What Goes On Within A Design Company?

Many agencies claim it's all done by magic...

All design agencies are different but they all basically receive clients who would like something created or prepared for presentation to the public to give it the best possibility of becoming successful such is stated by Google Apps Consultant. With a creative design agency behind your project they will be aiming to help you make it successful by utilizing their team of designers, account managers and quite often freelancers to create new or improved products and images that will assist you to reach your goals.

Here's a breakdown of the various things a typical design agency will work on a daily basis to help you get an idea of what goes on at a creative agency.

Product Designing

This could involve the designers coming up with anything from a new concept for a practical hybrid car to a reworking of an existing washing up liquid bottle which will make it stand out. Product designers need to consider many factors such as the way consumers will physically utilize the product, how it will look on a shelf and how much it will cost to make.

Branding

Branding can be explained by thinking of some of the major products you see each day. A certain famous Cola beverage for instance has a very strong brand. An agency will usually be presented with an item by their client and then work to come up with a logo, a slogan, an advertising campaign and a range of other things which make up a marketing strategy that creates a strong brand identity. This will be tailored to the target viewers.

Packaging

The design of packaging for a product is very important and brand agencies often work on packaging designs for bottles, perfumes, food packaging and just about any other product that comes in a package. This service is usually included with product designing and branding to create a cohesive brand image.

Print Design

When agencies are not working on physical products they'll spend much of their time designing images and materials that can be used to show off a product or service using brand identity design. This might incorporate brochures, print advertising and booklets and utilise components of the design team or even a graphic designer.

Website Design

Increasingly creative agencies also have a web department that work exclusively on designs for websites and ecommerce stores. These designers will need to be experts in usability as well as design and have a strong knowledge of development to make sure their designs will work online. Hopefully this article will have given you a better idea of what goes on at a design agency.

To know more, check out Icreate Solutions.

Web Design Firms Vs Freelancers: Selecting Professionals Create Your Website

When you are looking to buy or commission a website for your business, you will likely come across many people and companies offering to help you.

Those offering to create a custom-designed website for you will probably fall into one of two groups.

* You will find people who will offer to make your entire website for you.
* You will also discover companies who employ many people that will collectively make your website.

What You Are Buying In order to determine which is better for your needs, you need to consider that you are not only purchasing one thing.

Websites have many components.

* Your website will require graphics and content.
* Additionally, you may want to have your website interact with your visitors.
* You may need to process and store what your visitors send you (such as registration information) in a database.
* You may want to have your web pages seem differently to different customers.

To get a completed website that will fulfill your requirements, all of the elements have to work together. If one piece is missing, doesn't work with the rest of the components, or does not fulfill the requirements, your website won't work effectively.

Freelancers

Individual webpage designers, usually known as "freelance web designers" or even "freelancers", usually do this work on their own. They create the individual components that, together, form what you and your visitors will see as the webpage.

Advantages

The advantage of having a freelance web designer do all of this work is consistency. Since the same person is making all the components, or at least closely overseeing them, your website pieces should work cohesively together.

You do not have to worry about design-by-committee, or a misunderstanding between the manager, design team, as well as the programming team.

Good freelancers will notice when elements do not function well with each other. They could then compensate swiftly before time and effort is spent on bad components.

Disadvantages

The primary potential disadvantage of hiring a freelancer to create your website is that only one person, or a small group, will be creating it.

In general, people have weak points. While one person might be good at the precise, purely methodical aspect of programming, these characteristics are either well-suited to graphic design nor user interface design.

While there are people who can do every part well, many people lack experience in one necessary aspect of website design or more. Because website creation requires so many different disciplines, your website might lack exceptionalness in one area or another.

Design Companies

In contrast, website design companies utilize groups of people to work on areas of your website. One example of this would be Brisbane Web Design which is known for being one of the best firms out there. You may have one individual who manages the overall design and optimizes how your viewers interact with your website. Someone else may design all of the images for your website. Yet another may do the scripting for your website, both that which will happen in your visitors' browser and on your server. Another person may handle your database and work together with the data that your visitors provide you with.

Advantages

The advantage of this set up is that you achieve a high degree of specialization. At a good web design company, you'll have people who are experts in individual components of your website. You could have one person who is a great graphic designer working on exactly the same project as somebody who is a professional programmer. Well staffed web design companies will create your website with all the components expertly created.

Disadvantages

A potential disadvantage of contracting a web design company to create your website is the fact that, with all of the individual experts, your project may lack cohesion. In order for all the individual aspects of your site and fit together, the creators of the individual components will need to design their individual component to work well with the components that everybody else on your project is creating.

The programmer will have to write scripts that work nicely with the graphics created for your website, as well as the database that stores your info. The image designer should create images that fit with the information and the overall layout. Everything will have to work together, like a website created by one individual.

In this environment, communication between members of the project team is essential. If the requirements of the components are not understood by the creators of the other components, the end website will not achieve its goals.

Deciding whether or not to hire an individual webpage designer or a company is a subjective job. Both individual designers and design companies can create good websites. To get a better understanding about web design companies, check out Icreate Solutions.

