Web Site Design

Website Contents a Changing Paradigm

2012-08-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

When we think about a good website design we come to understand few main aspects:

User Friendly

Unique Content

Technically Sound

Appealing

But at micro level the horizon widens and the scope depends on case basis. The content architecture has to be well defined. The important pages should be in the top rung of the hierarchy. Each and every write up should be limited to what the page is meant for. For additional information there should additional pages lower in the hierarchy that are created. Such pages should be linked to the topic relevant page and should not clutter the main page. Not to mention the contents should be robust.

Additional information can also be added using pdf file or a document.

Duplicate contents are no longer welcome nor are the pages which provide run of the mill information. Making contents unique does not mean article spinning. The information itself should deliver uniqueness and associated details useful to the searchers. Understanding semantics is very important if you wish to focus on the right search terms and to avoid artificially injecting a bundle of keywords which is tantamount to spamming.

After Penguin Update proper content content creation has become imperative if an interface has to survive on SERPs.

Optimized web design what it means?

2012-03-08T20:37:00.006-08:00

When we speak of web design it is a vast subject. What with old technologies and new one's being introduced there is maddening confusion as to what is a standard.

Well the technologies are generally bounded by the purpose and the type of the website. For say a static personal website may not require interactive features and the size may be limited. Hence the site will be easily manageable as well. But in case of an e commerce website or a corporate website there will be greater interactivity and the size may be mind boggling. In such case technology used may be different with lot of scripting and content management systems along with greater utilities and functionality.

For interactive web sites a web design company should have unique content writers, expert programmers and web designers in the team. But web designing does not end here proper planning and implementation is required. The web page designer should have first hand knowledge of the client site, the web as whole and user preferences before technologies perform their magic. That simply means there is lot human angle to web designing.

User are not impressed by technologies or what wonders it can do to make the designing task easier etc. In case of users, the friendly lay out and easy navigation means a lot. Then the content and utilities matters since the web visitor should find what he or she is looking for with ease. Information which is unique and relevant in nature means a lot to the user.

Search engine have learned to ascertain the above factors since they also consider that website is for users. In due process their algorithms make out besides the above many other factors. Some aspects that search engine rate a site higher are by its downloading speed, proper declaration of DTD and character sets, server query load, compatibility with web browsers and operating systems. They are also able to determine the internal architecture of the site.

There are some limitations under which the spiders works which the web designer should be aware of or he should consult a good search engine optimization specialist. Thus elements which search engine spiders and algorithms are not able to render correctly or are confused by should be avoided in website design and development process.

But over all the user takes the cake so preference is to make the site user friendly and unique. Most important the query returned is what the user types so make a well focused website rather than putting everything into one basket.

Web design navigation menus

2011-10-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

It is the most important aspect of web designing the navigation menu. The link architecture has to be set in first - a user friendly architecture that makes it easier for visitor to navigate.

The navigation menu has to be attractive and inviting and not a turn off. The menu list should stand out against the back but should nit look outlandish. The whole idea is to incorporate subtle color combinations that shows various elements on page as distinct.

In case of very large linking architecture drop down menus work the best. They should be neatly laid out with category well defined.Flyout menus can also be used in order to prevent a clutter in page.It i the innovative skill of the web designer as to how he creates the menus on site.

Website: Online success & You

2010-06-11T03:18:00.000-07:00

Almost everyone in business, profession, e-commerce has a website. There are lot many personal websites offering something or other. For many this is enough. The buck stops here.

Oh I have a website!

But does it have impressive online presence!

I have come across sites of major companies, service providers and ambitious owners lying neglected and in state of decadence. The search engines will remove such sites in due process from their result pages. As the indexing and ranking mechanisms evolves, it will become more and more difficult for decaying sites to compete on top search terms.

Remember the algorithms are in constant state of evolution mostly for the better. But some Universal principles will remain for ever. The site has to be content rich with unique contents embedded in user friendly site architecture. Fancy Flash header, images, graphics and melange of color is not enough. The search engine are less interested in how the site looks they are more interested in what the site offers in terms of searches made by the users. So keep on developing your site - well themed or topic relevant and better and better as time passes. If you do this you then you need not worry about what Google engineers will do with their skills on SERPs.

Though fresh contents cannot be added like in a blog, creating and describing more and more products and categories is the answer for websites. Deeper architectural layers, pdf or doc files should be added time to time or as offerings evolve.

