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san diego web design tips & essentials

do's & don'ts for a successful business website

overall presence site visitor perception website tone professionalism

do design, write, & focus your website on your site visitor's needs and interests - demonstrate and provide client-centric solutions tailored to your prospective client's quest for either information, services and products, or their desire to be entertained; focus on engaging your target audience beginning on the very first page
do give generously! the internet is about free and accessible information and material; find creative ways to provide unique knowledge & resources; establish a niche and demonstrate your expertise
do succinctly convey the exact nature and purpose of your website
do make the focal point and topic of each page clearly obvious and specific
do create a polished, professional, and authoritative online presence that projects credibility & competence
do project a branded identity and editorial style
do ensure each of your website's pages load in less than 4 seconds
do ensure your website's content is broken down into small chunks of subtopics
do clearly depict subjects by descriptive headers so the reader can easily scan the page to find the information they're looking for
do situate traditional site elements in expected locations and formats, i.e, website logo in top left corner of website, underline hyperlinks within paragraphical content, etc.
do keep your site free of unnecessary items and annoyances; if in doubt, throw it out - less is more; a clutter free site can be strategically engineered to draw the site visitor's eye and attention to the most profitable and significant features, systematically eliciting a "most wanted response"
do make sure your website will be fully functional and navigable even for site visitors who have javascripting turned off in their browsers
do refrain from building your entire site or navigational system in flash multimedia
do be sure your site's internal and external links resolve properly, as well as online inquiry forms and interactive site features; outgoing external links, in particular, should be checked on a regular basis to ensure the designated webpages remain operational and maintain appropriate and relevant resources
do refrain from using passé & meaningless phrases such as "welcome to example.com" , "click here" without providing a description of "here"
do refrain from requiring user registration for access to little more than sales, marketing, or product pages, password "protecting" banal content, playing games, or otherwise offending your site visitors
do avoid the use of a splash page (graphical entrance page containing no textual content and an "enter" link) as your home page
do refrain from implementing cookies, aggravating pop up windows, persistent advertising, trickery, or installing other plug-ins, extensions, or malware in your site visitors' computing environments
do study your log files and end user behavior - learn how site visitors interact with your website and make improvements and modifications accordingly
do avoid installing "right mouse click disabled" scripts that imply the site visitor is not only a thief, but also too dumb to circumvent the mouse and rip whatever it is you think is worth stealing
do conduct cross browser compatibility tests for current versions of internet explorer, mozilla firefox, and safari
do ensure your website renders and functions compatibly in both pc and mac operating systems
do invest in a professional custom website and avoid templates and cheap looking designs
do clearly and consistently identify downloadable files such as pdf, word, cvs, audio, zip, and executable files with an iconic symbol or description

text | typography | legibility | consistency | hues & contrast | presentation

do use a consistent font style, color, and size within themes and sections
do use capitalization of entire words & phrases sparingly - a small cap font variant can be styled for hierarchal headings, titles, and other elements
do refrain from using tacky & distracting blinking, jumping, bouncing, gaudy text styles
do present your site's main content on a white background with dark colored font for optimum contrast and readability - dark backgrounds in content areas are much less legible and decrease the odds of converting site visitors to clients
do refrain from underlining any words or phrases that are not hyperlinked - underlining is a universal hypertext markup standard for links that lead to another part of the site or internet

graphics | audio | multimedia | video | site elements

do refrain from delivering audio or video files that play automatically - respect your site visitors' control of their own computing environment by offering music and movies on demand only via a user mouse click or selection of a clearly descriptive button or text excerpt, i.e, "click here to view our new tutorial on...."
do invest in a professionally designed logo and use it consistently on all your marketing collateral, i.e., brochures, stationery, letterhead, magazine and newspaper display ads, etc.
do implement only high quality, relevant, and purposeful graphics - include only images that serve a demonstrative purpose and enhance the overall quality and usefulness of your website...a good rule of thumb: if it's not contributing to, it's detracting from; again, when in doubt, throw it out
do refrain from using outdated and cheap divider bars, clipart, goofy arrows, unattractive buttons, and other needless clutter
do always refrain from using an "under construction" graphic, phrase, or place holder to account for missing or incomplete content - launch your site and new webpage additions only when they're complete and "first impression" worthy
do maintain sensitivity and awareness of cultural diversity and beliefs when planning the color schemes, content, and other aspects of your website

website navigation | internal & external text links | site maps | more...

