Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Talking Human Walking On Your Screen

One of the “creative” things I have been seeing lately on a few more “expensive” websites is a talking person appearing or walking onto the home page. ServiceMagic, a contractor referral website, was one of the first I saw use this technique to capture a visitors attention. I then began to see other sites mimic their example. It is typical to see the CEO or the “voice” of the company walk onto the home screen (using flash) and begin all the reasons you should continue on his or her website.

The idea behind video and music on a home page seems good on the surface. It is typically attractive, well planned, organized but can be invasive! Sometimes, you can’t figure out how to turn it off! Now, do you really want to listen to a person start talking to you when you did not begin the conversation in the first place? It makes me feel like walking by a sales booth at a home show and hearing the salesman call out to me to hear his sales pitch as I try to avoid eye contact and move quickly by him! Most website visitors are probably sitting at their office with other employees nearby. The second their computer starts playing music or has a loud voice rambling on about the their company, the visitors get a little embarrassed knowing that others may be thinking they are “searching the web” during business hours!

If there is a way to pause the music or voice or simply turn it off, video and music can be used, in moderation!

Posted by David Chism on 06/16 at 09:55 AM
Site Evaluations • Permalink

Monday, June 08, 2009

ATT Wireless Navigation Buttons

I can’t help but notice the great job ATT Wireless did on their Home page since their last redesign. It is one of the best examples of good web usability I’ve seen in quite some time. They simplified their navigation buttons so it makes users less confused on where to start their “clicking.” Notice the three main buttons on the left-hand side of the page, it has the following: Explore, Shop, Support. Isn’t that the three main things people do on a cell phone website? Why is it that most other companies start their home page with 3x the amount of buttons: Business Solutions, Ringtones, Customer Service, Login, etc. It can be shorten into those three words mentioned above by ATT! A visitor will ask the quick questions? What do I want to do: Shop for a phone, Check out the latest phones and plans or get help?

It is a fact that web users, like yourself, like to find buttons and anything that can be clicked! However, you don’t like to second guess yourself wondering if the links work or be troubled about where to begin!

Building a website so that it reads well and is easy to Navigate is something we at Pioneer know how to do quite well. If your site is in need of a makeover and you want it done right, contact Pioneer Design Group.

Posted by David Chism on 06/08 at 06:57 PM
Site Evaluations • Permalink

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Creating Forms That Are Secure

I was looking over a website this morning for some advertising purposes and clicked on their “Pay Now” link. It took me to the payment section, and I could not believe what I found! This company, a publications company, has a VERY unsecure payment section. There is not a single icon or customer “peace of mind” that the site is secure! They ask for things like: Name, email, checking account #, routing # and even your credit card information! I cannot believe a company that is selling advertising spots for HIGH-END golf directories would be so careless as to have a website with these types of forms. The forms used are anything but secure!

When Pioneer Design Group designs a site, we will make sure we never compromise the security of your personal information or your clients.

Posted by David Chism on 05/27 at 10:04 AM
Site Evaluations • Permalink

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Website Evaluations & Marketing Services

Pioneer Design just added a “Marketing Services” page to their website. We’ve been offering this service for quite awhile but have now made it an active part of our company. If you have a current website, we can offer a website evaluation on usability, navigation and the overall design of the site. This would be a valuable service for you to consider as our suggestions to improve your site will improve your overall web marketing plan.

No matter what your marketing or design needs are, Pioneer can help. Please visit our Marketing Page to see what we offer.

Posted by David Chism on 05/26 at 08:15 AM
Permalink

Friday, October 10, 2008

Keeping Your Site Fresh

One thing that we routinely recommend is to keep your site fresh. Give your customers a reason to return to your site. Here’s a few ideas.

Post company news and specials. Let your customers know about the latest changes, new employees, and new services you offer. Highlight the latest specials you are running. It’s also important to tie your website in with your complete marketing picture.

If you are running ads include them on the site (preferably on the home page). Post TV ads, radio spots, newspaper or magazine ads. You’re already paying for these ads. Extend the milage of this media by posting them online. Feature an “employee of the month” or introduce new staff. Keeping your site updated with current information will let people know you’re growing.

Another way to keep interest is to discuss your industry. Research topics of interest to your audience and write them in a blog.

Posted by David Guy on 10/10 at 05:15 PM
News • Permalink

Friday, October 20, 2006

Content management

Recently we’ve had clients ask if they could maintain their own websites and we’re happy to oblige. Having the power to update your own site gives you the freedom to make adjustments or new content anytime you like. The term used to describe this type of control is content management system (CMS).

