Yesterday we got the opportunity to visit Das Essenhaus in Middlebury, Indiana.  It is a beautiful campus and equally as beautiful rooms - but the web site design does not represent the campus very well.  They could use a better representation online of how the campus feels.  We found the accomidations to be very clean and welcoming, but the website design to be outdated and hard to navigate.  We actually reduced to calling the facilities over booking online.  The color scheme and graphics could represent the campus, hotel and resturant a bit more accurately.

Effective Web Design will represent your company and facility well.  We found the facility to be warm and very welcoming - very much unlike the website.  We definately reccomend stopping by Das Essenhaus in Middlebury, Indiana but maybe call for reservations and accomidations list and don’t lose too much time trying to find information online.

So what do you do when the web developer begins explaining how the website is going to be developed?  When they start talking about HTML, PHP, AJAX and JavaScript.  Or they go on about DHTML or how they are planning on utilizing the MySQL Database.  Some developers have difficulties putting what we do into a language our clients can understand.  It is highly important to build efficient Indiana Web Sites that work logically and navigate easily.  Utilizing good, clean code is HIGHLY important.  Utilizing updated technology is also important.  A web developer that works in outdated development methods will bring negative effects on the website - and can also make updating the site very difficult in the future.  For example, attempting to find a developer to work on your 4 year old site developed in ASP is going to be more difficult than finding a web developer to work on a site built in PHP.  Having a web design, web development company that uses the latest technology and explains the methods and purpose for developing a website in that manor, will produce the best results.

What makes effective web design? With users more likely to leave than give pages much of a chance, how can website owners ensure that their site will be effective with the demographics they desire to reach? Here are a few ideas for you to consider when getting your web site design and website re-design project started:

• Website users read websites in a non-linear, unstructured way - there is no method or reason to the way a web page is read - and it’s unique to each user
• Website users do not have long attention spans - your Indiana Web Design needs to load quickly and catch their attention right from the start
• A consistant Indiana Web Design, is an effective web design - make sure your color scheme, font style, font size, images, text content - make sure it carries a consistent message
• Be concise, unique and creative with your web design - be intentional, innovative and logical with your web development

If you follow these few guidelines - as well as other helpful ways to make a website design effective, you will see positive results with your website. If you have any questions about starting a project or assessing your existing Indiana Web Design, let us know as we are happy to serve your company’s Indiana Web Design, Web Development and SEO needs.

As an Indiana Web Design company, we are extremely grateful for Apple and all their amazing products. What they do make our web design jobs easier and it continues to get easier with every great idea that the folks at Apple release. So, who in their right mind would even desire to give MS an early jump on copying them? In the news today, it was stated that many have made a business out of exposing the newest ideas Apple comes up with, before they release. Are they trying to let MS have the upper hand. Everyone knows that if Apple releases some amazing, creative new technology, it will be a matter of a few years and Microsoft will have their buggy-sloppy attempted knock off. Why give the ideas out to a company that has prov’en they don’t really come up with good ideas, they just implement the ideas the public wants into their package?  Well, as stated today, one of the major information leak sites has agreed to stop what they are doing.  But it seems absurd to me, owner of a small Indiana web development company, that Apple would have to pay out (applied in the article, not stated) in order to keep their secrets safe from the big copycats.  But this is the insane society we live in - every journalist is out for a scoop, a story, no matter how WRONG they may be, or what damage they may cause in writing what they write, they do it for their own glory - it’s quite disgusting.  It would be like an Indiana web design company creating a website, building it to work only 2/3 of the time and selling it to as many companies would buy.  How ridiculous!  We believe in good business ethics and publishing others ideas before they release them in order to allow their competition an early look - that’s pretty low.  Don’t just take the word of an Indiana Web Design company owner, read the full story for yourself.

Many website owners think it’s enough just to have the information online.  They often forsake the needed presentation and management efforts that make websites successful.  Indiana web design is no different.  There are good sites out there that utilize the following:

• correctly written web text content
• clean and effective web developement code
• capturing visual web design layouts
• direct and educated internet marketing plans
• solid logo design and more…

Indiana web design, along with Colorado web design, Washington web design and the rest of the US is full of Web Development companies that do things right.  They have clean code, attention grabbing and sustaining designs and effective post-website-launch marketing.  But then there are the few who still don’t get it.  The web is changing every day and so are the users.  Users are board with designs that scream 1999 and they want to see clean, attractive and PURPOSEFUL web sites.  Direct with the website content and unique with the delivery.  If your web site design or web site development does not fall into the unique and purposful category, contact Indiana web design, located in Goshen, Indiana - today.

So, it appears that Opera has filed an antitrust complaint with the European Union concerning the ongoing monopoly of the Microsoft Corperation.  Many are in an uproar about the lack of internet standard within web browsers - of which Microsoft Interet Explorer leads the way.  Web design and web development companies spend a large majority of the project time making sure standards are met and that our sites look consistant within major web browsers.  The claims being made against Microsoft are similar to those the federal governmant filed against the Renton, Washington based company in 2001 - which, Microsoft lost.

“We are filing this complaint on behalf of all consumers who are tired of having a monopolist make choices for them,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera. “In addition to promoting the free choice of individual consumers, we are a champion of open Web standards and cross-platform innovation. We cannot rest until we’ve brought fair and equitable options to consumers worldwide.” - this incerpt was taken from the Opera website (read full story).

