Category: Creative Programs and Systems - page 24

I never realized that when I spoke people only heard every other word I was saying. I don’t think I fully realized this until after building multiple websites for clients. As we would go through the development and launch I would thoroughly discuss with them search engine placement. I would explain that no matter how well designed their new site was it wouldn’t matter if people could not find them. I think my clients are like most of the people in need of a website today. They heard what I was saying but did not really believe that their new site wouldn’t just pop up when people searched for it.

I will never forget this one client in particular who changed her business and mine. After we spent a few weeks coming up with a terrific site devoted to her company I again explained how we would need to continue the momentum with search engine placement. I explained how this would benefit the site and help her grow her business. She declined to do the search engine placement so that she could add two more pages to the site and stick with in her budget. I again emphasized that it really didn’t matter how detailed the site was if people could not find her website when using one of the major search engines.

Weeks after the site went live I received a frantic call from her explaining that she had gone on Google and typed in a few keywords to search her site out. She even once including the exact name of her company and the city she was located in. She was crazed that nothing about her business came up. Of course I explained once again that this is why search engine placement was as important as the actual website development. It wasn’t until that moment that a light bulb went off and she realized that if her business was going to draw clients from the internet that she must start investing monthly into search engine placement as part of her long term marketing goals.

A few months after we started helping her reach this long term goal with monthly search engine placement I checked back in with her. At this point she informed me that she had so many people finding out about her business from her website that she was ready to move forward and add a shopping cart on to her site. She figured she could at least double her profits with this addition. She was thrilled to have a store front business and a healthy online business to go with it. She admitted to me that she wished she had taken my advice from the start and wished she had not been naive enough to think that online presence only came from a website.

The great thing about having a client that has a light bulb moment is that they can help bring awareness to future clients. Advice coming from someone that has grown a successful online business with proper search engine placement is better than any sales pitch I might come up with. Now when I have a client who is hesitant to move forward with search engine placement I refer them to her. I let her explain that the money she has put into search engine placement has at least doubled her business and allowed her to become a competitive online business as well.

The web is a wild place. It is an art gallery without the admission fee. Web designers are artist of a different medium. Like artists not all of the website designs that they create are going to work. Some websites are truly annoying. Take for instance a painter that really likes the color blue. If it is used in every piece of art the painter makes it will visually not stimulate our eyes and we will become bored or annoyed with the artists art. The same is true for web design. As a website developer you need to make sure that your “art” is different for each client and you need to avoid common mistakes that draw attention away from the client’s product or service. There are several things to steer clear of when designing websites to ensure a perfect site for your client.

Top Five Most Annoying Website Design Techniques

1) Colors that assault the eye – If your clients insisting on using every color of the rainbow in their site design it is your job as the website designer to talk them out of it. Even though they think it adds just the right touch of pizzazz to their site you know better. Colors that are too bright or morbidly dark will not be suitable to promote your clients work. Even if you are promoting a circus keep the main site colors down to a maximum of two or three. Do not give in to the more is better philosophy with color.

2) Background sounds – Nothing is worse that a site that replays the same sound bit throughout the entire site. Or worse yet a slogan that plays each and every time you click on a new page within a site. Full songs are also an absolute annoyance. It is best that the site visually provides the entertainment leave the background noise out of future web designs.

3) Spelling Errors – You are using a computer with a spell check button make sure you use it. Nothing is worse than bad grammar, incorrect punctuation or pour spelling. Before you go live with any site make sure multiple eyes have looked over all text. Even if the client has provided the text for their site do not trust that it is correct. Always double and triple check for errors or inconsistent tenses. They will thank you for catching the error before the site has become viewable to their clients.

4) Font Size – If you use all capital letters in your design people will feel like the site is shouting at them. Using all small letters will make people feel like you are whispering. It is best to stay consistent with normal text and punctuation. This way it will make the website feel as if it speaking to the viewer in a normal voice which will make it more pleasing to read.

5) Blinking links and popup windows – These items are to the web what junk mail is to our mail boxes. Useless information that gets in the way of important information. Stop using popup windows and blinking lights to attract attention to your art because the reality is that they are just annoying.

Remember in web design it is all about how your website design is perceived by the people viewing it. Make sure the art you present does not detour anyone from visiting the websites your clients have had you design.

While GRINDERS are the heart of their menu and what they are well known for, Mancino’s is quickly developing a great reputation for other menu items including award winning pizza and huge stuffed calzones. Check them out at http://www.flintmancinos.com/.

CPS introduces Kate Hoerauf a self-taught artist and crafter. She very eclectic in the mediums she use to create her art, combining the various forms like textiles, glass and metal to embellish an art quilt. More often than not, she will use photographs within the pieces or as the inspiration for the piece. You can check out her art at http://www.piecesofmeartgifts.com.

CPS is proud to present http://www.srcmi.com to their list of newly launched websites for the year.
Steve Counsell has over 30 years of experience within the civil design and consulting industry. If you are a land owner, developer or civil consultant engineer that desires modification to developed or undeveloped property you will need to check him out at http://www.srcmi.com.
Steve‘s experience promotes safe economical site development designs. Throughout his career, developing and sharing quality assurance methods to maintain the best possible consulting services has been a cornerstone to his success.

