Chicago web design - services that exceed

Web Design

It is true with most of the successful web design and development firms that they get to interact with huge number of customers in varied industries. A successful web company which has stayed in the market for ten or more years is sure to have dealt with clients in so many industries that every new client seems like a previous one they have touched in one or the other capacity.

Still, when we meet our prospective clients, we make a point to listen more than we speak. Before we present a strategic web design or application development solution, it is essential that we understand as much as possible about the client's business. The key question that we always ask is: how are you different from your local, regional or global competitors? This straightforward question usually garners not so straightforward responses and we have seen clients having a hard time putting their differentiation or branding in words.

When our clients ask the same question to us (usually while the screening process), our reply, without hesitation, is that we are a result oriented web solutions company. Since our focus is on your visitors talking to you, our designed websites talk too, in terms of aesthetics, conversion best practices, a persona and great optimization. We tell our audience that we know more than designing a website - we know their real goals of doing business online and what it takes to make the venture efficient and successful.

Understanding Online Visitor Behavior

Your website is at the heart of your online marketing message and capturing the visitor's attention demands that you put forth the best message as soon as possible on the landing pages. Online attention spans have been thoroughly tested and so have been the ways in which information on a website is "scanned" by the visitors. Without going into the discussion of how many "seconds" you have to convert a visitor, it is obvious to all of us that with hundreds of options just a click away, users won't spare even an additional second if they do not get what they are looking for.

To get more and more of this scarce commodity, also known as "visitor attention", you need a crystal clear message. Not only you need to tell what is on offering, you should also stress why you are better than anyone else out there. For highly competitive local businesses selling anything from a limo service to hair treatment therapy, this shouting out of the value proposition is even more important.

Important Points to Clutter-Free Messaging

i. Get to the point cutting down the clutter in least words possible.

ii. Know that "verbosity kills meaning".

iii. One call to action per message - Do not offer too much confusing the user where to start and take action.

iv. Guide the visitors to move into sections where they belong.

On the web, and even elsewhere, time is the most precious thing that you can ask from someone. A strong message which differentiates your offering can mean a new client or customer for you; else they will be someone else's customer. Time to realize for everyone that what separates a great design from a good one is how much it helps conversion and conversation.

Chicago Web Design

Content Management System or CMS is an advanced web feature that helps website owners in updating and modifying content of their websites very easily and effectively. The CMS feature is integrated into the website to facilitate the website owners to make changes in their websites' content on regular basis. It helps companies or organizations in updating their target audience with latest products, services, news, events etc.

Content Management System simply means a system through which one can manage all website content with no prior knowledge of any programming language. The website admin interface is designed in a way that one can easily add, delete and update any type of content in the website. Here, content means text, images, video, banners, animations, etc.

The procedure of CMS is very simple. You just need to log in admin panel of the website with your login ID and password, and start making changes such as addition, deletion, etc in your products or services. You can create new category for new products and services, delete old categories, update the existing categories etc. Similarly, under each category you can add, delete and update the products or services.

The websites getting heavy traffic generally offer advertisements in the form of text, images, and banners to various industries. These website owners can easily manage advertisement section through CMS. There is no need to be a web expert to make any changes in banner or image section. CMS web designers and developers provide very easy options in the admin panel of the website to do these changes easily and effectively.

Content Management System can be useful for different sectors such as manufacturers, service providers, and educational institutes and also for government and non-government agencies. Since majority of businesses worldwide are executed online, it is essential to feed the website with latest products, services, news, events etc to gain competitive advantage. As online customers want to purchase products and services from those companies that provide quality information about the products and services they offer on their websites. Here, CMS helps website owners to make necessary amendments in their websites. The government and non-government agencies need to keep the general public abreast of new laws and regulations. These agencies can do it easily through CMS in their websites.

There are many free open sources available like WordPress, osCommerce, Magento, Drupal, Joomla etc that are used by web developers to create CMS features. The programmers understand the specific requirements of the businesses and accordingly use these open sources to develop content management system.




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Chicago web design - creative talent

Chicago Web Design

When developing a web design for your site it is crucial to use experts who are fully aware of the dos and don'ts of web design. In the case where you handle this job on your own, it is important for you to make sure that you do enough research which will help you get the necessary information to create a professional looking and interactive website. This is the only through which your online business can flourish since it is the way through which you can advertise your business online.

Some of the things one has to ensure they do away with when it comes to designing of a website would include the use of PDF files. It has been noted that PDF files are not amongst the popular list of browsers. This is mainly due to the fact that is interrupts with their continuity. In most cases such files more often than not require printouts or having to save the document before once can open to see the contents. Once you open it, you will come across another challenge of the font size which is usually quite tiny. This is because the page layout is normally set on standard and does not correspond with that particular browsing window.

After all your efforts of opening up the PDF file, you will still have to struggle in comprehending the information presented. This is because in most cases the layout used to present the information makes it quite difficult to easily comprehend the content which in most cases is usually too much. This completely discourages the user from staying on this page since they have to sift through a lot of material before finally getting what they need. PDF usually comes handy and should be used when dealing with manuals and various other large files that may need to be printed out. But when it comes to browsing it is more advisable to present your information on web pages.

It is also highly important to give your website an interesting and attractive background that will attract and keep users coming back to your site. One of the designs you should completely keep away from is to give your website a texted wall background. This is a complete no since it kills any form of interaction and is quite boring making it difficult for users browsing your site to gain any interest in your website. This will reduce the traffic to your website making it more difficult to make any sales.

The best way to make your site more interactive and interesting is by making use of subheadings, bullet lists as well as keywords. The latter will help to place your website high on any search list, more visitors which will then be easily converted into sales and profits. Avoiding these key points when creating your website will prove to be useful to you and creates a clear line in whether you succeed or fail in your online business. As earlier stated it is advisable to use the services of professionals.

Web Design

Choosing the right colors for your website is just as important as selecting graphics and content. This article discusses what factors to consider when selecting your website colors.

Colors have many effects on people. Certain colors can invoke specific emotions in people. Emotional reactions can affect the image of your company in the visitors mind and can have a major effect or your company’s “brand”.

