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Yes, sometimes we do. Should we use them? No, we probably shouldn’t. Splash screen (or splash page) is a front page of a web-site that don’t provide the actual content, but offers visitors some kind of intuition or background information for what the site is about. Designers use splash pages in their portfolios to impress potential clients with eye-candy. Companies tend to make use of them to draw users’ attention to their latest products. And users literally can’t stand them, because splash pages usually take a long time to load and provide (almost) no navigation options — except of “entering the site”.

Depending on designers’ creativity, splash pages use more or less attractive visual elements, sometimes with interactive Flash-movies which sometimes start to play automatically. Splash pages usually have a very simple structure — mostly just an image with few text lines and links.

The design of these pages sometimes isn’t related to the overall site design. And although most sites don’t use them, splash pages are sometimes necessary and therefore remain popular. In fact, there are some situations in which we might want or might even need to use them. Even although we shouldn’t — for our visitors’ sake.

12 Common Reasons For Using Splash Pages

1. Splash pages display disclaimers or warnings which are supposed to restrict access to content such as pornography, advertising, or gambling (as is required by law).
2. It is necessary to draw visitors’ attention to an important message such as approaching deadline, critical update, latest release, news, slogan etc.
3. Visitors are supposed to select the language they want to use or the country they come from — to direct users to the appropriate version of the site.
4. Visitors can choose between a low-bandwidth version (HTML — Dial-Up) and high-bandwidth version (Flash — cable, DSL). Sometimes one can also choose the “accessible” version containing only text without images.
5. The designer informs visitors about site requirements such as used browsers, screen resolution as well as used Flash, Java, Quicktime etc. and suggests to choose the “right” configuration and download plug-ins for “optimal” site presentation.
6. Visitors can select the preferred view mode – for instance, standard mode and fullscreen mode.
7. Multiples sites share the same domain. Or a large site tries to communicate its most important sections directly.
8. Splash page is supposed to include hints for browsing the site and explains the main sections.
9. Designers use splash page trying to awake excitement for the actual content of the site.
10. Sound is announced. Visitors are asked to turn on their loudspeakers to enjoy the Flash-show or Midi-experience (yes, apparently Midis are still alive).
11. Splash pages are used as an additional form of advertising.
12. The decision to use a splash page is design-driven and realizes some designer’s idea.

How To Lose Your Visitors: Case #1

Users don’t like splash pages, however if designed creatively, splash pages can also really get on users’ nerves. Petr Hrubes has an informative and attractive web-site with an absolutely unusable splash page (sorry, Petr). The design of Petr’s splash page offers precise information and is visually appealing, but it has one of the most significant mistakes a splash page can contain — it’s obtrusive and just not user-friendly.

Hrubes.com: this is not the way a splash page should be designed;
the main page opens in a new tab, in fullscreen mode.

If you are using Firefox or Opera you’ll find out that the mouse click on “Enter” opens the main page in a new tab in your browser. To navigate through the site visitors may want to close the “splash page”-window first and then change to the “main page”-tab. It’s neither necessary nor helpful.

The fans of Internet Explorer (is there anybody out there?) or Safari (Windows) have even more fun. Not only doesn’t the page open in a new tab (although IE7 should be capable of it), both browsers also open a new window which is automatically displayed in the fullscreen mode. Without warning. It doesn’t have to be like this.

How To Lose Your Visitors: Case #2

It can get worse: creative designers tend to offer their visitors problems of a different kind. For instance, sometimes users have to move the mouse among the splash page to recognize what elements can actually be clicked and what should be done to finally get to the content of the page.

Splash Page at FunkyPunky: can you recognize the linked area?
Hint: take a closer look at the top of the page.

Not every visitor is patient, in most cases the page will be closed right away. Or the visitors land on the Adobe-page where they are asked to download the latest version of Flash plug-in. Or they are directed to some design-award web-site where they can observe dozens of beautifully designed web-sites. You can be sure that they won’t get back. Here you go – an optimal way to lose a visitor in few seconds.

A Showcase Of Splash Pages

Whether minimal, useful, beautifully illustrated, colorful or animated: the design of splash pages is a challenge designers can take to impress their visitors with creative approaches. Whatever decision you make please make sure that you really need a splash page and that it is designed with a purpose in mind.

