December 25, 2009

Design: Art and Advertisement

Filed under: Web Design — Chris Kincaid @ 3:01 pm

Good Design brings together artistic appeal and engagement with the reader. It is not a skill that just anyone can pick up along with the newest version of Photoshop and InDesign. Many elements work together to create design that is attractive and interactive with a viewer. Design in advertising goes one step further by adding a message that calls on the viewer to act. This article discusses design elements and how they work together to make successful design.

One of the most obvious elements is color. It’s possibly also the most fun. Often, mood is associated with color, so white may communicate purity or openness or possibility while green may communicate growth or longevity. But white could also be emptiness and green could also be jealously. Using color with other elements will define the mood more clearly. Value, while a separate element, relates to color in that it is the lightness or darkness of the color. This element especially will give mood to piece when used with color. It’s important to make sure you’re green means growth when you’re creating an advertisement or website as to draw people in instead of away from your work.

The element of size, especially font or logo, is an oft-debated issue between designer and client. The designer creates it one way and the client wants it bigger. But bigger isn’t always better. Yes, a big mark or font may attract attention, but is should be the right kind of attention. If it’s true that all publicity is good publicity, then that is not the case with attention to design. Make a font too big and people will feel that they’re being yelled at and the message may get lost. A little logo can go a long way.

Shape is a fascinating design element. With it, there is both positive and negative space created. Therefore, it’s key that a designer use the positive or negative to the design’s advantage, as well as balance the other design elements around the shape. Too many shapes will be a confusing clutter. And remember that shape is the folding of line. Any time a line folds in some manner it creates action. Too much action and too much shape will look chaotic. Texture is similar to shape and is either physical or visual. It creates depth and can draw a reader in quickly, but again, can be easily overdone and create a stressful feeling.

Line is an element that can be described as a verb. If color communicates mood, I guess it’s the adjective, while line communicates action and movement. It can be either the linear marks or an edge where two shapes meet. It can communicate hurriedness, relaxation, fluidity, recklessness, pep, flirtation, concentration, and many more kinds of activity to match whatever you are hoping to communicate. Urgency isn’t always the best answer; a sense of calm can attract the eye just as provocatively. Similar to the element of line, is the element of direction. All lines have direction, so the important thing to remember is to lead the reader’s eye to the most important part of the advertisement.

Design success will come when all elements are working together in a balance to one another. This will take much study and practice, and fortunately there are myriad ads to study, some brilliant and others that are simply terrible. But when you practice design, and it all comes together, you’ll find what’s attractive and meaningful.

Chris Kincaid is a twenty year marketing professional and writes extensively on business including local topics such as graphic design in Michigan and Ann Arbor advertising.

December 22, 2009

Pay Per Click Can Get You To The Top Of The List

Filed under: Web Design — Julie Johnson @ 3:46 am

When the internet started it was the larger, established business that were at an advantage for internet advertising. Since they were established ans had a larger budget they were able to afford greater internet advertising and strong SEO management. This placed them in the top of every search result, and their smaller counterparts were left at a disadvantage.

It wasn’t until Google realized what was happening, that something started to b done about this unfair advantage. Google realized that the larger businesses were dominating the web and started to brainstorm various ways to give those businesses that were just starting out the same advantages as the larger ones.

With the creation of pay per click advertising, search engines were now able to provide a way to allow smaller business to have the same advertising advantages as the larger ones. With pay per click advertising a business can pay the search engine, based on the number of people who click to their site from the search engine results list. In exchange, the search engine will move the business’ web site higher up in the search results list, which will increase the number of people who are made aware of the web site. This allows smaller companies, that are not well known, to increase their visibility without having to create an elaborate advertising campaign.

The advent of the pay per click advertising option has finally made it able for smaller business to compete with larger businesses on the internet. In many cases smaller businesses offer better quality products, and better customer service then larger businesses, because every customer is more important to a smaller business, however it was always a challenge for them to compete with larger businesses with large advertising budgets. Now customers are being made aware of all of their options, which allows them to choose the better product, and the better provider, rather then the larger business.

