September 3, 2008 at 5:07 am · Filed under Web_Design
We would all like to have the best looking website, that’s a fact - but if we keep in mind that our main objective is to finally sell our product or service online, we’ll realize that maybe design is not the most important factor when it comes to achieve this objective.
Professional design is probably the most time consuming part of the web development, so my first tip would be, before you are contacting a Web Design Company, to browse the Internet for companies which offer similar services and products - you will find probably hundreds of them - save in your Favorites four or five websites which you really like, print out these, and show the printouts to as many people as you can, especially to your existing customers, and ask them which one it’s more likely is to make them take an action (contact, buy, subscribe) on the site. This way you have conducted your own little “marketing pool” which will add weeks and weeks of online presence and business.
Based on this little pool you’ve conducted you know have a good idea on how your website should look like to entice your visitors to buy your service/product.
The next step would be to contact the Web Design Company of your choice and show them exactly want you want, cutting this way 80% of the design time. The designer will probably make suggestions and additions, some off them good ones but most of them just so they can mark up the price of the design.
I would advise that you should be really firm on your feet if you really want your website to be up and running ASAP.
Another very important aspect of this design contracting process is that even you showed them exactly what you want, you have to realize that you are not the designer’s only client and the designers are working on probably tens of other projects too, so I would advise you to put in the contract you are signing a very firm deadline for the site design, and ask for penalties on the design company end if it’s not done in time, this way you will ensure that your project is prioritized.
Mr. Josh Szatmari is a Web Marketing, Search Engine Optimization Specialist & Web Developer, currently the Vice President of Performance Development Corporation and the Web Development Director of Hilton Head Rentals.
Tags: choosing web design, sem, SEO, web design, web marketing, website advice, website designchoosing web design, sem, SEO, web design, web marketing, website advice, website designShare This
August 20, 2008 at 9:11 am · Filed under Web_Design
If you are a small business and haven’t developed a website yet you are probably considering it, or you should be. If you are selling a product or a service, even if your customers are local then your own website can be a powerful marketing tool. It will only become so if the website is designed correctly, is search engine friendly and most importantly is user friendly. However you might have the greatest looking website ever but it is no good if nobody gets to see it! How do people get to see it? If it appears up there on the first two pages of the search engine then you have a good chance of picking up visitors. The alternative is to do what many larger companies do and that is go the pay per click route. In my experience this can turn out to be an expensive route.
So you have had your website developed now it must be promoted to make it search engine friendly and shoot up the rankings. How can you achieve that? You can do it yourself! There is ample free advice out there on the Web that tells you exactly what you need to do; a simple search will reveal all the information you need. Basically it consists of three things;
1. Add good content to your site
2. Develop links to your site
3. Update your site frequently
Okay so you are the expert in your field so adding good content linked to your keywords is no problem. Takes time and if you haven’t personally designed your site it might require you to embark on a steep learning curve. Otherwise pass the information over to your web designer. This ties in with number 3 on the list, updating your information regularly. By doing so you are adding more content and the more often your site content changes then the more frequently the search engine spiders will visit your site and the higher your ranking should be. I would recommend changing it on at least a once per week basis. Not of course your whole website but parts of it should be added to each week. Again takes time and a little knowledge of how your website works and how to update information on it.
Developing links to your site is probably the most time consuming activity of all. They are important. The more backward links you have the higher your placement in the search engines will be, so long as they are relevant links. Relevant links are ones that point back to your site from other sites with similar content to your own. So for example if you are a contract cleaner then a link back from an equipment or product supplier would be considered relevant, from a photographic studio would not be. Consequently you can go searching for sites that you might be able to link to and ask them. You could join a reciprocal links programme and not be certain of the type of links you are generating. Or you could pay an expert to develop the links for you!
A second way of developing good links is to write articles and submit them to the article distributors and e-zines. Again excellent for the links, driving customers to your website and spreading your own reputation across the Web. Again an amazingly time consuming activity.
A third way is to develop a weblog alongside your website. Excellent for ever changing and additional content and for getting links. It does require constant updating though, daily if possible!
So what does this all add up to? A huge investment of your time, when you should be concentrating on your business. So you do it in the evenings and end up with no social life and possibly no family!
I have been through this process of designing and developing the website and then promoting it to the point were it is ranked very highly on all the search engines for our keywords and also for some that are not! However the time it has taken up is immense and is ongoing because you cannot sit back and relax having achieved your high rankings because your competitors will eventually displace you. So I would strongly advise you, if you have the necessary resources, to invest in a good web design team who will also promote your website as an ongoing entity over time. If you have the money and choose your SEO experts wisely then it will be money well spent. Unfortunately at the time we were doing it we didn’t have the resources so it was a case of do it yourself or not at all, and over the course of the last two years I have learnt to become reasonably expert so see no need to employ somebody else to do it now.
David Andrew Smith is the owner of http://www.wesparkle.co.uk a contract cleaning company and http://www.stonecareuk.net who specialise in the care and maintenance of marble, granite and limestone flooring.
Tags: build your own web pages, SEO, web designbuild your own web pages, SEO, web designShare This
July 7, 2008 at 12:08 pm · Filed under Web_Design
Very often web designers forget one thing, web design is not just about innovative concepts and beautiful images with eye candies.
A web site will be visited and utilised by users. The following are 10 important points you want to note before you begin your web site
1. Set goals and know understand the objective of your web design
What is it trying to achieve?
Wow the audiences?
Design a simple web user interface?
2. Design Consistency
Many web pages has more than 10 types of fonts with 20 types of sizes. Ever seen this type of web design?
Use CSS to help maintain a consistency through out your web design.
3. Font Type
Use readable font for your audiences. After all, you are trying to let your audiences understand about this web site that you have designed.
4. Important information at the top of the page
While if important words are positioned at the top of web pages, it helps in SEO, this is not the main factor. You want to convey your message immediately when the page loads.
5. Links
Make sure your links is clearly visible. Do not use the same text and font and color for links.
6. Usage of images wisely
You want to limit the download time of your users. Do not load too much graphical images on one page. It turns user away. Remember, web page design involves users, usability is a important factor.
7. User Resolution
Consider the resolution of user’s screen. While a designer usually work on huge screen 1200 x 1024, not all internet users enjoy that luxury.
8. Headings
Use proper heading to let user know which section they are reading now. Just like a book, you wouldn’t read an entire book without knowing which chapter you are in.
9. Navigation
Ensure your navigation is clear cut and precise. Do not design a navigation that users will not understand.
10. Design for your targeted audiences, ask for feedback before you finalise your web design with your users.
Good looking or bad looking design can be subjective however, a user friendly web design can never be disputed. It can be tested if a web site is user friendly or not.
Adrian Lee is CEO of a VibrantStyle Pte Ltd.
A Singapore Web Design, Development & Internet Marketing company that focus on search engine marketing.
Tags: search engine optimization, sem, SEO, usability, web design, web developmentsearch engine optimization, sem, SEO, usability, web design, web developmentShare This
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