Graphical Updates Of Web Designs

By Albert Decruz 

Web design is creation of designs in the web pages of the web site. Web design constitutes more innovated and technical aspects with huge information. Web designs are the process of modeling, designing, structuring and executing the aspects which are suitable for the web site. Web designs may comes up with collections of more designs as per the ideas and plans to make the web site with more new web designs. Web designs include contents, files, tags, update pages, graphics and so on. Generally web designs comprises of innovated and graphical techniques as well as they are created to become easy approachable to the web searchers and it is done using wide understandable techniques.
Generally, web site comprises of web designs and web designs forms major part of the web site. Today, in this competitive world web design fetches more demand and it comes through all over the world. Nowadays, most of the people started knowing the need of the web design and started utilizing it. Hardly web designs become more important and essential for every web masters who handles web sites. Web designs provides well designed and graphical web site to the web searchers and also for the web masters. Web designs are done by the web designers and if they design the web completely, then it can be said that the web site fetches more offers from the customers as well as more response among the web searchers.
Nowadays, most of the web designers are capable of offering efficient technical and graphical web designs to the web sites. To make the web design effective and efficient, then the web master should provide and use some techniques and tips for it. Generally an efficient web design comes up with good presentation of graphics and designs. To make it efficient, professional web site designer's help can be taken and they are the one who can provides efficient web designs to the users. Generally, web designs constitute text, graphics, designs and images. Web masters designs web sites to increase the traffic, rankings and links in the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Msn.
Web designs can be made using efficient web designers and he may use more application such as CSS, HTML and many other kinds of languages. Every web designs made by the web designer should be compact and the web design created should be structured has it is easy approachable and easily understandable to the web searchers. When proper web designing is done for the web site, then the particular web site fetches more demand among the web searchers as well as the web designers come up with more popularity among the people.

Alberdecruz is a Copywriter of Houston seo services He written many articles in various topics.For more information visit: Best web design contact his at alberdecruzseo@gmail.com

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Qualifications To Become A Web Designer

By Stuart Mortimer 

To become a web designer in the UK you don't really need any formal qualifications by law in order to set up on your own and start designing websites for clients. This is both a blessing and a curse to professionals wishing to work in the web design industry. On one hand it makes it very easy for professionally skilled individuals to join a rewarding and potentially very lucrative industry. On the other hand the industry is given a bad name, confused and cheapened by cowboy web designers, who enter the industry without adequate qualifications, skills and experience.
This article outlines the qualification that you will realistically need in order to embark on a career in web design and obtain a role with a UK web design company.
Qualifications Needed:
First of all, to become a web designer one of the pre-requisite qualifications in the UK is to be higher educated. This means a minimum of a Higher National diploma (HND) in a computer or media related subject or better still, a degree from a red-brick university. I personally hold a first class honours degree (BSc) in computer science from the University of Sunderland, which I am certain allowed to get me a foot in the door of one of the leading web design companies in the Yorkshire area. Studying for such qualifications allows you to develop an awareness of the industry and allows a lot of time for self learning of software skills and web design techniques, which are critical for a career as a web designer.
Skills Needed:
Some (but not all) of the skills which you will need in order to become a web designer are:
HTML
CSS
Photoshop
SQL
ASP / PHP
Macromedia Development Packages
Flash
Of course the skills that you need will vary depending on the area of web design that you intend to persue. Graphically oriented web designers will need strong graphic design skills such as adobe photoshop, fireworks and flash. Web Designer that are more coding oriented will need a strong command of the following skills: HTML, CSS, SQL and ASP or PHP. The latter are usually referred to as web developers rather than web designers.
Getting All Important Web Design Experience:
The time taken to achieve competence in web design technologies in my opinion is 3 years this can be coupled with the time it takes to study for a degree at a UK university. Of course formal qualifications are only a small piece of the puzzle. It is the experience gained from your first web design job that you will find most valuable.
From my own experience, I learned more from my first 6 months working in the web design industry than I did during my 3 years at university. There really is no substitute for the experience of working with a professional web design company and being able to ask experienced web designers for help and advice.
Developing A Specialism:
Over time it is definately worth developing a web design specialism. For me it was the development of search engine optimised website. It was that particular area of web design that took my interest and the area in which I have excelled as a website designer. Becoming a specialist in a particular area will really raise your stock and will allow you to become and expert in your own particular niche.

Stuart is a web designer in Barnsley, Yorkshire, UK.
Stuart specialises in search engine friendly web design in barnsley for businesses of all types.

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Web Design-Impact Beyond Measure

