Posts Tagged ‘designer’

The business world has evolved and nowadays in order to be competitive you will need to have a high quality website. That is true for businesses that have been established already for years, as well as new businesses. It also doesn’t matter what you do, like sell flowers, ship PCs around the world, design your own clothing or offer consultations, a website is in most cases the first and only form of contact you will ever have with many clients.

It is very important that your website is able to get your message across and alluring but for sure user friendly. The competition out there on the web is mind-boggling. We are speaking in the range of 10 billion other websites looking for customers same as you are.

Fortunately, there are many ways open to you so that you can develop a website that is dynamic and unique for your company, as well as captivating to viewers. There are literally no limits as to the possibilities. However, keep in mind that customers will want a website that is not only attention grabbing, but also easy to use. You should ensure that the website is as easy for customers to use as possible, because this will increase the likelihood that they will go to your site first and spend their money on your business.

Having a user friendly and inviting site can be easier said can mean having a shopping cart feature where clients can pay for their items by simply checking a few boxes and filling out payment details. On line catalogs of products or entertaining slide shows describing services can help convince visitors to become customers.

Security is another major issue and it is important to make sure that client information is safe. Clients must feel that their information will be protected. Other features that you can use to make your website visually attractive to clients and make it unforgettable include movies, pictures and music.

There are as many possibilities of what to do with a website as there are internet users out there. However, it can be hard for someone whose expertise is to make the best chocolates in the great Northwest to know how to put all these features together. It can seem overwhelming to think about all that goes into a high quality website if that is not your area of training.

The internet is the most important place with the greatest potential, yet there are several companies who try to do the web page on their own with the idea it is not important for business and do not want to spend the money so they are not getting good results. This is a mistake since the internet is now and growing becoming the shopping mall and business center of the future.

By having an excellent website that is available to all to find and is user friendly, it is possible for any home run business to find customers all over the world. With a website even underdogs in the business world can compete with major international companies. If a search engine ranks a website high, then it is noticed and there are instantly millions of potential new customers. Every business owner who believes in their products or services will need to have a suitable website to show it off and for most a high quality website is just as important as for the business as the business is in itself.

I have been doing web design for about five years now. I started doing web design as a side job in college, and it turned out to be something I continued to do as a fulltime job once I graduated. Through all of this time, I have learned a great deal of lessons. The lessons I learned have been the hard way, but I?d like to share a few of them with you so you can learn some the easy way. The tips I have focus on the client; from determining what they do and don?t like to hammering out the specifications for the web site, I?ll relate to you some of the experiences I?ve had and my best practices.

My absolute best practice, which I highly recommend to every designer, is to ask the client to provide you with a document that displays a few of their favorite web sites. Underneath each URL, ask them to provide a paragraph or two of why they like the site so much. Tell them to be as specific as possible. Also, have them include any bits about the site that they actually don?t like. This document will help you greatly in crafting your design for the client. By receiving this, you are getting a glimpse at the client?s tastes; you?re seeing exactly what they like and can tailor your design to what they like.

Just as I capture their favorite websites in the same niche, I also have them provide in the same document a list of the other sites in the same niche and that they do not like. This does the opposite for me, it lets me know the design elements that they do not like. Again, they provide a paragraph or two about why they do not like those sites. These documents are so valuable because even before you have started to design you already know of some of the things that the client really likes and that the client really does not like.

Another key eve aspect of a web site that you should dedicate a good amount of effort and studying on is navigation. The navigation is critical to the usability of the site and thus it demands that you fully understand what the client wants. After understanding this you want to develop the cleanest method to organize all of their information. Once you have the client lock into the peaches that they want in the hierarchy of how to let the navigation, you can really begin to think about where you?ll place the navigation on the web site.

These tips may seem kind of obvious, but they weren?t things that I was always thinking about when I first started doing web design. I was always focused on churning out the best designed rather than focusing on a designed that matches the client?s likes and dislikes. This method of focusing on their likes, dislikes, and navigation has drastically reduced the amount of revisions I need to do before designing something that the client absolutely loves. Hopefully these tips will help you become a better designer too.

Most people begin their website project with a search for a professional web designer or web developer and don\’t even realize that there is a difference between the two. However, they are very different types of people and they both come to your project with their own points of view. Deciding what type of site you need will be the first step in determining what type of person you need for the project.

The Type of Website you Need: Static or Dynamic

The first place to begin when choosing who to build your site, is to decide whether you are going to need a static or a dynamic website. A static website is sometimes called a \”brochure website\”. On a static site, once all the information has been uploaded to the server, it stays the same. It only changes when a webmaster goes out to the site and makes updates. Therefore, all users see the same thing. It\’s much like handing out a traditional business brochure. All of your customers see the same thing until you have your brochure redone.

With a dynamic website, what the user sees will change, based on their input and thus is a more complicated and costly type of website. A dynamic website requires advanced programming to operate correctly. The programs must execute different results, based on what the user requests. A \”search\” feature is one dynamic element contained on most websites. Any ecommerce site is an example of a dynamic website.

Form – The Web Designer

The web designer\’s job is to focus on the layout and look of a website. They choose the color scheme and make decisions on how the text and graphics are displayed. They are concerned with the impression the site gives the visitor and how the visitor will navigate around the site. They are usually skilled in Photoshop and other graphic software. Many web designers begin their careers as graphic artists and are skilled at getting the site to have the \”look and feel\” that you want. They create your image on the Internet. Web designers usually have the skills needed to create static websites on their own.

Function – The Web Developer

Web developers, on the other hand are programmers. They usually handle more complicated sites and know various scripting languages. Their focus is on the interactive features of a site such as the shopping cart for an ecommerce site or a survey form or an order form. You will need the services of a web developer for a dynamic website. Which to Choose

Knowing what kind of site you need in the beginning is important because if you hire a web designer to build your website and you did not factor into the requirements that you were going to need, for example, an advanced multiage form, you will end up with a very nice looking website that does nothing for you. If you go the other way and have a web developer build your site, you could wind up with a very functional site that looks terrible. Design is always going to be secondary to a developer. If you need a dynamic website and the person you\’re considering is more of a designer, the project can still be successful. Just be sure to have them show you some websites with some dynamic functionality that they have built to make sure that can handle your job.

If the person you are considering is more of a developer, check their portfolio and make sure that they have the resources to partner with designers to produce a high quality website.

If you\’re still not sure which way to go, web designer or web developer, you would be better off leaning towards the web designer because the designer deals with that all-important first impression. Most Internet users decide within the first 3 seconds, whether or not they are going to stay on a site. Your project will be successful with a web designer as long as they have good web development resources as their disposal.

Usability – Where Form and Function Meet

Usability refers to how quickly and easily users can accomplish what they want to do, on your site. If your site is difficult or frustrating, they will quickly leave. You need your website to achieve your business objectives and if it\’s not, then it is not a design problem, it is not a development problem, it is a usability problem. Usability is the common thread that binds form and function together. .

When considering who to hire to build your website, a web designer or a web developer, be aware that they both have their strengths and limitations. A web designer will give you the right colors and the right look for your site and they understand what people respond to. The developer will give you the interactive elements for your site such as a shopping cart, a sign-up form or other dynamic functionality. However, design and development must work together to get your customer to buy your product or to contact you about your services.

If your site is visually appealing, allows the user to quickly and easily do business with you, then you have hit on the perfect marriage of form and function to produce a site that excels in usability, which translates into success!