Web Design - Handle With Care

Keep users in mind- This is what to be remembered when a website is designed and this is what the web designers in Phoenix do. Giving your customers what they want and timely updates will fetch you unlimited rewards. Taking your business experience and mixing up with a crisp and user-friendly web design, this is what it is all about. A well designed website can make your business stand out the rest. So work with your content as the starting point of creation. The website design in phoenix will help you in creating successful parameters needed for a successful web presentation.Content is the king of websites. So highlight the content part and show you are an expert in your field. This is what users need to check. A website is the reflection of your experience and knowledge. It shows your confidence by letting people from entire part of the world to see your writings and views. Appropriate content gets appreciation from users. You need to impress the users as they are the root to hold your business firmly.

A well built website will have the following features:

- Expresses your expertise.

- Showcases your experience.

- Builds trust in minds of customers.

- Promotes your business.

- User-friendly.

When designing websites for smaller business much more steady view is required. The phoenix designer graphic will assist to maximize your expertise both professionally and physically to the world. The mixing of web and non-web ideas becomes inevitable when you expect your message to reach effectively to viewers. There is nothing wrong in following this formula when success becomes the one and only ultimate aim of your website.Search Engine Optimization- It is not a part of web design but plays an important role in deciding the hit rate of your website. Search engines will get you new clients. People who are well familiar with your business backgrounds needs no external source to drive their attention towards your website and products. But think about the unknown people, how come they are able to identify your potential? This is where search engines work. The real purpose of creating a SEO friendly website is to get the attention of clients who have never heard about your company before.Implementing SEO will push you forward in the competition. If the content and design is attractive and informative your websites get good rankings from search engine. At the same time websites designed for looks don't attract search engines. Pictures are not easier for the search engines to sort for relevance. Leave the intention of filling the web page with glitters and graphics. The phoenix graphic designers are well aware about these aspects and hence their websites have graphic content in right proportions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid While Designing Your Web Page

If you are a new web designer some of your choices while designing your web page can be fatal for your web site and also for your web business. This is especially true if your web site represents your business. We are intended to save you from those pit falls so here we present some of the most common mistakes to avoid at all costs, as it will not only save your web page it will save you from doing hours of after works.

1. Too Many Graphics

Having too many graphics (particularly large graphics), can cause your site to load entirely too slow. Visitors will get impatient and often times click out of your site never to return.

SOLUTION: When possible save your graphics as GIF files (gif.htm) rather than JPEG (jpg.htm). Also, reduce your graphic in actual size as much as you can without distorting the graphic or picture.

2. Counters

A visitor counter or hits counter should not be seen on your site unless you have tremendous traffic. The reason for this is visitors really don't want to know which visitor they are, especially if they're visitor number four. There's no benefit to your visitor, nor is there any benefit to you. The only way showing a counter is advantageous is if you've had millions of visitors and wish to display the popularity of your site or would like to attract advertisers with the large numbers. Otherwise, you can use this space for a benefit-packed headline that leads your visitor to another part of your site.

SOLUTION: Most web hosts offer web statistics that reveal daily visitors, hits, referrers, etc. This feature will let you know how many people are visiting your site without the whole world seeing the information. If you're just starting out, make sure your web host offers this free service.

3. Banners

Limit your banners to the bare necessities. Why? Because banners are graphics that can slow loading time and are a turn-off for many surfers on the internet. For most, "banner" is just another word for "ad" and they avoid clicking on them.

SOLUTION: If you do have a banner or two, place the banner at the very top or bottom of your page. Or you could place a small banner in your sidebar. Most people will look at the first picture they see and then start reading below the picture, so any writing or links that are above the banner may remain unnoticed. Also, the banners on your site should be related to your product or service. Remember, everything on your site should work together to benefit your target customer.

4. Scattered Web Site

When designing your site, make sure it has a pattern that leads your visitor. Get several people (friends or relatives) to visit your site and watch them as they navigate. Notice the places where they stop (as if they're finished) and also links that they click on. Organizing your site to lead visitors is very important whether you're leading them to buy something or just to click and go to another place in your site. Customers are silently begging to be led.

SOLUTION: Take a look at the flow of your site. Design it in a fashion that always continues like this...

Make sure that graphics don't get in the way of your lead. If the visitor stops in the middle of the home page to click on a graphic or banner before getting to your sales page, they may never return. You've got one chance to get the visitor's attention and keep it. Make the most of it.

5. Generalization

The most effective way of selling on the internet is to personalize your web site to reach your target audience. Many web sites are general and try to reach everybody. The reality is that you can't be everything to everybody. The business owners who are successful on the web normally have very specific products or services that target a niche market.

SOLUTION: Make your site as personal as possible. As you're writing, pretend that you are face to face with the customer. Present your web site in such a way that the visitor feels like he just walked into a store in his hometown. Also, stay focused on your target customer (one who would be interested in "your" product.)

These five mistakes should be avoided at all costs if you want to build an effective and successful web business.

The Traits of a Professional Banner Designer

There are certain traits that distinguish professionals from unprofessional and experienced from inexperienced. You have to know these traits to ensure that you hire a professional and don't waste your money on amateur. Now, depending on the industry - traits and skills change. You can't expect a writer to possess good design skills or a designer to possess professional writing skills. However, the problem is that you can't know the traits of every profession and every field. It is impossible. So, when you are ready to create a banner to promote your business, then it is the right time to find out how to find a professional designer who will do a perfect job for you.