Finding good help of any kind these days is difficult. Let alone when dealing with something like a computer. Computer help is hard to find because of the whole computer language. Another thing that gets me is the technicians always seem to assume that I have a clue about what they are talking about. Which I don’t nor do I pretend to. Then I ask a question that seems to change everything. Now they seem lost too. So how do we find computer help these days? Is it possible to find a computer repair shop that can speak computer in plain English? The following tips are helpful when looking into finding a qualified computer service team.

The first think is to ask the people in your network who they have used in the past and their thoughts on them and about using their services again. You will also want to inquire on the work that was done, what steps were taken to repair the problem, the shop name and technician that they used.

If your network proves to be fruitless then look into search engines, newspapers and phone books. Call around to different computer help stores and speak with the staff. Check out prices, turnaround time and ask questions related to your computer. This should give you a good idea on how they will handle your issues when you are in the shop. If you have a gut feeling that makes you squirm then it is not where you should take your computer. You need to feel confident in your computer repair choice. It is also important that you understand what they are telling you. If you went to the doctor and he fixed you without telling you what was wrong you would feel a bit violated. The same is true when it comes to computer repair. If a computer shop is helpful and polite than they are most likely going to service your needs appropriately.

Make sure that you gather as much information as possible before you seek computer help. This is helpful in giving the technician a point to reference. Write down any issues that you are currently experiencing. It is important to let the tech know what errors are coming up and if you have been experiencing difficulty in opening files or programs. This is helpful for the technician as he uses this information to diagnosis your computer.

It is important that you understand what was wrong and how it was fixed. Make sure that before you pay for any repairs that the work has been completed to your liking. Make sure that you get what you are paying for but remember no service is for free. Computer help is just like any other help that we seek out. The biggest difference between say appliance repair and computer repair is that we take our computers in to be serviced. Like appliance repair we expect that our computers are performing as they were before the initial issue.

Darlene Mowatt shares her inspiration in each piece of art she creates. CPS has launched www.DarleneMowatt.com, Darlene’s website, so that she can share her art with you. Visit Darlene’s site and enjoy each of her unique pieces of art. From her newly launched site you will have access not only to her portfolio but also to other projects Darlene is working on. Come check out her artistic talent today at www.DarleneMowatt.com.

Gamerz Edge is now fully live and open for business. The first game to be supported will be Forza3, played exclusively on XBOX. Initial support for Forza 3 will include power to weight and torque to weight ratio calculation tables. They are intended to help players select an optimized combination of engine upgrade components for a given target value. Performance tables can now be purchased for twenty selected cars. Customers can request additional performance tables using the VOTE page.
http://www.gamerz-edge.net/

What does SEO stand for? I have heard hundreds of people ramble on about how important SEO is and here I stand clueless about why this acronym is so special. That is why I took it upon myself to figure what the madness was all about. Wikipedia defines SEO, search engine optimization, as the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in search engines. I know what you are thinking and that is what I thought to. I just spent all this money on designing a website. Of course search engines will spot out my site. It is unique, functional and new to the internet right? No, that is not what is going to get your site viewed. I have found that in order to get traffic to any site they need to invest in SEO. Search engine placement is the key in getting people to visit any site. It is like the newspaper, if your article is going to get read your headline must be on the front page.

Search engine placement is an internet marketing mystery. It matters that your website is functional and well designed only after you have the traffic visiting it. In order to get traffic to your website you need to be ranked well within search engines. Take this for example: search Toy Stores in Sockville, Michigan where there is one right down the street. It doesn’t come up on the first page of the search. After scrolling through three pages you finally find them. How many people when searching something on the web look past the first page of search results? If you didn’t know there was a toy store just down the street it would have never found because you wouldn’t have continued looking past the first page. The first page lists five toy stores in the area. Those toy stores have obviously done SEO and when their websites is found it is functional and easy to order from. They will get your order. SEO helps guide the customer to your website.

SEO is to the internet what the yellow pages are to the phone book. Five years ago when you needed a furnace repair man you looked in the yellow pages under furnace repair. You would call the first few that were listed or the one with the biggest graphics and they would get your business. The same is true today on the internet. You search out furnace repair for your area. After viewing the first page of listings it gives you five furnace repair shops in your area. You visit their websites and are attracted to the attention to detail in one site. You choose to call them over the others because of it. You haven’t even searched the next two pages all with reliable furnace repair shops but because they didn’t immediately come up catching your eye they will not get your business.

The above example is exactly why SEO is the buzz right now. For years we have heard how important it is to have a website that is easy to use and delightful to look at. Now that isn’t all that is needed. You have to get people to your site and search engine placement is going to get the traffic you are looking for. Make sure when you have your company’s website designed that you speak with them regarding SEO. It is the only way you will maximize the traffic to your site. Let’s be honest that is the reason you have spent all that money on the functional and well designed website in the first place.

Located in Brighton, MI, Canopy Bottle and Gourmet Shoppe has one of the largest selections of wine, beer and liquor in the state of Michigan. We specialize in offering single malt scotches, bourbons, and other hard-to-find liquors, wines, and champagnes. Ask about custom-made gift baskets that can be shipped anywhere in the US.

Check them out at www.canopywineandspirits.com