u7BPOOBhorGvWiMd7QqAXUJSFFEbCBFh: November 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012

Using Graphic Design To Achieve The Perfect Business Card (Part 2)

In part one of this article, we looked at the first three graphic design approaches that one can take in terms of putting their business cards together - the 'professional', the 'playful' and the 'reliable'. In part two, we look at the final two approaches and the elements that every business card needs to include.

The "Wise"

By showing clients and customers that you are wise and know exactly what you're talking about, you will instill in them a sense of trust. Use graphic design to convey this sense of wisdom and you are likely to have a much more rewarding relationship.

What to include?

The elements that you can use to convey a sense of wisdom include a muted, minimalist approach. Use abstract imagery or images that you have surrounded with white space, letter pressing and embossing, and sans-serif fonts.

Colours to use:

Purple and gold are considered the classic symbols of wisdom. You could also use black, which is seen as authoritative or grey which is seen as being timeless. Orange, which stands for endurance, could also work.

The "Jack of All Trades"

This sort of image is one that many freelancers would like to present. Did you know that you can use graphic design to show clients that you can do a bit of everything without including a full list of credentials? Your business card needs to display your passion for expanding your knowledge.

What to include?

The elements that you need to include for this approach include a much busier design than the others. Use a variety of fonts (or a variety of font styles), combine styles and elements, but don't go too far.

Colours to use:

Purple and gold can be used to weave the theme of wisdom throughout the business card. Yellow and blue, which represent idealism, could also be used to convey your 'jack of all trades' approach.

Business Card Elements

To ensure that the graphic design for your business cards is 110% successful, you need to include some basic information. This includes your name and your title within the company (such as John Doe, CEO or Jane Doe, Marketing Manager). You also need to include current contact information, including your company's contact number (and perhaps your direct line), your address, your mobile number, your fax number and your email address.

At the end of the day, it is important to keep in mind that it is the quality of your business cards that is more relevant than the quantity. Remember that contact details change, so ordering 100 business cards and then having to change your phone number when you've only given away half is going to be a complete waste of money. By following a graphic design approach that is relevant to your brand, you can ensure that your business cards are top notch.

Why Learn WordPress and Some Tips on Getting Started How to Make Free Websites Communication Is Key: Be Honest With Your Website Designer PSD to OsCommerce: Fuelling Better Ecommerce Websites

Know What Every Web Design Should Achieve

An internet presence is one of the most important tools that any business or organization has to effectively relay a message, hopefully translating it into sales, sign-ups and other types of conversions. Having a website that does not perform for whatever reason is detrimental to optimization efforts as well as the ability to gain and maintain followers. To create an efficiently functioning website, designers need to balance a number of important aspects to best represent each and every company or client.

Visual

Naturally, the first thing any visitor to a website notices is how it looks. Without doing too much with fancy fonts, images and other visual extras, a website needs to look appealing. Color palette is extremely important and should be chosen to fit the company, the mood to be projected, and the message. Design style should present the client as they wish to be seen, whether that is serious and business-like, fun-loving, or classic.

Use of images, type, and white space should be carefully balanced to create a presence that is pleasing to the eye without being too busy or conversely, too empty; neither case is better than the other and both will impede the visual usability of a site. The design of a site that is beautiful, attractive and easy on the eyes for navigating - and doing so without becoming overly obtrusive - is the key to a visually pleasing design.

Functional

While look is important on one front, site function is just as important on another; finding a way to make function and form work well together is always the trick. Navigation should be easy to find and easy to use, resisting the desire to go high-tech with all kinds of complex and fancy menu effects. Site content should be clearly organized so users do not have to go hunting, so that desired information can be quickly found.

Consistency throughout an entire website - using the same colors, fonts, link positions, etc. - adds greatly to function since users do not have face different aspects on every new page. Links that all work seem like an obvious part of any functional website; however, missing one can happen and ruin a user-website experience. Forms that are user-friendly and easy to compete as well as shopping carts that properly function is just another way to deliver a functional website that works right the first time.