As has been explained in previous articles, by using CSS to separate the content of your site from its structure, management of information becomes much easier. Imagine if you were to take that a step further by creating containers for your information which could be arranged anywhere on your site and to which you could add content as easily as typing a letter in your favorite word processor. That’s the power of a CMS.

By creating the site with a CMS engine no matter the size, the ability to update many areas of the site is in your hands - without the need for knowledge of any complex code.

If that sounds like what you’re looking for, contact us today!

Posted by David Guy on 10/20 at 10:12 AM
Blogging • Permalink

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Web Standards Benefits

Now that we’ve explained some of the history of the web and defined what web standards are lets take a look at how you could directly benefit from the use of web standards in your web site.

Lower Development Costs
By using web standards your site’s appearance can be crafted much faster than with older methods. The key is the use of CSS to control the entire design of the site vs making changes to every singe file on the site. 

A simple example of this would be the design of your site header. Previously the code to build the header would be complex and would have to be repeated on every page. If you needed to change a part of the header (make it larger/smaller) each page would have to be individually edited. By using web standards you could define the header once in the pages and once in the CSS. Then you could instantly change the header in the entire site by altering the single CSS file.

Using web standards makes building a website faster and thus cheaper. And that’s something everyone can appreciate.

Faster Loading
Sites built with web standards load faster - sometimes much faster - than sites built with older methods. The reduced but more elegant code used allows browsers to draw the pages faster.

Better Search Engine Rank
Having a higher search engine rank can drive more business to your door. Search engines can understand sites built with web standards much easier than their older counterparts. Instead of having to wade through invalid markup a search engine can “see” your pages much more clearly. Having the content separated from the design lets the search engines get right to the “meat” of your site. This allows your site to rank higher and thus can drive more visitors to your web site.

More Accessible
Web standards were created with accessibility in mind. By making a site accessible to disabled visitors you get a larger audience. Blind visitors use screen readers to understand web sites. A well designed site is easily understood by these screen readers. In addition you would be in compliance with any anti-discrimination legislation.

Cheaper to Update
Websites need new content added from time to time in order to keep the site fresh.  An occasional site redesign also keeps a website interesting and more efficient. Because the content of a web standards site is separate from the design its is far easier to make these type of changes.  Adding or editing text is quite simple. And giving the site a new design is also made much easier since the single CSS file controls the look of the whole site. Conversely, outdated sites are very costly to make changes to and redesigns are like starting the job over.

Universal Language
When a site is created with modern web standards it’s much easier for a new developer to understand and change. This means you are not locked into using the original developer for changes should you need to change.

Designed for the Future
As new technologies and browsers emerge they will support web standards. It’s likely they will not be forgiving to incorrect and outdated methods of design. Building a website on these standards ensures compatibility for the years to come. 

Posted by David Guy on 08/31 at 01:36 PM
Permalink

Why Use Web Standards?

Many clients ask us - why should we have our site designed or re-designed using web standards? It’s an excellent question. The benefits of using web standards are so numerous it’s hard to know where to begin. First, a bit of history.

Back in the web’s infancy web pages were very simple black and white pages with text only. As the web became popular designers started using more images and tried to create complex layouts using archaic tools.  The sites they built sometimes looked OK on the surface but underneath they were a huge mess. Nested tables, spacer gifs and invalid markup are just a few of the scary sounding terms used in this era. This resulted in reduced usability and exponentially increased development and maintenance time. In other words, the sites of old were built like a house of cards - problematic to change and inherently unstable.

Little did most web desigers know that the W3C - the governing body for web formatting - had developed a set of web standards that would make their sites much more effective.  The W3C set out best practices for designing web sites according to internationally agreed upon rules. These rules are like buildng codes for construction - giving us the blueprints for quality construction. The guidelines are somewhat nerdy web developer code but their benefits will be attractive to any business owner.

One of the best parts of the web standards is the use of CSS or Cascading Style Sheets to separate your site contents (text, images) from the design. This allows site changes to be much more efficient than older methods since you are modifying much less information.

Getting back to the contruction analogy - the old methods of web design (and what some still employ today) will work in a limited sense. Any hatchet carpenter can build a primitive hut that will suffice for a short term dwelling. However, it takes a qualified builder adhering to building codes to create a lasting structure that will be safe and work properly for the future.

Hiring a web design company that follows web standards can benefit you in many ways as will be explained next.

Posted by David Guy on 08/31 at 12:56 PM
Permalink

Friday, August 11, 2006

Search Engine Optimization

You’ve finally got a site. Now what?! How do you get noticed among the
millions of other sites out on the web? Specifically, are there ways
to rank highly in search engines when someone wants to find your
site? When it comes to search engine ranking, there are both free and
paid ways to help your site stand out from the rest.

