Web Design Miami Weblog

July 14, 2008

The Future of Web Design - What is DotNetNuke®?

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 1:35 pm

Design a website

Have you discovered that within months your website becomes out of date and becomes a headache to maintain? DotNetNuke is the answer to your problems.
custom web sites

DotNetNuke® Overview
web graphic design

DotNetNuke® is a portal content management system (CMS) ideal for creating any type of website from commercial web sites, corporate intranets and extranets, online publishing portals, to a personal blog.
Cheap Web Design

DotNetNuke® is provided free, as open-source software. It allows individuals to do whatever they wish with the application framework, both commercially and non-commercially.
simple web design

The Static Website Problem
custom website

So you’ve created your static website using Dreamweaver, Frontpage, or programmed it manually in HTML?
Website Design

Your next job is to promote your website and keep it up to date with lots of fresh content that the Search Engines love.
real estate web design

You soon discover that keeping your website up to date with the latest news and articles is a lot of work, within a few months your website becomes out of date and the site becomes a complete headache to maintain.
Web Page Design

CMS – The Benefits
web designing

Using the DotNetNuke® Content Management system enables you to:Login to your website from anywhere in the world and update your content liveQuickly and easily publish articles, images, documents, news, important information and moreSave Money – Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) you no longer need to pay a webmaster to maintain your siteSupport for an unlimited number of content contributors (ie. Give permission to members of staff to login and update certain sections of your website)Easily change the look of your entire web site with just one click using skinsExtremely extensible admin interface to add and move content, panels and more.Security - Every element of your website can have specific security settings applied to allow or deny users from seeing, editing, or administering the different parts of your site
web design tutorial

Once you have used DotNetNuke®, you will not look back - your old web design programmes will gather dust!
church website design

What do you need for DotNetNuke®?
web design consulting

To run DotNetNuke® you need to use a web hosting package that provides ASP.NET and a Microsoft SQL-Server database.
website hosting

The DotNetNuke® Community
web site design and hosting

An advantage with DotNetNuke® being open-source software is the vast number of users out there. There are many developers contributing in the form of improving the DotNetNuke® core code and ‘modules’ which provide extra functions to your website, such as photo galleries. There are designers creating ‘skins’ which you can use to change the graphics of your website, and there is also a central forum area where you can ask DotNetNuke® related questions.
Web Site Design

This community is rapidly growing by the day and it demonstrates how DotNetNuke® is the web of the future.
eal estate website design

Where do you get DotNetNuke®?
website design services

You can download the DotNetNuke® code for free from: http://www.dotnetnuke.com simply register with the website to gain access to the downloads.
freelance web design

How do I learn DotNetNuke®?
online web design

There are many resources out there supplying documentation, videos and tips from installation and programming, to web design using DotNetNuke®.
html web design

You do not need to be a programmer to use DotNetNuke®; the hardest stage is installing DotNetNuke®. This is just a matter of uploading the correct files to your hosting provider and setting up your SQL database. DotNetNuke® will then automatically install when you open your website.
Web Design Firm

All you now have to do is add the content!
Web Design Software

Beginner Resources
business website design

To see the functions of DotNetNuke® in action, there are two free beginners’ guides available from DNN Creative Magazine:
best web design

An Introduction to the principles of DotNetNuke®
http://www.dnncreative.com/Tutorials/IntroductiontotheprinciplesofDotNetNuke/tabid/75/Default.aspx
cheap web hosting

and
website design tools

Four Critical Web Design Rules

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 11:34 am

Custom Web Design
When creating a new website or redesigning an existing site, there are four critical rules which the designer should follow to make the site effective and functional - and successful.
web hosting

1. Easy to Read
web development

When building a website, the first thing you need to be sure of is that your website is easy to read. When you write content, remember that most web site visitors don’t read every word of a page - in fact, they only scan pages to find what they want.
web designing

Break up Your Content
design web sites

Break up your pages and use headers between major ideas so people scanning your site can find what they want quickly. Use meaningful headers between each paragraph or major idea - this helps with SEO. Headers should be created with the H1 through H4 tags for SEO. Always use good writing structure. Additionally, avoid long paragraphs that run on. You should break up any long paragraphs.
custom website

Color and Fonts
Custom Web Design

To help readability, use high contrast colors between font and background. Black text against a white background may seem stark, but it is very readable. To make a website easy on the eyes, try an off-white background and a dark gray (almost black) text color.
web development

Things to avoid with content color:
web hosting

Avoid vibrant background colors like purple or yellow. Such back colors make text difficult to read.
custom website design

Avoid using an image behind your text.
custom website design

Avoid using bright text colors on bright backgrounds.
freelance web designer

Fonts Matter
web page design software

One simple statement covers the font issue:
Professional Web Design

Simple fonts are the best; the more fancy the font, the harder it is to read.
how to design a web page

