Category: Web Design

A friend was looking at the Learn Direct site the other day and found a web design course for £50.00, on the same note I was flicking through a well known web design magazine a few weeks ago when I spied an advert for a ‘Professionally designed website for £35 a year’. I read it, then read it again and thought WHAT? £35.00 a YEAR for a “professionally designed website?”

After my initial reaction it made me think – our sales team often have to explain why the cheapest is not necessarily the best when it comes to website design (and most things really) and why it can be a false economy. With this advert though it made me realise that if a magazine for web designers touts a £35 a year site then can non-teccy’s really be blamed for thinking this is the norm and that anything else is extortionate?

It did put me in another pair of shoes for a minute before I came back to thinking from my own point of view which is, if I was looking for a years worth of drycleaning or morning coffees or really, professional anything I would never believe £35 a year would get me a quality products and serve me well in the end. In fact, the chances are it would make me look elsewhere.

There are hundreds of articles out there that point out the benefits of a professionally designed website (we’ve written a few ourselves) but still it seems to be a point that isn’t always ‘believed’ with the first (and sometimes second) iteration of a website presence.

A False economy?

Often we have clients come in who are at the second stage of developing their online presence. The general theme is that they have started with a DIY site and after one or two versions of it, have decided that it’s not working for them and start to look around for a company who can tailor a site to reflect their companys quality and branding.

Here’s an example for you of a false economy (in money and time). Recently, a client who’s site I used to work on years ago, decided that he would have a shot at revamping his website himself (with no previous IT knowledge). After two self-made iterations (one of which was a free online dating site that had been slightly adapted with the addition of his logo but still retained the default dating data) the original website has been restored to its original state! That was time, effort and reputation that would have been lost.

Why reputation? Because anyone who had been signed up to the site and returned while the dating site was up would probably not have bothered returning again – I wouldn’t have, would you?

Economic?

I do understand that when first stepping out on the web software such as Mr Site can be a cheap and easy way to test the water. It lets you get online quicky, cheaply and without having to deal with technical jargon (apparantly I talk too much of this..!) It can be really economic for a new start business and will at least get a business started with on online presence. However, it can also be a false economy if an upgrade is needed in a short period of time.

Many web design companies advertise offers to start up companies so it’s worth checking around to see who caters for small businesses – it could be that a little extra to a budget in the early days will save time and effort a little later down the line.

Want to know our website design offers for new start businesses? Contact us for more information Freephone 0800 622 6952.

In the SEO world a link is what makes the world go round. A web site is a collection of sites all hyper linked together and the internet is made possible due to sites linking to each other. With Googles search engine becoming the dominant one it’s approach to links as votes has made the hyper link a sought after commodity. With the increasing use of CMS software, blogging services and social media it’s not only webmasters who have the power to link out. If you are using the html option on a CMS system here is how to create an html link.

Polr Internet marketing company

The link above is made up of the following html.

When we break it down there are four main components to a link.

The A href tag
This A tag is what tells the browser that the following text or image is to link to a certain web address. It has an opening and closing section.

The web site address
This is where you put the address that you want your link to go to.

The title of the link
This gives the user more information about the link and will display when the mouse is hovered over the anchor text.

The anchor text of the link
This is the clickable part of the link which is displayed in the link above. The anchor text of a link helps search engines to determine what the link is about.

I saw a comment on Twitter the other day and it made me think ‘Wow, that’s a great blog idea and it’d be easy to do too’. After I started writing it I was still thinking ‘Wow, that’s a great blog idea’ but I was also thinking ‘this is actually a bit of a bugger to do’.

(un)Fortunately(for me) I had already messaged the Twitter’er and well, committed to writing it. So here’s my effort and his Tweet that made me do it!

“Trying to find a good blog article for a mate which explains how a graphic designer and web designer work together on a site project.” @ThirdSectorForum

First of all, I’m making an assumption with the original request and assuming that it’s more  a web developer than a web designer and that it’s a graphic designer for web we’re discussing (ie the developing and passing over of a design into a functioning website).

This article is based on my experience of working in design teams and although this will vary from one company to the next, very briefly, the steps in developing a website can be summarised as below (I have omitted the to-ing and fro-ing for feedback and assuming it’s all running smoothly!):

The ebb and flow of a website design

Design Meeting

The client will have a meeting with the design team (usually the graphic and web designer) to discuss ideas, likes, dislikes and aims of the website to give the design team a good grasp of what’s required. This also lets the designers get a feeling for the client in order to design a look and feel that is hopefully, more than just a stab in the dark!