How To Promote Your Commercial Property On The Internet

Today's world, "go gaga" over media and they are so much influenced, while not giving it a thought they have their own boons and banes. Today the world operates mostly with the internet. Though this may get disapproved by many, this is actually the real scenario and a very strong and happening fact. We are now living in a web world where we do everything online even real estate advertising, let it be, shopping, watching movies, news, studies, games, paying bills, what not? People are there on the internet 24 hours a day around the globe. Therefore Advertising in that medium will get you plenty of customers, no matter what your product or service is. Each product and service posseses their own target consumers.

How do you sell your product or service? Starting from a tie pin or a biscuit to a Porsche limousine or a villa almost everything requires advertisement for it to get sold or reach their end customer or consumer. Gone are those days where advertising was done through print media, that is newspapers, books, magazines and audio and visual media like television sets radio and so forth. As I said before, these days everything is made online.

Advertising, online these kinds of expensive products like jewelry, luxury cars and most notably, properties isn't an easy task. They have their own approach. Selling a commercial property as said before isn't a cinch. Since this medium is utilized by a lot of other competitors from the same industry, it's a tough job. Yes. No matter what kind of property you are intending to sell in a particular location, you will end up having lots of property's competing right against you. So , to make you stand above others, in such a tough competition, you should know how to advertise your property properly so that it hits the person on a right note, for them to go for your property with no second thought. The following are several significant tips on how to advertise your property online.

♣ Simple yet effective one - get few professionally clicked photograph's of your property, pick the best one's and place them right at the top of your ad. Visual charm helps quite a lot.

♣ Having your property on the industry based sites, which are reputed and also well established promoters of commercial properties, is a great idea.

♣ Design the advertisement in a way that it reaches the relevant target market. For this understand the prospective buyer's requirements and advertise accordingly.

♣ Make use of the important key phrases in your commercial property advertising, that are extensively used by the browsers on search engines to find the right commercial properties.

♣ Sending mails to the prospects with links of the advertisement is an efficient approach to market a property.

♣ You can also shell out for the priority placement of your property ad on industrial property site portals and on the major search engines.

♣ Keep the advertisement easy, understandable and appealing. No one likes to look or read a complex or even an unattractive ad.

Using An IT Consultant For Database Services

Database services can be offered on a one-time setup basis or on an ongoing basis. If a consultant sets up a management system, he / she will advise on which system is best, based on the needs of the particular clientele. Next, the consultant would take a look at the software already in place and evaluate that. This software may require only a few adjustments and add-ons, or it may have to be exchanged completely, so it is important to choose an IT small business consultant who can help determine which information must be gathered and just how best to store and organize it.

Database systems do require frequent maintenance, so many companies are finding it ideal to hire IT consultants on an ongoing basis, to not only set up the systems, but to handle them. This might include adjusting what information is stored and how it is organized, making it simpler for different departments to gain access to relevant data, updating data, troubleshooting, and generating reports from the data. If the consultant is contracted on an ongoing basis, he / she will likely be in charge of database administration. An administrator will often be able to control all the information from one central location. He or she may also be the person accountable for updating the system every now and then.

It is important for a database solution to be very secure, as mishandling of data can result in disaster for most businesses. Major data breaches have occurred in recent years to some very large companies and organizations, showing that nobody is totally immune from such problems regardless of how many precautions you take. An experienced, qualified consultant will help lessen the chances that this will occur in your own business and discuss the options that may be available to try and help prevent these security breaches,

Making sure that data is only available to authorized people and that there's enough security to protect the data is essential. In addition , there needs to be a recovery strategy in case of system malfunction and the data should be supported in a secure manner. Data must also be trustworthy, as obsolete or incorrect data is less useful than no data. When hiring a consultant, it might be wise to inquire about how he or she ensures data integrity, as this will save you many headaches down the road.

IT consultants who are experts in databases may work particularly with one or more specific systems, and will normally have some sort of certification in their particular specialty or specialties. Many IT companies will make a point of having professionals trained in all the most common programs, in order to offer installation and support regardless of which program is best for a client. Among other skills, database administrators will have to understand and be able to use Structured Query Language (SQL), a variety of operating systems, distributed computing architectures, and various database management systems (DBMS).

Understanding more with Icreate Solutions.

iCreate Solutions Helpful Guide To Social Media For Small Businesses

Social Media marketing can be daunting for many small business owners. With a growing number of networks with very different functionalities, guidelines and also followings, it can be confusing to find out which to incorporate into the online marketing strategy and how to do so efficiently.

With 91% of on-line adults regularly using social media, it is no longer something which any business can afford to ignore. Society is changing and with this growing online lifestyle comes new expectations of different things from companies and brands. We are getting smarter when it comes to the commercial world and with that comes a paradigm shift in marketing strategies. The focus is now more on connecting with clients on a social level and much less about the sales pitch. The easy fact is people don’t want to be sold to, so, just how do we use social media to sell, while not selling?

The Top Players In Social Media

Facebook

Facebook is usually the first thing that comes to mind when we think of social media, which is not surprising as it still holds the top spot with over 1 billion active users. With that much influence and reach, Facebook is an evident choice for any small business. Even land estate advertising firms are making its way to Facebook.

It is a common misconception that the majority of Facebook users are tenagers and people in their early 20's; however as of August 2012, the age group that experienced the best increase on Facebook was 25-34 year olds, meaning that now 67% of users are over 25. As social media is progressing and the ‘digital natives’ are getting older, a large part of your target market are regularly utilising social media.

The key to Facebook success is sharing content that is concise and consistent with the focus on the client, not the company. What you may share on Facebook must be interesting enough for followers to like, share and comment on it.