There are literally millions of them out there. Below we’d like to present an overview of splash pages which are supposed to showcase their basic purposes and common design solutions (mostly non-Flash-based splash pages are presented). These pages make use of the 12 common reasons we’ve listed at the top of this article. Here are some ideas:

Splash Pages As Additional Advertising

Both Apple and Zune use a hybrid of a splash page with basic navigation functions. What do you think, is it still a splash page? (Bonus: find the difference between both of them!).

Classic: multimedia-related sites offer audio and video on the splash page; however, sometimes basic navigation is also included. Ice Age also provides “special” entry points for users from United States and outside the U.S.

Showcase For Important Messages And News

Disclaimer, Warning, Requirements

Showcasing Designer’s Creativity

Choice Of A Language / Site Version

The selection of a language with a Flash-effect.

Splash Pages Explain What The SIte Is About

So much text, so many references, but none of them can be clicked.

An intro explains what the site is about. This is typical for many splash pages.

Minimalistic Solutions

Further Solutions

Flash-based splash page. There is some kind of navigation, however it doesn’t really work.

Two projects share the same domain.

The splash page explains how the page is supposed to be used — here the navigation is possible only with keyboard.

We Have No Idea Why The Splash Page Is Used

Splash page for a weblog? Yes, it’s possible.

© Sven Lennartz for Smashing Magazine, 2007.

It’s simple really: if a monkey needs a banana then a business needs a blog. Blogging isn’t the future, it’s the now.

Long gone are the days of introverted teenagers tapping out their every thought into the box of lights in front of them. Man evolved, the world evolved, now blogging has evolved.

Why should I care about business blogging?

Well that’s a good question. Gather round while we discuss. Blog writing has fast become one of the best ways to market your business online. Don’t just take that from a freelance copywriter. If Microsoft deems business blogging important, then who are we to argue?

I’ve tackled numerous web copy projects for clients and more often than not, I advise on the introduction of a blog page.

Besides creating a two-way conversation with customers, business blogging is a fantastic means of drumming up interest and creating sales.

The benefits of business blogging:

• Blogging communicates crucial information about you, your product and service direct to your target market.
• It’s a great way to build upon your brand principles and take your message to the widest possible audience.
• Parachute keywords and key phrases into the heart of your website on a regular basis. Done correctly, you’ll you climb the search engine ladder faster than a fireman. Google gets a real buzz from regularly updated information.
• Blogging is a great way to make new contacts and secure incoming links. Float a good post in the blogosphere and give people the chance to link back to them.
• If your business is the cake, then blogging is the cherry. A business blog drives traffic to your site, hold visitors’ attention and gives them another reason to come back.
• Finally, keep your blog up-to-date on a regular basis. People are naturally suspicious of the internet, especially when parting with money. So build consumer confidence with regular blog posts. If your website looks well kept and cared for, people are less likely to click on the ‘back’ button.

Source: http://designbit.co.uk/2010/07/31/copywriting-for-the-web-blogging-your-way-to-success/

Recently, there was a piece over at Search Engine Journal about how easy it is to get a bad reputation through link building. It wasn’t the first on the subject, and wasn’t overly technical, but what I particularly enjoyed about it was that it looked at several different ways it can happen.

(Credit)

When Bad Links End Up In a Bad Neighborhood

I guess it all depends on your goals, perspectives, and the specifics of everything. If you’re a link builder and get caught spam emailing other link builders and SEOs, chances are you’re going to have a tough time getting links and may need a little reputation management.

If you’re an SEO building links for a chocolate shop, chances are pretty good that it won’t hurt the chocolate shop too much, aside from possibly hurting its rankings or causing other SEOs to refuse to work on the site. For the SEO building the ‘bad’ links, however, it can be severely damaging to your reputation.

Or can it?

I find it amazing how many scammy SEO companies and link builders are out there and they always seem to have an endless supply of clients who are looking for some quick, cheap work. At least, that’s the way it outwardly appears. I know I hear horror stories several times per day about a shoddy link building job, and I’m not even an SEO.

If the company does get shut down, or when it finally has trouble getting clients, they just close that one down, open a new company, and continue on their merry little way. Of course, we can all name someone who has done a shabby job or gotten a client site spanked by the all-mighty G, but many of them are still working away. I’d like to think they all learned a thing or two, but we all know that isn’t always the case.

(Credit)

Craptastic Link Exchanges

I’m not a fan of link exchanges or requests, at least not the kind I get spammed with repeatedly. I don’t feel they’re very helpful, at least not enough to warrant irritating those in related industries, and if I don’t keep them relevant to my client base, they’re essentially useless. If you get lazy and just start bulk emailing large lists? Well, you’ll probably get what you deserve.