To enlightened it is not enough. Your web site is the most important interface online. The website should be well designed user friendly and should make classic offerings. The website design and contents should speak out loud. The web design should be a continuous evolutionary process changing and adjusting with time and trends. There should be continuous addition of offerings and unique relevant contents.

Some sites do wonders just by following the above guide lines without search engine optimization. But do not be under the wrong impression since online success depends upon ranking on very large relevant well researched keywords. Constant keyword and content research is a must.

For web site owners online success on Google or Yahoo Serps SEO and SEM by an experienced service provider is a must. The better the Seo services and content creation the better will be the result. This combined with effective Internet Marketing will spell major success on the net.

Coming back to our topic constant build up of your interface is a must. This will come out good only if you as an owner is aware of this and cooperate with service providers. In case of website development owner input is unavoidable. Lot of website owners depend totally on service provider but if your input are forthcoming see how things change.

A good website designer, Seo professional and web content writer depends lot on owner interest and encouragement. In case of stiff keyword competition team work is entirely essential. Affordable solutions may not be of any good if they border on cheap. Good service means justified payment, else hard bargain will yield soft results or none at all.

Initiating a website design

2010-05-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

Website designing is not an easy task it is complex and requires skill. Web designing is not just creating a flash header, a few zigmos here and there, and scribbling contents as you please. Don't save money ...pay up and get the best. Cheap web design are for aimless cheapsters

Think Web Design

Right from a white board stage start thinking what is it that you wish to offer? How are you going to create a design that will spell success online? Your website is the most important interface. How you make it visible is a different matter - Seo, Internet Marketing - direct marketing whatever?

All your traffic will bounce if your interface is not apt. Best is to benchmark sites on same topic. Then let go your ingenuity and come up with a master piece. Your site should be talking about the topic and elaborate it efficiently. The very presentation of your site should highlight your topic at one glance.

Find out what is it that should be on your pages. On shopping sites images matter a lot, the details should be hooked with the thumb nails. The product details should be complete and elaborate the fine aspects. The images should be high resolution light in weight and real time. The images if not good will mar your online success terribly. Normally website owners hang images they are able to get without much efforts. Make efforts to upload the best...catch hold of a professional photographer. Define height and width or use roll overs. All this would increase site download speed. This is important as search engines have added page download speed as a ranking factor.

Design well the internal architecture of the site. Before you do this, get hold of a good web content writer who will create topic based and well themed content pages. Scale the importance of contents and then link them as per their importance. The most important pages should be on the home well and well highlighted. A user friendly site will have its main relational pages reachable in one click. Add sub topic pages to the most relevant relational page. This will create a good architecture as well as prevent clustering on the home page which is annoying and confusing to the visitors. Make home page with limited number of links and well defined content with tag lines. Do not clutter images, banners or ads on the home page. Spread these elements throughout your site.A confused visitor is a good as none.

Creating a hierarchy of internally linked pages as per their importance and topic is very important for a good site design. The deeper you go the better it is since this way you are offering more information which is relevant. It will beat your competitor outright on the SERPs. Use word file or pdf file to provide extra details or elaboration of menus, facilities, rates etc.

Internal linking should be relational and not random if you wish to create effective theme based silos on site. This is highly effective and quick way to reach on top in competitive search terms on SERPs. If the site contents are too complex and not themed well then link them in all pages on right or left panel. Don't try to gain anchor by linking coffee page to tea page if your site is on hot beverages.

Create separate pages for photo album sharing as regards to your product line. You cannot have too many images on one page. Link a page with thumb nail images and embed details that are associated with the enlarged image. If unmanageable yet than add them on photo sharing site album and provide a link. This will save your hosting space and hence the cost. You can effectively manage download speed as well. What more most of the photo storing sites are free.

Get hold of a professional Seo for on page optimization and promotion on search engines. An experienced Seo one will further your design by adding unique contents, fixing design elements and improving site layouts besides creating back links. Online website promotion is a must for high traffic and visibility.

Few points to take note of:

Decide on a suitable domain name first.

Approve themed content page suggestions from your content writer.

Focus your site on one aspect only. Do not try get everything from one site.

Select images carefully.

Check for uniqueness of the contents.

Create one template and see if it is apt. Then go ahead and create all pages.

Host the site on a quality server backed by sincere, attentive service provider.

Visit your site as a user would and see if it is friendly and content rich.

Check for bounce rate on Google analytic. This will give you an idea about how popular your web pages are.

Check the links all the time...your web designer should do this.

