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A to Z of a Great Website

CHICAGO WEB DESIGNER

A is for Architecture
A great website starts out with a well thought out information architecture. This is best done with pencil and paper before a pixel ever hits the screen.

B is for Blogging
The benefits of blogging are many. A blog offers a great platform for quick updates, got a new product, won and award, got a great testimonial, blog about it. Interact and build relationships with your visitors through comments. What’s more the search engines love blogs, content is king and fresh content rules the roost.

C is for CMS
CMS stands for content management system and is an application which allows clients to update  sites themselves. If you are looking to make regular updates to your site it is wise to have your site built on CMS application and this is something your web designer will need to know up front. There are many CMS systems out there, WordPress, Joomla, Dot Net Nuke, Drupal to name a few.

D is for Domain Name
Yourcompany.com,  gone are the days when it was easy to get a domain name of your choosing as so many are already in use or have been “reserved”.  Select your domain name carefully.

DO

  • Pick one that is short and sweet
  • Get the .com version
  • Protect yourself, purchase the same domain name with additional extension such as .org, .net, .biz etc. the last thing you want is someone else using the same domain name for a similar business.
  • Try and get a domain name that includes one of your most important key words or phrases. This is what I have done with my Eye of the Chicago web designer blog http://www.ichicagowebdesigner.com

Don’t

  • Select a very long winded domain name
  • Use hyphens

E is for Email
Many times people visiting your web site are much more comfortable contacting via email than picking up the phone, so it is important to offer an easy to find contact email on a site. Don’t use a personal yourname@aol.com type email,  it looks unprofessional. Make  use of that carefully selected domain name, something generic like info@yourcompany.com work best.

F is for Facebook
Facebook has become a very popular platform for social networking. If it is a tool you intend to use as part of your marketing strategy make sure visitors to your site can connect to your Facebook profile directly from your site.

G is for Google
Lets face it Google is the mother of all search engines but Google offers a wealth of tools useful to both surfer and website owner alike. e.g Google Analytics is an excellent web statistics application which provides information of the number of visitors to your web site, which pages they are visiting, what key word or phrase they used to get there etc. All it requires is a small snippet of code added to a site.

H is for Hosting
Having a good reliable hosting company with which to host your site is crucial. The last thing you want is your site to be down because something has gone pear shaped at the hosting company. We are big fans of CrystalTech.

I is for Internet marketing
Internet marketing is the process of essentially “getting your site out there” and driving traffic to it. Listing it with the search engines, managing pay per click campaigns, email blast campaigns, setting up social networking profiles, advertising via banner ads. etc.

J is for Junk
It almost goes without saying that if you have a web site then you are going to get junk email. Spamming  is a monumental pain in the rear end. However there are steps you can take to minimize its invasive nature.

  • Make sure your email account has a junk or spam folder. These can be easily set set up on at the webmail level and with careful filtering ( usually recommended by the web hosting company) a junk folder can filter out a large amount of spam. Do make sure you check it occasionally as sometimes genuine emails do get stuck there. To minimize this set up a trusted sender list so their emails will never go to the junk folder.
  • A lot of spammy junk can come through contact forms. If this is a problem on your site a CAPTCHA  element and script can be added to verify the sender is a human and not a spam bot. A CAPTCHA element is a small image string you have to type in before submitting the form.

K is for Keywords
Key words or phrases are those words that you want to trigger the listing of your site within the search engines. To work best, key words will be woven into the code and within the copy of your site. Phrases work better than single words as words can be too generic and produce such an abundance of listed sites your site will be lost.

L is for Links
Got links? The more sites link to you the better your standing within the search engines, but they have to be quality links from reputable sites to count. One way to built quality links to your site is to comment on blogs with links to your products, services, relevant information. Don’t be spammy though or you are just wating your time.

M is for Metadata
Meta tags such as Title, content, keywords, description are included in the code of your site and can be used by the search engines when it comes to ranking your site.  Google uses the title meta tag information to return results for a particular search.

N is for Navigation
The navigation for a web site should be intuitive and employ the “don’t make me think ” principle.  Text navigation is much better that an image based navigation as the search engines can “read” it and it is easier to update.

O is for Optimizing
Search engine optimization is the art/science of tweaking a website to maximize it’s potential, generally in relation to key words and phrases. e.g if one of your key phrases is “coffee cup cakes” it is much better to name the file related to your product “coffee-cup-cakes.html”  rather than just “cakes.html” The same principle applies to name image files.

