Internet Marketing Blog » effective web design

Avoid Budget Web Design

Richard — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:06:12 +0000

Most businesses are aware of the need for professional web design for their site. Most businesses are also on a very tight budget. The logical step, in a lot of cases, is to search for the cheapest web design possible. This is a choice that can haunt the business not too far down the track.

Choosing a web designer based on price can be a huge mistake. As anyone who has resorted to the cheapest of the line knows, ‘cheap’ is often the opposite of ‘good’. Budget web designers can have a whole list of hidden ‘extras’ that inflate your bill during the project, or leave your site with baggage that weighs it down. Some budget designers also make money from retaining ownership of designs, using them again or requiring an ongoing fee. You can talk to us at internet marketing agency Click Consult about what effects bad web design can have.

This doesn’t mean that you should always spend a fortune on web design, that all budget designers are horrible, or that you need to avoid web designers whose fees are at the lower end of the scale. What it does mean is that budget should be only part of your decision.

When choosing any web designer, it’s vital to talk first. Look at what they have designed in the past and talk to them about their experience. Check that they have a knowledge of SEO, and ask what technologies they use. Most importantly, shop around on more than price. This will arm you with enough information to make a good choice.

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Using Curves In Web Design

James — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:00:07 +0000

The majority of web designs use shapes consisting of straight lines, yet there are endless possibilities for curves. Even those sites which mainly employ straight edges are often tempted to round off corners here and there. It all boils down to fashion, with different styles becoming popular at different times. However, curves signify very different meanings from straight edges, and understanding this can lead to better designs being created for websites where a particular feel is needed.

Straight lines themselves can vary in meaning, with a diagonal line appearing unbalanced with a risk of falling, which conveys movement when compared to its static, horizontal alternative. Jagged lines can seem aggressive, or full of energy, while the vertical and horizontal sides of rectangles convey containment, balance, order and stability. Thicker lines seem solid while thinner variations are more sensitive and fragile.

Curves, on the other hand, are sinuous and soft, echoing random forms in nature. They can add a sense of comfort, peacefulness and grace to a design, or more of a feeling of movement, depending on how restless the curves appear. Curves are less predictable than straight lines and can give a web design a more artistic look than a series of regular boxes. Depending on how they are drawn, curves can be used to achieve a web design that is restful to the eye.

At web marketing company Click Consult, we vary the shapes in our designs to stay ahead of the curve, while always making sure that we create a look that suits the client’s needs.

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The Hidden Added Value In Web Design

Click Consult — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:23:17 +0000

For the web designer, it can be tricky charging clients by the hour for design work, because of the difficulty in estimating how long it will take to come up with the perfect concept for a brief. The web development process initially requires hours of thought in order to generate ideas, and this time could be spent walking in the countryside, in the studio scribbling on paper, or even while leafing through an art book.

Although on rare occasions the time taken for inspiration to strike is shorter than expected, usually clients end up getting far more for their money. An able designer cares about each project, because its success reflects upon their abilities, and because web design is what interests them. The design process may be long and involved, with the designer mulling over possibilities while eating, bathing, and perhaps even while sleeping.

Charging by the hour does not really fit the way design work is generated, but it is probably the best method available for most projects. In addition the client is paying for the designer’s years of education and experience, all of which are brought to bear upon the website design process. Another part of the equation is the designer’s ability to produce results that meet the requirements of a given brief. As designers will usually have proved they can do this time after time, the client is more or less assured of a suitable outcome.

At Click Consult, our experienced web designers know how to come up with the perfect design for your website, to ensure that your internet marketing campaign is maximised to its full potential.

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Conventions In Web Design

James — Wed, 05 May 2010 09:00:01 +0000

Web design conventions comprise the common and popular ways in which sites are laid out and structured. They are extremely important in helping visitors to use websites, because they allow previous experiences to be brought into play. This minimises any learning that would otherwise be required to use a site, and helps to give a ‘user-friendly’ feel.

Web development experts know that visitors have certain expectations on arriving at a site. Often, traditional elements of design are useful in a practical sense. For example, once a link has been clicked it may change its appearance in some way, perhaps turning from blue to purple. Those words which are underlined are expected to be links. A list of headings on the left of the page is assumed to be a navigation menu, while familiar phrases such as ‘contact us’ lead to pages where the visitor can be fairly sure in advance what information they will find there. The loading time of certain pages or files is generally expected to be conveniently quick, with some kind of progress monitor being displayed on screen.

Going against these conventions might be tempting for artistic reasons but unless any new arrangements are highlighted clearly enough for users to recognise them, the result is likely to be baffling. It might be better to start with the traditional elements of a site and tweak them creatively rather than throw them out altogether. At Click Consult we build our websites on firm foundations that recognise the importance of web marketing and design conventions.

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How SEO And Web Design Fit Together

James — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:00:15 +0000

SEO, or search engine optimisation, should be considered from the start of a web development project. Several aspects of a web design can affect search robots crawling a site, and it is far more efficient to plan around this initially. The result is likely to be a satisfied client who may well go on to hire the designer again. The alternative, where through ignorance a website is created which needs to be radically reorganised in order to optimise it for SEO, is more likely to provide work for another firm in the future.

The main way in which a website can be optimised for SEO is through ensuring that search engines find it and are able to crawl it. Search robots rely upon reading HTML code in order to understand what a site is about, so if the designer has rendered most of the written content in the form of images or Flash, for example, it will become largely invisible.

Navigational structure is another highly significant part of the design as far as SEO is concerned, with a clear and logical structure being most helpful. The inclusion of what is known as a sitemap will help search engines find every part of a website. Search robots depend on being able to follow the links on a site in order to discover all the pages. If a designer has used JavaScript to create links then search spiders may not follow them. At Click Consult we have the necessary skills to integrate SEO with web design.

