Web Design

The easiest way to create an effective, standard compliant, high search ranking website is to use a reliable web design company. A company is able to guide you through all the many options to find the right web design for your website. But if you are ready to try web design on your own there are a number of elements you should consider before you being.

The whole purpose of good design is to guide people towards the information or product on your website. Every well designed website has a website plan, an overall guiding concept which helps designers to make design decisions. Your design plan should outline the main aim of your website and be used to direct all further decisions. If features of your website design is not supporting your website plan, not helping to achieve your main concept then you may need to rethink.

There are 4 basic elements you should think about while creating your plan. These are briefly outlined below.

Domain name: the easier to remember the domain name the better and you do not want to lose customers or reader because they forgot your address. Pick something easy to remember and spell. Do not use something which people will get confused, for example avoid using 2 as the short form of to. Make your domain memorable and unique. Try to choose a domain name that is full of keywords that are related to your website. If your website sells shoes try to get a domain with the word shoes in it.

Audience: You are not trying to attract everyone to your website, you are trying to attract people who are interested in what YOU do. Do some research on how your audience might find your website. If you were a customer how would you search? Would you search on Google? Which other sites might you use, social forums like Facebook, Twitter or maybe a specialized forum like lonely planet? Check out related organizations in your city to see if you can put a link on their websites?

Templates: Website templates are pre-designed layouts, you just need to add your own personal content and you’re ready. You customize website templates any way you like… Right? It’s that easy? Do you understand frames, divs, and tables? These are common problems with free website templates. If you do not know how to fix and manipulate them it can lead to issues when you want to change your website in the future. Also not all templates match every browser. Users who are not using the browser the template was designed on will see website differently than the way you intended.

Layout Features: If the main aim of your website is to inform users of a service or product you do not want to distract from your content. Good layout = easily accessible content. Your banner or website header should not be too big, it should not be over powering but informative. Avoid using background images as they are distracting from text. Graphic are important but make sure they are not too big or the website will take too long to upload.

Chicago Web Design

When it comes to running an online business successfully, the role and importance of a well designed and visually appealing website can’t be neglected. In order to fare well in a competitive domain and attain good search engine rankings, it is imperative to have a flexible, dynamic and attractive website. WordPress development helps in developing just the same. WordPress design guarantees a website that is not only easy to use and operate but is also very attractive.

WordPress is a perfect tool for designing an attractive website. The best way to start with is to search for WordPress designs on Internet. You will find many designs developed by companies. You can integrate any of these designs with WordPress. Most of these designs are free and easy to download. If you search on Google, you will get many results and you may be directed to a site that not only displays the design but also provides information about it. It also lets you see a preview to give you an idea about how the design would look with text and images.

You can select any of these designs that suit your requirements the best. You can download it and integrate it with your site. After this, you can easily add articles, images, or even videos. WordPress is a user friendly and flexible content management system. It offers a large number of features as well as plug-ins that help in extending the functionality of a site.

Here are some of the important points that should be kept in mind for creating appealing WordPress designs.

First of all, you need to set up a basic layout. Open the Photoshop document. Set the background. You can change the size of the document later. Now, with the help of various Photoshop tools like brushes, etc. you can design a basic theme for the website.

Next step is to make the header. You can create the navigation header with the help of header tools of Photoshop.

Now insert the content to be displayed on the site.

You can also create an optional sidebar for tags, posts etc.

Now you can add the footer using a marquee tool.

Implement the Photoshop theme into the website.

For this, you need to download the WordPress software and convert PSD to WordPress.

If you follow all the above mentioned steps carefully in a right manner then you will successfully create a visually appealing website. WordPress is a highly flexible and user friendly CMS that will ensure that your website performs in a desired manner and fetches good traffic as well.

However, it is always best to hire a professional WordPress developer with requisite experience and skills. In order to create a perfect WordPress design, one should have a thorough knowledge and relevant experience of the WordPress technology. A professional WordPress developer is well versed in latest technologies, neat and can help in providing an attractive website with all the important features like W3C validation, cross browser compatibility code structure and many more

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Web Design

In today’s digital world, it is crucial for businesses to have a powerful web presence. Hiring the right web design company will avoid the pitfalls of bad design outlined below.

Poor Concept Planning
The first step in creating an effective website is proper planning. Flow and layout should be completely mapped before starting any design to ensure the site’s message is clear and consistent throughout. Sites without organisation are frustrating for visitors and result in little to no sales.

Overuse of Colours and Fonts
A business website should appear professional. This means a simple, neutral colour palette with a white background. Too many different fonts and colours distract from the site content and may turn visitors away.