Now, you may wonder, is it really important to hire a professional banner designer? It's just a small banner and nothing more. See, the thing is that you need to look at the purpose that why you are getting it designed. Once you define the purpose, it will become clear that not giving your banner a professional look will ruin your marketing campaigns as well as credibility. You are designing a banner, because you want to promote your business via banner advertisement. If it's not attractive, then you won't be able to grab the attention of your target market. Thus, your efforts and money will be wasted. This is why it is crucial that you hire an experienced and skilled designer for this job.

Let's now discuss the traits. First of all, a professional banner designer will without hesitation share with you his or her experience. He won't hesitate to tell you how long he has been in business how many clients he has worked with. Since you are the one spending money, it is crucial to thorough analyze that if he will be able to do the job or not and if he possesses enough experience or not.

Another important thing is to find out how much experience they have in specifically banner designing. A designer may have a lot of experience in creating brochure designs or web designs, but he may not necessarily have any experience in creating high quality banners for businesses. So, this is an important question that you must ask to ensure that you hire the right designer.

Also, check out their profile and see what sort of banners they have designed previously. This will give you a clear understanding of their skills. If you can find the banners of your competitors in their profile then it will give you a much better idea about their skills. So, do not neglect this part at any cost and thoroughly analyze the profile of every banner designer you meet.

Ensure that the designer you hire provides you with unlimited free revisions. The purpose is that this way you will be able to ask to make changes according to your liking. A professional banner designer knows that if he design is good, it won't take several revisions. Thus, they can comfortably offer unlimited revisions to their clients.

How Small Business Web Design is Different

Each day small businesses from every corner of the globe are joining the web to promote their business. To small businesses having a website has totally different meanings than a giant corporation or an online forum. The main goal that small businesses would ideally like to pursue by launching a website is to create awareness about their brand and products, and to connect with their existing or potential customers.

Keeping in mind the main purpose of launching a website, small businesses can make decisions to improve their website design so that it helps them achieve those goals. The main aspect which is really important for small businesses is to consider the costs of hosting a website, getting a website design and designing other related material such as a logo design, banner, brochure or business stationery design.

Branded Website Design

Unfortunately, small businesses find themselves compelled to cut costs on design and the resulting product is often mismatched. This creates brand confusion instead of recognition among the potential market. When you are out there to promote your brand and business, the best advice that you can get is not to get overly careful about spending. You can easily find web design services providers who can easily handle your other graphic design related tasks too, but yes this may cost you extra.

Unlike other websites, a small business website needs to promote brand, products or services; it is important that your website displays a custom logo design for your business. This visual identity for your business is probably the most important tool in terms of creating brand awareness and will help you in the long run.

Answer the Needs of Visitors

Another difference that should be noticed in the web design for a small business and web design for other types of websites is that a small business website is much more focused. The focus of this website is usually the business it is representing, but it would be wise to include your audiences too. Focus on your targeted audience and provide them what they need on your website. Most web users browsing a small business website are actually interested in the products or services that this particular business offers. Think of all the information your visitors might want to see on your website and then provide them this information in an easy to navigate and simple to understand fashion.

Connect with your Website Visitors

It is also important that your website provides visitors some ways to find out more about you. The easiest way to do that is by adding a contact or feedback form on your website. However, since these days social media and social networking related sites have become so immensely popular, you can do social networking with your website visitors by creating social network profiles for your business and giving a link back to these profiles on your website. Allow your visitors to follow you on Twitter or join your facebook fan page. This is a great way to communicate with your website visitors and fill them up more with your products or services to further help them make a decision or a purchase from you.

Logo Design and Web Design Colors

Colors help you create a smooth environment and make your website and logo cool and attractive. However, if you don't choose the colors wisely, then it will be devastating for your business and you will easily ruin your credibility. Your efforts will backfire and instead of winning the trust of your market, you will end up annoying them. Nice and decent colors allow you to make your business look peaceful and professional. A business that portrays unprofessional image can't ever achieve the required goals. To turn your visitors into customers and to bring them back to your website often, you need to ensure that you choose nice and decent looking colors for your business.

Now, some big questions that you may have or some newbie's ask are if the colors of your logo design should be similar to the colors of your web design? Will it be good to have some sort of similarity and resemblance? What if you already have a site and then you later decide to create a logo design? Should you change the colors of your website later, or should you design the logo using the colors already being used on your website? These questions are very important as they help you create your brand identity as well as your online presence effectively and powerfully.

To answer all your questions in simple and concise manner, all I will say is that even if the colors are not the same, but if they look good then you should go for that particular combination. If you create a logo and web design using the same color scheme, then you may end up ruining the original web design. So, before you make a final decision, it is highly advisable that you first do some research, test some different color combinations and then finalize the overall design, layout and color scheme.

Now, you may already have a site and you may now hire a designer to create your logo design. Your site may have several colors and it may be an excellent site. However, the designer will focus more on your brand identity, then what colors you have used on your website. The purpose of your logo is to create your business identity. Hence, you have to look at the bigger picture, i.e. your target audience, before finalizing the colors of your logo. In fact, you may even not require any colors, because your logo may only have some words in black and white.

The point is that don't take a look at one or two simple things to design your logo. If you have a good site, but if you don't have an attractive logo, then your site will even look unprofessional and you will end up losing a lot of business. Your logo will not only be used on your website, but it will also be used on complimentary items to promote your business. So, just looking at the website is not wise. If you own an online business and want to promote your business online only, then it will be best to site with a professional designer and discuss the project.

