Common Sense Web Design - Chicago | Web design advice from Chicago Freelancer, Christopher MerrillCommon Sense Web Design – Chicago | Web design advice from Chicago Freelancer, Christopher Merrill

Adobe Creative Cloud Replaces Creative Suite

Posted on May 15, 2013 by admin

adobe With an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you get access to Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator, as well as an array of other Adobe design products all in one.

Much has been said about Adobe’s recent announcement that it is discontinuing sales of its Creative Suite in disk form, opting instead to sell by subscription only:

Adobe discontinues Creative Suite, makes Cloud sole focus

Many longtime customers are protesting the change, and the debate about costs continues:

How greedy is Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription? Not very

I made the change a few months ago, and after some initial difficulties in setup, things are going smoothly. A particular advantage is that the subscription works for Mac and PC users, eliminating the need to buy two versions.

Initial download of the programs can take a while, and with the Cloud, you are forced to register the product (not always a disadvantage). But the benefits of having updates in one place and of having the software always available online on any computer, are considerable.

Cloud-based subscription is becoming the norm, and while many users object, it is here to stay.

Contact Christopher Merrill (Phone: 773-755-2536) if you have thoughts or questions regarding the change.

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Posted in Web Design Tools | Leave a comment

Why Do I Need a Footer on my Website?

Posted on April 5, 2013 by admin

Footers are standard on websites for a good reason: when users have trouble finding contact information, they often scroll down to the footer to see if they can find the contact information there. Posting your email addresses, as well as your phone numbers, in your footer ensures that users will have access to your contact information on every page of your site.

Footers should contain copyright information, such as

so as to protect your rights of ownership.

Links to disclaimers, privacy guidelines and terms of service are often included in the footer. A link to your sitemap can be included as well.

It’s conventional for the footer to be separated from the body of the web pages in some easily discernible way. This could mean that the footer text is in a smaller font size, or that it is separated from the body of the text by a horizontal rule (using <hr> in the code).

Footer text should not vary from page to page.

It is also customary (and useful for your users) for the footer to include links to important pages on your website.

Questions? Contact me for answers.

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Images Are More Than Just Decoration

Posted on March 26, 2013 by admin

Am image like this one could be used to identify a link entitled HOW TO TAKE MEASUREMENTS.

An image like this one could be used to identify a page containing product measurements.

Images do more than just spice up your web pages. They act as page identifiers.

Users will recall the images that appear on particular pages of your website, and will use these images to identify these pages when they come back to your site, in much the same way that you might flip through a book and look for particular images in order to locate certain pages.

Images can — and should — be used as a way to illustrate the information that is being conveyed. For example, the image above might be used to identify a page containing product measurements.

Photographs of specific people should always have a caption below the image that contains the name of that person.

Images should also be identified with appropriate alt tags titles. Avoid using vague terms to describe the image. Try to be specific as possible.

Royalty-free clip art, photos, and animations are available at:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/

For information about photo gallery options, see Chicago freelance web designers Christopher Merrill’s selection of photo galleries.

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Posted in General Web Design Tips | Leave a comment

The Most Popular WordPress Plugins

Posted on February 11, 2013 by admin

WordPress provides the platform, but WordPress plugins supply the magic.

When you set up your WordPress website, you get the basics: the ability to add pages and posts, the ability to add links and images, and to amend your WordPress template, etc.

But when you add plugins, look out! With plugins you can accomplish so much more. For starters, you can limit spam, create form mail, create a captcha, install social media widgets, create photo galleries–the list goes on and on.

Check out the WordPress Most Popular Plugins list to see which plugins are used the most. WordPress also provides a rating system that uses a five-star method to rate each plugin. Most plugins are very simple to install (two clicks)–however, full documentation is available for each plugin.

One extremely popular plugin is Akismet, which will check your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not.

Contact Form 7 allows you to create online forms within your WordPress site.Other recommended plugins f the from the author of Contact Form 7 are

Flamingo – You can save submitted messages via contact forms in the database.
Really Simple CAPTCHA –A simple CAPTCHA module which works well with Contact Form 7.
Bogo – A straightforward multilingual plugin that helps you avoid headaches down the road.

With WordPress plugins, you enter a whole new world. Enjoy!

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Public Relations and Websites Go Hand in Hand

Posted on January 25, 2013 by admin

Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Chicago public relations specialist Sally Chapralis regarding web design and public relations.

“I advise my clients that a website is a necessary starting point for public relations. You want to professionally present yourself or your business, and these days, being ‘legit’ means having a website,” Sally said.

I asked her about the essentials of PR. “PR is about connecting with your publics; but first, you need to identify who your publics are. Performing a SWOT analysis, where you identify your Strengths, Weaknesses, Obstacles and Threats, is key to developing any public relations strategy. With these in mind, you can write your press release and pitch letter, focusing on your newsworthiness based on the five W’s: Who, What, When, Where and Why?”

I asked Sally, “Apart from lending legitimacy, are there other ways a website can be helpful?”

