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DON'T LET THEM LEAVE HOME
According to a new survey carried out by Alliance & where ID_NUM=9270; Leicester, one in five small business owners view tax as their greatest concern. The Chancellor has announced in his last budget that companies with profits below œ10,000...
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I taught myself HTML back in the mid-nineties and was proud of the fact that I was able to accomplish the design of fairly complex web pages with nothing more than a starter HTML book, an HTML reference book, and the knowledge I had stored in my...
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Website Development: Become Your Own Expert
Starting and maintaining a business is challenging enough without the additional financial burden of hiring a web site expert to put your vision on paper. If you are starting your business on a “shoe string budget,” hiring someone to take your...
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The 5 Most Important Rules for Designing your Company Website
Have you ever visited a website that was so bad that you felt
like it was sucking the life out of you? Sure you have, we all
have. We all know what a poorly designed website looks like. And
the sad thing is, internet surfers will more often than not
judge your company by your website. These web-surfers are your
potential customers, and the last thing you need is them fleeing
from your website just seconds after they arrive.
If you're thinking of creating a website for your company, or
redesigning an existing one, here is a brief list of some web
design principles that should be followed:
1. Make sure it loads quickly.
You could have the best designed site on the planet, but if it's
not in front of me within 3 seconds, I'm gone. Once you have
your website up and running, check it from a few different
computers. Make sure it loads quickly on other machines and
internet connections, and still looks good on a couple different
screen resolutions.
2. Use Consistent Navigation Layout
Never take away the viewer's ability to navigate through your
site. If you have the navigation links to the various pages in
your website listed along the top or the left-hand side, try to
keep this placement on all subsequent pages. You want your
viewer to be focusing on your products and/or services, not on
how to get back to the page where they were at.
3. Color Theory
This has always been a favorite of mine. I've even been
criticized at times for paying too close attention to color
theory, but there are many studies which prove that color
greatly influences shoppers. This applies equally as much to the
internet. I suggest doing a search for more intensive articles
on color theory on the net; they can be a wealth of information.
But here are some brief examples to get you started:
- Reds / Greens : Hunger colors, great for restaurants, grocery
stores, and
other food vendors - Royal Blue or Orange: Know to
appeal to 'impulse shoppers'. - Blue: Color of loyalty and
trust. Calming color - Red: signifies action, passion, and
strength. - Purple or Black: Colors of royalty, sophistication,
or wealth.
Keep in mind the psychological impact of color also varies from
culture to culture, so be sure you know who your target audience
is.
4. 'Dumping In' photos and content
'Dumping In' content refers to placing images and text on your
website without paying attention to how it affects the overall
design of your website. Too often I see nicely designed websites
with poorly placed content.
When designing your website, it is a good idea to have all your
content written beforehand, as well as all the images you will
be using. Also, pertaining to images, try to have the image
incorporated more into the design of your site, rather than
simply having it as a rectangular jpg floating beside your text.
5. Research
Before you even sketch anything on paper, before you open up
Photoshop or even look at Dreamweaver, take a good look at other
websites. Famous artists still dive into the history books to
seek inspiration from the masters. Skilled painters still use
photo references of their subjects. There is no reason you
shouldn't do the same type of research when creating a design
for your website.
A good place to start is to do a Google search for 'best
websites'; this will usually yield some interesting results.
There are some brilliant web designers out there, and getting
inspiration from their techniques will make your website better
in the end.
About the author:
Mike Roshuk is a professional freelance designer specializing in
Web Design, Graphic Design, and Illustration. Mike Roshuk
operates under the name dieselshack, based in Edmonton Alberta.
To learn more please visit http://www.dieselshack.com
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