Articles in ‘Web Design’

• Why WordPress is the choice for Microblogging

  by Webfusion in Social Media, Web Design on June 14th, 2012 Post a comment

  With WordPress 3.4 now with us (see our UK sister site blog for more) the spread of the Blog giant is set to continue and apparently at a faster rate.

  For a while the popularity of Tumblr and Posterous threatened to halt it’s dominance, while Twitter and Facebook were never serious rivals and now more like partners for any WordPress based site.

  Now it seems those tempted by the ‘efficiency’ of microblogging are still staying loyal to WordPress and using the blogging platform to keep it short, sharp and frequent, rather than essay-long articles once a week.

  This blog on UpThemes has a great insight into why people are using WordPress for the shorter-form.

  In particular the control over the hosting – WordPress is free to install on your Webfusion hosting package – is driving more and more away from the temperamental services of Tumblr.

  Just to make it easier too the WordPress community have developed a host of micro-blog themes and also a set of plug-ins such as import Tumblr that even make it simply for former Tumblr fans to switch everything over to WordPress.

  The somewhat rebellious image of Tumblr is likely to see it live on for much longer, but it is probably the case that those driving progress over at WordPress feel a lot less threatened by micro-blog rivals than they did this time last year.

• Become an American idol, not a web idle

  by Webfusion in Web Design on February 10th, 2012 Post a comment

  You’ve probably heard it before, but site quality is the way to make your site popular, drive traffic and convert to sales.

  But what makes a quality site?

  Well it does need good SEO – getting a higher rank on search engine results pages, will always help you make your site more popular and usually with relevant traffic, but that doesn’t make it a quality site.

  Content is king, but in the modern world, being honest, king’s are little more than figureheads and just a part of the overall package. Of course your content needs to be well written, etc but good content is not necessarily the only or even main factor required to make a quality site.

  In fact, even an authoritative voice behind your content, offering pages and pages of relevant content, fully optimized for SEO will not mean your site is the best of the best. It will be a site of some quality but not the top quality.

  The real key behind a quality site and the ultimate rank for site quality is the customer experience. Usability used to be a big buzzword in the web design world and with tweaks and changes to the Google algorithm it is once again becoming the most important part of your site design.

  That’s not to say it is just a robot-pleaser. Obviously a site that is easy to navigate, easy to use, and easy to share, will become more popular too. visitors are much more likely to return to a site they enjoyed using rather than one, where they were frustrated by the need to over-click or needed more mouse moving than a playful cat.

  Google includes the time spent on your site by visitors as one of its ranking ratings. So making sure visitors enjoy their visit is also likely to ensure they extend their stay.

  Site load time is also a factor for Google and for your visitors. The modern internet user is less patient than ever and if it is taking too long will click away, further affecting your Google rank.

  The Google factor and search engine pleasing factors are important but remember they all flow from and as a result of a good customer experience. So as you redesign keep thinking customer, keep testing and also get it tested by less techie people than you. Make that work and your site will become more popular, more successful and more profitable.

• Tips from Google before you redesign

  by Webfusion in Web Design on January 12th, 2012 Post a comment

  If there was to be one resource to use as the bible for web design research the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog should probably be it. Run by web designers for web designers they also have the extensive library of Google knowledge and insight behind them so you should certainly listen to what they say.

  Posted just before Christmas, this blog probably passed most people by but is well worth a read and bookmarking. It trumpets the many various tools available under the Google umbrella – without over doing it – in analyzing and understanding your own website. Armed with the information they can provide, you can then ensure any redesign is much more in tune with what you need to do than any office brainstorm. Statistically backed evidence can’t be ignored and as this blog points out, there is plenty of it available free and easy using Google Webmaster tools.

  Have you analysed your site recently?

   

• Head to Head: Drupal vs Joomla vs WordPress

  by Webfusion in Hosting, Web Design on October 21st, 2011 Post a comment

  Sometimes you come across an article that you know you just have to share.

  Here are Webfusion we’ve been talking about new ways in which we can help customers get the most of their hosting space. Thanks to our one-click apps, our shared web hosting customers not only benefit from reliable and trust-worthy web hosting but also a whole range of free web-based applications that are easy to install in directories and get professional, functional websites up and running in minutes. One-click apps offer simple but effective ways of building a website.

  The three most popular of our fusion apps are the CMS (content management system) favourites Drupal and Joomla and the blogger’s favourite WordPress. All three are site builder tools that are modular allowing customisation and development of sites over time. All are easy to use and understand and all are being used across the world to run some of the biggest and most popular websites in the world, including the White House official site.