Sitemapagreed

Generally after a meeting with the client, we will go off and develop a sitemap based on their requirements. While the designer is included in these discussions the flow of the site is generally down to the developer. Particularly with a highly functional website where navigation and communication between sections is of paramount importance.

Layout agreed

Grey box diagrams will be given to the customer for feedback to show where the navigation, logo etc could be placed (but with no actual graphics involved at this stage). Keeping the layout as simple as grey boxes allows us to all concentrate on the element that will make up the site rather than worrying about whether the correct colours have been used etc.

Design mock up

This is the stage where the graphic designer has the most input, they will draft a sample design based on the discussion with the client and consideration of the company branding.

Design finalised

After several rounds of feedback and adjustments, the design will be finalised and signed off. Once signed off the designer will pass over the design to the web developer to be cut into sections (such as logo, menu background etc) which leads me nicely into…

Design incorporated into website structure

Once the design is cut up, the developer will be able to incorporate the design into the skeleton website that he will have been working on. By skeleton we are referring to a functioning website that will have been devoid of graphic design up until this stage i.e the site will work functionally but not look as it should.

Tweaks and Finish

When the design is incorporated into the site the developer will send the site back to the developer for any final design tweaks or for any additional graphics that are required. Maybe get the designer to alter the CSS or alter images etc until it’s perfect.

Working in sweet harmony

That’s the brief description of how the build could go but as per the original question, I’ll explain a little more about the way the designer and developer actually work together in the first place.

I once worked on one site that had been designed by a company who had previously only designed for print. The design had a different layout for each page, navigation was in a different positions on each page and the design itself was inconsistent. Don’t get me wrong, it looked amazing but it was verging on not being very user friendly what with the navigation flying around the monitor at a rate of knots!

For an effective build, communication between all departments is the key – from sales, to design, to admin. It is crucial that the designer has a grasp of how websites (and users) work, what the common elements of a site are and an idea of how a site is built as much as it is important that the programmer understands that design adds value to a website and isn’t a waste of time!

For example, with an e-commerce website you need among other things categories, the boring bits (terms, delivery etc) and probably a search. While a design could look pretty without cumbersome categories, it wouldn’t be a particularly friendly shopping experience. On saying that a designer who doesn’t also build can be a breath of fresh air as they are not designing while also thinking “well, if I put that there it could be a nightmare to build” (well, we’ve all thought that at some point haven’t we!?)

To play Devil’s advocate, a developer needs to ‘get’ that the design is important and refusing to style something as it was intended because it doesn’t alter the output is not the point. For example, on another project I worked on with lots out tabular results, the developer huffed and puffed when he was made to follow the design because it was irrelevant to the actual results. He was unable to see that it was affecting the feeling of the website and was making it look less professional and complete.

I’m trying to show that as with all domestics, there are two sides to every story. The most important factor in completing a website in  as smooth a process as possible is communication and an understanding of the previous and following steps that happen around your particularly phase of the development. A website doesn’t end with the design any more than it is only about the programming. Communicating, respecting and working in sweet harmony – well, that’s the idea at least 😉

On a similar thread, how about an article on how designers and SEO’s work together…I think that’s a post best written by Calum…just prepare yourselves for a rant…

We recently carried out some research for PoLR regarding the PoLR website and this blog. We noticed a theme of questioning kept coming up that reiterated to us just how important simple, straightforward wording is on a website and how clearly identifying navigation is.

The theme throughout the focus group was that the group were confused by what our blog was and what it was for. This suprised us as we’ve never had any problem explaining to customers etc what a blog is and so assumed the case would be the same online. It probably came down to the sample demographic (more on that when we publish all our findings) but even so, they are still people who could be using our site so we had to react. Comments ranged from “are they links to external articles” to “not seeing the link” between the web/marketing articles and what PoLR do. On the flip side, the blog was seen as a validation of the company’s knowledge and gave comfort and reassurance to the visitor.

Based on this aspect of the research there were several things we changed on our blog that we’ve decided to share below.

It’s a what..?

It is so easy to forget how confusing the terminology can be. We at PoLR hear and talk about blogging all the time but what the focus group threw up to us was that the very term ‘blog’ was confusing and not self-explanatory. It was believed that the blog was a resource centre linking to articles outwith PoLR and certainly not written by PoLR (which after all our hard work was a little annoying 😉 ).

Who it’s for?

Our blog is primarily aimed at potential and existing clients so it is imperative that they know what it is and that it’s for them. By adding in a simple ‘about this blog‘ page you can let readers know who the target market is and give a little background info about why you’re writing it in the first place.

