Why should you invest in good design?
As a business owner, I know it is essential that we examine all of our expenditures. This is even more important in a down economy. As you approach your upcoming website design or graphic design project, why should you invest in good design?
- In a world where we are constantly bombarded with media (web, print advertising); good design allows you to stand out or at a minimum hold a strong placement against your competitors
- Good design can create a bond (association) between you and and your target demographic.
- Good design clearly portrays your brand and ideals to potential clients/customers; for example, a green company emphasizing their commitment to the environment
- Good design elevates the perceived quality of services by demonstrating your commitment to excellence in everything, including your collateral
USER INTERFACE DESIGN (behind the scene) – Also known as: Information Architecture
Good design must include excellent User Interface Design. UID is summarized in the question: “how difficult (or easy) is the website to use”
- When applied to designing websites, UID refers to the structure and flow of a site. If a site is difficult to navigate, making it hard to find what you are looking for, the user most likely will not contact the site owner or purchase a product.
- Well structured websites have a natural information flow that most users will find comfortable. Comfort on the web is beneficial as there is no knowledgeable salesperson at your visitor’s side to guide them. The web is a self-service environment, with no instruction manual or training. Good UID ensures your user can find what they need, and guides them to your conversion pages
- A good user experience forms positive impressions of your product/service offerings, allowing visitors to intuitively access the information they need. This will be a primary factor in whether or not they come back!
eye9 Design is a leading Denver Design Firm providing web development and Colorado SEO.
Thanks to Bret Glassett, our Senior Web Designer, for his significant contribution to this article.
Which Content Management System is the best?: CMS Series part 3 of 3
In part 1 of this series we answered the question “What is a Content Management System? ” In part 2 we covered “Why you need a Content Management System .” Now we are looking at a question we are asked frequently: “Which content management system is the best?”
It’s a bit like asking “what is the best hammer for me?” Well, what are you going to be doing with that hammer? Are you framing out a two story house or putting up a picture frame? Those are two very different tasks, and two hammers that would be a “best fit.”
There are two main kinds of CMS: open source and custom. Both allow you to easily manage content, media, and users. Both are stable, secure, and scalable for future growth. However, each have their benefits and drawbacks:
Open Source CMS
- Definition: software created by a community of developers , free to use and adapt to your purposes
- Benefits: extensive documentation, countless modules, easy to find developers
- Drawbacks: website pages load slower (more queries), one size fits all approach limits customization, complicated administration area includes unused features
- Options: Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress (all on PHP)
Custom
- Definition: CMS which is constructed around your specific task, workflow, or technology requirements
- Benefits: faster page loads (fewer queries), everything you want and nothing you do not
- Drawbacks: no extra features
- Options: Keep it Simple CMS
What feature or characteristic is most important to you?
- If you want open source software, extensive documentation, a community of developers: Drupal or Joomla
- If you want the site completely customized to your workflow, quick loading pages for visitors: KIS
eye9 Design is a Colorado web design company providing website design and web development services to clients in the Denver metro area and across the nation.
Why you need a Content Management System: CMS Series Part 2 of 3
In part 1 of this series we answered the question “What is a Content Management System? ” Now we are looking at why your site should have a content management system, or “CMS.”
A website has become one of the primary modes of communication in today’s business world. It has many advantages, including
- Omnipresent: a website is not limited by geography or time zones, and can be accessed 24/7 by visitors around the world
- Transient: did you decide you want to change that marketing tagline? Found a typo in that press release? You can change content and, unlike brochures or signage, it is instantaneously available to the world
However, there are a couple challenges that companies often face
- Expertise: websites are written in coding languages that most people cannot effectively use
- Frequency: website content has a notoriously short shelf life, and needs to be updated regularly to stay fresh
- Budget: paying web designer fees to upload a press release can be a drain on your budget
Content Management Systems eliminate these barriers. They allow anyone to update the website without technical knowledge, allowing more people throughout your organization to have a role in keeping your website up to date. It also allows you to focus your technology on investing in new web development features or increasing your search engine rankings.
We have covered “What is a CMS ” and “Why you need a CMS.” In the final part of this series we cover “What is the best Content Management System? ”
eye9 Design is a leading Denver website development company .
What is a Content Management System: CMS Series Part 1 of 3
First off, what is a content management system (CMS)? As the name implies, a CMS is a tool that allows you to manage your own website without any design or development experience. There are a number of great CMS, and we build your website on top of this platform so you can update pages, menus, pictures, users, and more.
Sometimes metaphors are helpful to explain concepts more clearly. Let’s say you need to get from Denver to Phoenix, so you need a car. Toyota has spent millions of dollars in R&D to make sure the car is dependable, efficient, and easy to drive. You may never understand the principles of aerodynamics or torque. However, if you can push the gas pedal (and the brake!) and steer the car, you do not need to understand all that.