It is essential to time your posts very carefully, to find that balance between not posting enough and spamming your followers. One feature that Facebook provides for pages is the ability to schedule posts, enabling you to set up your posts for the day, week or month in advance and have them go out at the exact times that you pre-determine. Over time it will become clearer which posts and at what frequency are best for the business and following, however as a basic guideline, posts must be at least one per day and no more than one every three hours.

Twitter

Twitter is the second biggest social network and is completely different to any of the others. Traffic moves much more swiftly on Twitter and the articles are restricted to 140 characters or less. Twitter requires you to be a lot more active with posting tweets and connecting with other users than other networks. A fair frequency for posting on Twitter will be between eight and ten per day.

The important thing to remember when sending out tweets is that the content shared must provide value to the readers. You’re fighting for your follower’s awareness against the hundreds or thousands of other users that they are following. The traffic on the home page moves quickly, so in order to stand out a tweet needs to be as sharable as possible. Try thinking about a tweet like a headline, it should be concise, innovative and grab the reader’s eyes. Utilizing hashtags and including other users within your tweets will also help to enhance its sharability.

Using tools such as TweetDeck, Tweetspinner or even Hootsuit that help to schedule your Twitter activity is an excellent way to reduce the time you need to actually spend on Twitter. These tools work as a great assistant but you should still keep an eye on yours and others activity to make sure that everything runs smoothly and no opportunities are missed.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is known as the ‘professional network’, making it particularly useful for B2B marketing and networking. LinkedIn offers company pages, through which you can post present vacancies and share up-dates. A company page should be concise and professional with information about the business, what you do/sell, a link to the website and contact information.

While the firm page is a fantastic feature, the best way to maximise LinkedIn is through your personal, professional profile. Social media is creating a more personable business world and people are more inclined to connect with someone who works for the company, rather than with the company page. Bearing this in mind be sure to have a clear headshot as your profile picture, keep your status updates related to your professional life and industry and try to make sure your profile is 100% complete.

Google+

Google+ is usually overlooked as it is not really a ‘big player’ in the world of online social media, however Google+ provides great benefits for SEO and search engine traffic. Google+ is greatly integrated with Google’s other goods, such as Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps and of course Google Search Engines.

Google+ Local Pages have also been introduced in place of Google Places and are being integrated to Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Mobile. This change means it’s now even more important for your business to have a verified Google+ page. More information about these changes and the actions that you may need to take can be found on Google’s support page for business owners.

Google have also recently launched a Social Search Engine called Search Plus Your World in the US, which is in Australia quickly.

Pinterest

Pinterest is now the third most popular network after Facebook and Twitter, having gained momentum quickly since its launch in March 2010. This social pin board allows users to share images in collections and categories.

Pinterest has recently announced, on November 14th 2012, that they now have separate Terms of Service for businesses, helping to guide business owners on how to use Pinterest. These new terms are in line with the intro of their new business accounts, which offer new features specified to business needs such as a ‘verification badge’ to confirm your website, new buttons as well as widgets to help integrate your Pinterest page with your website and access to forthcoming features yet to be announced.

Instagram

Instagram is an excellent tool for giving your business greater visibility online and better engaging with the community. This visual platform ties in well with both Facebook and also Twitter and is an excellent place to share photos of your items, what is happening behind the scenes, interactions with the community, sneak peeks and so forth. A lot of businesses have had great success using Instagram, due to its simplicity and popularity.

Which Networks Should I Utilize For My Business?

Which networks you decide to use in your business marketing strategy will depend on the type of business you are running. It’s important to look at your target audience and what networks they are engaging with, as this will enable you to decide which networks should be prioritised.

A Facebook page should be the foundation of any social marketing strategy, regardless of your business type people now turn to Facebook just as they do for Google to locate a local product or service provider.

Make it Work

Once you have chosen which networks to utilize and have set up your accounts, there are three simple ways to follow to improve the response your business profile receives…

Involve Your Followers - This is the golden rule of social media, to be social. Small businesses hold an advantage here, as they are capable of being more personable and connect straight with their followers on-line.

Have A Strategy - Social Media marketing is serious business and should be treated as such. Take the time to analyse how people do and will see your business and how certain messages will be received as well as interoperated.

Have Patience - Social media is not a quick fix. It takes time to see the results, but if you are patient and have a strong strategy in place, the results will be really worth the wait.

Do I Still Need A Website If My Business Uses Social Media?

A business website is an essential component of a strong and effective online presence. Your business website should be thought of as the online hub, central to all other social media, advertising and email marketing efforts. There are many clever ways that we can make your website integrate with all of your online requirements.
To learn more, see Icreate Solutions.

Five Useful Information To Manage A Good Design Agency

These days the term "design agency" often means a lot of things. From website creation to t-shirt graphics and advertisements including copy writing and marketing there is generally one thing in common: a strong emphasis on graphic design. Running a firm that has specialized in graphic design like Brisbane web design can be both challenging and satisfying. Here are some tips to help make your design agency operate as smoothly as you can for maximum ROI.

Firing Customers

As with any business your clients are your lifeblood. However several customers tend to be more trouble than they're really worth. If a customer is giving you or your group a difficult time and is being a general pain to work with it might be time to let them go. There is no sense in letting problem customers drag your business straight down. Here are some signs that identify a problem customer:

♥ They think they know more than you do about graphic design.
♥ They would like to micromanage you.
♥ They are very picky.
♥ They request constant revisions of your work for free.
♥ They do not pay the full price in advance.

