10 reasons to hire a professional designer.

A Web Site is Your Online Representative

Would you build your brick and mortar shop and do all of the signs and interior decorating yourself? Most of us would not; we would hire professionals to give us the best image possible. Your web site acts as your business card and/or online shop. It acts as a direct representative of you and your business. If your web site doesn’t have the professional image you need, you are losing customers. If first impressions are so important, why would you want to scare your potential customers away in the first second?

Professionalism

When you hire a professional designer, not only do they know how to give you a beautiful image, but also how to give you the image that’s right for your business and industry. A skilled designer should know the ins and outs of marketing as well as creativity. An effective web site should be unique, be pleasant on the eye, have clear and easy navigation, load efficiently, and work properly in all the major browsers.

Saving Time

Hiring a professional web designer instead of making the web site yourself will save you a lot of time, energy, and frustration. There is a large learning curve in order to make effective web sites and there are many aspects to web development much beyond learning HTML which makes it a full time job. A professional web developers is skilled and up-to-date in several areas including Marketing, SEO, Communication, HTML, CSS, Photo Optimization, Search Engine Optimization, Java Script, and possibly several other languages like Flash, PHP and others.

Getting Ahead of the Competition

As you may well know, competition is as fierce in the internet as it is in the physical world. If your competitors have a web presence before you do, they are already a step ahead of you. But, if you launch a new web site that is more effective than theirs, you will have the extra edge. Not only does a well-built web site give a good first impression, it also will give your customers a reason to trust your business over that of your competitors.

Uniqueness and Customization

There are about 56,000,000 web sites on the internet as of November 2004 according to netscape.com. How are you going to make yours stand out? Buying a nice template can be a quick and cheap solution, but you may risk having your web site look like several others. Furthermore, many features that you may require for your web site including contact forms, galleries, forums, and other special scripts are simply not available with pre-made templates. If you have a web site built with a pre-made template and in the future you want to expand it, you may have to rebuild the whole site again to include the added features that you need.

Communicating Your Message

A professional web designer is experienced in knowing how to properly communicate your message. They are skilled at marketing and are concerned, above all, with how to effectively communicate your message by organizing your information in a digestible manner as well as communicating your message through the use of colors, fonts, shapes, layouts, and more to convey the message you want to represent for your business.

Attention

A nice web site designed by a professional designer will bring attention to your business. Not only does a nice web site attract new customers, it will also bring professional attention from your peers or potential advertisers that you may be in search of. Word-of-mouth and good referrals are some of the most powerful marketing tools there are.

Search Engine Optimization

One of the most important factors about a web site is its presence in the search engines. It is useless to have the nicest web site in the world if it doesn’t have a good presence in the search engine listings. Good search engine ranking are important because they are usually the number one way potential customers will find you on the internet. They also act as a free and effective advertising tool. A professional web designer will know how to develop your web site to make it fair decently in search engine listings by building it search engine-friendly from the bottom up. This is the most effective and ethical way to insure top rankings for your web site.

Browser Compatibility

Browser incompatibility occurs when a web site doesn’t show the same way or appears “broken” to site visitors on different browsers. The reason for this is that different browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, Safari, etc.) have different standards for displaying web pages. What looks perfectly fine in one browser may show up as a jumbled mess in another. Professional web designers are skilled at knowing how to make web sites display properly on a variety of browsers. A good web designer will test and construct your web site across browsers, insuring that the majority of people on different browsers can see your web site the way it should be.

Making the Difference between Personal and Commercial Web Sites

There is a huge difference between a home page and a professional web site. It can take years of experience to learn how to build an effective commercial web site and it is something that is best left to an expert. Having a professional web site will provide you with a sense security in your business that no home-made web site can do. Your web site will be something that thousands of people around the world may view every day. Make sure your web site shows what you want the world to see; a high-quality, clean, accessible, professional, and top ranking business.

Career In Graphic Design

Creative Director
Lets start at the top and work down. Art directors, or Creative Directors are responsible for a creative team that may design work for magazines, television, advertising graphics, websites, or on packaging. A creative team can consist of layout artists, graphic designers, photographers, copywriters, and menial staff to do the work. An Art directors job is to make sure that each of these workers do not slack off down the pub and complete their work to a deadline and to the client's needs. Art directors also make major decisions along the lines of should the background be slate grey or cobalt blue, issuing dictates and changing their mind several days after a deadline has passed - leaving co-workers resolutely glum about their position in the grand scheme of things. Art directors will inevitably have come from some kind of marketing or sales background and need no prior graphic design knowledge or skill.

Senior Designer
A Senior Designer is mainly concerned with the visual aspects of a company and will probably have been promoted on the basis that she is fun and a 'great team player' (despite this being far from the case). A Senior Designer will usually insist on having a larger widescreen monitor than the rest of the team which will be decorated variously with fluffy pink bits marketing people send through on a daily basis. A Senior Designer will be involved in the elements of a company’s look such as business cards, stationery, packaging design, media advertising graphics, promotional design, and sticking up pictures of topless 'hunks'.

