Back when computers came out in the early 80’s, the concept of the Internet on computers everywhere around the world seemed impossible. Making a website for your own personal business seemed impossible. Today we think a lot differently.
Owning a website for your own personal business was just a page explaining in detail about your business. There were no pictures and not even a single drop of design. That wasn’t so bad at first, until other businesses started doing the same thing. They needed some design to draw attention to their website to outdo their competitors. That’s where professional web designers gained their occupation.
If you really are serious about taking your business to the next level in creating a website to brand your company and expand your clients it may not be a good idea to go for the ”my neighbor is going to build me a website” route. Your neighbor might love doing websites, but he or she may not know what is going on in this competitive world of web design and how to effectively be a part of the Internet.
Let’s talk about a web design that is not professional. When a new visitor drops by your website the first thing they see is the overall look, which includes a color scheme and structure with a clean and organized presentation of information. If you are using a non-professional web designer, they are probably not going to have the ability to create this type of presentation. Their website will probably look homemade which can in turn make your website and your business look untrustworthy.
This circumstance is okay if you don’t want your business to reach out to prospective clients or if it a personal site, but if you do want to reach new clients you need to get that “wow” factor when a visitor is browsing through your website pages.
A new web design or redesign from a professional web designer can give you the professional image you are seeking for your business and opens up the potentials of reaching consumers all around the world. Consumers are just waiting for you to make the right move to “wow” them with a fantastic site that they can trust.
Please view our professional web design portfolio at www.websitestoimpress.com
Monday, August 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Enhance the Look and Feel of your site
Design elements can greatly enhance the look and feel of your website. Below are some of our preferred elements.
Roll Over Buttons and Images
This is when an image or button changes a color or formation when you roll over it with your mouse. This gives an interactive feel to your website.
How to in Dreamweaver:
First make or design your images and buttons and export them to your websites image folder. Now open Dreamweaver and click Insert, Image Objects, then Rollover image. There will be a window that pops up. In that window type a rollover name and alt tag. Then you need to link and browse to locate the original Image and also the Rollover Image. Click on the OK button. That’s it! It’s that easy.
Graphic and Photo Effects
Graphic and Photo effects can make the wow factor for your website. Using the correct quantity of graphic and photo effects can be very compelling, but using too many can achieve the opposite.
For an example using a curved banner on your website can make your site more professional looking and not so square. You can check out some of our portfolio websites that use this here: http://www.websitestoimpress.com/portfolio.html
Site Interactivity
To help make your website more sticky for your visitors you can use site polls, surveys, a guest book, a calendar, and a newsletter sign-up. This makes your website more eventful and draws your visitors in to your website and they are also more likely to come back and visit.
Those are just a few snippets of what you can use to spice up your website while also making it more productive and entertaining!
Roll Over Buttons and Images
This is when an image or button changes a color or formation when you roll over it with your mouse. This gives an interactive feel to your website.
How to in Dreamweaver:
First make or design your images and buttons and export them to your websites image folder. Now open Dreamweaver and click Insert, Image Objects, then Rollover image. There will be a window that pops up. In that window type a rollover name and alt tag. Then you need to link and browse to locate the original Image and also the Rollover Image. Click on the OK button. That’s it! It’s that easy.
Graphic and Photo Effects
Graphic and Photo effects can make the wow factor for your website. Using the correct quantity of graphic and photo effects can be very compelling, but using too many can achieve the opposite.
For an example using a curved banner on your website can make your site more professional looking and not so square. You can check out some of our portfolio websites that use this here: http://www.websitestoimpress.com/portfolio.html
Site Interactivity
To help make your website more sticky for your visitors you can use site polls, surveys, a guest book, a calendar, and a newsletter sign-up. This makes your website more eventful and draws your visitors in to your website and they are also more likely to come back and visit.
Those are just a few snippets of what you can use to spice up your website while also making it more productive and entertaining!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Using Color
The color element can influence our mood, opinion, and overall excitement in something or a certain event. Personal experiences and circumstances in society can determine our response to color. We respond to color with a pleasant relief or a disgraced gesture. So how do we know which colors will make us positive?
