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