Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Website Design PayPal Payment Options
My commercial site now has the option for new small business clients for custom website design to pay for services online. The PayPal verified logo is included in the top banner on each page of the main website. Unlike some online shopping websites that have products at fixed pricing, customers for my services need an agreement for projects before proceeding.
A single payment button on the price list page is set in increments of $50 USD, and payments may be made through PayPal or using major credit cards from Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. You do not need a PayPal account when using your credit card even though PayPal is the secure payment processor. No additional fees are incurred by the client for this method, so the amount for design services is all that is charged.
Besides custom small business website design, you may now pay for other design services including custom blogger design, custom graphic artwork, plus custom video and audio production, also.
TAGS: advice payment options PayPal Verified small business services website design
A single payment button on the price list page is set in increments of $50 USD, and payments may be made through PayPal or using major credit cards from Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. You do not need a PayPal account when using your credit card even though PayPal is the secure payment processor. No additional fees are incurred by the client for this method, so the amount for design services is all that is charged.
Besides custom small business website design, you may now pay for other design services including custom blogger design, custom graphic artwork, plus custom video and audio production, also.
TAGS: advice payment options PayPal Verified small business services website design
Labels: advice, artwork, audio, blogger, video, websites
Monday, January 28, 2008
Podcast Episode on Website Copyright
The latest show on the Small Business Website Mailbag podcast was released last weekend entitled "Website Content and Copyright" and the program runs just under 13 minutes.
The podcast presents a case study of photograph copyrights on a small business website that involved verbal permission for use of work project pictures from the original owner. A friendly relationship went sour, and the verbal agreement was replaced with a cease and desist order demanding removal of the photographs.
Listen to the program for additional small business advice about site content subject to copyright, potential copyright problems to avoid, resources for acquiring copyright free material for your website, and tips about obtaining and protecting copyright.
TAGS: advice podcast small business advice website design
The podcast presents a case study of photograph copyrights on a small business website that involved verbal permission for use of work project pictures from the original owner. A friendly relationship went sour, and the verbal agreement was replaced with a cease and desist order demanding removal of the photographs.
Listen to the program for additional small business advice about site content subject to copyright, potential copyright problems to avoid, resources for acquiring copyright free material for your website, and tips about obtaining and protecting copyright.
TAGS: advice podcast small business advice website design
Labels: advice, photographs, podcast, websites
Friday, January 25, 2008
Cross Browser Website Testing Advice
For small business website owners unfamiliar with the term "cross browser compatibility", it may be time to learn. Simply stated, it means the html or xhtml code used to create your website is compatible and your pages will display properly regardless of the brand of browser your website visitor prefers.
The chart below compares browser usage by brand from January to December 2007. Statistics show that 55% of website visitors use the current Internet Explorer, IE7, or one of the older IE6 or IE5 browsers to view websites. That leaves another 45% of potential customers that do not use Internet Explorer to view your site.
My advice is testing your small business website in all 5. Below are the five best known browsers, and links to their offical website download page.
I suggest you get each of these free browsers and test your small business website to ensure each of your visitors has the most positive first impression possible. If graphics or text gets pushed around or out of place when comparing the view in different browsers, a design review may be in order. Feel free to contact me for advice, as well.
TAGS: advice browsers small business advice testing website design
The chart below compares browser usage by brand from January to December 2007. Statistics show that 55% of website visitors use the current Internet Explorer, IE7, or one of the older IE6 or IE5 browsers to view websites. That leaves another 45% of potential customers that do not use Internet Explorer to view your site.
My advice is testing your small business website in all 5. Below are the five best known browsers, and links to their offical website download page.
I suggest you get each of these free browsers and test your small business website to ensure each of your visitors has the most positive first impression possible. If graphics or text gets pushed around or out of place when comparing the view in different browsers, a design review may be in order. Feel free to contact me for advice, as well.
TAGS: advice browsers small business advice testing website design
Saturday, January 19, 2008
$1000 Saved on Website Promo Mailing
The next episode of the Small Business Website Mailbag podcast entitled Mass Mailing Website Promotion was released today. The program presents small business mailing campaign advice that earlier this week saved a client over $1000 on just one post card mailing.
The show breaks down the mailing campaign cost analysis in detail, and to save listeners from taking notes, I included each dollar figure in writing in the show notes. Comparing a 4 x 6 to 5 x 7 and 1/2 page post cards, the total cost of one mailing ranged from $1700 to $2750. The client was thinking bigger is better.
In discussing the half page size post card flyer, I asked if their budget was closer to $1700 or $2700. The decision was easy once I explained that a professionally designed 4 x 6 could be just as effective.
When considering the value of my advice, and the $1000 savings, this client saved more than the price of artwork and printing! Listen to this latest podcast episode about mass mailing to learn how you could save on your next small business advertising campaign.
