Web Design News

In just these three short sentences there are two important lessons for web designers. Can you see them?

“Writers using short words and short sentences tend to sell more.

It is easy to think that if you just do more and add more value that you will make more money, but sometimes doing more just means simplifying and clarifying your words, or publishing in a more friendly format. If you want people to take action, to believe they can afford it, making them feel confident and comfortable works.”

The quote comes from this post on Aaron Wall’s SEO Book blog

Just lately I’ve come across several new websites where the designer has included a blog for their client. While blogs can have a very positive impact for some businesses they can have quite the opposite effect for others.

In at least two of the sites I looked at there had been very few posts added to the blog. In one case it was quite obvious that the business really had nothing to say in their blog and in the other it was obvious that the people behind the business were devoid of any original thought because all they did was post about what they had read on other blogs.

In both cases the blogs were really sending the wrong message to potential clients. Perhaps as web developers we should know when to recommend a blog and when to not even mention the idea to a person we’re building a site for.

Do you still have the excitement burning within you when you’re facing some new challenges?

I certainly do and I’ve got that excitement burning inside me right now because we’re facing one crazy week. Not only are we moving to new premises this week but at the same time we set to launch two new sites for clients, test a couple of low-key marketing methods and have a very interesting meeting with a client.

In November we’ll be starting work on a brand-new website for this client and when it’s finished he wants to launch it nationally and we’re the people he has asked to make that all happen. Now don’t think that this client is only talking about launching the site on the web because he isn’t … he wants to get his URL in front of a lot of eyes in a variety of places.

He’s talking print, billboards, buses, trains, radio, television and anywhere else he can get people to hear or read about his business. On Tuesday we meet with him to begin planning our strategy because he wants it to start happening as soon as his site goes live.

Yep … it’s definitely going to be an interesting week.

Usability in web design is all about designing and producing websites that are easy for people to use and understand.

These are sites where the navigation is simple and you don’t need a map to find your way back to the start - sites where the colors are a help in getting the message of the website across to the people using the site rather than a hinderance - sites where the text is easy to read and easy to understand too.

At least that’s my understanding of usability.

But I could be wrong … and I am beginning to doubt my understanding of usability … especially after coming across a website run for usability experts where the text throughout the site was in a colour that tended to blend in with the background colour.

If you or your client has something to say on a website then make sure that people can read the text. There’s nothing quite like black text on a plain white background to get your message across.

Yes we definitely are moving to new premises. Sometime around the end of October or the beginning of November we’ll be moving up to Luizzi Street in Pialba. It was so good to see this go up on the door of the new premises this week:

That means that this month and next month are going to be crazy as we start preparing for the move and then settle in at the new site. And just to make it even more crazy the work keeps on rolling in. We’ve already been booked up for over $11k worth of work in November and here it is, only the beginning of October.

To help cope with that work we’ve taken on some new staff. From today there are two graphic artists working with us, a new programmer and an e-commerce consultant who has plenty of hands-on experience. We’ll also be taking on several web designers as well just to keep up with the work.

It’s definitely an exciting time ahead and definitely one that Toni and I are looking forward to.