Friday, October 5, 2012

Website Design Costs



If you don't know how to make a website on your own, then you will most likely want to find a website designer. These individuals will be able to create a place on the internet that follows your vision and ensures that it is professionally laid out and will keep visitors on your page for some time.

What you need to understand is that there are a number of costs that can be associated with your website as it is being built. These are going to cover everything from the layout of your website, to the photos and the design that you will have, while taking into consideration that some companies do charge more for ensuring your page is search engine optimized for the best possible results.

The first place you will have costs associated with your website design come in will be from the overall layout that is done. The professional designer will use various fonts, colors and layout schemes to ensure that your page opens quickly and helps the visitor reach their desired information as quickly as possible.

From the layout and design scheme of the website, you will then need to look at the photos being used. If you don't have your own images, the professional designer will need to pay and use stock photos from the internet. This can add some cost to your website design. It is important to understand that you cannot simply upload any photograph you find online as that will violate copyrights.

Beyond the visual basics, you will also be charged for the content that is placed on your website. This content needs to be relevant to your website and have specific keywords that will help it to be found in search engines. It will be important for you to provide this individual with some keywords and phrases that can be used to describe your business. They can then take those and search for other relevant terms that can help to boost your flow of traffic.

Once all of these items are in place and your website is finalized, it will be time to launch it. This can bring in some additional costs. Not only will the website designer take the time to ensure that your website can be viewed through different browsers properly, but that there are elements in place to drive traffic to your page.

This will be done by building backlinks and placing articles on the internet that will direct traffic back to your page. These links are an essential part of your website and you do need to ensure that you hire a professional to handle this process for you.

With all these items taken into account, you will find that there are different elements that will influence the final price quoted for you when it comes to designing a website. Of course, if you don't know how to make a website and need a fully functioning page, these costs will be worth it and in no time, you should start seeing traffic for your website grow.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Tips On The Planning Phase Of a Website Design And Selecting The Designer

Almost all of us are conversant with the three P's, planning, preparation and precision. The simple idea behind them is getting one to first think and put down an action plan aimed at arriving at some specific objectives. To get the very best from your website designer, there are some things that you need to know about the product you want. This article brings to light some tips that will help you be crystal clear as you embark on the planning part of the 3p's. The tips are as below:

    Website designing and creation has two stages, namely designing and coding stage. Do you want them done by the same person or different people?

    To make your website easy to find, will you want it designed to enable search engine optimization? Again, these can be done by either the designer or an SEO professional.

    Do you want a website or a blogging site? If a website is your desire, then the designer has to include content management systems to help you manage the website yourself. Without this, you will always pay your designer to manage the site for you.

    Before getting the design done, always have the content ready and clear as the content will determine the design in a big way.

    Will you need web hosting services to be provided by the designer or you have your own host? Many web designing companies have hosting services as well.

    Have you come up with your domain name? You have the option of having the designer come up with the name. If you decide on this option, always make sure that the name gets registered on your name and not his. Coming up with the name yourself is the best option.

Once you have answered the above questions and implemented the results, the next big thing is hiring a designer. There are three ways of doing this.

    Getting A Freelancer - This is the cheapest way to get a designer as freelancers are easy to find. Additionally, they are versatile meaning you get to negotiate how much you pay for the design.

    Design Contests - You can put out design contests on the web and have the best designer picked to do your website. All you have to do is find a site that offers these contests, post your instructions and requirements and then wait for the response.

    Hiring A Web Design Firm - This is the more conventional way and it is so far the most secure. A firm will give you all services, including hosting, and you get the feel of a professionally done website.



Sunday, September 30, 2012

Professional Web Design Companies Take Your Business to Its Pinnacle

he role of professional web design companies in the success of businesses is proven beyond doubt. Small business owners may be hesitant to hire professionals to promote business and might choose to use software available off-the-shelf and online. However, the truth very soon dawns on them, to build a profitable as well as successful business, specialized skill is required.

There are many advantages if you outsource web designing to companies with professional skill.

An expert in web page designing can check and analyze the mode of your business in order to offer the best suggestions needed for the growth of your business. The web developer can successfully employ suitable solutions with the aid of custom programming. Though there are many software packages developed for web designing, even the package with the best features cannot match up to professional knowledge of an experienced web developer in creating a web presence that is technically sound. Since a professional web developer will be well aware of the changing and developing technology, he will be able to make sure the quick loading of your site and its accessibility across many platforms.

Web development work is very much detail-oriented and needs time. A small business organization need not have the time and resources required for the work. If you decide to outsource web designing of your company to a professional, he will provide you the best while you take care of the most important aspects of your business that needs your attention.

There have been many instances of small businesses falling prey to traditional philosophy of once you build a site results will come naturally. Only targeted traffic can generate sales and develop leads, which an expert web development company can achieve with their professionalism and knowledge. He will have the knowledge to incorporate marketing techniques that have proven to be effective.