Check for clean code..the website programmer should do this. The website application developer should place all scripts on server side and not on the client side. This reduces server queries and increases download speed.

Check online forms regularly.

Add videos or music files in separate pages and not on the home page. Provide a link from the home page.

Avoid dynamic pages until unless absolutely necessary.

In a dynamic site keep main pages as static - this is good for indexing by search engines and promotion online.

CMS driven sites should carry unique title/meta description.

Add your company or personal blog.

Flashy animation - check if it suits the topic.

Keep thinking what else should be there on site, hence keep your site growing.

Keep on a look out for what changes are required.

But at any cost do not waiver from the core focusing.

Your website should be constantly evolving on the Internet. This will fetch bright results, improve online performance and goal conversions the ultimate objective.

Designing websites?

2010-04-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

To many web design is a standard simple task. A flashy header, few images, links and badly written or average content. The ideal victims are those who go in for cheap web designing. If you are not very serious about getting online business or some other purpose than a cheap web design will do.

For interactive purpose laden business or shopping sites the site design matters a lot. The site design and contents matter a lot when it comes to conversion. The most powerful interface is your website. Seo or searching optimization will rank your site. But goal conversion depends a lot upon your interface and what is written on it.

The site design should be topic specific properly conceived and themed. Web design is not just knowing how to use designing tools and programming. The creativity of the web designer and skills of web application developer matters a lot. Programming should be spot less clean coding. There should be no errors and the developer should accord efficient functionality to the user.

A flashy web design will do for an online gambling site but it will not work wonders for a hospital site. The color combination should also be suggestive of the topic. The images should be picture perfect and apt. Web design should be simple and sober in some cases while it could be loud and flashy in many cases. It is the analytical skill of the designer who delivers full justice to the client.

Web content are highly important.They should be unique and informative but terse. Users do not read a lot on site. The contents should be simply written but yet be able to evoke the right kind of reaction from the users. Quite a few website designing companies hire a good web content writer in their development team. Website content creation is an art. Loud and in comprehensive language fails. Another angle to content writing on website is that it should be search engine friendly as well. Search engine programs do not read content as humans do. A sprinkle of important keywords included naturally is a must.

Web content writers are not always copywriters, but an appealing tag or a catch line matters a lot in goal conversion. Short well phased informative contents with great degree of grammatical correctness is a must on site. Hiring a good web site content writer would be a great step forward for online success.

At every moment of your online presence think, dwell upon and comprehend what next you can do on site for success. Keep on developing your interface for maximum ROI.

Optimized web design what it means? - a knol by uday patel

2010-01-20T04:57:00.000-08:00

Optimized web design what it means? - a knol by uday patel

Website Design - Using CSS

2010-01-15T04:14:00.000-08:00

Website Design - Using CSS

Web Design - SEO Success

2010-01-15T04:12:00.000-08:00

Web Design - SEO Success

Of Link Rot And Navigation

2010-01-15T04:08:00.000-08:00

Of Link Rot And Navigation

Web design India | pateluday on Xanga

2010-01-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

Web design India | pateluday on Xanga

Affordable web designing in India | pateluday on Xanga

2010-01-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

Affordable web designing in India | pateluday on Xanga

Simple Elements Of Web Design

2010-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Simple Elements Of Web Design

Right Approach to Web Design

2010-01-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

Right Approach to Web Design

Web Development Disciplines

2010-01-05T03:20:00.000-08:00

Web Development Disciplines

Web Designer Ahemdabad

2008-10-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

There are many web design companies in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat. Though IT outsourcing is not as prominent in Ahmedabad nevertheless its presence is being felt. The city is making swift strides in service IT needs of many countries and web design is one of them.

There are both amateur and professional web designers in Ahmedabad who offer service at various rates. The rates depend upon the type of technology implemented and service provided. Most of the companies are comfortable with implementing latest technologiesby retaining those with professionl skills. IT professionals in Ahmedabad are hard to come by as the lucrative salaries paid to them in Bangalore or Hydrabad etc draw them to these towns and Delhi and Mumbai of course.

But web design is growing in Ahmedabad with profesional many web design company attracted by sound infrastructre and affluent base. The companies are successful in making static and dynamic eccommerce and corporate websites. In time ot come Ahmedabad will challange metros in this field and in software programming.