Web Design Tips - Things to Avoid

How you should create your web design and what elements you should incorporate in your design are common discussions nowadays. People tend to discover what they should do. They care less about thing that they should avoid. The best practice is to know both things. You should know how you should create a design to make it successful and you should also know that what some of the things are that can destroy your site. Now, we are going to focus on things that you must avoid, because if you don't avoid them, then even incorporating the best elements won't help you either. So, let's get started.

One thing that you must avoid on your business site is a lot of ads. You don't want to give an image that all you care about is people clicking on your ads. You don't want to create an impression that you have brought visitors to your site, so they'll click on your ads and go elsewhere. To build your credibility and prevent your visitors from getting annoyed, you must limit the number of ads you put on a page. Spread them strategically throughout the site. Make them look good. Do not make your site look like a market of ads. This is something you must avoid doing if you want to win the trust of your visitors, i.e. market.

Another thing that you must avoid is small font size. You must have come across several websites where the content was barely readable. How much time did you spend on such a site? I bet, not much. The same thing will happen to you if you use small and unattractive font on your website. Your website visitors won't be able to read it and, thus, there won't be any reason for them to stay on your website. So, you must ensure that you use readable font size.

There is one big misconception that using Flash will make your site look cool and professional. It is highly recommended that you don't pay attention to this notion. Flash will only make your site heavy and waste the precious time of your visitors. You want to get straight to the point to get visitors interested in your products or services. Using a Flash intro or presentation will only waste time and most likely you will lose them. So, avoid it and use HTML pages instead with powerful and compelling copy.

It's always good to give more and people always like to get more for less. However, it is not true when it comes to website navigation. Having too many links and menus will only make things worse and you will end up sending your visitors to your competitors. Seeing so many links everywhere will only give a headache to your visitors and you don't want that to happen. So, ensure that you create nice and easy navigation to give your potential buyers a great browsing experience.

Graphic Designing For Excellent Web Exposure

Graphic design has become essential part of website designing making the process of communication much easier to accomplish. Diversified typography can be used for creating online images in whatever way customers want. A whole lot of skills when segregated together lead to creation of images that are aesthetically superior, cognitively ahead, attractive page layout, etc. These advanced methods have gained the image as one of the best communicative tools for publicity and production.

Visual appeal is used to its maximum potential in graphic design for coming up with meaningful designs and concepts. Primary motive lies in the work of creating graphics that grabs visitors' attention and is pleasant to their eyes too. Take care that the message you want to convey through your designs are clear and precise. In short the graphics has to be functional and form a sense of value for your customers.

Those interested in making use of customized graphics should hire best graphic designing company that have prior experience and can handle your project in a right manner. Most of these firms possess online graphic design portfolio where you can find specimen of their work and decide thereafter.

The role of graphics is in total up-swing for accomplishing the target of getting effective marketing for your business. Along with the growth and development of internet and e-businesses graphic design have got much popular among the masses for websites. Hire a graphic designer that has complete knowledge about this field and this art.

Let the graphic design service providers know your exact needs so that they can work accordingly. The designs should not be overpowering but subtle, attractive and appealing. Trick is to present your online business with a professional image that serves your purpose. Positive impression can be left on the minds of the customers and other businesses for the graphic material, which is highly dependent on your graphic designer.

Insertion of the graphic design elements should be done in such a manner that important issues of search engine optimization and website design are covered in it. All essential SEO functions should be incorporated in it for fulfilling its spider's requirements.

It has to be practical so that it serves the purpose of meeting your business goals in the limits of budget. A good graphic design company would offer wide options to choose from.

The Basics on Web Designers

Web designers are people who are mostly focused on just the area of designing the actual web page. But sometime people have misconceptions about them and expect them to do more than they are trained to. Let us take some time to look at what web designers actually do. This is mostly about the individual freelancers and not about companies who you can expect to take care of more aspects of your website.

Contrary to what most people think, there is a difference between a web developer and a web designer. The designer is the one in charge of the visuals and the layout. The developer is the person who takes charge of the underlying functions of programming. They are the ones who work on the codes.

But both of these people are important to businesses and the creation of their websites. The web designers gather information about the business and make page layouts appropriate to them. They are in charge of communicating visually. They work to make sure that the business can expand eventually because of the appeal that the website has. Having this medium is a great way to attract customers and present the products to various locations.

It is hard to pin down designers on what it is that they are allowed to do. But the main point is that these people should be able to come up with designs. They should keep track of new technology, be able to use HTML, XHTML or XML to layout the pages, and be familiar with the programming codes of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

The designer should be able to communicate your ideas to the visitors of your web pages. This person is also in charge of creating the graphics and navigation.

It is best to work with a designer that is able to use Flash or other software that can create animations. He should be familiar with the standards of websites and even how search engine optimization works.

The designer should also be aware of elements like graphics, color theory, and typography. It helps if he is able to do an analysis of your target market and be familiar with a variety of coding languages.

It could be hard to find somebody that is able to do all these things and more but this is what will set the designer apart from everybody else. There are plenty of options on who to hire and as long as you are spending money this way, it does not hurt that you get one from among the best.

Making Your Own Website Through Free Website Builders

In this cyber age era where personal and business transactions are brought online, it is an advantage to have your own website. Whether for personal or business use, your own website is where you can introduce more of yourself, letting your readers know who you are, what you do and what you intend to do in the website that you have created.

Whereas before creating websites require the presence of technical experts who knows stuff such as coding, the advances in the world of internet now makes it possible for individuals without technical know how to create their own websites. This is through the use of website builders. They are software that help an individual build their own site. All you have to do is to choose from a lot of builders for your site that suits your need. There are even free ones that will prove more beneficial especially for personal use or home businesses that want to make their presence known in cyber space.

