Top 5 Reasons for Redesigning a website.
We hear ” I need my web site redesigned” quite a bit these days. While there are many reasons here are our top picks.
- I need my website to look more professional.
Looks are everything and online you have just a few seconds to make that all important first impression. A well designed fast loading web site can do wonders to encapsulate your expertise and reach and engage your target audience. - We need our content reorganized.
If your site visitors are having click through page after page to get to the information they want, you are making then work too hard. A web site with intuitive navigation and well organized content = “a don’t make me think visitor” - My web site is not doing what I want it to do.
Whether you want your site to act as a lead generation tool, a portal of information, or a selling platform, it is important to guide or funnel the site visitors exactly where you want them to go via “call to actions” - I need to add some additional functionality
Want to add a blog, additional pages, links to your social media networks? A well thought out web site will always be able to accommodate additional functionality without a complete redesign but sometimes there comes a point when a redesign is the best options. - I want my site to perform better in the search engines.
The structure and design of a web site bears a huge relation on how well a site performs in the search engines and a skilled web designer will know how to optimize all elements that make up a web site, for best search engine results.
Now lets take a look at these in action with three before and after web redesign projects.
Peter Meder and Company
We addressed all 5 reasons in the redesign of a web site for Chicago headhunter, Peter Meder and Company. The new site has a much more professional look/feel and immediately imparts the nature of the business. Visitors have easy access to the current position searches which is a huge time saver for both client and job hunter.
Bear Essentials
Content reorganization was the main driver behind our redesign of the Bear Essentials web site. We produced a much more appealing user friendly site with clear call to actions.
Tiger Tables
A more professional look was the order of the day for our redesign of Tiger Tables with clear call to actions.
Do you have a web site that could do with a makeover? We’d love to have an opportunity to talk with you.
Call us at 847 607 8679
2010 © Chicago Web Designer
in Branding, Chicago Web Designer, Internet Marketing, Usability, Web Design Projects
New web site for Burns Recovered Support Group of St Louis
Remember this post ” Pro Bono Web Design” at the beginning of June? Well the web site for Burns Recovered Support Group is now live. Visit it here www.brsg.org
We went from an outdated this:-
to a slick, all singing and dancing this:-
A fresh new look and feel, the design of the site has focused on getting the site visitor to where they want to go quickly and without making them think, via simple drop down navigation and bold buttons on the home page. Built on the Wordpress platform, the client is able to easily update the site, whether it is adding a new event or a batch of photographs. Burn camp 2010 is just three weeks away so stay tuned to see new photos of all the happy campers.
2010 © St Louis Web Designer
Banner Ads on your website
If you are a website designer or an owner of a web site that offers advertising this post is for you.
Yesterday I revealed a branding project I have been working on which included the creation of a logo, business card, website and banner ads. An important part of the website was that it be able to accommodate banner ads as this was to be a major source of revenue for the site.
To refresh your memory here it is again
Designing a web site with ads in mind poses a challenge. You need a site with conflicting call to actions.
Call to action A
Engaging your site visitors with your site’s content - happy surfer and web site owner
Call to action B
Encouraging your site visitor to leave your site by clicking on a banner ad - happy advertiser
So how do you design a website to please both surfer and advertiser? Successfully accommodating banner ads into a web site is all about balance between space, size, color and movement.
Space and Size
There are industry standards for the size and shape of Ad units suggested by Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). This list of acceptable shapes and sizes is growing each year but to create a website to accommodate all is not wise. A better approach is to pick a few of the best performing sizes/shape (do a search to see the current hot list) and create your website design around those blocks.
The thoughts of ads on a page can sometime conjure up an image of clutter and disarray but careful spacing and positioning of the units can optimize the performance (click through) of the ad, while minimizing the invasive effect they have on the surfer.
Color
The banner ads provided by the advertisers are likely to be multi colored and certainly not designed to compliment a web site with a complicated color scheme. The best approach is to keep the color scheme of your site monochromatic, in the case of the SBradio site we selected tones of gray. This approach helps the ads pop, happy advertiser, but enables the site visitor to easily switch focus to the site content, happy surfer.
Movement
Many banner ads have an element of movement, either a flash animation or a rotating gif. To overcome the competing effect of an animated element it is best to ensure the host web site has no or little movement itself.