If you doubt color evokes emotion, consider the phrases, “green eyed monster” “seeing red” or “in a black mood”. The green-eyed monster is a reference to jealousy, seeing red means a person is angry and a black mood refers to depression. People do associate colors with specific moods. Scientific texts have proven that different colors can make people happy, sad, relaxed, excited, angry or afraid.

Anything that can evoke those responses in people needs to be looked at carefully when designing your website. Colors tend to be classified as “neutral, “warm” or “cool”. So, let’s take a look at some of them.

Neutral Colors

Whites – Whites stand for purity and cleanliness. In eastern cultures white is the color of death while in western cultures in is the color of marriage and hope.

Grays – Grays exude reliability and conservatism. Shades of gray are one of the most popular colors for business attire.

Browns – Browns stand for the earth, home and family.

Blacks – Blacks tend to signify power, elegance and sophistication. In western cultures also stands for death.

Warm Colors

Reds – Reds are good for attracting attention. That is why they are frequently used in sales letters to emphasize specific points. Red symbolizes, anger, violence, lust, passion and can actually raise people’s blood pressure.

Yellows – Yellow can mean weakness or cowardice as well warmth and happiness.

Oranges – Orange is associated with fall harvesting and Halloween. It can also stimulate a person’s appetite.

Pinks – Pinks usually symbolize innocence, femininity and romance.

Cool Colors

Blue – Blue has a calming effect on people. It exudes intelligence and trust. It is a surprising that many financial and health care institutions use blue themes. Blue can also suppress appetite.

Green – While the green stands for jealousy, greed and inexperience, it also stands for money and wealth.

Purple – Purple tends to symbolize creativity. The darker shades were once reserved for royalty and the lighter shades are usually associated with romance.

Web Safe Colors

Vacuum tubes, LCD and Plasma screens all display colors differently. There are 216 colors that can be displayed on every type of monitor in every web browser and will look almost identical. These 216 are called web safe colors. If consistent color is important, you should only use web safe colors on your websites.

Color Schemes

Color schemes can be composed of a single color, complimentary colors or contrasting colors.

Single Color -- Single color schemes uses several different shades and intensities of a single color on a white background. For example, if you want to use a red color scheme, you can use everything from the lightest pink to a red so dark it is almost black.

Complementary Colors – Complementary color schemes use two or more colors that look good together and create a pleasant blend that is appealing to most people. One color may be dominant and the other used to compliment it.

Contrasting Colors – Contrasting color schemes use two or more dominant colors to create an “eye grabbing effect”. For example, using a dark blue page background, a deep red frame around a white background text area with black text is a typical contrasting color scheme.

Web designers need to be careful when using contrasting colors because some combinations tend to “vibrate” such as red text on a blue background and can hurt some people’s eyes, while other combinations are just had to focus on. Other combinations “clash” and are unpleasant to look at.




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Chicago web design - redesign current content

Chicago Web Design

Photoshop's Pen Tool is one of the best creative tools in their arsenal. But most designers avoid using it as they simply do not understand the concept of what it can do. I use the Pen Tool for many different purposes, and in this tutorial I will be showing you a few ways to use it to your advantage.

Basics
The basic mechanics of the Pen Tool is simply that you create two points (called anchor points), and Photoshop will draw a Path between them. The Path can then be used for drawing, or, if the Path is a loop (a series of anchors that start at end at the same point) it can be used to create entire shapes.

Anchor Point: The anchor points are what decides where each Path begins and ends. Think of them of a dot-to-dot picture you used to do when you were a child. To create a Path you must lay down anchor points at various positions, connecting them together in turn.

Path: The Path is the line between the two anchor points that draws out the shape or line you are trying to create. The Paths shape depends on the position of its two anchor points and the position of its handle.

Handle: The handle is used to bend Paths. Photoshop will always draw a perfectly straight Path between two anchor points, so if you wish to bend the Path you must move its handle accordingly. Think of it like a lever. The further away and more of an angle you put on the handle the more it effects the bend of the Path.

If you hold down the mouse on the Pen Tool we have a variety of Sub Tools.

The Pen Tool is the really the only selection I ever make off this selection. If you are careful when drawing your Paths and take your time you probably wont need the other ones.

The Freeform Pen Tool simply acts like the Lasso Tool and creates a Path wherever the Mouse Pointer goes.

As you will see this creates messy inaccurate Paths, and for as long as I have been using Photoshop I have never used this Tool.

The Add Anchor Point Tool does exactly what it says on the tin. You can use it to add extra Anchor Points along any Path you have drawn.

The Subtract Anchor Point Tool simply deletes any Anchor Point you click on.

The Convert Point Tool simply adds handles to existing Anchor Points by clicking and dragging.

Using Paths To Create Lines

Draw a simple Path, such as a letter S. You would simple make an anchor point to start with. Then place a second anchor point, but on doing so hold the mouse button down and drag the bend into it. Then, place the third anchor point and drag in the opposite direction.

This is simply a Path. It is not something that will be visual on our final image. To make it into something solid we must Stroke the Path. To do this we must first choose something to stroke it with. Choose the Brush Tool and set your brush to a 5px Hard Brush and set the color to Red.

Next, choose the Pen Tool again, Ctrl-Click/Right-Click the image and choose Stroke Path.

In the Stroke Path Window you will see two options. A drop down box for the tool you wish to use on the selected Path, and the Simulate Pressure Check Box. The Simulate Pressure option will add tapers to the beginning and end of your Path. By choosing Brush from the drop down menu you are telling Photoshop to fill in the Path with the 5px Hard Brush we just set. Obviously if you are using another tool other than the brush, you would simply set the options for that particular tool prior to running the Stroke Path function.

Creating Shapes Using The Pen Tool

To create a shape we must draw out some Anchor Points like we did before, only this time we must finish on the same point we started with.

Now we have our shape we must make it a Selection, for if we were to try and fill this now we would simply fill the entire background. Choose Window > Paths and choose the Load Path As A Selection button.

This will convert the Path into a Selection. You will see this by the visibility of the so called "walking ants".

Now this is a selection you can fill it with a color or gradient and can then start to apply Layer Styles as it is now a solid object in our document and no longer merely a Path or selection.

