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Posts Tagged ‘Top-Rated Websites’
Basic Tips for Success as a Freelance Web Designer
6/9/2011 3:52 PM By William PirragliaFreelance web designers that capture the most consistent and lucrative assignments tend to follow characteristics and practices that employers seek. As is common to most superior endeavors, attention to detail often separates the great from the good. Prominent web designers and developers – just like athletes, writers and politicians - must perform consistently and concentrate on improving their skills. These simple but valuable tips should steer you in the right direction to help you attract the best opportunities.
- Design fast-loading websites. Animated, graphic-heavy pages may look exciting at first, but can then annoy visitors and customers. Unless you have a client that wants a site to simply show off, concentrate on fast, not flash.
- Use simple navigation designs. Sure, the web-literate community is rapidly expanding. However, even the most web savvy users appreciate simple navigation designs. It’s your responsibility to get them to where they want to be on your site as soon and easily as possible.
- Employ professional fonts only. Disregard creative but difficult-to-read fonts. Be professional – if your client mandates a particular font (which is rare) and you disagree, politely assert your reasoning.
- Compress and minimize images. Few wildly successful websites employ an abundance of images, unless of course images are the basis of their business. Compressing images you do use will facilitate fast downloads and avoid irritating customers.
- Use lots of white space. Remember, website clutter is a killer. Like effective print advertising, websites can be most effective when using a “less is more” approach. Avoid the temptation to include too many images, too much color or too many fonts. Stick to white space to keep visitors focused on your mission.
- Ceaselessly check for broken links and fix them. Before and after you publish, regularly check the site for broken links. It’s common for web designers to test links before publishing, but assume thereafter everything will be fine. Even internal links back to your own web-designed pages can be broken. Clients, understandably, become very cranky if their site includes one or more links to nowhere.
Browser Compatibility
9/17/2009 2:16 PM By Catherine THave you ever seen a Website that looks one way on one computer–and totally different on another? Browser compatibility is one of the most important features one can have. You'll want to have a consistent look, so that the Website is the same on any computer–with any browser. If you are looking to hire a freelance Web designer or a full time employee, make sure that they understand how to do this before you bring them aboard.
When you ask a potential designer about their Web design strategy, be sure to let them know that you want the Website to display well on all of the latest versions of the following browsers:
- Firefox
- Internet Explorer
- Safari
You may also want to point out that, with Safari, you'd like it to display well on both Windows and Mac. Once you have this important area covered, you can rest easier knowing that your Website will look good on the majority of computers. After the site is complete, you may want to test it on different browsers, just to be sure.
Whether you are a designer looking for the next big project, or a company with a project in need of a designer, Artisan can help.
Refining Your Web Site
9/13/2009 10:37 AM By Catherine TMaybe you've already got a website promoting your freelance work. Is it as good as it can be? Does it showcase your best, most recent work? Is the design up-to-date and easy to use?
Janet Green, marketing director for the Greater Des Moines Partnership, suggests going through the same process for yourself that you would for a freelance website client. If you aren't a web designer by trade, you may want to trade favors with a web designer friend to help you come up with a plan.
- Start by refining your needs and objectives. Be specific — not just "more money" but "income of at least $XX,000 a year from freelancing."
- Identify your target audience, and do research to learn as much as you can about these people's tastes and preferences.
- If you don't already have a serviceable domain name, get one that is easy to remember and clearly indicates your name and/or what you do.
- Map out the content that is going to be on your site. Put the most used links — including, of course, your resume and portfolio — on the home page.
- If you're not a designer, keep it simple. If you are, keep it simple and incredibly visually appealing.
Page Layout
8/9/2009 1:42 PM By Catherine TIn terms of Website design best practice, page layout is one of the most important features. The way a Website looks is crucial, and a good designer should be able to create something that will impact the target audience; whoever that may be. It should be easy to read, with a good balance of items and a text color that is legible on the background.
Loading time should also be a consideration that is taken into account. This is especially true if the Website will have a lot of photographs or graphics on it. Slow loading will frustrate users and impact the Website traffic in a negative way.
In addition to visual appeal and load time, the navigation should be simple and intuitive as well. Most good sites include a navigation area that assists the person who is browsing the Website; kind of like a table of contents page in a book. These layout principles help make the overall Website more appealing and give the user some help as they look for information.
Information Architecture
7/17/2009 10:30 AM By Catherine TMany people who start out looking for web design jobs find they spend more time deciding how a site should be structured than how it should look. If this area of site construction fascinates you, you might consider specializing in information architecture.
Information architecture is based on the idea that we don't just look at websites, we interact with them to perform tasks. A site with good architecture makes it easy for us as users to get those tasks done.
The information architect serves as the voice of the user, encouraging features that make the user experience easier and clearer, while discouraging those that are likely to confuse or irritate the audience. People in these jobs need an excellent understanding of design and technology, but also the ability to write clearly and conduct usability research.
How to Write for the Web
7/10/2009 10:18 AM By Catherine TUsability guru Jakob Nielsen did a groundbreaking study in 1997 about the way people read websites. He found that people don’t settle down to read a web page the way they might a book or magazine. Instead they scan the page, looking for information of interest. Here are some recommendations for catching a “scanner’s” eye:
- Use bulleted lists (like this one!)
- Use boldface keywords
- Make subheads informative
- State one idea per paragraph
- Keep writing tight
- Use objective language rather than “marketese”
Web content writers need a firm grasp of these techniques to help make their work stand out and attract clicks.
Google: A Simple Design
4/2/2009 8:48 AM By Catherine TGoogle describes its mission as: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," and they are well on their way. Several factors combined make this one of the most well-designed Websites out there, which has helped propel it to center stage as a search engine. The search page itself is very plain and straightforward. It has become the search engine of choice for many people because it is uncluttered, intuitive and straightforward.
Another feature that is part of Google's smart design is the automatic spell check that helps correct–and suggest–alternate spellings for a particular term or item. Directly to the right of the search box there is also an advanced search option, as well as links to set preferences. This helps the user customize things easily to make their overall experience a smooth one. Over time there have been many new features added to Google, including Web mail and a map program, but the search feature remains what the company is best known for; and the main page still retains that uncluttered feel.