  So this article from ComputerWorld jumped out at us as it compared all three of the systems available as free fusion apps and offers positives negatives on them. It’s a great start for anybody not fully aware of the capabilities of the apps or what ones would work best with their own business.

  Have a look and let us know what you think.

• Lasting impressions can lead to future work

  by Webfusion in marketing, Web Design on September 22nd, 2011 Post a comment

  In the current market, pitching for new work can be hard. There’s probably a higher chance you won’t get the work you put effort into the pitch for – either because of greater competition or maybe the client not having the cashflow to make it all happen.

  Yet, the way you react to the rebuffal, the way you conduct yourself, could snag you future work so don’t go out in a blaze of glory.

  Here’s some tips on how to turn a no into a future yes:

  Keep in touch with past pitches

  There are countless CRM applications out there – SugarCRM one of our own one-click apps is a perfect example – that can keep track of who you have contacted recently and what they said. Use this to make sure you do make those follow up contacts in 6 months as they suggested – in fact make it 5 months as you know it could take a month to get a meeting set-up and you could also steer a march on your competitors.

  Begin a company newsletter

  If you sound busy, if it sounds like they might be missing out on a great opportunity unless they work with you, you are more likely to be invited back to pitch for work. Success attracts others wanting success, so send a regular newsletter – monthly is good but depends on your industry and company. Make sure past, present and prospective clients are on your mailing list. Existing clients may also see it and want to be featured, or be inspired by a different sort of work you are doing for another client and sign you up for more work. At the very least it keeps your company name in their mind.There are plenty of free mailing list applications like MailChimp to hep you on your way

  Don’t forget personal contact either

  If you are in the vicinity or at an even with a past client or would be client, don’t be shy, say hi. Personal relationships are the base upon which the best business relationships are built. Your business may have developed since you last spoke you may have more to offer, equally their business will have changed, with different needs that you could help with.

  Stay aware of your clients

  Even before you make contact make sure you have had a look at what your former clients are doing. They may have chosen somebody else for their webdesign over you before, but now 6 months on the internet is very different, is there something they are not doing that you could offer?

  Get Feedback

  If you do get knocked back or even after you have completed successful projects always ask for feedback. Don’t be an irritant but do try and be firm, as you will learn an awful lot from how others perceive you.

  In summary, be on top of things, be helpful and be aware. You never know what new work might be just around the corner.

  Do you have any other tips to share?

• WordPress the most powerful Web engine in the world

  by Webfusion in Tech News, Web Design on September 7th, 2011 Post a comment

  According to a blog post created from the Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word speech at WordCamp San Francisco 2011 last month, WordPress powers 14.7% of the top million websites in the world, and the trend is growing.

  That’s a figure up from 8.5%, and, claims Mullenweg, the latest data shows 22 out of very new active domain in the US runs WordPress.

  The key is the simplicity to get a WordPress blog up and runing and the cusomisation allowed via the 1,000s of themes and plug-ins out there. Simplicity includes being able to update sites via smartphones, meaning dynamic sites are no longer a drain on time and resources.

  Don’t forget WordPress is one of our many One-Click applications, free with our Unlimited hosting package. Have you tried it?

• Webmaster Tools and Analytics integration

  by Tim in Search Engines, Tech News, Web Design on June 17th, 2011 Post a comment

  Google is on the hunt for volunteer Webmasters to help with a new pilot project aimed at integrating its two most successful add-ons Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics.

  The idea is to supply website administrators with a more holistic view of internal traffic and SEO data. It will also allow Webmaster tools to take advantage of the graphs and charting functions of Analytics.

  According to the Google Analytics blog this integration has been top of the wishlist for many Google users.

  A limited pilot is planned to far, with not all those looking to sign-up likely to be successful. So if you are not a chosen one, you may have to wait another year or so to see how it all works.

  Have you been selected for the pilot? We’d love to hear from you.

• Socially designed

  by Webfusion in Web Design on January 7th, 2011 Post a comment

  

  Image: nattavut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  Web designers, you’re proud of your work and already have a lovely website that demonstrates the quality of your expertise. But have you ventured into the social media realm to promote yourselves further?

  This article will provide 3 essential tips you may or may not already know about to help create a presence within social media.

  Facebook pages

  You may already have a Facebook page and “like” various pages that match your personality. Have you set up a page for your business/ services?

  When searching for web designer in Facebook I can’t find any personalised pages which promote specific web designers. This could be a valuable opportunity to show off your best work using the FMBL tabs to personalise the look and feel of your page.

  Four Seasons hotels and resorts have a clean, elegant design for their Facebook page – a perfect example of personalised Facebook pages: http://www.facebook.com/FourSeasons

  Twitter

  Using Twitter you can reach an audience using a maximum of 140 characters at a time. If you’re looking to create a personalised Facebook page you could use Twitter to help promote it.

