360PSG Home

As website designers who build for businesses, we at 360 PSG make it our goal to not only create good designs for our clients, but also make sure it works for all their potential customers.

On the whole, all popular web browsers read and interpret HTML the same way, matching W3C compliance standards. But every browser, whether it’s Firefox, Opera, Safari or Internet Explorer have their own quirks - certain design elements “break” if you don’t account for the ways different web browsers or operating systems function.

When you, as a business owner, are looking for a web designer, make sure they target these W3C Compliance standards - a good business website should work on any computer your potential clients will use. It’s good to remember that not all your clients are running the latest software - you might have the latest high-powered PC running on Windows Vista and 4 gigs of RAM, but the person looking to use your services might be running a Pentium 3 with Windows 98 and less than a quarter of the memory your computer has. Flashy design tricks that look good on your machine might simply not run on potential customer’s computers, or worse, crash them out.

With open-source web browsers like Opera or Firefox, there are many options for testing your website to make sure it works. For Internet Explorer, until recently, you basically had to have multiple computers using different versions of Internet Explorer to make sure your website works. There have been workarounds, but they tended to leave your computer unstable or might not work entirely accurately. We’ve found a new tool that allows you to test web designs across multiple versions of Internet Explorer, all on one computer. It’s called IETester, and though it’s not perfect, it’s the best solution we’ve found so far.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

As a small business owner, you have your hand in every detail of your business. You run payroll, you manage staff, keep track of inventory, in charge of ordering, chief of sales and direct your marketing. So it’s only natural that you want to be involved in every aspect of your company’s website.

As web designers, we want that - hands-on and involved clients are good website design clients. But sometimes a good client can make bad decisions.

Let’s say your web designer sent you the first mock-up of your website. It’s sharp, but not too flashy. It’s got a lot of information, but not cluttered. It’s color scheme even matches the precise hue of blue you use on the walls of your store.

But there are some things you need changed. You need another menu tab for a new product line you’ve just acquired. You’d like another picture of the inside of your store. And, by golly, you want your LOGO BIGGER. How are people going to remember your logo if it’s an inch-by-inch in the top left corner?

Hold up there, kimosabe. Take a breath, relax. It’s one thing to get more information on your site, to add functionality, but if you’re paying a professional web designer to build an effective website for your business, it’s worth it to heed some of their advice.

We can say with a fair degree of certainty that no web designer will say no to stuff like an extra menu item, additional pictures or more content pages. Information that is necessary to your business or functions you want from your site can always be worked in. What irks any web designer is when a client tries to overstep into design.

Now that doesn’t mean designers want unquestioning clients - matters of taste, such as color scheme, image choice or layout (to an extent) are perfectly legitimate critiques. Even a wholesale “I don’t like it at all - do something different” can be dealt with. Clients who ask questions are smart clients, ones that make it easier to deliver something both can be satisfied with.

But stuff like “Make a bigger logo” or “Make the text as big as possible” or “Can you add some flashing lights? Oh! How about a siren!” not only oversteps the boundary, it will hurt your website and web business too.

Professional web designers draw on both client needs and their own experience of what works in websites. They know (or should know) how people use websites. They know what works - that too much animation makes a site difficult to use, that a certain size of text is easier to read on the average computer screen, that if they make your logo bigger, it’ll blot out the sun.

Remember, your web designer wants your website to be successful too - it’s just as much a reflection on them as it is on you. Trust that they have your best interests in mind. It will make for a better website for the both of you.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

We’ve got some exciting times here at 360 PSG - namely the launch of a bunch of new websites for some of our clients. Here are some of the highlights:

Grow! Inc.

Grow! Inc. is a Virginia-based small business consulting firm that already had a website, but wanted something a bit more enticing to both clients and potential prospects. So we built a brand new website design for them, complete with the web content control of the Fission Content Management System. We also had our copy department build original web content for the site, including full search engine optimization. We’re pretty pleased with the design, and let us know how you think it worked.

KaLu Salon & Spa

KaLu Salon & Spa came to us needing a completely new website from the ground up. So we set them up with the content control of our Fission CMS and came up with a complete website design for them. One of the CMS features KaLu staff has used the most has been the graphical calendar feature of the website. With it they’re able to advertise their regular “special” nights, like teen parties and their Martini Nights. We’re proud of the look of the design, with the rich hues and calming design, exactly in line with the way a spa should look.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites

So your business has finally made the jump to the web. You’ve got a website that has a high-tech look (or not), a web address with your name in it (www.yourname.com….or something close to it), and even pictures of your business, your products and maybe even yourself.So why isn’t your website increasing your sales?

Just having a website does not mean your business will benefit from a web presence. Whether you are selling products, services or simply trying to drive potential customers to contact your brick-and-mortar business, a good business website needs to direct people closer to a sale.

The list below addresses some of the most common mistakes small business owners make when they’re making their first foray into web business, and offers some tips to fix them. If you have other tips, leave them in the comments below.

1) Problem 1: I can’t find anything!

Easy navigation is one of the most important aspects of your site, if not the most important. How will a visitor buy your product if they can’t even find what they’re looking for? Make your web visitors’ lives easier by simplifying your websites navigation and flow.

Many small business owners get caught up in flashy design or become obsessed with branding (we in the biz like to call it logo creep). Sure, eye-catching animation and artful design look cool, but it’s possible to go overboard. This bookshop is case in point. Click on the splash page, then click on the book, then click on the logo, then click on the dot (and pray your browser doesn’t crash). With that obtrusive animation, label-less menus and hard-to-read text, would you have any idea that this place sells books?

Good web navigation easy to use and consistent. Simplify your menus and navigation in the most intuitive way you can. Menu items should follow natural priority - what is your site trying to accomplish? Is it selling a product? Then that specific product should be featured high on the menu. Are you an online store with many products? Categorize and alphabetize your catalog. If you’re publicizing your business, organize company information by what is most pertinent to your customers.

An easy-to-use website naturally removes barriers to a sale. The easier it is for a customer to find a product or information they are looking for, the more likely they are to follow through on a sale.

2) Problem 2: Too much Flash

This sort of lends itself to the first problem, but in a slightly different way. Flash or video elements have almost become de rigueur for a dynamic website, and with good reason. It’s an eye-catching device and can illustrate information in unique ways, whether it’s through movie-style presentations, slide shows, images or diagrams.

Because it’s so powerful and has the potential to be visually interesting, it’s tempting to use Flash all over your site. Don’t. A little restraint goes a long way.

There are instances where loads of Flash makes sense. Nightclubs, production studios or design showcases all can benefit from complex Flash use - it highlights their best features or conveys emotion that helps sell their non-traditional services.

The average business, however, should stick to a simple rule: one Flash element, max, per page.

There are several reasons for this:

1) Not all computers, Internet connections and thus customers can use animation. Flash and videos are larger than the average image file, and older computers often don’t have the latest version of the software that plays that file, meaning it might appear clunky to that user.

2) Too much action on a screen means the things you want to highlight on the screen get lost in a sea of motion. Choose the most important idea you want to express, sticking to simple images and text for less important items.

3) Because you want to be found. Flash-based text is terrible for search engine optimization - search engines can’t read text that appears in those animations, so it’s a good idea to have normal text on your page, containing key words and phrases for that site.

Exercising restraint in your website design is one of the most important design decisions you can make for your business website. It simplifies your company image, makes it easier for visitors to use and ultimately drives a sale.

Bookmark to:

Hide Sites