do opt for a simple, straightforward, and consistent navigational structure - a website's navigation is the spine, or backbone, of the entire site...keep in mind, it's possible for a site with good navigation to still be an awful site, yet impossible for an otherwise attractive site with awful navigation to qualify as "good"...poor navigation equates to a poor site, period
do refrain from using popup windows with links, slide in menus, fly-out menus, drop down menus, and other elusive and non-userfriendly navigation elements - keep it straightforward and stable as links are the path to eliciting a "most wanted response" - an online purchase, inquiry form submission, or phone call for your services or products
do use breadcrumbs [ home ->->mountain bikes ->->accessories : you are here ] and other auxiliary navigational aids such as sitemaps
do ensure a "home" or "back to home page" link is available from both the topmost (header) section and bottom section (footer) of your website for site visitors who become "lost" - it is also thoughtful to include "back to top" links on lengthy pages to reduce tedious scrolling
do adhere to web site usability recommendations and keep all pages within two clicks of the home page
do use clear and explanatory link titles and descriptions that are relevant and consistent with the topic and nature of the content found on the section, page, or external site where the link connects

website content & material

do categorize, subcategorize, group, and "chunk" content and sections down in pyramid organizational style with the most general and introductory openings at the top, tapering down into more detail with interpretive headings that describe shortened paragraphs and mini sections
do use only unique, rich, informative and relevant content that provides a useful and interesting site visitor experience...always refrain from using duplicate content that is available on other websites and already exists in the google index
plan your content and topics based on your target industry keyword phrases with an emphasis on adding value to the web and becoming a resource your targeted market audience will bookmark
do refrain from using images in place of text, as google is unable to read the words on graphics and in multimedia movies and videos - keep in mind your site visitor may be using an adaptive viewing environment or apparatus to surf the web
do review your site and obtain feedback to ensure your website remains politically and culturally correct as well as age and target audience appropriate...again, if in doubt, throw it out

website structure | validation | accessibility | web standard compliance | css

do refrain from using website frames, building your entire website or navigation system in flash, placing copious amounts of javascript, applet, and css markup on your pages (keep scripts in an external file and reference them via a link instead)
do ensure your website's html/xhtml code and css (cascade style sheets) are w3c web standards compliant and validated - you can find more information regarding the benefits of validating your website in other sections of this website

mwr: most wanted response | website includes | tools | features

do add website interactivity and assistive site visitor functionality as appropriate for your industry and web theme
do consider adding and enhancing new methods and strategies for increasing revenue generating channels and sources on your business website - please see mobile web design for more information on maximizing your site's profitability via cellphones and handheld devices

website repair or site redesign?

Based on the factors listed above, is your website in need of repair and polish? Is your company or organization achieving the most favorable public relations impact possible? Is your website far better than your competitors' sites? It should be...and San Diego Web Design Studio can provide an efficient and sensible plan that makes the best use of current resources, meets your budget, and converts your website into a catalytic marketing hub that revamps and modernizes your branding and business image...your competitors won't be too happy, but you will!

Certain website issues and identified marketing obstacles, if existent, can be remedied by modifications and qualify as "website repair" - other impediments such as sites built entirely in tables, frames, or flash design, sites with poor navigation, outdated and unprofessional sites, and sites with excessive onpage scripting may require a web page redesign

If you would like more information on improving your company's professional image and search engine performance, please call us anytime at 619.504.0450 , or contact us via the web by eMail or online submission form

kaizen

we LOVE to create "best in class" websites...do you love to improve?

* a note about style

The guidelines listed above are general in nature; your industry and demographic market audience will determine the degree of style, creativity, and adherence to formality that should be undertaken or surpassed; this website, representing a creative service, bends the style and continuity rules on select pages - just as professional attire for a banker varies drastically from what a musician or artist might be expected to wear, some onsite punctuation and writing styles are purposefully "informal"

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san diego website prelaunch quality assurance checklist

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recommended site practices and webpage repair services

is your website playing air guitar? check out our website repair essentials page and strike the right chord on google, yahoo & msn

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