Is your web site a reflection of your company?

Is it everything you want it to be and possibly more? It should be.ÂÂ

The feeling I get when I look at some web designers’ web sites and portfolios, is that web sites are “disposable”.ÂÂ

If you get your site designed right the first time, this is something that won’t happen to you.ÂÂ

Your web site. Take a look at it. Is it just a pretty, electronic business card? Is that all you see? I have said this before, that a web site should make you more money. But how? It shouldn’t Read the rest of this entry »

The industry I work in is chock-full of good web designers, don’t get me wrong. But there are a lot of those who could star in a reality TV show called “Good Web Designers Gone Bad”.ÂÂ

There are two types of web designer who have “Gone Bad”, that you will hear me mention in my articles. But the kind of web designer that I abhorr most is–affectionally referred to by me–as the one that works for Read the rest of this entry »

Every business, whether large or small, local or international, can greatly benefit from these key things that can occur when you put up a web site:ÂÂ

Shave time off your workday.

Having your web site readily available for the public saves time for you because it acts like a virtual office/store 24 hours a day, and therefore you do not have to sit down and make up mailings and take unnecessary phone calls.

All you have to do is give them the web site address and let them view the pertinent section of the site which they are calling about. Let Their Fingers Do the Walking, then Surfing.Web sites can increase the response rate of your existing advertising efforts. A study was recently done by Verizon and Quest, which showed that response to Yellow Page ads increases by 30-40% when Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever encountered a web site that is just annoying?

Colors for the text and/or background in such a combination that plays tricks with your eyes or makes you squint? Such horrible web site techniques can make a perfectly good web site a bad one. Scrolling this way and that, images and objects that flash and jump, or pop-up windows, frames, and silly music that freezes up your computer, are all the makings of a web bomb and can totally ruin your visitor’s experience. The following will help you identify things not to do on your web site, things will really annoy your site’s visitors, or get them to leave altogether.ÂÂ

1. Aaaah - Flash! Not Gordon
What I can stand the least, is when I have to wait 5 minutes for a Flash effect intro screen to load when I first encounter your web site. I can’t even bear to think how the experience is heightened (not) for a person on a dial-up connection! No one wants sit through your fancy Flash movie or silly cartoon, just to get inside to Read the rest of this entry »

In the past couple years of being in business, I’ve been asked many common questions and have compiled a list of the questions and answers to assist you in making such an important decision. Your business is something you take seriously and I want to make the process of getting your business online as easy as possible for you! Feel free to call or contact me if you have questions or concerns.ÂÂ

When working with a web design company who will build your web site, it’s important to ask some questions and make an informed decision before jumping right in:ÂÂ

Does the web designer have a full-service company?

Do you just get a complete website on CD-ROM or does the designer handle uploading all the files for you, in order to have the entire site working correctly on a web host’s server? Try to find one that will build your site, get it onlne, and offer full technical support and/or post-development website maintenence and updates. Do you just get a on CD-ROM or does the designer handle uploading all the files for you, in order to have the entire site working correctly on a server? Try to find one that will build your site, get it onlne, and offer full technical support and/or post-development .ÂÂ

Can the designer build something I want?

Look at their portfolio, and also ask the designer if there are other sites that function in a similar manner to the web site they might build for you. Ask them if they would mind showing you a few working examples for you to look at and test out on your own. It is especially important to test their portfolio of online stores, Read the rest of this entry »

It’s important to pick colors and fonts you like, or that you think can convey a certain feeling. Even if the choice seems absurd.

Nowadays too many web sites use blue, white, and grey for their colors. Why not choose something different?ÂÂ

If you want, you can think of how they fit with your business image/company when choosing them.ÂÂ

Don’t over-analyze your choices. Go with a gut reaction as much as possible. but do try to stick with 1 or 2 main colors that would be used in major areas of the site, and then 1 or 2 accent colors. This gives you Read the rest of this entry »

 If you’ve ever had to sit and wait more than 30 seconds for a website page and its graphics to load, then it’s not their server that’s a problem. More than likely you have encountered a website whose author has used poor graphics optimization. Yes, there IS such a thing as too many graphics. However, even if a site has 4 or 5 images on one page, they should not cause a web user’s browser to lumber along, provided they have been optimized for better loading speed! In this article, I will touch briefly on how to fix this problem by addressing Read the rest of this entry »

Selling your professional service on the web, successfullyÂÂ

It’s hard to sell anything, let alone sell it online. Selling a service is even harder to do. Especially on your Web site.ÂÂ

Anyone who runs a professional service should know this. Many firms selling intangible goods don’t however, seem to recognize a few simple facts when it comes to marketing themselves on the Read the rest of this entry »

Web Site maintenance can be a frustrating and time consuming problem for many businesses.

Research shows that web site visitors are more likely to visit your site and make more purchases if it is updated on a regular basis with news, new products or services, new pictures, new graphics, layout changes, and more.

Mankato Web Design in Minnesota understands this and provides complete web site update and maintenance support whether you have 1 page or Read the rest of this entry »