Archive for the ‘website’ Category
Can You Make My Logo Bigger?
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012Nearly all my clients, upon seeing the first mock-up of their new website, ask this question. My knee-jerk reaction is to say “No”, but there’s probably a bit of designer’s ego in that. I’m effectively a modern publisher and people love seeing their name in print, so I can’t be too rude.
The reasons why I don’t encourage a big logo are usually pretty simple.
If I make your logo bigger, it will push content down. And great content is the sole reason why you have visitors coming to your website.
A logo isn’t really a part of your navigational hierarchy. By making it bigger, headings, sub-headings, some associated graphics and page text will also probably have to be adjusted. Minor site changes affect other items on the page and I’m trying to cram as many things as possible into just 900 x 700 pixels (the size of your site when viewed on a small monitor such as a tablet).
Perhaps the main reason is this. Nobody really cares about your logo in the same way that nobody cares about small men who drive big cars. The bigger your logo, the more insecure your company looks.
Well, maybe that last one was a bit harsh.
In short, when you ask your web designer to make your logo bigger, also ask yourself if it’s the best possible thing for the page. They don’t really care about your logo and it may affect content position on the page, pushing it below the fold, or the position of Important news items. Making you logo smaller might give you more page real estate.
When one considers that the average time spent on any home page is about three seconds, can you really afford to have that third news item or product special drop off the bottom of a laptop or tablet’s screen?
It’s not your logo size that matters. It’s how it affects your pixels. ;p
7 Website Tweaks for Non-coders
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
This Christmas, I’ve decided to send some business-related “gifts” to clients and potential clients. The gift is really a simple list of tips on how they can improve their website without too much emphasis on the code aspects of what they are doing.
I send such gifts to potential clients or “business friends” with whom I do little or no major business, but who usually go on to recommend my work to others. It’s my way of saying thank you for past recommendations and goodwill they have sent my way.
More often than not, it leads to sales further down the line, so being nice often translates to good business sense.
Below is an assessment I sent to Ross at Canning Bridge Cycles. He’s become both a friend and associate over the years, but even he admits there’s a lot more he can do with his virtual business. The following is printed here with his permission.
I find a lot of physically oriented businesses like Ross’ tend to neglect their online obligations, when, in a perfect world, they’d love to spend more time at the computer, working “on their business” rather than “in it.”
As a web designer, I have the opposite problem, but that’s another story . . .
A “Happy Christmas” Website Asssessment :
Dear Ross,
You recently asked me to give your website a critical once-over. Here is a list of simple changes you could do to improve your existing site without too much effort. Feel free to send these on to your webmaster.
Have a very merry Christmas and hopefuly we’ll meet again early in the new year . . .
1. The pen is your sword
Blog more often
People don’t like to write, but search engines love to read. The Canning Bridge Cycles web site has about three blog posts written over a 4 year span. I don’t need to tell Ross that this suggests major on-line inactivity but more importantly, it could give some people a sense that the site is “old” or the business a bit “outdated.” One page invites (more experienced) riders to join a weekly group peloton around the river. I know that Ross still organises these rides because only a few weeks ago, he nearly knocked me off my own bike when riding to work.
. . . Keep up the blog, Ross. Old posts make your site look old and irrelevant. Why not spend 20 minutes writing once a week after a morning ride? 300 words is probably enough. More words means more “conversation” and a higher search engine ranking, more custom etc. etc. Search Engines read. It’s actually all they can do. If you are constantly feeding their robot scouts with relevant and up to date “chat” about cycling, it’s only going to help . . .
A few years ago I built a site for the Bicycle Transport Authority. I’m pleased to say they now have a thriving and very active community of cyclists with 2,000 unique vistors every month and a lot of two-way (customer / client) “conversation”.
Which brings me to my next point . . .
2. Don’t be a Harvey
Allow user feedback
Harvey Norman got into a bit of hot water early in 2011 when he (and a consortium of like-minded retailers) placed a full paged ad in the West Australian asking the government to charge GST to overseas companies. By doing this, it was perceived that Harvey was experiencing a bit of sour grapes because his sales were low and he was blaming online, cheaper retailers.
We need to engage customers and potential customers in a conversation. Shouting at potential clients using an expensive newspaper ad as a soap-box is not “conversation” and will probably lead to (as it did in the Middle East) a little “civil unrest”. Most of us can’t afford one page shouty ads.