Improved aesthetics is another advantage of professional web designing. Promotional materials that you have in hand can be analyzed by a professional web designer and incorporated to new designs so that your business makes an outstanding web presence. Customized marketing can be achieved with the employment of effective templates. Correct utilization of slogans and pictures to make a meaningful theme will create an impressive visual effect.

The rewards of hiring an expert web designing service for your business are numerous. Compared to the high returns you get ultimately, the investment is less. Unnecessary manpower, tools and operating can be avoided with this important decision.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

What Is a Good and Bad Website Objective?



In order to have the most effective, successful website for any purpose, it is fundamental to address a number of pertinent points about building a great internet presence for a company or individual. By coming up with a list of objectives that can actually be accomplished, the building of a website can remain focused on a main set of goals. Of course, it is important to understand which objectives are actually important and worthy of an investment of time and money and which don't matter as much. Fulfillment of this goal is the best way to proceed with design and development, avoiding wasted effort and mistakes that would have to be corrected.

Identification of Objectives

Before any work begins and while still in the planning stages, goals should be identified that a website should accomplish; such an effort should involve more than simply stating a plan of having an easy-to-use website that looks good. Both of those parameters are variable; however, such end destinations will differ from person to person. While both points are still important to achieve a striking internet presence, an ultimate decision on how a website looks and works must address meeting the needs of an identified target audience.

On the other hand, a good objective would be to create a website that clearly and completely provides an explanation of a business, individual, or group of people that includes what is known and what is offered so that every reader understands such goals - regardless of layout or functionality. In that vein, other good objectives include presenting an internet presence that is well organized and without clutter, that easily illustrates an organization's experience within the topic and then provides answers to questions that visitors are likely to ask.

Basically, the best website objectives are to provide good customer service by presenting all information in a way that it is useable to most visitors. Other goals might have to do with optimization, such as the accurate usage of formatted header code, informative and well-written content, and using the same format throughout the entire internet location. Goals are essentially those things in which there is no flexibility, that must be met now matter what the design or function achieves, qualities that must be there, regardless of anything else.

Fulfillment of Objectives

Once the right goals for a specific website have been defined, the next task is to ensure such goals are used throughout the site building and design process. Although such an effort appears to be more of a job for the designer, it is really best guided and achieved by that internet location's owner. Of course anyone who is working on a website should definitely understand its purpose, its representation and its audience; however, no design person or firm can ever have as in-depth of an understanding about a company or organization as the ones who own it.

As development continues, it is still important to make sure that the primary identified objectives are being met, which is usually accomplished by testing throughout the site building process as this is just the best time to do it; once a website has been launched, goals that were not clearly addressed probably have not been met and will be harder to implement at that point.

With these tips in mind, there are two important things that should be done in order to be sure that a new website meets a company or organization's objectives. First, know what those goals are and second, be able to communicate openly such objectives with developers and designers in order to achieve the desired website. When this is accomplished, a productive and efficient internet presence that does what it is supposed to do awaits!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

What to Learn If You Want To Design Websites



Talented web designers make the field of web design look easy. However, website design is no different from any other field; you have to get the right training in order to be able to do your job well. If you'd like to learn how to design websites, read on for some advice about how to get the training you need.

If you're curious about website design, you might want to start by taking a class at your local community college. Many community colleges offer beginner-level courses for modest prices so that you can determine whether this field is for you without spending a lot of money on training.

Start by taking an introductory course that gives you an overview of web design and exposes you to HTML. HTML is the most basic language you'll need to learn if you want to create and design websites; by studying this language and practicing using it, you can determine whether you have the aptitude and interest to learn how to design websites. If you enjoy website design and get the hang of it, after you take the introductory class, you might want to take classes in more advanced concepts. You'll need to learn CSS and Java in order to succeed as a website designer and may also want to learn Flash and JavaScript.

In addition to studying web design formally, you can also help yourself learn by reading books on web design. The best books provide students with exercises they can do on their own to create the effects they want on their own web pages. You can often find books in your local library that go over many basic website design concepts. Whether you want to learn HTML or want to market yourself as a website designer, you can find the information you need in books. If your library doesn't have the books you need, you can often get them from online booksellers for low prices.

If you have specific questions, you can also find tutorials online. Search in Google for your question and look at the sites that come up. For example, if you're trying to create a certain type of background, you can search for help with creating backgrounds in HTML.

Online tutorials are an excellent way to train yourself as a web designer because they usually take you step-by-step through the process of creating the effect you want. Many tutorials have pictures of each step so that you can see exactly what you need to do and how it should look. You can also find video tutorials online that show a web designer doing each step.

The idea of being a website designer can be both exciting and overwhelming. There's a lot to learn if you want to be successful as a website designer. However, there are lots of ways you can learn what you need to; if you put the effort in, you may discover a fun, rewarding hobby or even a new career!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

What Not To Do In Web Design



It can be difficult to avoid all of the pitfalls that come with designing a website. With so many websites out there, it is important that you create a unique online presence that sets you apart from everyone else. There are quite a few things that you can do in order to come out on top and beat out the competition. The article below will focus on just some of the ways that you can improve your own website!