“Absolutely,” she said. “Having a website is essential if you want media representatives to look at your materials. Nowadays, media contacts expect you to provide them with links to your press release and to other resources (backgrounders, FAQs, interviews, bios or videos), rather than sending these as attachments to your email. Media reps just don’t have the time to click on email attachments then wait for the particular program (Word or Adobe Acrobat) to open and then download the material. They appreciate and are much more likely to view your items if you provide them with URLs which lead directly to online versions of these materials.”

Readers: I’d add that this strategy applies to more than just press releases. For example, when applying for employment by email, having a direct link to your resume and cover letter means potential employers are far more likely to actually look at these materials. It also means that, once they are on your website, they are far more likely to look at other material that you have posted.

For those looking to supplement their PR with a website, Sally advised, “Before you proceed, consider whether you need a website or a blog.”

To learn more about PR strategies, contact Sally Chapralis.

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Posted in Marketing Your Website | Tagged Public Relations | Leave a comment

Google Site Keyword Search

Posted on January 6, 2013 by admin

Having your own personal website keyword search option will not only make it easier for users to find information on your website, it will help you find your own information as well.

It’s easy for a web site owner to forget what they have posted on their web site; but with a keyword sitewide search, you can find out whether or not you have already posted that material you are looking at, or whether or not you neglected to post it in the first place.

You can also use the sitewide search to access research that you have performed and to get quick reminders of how you framed answers to client’s questions in the past.

Sitewide searches can be especially useful for blog owners as a way to track posts.

Having a sitewide search will also encourage users to come back to your site for useful information, since they know they will be able to find information on your website quickly and easily — remember, repeat visitors can be detected by the search engines.

Google Site Search can be useful for small business owners and individuals as a simple, easy-to-configure site search solution.

Questions? Contact Christopher Merrill for answers.

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Posted in Goodies | Leave a comment

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

Posted on January 1, 2013 by admin

The following is taken from WordPress.com:

WordPress.com Benefits

It’s free and super easy to set up
All of the technical maintenance work is taken care of — Setup, upgrades, spam, backups, security, etc.
Your blog is on hundreds of servers, so it’ll always remain available, even under high traffic
Your content is backed up automatically
You’ll get extra traffic from being a part of the WordPress.com community
You can find like-minded bloggers using search and the reader
Your dashboard is secure (SSL) making it even safer to log in on shared networks

WordPress.com Cons

We provide 200+ themes (and adding more every day) which you can customize, but you cannot upload a custom theme
You can’t modify the PHP code behind your blog
You can’t upload plugins

Note: The VIP program on WordPress.com for high-traffic and high-profile sites allows you to run custom themes, custom PHP code, ad code, and WordPress plugins.

WordPress.org (self-hosted) Benefits

Ability to upload custom themes
Ability to upload plugins
Complete control to change code if you’re technically minded

WordPress.org (self-hosted) Cons

You need a good web host — This generally costs $7-12 a month, or thousands of dollars per month for a high traffic site
Requires more technical knowledge to set up and run
You’re responsible for stopping spam
You’re responsible for creating and maintaining backups of your site
You’re responsible for updating the WordPress software when new versions are released
If you get a huge spike in traffic, your site will probably go down unless you have a robust hosting setup

If you have questions about using WordPress, contact Chicago Web Designer Christopher Merrill.

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Posted in Wordpress | Tagged Wordpress.com vs. Wordpress.org | Leave a comment

Back Up Your WordPress Database and Files Regularly

Posted on December 17, 2012 by admin

Backup your WordPress files regularly

WordPress is vulnerable to attack by malicious sofware, also known as malware. Two of my clients had their WordPress files hacked within the last year. Luckily, in each case, backups of their files and mysql databases were available. To resolve the situation we simply had to restore the files and database to the cleaned folder.

It is important to make backups — and keep them in a safe place — regularly so as to ensure that your pages will not be lost if they are attacked on the server. Be sure to back up your files and your mysql database. There’s nothing worse than having several years of blog posts obliterated — and have no way of restoring them.

Remember, your files are only as secure as your server. Choose your hosting company with care.

See how to back up your database and back up your files the old fashioned way.

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What’s in a Name? Everything!

Posted on December 7, 2012 by admin

Your title <title> tag content is extremely important for your site’s rankings. Select the words you insert in your title tags carefully.

Try to think of concise three- or four-word combinations that describe you — and only you.

Instead of merely:

<title>chiropractor</title>

be more precise:

<title>Chicago chiropractor</title>

or better yet:

<title>Old Town, Chicago chiropractor</title>

Avoid misleading words or phrases that do not really describe what you have to offer. Be honest. Listing things you’d like to do, instead of things you actually do, will not help you. Authenticity is best.

Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide suggests:

“Use brief, but descriptive titles. Titles can be both short and informative. If the title is too long, Google will show only a portion of it in the search result.”

As for description meta tags:

“A page’s description meta tag gives Google and other search
engines a summary of what the page is about (1). Whereas a
page’s title may be a few words or a phrase, a page’s description meta
tag might be a sentence or two or a short paragraph.”

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