Who are the authors?

Author pages are great to add some personality to the blog. It shows there are real people writing on it and shows a history of their articles which should lower the assumption that the articles have been written elsewhere! Adding images of the authors, a brief history and contact details shows that you are being open about who writes on it.

We have blogged before on this site about why a validated* website is important. I’m not going to go over the post again but I was looking over it the other day and it made me want to to find out some stats on how many websites are validated. We all know about it and talk about it but do we all do it? While researching, I came across a survey from late last year that had just what I was looking for.

It found that only 4.13% of websites they tested (out of 3,509,180) passes validation tests. A small number but still a large increase from 2006 where it was valued at 2.58% and even greater than the 0.71% of 2001.

On top of this, they found that 50% of the websites displayed the validation link despite not passing validation**.

It would seem that website owners are gradually seeing that validation is important but it is also proving to be an incredibly slow process.

It got me thinking about the reasons why it is such a low percentage. I know the stats are there after research but I just find it hard to believe it’s so low! Maybe there are perfectly good reasons that could excuse some of these results..?

Easy to lose

While a site can go live, all singing, dancing and validating, it can be very easy to do a quick update and lose validation for a period of time. For instance, we recently added an alert to our site which lost validation for a month (something we were willing to sacrifice for this short time). Could some of the sites in the survey have been reviewed at just the wrong time?

E-commerce / Content Managed Websites

With websites that are managed through content management systems I have seen website users copying and pasting from word or another website and in the process they have pulled over formatting from there source. It’s been this formatting that has lost the validation.

A last on the list thing

Ok, so this comment may be controversial but other than personal pride in one’s work and a better chance of optimisation there is not much incentive for web designers and developers to validate their code. Yes it can help render code more universally through the different browsers but it’s not as if a website just won’t display at all if it isn’t validated.  Forgetting Alt attributes for instance won’t alter the way the site looks on screen but will fail validation (for accessibility reasons) so I can see how validation may not always be top of the list.

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* If you’re reading this and are unsure of what I mean by validation, go here and click the XHTML validation link in the footer of the page.

** Web content providers are granted the right to use the “W3C valid” logo on pages that pass validation (through the use of the W3C Markup Validator) for the W3C technology represented by the icon, and only on pages that pass validation.

Over the years we have been asked many a time to create a few mock-up/speculative website designs to present during sale time (and pre sign-up). In the past (and previous positions) we were always made to do it, being told that it could be the deal clincher. I have always had a problem with these for reasons I will go into in a minute but first let me reinforce that when I say mock-ups I actually mean non-charged for/free work (an important point in my argument).

Before I begin my article in full let me also explain that by refusing to carry out speculative design we have never (as far we are aware!) lost out on the opportunity to tender. Potential clients have always reacted positively when we explain our reasons and I know other agencies who have had similar experiences.

Deal clincher…what about deal breaker?

Anyone who has ever gone through the design process be it for a website, business card or their own living room decoration will understand that a hugely important part of the process is the initial design meeting. It’s where the designer has the chance to get a feel for you and your business, find out what your looking to achieve, discover who’s the target market and generally start to understand your likes and dislikes.

By offering a mock-up without any kind of design meeting can be hit and miss. So many things could go wrong and you’re really relying on the first impression allowing you to have a second chance. If you have inadvertently designed a mock-up that’s red for someone who detests red then, rather than being a deal clincher it has more potential to be a deal breaker.

False negatives

By offering speculative design we felt we were short changing the client on the important design meeting stage. They could have been put off by something as simple as an irrelevant stock image, a wrong colour choice or us not getting in a call to action they wanted. That one design could give a client the impression that the design company was just not up for the job.

W.R.O.N.G.

The design process is so much more than a pretty site and requires an understanding (on the designers half) of how the business runs and it’s objectives online. Any designer will need to know what these are before creating a mock-up. Without a design meeting, these objective could be missing from a speculative design and encourage the client to form a ‘falsely negative’ opinion.

Free stuff devalues stuff

Discounts are great aren’t they? Everyone loves to grab a bargain but the trouble with a discount or a freebie is that the value of that item is equated to the actual amont paid not what it is actually worth.

We had a chat in the office and this may be a bad example but it’s just to give the gist of the idea so…if you get a pair of shoes for £10 that should have cost £100 you’re more inclined to think of them as being ‘only a tenner’ rather than ‘worth £100’ and thus, devalue the shoes. The same can apply to mock-ups, if a designer ‘knocks up a speculative design’ prior to any contracts being signed then the value of that design is cheapened’.