Choose a URL for your website that is easy to remember and has a good ring to it. Something that takes 30 seconds to type is a website that many people will tend to forget. Register your domain name with a name that is short, sweet and to the point. If you don't have a domain registered in your name, consider shortening your URL. Free hosts such as Angelfire often provide a URL that isn't easy to remember and can become hectic to type. A URL shortening website will take that URL and shorten it to sound like you have registered a domain name; the best part is that most of these services are free.

Avoid putting too much on your website! This means, keep scrolling messages and mind boggling animations to a minimum. Too many website owners feel that by placing animations on their website they are grabbing people's attention, when in fact they are driving them crazy instead. Animations can be hard on a person's eyes, but more to the point, they can freeze a browser window faster than lightning. If you have something important to say, you don't have to say it with scrolling text. Write your text in banner form or just use a bold and large font. People don't want to wait minutes for your text to come scrolling through.

It is important that your website and its pages load fairly quickly. It can be said that about 15 seconds is the most that it should take someone to completely load your website. If that is not the case, you really need to re-think your website's design and tweak it a bit. If you have too many graphics and JavaScript to display, it can freeze up older computers and won't load properly on dial-up Internet.

Always check your website's links and make sure that they are still valid and the pages display correctly. If you have a website that has many links, this is especially an important step. Visitors will find themselves very annoyed if they see that half of the links they click on are invalid. Take a day off once a week when you check to make sure that your links are working. If you don't have enough time on your hands to do this, consider hiring some outside help to check all of your links. You can also set up a form for visitors to fill out if they spot a link that is broken or re-directing someplace else.

It is important that when you take the time to design your website, you are designing a site that many people will want to visit over again. By taking the time to avoid unnecessary pitfalls, you will find your website's popularity increase significantly.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Get The Best Results From Your E-Commerce Website



As more and more businesses create and broaden an internet presence, the number of e-commerce sites is on the rise as well. It only makes sense, considering how many people shop online these days. Putting up an online business website is just common sense for anyone with a product to offer, since most shoppers these days look to the internet first rather than last. Success in an endeavor such as this will only happen if attention is paid to creating a good website and then incorporating a purchasing capability as part of the design and function. This internet user shopping forum can indeed profit a company selling a product or service if customers can navigate through the shopping experience to the checkout page in as few steps as possible.

Navigation - Providing easy ways to shop is essential in order to make sales. Of course, many online retailers attempt to entice shoppers to their internet location and fail because navigation has not been given enough attention in the design process. Menus should be easy to find, easy to use, and lead to a product sales page within two clicks. Product descriptions, specifications and other information should be easy to locate as should other essential links such as a good search function, shipping information, FAQs, contact forms, etc. Users should be able to sign-up and login with ease, find information or products, easily manipulate an account and a shopping cart, and be provided with a means to have questions answered, either through an online search or a contact email. A frustrating shopping experience has a high risk of becoming an abandoned shopping cart.

Filtering and Searching - With so many sophisticated means to search and filter retail websites, customers are used to looking for certain items and then clicking away any unnecessary ones to rapidly narrow down selection lists. Keeping up with the many other business internet locations that now use such detailed search filter functions makes for a better customer shopping experience and lends credibility to a company that has taken the time to provide this modern and trendy feature; it does indeed provide the best service to shoppers. Additionally, this helps keep the number of menu links to a minimum since a category page can be reached and then any further searches narrowed down from that point. Being able to step back with one click is where these types of filters really shine.

Product Presentation - Having a fantastic website that works well and does everything an e-commerce presence should do can end up being worthless if the products are not presented well on each page. Photography in particular needs to be exceptional, with multiple clear, well-lit images of each piece of merchandise to prevent buyers from turning away because the item to be sold cannot be seen well enough to convince a shopper to make a purchase without ever touching it. All product, shipping and return information should be complete as well, leaving very little reason for a potential customer to make a final purchasing decision clearly and without any confusion. Between product information and images, shoppers should be able to feel confident in what is being bought, enough to the checkout and actually make conclude that transaction.

Overall Website Design - While there are a lot of important features on an e-commerce website, the overall design itself should not be ignored. It must fit the image of its company, be well laid out in regard to colors, fonts, white space and image use and be fully functional in all necessary ways as well. Even though it is a retail sales shop, it should still look like any other professionally made website that a company would present without shopping cart functionality.

Shopping Cart Security - Security today is a high priority for anyone wanting to start selling online, as customers have become more and more careful about being willing to provide banking or credit card information. The best way to earn and keep customers' trust in this instance is to stick with the tried, true and trusted financial and security options. This will not only make customers more comfortable with providing private information, it will increase belief that the selling company does indeed care about its customers and wants to conduct good and honest business with all potential buyers.

By creating an e-commerce website that provides services seen in the upper echelon of internet sellers such as Amazon, even companies new to online selling can do well. The less online hassles for customers to deal with typically means better sales and higher return rates. Then after creating a well built, efficient website, a seller's main responsibility is merely to live up to that sales promise with good products and offline service as well.