Internet Marketing Blog » web dev

The Use Of JavaScript In Web Design

James — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:00:53 +0000

JavaScript is a programming language used on web pages to carry out a variety of actions. Sometimes a web design calls for interactive elements. These generally comprise such commonly used features as images which change when the mouse moves over them. JavaScript essentially provides a reaction when a visitor does something specific.

Some sites display the date, time and a suitable welcome message such as ‘Good morning’ using JavaScript. It is also the programming language behind pop-up windows. JavaScript can be used to perform calculations or to generate random content, enabling images on a page to be rotated. It is useful for creating forms, shifting the focus on to the first text field and saving visitors the trouble of clicking on it. It can then be employed to validate any text entered, providing error messages when a box is left empty or filled in incorrectly. Another handy JavaScript option for form creation is the ability to disable a box or button unless another necessary action has been carried out beforehand.

JavaScript can be used for breadcrumb navigation menus which tell visitors exactly where they are, facilitating the process of moving around a site. Many scripts have already been written and are freely available on the Web so it may not be necessary to write one from scratch. For features that are essential in order for visitors to use a site JavaScript should not be used as it could be disabled in some browsers. At Click Consult our web development team is experienced in using JavaScript in many varying forms of web marketing.

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Details Make A Difference

James — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:05:08 +0000

All too often, web development takes place under time constraints that lead to some of the details being overlooked. Unfortunately, rushing through the main parts of a project in order to answer the basic brief can lead to websites that never quite fulfil their potential. Long term, it may be a better strategy to put in a little extra time to complete a design down to the finer points. Their inclusion could have a disproportionately large and positive effect on the finished website.

As well as spending additional hours to ensure none of the essential finishing touches are missing, it makes sense to check for errors and inconsistencies. The best designers proofread their pages and try to see them from the many different angles that a visitor might, ensuring that nothing has been forgotten. No matter how brilliant the design, the presence of a few spelling mistakes on a page can lower the perception of quality. Sudden changes of font or text size that break the overall flow of the design not only appear jarring but may also cause confusion.

The designer who makes sure their work is always slightly above average is the one to whom clients will return, knowing that their work is in safe hands. The alternative – a more casual approach where the odd mistake slips through and occasional details are left out – is likely to lead to a decrease in regular work. At Click Consult the careful and thorough approach of our web design team means you can rely on us for your internet marketing campaign.

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Simple solutions

Dan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:03:07 +0000

In the world we live in today, many of the solutions available for some of our problems are complicated, complex and a lot of work. This often puts people off doing the right thing and sorting the problem out properly. We often veer towards options that may offer us a quick fix or a fast solution to our woes.

Quick is not always best. Sometimes it takes time and effort to set things straight. On the other hand, it is also the best idea to simply solve the problem right from the get go. Whether you are starting out on web design or need to adjust yours to attract more web traffic, why not try a simple solution that goes a long way?

Simple Simon Websites

There is a series of books available titled the KISS range. KISS stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. That phrase captures the essence of web design beautifully. You need to keep it simple, you are being foolish of you don’t. Yes, complex can be awe inspiring, but have you ever stopped to think about why? It is impressive because it is intimidating and not easy to understand and navigate.

Intimidation and a sense of not understanding something can give you a false sense of admiration. However, your web traffic may not feel the same way. What they want is something that they can use in the blink of an eye and doesn’t need a user guide.

Fancy stuff is all well and good, but when you are designing your business website you should stick to the simplest choices available to you. The simpler it is, the wider the spectrum of people who can use it without a hitch.

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Professionalism versus Las Vegas

Richard — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:47:32 +0000

Think about this scenario for a minute; what attracts people to funfairs? It is the over-the-top atmosphere of flashing lights, never-ending movement, loud music, colour and fun. Now hold that image in your mind and switch to your website. The aim of your web design is to create a virtual place where your targeted traffic should come and do business with you.

You have to impress them to such an extent that they not only want to stay, but convert to customers. You need them to like your website so much that they will come back and be repeat customers.

Now ask this question; does your website give the impression of a professional company that can be trusted to do serious business with? Or, do people get the impression that they are in the middle of a funfair when they land on your website?