Since many browsers only have the standard font set, use standard fonts. In reality, there is no “”standard”", but there are certain fonts that are installed on most browsers. These include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma and Times New Roman. Your readers will see something different than you see if you use other fonts.
web designing

Standard Compliant Browser for Development
website design and hosting

When developing and testing your site, use a Standards compliant browser like FireFox. If you develop your site to be standards compliant, it will work in most browsers, including MS Internet Explorer (IE). It is recommended that you test your site using the latest and last browser versions of IE (IE6 and IE7). To run multiple versions of IE on the same machine, TredoSoft has a free installer that will install multiple versions of IE. It works great!
florida web design

2. Simplify Navigation
web page designer

The menus and links make up the navigation that the visitor uses to get from page to page in a site. Always plan a site around how people will get from page to page. A visitor to your site should be able to get to what they want within three clicks of their mouse.
custom website design

Multiple navigation points makes it easy to find things. Repeat the top menu and at the bottom. Also create a left or right menu.
website design services

Using links within your text to other areas on your site. You can create links so that they are good for search engine optimization (SEO). There are generally two ways to create links within your text:
web page design software

The wrong way: “”For search engine optimization techniques, click here.”"
web design business

The right way: “”Good techniques for search engine optimization are important to use.”"
Web Design Company

Using link text (anchor text) that describes what the link is about is the best way. Search engine web crawlers (programs that automatically index the contents of websites) visit your site, they “”read”" links. Spiders can index descriptive links into a subject or keyword category. Spiders have nothing to work with when reading a “”click here”" until it reaches the linked page.
web page design software

This is Cross Linking - use it as much as possible when it makes sense to do so when writing your content.
custom website

3. Consistent Design
online web design

At most, one or two layouts should be used in your site design. As a reader browses your site, they should be able to get used to looking in the same place for your navigation, for your sub-navigation and for your content. That’s all there is to say about that.
logo design

4. Lower Page Weight is Better
web design business

Page weight is the total size of a page on your site in bytes - code, text and images. Your site’s page weight makes a big difference to your viewers. Lighter page weight is better for your readers because the page will download faster. The faster a page downloads, the faster they will get to the content.
design web sites

What is Means to be Light
web site designers

No large images. (unless the site’s purpose is to showcase images, art or photos)
good web design

Fewer images are better.
web design consulting

Optimize images for the web at no more than 72 dpi
web design service

Use as small an image dimension as possible for the given design.
affordable web design

Use a table td bgcolor attribute or a background-color style attribute for solid color backgrounds.
online web design

Make gradients horizontal or vertical (not diagonal) so that you can use a small image “”strip”" and repeat it.
ecommerce web design

How “”Heavy”" Should a Web Page be?
web page designer

Certain studies show that 64K is a good maximum webpage size. 64K is a maximum, however it is still, in my opinion, really big! The smaller the page, the better. 25K is good, 15K is even better. There is a balance between design and function. It is a good idea to focus more on function.
real estate web design

Try putting pages on your web host server as you build your site so you can test it as you go. For pages online, you can test the page weight to be sure you are on track.
web 2.0 design

Ways to make pages lighter:
design web sites

Use linked style sheets
beautiful web design

Use DIVs instead of TABLEs where possible
church website design

Use simple repeating backgrounds for effect
Small Business Web Design

Summary
design web sites

Visitors to your website should be able to find what they are looking for within about three clicks. Making a site easy to read with consistent page design, and easy to navigate will make it easy to find information. You will be on the way to building a readable, effective, functional and hopefully successful website if you follow these rules.
Website Designer

Web Page Design

Small Business Web Design

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 1:19 am

web design tutorial

Is your business ready to be part of the internet? In need of a quality web site, but need to find a web designer to fit your budget? Your web site will become your new online store for others to see. When It comes to the internet appearance is everything so it is important to have a web designer that cares about you and your company.
how to design a web page

When it comes to web design it is very important that you pick the right person to design your site. Taking your business online is just like opening a new store for the first time. The more you put into it the more you will get out of it. Your web site is everything when it comes to the internet. If it doesn’t look professional you are losing business right from the start. People want to be able to trust and depend on you and your business or whatever it may be. Seeing bad web design is a turn off for almost all customers. Good web design is a key part of starting off on the internet.
open source web design

You may now ask your self how can you find the right company or web designer to do the job. This is a big step in the process of starting a online business. First you have to look at what you are willing to spend what type of budget you may be on. You will see company’s offer to build web sites for 1000s of dollars. Others may be a little cheaper. See what each company offers.
web page design software

What I have come to find is that company’s over charge for there web design and graphic design. Giving time you can find a web designer that can do the same work for a very low cost. I myself find that the best work is done by those that are self employed web designers. These people have the skills it takes to design a quality site but are not out for your money.
web design help

So when starting your new business chose the right web designer for you and your company. And do not over pay for web design.