Drawing Complex Shapes

In order to draw complex shapes it is important to learn how to edit the handles of your Paths. If we draw a curve Photoshop automatically adds a handle to the second Anchor Point so that the curve can be continued smoothly into the third point. However sometimes we do not want to continue the curve. To edit the handles we hold down the Alt Key and either reposition the handle, or click the Anchor Point to remove it completely.

1. This shows the route the Path will take between the three points if we simply do nothing to the handle.
2. This shows the route when we hold down Alt and move the handle.
3. This shows the route when we hold down Alt and click the middle Anchor Point to remove the handle.

This allows us to draw much more complex shapes.

Using The Pen Tool To Add / To Subtract From A Selection

When doing complex selections we can use the Pen Tool to accurately tweak the edges.

With the Pen Tool selected draw your Path over the remaining leg. Choose Window > Paths.

Now when we choose the Load Path As A Selection button we hold down the Alt Key first to bring up the Make Selection Options.

Make sure you have the Add to Selection Box selected and click OK. This will convert the Path and add it onto our selection.

To subtract from selection we do everything exactly the same but obviously we check Subtract from Selection instead of Add.

Now you have the knowledge, embrace the Pen Tool. Make cleaner selections, and therefor cleaner work.

Web Design

Small business owners seeking to make their business more profitable or stable need not overlook the benefits of creating a website. Websites for small businesses offer amazing new opportunities that are otherwise unavailable. We have put together a list of what you are missing out on my not having a website for your small business.

Gaining credibility on a larger scale - Small business owners may have established their credibility with their regular customers or within a radius of a few miles. If they wish to build more credibility and share their expertise with more people than ever before, establishing a website where they can provide this information through articles, blogs, and videos is a great way to do this.

Molding Identity - Maintaining a website is a great way for a business to effectively mold how they would like to be perceived by patrons and others in the industry. It allows a company to have more control over the information that is provided on them and to have a better look into what people are saying about them.

Housing their own community - Unless they're a coffee shop, providing a place where customers can get together and offer advice and share ideas can be pretty tough to accomplish. Having a website for a business can provide a place for patrons to do this easily by offering chat space, instant messengers, and comment room for company blogs and articles. This proves to be important because it gets people discussing a company's products and services.

Generating more leads - It can be difficult to generate leads as it is, but the web can make it a lot easier. When a business establishes a website, they then establish an incredibly effective way to build leads. There are some great ways to do this: developing a social media following, gaining blog followers, providing forms on the website to collect submitted information, and building successful email marketing campaigns.

Establishing more professional contacts - Networking with others in the industry is crucial to a company's success. The ability to share information and ideas with other professionals and build a relationship with them is key to building a successful company. When a company has a website they are able to create more contacts quickly and easily by letting everyone know who they are.

Interaction with more customers - A company positively interacting with their customer is imperative to maintaining and gaining loyal patrons. Customers have the right and a want to feel connected on a personal level to the company they are spending their money with. Having a website where they can interact with a company easily and directly communicate with them lays the ground work for a great business. Tying social media accounts in with a website is suggested if a company wants to optimize their relationship with their customers. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have provided superb platforms for companies to take advantage of.




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chicago web design make your mark on the web

Web Design

Businesses with an online presence will rely on the quality of their website but finding a good web design agency can be difficult. Looking for a reputable web design company in your local area is a serious step to building your internet profile so you must ensure that you chose the right agency as you will be entrusting them with your online reputation. There are a number of issues to mull over when defining your choice and the most important is that you thoroughly examine the portfolio of any web designer that you are considering.

When analysing a web design firms previous work examples, the first thing you must do is check the presence of their portfolio on the agency's website as it should have a prominent position. Portfolios which are hidden away should be regarded with suspicion as it should be proudly presented on the website with examples that they are proud of and that they think will gain them more clients. Do not always choose an agency with the most number of works because this is often not representative of quality as some websites with little functionality can be churned out in a matter of days.

Each example should have a specification next to it which explains that amount of work which went into it including the client brief as this will demonstrate how they have created the site and how closely it meets their customer's requirements. It is advisable to check whether a web design agency has any experience of working within your industry as you will be able to evaluate whether they are capable of putting your business' message across in an online environment.

A management consultancy firm would benefit from choosing an agency with numerous examples of quality sites within that industry because they will be able to trust in their expertise. If you require specific software for your site such as a content management system, a Word Press blog or ecommerce technologies then you should only chose agencies with a proven track record of producing these. On any website I always take the client testimonial page with a pinch of salt because it never provides any constructive criticism so if you really want to discover whether a customer is happy then I would contact them directly.

Contacting an agency's previous clients directly will give you a good idea of how easy they are to work with and whether they deliver their web design project on time and within budget. An obvious thing to do is to judge the quality of the agency's own website because if their own web design is substandard then you cannot be expected to trust them with yours.

Chicago Web Design

For a year or two web professionals raved about social media and how it would change the face of online advertising. It became an essential element for every website design. Now the hype has died down it is time to assess whether it is worth all the effort when you're designing your website.

The basics: Social media is a category of practices, technology, tools, and online sites which utilize social relationships, participation and user-generated content. It is focused on using internet technologies to connect with audiences and draw them into an on-gong conversation. About making a more personal connection through your website and the supporting internet media you choose to utilize. If conducted successfully that helps to keep audiences engaged and committed to a company.

A very basic social media network may allow a user to search for a company website, follow a link from the website to the company blog, then click on an application which allows them to 'like' the company on their Facebook account, leave a link and a message for their friends, who, in turn, can follow the link back to the company website. Social media creates a network of sites, all directing traffic to your website, where companies can generate content, have a certain level of control over the messages but also actively engage users.

Types of social media include social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Hi-5, and Bebo. Twitter, the video sharing site, blog platforms such as WordPress and Blogger and any internet forum is a type of social media. They can all be used with your website to form a relationship and encourage repeat business.

Do you need it on your company website? This all depends on what you do.

If your company is used by one time customers or customers who are not accessing it then there will not be a great benefit in creating a social media presence. If your company targets young people, say you own a nightclub which caters to a university aged crowd, there would be a huge benefit in creating a social media network for your website.