P is for Passwords
Make sure you use good strong passwords to access anything you need to log in to. Add numbers, characters upper and lower case letters. Don’t use the same password for everything or anything obvious such as “password1”

Q is for quality
Quality counts, does the design of your web site look professional,  is the copy well written and concise?

R is for RSS
Got a blog? then you have a RSS feed ( Really Simple Syndication) which enables your content to be easily distributed via blog readers such as Google reader or even delivered to readers via email. You can subscribe to this blog here .

S is for Search engines
The one we all know and love is of course Google , Yahoo and Bing are the other two biggies. It is important your site be listed with these three But there are plenty of other search engines out there and the more search engines with which your site is listed the better.

T is for Twitter
Twitter is a micro blogging platform and another great social networking application to add to your marketing mix. Use it to build relationships, interact with your site visitors, announce news, new blog posts etc. Twitter is free and your Twitter home page can be customized to match your brand image. Follow us on Twitter

U is for URL
URL or “Uniform Resource Locator” is the address of your web site on the world wide web e.g https://www.indigoimage.com/index.html

  • http://:  type of file
  • domain name:  location of the file’s web server is at indigoimage.com.
  • backslash,then file name /index.html

V is for Visitors
Your site needs to offer the best experience for your visitors as possible.

  • Is it compatible for all browsers and platforms?
  • Is it fast loading? – you have just a few seconds to make an impression or your visitors will be hitting that back button
  • Is it free of technical errors, broken links, missing images, scripts that don’t run?
  • Are there call to actions?

W is for Webmaster
A webmaster will help you manage your site to keep it at optimum performance and up to date.

X is for XML
OK X was a bit of a challenge for this list. XML is a Extensible Markup Language; a flexible text format for creating structured computer documents. We use XML on a regular basis for submitting sitemaps to Google.

Y is for Youtube
Video is a fabulous way to add an extra dimension to your marketing mix and while there are lots of video sharing sites out there the most popular is YouTube. You can set up your own channel ( follow us here) upload your videos and embed them within your site.

Z is for Zoe Feast
A great web site starts with a great website designer, contact me,  Zoe Feast, to see how I can help you today.
Telephone: 847 607 8679

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

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The Challenges of Writing a Business Blog

In a recent post ” Chicago Web Designer: The power of 10” I alluded to the fact I strive to write 10 blog posts a month.  That really doesn’t seem that many but after writing for 5 years, read my first blog post here , keeping this live and interesting can be a challenge.  Looking at my blog stats I am falling a just little short of my monthly goal!

So what are the main  challenges of writing a business blog?

  • Fresh Content
    I keep a running list of topics to write about which really helps the despair of sitting down to a white screen and drawing a blank.  The nature of my business means it is important I keep abreast of  all the latest technologies and how they can impact my clients, from design trends, coding languages, communication and marketing tools , where were Twitter and Facebook five years ago? This evolution of technology provides a good source of fresh content.
  • Finding Time
    Sometimes, especially recently, following my move to Chicago, there are just not enough hours in the day to accomplish all I need to do. It is easy to let blogging to fall to the way side. However blogging is an important part of my internet marketing strategy so I make a concerted effort not to let things slip. Setting aside half an hour,after pressing emails have been dealt with, first thing in the morning works best for me.
  • Technicalities
    It is important to select a blogging platform that can accommodate your requirements as you evolve. For my business it was important that all blog posts could be stored on our server rather than a third party server. I started off using Blogger but they moved away from the self hosted functionality earlier this year. I then transferred to WordPress which is a self hosted application.

How about you, what challenges do you face writing a business blog?

2010 © Chicago web designer

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Video Internet Marketing: a New Service from Chicago web designer

Since moving to Chicago I have been busy networking and last week met with a very interesting local business that offers video production for the web. Adding a video element to an online marketing strategy can reap huge returns.  While many samll business owners are eager to jump on the video bandwagon, once they have their video what do they do with it?

We now offer video internet marketing services and what better way to present them than a video!

