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Web Design & Development
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Everything we do has its rules, and web design is not an exception. Some simple moments have to be known by everyone who works in this domain.
At the beginning of creating your web page, answer to a simple question: “Why am I doing this?” Because a site without a clear and well-defined purpose launch a message unconvincing and dull.
The visitor will ask, no doubt, "What serves this site? And if doesn’t satisfy his needs will rush to leave it.
If we take a look at all pages/sites, we can see that they are not made just to be on web. Everything must have a purpose. Every single part and element must help users achieve their goals and support the site's goals.
What means success in web design?
Success isn’t just professional skills, each of us can learn the basic elements of web design but not all will achieve the level of a “good site”. But for having a really great web page everything must be in a perfect combination.
Success is a result of good thinking plus some hard work, in which everything goes perfect with the site’s goal. This is what I call “golden rule”. All the elements from your web site must have well defined purpose. It must either guide the visitors to achieve their goals, or support the site’s purpose without forgetting the visitor’s goals.
Every single step of the process applied in accordance with the principle of Golden Rule will make a result that can bring you the success.
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Web Design & Development
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If you ask yourself “why we need a simpler site?” The reason is very simple. The user reaches the site and not just finds what you give.
A simple web design has much more benefits to visitors, clients and even for designers. A quality web design combine graphics and images to highlight what is truly important in a website: content.
A simple design must be, first of all, effective, which does not distract the visitor from what it should see: your offer. The time page loading should be very small so that the visitor does not wait for loading a photo or graphic element.
What are the advantages of a simple design?
Primary the Internet develops with a vigorous and amazing speed. So the visitor or users have to enjoy a high offer exposure to a platform that is easy to understand, especially easy to interact.
There are many benefits of simple design. The pages load faster for users. The content can be read faster and quicker responsive, at the same time much easier to be scanned by client eyes.
At the same time we can’t forget about your own commercial benefits. You can get more profit by making a quicker design or redesign. And it is easier to maintain and make work on different platforms and browsers.
Remember some rules for simple design.
If at first sign seems easy to design simply, then in reality is more sophisticated. It takes lot of skills, practice and clear vision. How can I get the practice in designing simply?
1. Keep your goals fresh in your mind! Don’t forget sometimes to get a break, when you’ll come back refreshed the work will have a new look.
2. First think and then do. Trust yourself completely, and let your mind work for you. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the tools, but don’t exaggerate with it.
3. What is more - is viewless! Too many images, elements or text will make the visitors lost and confused.
4. Be short and concrete. Let the content jump in user’s eyes. The visitors always will return to the page where they found fast the information they needed.
Most of all, simplicity in design can save your time and money. Or, rather it finds room in a budget for thinking creatively about the real design problems, which is where you can discover the solutions that deliver true competitive advantage.
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Marketing
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A brand means everything that you want to communicate consumers about your company or product.
It must be given a great attention to branding, it should be careful chosen because the result of branding is the first and primary method of communication and interaction with potential customers. If done well, your brand image can inform your consumers' thinking about your market position, value, quality, price, service level, heritage, size, and anything else that matters.
Good brands are those that are loved by customers and sales force. There are brands that are looking to the consumer in 10 stores until you find, to wait for 2 days if is required before the product appears on shelves.
How works a brand?
For a brand to work, it has to have credibility. The easiest way to be credible is to believe it yourself, too love and take care of it. It means being "Web Doctor". Like a method actor, it means leaving out the brand, so that it comes through every action and connection.
All companies that have the vaguest interesting marketing want to have a brand. Few are those who succeed. Because it's so easy to create on the web, a lot of people devalue their own brands even as they create them.
In terms that the competition and customer demands, on most markets increase, the pressures on budgets make the brand importance bigger for any business to grow.
Usability and Branding for the Web is crucial for communicating a positive brand impression. Do everything you can to ensure your visitors get what they came for, and have a smooth, positive, enjoyable experience.
Visual Branding for the Web.
For a company or goods to become a brand has to take a unique meaning, to make a public promise and respect. Be consistent with other media output, but don't necessarily apply every brand guideline slavishly, particularly with color. There is no Pantone for the web - you can't guarantee how a color will appear on your users' monitors, and not every printable color can be displayed on-screen.
How to become better.
1. Learn to be sincere with your client. Sincerity towards the customer is a very important factor when you want to win that customer in the long term. So your brand must be based on the reality.
2. Involve the client as part of your brand. He must attend the entire business process or at least feel it. Sense of belonging helps a lot in building long term relationships.
3. Go meet your customer. Should not be aggressive, you just have to let you know that you're there at their disposal.
Carrying a brand over to the web is more than following through your corporate colors and fonts. It's more important to translate your offline experience into a positive and compatible online experience.
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Marketing
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At a first sight, there is no difference about writing copy for the web, or writing copy for traditional print media. In fact there should not be a significant difference between the two, but still exist some elements that make all this process distinct.
1. Have a specific skill. Firstly, you need to understand the basics of the web, how it works and what it needs. You have to understand the way a spidering robot reads html code and what elements it looks for. It is more like writing copy for adverts, brochures or exhibitions than writing books or articles.
2. Say less, because according to some research people rarely read Web pages word by word. Instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences. Eliminate pompous words and fancy phrases. Effective online writing is not about impressing the reader with your extensive vocabulary. It's about communicating. Use short, simple words. Get to the point. And then stop.
3. Drive Actions With Content. Every page should be written as if the user has not seen the rest of the site. Content is about getting the reader's attention and keeping it. Content is about selling. Make sure your content is driving your customer's actions.
There are three ways in which an existing text can be adapted to make a website more usable:
1. Using objective language. The usability of the information on a site can be improved by 27 per cent by using neutral language rather than exaggerated language.
2. Making the text scannable. Modifying text to use bullet points, instead of lists within the body copy, improves usability by 47 per cent.
3. Making the text concise. If the word count is cut by half, usability will be improved by 58 per cent.
4. Create Effective Headings. A strong, attractive headline at the top of a page can make the difference between the page being read or ignored. Once you've attracted the eye, a headline needs hooks to catch your reader's attention. The heading is the most important piece of content you'll write.
When writing headings you have to:
»Keep them to eight words or less
»Include important keywords
»Avoid the use of adjectives and prepositions (and, a, the, of).
»Be clear and concise. Avoid wordy, wishy-washy phrases.
5. Write for how people search. If you want your site to be found when people search the web, use words your target readers use. Before you begin to write, sit down and think carefully about the keywords you're going to use. Then carefully weave those words and phrases into your copy.
6. Use Active voice. English grammar uses two 'voices': active and passive. Active is good, passive is bad. This is because passive voice uses slightly more words than Active, and takes slightly more decoding.
e.g.: "Upload new contact information on the contact us page" is better than "New contact information can be uploaded on the contact us page”.
7. Sell Benefits not Features. If you want your Web site to sell your product or service you must write about benefits and not about features. A feature describes a product or service. A benefit is what the user gains from using that product or service. Tell your customers how your product or service will make them happier, sexier, healthier and wealthier. In other words focus on making sure every line of your copy is dedicated to what's in it for them.
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