  For example, if you have an opinion on other peoples designs, web related or unrelated, you can share them with your audience and give your opinion on it. To make your audience engage with you more, you might also want to ask them their opinions.

  Using Twitter would allow you to ask the question to a bigger audience, rather than limiting yourself to just Facebook. You could also provide any updates and news that Twitter users can find on your Facebook page.

  With Twitter you can personalise your background design and profile photo, so use this to your advantage to display your creative skill.

  Blog

  There are various blogging platforms out there for you to use. I suggest using WordPress as it appears to be the most popular with a whole range of useful applications.

  Using a blog can help create content related to your field that you can promote through Facebook and Twitter. The design idea from earlier can be easily generated through the use of a blog and the Twitter and Facebook profiles can raise questions regarding the article to generate engagement from your audience.

  With many blogs you can completely personalise the look and feel of the page so add your own style to it. You can even integrate this into your website.

  So there you have it: 3 tips on 3 platforms that can begin your journey into social media and generate an audience for your work.

• Start 2011 with a new look Facebook Profile

  by Webfusion in Business trends, Development, Web Design on December 31st, 2010 Post a comment

  Earlier this month, Facebook introduced an update to present everyone with new layouts to their profiles and walls which made posting status updates slightly different in format.

  Since then, customized profiles have been popping up around the place and we thought you might like to know how you can produce something as elegant as the examples below.

  

  (Images found on Google image search “personalised Facebook profile”)

  Get your image

  Firstly you need to select an image that will look good in pieces like the ones in the examples above. You will need Adobe Photoshop or other image slicing software to do the next part.

  Slice it up

  The biggest part of your image on the left (your main profile picture) needs to be 180 pixels in width. The height can be as tall as you wish.

  The small boxes at the top of the image need to be 68 pixels high x 97 pixels wide which will contain other elements of the main photo to achieve the effect shown above.

  Upload

  Go to photos > upload photos and select the images you want that compile the whole image. Be sure to allow the images to share with everyone so that everyone can see.

  Once saved don’t publish them to your stream unless you want to. Tag the photos from last (furthest right) to first furthest left (not the profile picture) with your own name so they can appear at the top in the way the examples do.

  Last but not least upload the biggest portion (the profile picture) as your profile picture to complete the effect.

  Your Facebook profile will now hopefully now stand out from the crowd and your friends will be bugging you to ask how you did it. Be sure to send them our way.

  The steps above were inspired by the very useful video “Facebook ‘Profile Picture Hack’ Tutorial” by xadacka which is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vhvJqGgzmoQ#!

• Is your blog more important than a flashy website?

  by Webfusion in Business trends, Hosting, Web Design on November 4th, 2010 Post a comment

  There used to be a time when you spent all of your time, effort and money on producing a nice looking website and then perhaps a year or so later ‘developed’ your presence further with the introduction of a blog.

  Nowadays however, with improved blog software, templates and plug-ins, many are turning to blogs as their main and often first step onto the web – even for businesses. For those new to the web, applications like WordPress (available as one of our one-click apps) offer an easy to understand and update, yet professional looking entry onto the internet.

  Even those with more experience are also considering the benefits of a blog-driven site. It is instantly more “dynamic” allowing you to easily update content including multi-media assets. All updated in an instant and with comment enabled, it can also encourage two-way feedback with potential customers. If you use the blog element to talk about your industry too, if others like what they read, it is a great way of developing your business as a respected authority in your field and boosting your credibility.

  Blogs with their ever changing content, likely use of various keywords and often more topical conversations can also boost traffic to your site. Changes in content alert many search engines on which it is already listed of a need to revisit the site to re-index. As a result a blog-driven website is likely to be ‘checked’ much more often than traditional sites. Plus if your blogs are archived search engines are notified of new content on your site this gives them an opportunity to visit your site to index it.

  If your business is a small team, blogs also offer the chance for the updating function to be a shared responsibility. Mobile phone apps also offer the chance of updating the site live from wherever you are. Keeping your customers up to date with what you are up to is a good way of attracting interest and loyalty.

  Obviously, for the best of both worlds the most successful option would be to run with both a traditional html website and a blog site. It is important however that you integrate the blog as far as possible into the main site and it is not always easy to ensure the blog site appears to be in the same style as your main site.

  We are not saying it is the end of traditional websites, but the modern trend for updates, insights and dynamic content mean any business looking to make the most of their internet presence, shouldn’t forget the benefits of using a blog, either stand-alone or integrated.

  How have you used a blog for your business?