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

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Chicago Web Designer: The Power of 10

To celebrate the 10th month in the year 2010 ( gosh can you believe it’s October already) the Chicago web designer presents the “Power of 10”

  1. 2010 marks our 10th year in business. It is a milestone we are extremely proud of, showing that we can not only survive but thrive in this highly competitive market.
  2. When I was 10 I started my first business. I opened a museum in my parents garden shed! The museum was stocked with fossils and interesting artifacts I had found in the Welsh countryside where I grew up. I  hung a sign up in the front garden and charged local kids 2p entry fee. I soon had a amassed and considerable sum and if I remember rightly I blew the lot at a local sweet shop (candy store in American speak). It’s interesting that many of the entrepreneurs I know have similar stories.
  3. The 10th month of the year marks two life changing anniversaries. It was the month I got married and the month I moved to the USA.
  4. I have moved a total of 10 times in my life, most recently relocating from St Louis to Chicago, hence the change from St Louis web designer to Chicago web designer. I have lived in three different countries, each country has it’s own merits but I love the fact that the USA offers so many opportunities.
  5. There are 10 applications on my computer I use every work day without fail. Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Outlook, Firefox,  Microsoft Word, Quickbooks, Adobe Acrobat and my FTP client.
  6. I test our web sites on 10 different browsers to ensure cross browser compatibility. They include the super popular and obscure : Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome,  Konqueror, Opera, Netscape, AOL and Camino.
  7. I aim to write 10 blog posts a month. It takes time and effort and I don’t always reach my goal but regular blog posting is an excellent way to keep a web site fresh in the eyes of the search engines.  I always stress this to my customers and practice what I preach. I have recently doubled my work load with the launch of  an additional  blog “Eye of the Chicago Web Designer”  www.ichicagowebdesigner.com
  8. I am all about using tools on the internet to save time. Take Hootsuite for instance, an application that talks to most major social networks. In 10 seconds I can update my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
  9. By 10 o’clock in the morning I have already been hard at work for three hours. I am most definitely a morning person!
  10. Last but not least, if you are interested in a free quote on any graphic or web design project please call our 10 digit phone number: 847 607 8679 . We may be a Chicago based web design company but we are happy to work with you whatever your location.

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

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A web designer’s best design tools

I blogged about my best design tool over on Eye of the Chicago Web Designer blog this morning and it got me thinking in general about the tools I value most when it comes to creating web sites.

  1. My Eyes
    An obvious and basic choice but without my eye sight no other design tools would matter
  2. A Pencil and Paper
    When it comes to planning a web site I like the good old fashioned approach of a pencil and paper.  From drafting out an architecture, to a rough sketch of the look and feel. The paper and pencil stage is also great for a first pass at usability issues. Some web sites really call out for hand drawn elements see these hand drawn cartoons for example, where pencil and paper are the tools to make this happen.
  3. A well oiled computer and rock solid internet connection
    Speaks for itself
  4. A cordless mouse
    Being physically uncomfortable while working is a sure way to cramp creativity.  Using a corded mouse is not only irritating but very uncomfortable too.
  5. Adobe Photoshop
    The Queen of the Pixel. From designing look and feel to slicing graphical elements of a web site and optimizing for fastest download. There is an industry trend to always have the latest and greatest version of any software but this approach does not make you a better designer. A good designer can produce great work with outdated software.
  6. Abobe Illustrator
  7. The King of the Vector, while Photoshop does offer vector capabilities I always turn to Illustrator when design elements need to be created as vectors. It is also sometime much easier and faster to use illustrator to produce certain web elements..then import them into photoshop.
  8. Dreamweaver
    The Emperor of Coding,  while I can code by hand this is a great application to speed up the whole process.
  9. Google
    A script for a site, the perfect stock photograph?inIf I need to find anything Google is my initial go to tool. I particularly like the iGoogle application where everything I need on a day to day basis is right there on one page.

2010 ©  Chicago web designer

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New Website for Zagros Robotics

There is something very satisfying about a web redesign project. Take a look at this site we seriously revamped for Zagros Robotics.

This is the before

old zagros website

and here is the after

New Zagros web site

The site not only looks more appealing and easy to use but has the advantage of some major under the hood improvements too.

The original site incorporated a shopping cart (PDshop.net) and while this had been well configured in terms of categories  it was embedded into the static site with frames (yikes!…. a SEO nightmare). The shopping cart software was the basis of our redesign. We created and implemented  a unique template and used the custom page feature within the software to add all the “static pages” of the site. The frames were stripped away leaving a site that is much more friendly towards the search engines and is also a lot easier for the client to manage.

The end users win, the client wins and the search engines win! Success

2010 © Chicago Web Designer

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New Web Site for Clinical Ophthalmology Inc

Launched today is a new web site for Clinical Ophthalmology Inc of St Louis.

We completely reworked their old site,  creating a fresh new look which is easier to use and offers the site visitors lots more information. The site also features a text size adjustment tool to help those who need a larger print to read.

Just in case you were wondering this is what the old site looked like.


2010 ©: Chicago Web Designer

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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