About the author:

Chris Rohrer

I am a graphic and web designer who has seen the other side and knows the tricks of the trade you could say.

http://www.crxgraphicdesign.com

Copyright 2005 Chris Rohrer
Author: Chris Rohrer

July 9, 2008

Create a High-Quality Website – Quickly!

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 8:12 pm

web design tools

If you are a business owner and want to expand your clientele and market-share, and create a place where potential and current customers can go to learn more about your company and easily find contact information, what you need is a website. If you are a small start-up looking to begin an online venture, you need a website. And most likely, you want to achieve your business goals within a reasonable time frame and for a reasonable price, without skimping on quality. After all, you need more than just visitors to your website. A successful business requires visitors who turn into paying, repeat customers and trust your company. The best way to do this (in addition to offering a quality product or service) is by producing a professional website.

web design tools

In the past, online businesses were given little choice when it came to creating a high quality website. You could either hire an expensive professional web designer or web design company to make the entire site for you or you could produce the website on your own. The first choice would cost you big bucks – anywhere between $50 and $200 for only one web page! The second option required at least a small knowledge of HTML and design elements as well as a large chunk of your time – something most business owners don’t have.

web designs

Luckily the times have changed and web entrepreneurs have a lot more choice when it comes to creating a professional website with or without all the bells and whistles (depending on the type of site you plan on having). In fact, a growing trend in website design is the use of ready-made website templates.

web page designer

What exactly is a template?

best web design

Website templates are basically ready-made web pages that you can download from a template design company. The HTML code is ready to go – all you have to do is choose a template that suits your business and customer base, download it and then edit according to your specifications. Most companies showcase all the available designs on their site for you to preview before downloading, so you’ll know exactly what you are buying beforehand.

Web Page Design

A website template is almost like a hybrid creation, perfect for online businesses because it is so flexible. With a template you have the best of both worlds – the professional image and functionality that normally come from a website designed by a hired designer coupled with the affordability and flexibility of a DIY web design project. One such website template company that offers reasonably priced, quality templates.

Web Design Companies

Once you have the basic design in your hands, editing is a cinch. Editing involves adding your own content, logos, pictures, graphics and more to the template to make it unique. Keep in mind that a template will not usually come with ready-made content or other features, as this is something that must be created afterwards. Good website templates can be edited with a variety of popular HTML editors, so make sure you purchase website templates that mention the editing programs with which the templates are compatible. Search for website templates that can be edited using software such as DreamWeaver, FrontPage, GoLive and Photoshop. Most people either already know how to use these simple, user-friendly editors or can learn very quickly.

Web Designers

Another option is to have someone edit the template for you. If you really have no clue when it comes to web design, even with a prepared template, most website template companies also offer a custom design service. This keeps the cost down, which is the main benefit of utilizing a template in the first place, while still letting you enjoy the perk of having someone else do the editing.

design a web site

The Price is Nice

Website Design

Arguably, the most popular selling point of website templates is the price. For as low as $20-$40 you can purchase a template that looks just as good or better than a “professionally” designed site costing you much more. Many web designers charge thousands of dollars for website creation that simply isn’t that good. And working with a designer takes a lot more time – hence the hefty price tag. You have to work back and forth over a period of several weeks just to come up with a design that works best for your company. Website templates are much more cost-effective to produce, which is how the prices are kept so low. And of course, you save time as well as money. You can literally have a website up and running – earning you revenue - within a few days or less. Website templates make setting up your online business as easy and efficient as possible.

design a website

Flash Websites

Website Designer

What if you require more than a simple, straightforward website? Perhaps you want a flash-based design for your site? No problem – flash website templates can also be purchased for a decent price without sacrificing quality, simplicity and usability. Many template designers offer a wide range of template styles, so don’t fret if you require something a little more complicated than the average website. Website template designers offer the consumer a lot of choice, making it easy to create a website that will work for your business.

web design pricing

In addition, businesses that want to buy a template no other website will use in the future (a unique site) should purchase a copyrighted template. When you opt for a copyrighted template you receive all rights to the site design and can be sure it will not be re-sold to another business. On the other hand, the rights of non-copyrighted templates remain with the template company, and as a result, anyone can buy the same one. If this won’t interfere with your business buy non-copyrighted templates and save some money, but if you want an entirely unique site, spend a little more for a copyrighted site that won’t be found anywhere else on the web.

ecommerce web site design

Whatever you decide to choose, website templates are the future of web design. You can’t go wrong – nothing could be more cost-effective or simple.