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Optimising A Site Search During Web Development

James — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:05:48 +0000

While a search utility is extremely important and typically receives a lot of visitor traffic it can be difficult to evaluate and improve. The search terms used by visitors are readily available but their analysis is more tricky. Yet it is worth persevering because an efficient search will make the most of a web design.

Relevancy testing involves determining whether a site search delivers the most appropriate result when given a simple popular query. Each query is fed in and the position in the results of the best answer is recorded. Ideally, it should be at the head of the list every time. Statistics can measure how far from the top spot the best results tend to fall, which helps to reveal any shortcomings of the search facility. Another method, known as precision testing examines the first few results returned for popular queries and rates how sensible they appear based on the original search terms.

Using the above tools to measure the effectiveness of a search utility, it is only possible to know what is occurring as opposed to why. In the end, only the visitors themselves can explain their search behaviour and this is why usability tests are sometimes carried out. Search terms that produce no results at all are important as they can reveal what is missing from a site, leading to important information being added which was originally overlooked. If your website requires a search facility, at Click Consult we have the web development skills to make it work effectively together with web design for your search marketing campaign.

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Accessibility Matters In Web Development

Richard — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:05:52 +0000

These days, web design is supposed to allow access for all users, including those with disabilities. In practice, however, there are still many websites where poor design prevents use by people with physical and cognitive problems.

A site’s design can allow or bar disabled users in a number of specific ways. One important example is the use of alternative text in case images cannot be viewed. Visually impaired visitors using a screen reader will have no information about an image unless this vital ‘equivalent alternative text’ is present on the page. Similarly, audio files should be accompanied by a written transcript for those who are unable to listen to them. Otherwise, such visitors are denied that information. For people who find it difficult to handle a mouse, a web page which cannot be fully utilised via the keyboard will limit their use.

A common misconception is that by ignoring accessibility requirements or providing a disclaimer that the site is ‘working towards’ them, a website cannot be held to account. Yet the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities views access to communication and information technology, such as the Internet, as one of the basic human rights. In America, the National Federation for the Blind took the company Target to court over failure to use alternative text on its website. It should not be difficult to incorporate accessibility techniques into the web design process as a matter of course. At Click Consult we realise that the best web design results from accessible web development and search marketing.

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Typography Is A Vital Part Of Web Development

James — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:05:34 +0000

Choosing the correct font for a web design project can be difficult but the selected typeface will be extremely important in the overall look of a site. First, a font must be readable or there is no point in using it. On screen, sans serif fonts are generally easier to read, while the opposite is true for print.

Many factors affect how type appears to the viewer, making life difficult for the designer. Presently, typefaces are not developed according to universal standards. Also, different browsers have their own ways of rendering type and user settings can change the appearance even more. Finally, there is the monitor and all its variables for colour, resolution and brightness.

When using more than one font it is usually better if one is easily distinguishable from the other, providing contrast. Using more than two is only recommended in special cases, such as simulation of a retro style. Sometimes using two fonts by the same designer means they will go well together. A combination of both serif and sans serif helps to achieve a balanced look.

It makes sense to research the history and associations of a typeface early in the web development process. Quite subconsciously most people associate fonts with certain ideas. For example, an offbeat style might suggest an attempt to appear young and quirky, while type that reminds one of newspapers signals tradition. The fonts used speak volumes about a website, conveying an image. At Click Consult we make sure that your site’s web design sends out the right message for your internet marketing campaign.

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It’s Not Just About Looking Up And Down

Gareth — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:00:06 +0000

While every form of web design quite obviously considers the header or banner at the top of a web page as being of the utmost importance in attracting attention and displaying vital information, it is easy to forget about potential usages for the footer at the bottom. Whether it is given an equal amount of space and identical styling as the header to create a ‘book ends’ type of feel to the page, or if it is simply allocated as a basic space to index links to other important pages within the overall web design, the footer is something that should certainly not be overlooked.

Whatever the objectives of a website might prove to be, design functionality is certainly just as vital as ensuring that the most basic of details are clearly readable in a coherent and legible text format. Therefore the process of web development needs to stay abreast of current trends and innovations in design technology, as well as in marketing strategy and new ways to encourage the greater flow of traffic to a website.

Competition can be amazingly fierce for any company doing business in today’s tough economic environment, and that means web design must also remain competitive if it is to stay ahead of the proverbial curve. So here at Click Consult, our web design considers every inch of the page to be important, whether a company is looking for a minimalist concept or something more elaborate and complex.

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Let The Experts Take Care Of Web Design For You

Gareth — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:59:55 +0000

When a business is looking to build an effective website it can be a daunting prospect. Just surfing through the internet looking at what the competition already offers can also be disheartening when it comes to knowing where and how to get started. This is where web development and internet marketing professionals can make the difference in giving you a website that can achieve your goals.

There are literally hundreds of books lining the shelves that can teach the necessary computer languages and explain all the things to use and all the things best avoided in creating a workable and user friendly website. There is no shortage of advice online either, but whether it be books or other websites, they all use terms like HTML, CSS, Style Sheets, Embedded Media, Photoshop, and Search Engine Optimisation, which for someone who has never had to face such task, can seem confusing and intimidating.

Even software that can be bought off the shelf might be puzzling to understand, often leaving more questions than answers on which software might be best for the basics, and which is most user friendly, or which one will grow to meet increasing and changing demands.

While there are certainly plenty of educational courses that teach web design, not everyone has the time or the money to spend on weeks of lessons. But at Click Consult we have the knowledge to ease away that confusion and lessen the stress by implementing comprehensive web design solutions tailored to meet specific company needs, while laying down the foundations for growth in the future, letting you worry about more important matters, like that next big product release.

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