Posts Tagged Website Design
5 Critical Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Web Designer
Posted by in Uncategorized on November 11, 2009
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Research the Web Designers Website and Online Portfolio
Posted by in Uncategorized on November 7, 2009
Finding a web designer is the easy part- all you need to do is perform a quick search online and bingo, you’re presented with pages and pages of them in the search engine results. The hard part is choosing the right web designer for your individual project. Every web design project has a specific set of requirements and every web designer has a unique set of skills that may, or may not, be suitable for your needs. for more detail go to: www.onlinepublishingsite.com
In this article, I’ll list some key factors that will help you find the right web designer and how you determine if they have the necessary skills to undertake your web development project.
Every web designer should have a functioning website and an online portfolio of their work. If they don’t, you can scratch them off the list. After you have found some web designers in your area, or anywhere else for that matter, you should research each of their websites and check out samples of their work Viewing completed websites and samples of the web designer’s work is also essential to get a good idea of the design style and skills they have. Make sure the websites function correctly. If some of the web designer’s recent samples are not working, there is a good chance that, if you use them, your website might have the same issues. Look at the design style of their portfolio samples. Most web designers tend to stick to a particular style. If you like the look of their websites, and their website text sounds appealing, you’re onto a winner. Take the next step and call them, or send a project brief through.
Another key point to determine which web designer is best for you, is finding out whether you can communicate with them. You will need to explain your vision to the designer and they should be able to respond with ideas and suggestions for your project. If you call your designer and there is, for example, for more detail go to: www.master-web-graphics.com a language barrier between you that could be a problem throughout the development process. If you call to speak with your chosen web design company and you are put on the phone to a rude or uninterested individual – in my books, that would not be somebody you would want to deal with on an ongoing basis. If they are enthusiastic, keen and communicate well you are more likely to have a successful ongoing professional relationship.
Qualifications and experience are not always essential but they do give you some security that the web designer knows what they are doing and has the skills to undertake your project. It’s really up to your judgment whether you want to use a web designer with no experience but you never know, they might be a young gun with tons of talent and is just waiting for that first project to unleash their skills on to. My preference would be experience beats qualifications any day. Your web designer may have undertaken a six month course which has got them a certificate of some sort but that does not make them a good designer. There is so much information online and ways to hone your design talents now, that needing somebody to teach you is not essential.
It is very important the web designer you speak to understands your creative vision. To create a website that truly serves a purpose and business goal, the designer need to understand the nature of the website and relate to your overall vision. Take note on whether the web designer offers any ideas or suggestions when you’re talking to them. This is a good indication of whether they understand the project and are enthusiastic about it.Different web projects need different technology behind them. Not all web designers have all the necessary skills for some types of web development. For example you may need a full content management system with database driven content and advanced search engine optimization. It is up to you as a client to inform the designer of the entire feature’s you anticipate your website to have so they can tell you whether they can complete it.
The cost of the web project is normally the key factor in how people choose their web designer. The scope of your project and what budget you have can limit what designer you choose. If you have a very small budget but want to build the next Face book, any sane web designer will tell you they can’t help you.
How Much Does Web Design Cost?
Posted by in Uncategorized on November 5, 2009
How much does web design cost?
As a website designer, one of the most important parts of my job is giving quotes. This is also one of my least favorite parts of the job. The reason? Nobody knows what web design costs. One person will be ecstatic at the “low price”, and the next will be shocked at how how expensive it is. Everyone wants to know “How much does web design cost?” This article will explain some of the factors in pricing out a website, and will give you (the potential client) the knowledge of how to adjust the quote and still get the website you need.
