Flash

Flash may be pretty and look cool but isn’t helpful in SEO. The content of Flash can’t be fully read by search engines so all the text in a Flash file won’t be read by the engines and this can cause problems because when a search engine spider enters the website it will see it as containing no text therefore not appearing relevant to any search queries. Search engines love text and the more you have on your website the better. Therefore, this is why Flash isn’t a good idea. However, if used sparingly Flash can be a good asset in your websites design as long as you also include plenty of relevant text.

Image Links

An image link may also not be the best choice for search engines, although it’s still a link and will be taken into consideration as a valid link by the engines; from an SEO standpoint, you would be far better using a text link with proper optimized anchor text for the relevant keyphrase. A way around this can be supplying both a cool graphic as an image link and somewhere on the page a text link pointing to the same location. JavaScript drop down menus suffers from the same problems and the same solution should be applied.

If you’re looking for website design, I would say that this company is great as they have a vast experience in both website design and SEO, so know how to make them work together so you have a great looking website that is also search engine friendly.

Text and Color

If you text color is similar to the color of the background color of the web page this can also cause problems as spammers used to use this technique to hide text. They would make the text the same color as the background so you couldn’t see it. However, the search engines would be able to and the spammer would stuff keyphrases in the page to falsely increase its relevancy. However, the search engines have wised up to this and have advanced techniques to combat this. Font size should also be of a good size don’t use small font sizes as this can also be considered as spamming.

Use relevant content

Content is the key to SEO. It is the main reason why visitors look at your website. Your content should be relevant to what the user is looking for – whether it is information, a product or service. Make sure you use the key words in the right context and avoid over using them just to make your website searchable.

Readable content

A loud and busy background with animation and other effects can distract the reader from the content. The colors used in your web site design must be appealing to your users and not put them off. Using bright background colors or pale text colors reduces the visibility and readability of the text. Use the standard fonts, text size and color, format the line spacing and alignment to make your content look neater.

Using images

Use images only if they are relevant to the content and don’t have too many of them. Too many graphics slow down the page download, which can be quite frustrating. Users who come to your site through search engines do not have the patience and find it annoying to wait long for your webpage to open.

Avoid flash content

Your web site design must be aimed at attracting users by having relevant content and information. If your content can do well without animation and flash images, avoid them because using flash increases the page download time, compelling the users to close your web page. Flash is also not very search engine friendly.

Navigation

Navigation on your website must be user-friendly, allowing users to find what they want without any confusion. Maintain design consistency on every page of your web site. This also makes it easy for people to follow the content without confusion.

Have links that work

The links you place on your website must work because users do not like going to a page that reads “Error: page not found”. Search engine spiders go through a website’s links to see if the content can be indexed or not. So make sure all links on your website are functional.

Domain name

Selecting the right domain name can divert a lot of traffic to your site. Domain names reflecting the product or services offered can come up in search results when the terms (products or services) are searched for. This will attract prospective clients to the site. For example if you sell customized kennels or dog houses, using a domain name like “http://www.custom-kennels.com” or “http://www.custom-dog-houses.com” could drive traffic to your website. But it’s not practically possible for all businesses to change their domain names to suit the business.

Whether you are creating your own web site design or hiring professional web designers to do it, incorporate these basic tips and make your website attractive, searchable and user-friendly.

Make sure you only give out true information to increase credibility. Stay ahead of the news to give people fresh and new content they will find useful. This will assure that people will always want to visit the site to look for the information or products they want. The website design should have content that is easy to read thus choose a font that most people are comfortable with. Avoid using big letters as this only takes up space and makes the content look funny and disorganized. Look at the font that other pages have used and get one that is similar.

A good web design should incorporate graphics that will make it more attractive. This should however be used in the proper way as it can end up running the image. Avoid using shouting colors that do not compliment each other as this only creates a hazy appearance. Use the images in the proper manner where they should always be cropped to fit into the text without any problem. The images should compliment the text and not be far fetched for people to take them seriously.

Visitors should be able to know the right direction to take once they have accessed the pages they want. The navigation tools of a good website design should be simple to use without any complicated procedures. They should also be visible so that one does not have to keep scratching their head to move to the next page. This ensures that one does not end up wasting too much time and get all the information needed fast. Visitors should also be able to download the content they need without any restrictions. This is where one does not have to install any software to get the details they want. This provides an easy time for the visitors where they have an easy and fun time on the pages which is very good for business.

From SEO view and Search Engine point of view, web design is not all that important. After all Google bots and spiders that crawl through your websites will not have any appreciation of the aesthetic elements of Website design. They are looking for content and all that FLASH stuff in your websites including the cool pictures that you have put is not going to have any impact in search engine ranking.