Just like your investment in a car allows you the benefit of easy transportation, a content management system allows you to manage a website without any programming knowledge. Like Toyota, developers have spent countless hours developing dependable, efficient CMS that are easy to use. Similar to the car example above, you do not need to understand the technical principles behind the tool. You just need to know how type some text, insert a picture, or upload a file…basic tasks you likely perform every day on your PC!
Now that you know what a CMS is, check out part 2 of this series: Why you need a content management system .
eye9 Design is a leading Denver design firm .
Bouncing back – Working with a new firm after a bad experience
We have all had bad experiences with service providers. It can be a costly experience, both financially and emotionally. Not only that, but the next time you look for a service provider for a similar project you might find yourself quite wary.
I am sure that a quick Google search could return a number of articles from those with similar experiences, and perhaps tips to keep from “getting burned” again. However, I want to approach this article from a different angle, that of a potential service provider.
We often deal with clients coming off negative experiences with companies who lacked competence, were dishonest, or communicated poorly. For the majority of these clients, our steady, thorough, and documented approach to setting up projects allays their fears. However, there is a minority who unintentionally sabotage the RFP process because their previous experience has left them deeply hesitant.
So here are a few tips to help you navigate the proposal process with a potential design firm or SEO company:
- Ask but don’t assume : If you have a particular area of concern, be sure to bring it up in your conversation with the service provider. However, try to share it in a friendly manner that does not put them on the defensive by assuming they are just like that last company .
An example of what not to say: “You know, graphic design companies always seem to be ripping people off. How do I know your cost is what you say it is?”
Here is a better approach: “Communication and clarity are very important to me. I am coming off a negative experience with a previous designer, and I know from other experiences that can be avoided by establishing a thorough scope of work up front. How can I be of assistance in creating a detailed project description?” - Everything in writing : A common problem our clients share is that their previous service provider was constantly submitting “surprise invoices” for work they thought was in the original scope of work. Ask your service provider “How do you setup a project so that the scope and cost are clear to both parties? How do you deal with out of scope work?
- Work milestones : ask the service provider if they can break up the project into 3-5 milestones that associate a payment with the completion of a task. As an example, we have setup small design projects with 33% up front, 33% after approval of site design, 33% on completion. This gives the service provider a tangible goal, and you the peace of mind provided by spreading out payments.
Leave us your comments. What are your recommendations for interviewing a potential service provider?
eye9 Design is a leading Denver design firm providing website development in Colorado and SEO Optimization .
Google Analytics 101 – Setting Goals and User Tips – Part 4 of 4
Use your Google Goal conversion effectively, and other user tips. In this episode, we discuss setting and tracking goal conversion, and other user tips including traffic filtering.
Google Analytics 101 – Analyze Traffic Sources, Content, and Navigation – Part 3 of 4
Use your Google Traffic Sources, Content, and Navigation reports effectively. In this episode, we discuss the different sources of traffic, tracking content performance and analyzing visitor navigation.
Google Analytics 101 – Who are your Visitors? – Part 2 of 4
Use your Google Analytics Visitors report effectively. In this episode, we discuss visitors vs. visits, pageviews, the map overlay, and more.
Google Analytics 101: Customizing your Dashboard – Part 1 of 4
Use your Google Analytics Dashboard effectively. In this episode, we discuss what the dashboard is, how to customize it, changing date ranges, and comparing date ranges to track trends.
Size matters: What screen resolution should my website be designed for?
The wild world of web design quickly changes with the evolution of the hardware and software it runs on. A five year old car still has a long life ahead, while a five year old website is long past its prime.
One of the most significant hardware changes in the last 5 years is the ever-increasing screen resolution (measured in pixels, such as 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high). Big, bulky CRT monitors have given way to sleek, thin flat-panel LCD’s . With this transition, screen resolutions have also changed, most notably the emergence of 1024×768 and the disappearance of 800×600.
W3C Schools, part of the main international web standards organization (W3C) , reported that in 2003 almost half of its visitors were on the 800×600 screen resolution. That number has now dropped to 8%. The statistics for our website for 2008 put the number even lower at 2%.
Since both of the above statistics are for sites in the web design industry, I looked at the statistics for 2008 for several of our clients in a variety of industries
- Printing company for financial industry: 3%
- Non-profit serving the disabled: 6%
- Business management consulting firm: 3%
- Marine exploration company: 6%
Why is this important? Size matters because increased website widths allow for the user to see more content without scrolling down the page. As you can see above, throughout a variety of industries the 800×600 screen resolution is fading into obscurity. We recommend the 1024×768 resolution to all our web design and website development clients in order to “future-proof” the sites as much as possible.
Are there larger screen resolutions coming? Of course! In fact, some 70% of our visitors have screen resolutions greater than (and not equal to) 1024×768. However, on other site reports we looked at 1024×768 is as much as half of the traffic and this resolution does not show signs of disappearing soon.
This Denver design firm calls the browser wars in favor of 1024×768!
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