Five Website Design Tips

Posted on September 19, 2010 by

I absolutely adore designing websites. It is incredibly fun and a great way to flex my creative muscles. Over the years I’ve managed to design a handful of websites, all with their own specific purposes, such as a blog where I discuss all the books I’ve read over the past year. Or a site I designed for a class project in a computer course I took while in graduate school. Of course, if you’ve never done any web design before, the idea of starting can be very overwhelming. There’s so much to remember and the HTML and CSS codes can look like a foreign language. So, to help you out, I’ve put together my list of Five Web Design Tips that, hopefully, will give you a good place to start:

1) Picture Perfect: When selecting images and graphics to use, go for small ones. Large graphics, while they might look nice, often make a page slower to load, which is incredibly frustrating for those trying to view it. Also, unless you’re showcasing multiple photographs with a specific purpose, limit how many images you put up. You don’t want the words and actual content of the page to get lost. Also, make sure your graphics makes sense. If the image doesn’t have anything to do with the content of the actual webpage, don’t include it.

2) The Standard is the Standard for a Reason: As tempting as it might be to mess around with frames and the layout of your website, try and stick with customary layout designs. Along with layout, don’t go too crazy with your fonts. Some of the more modern fonts won’t be supported on all computers, and will affect the look for your website and not necessarily in a good way. Use some of the more traditional font types available, and don’t have too many different fonts on one page.

3) Don’t Go Color Crazy: Just because red and green are your favorite colors, doesn’t mean they’ll look good together on a website (unless, of course, you’re trying to go for a Christmas theme). Keeping color in mind doesn’t just end when you choose what colors you actually want displayed on your site, either, especially when it comes to font. Make sure you select a font color and a background color that will be easy to read.

4) White Space Isn’t Just White Noise: You might think your website will benefit from an overload of images and giant walls of text, but keep the white space in mind, too. Keep a balance between the content and the white space for an ultra clean look.

5) Multiple Readers Mean Multiple Browsers: These days, there are so many browser options available, such as Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, and now Google Chrome. While I wish I could tell you that your website will automatically look the same across the board, that’s simply not the reality, so make sure you test how your website looks on multiple browsers.

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Midwest Website Design

Posted on July 19, 2010 by

The business world is rapidly changing. Traditional brick and mortar stores and buildings are not enough for a company to succeed. Instead, a strong web presence is needed if a business wants to be successful and draw in new customers. Potential consumers aren’t just searching for services in the phone book anymore, but searching online. They are making snap decisions on whom to give their business to based on what websites pop up in their search engine first, and depending on what these websites look like. Your website is the first thing they will see when it comes to your business, it will be that first impression, and the right – or wrong – website design can make or break a potential business contact. So what do you do if you have absolutely no web design experience and aren’t sure where to start?

Luckily, because of the recent focus on superb website design, there are plenty of options available in getting assistance with your own website. No matter what industry you work in and regardless of where in the Midwest you are located, there is a Milwaukee website design or Chicago website design firm near you that is just waiting to help you build your online brand. While it’s true that designing and launching a website is getting easier and easier these days, it’s always in a company’s best interest to select one of the many Appleton website designers who are in the business of creating handcrafted sites that can speak for your image and brand when you are unable to. Remember, for many of your future customers, your website will be their first glimpse into what you represent and you don’t want to lose potential revenue because of poor website design.

Believe it or not, website designers do more than just design websites. After all, the most beautiful website in the online world isn’t worth the virtual paper it’s printed on if nobody sees it. Potential customers search for businesses online because it’s fast and easy, and they generally don’t have the time, or desire, to wade through thousands of listings of businesses in their area. Unless your business’s website shows up on the first page of Google, there is a very good chance it will never been seen. Not being seen online means you could be losing an incalculable amount of future business. Don’t worry, though, because along with designing websites, there are Milwaukee SEO experts who know exactly what it takes to get your company’s website on the front page of Google. With the right design firm, not only will you have a website to be proud of, but you’ll be secure in the belief that your website will be able to bring in new customers for you and your business.

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Selling Your Jewelry Online

Posted on June 29, 2010 by

Right now, there is a huge market out there of people looking into buying glass enamel art, specifically pieces of jewelry. Working with glass allows a jewelry artist a plethora of creative options, from necklaces and earrings, even decorative hair clips. Because of the way glass enamel works, no two pieces will be exactly the same, making each piece entirely unique. In fact, many potential customers purchase these types of jewelry pieces for this exact reason: they love knowing that their pair of earrings or necklace is an original, which makes them appreciate the art, as well as the artist, all the more.

If you are an artist or jewelry maker who wants to know how start selling hand crafted jewelry, you’ve come to the right place, especially if you are already a working artisan with an established collection you’d like to sell. Crafting and creating the jewelry, while not necessarily easy, is certainly fun and allows a person a creative outlet. But what do you do with the pieces once they are completed? While one option is to attempt to sell at local boutiques or galleries, if you want more control over your prices and to be able to have more interaction with your customers, your best choice is to look into going into business for yourself by selling your jewelry on the web.

It’s not that difficult to sell art online. In fact, it’s become such a popular venue, that more and more art-themed websites are appearing, offering artists the chance to branch out and make their jewelry available to more and different audiences. With the search feature on these websites, potential customers will have the ability to seek exactly what they are looking for, which is, of course, your jewelry. Instead of having to take time away from your art to reach out to customers, selling online means the customers will come to you, giving you more opportunities to focus on producing your jewelry. In fact, you may find that some customers become so enamored with your work they began asking for custom pieces.

If you’re not sure where to start, or which website will work the best for you and your business, consider checking them all out and contacting other artists who sell artwork online. This will allow you the chance to understand how the online selling process works, as well as getting an idea of how much to charge. Remember, one of best reasons to sell this way is you get to set your own prices, and while you want to be in a position where you make money and know you should set competitive prices, you also don’t want your prices to be so outrageous that you send potential customers to one of your competitors.

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