As there are a variety of free website builders in the market, it is well to consider the purpose by which you are creating the website whether it is for business or for home entrepreneurship or simply for indulging a hobby.

Also, your technical knowledge should be considered. If you do not have any training whatsoever in the field of building websites, then you should probably choose software that is of the "drag-and-drop" variety since it will be much easier to manipulate. This type of software offers an assortment of templates that one can choose from and customize according to one's preferences.

If you have a home business or dabble into internet marketing, then you should choose free website builders that include advanced website promotion tools. Or better yet, consider a website builder that is designed especially for internet marketers. With the use of these website builders, aside from building your site, these types of software also includes in their design keyword research, hosting and online marketing tools.

Whatever free website builder you choose though, always keep in mind that nothing out there is absolutely free. Some website builders offer their software on a trial only basis and once the trial period is over you have to buy the software to continue the use of the website you have created. Others will require you to register to host your website with a certain company and they will offer the site builder software free of charge. So before making your website through free website builders, it is always prudent to pore over the fine prints first.

Top Open Source and Free Content Management Systems

Programs and applications written as open source means that the source code is freely available and could be edited or altered. Because of this attribute, a lot of developers could contribute for the enhancement of the program or application. Some are free, some are not.

Free softwares as the term implies, is free in cost. But what would be better if they would be free and open source right?

Why Choose Free/Open Source CMS?

Considering the benefits we get form a regular Content Management System which is a very powerful weapon for creating a website in a short span of time, what more could we ask if it for free?

Free and Open Source CMS provides the company an ease of web page creation and big savings for investing assets like websites. It is having the web presence that every company desires for minimal cost.

Top Open Source and Free CMS

1. Typo 3 - offers amazing features for content management - includes internal search engine, editing on page and a lot more, and is known for its efficiency. It is supported by various operating systems and PHP. On the other hand, one constraint that is to be pointed is its demanding phase of setting up all the required tools. It is not very simple to use.

2. Frog CMS - offers features which include on-page editing, API and templating code. Widely known for its simplicity, straightforwardness and speed. Supported by PHP and RDMS.

3. Joomla! - come together with Joomla hosting package and works along with a Model view controller (MVC) web application framework. Offers refined and simplified menus and better site and media management. It also provides extra modules and components that would improve the assessment of your website and be able to enrich your visitors' experience.

4. Drupal - it can support form small personal blogs to huge corporate, political sites and even large online communities. It provides sophisticated/classy programming interfaces for programmers and developers, no required programming skills are needed for basic website installation and administration. It is uncomplicated to customize making the system also expandable meaning; it was designed to allow the adding of features through installation of plug-in modules.

5. WordPress - empowered by PHP and MySQL. Includes a feature that offers a user the absolute control of the weblog. Widely known for its speed and simplicity. You may also add a static page. It may take more or less 5 minutes for installation and provides easy upgrades.

Neither on what nor how popular your CMS would be relies your contentment and satisfaction. It will always be based upon how the system will perform the role what you want it to be and according to your requirements and demands.

Content Management Systems - Web Design Without Being a Webmaster

Content management systems (CMS) help make web design simplistic and quick. CMS allows you to easily update your content, like photos and text to name a few. However, the real power of content management systems (like Joomla, or blogs like Wordpress) includes literally thousands of add-on applications.

These plug-ins and components can be as modest or advanced as you like. So rather than having a static/brochure type of website that never changes, you can have extra features that help drive traffic that include social applications like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and/or LinkedIn that are tied to your site. These applications can build your brand image and allows you to be accessible to your potential customers. Best of all though...once your designer installs these features you can easily update your own site by yourself.

Why Content Management Systems Are Important?

By using content management systems you through of the shackles of conventional web design. So having control of your own site is beneficial for many reasons, however, the two most popular are time and cost.

For example, let's say that you own a clothing store with a hundred new garments to list on your site. With a content management system it can be a matter off simply plugging in the information into a store database. Simply 'point and click' and your new products can be added in a matter of minutes. Plus, you no longer have to wait for Webmaster to add your products. The same can be said if you'd like something more 'advanced'.

For instance, a company might want to use an animated/flash gallery to showcase their work. With CMS they can add images, galleries and testimonials as often as they want and as immediately as needed. You are no longer at the mercy of waiting for someone else to make changes to your site. In fact, since it's web-based, any updates can be made using a smartphone (an iPhone, Blackberry, etc.) while out in the field.

As for the cost factor, you'll find CMS can save you tons of money on Webmaster fees since you have 'do-it-yourself web design'. When combined with the time saving factor, it's easy to see why CMS is becoming more and more popular.

Who Offers CMS Sites?

Not all Webmasters can build web sites using CMS although CMS can save you both in time and money. So if you're a small to medium-sized business and you have some knowledge of the Web then CMS might be for you. Just a little understand of other user-friendly programs is all it take.

Powers by Design builds our customer's sites using CMS, because it benefits us when we can put the power of easily updating your website in your own hands. Besides the convenience though it's great to see the sense of self-satisfaction that CMS brings - many customers like the freedom of being able to do their own Web site updates because they feel as if they're part of process.

WordPress Customized - Custom Header & Background For Your Site

Personalize your WordPress install with a custom header and custom background in just a few easy clicks! No longer do you have to use the default theme and have your blog look like every other WordPress site. Follow these easy steps to customize your WordPress installation.