Interesting and Informative

Once a design and all other elements have been determined, what remains is to provide concise, correct and interesting reader content. In order to become a highly regarded website, it is important to concentrate on quality content presented in an appealing fashion. Keeping information current with frequent updates will keep readers coming back, especially if that content does more than just state facts.

Engaging readers with interesting tidbits, interactive elements, and high-quality information must be a prime concern once look and layout has been designed. Keep viewers interested to return and recommend the site to others. Be sure to consider the targeted audience when adding content and design or user elements; it will be easier to keep people interested and informed when content is presented if an appealing and useable format.

Creating a well rounded, efficient website definitely takes effort; however, keeping these goals in mind during the building process can smooth out any potential problems. Designing a visually appealing, functional, interesting, and informative website takes time, a little trial and error, and a lot of forethought; however, such honest efforts will prove to be valuable. The end result will be a website that any business or organization can be proud to call their own, reaching the right people and encouraging viewers to become purchasing customers. It is indeed important to thoroughly know what every web design should achieve!

Why Learn WordPress and Some Tips on Getting Started How to Make Free Websites Communication Is Key: Be Honest With Your Website Designer PSD to OsCommerce: Fuelling Better Ecommerce Websites Professional Web Design - Strategies for Building an Online Business Web Designing Companies Can Help You Get The Perfect Business Website

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. Why Learn WordPress and Some Tips on Getting Started How to Make Free Websites Communication Is Key: Be Honest With Your Website Designer PSD to OsCommerce: Fuelling Better Ecommerce Websites Professional Web Design - Strategies for Building an Online Business Web Designing Companies Can Help You Get The Perfect Business Website

Too Many Choices Can Spoil a Client When It Comes to Logo Designing

It is the mark of a creative logo designer to come up with a gamut of innovative ideas for designing a logo when they are entrusted with a signage project. A business sign with its ability to build a brand image or break it, needs to be crafted with rapt attention by the professionals. Research is the key where the designers get to know about the various aspects of the industry he is working for. It is important to spell out the good ideas that hit a professional after making the thematic analysis of a client's business. Presenting too many ideas to the clients is not always a great idea as there is a potential risk of the natural flow of the signage project getting stunted.

Don't make your Client to stand in a Candy Store

The whole range of ideas that you, as a professional logo designer, represent to a client with cool, effective or appropriate logo designing potential, undoubtedly impresses him to the core. It is not always a wise idea to put your client in a kid's position, making him to scratch his head while choosing the best pick and mix sweets. It can be very confusing for him. It is definitely a commendable thing that you are working for a client by totally getting immersed in a single signage project. However, unlocking your full wardrobe of designing ideas can make your client to feel giddy. The impact is often adverse as a client might come up with suggestions where he would want you to mash up sections of one design with the other. Your favored concept might not gel with the investor's vision. The aces in the field pronounce that, in most cases, the client and the designer often fail to walk on the same track and differ in opinion.

The Successful Briefing Session

A good logo design brief is absolutely crucial to let the creative juice of a designer to flow. A professional in the field is able to offer a good interpretation of the brief, satiate a client with his innovative thinking power. However, too many good ideas can delay the process of scripting a logo. You put in all your effort and hard work so that you are able to appease your client and nurture a successful customer relationship. In a bid to impress, it can be a frustrating experience when you get your ego stroked. A client gets convinced with your creative flair, but when he gets a bit of time to ponder over the on-going signage work, he always has his own inputs to offer. The suggestions which a client cling to might add an edge to a project or do the undesired damage. A client's plan of scrutinizing and analyzing your creative ideas can put to a halt the natural flow of a signage project. It is the commitment of the client and the professional designer which paves the way for a true collaboration.

Subjective Perceptions

The notion of subjective perception can land you in a soup when you find that the decision-making body of choosing the logo of a brand is a board of five people or more. It pays off if you are able to read the personality, the attitude of your clients. When you have a number of heads to instill in your creative thoughts, play safe. As a designer you should indulge in a serious filtering process of your logo designing concepts and present only the top three or top five ideas that feature on your priority list. This will help in retaining the spontaneity of drafting the business sign,by keeping too much of confusions and interferences at bay.

