Archive for the ‘Website Design’ Category
What do your website’s photos say about your business?
Monday, October 10th, 2011We rely on pictures to convey meaning and emotion, to tell stories where words fail, and the internet is no exception to this. Product images, biography photos, interesting photographic headers are all used on websites to help “sell”. It does not matter what your website is selling there is hardly a product or service out there that cannot benefit from great photos.
Customer Supplied Photographs
Perhaps you, or a relative is a hobbyist photographer. This is one of the lowest cost options for images on your website, but results do vary. With the availability and popularity of consumer digital cameras, this is a path many choose. While it is a lower cost option than hiring a professional photographer, but more personalized than stock photography it is also of the least “quality” options. Some of the industries best suited for using customer supplied photographs, are landscaping, construction, and other outdoor companies, where the ruld of photography are more forgiving and there is more available light.
Stock Photography
Stock photography is purchased for use on a website from a stock photography company. These companies; check, and sometimes rank images on quality and categorize them on many factors. It makes finding the “right” photo much easier. Prices for stock photography can range from a couple of dollars per image to upwards of $100 for very high quality work, or work that is by a master photographer. . . There is stock photography for almost any business out there, and this is a great option if you are not selling a highly personalized product or service, and is great for when you just need a couple of images to finish out a website design.
Hiring a Professional Photographer
This is genrerally the most expensive option, but by all accounts one of the best. If you are selling a highly personalized product or service, then this is the only option. If you have a storefront, or physical business that you will be enticing people to visit from your website this is also one of the best options. It is also great for bio photos of yourself, and your employees. Professional photographers combine the quality of stock photography with the personalization of taking your own photos. Professional photographers know how to “sell” ideas, not just take pictures.
If a picture speaks a thousand words, what are the photos on your website saying? Design Extensions has solutions when it comes to the images that you use on your website. We have professional relationships with photographers in many disciplines, (even one on our staff) and would love to help you make the web a more beautiful place.
Brand Identity
Monday, August 15th, 2011Brand identity should not be rocket science. You want your customer to recognize “you” as quickly as they would recognize Coca Cola, Apple, or any other successfully branded product. This is true whether you are selling a product, service, or a combination of the two. If your logo, or tag line is too complicated to understand at a glance, then it is too complicated. Colors, shapes, and fonts are an important part of many successfully brand logos.
In the design world many fads come and go, but brands that have staying power rely on something more important. They stay relevant. What is popular today, may be old news tomorrow and so while some elements of popular design are great to include is small doses, the best brands stay true to the businesses’ core values, customer base, and roots. Design Extensions will use your feedback and our experience to craft a website as well as logos, business cards, and other print collateral as needed to convey the image you want for your business.
Many businesses fail to realize their potential, simply by not maintaining uniform branding across all sectors of their business. Design Extensions can help, from business cards, letter head and other print collateral, to websites and online advertisements that keep your business’ image consistent. One of the benefits of utilizing all of the features Design Extensions has to offer is that our design team is all in house, and all files/logos/and content is accessible for use across all platforms to reach new customers. For the few aspects of your business that we may not have an in house solution for, (clothing, and novelties) we can recommend a service provider, and will be happy to design, or provide design elements to them.
Your Website: The Friendly Receptionist
Thursday, July 28th, 2011As the first point of contact for your customers, your business’ website should be like a friendly receptionist. Potential clients and customers visiting your site; see your site, as indicative of the type, quality, and style of work you do. Presenting a sloppy unfriendly website, with poorly thought out navigation, and missing or confusing information, is like having a receptionist that client’s are afraid to approach, and who wouldn’t know the answer anyway. You wouldn’t hire an employee like that so stop letting your website turn customers away from your business instead of inviting them in.
Knowledge
The Friendly Receptionist would not be very good at her job if all she did was act super friendly, but not actually know anything. Similarly the best designed website is no good if the information isn’t easily accessible, concise, and above all pertinent. Many businesses, new to the internet, tend to want to include every tiny detail of their business online so as to reach every possible customer. It’s great if your Salon sells hair products, but if 90% of your business is made through selling hair cuts, then the information for your hair products does not need to be as featured as the information about hair cuts. A better approach is to think like a customer and assume your website is your Friendly Receptionist. What information should she have readily available?