The new WordPress theme Twenty Ten is installed with all copies of WordPress 3.0, the newest version of the very popular blogging and website software. Twenty Ten features easy to use dropdown menus and some other features new to WordPress 3 which make it easy to customize the appearance, to make your site, truly your own.

Two of these new features make it easy to change the header image and the background color of your site. These two changes will help set your website apart from the thousands of other websites that use Twenty Ten.

Changing the header image involves finding a suitable image and uploading it with the WordPress editor. Changing the body background color involves using the Background Editor in the Appearance section to select and save a new background color.

The first thing to do when changing the header image is to find your choice of image. You can use your own digital photos from your camera, scan your photos or search for free images from stock photography web sites.

The images need to be at least 940 pixels wide and 198 pixels high, because if they are smaller than that, the image will be stretched out of proportion to fill the header space. It works best to use images that are either that width or bit wider and taller.

If you have an image editor, you can make header image the correct size without using the WordPress built-in image cropper. But if you need it, WordPress makes it easy to resize images with the built-in image cropper.

Once you have your new background image, go to the WordPress Dashboard, and then to "Appearance," and then to "Header." This is the "Custom Header" page. Your current header image is displayed. Below the current image is the area where you can upload your new custom image. Choose your new header image by clicking "Choose File."

You will then see a dialog box that will let you select an image from your computer. After selecting your image click "Upload" to import your image into WordPress.

In the next window, you can drag the cropping frame around your photo if it is wider than 940 pixels. (If it is smaller, remember that you will get some distortion in the image.) Once you have cropped the image, click "Crop and Publish." You will return to the previous page and see a preview of your new header image.

Now, click the "Visit your site" link at the top to see the new header on your live site. (If you still see the old header, reload the page in your browser.)

You can repeat the process if you don't like the look of your new custom header image.

The other way to set your WordPress website apart from many others is to change the body background color. That is the area outside of the header area and content box. In the same Dashboard Appearance menu, go to "Background."

Although the top box on the page says "Background Image," we will be changing the background color in this example. You will get a preview of the color in that box. Below the "Background Image" box t is "Display Options" and a color picker. That is where you select your new background color. Click on "Select a Color" and you will see a color picker.

Click on the approximate color you want in the outer color ring, and then fine tune it by moving the pointer around within the inner circle. You will then see the color change in the Preview box above.

You will also see the CSS color code change in the box right above the color picker. This is the style sheet code that determines the color. If you are familiar with the color code of your preferred color, you can enter the code directly. After pressing your enter key the color will appear in the preview window.

When you have a color you like, click "Save Changes" and your color selection will be saved. Then click the "Preview Changes" link at the top of the page to see the new background color. (If you still see the old color, reload the page in your browser.)

If you don't like the color or want to adjust it, work with the color picker again, save your changes and then reload your site again.

The header images you uploaded are stored in the standard WordPress Uploads folder, and the background color you picked is stored in the database. If you upgrade the Twenty Ten theme in the future, you won't lose your customizations.

Why Web Designs Are Helpful in Businesses

The advancement of technology becomes so evident in every part of the world. Its influence can be seen in medicine, in educational systems, in economics, in engineering and in almost every field. That makes it also reasonable for many businesses (even the small ones) to work on their online presence. They would want their products and services to be visible in social networking sites, online classified ads, web directories and many more. But before they can proceed with any other marketing strategies, they are supposed to work on the basic .... the company's site.

The site's web design is one helpful factor that may affect a site visitor to stay browsing the site and possibly be buying the products or services that the company offers. It is the one giving the first impression to the visitors and potential customers. An Atlanta Web Design company even shared that the things people see when they land on the site's URL needs to inspire confidence in the product s or services it offers and generate enough curiosity to get them to click around. In short, the site's web design can even tell whether the company is reliable enough or if it is one of many other forgettable ones.

Funny as it may be, but instead of helping to boost the popularity and sales of a company, a number of sites fail to serve this purpose due to ineffective and poor web design. Some factors may be the color scheme, improper navigation setup, site's incompatibility with multiple browsers and many more. Making sure to have an interesting and creatively designed web page also needs to consider a number of factors. One is to choose the perfect team or company to do the job. It is mainly important to check on the company's reputation in providing excellent as well as cost effective services as nothing could be more disappointing than to hire people who would be wasting your money and in turn give you unsatisfying results.

It is also helpful to find a team who can be trusted on many other related services. Some Atlanta web development agencies have started to offer extra SEO and marketing services to lessen the customer's hassle of finding other effective service providers and getting the best deals.

There could be a number of things that needs to be well taken care in order to have a creative and effective web design. It may not be easy to have everything accomplished, but some efforts and wise decision will surely help the business

Simple Web Design Principles That Could Save You From Wasting Your Money, Time and Effort

Simply put, Web Design is the creation and arrangement of web pages that, in turn, make up a website. The result (website) is then delivered to the end-user via the World Wide Web. Here are some basic web design principles that you should be aware of.

Light Design. Simplicity is beauty. Unless it is extremely important, make use of little JavaScript and flash effects as much as possible. It is highly discouraged to utilize them for important functional aspects of you websites, such as site menus. Important information must not be accessible only through flash animation effects or JavaScript instead, they must be made available as text. Take into consideration that images, flash animation and JavaScript will take a longer time to load and, in effect, may not be displayed properly on certain browsers. If the internet connection is slow, your visitor might feel annoyed and close your site instead.

JavaScript and Flash animation effects are hard to index compared to texts. This is the reason why it is harder for websites with too much JavaScript and flash animations to attract organic traffic from search engines. Keep in mind that search engine spiders favor or seek out texts and keywords to understand what the website is all about. Having too much flash or JavaScript content, will only confuse search engine spiders. In the end, they won't understand what your website is about and leave it unindexed.