TAGS: advice mail campaign postcards podcast small business advice website promotion
The show breaks down the mailing campaign cost analysis in detail, and to save listeners from taking notes, I included each dollar figure in writing in the show notes. Comparing a 4 x 6 to 5 x 7 and 1/2 page post cards, the total cost of one mailing ranged from $1700 to $2750. The client was thinking bigger is better.
In discussing the half page size post card flyer, I asked if their budget was closer to $1700 or $2700. The decision was easy once I explained that a professionally designed 4 x 6 could be just as effective.
When considering the value of my advice, and the $1000 savings, this client saved more than the price of artwork and printing! Listen to this latest podcast episode about mass mailing to learn how you could save on your next small business advertising campaign.
TAGS: advice mail campaign postcards podcast small business advice website promotion
Labels: advice, audio, podcast, websites
Friday, January 18, 2008
Perfect XHTML in Blogger Blogs
One day, perhaps, website developers will be able to create the perfect template to display blog pages that comply to W3C standards with perfect XHTML in Blogger blogs. The goal is currently impossible because of how the blog "engine" generates blog posts at the instant you publish.
Content generated external to the template and css that web developers design for blogs is the reason. This content includes hidden code that identifies the blog as shown below in this snippet of results from the W3C XHTML validation service for just one post on my blog:
g?blogID=38647469&postID=5457517960262
The highlighted and underlined content above is the culprit. The ampersand symbol is a special reserved character in XHTML, and to display properly without creating a code error it must have it's full ASCII 5-character code and not just the single character as typed from your keyboard. The highlighted text of &postID should read &postID to be correct per W3C.
Unfortunately, this small problem generates multiple instances and errors on each post, and it is completely out of the control of you or your blog designer. The only solution will happen when the technical team and programmers at Blogger choose to modify their system to insert the ampersand with the full ASCII 5-character code. Don't hold your breath. It's like pushing a glacier.
Does this really matter? From a technical point, no. From a practical point, yes, because the solution is easy. Your blog will look fine with 250 code errors, yet if browser companies and web developers are driven to comply with standards for zero code errors, it would be nice to have Blogger get on board, too.
Finally, if you follow a permalink to any individual post on this blog, and then validate per W3C, there are 28 code errors. Unlike my main site which displays the Valid XHTML 1.1 and CSS2 badges with zero code errors, the blog is doomed for now to being nice, not perfect.
The blog issue and other external factors used to create multimedia content use deprecated code, so my goal of perfect code has been revised to accept the reality of designing with near zero errors.
TAGS: blog blogger blog template website design xhtml
Content generated external to the template and css that web developers design for blogs is the reason. This content includes hidden code that identifies the blog as shown below in this snippet of results from the W3C XHTML validation service for just one post on my blog:
g?blogID=38647469&postID=5457517960262
The highlighted and underlined content above is the culprit. The ampersand symbol is a special reserved character in XHTML, and to display properly without creating a code error it must have it's full ASCII 5-character code and not just the single character as typed from your keyboard. The highlighted text of &postID should read &postID to be correct per W3C.
Unfortunately, this small problem generates multiple instances and errors on each post, and it is completely out of the control of you or your blog designer. The only solution will happen when the technical team and programmers at Blogger choose to modify their system to insert the ampersand with the full ASCII 5-character code. Don't hold your breath. It's like pushing a glacier.
Does this really matter? From a technical point, no. From a practical point, yes, because the solution is easy. Your blog will look fine with 250 code errors, yet if browser companies and web developers are driven to comply with standards for zero code errors, it would be nice to have Blogger get on board, too.
Finally, if you follow a permalink to any individual post on this blog, and then validate per W3C, there are 28 code errors. Unlike my main site which displays the Valid XHTML 1.1 and CSS2 badges with zero code errors, the blog is doomed for now to being nice, not perfect.
The blog issue and other external factors used to create multimedia content use deprecated code, so my goal of perfect code has been revised to accept the reality of designing with near zero errors.
TAGS: blog blogger blog template website design xhtml
Labels: blogger, general, templates, websites
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Unique 50 Photo Website Gallery
Following up on the Monday release of the SolarusUSA integrated blog, my design of their main awning products website launched earlier today featuring a unique 50 photo website gallery. Imagine a visitor viewing 50 large photos as shown below in this post, and being able to view every photo on one page without scrolling down the computer screen.
Each awning photo displays 495 pixels wide by 356 pixels tall, so viewing 50 without moving down the screen may sound unbelievable until you actually see it. The photo above is slightly larger because it includes a border and outline, plus a full text caption at the bottom of the photo. Search engines cannot index graphics, however, the text caption on their website is real text, not a graphic. The search engine optimization, or seo, value of this design is an added benefit of this custom website design technique.