Graphic Designer
The job of a Graphic Designer is to provide a new and exciting way to express the key information of a company or product through a dynamic image or use of typography. Graphic Designers take the scant information given to them by the client and using the internet to scab some free clip art, fashion their own ripped off logo designs in order to fleece the client for all they are worth.

Layout Artists and Artworkers
The engine room of the design world. These scumbags have been buried away with their dusty Macs for decades, remorselessly churning out pages and layouts. Inevitably some clueless Muppet will send over a 100 page brochure laid out in Microsoft word and it will be the Artworkers thankless task to make it publishable. They will need to recognized a font at 50 yards, be able to colour correct the dreariest of images and take a good bollocking every now and again to keep them on their toes. The Artworker must have the ability to design magazines, design brochures, design flyers, design books and design posters. He harbors murder fantasies.

Illustrators
Illustrators generally speaking will have long graying hair and be influenced by prog rock. Working from home among the dungeon and dragon figurines and Manga comics they will attempt to put their own unique spin on whatever brief they are given. What you will be presented with is a semi clad girl with oversized boobs. You will have waited several weeks for this. You will never learn from previous mistakes.

Web Designers
Web designers create the pages, layout, and graphics for web pages, they will be technically minded to the point of absurdity. They will insist on using c++ coding language to impress other geeks and will beaver away doing whatever it is geeks do for hours on end. Web designers also design and develop the navigation tools of a site which will for design websites involve tiny text that makes your eyes bleed. Web designers are far too clever for their own good and should never be encouraged.

Mindtap Graphic Design Resources http://www.mindtap.co.uk is your single point entry into the UK creative industries. We are looking to create a unique site where you can access information on ">UK graphic design http://www.lunatrix.co.uk, UK logo design http://www.graphic-logo-design.co.uk, graphic design.

Career In Graphic Design Published on February 10, 2007 | http://www.designnewsnext.com/Article/5.html

Freelance design jobs – an efficient way to get things done

Web development is a field constantly evolving and offering hundreds of people an online job. Combined with freelancing, it provides a constant source of income obtained through independent work and a flexible schedule. Indeed, freelance jobs sound ideal for those who prefer working from their own computer, whenever their time allows them to. Web development involves web design, a type of work which requires creativity and imagination along with a lot of professionalism. This makes freelance design jobs even more attractive than other types of freelancing work.

To go online, any company has to have a website made. Depending on the type of business it conducts, the website has to have an appropriate look targeting a certain category of visitors. Freelance design jobs are perfect for those who can provide service buyers with the desired look for their website in a timely manner and for a reasonable price. By using freelance jobs, the independent contractors have more freedom in what they do and how they do it. Freelance design jobs allow them to work for a price they consider appropriate as remuneration for their work. If the results are satisfying, then they will earn not only money, but also a client which might come back to collaborate again.

New freelancers, who are just getting started on a website, don’t have feedback for past freelance design jobs. To receive some reviews and get proof of their skills, they initially work for free. After they become confident enough that they’ve earned enough experience to be paid for their work, they start adding to their price. Either way, those interested in getting some freelance jobs to work for, do get a chance if they simply put some effort into what they do.

Experienced service providers do however have to pay attention to details regarding freelance design jobs because the outcome of the projects may influence the way their business goes in the future. An unsatisfied client can lead to money and time loss. The best solution is to give everything you have to make the client happy. If your intention is to get something original and interesting well-done, then experience is a must. These freelance jobs cost more and the effort is worth every penny. You, as a provider, should communicate well, have examples of templates, logos and banners, have a plan well balanced describing exactly what you will do and how long it will take you to do it and you should also prove you have a past record of positive feedback. All this information is a guarantee that the freelance design jobs you accept won’t be superficially attended to. You will therefore become a reliable provider worth the entire attention of the buyer.

Web design is sometimes a matter of taste and you, the freelancer, assume you know what the client wants from you. Although your effort to make the website look good might be considerate, if the service buyer has a specific idea about how the website should look in the end and you don’t live up to the expectations, you might get in trouble. This is why it is wise to receive advice from the client from the beginning. This will get the freelance jobs done faster and without problems caused by misunderstandings.

Freelance design jobs are opportunities for both buyers and providers alike and, with the right approach on things, everyone can leave satisfied with their achievements. Communication is the one thing that makes freelancing work. It is the link between different people, situated perhaps miles away, with completely different ideas. Their goal keeps them united in their efforts to complete the freelance jobs they work on. The providers use all their skills to design something combining their talents and taste together with the buyer’s requests and receive in return well-earned money. The service buyer gets his freelance jobs done his way without wasting time and unnecessary money. Freelancing is a mutual benefit situation.


Freelance jobs are a modern and efficient method of earning money by working online independently. To find attractive freelance design jobs, please visit our website – a valuable online resource that you shouldn’t miss!