Proper Use of Colors. There are some websites that use colors that has the ability to strain the eyes. And because of this it, it makes the website harder to navigate resulting in an unpleasant experience for the users.

As a general rule, never place light-colored text on a darker background. The background's color must be lighter than text to make it readable. Make sure that the color combination you choose fit and are pleasant to look at.

Take into consideration the proper font size and style. Choose text and font that will be easy to ready. A website with unpleasant color combination and unreadable texts can easily repel visitors and discourage them from returning.

Easy to Navigate. When planning for a web design for your website, always take into consideration your user's experience. You must design them from the user's perspective, not yours. If your website has multiple pages, these pages should be easy to access by all visitors. Make use of a simple, text-based navigation bar. Restrain from using flash, images or JavaScript. Make use of CSS as it offers simple, efficient and great-looking navigation bars.

Use CSS. The use of CSS makes it easier for you to design your site. It allows you to present you content in a linear fashion. At the same time, CSS sites are easier and faster to load.

Use PHP. Although slower to load compared to HTML or CSS, they are the best option if you're making an e-commerce website, blog or community sites.

How to Be a Web Design Freelancer

It is highly believed that freelancers or web designers are the people who enjoy their life and earn a lot. Freelancers need not rush to office at 9.a.m., they enjoy televisions serials, watch movies, eat well, sleep well etc. It is true that freelancers will enjoy all the above. These are only the positive sides of the freelancer and they too have their own disadvantages.

Web designers have the advantage of working from home and they can work conveniently in their casual dress too. But, you may not be aware of the stress they face. To get the reputation and to get regular income, a freelancer has to lose lots of energy. Meeting deadline is very important; otherwise he may lose a reputed client as well as the whole project. A web designer has to monitor various services such as managing accounts, records, hosting, domain names, passwords etc. So, when you need to concentrate on multiple works, you will lose the control on your work. Here are the few tips through which you can get rid of the above stress and be a happy web design freelancer.

Target your working hours:

Of course it is very difficult to work from home. We eat and sleep at our convenient time which is not good for a home freelancer. So, you should fix a time that you want to work. You should get ready before that time and must be seated in front of your system by that time. Remember, computer is your office and internet is your boss. The ideal time to work for freelancers is 9a.m. to 5p.m.

Small break to refresh your brain

You cannot sit continuously in front of computer and go on working. Work for one or two hours and take small breaks in the middle. Keep your computer switched on and have mini snacks or coffee hearing to good music. You can also relax for a while if you have garden or watch movie for 10 to 15 minutes. This will refresh your brain and keeps you energetic for meeting another set of work.

Divert your mind from computer

Absolutely woman freelancers will easily get diverted to their regular domestic work. They take mini breaks to do their domestic work including preparing tiffin for their kids, making coffee etc. Male web designers should also forget their work for some time. They can play games or go for a mini walk. This is again a brain refreshing technique.

So, never a freelancer is earning quick money sitting at home. It is tough to withstand in the freelancing job for long period. Unless and until there is no commitment, it is not possible for a freelancer to survive.

Print and Web Design - What Are the Differences and Why It's Important to Design Differently For Web

While working as a web designer, I have many times run across incredibly talented and fine artists who, while doing amazing jobs for print production, tried to design for web with very little knowledge on the technology, computer-human interaction, usability, and other important aspects that distinguish web products from print ones.

I believe that only Web Art Directors should create web project layouts, and this should become a rule. I truly hope that this discipline will soon be taught in colleges. So far we are dealing with User Interface Designers, who are not necessarily Artists. This is why we commonly see nicely looking websites that are not usable or very usable products that do not look nice. The situation has been improving lately, but lots of websites are still being designed by print designers. And I don't think this is coming to an end any time soon.

There is a major difference between designing for print and for the web. Print materials could be carried around and read by your target audience at their convenient time. When designing for the web, you need to keep in mind that your target audience first comes to your website and then reads the contents. Another difference is that print material could be carefully read from paper. That's much more convenient and comfortable versus reading from the screen.

Design of a print product page is fully visible right away, and the design concept can be captured by a human mind at once. Web design elements appear to website users one by one as they are viewing the site. Depending on several variables such as the amount of content, internet connection speed, screen size and resolution, etc, sometimes even important content elements may not be visible right away.

Another concept critical to designing products is cognitive load. It refers to the load on working memory during thinking. The more a person has to learn in a shorter period of time, the more difficult it is to process that information in working memory. Cognitive load is even more important for interactive products than for print product. When it comes to printed material, a user spends some time looking for important information. However, users spend much less time when trying to find particular information on a web page.

Readers visually scan print products in order to find the information they are looking for. Users read websites using a hand when moving a mouse from an object to object. The lag between the sight reaction and a hand movement is directly related to the cognitive load of the project: the longer it takes a user to find the information he wants, the heavier the cognitive load. It is easy to see that cognitive load is inversely related to the usability of your project. That is, the longer it takes a user to find what he is looking for, the higher the chance that he either forgets what he was doing or leaves the website.

Therefore, even nice and clean designs, which work well for print products may not be considered usable for web products. This is why it's very important to approach the creation of a website knowing the important concepts of cognitive load, human-computer interaction, usability, etc. Print design prioritizes good looks. Web design must emphasize the content.