Four Critical Web Design Rules

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 7:15 pm

eb design and development
When creating a new website or redesigning an existing site, there are four critical rules which the designer should follow to make the site effective and functional - and successful.
web design firms

1. Easy to Read
web page design software

When building a website, the first thing you need to be sure of is that your website is easy to read. When you write content, remember that most web site visitors don’t read every word of a page - in fact, they only scan pages to find what they want.
open source web design

Break up Your Content
Web Design Companies

Break up your pages and use headers between major ideas so people scanning your site can find what they want quickly. Use meaningful headers between each paragraph or major idea - this helps with SEO. Headers should be created with the H1 through H4 tags for SEO. Always use good writing structure. Additionally, avoid long paragraphs that run on. You should break up any long paragraphs.
low cost web design

Color and Fonts
Web Design Companies

To help readability, use high contrast colors between font and background. Black text against a white background may seem stark, but it is very readable. To make a website easy on the eyes, try an off-white background and a dark gray (almost black) text color.
Small Business Web Design

Things to avoid with content color:
Web Design Services

Avoid vibrant background colors like purple or yellow. Such back colors make text difficult to read.
Small Business Web Design

Avoid using an image behind your text.
Small Business Web Design

Avoid using bright text colors on bright backgrounds.
web design pricing

Fonts Matter
Web Design Company

One simple statement covers the font issue:
florida web design

Simple fonts are the best; the more fancy the font, the harder it is to read.
free web design software

Since many browsers only have the standard font set, use standard fonts. In reality, there is no “”standard”", but there are certain fonts that are installed on most browsers. These include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma and Times New Roman. Your readers will see something different than you see if you use other fonts.
real estate web design

Standard Compliant Browser for Development
business website design

When developing and testing your site, use a Standards compliant browser like FireFox. If you develop your site to be standards compliant, it will work in most browsers, including MS Internet Explorer (IE). It is recommended that you test your site using the latest and last browser versions of IE (IE6 and IE7). To run multiple versions of IE on the same machine, TredoSoft has a free installer that will install multiple versions of IE. It works great!
online web design

2. Simplify Navigation
simple web design

The menus and links make up the navigation that the visitor uses to get from page to page in a site. Always plan a site around how people will get from page to page. A visitor to your site should be able to get to what they want within three clicks of their mouse.
website design services

Multiple navigation points makes it easy to find things. Repeat the top menu and at the bottom. Also create a left or right menu.
professional website design

Using links within your text to other areas on your site. You can create links so that they are good for search engine optimization (SEO). There are generally two ways to create links within your text:
design a web page

The wrong way: “”For search engine optimization techniques, click here.”"
how to design a web page

The right way: “”Good techniques for search engine optimization are important to use.”"
web redesign

Using link text (anchor text) that describes what the link is about is the best way. Search engine web crawlers (programs that automatically index the contents of websites) visit your site, they “”read”" links. Spiders can index descriptive links into a subject or keyword category. Spiders have nothing to work with when reading a “”click here”" until it reaches the linked page.
real estate web design

This is Cross Linking - use it as much as possible when it makes sense to do so when writing your content.
web page design software

3. Consistent Design
basic web design

At most, one or two layouts should be used in your site design. As a reader browses your site, they should be able to get used to looking in the same place for your navigation, for your sub-navigation and for your content. That’s all there is to say about that.
web design help

4. Lower Page Weight is Better
low cost web design

Page weight is the total size of a page on your site in bytes - code, text and images. Your site’s page weight makes a big difference to your viewers. Lighter page weight is better for your readers because the page will download faster. The faster a page downloads, the faster they will get to the content.
florida web design

What is Means to be Light
web site designers

No large images. (unless the site’s purpose is to showcase images, art or photos)
how to design a website

Fewer images are better.
website hosting

Optimize images for the web at no more than 72 dpi
small business website

Use as small an image dimension as possible for the given design.
web site design and hosting

Use a table td bgcolor attribute or a background-color style attribute for solid color backgrounds.
website developers

Make gradients horizontal or vertical (not diagonal) so that you can use a small image “”strip”" and repeat it.
church website design

How “”Heavy”" Should a Web Page be?
design a web site

Certain studies show that 64K is a good maximum webpage size. 64K is a maximum, however it is still, in my opinion, really big! The smaller the page, the better. 25K is good, 15K is even better. There is a balance between design and function. It is a good idea to focus more on function.
Web Design Companies

Try putting pages on your web host server as you build your site so you can test it as you go. For pages online, you can test the page weight to be sure you are on track.
low cost web design

Ways to make pages lighter:
basic web design

Use linked style sheets
website designers

Use DIVs instead of TABLEs where possible
best web design

Use simple repeating backgrounds for effect
web hosting

Summary
custom web sites

Visitors to your website should be able to find what they are looking for within about three clicks. Making a site easy to read with consistent page design, and easy to navigate will make it easy to find information. You will be on the way to building a readable, effective, functional and hopefully successful website if you follow these rules.
web design consulting