Why Learn WordPress and Some Tips on Getting Started How to Make Free Websites Communication Is Key: Be Honest With Your Website Designer Professional Web Design - Strategies for Building an Online Business

Template Based Website - Pros and Cons

For instance, if you see a website made on WordPress or Joomla, you can infer it to be a template-based website. In short, templates are predefined layouts, those which are not designed from scratch and are not unique.

Below mentioned are some Pros and Cons of a Template Based Website:

Pro - Extremely cost-effective Their prime advantage is cost-effectiveness. Here we are not talking about the free ones that can be picked over from Web Monster or their likes. After all, they can only provide you with so much business. The idea is to use templates but in a way that makes your business grow. So, the next question in your mind must be- how to create such effective templates? If one knows the job at hand then it is actually a delight to make templates work as they are not at all cumbersome to handle.

Pro - Strong Product Management Software First thing to understand about template is the form and structure. If you are looking for an ecommerce setup that sells products nationally or even internationally, you need to have an interwoven Product Management System. This can work just as well over a template as a customized website provided that that the back end coding is done with a lot of accent to the product cabinet. In other words, the product shelf has to be compartmentalized and made very easily searchable.

Con - Search Engine rankings While we are using the word searchable, it is important to talk about the viability of search engine rankings. Truth be told, template-based websites aren't naturally blessed with search engine rankings. A template can very easily be misunderstood by search engines and classified as a mirror page unless you ensure that all the content on your website is unique and developer credit links are removed (with his/her permission). Though you can get a template based website done at a very basic cost but ideally you should spend some money into three-way search engine marketing. As a first, organic SEO should be used to boost the rankings. A PPC or AdWords campaign shall be used alongside to motivate more niche traffic though sponsored listing. Also, Google Place Optimization for local audience should not be ignored either.

Templates do not provide you a lot of ground to play with on the visual meter but today, many dynamic templates styled in modern day aesthetics can be created.

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.

Choose the Best Web Designing and Development Services

Today the world is internet driven world. All turn to the Internet when they want to know about the product or service, and you can be sure that all of your potential clients and future business partners will rely on the Internet channel to gather information about your business. People tend to give importance to the websites and, depending on their view of your site, they can make value judgments about your business. Your site is quite obvious, is the public face of your business. If you want to improve your reach to your clients and want to act as a reliable organization in the industry is very important that you own and operate a web site that has the best quality. It does not matter whether you have a business model online or offline one; you need to have a Web site and better performance of your site, the better your chances to convert your leads to the actual sale.

If you want to create a website for your company or reconstruction of an existing one, to give it a modern look, you can find a number of Web Designing and Development Company in the field of outsourcing, which would be able to make effective websites for your company at a significantly reduced cost for your company. However, even before you get in it is extremely important that you try to understand the concepts that go into the development of the site. Without a deep knowledge of the process of web design and development you would blindly rely on the powers of the company and that is not desirable. With some practical knowledge about how the web development company to work, you would be in a better position to ensure that you receive a quality solution, which translates to a successful web site at a later date.

The process of developing a web site must be strong planning based on it to be of any value. To start a web design and development company should be given time to understand the purpose of your site and the nature of your business, which is on its way. With this understanding comes the second phase of strategic planning, where everything from site architecture, design features, platform, programming, database solutions, with the subsequent sale of the site it should be on paper and carefully checked for loopholes. Web design and development companies have a clear strategy for the web site that is clear to navigate and easy to use, and has a "unique selling proposition (USP), which could attract the attention of your users. Web design and development company should be able to come up with a site that supports the spirit of your business with a clear and concise content and Graphic Designing, which go hand in hand.

Web design and development company should be able to watch the competition is in the market and create a website that is a cut above the rest. Website design, for example, should be able to instantly attract the attention of the first users of the time and interest in them properly, so that they continue to read through your site, and then down to the next level. No part of the process of developing a web site apart from the rest. It is very important to understand that each part is a step in the process, and you need at every stage to try to understand what each function on the site will affect the view of end-users of your site.