—————————————————
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
or how to help your site get ranked higher for free

Search Engine Optimization has gotten a lot of publicity lately both
through news of people and companies incorrectly trying to fool the
search engines into ranking them higher (aka black hat SEO) and from
many who are just catching on to the power of search engine generated
leads. In reality, it boils down to correct design using common sense
with emphasis on a few key points.

KEYWORDS
All major search engines — Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc. — are most
concerned with providing relevant content. So if you’re providing
content on your page that’s fresh, relevant and useful to the user,
you’re off to a good start. That sounds very obvious. However, when
you start looking at content delivered on many home pages and read it
from an SEO or content perspective, you actually realize many aren’t
doing that.
Rotating the content and keeping it fresh can be a huge boost to your
site ranking. After all, who wants to come back to a site that has
been the same for months? Search engines are designed to recognize
that, too, and give priority accordingly. You’ll see immediate
results if you update your content faithfully. We suggest that
content be changed every other month at a minimum. There are
different options to accomplish this which are discussed in detail in
the Application section below.

Also, use normal speaking language in your text. (Again, something
that seems obvious.) Don’t over-saturate your content with the
keywords you want to feature and don’t ever list one keyword after
another in a list somewhere on your page either visibly or invisibly.
(eg, white text on a white background) It’s true that you can see the
jump in search engine rank happen relatively quickly. The downside to
that is that you will eventually get caught and can be penalized by
the search engine — even banned and removed completely. However, do
use your keywords regularly though tastefully so it is obvious your
content relates to what the site is publicizing. Additionally,
keyword phrases are better than single words since it is much easier
to be found with a specific phrase than a single word which could be
used in many different ways.

LINKAGE
Not only is the number of relevant keywords on a page important as
far as search engines are concerned, linking is as well. Google is
particularly interested in a site’s links — specifically a site’s
inbound links. These are more important to Google than outbound
links. It’s not just about getting an inbound link, but a relevant
inbound link from a site that is reputable — not some massive free
listing service which dilutes a links effectiveness.

APPLICATION
Pioneer Design Group uses XHTML/CSS to design search engine friendly
sites from the start. Sites designed in this way are easy for search
engines to index which makes them easier for everyone to find.
Additionally we add code into the titles and around the graphics used
throughout the site so that search engines can tell what a graphic is
for since they can’t read them. Lastly we give the search engines
specific descriptions of the content on the site (aka meta tags) so
they will know what to look for and how to sort it.

Now for some practical steps you can do. When writing the copy for
your site, focus on communicating a direct message to your intended
market or audience. Use the main keyword or keyword phrase you feel
relates to your subject matter both in the title of your text and in
the first or second sentence in the first paragraph. Keep your
sentences simple and to the point with logical flow to the subject
being communicated. Oh, and another hopefully obvious point, use a
spell-checker or a good second person’s opinion before showing your
text to the world!

Communicate with others in your industry and exchange links from each
other’s sites. Confirm first that they are not using any black hat
SEO techniques to boost their page rank or their link to you could
lower your page rank. Make sure the links stay on topic and check
them every so often to make sure they still work.

On the point made earlier regarding regular fresh content, blogs (web
jargon for online journals) have become a popular way for those who
do or don’t know anything about actually designing a website online
to keep their content fresh. Writing a new entry on a regular basis
will accomplish this nicely. Pioneer can either give you a custom
look for your blog or add a blog to your existing site as an
additional feature.

—————————————————
Search Engine Marketing
or how to help your site get ranked higher for a fee

Though handled differently, getting your site ranked higher for a fee
pretty much boils down to pay-per-click services. Pay-per-click
essentially means an auction-style bidding for how much value you
place on your ranking for results to those phrases. Google has their
own proprietary method they use for themselves exclusively and
currently Yahoo Marketing services most of the other big names.
Basically, the way it works is you choose a list of keyword phrases
you think would help people find your site. You enter (or hire
someone else to do it for you) those keywords into whichever service
you choose and you are told how valuable they are by how high other
people are willing to pay to be ranked first when one of those words/
phrases are chosen. Some words/phrases cost pennies and others can
cost several dollars. As you can imagine, your fees could add up
quickly if you want to be placed highly for a popular keyword though
you can limit your budget spent per month.

As with the free techniques to boost your ranking, Pioneer can also
handle your fee-based online advertising. Please contact us with any
further questions and to sign up.

Posted by David Guy on 08/11 at 11:50 AM
Permalink