A company which is not technology based, for example a carpet cleaning company or a refrigeration repair company, with one time customers may not need social media. People do not form an attachment to the carpet cleaner nor they expect to need to call the refrigerator repair man more than once so there is no benefit. A website design company without it, the network seems a bit behind the game.

Building a social media network to accompany your website can be very time consuming, as is any relationship building activity. It needs regular updates and takes time to generate new content and takes creativity. A company also needs staff with the time and skills to update the network.




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Chicago web design Logo design

Web Design

Content is king in website design. If visitors to your website can't read your content because of the way you've presented it, they will quickly leave and not come back. Therefore you have to make your website easy on the eye, if you want people to read what you've put there. By following the basic rules below you can make your website instantly more readable.

1. Text colours

Don't use dark colour text on dark backgrounds. For example, red text on dark blue or red on black are horrendously difficult to read. If you are doing colour text, make sure there is high contrast between the text and the background. Dark text on a light background is easier to read then light text on a dark background.

2. Images

Be very very careful with background images. If you are going to use them, there's a danger that the background will be too dark to read the text properly. Do a bit of work with your photo-editor to reduce the depth of colour of the image - make it pastel.

3. Limit the length of text lines

Don't make lines of text too long. Think how printed media compose their pages. They use columns and so should you. Keep the column width to a maximum of 600 pixels.

4. Restrict your page width

Page width is a different situation. A width limit of 1000 pixels is good for the standard 1024×768 pixel monitor. Fit columns into this. It should be possible to read the page without having to use the scroll bar to scan across the width of the page.

5. Capitals

Do not use capital letters for all of your text. In fact, it's best to avoid capital letters altogether, except where the rules of grammar demand them, e.g. first letter of a sentence, proper nouns, etc. Long strings of capital letters are harder to read than lower case.

6. Exclamation marks

Do not go overboard with exclamation marks! They are usually unnecessary, and there is no reason whatsoever for three of them. Littering your text with exclamation marks is irritating to the reader, and doesn't really help you get your message across.

A very limited exception to the above is for headline-style text, where you want to grab the reader's attention for a special offer or something like that. In this case you could have 4 or 5 words in capitals with exclamation marks. But keep this usage to an absolute minimum.

7. Spell-checking and proof-reading

Use a spell checker before you publish your page on the internet. This means you must type your text into a word processor such as Word or Open Office. Nothing is worse than a page full of spelling errors. But don't rely exclusively on a spell-checker. They are clever but not infallible. As a final check, get someone else to proof-read it. You, having written it, will be "blind" to any errors.

Following the tips above will ensure that visitors to your website have a good reading experience.

Chicago Web Design

When it comes to designing an engaging website, there are obviously certain limitations to what you can and cannot do, and to what will and won't work for your brand. Having said that, if your business has a target audience clearly identified, it becomes a lot easier to structure a website to reflect this.

A web designer is concerned with the visual appearance, structure, and layout of a website. The design of the web page is essentially what captures attention and determines whether someone will stay on your site or move on. Generally, users don't read things thoroughly; they scan. So if there is a huge block of text, they will more than likely skip over it or exit the site completely. They also don't scan in a linear fashion; viewers tend to satisfice. If they think an option is close to what they are looking for, they will click it rather than considering which of the options might be more beneficial to them; which means that even if your website has the most to offer, if it's bulky and verbose, your potential customers are more likely to overlook you. Functionality is important because people pretty much want to get in and get out.

Your website's design should be structured in an aesthetically striking way and communicate only the most important information. Pages should be obvious and self-explanatory. It should have an instant impact and give a positive impression while still representing your business accurately.

It is very important to use visual elements to guide users. A strong sense of direction assists users in their website navigation. The more clear and cohesive a page is, the greater the sense of orientation and therefore, heightened trust between the user and the company. A hierarchical structure within the content reduces complexity and assists in the website's navigability. A website can be a dynamic addition to your business growth and the more comfortable visitors feel using it, the more inclined they are to continue to interact with you.

Keep in mind however that there is a distinction between a web designer and an online marketing firm that designs websites; the latter has both the expertise and the ability to ensure that the website is not only attractive, but also makes a profit. A successful website will have its business' goals and its target market in mind. A clean, simple, and consistent design that shows clear relationships between the content and graphics is the most effective way to communicate to your business' audience.

Just a final note: a memorable design engages users more because it heightens their excitement level. The key idea is to surprise visitors and give them something that they will enjoy and remember. It is absolutely essential that your website is not only aesthetically attractive, but also consistent when viewed on different browsers. Interactivity is a business' most valuable tool when designing a website. If a visitor can interact and feel engaged, then a trust relationship is already starting to take shape. And most importantly, keep updating your website and its design. Technology changes so swiftly that if you don't keep track of it, you - and consequently, your business - might get left behind.




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Chicago web design - viable web presence

Chicago Web Design

The world today believes in showbiz, and one needs to display whatever positives one has, in order to grab the attention of the audiences or clients. As more and more people spend time on the internet, the best way to lure them is via your website. One way to attract the interest of the viewer or the visitor is by placing a flash design on your site or some of the popular sites on the web. You can make use of a flash intro creator to design flash intro, banner, menu, slideshow or more. There is no dearth of software available in the market, and you need to understand their features to put them to use.

The flash technology is highly beneficial in captivating the viewers, and you can use this as a medium of communication. You can insert text messages for the viewers or visitors in your flash design, or add a callout to make it more interactive and viewer-centric. Apart from this, you can add images, graphics, symbols and more to your flash design, so that it looks appealing. To make it even more luring, you can superimpose sound effects in your flash design. All this might sound like a cumbersome task, but is extremely easy if you make use of a flash software. Such a software will help you to upload images, graphics and more to your flash design without any hassles. You will not require any prior knowledge of flash to be able to use such software, as they are easy to install and use, and do not need any specialized skills.

