8 posts tagged “web design”

The newest site developed by westXdesign is a very very simple, one-page version of the flyer produced by the coordinators of the Shining Star Motorcycle Rally.
Sometimes, all that is needed is another venue for people to find information about you, your organization, or an event. This site in particular will add more information about who is performing, and when, as well as vendors. This type of information can’t be updated in their print advertising, but new and updated information can be found at the site. So, even though they aren’t going with a big, interactive web site, the ability to provide updates is crucial.
If you have been thinking that you don’t have a need for a web site because of various reasons, consider what the Shining Star Rally is doing, and how it is helping them promote their event more easily.

For individuals and businesses just beginning to work online, the process of building a web site can be daunting. Here is a quick and dirty tutorial to help you better understand what it is you are doing, or what you are hiring someone to do for you.

1. First you will need a Domain Name. Example: www.your_business.com. Your domain name must be unique. It is registered with companies such as register.com or Network Solutions and the cost varies, anywhere from $9.95 to $25 per year. You may register your domain name for any number of years in advance. Sometimes your domain registration is included in your hosting costs (see #2). There are different extensions available. Some of the most popular are: com or biz for commercial type sites such as most businesses (com is more popular), org for organizations, and net for networks. When you register a domain name, the server you are hosting the pages on is registered with it. this enables other computers on the internet to know where your web site is located.
2. Hosting. Your web site must reside on a web server. There are many companies that offer hosting, including your local internet service providers. Costs on hosting can range from $9.95 to $50 or more per month.
3. Design. If you are not creating your own pages, you must employ a web site programmer/designer. Design and set up costs vary greatly, from $20 per page, $50 per hour, or even $1,000 or more per site.
4. Promotion. Once your web site is available, it is not automatically found through search engines. This is a 4th process to getting your site up and running. Your web site address and information must be provided to each of the major search engines. The quality of the design and the meta information provided by the designer will greatly determine your success here. In the beginning, the most effective way to get visitors to your web site is to include your web site address in all advertising, business cards, etc. Having your site return in online searches may take many months. Other methods that are very often employed to help promote the site and it’s ranking include having other sites link to you, participating in other forums related to the site to help establish you as a leader in your field, and ensuring that your content is always fresh and relevant.

You could be dealing with 3 different entities when setting up your web site: domain registrar, hosting company, and designer. To make the process easier, select companies that will take care of your domain registration, hosting services, and design for you in one place. Designers all have their own styles and personalities, and the ability to work closely with the designer to get what you want is very important.

Do you need a designer or a code-monkey?

It’s an important question. Consider the following:

• Do you need a professional to help you design a great web presence?
• Do you expect the person or company you hire to make the decisions regarding the best layout and presentation for your site?
• Are you willing to pay for their expertise regarding standards and accessibility?

or

• Do you have a specific design planned?
• Do you have your content exactly the way you want it, including all text?
• Are you wanting your plan implemented exactly with no deviation?

If you answer ‘yes’ to more of the first set of questions, you’re looking for a designer. If you answered ‘yes’ to more of the second set, you’re looking for a code-monkey. The difference? You hire a designer for their professional expertise regarding design, layout, and standards, you hire a code-monkey to make your idea work on the web in any way possible.

Before you start firing off a 3 page missive about my use of the term “code-monkey”, please let me explain: I have no problem being hired as a code-monkey. I’m in a small business, in a small community, and if that’s what my customer wants, that’s what I’ll deliver. I also make sure they know my opinion concerning their chosen design/content. Usually, they listen and I can work with them to deliver a better site.

Every now and then, I can spend hours straight with a client, and they will still insist on me implementing a site with bad layout, bad color, and even worse…bad grammar. I had this happen very recently. I couldn’t even convince the client to use correct grammar in their text. I tried for hours begging for simple changes to their content alone. In the end, nothing changed, and I wasted 4 hours that I can’t bill for because all this client wanted was a code-monkey to deliver their idea in an online format. In a perfect world, I would have walked away in the first 30 minutes after having told them that perhaps I was not the best company to work with them. But I feel more strongly about helping my clients, and my community, than I do about wasting non-billable hours, and fought for as long as the client would allow.

What can you learn from this? When you are working with your designer, please value their expertise and opinion. You hire your accountant and trust their knowledge in making decisions about your finances. You go to a physician and trust their knowledge concerning your health. You hire a plumber and trust he/she knows which pipe to replace and how to do it to make everything work right.