Lack of Contact Information
One of the biggest errors in business design is hard to find or nonexistent contact links. A well-designed site will have a link to a contact form or an email address on every page. Visitors should never have to search for this feature.

Outdated Content
A business’s web success is directly proportionate to the freshness and relevance of its content. Any changes in products offered, sales, pricing or availability should be reflected immediately. Lack of updating may also result in a lower search engine ranking.

Bad Links
Broken links will simply drive business away. It’s important to test all links before the site goes live and to keep testing them on a weekly basis to make sure they are not leading visitors into the ether.

Disconnected Pages
All pages on a website should have a link back to the home page. This is just proper navigation. It also avoids the issue of visitors ending up in a dead-end situation when visiting from a forwarded link.

Disallowing the Back Button
This is a large annoyance to visitors and will certainly drive business away. It is best practice to be flexible with all navigation options.

Links in New Windows
While there is a great deal of debate on this issue, it is best to have links open in the same window. Too many tabs or windows open can severely tie up system resources.

Poor Optimisation
One of the biggest factors to drive traffic away is slow loading pages. This can be avoided by not placing too many images or apps on a page and also having the right hosting for the site’s requirements.

Too Much Technology
Business sites should remain simple and accessible in every web browser. Visitors should not have to download or update anything to browse or make use of the site.

A web design company can create and maintain an effective site while avoiding all of the above problems. It is a good investment for any business.

Chicago Web Design

Thinking differently with smart tactics and enhanced efforts is a key feature to promote one’s company on the internet. Considering the latest business tactics but with a difference can give your business the desired success. Just with a web site you cannot do much; you need good web hosting along with a marketing strategy which is innovative and of course SEO( Search Engine Optimization) to ensure success.

With the assistance of companies which design websites and the help of professional designers many business owners have turned out to be successful in their ventures through online advertising and marketing. This has helped them to reach out to internet users, who can turn out to be their customers, all over the world. One of the best ways to promote business is through online advertising as it allows an endless scope.

Irrespective of where one lives, it has become very easy to engage the services of web designers and web designing companies. For a business to be successful and to have a professionally viable website the need of the hour is to employ a company or designer that is dependable. What’s more, you can find them all on the internet itself.

Some tips to attain the above are mentioned below:

• Look through the feedbacks and comments left for the service provider by their previous clients, as these help in selecting designers and companies by informing us of companies which are not trustworthy.

• Select a company that is prompt in delivering quality work. But every service comes with a price, so search the internet for assessment of the rates and also for examples of websites developed by them. Also consider that a good website design is your ultimate aim, not a cheap one with low quality.

• In order to prevent fraud, do a background check on the internet about the company or individual being hired.

• Checking the portfolios on the internet is another useful way of selecting the correct designer. The names of the websites developed are mentioned in the portfolios. The proficiency and creativity can be assessed by seeking a sample of their work.

• When selecting a company remember to check out the services provided by them. They should be able to provide facilities like marketing and SEO. Web hosting should also be a part of their services. These services increase the market value of the website and allow more clients to access the site, thereby helping in business promotion.

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Chicago Web Design

Many web owners do not necessarily have the technical skills and knowledge. Thankfully they can rely on open source software to help in the designing of their websites. These software, open source or not, can make an e-commerce type of website stronger and more efficient.

When trying to design an online business, there are several features that are considered crucial to make it work. One of these is the shopping cart. The other is the online payment applications. If the e-commerce website does not include these two, and many of the other essentials, it would not work effectively as an online business.

The software used must be powerful so it can support all of the demands of an online shopping website. It should be stable and it should be powerful enough that it can handle many users all at once. Now, there are some web owners who rely on their web hosts to include this in their services and fortunately many do. However, there are really those who somehow don’t and some web owners have to make sure they have the right software. This is where the open source e-commerce software comes in.

These software can be downloaded for free from the internet and easily installed in the system. Most of these software are compatible with most of the difference systems in existence. All the web owner has to do is to choose which version of the software they want to download and they get that version.

The features usually included in these open source e-commerce software are: the ability to handle numerous differing products, should support the different categories as well as the different manufacturers of the products, it should be multilingual and should be able to handle different types of currencies. The last is very important for it should include the feature of exchange rates that are based on real time prices. This is to make the online shoppers from other countries also enjoy the benefit of shopping from wherever they are in wherever the website is based in.

The free e-commerce solution is favored by most web owners who have online businesses because it is very easy to use and is compatible with most systems. This is very important for having to deal with so many issues in an online business should not be complicated by the lack of understanding or know-how of how to use a software that is supposed to get that website running smoothly.