The way I see it, it’s far more profitable for everyone if you take time to build up a relationship with those who link back to you. They’ll do more than just link to you. They’ll help promote you, which is worth more to their devoted site visitors than just a link in a blogroll anyway. There’s an opportunity to work together and collaborate on everything from marketing initiatives to projects. They’ll refer you, you’ll refer them, and you’ll find the world is just much better to do business in. That being said, I think how devastating this method can be depends on the specifics of the situation.

Something To Be Said For Prevention & Reputation Repair

In Kristi’s piece, she gave a few short points for preventing the problem. In reality, not having your name raked through the mud on a daily basis starts with simply using your head. If a link builder is going to charge you $29.95 vs the other guys who quoted you $5,000 per month, you know something’s wrong with the company who gave you the lower offer. Or rather, you know there’s a huge difference in their approach to link building.

I’m not saying it will never happen, but it will happen a lot less. In the process, if you’ve built up your reputation, you’ll find your name will become a lot harder to run through the muck-muck. At the very least, it won’t get quite as dirty.

Before I run away, I’d also like to mention that human beings have a habit of jumping to conclusions. On both sides. They hear one side of the story or see the result, and guess at the rest. We all do it. Unfortunately, that also means that innocent people are railroaded and guilty ones go free in the process. Something else to consider.

Do you consider reputation when you do your link building?

Mathieson & Brooke Tailors Ltd is a visiting tailor that is quickly becoming renowned for its unique slant on contemporary made-to-measure clothing. At M&BT we don’t just make suits, we build personal brands. To find out why more people are talking about our service then book an appointment with David Brooke today.

Picture this: A brand new ecommerce company had just lined up a Web developer, SEO company and copywriter to get the company off the ground. The team was in place and site development seemed off to a good start. Projected launch for the new site was 6 months. Actual launch: 1 year later!

During that time, the client’s budget was depleted. The developer was dismissed. And the company ran out of resources needed to promote the new website after launch. All troubles that could have been avoided had the team been more carefully selected.

If you are marketing your company on the web, you’ve most likely had occasion to hire a freelancer or other service vendor. But working together over the Web brings potential pitfalls that can be minimized with attention to a few details at the start of the relationship.

This scenario, or some other version of it, is more common than we’d all like to think. It’s no secret that the majority of small businesses are doomed. But we’re all optimistic starting out. Even when minor things start to crop up, we do what we can and pray that issues will iron themselves out in the end.

As marketing director at an Internet marketing company, I’ve hired vendors and managed projects we’ve outsourced. As a freelance copywriter, I’ve been on the other side many times, too. In fact, many of the businesses who approach me about writing their online materials are licking their wounds from a failed relationship with another copywriter.

I can tell you, finding the right vendor is tough. Try looking for these top 5 traits that I think are key to a successful relationship with a freelancer or other vendor:

1. Dependability

Dependability is my number one criteria. Why? Because all the talent and experience in the world won’t do you any good if the copywriter, designer, or SEO company can’t be counted on to follow through as promised.

Signs of dependability: Prompt responses to your communications, involvement in ongoing projects that might require a high level of reliability. (If they are contributing to a blog, do they write regularly or sporadically? Are they involved in activities like writing or producing a monthly newsletter—and how long have they been doing it consistently?)

2. Engagement

Does the vendor or freelancer really care about their work for you? Or are they just going through the motions looking for the paycheck? Enthusiasm for your project will pay off in additional effort that can show up in the form of innovative ideas and higher quality work. A willingness to go above and beyond can trump experience at times.

Signs of engagement: Do they take the time to offer suggestions and explain why they approach things in a certain way? Or do you get lazy one-line responses to your emails? The vendor or freelancer should do a bit of research before they talk to you so they can ask meaningful questions.

3. Flexibility

Do you prefer phone contact? What if your designer or copywriter is more an email person? You may find this causes snags in the process and can lead to unnecessary delays. Make sure your freelancer or the account executive you’ll be working with at a vendor company is flexible enough to match your communication style.

Also consider time zones. If you prefer to do calls in the morning but you’re on the east coast and your copywriter is in California and prefers afternoon chats, you’ll have a tough time scheduling calls.

Flexibility is also important when it comes to deadlines. Even though you want to give long lead times, there will be situations where you need things done fast. You’ll want to make sure your designer, copywriter or other vendor can step up at those critical times.