Web Design Companies

Create Your Own Website: A How To Guide

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 5:43 pm

web design and development
Nothing is as invaluable as a website when it comes to airing your ideas, authoring opinion pieces, distributing photos, or marketing your business products. Having your very own website can be a boon to you, but there are a few things you should know first before setting out to create your own website
Web Design Services

Decide why you want to create your own website. Do you want to let others know of your political leanings, do you want to write fiction, or are you looking for an online store? Each of these will lead to a different kind of website, and each will have a different audience.
web hosting

Next step is to determine how comfortable you are with web page creation. If you are not proficient in computers, try to hire a professional. If, on the other hand, you enjoy learning how to do new things on the Internet, then using a free or inexpensive do-it-yourself type of hosting should be enjoyable.
ecommerce web design

You need to determine what level of control you desire. Utilizing the free hosting will provide you with a few different background colors and styles. If you have further needs or wants, you may have to pay additional fees, or even use the services of a professional.
html web design

Another thing to consider when you create your own website is to choose a template. Many free hosting vendors have a variety of templates that you can choose from. You can decide which colors and style will be most attractive to your future audience. You will probably be able to alter the template in minor ways, but the overall style will remain the same.
open source web design

You will want to think about obtaining a domain name. There are many companies that sell domain names. If you want to make a website, you will need software. This software will help you design your website, and it is important if you want to control a lot of different areas of your site. It is possible that you will need some knowledge if you want to make a webpage from software.
logo design

If you don’t know what to do first, choose one of the free step-by-step instructional guides found on the Internet outlining how to create a website. For other ways to learn about how to create a website (), many e-books are offered that incorporate free HTML tutorials, website software, information of registering domain names, guides to website design, and more.
web design and development

how to design a web page

About the author: Tem Balanco

A personal website can really increase your audience. Determine the purpose of your website before you create your own website (). When you create a website (), consider using a template. A lot of free hosting companies will have several templates to choose from. You will need a domain name. There are many companies that sell domain names. If you want to make a website, you will need software. This software will help you design your website. If you need help creating your website many e-books are offered that incorporate free HTML tutorials, website software, information of registering domain names, guides to website design, and more

10 Terrific Tips for Web Design Beginners.

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 5:02 pm

custom website design
When embarking on the daunting journey to web design enlightenment it can be hard to know where to start. This short article is intended as a road map, outlining the significant tips all aspiring web designers should be made aware of. If you follow each of the following tips you will be well on your way to web design nirvana. However, you may possibly be an intermediate, or, hold your breath, advanced web designer – well if that is the case, be humble my good friend, peruse the following tips and you may surprise yourself and pick up a thing or two. So saddle up to your computer chair, make yourself a coffee, drink some chai tea if it tickles your fancy (it’ s certainly not my cup of tea), assume the full lotus position and prepare to be digitally enlightened.
Web Site Design

– TECHNICAL TIPS –
web design tutorial

1. LEARN XHTML - Extensible hypertexts Markup Language.
open source web design

If you don’t already know, XHTML is the ‘markup language’ that every individual web page is made out of. Right click on your screen, and click on view source. Feel like Neo already? Yes, that’s right folks; every web page you view is simply a plain text file full of code stored on some dudes computer (sometimes otherwise known as a web hosting server).
how to design a website

Don’t be scared, XHTML is quite possibly the easiest programming language you can learn, so easy in fact XHTML isn’t technically classed as a programming language. Don’t take the ‘red pill’ and learn Dreamweaver – it may seem the easier option at first, but being completely honest once you learn XHTML you can create web pages in half the amount of time than it takes to in Dreamweaver, and you have more control over the final layout. Additionally, Dreamweaver adds quite a lot of unnecessary code and as a result increase the file size of the page, slowing down the loading time for all those poor sods still on dial up Internet. You can write XHTML code in a plain text editor, such as notepad, or notepad++ ( my favorite), however word processors such as Microsoft Word are entirely unsuitable.
real estate website design

If you’re rich, unlike me, pick up a cheap ( recent) XHTML book, otherwise browse Google for XHTML tutorials, or head over to http://www.w3. org/MarkUp/Guide/ for a brief introduction to writing XHTML by Dave Raggett.
website design companies

2. LEARN CSS – Cascading Style Sheets.
website redesign

Stop torturing you with all these programming languages you say? Don’t fret my friend, CSS is only a little more advanced than XHTML and most books on XHTML also cover CSS. CSS is the language that controls things such as the co lour, background images, font attributes, and so on. The beauty of using CSS is you can control the aesthetic features of multiple web pages with a single CSS file.
ecommerce web design