Cater to customers

When a site visitor lands on your homepage, being confronted by huge animated welcome banners do not necessarily make them feel welcome at all. It is too in-your-face and overpowering for many people. Add loud music that has been set on auto play and your site visitors will think they are at a funfair. Everything that you incorporate into your web design must be industry specific and appeal to your target audience. What will appeal to children on an interactive website is unlikely to appeal to a large corporation working in the stock market for example.

Too much advertising and inappropriate pop up messages are huge irritants for site visitors. Multiple buttons and banners create confusion and visitors lose focus as to why they came to your website. Not only does good navigation help your visitors, it also helps search engines to understand your site more easily, which can be a great help to your SEO (search engine optimisation) efforts.

Tone things down to fit the business image you wish to portray to your site visitors. Portraying the right image for your specific business shows professionalism and will help you along the path to success. A good web design company can ensure that your website says exactly what you want it to say to your potential customers.

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How to really sell through web design

Richard — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:02:34 +0000

The web design of business websites, big or small, is aimed at selling what you have to offer. Whether you are offering services or products, you need to convince your audience that they really need to invest their hard earned cash into your business. Web design should aim for this goal, but it can also keep you from it. You need to take a few tips and tricks into consideration when you are designing your website.

Commercialising your design

Obviously things like backgrounds, fonts and many other features play a huge role in attracting attention and keeping your visitors on your website long enough to convert. However, you have no hope of making conversions if your web design does not support your selling. The biggest bonus in web design that helps convince people to buy something is visuals.

Give your users good quality pictures of your wares so that they have visuals to prompt them to buy. If you can include video clips too, even better but always remember the images, preferably more than one angle on each product. Give your customer detailed descriptions of your products or services. Tell them about the features that make it worth buying and spending their money on.

One other thing that your web design needs is to have detailed product or services benefits. People don’t buy things for the features alone; they want to know what’s in it for them.

Lastly, include multiple marketing avenues for your customer to choose from. Some will want to phone in to order, some will be happy ordering online. Cater to the preferences and wants of your customers to ensure a conversion and a good return on your internet marketing investment.

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So you want to redesign your website?

Richard — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:20:50 +0000

Change has been happening since the dawn of time. Natural evolution has kept things flowing and changing to keep up with ever evolving environments. And so too does the internet change and evolve. So why shouldn’t you change and evolve your website design to keep up with the changing times around you?

The answer is simple. Redesigning your website can be great news for your profits and your current client base. If, of course, your current web design is actually repelling prospects instead of luring them in. That means a redesign is necessary and a great idea. But if it works as it is and it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it. Chances are you will not see a huge return on your redesign investment and it will essentially be a waste of money.

Alienating your customers

Go have a gander at what the most popular websites today looked like a couple of years ago. You will see that not much has changed at all. And why is that? They have not redesigned and they have not changed because of customer familiarity with their web design. People do not like change, even though it has been happening for billions of years.

Something about this natural occurrence seems unnatural to us and many don't like it – at first anyway. People are also creatures of habit.

If they like something the way it is, if they are used to it as it is and they don’t expect it to chance then you could be facing the prospect of alienating your current clients. In tough economic times the only thing you can afford to do is convert more prospects into loyal and paying customers.

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Templates For Web Design

Dan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:12:37 +0000

A web template is a tool which is used to separate content from presentation. It can also be used for the mass production of web documents. It is a basic component of a web template system and can be used to help set up a website design. In its simplest form it operates in a way similar to that of a form letter.

A web template can be used by anyone, once purchased, it is downloaded and the user then replaces all generic information contained within it with their own personal information. Organisations can also use it for product information.

Apart from that, web templates can be used for a host of other applications such as displaying personal information or daily activities and online products. They can be used to display a companys information, display family histories and photo galleries and can be used to place music files and videos on the site.

The goal of any website developer is to find ways to develop applications which are flexible and easy maintainable. What helps this goal is the separation of business logic from presentation logic and to effect this separation, developers use web template systems.

