Category: Chicago Web Designer

Posted on

Chicago web designer jargon square

Every profession has its own lingo and jargon and web design is far from exempt.  If you are in the market for a new web site the last thing you want is to be bombarded with is a lot of techno babble. It’s more than likely you don’t care about RSS, XML, CMS, meta tags, optimizing, browser compatibility, hosting… that’s why you are hiring a professional web designer, right?  The important thing is you hire somewhere who understand and speaks the “language”.
Chicago web design jargon
2010 © Chicago web designer

Posted on

Do you need a professional Web Designer?

Creating a web site must be easy, something you can do yourself over a weekend , right? Your nephew/cousin/admin assistant has just taken a six week class in web design at the local community college, are they now  fully qualified to produce that highly polished web site for your small business?

In all likelihood if you take these routes you will end up with a sub standard web site which, at its worst, can be detrimental to your business. It’s much better to call in the pros but what are the advantages of hiring a professional web designer?

To put it simply they know what they are doing. Consider the following

Design

Creating the look and feel of a web site is not just a case of opening Photoshop and playing around with a few pixels. A web designer will understand how to engage your visitors, enable them to navigate effortlessly all this while  considering the complexities of coding the design-what is and is not possible. How many pixels wide should the site be, what fonts are web safe, how should the files be saved, optimized for fast download.  What are the latest design trends? What type of design will appeal to your end user.  A web designer will be continually asking themselves questions as they design.

Coding

Coding involves rendering the design into a form that can be understood by web browsers. A professional web designer will be an expert in HTML and CSS and well versed in platform such as WordPress,  content management systems -CMS ( e.g Joomla) and be able to work with any shopping cart e.g PDshop.net.  They will constantly test the coding to iron out any bugs and make sure of cross browser compatibility.  Your site will look good irrespective of what browser of platform you are viewing it on. They will also remain up to date with all advances in the coding arena so you know your site will not be using outdated techniques.

Launching

The nuts and bolts of making a web site live,  registering a domain name, opening a hosting account, configuring email, stats packages. All bread and butter to a professional web designer.

Internet Marketing

Having a site which ranks well for particular key phrases is on the wish list of most, if not all clients. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the first step to achieving that goal and this end game will have been in the forefront of the designers mind as early as the design phase of any project. From researching the best keyword phrases, to naming files to optimize the potential of those phrases. What’s considered white hat (best practices) and what not do ( black hat practices) Getting the site listed is the next step, whether through organic ranking or paid placements through advertisers like Google. If social networking is part of your marketing plan your designer will help you implement.

So which route to take, the DIY  or the PRO approach?

I can guarantee by hiring a professional web designer you will end up with a far more effective web site.

2010 © Chicago web designer

Posted on

iChicagoWebDesigner.com. We have a new blog!

Inspired by my original  “Eye of the St Louis web designer” and now Eye of the Chicago web designer” series I have decided to launch an additional blog dedicated to my “Eye of the Chicago web designer” posts.

Chicago is a rich city full of inspiration for us web designers … my camera has hardly stopped clicking since I arrived here! I didn’t want to swamp this blog with my photos.

So without further ado click iChicagoWebDesigner.com and take a peak.

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

Posted on

Eye of the Chicago Web Designer: In the garden

My regular blog readers will know that gardening is my antidote to many hours sat in front of a computer screen designing web sites and the like. As much as I love my job I do need to get away from the technological world .

Moving to my web design company to Chicago has meant a new house and I have inherited a new garden. The garden is structurally excellent but it could do with a little color magic,  just like a web site a pop of color can make all the difference!

Chicago web design company

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

Posted on

Top 5 Reasons for Redesigning a website.

We hear ” I need my web site redesigned” quite a bit these days.  While there are many reasons here are our top picks.

  1. I need my website to look more professional.
    Looks are everything and online you have just a few seconds to make that all important first impression. A well designed fast loading web site can do wonders to encapsulate your expertise and reach and engage your target audience.
  2. We need our content reorganized.
    If your site visitors are having click through page after page to get to the information they want, you are making then work too hard. A web site with intuitive navigation and well organized content = “a don’t make me think visitor”
  3. My web site is not doing what I want it to do.
    Whether you want your site to act as a lead generation tool,  a portal of information, or a selling platform, it is important to guide or funnel the site visitors exactly where you want them to go via “call to actions”
  4. I need to add some additional functionality
    Want to add a blog, additional pages, links to your social media networks? A well thought out web site will always be able to accommodate additional functionality without a complete redesign but sometimes there comes a point  when a redesign is the best options.
  5. I want my site to perform better in the search engines.
    The structure and design of a web site  bears a huge relation on how well a site performs in the search engines and a skilled web designer will know how to optimize all elements that make up a web site, for best search engine results.

Now lets take a look at these  in action with three before and after web redesign projects.

Peter Meder and Company

We addressed all 5 reasons in the redesign of a web site for Chicago headhunter, Peter Meder and Company.  The new site has a much more professional look/feel and immediately imparts the nature of the business.   Visitors have easy access to the current position searches which is a huge time saver for both client and job hunter.


Bear Essentials

Content reorganization was the main driver behind our redesign of the Bear Essentials web site. We produced a much more appealing user friendly site with clear call to actions.


Tiger Tables

A more professional look was the order of the day for our redesign of Tiger Tables with clear call to actions.

Do you have a web site that could do with a makeover? We’d love to have an opportunity to talk with you.

Call us at 847 607 8679

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

Posted on

Chicago Web Designer: FAQ

Just over two weeks ago I announced that Indigo Image was relocating to Chicago. So, we are a new web and graphic design company in town, new to Chicago but not new to world of web design.

Looking for a Chicago web designer? Here is a quick FAQ.

What type of services do you offer?

  • Custom website design
  • Banner ad Design
  • Content management solutions
  • Email templates
  • Blog design
  • WordPress websites
  • Logos /identity design
  • Complete  corporate branding
  • Presentations
  • Brochures
  • Advertisements
  • Internet marketing
  • SEO

We strive to be  “your creative partner”

How much do you charge?

Projects are priced out on an individual basis. We can work on an hourly rate or for a set fee. Our initial consultation is always FREE!

Do you have examples of your work?

View extensive portfolio of web and graphic design projects

Where are you located?

We are located in Lincolnshire, a small suburb in the North Shore area of Chicago.

What areas do you serve?

We  concentrate our efforts in the North Shore area of Chicagoland  (Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Highland Park, Kennilworth, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Libertyville, Lincolnshire, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Northfield, Skokie, Vernon Hills, Wheeling, Wilmette, and Winnetka).

However there are no geographical boundaries to our services and we are happy to work with you whatever your location. Over the years we have successfully worked with many clients with whom we have never had a face to face meeting.

How many years have you been in business

We have over 10 years experience in building web sites and general graphic design.

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

 

Posted on

Eye of the Chicago Web Designer

I have enjoyed my “eye of the St Louis web designer” entries over the years so its only natural I introduce “Eye of the Chicago Web Designer” and wow has Chicago got some amazing eye candy.  At the beginning of the summer I launched a web site for a Chicago headhunter, Peter Meder & Company , the site featured some great shots of the downtown Chicago skyline. Today I experienced first hand those  fabulous skyscrapers.

2010 © Chicago Web Designer