Posts Tagged ‘effective web design’
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Have you noticed all the makeover shows lately? Total home and room makeovers, body makeovers from losing weight to plastic surgery, wardrobe makeovers, cosmetic makeovers from new hair to new teeth. We seem to be fascinated with improvements and making things better. Below are top five questions to ask yourself and you’ll know for certain when your website needs a makeover.
- If it was designed more than 3 years ago, it most likely needs a new look. Technology has changed with programs, coding and search engines. Also, people want instant gratification so text-heavy, slow-loading sites are a thing of the past.
- If you had a friend or relative design your site. There is much more to designing an effective website than creating a Word document or Illustrator drawing. Friends or relatives most likely will not have extensive knowledge and experience with html coding, search engines and usability. Also, they may not have the time to devote and your website becomes a low priority.
- Has your business changed and your website doesn’t reflect the new image, products or services? Take a look at your site about every 3 months and see what needs to be updated or added to keep up with your business focus.
- Did you create your website from a printed brochure? A brochure is something that people can hold in their hands and read. A website is a visual image and you’ve got about 6 seconds to capture a potential client. People scan rather than read online. If you’ve literally “copied” your brochure to make a website, it may be a good idea to streamline the text.
- Does your website really reflect the image you want to portray to your target audience? If you are trying to appeal to a high-end clientele then your website should reflect a high-end image. I am not saying spend considerable dollars on a web redesign. It’s almost better to have no website than a poorly designed site that will leave the wrong impression.
With over a trillion websites – you really want yours to stand out from the competition. For optimum results, make your site visually appealing, functional and easy to navigate.
Tags: effective web design, Web Marketing, website redesign
Posted in Web Site Design | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Pretend you are opening a store in a busy shopping mall. As a savvy business owner you will budget for the monthly rent, utilities, security, signage, advertising, marketing, fixtures and inventory. Will you expect to begin making money the minute your doors are open for business?
As a website owner, let’s use the retail store analogy – you invest money in the building of the website or the retail storefront. Next, you open your doors for business or your website goes “live”. The thinking is that once the website is built, the search engines should find you immediately and the cash register will start ringing. Is this realistic? Why are online expectations so drastically unrealistic from offline expectations?
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Tags: Business Strategy, effective web design, internet marketing, marketing ideas, Web Marketing, website marketing
Posted in Creative Marketing, Effective Web Sites, Small Business Owners | 16 Comments »
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
1. Easy – Let the visitor know it is easy to do business with you. Easy to order, easy to buy, easy to subscribe, easy to phone, easy, easy, easy. Don’t we all want everything to be easy? This is a buzzword for sure.
2. FREE – yes, put this word in big, bold capital letters at least once on your home page. Everyone can give something away for FREE. The Internet was built on the premise of FREE. What can you give away for FREE?
3. Today – Why delay? Order today! Now is good, today is better! This word invites the visitor to take action today. Tell them why today is better than tomorrow and that’s even better. Encourage them to buy from you today.
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Tags: effective web design, internet marketing, Small Business, Web Marketing
Posted in Creative Marketing, Effective Web Sites, Small Business Owners | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Do you know how powerful the colors are on a website? Colors make a first impression and also evoke emotions. Sometimes a simple change of colors on a website can create a whole new look and feel while keeping the same basic design.
It’s a good idea to have the colors of your logo be represented on the website. This creates a branding image in the mind of your customers. Whenever we see yellow & red & the golden arches we know what famous fast food chain that represents.
As with everything, there are positives and negatives to each color. Knowing your target audience will determine which colors you’ll choose to convey. When you’re appealing to a global audience, knowing the color meanings of different cultures will be beneficial. See a Cultural Color Chart.
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Tags: attracting clients, effective web design, website colors, website redesign
Posted in Attract Your Ideal Clients, Effective Web Sites, Law of attraction, Web Design Ideas, Web Site Design, Web Trends | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
On average, I visit about 80 different websites every day. It’s refreshing to come across sites that have nice designs in addition to good functionality. Thought I’d mention a couple here. Just so you know, we didn’t design these sites.
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Tags: effective web design, website redesign
Posted in Attract Your Ideal Clients, Effective Web Sites, Web Site Design | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Are you a creative type? Me too! Having a creative mind can be both a curse and a gift. With so many ideas and business offerings buzzing inside our heads, we often experience headaches and euphoria simultaneously. We want to tell or show everyone all the many things we do.
Those of us with websites, blogs and ezines may want to showcase lots of products or services with too much text. You’ve seen the websites I’m talking about – too much text, too many calls. The reality is that simpler really is best.
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Tags: Add new tag, effective web design, marketing ideas, Web Marketing, web site marketing, website marketing
Posted in Artists, Effective Web Sites, Small Business Owners, Web Site Design | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Flash, Frames & Blinking Banners – Avoid building an entire site in Flash. Search engines cannot find or read a site built totally in Flash. A good alternative is to create an html site and implement Flash elements inside this type of site. Frames are difficult for users and search engines can’t read sites built in frames. Avoid frames completely! Too many blinking banners, moving text or images can be distracting to the visitor and give the wrong impression. Too much bling is not a good thing for a website.- Poor Content, Too Much or Not Enough – What you say on your site is extremely important. Be brief and get to the point with effective, powerful words. If a visitor has to scroll multiple times to read all the text they and move on. People are typically in a hurry and want the info fast. Have you been to a site with no text and wondered what they were all about? Text on the home page is important for the visitor and for the search engines. Don’t make them guess what’s behind door #1, tell them what you are about so they will want to explore further. (more…)
Tags: effective web design, web site mistakes
Posted in Creative Marketing, Effective Web Sites, Small Business Owners, Web Design Ideas, Web Marketing, Web Site Design | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
This is an expanded version of what was written in the March 2009 Muse News. If you’d like to subscribe to the free monthly Muse News or read the archives then click here.
A plastic part in our refrigerator broke so I drove over to Sears thinking I could either buy one or they would order it for me. They said, “Oh, no we don’t do that, you have to go to our Parts Store and they are closed today.” Then I said, “Hmmm, can you order it for me online?” Then she replied again, “No, you would need to do that yourself.” So, I went back home, fired up the computer and typed the part # in Google. The first couple sites I found were awfully confusing and I couldn’t even figure out how to buy the part from these sites. Then I discovered: www.partselect.com This is an amazing website and so easy to navigate. Not only did I find the part right away with a price; the bonus was reading the Do-It-Yourself stories they post on the site. I was able to print those specific to the installation of this part and also realized I needed to order one more piece to make this thing work. With just a few clicks of the mouse, my order was placed and I received the part in less than 7 days. Now, THAT is customer service!
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Tags: customer service, effective web design, web site usability
Posted in Client Relations, Effective Web Sites, Web Marketing, Web Site Design | No Comments »