Trust your designer to help you deliver a great web site. And if you know right off that you want a code-monkey to implement your plan exactly as presented, then please, please tell your chosen design company this FIRST.

Creating Passionate Users: Who’d You Make Smile Today? Going beyond the text-book formula of customer satisfaction and actually making them smile.

Free Fonts: Download hundreds of open-source font styles for free.

Texas Gas Prices: Monitor and submit gas prices in your area. Great resource to find the cheapest gas, and to avoid the gougers. Free.

LibraryThing: Create and maintain your own library catalog. Easy to use, easy to search, easy to share. Great for all bibliophiles. Free.

Texas Best Cowboy Culture: Artists, poets, real cowboys and more. All the best people, places, and things in Texas.

Web 2.0 Design Style Guide:  Describes various common graphic design elements in modern web design style and attempts to explain why it works,as well as how, when and where to use, and not use, these design styles

That’s it for today’s web tour. I hope you find something to entertain, enlighten, encourage, or  empower you and your business. Happy surfing!

I apologize that this post is a couple of days later than I promised. But, here it is none the less. Before you, or your chosen designer, can begin designing and building your web site, you should answer the following questions and gather related information. This will help determine not only how the site should look, but what should be included.

(more…)

westXdesign has changed the pricing structure of our web hosting, starting at $10 per month, and we’ve added new domain registration services starting at $11.75 a year. If you aren’t sure what hosting or registration services you need, please call or email and we’ll help you decide what services best suit your needs.

The newest addition to the westXdesign portfolio is Darwin Harrison Photography . To showcase his stunning photographs, Mr. Harrison knew exactly what he wanted. With the design already planned and a very clear idea of how the site should interact with visitors, he was well prepared to get his business on the web. Having a clear idea of what you want, or at least what you do not want, is very helpful when you work with a web designer. Working to make Mr. Harrison’s idea a working web site was an easy process, because he provided continual feedback during the entire process, and had the site tested and reviewed by his acquaintances, as well as the testing we were doing on the design end. The end result was closer to his conceptual design than I could imagined. And in no way is that credit to me as a designer. The credit goes to Mr. Harrison for his communication with me during the process, already knowing what he wanted, and working closely with me to reach the desired final product. I’m proud to have this gorgeous site part of my portfolio.
The lesson here for you? Before you decide to hire a designer, think about what it is you want your web site to accomplish, what goals do you have in mind? If you envision your business web site before you begin, not only will the site have a more tailored appearance, but you’ll save money on the design. When a designer starts with a concept of their own, then presents it to the client, that’s often when the client finally begins to visualize their site for themselves. And then they’ll like this part of the design, but not that, and keep this element, but get rid of that, and hate the whole color scheme and want something…brighter. You can imagine that this process can go for quite a while before the client is happy with the site. And the whole time, they are paying for designs and programming that the end up throwing out the window. Don’t let that happen to you!

I thought it was about time I introduced to you some of the wonderful people and businesses we have had the opportunity to work for over the years. I can’t think of a better place to start than the Marathon Motel in Marathon, Texas, owned by Daniel Self.

He purchased the motel in August of 2000. During a Spring Break trip in 1999 to the Big Bend with his daughter, they spent a night at the Motel. Danny got up for a run the next morning and saw the “For Sale” sign in front of the office. Lured by the beauty of the Marathon Basin, the friendly people, and the history and natural charm of Marathon, he decided to purchase the motel. His vision was not only to maintain the comfortable, casual atmosphere, but to continue the efforts already begun to enhance the natural charm, beauty and guest comfort.

We have been working together on his web site, marathonmotel.com , for so long that I really can’t remember if it was in 2001 or 2002 that we set up the first design. And like the beautiful landscaping in the motel’s courtyard, the web site has developed and grown and changed it’s appearance many times. My skills and ideas about web design have changed a lot, as well. One of the most important factors any business needs to take into consideration when selecting a web designer isn’t the price of the end product, but the ability of the designer and client to work together to reach a common goal. And Mr. Self has been a great person to work for.

If you find yourself heading for the Big Bend, stop in and spend the night at the Marathon Motel…. enjoy 10 acres with ten newly decorated duplex cabins and relax in the adobe-walled courtyard with flowering native plants, fireplace, fountain, and spectacular views of the mountains and starry skies.