By Tara McGovern 

Like a 'mind-boggling' yet enthralling Pablo Picasso painting, it is essential for websites to create captivating and thought-provoking material to lure an audience and, secure a solid fan base. Naturally, abstract paintings require quite a bit of out-of-the-box thinking when deciphering the artists' vision, thought and message. This is the kind of allure that a website needs to uphold so that it can become successful over time. By ensuring that users are sufficiently stimulated on a continual basis companies will eventually attain devoted subscribers. This is what every company desires, though the trick is to develop a site that is not clad with complicated design elements (which could affect usability) and bland content that'll bore browsers to tears, but to establish an effective balance.
Of course, if a website does not contain substance one cannot expect a great response or loyal following, now can you?
According to research, a website that has relevant and informative content can help to position a company as professional in view of the interested and targeted consumer. If a website can clearly and efficiently show a potential customer that the company is knowledgeable and up to date in their field of expertise, the consumer becomes confident and trusting of the services offered. Take into account that a web site is multi-functional entity that serves as a communication tool, thus it plays a central role in improving the impact and image of a brand. Consider your website a personal interaction with both current and potential consumers. Because of this very notion, even the slightest 'balls-up' can jeopardize a company's reputation. Yet, however gripping a website's content may be design elements have a dramatic, if not crucial impact and contribution to make.
There are a few prominent aspects of a website that is greatly influenced by web design. Keep in mind that web design's influence on the success of a website runs deep. These are but a few significant and fundamental elements that are magnificently affected by web design.
Usability is key
When a user punches a few keywords on a keyboard, instant and relevant information and a no fuss policy is expected. Instance coffee and fast-foods bears testament to how today's world has evolved into a fast-paced, 'I want it now' society. The Internet is certainly a result of this mindset. Life has become easier, like baking a cake from a box. Most users have a short attention span, when it comes to finding the information that they need and want. Because of this very reason, usability is a vital. As far as making content easy to find, with good web page design, a user should not have to wonder what to do next. Navigation is there for a reason and, makes thing easier and get information to the user ASAP!-which is what you want. The next step should always obvious. The easier it is for customers to find what they are looking for the likelier they'll buy or enquire.
It's like being stuck in the queue at customs at the airport, waiting for your turn to be serviced. Frustrating isn't it?
It's been noted that too often web sites are focused on looking attractive without considering the user. Many have won prestigious design awards, yet perform extremely poorly and as a result lose customers by the thousands. According to research 50% plus of online sales are lost because visitors aren't able to navigate through a website and find what they are looking for. Another factor that plays a major role is how long it takes for a website to load. Research states that it makes good sense to ensure that a website loads fast. Studies have shown that if visitor are forced to wait for more than 8-10 seconds for a page to load, clients run a serious risk of losing potential consumers.
As a rule of thumb, every single web page should load in at least 8 seconds or less, preferably on a 56k modem.
Flash has been named as a huge factor when it comes to the usability of a website. However, Flash has become a popular tool in internet marketing and is now widely used across the web. But, there can be drawbacks so it needs to be carefully determined whether or not a site will benefit from its use. One of the benefits of using Flash is the visual appeal of it. It can be used with navigation, by adding interesting visual graphics. Although, one disadvantage about using Flash is that not all internet browsers have a Flash player moreover, not all users may want to download it. Needless to say, Flash technology tends to discourage usability for very apparent reasons. Flash can cause bad design, break the Web's fundamental interaction style and it also consumes resources that would be better spent enhancing a site's core value. Approximately 99 % of the time, the presence of Flash on a website hampers the usability and distracts the attention from the site's core value and purpose.
Perhaps, Web designers interested in enhancing usability and their site's overall business presence should use Flash sparingly?
By focusing on improving usability, web designers are able to keep users interested, for the long haul.
Our lives are filled with colour. What would the life be like if we lived 'black and white' lives? Colour adds interest and can determine whether a website is fresh and alive looking or it can also create a dull and dreary image, which is not what any client wants. In the world of web design, bad colour schemes can make a site look unfriendly, amateurish, and inaccessible. So, it comes as no surprise that over 80% of visual information is related to colour. There are various reactions to colour which are instinctual and cross universal and cultural boundaries. According to a 1997 survey by Cooper Marketing Group, Oak Park, IL, power is represented by the color scarlet red for 25% of respondents, black for 17% and bright violet blue for 13%. More than 55% of those surveyed chose one of these three colors out of 100 colors. Fragility was most represented by pale pink (27%), white (9%), and pale lavender (9%).
Note that colors can be perceived by people as different moods and emotions. When designing a site one should consider the mood that needs to be portrayed. These moods can vary from person to person, depending on their life experiences. Web design which achieves successful marketing results is sensitive to the cultural, instinctual and iconic meanings of colour in relation to the product or service being promoted. More importantly, it also considers the cultural backgrounds and gender of the targeted clientele. Avoiding the extremes of sheer garishness and boredom, effective design displays symphonic colour arrangements of shades, tints, tones and complementarities to tantalise and maintain interest. Adding textures too can alter colours - a roughly textured surface makes a colour seem darker, while a smooth surface lightens the same color.
Although, it also stands a designer in good stead to know what colours signify. Different shades of colours work well in different situations. For example, using very saturated colours all the time is not always good, by using shades that can make certain things stand out more or less than others. For example, it would be good to have elements in the main content stand out more than in the sidebar, because that is where you want to draw attention. When making sites you have to use your common sense when picking colours. For example, if you were making a business site you wouldn't use bright pink, because this would look childish and unprofessional. Another example, if you were making a laser eye clinic site, you wouldn't use red as this would imply danger and blood. Scary.
These days computers support millions of colours (16bit or 32bit) meaning the compatible colours between systems have increased. The new palette, based on 16bit systems, is the web smart palette which supports 4096 web smart colours. When changing colours you must ensure the contrast between the colour and the text on it is enough for people with poor eyesight to see, or at least offer a high contrast version. There are sites with grey text on slightly greyer background making it very hard to read, this is bad accessibility wise. Also note some colours can be annoying together, for example some people have difficulty looking at green and red together, green text on red would be a very bad idea. In most instances, finer details are forgotten and falls by the wayside - consider color blind people on the web, ensure they have options to see a version they can actually read.
The Impact of Web Design on Conversion Rate
A simple description of conversion on the web reads as follows; Conversion refers to the form that an interested party fills out in order to buy a product from a company. A Web Site Visitor Conversion occurs when a user takes key action to do so. Conversions can be macro (the most significant action) or micro (one of the many actions that precede the macro conversion). For most sites, conversions are what can be directly or indirectly traced to a financial return. Spending money on search engine marketing or online advertising might be a waste of your resources if a site is a poor converter. Inevitably, conversion determines website profitability.
Once again it is essential to make a web site to easy to use. If not the less chance there'll be of people buying.
Interestingly enough, making a site accessible is a legal obligation in many countries. Inaccessibility can affect sales, as visitors will find the site impossible to use and go elsewhere. Apparently a typical inaccessible site could be losing 5% of potential sales because of this. Many designers only pay attention to Internet Explorer. The justification for this is usually that 99% of the site's users use IE. It never seems to occur to the designers that perhaps the reason they have so few visitors with other browsers is that their site is fundamentally broken - it doesn't work in anything else.
Percentages of people not using IE varies from site to site.
Approximately 80-85% of web users are using IE on Windows, which means that an average site that does not work in anything else could stand to lose 15-20% of sales. Visibility is also an important factor. For instance, when a user decides to buy a product, they add it to a shopping basket. How do they add it? By clicking a button or link. But what happens when they can't see the button? They go elsewhere. There are plenty of sites out there with buttons that are too subtle, or don't say the right thing, or are hidden away at the bottom of the page. "Add" is considered an ineffective button text. "Buy" is fairly successful. "Add xxx To Your Basket" is great. "Add xxx to Your Basket" in big letters on a big, bright button, near the top of the page, is even better. Calls to action, like this, don't have to be bland but they must be obvious and clear.
Sites which are just call to action according to research could earn a 1% to 30% increase in sales as a result.
The impact the web design has on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
It is a known that having a Web site rank well in search engine results for searches on specific keywords/phrases. If a Web site doesn't have a page appearing in the top 10 search engine result positions (SERPs) the chances of someone clicking on the listing, and actually visiting the site, will drop dramatically. Optimizing a site and content for a search engine, for a better ranking in SERPs, is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), yet many Web developers/designers either don't take time to code a site properly or don't know how to do proper SEO. The basics of code optimization are just sound HTML coding practices; when followed, they go a long way toward SEO. There is a lot you can do to optimize your Web site for search engines from the code level.
The first rule of SEO is not to design your site in such a way that the code prevents a spider from being able to index it. This means avoiding pages which are 100% graphics and no text, such as pages that contain all images, or are Flash-only. Furthermore, if the first thing a user encounters is a log-in page, before being able to see the site's content, then that's what a spider will see and it won't go any further, either. If you're planning to build a Web site entirely in Flash, Don't. If you have no choice, then read my previous column, Search Engine Optimization and Non-HTML Sites. To find out what a spider sees on your site, run a spider simulator on a given page. The simulator will show you what text the spider sees and what links it finds. There are many good ones on the market at various prices. If you're looking for something that's free, I'd suggest Search Engine Spider Simulator.
There's certainly plenty of room for further impact, depending on the subject matter, in regards to information architecture, copy writing, interface coding as part of web design or the layer of graphic design (usability). Web design encourages confidence and trust in the site as it is able to look legitimate and "professional", depending on the design elements chosen. Web design can maintain a clear, consistent and unified message and operation. Obvious as it may be, a good site should be memorable. Being memorable, and making sure you stick in the user's mind, is dependant on a lot of factors. It's no good if your visitors remember why you are great but don't remember your name.
Evidently, web design is much more than just a pretty picture.