Why does one web designer charge $2500, and another charges $500 for the same thing?This question is perhaps the heart of the article. And the answer is- they are almost certainly not charging you for the same thing. If web designer “A” quotes you at $2500 for your website design, that may be because he’s going to spend a lot more time on organization, developing the visual side, getting it SEO ready, and generally making it a great site. It easy to get someone to design a website, but it may not be easy to get a website that visitors enjoy using. Now for $500 you may get a quote for a similar project from web designer “B”, but they will likely only put a fraction of the effort into it. My advice here is to look at their portfolio. Be sure to view the live sites. Do you like them? What don’t you like? A designer with a bad portfolio is most likely not going to surprise you with something amazing.
$2500 is too high a quote. Should I go with another web designer?When asking for a quote, no client wants to say “I have X amount of money, give me a website”, because they don’t want to be taken advantage of. But frankly, some quotes are too high. This doesn’t mean that you should immediately run for the door. Especially if you’ve done a little shopping around, and really found a portfolio that you like. Try to work with the designer to get the quote into your budget range. Now personally, when I quote for a website, I include a lot of time to develop the best site that I can. There are a lot of different aspects of web design, more than I will list here, but essentially less time can go into a site, and the price can be lowered. Talk to your designer, and see exactly what he is thinking when he quotes you $2500. Is he including a CMS system, so you can make updates yourself? Is he doing a completely custom design? Is he adding SEO elements? Are there flash elements to the site? What does the designer feel is least important, and could be cut back? Talk to him (or her) and get him to slim back on unnecessary features.
What are “expensive” features?These vary, but here are some things that might be costing you a bit more than you would like:
E-commerce (especially e-commerce sites with custom designed layouts), slideshows, Flash elements, music players, CMS (content management systems), User interaction (commenting, ability to write reviews, etc.).The most expensive elements above are these: E-commerce, Flash, User interaction (depending on the level of interaction).
I just need to get my business online, I don’t care what it looks like.
This is an ill-advised approach, and here is why: your website may be the only impression that online viewers get of your company. If it looks like it was made in 1990, doesn’t load correctly, looks dated, or looks otherwise “unprofessional”, you won’t be doing much business online. This is extremely important if your business intends to sell products online. Nobody is going to buy products on a site that doesn’t look like it has been updated regularly. They may not get the product they pay for. With search engines, people are looking for the company that looks the “best”. They want to deal with the most trustworthy business. In the online world, that means having a professional website, and then providing content that furthers your message to your clients.
So what should I do?
Shop around. Look at portfolios. Find a designer that fits your style. Find a couple, and talk to them. Tell them you’re shopping around, they won’t be offended. They’ll probably be more inclined to lower their price, or at least explain what they can do for you. Not all web designers are created equal, and neither are websites.
With that said, you don’t always get what you pay for. I’ve seen companies literally charge $50,000 for a website that could have been done for $5000. You should always be careful, and find a company or designer you can trust. Find out what is essential to your business. What do clients need to get from your website? If you cannot accomplish those goals with your budget, you may need to adjust it. If you can, but your designer wants to do more, slim it back. Don’t get sold on a blog if it doesn’t apply to your business. Stick to the core of your business, and keep the message simple. Customers don’t like to be overloaded. Make the site easy to navigate, easy to load, and easy to find.
I hope this article gives you the knowledge to negotiate for the exact site you need.-Matt Powerswww.vacreative.com
Want an affordable but professional website? Get a quote from his creative web design business today!
Portfolio: Virginia Creative
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Website Design: a Diverse Range of Opportunities in a Thriving Industry
Posted by in Uncategorized on November 4, 2009
Whether you are a recent graduate, self-taught or an established designer looking to make a change in your career, web design as a vocation has changed out of all recognition over the last few years. Where HTML jockeys once ruled the web, today if you want to get ahead in web design you need an armoury of skills that you can sell to an employer. More designers are also breaking away from traditional studios and setting themselves up as freelance agents in a bid to fulfil their creative ambitions.