One rationale behind effective separation is the need for maximising flexible coding and resources which are dedicated to presentation logic. The need to modify the appearance of web content is affected by clients demands as well as the need to keep creating a fresh look, but these changes need to be done without disruption of the underlying infrastructure.

The distinction between presentation logic and business logic is important because it culminates in a website which has flexible presentation.

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Test runs are necessary with web design

Richard — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:20:13 +0000

Great minds think up great ideas, concepts, and strategies and so on. One place that you can really benefit from great innovations and ideas is with your website design. Anything that will enhance the attraction you hold for visitors will benefit your company. Those benefits normally come in the form of increased web traffic that leads to increased online customer conversion.

And everyone knows that the more online visitors you convert into paying customer, the more profit you put into your pocket at the end of the day. So great ideas are fantastic things for your business website and the web design.

The one problem with all of there fabulous concepts is that they only work in theory thus far. You never know exactly how things will pan out until you put them into working.

Making concepts take shape

The internet is a competitive place, as innovative and beneficial as it can be for your company and your marketing strategies, you need to always keep that in mind when you try new things. The cyberspace public is not forgiving and if you make one mistake it can be the end of your business reputation and your website. Bringing in a professional web development company can be a huge boon in making your online business a success

They can help you to make test runs before your finished site goes live. A useful way to get an outersider's perspective on how it works is to get someone who thinks like your target audience to test drive your website, but someone who is completely unfamiliar with it.

This way you can get honest feedback of what your target market is likely to think of your web design. If the test run goes well then all is good and well, but if not you need to tweak and change things till it is just right.

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Targeting Web Design

Richard — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:27:30 +0000

Every aspect of your website must specifically cater to your target audience. If it doesn’t, you are not on top of your game and you little hope of getting ahead of your competition. Your web design is particularly aimed at attracting and keeping the attention and interest of prospective customers.

You therefore need to make sure that every aspect of your website’s appearance and interactivity makes your visitors want to be there and not anywhere else. This is often easier said than done, which is why bringing in a good web design company to take care of your web development needs is a great idea.

Getting it right with the light

The colour scheme you choose to dress your website in, whether up, or down, is vey important. Unless your business, services and products call for it, steer clear of dark, overbearing colours. If your website is not a gothic website don’t dress it that way. After all, this is a business website and you want it to look like it too. Certain colours just beam a responsible and professional image to your cyberspace visitors.

Match your colours, their intensity and the shades of the colours with your business’s personality as well as the type of visitors you want to attract. Use vibrant, fresh colours to attract a younger generation.

Pastels and neutrals will suit an older target market better. Super bright and funky colours are just what children are looking for. Austere and formal colours are what other businesses and business professionals are after. Choose your colours carefully, you don’t want to scare your customers away, you want to welcome them in and make them feel comfortable enough that they don’t want to leave.

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Harmonising colours in your web design

Richard — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:00:29 +0000

Colour is a huge factor in your web design. Choosing the right colours to attract and keep the attention of your chosen target market is vital to the success of your website’s design. In order to choose the right colours, it takes research into trends and your target audience.

In order to make your colours gel together takes knowledge of colour theory. Knowing colour theory inside and out will help you choose colours that create harmony together. Harmony is preferred above discord as it keeps your visitors happy and can help to turn them into customers.

Happy harmonising

When you are looking at colours for your website you will, undoubtedly, familiarise yourself with the colour wheel. Once you know the colour wheel, you can look at colour combinations that work. Analogous colours are those that are buddies on the wheel, they sit right next to each other and make sweet harmony together. Complementary colours are positioned directly opposite each other on the colour wheel and they make each other stand out more.

These colours contrast with each other and create brighter and more vivid combinations than analogous colours do. You can also use the colours that form a colour triad. You do this by placing an equilateral triangle on the colour wheel. These colours will add some energetic life to your colour scheme. If you are still hard up for a solution to the colour side of your web design then look to nature. The colours found here are generally easy on the eyes and harmonious, even if they don’t conform to the theory of colour as humans have defined it.

Obviously, colour and smart design can capture attention but unless your website offers users what they are looking for then they won't hang around for long or return another time – so make sure that you have the website content to back up your design.

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