Websites to Impress

Why Blogging Is So Important

2008-06-30T10:04:00.002-05:00

Blogs are now becoming a must have in today’s World Wide Web. It’s a common practice to create a website then create a blog for you new site and company. So what is this blog all about? A blog is where you can post anything and everything you care to blog about: whether it is a story, article, or just a thought. So why is a blog so important?

Let me ask you a question. When you are browsing around on the web looking for something in particular and you come across a site where the home page looks outdated and it shows it was last updated in 1997 what do you say to yourself? You say to yourself, is this website still reliable? The answer is no. Your new viewer is gone in a flash. So, how can we stop this? With a blog that is. With a blog you can constantly update your website. You can sign in and in seconds you will be able to post your new article. After you create your post it automatically goes into your archives. This comes in handy if you want to leap back to a certain date or article. Your past articles will never be lost. That’s the best thing about it! Another great thing about a blog is your viewers can post a comment sharing their views and ideas. With a blog, your site is always changing and updating drawing your consumers because, your website isn’t sitting on the web waiting for a new update in 2010, it’s changing now! This shows that your company is up and running, making improvements, and is there for the people. You can link your blog to your website or can even view your blog in your website with a little coding.

So why not just have a blog and not a website? Well, there are some big draw backs if you just use a blog to represent your company. For one, if you want to have a shopping cart for your products, or have personal and contact information, you probably wouldn’t want to use your Blog to post these. You can’t add a shopping cart to your blog for one and if you want to change the layout and customize it you can’t unless you know HTML.

If you decide to download a blogging system to your computer without using an online system you will also need to know PHP and have a MySQL server.

So the best bet for you, is to have both a website and a blog. That way you can update frequently using your blog which is attached to your website while also having a secure website you can post your contact and personal information on.

Blogging will be around for a long time. So next time you are bored at home jump on your computer and start blogging. Your customers will appreciate it!

Feng Shui your Website

2008-06-23T08:48:00.006-05:00

Feng Shui, what is it, how did it begin, and how can it make your life more harmonious?

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui is bringing about a more harmoniuos life. One way to use Feng Shui is with your home. The Chinese believe that if you set your home in the right location your life would be filled with happy, success, wealth, health, and abundance. We all want to lead our lives down a greater path to success so why don't we investigate this a little further.

Where did this Feng Shui all begin?

Feng Shui arrived about five thousand years ago in ancient Chinese time. There is an old Chinese story that talks about its origin.

The first of the five emperors, Wu, was into irrigation work on the Yellow River. On one special day, Wu and a couple of other workers were out by the River working as usual when they noticed a tortoise crawl out of the river. This was a magnificent omen to them for they believed that gods lived inside their shells! But, this tortoise was especially different. Unlike other tortoises and turtles this tortoise had a perfect spell bounding square on its shell. Day in and day out, they studied this wonderful creature. They were bewildered of how this creature could have such a fortune as this. In the end this one of a kind tortoise became the bases of what we now know as Feng Shui, the I Ching, Chinese astrology, and Chinese numerology.

That tortoise, they say, was there that fine day to show us a way to harmonize our lives. Let's talk about how we can bring about Feng Shui into our websites. Our goal is to create a positive energy that people feel as they enter our site but also feel throughout their entire experience. That positive energy is good Chi'i. Chi'i is energy that must be capable of flowing well if you want a positive environment. When ch'i stands still, you get bad feng shui.

How to make your website Feng Shui.

The main ideas for creating positive Chi’i within your website is aligning web pages, and using easy clean navigation throughout the whole website. Also, making your webpage bright and clean instead of dark and dreary will activate positive chi'i. Dark energy is more likely to be processed when you use all dark colors because it feels like you are underground or in a cave where the bad energy can’t escape and the good energy can’t get in and flow around.

Bold colors and clear jpegs images are to be brought about. If you have colors that don't go together or images that are greatly compressed you will create bad chi'i.

Another thing to think about is putting natural real life images into your website. This distracts the annoyance of the computer screen and creates a feeling a nature and being around life outside.

Also, areas of stillness is a must, you don't need to have everything on your website active. This actually created bad Chi'i if used wrong you need the stillness to keep you grounded.

Other things to think about is simplicity, straight lines, and an appealing main page that will strike your visitors with positive energy right off the get go.

Feng Shui is here to stay. Here to bring about a better way of life. And, here to solve your negative chi'i that affects your life. You can also use Feng Shui in your home and other parts of your life. Even I have started to use a little Feng Shui myself .What can it hurt right?