Do you need the creative digital genius of a web designer? If so take a look at ApprovedIndex.co.uk where you will be sure to find the right web designer for your needs. Approved Index allows you to find, compare and request free advice and quotes from leading UK based Web Design Companies, among many other services, enabling you to find the best value for money for your needs.

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Is Your Web Designer Ripping You Off?

By Richard Quick 

Nobody likes being ripped off - especially if they're in business.
Yet most businesses are paying hundreds or thousands of dollars to their web designer for shoddy, substandard work. Are you?
Luckily, there's a quick and easy way to find out.
Go to:http://validator.w3.org, type in your website address and click on the "Check" button.
If the page you see says "failed validation" in red writing, you might need to speak to your web designer - especially if there are more than a handful of errors.
Is your web designer one of the cowboys?
Unless you own a cattle ranch, you probably don't want to employ cowboys. You certainly wouldn't put up with substandard work from a builder or electrician, would you? What about an accountant that didn't understand tax laws, would you want them handing your finances?
Well, most web designers produce websites that are shoddy and substandard - and worst of all they don't even know it.
How can I tell if my site isn't up to standard?
Many professions and industries have standards. With some professions, like medicine or law, you need a qualification before you even start doing it. Other industries, like food processing or construction, aren't so strict about academic qualifications, but they do have standards that have to be met - like health and safety or food hygiene standards.
There's no academic qualification you need in order to become a web designer. All you need is a computer with internet access and the confidence (or in some cases arrogance) to call yourself a web designer.
However, although many people (and most web designers) don't know it - there are standards for websites.
What's more - it's really easy to test your website to see if it's up to standard. All you need to do is visit a website (http://validator.w3.org/) and you can test your site.
What are Web Standards?
Websites are programmed using a computer language called HTML. There's a right way to program HTML and there's a wrong way. The right way to program HTML is called "Web Standards," anything else is the wrong way.
The difference between the right and wrong way to program a website is technical - so if you're a business owner you don't need to understand the details.
However, you do need to understand that if your web designer hasn't used Web Standards it means:

• Your site will do worse in Search Engines - so you'll get less visitors
• It will take longer to download - so you'll lose more of the visitors you do get
• It could cost you more to maintain the website
• It's harder (and more expensive) to make changes to the website
• Up to 40% of people might not be able to see your website properly because they use different type of computer or web browser than your web designer.
• Your site is probably not going to be accessible to people with disabilities - which could mean you could fall foul of your local disability discrimination laws

Of course, you might not have all these problems if your web designer hasn't used Web Standards - but you'll certainly have some of them.
If my site fails to validate does that mean it doesn't use Web Standards?
Not necessarily.
The W3C validator (http://validator.w3.org/) is a useful tool for checking if your site uses high-quality HTML. However, it's not a 100% guarantee.
It's possible for a site to fail the validation on one or two minor points. If this is the case it's not a major problem, although you could ask your web designer to correct them.
However, if your site has dozens of hundreds of errors this is bad news.
It's also possible to for your website to pass the validator and still use out-of-date techniques, however this is much less likely.
Should web designers use Web Standards?
Yes.
To put it bluntly, if you don't know web standards, you're really not entitled to call yourself a "professional" web designer.
There are some occasions when it's acceptable to use non Web Standards techniques for practical reasons, but it has to be an informed decision.
How many web designers program websites the wrong way?
Unfortunately, most web designers program websites the wrong way. The sad thing is that many of them don't even know about Web Standards.
There are plenty of web designers that do use Web Standards, but they're in a minority.
Because there are no entry barriers to web design, anybody can set up as a web designer. That means there's plenty of choice but it also means there are plenty of cowboys producing badly-programmed websites.
What do I do if my website hasn't been created using Web Standards?
Well, you've got a couple of choices.
Firstly, you could contact the web designer that created your site and ask them why they didn't produce your site with Web Standards.
If your site is more than 1 or 2 years old it isn't reasonable to expect your site to have been created with Web Standards, as they weren't a well-known technique then.
You might find that your web designer now uses Web Standards and would be able to redesign your website so that it uses them.
They may be willing to do this for free, as a courtesy, or they may charge you for this.
Can't I just sue them?
I'm not a lawyer and couldn't offer legal advice.
However, I suspect that unless you have a written contract with your web designer specifying that the site should be built using Web Standards techniques you would find a legal route difficult.
What are my other options?
If your current web designer is unable or unwilling to change your site so that it uses Web Standards you could find another web designer who is able to redesign your site using Web Standards.
Use Google or Yellow Pages to find web designers in your local area and then contact them to see if they use web standards.
If they say yes, check some of their sites using http://validator.w3.org/.
What if I don't have a website yet?
If you don't have a website yet, or are planning a new one, make sure you choose a web designer that uses Web Standards to create their websites.
Resources
http://validator.w3.org/ - HTML Validator

Richard Quick is the author of the forthcoming book "Web Design in easy steps."
He has a background in designing websites for multinational companies and works as a freelance web designer in Cornwall [http://www.richardquickdesign.com], England.
Richard also runs a site selling Cornish Pasties.
More Details about web design cornwall [http://www.richardquickdesign.com] here.

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Web Designer

By Josh Riverside 

In recent years, there has been a major upsurge in the use of Internet-related technology. An increase in the application of information technology in different fields has opened wider career opportunities. The number of people using the Internet to get information, buy products, book reservations or search for a job is constantly rising. Web designing as a profession is most benefited by this phenomenon.
A Web designer is a professional who designs, creates, tests and maintains Web pages and Web sites. Web designers are sometimes just graphic artists, though most use the coding language html extensively. Web designers must be effective communicators with the ability to understand concepts and ideas and translate them into their Web site design. They are expected to create high performance Web sites using a variety of elements such as e-commerce, visual design, search engine optimized content, strategic layout and advertising. Web designers often work on many projects simultaneously while ensuring that each one is completed on a timeline.
There are a variety of tasks that a Web designer must accomplish while working on a project. It involves working closely with customers to answer their questions and to gain an understanding of project expectations. A Web designer also acts as an advisor, guiding clients through each step of the site construction process. A designer uses HTML, Java script, cold fusion and many other tools to write Web pages. They also usually know how to use programs including PhotoShop, DreamWeaver, Corel Draw and Quark.
The job market for Web designers has stabilized in recent years. Companies hire professional Web designers to create or maintain sites so they can remain competitive in the marketplace. The demand for Web designers is large because people from all walks of life such as doctors, lawyers, banks and retailers all need Web sites. The success of a Web designer depends largely on a blend of expertise and creativity.

Web Designer provides detailed information on Web Designer, Web Design Software, Custom Web Site Designers, Professional Web Site Designers and more. Web Designer is affiliated with Web Page Design Software.