Finally, some photo galleries can come close to this performance, but they depend on a script or flash to present the series of photos in one place, and those techniques have zero seo value. Search engines ignore scripts and they cannot read flash website content. The photo gallery that I developed for SolarusUSA is a breakthrough enhanced technique being offered as part of my custom website design services, and the layout is done completely in XHTML 1.1 and CSS2.
Despite the complexity, the page code complies as valid to W3C standards without errors. View the photo gallery for solid color awning fabrics here, and the striped pattern awning fabrics here.
TAGS: launch photographs photo gallery website design search engine optimization seo
Each awning photo displays 495 pixels wide by 356 pixels tall, so viewing 50 without moving down the screen may sound unbelievable until you actually see it. The photo above is slightly larger because it includes a border and outline, plus a full text caption at the bottom of the photo. Search engines cannot index graphics, however, the text caption on their website is real text, not a graphic. The search engine optimization, or seo, value of this design is an added benefit of this custom website design technique.
Finally, some photo galleries can come close to this performance, but they depend on a script or flash to present the series of photos in one place, and those techniques have zero seo value. Search engines ignore scripts and they cannot read flash website content. The photo gallery that I developed for SolarusUSA is a breakthrough enhanced technique being offered as part of my custom website design services, and the layout is done completely in XHTML 1.1 and CSS2.
Despite the complexity, the page code complies as valid to W3C standards without errors. View the photo gallery for solid color awning fabrics here, and the striped pattern awning fabrics here.
TAGS: launch photographs photo gallery website design search engine optimization seo
Labels: examples, launch, photographs, seo, websites
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Custom Integrated Awning Blog Launch
In preparation of the release of another integrated custom website design and blog, the design for the SolarusUSA Awning and Shade Advice blog launched today. This manufacturer and distributor of custom retractable awnings and screens ships nationwide and internationally, as well as installing retractable awning systems in the South Florida area. Do-it-yourself kits can be shipped to customers and dealers in the USA, Canada, and South America.
The following screenshot of this custom small business blog is shown smaller than actual size.
The new main site for SolarusUSA should launch within a week and will include product information, pricing, a photo gallery, and two galleries of awning fabric choices from over 400 colors.
The web design technique for the fabric gallery uses xhtml and css to achieve a mouseover effect without using scripts. Placing 50 fabric swatches and photos of each on one page is very efficient allowing visitors to view all 50 photographs without scrolling down their screen.
TAGS: blog blog template launch small business services website design
The following screenshot of this custom small business blog is shown smaller than actual size.
The new main site for SolarusUSA should launch within a week and will include product information, pricing, a photo gallery, and two galleries of awning fabric choices from over 400 colors.
The web design technique for the fabric gallery uses xhtml and css to achieve a mouseover effect without using scripts. Placing 50 fabric swatches and photos of each on one page is very efficient allowing visitors to view all 50 photographs without scrolling down their screen.
TAGS: blog blog template launch small business services website design
Labels: blogger, launch, templates, websites
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Custom Audio Player Color Schemes
For clients interested in adding audio to their small business website, custom audio player color schemes can be designed to match your site. The graphic below shows 6 players slightly smaller than actual size, and the code used to generate these meets xhtml 1.1 standards per W3C to easily integrate into your website design.
Colors shown are two tone versions with light and dark each of silver, green, and blue. The choices for custom color schemes to match your site are practically unlimited with up to 16 million colors. The top view of each audio player is how it displays closed and ready to play on your site, and each bottom view shows the view during play.
Audio can be used for introductions, customer testimonials, a small business blog, or even regular shows similar to my Small Business Website Mailbag podcast. The latest podcast episode comparing dynamic and static websites was released earlier today if you want to listen and view a tan version of this player.
TAGS: advice audio audio player blog podcast small business advice website design
Colors shown are two tone versions with light and dark each of silver, green, and blue. The choices for custom color schemes to match your site are practically unlimited with up to 16 million colors. The top view of each audio player is how it displays closed and ready to play on your site, and each bottom view shows the view during play.
Audio can be used for introductions, customer testimonials, a small business blog, or even regular shows similar to my Small Business Website Mailbag podcast. The latest podcast episode comparing dynamic and static websites was released earlier today if you want to listen and view a tan version of this player.
TAGS: advice audio audio player blog podcast small business advice website design
Labels: advice, audio, blogger, podcast, websites
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Small Business Website Makeover Tips
It may seem incredible, yet a website makeover can actually hurt the age of your website and search engine ranking if you or your designer decide to rename the file names of each page.
For established small business website owners, the decision to do a site makeover requires careful consideration to avoid affecting the search engine optimization value. Changing text content to reflect adjustments in your products or services makes sense. Enhanced graphics are okay, too.