Importance of Website Usability

Humans have this tendency to look for better options until they find satisfaction or something they are looking for. Same is the case with online visitors, if they do not find the information they are looking for they will leave the page and will move to other website in search for the information. Information and navigation on the website plays a vital role in the establishment of a website. Usability is the heart and soul of any website that keeps calling more visitors.

Most of us want our websites to be glossy and full of animation so as to make it very attractive. Normally we think if the website looks perfect, we will have more visitors, but that is not the case with rapid or permanent traffic on the website. Usability has to be taken care of before making the website live. It is important to know if the website is perfect in terms of navigation and information available on the website.

We simply add more pages to our website to make it search engine friendly, but we need to make sure that the information is easily found on the website. Home page of the website is the main page which can decide the visitor's stay on the website. We need to add all the important links and information which users or visitors must search on the Home page. Anyway, internal linking is very important for any website for a better search results on different search engines.

The factors which decide visitors stay on the page are basically the smooth navigation and availability of information. We need to make sure the keywords and header tags are properly used as because of the keywords tagging the result comes up in the search engine, but it does not carry the information sought on the search engine. In that case, visitors will leave the page instantly and move to other pages. Search engines have made it possible. They allow you to keep finding the result until you get the one you want.

A better design is always required, but proper navigation and information availability is crucial for any website. Today, every other person is launching a website hence, there is no dearth of websites on particular keywords, but they do not have accurate information. They use keywords which bring their website on search result, but they fail to have visitors who stay on their website. The bounce rate for the website is higher. If you are considering a website for your business, you need to keep in mind all the points discussed above.

Leave Web Design To The Professionals

Experienced website design will have a key influence on the achievements of a website and in the prosperity of your business all round. Several company owners and aspiring entrepreneurs believe that they are able to develop their very own site with one of the countless devices that exist on the Internet. There is nothing generally drastically wrong with this technique, it doesn't conjure up views of professionalism and trust with a lot of the targeted visitors of the site. Frankly, obtaining a professional-looking web design provides many reasons to like both your organization, and your business's site.

Helps in Developing Trustworthiness

One of the leading important things about getting a professional to style your web site, is that it helps develop trustworthiness in the eyes of the client. Every time a visitor arrives at a website, he or she needs to see a definite degree of professionalism and trust. If your web site seems as if it was speedily designed, or that it was made by someone who did not know what they were doing, the visitor will lose trust, and most probably click the back button. Mainly because prior to making an order from the internet, or picking up the phone to call you, a buyer needs to feel very secure. If the site does not look great, they will almost certainly feel relatively hesitant about giving the website with his or her Visa or Master Card details, entering her or his or contact info, or picking up the phone and calling you. Even so, a professionally created website will help see through many of these emotions which could get into the thought process of the client.

Improve Conversion Rates

Another benefit of a expertly personalized and designed web design is that it can dramatically increase conversion rates. The conversion rate of your website is probably the biggest factors for your organization to observe carefully. If your website already draws a good amount of traffic but has a horrible conversion rate, it will not bring in very much income for your enterprise. By boosting the conversion rate of the site, it will make substantially more money while not having to receive any more visitors. Choosing an expert web design company to offer you a custom-made website allows the designer to target increasing your web site's conversion rate. An established web designer can adjust selected facets of the page to motivate a specific buyer response. This will likely have a huge impact on the level of success the website can obtain.

Boost Search Engine Rankings

In addition to boosting conversions, a professionally developed web site design will usually increase its search engine rankings. This is mostly because search results are affected by the grade of your website. If your website was created by a professional, odds are it will have a greater conversion rate, which ensures you keep consumers on your website for a longer time. The major search engines look at this and might reach the conclusion that the web site is of high quality. Moreover, other website owners prefer to link to quality sites. Once your web site actually starts to get one way links, it will increase in the search engine ranks, and receive a rise in traffic. Once the site visitors and conversion rate of your site are upgraded, it can have a powerful effect on the prosperity of your web site.

