Hello all, Welcome to another tip from our Project Team. In this article we will be covering accepting online payments and things you should know about this process. As usual, our disclaimer is as follows. We do not claim to be the ultimate authority on this topic. We just hope that our 20+ years of knowledge in this industry allows us to give our opinions and share our...
Hello all, Welcome to another tip from our Project Team. In this article we will be covering Google’s recent release that they will be stacking results in favor of sites with “Responsive” builds. As usual, our disclaimer is as follows. We do not claim to be the ultimate authority on this topic. We just hope that our 20+ years of knowledge in this industry allows us to give our opinions and share our experiences. So, this is a really big deal for the web design community. This will literally force most web designers to update their builds and for a lot of clients to come out of the stone ages. Now, if you have had your website designed in the last 5 years, roughly, your site is probably already responsive. This is especially true if your are using WordPress, Magento, BigCartel, LemonStand, etc. Most of these guys adapted responsive infrastructures fairly fast. Any designer worth their salt has known about building sites responsively for quite some time now. Although, it is amazing how many people still do not know the importance of this technology. Before I start rambling on, let me show you an example of what I am talking about for anyone that needs help understanding: As you can see, the design on the left would require a lot of “Pinch Zooming” to just be able to navigate the site. Also reading anything would be a stressful task. The design on the right takes all the relevant content and renders it in a retina friendly view. This gives you legible content, easy navigation menus and the ease of use...
Hello all, Welcome to another tip from our Project Team. Is this article we will be covering FREE Website Builders (FWBs as we call them) and their PROS and CONS. As usual, our disclaimer is as follows. We do not claim to be the ultimate authority on this topic. We just hope that our 20+ years of knowledge in this industry allows us to give our opinions and share our experiences. So, it’s FREE, it must be bad right? Not necessarily is what we say. There are definitely some times when FWBs are excellent to be used. We actually love FWBs because it allows us to have somewhere to send those clients who do not a custom solution. There are a lot of times where we deal with clients that are doing Fund Raisers, Non-for-Profit events, Charities, etc. and don’t have much funding. In these cases FWBs are amazing, because with a little direction, we can help them get something online that will at least let them get started. FWBs are also great for very small businesses. This allows everyone to be to get their ideas and companies online. It’s a great place to get started and then grow into a custom solution as your needs change. We like these kind of relationships because it gives us a chance to help you grow into your “true” online potential. Somethings you might need help with regardless of it being a paid or FWB solution is design and content. Content is the #1 web design project killer. Typically, its 30-40% build time and 60-70% pushing for content and making sure it’s...
Hello all, Welcome to another tip from our Project Team. Is this article we will be covering browsers, operating systems and how they affect the way your website is presented. As usual, our disclaimer is as follows. We do not claim to be the ultimate authority on this topic. We just hope that our 20+ years of knowledge in this industry allows us to give our opinions and share our experiences. Now, on to the good stuff. When designing websites, you have to be creative and please your client. Then you have to make sure it functions appropriately when rendering content. This is where things can get tricky, depending on your audience. This is typically where where you should explain the limitations, advantages and options to you client for them to receive their desired result. For instance, your client may be a fan of Flash Animation and all the cool tricks that are available. When designing websites in Flash, it is always smart to know the limitations. Here are just a few complications that FLASH sites have. Not Supported on Apple Device Browsers (iPads, iPhones, iTouch, etc) NOTE: Flash is available on Macbook, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, Mac Towers and iMacs. Certain browsers require plugins to run FLASH. This can cause bounces to the site due to complications. Some browsers security measures will block FLASH content. Even with that being said, we are still a huge fan of the ADOBE products and believe FLASH sites are amazing. You just need to know what you are getting into and make sure explain these possible complications to clients. This is a great option for...
Hello again everyone, We are glad that you stopped by to check out our thoughts about adding CHAT to your website. As always, a quick disclaimer. We do not claim to be the official word on this topic. We just wanted to share our knowledge and hope that our 20+ combined experiences in the industry will account for something. Great, now that’s out of the way, let’s get to it. If you are like most website owners or developers, you understand that chat on websites have been around for sometime. The problem that existed then was that they were very difficult to install and manage. Thanks to the progression of technology, a lot has changed in the land of website chat programs. Running a business is hard enough, but managing your online traffic and turning it into a lead can be sometimes unbearable. Usually you have to rely on your design and hope they client that “contact us” button. You stare at your Google Analytics in REAL-TIME mode cheering on the visitors, chanting “CLICK THE BUTTON, CLICK THE BUTTON”. Well those days have passed. Chat services have become a large driver in revenue for companies large and small. The revolutions in CHAT have helped bridge those gaps between the big and small businesses. If you had chat in the past, most people equated that to “Well Established” businesses due to the costs that usually came with the feature. Now you can have all the same features as the big guys for such a small price. We are talking as low as $14 a month. That’s an awesome deal. You...
Hello all, Today we are gonna briefly talk about the benefits and amazing tricks of CSS. But as usual, before we begin, the disclaimer. We do not claim to be the authority on this topic. We are just giving you our perspectives and opinions derived from our 20+ combined experiences. Cascading Style Sheets, otherwise known as “CSS”, has been an intricate part of web design for some time now, but has progressed rapidly in the last decade. The sheets have become a must in every design and provide unique ways of manipulating web pages and their graphics. With CSS the world is your oyster. Everything from global changes to graphic navigation aesthetics can be managed from one document. For web developers, this means global changes are done in minutes, not hours or even days. Class and ID tags can be used in a variety of ways to make your design truly flourish. In this current digital age, “responsive” sites have become a must when designing a site. If you’re site does not accommodate multiple platforms and mobile devices, frankly, you’re doing it wrong. Unless of course you or your client specifically is against the idea, which would be highly unlikely. Some sites are skipping the responsive design and opting for mobile apps, but the still usually offer some sort of HTML version as a back up. Now for the PROS and CONS: PROS: global changes, multiple sheet support, time saver (reduces regurgitation of code), fast graphic changes, animation without Flash, reusable and redeploy-able. CONS: If you’re designing with one CSS sheet, individual pages changes must be “forced”. Too many...