Promoting Creativity Between Your Team

When managing a design agency you want to get as much out of your team as you possibly can and motivate them to take the initiative. However, you want to make certain they have the appropriate experience before doing this so they know where the line is and not to cross it. When a team member does something extremely creative or has a revolutionary idea be sure to reward them with a small bonus as a way of promoting that kind of decision making.

Eliminating The Unnecessary

This is important both on the financial and creative aspect. When talking about business expenses you need to eliminate as many as you can as quickly as possible for the best ROI. In the realm of graphic design you also want to avoid superfluous graphics and design elements to streamline your work.

Leaving Finances In The Right Hands

Just because you're an amazing graphic design artist, manager or administrator does not necessarily mean you are the right person to handle the financial side of your business. If you are struggling with this hire an accountant or other business professional as quickly as possible. A word of caution though, make certain the one you hire is trustworthy, you do not want someone screwing you over.

Exceptional Customer Service

When it comes to serving your clients you want to always over deliver; give them more than they pay money for. In addition to this also make sure you have a rewards system, discounts and other incentives in place to draw in new customers and keep current customers coming back to get more. Also make sure you have someone with a normally friendly attitude in charge of customer relations if you're unsuitable for that task yourself.

These tips should be useful if you are looking to take your design agency to the next level. Getting rid of problems such as bothersome clients, unnecessary business expenses and design elements that waste resources is a huge step in the right direction. Attracting new customers and creating repeat customers is also hugely significant. Overall running a good design agency is just like most other businesses, as long as you have you priorities straight it's simple to optimize you ROI within an efficient manner.

For more information check out: Icreate Solutions

What Software Is Used In A Graphic Design Firm

The definition of a graphic designer is somebody who makes use of and brings together images to make a piece of design work within the graphic arts industry. Most commonly if a designer is working for a graphic design agency they'll be using media, whether this is printed or electronic in order to create illustrations or web design. The role of a designer is a tough one, they have to always be coming up with fresh new ideas in a very competitive arena.

Not anyone can be a graphic designer, there are specific qualifications that you will need if this is the career path you would like to follow. Such that even a Google apps consultant would say this to most people. You should have some sort of industry experience prior to any agency employs you so you may have to do some voluntary work in order to build up your own portfolio. It is quite common for a design agency to ask to view your portfolio so they can get an understanding of the type of work you do. Graphic design is an art and you will realize that it is a very skilled branch of creativity.

There are several software programs that you will need to have quite a high level of proficiency at. Photoshop is the most widely used computer program amongst designers. It allows you, as the designer, to control images and play around with them in order to get the best finished outcome, you can even do this with photos of individuals. Photoshop is used in the media to improve photos of celebrities and other influential figures. In order for a designer to understand how their work will be viewed online they should equip themselves with a basic understanding of some basic web programming scripts including HTML. Graphic design is a diverse discipline and may require a designer to learn a great number of skills as there are so many branches. Printing is a great example of this simply because it is quite a complex process, meaning that you will need to have some background information before you jump straight in.

A designer has to remain flexible as it is a discipline that is continually changing. Graphic work is now predominantly done through digital media meaning instead of carrying a hard copy of a portfolio, it could be on a disk instead. This was not the case in previous years; if a designer was visiting or applying for a job at a graphic design agency then they would usually be asked to bring with them a printed portfolio. This was the best possible way to show off some of your work, it was placed in a large book or binder and displayed to people who showed an interest in your or your work.

For more information do see Icreate Solutions.

Factors In Website Designs

There are many ways to get a website on the internet and if you are in a budget crunch you can even get free website designs. A company or individual can also hire a company to design their own website and spend as much money as needed. So whether you are broke or have more money than you know what to do with - a big company or just a start-up, you can have a website presence on the web.

Professional Design Companies

If you choose an expert web design agency, be certain to see their portfolio. You may be spending a large sum of money so you want to at the very least see what some of the agency's past work looks like. See IT small business consultant for references. A good professional agency provides you with a professional design that is customized to meet your unique needs. Great agencies will also offer logo design, on-going maintenance, and registration of domain name. They will arrange for web hosting and also provide copywriting of all content. Some will even do your search engine optimization complete with monthly reports. These agencies that do it all might cost a great deal but are well worth the money.

You may have your concerns about one company that does both copywriting and SEO but it ensures they are dedicated to making certain the website is successful. Having the content professionally written as well as professionally optimized over time is worth every penny that you invest.

Factors Important To A Site

There are some aspects that a well-designed website should have. Load time is one of those elements since a well designed site that loads fast is not leaving visitors waiting.

Another vital element is "cross browser compatibility". This means that the site needs to look great in whatever browser a visitor is using. This is ensured by making any website design WC3 compliant and a good design agency will make that happen.

Additionally , it is important to make certain that the layout doesn't have text that is too small or too much. A website that is cluttered is almost painful to browse through. This means that the website should look balanced with just the right quantity of organizing features.

A Bad Impression

Everyone has always been taught that a first impression is the impression that is remembered. This is also true in websites. There are just some factors that leave a visitor with a terrible first impression. One of these factors is error messages. If a visitor is new and keeps getting error messages, they probably will not be back.