Why Learn WordPress and Some Tips on Getting Started How to Make Free Websites Communication Is Key: Be Honest With Your Website Designer PSD to OsCommerce: Fuelling Better Ecommerce Websites

What Goes Into Website Design and Development Pricing

The development of a website inculcates many aspects that affect the prices on the market. Arriving at a price is one of the challenging decisions web design companies go through on a weekly basis. This is because of the competition in the industry. Not being able to come up with competitive prices for the services involved can mean losing a potential client or an existing customer. Prices may include development, graphic design, domain name registration and a web hosting packages, which sometimes include email hosting as well.

Some companies may not provide all the services mentioned. For example, a company may only provide development and will outsource graphic design to a third-party. Others may only provide development, graphic design, but not domain registration and web hosting. Further, others may provide all the services. Usually, the web design or development is one-off, but the domain name registration and web hosting will be a recurring expense.

This means you will either be paying for the service on a monthly basis or on a yearly basis. The choice is absolutely yours. However, some companies may offer a minimum sign up period of three or six months. In some cases, the company may provide maintenance and administration services such as web page or functional updates for a fee payable every month or year. This is very good if you do not have any knowledge and skill in web administration. It is very expensive to keep a staff in-house to do such a job, so an arrangement like that comes in handy for businesses, especially the small ones.

The question is how do these mix of services impact on web design prices? My experience is that companies which provide all the services usually give you a better deal. For example, the company I am with provides everything I need for my website. When I compare their web design prices with competitors, I realize that I am able to save money. Web design companies that outsource their graphic design to a graphic design company or do not have domain or hosting services tend to be more expensive. As I said from the beginning that has been my personal experience. It does not mean that others may not provide more competitive prices.

The reason why companies who provide all the services give better deals is that they are able to provide economies of scale. It is just like buying a product in bulk from a wholesaler and getting a discount. So when you decide on getting a website, I suggest you give these thoughts some consideration.

How To Go About Designing a Professional Logo Design

The process of creating a customized professional logo design is indeed very intricate and complex. The procedure is very daunting and it requires expertise, creativity and innovation. The business world today is highly spirited and competitive. It has become all the more mandatory to have a professional company emblem for the success and profitability of every business organization. It is wrong to say that a company or a business is nothing without recognition. This is the reason the demand of logo design services is high these days and this trend is going to stay.

Essentially these professional graphical representations give a business an exclusive and distinctive identity. The significance of a logo can be understood from the example that a business without a logo is just a bottle without any label on it. Just think of it, when you go for shopping on a store, you only like to purchase branded products because naturally a branded product is assumed to be better than unbranded products, although most of the times of branded products is higher than unbranded products. Similarly, just imagine, if there are numerous other companies that offer the same products or services that you offer, there are very high chances that a customer would most likely to avail the services or products of a company that is recognized professionally and that is popular. People do not like to purchase products and services from an unheard name.

This means that there is no discussion about whether or not you need to acquire logo design services for your business. if you search, you would be able to find numerous agencies and companies that offer professional and creative graphic design services. All you need to do is some research and identify the right service provider for the task. Remember, when it comes to the identity and representation of the business, never compromise over quality services for cheap price at any given day.

While, you are planning to start a design agency, there are certain points that you should know and keep in your mind. The global design industry is thriving and growing rapidly. This also means that the competition in this industry is extremely cutthroat. There are new and upcoming design agencies too and those firms are struggling hard to get that recognition and popularity so that they could establish in the market. The fact is, although creating an attractive and appealing emblem is tricky and intricate but it is not impossible. Considering your knowledge, creativity, innovation and the experience you are bound to gain over the years you can definitely become a master of the art.

As a designer, you should keep in mind that a graphic symbol looks attractive and appealing when it is simple and elegant. Do not try to create a complicated and complex drawing that involves many colors and many graphical elements. During the design process, several negotiations and discussions occur between the client and the designer and this is the time when the designer can try to understand what the client really wants.