How to Use Free Ecommerce Templates and Still Look Like a Pro

Competition among ecommerce solutions is a blessing to merchants, especially new ones. Because of competition, many shopping cart firms have started offering goodies for free. This goodies include, free ecommerce templates, free live chat software and content sliders.

Many new merchants are still apprehensive about using free ecommerce templates. I can hardly blame them. When shopping cart solutions first started offering template designs for free, they looked like they were designed by the same octopus that kept picking the winning teams for the 2010 World Cup Finals.

Since then, designs of free ecommerce templates have improved quite a bit with the the trend moving towards clean and simple designs. More color variations are now available and some newer designs are thematic so merchants need not think that hard about which templates to choose.

But how a page looks does not solely depend on free ecommerce templates alone. There are other elements available for free that can also contribute to a page's visual aesthetics and purpose.

One such element is the content slider. We all know that images help draw attention and help make a page more 'sticky'. If a page is more sticky then perhaps visitors will tend to remain longer and have a look around. And what can be better than attractive images if not attractive moving images. As gimmicky as it sounds, a combination of moving images combined with functional or purposeful content can pique the interest of a visitor.

Content sliders are an available option with many ecommerce solutions and there are available for free. Merchants can manipulate the size of the slider window, assign links to each slide and place them on the main page and category pages as well. Some might say that this is a method of cross selling and they might have a point.

Just be sure not to overkill the designs and text on the slider images. Remember, just like everything else on the page, they must be functional. A question I usually ask myself before I add anything to a page is what do I want visitors to do after they see this. That helps me keep things in focus.

So before you select a free ecommerce template, think about what you want your page to look like as a whole. If you have no idea, browse other stores first. But keep in mind that many stores out there have been around for a while and would probably have custom templates by now. Do not let that deter you. With a good eye, and a combination of free nifty elements from your shopping cart provider, you too can have a decent looking site design without much of a fuss.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Flash in Website Design

There are many advantages and disadvantages of using flash in website design. The biggest disadvantage I expect, is that people still think that it is acceptable to design the website fully in flash. My list of disadvantages should put you off that, but there are still reasons to use flash because of its advantages.

The advantages - Why should you use flash? Well, there are a lot of reasons for using Flash as elements of a website - in the right circumstances.

Running videos is easy - If you want to include a small video on the website and you want it running straight away, then I find that converting it to flash is a good way to display it. Yes, there are other ways, but this is a good way of using flash as the file will stream and start the video running straight away, rather than waiting for the entire file to download.

A photo gallery looks excellent - A small and subtle flash animation can also add a lot to the look of the site. For example a well executed photo gallery can gently show off several photographs to the visitor to tempt them to stay and find out more.

The disadvantages - Yes, although I do create Flash files, I am not really a fan of them apart from the video aspect. So here is what I find are the problems with them.

Not everyone has flash installed! Looking through some of my own website statistics, potentially 4% of visitors do not have flash installed so will miss out on whatever element you are presenting to them as flash. This could leave an annoying blank or even missing navigation. And as more basic mobile devices hit the market, this percentage could increase!

Flash can be slow to load. A big flash animation that builds a page and displays various aspects of the navigation can be slow to load and clunky. Instead of the page loading almost instantly, the reader is sitting there waiting for a flash animation that they really do not want to see.

Search engines cannot read flash. This is fine if you are just presenting a photo gallery that is only for visual impact, but if your content or navigation is in the flash file, you are hiding it. You want the search engines to be able to read all of your site's content to be able to send you visitors and if they cannot get between the pages, then how do they find them?

They are very distracting. A small advert in flash might be eye catching and do the job, but that is because it is highly noticeable and distracting. This distraction is used to grab attention and increase the clicks on the advert, but the same then goes for little flashing banners around the page. They can be too distracting and cause a nuisance to your visitors.

So yes, flash does have a use, but be very careful not to over use it and ruin the website. Not every website needs movement and flashing panels, we aren't at Hogwarts where everything must move. Design your website with care instead.

Graphic Designing Skills and Its Importance

Apart from website creation, graphic design is the next important element that is used in every website that is designed in present times or re-designed. Graphic is a very broad term which comprises of different levels of skills and techniques to procure the end result.

Flash is a type of graphic design skill that gives movement and life to your online presentations and gives wings to your creativity and imagination. Flash is popularly used for making of online videos that we see on many websites. When compared with other video making tools, the effect of flash is very mesmerizing and attractive. Present days designed websites put full-fledged flash videos or presentations giving modern look to a site.

For making vector based graphics designers use Adobe Illustrator software. The designs created by this software have very well define lines and neat textures. Things like print work, logo creation and poster formation can be done by it. Adobe illustrator is little difficult to learn but has many advantages as far as designs are concerned. Photo management based on pixel is accomplished by Adobe Photo shop. Graphic designers can keep themselves abreast of it by online tutorials. You have to spend some money if you want to learn it, as it is little costly, but the results it produces is worth its cost. For brochures, newspapers, magazines or books Adobe Photo shop can be used.

Whenever you start a business, you should know it is finest of details to stay ahead of market and the competition. In graphical work also keep yourself informed about the tools and techniques of it.

We all are aware that internet is dynamic in nature, where everyday some new inventions are made in terms of technology and creativity. Graphical art has the potential to create designs that are innovative in design and newer look. All website owners wish to have something new and exciting on their website so that more and more visitors visit them.

Graphic designers usually build strong online network which keeps them way ahead of competition and they get all required information and incidences that occurs in the field of vivid designs. Network construction is important for the pictorial designers as most of their time is spend in offices. Also a skilled pictorial designer needs to have knowledge about typography for effective communication.

