Free Website, Printing and Graphic Design Tips

All too often, when  I redesign websites for clients who have previously paid for a website, tried to do it themselves or have had their “nephew” do it, I find very few methods for visitors to contact the business behind the site.
Make it easy for your visitors to find what they’re looking for and then contact you with questions or orders. Put your contact methods on every page. At the very least include an “email us” option or a phone number or fax number on each page. Make it easy for people to access you and your products or services. If you have a storefront include a link people can use to get directions to your location and include your hours of operation.
Your navigation should be thorough and clear and it should be on every page.  If you link out to your blog make sure there is a link to get back to your main website or, as an alternative, have the blog open up in its own window (although you should still have a link to your website on your blog). If visitors can’t quickly find what they want or can’t easily get in touch with you they are very likely to leave your site immediately. I do.
When it comes to website navigation and user-friendliness remember to keep it simple and make it clear. Do all that you can to help your visitors get what they’re looking for.

Images are a powerful part of any website. A great photo or illusitration can catch a visitor’s eye and help to keep them on your site. There are many places to obtain photos or illustrations for your site. Some are free. Some are not. Microsoft Office Clipart Online has a great selection of free images but you must be sure to read and adhere to the terms. You are responsible for the legal rights to images you use on your site. Be sure you or your designer purchase images instead of just right-clicking and copying them. It might be free now to just copy and paste them into your site but later it can cost you a whole lot more in legal fees.
Be sure you read the documentation pertaining to the images you purchase and for the images you obtain for free. To purchase royalty-free images at very fair prices, visit i-stockphoto . Another good resource is Microsoft’s Office Online clip art. And remember, you don’t have to use any image in its entirety. Sometimes it’s better to enlarge and use only a section of the image. This technique can create more impact and it will also be less likely you’ll find that same image on someone else’s site.

Creating your own website can seem like a daunting task but with some good help it is possible. Visit http://www.w3schools.com/web/default.asp to get started. Here you will find a beginners’ guide to virtually all things website. 

Another resource for free website tools, etc. is http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/.

Good luck and don’t hesitate to ask questions!

The primary purpose of this blog is to help people with their design related issues. If you’re setting up your own website, designing your own business card, creating a logo for your company or working on a report cover with your child, I’m here to help. Ask me design questions, print questions, typography questions, or send me your url and ask me for my comments.

When designing a logo bear in mind that it should look just as great in black, or any single color, as the version which contains more that one color. Why? Somewhere down the road you’re going to want to use that logo but not want to pay to print 2, 3, or more colors. Give-a-ways are a perfect example. It’s a pen you’re giving it away and you want your logo to look great but you don’t want to spend a fortune. Maybe you’re creating a company newsletter and you don’t want to pay for 3-4 ink colors. Whatever the reason, it just makes sense that your logo can stand alone. When you want to print or use it it in color that should be your choice not your only option. And remember, one color can look like two or even three colors if you use tints of the original color. For example, gray is a tint of black. Therefore, using black ink allows you to use all the shades of gray, Red ink allows for the shades of red and so on and so forth.