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Finding a Good Web Designer

By Andy John Evans 

The Internet is more popular than ever and any business that is not online is losing out to its competitors. With many businesses and individuals now being aware of the tremendous power of the Internet, it has become very important for them to find a suitable web designer to carry out their project.
Unfortunately, the success of the Internet has also given the opportunity for unqualified and unprofessional web designers to market their services making it very difficult for clients to determine to best web designer for them. If your web site is made by a bad web designer, it can have a detrimental effect on your business and cost you dearly!
What Makes a Bad Web Designer?
Bad web designers are everywhere and they are able to dupe clients into giving them their business because most clients don't know the difference between a good designer and a bad one. Even directories of 'approved' web designers found on the Internet return nothing but incompetent web design 'wannabies' whom given half the chance will provide you with a website that will make your competitors very happy indeed. Here are the main things that indicate a bad web designer:

• Lots of animated gifs on their pages
• Overuse of Flash and JavaScript
• Unflattering/ clashing colours
• Badly written content
• A table based layout
• Shoddy graphics
• No mention of web standards or accessibility
• A website that does not validate at http://validator.w3.org

What Makes a Good Designer?Now you know the danger signs when you're looking at the website of a designer you are considering. Here is a list of factors that indicate the designer may be worthy of you time:

• A well chosen, attractive colour scheme
• A clean, crisp, easy to navigate layout
• A CSS based layout
• Mentioning web standards and accessibility
• Well written, clear and concise content
• A web site that validates at http://validator.w3.org

As well as the factors listed here, the designer should maintain good communication with the client at all times. They should treat the project as if it is their own and endeavour to surpass all of the client's expectations.
Where Can I Find a Good Web Designer?
One of the best ways to find a designer is to look on the major Internet search engines such as Google or MSN. However, be careful because the results supplied by these search engines will list hundreds of thousands of results and finding a really good designer amongst them could be difficult. Click through some of the results that sound suitable and subject them to the criteria already mentioned above.
There are numerous directories on the Internet that contain links to web design companies. Some of these directories claim to only link to 'approved' web designers, but don't be fooled into hiring a web designer from one of these directories. In reality almost any site can be included into these directories and inclusion does not mean the designers are reputable or reliable. There are probably many good designers in these directories but finding them amongst the list of bad ones could take some time! Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but be aware that inclusion into to most directories means little.
One thing to take into account when hiring a web designer is location. Due to the nature of the Internet you could hire a web designer anywhere in the world but keep in mind that if there are any problems you may wish to meet face to face. However, if you find a designer you are sure is suitable for you and they are located in another country don't be afraid to give them a try.
A final word of warning about choosing a web designer; beware of hiring a web designer just because a friend or acquaintance has recommended them. By all means check their website and see what you think but just because your friend is happy does not mean they have a good website. Your friend could be blissfully unaware of the damage being caused by their badly designed website.

Andrew Ward is a professional web designer from the UK. He is an advocate for web standards and is working on http://www.realdesignnetwork.com to try and help promote web standards and standards based web designers.
His personal site is http://www.2scopedesign.co.uk

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What is a Web Designer, Anyway?

By Alicia Harper 

As a web designer, I get all kinds of requests for information other than web design, and as a web designer I'm not really suppose to be able to do things outside of the web design area. I believe there are a few misconceptions about what exactly a web designer does. In this article I am going to nail down exactly what a web designer is and what they should be able to do. First I'll touch of the differences between a web designer and a web developer. A web designer is someone who creates the visual design and layout of a web page. A web developer is someone who does the behind-the-scenes programming of a website. For example a web developer creates the code for database websites.
Web designer's definition:
They give business/organizations a web presence by building them a website. Web designers are professionals who organize information, create page layouts, while communicating the business's information/opinions in a website. Web designers create another medium for the business to expand into. Creating a website enables the business to attract new customers, showcase its services/products, and to do business across countries (as opposed to one location).
What things do web designer's do?
That's a really good question. It is definitely hard to nail down what every designer must do in order to call themselves a web designer. A good web designer should be able to do both the design and the development, unfortunately for you the consumer, it doesn't always work that way.
Your web designer must be able to perform the following:
* Understand and keep current will all new emerging technology
*Layout web pages using HTML, XHTML, XML , and other programming languages
*Program HTML (hand code), JavaScript and CSS
*Translate your ideas, needs and expectations into a web page
*Design navigation elements (such as navigation bars)
*Create graphics in Photoshop or any other professional imaging software
* Effectively participate in a web development team
* Have an understanding on how to create Flash (authoring software used to create animation programs)
*Understand and implement web standards
* Have an understanding of Search Engine Optimization
* Have a basic understanding of typography, graphics and color theory
* Understand needs of users and of usability testing
* Have ability to analyze a target market
* Understand cross browser problems and how to fix them
A great web designer also has knowledge of coding languages such as:
* C++
* Python
* Java
* JavaScript
* Cold fusion
* SQL
* PHP
Sometimes it might be difficult for a web designer to have all those different programming languages under their belt. It is like knowing English, French, Chinese and German. Quite complicated. The more languages they know the better. Well that should help you on your search for a good web designer!

Alicia Harper is the owner of a Vancouver Web Design company and is a professional web designer [http://www.alicia.beseenwebdesign.com].

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Choosing a Web Designer - What to Look For and What to Avoid