CSS: Changing Font

2008-10-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

The font tag is not supported by HTML anymore but the browsers still support it. Hence It is better to switch over to CSS. Simply put CSS can do more to the tag. Added advantage is that Cascading Style Sheets can change the background color behind the text which traditional HTML font tag cannot do.

text is purple

All web design service should use CSS as it makes much more search engine friendly websites as well as accords much better appearance to the web page design on the browsers.

This is how fant face called family is defined in CSS.

Use this: this font is not sans-serif

Similarly for colors

Use this: Font is purple

While implementing CSS one should know how to change the font attributes - Font color, font size, and font face. Learning is easy and you will be surprised to know how much control CSS gives over fonts.

You can make your pages unique by proper usage of font properties defined in CSS.Change
color, size, and face of the website text using CSS font property.

To change the text color style.

color Syntax:

color: | attr(,color) |inherit

* - a color code
* attr(,color) - use the color value assigned to the attribute identified in this line

Best to use browser safe colors.
this font is colored red
this font is colored blue

While setting the font size define relative sizes or use pixels, cm or inches to make the size specific. But it is better to let the font size be flexible as users have different monitor confugeration and browser types. Best is to implement (em) meant for screen rendering.

Use the following style to change font size:

this font is 1em
this font is .75em this font is 1.25em

Using CSS define any font and specify a list of font faces as well in case the user does not have that specific font face installed in his PC the list will help declare other font face rather than the default setting which may not appealing.

this font is

sans-serif
this font is serif

Web design articles

2008-10-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Web design Articles

Web Programming Article

.Net

Microsoft F# Programming

Protect SQL Database

Network VoiP

Voip over TCP/IP

Reducing HTTP requests

2008-08-18T04:20:00.001-07:00

One of the key aspect of on page optimization in web design process is to reduce the number of HTTP requests to the server for each page. This is one way to reduce the downloading time of the page.

Packet size and http requests

In order to make fewer requests we need to transmit fewer packets. To achieve this reduce size of the page hence the number of bytes and packets sent are reduced on Net. The number of embedded objects as image must be less and less in size as well. The images sent http request for each image separately hence a web designer should use less images which are properly optimized and their dimensions should be properly coded as well.

The effort is to reduce the number of packets sent and not necessarily their size. One method is putting files together and cutting down a the number of requests into one request. This can be achieved by putting multiple CSS files into one file and suturing images.

Making less http: requests

Web browsers limit the number of concurrent HTTP connections with server as HTTP 1.1 Specification to two. In Internet Explorer version 8 the limit is now six requests. The limit for Mozilla Firefox is eight requests. In this case the speed of server and connection is immaterial.

In case of images CSS sprites are useful.

They are small fragmented images grouped into one image in order to make few http requests.For example in case of website navigation having ten links this will translate to ten http: requests. If you create one image add all the small icons the server requests will come down.
Thus have the same background image for all containers and reposition the background image with fire bug to display the desired part of the whole image.

#link1{
background:url(background_image_sprite.png) -100px -20px;
}
#link2{
background:url(background_image_sprite.png) -100px -30px;
}

The real trick here to is re-position the background image to render the desired image in the whole image. We can use this image as fast rollovers too.

The CSS and Javascript can be grouped by suturing.

Actually there is a way. They call it suturing. Consider this fragment of code for PHP.

< ?php // Tell the browser we are outputting a css document type header('Content-type: text/css'); //and we can cached them too header('Cache-control: must-revalidate'); header('Expires: ' . gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s', time() + 10800) . ' GMT'); // group the css CSS files and output them as one include("css1.css"); include("css2.css"); include("css3.css"); ?>

For ASP/ASP.NET pages we can open them as stream and output them in the browser.

Response.ContentType = "text/css";
Response.Cache.SetExpires(DateTime.Now.AddDays(1));

Response.WriteFile ("css1.css");
Response.WriteFile ("css2.css");
Response.WriteFile ("css1.css");

We can also do that with javascript files. The idea is just the same.

Knowing the client server communication and the limitations is beneficial in web development.

The tips have been taken from this article here: Optimization Article

Website design articles

2008-08-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

I am adding link to some very useful web design articles that cover a long range of subjects and are useful for on page optimization as well.

Web design articles

Declaring Character Sets

2008-08-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

Compliance to W3C recommendation means following guidelines set by the organization. One such guidelines is document text declaration or DTD in short. For optimum website design it is best to follow the recommendation made by the World wide web consortium.

The effort is create properly structured pages that speak to International audience uniformly and in cases to specific linguistic audience. The effort to standardize web site development technology is what W3C is aiming at.

