Month: January 2019

A great web design Santee calls for expert skills. You don’t necessary need to build your website from scratch without using templates and plugins but you need a surefooted web designer. But how do you really make your website stand out? In this article we shall be looking at the key principles that will make your website design look good.

Balanced design
Balanced design means your design doesn’t tip to one side. It has to be balanced in achieving asymmetry or symmetry. Needless to say, achieving symmetric or asymmetrical balance is hard and requires a lot of experience from a web designer Santee.

Compartmentalized with grids
Grids are simply a series of vertical and horizontal lines that help compartmentalize a design. Columns, for example, will make it easier for visitors to absorb the content. As a result, proper spacing and the use of Rule of Thirds will make it easier for visitors to consume your content. The Rule of Thirds is the reason why the side bars make up a third of the page’s width whereas the main content area is equal to the design’s width divided by 1.62. This is also the reason why in professional photography the target object is not positioned in the middle but at the point where there is intersection of imaginary nine-square grid. The Rule of Thirds in web design makes the elements easy on the eye.

Few base colors
The use of color is good but using too many colors will only lead to problems. What is more is that the colors you use need to be in the same color palette. Some colors blend well while others don’t. There are many theories on the use of colors but it all boils down to common sense and the right feel. Find the colors that work best and only use a maximum of three base colors. The colors you select must also go with the target industry. A restaurant website, for example, will do best with earthy tones like brows and reds. You should remember that every color you select will send out a message. Don’t pick colors Rambo-style with guns blazing.

Make graphics go well
Some websites just look dull because the web designer Santee never paid much attention to the graphics. The purpose of graphics is to complement the visual message. The background image should be nonintrusive.

White space
Last but not least, you should make use of white spaces. White spaces will help the elements to stand out. White spaces also make it easier for visitors to consume your content.

These are the essentials to creating a great web design Santee. It is, however, good to remember that good web design is not limited to these principles. Other aspects like readability, usability and accessibility play a huge part. The secret is to work with a reliable web designer.

Web design Santee

The type of web design Santee you use will be affected by so many things. Top on the list is what you are creating the website for. In this article, we will be looking at the crucial things you need to do when creating a simple website for your business.

Determine the purpose of your website
What do you need the website for? This is the first question your web designer Santee will ask. In general, a business website is used as a space to offer general information about a company. It can also be used as a direct platform for e-commerce. What do you need your website for? If you need it for ecommerce purposes you need to be clear on that from the start. If you will not be accepting payments through your site, you will not need to invest a lot in setting it up. Give your web designer the list of things your ideal website should be able to do.

Select a domain name
Now that you know what your website should be able to do, the next step is to purchase a domain name. This will be the address of your website. It is what visitors’ type into their web browsers to get to your website. The ideal domain name needs to be descriptive, easy to remember and easy to type. Keep the domain name as short as possible and avoid using numbers, acronyms, and abbreviations. You also need to select your top-level domain; the suffix at the end of your domain name. The most popular ones are .com, .biz and .net.

Choose a hosting service
The files of your website will have to be stored on an ever-online server. This is why you need a hosting service. Although it is possible to host your own website, it is not recommended. You need an external host that has the resources you need keep your website live round the clock. Your budget is what will determine the package you select: shared, dedicated or private server. Pick a hosting service that has a server that is close to your target market.

Build your pages
The third step is to build your website. You need multiple pages that are dedicated to the various aspects of your business like detailed catalog, blog and contact page. You will also need to create a logo for your website. When adding your content, you need to be clear on what your business does, have calls-to-action, avoid the overuse of stock photos and add only high quality content.

Test and publish your website
Last but not least you need to test and launch your website. Testing means making sure the website has no issues and that it loads smoothly on all major web browsers. You will also need to include an analytic program into your website.

These are the steps you need to take when creating a simple business website. Don’t forget to market it on social media and search engines.

Web design Santee

Are you getting ready for web design Santee? If you are, this article is for you. Building, managing and operating a website involves 6 main phases. The phases can be more or less depending on the type of website you are creating and the technique of your web designer. In this article we will be looking at the basic phases.

Information gathering
For you to create a successful website, the first thing you need to do is to gather information about the function, look and feel of the website. This step involves the solid understanding of the company the website is being created for. The web designer Santee needs to understand your business, your goals, dreams and how the website will be used. Before any work starts, the web designer should clearly understand the purpose of the website, goals it should help achieve, the target audience and the content that will be posted.

Planning
With the information in hand, the web designer will plan the website. This stage involves the development of a sitemap. A site map is a list of the main topic areas of the website and sub-topics. The sitemap will serve as the guide to what content needs to be added and helps develop a consistent and easy to understand navigation. The web designer will also choose the technologies to implement in the website.