With the use of this technology, you can create amazing photo albums, slideshows and much more to place on prominent places on popular websites and your own site. This will make your site interactive, and if placed on some other site, will attract viewers and direct them to your site. With the use of a flash creating software, you can come up with wonderful flash intros, that can again revamp the entire visual appeal of your website. Another important thing to keep in mind while creating a flash design is that you definitely have to insert your company logo in the flash design. This will help the new viewers to relate with your organization, and the older ones to recognize your brand. Hence, flash can act as a great means to enhance your brand value in the marketplace. Therefore, choose the appropriate software to create flash designs for your site.

The world today believes in showbiz, and one needs to display whatever positives one has, in order to grab the attention of the audiences or clients. As more and more people spend time on the internet, the best way to lure them is via your website. One way to attract the interest of the viewer or the visitor is by placing a flash design on your site or some of the popular sites on the web.

Web Design

There are plenty of scammers out there. As a new business, you would need to get a new logo design created for your company and will most probably need the help of professional designers to get that done for you. Here are a few things to watch out for that will help you along the way.

Company Credibility

Running a business will take up a lot of your time. Whether you are running a new or existing business, your time needs to be focused on more important issues. That's why many business owners prefer to use the logo design services of reputable companies. Now remember that it is important to choose a company that has good credibility. One that offers a fair deal to you as their customer and will not run away with your money leaving you stranded with ugly designs that you would not want to use for your business. If you are looking for a logo designer, you will need to make sure that they have a money back guarantee so that in the event you do not like the final outcome of the design, you can still get all your money back. This in turn will also force the designers to come up with proper designs that meet your taste.

Unlimited Revisions

We all know that designing logos and websites are easy for those that are gifted in artistic work. But for the rest of us who only love to look at beautiful designs, we should also have the option to let the designers know on what we would like to see. Designers normally come up with initial sketch designs to whether we like their work or not. If at first glance you don't like the initial sketch, you may request for changes to be made to it and this should be unlimited changes until you are satisfied with their work. Do not allow them to limit you to only a few revisions as you may end up with a logo design that you still do not like. Only finalize the design once you are completely happy with it.

Professional And Prompt

And whichever logo design company that you choose to use, check to make sure that they are able to offer you prompt and professional work. No point taking ages to come up with something that you will end up not liking. Standard time frame would be 48 hours to come up with a completely new design. Some people just want to take your money and completely disappear. Don't simply sign up for all their services yet unless you are happy with their initial logo design services.

Summary

You know what they say. You pay for what you get. Choose a professional logo design company that is able to understand and meet your business needs. Don't be easily cheated by those that offer dirt cheap rates as you could end up getting conned.




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chicago web design and content management

Chicago Web Design

In the field of web development, CMS (Content Management System) plays a major role in making the task easier for the developers. Although website customization is by no means a smooth cakewalk, various Open Source tools have made the task quite comfortable for software and web professionals. WordPress web design service has been a driving force behind successful professional websites. This leading open source publishing platform has been registering tremendous growth since its release way back in 2003.

The use of Internet has been witnessing a phenomenal rise. Common people are becoming net-savvy. In recent years, the popularity of blogs has touched even the non-technical people. Professional blogs are being extensively used to promote business. Here lies the importance of a customized blogging site with user-friendly features. Moreover, people want innovative technologies so that even laymen can reap the benefits of latest inventions. In this regard WordPress plays its major role. Thousands of WordPress custom themes and templates are available on the web to customize a site with personal touch, making it one of the widely used CMS to integrate on websites. Moreover, WordPress website offers online guidance to work on this blogging tool. It tremendously helps newcomers in the IT field.

WordPress comes with a web template processor. The easy-to-use features and WordPress custom themes enable even the laymen to rearrange widgets without any knowledge of PHP, HTML or CSS code. However, in the era of e-learning one can easily learn the basic tricks of these web publishing tools through different websites at free of cost. Editing PHP and HTML codes will no doubt ensure a memorable experience for the users. The extensive feature list of WordPress includes integrated link management with an eye on search engine optimization for the websites and permalink structure to enable assigning nested and multiple categories to articles.

This Open Source blogging tool also includes auto-filters and rich text formatting options to edit articles with professional touch. Its text formatting features offer several benefits and help to convert regular quotes to smart quotes. Among other benefits of WordPress, one can easily mention about its support for Trackback and Pingback standards that enable to show links to other websites, which have been linked to an article or post. However, one key feature that separates it from other customizable CMS is its rich plugin architecture that allows millions of technical contributors to enhance its functionality beyond its basic and original offerings.

Web Design

If you are looking for the best professional web design and development, there are a number of places where you can start. From local web design offices to recommendations from friends, co-workers, or your hosting company, there are all kinds of ways to connect with capable professionals, who will give you the very best product for the money and help you distinguish your site from the competition that is out there in your field. But what do the best professional web design and development companies look like? What qualities should you value over all others? The answers to these questions will ultimately determine how good of a choice that you make when it comes to hiring someone for your web design needs. Here is what you should be looking for in a candidate:

Experience with up-to-date software

While it is not entirely necessary that you have a cutting edge state of the art design for your site to be successful, you stand a much better chance of having an effective platform if the company or candidate that you select is well versed in all of the latest software technologies to come down the pike. They don't have to be able to use each one, but in order to provide you with a full palette of customization, they should be able to take your suggestions and incorporate them in the ways that you would prefer for them to.

Business knowledge

Any successful business knows that the key to continual success is treating your customers like they are partners in the process and not knowledge less money men. A web design company should be able to apply this reality to their field by listening to your suggestions, responding to your questions and concerns in a timely manner, and working with you, not against you, to deliver the best possible product. A product that will serve as a top notch design and one that is easy to navigate. That's what it takes to have your brand develop these days, and that's what an experienced web designer can give you.

Ability to judge between functionality and style

While style is a perk and some of it is necessary when it comes to the branding initiative of a company, most web designers know to put substance over style through emphasizing the functionality over the bells and whistles. If your designer has trouble leaving out all of the meaningless flash options and graphics intensive web pages, and you feel it is hurting the content of your site, then you may wish to go in another direction.

The web design and development company that you select should be professional in all aspects of the process, and they should make it easy for you to have a site you can be proud of.




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Chicago web design distance learning applications

Web Design

Building a site with a website creator is fun and easy to do. It takes very little time and effort to build a website in this manner. However, there are some pitfalls that are easy to fall into when you use a website creator. This is because they are so easy to use it can be difficult to remember that your site needs to be professional and unique, as well as easy to navigate. Here are the top five website creator mistakes that you should avoid at all costs.

1. Not making the site unique. A website builder offers hundreds of templates for you to choose from. Unfortunately, these same templates are being used by thousands of people every day. In order to keep your site professional and unique, you need to change the template slightly. Choose a different color scheme. If possible, make a unique color scheme by choosing individual colors for your font and backgrounds. This way your site is somewhat unique from the thousands of others using the templates.

2. Not using keyword rich titles for your pages. Some site builders will automatically name a page "Page 2" or something similar. Other website creators name the page after the heading you put in the title. The name or title of the page in the navigational tools and buttons should be keyword rich and descriptive. This is necessary both for your site to be professional as well as for your site to be found in search engines.

3. Not changing graphics. You might choose a template that you like because the graphics match your business or website goals. However, this is detrimental to the professionalism of your site because thousands of other people will have the same graphic. Instead, change the graphics in the template to original graphics that you create yourself or purchase from the internet. This way your site is professional and unique. Title the graphics with keywords to further optimize your site for search engines.

4. Not giving enough information. It is easy to build a website with a website creator in a matter of minutes, but you won't be providing much information in the process. Information is important to keep your visitors long enough to buy something from your site. Keyword rich content is also important for getting higher placement in the search engines.

5. Not keeping it simple. Too many graphics, colors in the fonts, hard to read font styles, and similar design mistakes are not as easy to make when you use a site builder, but they still crop up. You want your site to look cool, but you also want to make sure that the design doesn't take away from the goal of the website. If something is too flashy, many visitors will not stick around long enough to buy something.

Chicago Web Design

Choosing the right colors for your website is just as important as selecting graphics and content. This article discusses what factors to consider when selecting your website colors.

Colors have many effects on people. Certain colors can invoke specific emotions in people. Emotional reactions can affect the image of your company in the visitors mind and can have a major effect or your company’s “brand”.

If you doubt color evokes emotion, consider the phrases, “green eyed monster” “seeing red” or “in a black mood”. The green-eyed monster is a reference to jealousy, seeing red means a person is angry and a black mood refers to depression. People do associate colors with specific moods. Scientific texts have proven that different colors can make people happy, sad, relaxed, excited, angry or afraid.

Anything that can evoke those responses in people needs to be looked at carefully when designing your website. Colors tend to be classified as “neutral, “warm” or “cool”. So, let’s take a look at some of them.

Neutral Colors

Whites – Whites stand for purity and cleanliness. In eastern cultures white is the color of death while in western cultures in is the color of marriage and hope.

Grays – Grays exude reliability and conservatism. Shades of gray are one of the most popular colors for business attire.

Browns – Browns stand for the earth, home and family.

Blacks – Blacks tend to signify power, elegance and sophistication. In western cultures also stands for death.

Warm Colors

Reds – Reds are good for attracting attention. That is why they are frequently used in sales letters to emphasize specific points. Red symbolizes, anger, violence, lust, passion and can actually raise people’s blood pressure.

Yellows – Yellow can mean weakness or cowardice as well warmth and happiness.

Oranges – Orange is associated with fall harvesting and Halloween. It can also stimulate a person’s appetite.

Pinks – Pinks usually symbolize innocence, femininity and romance.

Cool Colors

Blue – Blue has a calming effect on people. It exudes intelligence and trust. It is a surprising that many financial and health care institutions use blue themes. Blue can also suppress appetite.

Green – While the green stands for jealousy, greed and inexperience, it also stands for money and wealth.

Purple – Purple tends to symbolize creativity. The darker shades were once reserved for royalty and the lighter shades are usually associated with romance.

Web Safe Colors

Vacuum tubes, LCD and Plasma screens all display colors differently. There are 216 colors that can be displayed on every type of monitor in every web browser and will look almost identical. These 216 are called web safe colors. If consistent color is important, you should only use web safe colors on your websites.

Color Schemes

Color schemes can be composed of a single color, complimentary colors or contrasting colors.

Single Color -- Single color schemes uses several different shades and intensities of a single color on a white background. For example, if you want to use a red color scheme, you can use everything from the lightest pink to a red so dark it is almost black.

Complementary Colors – Complementary color schemes use two or more colors that look good together and create a pleasant blend that is appealing to most people. One color may be dominant and the other used to compliment it.

Contrasting Colors – Contrasting color schemes use two or more dominant colors to create an “eye grabbing effect”. For example, using a dark blue page background, a deep red frame around a white background text area with black text is a typical contrasting color scheme.

Web designers need to be careful when using contrasting colors because some combinations tend to “vibrate” such as red text on a blue background and can hurt some people’s eyes, while other combinations are just had to focus on. Other combinations “clash” and are unpleasant to look at.




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Chicago web design E-commerce development

Chicago Web Design

Your website is the first thing that people will see if you are trying to sell on the web, blogging, or affiliate marketing through content. So it is very important to make sure your site is A+ grade without paying tons for it. So what I want to do is show you a few simple ways to keep cost down yet not having your site looking like it is second-rate and lacking credibility.

One thing you can do for a cheap price and have a nice site coming from it is to hire someone off elance.com guru.com or any other freelance site. This will offer you an inexpensive way for you to get a great site template or a site completely coded for relatively cheap. It still is more costly than doing it by yourself but if you have no wish to learn any HTML or any coding this is great. This will run you 0-0 for a simple site that is functional and attractive.

Second tip is to get a template learn some simple coding and upload that code to your FTP. How do I learn this you may ask? Well just Google HTML tips and Basic CSS and this should at least get you being able to tweak your template. Where do I get templates? Again Google is great free resource for all. It will help you understand some basics better. Although it will still take time and if time is something you don't have try our next tip.

Third you can simply get a simple WYSIWYG software and drag and click to a great looking site. This is very easy and usually requires no real coding or knowing code except maybe putting in affiliate code which if you don't know how to do that you may need to read a little on just simple copy, paste how to's. Some hosting companies, I actually think most hosting companies, will have a free WYSIWYG site builder for you to use with templates that can be used.

In conclusion you can find the help out there and make a great site that will look attractive and great. So you will have a site that you are proud of and make money get your point out there with a blog or anything you want . You will know though that your site will be grade A and not a cheesy site that people will run from it will give you the credibility you need. Now go out and make that site and get your business up and running.

Web Design

Even with good web design, the reality is that 9 out of 10 of websites fail. They fail to get traffic, signups, leads, sales, and so on. They become a bad investment. But above all, they fail to deliver for the business they were created to serve. Of course, there are multiple reasons why websites fail. But a critical factor is that often they contain one of the biggest and most common web design mistakes.

As an Internet marketer, I face this regularly. Companies have just paid thousands for what they regard as a perfect new website.

They come to me seeking help to market it. Then I have to break the bad news: To market it successfully, they will have to spend yet another few thousand - to make the website right.

Naturally, some people are hurt that you've apparently criticised their site. In addition, having just laid out so much money, they don't want to pay more. In many cases, they don't have the budget for costly changes. Worse, some, although they are far from being the worst websites, are constructed so badly that they require major surgery.

If only they had thought more about the website before they began to design it. That's because the biggest and most common mistake occurs at the pre-development stage. To paraphrase Bill Clinton, "it's the marketing, stupid!"

Web designers and/or their clients ignore or pay scant attention to the marketing. In other words, they build their website. And only then do they think about how they're going to market it.

Avoid that mistake and you'll save yourself a lot of time and hassle. Not to mention potentially saving a lot of money on corrections. And, from the outset, you'll have a website that's ready to hit the market.

So, what should you do? Setting out a pre-build marketing plan for a website is too much for a short article, so I can only give you some pointers.

First, be clear about the objective of your site. What is it you want your site to do for your business? It could be promoting your corporate brand, building a mailing list, lead generation, or selling your products direct online (e-commerce).

Second, be clear about your target market(s). Precisely what is your target niche? Who are the people you want to reach? What problems are they seeking a solution to? How will you shape your offer on the website to provide that solution? What kind of text, images, language, terms do these users associate with their problem?

Third, consider the level of online demand for your product or service within your chosen niche. Remember that the Internet is very competitive and don't assume that you will achieve a high market share. Of course, that depends on what you are offering as well as the level of competition. But, generally, the niche has to be large enough for you to survive on a small share.

Fourth, think about your web promotion strategies. If, for instance, you intend to rely on organic rankings (SEO), then do your research for the appropriate keywords. Choose keywords that are less competitive and easier to rank for, normally longtail. But don't forget those volumes.

Fifth, be clear about the selling messages and the competitive advantages you intend to promote. At the very least, you must be able to offer visitors a better deal than they can get from your competitors.

Only after you've decided the marketing should you think about how you're going to design the website.




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chicago web design put the new market to work for you

Web Design

Will my website be on a content management system?

A content management system (CMS) means that any content or SEO updates you need to make can be done immediately, easily and usually by yourself - with a little training. If you don't have the resources to do it yourself, ask the website company to tell you how much they charge. Most will charge a monthly fee even if you don't make any changes.

A CMS website will cost a little more to build but if your business is one where you'll need to update the website regularly then that initial extra outlay will soon pay for itself.

Not having a CMS website means that if you need to make any changes whatsoever, then the website developers will need to do it for you and they will charge according to the time it takes and your cheap web design just got more expensive.

Will the URLs of my website be both user and search engine friendly?

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are the addresses of the pages of your website on the World Wide Web.

If they are user friendly, they will be easier to remember. The following are called dynamic URLs meaning the website is built on a database. If your URLs look anything like these, you'll have a problem from the outset:

page.aspx?PageID=00
page_id=brand&brandid=00&desc=mywebsite
index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=00
product.php?categoryid=00&productid=00

Search engines are known to index the content of dynamic pages a lot slower than those of static pages but, more importantly, could you remember those? Dynamic URLs can easily be rewritten to static but most website designers simply don't bother.

Capitalisation of text in the URL is not considered good practice - users shouldn't have to guess or remember whether or not a URL is in a particular case. Nor should web developers leave spaces in the URL so they end up looking like this:

this%20is%20my%20website

Will every page of my website be search engine optimised?

Most developers pay scant regard to search engine optimisation. Most e-commerce websites fail simply because the owners fail to include SEO in their marketing plan.

How many times have you seen the company name followed by the word 'Homepage' when you've beeen searching the web? Those websites have not been professionally search engine optimised.

A lot of web designers simply have the same Title and Description on every page. This is basically telling the search engines that every page has the same content.

Web pages that are properly structured to make it obvious what they are about, and the keywords and phrases associated with them, will rank better than those that are not. H tags are an important element on the list of things to help your website rank higher in the search engines and they need to be properly implemented.

How much control will I have of the Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions of my website?

You need total control.

It's the combination of the Title and Description Meta tags that most people see in the search engine results (SERPs) pages. Combined, they are a free advertisement for your website.

The Meta Title tag is crucial for search engines and remains one of the most important elements of search engine optimisation. It not only determines how a search engine may rank the web page but most display it as the headline in their listings. So it's important to spend a good deal of time perfecting this element. And search patterns change so you need to change your tags accordingly and not pay through the nose every time.

You could end up paying dearly for a cheap website design both in lost business and putting things right.

Chicago Web Design

OK, so you most of you will be familiar with the story of David and Goliath, the small verses large. Well I have experienced this in a business for the past 2 years; my father has had some 40+ years of experience. Please allow me to introduce myself, my names Jason, I was born in Harrow greater London and left school at the age of 14 due to health issues and just like my father have been self-employed most of my life.

Although I don't have any qualifications or university degrees I do have common sense and a wealth of experience from running a small business. I have been involved in many retail sectors from the white goods market to the used car market, both are extremely cut throat with massive competition, and now I run my own web and SEO studio in London. In 1998 I was the store manager for our family run white goods store, it was then I decided to get online and see what all the fuss was about, and although it wasn't that popular many people knew it would change everyone's lives. At that point small businesses hated the internet as gradually as the internet grew it started damaging retail shops as people were transformed into professional buyers overnight, the story of the local store was starting to deteriorate.

By about 2002 the Internet was staring to be used by so many people that in away started a recession as the local businesses were no longer competing with each other they were now competing with the whole of the U.K., small stores turned in to busy fools just trying to keep the doors open.

In 2007 most of the business people I knew in the London area had retired early or moved on to jobs as the overheads of running a retail outlet with completion just didn't weigh up. In today's environment it's the complete opposite, most of the business people I knew then that hated the Internet now love it and understand its power, it's the "if you can't beat them join them" story. However now we all face another competition, online competition, if you're not on page one of a search engine for s particular keyword then this can prove fatal for a business if you need fresh high quality traffic. With the Search Engines it's a very tough and difficult process, your either on page one or you're not, many people spend out literally thousands and all they have paid of is false promises. Well I was told by a gentleman I was delivering a washing machine to in 2000, he said the Internet is going to the part of everyone's lives soon, no one will be able to function without it, I found it hard to believe and my friend who was present at that time laughed and said he was crazy, he wasn't crazy he had vision.

So for the past 10 years I have studied Search Engine Optimisation as it became more than a hobby but more of an obsession and now I build website with high quality SEO integrated into the structure. I now specialise in building websites for small to medium businesses giving them the chance to fight and take on the larger competition all at an affordable cost. If you search for web design London on Google you will find hundreds of design studios and SEO agencies that offer a whole range of services but most are so overpriced a small business cannot afford to function. Our business has been built on experience and is focused on affordability. I strongly believe our company is the only one of its kind; I take great pleasure in delivering our customers massive results and am extremely passionate about everything we do.




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Chicago web design improving your online presence

Web Design

Web graphic design seems to be more and more in demand in today's job market. Companies are taking to the internet more and more just to keep up with the competitive markets worldwide. Due to this fact, it is inevitable that companies will need a web site to touch audiences outside their geographic location. Companies have realized that in order to have a web site they must have the knowledge or an individual who can build a web site for the company and maintain it as well. A problem companies are facing with web graphic design is the ability to hire individuals that possess artistic talent as well as a skill to convert that artistic talent into digital graphics.

Companies are facing a reoccurring problem. Their web graphic designer is not really a web graphic designer but a print designer or works with already pre made digital graphics. Meaning the individual lacks the skill set to use programs to transition their graphic art work to a digital format. The print designer is skilled at creating graphic layouts on a physical surface such as poster board. Companies are not realizing this problem until they have already hired and spent money on benefits for an individual that claims they are web graphic designer.

The company's solution to the problem of helping a web graphic designer make the transition from print design to web graphic design may cost more to the company than what the employee is worth. This problem of a lack of knowledge on web graphic programs and making a transition of physical graphics to virtual graphics is raising questions to both the employer and the employee. How can this problem be solved? First before the problem can be solved, knowledge of web graphic design needs to be acquired. This can be done through either schooling or through a resource that can provide directions and tools to get the employee caught up to speed on the skill sets needed to complete the goals of the company.

So what if the company you work for doesn't have the money to help you acquire the knowledge and skill sets for your job? What if you don't have the money at the moment for school? A solution to these questions is simple. Teach yourself by utilizing resources and downloading a graphics program from a friend or off the internet. There are many different programs and examples out on the internet that will allow an individual to design a web site and get ideas of how to design a web site with graphics. It really comes down to just knowing where to look and taking initiative to learn or teach yourself a graphics program along with a web site building program.

Chicago Web Design

A website is a fundamental marketing instrument for a successful business. Nevertheless, your business may include creating a business exposure, brand knowledge, seeking out volunteers or even selling of items such as widgets.

How do I opt for a website design? How do I go about while opting for a website? What steps do I follow?

Your first step will be to figure out as to how you go about getting a website of your own whether you would want a domain name with.com,.net,.inc, etc

How do you choose the right web developer and designer? Your huge list of choice includes freelancers, free online templates and consultants from agencies. However, the most important thing here will be to have a preset mind about your company's goals and business objectives.

Your first step towards determining your company's mission and vision includes formulating the goals in particular describing:

* Who will be your customer?
* How will your customers be aware of your website's existence?
* What will be your customer's role once he is on your website?
* What steps would be involved when the site is updated?
* What is your deadline?
* What type of ROI (Return on Investment) are you expecting from this website?
* How is the ROI measured?

Key points to be considered while searching for a web design company:

* Do you find the match point or an agreement between your interests and the portfolio of the web design company? Do they display an assortment in your work environment ranging from conventional or humorous? What is the ease of access of the sites displayed in the company's portfolio? Is there any outdated links, design problems or bugs to be fixed?
* Is the web design company working along with a similar set of clients similar to you? Has the company in the past designed a site that had the similar range of functions and expectancy for any other client in the same industry similar to yours?

Now, once you narrow down our options to a list of web design companies that seem to match your requirement your next step would be to contact them to get clarity on few more details such as:

* What sort of response did you receive for your query? Was there too much time involved? How long did the company take to respond back to your query? Was the company helpful? Did the web design company do a research about your company and its requirements? Ensure not to go by discussions followed by designs or long talks; rather try connecting as to how the company will ensure customer's will locate your site or how will your website generate more leads?
* What assurance do they provide with for their work and products? What sort of assistance is accessible? Is there a methodical test procedure in place? What are the conditions mentioned in the contract while signing up? Who is the final owner of the source code, IP (Intellectual Property) and designs?

Once you are through with your list of questions, you may narrow down your list further with the web design companies that match your requirement. Prepare a few proposals, review them carefully and verify references. Try reaching out to few of the company's past and current clients and enquire about the following:

* Was your objectives and goals met by the web design company?
* Was there a follow-up from the web design company's side even after the website went live or did the company just depart or did they offer maintenance of the website?
* How happy or satisfied are you with the web design?
* How is the functionality of the website?
* What is the response received from your customers with respect to the functionality and design of the website?
* Is the ROI (Return on Investment) met, as expected?




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