Web Design

Designing S.E.O Friendly Websites

While designing a website, webmaster, web designer or web developer should consider the basic steps to create search engine friendly websites.

* Writing Website Content
* Writing Meta Tags
* Writing Links
* Writing Directory and File Names
* Writing Robots File

Writing Website Content: Website content plays a very important role for search engines in crawling a website. Website content consists of website URL or domain, images, contents (text), links (navigation’s).

A domain name itself plays an important role. Domain name research or professional help could be taken in deciding a domain name.

Unique, relevant, informative and compelling content drives the maximum traffic to any website. You should not copy and paste content from any similar website. Write content that is interesting, unique, informative and error-free.

Similarly, nicely written headings and image alt text could also help a search spider to crawl a website easily. Good navigation (menus, links, hyperlinks, etc.) also helps both website users and web spiders. Also, it helps to appear at a good position in search engines.

Writing Meta Tags: Writing meta tags for a web page depends completely on the page you are going to optimize. Meta tags play an important role for web page to be crawled by search engines. Use of meta tags that are relevant to page content will sustainably increases the possibility of occurring at top in search engine.

Various tips and tricks are provided by many websites, search engines. Google also provides information on how to effectively writing meta tags for a website. Find the suggestions from such site and follow the suggestion will definitely help you in writing different meta tags.

Writing Links: Web spiders index the contents on index/home page from your website and the follow other links on your website. While writing different links you should try to write static links as much as possible because dynamic links are typical to follow by search engines. Also, you should write links in such a fashion that they are related to the keywords. Writing alt tags for image links is also useful. Alternatively, you should add a site-map providing all links to follow or no-follow.

Writing Directory and File Names: Writing directories and file names relevant to keywords may provide help in crawling. Try to write directories and file names relevant to keywords. You may use hyphens or underscores to separate the words in your file and directory names.

Writing Robots File: When any spider or robot from any search engine comes to your website then Robots file works as a guide, it gives information to the spider that which pages, directories to follow or which should not.

What comes next?

You should not hesitate on going for Off-site Optimization of website. It will surely help in driving more traffic to website. Off-site optimization technique includes link building, directory submission, article writing, blog and forum posting, etc. Many S.E.O companies are providing Off-site S.E.O at reasonable rates.

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Chicago Web Design

Here are five useful tips to bear in mind when you come to creating your own home page…

1. Polished Web Design – If you want to create a great first impression, then the design of your website is paramount. I’m not saying that you have to spend £2,000 on it, but you certainly shouldn’t scrimp on this aspect. The visual impact of your web page can have a huge bearing on whether or not a visitor sticks around or clicks away. A slick and polished design will show your business to be professional and image conscious, and represent you in the best possible light.

2. Check Your Copywriting For Errors – I’ve spoken to many people in business and one thing they all agree on is that website copywriting littered with spelling mistakes and bad grammar is a big, big turn off! Basically, it’s saying to the visitor, “I care about my business so much that I couldn’t be bothered to check my website for basic spelling errors!” If your own home page screams “unprofessional”, then any visitors you do receive won’t have much faith in your ability to help them achieve what they want.

3. Clean & Tidy – It’s always best to ensure that your home page has a clean and uncluttered look to it. Regular website users have short attention spans and don’t like to work too hard to find what they’re looking for. Too many boxes or panels can become confusing and distract the prospect from reading your website copy – which is there to sell your services and keep the reader on your site.

4. Be Crystal Clear – Again, you need to make it clear what your website is all about, and exactly how you can help your visitor. As a website copywriter, I see many sites that fail to describe exactly what they do, and they lose potential customers because of it. I recently saw a marketing website where the owner’s main piece of sales copy said this; “I’m a marketing strategist and businessman with a history in the development, creation and conceptualization of a variety of business concepts.

What?

5. Don’t Use Pop-Ups – I hate these. I really, really do! Many sales pages use pop-ups or scrolling boxes to force you into giving them your email address or other contact details. They follow you relentlessly down the page like a terrifying stalker… “Leave me alone”, you shout as you doggedly attempt to actually read some of the copy on the page – copy that they’ve probably paid a copywriter to write for them. Why?! When you won’t even let me read it!!

Sure, the five pointers above maybe fairly obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many websites I see that make these basic errors. So when you come to create your own website, always consider first impressions, because they can make or break your business.

Web Design

The line between design and development gets ever blurrier as we move into this next decade. These days, the average Internet user requires more than a beautiful site. The way to impress your visitors is through beautiful usability.

2011 is less about pretty and all about function.