Now your mom and pop operation will have just as much of a chance to get top billing on Google or Yahoo as will any multi-million dollar corporation. Thanks to pay per click advertising, you too can rake in the big business, just be sure to monitor the results and make sure that your company can handle all of the attention it is getting on the web.

search engine optimisation is the process of building traffic to your website. There are seo businesses that can assist you with this process and help you achieve greater page rankings. For assistance from one of the top businesses in the business log onto www.seomoves.com.uk.

December 18, 2009

Should You Include Keywords In Your Domain Name?

Filed under: Web Design — Julie Johnson @ 3:21 pm

Choosing your online business domain name is on the the biggest struggles facing many online business owners. Although it may appear to be a simple task the domain name that you choose is the either make or break your business success. Here are some helpful tips on choosing a domain name that will prove to be successful for your business venture.

Lets start with your company name. For the purpose of this article we will say that you decided to name your business after yourself, Jacob, and that you are selling electronics. What you will want to do when choosing a domain is include your business name and something related to the business that you are running. Some of your choices may include: Jacob electronics, Jacob gaming, Jacob home entertainment or something along those lines.

Once you have the domain name you will need to to decide on which domains you want to utilize. Domain chooses include; .com, .net, .org and others. When deciding on a domain, a good rule of thumb is to take all available ones in order to protect yourself for fraudulently companies running under your name. This will not only ruining your company image, but if your competitor companies decide to take a domain with your name they can redirect your customers to their websites.

If you are deciding to utilize a search engine optimization company, they will also suggest that you follow these main steps. Having a domain name that is rich in key words, linking ot your company, will increase your rankings on the search engine when an individual is typing in the search box. With a key word rich domain name you will find that each day the traffic to your website will greatly increase, more so then if your domain name was irrelevant to the service you are providing.

So be sure to choose the best domain name possible and add as many relevant key words as you can. If you have to play around on the internet a little bit by conducting various searches. See how some of the top search sites do it, and take your lead from them. Good luck on your business venture!

search engine optimisation refers to creating a web page that will be discovered by search engines. For more information on this topic take a look at seo moves at www.seomoves.com.au.

December 13, 2009

Tools For A Successful Venture

Filed under: Web Design — Julie Johnson @ 9:39 pm

Every time a Page rank updates, the same common issues arise, creating confusion regarding your web site’s Page Rank. What the Page Rank and its fluctuations mean cause confusion to the site’s owner. Some usual themes are the following:

1. If your Page Rank goes down slightly during an update, that is not a penalty. The PR rank is the “grade” that Google gives you, it is found in the Google toolbar. Losing powerful links could lower your PR, or if sites that you link lose PR, yours will also lower. If Google changes the way they figure PR, you can lose PR, as well. Keeping up with your content will keep your PR steady. There are many factors in a PR drop but it definitely not a penalty. The only way to be penalized is to go against the Webmaster Guidelines. Doing this will result in your removal from the index and/or noticeable drop in rankings.

2. The PR that is displayed is not current. The displayed PR is only current after an update. you may have created a well rounded link profile, and added an interface for user generated content and still wind up with PR4 after 2 or 3 months. You cannot know your actual PR, so do not worry with it.

3. Higher PR does not equal higher rankings. Do not focus on you PR, instead focus on your traffic, rankings and conversions. A lot of searches have PR0-3 outranking PR4-6, it is not solely the measure in the Google algorithm that determines your sites spot. You don’t need to worry about your PR unless you are selling links on your site and need to show your PR as being high in order to sell. Keep this in perspective, but do not ignore it. PR is the general snapshot of your site in Google’s eyes. Generally speaking, you will rank higher with a high PR, but that is just one puzzle piece.

4. PR juice flows. Do not obsess about your PR, but realize that high PR links flow PR to your site as well. It is not as valuable to worry about your own site’s PR as it is to ensure that your incoming links are from high or mid PR sites. If you are looking to gain links, naturally mix in high PR pages. When looking at PR as a trust snapshot, then getting a link from a trusted site, while being relevant to your industry, will boost your PR and you ranking.

Usually, a drop or increase in PR that doesn’t coincide with traffic or search results should not worry you. It is an awesome thing to see your PR rise, but traffic is what really matters.

search engine optimisation is the process of building traffic to your internet site. There are seo businesses that can help you with this process and help you achieve greater page rankings. For helpance from one of the top businesses in the business go to www.seomoves.com.uk.