We hate wastage

Leading on from that point is the wastage:

• If the design isn’t accepted and you do win it then that’s hours that need to be re-spent thinking over the design.
• If the design isn’t accepted and you don’t win then that’s hours that will have been spent needlessly on a non-client.

Either way it’s wasted time, effort and cost to the business.

What can you do other than speculative work?

Portfolios are great to show customers you can make a pretty site but what we find works better are straightforward testimonials. Client who are willing to talk to potential clients about their experiences are far more valuable to us as it demonstrates that not only have we made something they like but also, we have created a design that met their business objectives.We see this as being far more important to both parties than an ill-informed, non-briefed speculative design.

We all know what it’s like to live with something and being to get tired of after a while – it’s why my first flat was re-painted 6 times in three years and why I’ve never been able to grow anything from seed (I get bored before the seedlings have even emerged!).

Recently we wrote an article on why it was not always necessary to rebrand or completely redesign your online presence and it led to this post. Obviously there are some reasons why a complete overhaul is necessary for example:

• Website technology is out of date
• Website is not user friendly
• Website is not converting visitors
• Maybe your corporate identity is being re-developed

But before you dive in at the deep end and become convinced that the only way forward is through dramatic changes consider these points below. And if you would like to read more then look at some of our previous posts:

• Re-branding : Is it always a good thing?
• Why do you need a validated website?
• Redesigning V’s Revamping Your Website?

1 ) What do you currently like or dislike about your website?

If you are just a little tired of the design or colours etc then maybe it’s time for a freshen up rather than a rebrand. Maybe you could learn to love your website again with and updated colour scheme or fresh images.

2 ) Is there something fundamentally wrong with the design or are you just tired of the branding?

If you really hate your website and can’t bear to go on it or it’s not brought you any business then maybe it is time for change after all. Maybe the navigation isn’t working for you or you’ve never had a single enquiry through the site. If you really can’t live with it and feel it’s negative for your company then re-brand away!

3 ) What do you hope to achieve and what do you hope visitors gain from visiting your website?

When redesigning your site consider what your aim is. Is there a particular form you want completed, do you want the customer to contact you, or do you want a purchase to be made? If you have these goals clear in your mind it will be easier to get your website working for you.

4 ) Is your current site working and converting for you?

Spend some time looking into your current website and it’s performance. Be really honest about what’s ‘wrong’ with your site, if it does a good job and clients like it then maybe you need to leave some of your personal preferences aside, you need to be careful not to change a part that’s successful just because you’re bored with it! What are your future goals for the website? Do you have a new brand due to be released or maybe you would consider selling online at some point.

5 ) How are your clients reaching you?

Consider how clients contact you, if you notice they are contacting you with queries that are easily available on your website then it may be time to look at the navigation. What’s easily noticable to you may not be to a visitor. Focus groups are great for getting a fresh perspective on your website or branding.

It can be a hard decision to decide to completely redesign your company website. Sometimes there are several decision makers all vying for their say, maybe your web designers are pushing for a redesign or maybe you just know it’s a little outdated but are unsure whether it’s outdated enough to warrant a new design.

We’ve written a previous post on how to evaluate whether your site needs a faceliftand so we won’t go into that again so soon. What we do want to talk about is the difference between a redesign and a revamp, the positives and negatives of each option and a few points to think about to help you evaluate the best option for you (to give you food for thought before your website consultation).

Redesigning V’s Revamping

Firstly, when talking about a website redesign we are referring to a complete overhaul of the site. Assessing it’s navigation, it’s design, it’s call to actions – really everything that could be re-assessed with a view to giving a more effective user experience.

With a revamp, your website structure could remain the same or maybe some new pages, corporate colours etc could be incorporated. It’s about giving your site a more up-to-date look and tweaking bits here and there to make it perform better or serve a purpose. For example, in winter we revamp several of our e-commerce website with a Christmas theme to put customers in a Festive mood, this is a temporary revamp and will see the site returned to normal in Spring.