. . . You’re using WordPress which allows people to respond to your posts. Why don’t you switch on the comments facility? Presently people can’t leave comments on your posts (even the few you have up there). When clients (or potential clients) comment, try to respond to feedback in a meaningful way (within about 48hrs). Gone are the days of one-way advertising. The Harvey Norman strategy didn’t play out too well for him. Rather than writing in the newspaper margins, people responded to Gerry’s ad in an embarrassingly public way using Twitter, Facebook and online forums. There’s a moral to the Harvey Norman story. Business need to listen to their customers and not talk so much (ie. “sell”). The latest (annoying) term for doing business is “conversation marketing” but starting that conversation is really more about customer loyalty than it is about old ideas about “marketing” . . .
Allowing people to comment on your website gives them a bit of power. Plus, it’s kind of like seeing your name in print. Who doesn’t like being published?
In short, clients and potential clients are more likely to talk directly to you instead of talking behind your back on say, Iinet’s Whirpool forums.
3. Main Navigation
and offsite linking
Some buttons on the Canning Bridge Cycles navigation sidebar take users to another site.
As a general rule, main navigation should always link to on-site pages. Why not include a Useful Links page with brand decals linking off to company sites.
It’s also a good to not open outbound links in a new browser tab or window. It’s a bit like saying good-bye to a customer in your shop, but when they turn to leave, they find your hand in their back pocket. So it was great NOT to see this common practice.
. . . Rather than having a Brands button – call that page Links or Useful Links. Visitors assume that all links on your site will take them to on-site pages unless you tell them otherwise. When I clicked Brands I was expecting reviews, pics or a bit of research into the brands you supply. Linking to a company web page is fine if you politely let your visitor know what you are doing. Linking to other sites is fine, but try to be clear when you do it. If you need to link to other sites from within main page text, perhaps you could indicate this by drawing a small image with upward pointing arrow just to the right of the link . . .
4. Got an off-site shop?
Make a SHOP button.
It’s not unusual to link to another (separate) site where credit card payments can be made securely. In fact, setting up a secure server with real-time bank transacting is an expensive business and – y’know what? It’s probably not worth it. Google and PayPal have really simple to use payment systems, some of which can be built into your site.
Let’s face it. Your Bikes link is really a link to your shop.
Sometimes people have a button called “Shop” – which will takes us to some kind of shopping cart with paypal gateway, but it’s a good idea to provide a separate link, and as with point 3, let them know they are going off-site. Your shop is on a different server – which is common practice – but you should really have a shop button that is not a main site navigation button.
What I mean by a shop “button” – is a graphic, in a prominent place somewhere in the margin or on the main page of teh site that links to the off-site shop.
5. Onsite Community
is the aim
If you’ve managed to create an onsite (or offsite) community, then you’re winning. The web is all about community. It was originally designed for people to communicate. Because we monkeys love to trade, we’ve all stuck our businesses up there and it seems to be about commerce. But that’s just an illusion.
Your “Rides” page is great. It could use a few more images, but it’s a great idea to have such a page. Good also to tell your customers how fast and how far they will be expected to go on their bicycles. I know I’m not too happy going more than 30kmh on my bike, so I can see that these rides aren’t for me. I wanted to see guys (and gals) having coffee and fun at the Cottesloe cafe you talk about. Shots of long macs with bike helmets, rows of bikes, clippy shoes etc. Gimme the fantasy and maybe I’ll pick-up my pace.
The web is and always worked best as a connector, a community creator. I remember stumbling across a community of used teabag collectors. They were spread out all over the world. In any one city there probably wasn’t enough people to fill a small scout hall, but across the world, I found a virtual scout hall meeting in full swing.
6. Have a FAQ
fend them off
One valid way to use your website is to “field” phone calls. It’s a repository of all those repeat questions one gets asked on a daily basis. An FAQ is the sign on the door which says, “Must read before entry”.
It’s good that you have Frequently Asked Questions. Well done there. People need to know this stuff. Go crazy and tell them more. Collect questions while you’re in shop and them upload to your website during that one hour per week when you update your blog! ;)p
7. Pics, Vids, Audio
I like to watch
I’m sorry if this sounds offensive, but we are all really a bunch of perverts. That’s right. What other animal has devised a system where it can watch repeatedly, the days of lives of other animals in a public forum? I’m talking about TV. And if you take just the evening news into consideration, you’ll get a sense of just how obsessive we are. People love images. They are more likely to look at images than read. So give them images. Just make sure to tag them correctly for all the search engines to read.