Design
Now is the time to determine the ideal look and feel of the website. In doing so, the web designer has to keep the target audience in mind. A website designed for teenagers will be different from that built for finance institutions. Web design Santee should also incorporate elements like company colors and logos to help with branding. A good web designer will create at least two prototype designs of the website. These will be presented to you as a .jpg image. Once you select a design, the design work will start. You will be able to review the project throughout the design and development stages. Always maintain good communication with the designer.

Development
This is when the website is actually created. The web designer will create the pages and add the content. Such elements as CMS, interactive contact forms, and shopping carts are added in this phase.

Testing and delivery
This phase involves rigorous testing to ensure every element is working as it should. Testing includes cross-browser compatibility, smooth functionality, user-friendliness, load speed, SEO and so on. The web designer Santee will also ensure that the website uses the latest basic technologies such as CSS and HTML. Features may be added or removed in this phase.

Maintenance
The last phase is maintenance. New content and updated information has to be offered on a regular basis. The website features will also need to be updated and backed up. This is what the maintenance phase is all about. It is a continuing process.

Web Design Santee

Even with the best web design Santee in mind, you still have a long way to go before bringing the website to life. To navigate the challenges that come with web development, it is highly recommended to work with an experienced web designer. In this article, however, we shall be taking a look at the three options that you have when building a website. This is more so when you are creating a WordPress website.

Coding it from the ground up
This is the option for business websites. If what you need are custom features and functionalities, you will do best to work with a web designer Santee who can build your website from the ground up. That way you will have more control over what goes into your website and what it can do. The process starts with a discussion with your web designer. The web designer will listen to your needs and create a sketch of how he feels the website should look like. Once you give him the green light, he will create the website from scratch.

Since the introduction of WordPress, the majority of websites are not built from scratch. There are so many editable templates that you can use. Enterprise companies are mostly the ones that choose to build their website from scratch. The reason for this is because this option is quite expensive.

Use website building software
There are so many tools you can use today to build a website from the comfort of your home. WordPress has the best website builders. The best thing about the use of website building software is that you will get everything you need to create your website. You can install themes/templates and customize them to your liking. More functionality can be added using plugins. Although you can create your own website using the builders, you can still hire a web designer Santee to offer his expertise.

Drag and drop website builder
This is the fully automated option of building a website. For this, you can use services like Squarespace, Weebly and Wix. The best thing about this option is that you simply drag and drop the elements of your website to create the layout. The service will take care of all the technical aspects of web development. Minimal technical knowledge is needed.

These are the three options you can use to build your website. All in all, if you need a professional web design Santee especially for a business, working with a web designer is the best way to go. His technical expertise will help get a far more refined website.

Web Design Santee

Choosing a web design Santee is one of the most difficult stages in web development. You have to select a design that is unique, resonates well with your target audience and accommodates your content perfectly. The web design must also offer room for future development. All this can be overwhelming. The good news is that there are a couple of things you can do to select the ultimate web design.

Define your technology needs
This is in relation to how you want your website to perform. Do you need a brochure site or a website with certain functionality? Defining your technology needs is very important because it helps decide on the web designer Santee to hire. You also need to consider the following:

• The functionality you want
• How you want your website to grow
• If you need to edit and manage your website content
• If your visitors need to work with the website

It is imperative that you avoid using vague ideas or concepts. You also need to be wary of the technology you use to avoid technology lock-in.

Define your needs
How do you want the website to look and feel? Look at live websites that are similar to what you want. Doing so will give you some inspiration. Make a list of the things you like and dislike about the web designs you review. Discussing your needs with your web designer Santee will help you know what can be achieved in relation to looks and features and what cannot. Ask your web designer for a vivid design process that includes feedback stages. Always avoid vague wishes.

Define your business needs
The next step is to identify your business needs. What is the role of the website in your website? Will you be using it to advertise or as a portal for clients to buy your products or services? Always consider both near and medium term needs. You also need to consider the domain names, email, online services and the incremental value of the website.

Think about your content
Another important thing you have to consider when deciding on the web design Santee to use is the type of content you will post. Will you be adding lots of images and videos?

Define your budget
Last but not least, you need to define your budget and scope. How much time and money are you prepared to spend on the website? Always consider your current cash flow situation.  

These recommendations will help select the best web design but it is always good to liaise with the experts throughout the development period. You also need to keep an open mind. Your web designer might recommend something remarkable.