No matter how you came into web design, understanding the market as well as possessing the skills you’ll need to succeed are both essential. To make it in what is now a very competitive and creative environment you’ll need flair, good business sense, solid skills in your chosen field and a relentless pursuit of your goal. Web design is one of the most dynamic fields any designer can work in, but how do you land that dream job?Design landscape
The dotcom crash of the late Nineties was a turning point in web and multimedia design. Before the crash shook the industry, anyone with a basic knowledge of HTML could get a job hand coding pages or flying an early version of Dreamweaver. The design industry that had a background in print couldn’t quite understand what design for the screen really meant. After the crash, some hard lessons were learnt as the industry put itself back onto its feet. The new web would not only have a much sounder business footing to build on; it would also use the design lessons of the screen generation and apply them to the new wave of websites that blasted across millions of PC screen worldwide.
The good news is that today if you’re looking for a web or new media post, the range of jobs on offer has mushroomed. Where once HTML skills reigned supreme, today a more rounded approach to design is required by the industry as a whole. Yes, technical ability is still required, but this must be supported with a well defined design sense. If you can’t use your technical prowess to solve problems, you’ll find it impossible to land a job in this industry.No blagging allowed!
One question that is often asked is what skills you should gain to give yourself the best chance of securing a job. Web design today encompasses many technical disciplines, which you’ll be required to be fluent in. The industry as a whole is moving away from highly specialised designers to staff that is multi skilled.
The design industry doesn’t tolerate anyone who can’t deliver what they say they can. If you’re lucky enough to land a position, from day one you’ll be required to prove to your employer that they made the right decision. You can either do the work or you can’t there’s no middle ground. And in an industry that puts great trust in reputations, you should protect yours at all costs.
You can’t have failed to notice the increase in online portfolios that have now become a part of
the design landscape. In this industry it’s what you can do that counts to prospective employers. They simply don’t care which university you went to or who your teachers were. All they want to know is what you as a designer can do for them. You show them with your portfolio. It should showcase your best work but also illustrate the kind of designer you are. Companies that are commissioning web designers for entire web based projects or for content need to know you ‘fit’ with the company, and that the work you’ll produce complements their brand identity. Take a look at your current portfolio. What’s it say about you? Does it reflect your particular design sensibilities?
Many budding web designers are of course self-taught. If you’re reading this and have never had a formal design lesson in your life, this doesn’t mean you have to abandon your dream of becoming a web designer. Academic qualifications have to a degree (excuse the pun) taken a back seat in favour of hands on skills. Web design is now a diverse industry and offers a large number of specific jobs that you can work in. From creative director to artworker, there is a job that’s perfect for you. Talk to other designers; expand your knowledge and work on developing your creativity. But don’t forget that often you will be asked to work within a team, so hone your communication skills as well.Freelance freedom
Landing a job in a design agency can be easier said than done, which is why many designers make the decision to employ themselves. Going down the freelance route can have many benefits, but take this step with great care. Running your own design agency will require that you’re not only the design principle but also the person who has to deal with the more mundane tasks of running a business such as cash flow and profit and loss. Do you have a business head to go with your design talent?
Freelancing can also be a lonely existence, with just yourself to rely on for company. You may find that your personality and therefore your design sense is better supported in a group environment. This is why, over recent years, design collectives have appeared that offer the independence of being a freelance designer, but also the rewards of shared studio space and of course the creative input from the other designers in the office. This could be a halfway house for you if you aren’t keen on full employment but dread the thought of working alone in your spare room. How many mates did you keep in touch with after your graduation year? Give them a call you might have a new business in the making.Design future
Web design is a dynamic industry perhaps more dynamic than any other. To attract employers or get a regular flow of work into your own business, you must understand the market you’re in and produce work that demonstrates an understanding of today’s culture but which also has one eye on the future. If you can spot design trends in the web industry you will never be out of work.