The ultimate goal of any web design team these days is not to dazzle, but to entangle visitors in an environment that charms and captivates them to the point where they forget the ‘back’ button and work further into the site. Sort of like Alice falling down the rabbit hole – highly successful website designers will combine intuitive design, easily accessible content, fast response times and a beautiful layout. In addition, website designs much now contend with the ubiquitous smart phones, net books, tablets, e-readers, and more.

So, what does a trendy website design contain these days?

1) Simple, but harmonious, color schemes. Truly remarkable designs and be done with just a few colors that work well together. Limiting your color palette may feel uncomfortable at first, but the effects are highly remarkable and impressive.

2) Dimension and depth perception. When done well, dimension adds a new aspect that magically creates a faux 3D effect. Parts of your website look nearer than other parts, and elements nearly jump off the screen. With well-placed shadowing and layering effects, a 3D view is relatively easy to create.

3) More CSS3 and HTML5. Web design teams are finally letting go of Flash and replacing it with the magic of HTML5. Gone are the days of website designs done entirely in Flash (thank goodness!). HTML5 cannot yet replace everything Flash brought to the design table, but it comes close in a lot of ways.

4) Mobile readiness. It’s been said once and for all – mobile is happening and web designs have to catch up. Smartphones, net books, e-readers, and more mean your website design has to be responsive to multiple viewing ports. Creating a mobile ready web design is not simply dumbing the site down – it involves a lot more. Forecasters predict smartphones will outsell personal computers from here on out, so bullet proof your design to meet the new demand.

5) Touch screen design. Technology is becoming more and more tactile, and less about the accessories. Usability is shifting to touchscreens and away from the use of mouse devices. Trendy web designs need to account for the loss of hover and drop-down menus with touchscreens.

6) Liquid layouts. Standard website designs are horizontally positioned, but this no longer works on an iPad or e-reader that is vertically oriented. Now, website design teams are no longer concerned with screen resolutions because visitors can change their viewing orientation from vertical to horizontal and your web design must meet that challenge.

7) Photographic backgrounds. The background photo captures the visitor’s eye far more completely than those large-scale backdrops ever did. The audience can’t help but see the photograph and have an impression of it. Trends point to soft and slightly transparent images that don’t overshadow the content but works with it instead.

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Web Design

For a year or two web professionals raved about social media and how it would change the face of online advertising. It became an essential element for every website design. Now the hype has died down it is time to assess whether it is worth all the effort when you’re designing your website.

The basics: Social media is a category of practices, technology, tools, and online sites which utilize social relationships, participation and user-generated content. It is focused on using internet technologies to connect with audiences and draw them into an on-gong conversation. About making a more personal connection through your website and the supporting internet media you choose to utilize. If conducted successfully that helps to keep audiences engaged and committed to a company.

A very basic social media network may allow a user to search for a company website, follow a link from the website to the company blog, then click on an application which allows them to ‘like’ the company on their Facebook account, leave a link and a message for their friends, who, in turn, can follow the link back to the company website. Social media creates a network of sites, all directing traffic to your website, where companies can generate content, have a certain level of control over the messages but also actively engage users.

Types of social media include social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Hi-5, and Bebo. Twitter, the video sharing site, blog platforms such as WordPress and Blogger and any internet forum is a type of social media. They can all be used with your website to form a relationship and encourage repeat business.

Do you need it on your company website? This all depends on what you do.

If your company is used by one time customers or customers who are not accessing it then there will not be a great benefit in creating a social media presence. If your company targets young people, say you own a nightclub which caters to a university aged crowd, there would be a huge benefit in creating a social media network for your website.

A company which is not technology based, for example a carpet cleaning company or a refrigeration repair company, with one time customers may not need social media. People do not form an attachment to the carpet cleaner nor they expect to need to call the refrigerator repair man more than once so there is no benefit. A website design company without it, the network seems a bit behind the game.

Building a social media network to accompany your website can be very time consuming, as is any relationship building activity. It needs regular updates and takes time to generate new content and takes creativity. A company also needs staff with the time and skills to update the network.

Chicago Web Design

Outsourcing is a widely used phenomenon in the business world. It is aimed at increasing the efficiency of work processes. Development in technology has not only made processes easier; it has also increased the work domain for an organization. Now, an organization needs to approach the target customers through several different ways. This is necessary for making the marketing strategies more effective than the competitors.

Managing a huge task force is also a difficult endeavor. Every process needs to be streamlined. In order to help organizations manage all their business processes effectively and efficiently, outsourcing phenomenon is utilized. Outsourcing means that an organization allows another organization or firm to take care of its specific processes and those firms are then paid in turn. Thus, organizations lower their burden through outsourcing.

