by Artisan | Website Design Journal
What are the top 9 general features you should demand of your website design?
Features in Every AquaJazz Website Design
- User Friendly, Feature Rich, WordPress Management Dashboard
- Owner Controlled Domain & Hosting on a Light Budget
- Top of the Line Hosting Platform & Well Tested Plugin Software
- Cutting Edge Design, Fashion, Color Schemes and Layout Tools
- Strong Hacker Protection with Intruder and Update Email Alerts
- Compatibility with All Browsers, Mobile Devices and Tablets
- Visitor Traffic Monitoring, Reporting & Diagnostic Tools
- Interface for Writing and Publishing Journal or Blog Articles
- Configured for Optimal Search Results in Your Field & Region
As your website designer, my first priority is to learn your business and tailor the features and the interface to enhance your business success.
by Artisan | Website Design Journal
What are the dangers to your website in 2015?
Here is what can happen. Robotic password finders attempt to log into your website by pounding on it until they decode your password. Malicious code can be injected into a plugin or page that redirects users to other websites like pornography. You might not even know that you clicked a link in an email that put a trojan virus on your computer that has stolen all your passwords and personal information, then they break into your accounts and do damage. This last one is very bad and would require extensive repair that I can’t even get into right now. Don’t click on links from strange emails without consulting the source first. The other two can be prevented most of the time by proper website assembly. This is why you need to hire a professional website designer.
AquaJazz equips websites with protection from hackers,
Security monitor and firewall plugins can protect you from most invasions, or at the very least, alert you when they happen and provide a fairly quick clean up solution. You need a good password, and you need to change it to a new one at least every few months or even more often. If you have the kind of website that might be a frequent target, we have to install very high security plugins and set them to maximum protection. This sometimes involves a fee to the plugin developer. Some of the free plugins are enough for most websites, and these plugins are quite sophisticated and only available to websites built with a CMS like WordPress. If you have a hand coded website, it probably won’t pass the test on a tablet or smart phone, but worse, it is probably going to be very vulnerable to hackers.
If you are invaded, and the damage is extensive
The best repair strategy is to revert to a version or copy of the website that existed before the hack. You can only do this if you have been backing up the website regularly. This can be an automatic task scheduled and executed at the hosting panel, or facilitated with a plugin that sends you copies that you save on your computer. Now you know, but keeping track and making it happen is what your website designer should do for you.
by Artisan | Website Design Journal
At the first moment of contact with a client, the client usually asks me the same question: “How much is this going to cost to have you build my website?” I always have to answer them with a question: “What do you want your website to do for you?” Often, they are not clear on the answer. So then, I have to probe deeper. But before I can ask another question, I often describe all the things a website can do for them. Sometimes they want a website that is much more robust than they realize. Sometimes, it is just a fancy brochure. Sometimes they have created a lot of the content for the website already. Other times I am expected to do all the work for them. In this article, I hope to at least educate my clients and readers about some general uses applied to websites with a list that covers the most common goals. Here is the list and some definitions.
1. Brochure
Brochure websites typically require a Home page that is a simple introduction with nice graphics and a choice or two of where to click next. The next page might be a description of the Services you provide, or the products you create. Then next page might be a Profile of the owner or the staff in your company and their credentials. The next page might be Pricing & Procedures, outlining how much you cost to hire and what the client should do next to engage you. The final important page is Contact, where you provide your location, mailing address, a Form for sending messages, maybe directions to your office, and a phone number.
2. Magazine
On the Internet (the Web) a Magazine is basically just a Blog. a Blog is a series of articles arranged in chronological order, which is the same as a magazine. A Blog system is built into every WordPress installation. If you want a Blog, write some articles and gathere some images for each article before calling me. I will install the articles and activate the Blog system, which will fill the Blog and show us what the magazine will look like. In addition to the magazine, you will still need other Pages similar to on a Brochure website.
3. Ecommerce or Shopping Cart
Again, you will probably start with Pages similar to a Brochure, but the Home page is going to look like an online Store, with products listed and available to place into a Cart, then purchase right there online with a credit card or PayPal account. Shopping Cart systems require more setup and a lot of configuration. To build one requires a lot more time and effort for both the website designer and the client. See my Portfolio for an example of an ECommerce website.
4. Classes, Events, Performance Calendars
Again, begin with a Brochure. Then we can add to that the type of Calendar tools you need. Perhaps you need clients to be able to sign up for an event. That would be more work than just a Calendar of events. Sometimes it involves a purchase too, which can be handled in a simple or not so simple way. Let your website designer know that you need these features before expecting an evaluation of the scope of the work and costs. Will the designer be entering a large number of events for you, or are you going to do that maintenance work yourself? Will you need training to know how? Training is another element.
Dashboard Training
Unless you want your website designer to become a member of your part time company staff, then someone at your company will need to be trained to use the WordPress Dashboard and tools we have installed to run your business. The more tools you have, the more training you will need. This will also affect your estimated cost for website development. Can we train you on the phone, in person, or will you be asking for documentation? These tasks are all different in cost as well.