December 11, 2009

Qualities Of Highly Effective Professional Brochures

Filed under: Web Design — Alvin Chow @ 10:54 pm

Companies of all kinds and sizes make use of brochures as an important marketing option. They act like windows for the customers, through which they get to know about a company’s products, its history, and other information establishing a solid base for it in the market. A badly made brochure can do a lot of damage to the reputation of the company and hence it is very important to take considerable degree of care and attention while developing it. This article will give you some key advice on brochure printing and design.

The primary aim of a brochure is to provide information. However, it also has to be good-looking, so that potential customers are are curious to read it. Along with stylish use of colours, an appropriate arrangement of text and images is also extremely important in brochure design. Fonts, outlines, and graphics are vital components of brochure design and they should complement each other well. The brochure must appear tidy and catchy, without sacrificing the simplicity and structure.

While designing the brochure, aspects related to brochure printing should also be carefully considered. It is normally a wise decision to take a test print out to see how the final brochure is going to look before you send it for large volume printing.

Budgetary considerations for brochure printing should not be neglected at the time of brochure designing. In case you have a restricted budget, you can always fall back on black and white printing as it is much less expensive than colour printing. If you are not pulled back by budget and are planning for colorful brochures, then materials that are thick and have a sheen should be used, as they enhance the beauty of colour prints. A concise brochure which requires printing on either side of the paper will need a sufficiently thick paper for printing.

Since brochure printing is done in bulk, always ask for discounts from the printer. However, to maintain the reputation of the business, and to project a professional image to potential customers, quality must invariably be one of your key concerns, even if it slightly raises the costs.

Learn more about Brochure Printing and Printing Services from a trusted printing company.

Useful Tips For Design Of Exhibition Booths

Filed under: Web Design — Randy Murphy @ 11:33 am

Business fairs are a successful way of promoting your goods as they provide the participants a chance to increase their customer base and popularise their brand name. However, you have to be cautious about how you design exhibition booths and how they are managed, as these aspects play a very important role in pulling customers.

The relative locations of exhibition booths must be meticulously studied as a detailed knowledge of the layout of the trade exhibition can assist you in deciding the ideal exhibition design. Additionally, your booth must not only have adequate space to fit in a huge crowd but also have sufficient durability.

Visual impact of the exhibition booth on the people is very crucial and this can be enhanced by creating displays that exhibit both the company and its products in an illustrative and attractive way. Trade show analysts claim that a person takes only about three seconds to build an impression of any exhibition booth in his mind and thus your booth should be eye-catching and instantly attractive.

Hence the booth should have alluring messages that are impactful and readable from a distance and a colour pattern with maximum two to three striking colours to make it look different from competing booths. It is always a better idea to go for an open booth instead of a closed one; but you should take care of the lighting facility in either case.

Interactive multimedia tools are an essential part of exhibition designs, as they help in engaging the visitors, giving you a few extra seconds to attract them. This can be achieved by making use of interactive display systems or just plain video displays. Another way of attracting the customers to the booth is to announce the distribution of some freebies, which the visitors can take with them.

Lastly, when working on exhibition designs, you must make sure that you are using lightweight and modular displays that fall within your budget and are easy to manage. This will greatly lower your expenditure on material and transportation and will hence keep a cap on your budget.

Discover more about the attractive and exciting Exhibition Displays and Office Designs.

categories: booth designs,shop designs,exhibition booths,advertising,exhibition designs,marketing,exhibition displays

December 10, 2009

Tips For Designing Your Own Web Site

Filed under: Web Design — Julie Johnson @ 7:51 am

More and more people today are creating their own web pages. Whether you are starting an on-line business, or just want to create a page to share your personal interests or ideas, the number of web pages on the Internet continues to increase rapidly year after year. If you want your web page to be seen by as many people as possible there are several things you can do to optimize the effectiveness of your website.

Creating good internal links can help you get the attention of search engine crawlers and can make your site more user friendly for visitors, allowing them to get more quickly to the content that they are looking for.