Flash continues to be dominant on the web, and with a new version always ready in the wings you’ll need to get up to speed with any new features quickly. Don’t forget you’re in competition with every other designer in the industry. Learn how to use the new tools, but use them creatively. Ask yourself how you can catch the eye of prospective employers. Corporate clients will also want to see that you can produce work that considers the accessibility laws they have to abide by. You may be able to produce some great web design work, but this must always be within the context of regulations that your client is all too aware of. In the commercial world that will pay your mortgage, there is little room for design for design’s sake! Save this for your personal web projects.
A career in web design can be extremely rewarding. Whether you take the path of employee or start your own agency, the same principles apply; you are in a competitive industry with other agencies or designers chasing a finite amount of work. In an industry that has become very crowded of late, employers and clients with money to spend are looking for the diamonds in the rough. Work at your portfolio. Enter all the competitions you can. Look for innovative ways of getting your work seen. Eventually you’ll get your break and your career will be up and running.
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Top 10 Tips to Enhance Creative Web Design
Posted by in Uncategorized on October 24, 2009
Today, creating a website is very easy. Just click the template you want and place the text. But why does one website appeal you more than the other? Is it the formatting of the text, color schemes, image properties, and many more such traits, which make one site far more visually attractive than the other?
Yes, it is not only these traits but also consistency, efficacy, and simplicity that matters a lot. Take a look at what salient tips can help you add spice to your website. In other words, read through top ten tips to enhance the design of your website.
Know Your Responsibility
It is important to know that everyone involved in creating a website is responsible for it – be it graphic designer, content developer, or a techy who collates files to create a website. There must be a balanced approach among these three heads. For instance, would it look nice if a website is powerful in content but no valuable images, logos, etc to illustrate the content further?
Know Why Your Want the Website
What’s the objective of your website? Is it to inform people about your know-how? Is it a means to enhance communication? Is it a means to attract traffic?
A top printer company for instance, chose to highlight its PR activities, its tie-ups with various elite firms, its ventures in near future. The main idea here is to let people know how prestigious it was rather than providing details of all the printers.
What would attract an online auction site? Perhaps the way it handles e-commerce primarily. It would therefore highlight the efficient shipping cart, effortless payment procedure, and quick delivery. So, create a website where these features are easily visible and navigable.
Make it Simple
“Simplicity is gold”. This age old saying stands correct while creating a website also. You may have numerous links, animation, graphics, or sophisticated content. But what matters is that the viewers need to understand what’s going on.
Ask yourself: do you visitors know exactly what to expect from the website when the go through the first few sentences? Does your website answer frequently-asked-questions or doubts of your viewers? If no, perhaps you need to re-design your website.
Place Less Sub-inks
Links are good. But too much of anything spoils the broth. Your website should support few links and sub-links. It should also be aided with “bread-crumb” navigation. In other words, website must not have links that go beyond three clicks. If it does, the site becomes a nuisance for most viewers. They would hardly go through the entire series of links.
Apart from simplistic navigational diagram, a website should be intuitive and user-friendly. Just take a survey to find out if a viewer has effortlessly navigated the entire site without any hitch. Does he know exactly what to find and where within minutes?
Make Easily Downloadable Website
It is equally irritating to find a website which takes a long time to load. If your visitors have to wait for minutes to see the entire page due to some heavy graphics in the website, you are defeated. However good and excellent the graphics or animation is, your viewer would simply go to another site. And, you lose your potential customer.
Offer Attractive Design Elements
Every webmaster would like to have a site that is able to “catch the customer’s attention”. While some corporate sites choose soothing colors to attract corporate people, others, like a florist shop, would have bright colors.
A toy shop would have lovely pictures of toys and how they are used rather than a monotonous excel sheet of product name, properties, and price.
Bring About a Consistency
How would you assess if a website is creative enough? Yes, it would surely use different images, animation, content – monolog or dialog. However, even though there are so many elements playing in a creative website, there is a subtle consistency.
Common features such as navigation bar, header-footer color, font, background color, etc should be consistent. These don’t bring monotony. They in fact, make the site prestigious, simple, and dependable.