Conclusion
There are several more possibilities, but this covers the common elements and gives you an idea of how to get prepared. Hopefully this short essay will help you get prepared for making our first conversation productive. Before I can write a proposal and offer a quote or estimate for website design, I need to see all the materials you have gathered and planned to submit for inclusion on the website. The more material you have carefully organized and gathered and sent to me, the less expensive the website will be to price out, and to build.
by Artisan | Website Design Journal
Choosing Tools
I do not waste time hunting for themes, showing them to you, only to discover they lack features in critical areas or to find out some important part is broken. I use a Framework theme that I have already tested many times and I’m sure it works, is well supported, and will work for along time in the future. A Framework theme is a set of tools for custom designing a website to fit the needs of almost any client.
Learn Your Business & Objective
But design is not the first job. First I have to learn about your business. Your website will be a tool for improving your business. I need to know how to optimize your website to achieve your particular goal. If we do our job correctly, you and I, your website will be unique and reflect your vision.
Outline & Produce Content Components
The next step is to outline your objectives, then produce content such as photography, sales pitches, product descriptions, staff bios, diagrams of ideas, logos, slogan, taglines, schedules, pricing patterns, anything that will become a component in the website. These components are the building blocks of the design. We must have them gathered up to understand the kind of website we need to build. Before we gather the content and decide upon the details of your intentions, we don’t even know how large the website will be.
Outline the Navigation & Sketch Page Layouts
Now we can outline the actual website. We can identify an ideal navigation pattern, sketch some page layouts, and even begin installing and configuring all the software. Yes, there will be layout sketches and outlines, but no, I do not recommend wasting a lot of time trying to create Photoshop renderings of final pages. We know which pages should contain which segment of content. The software has a lot of intriguing tools for displaying that content. New ones are invented every week. We should develop the design while building the website, and let the content shape the outcome. In this way, websites are not like buildings. It is more like a painting. You don’t really know what the final design will be. Ideas happen during the design process.
Begin Website Assembly & Content Imports
I would then load up all the images into the Image Library, ready for placement. I would create the empty pages and link them to the navigation pattern. Then I would begin to develop various modules of content on each page. During this period, the client, you, can visit the website sometimes and watch it being assembled. It will look sketchy at for a while. There will be good formats and weak ones that will replaced the next day. Then eventually it will start to resemble a final design.
Real Time Design Process
As you watch the website being built, you might get a few new ideas. Be careful not to throw a cherry bomb into the canoe and create a lot of extra work with ideas that cancel out all the work you just paid for, but there is always room for improvement and it is easier to see new ideas during construction than before there was anything to look at.
Proofreading & Testing
A website really is a piece of software, with a UX design, modified code, many links and images, and a well defined and intended function. Therefore, when it is completed, it needs to be thoroughly proofread and tested. Do not underestimate the importance of the testing period. You will catch errors in links and in language. No one is perfect. A month after you have launched your website, you will see another way you need to improve it. If you do not make improvements, then you are ignoring one of the most important tools for success in your business that was ever invented.
AquaJazz is here in Portland Oregon. Call me to talk creatively about your new website design.
by Artisan | Website Design Journal
Your website might need a MakeOver if . . .
- The page is clinging to the upper left corner of the browser.
- The print is tiny, or too big, or both or all mixed up.
- The color scheme is kinda dirty, sort of depressing.
- The background is busy and the print is not readable.
- There are too many colors, and they are not complimentary.
- There are too many type style fonts and their ugly.
- The photography is amateur and uninviting or out of focus.
- The images are too small and scattered around randomly.
- The reader has to choose from 30 to 75 different links.
- It’s hard to decide what to read first.
- The page is too narrow when it could fill the screen.
- Each page looks like a new website, not design consistent.
- There are links that are broken, or lead nowhere, or too old.
- There is no clear call to action or objective to each page.
- You have to search for the phone number and it isn’t linked.
- The website is difficult to navigate on a mobile device..
- The website does not inspire customers to contact or buy.
- You are not getting any business from your website.
AquaJazz would like to give your website a MakeOver.
Invitation to a MakeOver
by Artisan | Website Design Journal
The effectiveness of a website design depends heavily upon the application of attractive content. Words and colorful graphics are a fundamental necessity, but video is a powerful marketing tool too. It animates a website with a sense of life and action. Google does not read a video and rank you differently, but people tend to stay longer to watch a video than to read a lot of words.
When you script and produce and launch a video, it opens up new opportunities for your marketing. You can post the video on YouTube and expect a lot of traffic you can redirect to your website. If your video is particularly good, you can post it on Vimeo for the same effect. You can place it on your home page to capture the attention of visitors and encourage them to investigate your service more thoroughly.
No one can predict the marketing edge you will get from this, but in most cases, it is a significant boost. People are getting fond of information delivered through video. It is easier and more entertaining. You will draw additional traffic from YouTube to your website. You will impress your customers with more stimulating advertising.
Video Marketing Statistics
- Video increases the chance of a first-page Google result by 53x (Forrester)
- Video in search results have a 41% higher CTR than text (ReelSEO)
- Video in email marketing has shown to increase CTRs by 96% (Implix)
- Visitors who watch a product video are 85% more likely to buy.
As your Website Designer, I would encourage you to produce videos, post them on your YouTube channel, and let me include them embedded into your website.