Web developers worldwide, as well as Indiana Web Designers, are concerned that standards may only be something we dream about.  Until users are educated about the computer they use and see that they have choices, the largest will always stay on top - even if they are not the best option.  So, for now, Indaina web design and Indiana web development will continue to manipulate code to meet each web browser’s idea of what standards should be.  In my opinion, the world would be a better place if everyone used Firefox for browsing and Google for searching.

A few days back we talked about Indiana Web Design text, good text.  Well today, we are going to talk about web development text - bad text.  The average user will make a judgement on a site within the first few seconds and in most cases, even within the first second.  That is not long.  Well, for Indiana web design companies, that makes our job a bit more difficult.  How do you capture the attention of a over-stimulated, impatient, highly judgemental, opinionated user?  Everyone has their own opinions on what a good looking website is and what is an ugly (or worse, cheesy) website.  We have all seen them; obnoctious scrolling text - or better yet blinking, high volumes of rediculas clip art - the old microsoft clip art and animated gifs - Yikes!  The newspaper layout is always an indication that your site is five to ten years old - and lets be honest here - nobody wants information that is five to ten years old!  The web user now is looking for unique, fresh, informative and FAST!  They want to find what they are looking for quickly and they want it to be presented professionally and clean.

So here are some DONT’S for web site text:

• Dont write a novel - nobody wants to spend twenty minutes reading something for one minute of information
• Dont use the newspaper format - no matter what your web developer advises you (if your web developer is advising the book format, its time for a new web developer)
• Dont use blinking or scrolling text - sometimes flash has been used for some unique and discreete text options - this is cool for the user but not so cool for Google (but that’s a different topic for another day)
• Dont make your text so small that the users need to change their screen resolution or grab their magnifying glass to read it - user friendly web design remember
• Dont let an uneducated web writer put together your text content - even if you have a professional writer on staff - have them work with a qualified website text specialist - life is different on the web

So there are some ideas for making your indiana web design project a success.  If you would like some consulting on your existing site - maybe how to improve or update - or maybe looking to do a new web design and web development project - contact indiana web design

Many marketing companies will instruct businesses to find out their target audience or Demographics.  This is highly important in Web Design as well.  Knowing who you are trying to reach will effect the layout, color scheme, text content and images chosen for the web site.  The point is to be effective with the users each company desires to attract and convert them into life-long customers.  Knowing who those individuals are is a good start.  Some of the key factors of a web development demographics study are;

•  Age of users
• Gender of users
• Social status and income bracket
• Geographical location
• Single or multiple groups

If you are selling 85% of your services to 45 year old women in San Antonio, TX that have an income of 50,000 or more, then you should taylor the way your site feels to that people group.  Speak their language, create the website to be more comfortable to those individuals provided the information you have on them.  Information is powerful - it empowers you to make educated decisions.  Educated decisions produce results.  With Indiana Web Design, we reach for results.  We encourage information gathering becuase it only helps everyone see the objectives clearly and can greatly assist in creating a plan to reach the website goals.

If you are interested in doing a demographical study with your web site, please contact us for futher information to assess your Indiana web site project.

The following are a few ideas for good website text:

• Easily scanable web site text
  • Highlighted main points or keywords
  • Good contrast between font color and background color
  • Lists, either numbered or bulleted
  • Brief, concise ideas instead of rambeling stories
• Stick to the subject at hand, don’t wonder around - be precise and informative
• Keep text short - not so much like a book or newspaper. Draw users in with short segments and lead them to the full story
• Use color to excentuate points. But DONT use web images in replace of important text. Images can add to the experience, but never replace valuable text with an image (some users may block images or be using text browsers, etc)

Overall with your website text, be concise, consistent and be yourself. Users have come to your site to see what YOU have to offer them. If you need assistence with your Indiana Web Design project, feel free to get a hold of us by filling out this contact form.

Marketing is very important when entering a new business venture. Even more important is effective marketing. It’s not just about getting the new company name exposure, it’s about getting exposure to the right groups of individuals. It’s attracting those individuals who are looking for the products or services this new company offers. So, with every Indiana Web Design, Colorado Web Design or Washington Web Design project we do, we reccomend an effective website along with a proactive plan. Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the proactive plan that can get a new website on the right path. It is a positive beginning to work with a web development company that will build the website to the standards that Google sets, but it just simply isn’t enough. You need to have a plan with the website, a pro-active plan of how you will purposefully attract the right users to your website and once they arrive, how the site will convert them into leads and ultimately customers. Two important things to consider when beginning a new web venture:

Website Design and Website Development

• How the website feels and how the website functions
• Website images are one of the largest contributers to a website’s feel
• A smart plan with Web Design Goals and Web Development Goals
• A demographics study of the target audiences the website intends to attract

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan

• No matter how amazing the website may be, without an effective SEO plan, it may or may not be viewed - it’s entirely left to chance
• Effective SEO utilizes proven tools to produce quantifiable results that can be used to make smarter marketing decisions
• An SEO company that understands the guidelines set by Google and that as those guidelines constantly change, so must they.

It is important to work with a good web design, web development and SEO smart company when beginning your online venture. For more information contact Indiana Web Design company - McGlinchy Media & Design, LLC.