Web design Santee

Once the work on web design Santee and the backend part of your website are done, the next step is to launch it. This is the most exciting phase of web development. One of the main questions people ask is what to do next? Creating a website is the straightforward phase. Thereafter you have to think about promoting it, making sure it is always live and so much more. In this post, we will look at the 5 things you need to do immediately after launching your website.

Inform your staff
A well-informed staff is the key to a cohesive brand strategy. As a matter of fact, you need to inform your staff about the launch. Let your web designer Santee give your team information on the launch date and educate them on what is new and exciting about the new website. A pre-launch sneak peek will motivate your employees and create significant buzz around your website.

Submit the sitemap to search engines
As soon as your website is live, you want to make sure that search engines can crawl and index it. This is important because being indexed by search engines helps your website show up in search results. Submit your sitemap to Google and Bing. There are easy instructions on how to get your content on Google and Bing.

Talk about it on your social media networks
Needless to say, before you launch a company website, you must already have a social media presence. If you don’t, you need to create accounts on major social networking sites; Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Your first step after launching the website should be sharing the news about the launch on your social media. Make sure you add a link to your website on all your social media pages. You don’t need a long description. Just make sure it is engaging and exciting to followers.

Email both current and potential clients
You should have an email list before the launch. After the launch, you need to create more awareness by sending emails to your current clients, potential clients, partners and vendors with details about the launch. Make sure you include a link to your website. Don’t forget to include friends and family members to the list. The more people know about the launch the better.

Publish a press release
Last but not least, you need to publish a press release. Hire a skilled writer to craft a compelling press release that provides details on why the new website is a big deal. Don’t forget to share the press release on social media too.

These are the five things you have to do after launching your website. Make sure you always seek advice from your web designer regarding the launch and also keep an eye on the trends regarding website launches.

Web design Santee

Web design Santee has been made easy by WordPress. This is a popular content management system that powers more than 30% of the websites. The best thing is that with WordPress you don’t need any web development skills to create your own website. All you need to do is to purchase a domain name, get hosting and install WordPress. Even so, you have to worry about search engine optimization. In this article we will be looking at the best practices that will help your WordPress website rank better in search engine results.

Install SEO optimized themes
A WordPress theme is what gives your website its look. You no longer have to code the layout that you need. You simply install a theme and install plugins to add new functions. As a web designer Santee, you have to be very careful when choosing a theme. As much as aesthetics are a priority, you still need to think about SEO. SEO optimized themes will have the following:

• Valid HTML and a clean structure
• Proper heading as well as Meta title tags
• Correct canonical URL Meta tag
• Integration of open graph Meta tag. This will make it easy for you to share on social media.

In addition to the above, the theme you select must be lightweight. If the theme causes your website to take long to load up, it will lead to high bounce rates which subsequently lead to poor ranking.

Install social media plugins
The more social media shares you have the more value your website will have in the eyes of search engines. There are so many social media plugins you can use. Make sure that you read the reviews before you install any plugin. Here are some of the best plugins you can install:

• Simple Share Buttons Adder
• Monarch
• Easy Social Share Buttons
• Social Buzz
• Social Sidebar for WordPress
• Super Socializer

Every social media plugin has its pros and cons. Ensure you understand the drawbacks of the plugin you want. You must also not add too many plugins as doing so will bloat your website.

Invest in inbound links
Links are very important in SEO. Search engines look at the number of high quality links that your page has in order to determine the page’s value. More high quality inbound links means high value and thus better ranking. Don’t forget to add keywords to your links.

High quality content
Last but not least, you have to invest in high quality content. The content you publish has to be relevant to your audience. It must also be search engine optimized. Create content that is unique, helpful and sharable.

Web design Santee

Web design Santee calls for more than simply installing WordPress and installing the best theme and plugins. There is a lot more that needs to be done. One of the things you cannot afford to ignore is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO will account for most of the traffic that gets to your website. Having a high ranking is hence a priority. In this article, we shall be taking a quick look at the best SEO tips you should start using now if you have not implemented them yet.

Your web content is the best optimization
You best tool for getting a high ranking is creating high quality content. This starts with finding the best keywords then creating high quality and relevant content. Don’t start creating your content until you identify your target audience. It is only with your audience in mind that you will be able to create focused content. As a web designer Santee, you will also need to make sure that the content on your website is updated regularly. Old content is considered stale and will not benefit your ranking. If you don’t update your content regularly, your website will be flagged as dormant and search engines will overlook it in ranking.

Go straight to the point
It is very easy for you to be tempted to start by telling an unrelated story before delivering the important points. This is a strategy that some online marketers still do. They tell unrelated stories in an effort to paint themselves as leaders in the industry. In the long run, they end up boring their audience. When working on your content, it is imperative that you get straight to the point. Remember that your target audience is running short on time. The sooner you deliver the point the better. If visitors keep abandoning your page because it doesn’t offer what they need right away, this will be recorded as a bounce. A high bounce rate tells search engines that your website is useless and will hence not be ranked.