By Tanya Stesen

Owning and operating your own business from day to day is a huge task in itself. Tack on the chore of choosing a professional web designer and well it can get overwhelming.
Choosing a web designer or developer should not be taken lightly; a web designer is responsible for creating and establishing your corporate identity and online presence. Your business web site speaks for you when you cannot. What does your current web site design say about your business? Does it portray a professional, reliable business? If not here's a few tips for finding and selecting a web designer.
What to look for
Portfolio Samples
A good web designer or design company will have an online presence. Ask to see the designer's portfolio and links to some of their current web site designs. Beware of designers that are offering web design or graphic design services with no online presence. Take the time to navigate the designer's web site and some of their client's sites to get a feel for their skills and also to make sure all links, navigational features, etc. function properly. Often unskilled web designer's sites will have dead links, misspelled words and other errors.
References
Most reputable web designers and companies will post client testimonials on their web site. These are a good indication that the designer is experienced and that past clients have been satisfied with their work. Beware of a long list of testimonials with no client information such as company name or a link to the web site. Most web designers will link their client's testimonials to their sites so you can verify that they are in fact a happy customer.
If the designer's testimonials aren't readily available ask, and verify them. Call or email the references and ask how their experience was with the designer and if they were satisfied with the work. This may seem like a lot of work but having a web site professionally designed is a financial investment and an important one to your business. It's wise to do your homework before jumping into anything.
Contact Information
Now this might seem like common sense but check the designer's web site for clear contact information such as a physical address and telephone number. A designer displaying only their email address and website address as contact information is not very credible and you should request and confirm the designers contact information prior to paying for or putting a deposit down on your design services.
Look for Familiar Logos/Affiliations
Displaying familiar logos such as credit card logos (Visa, MasterCard and so on), PayPal verified logos and other affiliation logos such as groups and organizations lends credibility to the web site and the company.
Who Is
No that's not an incomplete statement it's the name of a directory that you should familiarize yourself with. Using the WHOIS database you can search and find out information about an existing domain name such as the owner, how long it's been registered and other useful information. The WHOIS database will provide you with the contact information of the person or organization that registered the domain name you're inquiring about.
http://who.godaddy.com/whoischeck.aspx?se=%2B&app%5Fhdr=
Check out your prospective designer if you have doubts and verify that the information listed matches the contact information they are giving you. Beware of designers that have blocked or privately registered their domains to prevent consumers from accessing their information. With that being said we must also state that legitimate companies sometimes block their domains, usually in an attempt to prevent spam but it's not something we suggest.
Compliance with W3C and CSS Standards
This is often the most overlooked detail but the most critical. Most Web documents are written using markup languages, such as HTML or XHTML. These languages are defined by technical specifications, which usually include a machine-readable formal grammar (and vocabulary). The act of checking a document against these constraints is called validation, and this is what the Markup Validator does. Validating Web documents is an important step in web design. (Read more on why validating matters).
Unfortunately there are unscrupulous web designers out there that don't code to or even know the standards and their clients pay dearly for it. Check your designers site against the standards, if there site doesn't validate there's a good chance yours won't either.

Tanya Stesen specializes in web design and development for small to medium sized businesses. You can learn more about her company, her and her services by visiting http://www.dezignsbyt.com.

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Discover How To Make Your Web Design Easier

By Alexander Marlin 

Whenever I thought of web design my face would frown, I just hated the fact that I had to do any kind of web design. I just couldn't see why web design was simple for others and not for me.
Well, that all changed when I discovered this simple program, a web design machine made for those who just don't understand that you can do it yourself if, you would only keep your web design as simple as possible.
Since using this program I have been able to launch two websites with my own web design style within two months, these websites aren't perfect, but they do look very professional.
And, they carry my touch, yes, at last I can boost to my friends how easy web design is for me, because they have no clue that I am using my little secret weapon for my web design.
What does it take to design your own website?
Now, for those who don't understand what it takes to design your own website from scratch, I will give you five important steps you need to master, before you can get your website to the next level.
Five steps for perfected web design:
1) You Need Some Type Of Web Design Software
No one and I repeat no one, is doing web design the expensive way (The truth: Some are still wasting money paying for web design). Those who has enough money, pay for their web design, and those who can't will have to get their hands on a easy to use web design software that gets the job done.
2) You Need To Know Some HTML
No matter what type of web design software your using, you must educate yourself with a little HTML. There is no way around that. Once you get the feel for simple little HTML code snippets, you will notice that you never ever need to know more than that, because you already have my little secret weapon ( My secret web design software program, that I will lead you to very soon).
3) You Need To Know How To Layout Your Website
Wow, another killer, I had no clue how or what to do, much less layout a web site. That all changed when I bought my little secret weapon, it came with a manual loaded with tips on not only how to use the software, but also how to layout your website template.
4) You Need To Master Internal Linking
If you going to design your own website, you must know how to internally link you website together. Ah, well, not really if you have my secret web design software you won't need to know how. This is taken of by the program, it creates all your internal linking,
without you even understand how it's done, isn't that cool.
5) You Need To Keep Your Web Design Simple
This one should have been number one, because it is so important and yet so overlooked. Look around the web and notice the top sites online, they are all use very simple web design with lots of white space. Don't get flashy if your building a website for profit.
Look at Google and Yahoo, they are very simple and that's what you need to do when you design your website.
Anyway, I have given you some tips that should set your web design on fire, if you follow and study successful web sites online, you will see the trend, simplicity wins the web design war.
And now, for the long awaited secret weapon, just browse over to this simple web designed site and watch the video, you will understand why this is a secret weapon that only the guru's use, once you try it.
Be advised, your web design doesn't get return visitors, it is well written and informative content, so why spend thousands on web design, while searchers are only looking for information.

Alexander Marlin, Ebenezer St. Maarten A.N. He only uses simple web design tricks and teaches you how to build a website [http://how-to-build-website.com] that isn't an eye sore. One of his many profitable websites can be found at [http://how-to-build-website.com]

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Earn On Offshore Web Design and Development

By Julia Ramyalg 

If you have some experience in web site design and want to make good money you can try acting as IT-outsourcing partner. Learn more what you should know and how to start.
Why offshore web design and development?
Offshore web site design and development help to keep prices at least 3-5 times less, for example, average hourly rate of web development services in USA is $35-75; in UK - $25-50, in Ukraine - $5-20.
How it works?
Typical plan is like that:

• You find a client who needs a web site, ask his/her requirements for the project and send to your offshore partner company.
• The partner makes a proposal and gives you the project estimation basing on his hourly rate, for example, $10.
• You mark up the rate $10/hour as high as you wish (and can - taking into consideration competition in your region, level of demand for web design services, and other marketing factors), for example to $30/hour, and sends the proposal to the client. So if the web design project is estimated on 50 man-hours of work, you charge the customer $1500, from which $500 you pay to your offshore partner company, and $1000 is your profit.
• The partner company works on the project and delivers it to you along with copyright for the work.
• You deliver the site to the customer.

