Archive for category Website Design and Development
Website Prelaunch Checklist
Posted by admin in Website Design, Website Design and Development on August 22nd, 2010
All of a sudden the site you have been working on for months is approved and the client wants it live. However, things can still go horribly wrong if you are not prepared.
Check your spelling
If it comes down to a web designer to highlight the smelling pistakes of a copywriter then so be it. Show the world you are no slouch and run a spell check. Better still, get your copywriter / project manager to do this. Be sure you check for widows or orphaned items in important paragraphs too.
Check your details
I’m quite serious about this. Phone all phone numbers you have been supplied. Do they work? And are they aware you are shortly going to launch a site, with their number on it, inviting thousands of people to call for more information? These are crucial checks to ensure that the entire marketing process, right down to (phone) calls to action are prepared for the site going live. Check email addresses you have been supplied and make sure they work and are being received by someone. Oh, and check they are not still pointing at you for testing – make sure the clients email address is specified when the site goes live.
Make sure you are not going live with any test copy on your site.
Check for instances of ‘For more information call XXXX,’ or worse still, ‘At ACME and Co we pride ourselves on [Dave, has the client approved the mission statement yet]‘ You get the picture.
Check keywords
Ensure you have your meta keywords and description in place, and that any keywords are suitable for the site. Do the keywords appear in your site copy where appropriate? Turn off your style sheets and read your site as a search engine will, and check your keywords are written in HTML and not all contained within images.
Check titles
Do you pages have relevant and descriptive title tags, and are your page names suitably descriptive.
Check URL structure
Google has taken considerable steps within Webmaster Tools to reward site owners for declaring, and being consistent about canonical URL’s. That is to declare to Google which URL structure you will maintain on your site, to avoid the duplicate content penalty. So if you choose example.com/products over www.example.com/products, then check to ensure the links within your pages follow this convention.
Check you have a site map
Generate an XML site map and submit it to Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Gsite Crawler is a great tool to help create these automatically for you.
Check file Validation
Clearly this is not something that should be left until the last few days prior to launch. But you should always make one final sweep through your content to check for validation issues. You should be checking your HTML, CSS, Accessibility and your Javascript. Quite often you can encounter validation issues late in the project with the addition of javascripts from a third party if a client has reporting software they wish to use, or if you are carrying advertising or inviting referrals from an affiliate network.
Check all browser variations
Check all browser variations that you promised to support, all screen resolutions and ensure that your site degrades gracefully without the support of Javascript and Flash. Your site should be easily interpreted by a screen reader with CSS switched off, and this can be checked by downloading a text only browser such as Lynx for the PC.
Think about common web conventions and whether your site breaks them. Are all your links consistently styled? If all links are underlined, check that no text is underlined for presentational reasons that people might mistake for a link.
Set up a print style for your site
It is stunning quite how often this ignored. Insert print styles into your <head> tags and create your print style sheet.
Protect any sensitive pages
Protect any sensitive pages or folders from being indexed on search engines by putting in place robots.txt files and by excluding them from within Webmaster Tools / Bing / Yahoo Site Explorer and also consider whether you need to use an htaccess file to disable folder view within directories.
Check website performance
Increasingly this is becoming more an issue. With rumors of Google rewarding faster sites with better rankings it is crucial that your pages load as swiftly as possible.
Privacy policy
If you use cookies, capture data, or distribute data, then you need one. The best advice is always to be honest, and to state clearly what you collect data for, how it is stored, and to whom might it be passed. So if you this might be you then be sure you have a clear statement explaining all of this, or least provide details of how you can be contacted for further information.
Terms and Conditions
If your site has a promotional element or takes payment then you will need to make available t’s and c’s. Always consult either the Institute of Sales Promotion or a lawyer for the best advice on these, or if they are supplied to you then make sure they have been checked.
Custom 404 pages
If the project is a re-design then search engines will have cached links to pages that will no longer exist. Use 404 pages to present users with links to where that information is now located. Webmaster Tools provides an easy way to produce 404 pages if you aren’t an experienced developer, but ignore these at your peril.