But that leaves out the most important factor for traffic generation – The Human Element. A poorly designed site might not catch the retentivity of your viewers. So repeat visits and the social viral form of advertising will come down drastically. How many of your visitors are going to StumbleUpon or Digg or Socially book mark your site , if it doesn’t capture their imagination. So you might tend to lose a lot of traffic that way.

Because a poorly designed site doesn’t capture the viewers interest, your Ads (Google Adsense , Bidvertiser) could tend to stand out. The viewer in frustration could click the ads to see something relevant. That way you could generate some revenue. Let us call it the disinterested viewer adsense revenue.

So where do I stand. Let me summarize my perspectives on the subject briefly.

1). A poorly designed site but optimized for Search engines will bring a lot of First Time traffic. These first time viewers would in frustration click the ads to get something relevant. Since the ads would be context based, the clicking of the ads would lead to some viewer satisfaction and hence all is not lost.

2). A poorly designed site will rate very poorly in Brand value. Hence no viewer will take the trouble to socially bookmark the site. A very important form of viral traffic, which otherwise would have come to the site, had it been properly designed, is lost.

So what are the lessons that one can learn from here.

1). Don’t spend a fortune in designing your website. Make it decent enough to hold the attention span of your viewer. Content is King. Remember that always.

2). Try not to make your website cool. A cool website is good to look at. But many of your first time visitors will not have the patience to wait for the whole page to load. They will leave in disgust probably never to return again.

Make your website content worthy and Search Engine Friendly.

The best part is where you optimize your web portal without compromising on the attractiveness and design of the specific web portal. The very foremost concern is that you can never ignore the design façade of a web portal as it also holds imminent connotation. It will be wise on your part to make sure you are well versed with web design and SEO at the same time and invest in both of them because: – they can assist you in flaunting yourself at the top ranks in search engine result pages (SERP) when someone types in a particular keyword related to your trade.

It also makes certain that your online presence is expanded to an unprecedented level and quality, organic traffic is drove on to your web portal in huge volume. This will also incessantly generate business specific leads and in no time your sales will reach a new high. This should also go as a relief, if you are involved in pay per clicks and other PPC programs. The guaranteed high ROI (Return on Investment) should motivate you to take up web design and SEO to a completely new level. Web design of your site should not pose a hindrance in the way of search engine optimization.

Those business entities that have a powerful and resourceful web site of their own; you should be very likely to fix it with actual personalized contented and not taking into account the design hindrance that comes in your way. Even if you have allowed your web site to take care of the more accessible genus of the World Wide Web, it should still possibly be created as a thoughtful and recognizable expansion of one’s enterprise. The explanations for doing so will be authorized, and cannot only just be unnoticed for the sake of achieving an initial time alignment.

Mark the words Web design is as essential to a business as SEO is. The primary backbone about search engine optimization can be augmented with SEO friendly web design (exclusion of flash, etc) and the web site will be designed in such a manner that search engine crawlers can optimize the web portal with utter ease. And, you may not be alone amid those that have that sad thought-If I do this all Search engine optimization collectively and attain major ranking generally; people might deem that my site is consequently stale and unexciting.

This is an altogether wrong notion harboring in many a mind right now. Whether you are a fortune 500 company or a recent start up SEO can give your business the much needed online presence and proper web design will help you connect with your customers.

Your website is the place where modern consumers will come looking to research what it is that you offer and to take your measure. So how can you avoid the pitfalls of website design and ensure prospective customers judge you to be professional, sincere and, most importantly, appealing place to spend money?

Consider these three keys when designing a website and you won’t go far wrong.

Style

First off when thinking about website development, NZ companies should consider their brand. That is to say you need to decide what values and attitudes you want to portray to customers about your business? Are you a fun, young car rental company? Perhaps you are a selfless and honest bank? Or even a wholesome, nutritious diary?

It is very important to keep this public image of your company in the forefront at every stage of a website’s development, whether you are selecting a color scheme, writing text for the home page or picking out testimonials to display.

If you want your website to do credit to your brand then it will need to look professional. If you don’t have the necessary aesthetic skills then please consider one of the many companies offering graphic design in NZ. Nothing turns away customers like an amateurish website.

Credibility

Your website should work to establish your company as a credible entity whom it is safe to do business with, especially if you plan to sell goods and services online. There are several simple steps that you can take to reassure prospective customers.

The inclusion of case studies on your website is a brilliant method for lending a degree of transparency to your company online. People want to read through your list of happy clients, and once they have, many will take the plunge and make contact with you.

Simplicity

Look at any of the world’s leading websites like Google, eBay and Facebook. The first thing that you will notice is that they are all remarkably simple to look at with plain white backgrounds, unassuming fonts and very limited use of colours. Millions upon millions of research dollars have been spent to optimize the usability and appeal of these websites. When designing, if in doubt, follow the same rules as the corporate giants.