Fill the Meta description
The Meta description provides Internet users and search engine crawlers with a snippet of what your page is about. You need to spend a little more time filling this area before publishing your content. Make sure that your Meta data includes the relevant keywords. The snippet should also be as concise as possible and entice visitors to visit your page.

These three tips will help you move further this year in online marketing. There are many more trends out there but make sure you take the time to evaluate them keenly before implementing them.

Web design Santee

Every experienced web designer Santee understands that web design and SEO are two separate but equally important entities. This is why when hiring a web designer you need to hire one that has SEO experience. In this post, however, we will be looking at SEO best practices.

Responsive website design
Implementing a responsive web design Santee is a requirement by Google and other search engines. Websites with responsive designs get priority in ranking than those that don’t. You should not implement responsive web design simply because Google says so but because the use of a responsive web design will significantly improve user experience. If visitors cannot read, navigate, view or share your website on any device they use, your website will be ignored. Responsive web design ensures that your website can be used on virtually any device.

Another notable benefit of having a responsive web design is that you will not need to have a mobile and a desktop version of your website. You simply run one website that loads smoothly on any screen size. You will save a lot of time on updating, engineering as well as managing your site.

Site structure
Since SEO is a priority for you, you must create a web design Santee that accommodates both search engines and users. The parallax structure, for example, is very user friendly but it can cause you to be penalized by search engines for keyword stuffing if not used properly.

Meta Data
Meta data is made up of titles, descriptions, tags, keywords and other fields. The Meta data is simply a map that gives directions to both search engines and users. The Meta titles will inform users of what the page is about whereas the Meta descriptions will give a snippet of the information on a page. You need the Meta data for every page. Keywords should also be included in the Meta data. Ensure your homepage Meta title doesn’t just say ‘Home’ but gives more information about the website and the company. For example, instead of just using ‘Home’ as the Meta title, you can use, ‘who are we and what we do: webdesign, Santee.

Usability
As a web designer Santee, you have to account for load times, legible font, relevant pop-ups and SEO. The website you create should load fast, be easy to use and read and must be SEO friendly.

Bounce rates
Last but not least, you have to think about the bounce rates. A high bounce rate will cause your search engine ranking to go down. The average bounce rate for website is around 40.5% according to KISSmetrics. The web design and navigation has the biggest impact on the bounce rates.

Keeping these points in mind will help succeed online. The rule of thumb is to always remember that web design Santee is for end users and not for you. Keep your audiences first.

Web designer Santee

Web design Santee is very exciting especially when you get to see innovative and lovely designs. There is a vast amount of websites that are beautiful and functional. There is also a fair share of ugly and overdone websites that are simply useless. As you work on your website, the last thing you want is for it to turn out to be useless. As the New Year kicks off, there are certain practices you need to use as you work on your website.

Focus on the target audience
The whole reason for creating a website is so as to communicate with your target audience. This will not be the case if you don’t take the time to identify and understand your audiences. Every web designer Santee knows that a website is not just a lovely visual piece but also a portal for attracting the target audience and providing them with the information needed to make them your new clients.

Prior to working on a website, you need to answer the following questions:

• Are they familiar with your brand, products or services?
• What are they most interested in?
• How are your audiences different?
• Are you targeting different markets?

Focusing on your target audience from the beginning is very important. You must never lose sight of your target audience even as your website grows. Your target audience must be kept in the front and center even when making changes to your layout, images and design.

Branding must be consistent
Identifying your target audience is important but so is keeping branding consistent. The last thing you want is for your web visitors to feel like they landed on a completely different website when they open a different web page. A website design that lacks consistency is not just stressful but also confusing. You need to pick and settle for specific brand colors, and logo. The tone of your content should also be consistent. The key to achieving brand consistency is using predetermined logos, brand colors and messaging.

Simple layout
How easy is it to use your website? This is the question you need to ask as you review your current website. If the layout is not axiomatic, you need to think about redesigning your website. Simplicity in web design is more prominent today. Your web design Santee needs to have a simplified layout that is easy to navigate and one that allows every element to shine.

These three practices will come in handy as you strive to achieve more in 2019. Other things you should consider doing is to create a strong call-to-action, use high quality images/videos, enhance user experience and follow all the SEO best practices. Whether you are creating the website yourself or working with a web designer Santee, you need to ensure that the three crucial best practices are not ignored.

Web design Santee