Result - you have a satisfied client and good profit from the marked up price.How to start?
The first and most important step is to analyze market in your region and decide if it's worth to start this business.
If you already have your own web design company it is easier for you because you already know situation in the market, gain certain reputation, have clients list, etc.
But don't be afraid if you are new to web design business. Believe in yourself and work hard and finally you will be rewarded for all your efforts. As in any type of business, starting the one in web design area, you must ask yourself general marketing questions:
1. Who will be your customers?
2. Why they will order the web design services exactly form you?
3. Where and how they will get to know about you?
Without having clear answers to these questions you shouldn't try to start anything.
The second step is to find trustful and reliable partner - offshore web design company - that will work as "development center" for your business. This company must have good experience in web design and development area, good reputation, top level of customer care and communication. There are many resources in the Internet where you can find necessary information - search engines, web design directories, outsourcing portals.
For example, you can try searching in search engines for appropriate key phrases "offshore web design", "offshore web site design", "offshore web development" and analyze sites of your potential partners.
Also here are several sites where you can find lists of offshore web design companies sorted by country.
http://web-designers.bluegeckonetwork.com/
http://www.theoutsourceguide.com/
http://www.1234-find-web-designers.org/
How to choose the right offshore web design partner company?
There are 2 main factors that determine your choice - cost and quality of web design work.
Cost
Basing on the average web design prices in your local market and your competitive abilities you set prices that you will charge to your customers. There are several methods of web design price calculation, most used are flat price for fixed web site packages, and price based on man-hour rate. Most web design companies operate with both and choose one depending on each project type and requirements.
Then you decide which profit you want to have and narrow down your search choosing companies with appropriate price range.
Quality
Consider the company reputation, portfolio of previous works, testimonials of previous customers, level of communication. Pay attention to payment policy and method, conditions of ready projects delivery, warranties, post-development support and maintenance.
If all details are agreed you may start partnership. Sometimes the first project is quite simple to test abilities of both parties and if everything is going well the partnership will bring mutual benefits.

Julia Ramyalg
Marketing Director
IT-Inventors
IT-Inventors is a professional offshore web site design company. We are located in Ukraine and due to local economy we can offer your affordable rate $10/hour for custom web site design and web development services. It's at least twice less than average Western European rates and more than 3 times less than USA rates.
We have developed more than 130 projects for dozens of satisfied customers, established strong relations with partners from USA and UK.
Services we offer: Custom web site design, E-commerce web site design, Content Management Software [http://demos.it-inventors.com/cms1] integration into existing web sites, Real estate web site design, Flash sites design, Logo design, SEO.

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Learn the Truth about Your Web Design Company by Its Portfolio

By Julia Ramyalg 

When you start building your online business and search for a web design company that will implement all your needs for the web site you must understand that it is a very serious step because you are entrusting your business along with its reputation and future.
That's why it's very important to make the right choice.
There are several factors that must define your choice, and one of them is portfolio of previous web design works the company has done. It can tell you more than all words and promises, just be attentive and try to analyze. I will tell you what you must pay attention to:
1) Presence of portfolio
Yes, it seems to be obvious that web design company must have own web site with portfolio of previous works. But don't be astonished too much when you see one without it. There can be various reasons for this but I wouldn't recommend you to tempt fate. Portfolio is like a "face" and it's pride of web design company, it must be full, substantial, and routinely updated...and IT MUST BE!
2) Total number of works
This can tell you much however there is no standard number that will guarantee you are going to deal with web design guru. Yes, 50 successfully finished projects is better than 5, but their quality is also important. Compare the number with period of time during which the company operates in the market and calculate average number of projects per year, month, or week. Remember that average web site design takes 2-4 weeks to be finished.
What this information can give you? Firstly, you can see that the company has got enough expertise. Then this shows that it has stable flow of works, adjusted schedule of development process, and enough staff to perform it, so if you commit your web site design to the company you can be sure that the work won't be for them like a bolt from the blue or well-paid but not feasible overloading.
3) Type of works
Look attentively at each work in the portfolio. How many projects are similar to the one you need by type of site, technology used, industry, and look and feel?
At least 2-3? Good!
More than 5? Excellent!!
None? There can be a reason for this - owner didn't want to make it published, or web site is no more live - so if all other works show professionalism and expertise, you should ask the
company if they have ever done the task you need.
If you need any particular technology to be used for your web site implementation it's more than necessary to see examples how the web design company worked with it. However sometimes it happens if the technology is not common used and very popular that the web design company hasn't had chance to work with it for commercial purpose but it might be used for internal projects development, so you will loose nothing if ask the company to show you some examples if they exist.
If you need a web site for exact business, for example dating site or real estate site, it's also better to view such previous works in the portfolio because there are can be specific features and it's better to make sure that the web design company is experienced with them. Also some web design companies make demo packages that also can show you the abilities and experience.
4) Quality of works
Learn carefully each live site (or the ones which are similar to the site you need). How long does it take to load the site home page?
A few seconds? Great, the web designer knows how to optimize images.
A few minutes? It's normal if this is a Flash site because usually the whole site is loaded at one time, not only the home page; or it's a Flash intro which goes ahead entering the site
and also can load longer because of movie and sound.
But if a simple HTML web site loads more than 2-3 minutes and you can't see all images or they are shown partially, you must be watchful. Check another HTML sites from the portfolio - if they are also loading for ages, it's better to search for another web design company because this one is not professional.
All of the aforesaid is correct only if bandwidth of your Internet connection is normal and usually you don't have problems with loading web sites.
Test the site for user-friendly navigation, pay attention to colors combination, and estimate general impression from the site - all this must reflect professional work. But sometimes a web design company is forced to design a site strictly according to the customer's wishes, so if the customer lacks for good taste the site also looks tasteless. There can one or two such sites in the portfolio, but not all!
5) Happy owners
Web design business is a highly competitive area and as in any business there are honest and dishonest players. Sometimes it happens that you see the same site in portfolio of two different web design companies and it's difficult to find the truth to which of them the work really belongs. Some quirky companies place cheap templates in their portfolio with fake owners' contact info.
That's why it's very important to know real references of real owners of the web sites the web design company has made. Ideally this info must be accessible on the web design company site under Portfolio, Testimonials, or Clients sections. Try to contact ALL of the persons listed there and compare their opinions. You may get to know some interesting facts.
6) Own site of web design company
And finally compare the own site of the web design company to web sites presented in its portfolio. Are they similar by quality, technology used, and overall feeling? If the works from the portfolio look much poorer than the own site this can mean that the own site was ordered from another web design company, more professional. Yes, it happens sometimes in web design business that start-up amateur company commits its web site design to "older" professionals. In such case you better to continue searching for another web design company.
So these 6 rules can help you to make the right choice. Don't be afraid to spend longer time for search and analysis, finally you will only benefit by getting perfect web site that will give new prospects to your business and make it more successful.