If you would like another wonderful online tutorial, head over to http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/ Guide/Style for a brief introduction to CSS, by Dave Raggett also.
web designing

3. LEARN PHOTOSHOP.
Web Design Software

All web designers know how to use Photoshop. I was actually born with a Photoshop watermark on my upper left thigh. If you are aspiring for a web design career you are going to need to learn Photoshop, hell – even my Nan knows how to use Photoshop. So Google away for Photoshop tutorials, or browse your local library to spice up your Photoshop skills.
web design programs

The best piece of advice I can give you is to make up all of your web page designs in Photoshop first. Once you are entirely happy with the design start slicing and dicing your photoshop file for the images you will need, and coding the web page in XHTML and CSS. This saves stuffing around with markup code unnecessarily; it’s much easier to make changes to layout and colors, etcetera, in Photoshop first.
Web Design Services

4. USE CSS INSTEAD OF TABLES FOR YOUR DESIGNS.
Miami Web Design

If you already know a thing or two about web design you are probably sick to death of hearing about using CSS instead of tables for your layout. Well I’m going to give it a brief mention anyway’s for all those web design n00bies out there. Use CSS to control your layout, don’t use HTML tables for your design. Tables add tons of unnecessary code, are time consuming and expensive to make changes to once the site is completed, and only affect the layout of the single page you are working on – as opposed to using a single CSS file that affects the layout of any page you want. Don’t bust your knuckles by typing the same code over and over again.
how to design a web page

5. USE VALID XHTML AND CSS.
custom web sites

Valid XHTML and valid CSS is code that validates with the World Wide Web Consortiums coding rules. There is plenty of information on how to ensure your code is valid over at http://www.w3.org. It is important to keep this in mind, as most web design employers will not touch web designers with a ten-foot clown pole unless their code adheres with the standards of the W3C.
css web design

– THEORETICAL TIPS –
design web sites

6. LEARN ABOUT GRID THEORY.
web design firms

Grid theory is basically the design theory that suggests that works of art are more aesthetically pleasing if they adhere to some sort of grid that controls its layout. Additionally, the rule of thirds, which is a theory that is related to grid theory, (it’s sort of like the relative that no one wants to speak to at family functions because of a foul and unpleasant body od our), suggests that designs are even more aesthetically pleasing if their visual form can be divided into thirds. When designing web pages in photoshop, I always start with a grid first to ensure my layouts align to the grid.
Web Design Company

7. LEARN ABOUT TYPOGRAPHY.
Web Design Companies

Typography can be defined as the study of fonts. Learning about typography will teach you when and where to use fonts. Learning about letter spacing (kerning as they like to call it), line height, the serif and sans serif font categories, and more, you’ll have a truly lethal understanding of fonts in your web design arsenal.
custom website design

It is important to keep in mind that there is only a small range of fonts that will display in people’s web browsers, so don’t rely on primarily using custom fonts in your designs, unless you plan on saving them all as images which can drastically increase the file size of your web site. Site visitors aren’t going to download custom fonts just to view your website the way you want them to, even if you are super polite. If you stick to using the following fonts for the actual text in your web page, you will be safe: Arial, Arial Black, Comic Sans MS, Courier New, Georgia, Impact, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS, and Verdana. If you want to be an extra lame nerd like me, you should print out all the variations of these fonts (in bold, italic, different sizes, etc) and stick it on your wall.
Web Design Services

8. LEARN ABOUT COLOUR THEORY
affordable web design

Before I continue any further I must offer one small piece of advise. Please please please do not email me and tell me that I have spelled ‘ co lour’ wrong. If you do so, I will slap you with a salami. Every time I write one of these articles I seem to get at least one email from a silly sausage that doesn’t realize words such as ‘ color’ and ‘optimize’ are spelled differently in different parts of the world. Well, on with the show.
design a web site

Co lour Theory, is, well, the theory of colors There are many theories on how to choose a nice co lour palette, and these will help ensure your web site won’t have the appearance it was designed by a co lour blind… blind-man. Without getting into too much detail, one nice co lour scheme to use is a monochromatic co lour scheme. A monochromatic co lour scheme is a selection of colors that features a co lour (lets say cerulean blue), tints of that co lour (cerulean blue with more white), shades of that co lour (cerulean blue with more black), black and white colors (yes black and white are classified as colors my learn-ed friends).
website designs

A nice little tool to help you choose your co lour scheme can be located at http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html. Mmmm, free tool.
web design tools

9. GET INSPIRED
web designing

Browse the net for good web designers, don’t steal their designs, but analyses their designs and try to figure out what fonts, co lour scheme, grids, and photoshop techniques they are using. A simple way to use this is search for web design in Google, and browse the portfolios of the top web design companies that come up in the search results. Digital art and poster websites also serve as good inspiration.
graphic designer

