Archive for January, 2010
January 5th, 2010 | 
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Rick Mann asked:
First, a caution: don’t overload your website with flashing images, loads of different fonts (or font sizes or font colors) and text swooping in from all sides. Keep your web site design simple, and never lose sight of what you want your visitors to do when they arrive.
With that said, images can quickly spruce up an unappealing website. This is true even if you do nothing more than add an image to your header and one to footer, and another to break up the monotony of your text. But the proper use of graphics can add even more appeal to your pages. Here are some quick web page design ideas focusing on graphics:
1. Swap Images - when your cursor passes over one web object, such as a button, it triggers the swapping of another graphic. For example, if I pass my cursor over a button that says Spain, when the current graphic is Canada, then a Spain graphic would replace the Canada graphic as long as my cursor remains over the Spain button. This is done using a simple JavaScript, and can be quite powerful when used properly.
2. Rollovers - are just another form of a swap image. In this case, a primary image changes to a secondary image when the cursor passes over the image link. Generally, when the cursor moves off the image, it reverts back to the primary image. Using our previous example, if your cursor passes over a blue Spain image button, it changes to a red button with a different Spain image. Again, this is accomplished with a simple JavaScript. Rollovers add a nice touch as long as you don’t overdo them or create a page that takes forever to load.
3. Background Images - with a little imagination you can frame your page with images. All you have to do is add columns or rows or a combination of the two to your main table and fill them with appropriate background images. For example, if your web site is about organic gardening, you might add a left-hand column and a bottom row to your table. In the bottom row, you can use a bean plant as the background image, having it begin to grow vertically at the left corner, where the left-hand column’s background image is a continuation of the plant growing up the side of the web page.
4. White Space – often referred to as negative space, is simply the open space between the graphic elements and text elements on your website. This includes the space between words and paragraphs, around images, etc. The reason it’s important to mention here is simple: white space not only gives your web pages a cleaner look, it makes the experience of reading the content much easier on the eyes. Don’t overlook this important element of web page design.
There’s no question we’d all like to have a great looking website, and hopefully these web page design ideas have been helpful. However, the most important thing to remember with good web site design is this: less is better. Don’t overdo your graphics. Add them to your website layout as complementary elements, not as attention grabbers. A little restraint goes a long way.
Caffeinated Content
First, a caution: don’t overload your website with flashing images, loads of different fonts (or font sizes or font colors) and text swooping in from all sides. Keep your web site design simple, and never lose sight of what you want your visitors to do when they arrive.
With that said, images can quickly spruce up an unappealing website. This is true even if you do nothing more than add an image to your header and one to footer, and another to break up the monotony of your text. But the proper use of graphics can add even more appeal to your pages. Here are some quick web page design ideas focusing on graphics:
1. Swap Images - when your cursor passes over one web object, such as a button, it triggers the swapping of another graphic. For example, if I pass my cursor over a button that says Spain, when the current graphic is Canada, then a Spain graphic would replace the Canada graphic as long as my cursor remains over the Spain button. This is done using a simple JavaScript, and can be quite powerful when used properly.
2. Rollovers - are just another form of a swap image. In this case, a primary image changes to a secondary image when the cursor passes over the image link. Generally, when the cursor moves off the image, it reverts back to the primary image. Using our previous example, if your cursor passes over a blue Spain image button, it changes to a red button with a different Spain image. Again, this is accomplished with a simple JavaScript. Rollovers add a nice touch as long as you don’t overdo them or create a page that takes forever to load.
3. Background Images - with a little imagination you can frame your page with images. All you have to do is add columns or rows or a combination of the two to your main table and fill them with appropriate background images. For example, if your web site is about organic gardening, you might add a left-hand column and a bottom row to your table. In the bottom row, you can use a bean plant as the background image, having it begin to grow vertically at the left corner, where the left-hand column’s background image is a continuation of the plant growing up the side of the web page.
4. White Space – often referred to as negative space, is simply the open space between the graphic elements and text elements on your website. This includes the space between words and paragraphs, around images, etc. The reason it’s important to mention here is simple: white space not only gives your web pages a cleaner look, it makes the experience of reading the content much easier on the eyes. Don’t overlook this important element of web page design.
There’s no question we’d all like to have a great looking website, and hopefully these web page design ideas have been helpful. However, the most important thing to remember with good web site design is this: less is better. Don’t overdo your graphics. Add them to your website layout as complementary elements, not as attention grabbers. A little restraint goes a long way.