Another bad first impression is advertisements. Now all web users know that advertisements are a fact of life in the online world. But... they can leave a bad impression particularly if there are too many, are about the wrong subject or the ads are badly placed. In these cases - they can be a turn off for some site visitors.

Factors Of Great Websites

There are three ways to make the design of a website good. A really superb website has great content and it's content that also changes often , making the visitor keep coming back. Another factor of a fantastic website is one which has an extremely clever design which is easy to get around. Websites that are hard to navigate will lose visitors because they do not know where to go.

To further understand web design, check out Icreate Solutions.

Increase The Quality Of Your Web Design With These Tips

If you're one that considers most websites to be the same, try to compare Google to Facebook or Yahoo to Bing. The elements of these websites portray the importance of a quality web design. The ideas in this article should be used as a reference to raise your awareness of the possibilities you can incorporate into making your web design unique.

Google loves fast websites. One example would be a website that is designed by Brisbane graphic design. A fast website is a great website. You can't assume much from impatient viewers. If they are left looking at an incomplete page for minutes while your content loads, the frustration will probably lead to closing your site and find what they're looking for elsewhere.

You should validate each web page that you create. Something you should avoid is using a "what you see is what you get" editor when validating your website designs. If you choose to use all those programs, be sure that you take extra effort to utilize a validation service to validate your code. This type of metric sits well with Google. A free service called W3C is a good start for this.

Although most people are acquainted with Photoshop, many are unaware of a similar Adobe product known as Dreamweaver. This software is a gold mine for web developers and allows you to create any kind of page, content, or function you desire. I suggest looking into this type of software and how it can assist you in your web design objectives. Remember - you need to be extremely unique with your web design.

Making a site that is cross-functional across various platforms will attract more unique guests. You'll also benefit from becoming fluent in several platforms, including PHP as well as Java. Web development can be another language - one that you can become fluent in with practice like a regular language! Whether you're designing a new site, or simply helping a buddy launch their own, a wide variety of experience and knowledge can help you over time.

Create a favicon for your website. This is a small graphic which can be seen in the browser and will make it easier for your visitors to bookmark your website. Once they pull up their bookmarks, your memorable favicon will stick out. Your own favicon should be constant with your website's logo and design features.

If a design company does not have a portfolio available, I wouldn't even consider them. Carefully review the portfolios of the companies which are in your consideration set. You want to make sure they have the proper experience, knowledge, popularity, and have the capital to satisfy your demands. The company's portfolio will show you how experienced and knowledgeable they are.

When you decide to venture all on your own web design, you probably aren't going to create a innovative site like Twitter or Facebook. Overall, the likelihood of making a worldwide known site are slim. However , with unique web design skills, you can create attractive sites that will function even better than those owned by a big company. Use the suggestions learned here, and start designing your site today.

To know more, check out Icreate Solutions.

Clarifying The Term SEO

SEO means Search Engine Optimisation. It is a term common to just about everyone these days. Anyone with a website desires their site to appear on the very first page of google for their keyword or key phrase. This worthy objective is becoming increasingly difficult as thousands more sites are made and indexed every single day.

It is also a field that changes quickly, as Search Engines – like Google continue to shift the goal posts as they modify and improve the way they rank pages. Further all these ranking algorithms are closely guarded secrets, so the exact location of said goal posts, aren’t actually known by anyone outside Google.

However there is a lot that is known. What I am going to focus on in this article are the basics, and this article is targeted at the non-technical website owner, enthusiastic about the essentials.

The field of SEO is generally split into two distinct topics. “ON Page” and “OFF Page” SEO.

ON Page SEO

ON page SEO is the simple part. It is about tweaking the content of your website, to ensure that Search Engines can look upon your site in the most favorable light possible. The following list includes the most crucial aspects of On Page SEO. If you do not know what all of these terms mean, that’s ok, but the person that develops your site should definitely be on top of this..

- Have a keyword suitable title tag for each page.
- Have a keyword appropriate description meta tag for every page.
- Utilize H1, H2, H3 & tags throughout your pages to spotlight the key content of each page, and underline those keywords to Google.
- Have plain text links internally for all your pages. (A footer is useful for this)
- Include keywords, in the page path. eg www.site.com/services/keyword/
- Include keywords in alt tags for each image, so Google attributes value to your site’s images.
- Have a content rich site full of useful info for people, this will naturally create a keyword rich site.
- The larger your site the better. The more content google can index the better. A great way to add to your site over time is through a blog. (like this one) This also gives useful industry information to your viewers.
-Blog writing also keeps your website fresh, update frequency is also something Google considers.

If you don't know about any of this stuff, that isn't a problem. There are many companies out there. One example would be Icreate Solutions. They are known for there innovative designs.

OFF Page SEO

OFF page SEO is a tricky one. One of the main ways Google measures your site’s importance vs all the other sites out there, is by how many other sites link to your one. If your website has 200 incoming links, and your competitor has 2, all other things being equal, Google will consider your site far more relevant and list it higher.

Getting other sites to link to yours, is not that simple and is one of the key activities SEO companies traditionally offer. Commonly called “link building”. Google does not like to be tricked though, and the old techniques of building thousands of incoming links automagically via networks of spammy websites, no longer works. Infact you would be penalised for this. Quality SEO companies don't engage in this activity. Google now measures all inbound themselves for their quality and importance.