Use Intelligent Content
Content plays an important role in creating a popular website. It should be crisp and able to reflect exactly what you want to say. For instance, buttons should have a proper name to justify its action. For example, if you wish to close the pop-up, say “Close”, but if you want to exit from the page altogether, say “Exit”.
Create Useful Website Logo
It is true that images say thousands of words. For instance, if you have an apt logo that reflects the persona of your company, you’ve said a lot in just one simple image. That brings a brand identify.
If you miss this chance of creating a logo that is useful, reflective, artistic, and suave, you’ve not done justice to your website.
Creating a creative website is not very easy as you have to bring creativity no doubt, but also justify why it’s best to be placed there. Apart from making sure that you don’t write volumes to compel the visitors scroll the page, make it a point to justify your actions every time to introduce a new creative element. Perhaps then, you would be able to enhance the creativity of the site.
For more information – http://www.bsb-creativedesign.com/portfolio.html
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Posted by in Uncategorized on October 19, 2009
In today’s competitive Internet economy, a company must have a dynamic Web presence. A well-designed website will attract customers, promote products, and provide a way for customers to communicate with your company. Website design is an extremely critical business component. A well-designed site will not only help you attract more clients and communicate with customers, but it will also provide a professional image to the world. On the other hand, a poorly designed site may be difficult for customers to navigate, may not function the way you need it to, and may provide a poor image of your company.
It is important to educate yourself about how a good website looks and functions – even though you are not designing it yourself. With the variety of choices in companies and freelance designers, how do you choose? Consider the following factors:
•Design Portfolio – The vendor should have a design portfolio that represents your aesthetic tastes. Some designers rely on Web 2.0 format, which is similar in appearance to a blog. Other designers have certain “styles” such as techie, corporate, artsy, mom-and-pop, etc. Make sure that you like the work in a designer’s portfolio and it matches your needs before agreeing to work with them.
•Price – There can be a huge difference in the price of website design and development. Factors like experience, technological abilities and client base are considerations. Also, will you do any of the work yourself? Always put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) in order to analyze the options that are available to you.
•References – Whenever you hire a vendor, you must check references! Make sure that the Web design company actually has live Websites in their portfolio. When you call references, ask questions like: Did their Website design vendor deliver the site as expected? What are the company’s strengths and weaknesses? Would you use them again? How was the follow-up after the launch of the site and were errors quickly corrected? Was their company easy to work with? If you are overwhelmed by the choices and checking references, click here for help!
•Technology – Web design firms have different technological abilities and specialties. Create a list of all of the things you’d like to have on your site (e-commerce, login, blog, RSS feeds) and address their abilities and any additional pricing for these features.
•Customer Relations – It’s important that you’re comfortable communicating with your designers and that they are responsive. If you choose to work with a team that is not local, the team should share files and progress updates efficiently and quickly. If you prefer a local company, make sure that they understand that they will need to make site visits to your office or meet with you at their office. Be ready to address problems quickly and professionally to ensure that your project is successful.
Understanding the importance of your online presence, you will want to be very selective with your design firm. If you want website designers to compete for your business, click here. For additional information, you can visit our web design wiki, click here.