How And Why Branding Is So Important

2008-06-16T08:17:00.002-05:00

Every company wants Brand Recognition. They want people to take one good look at their company’s logo and instantly feel and know exactly what their company is all about. The trick is to get them to feel like they NEED to check your company out and WANT to buy your products. This is where good branding comes in. Branding is the practice of influencing who and how people experience your company over time.

Branding all of your media and communications together with the same look and feel will create a recognizable company that people will come to notice. Once they see your logo more and more they become familiar with your company and that brings about their trust in you.

To get started with creating this magical branding ordeal you need to decide who your target audience is going to be and what appeals to them.

Then you need to find your unique and different feature. What makes your company different from a similar company you are competing against? Maybe your company ships in product in one day if you order out of their catalog compared to 7 days. Or maybe your company strives to be lower in price than the other or will match the price of any product from another company with similar products. The key here to setting your company a part from the others is that uniqueness making you stand out above the others.

Now that you have your two goals in site you can create your visual appeal. There are three main parts to creating a great visual appeal.

Your Logo - This is the most important part of branding if you don't have this then your business will be as small as a pea in a pod. You need a logo! Whether it is a symbol or your company’s name. You can contact a company to help you out with designing your logo so it appeals to your ideal target audience.
Colors - Colors develop instant gratification in a person. You may want to use warm colors for a friendly and cozy feel, cool for formal and long lasting company, and bright for bold and trend setting company.
Font - The font you pick tells a lot about your company. Stick with the same fonts for all your media marketing needs. This will create a uniform that people will notice again and again so your company will become more familiar and recognizable to the public. Use a font that everyone knows and is used on their computers for an example Arial or Verdana.

If you decide to use the radio to help market your company, keep in mind what you used to brand all of your media. If you choose a cold color use a formal voice to sell your company. If you used warm friendly colors then use a warm and friendly casual voice. Make sure that every time you decide to update an advertisement to use the same tone that is recognizable with your last to create that uniform and consistent tone, look, and feel.

Overall branding is your business and brings about a greater good for your company.

Create Great Landing Pages

2008-06-09T08:11:00.002-05:00

Landing pages are those that potential site visitors reach when they click your PPC advertisement. They are not usually connected to your web site in any way.

Landing pages are designed for two things: first, it is designed to specifically reach a goal . The second , they are designed to keep track of how well your PPC ads draw converting traffic.

When creating landing pages you want them to be an extension of the PPC ad for which they are designed otherwise it'll confuse your visitors. It should also provide what is promised. Finally, as you would use a call action with your PPC advertisement, you'll also want to use such a call on your landing page.

Here are some other tips. Quickly orient the visitor with purpose of the landing page by using direct headlines. Another tip is not to overcrowd your landing page. This can make it difficult for users to load your landing page. The last suggestion is to test, test, and test some more!

Changing Websites for Our Users

2008-02-12T13:24:00.000-06:00

Web usability guidelines remain fairly constant despite the rapid changes in many parts of the web industry. In a recent article by Jakob Nielsen, he reports that User Skills are Improving, But Only Slightly. In the event that our users are becoming more keen to web technologies, there will be a need at some point to change our websites to better accomodate them.

It is important to design a website that will be usable for all of its users. This means accomodating those with varying levels of web experience. Often the industry and purpose of a website can usually narrow down the target user group.

Until we see proven results in user change, we need to remember to design for the lowest common denominator when it comes to web experience. I believe that as our population ages, this will change significantly due to the amount of web experience the younger generation has.

Web Evolution

2007-10-26T11:15:00.001-05:00

In reading a book by Luke Wroblewski, I learned his intrepretation of the evolution of the web. The Internet is about 15 years old now and has gone through many changes in this time. Wroblewski has broken these changes down into stages of progress.

Stage One: The Simple Sharing Era
This was a time when researchers used the web to share information.

Stage Two: The Image & Table Era
The first graphical web browsers allowed for simple layouts.

Stage Three: The Design Intro Era
Graphic designers took design from print to the web.

Stage Four: The Techo-Hype Era
Overindulgence in graphics and new technologies.

Stage Five: The Usability Era
Site owners have come to recognize the importance of having their website meet their user's needs.

Stage Six: Speaking Web
Using presentation, organization and interaction as the main considerations in web design.

Wroblewski claims that we are currently in stages five and six and I see this too as an evolution of the web. I have been desiging websites since 2001 and have seen the differences in the clients I work with. My clients are extremely more knowledgable than they were six years ago. I believe this will continue to happen as "speaking web" becomes more integrated in everyday life.

Tab Thoughts

2007-10-25T12:17:00.001-05:00

Jakob Nielsen has pointed out in a recent article that I have been using tabs incorrectly in my designs. I have been using tabs as design elements instead of its intended use to alternate between views of things in the same context. This use of tabs as design elements was introduced by Amazon and has been used commonly ever since. I do wonder how that rule came about. When you think of tabbed folders on your desk, they are commonly labeled by subject and are not variations of the same information. Perhaps it comes from the tried and tested use of tabs in web design and the result was that the most sensical way was to alternate between items of the same kind.