A great way to increase inbound links, is to publish quality content out there on the interweb, with links back to your website. This might be on Social Media, or even sites like articlebase. com, squidoo, youtube, digg and so forth

Also posting useful (non spammy) comments on other quality websites, with a discreet backlink – is a good strategy.

This is clearly a lot of work, a good idea is to have a long term approach at off page SEO, and make frequent small hits at it. Or engage a good SEO company to assist with an off page strategy.

Social Media & Content Creation I mentioned before it is good to have a large site, and even more important to have a freshly updated site. Well a good way to do that is to use your blog. Write an article weekly. Make it useful. Google will like that content is changing every time it pays a visit, over time the indexable content of your site will continue to grow and grow!

The other thing that is cool about blog pages, is they act as new entry points to your website. If you write a blog reviewing the new xyz widget your business sells, and an xyz widget is a relatively unique product. There is a chance your article might just show top on google for a search of xyz widget. With time, blog pages can have a large impact on your sites traffic.

Make the most out of the fantastic article you have just written, and hit your Social Media channels, with a quick excerpt and a link back to your article. Get some eyes reading it.

Also your site needs Social Media buttons. Allowing visitors to Facebook like, Google plus, tweet or even Pinterest pages. This is good simply because;

- It helps spread the word about your site.
- It is widely thought that social measures, are going to be used more and more by Search Engine algorithms. Particularly the Google Plus button. A site with 20 Google pluses, will rank higher than a site with none. Apparently this is simply not happening yet, but it is likely just a matter of when, so better to start building some social recommendations right now.

The PPC option

PPC stands for pay per click. Its paid advertising. PPC's are quite advantageous for people with like property advertising. Google’s version of this is Google Adwords. Many websites, that do not list on page 1 organically in a Google could bring a reliable stream of traffic to their site through paid advertising. You can advertise for as little as a $1 a day, and can be scaled up and down as necessary. It can be a good supplement to your SEO efforts to get the phone ringing now, while your website climbs the stairs of Google.

Summary

SEO is a journey. The days of getting to number one easily are gone, there is just too much competition. You need a site that is built right, that is number 1. However you also have to commit to a long term strategy of quality content publishing, social interaction, and quality link building. It's a big task, but like any big task over time it can simply be managed with lots of small consistent efforts.

Also the more you do it, the easier it will get.

How To Select A Good Graphic Designer

So you have started up your very own business or even need a design to sell/promote your product or service or business. You require a great logo, some business cards, stationery & assorted marketing collateral. Where do you go from here? Many individuals will fall into the trap of signing up for a ‘can’t believe it’s so cheap’ design deal on the internet. There are a lot people offering design services, land estate advertising and they range in experience from true professionals with years of experience to high school students with pirated software who want to make a quick buck. Will you get the opportunity to speak with them about your business And the direction it is headed?

One of the best ways to find a great designer is to ask around. If you have a buddy or colleague that has a good logo or brochure for their business, simply ask who did their design work. Contacting somebody whose work you are already impressed with is a step in the right direction. Failing this it may be time to put Google to work for you. Search online for graphic designers in your area and start to take a look at their websites. These days the best designers will have an online portfolio so prospective customers can get a feel for the work they have done.

When looking for a graphic designer there are some questions you need to answer:

♣ Do they have a professional, well designed website? The design quality of their website is most likely a fair reflection of their design skills.

♣ Do they have a strong portfolio along with a wide range of designs? It is necessary for you to like their job & feel assured they can speak your message.

♣ Are they easily contactable? Are you able to get in touch with them by phone or do they only offer online/email contact? A designer really needs to get within your business which comes best from direct contact with you, possibly face to face, over the phone or even a video call.

♣ Do they have great social skills? A great designer will be able to interact well with their clients. They will work carefully with you to develop a creative brief that is right on target.

♣ Will they offer you with contact details for a few of their clients so you can get a reference? An excellent designer will have absolutely no problems letting their clients sing their good remarks.

♣ How do they charge for their work? Will you be paying an per hour rate or are they comfortable enough to charge a flat charge for the job? Don’t hesitate to ask questions about their rates – you do not want any nasty surprises that will throw your financial budget out the window.

♣ Will these people be able to carry out the job in due time? Do not expect to find a designer & have your new logo within a couple of hours. Provide a timeline which gives your designer plenty of time to plan, research & most importantly create!

♣ Are they properly qualified? It is a good idea to check your potential designer’s qualifications. It may not be a regulated profession in Australia at this time, but graphic design is a specialized field like accounting, architecture or law. You wouldn’t hire a lawyer that wasn’t properly qualified and the same should go for a graphic designer. Professional graphic designers will be happy to inform you where they studied and what certification they obtained. Their application of design principles and adhering to design procedures and commercial guidelines is a good indicator of a professional, well versed graphic designer.

When you find the designer that is the perfect match for you the results will be amazing. Always remember that communication is vital – both before, during & after the design procedure. Never accept a design that you don’t absolutely love & can stand proudly alongside. A great designer will never want you to settle for something good – they may want you to be amazed by the end result.

To have a better understanding of graphic design, check out Icreate Solutions now.

Bullet Points - Ally Or Enemy?

Commence reading a piece of marketing material these days and you will see bullet points left, right and centre. But are they used correctly or just thrown in there for no good reason? I am a big fan of bullet points if they are applied well. Such techniques are well utilized by Brisbane IT consultant. We live in a quick paced world and get bombarded with information everywhere we turn. These days we do not really have time to read through endless paragraphs of information. We want to have key benefits of your product or service given to us directly. No messing around, give it to us short and sweet.