Now, web design of a company that provides outsourcing services is of utmost importance because customers visit websites in order to analyze the strength of a particular company. The way, a web design showcases the expertise of an organization, makes the difference. An organization with outsourcing services needs to build the trust of its target customers. It is important because when an organization chooses to outsource any of its projects; it demands huge outcome and professional approach.

Although, outsourcing has made an important place in the business world, but still people are reluctant to opt for it. Organizations feel little uncertain of its outcomes. An important part is that they have to share some of their financial and strategic secrets with these outsourcing firms; this gives rise to a threat that these secrets might be passed onto a competitor; thus, outsourcing firms should strongly build up the trust of their customers. They should make their customers believe that they deal transparently and honestly.

Focused marketing can help outsourcing firms to meet these challenges and web design of an organization is its biggest marketing tool. It not only provides an opportunity, to the organization, to explain its business attributes with ease but it also helps in building strong connections with the target audience. If an outsourcing firm is able to manage its own web design with great efficiency then this endeavor will surely convince its customers to choose the firm as their outsourcing partners.

The decision for outsourcing is taken after great research and analysis. An organization compares several options while choosing their outsourcing partner. Therefore, being an outsourcing firm, you should mention all the benefits of your services in your web design. This will augment the worth of your services and will make it easier for your target customers to understand the importance of outsourcing services.

Images are an important part of a web design. They should all be relevant to the nature of business. Placing images, showing your work processes with other organizations, will increase your credibility. This will also provide your customers an insight to your business dealings; thus, making them acquainted with the caliber of your corporate services. Providing your customers with different outsourcing solutions will also help you cater diversified clientele.

Web design of an outsourcing firm is its biggest tool to grab the attention of its target market.

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Web Design

A website builder has many advantages for your personal or commercial needs. It allows you to create a professional looking website without need for knowledge of scripts or HTML. It also allows you to have all of the add ons you need for your site without paying high prices. It will save you money and hassle to build your site on your own with a site builder. However, if you do not use the right website builder you will find that you may have problems with your site, or not be able to do everything you want with your site.

There are several things you need to look for in a website builder. First, you need to look at the ease of use. The site builder should be extremely user friendly. You should not need to know very much HTML at all to use it. It should be primarily a point and click system, with plenty of options for layout. Most website makers come with templates that you can choose from in order to have a professional layout for your site. However, you should have several options available to you in order to personalize the template and make it unique from other sites using the same builder.

Personalization of the template can take on many forms. You should be able to change colors, font sizes and types, and button styles. You should also be able to make other small changes in the layout, such as adding or taking away graphics based on your needs and desires. The goal is to use the template to your advantage while making a site that does not look like it was created from a template.

Another thing you need to look for in a website maker is the add ons available for your site. You should be able to add a guestbook or comments section. There may be message boards available for your site, or an RSS feed if you have a blog. If you are creating an ecommerce website, you will need to be able to add a shopping cart. Some website builders also offer options for payment on your site, such as a formatted PayPal button. Whatever add ons you need, you want to be sure you can get them from your site builder and not have to scour the net for them.

Of course, you have to also consider price when looking at various website makers. Many site builders are free to use, but do not offer the add ons or personalization that you need to make your site functional and professional. However, there are some free and low cost website builders that offer everything you need at a reasonable rate. Compare prices and features together to make sure that you are getting everything you need at a price you can afford.

Chicago Web Design

If you are looking for the best professional web design and development, there are a number of places where you can start. From local web design offices to recommendations from friends, co-workers, or your hosting company, there are all kinds of ways to connect with capable professionals, who will give you the very best product for the money and help you distinguish your site from the competition that is out there in your field. But what do the best professional web design and development companies look like? What qualities should you value over all others? The answers to these questions will ultimately determine how good of a choice that you make when it comes to hiring someone for your web design needs. Here is what you should be looking for in a candidate:

Experience with up-to-date software

While it is not entirely necessary that you have a cutting edge state of the art design for your site to be successful, you stand a much better chance of having an effective platform if the company or candidate that you select is well versed in all of the latest software technologies to come down the pike. They don’t have to be able to use each one, but in order to provide you with a full palette of customization, they should be able to take your suggestions and incorporate them in the ways that you would prefer for them to.

Business knowledge

Any successful business knows that the key to continual success is treating your customers like they are partners in the process and not knowledge less money men. A web design company should be able to apply this reality to their field by listening to your suggestions, responding to your questions and concerns in a timely manner, and working with you, not against you, to deliver the best possible product. A product that will serve as a top notch design and one that is easy to navigate. That’s what it takes to have your brand develop these days, and that’s what an experienced web designer can give you.