Published on April 26, 2007 | http://www.designnewsnext.com/Article/71.html

How to Make Professional Looking Business Brochures

A good business brochure gets attention most of the time. It has a maximum marketing power that when optimized your business brochures generate enough command for the right kind of attention to get you your aimed-for sales. A good business brochure contains text and information that makes your target readers asking for more.

One thing a good business brochure is not is boring. If you want your business brochures to bore the heck out of your target readers, then you can rave all you want about you and your business and you’ll definitely get a nod – a nod to never neverland, that is.

Your business brochures definitely gets on the top of the list of boring items when you focus more on your company’s name and image rather than what you have to offer in terms of your products and services.

Your business brochures are considered boring when you go on and on about your company’s story and abandon what is most important in your brochure printing project – how you can help ease the nagging problems that beset your target audience.

On the other hand, excellent business brochures are more about your target clients and their concerns, and how you can make this world a better place for them.

So how do you develop excellent business brochures that get your target readers’ attention?

You can have excellent business brochures when you know everything about your target market. When you write your brochure printing copy, include everything you know about your clients – What problems do they encounter on a regular basis? What frustrations do they have? What threats do they encounter that impede their business growth? What are their fears and desires?

You can have excellent business brochures when you have a stand out headline that grabs your target readers’ attention. A headline that addresses their innermost issues and helps them to confront their worst fears, that is what would drive them to get a better view of your business.

You can have excellent business brochures when your target clients see that you have addressed certain issues and concerns, which gets them to believe of your interest in really understanding their situation.

You can have excellent business brochures when you have concrete proof that you can solve a problem. This can be made possible by including a case study or testimonials to your business brochures.

Finally, you can have excellent business brochures when you can state clearly a specific, unique and memorable proposal that differentiates you from all the other dick-and-harry who have presented the same things you are now offering.

Get your desired outcome by providing your target market with business brochures that gets their attention. Looking at the things that will make your target clients the main focus of your business brochures can help you soar in ways that you have only dreamed about previously.

Published on September 15, 2007 | http://www.designnewsnext.com/Article/109.html

What is a Good Logo Design?

Everyone wants his company logo to be the best but how good is good? How do we define a good business logo? Is it necessary to be colorful or an exquisite piece of art? Can a simple design work as a good logo? We are often in a dilemma.

Now to define a good logo design we first need to understand the purpose of having a logo. A corporate logo is one of the most essential branding elements for your company. It should be instrumental in building your corporate identity and should successfully exude the company's attitude. The viewers must have some idea about the disposition, character, or fundamental values of your company through your logo. The functionality of a logo does not end here, I have not yet mentioned the most important function of a corporate logo. Your logo should be able to build a positive, strong and long lasting impression on existing and prospective customers. The very moment a person views your logo, even a part of it, he should think of your company.

Just think of some of the all time great logos, McDonalds', IBM, Nike— the moment you see their business logos, even if you see a part of it or may be in Black and White (there comes another important aspect!) are you able to think of anything else than the respective company? The answer is definitely NO! The first thing that comes to your mind is the name of the company. This shows how strong an impression their logo leaves in our mind. Isn't that, what all of us are looking for?

How do you get your logo to leave such a strong long lasting impression? The key to this question is to make it easy to remember. Companies often make the mistake of thinking that a complicated artistic design might work well for them, while the reverse is true, in most cases. The simpler your logo is, the easier it is to remember and so it leaves a stronger impression on the people.

You also need to think of all the possible mediums where you are going to use your logo. You are not going to use your logo in only one medium, you might use it on your business cards and stationery, you might use it in your website, you might also use it in the conventional media like newspaper classifieds and magazines. This is why it is most important to inform your logo designers about the possible mediums where you are going to use your logo. You should also check if your logo looks good in Black and White, because tomorrow if you need to get a document in black and white with your logo on it, it should be very easily compatible to that as well.

In the beginning of this article, I have mentioned, that your logo can successfully convey the character and nature of your business to its viewers. How do we do that? There are a host of factors that are considered before designing a logo. When you place an order for a logo design, as a client it is your responsibility to give a clear brief of your company profile, the industry you are in and the nature of logo that you are looking for, to the designers. If you are not sure about the nature of logo that suits your company, let the logo design firm decide on that. There are many logo design companies who are experienced and they will be much better equipped to suggest you the correct type of logos. Any good logo design firm would conduct a market research about the different types of logos used in your industry by your competitors and their impact on the people. Based on that they will deliver you a set of logos from which you can choose any one and then they will customize that to your perfection.

If you have any corporate colors, as we have red for McDonalds', it will be wise to suggest the designers to use that color in your logo-any good designer would anyhow do that.