Website Redesign

• Start afresh : With a website redesign you have free reign to start again and create a spanking new website without having to hold on to previous layouts designs etc.
• Cost : Sometimes a complete overhaul is money saving in the long run. It can let you start afresh with up-to-date technology rather than making you go back again and again to a web designer for further updates. You could redesign the site with a CMS for example and put the maintenance of your website in your own hands.
• Standards : Imagine your website was built several years ago, chances are it will be in tables and might not be the most accessible of sites. At a basic level, to redesign the site could mean rebuilding the site in CSS, validating it to professional web standards and making it accesible for all.
• Effectiveness : Are you monitoring your website visits and conversions? Do you know the site is working for you? If not then it is a good opportunity to evaluate the site, see what is and isn’t working and redevelop a new website based on your findings. After all, if it isn’t working for you then why stick with a failing design or layout

Website Revamp

• Familiarity : A website revamp is great for keeping the structure of your site consistent to let regular users of your site know where to go to get the information they want.
• Cost : A revamp can be cheaper (particularly in the short term) for example, if you want updated colours of a replaced logo.
• Time : Generally a website revamp will take far less time to carry out than a complete overhaul.
• Effectiveness : If your website is really working for you in terms of visitors and conversions then why fix it other than to update it’s ‘feel’?

Which is for you?

When you’re thinking of a new website consider these points to help you decide whether you need your site redesigned or whether you could be as effective with a revamp.

1. What do you currently like or dislike about your website?
2. Is there something fundamentally wrong with the design or are you just tired of the branding?
3. What do you hope to achieve and what do you hope visitors gain from visiting your website?
4. Is your current site working and converting for you?
5. What are your future goals for the website?
6. Is your branding changing and therfore forcing a redesign?
7. Does it meet all the standards you need it too (is it accessible)?

Creativity is an important factor in designing graphics and websites. There can be days when creative juices don’t seem to flow however. In it’s inherent nature creativity is something that you can’t pin down but there are things that can be done to nurture a creative side. To be creative on demand takes a bit of time and I’ve always looked at it as something that can be learned to a certain degree. It just depends on a number of factors.

There are a few things that I’ve picked up which help me to be as creative as possible. It doesn’t always work. Some days are a lost cause but most of the time they help. The first is to try to take in as much as possible from as many sources as you can.  So if you’re composing music listen to as much different music as possible.  If you’re designing sites or graphics take in as many as you can from as wide a source as possible. Take note of print and media graphics and adverts you see on a daily basis so you have a general awareness of what the industry is doing.

The second thing is what makes number one work.  Analyse what you like or dislike about the creativity you’ve witnessed. Understanding the reasons why a design does or doesn’t work is crucial. The more you come to understand the flaws and strengths the easier it will be when trying to create something you’re happy with.  I’m not talking about looking at other peoples designs and then ripping them off but instead using other examples of work to inspire you to create to a certain standard. By constantly comparing your work to other professionals it will be easier to guage whether your work is of the same standard.

Create often
By creating as often as possible you give yourself the opportunity to see what you’re capable of. This only works if you throw things away, always re evaluate, by constantly discarding designs you can create better ones.

Go too far
Go too far with a design, its only once you’ve gone too far that you can see where you should have stopped. This may not have been as easy with paint on canvas but with photoshop its easy.

We’ve recently added a post about ‘10 (more) questions to ask your web designer‘ aimed at helping you get the most out of a meeting with a potential web designer. Following on from that we have decided to write a post to give you tips on getting the most out of your initial design interview (once you have signed up to a website design).

We always ask that a client meets with us to discuss requirements, their likes and dislikes and to talk over expectations.

A face to face meeting like this is the most productive way to make progress with a design and to hit the nail on the head as early as possible.

After years of these design meetings we descided to put together the following tips so you have an idea of what to expect.

1) Talk to us

Simple isn’t it! We want to hear what you have to say, what you are looking for, what your business does. The works. You should be the one talking and we should be listening (and possibly taking a few notes!) If you are stuck with how to begin don’t worry, we will have a few questions to start you off and get you chatting.

2) Show us

One of the most telling parts of a design meeting can be hearing what you do and don’t like. Whether it’s websites, logos, flyers or even magazine layout. It all helps us get a feel for what you are looking for. You may think that everything is a ‘hodge-podge’ of unrelated ideas but with seeing just a few examples we can immediately see a theme. It can really help us to see straight away that you like simple designs, bright designs, a classic or a grunge look and can be easier for you to tell us what you want without actually telling us!

3) Wait fo us!

This design meeting is not about having an immediate solution or design before you leave the office. We need time to digest what you have said and played about with a few ideas before giving you your first webdesign sample. This is a normal process so don’t be disappointed! It gives us time to really think about what you want and to give you a considered design.

4) Be a little prepared

To really get the most out of your design meeting you can prepare yourself. Before the meeting take a coffee break and consider a few points:

• Do you have a colour scheme in mind?
• Do you have images you would like to use or have to use?
• Do you have set fonts?
• Do you have a logo designed? If so then bring a samples long with you.
• What websites do you like and dislike?
• Who’s going to prepare the textual content?
• What message do you want to get accross? Any call to actions you need to include?