Julia Ramyalg
Marketing Director of IT-Inventors - professional web design company
Services: Affordable custom web site design, E-commerce web site design, Content Management Software, Real estate web site design.
View Portfolio and References

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Offshore Web Design and Development - Use Great Opportunities

By Julia Ramyalg 

Sooner or later every small or medium business owner realizes that he needs a web site for his business. And almost everybody wants to have great web site for affordable price because usually web site design budget is quite limited.
There are few ways to find the best solution.

• Somebody prefers to design the site by himself - but it takes much time and labor, distracts from the general business, and let be frank - you have seen many of such "DIY" - web sites -they lack professional touch and look unfinished or overworked.
• Somebody decides to hire a professional web design company but in case of limited budget he has to say "good-buy" to many features he wants to see on the web site, because web design companies are also businesses and they can't work for "thank you very much" only.

So what to do when you want to have great web site but your web design budget is limited?
Think about IT-outsourcing and offshore web design and development!
There are many web design companies in other countries, mostly of Eastern Europe and East-Southern Asia that operate with small budgets and offer great web design works
How it is possible? There are different economical factors which condition on low internal expenses of the companies in these countries so they can do the same volume of work but for lower price than it costs in USA, Canada, UK, Western Europe or Australia. So offshore web site design and development helps to keep prices at least 3-5 times less.
You can say "Yes, this is cool that I can save my money but how they will do the work if I am here in USA but they are in Ukraine, for example?" Easily! In our age of Internet this is not a problem at all! Practice proves that for web site design project it's enough to have communication through email, instant messenger (ICQ, AOL, MSN) or IP-phone.
You can say "How can I trust somebody whom I have never seen before and most likely will not ever see?" Actually this question must the web design companies ask, not you, because there are many of IT-outsourcing companies and competition is quite strong in this area, so to get a customer many companies allow the first payment after 30-50% of the project completion, i.e. you pay after you have seen good results and satisfied with the work.
And as in onshore web design you need to pay much attention while choosing web design company: look at their previous works in portfolio, and ask about previous customers' references. Ideally all this information must be accessible on the company's web site.
As for the rest there is not much difference between offshore and onshore web site design process. You see the results of work in the progress, make your comments, see changes, agree them. When the project is complete and the site is ready to be uploaded to your server, you make final payment. It's also not a problem - you can make payment by credit card, PayPal, wire transfer, Western Union, etc.
So let's resume what you must know when dealing with offshore web site design:

• If you are on "tight budget" and can't afford spending thousands of $$$ for your web site design you should think about trying offshore web site design opportunities.
• There are many countries, which take part in offshore web site design; the most well known are India, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Philippines.
• To make right choice of offshore web design company for your web site design take into consideration the company reputation, portfolio of previous works, previous customers' references, quick and competent feedback to your initial request.
• To avoid problems you must be attentive and ask exact questions about payment policy and method, timescale and milestones of the project, conditions of the ready site delivery, warranties, post-development support and maintenance.

At your first experience with offshore web design you can see it to be too risky and complicated, but this feeling will be replaced with real satisfaction when you will see your new great web site live in the Internet and you realize how much you have saved on its design.

Julia Ramyalg
Marketing Director of IT-Inventors
http://www.it-inventors.com/

IT-Inventors - professional offshore web design company from Ukraine offers affordable custom web site design at rate $10/hr. Services we offer:
Corporate web site design, E-commerce web site design, Content Management Software integration into existing web sites, Real estate web site design.
More than 130 projects made, dozens of satisfied customers. We are always ready to help you become an owner of a great web site for affordable price.

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