One last word, as with any other industry, it is definitely beneficial to buy professional service than to go for any amateur designs just to save a few dollars. You might be the best in your industry but they know their job better than you, so if you want to get a good result, try to depend on your logo design company. I do understand that there are certain logo design companies that charge exorbitant rate to create a logo design but the industry is changing. These days there are companies that offer excellent company logos for nominal charges. So before you decide to place your order for your logo design, check the portfolio of the company and then check the price tag. You can definitely find some professional logo designs at affordable rates.

Ray Smith is a marketing Expert with years of experience in different industries and specialized knowledge on branding and internet marketing.

Published on February 10, 2007 | http://www.designnewsnext.com/Article/1.html

Logo - Graphics Which Drives Your Company

The bright red of Coca Cola, the bull head of Chicago Bulls, the big arched 'M' of Mac Donald’s - don’t you recognize them the moment you see? That’s the power of logo. Whether you're in a competitive industry or not, whether your business is small or big it doesn't matter! The fact is that your customers remember your business when they see your logo design, regardless of how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise. A good logo makes not just a first impression, but a lasting one as well.

The symbol, the color, the font, the text, the size, the precision etc all count towards bringing the attention of your potential customers towards your company, and creating your company’s image and finally its brand. Get a custom logo for your business that best reflects your company's spirit! It is very essential to choose what type of logo suits your company's business. Most of the large international companies have pretty simple logos because research says not to overload the consumers with too much information. And yes a lot of research goes into creating these simple logos. Each of these business logos has its own specific font and size, and exclusive color combinations that make them unique. Every single symbol and icon used together with the logo has a significant meaning.

But there are a few important things that should be kept in mind while selecting or making a logo for your company to create that recognition in the market. You have to create a unique and special icon together with your logo including your website or company name in that. A logo should have a peaceful combination of colors and not more than two or three colors should be used at a time. If you are hiring a logo design company then it is better to get it done by a professional logo design company with loads of experience. Before you take the final decision of launching your company logo you should test it once in a trusted circle. And last but not the least is to have a striking tagline to accompany the logo. The resultant logo should convey the right message to the people. You got to have an idea for the vision you want to create in the people's mind. The key to the success of a company's identity depends to what extent you can give your logo the recognizable look.

The graphics of your logo should be communicated purely in visual terms, to the right brain hemisphere of your customers. It should not depend on verbal or intellectual interpretation. If it is a word mark, it should be recognized by its form alone. For example, you don't have to 'read' Adidas's logo more than once, to recognize the famous brand. The three parallel stripes mark became the worldwide Adidas corporate logo design - a name that stands for competence in all sectors of sports throughout the globe. Think of the future and avoid being too trendy. A good logo will last your company 15 years and give your customers a chance to burn the image into their brains. Even with these tips, it's important for a company to get outside help unless it has in-house designers who have experience with logos as well as the time to devote to the project.

Logo designs form the energy, the feeling and the passion of a business. It's what makes us care. It is more than research and strategy. Good design is exciting - it shouts- it demands that you remember it.

Jennifer is an expert Internet marketing professional with years of experience in various industries such as: Business, Finance, Logo designs, Real Estate, Web-Design, Health & Medicine and many more.
Published on September 21, 2007 | http://www.designnewsnext.com/Article/115.html

Technologies And Design Elements To Improve Web-site Navigation

Technologies And Design Elements To Improve Web-site Navigation

As you browse the Web, you will find sites that implement just about every type of navigation scheme you can think of and then even some more! However, certain common factors do emerge. The use of menu bars, either horizontally or vertically oriented, are the most common way of allowing users to move through your site.

Sites with a great deal of content often implement dynamic menu bars that change to present the most relevant options on each page. Sites often use some kind of “feedback" or special effect to let users know where certain navigation elements are located, such as graphics that change colors when the users point their mouse at them.

You can use a variety of technologies and design elements to implement Web site navigation. As you consider different navigation techniques, keep the following seven basic comparison factors in mind:

Visual

Does the technique look and like a navigation element that users are accustomed to seeing? In other words, is it a button or a menu that users will recognize as a navigation element?

Feedback

Does the technique offer some form of feedback to indicate that a user has pointed at or clicked a particular navigation element? This type of feedback can be important because users often explore a site by moving their mouse around to see what happens. Navigation techniques that allow individual elements to respond to this activity make the overall navigation more likely to succeed.

Accessibility

How does the technique work when a visually impaired person attempts to use the site with a specially equipped Web browser? If this demographic is important to your company, pay special attention to this capability.

Overhead

Some techniques require the Web browser to server to transfer more data to the Web browser than is required by other techniques. If your customers will be accessing the site over slower connections, then using techniques with a high overhead will result in slow page loads, and possibly bored customers who will give up and move on to the competition.

Scalability

Does the technique offer any particular advantages to make growing the site easier? Some navigation designs may require you to redesign the entire site every time a new feature is added. Others may simply require a few minor modifications to add several new departments to a menu.

Space

Some techniques, combined with your site’s browsing philosophy, require considerable space on the screen. Other techniques allow you to present a wider array of navigation choices while using less screen space. Keep in mind that your navigation elements should never occupy the majority of the screen. It is the content that your customers came for, not the menu bars.