Adding new pages of original quality content is always beneficial to attracting search engines to your website more often. However, problems can begin if your website makeover and redesign goes beyond aesthetics or basic content.
The age of each page on your site is one of many key factors for seo, or search engine optimization. New pages that you add get zero ranking when they are first released. Changing the file name of a ranked page on your site during a website redesign will ruin that ranking value. An established page with years of aging that you then rename suddenly becomes new with zero rank even if you keep the text and graphic content identical.
My advice to avoid losing the age value is ensuring you use as many of the original page file names when doing a redesign. If this seems impossible, an alternate choice is using 301 redirects which is similar to a 404 page not found to alert people and search engines about missing pages. The 301 redirect, however, is code that can automatically send a visitor coming to page A to your new page B without any loss of aging or seo value.
Finally, consider that many sites may have links to your old page file names. You risk a loss in traffic if all those links result in the page not found error. You may contact me about optimal methods of 301 redirects if undergoing a small business website makeover.
TAGS: advice small business advice website design 301 redirects seo search engine optimization
For established small business website owners, the decision to do a site makeover requires careful consideration to avoid affecting the search engine optimization value. Changing text content to reflect adjustments in your products or services makes sense. Enhanced graphics are okay, too.
Adding new pages of original quality content is always beneficial to attracting search engines to your website more often. However, problems can begin if your website makeover and redesign goes beyond aesthetics or basic content.
The age of each page on your site is one of many key factors for seo, or search engine optimization. New pages that you add get zero ranking when they are first released. Changing the file name of a ranked page on your site during a website redesign will ruin that ranking value. An established page with years of aging that you then rename suddenly becomes new with zero rank even if you keep the text and graphic content identical.
My advice to avoid losing the age value is ensuring you use as many of the original page file names when doing a redesign. If this seems impossible, an alternate choice is using 301 redirects which is similar to a 404 page not found to alert people and search engines about missing pages. The 301 redirect, however, is code that can automatically send a visitor coming to page A to your new page B without any loss of aging or seo value.
Finally, consider that many sites may have links to your old page file names. You risk a loss in traffic if all those links result in the page not found error. You may contact me about optimal methods of 301 redirects if undergoing a small business website makeover.
TAGS: advice small business advice website design 301 redirects seo search engine optimization
Saturday, January 05, 2008
How to Analyze Competitor Websites
You may now listen to advice about how to analyze competitor websites in episode 003 of the Small Business Website Mailbag podcast. The tips for website analysis are appropriate for established small business websites as well as helping you plan a new website design.
Topics covered in this audio production and listed in the show notes include:
If this website advice helps you, please consider forwarding the podcast link to other small business owners, and then bookmark the show and return often. Thanks.
TAGS: advice design news podcast search engine optimization seo small business websites
Topics covered in this audio production and listed in the show notes include:
- Key factors for top search engine results
- Making a list of your search keywords and key phrases
- Doing a search in Google and Yahoo
- Details for analyzing competitor websites
If this website advice helps you, please consider forwarding the podcast link to other small business owners, and then bookmark the show and return often. Thanks.
TAGS: advice design news podcast search engine optimization seo small business websites
Labels: advice, audio, podcast, seo, websites
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Chinese Character Logo in Xara Xtreme
I recently created a logo design that included Chinese characters for a new client in Orlando, Florida, whose core business is services to restaurants, especially Chinese restaurants. The client furnished a handwritten version of the characters for their logo which I then recreated in Xara Xtreme.
Their printed marketing materials will be in English. The top view shown above is the handwritten scanned version they provided, and below that is my finished version that was integrated into their logo for the benefit of clients who read Chinese. The phrase has meaning for the majority of their customers without being dominant, while the look is decorative rather than literal for the other restaurants.
Duplicating an existing design or sketch into a finished logo is just one of the services that I provide for custom small business artwork for print or online. This client confirmed the rendering was perfect and easy to read, so with some imagination and Xara Xtreme vector graphics software, graphic designers can achieve professional results.
TAGS: graphic artwork logo design logos small business services Xara Xtreme
Their printed marketing materials will be in English. The top view shown above is the handwritten scanned version they provided, and below that is my finished version that was integrated into their logo for the benefit of clients who read Chinese. The phrase has meaning for the majority of their customers without being dominant, while the look is decorative rather than literal for the other restaurants.
Duplicating an existing design or sketch into a finished logo is just one of the services that I provide for custom small business artwork for print or online. This client confirmed the rendering was perfect and easy to read, so with some imagination and Xara Xtreme vector graphics software, graphic designers can achieve professional results.
TAGS: graphic artwork logo design logos small business services Xara Xtreme
Labels: artwork, examples, general
Jim Degerstrom