I mentioned pics before, but you really should have really good, big images (as wide as your content area at least) throughout your site. PLUS a gallery! Some companies pay me to add this sort of stuff for them for them. For example, I recently created these pages for an Air-conditioning company.
Pics, images, bike music. Anything that you feel could help bring your virtual presence out of the screen a little and into the viewer’s world.
I know your industry is pretty physical, but you might consider making it less physical and more “virtual” as time goes on. I don’t see why you can’t make your business work for you more – instead of you working “for it” like I suspect you’re doing.
All the best.
Edwin
That’s pretty much a summary of the message I sent Ross and it’s certainly going to give him something to talk about over the Christmas break. I normally charge about $250 dollars for a full, 20 point website report. But if you are reading this, for January only, I can do a proper report for your existing website for $175. But only if you’re reading this. Knowing how these things go, you’ll probably get me to update a few pages on your own website.
Hopefully you got something out of this. I know Ross did. I bought a bicycle off him!
PS. Thanks for the bike, Ross. It rides like a dream.
Waiting on Content
Friday, February 11th, 2011Perhaps the biggest hurdle to getting a website up and running quickly is every web developer’s pet phrase, “Waiting on Content” . . . It’s an industry problem. I recently changed my contract to reflect this. All new clients have to forward website content before I issue the deposit invoice. It’s a good idea to supply all the following content in advance as it really speeds the process up.
- Images
- Text
- Audio
- Video
- PDF Files
- 3 x News Items
This can be in the form of an emailed zip file, or even a snail-mailed CD. You can send your materials using this form. A zipped file is best, but if you contact me, everything burnt to a CD or DVD is also fine.
When your web designer has all the content up front, there’s no excuse for late delivery and you will be given a more accurate quote. Your website will take (me) no more than 6 weeks to complete – maybe 4 if I’m experiencing a quiet stretch.
In cases where I don’t have all the raw materials, I include dummy content and lorem ipsum (Greeked) text, but that can be confusing.
I work on a 50% deposit and 50% upon delivery invoice system. Once I receive final payment, your site will go live. Without the right text or information, the site might be finished structurally, but hasn’t got the right content up there. Sometimes it’s months before I receive the final payments, whereas most of my work is done by the 6th week. So this has been as much an issue for me as it is for the client and it’s why I’ve changed my policy.
When a website goes live, then the Search Engine Optimisation work on your site will begins – so there’s still stuff to do – even after I’ve received the final payment.
I’d love to hear how other web developers (or DTP firms) deal with this issue.
10 Steps to a Fantastic Website
Monday, January 24th, 2011I’ve just added another page to the site that I thought you all might like. Or at least get something out of if you’re designing your own sites or have solicited the services of a designer already. It’s how I approach building a website, but it can be applied to any website.
Click here: Ten steps to a fabulous website
Portfolio Updating Slowly
Friday, January 21st, 2011I’ve made literally hundreds of websites, but really needed to get Geoffrey Multimedia up by February. I’ve been working on the site since the beginning of the year between doing other jobs. Now I’m launching this new site – or at least putting it online.
It seems I can get a website up in 4 weeks, but it was a little rushed and I really ought to detail the specs for each client website.
I figure I might have time to work on a new portfolio item every day but new sites seem to be coming in thick and fast.
For now – enjoy watching a site as it is being built.
singer – Samantha Ray
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010Well. I’ve finally finished Sam’s site. It’s probably the most beautiful site I’ve made thus far and there’s a lot of work behind those scenes. The only thing I have left to do now is convert an RM file (video) into something I can upload nicely to YouTube, plus get some more of her wonderful tunes onto the site.
What a variety. This girl does everything in music and is good in pretty much any genre. I’m so very pleased to be doing sites for people I admire and look up to.
Website Maintenance Tips
Monday, May 3rd, 2010Maintaining a website is a bit like having a shop. Some of your content might be the same over time, but every morning, you really need to rotate the products in the street front window and show people your current specials.
People will check your company website before visiting your business and if it’s not up to date, they will most certainly go to your competitors. A First Impression may also be the last. If people don’t find your website appealing right from the start, they certainly won’t be back for more. Especially if it’s more of the same. Once you’ve made a beautiful website, the journey of having a website begins. it’s by no means the end. Customers don’t keep visiting the same beautiful website unless there’s something to see. And that means regular updates and change. Within your beautiful design.
Here are some tips to keep your site a going concern and ensure a steady stream of visitors:
1) Update.