Compatibility

How well wills this technique work within the available range of Web browsers? If one of your objectives is to have your site usable by as many customers as possible, pay attention to the techniques that offer a broad range of compatibility, and steer away those that are limited to a smaller set of browsers.

Navigation Technologies

To implement Web site navigation, you can use one of four primary technologies. The oldest and simplest of these technologies is the basic, static HTML page. A step up from that is the static HTML page, which is dynamically generated on the Web server. Web pages can be given more interactive capabilities with Dynamic HTML (DHTML), whether programmed in VBScript or JavaScript. Java presents the opportunity to program a complete, standalone application to use as a navigation aid.

Static HTML

Static HTML links are the oldest and simplest form of navigation on the Web. They can be less exciting than their dynamic counterparts, but remain one of the most effective navigational techniques on the Web.

Dynamically Generated Static HTML

If your site is constantly growing and changing, static HTML will require a constant effort to keep the navigational elements in line with the site’s growth. A common solution to this problem has been to dynamically generate the navigation elements when the page displays. When using the DHTML, you don’t have to manually update elements as the site grows, because an automated process generates the navigation elements as necessary, based on the information in a database.

VBScript and JavaScript Dynamic HTML

DHTML is a technology that allows you to embed programming code in the Web pages that are sent to user’s computers. DHTML code actually executes within the users Web browser, and can change the appearance and content of the Web page in response to the user’s actions on the page.

In Finality

You can use a variety of technologies and design elements to implement Web site navigation. As you consider different navigation techniques, keep the above seven basic comparison factors in mind. Visitors are becoming rare and rare in this competitive globe of e-commerce. Retain those who visit to your site for longer period in order to convert them as customers. Site navigation techniques help you to do so.

About the author
David Davis, is the lead developer and project manager of RedflyStudios LTD. – Web Design Ireland. For more information visit http://www.redflystudios.com

© 2006 David Davis. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).

How To Create Your Websites Look And Feel Easy Ways To Design A Great Website

When launching a website, one of the most important goals you must achieve is appealing to your target audience. At the same time, you must stand out from your competitors. However, in doing so, many times businesses go to far and make their site too busy. While they may think it looks great, they are really driving potential customers away. Here are a few tips to make sure your site is up to par with your competitors.

Use a simple straight forward color scheme.

Nothing is worse than a webpage that is so colorful that you can hardly read it. For starters, use only two or three colors for your entire webpage. Also make sure the colors are complementary and are pleasing to the eye. It’s very hard to keep people at your site when they can’t read what’s on it.

Use a template

Your site will look and feel its best when you use a consistent look throughout the site. While you don’t have to use a pre-designed template, you can create your very own template and use it throughout the webpage. Doing so will add to the look and feel of your site and also help customers navigate through it.

Use graphics and other effects sparingly

Another problem that many businesses run into when designing websites is using too many special effects. While at first they may seem flashy and great, too many, can take away from the website and untimely turn off potential clients. Also, special effects can cause increased download time for your site, which also hurts traffic to your site. Therefore, as a rule of thumb only use one or two special effects in your entire site so that the customers are not distracted and are able navigate your site quickly and easily. Remember, just like a brick and mortar store front, too much clutter will turn away potential customers. Keep your site simple, straight forward, and appeal to your clientele and you will be surprised at the all the new traffic to your site.

About the Author: Drew Johnson is a Public Relations intern for Kinetica Media, an Internet marketing company that works to harness the power of websites, email and search marketing to enable businesses of all sizes to get and keep more customers. Visit http://www.kineticamedia.com or call 866-526-4309 to see how their proven online marketing services can increase your customer loyalty and sales.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Drew_Johnson

Effective Web Page Design For E-Commerce

The widespread availability of high-speed Internet access has resulted in ever-greater numbers of consumers making online purchases. This means that business owners of all stripes - from individuals working from home to big box mass merchandisers - can reach more buyers and can generate exponentially greater revenue than ever before.

There are many theories about and tips for marketing and advertising your online store, and marketing and advertising is certainly a consideration. But in focusing so much attention on marketing, many business owners neglect a fundamental aspect of successful e-commerce: web page design.

If you don't have a professional webpage design, it doesn't matter how much traffic you generate to your site because those visitors won't convert to customers. It's crucial to have a website that is compelling and that makes visitors want to stay long enough to buy. Here, then, are six tips to help your web design transform visitors into customers:

1. Keep it Clean. A professional web page designer will tell you that to keep your virtual storefront clean and free of clutter. It should be immediately clear to the visitor the types of items you sell without overwhelming them with dozens of hyperlinks, fonts, and flashing buttons and words. You can certainly incorporate a flash introduction in your web design, but if you do, give the visitor control. He or she should be able to bypass or pause the flash so that the annoyance factor is kept to a minimum.