Warmth
We all have experience with the other type of receptionist as well. The one who knows everything about everything, but is so cold, and unfriendly that you really try not to bother her and find out what you need on your own. That’s how some websites are. The information they have is great unfortunately it is just too “ugly” to access. The wonderful information that you need is hidden in such a cold unfriendly way, that you’d almost rather just find it elsewhere. This problem is just as serious as the lack of information on an otherwise “friendly” site. How can she help anyone if they don’t want to spend anytime with her, or are afraid to approach her?
You Care
The best websites have the information you need, in a “wrapper” that is friendly and easy to use. Why are these two things so important? It tells your customer’s, that you care about them. We want to feel like the people and businesses we interact with care about us and our satisfaction. We want those businesses to make us feel like they are working with us towards a common goal. Design Extensions is here to make sure that you feel cared about, by making sure that we adhere to the principles of the Friendly Receptionist when designing, and building your website. Simple, beautiful websites, with easy to navigate menus, easy to access information, presented in a friendly inviting way will keep clients coming back, and recommending you to their friends.
5 Things You Want to Know About Your Web Designer… Before They Touch a Single Pixel
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010If you feel like it’s getting harder and harder to find the right team to design, or redesign, your company’s website, I can empathize. In the eleven years I’ve been in this business, the number of firms offering web design and online marketing has exploded. The increasing number of options – not to mention specialties, fee ranges, and levels of quality – has made it hard for companies to find the right fit.
You can still find the right designer, though, if you know where to look, and what to look for. Here are five things you definitely want to know about any web design team before you hire them:
- 1. How past clients feel about their work. It’s one thing to look through a designer’s portfolio, but if you really want to get the story, you have to make a few phone calls. Talk to former clients and see what their impressions of the work, and the design process, were like. Whether you get good feedback or bad, these are things you want to know before you sign on the dotted line.
- 2. If they will still be able to help you tomorrow. Your site might be basic right now, but there’s no guarantee it will stay that way. In fact, if your launch is a success, it’s probably not going to be long before your company needs help with online videos, secure site areas, databases, content management systems, and search engine optimization to name a few – services that smaller or newer firms might not be able to offer.
- 3. Whether they have a bottom line vision. This is more important than most business owners realize. These days, when you hire a designer, you shouldn’t just be getting a layout and some HTML code – what you need is the first step towards a comprehensive online marketing plan. Be sure that any designer you work with can help you integrate your new website to search engines, social media, and more. You’ll need that exposure to gain new customers over the Internet.
- 4. What their fees are… Obviously, the numbers are going to be an important part of the discussion. Be aware, however, that quality always costs more, and that more than one web design client has been burnt by falling for bid that was “too good to be true.”
- 5. … and what those fees include. Web hosting, updates, content, and add-on features are just a few of the things you might want for your web design team, but might not be included in their rock-bottom bid. Find out exactly what you are paying for before you agree to any work. Or better yet, choose a vendor with a long reputation of quality work, no one that’s going to nickel and dime you at every step of the process.
There might be more web design companies to choose from than there were in the past, but that doesn’t mean that the right decision has to be any less clear. Take the time to do a little bit of research and get the answers to these five crucial questions – it’s not as easy as choosing the lowest bid, but it’s going to leave you a lot happier, and more profitable, in the long run.
(Republished from our recent article in Valacious Magazine in St. Augustine, Florida)
Why a Website Might be Your Best Investment Right Now
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010While no one is rushing out into the streets to declare the economy “fixed” just yet, there are some early signs that the worst is over. And with that realization, a lot of business owners are looking to make some of the investments they’ve been putting off until better days – hiring new employees, expanding to new locations, taking on new products, and so on.
But before you run out and jump at all the new opportunities that are coming your company’s way, don’t forget to take care of one of the most critical parts of your business… one that brings in new revenue, handles customer service problems, lets you market to the globe, and try out new products all at once, 24 hours a day.
I’m talking about your website.
A lot of owners, facing a tough business environment over the past couple of years, have elected to hold off on a new design or any major upgrades. That’s understandable. But now, with customers coming in through the front doors once again, many are concentrating on offline promotions and improvements. After all, if the site is doing a pretty decent job right now, why mess with it?