Search engine crawlers go through the web looking from site to site. They index individual pages and try to find out information about them. Text links get the attention of the web crawler and if used correctly with words that describe your business and linked properly, the crawler will be able to know more about your site. Make sure when creating text links you follow a few simple rules:

1. Make sure that the links you have are relevant to the information or services that your web site provides.

2. If you are writing about a specific topic, and want to include a link to another web site about the same topic, you should include the link in the keywords of your subject matter. You should avoid typing ‘CLICK HERE’ and then making that a link.

3. If your links do not work then they are not helping anybody. You should test the links on your web site periodically to make sure that the link works, and the site you are linking to is still relevant to the topic on your web site.

4. Including links to other websites that can provide additional information on the topics you are discussing is great, for both your site and the users of the site. Too many links, though, can have the opposite effect, confusing your users, and driving people away from your site, so you should use links in moderation.

The key to getting users to your site is to increase your sites position in the search engine results list. When you include internal links in your web site you are providing additional information to both the search engine and your users that can help improve your site rankings.

When you are searching for a search engine optimisation company you want to make sure that they are legitimate and you are not being tricked by one of the many scams out there. seo moves is a company that you can rely on and trust, log onto www.seomoves.com.au to learn more about what they can do for you.

December 6, 2009

Don’t Get Mislead By Your SEO Company

Filed under: Web Design — Julie Johnson @ 10:59 pm

1. Look for a company that offers you realistic results. If they are telling you that you will rank number one on Google in a month, then be leery, SEO doesn’t work in this way.

2. Results take time and are gradual, not immediate.

3. Be sure that you ONLY do business with a company that can properly explain what services they are offering you, what they do and how it works. If you are unable to understand what they are trying to communicate , or you are unsure of what promises that they are making, then you may want to choose another SEO company. Your SEO company should talk to you, not over you.

4. Get customer references from the SEO company that you are thinking about using. After you have obtained these references you should then check out their page and site rankings, as well as the rankings for the SEO company themselves. If they are unable to accomplish a good page ranking for their current customer base, then chances are they will be unable to do this for your business either.

5. There are many scams out there, so you should beware! Signs that the company is not legit include: shadow domains, when keywords are included in the address bar, if you are unable to tell the difference between your search result and advertisements, requests your FTP account information or root access to your server, and various other suspicious activities.

6. A company that requires long phrase keywords should also be approached with caution. Long phrases is not a great way to achieve good rankings. Your keywords should be relevant, and not something that is unlikely for someone to be looking up on the Internet.

7.You should never have to link to the SEO. Usually this is not advisable and has little to no affect on your search rankings whatsoever.

8. Always ask questions. Questions are the best way to learn the company history and the services that they provide. Is you are shy about asking questions it could cost your money in the long run. So my advice is to ask questions and continue to ask until you have the answers to everything that you want to know about the company and what they do.

If you feel that the SEO company you are utilizing has mislead you, you will need to contact the Federal Trade Commission, in Washington, DC.

There are numerous companies that can assist you with building traffic to your internet site in order to achieve greater page rankings. For assistance from one of the top companies in the business take a look at seo moves at www.seomoves.com.uk.

November 30, 2009

Three Effective Brochure Design Tips

Filed under: Graphic design — Betty Wong @ 7:27 pm

Have you ever considered that a booklet can be one of the most influential of all your marketing materials?

It is a simple piece of paper but the first impact that your pamphlet makes is important. If it’s shabby and subfusc your prospect is left with the same feeling. This will slow your business growth.

Having a brochure professionally designed and printed is a key to winning in a packed marketplace. Taking the time to make sure that your leaflet delivers all the key information in a way that is easily figured is something that only a professional can do.

If you are just starting out in business you may be tempted to do your pamphlet yourself. When I first started in business I did everything myself – not a good choice. That is why it took me 12 years before I was even relatively prosperous. Heed my warning – go professional from day one on your marketing materials. They are an investment and not an expense. Professionally created materials will deliver you customers and the cash flow to follow – the reason why you are in business.

A pamphlet has to use eye-catching design. It has to be succinct in terms of the content and last but not the least, it must be successful in enticing people to make that call of action.

Here are three key design rules to follow when producing a booklet. Use them and you will see your results flow.