Good bullet points:

- Are Simple To Read
- Draw Your Attention
- Give You The Real Facts
- Break Up The Copy

If possible, short punchy bullet points might be best. Getting each point across making use of minimum words is a plus. Your readers will be able to scan through the material you are providing and leave with maximum information about your product or offer.

There are times when longer bullet points may be needed. Perhaps you are describing some features, or giving instructions. Longer bullet points can be effective if you follow a few tips:

○ Highlight the key words of each point. Underline or bold this text – this ensures that your main message is conveyed to the viewer.

○ Make your bullet points consistent. If you have 5 bullet points they should be either short statements, full sentences or even questions –, but not a mix of each.

○ Format your bullets regularly. Use the same font, spacing and margins. It is considered fairly old fashioned to double space your bullets these days. Single spacing certainly the way to go for short points, but extra spacing can be used between long or numbered points.

○ Punctuation should be consistent. Choose to start each point with a capital letter, or in lower case – but use the same for the entire list. Full sentences or even questions should be ended with a full stop or question mark. Short statements don't need a full stop.

○ Do not make bullet points too long. They aren't a paragraph and are intended to accelerate information gathering. Try and stick to three lines as a maximum.

○ Know when to utilize a bullet rather than a number. Actual bullets are good when there are only a few. If you have more than 6 points, numbering them may be easier for the reader to keep track of.

Understanding these basic principles will get you creating great bullet points in no time. Not only will bullet points benefit your readers, but they will help you too. You will not have to invest as much time developing sentences and ensuring your paragraphs flow. Bullet points enable you to use simple punctuation and structures which will save you valuable time. Treat your bullet points like headlines – short, informative and persuasive – and you will not go wrong.

To get a better understanding check out Icreate Solutions.

Building A Client/Designer Relationship, In A Single Word

You’ve been on the hunt for an excellent new designer. You’ve googled, emailed, called and met several until finally you meet the designer you’ve been looking for. You may be thinking that the hardest part is over. Surely, looking for a designer who just like Brisbane web design that has (a) was suitably skilled, (b) excited about your project and (c) within your budget means that it will all be smooth sailing from here! Hmmmmm, not necessarily!

There are a few things that you need to bear in mind (and practise) when it comes to dealing with your new found partner in design. Actually, it really just comes down to one word: communication

Simple really, isn’t it. Communication is about sharing information.

Good communication will result in you building an incredible, collaborative relationship with your designer. Bad communication will most likely end up with you not getting whatever you wanted. Now, I’m certainly not going to sit here and put it all on your (the client’s) shoulders. A client/designer relationship is the epitome of a two way street – there needs to be great communication from both sides. So to assist you, I’ve written several points below that will help both client and the designer to build a successful relationship.

CLIENTS

* Be open and honest with your designer. If you have got several designers working on concepts to suit your needs, tell them. You never know, a little competition may just produce some out of the box final results.

* Be clear, but concise with your vision. Know what you want. Pick your words thoroughly to describe what you are after. For instance , using the words ‘bold’ and ‘vivid’ will likely produce a different design result to describing your vision as ‘dark’ and ‘intense’.

* Understand that good design takes time. Nothing takes five minutes (and if it did I’d be a bit worried! ). Determine sensible timeframes at the outset with your designer.

* Be able to make a decision. When your designer offers you with options, you can take your time, but ultimately you need to make a YES or NO decision and own it. As always, communicating your reasoning behind your decision can help everyone progress.

* Give a little praise along the way. Always give credit where credit is due. We hope you can gush when you see your design work, but even a simple ‘thank you’ or ‘great job’ will do wonders for the relationship.

* Pay your invoices promptly. No business likes to chase clients for cash, so your designer shouldn’t have to either. If your payment is going to be late, a quick phone call or email to clarify is more believable than ‘I thought I’d paid that’.

* Trust your designer. A good designer will not lead you down the wrong path. Listen to what they say and trust that their ideas and advice come from years of experience.

DESIGNERS

* Build a solid foundation with your client. You can’t expect to produce amazing results based on a 5 minute call and a sketchy creative brief. Take time to understand your client and their business.

* Explain your process to your client. Give them an idea of how you attack a brand new job and give timeframes regarding up-dates, proofs etc .

* Be sure you listen carefully to your clients. In the early stages of a client relationship you have to learn everything you can about them and their business, so keep your ears wide open.

* Give advice when it is warranted. Many clients have very firm ideas about what they really want and how it should appear. As the expert, you might have some suggestions that are not necessarily in line with their current thoughts but would benefit the project.

* Avoid using industry jargon. Most clients will not know or need to know what the dpi, ppi, native file, cmyk or bleed is. Keep it nice and easy when asking for information or explaining a design item.

* Try and provide examples whenever possible. When discussing ideas it can often be hard for a client to visualise what you can. If at all possible email them an example that shows what you are talking about or give them the url link to check out an idea online.

* Always put everything in writing. No doubt both you and your client are very busy and are working on more than just this project. To ensure that there's no misunderstandings along the way, it is important to document any discussions you may have had about the project and also email them through to the client.