That’s a dangerous line of thinking. Because, if recent history is any guide, the buyers aren’t just coming back the way they were before; the American economy is evolving into something more competitive – and a lot more digital – than it ever was before. Your website is the one piece of your marketing mix that can keep you in the game.
Here are four reasons improving your website might be your best investment right now:
It sells. The bottom line is that websites are good for the bottom line. They help you reach more buyers, and sell more products or services, than any other marketing medium can.
It has a farther reach than your advertising pieces or sales staff… and at a fraction of the cost. Whether you want customers from out of state or overseas, a website is your best choice to find them.
New forms of online marketing are taking hold. Until recently, social media has just been a cool buzzword to throw around; now it might be a way to find new business. Making sure your site is equipped for social media marketing is a good first step.
It reduces costs. If your customers can look up and change their account information, order history, and shipping details, online, they don’t have to call you or your employees on the phone for routine tasks.
As the owner of a web design and online marketing company, I will admit that I am biased towards websites as a business investment. But that’s only because I have seen what they can do for a company’s growth. The online component of business success isn’t going away any time soon. If anything, it’s becoming more important as the economy recovers.
Keep that in mind, and keep up with your online marketing. It just might be the single smartest investment you can make right now.
(Republished from our article in the St. Augustine Women’s Journal)
Mobile Websites, Mobile Apps, and The Future
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010Design Extensions founder, Jay Owen, recently spoke at the NetWorth Technology Summit in Jacksonville, Florida. Check out a brief snippet video below. The full DVD of the event will be available at http://networthjax.com/
Online tools we use and love: Basecamp
Thursday, October 14th, 2010There are a few tools that we couldn’t live without. Tools that change we way we do business, make it easier for us to communicate with clients, or more efficient at what we do. These tools work great for our business and they really would apply across many different markets.
This is the first edition of this series and is focused on a product called Basecamp by 37signals
We have used Basecamp since February of 2005. Since that time, our gross sales have increased over 3 times what they were at that time. A big part of that is Basecamp.
Basecamp allows us to manage many more projects that we could have in our previous system. It allows us to not just manage them, but keep them running smoothly, keep communication flowing and most of all, keep it simple.
The best thing about Basecamp is not what it can do, but what it can’t. It can’t do complex time charting, it doesn’t integrate with salesforce.com, it can’t send out e-mail newsletters, and it can’t solve all of the world’s problems. But what it does do, it does very well.
It allows us to manage tasks, milestones, files, and messages between our staff and our clients. Our team is virtual, we work from wherever is convient each day and Basecamp allows us to have all of the information we need for each project at anytime, from anywhere.
If you are currently looking for a way to manage projects better, I would highly recommend checking out this great piece of online software. They even offer a free trial. It’s not just for those in the web design business, it’s for businesses of all types.
Leave a comment if you have suggestions for other online tools or software that you use a love for your business.
2010 Jacksonville, Florida BNI Member Conference
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
This past Friday, October 8th, we had the privelage of being a diamond sponsor at the BNI Florida 2010 Member Conference.
We had a booth on display to show off some of our website design work and even gave away an iPod Touch to Zeke from IT Promise in Jacksonville.
During the lunch portion of the conference, Design Extensions owner, Jay Owen, presented to the crowd of over 200 BNI members with various information regarding web design, graphic design, and internet marketing in today’s economy. We should have samples online soon of that presentation.
If you didn’t make the event this year, we would love to see you next year.
Also, don’t forget about the upcoming NetWorth Technology Summiton October 20th. It’s only $20 for the event. The event will include lunch and 3 guest speakers including Design Extensions. We look forward to seeing you there!
Technology Summit coming soon to Jacksonville
Friday, October 1st, 2010
Networth Jacksonville will soon be hosting the 2010 Technology Summit at Deercreek Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida.
The event will feature Design Extensions owner Jay Owen, discussing three key areas of Mobile Apps in Business, Branding Integration, and Marketing of the Future. Other speakers include Joe Lemire from Elyk Innovation and Roy Buncome from Buncome Technologies.
The event is only $20 and includes lunch. Starts at 11:30 and ends at 2PM. Be one of the first people to register and be entered to win a $50 gas card!
Register today at NetworthJax.com
Interview with NetWorth Jacksonville | Web Design & Development
Monday, July 26th, 2010Design Extensions founder, Jay Owen, was recently interviewed by Networth:
