Posts Tagged ‘appealing’

The following are print & web design projects that I have worked on during the month of March 2010.

1. Sesame Communications – Beaupre web design
   
2. Home Resource Network – eNewsletter design/layout
   
3. Parent Support Group – Pro bono layout of 11 different insert cards
   

These are print & web design projects I have worked on during the month of February 2010:

1. Africa Easy – Quarter page ad design
   
2. Sesame Communications – Howell web design
   
3. Sweet Lily Organic Salon – Various design of marketing materials
   

   

   

4. Rodgers Law Firm – Logo comps
   
5. Sesame Communications – Alba web design
   
6. Sesame Communications – Williamson we design
   
7. Sesame Communications – Vadecha web desogm
   
8. Emerald City Lights – Pro bono brochure layout
   
9. Sesame Communications – Rodriguez web design
   
10. Sesame Communications – Rosen web design
    
11. Simply Efficient – newsletter banner
    
12. Sesame Communications – Cook web design
    
13. New Project News Magazine – IGBS ad design
    
14. Rodgers Law Firm – Final logo design and business card layout
    
15. Just A Call Away – logo design
    
16. New Project News – Magazine layout/design
17. Simply Efficient – CD label design
    
18. Just A Call Away – web redesign
    
19. Rodgers Law Firm – PowerPoint template design
    
20. Home Resource Network – half page flyer design
    

The following are projects I’ve worked on during the month of January 2010:

1. McBuzz – Blog header for Michael Powell
   
2. McBuzz – Blog header for Scontrino & Powell
   
3. Sesame Communications – Reed web design
   
4. Jim Allen – Letterhead and business card design
   
5. ANSWER – brochure
   
6. Sesame Communications – Chen web design
   
7. Sesame Communications – George web design
   
8. Sesame Communications – Wadhwa web design
   
9. New Project News – Magazine layout
   
10. Sesame Communications – Frankel web design
    
11. Sesame Communications – Gifford web design
    
12. Sesame Communicaiton – Thomas-Blair web design
    
13. Sesame Communications – Nissenbaum web redesign
    

These are projects I worked on during the month of November.

1. Sesame Communications – Lamb web design
   
2. Sesame Communications – Kawatta web design
   
3. Sesame Communications – Adams web design
   
4. Sesame Communications – Kemp web design
   
5. Sesame Communications – Pazios web design
   
6. Sesame Communications – Elliot dental web design
   
7. New Project News – magazine report ad (making use of lots of the same word “leads”)
   
8. Sesame Communications – Oberg web design
   
9. Serene Coaching – New design & blog
   
10. Sesame Communications – Rey web design
    
11. Seattle Reproduction – flyer design
    
12. Sesame Communications – Lindenhurst web design
    
13. Sesame Communications – Alter web design
    
14. New Project News Magazine – Magazine layout
15. Sesame Communications – Paventy web design
    

These are projects I have worked on during the month of September:

1. Sesame Communications – Roth web design
   
2. Sesame Communications – Wright web design
   
3. Sesame Communications – Pratt web design
   
4. AMV – VanSkyhawk web design
   
5. Sesame Communications – Wiggins web design
   
6. Stritmatter – Print ads for Bar Bulletin and Trial News
   
7. Stritmatter – Postcard for speaking engagement in 2 spot colors
   
8. Sesame Communications – Mortensen redesign
   
9. Sesame Communications – Woods web design
   
10. Sesame Communications – Kim web design
    
11. Curvine – Waddell Properties web design
    
12. New Project News – Ad design for placement in magazine
    
13. Sesame Communications – Harrison web design
    
14. Sesame Communications – Fowler web design
    
15. Sesame Communications – Marxen web design
    
16. Sesame Communications – Hilgers web design
    
17. New Project News – Magazine layout
18. New Project News – Pinnacle ad design
    
19. Sesame Communications – Alter web design
    

With the start of the new year and resolutions, think about your tired website. When was it last updated? Could it attract more traffic to increase business?

I do a lot of shopping online (both for products and services) and here is what I look at as I’m viewing the site:

• Does the site convey trust? If the site looks thrown-together or amateur, I wonder where else the company or person has cut corners. Will they process my order in a timely manner? Will they safeguard my credit card information? If the site doesn’t look professional, I move on.
• Is the site easy to navigate? It drives me crazy when the navigation on the home page is so long that I have to scroll and scroll to find the category I want. The best sites have main topics in the main navigation with subtopics listed in a drop-down/flyout or as a secondary topic on the main topic’s page. Large sites should also include a site map to make it easier to find what you need.
• Does the home page give me information or sensory overload? Another pet peeve of mine is the home page that tries to put all the information on one page instead of breaking it up logically. It usually results in page scroll hell: the kind that just seems to go on and on and on. I immediately leave these sites. You may have the greatest product or service in the world, but if I have to scroll forever to find it, you have just lost my business. A good site’s home page will give only enough info to grab the viewer’s attention and make them want to see more! A good site will also have “white space” to rest the eyes. Besides a good web design, I highly recommend that you hire a writer who will help you write compelling copy that will entice viewers. If you need to use animated banners or flash modules on your site, it’s advisable to have a maximum of three loops; more than that and it starts to become distracting and viewers may miss important information. If you have audio, please—I beg you—have an on/off button! And if you use animated gifs, watch the flashing text/lights…if it really bugs my eyes, imagine what it does to someone with epilepsy!
• Is important information at the top of the page? I’ve come across quite a few sites that locate their search feature at the bottom of a very long page. Not only do I have to scroll forever to get to it, but it’s easy to miss this feature if it’s at the bottom. Another good idea is the ability to view a shopping cart at the top of the page if the site is selling a product. Contact information is another feature I like to see at the top of the page, especially if it’s for a service and I want to contact the company or person to get information about my particular need.
• Are your site colors appealing? The right color combinations make your site more appealing to the eye…which in turn keeps viewers coming back instead of fleeing in terror. You also want good contrast between large blocks of text and background colors. You don’t want viewers to get eye strain and give up looking at your products or services! One of my biggest pet peeves is the use of color…specifically colored patterns. Trying to read text against a colored-pattern background makes my eyes cross.
• Can you be found in the major search engines? Many sites lack structure and/or code that makes them friendly to web crawlers (the main way search engines find new sites). If you can’t be indexed by the search engines, you’re losing business! Sure, everyone wants to be at the top of the search results…but it’s hard to get to that point. By using some key techniques, you can at least be in the first couple of pages.

These are just a few things to think of when evaluating your website for the new year. If your website could use an update in any of these areas, I can help! Just visit www.lolaludesign.com and complete the information request on the contact page to get started.