Ability to judge between functionality and style

While style is a perk and some of it is necessary when it comes to the branding initiative of a company, most web designers know to put substance over style through emphasizing the functionality over the bells and whistles. If your designer has trouble leaving out all of the meaningless flash options and graphics intensive web pages, and you feel it is hurting the content of your site, then you may wish to go in another direction.

The web design and development company that you select should be professional in all aspects of the process, and they should make it easy for you to have a site you can be proud of.

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Chicago Web Design

While web design is becoming more user friendly there are so many mistakes that are really easy to make. The good news is they are also easy to avoid with a little bit of effort and information. Below is a list of web design issues which seem obvious but are frequently made.

1. Grammar and spelling – Nothing makes a user lose confidence in a webpage faster than typos, spelling mistakes and bad grammar. If the creator of the website didn’t have the sense to run a spell check and get their content proof read then how can they be trusted to sell/ inform/ provide a service? Get your mum, your friends, your spouse, everyone you know who is good with words, to read your content. Failing that pay an editor. It is worth the money to get your content perfect the first time.

2. Color Scheme – Yellow, fluro lime green, hot pink, Aqua, all colors which should be avoided in web design. They are hard to read and not many people enjoy looking at them. They should definitely not be used in conjunction with a white back ground. Pick colors that don’t offend, navy blue, dark green, red. Pick colors which look nice together. Your website colors should match your logo. If your logo is one of the previously mentioned offensive colors then use it sparingly and pick another main color which compliments. Your link color should also be complimentary; you do not have to stick with the standard blue.

3. Domain Name – sometimes you debate for days the best, catchiest domain name for your website. You discuss it with your friends until you find the perfect combination of keywords. You go to register and someone else has already snapped up the.com. Do not register the same name under a.org or.net. Your domain name should be unique and easy to remember. Most people don’t realize.org and.com are different addresses. Some people will get confused and won’t be able to find you, worse you might be directing traffic to a competitor. A unique.com is much better than the most keyword perfect unoriginal.org.

4. Advertisements – some people like website advertising, some people don’t. There are hundreds of design articles arguing for and against different types of online adverts. It is a decision you should make for your website. One tip: advertising should match your content. Sure, advertising for adult content websites pays well but if your web site is for a community based youth organization it is not going to be appropriate. Keep in mind your audience before you sign up to place advertisements in your site.

5. Templates – using a template is not the best option but you can get away with it. While most designers will be able to tell, most users won’t notice. There are some things you should avoid. Do not use templates with preloaded graphics. Avoid any template with a background image. They look tacky and it is always obvious you have used a template as it never really ties in with all your content.If you search for free templates do not use the ‘Most Popular’ options or your website will look like thousands of other websites.

Web Design

If you are looking for the best professional web design and development, there are a number of places where you can start. From local web design offices to recommendations from friends, co-workers, or your hosting company, there are all kinds of ways to connect with capable professionals, who will give you the very best product for the money and help you distinguish your site from the competition that is out there in your field. But what do the best professional web design and development companies look like? What qualities should you value over all others? The answers to these questions will ultimately determine how good of a choice that you make when it comes to hiring someone for your web design needs. Here is what you should be looking for in a candidate:

Experience with up-to-date software

While it is not entirely necessary that you have a cutting edge state of the art design for your site to be successful, you stand a much better chance of having an effective platform if the company or candidate that you select is well versed in all of the latest software technologies to come down the pike. They don’t have to be able to use each one, but in order to provide you with a full palette of customization, they should be able to take your suggestions and incorporate them in the ways that you would prefer for them to.

Business knowledge

Any successful business knows that the key to continual success is treating your customers like they are partners in the process and not knowledge less money men. A web design company should be able to apply this reality to their field by listening to your suggestions, responding to your questions and concerns in a timely manner, and working with you, not against you, to deliver the best possible product. A product that will serve as a top notch design and one that is easy to navigate. That’s what it takes to have your brand develop these days, and that’s what an experienced web designer can give you.

Ability to judge between functionality and style

While style is a perk and some of it is necessary when it comes to the branding initiative of a company, most web designers know to put substance over style through emphasizing the functionality over the bells and whistles. If your designer has trouble leaving out all of the meaningless flash options and graphics intensive web pages, and you feel it is hurting the content of your site, then you may wish to go in another direction.

The web design and development company that you select should be professional in all aspects of the process, and they should make it easy for you to have a site you can be proud of.

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Web Design

The line between design and development gets ever blurrier as we move into this next decade. These days, the average Internet user requires more than a beautiful site. The way to impress your visitors is through beautiful usability.

2011 is less about pretty and all about function.