Ina addition, you’ll find some freelancers and providers can be stick in the muds when it comes to how they approach their work. If you have a style guide for your written communications that specifies how certain words and phrases should be used, make sure the writer is on board with that. You don’t want to have to edit their work for technicalities or debate things that have already been decided. You shouldn’t hear complaints from the designer when you ask them to make changes to their work (although their rationale and suggestions should be welcomed).

Signs of flexibility: Ease of scheduling times to talk, past projects completed on tight deadlines, experience with different styles and brands that would require a flexible approach to their work, confirm any fees for rush work.

4. Experience

Certain efficiencies arise from working with providers already experienced in your industry. There’s a smaller learning curve. They can offer wisdom and guidance. Talk at length with the potential vendor to get a true sense of their knowledge and experience.

Signs of experience: Samples of work for others in your industry, previous projects dealing with the same technologies you require, a grasp on the basic issues and language of your target audience, elements in their portfolio you can identify with your business.

5. Talent

Of course you want to hire a great copywriter, a talented designer, and an SEO company that really rocks Google. But just be aware that their talent must match your needs. You should ask some tough questions to make sure they can fit your style and vision.

Signs of talent: Check out their existing work and ask yourself if that’s how you want yours to look. Examine their most recent work to understand the direction the copywriter or designer may be moving in, even if it’s not directly in your industry.

What about you? Have you had any issues with freelancers that you’ve learned from?

Source: http://internetmarketing.site-reference.com/hiring-freelancer-check/

A couple of recent posts showcasing icon use in navigation menus got me thinking again about icon design for the web.

Back in 2007, I wrote a post questioning the value of using icons in site navigation. My main rationale was that icons are useful when they provide meaning. If they don’t provide meaning they are just embellishments — eye candy, if you will.

However, in order for icons to provide meaning, usage conventions have to arise so that designers use them consistently and appropriately. For desktop and web applications, icon conventions are well followed — the floppy disk for ‘save,’ scissors to represent ‘cut,’ a blank sheet of paper for ‘new document.’

When it comes to websites in general, and in particular, website navigation, very few conventions have arisen concerning icon use. The main one, of course, is the house icon for ‘home.’ This lack of consistency makes it difficult for web designers to use icons for navigation in a way that will help visitors actually use the site.

I thought it would be interesting to look the icons highlighted by the two articles above, and see if any conventions (or ‘design patterns’) could be identified that web designers would do well to follow in using them as a navigation aide.

About Us

It’s clear that there is a strong consensus for using a humanoid shape or group of shapes to represent the About Us page.

About Us icons

Portfolio

The use of a briefcase to represent a portfolio of work is common enough to be recommended as a convention. The exception to this might be if the work is in a different medium such as video or audio, where the use of another icon would be more appropriate for that audience.

Portfolio icons

Blog

There is a less strong convention here, but it is notable how the speech bubble has become a popular way to represent a blog. This was a discovery for me, as I hadn’t realized that there was any sort of agreement regarding using icons to represent blogs.

Blog icons

Contact Us

The contact page has traditionally been represented by an envelope icon, and that convention is clearly in evidence here. It’s worth noting that with the rise in popularity of the speech bubble to represent a blog, it could be confusing to a visitor if a site uses this icon to represent their contact page.

Contact Us icons

I’d be keen to hear about any other web-related icon design conventions or patterns that have become widely used. Please feel free to share in the comments.

Source:http://www.smileycat.com/miaow/archives/002122.php

LITTLE ROCK has completed 28 years of its historic journey. It was an arduous, but exciting journey from the log-cabin to the white-house.
Little Rock Indian School was founded in 1982 thanks to the vision of a great educationist Dr. C.T. Abraham. It was his dream to build up a school ‘with a difference’, not for the sake of difference, but for meaningful, comprehensive school education. He visualized a school ‘with a difference’ endowed with material and human resources, which would match up to the best in the country. The last 28 years have witnessed the evolution of Little Rock into a school, truly unique and different. To quote the words of Dr. C. T. Abraham, “This campus and everything that you see here is the gift of God. We are mere instruments in His hands”.

LITTLE ROCK strives to provide the best possible facilities to its students, including a highly qualified teaching faculty, with the ultimate aim of providing an education of the highest order. The School has a streamlined administrative arrangement, with Head Teachers for each section and a teacher-student ratio of 1:22 to ensure personalized teaching. In spite of such capital-intensive reforms, the School charges reasonable fees, sufficient to meet its actual financial commitments.