Archive for July, 2009

Your HOME page is the most important page of your site

Monday, July 27th, 2009

The first page of your Web site is the most important page of your Web site. It is your first impression — your calling card.

Make sure that you choose quality images, if you are posting them on the first page of your site. If you are changing the images on this page, make sure these are quality images as well.

homeFor search engine optimization purposes, this page is the most important as well. It should contain a link to your site map and contain 150-250 words of paragraph-style, keyword-rich text, so as to attract the search engines to the keywords and phrases that you are trying to target.

It’s best not to load the home page of your site with important information that can only be reached by scrolling down the page. Try to keep as much information as possible “above the fold” — and try to make sure that all navigation links appear above the fold as well.

Make sure that your logo is prominently displayed on every page (see logo design mistakes), and that your contact information is easily accessible on the home page as well.

Posted in General Web Design Tips | 1 Comment »

All Web Menus Pro Offers Solutions for Cascading Menus Javascripting

Monday, July 20th, 2009

A strong solution for cascading menus java scripting that I can recommend can be found at likno.com.

allweb

Their documentation provides:

“All Web Menus is easily configurable and provides flexibility when designing and implementing cascading menus. Your drop-down menu can be either vertical or horizontal (popup or drop down menu), can be movable, stay visible while scrolling, contain static or animated images, borders, colors and much more.Once everything is set, you can use the Compile menu and Link menu commands to use your web menu in your pages in a fast and easy manner, without any code involved.
AllWebMenus brings you the easiest visual way for customizing your most complex web menu structures in a stylish manner.”

I’ve used All Web Menus on various occasions and have found it to be very useful for designing sites in which the client has requested drop-down menus for navigation with larger web sites.

There can be some drawbacks in using cascading menus. To find out more regarding potential problems, check out cascading menus disadvantages.

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Always Keep Your Original Web Design Files

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

It happens over and over again:

Clients come to me wanting to update a flash display or an image, but their previous web designer has not given them the original files for editing.

always_keepWithout these original files, it’s impossible to edit a completed flash display or a layered image; the only alternative available is to start completely from scratch, which can be costly.

Make sure that your web designer gives you the full, original .fla file or the full original .pds file when the design process is completed so that these files can be amended easily in the future. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you won’t need to edit these files: you will! — that is, if you want your website to grow and change with the times.

A good rule of thumb is to remember to keep asking your web designer to make sure every aspect of your website will be easily editable in the future — and that, if needed, another designer will be able to take over where your present designer left off. The alternative is to be left with a site that will be costly to update.

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Try Gimp.org for Useful Image Editing Freeware

Monday, July 6th, 2009

gimpIf you are looking for a freeware version of Photoshop, try gimp.org. Many of my clients have found this free software package to be extremely useful.

Gimp gives you the ability to do most of the basic image editing and image optimization functions that you might need if you are starting out in web design.

Plus, working with Gimp is a good way to get your feet wet if you are thinking of purchasing Photoshop or Photoshop ImageReady.

Also, if you are thinking of starting out in web design, Gimp can be an excellent “introductory course” to the basics of image and photo manipulation. You can get started right away making your own websites without having to invest an arm and a leg in image-editing software.

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