For more information on Vancouver Web Design and SEO Vancouver, please visit http://www.vnwebsolutions.ca/ or call toll free: 800.401.0907
Vancouver Web Design
Posted by admin in Website Design and Development on June 14th, 2010
Are you looking to have your website created or simply redesigned? If so, you should consider looking into professionals working in Vancouver web design. Not only is your website an important component in promoting your business or foundation, but it is the perfect way to represent what you are all about. Websites can be created for a myriad of reasons, and many people simply do not have the time to learn all of the html codes which come along with creating a state-of-the-art website. Therefore, you can hire professionals who are specially trained in the designing the perfect websites for your individual needs.
Whether you need a website for your photography business or a personal family website, professional Vancouver web designers can help to create the best website possible. Furthermore, you can request that they create the website using a platform with which you are already familiar.
Properly designed website is imperative for your business. Companies that have done research on Internet users have found that people who cannot find what they are looking for within roughly five to twenty seconds will leave your website. You will not have a second opportunity with these people to make an impression so you must make the first impression count. If you do not have useful information that people can use and find quickly, you are losing potential business.
Professional web designers should also ensure that your website is developed properly and viewable in all browsers. There may be differing standards because of the variety of different computers out there. Your website may not show up properly in certain browsers because of people’s settings. This is something that a web design company can check for you. They do this on a full time basis and will be more aware of these standards than you are. You have other areas of the business to focus on.
For example, let’s say that you are familiar with using wordpress. You can request that your web designer create the website through the wordpress site. Therefore, you will be able to easily, quickly and efficiently update your website at your leisure. Maintaining a website has never been easier since you web designer will be familiar with content management system.
Professional web designers in Vancouver are amongst the best in the country. Furthermore, you don’t even have to reside in Vancouver to utilize their skills! Simply describe what you want your website to look like, and a professional web designer will work with you in order to create the site of your dreams!
The best web designers should also be able to help create business branding such as logos and business cards. In addition, you will acquire more clients through search engine optimization.
The best web designers are the ones which are talented, professional, and affordable. Contact a Vancouver web designer today to go over your needs, designs, and marketing ideas. For many, a business begins with the formation of a website. You will need to have a professional, well developed website in order to establish the legitimacy and professionalism of your business. So don’t delay!
For more information on Vancouver web design and SEO Vancouver, please visit http://www.vnwebsolutions.ca/ or call toll free: 800.401.0907
10 Mistakes your web designer can make
Posted by admin in Website Design and Development on February 18th, 2010
Technology is moving at an amazingly rapid clip and nowhere is this more obvious than in the number of websites that have literally popped up like weeds, in the last decade. While having a website is an absolute “must” for anyone considering an Internet business, unfortunately, not everyone is willing to pay the money needed to commission a professional web design development team.
This is partly due to the fact that many people believe they can do both the programming (code) and the designing of their websites – if they can’t, then certainly their cousin, friend or co-worker, who has dabbled in website creation will do the trick.
Unfortunately, this kind of thinking will get you in trouble and will certainly not generate website traffic numbers you were hoping to achieve! The fact is if you want to have a successful business, you have to have a professionally done website which means hiring fully qualified web design teams, who are knowledgeable about both programming and site design. You should be looking for someone who has had several years of experience and has a solid portfolio to back up that experience.
You may want to consider browsing the Internet to find your web development company. By simply clicking a few keystrokes and entering key words such as “Vancouver Web Design” you will find what you are looking for. Fortunately, web design development is a growing trend in the Vancouver area and this has turned out to be “the” places to do some one stop shopping.
If you are uncertain about the qualifications of your web design team, there are some significant “errors” that are commonly made by amateurs in the field, according to some of Vancouver’s best web design professionals and these include:
- Not spending enough time considering the “look” of the website. This includes the choice of colors and fonts. Considering the use of topography, as opposed to just plain fonts is a definite must in many cases.
- Loading the site with too much information – which makes it almost impossible to grab the user’s attention immediately.
- Being too detailed about everything. Keep it short and to the point.
- Building a site with programming (code) errors or that simply has that “homemade” look.
- Loading the site with too much information, including Flash loading – which slows down the site and makes loading a long and drawn out affair.
- Adding to many “extras” such as music – unless it is absolutely necessary, stay away form the gimmicks.
- Making it a requirement to “register” to have a access to the site.
- Making the site difficult to search.
- Not including a FAQ section and/or a help and/or contact us section.
- Not adding a “search” button to help locate information within the site.
Why leave the building of your website to anyone other than a professional? Consider contacting a professional Vancouver web design firm in the Vancouver area – they will make sure your website is designed to your satisfaction.