Content is King. Refresh your website with new content on regular basis. Daily is best, weekly a close second, but do it at the same time every week or day. This way, regulars will return to see your new stuff. Always review static content (such as your “About Us” page) for corrections or updates. Post new entries or news articles that will capture your users imagination and result in comments and visits. Your policies and terms & conditions pages also need to be updated to keep up with the current privacy laws and regulations. Service agreements and contracts need to be screened at least monthly.
2) Check Browser Compatibility.
Your site needs to work on all browsers. Check your site in Firefox, IE, Google Chrome (my favourite due to its speed), Opera and Safari – on both Mac and PC versions. You need to ensure that all the elements of your design are working perfectly. You can use Browser Shots (http://browsershots.org/) to see screen-shots of your website in multiple browsers and on multiple platforms.
3) Check for broken links.
You need to check for broken links regularly. Because you can’t control which sites you link to, you need to check if they still exist – or when your link to a specific page on another site it’s still relevant. Broken links reflect poorly on you. It’s your job to maintain and make sure they work. Broken links means that your site doesn’t work properly and it’s just an irritation to potential customers.
4) Speed.
How quickly does your site load. Most of us have broadband, but there are still many people using dial-up. Plus 3G connectivity can still be a bit slow – a bit like when you get shaped because you’ve used your broadband. If your site is taking an inordinate time to load, then you need to do something about it. Gone are the days where you can put a Flash loader with the promise “Please wait. It’ll be worth it, I promise”. Nobody cares about your great graphical interface as much as you do. You can use tools for testing the loading speed of your web site with Web Page Analyser (http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/). Minimize the number of graphics on each page or optimise them for web delivery. Go easy on your animation (it’s a good idea to have only one moving item on your home page) and make sure your browser loads images before your front page image rotator tries to present them.
5) Conversation.
These days, business is “a conversation”. If you give people a space to express their opinions or interact with you directly, then they’re less likely to go and do it elsewhere. The conversation can be achieved by allowing commenting, feedbacks, track-backs, suggestions etc. on your site. If you open the communication doors, your audience will also inform you about errors, bad links and bugs that you can fix. Encourage criticism and feedback and if someone leaves a comment or sends you an email, respond quickly instead of leaving it for a week. Seek comments / discussion from people via social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook etc.) and make posts to busy forums where potential interested parties may be lurking. Ask people to review your site. Positive and negative responses can help improve the functionality and usability of your website and your business in general.
6) Make your website Search Engine Friendly.
Well Structured, W3C compliant, pixel perfect code will automatically make your website search engine friendly. 97% of people will find you using a search engine and more than 90% of those people will find you using Google (the biggest company in the world). Getting your web person to; add meta-tag descriptions, optimize and review title tags and keywords etc. will help you rank highly on search engines.
7) Analytics.
It’s important to monitor your website analytics regularly. Geoffrey Multimedia sends you this information weekly so you can see how you are faring in terms of traffic and visitors. But don’t get too obsessed by these statistics as it’s a bit like watching stock market fluctuations. Take more note of how the conversation is working. Are peopel leaving comments, sending you emails or attending your advertised events. Are they, ultimately, buying your product? Use “Call to Action” buttons and graphics on pages where you are selling a product or service. Geoffrey Multimedia uses Google Analytics which will send you an automated traffic report weekly.
A website is a going concern – not a virtual brochure. It should be in a constant state of change, not static and gathering dust. In a way, it’s like a business unto itself.
Keep your shop front window tidy and try to move your stuff around every day. You never know who has an eye on that new bicycle and if they see it gone one day, you can guarantee they’ll come into your shop to see if it’s there and check out what else you have.
Alien Moon Base
Monday, April 19th, 2010While I’m working on a bunch of websites, I try to keep my own up to date.
I don’t usually like to go public about some of my more eccentric personal habits, but Alien Moon Base is one a blog website that I was just itching to get out there (if you’ll excuse the pun).
I’ve been interested in UFOs and aliens since I was little and I’ve come to the brazen conclusion that we’re probably too stupid to know the truth (even if it is out there). In an effort to add to the already busting nut-house that is today’s inter-webs. I bought the domain www.alienmoonbase.com. Here I can vent and offload all my wild thoughts and ideas about alien culture, UFOs and associated cult religions.
Thanks to the internet, there are other nutters out there who are into aliens – some who take the subject all too seriously.
So, surrender your sense of disbelief, grab hold of your inner-child and get ready to do some pretty scary internet reading on my latest adventure.