2. Intuitive Navigation. Your website designer should think like your customer and design a navigation system that easily takes your customer from your home page to the product or products of interest. The fewer number of clicks it takes to get from point A to point B, the more likely it is that your visitor will make a purchase.

3. Search Functionality. Customers need to be able to find what they need quickly and easily. Allowing customers to search by keyword or product number is a great start. Going one step further and allowing "fuzzy" searches that will also return matches for common misspellings is even better.

4. Seamless Shopping Cart. Many e-commerce sites lose customers at the critical juncture between selecting items and committing to buy them. An intuitive and easy-to-use shopping cart is essential to the online shopping experience. Again, your web page designer should think like your customer and utilize a shopping cart that makes checkout a breeze.

5. SSL Certificate. If you're an online merchant, there's simply no getting around the need for an SSL certificate. With the problems associated with identity theft, your customers need to have confidence that your website is secure.

6. Leave it to the Professionals. When it comes to web page design, don't succumb to the temptation to do it yourself. Even if you have a web design program, you should hire a business web page designer to create your web site. Professionals have a variety of tools that will help your business succeed online, and will act as your partner in developing e-commerce solutions that will encourage visitors to stick around and purchase your products.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about E-Commerce Web Page Design or Majon's Business and Entrepreneurs directory.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Robertson

Website Impressions - Be PositiveIt is said that you shouldn't be negative, so, "Get Rid of Negative Impressions," on your website. Portray the positi

It is said that you shouldn't be negative, so, "Get Rid of Negative Impressions," on your website. Portray the positive.

However, there are times that by examining the negative you are able to illustrate and make the positive much more effectual.

Your Website is a Reflection of Your Business.

Very often, when a company decides to prepare and publish a website they will hire a professional, which is good, and for the most part, the right way to do it. The bad part of this equation is that they depend entirely upon the web designer to do everything and generally accept, with minor changes, or, corrections, whatever is presented.

There could be any number of reasons for this, but, without elaborating on all of them, it really boils down to not having done your homework. In this instance, your homework should have been spending a lot of time on the internet examining as many different websites as possible. Dissecting each of the sights and listing what you like and dislike about each. By the way, this definitely does not mean copying someone else's website.

The following is a list of things to avoid, and, by expounding on these negatives we are, hopefully, creating a more powerful appearance and functionality for your website.

A Good Website – "Avoids".

Slow Uploads.

A slow website is probably the primary reason that viewer/surfers move on to the next site without even knowing what it is all about. It has been shown that the average viewer/surfer does not have the patience to wait.

The longer it takes your website to upload the more likely your are to lose that person. The internet works on speed, milliseconds, to be specific. The viewer/surfer has become acclimated to that speed; therefore, a website that takes more than 10 - 15 seconds, well if you really push it 20 seconds, to upload, is a slow website.

Keep the byte size of your pages as small as possible and definitely minimize the amount and size of graphics and flash.

Finally, become a viewer/surfer. What do you do when the site you just clicked on takes too long to upload? If you're like me, you move on.

Poor Navigation.

The ease of navigating your website keeps your viewer/surfer more interested in staying. Moving around and searching an easily navigable site becomes a pleasure. Navigating on a poorly designed website is a chore that the average viewer/surfer shy's away from. It's that simple.

Being organized and consistent throughout your site should be near the top of the list of "Must Do's." See our article Website Navigation How to Make or Break Your Website for an in-depth discussion.

Too Much Junk.

Have you ever looked at the entry page of a website and all you see are ads, graphics, flash, banners, etc., with nothing else about the site. Now don't misunderstand, I'm not opposed to having ads on your site. It can be and often is a big asset, but just like anything there is a limit.

If your site is just for ad marketing and nothing else, it's fine to have your pages filled with ads and links, that's your business and your lifeline to making money.

If, however, your business is, Architectural Engineering, a page full of ads and flash about Women's Lingerie, or, Motor Cycles, is not going to help you sell your services. They have come to you for specific information, not, unrelated ads. Having ads that complement your business, without advertising for a competitor, of course, sounds more logical to me.

Psychedelic Colors.

Have you ever been on a website when every other word or sentence is a different color, typeface and size? If you are trying to win a contest, about the greatest use of colors, or, typefaces in a single sentence, then, congratulations. Otherwise, I'm sorry, but, "very unprofessional", in my humble opinion, is an understatement.

It has been shown, that viewers prefer simplicity. For business and sales oriented websites, lighter backgrounds (it doesn't have to be pure white), a strong contrasting type color and a simple typeface. These are easy on the eyes and makes the viewer much more relaxed. For artistic or gallery type websites, there is a lot of leeway, so long as it's easy on the eyes, including a strong contrast between the background and content.

Need I say more!

We will continue our article on "Website Impressions – Be Positive" in Part 2.