However you don’t need to restrict your sources of inspiration to the Internet. On the rare occasion when I venture out of my web design cave to eat something other than baked beans on toast, I like to analyses what grid, co lour scheme, and font types that restaurants like to use in their menus. But hey, put me in a sack and throw me down a river if you think I’m just crazy.
website hosting

10. PRACTISE PRACTISE PRACTISE
freelance web designer

I shouldn’t have to say this but practice whenever you can. The more you practice, the sooner writing XHTML and CSS code will become a second nature to you, and you should also practice utilizing the information from the various theories I have just mentioned too.
ecommerce web design

A good tip would be to make one web page template a week and submit it to http://www.o s w d .org and other online free web page template directories. It’s a great way to improve your skills, and develop a nice little portfolio too.
web designing

Well that’s just about it for today, my avid readers. I hope the useful tips in this article have helped you well on your way towards web design enlightenment. If you need more information on any of the topics I have mentioned please don’t forget that Google and Wikipedia are your friends. And finally, please, never let yourself forget ‘There is a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path’.
logo design

Web Designing Development

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 8:12 am

web design firms
A decent website is a pre-requisite to online business these days. But if you want your website to offer something more, something different then others then it has to be different. Your website should attract the visitor’s attention so much so that he stays on to explore your site and returns again and again to get information about your offers. This type of advanced & dynamic website design and web design development requires high level of skill and expertise in this specialized field.
website developers

Mosaic’s enterprising young team of web developers is a pool of talent; impatient to give you that customized service you were looking for. These skilled professionals well versed with the intricacies of the web development tools like PHP, HTML, DHTML, .NET, ASP and others give the right balance of design and functionality to your website. They design and develop the website considering the basic tenets of web design & webdesign development like readability, easily download, user friendliness and an attractive design. The mosaic team creates attractive & effective webdesign development solutions to cater to your specific needs and special requirements. Your website is created using the latest technologies and uses the latest coding standards for code customization at a later stage. The web development processes are also optimized to give your website greater ROI. A vigorous quality analysis is maintained throughout the web development process to provide the website with exceptional quality.
Small Business Web Design

Mosaic team can add functionality to your site like a shopping cart or can change your static website to dynamic or it can even provide an application with a web interface for you. The various web development services offered are e-commerce, application development, database development and custom programming etc. The company offers webdesign services besides a complete range of LSI based SEO services. You can even get a free website analysis to check what additional functionalities can be incorporated into your website to enhance it. In case you know your requirements, you can request a free quote for a detailed proposal from the renowned web development India company http://www.technology.mosaic-service.com . Mosaic services also offers other advertising, marketing and technical services that cater to your marketing and promotional needs at competitive charges.
web development

Visit the site http://technology.mosaic-service.com to get details about the various other services offered by the company and to solve any web design and development related queries. You will surely get more then your expectation from one of the India’s finest web development company.
css web design

About the author: Miss Ruchira Sharma is a very well known author and she writes articles for http://www.technology.mosaic-service.com.

Author: Ruchira Sharma

July 2, 2008

5 Common Mistakes of Website Design

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 7:30 pm

custom website

Huge Mistake #1: Creating a Website with Flash — Did you know in a recent study, top internet marketers discovered that having a website created with Flash, actually decreased the response from prospects and customers by as much as 370 percent?
corporate web design

Here’s why: Your prospects and customers are most likely visiting your website using all types of different computers, connection speeds and internet configuration settings…
Web Designers

What may look great to one visitor may not even appear for another! You could very easily have shelled out hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have a website created using the Flash technology, only to find out that some of your visitors will never see it! (Not to mention the loading times can cause your visitor to close your site, never to return again.)
online web design

Huge Mistake #2: The “Internet Catalog” Approach — You see this everywhere. Good, honest and hardworking businessmen and women get online to sell their products or services, and have a site created for them that contains a link to just about everything they offer on one page. Their thinking goes along the lines of, “…well, I don’t want to leave anyone out. If they come to my site, I want to make sure I have what they’re looking for…” — This way of thinking could not be further from the truth.
website developers

Here’s why: There’s an ancient rule that goes back to the very beginning of direct-marketing on the internet, taught by the richest, most legendary and well-respected internet marketers of all time…
website design services

“When you give your prospects too many choices, they become confused and aren’t sure what to do next. Confused people never buy anything.”
professional website design

Huge Mistake #3: Optimizing Your Sales Site for the Search Engines — You’ll see this taught in nearly every “internet marketing” course, manual or eBook out there… “You must optimize every page of your website for the search engines!” — In fact, this false teaching is accepted as ‘gospel truth’ so often that most web designers will offer to do this for you at no, or little extra cost…
web design tutorial