To Redesign Or Not To Redesign

2007-10-17T17:50:00.001-05:00

I just read an article outlining usability issues which introduced a new concept to me called the 'Baby Duck Syndrome'. This describes the way users tend to stand by the first web design they learn and judge all future web designs based on that first design. Therefore, anything new or unfamiliar is not welcome to users, which makes redesign projects very challenging.

The conference I attended recently (Webmaster Jam) touched on this issue. Their recommendation was to never do a full redesign of a site. They noted that revising items in "chunks" not only helped the users slowly adjust to improved design or functionality, but it also allows the critique of each "chunk" individually. If a redesign is launched all together, and it is not well received, it is difficult to determine which parts were most troubling to users. If it is released in "chunks" it will be easier to determine if users are receiving the change well through feedback or website statistics.

So, when it comes to your website, is a complete redesign necessary? Would it be beneficial to determine what is working and to keep those things in place? My recommendation is to keep the things that are working, revise those things that are not, and try your best not to alienate your users.

Successful Experience Design

2007-10-12T12:21:00.000-05:00

I recently attended a conference for webmasters in Dallas. I greatly enjoyed the keynote, which was presented by Jared Spool (www.uie.com). I would like to highlight some of the things I took away from his address.

Experience design is multi-disciplanary and includes many players, including those experienced in:

Copy writing
Information architecture
Fast interation management
Usability practices
Interaction design
Information design
Visual design
Editing
Ethnography
Domain knowledge
Business knowledge
Marketing
Analytics
Technology
ROI
Social Networks
Use Cases
Agile Methods

His point in listing all of these was that the number of things that web designers need to take into account these days is a list that is continually growing. Therefore, web designers and developers need to wear more hats and be experienced in more things to make them more valuable to their clients.

Spool listed the essential experience design components as good communications, clear focus on the vision, employing the right people, and a successful feedback loop. He advised that fast iterations eliminate the need for major redesigns and that design challenges should be broken down into smaller "chunks". There should be a heavy emphasis on the feedback mechanism and as much data as possible should be collected. Spool also believes that the more people that are involved in a project, the more successful it will be.

Things I took away from this are that we need to make sure we can envision the project 5-10 years down the road and ensure that the things we are completing now are supporting that vision. We need to make sure that we have sufficient knowledge all of these disciplines among the people that work for us. Lastly, that we need to stress the importance of the iterative process to the client, so that they become our partner in creating the best possible website.

Website Planning

2007-10-11T10:45:00.001-05:00

A good way to start planning your website is to walk away from the computer. Effective information architecture can often be well planned using a table or wall and a stack of Post-It notes. By writing each navigation item on a Post-It, they can be easily rearranged, added, or removed from the diagram. This is a very effective method to use in a group so that all concerns can be voiced as the plan is put together.

I recently read an article from the Group for User Interface Research from the University of California, Berkeley where they had taken this idea and added technology to support it. They moved this activity to a programmed SMART board and integrated it with other programs which allowed for history and version control. It also allowed the users to view different types of web plans and save all ideas during this process. I do believe there will be more exploration of this type of device and software as website owners recognize the importance of usability in their websites.

I do believe that website owners are more aware than ever of the need for their website to be useful and intuitively organized. By employing a website firm that is aware of this importance and has experience recognizing the steps that are necessary before designing, this goal will be met.

Web Navigation Design

2007-10-10T09:02:00.001-05:00

The design of a homepage for a website is a lot like a table of contents for the book. The user should be able to quickly look over the page and recognize what they will gain from the website. Due to this, effective navigation is a key factor for successful design.

Navigation titles should be clear to the intended user and should be divided in a way that makes the selection intuitive to the user. Navigation should be limited to a reasonable amount of items; so that less time is required for the user to scan through them. Design of the navigation should be clean and easily recognizable as clickable items. Generally navigation items are placed along the top and/or the left side of the page so that they are easily accessible by the users. If text is not used for navigation, alt tags are necessary for all items for the benefit of text based browser users as well as for search engine benefits.

If the website organization makes it difficult to divide information into categories, it is useful to conduct user testing. This can be as simple as calling in some potential users that are not familiar with the new website to try out some tasks. This will determine if the navigation that you have developed is successful, or if it should be modified. When working with testers, ask them to think aloud and voice any frustrations or unexpected items encountered. This is a fast way to assess the website and make any needed revisions before launch so that the end users do not have to face frustration.