The ultimate goal of any web design team these days is not to dazzle, but to entangle visitors in an environment that charms and captivates them to the point where they forget the ‘back’ button and work further into the site. Sort of like Alice falling down the rabbit hole – highly successful website designers will combine intuitive design, easily accessible content, fast response times and a beautiful layout. In addition, website designs much now contend with the ubiquitous smart phones, net books, tablets, e-readers, and more.

So, what does a trendy website design contain these days?

1) Simple, but harmonious, color schemes. Truly remarkable designs and be done with just a few colors that work well together. Limiting your color palette may feel uncomfortable at first, but the effects are highly remarkable and impressive.

2) Dimension and depth perception. When done well, dimension adds a new aspect that magically creates a faux 3D effect. Parts of your website look nearer than other parts, and elements nearly jump off the screen. With well-placed shadowing and layering effects, a 3D view is relatively easy to create.

3) More CSS3 and HTML5. Web design teams are finally letting go of Flash and replacing it with the magic of HTML5. Gone are the days of website designs done entirely in Flash (thank goodness!). HTML5 cannot yet replace everything Flash brought to the design table, but it comes close in a lot of ways.

4) Mobile readiness. It’s been said once and for all – mobile is happening and web designs have to catch up. Smartphones, net books, e-readers, and more mean your website design has to be responsive to multiple viewing ports. Creating a mobile ready web design is not simply dumbing the site down – it involves a lot more. Forecasters predict smartphones will outsell personal computers from here on out, so bullet proof your design to meet the new demand.

5) Touch screen design. Technology is becoming more and more tactile, and less about the accessories. Usability is shifting to touchscreens and away from the use of mouse devices. Trendy web designs need to account for the loss of hover and drop-down menus with touchscreens.

6) Liquid layouts. Standard website designs are horizontally positioned, but this no longer works on an iPad or e-reader that is vertically oriented. Now, website design teams are no longer concerned with screen resolutions because visitors can change their viewing orientation from vertical to horizontal and your web design must meet that challenge.

7) Photographic backgrounds. The background photo captures the visitor’s eye far more completely than those large-scale backdrops ever did. The audience can’t help but see the photograph and have an impression of it. Trends point to soft and slightly transparent images that don’t overshadow the content but works with it instead.

Chicago Web Design

Adobe Photoshop is a versatile image editing software. Most companies in all developed countries use Photoshop for their design needs. The growth of e-commerce websites for web and mobile has led to a phenomenal demand for Photoshop artistes and graphic designers. You must become an expert in Photoshop whether you seek a steady career or a career enhancement. The only way to become a Photoshop pro is by taking up courses in Photoshop.

So, how will you learn Photoshop and what will the courses in Photoshop teach you? Well, it’s really simple. All you have to do is find an impeccable online Photoshop school and register. There are many different types of courses in Photoshop and you must start with the basics, unless you know them already. Here’s how online classes typically break down their Photoshop courses:

A Basic Photoshop Course

You will learn about all the main menu items (File – Edit – Image – Layer – etc.) and what each of their functions can do. You will also learn how to work each item of the toolbar and understand what it represents. Making selections, toning and color corrections, image correction methodology, working with layers, adding text to images, painting, transforming and retouching images, applying filters, using Photoshop for web graphics and color management are topics that covered in a basic course. Once you’re done with this course, you’ll be able to correct underexposed images, lighten/darken images, use burn and dodge tools, correct color imbalances, change an image’s white balance and sharpen images, among other basics.

A 2nd Level Photoshop Course

Once you understand the basics, the next thing is to go a little higher by joining a 2nd level course. A 2nd level course in Photoshop will help you practice semi-advanced Photoshop techniques and get ready for an advanced course. This course carries on from the basic course and teaches you advanced image correction, masking, advanced usage of layers, working with channels, using paths and vector shapes, advanced retouching of images, automating Photoshop, imaging commands, using gradients, correcting lens, blending and advanced lighting effects. After you’re done with this course you’ll be able to practice on making black and white images from color images and vice versa, correcting lens distortions, correcting converging lines, creating perspectives, removing dust and scratches, work the polarizing filter, and more.

Advanced Courses in Photoshop

These courses help you turn pro, and form an essential part of the training. You will learn advanced Channel techniques, adding and subtracting blending modes, high dynamic ranges, layer blending, scaling content, working with 3D files, working with Adobe Bridge and other advanced topics. Once you’re done with this Photoshop course, you’ll be telling us what we didn’t learn!

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Chicago Web Design

The goal of most web designers is to create an attractive, easily accessible and functional website that will convince the visitor to do something. Creating such a website requires good graphic design, easy and intuitive site navigation, logical site layout and good web copy. The following suggestions are general web design guidelines.