Here is a guide for how people view colors. When people see the color Yellow they think of energy and life like the sun. Yellow is also sometimes viewed as “Speedy”. This may have something to do with cabs in the city whizzing up, down, and through the traffic. But, nothing less Yellow can be a powerful color that will instantly bring us a positive energy. Another great color to think about is Red. Everywhere you go you see the color Red. It is a color no one can deny. When you see Red you think of love and war. It is used to mark danger and is used for stop signs and traffic lights. Red demands our attention. Just a touch of Red can draw your eye towards your website. But, there is other ways you can use colors throughout your website.
Let’s look at Warm vs. Cool. First we’ll start out with the Warm colors. Warm colors are: Red, Orange, and Yellow. They are found at the top of the color wheel. The warm colors are inviting and cheerful. We think of heat from the sun and fire, bringing about life. Cool colors on the other hand mean to us as cool, calm and collected. We think of the sky, ocean, and forests. These colors are Blue, Violet, and Green. They also make us feel free. The hard thing is to figure out how much of each color to use. If you use too much of the cool colors, you’re website can appear dark and to cold and it won’t reach out to your visitors. If your website is too warm the visitors might feel overwhelmed and stuffy. The trick is to bring in a little bit of each. One thing that can help you balance these to differences is the color White. White is almost always a neutral home ground, so the use of white is important for the balance of your website. When in doubt, throw in some White.
Another thing to think about is contrast of colors. These are the colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel. When you use these colors in the same lightness, the colors will create a beautiful color scheme. For an example: The Vikings use the colors Purple and Yellow. They are on the opposite sides of the color wheel. This creates excitement and interests for the fans.
All great color schemes rely on balance. This makes us comfortable and relaxed. It’ll make us more willing to search further into a website. So the next time you think that color is know big deal think again, color shows us the way to a better brighter life.
For more examples of good color schemes click here to view some of our live websites.
Here is a guide for how people view colors. When people see the color Yellow they think of energy and life like the sun. Yellow is also sometimes viewed as “Speedy”. This may have something to do with cabs in the city whizzing up, down, and through the traffic. But, nothing less Yellow can be a powerful color that will instantly bring us a positive energy. Another great color to think about is Red. Everywhere you go you see the color Red. It is a color no one can deny. When you see Red you think of love and war. It is used to mark danger and is used for stop signs and traffic lights. Red demands our attention. Just a touch of Red can draw your eye towards your website. But, there is other ways you can use colors throughout your website.
Let’s look at Warm vs. Cool. First we’ll start out with the Warm colors. Warm colors are: Red, Orange, and Yellow. They are found at the top of the color wheel. The warm colors are inviting and cheerful. We think of heat from the sun and fire, bringing about life. Cool colors on the other hand mean to us as cool, calm and collected. We think of the sky, ocean, and forests. These colors are Blue, Violet, and Green. They also make us feel free. The hard thing is to figure out how much of each color to use. If you use too much of the cool colors, you’re website can appear dark and to cold and it won’t reach out to your visitors. If your website is too warm the visitors might feel overwhelmed and stuffy. The trick is to bring in a little bit of each. One thing that can help you balance these to differences is the color White. White is almost always a neutral home ground, so the use of white is important for the balance of your website. When in doubt, throw in some White.
Another thing to think about is contrast of colors. These are the colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel. When you use these colors in the same lightness, the colors will create a beautiful color scheme. For an example: The Vikings use the colors Purple and Yellow. They are on the opposite sides of the color wheel. This creates excitement and interests for the fans.
All great color schemes rely on balance. This makes us comfortable and relaxed. It’ll make us more willing to search further into a website. So the next time you think that color is know big deal think again, color shows us the way to a better brighter life.
For more examples of good color schemes click here to view some of our live websites.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Why Blogging Is So Important
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!
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!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Feng Shui your Website
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?
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?
Monday, June 16, 2008
How And Why Branding Is So Important
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.
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.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Create Great Landing Pages
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!
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!
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