Website Solutions - Some Inexpensive Ideas

Creating a website feels like making a program, encoding a document and designing a graphic. If you have the necessary software and coding knowledge it may take a few hours to a single day to make a fully functional website. But if the website is very complicated and consists of a lot of pages, it can take more than a month even if numerous people decide to work on it. While so many factors need to be taken into consideration regarding how long the development and design takes, website solutions have one thing in common and that is to accelerate the design and development even if you do not know how to make a website. But each solution has its own advantages and limitations.

If you are after a quick and simple solution, your best bet would be to create your site at one of those online site builders. These online services often offer free registration for making a site and having it hosted there. The moment you register, you will go through a series of steps that will take you through the design and template of the site as well as the contents. Internet marketers often use free site builders as website solutions if all they need is a capture page for promoting their product or online opportunity.

If your website needs to have a unique theme and consists of several pages, you can present your site structure to a professional freelancer. Freelancers are reliable and cost-effective solutions to making a good website as long as the freelancer has a portfolio to back up his or her skills. It is important to see the person's portfolio so you can get a sense of the person's style and flexibility when it comes to website design. Before you make any downpayment to a freelancer, understand exactly what you will be getting and when the project will be finished.

If you have a need a bigger and more interactive website, you should seek a web design company because companies consist of web designers as well as web developers. Designers handle the overall look and layout of the site while developers code in the features and other dynamic elements. Once the site development is finished, you may even be offered marketing services although you should make sure that the extra service fits in your budget.

Before you move on to another solution, be sure to try various services. For instance, the first website builder that you may encounter may not be so feature-rich but if you look a bit harder, there might be other free solutions that have better templates or other features. Do some research in forums and blogs and you might find links to some of the more obscure but impressive solutions.

What Are The Essential Elements Of A Professional Web Design?

Would you be able to design a professional looking website for your company? Would you even know what a professionally designed website should look like? If you answered no to either of these questions, you don't have to freak out just yet. Learning about professional web design techniques does not have to be hard or take up a lot of your time.

The Site Should Be Easy To Navigate

Your site should be easy to navigate for customers. Including a site map would make it even easier for anyone to get to where he or she needs to go. Category tabs are a convenient and easy way to divide the site into logical portions. The site could have a section dedicated to garden tools, a section for automotive parts and a section for power tools. The customer won't have to spend a lot of time searching for what he needs.

Use A Standard Font For All Text

The text that you use should be in a Times New Roman format or some other similar font. You don't want squiggly letters or symbols where words should be. All you need is something that visitors to your site can read and understand. Keep in mind that your goal is to get people to buy something from you. It is hard to make your sales pitch when no one can understand what you are saying.

Contact Information Should Be Easily Seen On The Site

Customers may have questions about your products or services. If the customer cannot find someone to talk to about his or her concerns, that customer may decide to buy that product or service from another company. Make sure that a company email address, phone number and the name of a contact person is clearly visible to the customer. It may be a good idea to offer a live chat feature as well. This allows the customer to have his or her questions answered before leaving the site.

Customers Should Be Able To Easily Order Products

It should be easy for a customer to order whatever products or services that he needs. Therefore, the shopping cart features should be easy to navigate. Giving the customer multiple payment options is essential.

Credit card, debit card, paypal and check should be four payment options that all customers have access to. Above all, make sure that the information that your customer submits to you is secure.

Identity theft is a serious issue that could ruin the life of any customer who is a victim of it. If a customer suffers from identity theft due to a security breach on your part, your company is going to be torn to bits in the court of public opinion.

Creating a professional website is not very hard. You don't even need to know HTML or other coding commands. All you have to do is create a compelling sales pitch that is easy to read. Always be sure that the customer can easily navigate your site, can easily purchase goods from your site and that customer information is always secure. If you can do that, you will have a website that will generate sales for years to come.