1. The cover:

The cover is your sales representative. Brochures are quite passive creatures and you are not often able to ‘walk’ people through your brochure. So you need to arouse people to read further. The cover is the beginning point so must be tantalizing and sharing the KEY values of WHY someone should read further. It should answer the WIFM question – What’s in it for me.

A great design company will show you at least three to four cover designs for your leaflet. Take Apart these designs to see which energizes you the most. Ask your friends their impression. Does the cover answer the question WIFM? If it doesn’t energize and answer the WIFM question, then skip to another design that works or get it redesigned. Taking the time here to get it right will pay bounties later.

2. The Content:

Once they are past the cover then the content has to become the salesperson. So once again, the pressure is on to be good. Do not opt for cheap inept content writers or ask the designer to write the content or worst still do it yourself. Instead make sure that a professional copywriter is doing the work. If your design company does not have a copywriter then employ one yourself.

Check Out that all the fundamental questions that a prospective customer will have about your product are answered in a way that gets them to call you for more information. Do not go into ‘overkill mode’ and deluge them with too much information at this point in time. Remember the brochure’s job is to excite and get people to call you.

3. The call for action:

If your likely customer has read the pamphlet then you have done a good job. All you need to do now is give them a compelling reason to contact you NOW.

Having things like a free call 0800 or’00 number clearly shown (in big letters) can make a huge difference. Having an email address is a clear bonus. Make sure these two are distinctly placed in large clear type.

Even give your customers a special coupon on the pamphlet or reference code can help. But above all, make sure that you add a clear call to action. One way to do this is to readdress the KEY value of your service to your prospect in a way that will get them to take action. Remember value is everything. People only buy something that is of value to THEM.

4. The piece that got forgotten:

I did this on purpose and only said there were three points. Well the last point is the one that can get missed. It is the ‘dummy’ one. Have you checked that you have these on your leaflet:

Phone number | Fax number | Email address | Web address | Country of operation | City / area of operation | Company name | And have you proof read for typo and grammar errors?

Discover how creative Brochure designs can accelerate your business growth using qualified Graphic Design professionals.

November 16, 2009

Ways To Advertise

Filed under: Web Design — Chris Kincaid @ 10:26 pm

Just because the Internet has changed the way people advertise, it doesn’t mean that it’s the only way to advertise. There is plenty of room for all types of advertising in today’s markets. It’s important to take advantage of all types, whether you have a large business or a small business. To get the most business, don’t neglect any of these following advertising venues.

Believe it or not, the most popular form of advertising is still print ads. Different from the Internet, print ads help you find customers and clients instead of relying on them to find you. From direct mail campaigns, with targeted recipients, to getting listed in directories, to printing labels for trinkets and give-aways to magazine ads and coupons, getting people’s attention is the key to generate business.

Identity pieces are the most important part of branding a company. This form of marketing shows current and potential clients exactly who your company is, at a glance. It brings consistency to your marketing materials, which will make your company memorable. Identity pieces may include stationery, memo pads, business cards, folders or business packets, and envelopes.

Websites: there’s more to advertising on the Internet than just having one of these beauties. These days we need to think in terms of web presence. There are other advertising venues that are inexpensive like blogging, and listing your site in directories, and signing up for social networking sites. All of these things work together to market your company. The website remains the most important of these tools, but make sure to find someone to design it not only for the potential clients, but for the search ranking factors that will give your site a presence on the first page of listings.

Another great way to get noticed is with trade show booths. A trade show booth showcases your company in an atmosphere of eager potential clients-people who are there for the purpose of learning more about your business. With a well-designed booth behind you, along with banners, table drapes, and a handy stack of business cards, your personality can shine through and give potential clients the best impression of your company.

Word of mouth advertising will always be the cheapest and some would argue best form of advertising. A good reputation goes a long way. Besides asking your clients to tell their friends, you should make sure you do some pro bono work. It’s an easy and kind way of showing your community that you’re a good neighbor, involved in the community, interested in others.

A little advertising is okay. A lot of advertising is better. But well-chosen varieties of advertising are the best. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or be fancy, but it should be effective.

Chris Kincaid is a twenty year marketing professional and writes extensively on business including local topics such as graphic design in Michigan and Ann Arbor web design.

Next Page »