they added since their establishment.

Experience, exposure and expertise in building auto dealers websites The amount and quality of expertise of the company should be paramount while outsourcing. By amount, we mean the number of years the website developing company was into the domain of developing auto dealership's websites. And by quality, we mean the effectiveness of the developer in customizing the website design as per the needs of website owner.

As an experienced auto dealer, while presenting the information in the website, you are familiar with what should be there in the website, as soon as it loads up. Thus, by checking a few web pages made by the website developing company, you could judge how worthy they are of hiring for your website making.

Quality of the company under consideration should be judged based on exposure and expertise. The more exposure to auto dealers' websites the more they are worth. Thus, you might not expect an effective website from a company who are experts in designing financial institutions' websites. Besides, they should have experience and ingenuous professionals including web designers, content writers, SEO professionals, etc.

Expertise in SEO Just increasing the number of visitors is not enough; they have to be translated ultimately into the sales. Your website needs to be optimized for keywords which can bring in huge amounts of traffic and more importantly quality leads. For this, SEO is indispensable. Companies engaged in search engine optimization (SEO) devote considerable time to trying to know the process involved in search engine ranking and optimizing your website elements as per the guidelines. They have exclusively trained and experienced professionals for this purpose. Such companies are pretty helpful in positioning your auto dealership website atop in the search engines' results.

Communication Ability to communicate is vital for the company to be outsourced, because they must understand and be sensitive to their clientele's needs, perception and concerns. They should be able to communicate the details, technical or otherwise, when required. Also, before finalizing on any corrective actions, a good company will let the business know of the loopholes in the website, its impact, the corrective measures required and the results. Sending periodic reports showcasing the performance of the website is also an important part of communication.

Pricing After considering the diverse aspects, while selecting a company to outsource, auto dealerships should consider the ultimate criterion, namely, price at which the company offers the service. Make sure to conduct thorough research. You could also send e-mails to different companies you select and compare the prices offered by them.

Unless you have considerable expertise in web designing, creating an effective website for your auto dealership with your own effort would be futile. Outsourcing the work to an experienced, reputed and expert company is, therefore, a sensible idea.

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Demographics and Website Design

Understanding your target audience

The true potential of your website can only be realized by understanding the audience you wish to draw and focusing your efforts toward them. This target audience must be understood if you wish to design a website that captures their attention. It is only by studying this demographic or group of people that you can begin to understand their mindset and subsequently apply this knowledge to the design of your website.

Demographic data helps you understand the people you want to reach. Gender, age, occupation and income are typical examples of audience demographics. Using this information the webmaster can begin to develop a website design that interests the type of visitors they wish to see coming to their site.

Demographics and website design go hand in hand. Before you begin to develop your website have a clear picture in your mind of the target audience you want to reach. Without a profile of this audience it will be impossible to design a website that appeals to them.

Demographically designed website elements

Demographic data plays a role in developing your website layout, the graphic elements you employ and the message you are presenting. All of these things have an impact on how your visitor perceives your website, and therefore these elements must be keyed to their mindset. You can only do this if you know something about who these people are.

Website layout

Your website layout the layout of individual webpages and your website navigation scheme must all appeal to the people who are visiting your website. The part that demographics plays in this aspect of website design is to help you identify your target audience's likes and dislikes. Using this knowledge you can begin to develop a website layout that matches their mindset. In general it is best to use a clean and unobtrusive layout that focuses your visitor's attention on the visible copy found on your webpages.

Graphic elements

Deciding on what graphics, color scheme and pictorial elements to employ in your website design must be driven by the characteristics of your website's demographics. Some audiences might be attracted to bold, dramatic graphics while others would prefer more subtle and subdued tones. These types of preferences can only be discovered by careful analysis of the segment of the population that comprises your target audience.

Central message

All of the preceding design factors are meant to focus and frame the core subject matter of your site. It is the central message of your website that must get top billing in your website design. No matter how clean your layouts are or how nice your webpages look you will fail in your website design if you do not provide meaningful content that is relevant to your visitors. Demographic analysis is the method by which can define the type of content that will be a hit with the people visiting your website.

Create a visitor profile

Use demographic data to create a visitor profile. Build an outline of the personality of the average person who visits your website. Identify their needs, desires, ambitions, background, etc. This is your visitor profile. Applying this tool can help you to better understand your potential audience and develop a website design that appeals to them.

People come in all shapes and sizes. Their beliefs, lifestyles, hopes, dreams and aspirations are as varied and numerous as the stars in the sky. Reaching a particular segment of this population is the goal of demographic study and analysis. Used intelligently the information you glean from this data will ensure a successful website design.

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Get Your Best Web Site Design for Small Business

Internet is the most influential media today and if as a small business you want to make your mark then having the right website design really matters. With the right type of web site design for small business you can leave a long lasting impression on your clients & prospects. A carefully planned and designed web site can make a difference for a small business. Based on how well you have designed your web site customers may choose to stay and buy rather than moving on to some other website. Here are a few tips on web site design for small business that will help you get favorable customer response:

Branding: Internet gives small businesses the ability to look much bigger than they actually are, take advantage of it. Develop a strong brand identity online so that you look professional. A strong branding instills faith and confidence in prospects and existing customers. Get a professionally designed logo and use it everywhere be it online or offline. The logo should become synonymous with the brand.

Focus: You are not building the website for you, but for your customer so make sure that your website focuses on what the customers need. Every visitor is an opportunity and to utilize it you have to understand what the customer wants. Do some research and find out about it and utilize them in your site.

Navigation: Poor navigation is one of the many reasons that customers move on. Navigation structure should be easy so that visitors get what they want with minimum clicks. Pages like "Products and Services", "Portfolio", "Clients", "Locations" should be given importance. Make sure that whatever products or services you are offering is properly categorized and displayed.

Colors and Images: The proverbial "Don't judge a book by its cover" doesn't work for websites, on the internet people do judge a book by its cover, especially in case of web site design for small business. The right blend of colors and compelling images can work wonders and keep visitors glued to your site.

Content: It is one of the most important things in any web site design for small business. Make sure that you write compelling content using the right density of keywords. Don't write unnecessarily, people scan web pages so make sure that a visual content hierarchy is maintained. A proper content hierarchy ensures better user experience and helps in easy navigation between the different pages of the website.

Page Load Time: Generally people tend to overlook it but loading time plays a crucial factor in web development. Developers add too many scripts and effects making web pages heavy but the truth is that no one likes to wait.

Call to Action: One of the fundamental errors that small business websites make is the absence of any clear call to action. Customers are always interested in offers, discounts, special promos, free home delivery, festival offers, free subscriptions etc; make sure such offers are highlighted. Use banners and colorful boxes to highlight offers.

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