But more than that, you need a site that is easy to navigate and simple to use. To arrive at this holy grail of website design you need to get into heads of your customers. You need to establish what information and reassurances the consumers need from you, and how can you make doing business with your company as simple possible?

Follow these three steps and you will be well on the way to a website that works.

If you have already tried Googling ‘Web design Dubai’, then you are probably wondering how you will begin to cut through the masses of companies offering their design services.

Your website has become a new shop front; the first interaction that many new customers will have with you is online. How often have you dismissed a company because of a second-rate homepage, or left a website because you couldn’t quickly find the information you needed?

Selecting a company just because they offer cheap website design is not the right solution. You risk losing money and customers by choosing a bad design company. Here is how to avoid them.

Get a recommendation

It’s the first thing we all do when we need a plumber. Ask around. No one will give a more candid referral than a trusted friend or colleague.

Check the design firm’s portfolio

Ask to see the design company’s portfolio and make sure that you view it online.

You should be confident that the company’s design style appeals to you. Are the existing websites in the company’s portfolio simple to navigate, easy to use and mistake free?

Who are the designers’ other clients, and do they have the relevant experience to suit your needs?

Are they asking enough questions?

In a meeting, take note of the design company’s approach. Specifically, are they asking you enough questions? A good company will not leave your meeting and certainly will not offer a quote before they understand every aspect of the project you are proposing. What is your ambition for the site? How will it be used? Why are you replacing the old one, when is your deadline and what do you want from the content and functionality of every page?

If a designer marches in all-guns-blazing, pitches his concept then leaves… he probably has no idea of what you need. Be wary.

Plan what you want to ask the design company

Think about what you will want to use your website for in advance of meeting with any design companies and create a short list of questions which you want them to answer within their proposal.

What does the design agency understand about the reputation and brand of your company, how would they ensure that the new website enforces this?

What do they understand about the processes your business follows, and how could the new website aid those processes?

If you stick to these rules you will be well on the way to finding the best website development company Dubai has to offer.

So choosing a website design company is a great factor to the success of your Website or Business.

If you stick to these rules you will be well on the way to finding the best website design and development company Dubai, UAE has to offer.

A Website Design Company that knows how to set up your web site with SEO in mind is going to save you time and money on revisions that would need to be made when it comes to SEO. Having your website streamlined for search engine optimization on the front side is also going to start producing results much sooner than a site that needs to undergo revisions.

When choosing a website design company you will want to look at their online portfolio to see real world solutions that they have come up with for their clients. There are many website designers out there who can create visually appealing web solutions. I recommend looking at website design and development companies because they have a team of dedicated experts to ensure that your needs are met. They will also be more likely to have in-house SEO expertise which will ensure that your website development is done in an SEO friendly manner.

What should you expect to see from a professional website design/SEO Company? In terms of an initial proposal you should expect to see a very clearly specified project management proposal. The initial proposal should clearly state what services will be included in their estimate and what may be cause for additional fees. If a company is unwilling to disclose the exact services they intend on providing you with, this should be considered a “red flag” for you to move on to a different company. An example proposal is included below to give you an idea of what services to look for and a rough idea of the cost involved.

Please Note that obviously website design prices vary from company to company and also may be influenced by location. SEO and search engine marketing services will vary in price due to many factors including niche density of your target market, local versus national ranking factors, how new your site and domain name are, etc. Professional SEO services could range anywhere between $450 for local results and $2,500 per month nationally.

Example Proposal:

1) E-commerce Website Base Price = $4,800âEUR¨
* Design of e-commerce website
* Logo / Branding Corporate Identity
* Miva Shopping Cart Installation & Setup
* Ability to Import/Update Products & Categories from excel spreadsheet
* Initial Set up Includes set up for 10 Total Products * Product Search

Additional Costs
* Hosting $38.00 month – hostasaurus.com
* SSL Certificate $30 annually – godaddy.com
* Gateway account – $20 month – Authorize.net includes virtual terminal
* Merchant account- $$ month – bank of your choice

Optional Modules – Additional Cost
* Basket Price, Mini Cart, Item Added to cart – $50
* Bread Crumbs & Category Bread Crumbs – $30
* Dynamic Category Menus – $40
* WYSIWYG For Editing Pages- $99
* UPS Real Time Rates Integration with your account $169.95
* Product Reviews & Ratings – $45.00
* Promo Codes/Coupons – $99.95
* Constant Contact Mailing List Integration $25.00
* Suggested Products – Included
* Order Tracking & Status (wombat beta) – Included
* Product Search – Included

2) SEO/SEM Services Base Price = $$$$ per month (minimum 6 month contract)

Search engine optimization is a long term website marketing program building your websites credibility, back links and traffic in a natural search engine friendly manner that ensures your site is found in organic search results and includes the following services.