Alex Armen's background is in marketing and design. He started Armen Graphic DesignCONTACT US FOR A FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION. Go to our website for more information and an understanding of how we work. ARMEN GRAPHIC DESIGN which is a relatively new company that specializes in marketing and design. The company’s foundation is based upon the premise of K.I.S.S., believing that simplicity in marketing effects the greatest returns.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_Armen

Web Site Design - Elementary Tips on how to Design a Site

Web site designing is an important part of any online business or any advertising endeavor that a business may have. As it is important, it is equated to having the process of designing a site an intricate and often times more complicated than the actual creation of the site. There are a hundred and one ways on how one can design a site but the fundamental and basic means on how to design a site is well written here. You may want to take a look at these tips and learn from them:

a. When designing a site, it is essential that you do not put too much banner advertisements on it. Too much banner ads on a web site basically flushes away potential clients from even getting into your site. Aside from the fact these are mere turn-offs to potential clients, having too much of these are just a sore in the eye.

b. In designing a website, you are supposed to lead your potential clients to a simple way to navigate thru your site. In which case, you need to make sure that there are simplified and straightforward navigational direction sets for your potential clients. Otherwise, when potential clients cannot just get enough of the intricacies of your directional instructions, they simply go away and leave your site.

c. Allow the user to know at which part he is getting into. This means that in every facet of the portal site, you need to tell them exactly where they are being brought upon. This is to make sure that they know where they are being lead into so they may know if they are leading the right way to the site.

d. In designing a website, it is essential that you refrain from putting audio files on your site. Audio files are at times becoming irritants to a lot of users. Besides, you do not have a way of knowing as to what audio files are pleasing to the ears of your potential clients.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published eBooks

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_R_Mize

The Benefit of Using Dreamweaver CS3 Templates

In the early days of the Internet, users were hot to design their own websites. While there are many methods of writing websites, the most ubiquitous was simply opening the notepad application and writing the website in pure HTML. While there were many programs that came along that made this HTML coding unnecessary, a lot of them were simply unusable or inefficient or otherwise had problems.

Many times, what appeared to be normal and working fine in the user's browser would begin acting up once it was published to the Internet. This detachment of HTML coding and actual content, in what is referred to as a WYSIWYG editor, led to problems later on, as users thinking that they had effectively built a perfect website found that once published to the web, the elements of their website would move around independently and break anchor text. This breakage of anchors and refusal to follow the rules of HTML was a necessary byproduct of the WYSIWYG HTML editors.

This lack of reliability among Web authoring software led to many problems, as users were either forced to use the HTML, a boring and trying experience at best, or they could continue to use the WYSIWYG editor, which was basically a luck of the draw situation, where users were hoping to get the best results and consistent use from a somewhat inferior product. The WYSIWYG editors never seemed to do their job exactly right, as there was always some element that would be in the wrong spot or willing simply pop out after extended use or extended viewings, without warning.

But eventually, a new product hit the market called Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver was able to do a great deal of things, and embraced the HTML right on the desktop, rather than hiding it all behind a WYSIWYG editor. For the first time, users could see the HTML right up close and see what effect it was having as they moved elements around in the WYSIWYG editor. It was a revolution in HTML editing software and users flocked to the software offering that would allow them to do so much with so little.

Using Dreamweaver CS3 templates, users can save a tremendous amount of time by simply whipping out their favorite template, choosing some colors and publishing. The elegant Dreamweaver CS3 templates include a version of a template for every possible combination of themes that any user could ask for. A wealth of these templates makes it a very simple task to publish a beautiful and stunning Web page in just a matter of minutes, with some help from the Dreamweaver templates and judicious editing.

JSBwebDesign offers great tips about Dreamweaver website templates. Get free web page templates and learn about our business website design services. Visit us at http://www.jsbwebtemplates.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ivan_A_Cuxeva

A Good Web Site Essentials

Anyone can make a website. Basic HTML will do. But let us all admit, some website really sucks. Some are poor in designs and layout, some are crappy in content and the list goes on. These details are commonly the pitfalls of a web site. Here are some basic fundamentals on creating a good website.

Title

It's your website so it's your call on whatever title you want for it. But do remember that you are not the only one browsing or visiting your site. Keep in mind that in this case, you should consider the viability of your website so always think for the benefit of your visitors or at least think from their perspective. Your page title should be short but descriptive for two reasons. One is that it is the same phrase that will appear on the top of your page which will remind your guest what site they are browsing. Second is that once your guest bookmarks your website then it will be more convenient for them not to edit it anymore since it is already descriptive enough.

Content

Most visitors visit a site for information that is why the content of your page should be beneficial and interesting enough for your guests to come back. Beautiful graphics can be seen in a blink of an eye so if your content is inadequate then chances are your visitor will leave your website and never come back again.

Grammar and Spelling

Never forget to proof read because it could ruin the web site's credibility. Check for grammar errors and spelling.

Images and Fonts

Here, the layout comes in a little. Bear in mind that each visitor have different browsers. And layouts comes out differently from each and every browser. But of course it depends if it was tested and programmed well to attain the layout goal. Also, not all fonts are available on all computers. So i suggest a commonly-used font.