Finally, an important point for both client and designer to remember is to be PROFESSIONAL with one another. When discussing your project either over the phone, via email or face to face, act professionally and treat one another with the respect you both deserve. With time you may get to know each other on more personal, friendly level – but in the early stages of the relationship remember that everything that you do or say can impact initial perceptions.

A relationship between a designer and a client can be so gratifying and inspiring – and I know this because I am fortunate enough to have amazing clients. Just remember the number one rule – COMMUNICATION – and with any luck you will be as lucky as I am with Icreate Solutions.

What Makes A Great Logo Design And How Do I Get One?

When starting up a brand new business, one of the first things on the ‘To Do’ list is to design and style a fabulous logo. Every day businesses try, fail and succeed when it comes to logo design. One thing is for certain, you definitely want to be within the ‘SUCCEED’ category!

The logo by definition is a graphic symbol or design that a company uses to identify its products or services and acquire instant recognition kind of like a IT small business support. A logo might be comprised of an image only or an image together with the name of the company.

However how do we even start this method? Why don’t we have a peek at a few well known and incredibly successful logos and see what they have in common. Let’s consider Coca Cola and McDonalds as examples which have stood the test of time and also some newer success stories like Fedex and Apple.

There are a few key rules that most of these businesses seem to have adopted when designing their logos. It seems that the best logos are:

Simple

More often than not less is more. All of these logos are quite clean and concise. They use simple shapes, fonts and colors. There are no fancy patterns or even intricate details. But one thing is for sure, they have impact. Simple doesn’t have to mean weak or boring. In the case of these four logos, simple equals bold and memorable.

Flexible

A great logo will work well in each possible media. Our four examples look just as good online as they will on a label or in a magazine ad. Also, they are recognisable regardless of whether they may be shown in full colour or in black and white.

Scalable

Size really does matter. You want your logo to look just as good on your business card as it would on a billboard. The McDonald’s logo is just as recognisable on the packaging of their French Fries as it is on their large neon store signs. If a design is too complex, you can lose some of the detail when you alter the size of the logo.

Memorable

A good logo will probably be easy to remember, have effect and last the distance. The Coca Cola logo was created in 1885 using a fashionable script font from that time period. Over 125 years later it still looks modern and relevant. The McDonald’s ‘golden arches’ have been used since 1968 and is recognisable all around the world. Even Apple and Fedex, who are the new kids on the block, are often remembered. Most people will recognize the business even if only shown a portion of the logo.

If you keep these factors in mind when starting the design process of your new logo will be on the right track. At the end of the day, make sure that you stay true to yourself and your business. Think about the way you want your business to be seen by the general public. With the help of a clever designer you will develop an amazing logo that captures the essence of your business. It may not be a long time before your logo, and therefore your business, is instantly recognisable in the market.

For more information check out: Icreate Solutions

Why You Require A Superb Web Site

Most people know their business needs a great website, its a given.

The world has changed, everyone is attached to the internet 24/7. Such companies like Brisbane advertising stated that if you do not have an online existence then your business is going nowhere. Online study forms the first part of virtually any buying decision. Every business needs to be generally there.

Does your business have a very great website?

Thumbs up should you do, that’s an awesome start. The next question for you, is: Are you working your web site? That’s a story for another article.

If you don’t have a fantastic website, you are likely to fall into one of three types.

1) You’re a new business and seeking to build your first web site.

2) You've got a web site, but it is not great. Perhaps it was created 4 or more years ago, when web technologies were less mature & is now showing its age.

3) You've been busy, and technology frightens you, and you have been putting off the task of organising a website for the last decade.

So why do you need a great site?

For a lot of reasons – I’m going to focus on what I believe are the key four.

1) Be Discovered.

People are turning to Mr. Google for all their needs, from looking for a local plumber, to comparing reviews of local restaurants, it is the way the world works these days. You’ve just got to be there, otherwise potential clients will certainly walk on by, never realizing you are there.

2) Make An Impression.

You’ve got to put your best foot forward. In the online world, it is all about first impressions. We customers are fickle, and we are spoiled for selection. Subconsciously people will make massive judgements about your business from the instant the home page loads (or the speed in which it loads). If your audience don’t like whatever they see in the first few seconds, they’ll click the back button and look at the site of the next competitor. You may be the best in your industry, but if you have an unpleasant site, most will write you off as a sub standard company, and also move on. You will miss out on oodles of prospects. That is why it’s imperative you replace that aging sloppy site for a sleek fast and also modern reflection on your business.

3) It’s A Center For Your Online Marketing Efforts.

Once you’ve got an excellent web site, you have a focus point for wider online marketing strategies. Add a few planned landing pages to your website for key products or services. Draw individuals directly to these key parts of your site via targeted online advertising and produce more leads.

4) A Platform To Communicate.

A good modern website must have a blog or news webpage. Write regular posts about your products, services and industry. Share valuable knowledge and insights with your viewers. Doing this provides many benefits. Some instant, some subtle and longer term.

- It gives you credibility and implies that your company is an expert in its field.

- Well written posts, are attractive and build trust.

- Regular addition of new content about your industry, is ideal for improving search engine rankings.

- Each article you publish, creates a new possible entry point to your website and increases traffic.

- Used in conjunction with a social media strategy can greatly increase traffic and lead generation.

There are obviously many other reasons you need a great website. Always remember that your website is your lifeline in the internet world. For more information, check out: Icreate Solutions