* Monthly Manual Search Engine & Directory Inclusion of the site
* Press Release and Article Marketing
* Company Facebook & Twitter accounts
* Building Quality Back Links
* Google Anylitics

Stage 1: Research and Development
The company will analyze your website and compare your website’s structure and components with that of your direct competitors. The company will then do in-depth research into your market’s keywords and determine what your primary key phrases should be and focus on promoting your site around those keywords and phrases. The SEO company should eliminate weaknesses in your website’s meta tags, descriptions, and structure as part of their services.

Stage 2: Implementation and Maintenance
This stage is the monthly work it takes to build your site’s credibility on the world wide web and includes the following services:

Press Release and Article Marketing – The company will distribute industry related articles and press releases building High Quality inbound links and credibility to your site. This is one of the most important things a professional SEO company can do for your site. Google rates your site on the quality of content as well as the quality and credibility of the sites linking to your web site.

Any reputable website design/SEO company should be able to answer any questions you may have before beginning your project. They should also be able to provide examples of their work in both web site design and effective website ranking on search engines such as Google.

Characteristics of an Ideal Website Design Company

There are plenty of ways on how you can look for a Website Design service. You can make use of your yellow pages. There are a number of companies that are listed and are offering web design services. You can then make a call to inquire, or you may visit their office personally so you can talk to them about your plans. Of course, you can search for them in the World Wide Web. In fact, using the key phrase “web design company” in Google will give you tons of links that will lead to different services offered by companies found all over the world. But then again, the process doesn’t only stop in choosing.

If you’re searching for the best website design service, ensure they have or meet the following:

1. They should have their own portfolio. There can be a lot of people who will advise you to look for a company with a formidable track record. This may be true, as you’re assured of quality service. However, they can already be pretty expensive. The least thing that you can do is to look for someone who has a number of templates or websites that make up their portfolio. This way, you can have something that you can utilize to gauge if he/she or his/her company is the one you’re looking for.

2. They must be very easy to reach. Working with people who seem to “disappear” when you’ve already given them the project details is really scary. You are left hanging, and you basically don’t have any idea how the tasks are doing. Thus, make sure that the team or the person you’ve chosen can give you with contact details that you can definitely reach.

3. They should understand the purpose of your website. It’s not really enough that they know how to make your website pretty. Most of all, they must be able to share your sentiments as to the reasons why you’re creating one. As a matter of fact, they should also be familiar how website design can boost your search engine rankings or drive traffic to your website.

4. They should have comprehensive website design packages to offer you. This is extremely important especially when you’re just a beginner and that you don’t have that much funds to pay for their services. The company or person you have selected should be able to customize their services according to your needs, preferences, and the budget that you currently have.

Keep in mind that you do have a choice. Don’t be afraid to do your own “shopping” for the most valuable service. After all, it’s about getting your money’s worth in the end.

The Benefits of a Website Design Service

Here are some of the advantages of having a professional doing your Website Design

1. He/she can provide you with the technical expertise, which you may not have. Unless you have actually studied website design, you can be a person who doesn’t really have the kind of talent and expertise to accomplish it. There are already numerous website designers who are highly knowledgeable, well trained, and have gained considerable experience when it comes to designing a website. He/she can apply common technology trends that will maximize your presence in the World Wide Web.

2. He/she can give you the most-sounding advice regarding your website. When you obtain a professional website design service, you can also avail of their support and pieces of advice on how to make your webpages friendlier to search engines and Internet users. They can match their strategies to the overall goal that you may have with your website. This is very essential since one of your objectives will be how to make your website more distinct than your other competitors. A web design professional or company can offer you the edge that you want to at least be up to par with the so-called veterans in your industry.

3. He/she can employ marketing techniques into their design. There are several small business owners who opt to make use of website builders in creating their web pages. Though they are very convenient-just imagine creating your website in as short as minutes-you are not really assured if you can drive the kind of traffic that you like. It’s also not a guarantee that you can have an excellent ranking in search engines.

Availing of a website design service will allow professionals to include online marketing techniques such as search engine optimization so you can have better sales conversion rate and higher ROI for your online business.

4. You can definitely save a lot of time. Building a website is a very meticulous process. You only don’t have to take care of the overall structure of your website, but you also have to look into every detail in your webpages. If you don’t know web designing, you have to spend months just to learn the basic techniques. Hence, you better get yourself a professional or a company who can do web design for you, if you want to save yourself from all the hassle or if you just don’t have the time to learn the various strategies.

Indeed, a professional web design services is the way to go so you can have more time to focus on the marketing and administrative aspect of your business. Nevertheless, don’t forget to consider a number of options to choose the best.