Create Anything Using the Web

The internet is a fantastic tool in many ways, but perhaps the thing that makes it most impressive is the way that it allows us to work together with groups of people across the world and the way it gives us access to resources that we would never have had otherwise. This basically empowers us to employ a workforce and a manufacturing process when previously we would never have been able to and that in turn gives us much more creative freedom. Here we will look at a few things you can make yourself using the internet that will have a much more professional look and feel than you might have thought possible.

Websites

Making a website might seem like an obvious and unimpressive thing to do with the web, but actually when you think that you're basically making an online magazine that can earn you money and be seen by thousands of people a day it is quite an accomplishment. To make your own website all you need is access to WordPress which will give you the tools you need to write and instantly upload your articles, and which will make designing your site a simple matter of picking a style.

Inventions

Unless you're a genius engineer, most of us will never get to create our inventions and see them sold for a profit. Unless that is you know how to use the many tools available on the web - and opt to get funding from kickstarter, to use 3D printing, or to use injection moulding to make those items into a reality that you can hold in your hand.

Personalised Goods

Thanks to the web making personalized goods and making things like custom t shirts has never been easier. There are many sites that enable you to order custom t shirts and will print your logo or image onto the t shirt for free meaning that you'll then only pay for the t shirt itself and the posting. Using custom t shirts you can then promote your website, wear something personal that you made, or give away corporate gifts. The same sites normally provide custom banners, stickers, hats and more.

Books

Ever wanted to be a published author? Well these days it's no difficulty at all - all you need to do is to use a 'Print On Demand' service which basically prints out books that are ready for the shelves every time you order one. In the same way that custom t shirts work, you simply provide the files and you then order as many copies as you want.

Music

The internet is full of opportunities for musicians and provides access to great software for making your tacks, and you can even find people who are happy to play the bass on your tracks on sites like Fiverr. Then using iTunes you can sell it to the world, or using MySpace you can get noticed by a major record label.

There are many other things you can make online too from software to groups, it just takes a little imagination to come up with something truly great.

Grow Your Businesses Revenue From Having A Mobile Website

Are you planning to go on a business venture? If so, you're definitely doing the right thing. However, venturing the business industry may not be as easy it seems. Even if the products and services you offer come with great quality and efficiency, they won't be known by the audience without applying the proper means of advertising. While putting up a business website is a great move to take for the sake of effective advertisement, you should also strongly consider having a mobile website running live. You must be wondering why. If you want to learn more about the importance of a mobile website, continue reading.

Basics of Starting an Online Business

If you have fully decided as to what products and services you will be offering to the masses, the next thing you need to do is to create a website as a medium to sell them. Of course, there are some factors that you need to consider for that, particularly a good web designer that makes your site look elegant and reliable. The next thing you have to do is to get a webhost to get your site live on the web platform. As a tip, go for a dedicated webhost rather than a shared one so that online traffic for your site can be handled more smoothly. A dedicated webhost also entitles you of your very own cPanel where you can do some adjustments and modifications anytime you want.

Why a Mobile Website Can Increase Growth Potential

There are a lot of reasons why a mobile website can be of great help in growing your business. Just imagine the fact that nowadays, more and more people are shifting to the use of mobile PC's, smartphones and other mobile devices rather than desktop computers. What's more is that people who prefer mobile internet connectivity are usually the busy ones like professionals, businessmen, as well as self-employed individuals. Due to a busy diary of daily work schedule that involves a lot of traveling, these people will check their e-mail and search the web through their mobile devices. Out of that busy populace, there will always be others who are in different ways needing the kind of products and services from your online store. By making a mobile website for your business, you can give these audiences full accessibility to your website even on the go as long as they are connected to mobile wireless internet.

Unlike a regular HTML website, a mobile website runs faster and all contents can be viewed even when using a mobile device. Furthermore, a mobile website gives you the ability to target much larger groups of online audiences.

Why Learn WordPress and Some Tips on Getting Started How to Make Free Websites Communication Is Key: Be Honest With Your Website Designer PSD to OsCommerce: Fuelling Better Ecommerce Websites