When making DTD the < meta > tag should be placed just after the as this is to override default browser setting for character sets. Not many web designers know about this fact. Correctly placing the DTD helps the the latest version of browsers and earlier versions as well to properly render the page on the users web browser.

A website that does not contain the DTD tag does not conform to W3C recommendations. When you implement the tag correctly on the web pages it leads to compliance of W3C standards. Web designers should make a detailed study of W3C recommendation for declaring character sets on web pages as per the language used on the web page. Example for web page with mixed language structure should use UTF-8 as follows:

Thus character set enabled on webpage will render the text correctly on the users browsers.

Web Design:Creating Navigation

2008-05-15T23:35:00.001-07:00

Most people leave if the navigation of the website is fuzzy and confusing. Creating a good navigation architecture for a web site is a must to help users easily find a way around your site. Users must fine the information they are looking for in one or two clicks.

The best web design technology is one that keeps the navigational ease into account.

Basics

Define your information architecture and define a hierarchy of importance based on the taxonomy of your site. Example: Products, Support, Technical Information, Brochure, About, Organization etc. Once you have determined your site's architecture implement it properly organized depending upon how the user would serf through the site. There should always be a link to major pages on the front page.

If the site hierarchy is complex than add a resource page to link pages and link this resource page from the home page and all other pages of your website. This web design process starts right from the story board which helps create an effective flow chart.

Design

Once you have fixed the architecture move to design. Make it accessible to the user and search engine spiders as well. Avoid complex technologies as Flash, Java, Java Script and Ajax which are not search engine friendly. Make the links clear and use anchor text to create links. The users should know where the link is leading them. Highlight links which are very important use tag lines as well. Use alt text or captions to link your images.

Your navigation should appear on every page of your site such that the basic structure is same on each page of the website.

Using color on a website

2008-05-15T23:32:00.001-07:00

Color is an important element of a website which few designers understand. There is a harmony in color which is very important for a web site's appeal. There are colors which gel well together while others can be a strain to the eyes. A web designer must understand the theory of colors to effectively combine them for best results.

Color Wheel Analogous Colors these are colors that are next to echo other on the color wheel. Adjusting saturation and hues of these colors result in harmony an are quite appealing on the website.

Complementary colors are those colors that are opposite one another on the color wheel. Opposite colors give results in high contrast and bright color schemes.

Color Triads by sketching an equilateral triangle on the color wheel, a web designer can create lively color schemes. For effective color schemes one should emulate the nature where the color schemes are natural and harmonious...pleasing to our eyes.

Color schemes on websites are vital to the repertoire of a web designer with tremendous effect on the end result Vis a Vis user acceptance. Colors can be soothing, exciting and sobering in their effects. A web designer should keep this in mind so that a suitable color combination is used on the websites meant for a particular purpose. Suitable color schemes as per the audience means success online.

Colors can be related to cultures where in the people perceive colors differently. Younger audience prefer brighter, more solid colors, while seniors prefer a sobering color effect. Working class prefer colors like blue, red, green, etc. which can be easily identified. Highly educated classes prefer colors which are obscure like taupe, azure, mauve, etc.

Color preference may change over a period of time like fashion trends but the effect of color schemes remain stable upon the audience.

Web design what to use?

2008-04-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

Simply put

Use external CSS the obvious benefits of cascading style sheets for formatting font, color, text and tags are well known and if you do not here are the summary.

Css accords better control over page elements as mentioned above. With a single master CSS link one can command the whole web site design and it becomes easier to edit as web designer has to make changes in one place only.

CSS accord uniformity to the whole web site or portal. CSS substitutes effectively for frame and tables.

Use optimized image with alt text mention height and width. Use gif, jpeg and png formats.

Use a good content writer and publish unique relevant content on the site. Provide good title and description.

Use accessibility features for the disabled.

Use only those technologies that are web browser and search engine compatible. Minimize usage of Flash, Java Scripting and Ajax etc. Or else use server side scripts.

Use compatible colors that which suits the products and services. Do not go for al flashy design always go for aesthetics. Flashy designs may be suitable for online games site for example.

Use content management system or CMS for large websites.

Use a good programmer. There should be no coding error and dead links on the web site.

- Linear structure for users to move in a fixed progression.
- Hierarchical structure or Tree Design offer more than one path for visitors to reach their destination;
- Branch Structure for lots of interconnections between the pages and hyperlinks within content.

Articles on web site design

2008-04-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Web Design Article

Website Design Article