Business is Personal
Thursday, April 15th, 2010I was around at a (potential) clients’ office today – sorting out design issues etc. He liked me, I liked him. We’ll obviously work together on his website.
I finally asked for server information – passwords, usernames etc. Always a trust issue, but I need this stuff to be able to build and upload the new website over the old one. The client fumbled around in a filing cabinet and pulled out a file with the relevant info etc.. He told me that he was a little worried. “Why so?” I asked as I sharpened my Staetdler Mars-780 German pencil with in-built sharpening tool.
Aside: I’m one of those people who work with pencil and paper until I absolutely MUST get on a bloody computer. It’s a love / hate thing. I love computers, but hate putting on weight and losing my eyesight.
As I was writing the server info down on a piece of paper, the new client told me what he was being charged for email services, spam protection, domain and website hosting. He showed me a bunch of invoices that made me rethink my whole approach to charging clients.
This person was paying around $A2K for these very basic services. I couldn’t believe it. I pay around A$65 per year for a superior, more holistic service and have never charged more than $500 to clients who have moving images and large files uploaded to their site.
Important Aside: All my clients tell me I undercharge, but I strongly disagree. In one case, an old client insisted I put my price up because I was too cheap. I simply wasn’t in the ballpark for consideration on a job, so I had to increase my quote. I reluctantly put my price up on the proviso that I do extra work on the site . . . Look. I’m no Saint. But I would feel extraordinarily bad about overcharging someone like this. I want my clients to call me again. I want them to be happy. My hourly rate is A$90 but really, at the base of it, I enjoy my job so much that it ends up being much less when I actually get involved in building a website. Weird and unforeseen things always crop up. And I lose myself having fun.
I told him what I pay for the same services personally. A$65 per annum for email, domain name and 50Mb of hosting. Sure I get it wholesale. I double the price for general clients because I do a lot of stuff behind the scenes.
I charge $125 for a basic website (50Mb) with email and .com domain (.com.au domains are more). Clients who want to put PDF files or movies on their server pay more, but I don’t have a single client who pays more than $500pa for email, website, file-space and other server requirements. It’s $140 bi-annually for Aussie domains and I don’t make a cent off those (mainly because I think it’s a rort and can’t justify charging extra on top of that).
This is what I do behind the scenes:
- I bounce email off client servers because it accumulates so quickly and you can run out of space for the actual website.
- I usually bounce email to Gmail, Hotmail or iinet accounts because these have great in-built spam detection software.
- If a company has many different email addresses (eg. info@company.com, johnno@company.com) I set up each email address and bounce mail into the individual’s private account.
- I check the server about twice a year to see if it has enough space and inform the client if an upgrade is needed (People often forget that BLOGS and PDF files take up space).
- I check all client software (Joomla, WordPress, other CMS) email etc. is up to date and if not – I update it.
- I go in and set limits on email accounts and clear out (or forward) clogged up email boxes
- Plus I answer all phone calls (for FREE)
I actually work for my money and it pains me to see others doing less and charging like wounded bulls. To see someone paying A$1K per year merely for email spam and virus protection – when it’s 100% free on Gmail (7Gb file limit and about $5pa. if you want a 25Gb limit) – is beyond me.
Seeing these invoices really made me want to do the right thing by this new client. I understand that companies have employees, overheads and rent to pay, but bad business and money management shouldn’t be taken out on your clients!
I guess my set-up is very different. I work from home and / or with like-minded 3D graphic artist and Designers, so I have fewer overheads and therefore my rates are a lot cheaper. But I’d never charge money for doing nothing.
Business is business?
No! Business is always personal because there are people involved.
‘Nuff said.
Fill in this form if you want a website. I’m happy to meet with you for free – even if you don’t choose me to build your site. I’m a strong believer in what goes around comes around.
Comedienne Narelle Belle
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010In consultation with the infamous comedienne, Narelle Belle, I’ve just added the finishing touches on what might be my favourite website production this year. Check it out at www.narellebelle.com. The site consists of a single page which can be easily updated via a WordPress backend. Clicking the menu items caues the page to scroll down to preset areas in the website.
It’s the coolest way to navigate a smaller site which doesn’t have a news section or a BLOG. New info can easily be added manually and it has a lovely photo gallery which can also be easily updated.
Visit the site : www.narellebelle.com
From the Blog
- Can You Make My Logo Bigger?
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 - Resizing Images for the Web
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 - 7 Website Tweaks for Non-coders
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011