What they don’t understand is that certain words and phrases must be either re-worded (to make it “keyword rich”) or taken out completely, just to be looked upon highly by the mighty search engines — and this could kill your sales, literally overnight.
web page design software

Here’s why: When you or a hired web designer optimize your sales page (i.e. any web page designed to sell your products and services) to get a higher listing in the search engines, you’re going to have to sacrifice the pulling-power of your sales copy (i.e. written sales material) just to get those higher listings. Sure, this can bring you more traffic — but what good is all the traffic in the world, if your visitors arrive at your website and aren’t compelled enough to read why they should order your product?
web design service

For years, it has been taught that you should always try to find a “balance” of SEO (Search-Engine-Optimization) mixed with promotional copy designed to sell your products and services…
web design tutorial

Wrong Again! — The truth is that you should never optimize your sales page for the Search Engines. Instead, you should create tiny “entry pages” for each keyword related to your product or service, (highly optimized for the Search Engines) and have them link to your main sales site! (We can show you exactly how to do this quickly and easily and get *massive* targeted traffic from the Search Engines - without ever *touching* your sales site!)
website design services

Huge Mistake #4: Having a “Graphics-Based” Website — Sure, graphics can certainly help us to visualize a particular situation or circumstance, product or service… But did you know that having a graphically-driven website can actually distract your visitor away from your sales message?
web site designer

After all, your sales message (or “web copy”) is The #-1 most important factor in a website that makes money. If your visitors are paying more attention to your “professional graphics” than your sales message… you’ve just lost another sale.
web redesign

Here’s why: You’ve got approximately seven seconds from the time your visitor arrives at your site, to the time they decide whether to buy your product, get more information or leave. If you’ve got a graphically-intensive website, your website will most likely still be loading past your seven-second time limit.
custom web sites

That’s a “customer-killer” in and of itself - however, the real reason lies within the fact that the bigger, brighter and more beautiful your graphics are, the more they will distract your visitor from your sales message. And if your visitor is distracted even for one second, it could mean the difference between getting a sale, and losing a customer.
basic web design

Huge Mistake #5: Designing a Website with Zero Marketing Experience — Most web designers have no idea how to make money on the internet, with anything other than their design services. It’s not their fault - they simply have no or very little marketing and sales experience. After all, they’re just website designers…
custom website

However, having your
by someone with Zero internet marketing experience is like buying a street-car without an engine… it won’t go anywhere, and it’ll just waste your time and money!
web graphic design

For help on website design please visit www.onlinewebconsultants.com.

About the author:

Lee Rummage is a certified SEO expert specializing in search engine marketing and search engine optimization. He also has a back ground in web design and website linking services. For help with any of this please visit www.onlinewebconsultants.com.
Author: Lee Rummage

Delaware-based Virtual Assistant Now Specializing in Affordable Website Design and Hosting Services

Filed under: Web Design — Will Jay @ 6:28 pm

freelance web designer

Virtual assistant is expanding services! Will now include website design services and affordable website hosting.

website design companies (PRWEB) November 7, 2004 — DesqTop Office Solutions, a web-based business that offers full-service office support to a global customer base opened it’s online doors in April 2004.
domain registration Since that time, DesqTop Office Solutions has successfully built its client base to include other small businesses, attorneys, physicians, realtors and entertainment professionals.
corporate web design While the bulk of the services provided by DesqTop Office Solutions are that of a Virtual Assistant or “VA*”, her services have begun to focus more on design services. DesqTop Office Solutions is now offering affordable website design and hosting services as well as logo design for both web and print useage.
open source web design DesqTop Office Solutions is headquartered in Delaware (Northeast USA), but Ms. Hall’s clients are global, not at all limited by geography. Communication between Ms. Hall and her clients is accomplished via telephone, fax, e-mail or instant messenger, and work can be transmitted via secure FTP, e-mail, fax or postal mail.
custom website design Proposals are provided before each assignment, at no charge. Ms. Hall also notes that “in addition to performing work on an hourly project basis, my services can also be contracted using a retainer agreement. Retainer agreements allow my clients to secure a set number of service hours per month and also incur a substantial discount from project fees.”
small business website Those interested in obtaining additional information are encouraged to contact Ms. Hall directly at 302-379-3501 or via e-mail.
freelance web design A Virtual Assistant is defined by the Alliance for Virtual Businesses as “an independent entrepreneur providing professional administrative, creative, managerial, technical, business office and/or personal support services, from an online, remote (virtual) location. VAs use the most advanced means of communication, the most efficient and time saving office products and proven work delivery methods”.
creative web design For additional information about Alliance for Virtual Businesses, please visit their website: http://www.allianceforvirtualbiz.com/index.html

Author: Valerie Hall

Newer Posts »

Powered by WordPress