Don't be overwhelmed in putting all the images in your resources. Keep it simple. Anyway, it will add up to you page load time especially if the image file is too large. Keep it pleasant to the eyes.

Page Length

Articles are different from web content. You can write a very long article but writing for a web content is completely different. A web content should be short and brief. Usually, if the content of a page, especially if its the index page, is long enough that the visitor will have to scroll down to read it then it will definitely bore them and wouldn't even bother to read all of that.

Links

Links should be more than “click here.” This is your chance yo use your keywords for a better ranking in search engines. The tool tip should also describe where the link is going to. Most importantly, the link should be relevant to your site to avoid being a link farm. Choose a quality link.

Contact us form

This is very helpful because you will never know if a visitor is encountering problems with your site. This way, not only you can get feed backs from your guests, but also you can correct the problem fast.

In doing a website remember that you are trying to please your target market and not just yourself. Step into their shoes and see if your website will catch the interest of your market.

RESOURCE: Author Methyl Vizcarra recommends Wicked Innovations – a web design firm based in the Philippines that specializes in ecommerce web site design and web development services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Methyl_Vizcarra

Web Page Design Instruction - The Vital Role of Colors

I wonder if you knew that visitors to your website form an instant opinion? And they form it about you and your offer. This instant opinion is created subconsciously. It happens automatically within the visitors mind. This happens automatically, and you might wonder why. It matters not a jot how clever the text is on your page. You can have paid an expensive professional to produce your copy for you. In fact, their instant opinion is formed before the visitor will have read a single word of your copy.

It doesn't matter either, whether the quality of the images on your website are of the highest. It also doesn't matter how great your offer is. You might be providing a superb bargain or proposition, but again this isn't going to influence the instant opinion. This is because the initial reaction to your website is instant, and occurs the moment the page appears in the browser of your visitor. You may have guessed there is something subliminal at work here. In a way, that is right. Immediate opinions are formed by visitors to every single website. This may surprise you, but the answer is colors. When your web page appears to your visitor, the colors you've used go to work on the subconscious of your visitors.

The spooky thing about this is that as a web page viewer we can do nothing about this. Colors evoke an intuitive reaction which we have no control over.' The feelings evoked by colors are automatic, and there's no way we can avoid them. This is one of the reasons why companies can invest millions in getting the colors exactly right for their products and marketing promotions. Big companies realize that colors are a psychological feature, and they can influence our reception of their marketing. Companies fully appreciate that the use of the correct colors can be critical in the success of their products. What webmasters have to realize, and this can be very important, is that the same color psychology applies to our web pages.

The fact is, the color scheme you use on your web pages can have the effect of causing your visitors to very quickly click away from your website. This can happen even if the copy on your website is compelling. The chances are that visitors who are put off by your colors are unlikely to read your copy anyway. But don't despair. By using a different color scheme it is quite possible to influence your web page visitor to react positively to you and your offering. This isn't a new discovery. The psychological power of colors is well known in the offline marketing world. It's been around with us for decades. No matter who we are, emotions are conveyed to our subconscious through the use of colors.

What we need to do in our website design is to ensure the color combination on our web pages convey a positive feelings. If you do this, then you will be conveying a trust, sense of belonging and warmth. If you get your colors wrong, you could be conveying negative feelings like distrust, rejection and coolness. The following list gives an idea of the emotions associated with their respective colors:

RED
Danger, love, leadership, sense of power, excitement, energy, strength etc

ORANGE
Courage, playfulness, confidence, cheerfulness, friendliness, comfort, steadfastness etc

YELLOW
Amusement, intelligence, caution, organization, joy, curiosity, brightness etc

GREEN
Health, healing, money, nature, food, harmony, life etc

BLUE
Peace, love, stability, acceptance, trustworthiness, patience, tranquility etc

PURPLE
Wisdom, dignity, royalty, nobility, luxury, independence, ambition etc

BROWN
Tribal, earthiness, comfort, durability, reliability, nature, primitive etc

BLACK
Sophistication, formality, power, elegance, wealth, dramatic, style etc

WHITE
Simplicity, goodness, innocence, cleanliness, fresh, easy, purity etc

Finally, be aware that your website color scheme should reflect the product or offering you make. The subconscious mind of your visitors will automatically relate the color of your page with the message that's on it. If you give out a mixed message in terms of color and offer, the subconscious mind will not even attempt to reconcile the two. Which means, your visitor will be lost. You should spend time in determining what are the right colors for your web pages. Try and make sure your colors and message are in harmony. If you do this, your website will produce the results you're looking for. In summary, the difference between the right and wrong color scheme on your website can be the difference between profit and loss.

About the Author

Brian McGregor is an internet entrepreneur and business consultant, and author of the ebook CASH COLORS. If you're interested in web page design instruction, CASH COLORS shows how to make your web page colors work for you, as opposed to against you. http://www.cash-colors.com