Tips For Getting More Business From Your Website By Omniserve Website Design
Posted by in Uncategorized on October 18, 2009
The tips for getting more business from your website boil down to:1. Title tags: Make sure the title tag for your page reflects the target search phrase that you expect searchers looking for your product to type in (for more on how to pick the right target search phrase see http://www.seochat.com/c/b/Choosing-Keywords-Help/2. Clear and simple navigation: The way that searchers see the route to the information that they are seeking is via the Navigation linkages that your website provides. Make sure that your navigation is clear and contains the main actions that a searcher is likely to want to carry out. Remember you only have approximately 3 seconds before the average searcher bounces back to the search results( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4616700.stm )3. Main Heading (H1): Often the reason searchers bounce off a page is because it takes too long to figure out what the website they have landed on does and whether this is what the searcher needs. Therefore a clear heading saying in 5 or 6 words your Unique Selling Proposition, your USP (what is a USP) and if possible you should include some of the words that appear in your target search phrase to increase keyword density.4. Testimonials in a Guest Book: One certain way to reduce your bounce rate is to enable your customers to give positive feedback and to feature this in a prominent place on your home page.5. News and special offers in your Blog: Another way that searchers make their mind up about a website is to see if there are any signs of life in terms of recent news. If it is clear from a blog that features recent content that there are people actively working on the website it is a great confidence inspiring measure. Another advantage of a blog is that it allows you to feature time related special offers (for example 50% off if you book before the end of this month). This can be captured by Google and featured in search results for the product or service that you supply.6. Motivation Architecture: Think about the person reading the page. If someone stops you in the street to sell you a charity subscription they don’t launch straight into what they want you to do. They start by attempting to establish a rapport with you. In the inanimate medium of the web this is often forgotten. The most motivating word in the English language is “you”, for example “We create solutions for you” or “We will look after you”. Once a degree of intimacy has been achieved then you seek to motivate the searcher to take action using power words in “calls to action” such as “Please call us now” or “Order now and save”.7. The final item on your home page is your page footer. Include your address here and your target search phrase as both of these will help your appearance in Google.
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Factors to Know Before Hire a Website Design Company
Posted by in Uncategorized on October 15, 2009
Your website is one of the major marketing options you have. But selecting a web designing company to create the custom website design for your business is one of the major decisions you have to take for your business. Before going to hire a web designing firm there are few factors you should always keep in mind.
First: Identify the main objective of your website. What the features you need in your website. To identify your needs you can always check the competitors’ or niche websites. From there you can make a good list of the features for your site. After making the list move ahead and choose a reliable web design company create a website for you.
Second: For choosing the best website design company you can always take the help of your friends. But if you take the help of Google or other search engines you will get thousands of websites.
Third: Check the portfolio of all the sites as far as you can. Checking the portfolios of the professional website design companies ensures that this company has the experience of working with your niche or similar to the businesses like yours. This will also help you to chalk out the plan and to make an idea of which features you need for your business website. This also ensures that this company is not a fly-by-night company. Your investment and your valuable time are secure with this company. You can make a good list with the results to contact them.
Fourth: Contact the sites which you sort listed. It would be better if you also ask for the timeline. Make sure that you get the quick and quality output. Many firms promise to deliver the projects within a week but you have to compromise with the quality. Always try to balance between them. You can easily understand how much time it would take to finish a module. Check whether they have included the time for testing the project or not into their plan of work.
Fifth: Professional website companies always provide these three services namely designing, development and search engine optimization. Lacking of any one of these specialized services may result a severe problem to your website. Always confirm whether the company provides the complete maintenance of the site or not. It is very essential to have the maintenance services.
Sixth: Now the most important factor is the cost to hire a web design company. Always go for the affordable website company. But do make sure that you are getting the full value of your money. It should be always kept in mind that cheaper services are not always better services. Many websites are offering cheaper cost and their final output is also cheap. Your money could be drained out with those companies. So always go for the best website company providing low cost solution to your business. Again check their web design portfolios and make sure that this web design company is providing the world class quality services.
Seventh: When you select a website design company always ask for the mock designs for your project. Mock designs are the part of your project. Check atleast 3-4 mock designs. Every professional website design company definitely provides the mock designs. You can easily choose the best creative and unique design for your business from those designs.
Lastly: Make sure that your site is totally search engine friendly. Always go with those companies which are providing the professional SEO and internet marketing services along with the designing and development services. It is very much necessary to make your site visible and the potential customers can find your site on the web. More visitors generate more chances for sales. BrandMantra.net is providing these services at an affordable cost.
It is always advisable to follow these points before hiring an offshore web designing, web development firm, as the selection of the best web design development company is a big step you are going to take to grow your business on the web.
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