So ads vs content, let the competition begin!
2010 © St Louis Web Designer
Website first impressions: New site for Breeze Law Firm
You have one chance to make that all important first impression, are you achieving that with your web site?
The updated site we’ve created for Breeze Law Firm delivers a great first impression with a rich look/feel, easy to navigate interface and direct copy allowing visitors a thorough overview of the practices areas.
Visit the site a www.breezelaw.com
Custom 404 error pages.
Does your web site have custom error pages? If a visitor types in the address of a page that has been moved or no longer exists are they greeted with this?
Does this screen engage your users? No and you are missing an opportunity to direct your users to the information they are looking for.
Take this “error” opportunity to present your visitors with custom 404 error pages, ours has full site navigation and a site map.
Web Design Updates for Indigo Image
Back in February I mentioned our web site was undergoing a freshen up. Client work always comes first so it has taken until the middle of April to roll out the changes. But today is the day!
While the overall design has not dramatically changed we have focused on usability issues. Our home page now features our RSS feed and a dynamic portfolio navigator. The entire portfolio section has been reworked and all logo and graphic design pieces are presented as a slide show format for easy viewing.
The portfolio has been split into the following sections
- Web Design – with 3 galleries of web site, email templates, landing page, banner ads etc
- Logo Design
- Graphic Design -with 3 galleries of business cards, letterheads, flyers, trifolds, menus etc
- Complete Branding – with six galleries of branding projects
We have also taken the opportunity to update our blog template and create a custom background for the STLwebdesign Twitter page
in Graphic Design, St Louis Web Designer, Usability, Web Design Projects
New web site for Saint Louis Associates in OBGYN
Launched this afternoon is a brand new web site for Saint Louis Associates in OBGYN.
Presented with a clean and fresh look/feel, the site information is organized in well structured categories, from “Practice Areas” to “Woman’s Health by Life Stage”. The user is able quickly to hone in on their information of interest.
Home Page
Woman’s Health by Life Stage
Visit the site at www.snowdenmd.com
Google Launches a new Web Browser: Chrome
I am a huge fan of Google and was delighted today to see they are launching a completely new web broswer, built from the ground up.
They have produced a comic which describes in layman terms the features of their new system. The browser is due for launch today and I will be keeping an eye on the official Google blog for that magic download link.
The new browser includes:-
- Tabbed browsing where each tab gets its own process, leading to faster and more stable browsing. If one tab crashes, the whole browser doesn’t go down with it.
- A distinct user interface that places tabs on top of the browser window instead of right below the address bar
- An “incognito” mode that lets you browse the web in complete privacy because it doesn’t record any of your activity
- A new JavaScript engine built from the ground up for speed
- Malware and phishing lists that automatically update themselves and warn you of bad websites
- A default homepage that displays your most commonly used sites and other personalized information
Website Design: First Impressions count.
What kind of impression does your web site make, especially in those critical first few seconds? Are you engaging your users to explore further or sending them away? Recent studies show that if a web site has not captivated a user within 4 seconds then they will abandon your site.
Here are a few things to consider.
- How quickly does your main page load?
What pops up first? How quickly can you begin to read any text? It’s critical for the most eye-catching elements to load first and near the top of the page. The page can then continue and finish loading while the visitor is checking out what’s loaded first. - Is it clear what your web site is about and generally what’s offered from a quick scan of the page?
- Is the navigation clear and obvious so your visitors can quickly see where to find your products or services or are you forcing your user to think to much?
So is your web site meeting these simple criteria or failing and sending your traffic away.?
It doesn’t matter how much effort you put into search engine optimization, pay per click programs, internet marketing etc. If the first impression or your site is lacking your visitors will go else where.
A web site makeover: Tiger Tables
Last week saw the launch of a new web site for tigertables.com.
Tiger Tables is in the business of selling actuarial software and offers a demo version for evaluation. Delivering an easy “don’t make me think” approach was our focus during the design phase, and we utilized bold navigation on the home page to attract users to try the demo or buy the product.
The overall site design was targeted for a more upscale, professional look compared to the original site.
Business owner Larry Katzenstein had this to say:
“Thanks again for all your help. I love the way my new site looks.”