Caffeinated Content
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directedbysun asked:
www.wevio.com This is a time-lapse video of what was originally about 2 hours. This video doesn’t portray how a website is really made. It takes hours upon hours of researching, designing, developing and testing in different browsers as well as platforms. More videos coming soon!
Create a video blog
Scott Lindsay asked:
What a strange title. Of course content is important! Why bring it up?
That is a good question. The reason I bring it up is because for many web designers there seems to be the attitude that they should simply provide several areas of fixed content that may appeal to search engines.
For most web designers this is a time saving tactic that bows to the notion that a site MUST be Search Engine optimized (SEO) without thinking about the life of the website post-launch.
Sometimes the online business owner does not fully understand the role of fresh content to the improved status of their website. In most cases the business owner is simply anxious to get the site developed and launched and hasn’t taken the time to wonder what happens after it goes live.
The web designer may not bring this up either. It is not that the web designer may not want the best for you, but they also know it may be labor intensive thus time consuming for them. They may also realize you might not have significant new data to include.
Fresh content can be culled from a variety of locations. You can develop fresh content on your own or you can ask vendors for content that they may have that could be dropped into the website as needed. One of the best tools for gaining fresh, topic-specific content is through a free articles directory.
This can solve some of the issues surrounding the need for content, but it may not address the ease with which you may want to see when it comes to placement of the content.
What I mean by that is that your web designer may be the one responsible for alterations to your site, but they may also be busy enough that your request may not gain first priority. Some site owners report requested changes to their website can take days, weeks and sometimes months for their web designer to manage.
In some cases it seems to online business owners that the web designer is only interested in getting you up and running, but does not care as deeply for the day to day changes you may need.
While there are some very responsive web designers available there is also a more personal solution to making content alterations to your website that functions on a timetable of your choosing.
Web builder technology allows you to develop and maintain your website when and how you want without the need for a third party designer.
In a world where SEO is so important to online business it is important to be able to keep your site fresh. If a web designer is not able to keep up with your needs it may be important to explore the possibility of web builder technology.
In many cases you can develop multiple articles for release and place an embargo on the content until a certain day and time. What this means is you can develop a months worth of articles and instruct the software when you want it to place the content online.
Imagine being on a business trip and still having new content placed on your site in your absence.
You can be your own web designer. The results are positive, the responsiveness is immediate and the costs are significantly less than other alternatives.
Kansieo.com
What a strange title. Of course content is important! Why bring it up?
That is a good question. The reason I bring it up is because for many web designers there seems to be the attitude that they should simply provide several areas of fixed content that may appeal to search engines.
For most web designers this is a time saving tactic that bows to the notion that a site MUST be Search Engine optimized (SEO) without thinking about the life of the website post-launch.
Sometimes the online business owner does not fully understand the role of fresh content to the improved status of their website. In most cases the business owner is simply anxious to get the site developed and launched and hasn’t taken the time to wonder what happens after it goes live.
The web designer may not bring this up either. It is not that the web designer may not want the best for you, but they also know it may be labor intensive thus time consuming for them. They may also realize you might not have significant new data to include.
Fresh content can be culled from a variety of locations. You can develop fresh content on your own or you can ask vendors for content that they may have that could be dropped into the website as needed. One of the best tools for gaining fresh, topic-specific content is through a free articles directory.
This can solve some of the issues surrounding the need for content, but it may not address the ease with which you may want to see when it comes to placement of the content.
What I mean by that is that your web designer may be the one responsible for alterations to your site, but they may also be busy enough that your request may not gain first priority. Some site owners report requested changes to their website can take days, weeks and sometimes months for their web designer to manage.
In some cases it seems to online business owners that the web designer is only interested in getting you up and running, but does not care as deeply for the day to day changes you may need.
While there are some very responsive web designers available there is also a more personal solution to making content alterations to your website that functions on a timetable of your choosing.
Web builder technology allows you to develop and maintain your website when and how you want without the need for a third party designer.
In a world where SEO is so important to online business it is important to be able to keep your site fresh. If a web designer is not able to keep up with your needs it may be important to explore the possibility of web builder technology.
In many cases you can develop multiple articles for release and place an embargo on the content until a certain day and time. What this means is you can develop a months worth of articles and instruct the software when you want it to place the content online.
Imagine being on a business trip and still having new content placed on your site in your absence.
You can be your own web designer. The results are positive, the responsiveness is immediate and the costs are significantly less than other alternatives.
Kansieo.com