Web Content

You want the visitor to see you as a knowledgeable information source and/or a reputable business. Poor grammar and spelling will immediately reduce your credibility. Remember that people use the internet to find information. Whether you are selling your own product or recommending someone else’s products, you must first provide valuable information to the visitor or they will click away and find a website that gives them what they what they want.

Cross Browser Compatibility

There are at least a hundred different browsers in use. You must design your website to work properly in the most widely used browsers. To do that you may not be able to use all of the really great special effects that are available because they may not be supported in most browsers.

Even though most web browsers are free, people do not necessary bother to upgrade to the latest versions. The average surfer may not know how to upgrade their browser or have the attitude, “If it works, don’t fix it.” Remember your visitor may have a PC, a MAC, a Linux box, a PDA or a cell phone and they all use different browsers.

Good web design requires your web pages to work in Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Opera and Safari at a minimum. Validating your HTML code will help but the final test is to view your website in different browsers running on different platforms.

Graphics and Photos

Web surfers are impatient and studies show that most people will click away if a webpage takes longer than 10 seconds to load. Always optimize your photos and other graphic files to have as small a size as possible without sacrificing picture quality.

Always use the height and width attributes on the picture so the rest of the page can load while the graphic files is downloading. Use the ALT HTML tag so people with graphics turned off and those using hand held devices know what the picture is supposed to be.

Background Colors

If you use anything other than white behind text, be sure to specify link colors otherwise the user’s browser defaults will determine what color the links are which can make them unreadable.

Multimedia

Multimedia is composed of flash movies, video clips, audio clips and background music. Always use streaming media because it reduces download time. Make sure the visitor can stop and start multimedia files or in the case of flash introductions, skip them if they want. That way people with slow connections or devices that don’t support multimedia can ignore them.

Also, put any important information presented in multimedia in text as well so the visitor has access to that information without using multimedia. If a plug-in is needed to use the multimedia, always provide a link to it so the user can install it. Finally, always remember the 10-second rule for site loading when deciding to use multimedia.

Site Navigation

Site navigation should be simple and intuitive. Studies have shown if a visitor cannot access the information they want within three clicks, they will leave the site. This is called the 3-click rule. Every area of your website should be reachable within three clicks from anywhere else on the site. If you use anything other than simple text links, make sure to test your navigation in all the major browsers.

Links

Periodically test all site links to be certain that they are valid. Nothing chases a visitor off faster than broken links. There are several free online services that will periodically check your links.

Web Design

Many companies want to be able to offer a unique internet experience to their clients. One way to do so that is increasingly popular is to develop a dynamic website to showcase a company’s offerings rather than utilizing a static website design. The advantage of a dynamic website is that it can change from user to user in order to create an interesting and engaging experience that varies from user to user.

How a dynamic website is constructed

Building a dynamic website seems fairly simple. The information is stored in database format. There are still templates as there would be with a static website. However, instead of all of the information being present in the various areas of the template, the templates of a dynamic website are mostly empty. Programs are used to pull the information from the database and it is then used to populate the templates. This results in a unique website that will vary in content from user to user.

Many people are actually more familiar with dynamic websites than they realize. For years, websites that offer mapping or directions have utilized this technology and structure. The users enter the information that they wish to learn (such as directions to get from one place to another) and the website is populated appropriately.

Although it may seem fairly straightforward for a website developer to create a dynamic website, there are several things that they need to consider. These will help ensure that the site functions properly and is attractive for users.

Layout of the site needs to be simple in order to be effective

It is important for the layout of a dynamic website to be fairly simple. Remember, it is the changing content and customized experience that should interest visitors and not a complicated or unwieldy site design. A simple design can still be dynamic but will be easy to use, something that visitors to your site will appreciate.

Information needs to be easy to locate

This can be complicated because the website designer will be dealing with constantly changing information. It is still critical that potential customers be able to find the information that they are looking for. If the site is hard to navigate, they will likely lose patience and go elsewhere in order to find what they are looking for.

Site functionality is critical

It is critically important for the site to function well. This is something that is more important with a dynamic site than it is with a static site. With a static site, if the programming is faulty, customers may still be able to find the information they are looking for. With a dynamic website, because the information is stored in a database, a breakdown in programming may mean that your site is completely useless.

Taking the time to work with an experienced website designer can be your best bet when it comes to developing a dynamic website rather than a static one. Make sure that the firm you choose to work with has experience working with dynamic website design and that you like the work that they are showing you in their portfolio. Then you should be able to get the kind of site you want and your company deserves.

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