Those were some skills that are part of vivid designs making it a wholesome designing experience for a website.

Great Formspring Layouts

One of the most popular new social networking pages today is Formspring. As with any other type of social networking page, you'll want to fit your page to fit you and you can do that through a variety of customizable Formspring layouts. There are many different ways to do this with your Formspring page, one of the easiest ways is to be sure you have a layout that is personalized to you and what you want. This will help you express yourself through your Formspring page. Be sure to check out all kinds of great options for your Formspring page layouts and find one that is best for you. Formspring is the new, hot social networking page. Everyone wants it, especially teenagers and people in college. Your Formspring page is neat because it can generally be anonymous, and people get to know you through a series of questions that are posed about you. They list answers about the questions and you can learn what your friends and enemies think about you. Since it's generally anonymous, people feel as if you get more of an honest answer so that you can truly understand what people feel about you.

Just like any other social networking page, you want to make your Formspring layouts to fit you. It's important to do this to make your Formspring page you. With all of the customizable options, you want to make your layout be you, so when people visit it, it represents you and they know it is your page. Sure, this type of social networking page is all about expressing you, so make it yours even more with great Formspring layouts that fit you and express your personality and likes.

From photo layouts, different types of designs, and all sorts of collages, you can make Formspring layouts to fit you. Maybe you want one that expresses your hobbies or activities. Or, maybe it's not about that, and instead you want to represent your favorite sports team or your favorite time of year. It's easy to find a background for you; there are all kinds of them that will fit you. Be sure to look at all the options before you find the one that you end up with for your layout.

To find a great layout for your Formspring page, it's easy. Start with a search online. There are so many different sites that offer them; generally they are free so you have nothing to lose by finding one and customizing your page. Once you find a page online, you'll have many different Formspring options to choose from so that you can customize your page to your likes.

It is important to make your page yours. Your Formspring page should be no exception, find a great page online and find one of many Formspring layouts to fit you. There are so many option to choose from, you'll find one no matter what your interests or likes are and be able to truly represent yourself through your Formspring page.

Make Online Money - How to Make Money With a Website

There are some simple tips that can help you design a website to make online money. How to do it, however, requires some patience as well. You can design websites that market your ideas on the internet. If your goal is to create an e-commerce website, then a few tips can help make your success a little easier to attain.

On the internet, the material within your website is quite important. So, you must design the content of your site to meet the needs of your visitors. People want to know things. For example, they may want to understand why they have a particular problem and what solutions may exist.You should honestly and sincerely offer them the best benefit of your expertise and experience. And they will reward you for it.

In truth, you must have traffic to make online money. How to get this traffic requires some effort. There are two main types:- the free and the paid. The paid traffic involves things like pay per click ads on Google and Facebook, and so on. And there is nothing wrong with that.

However, the free traffic that comes to you because they enjoy what you have to offer is, in a sense, the preferred kind. They will keep coming and coming, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. And you do not have to worry about the money. How to keep your visitors informed and entertained, should be your main concern.

Developing credibility is an often overlooked step in the rush to make money. How to make people believe what they read on your website is not always easy. This requires building an honest relationship with your traffic. You must give them a reason to trust you because, after all, remember, they do not know you. All they have is a website. It may be a very well made site, with excellent content; but, who is the real person behind it? Is the source genuine or a sham.

People need to know that they can have faith in this new relationship that is being formed between them and you online. If you are candid and sincere, they will return. And they will feel more comfortable spending their money. How to get them to refer your site to others? Give them good value in the first place. This means your traffic will grow. And your business will be built on a firm foundation for the long term.

The way you do things is important. You should proceed with your business step by step. For example, you should not try to sell anything to anyone before developing an honest online rapport with them first.

To design your website for e-commerce, you can add goods and/or services related to your content by creating additional pages. These pages become, in effect, a store online. You can add shopping carts, and facilities for accepting all major credit cards, or the ability to pay with PayPal.

You may, however, prefer to add an account with "Google Ad Sense", or become an affiliate of a company that sells products related to the content of your site. When visitors buy something, you make money. How to become an affiliate is not difficult. It is simply a matter of getting in touch with the company and joining their affiliate program.

It may require a little patience and some work to design your website. But, if you follow the right steps, in the end, you will find that it is well worth the effort.

Affiliate Web Design Software

Converting as an affiliate is essentially a 2 step process. First, you've got to bring in lots of targeted traffic to your website via organic or possibly paid advertising or both. The other half is what you're showing that traffic once you bring them in: your website. If you don't have attractive an attractive, professional, and easy to navigate website then your traffic can bounce faster than you would imagine and spend their money elsewhere.

Website design can be a time consuming and difficult process which is why many affiliates choose to outsource that task to affiliate web design software which has an emphasis on creating conversions and makes website design a snap. This is a look at the best affiliate web design software of today: AtomicShops.

AtomicShops is an online based affiliate web design software which enables you to quickly design your own attractive websites within minutes. First, you pick from one of thousands of sample templates which have all been professionally designed to give your site some diversity and uniqueness about it. From there rather than dealing with HTML or CSS codes you can simply create menus, tweak colors, fonts, really any aspect of the design with one or two clicks.

The major thing which sets AtomicShops apart from other affiliate web design software is the offer integration feature. This makes it simple to integrate affiliate offers from virtually any company which you can think of with a few clicks and in no time you've got a professional looking online store which you can create reviews for or however you want your strategy to be.

Once your site is complete, unlike other affiliate web design software options the program publishes your content immediately on the net without your intervention required.