Best BC Beef for Whispering Winds Ranch was really fun to do and right on trend when it comes to health eating and modern nutritional preferences.  Prior to meeting this client we had just watched the movie FOOD INC, which details what really happens to our food before it gets to the table.  I strongly recommend to anyone to watch, it is definitely an eye-opener.  When we met Martin Ruiter the owner of Whispering Winds Ranch  I had been looking into healthy eating trends and doing more research about our food and so was really excited about the opportunity.  Martin was ready with some great images (including some very photogenic cattle which I used for the design) and a great marketing plan which included a coupon in a mailout package and a contest.  Anyone signing in to the website would be entered in a draw for a Box of Beef.   We can’t wait to find out how this type of campaign will work. We have set up his email signup with constant contact the site is up and ready and now we wait to see what happens when thousands of people receive his coupon.   Stay tuned for part 2.

I just read a great post regarding the new Google personalized search techniques that I have to share and rant about.  You can read the original article here – searchengineland – Google personalization.  Wow I had no idea that this was happening and as someone who does a little bit of optimization on websites that I design I can see this as very problematic for web designers in general and SEO experts in particular.

Why?  Isn’t this an improvement in Search and doesn’t it mean that I am more likely to find what I want?  Well, no, not unless you are always looking for the same thing or always want the same information.  I am assuming that sites that you like that you want to go back to will be bookmarked as favorites, if you type in a new search – it stands to reason that you will want new results.   You can turn off the “personalization” but again the default is to have it on and most searchers won’t know about it at all.  Many will get upset at the fact that their search habits are being tracked this extensively, forgetting that search habits have always been tracked without your knowledge.  The difference is that now you are getting something that you have not asked for in the form of skewed search results that may not lead you to the answer you wanted.

What is worse….when it comes to little web designers and semi-SEO people, we optimize a site and eventually try to track how it is doing once it finally gets into google.  How do we see if it got into Google?  We search for it and see where it comes up in the listings.  So do our clients when they check to see how their site is doing.  The problem – my list and the client’s list have very little chance of matching.  Or worse yet, if we go to our own site alot, our results will start to skew in that direction, so we think we are number 1 in the listings when really for everyone else we are on page 10.  I don’t know if it will get this bad, but it is something to think about and watch for.

We had the wonderful opportunity to help support this fundraising initiative by getting their website up and running super quick.  In this case we worked with marketing graphics, logos and brochures supplied and created by another company who was in charge of the advertising campaign.  Using these materials we were able to get the website up and running with a secure online form to use for purchasing tickets.  This is one case where the brand recognition extends perfectly from brochures, posters and mailouts, to newspaper ads to the website which all the advertising points to.  It took a bit for the secure online form to get up and during that time, the admin department received many calls from responders to the ads and marketing pieces who were unable to order online once they got to the site.  Within hours of going live with the order form, 10 entries or ticket orders were received.  If you are a BC resident, be sure to visit www.cashtofightcancer.ca and purchase a ticket, you could win $250,000.

On a side note, we researched, found and utilized a great little form/survey app which I just have to make mention of and give kudos too.  For a secure application it is never a good idea to send sensitive information via email.  Using a database backend is best.  This little form provides that using a MySQL and PHP interface and it works like a charm.  Very slick form, lots of options and it sends response emails and tracks entries and best of all the admin for this little beauty is so easy that no training is required really for the client to be able to use it.  Check it out if you are looking for this type of application.  It can be found at www.appnitro.com.

The Wine Station is a good example of a clean corporate design site. We were given the logo to work with and were able to incorporate most of the colors. This site will have a wine list database, wine tasting features and email signup.
We hope to develop some custom flex script action here to allow the client to login and update their own wine lists and the content from the wine tastings. The rest of the website could be updated using contribute if needed.
View this website at www.thewinestation.ca

So, we’ve discovered your target audience, finished the research and are prepared to begin designing the site. This process begins with brainstorming. It’s time to sit down and figure out color schemes, fonts and the over all layout of the site. The goal of any design is to be unique and attractive while properly illustrating what the site is about.

In order to have visitors explore the site and want to return to the site, it must be user-friendly. Inviting colors and graphics help to grab the user’s attention – make them want to further explore the site. Also, it is important to keep your target audience in mind. What text size should be used? What types of imagery, lingo, etc?

It helps your designer if you give them something to work with from the get go. Good pictures are a must! There is nothing worse than a beautiful web site design cluttered with fuzzy images. Once you’ve gathered all your bits and pieces.

From here we will work with your specifications and logo to build the first “look and feel” draft. This will show you how it will be displayed to the world. Now, we can make corrections and/or changes as necessary.

During this process, it’s important to start thinking about what content is going to be in the site, as well.  Start looking for photos and information you want on the site. It is important to gather all of this ahead of time, to keep the design process moving forward. Once all the content has been gathered, we can determine how many pages the site will contain and finalize our research on applications or other custom programming (if required).

Now it’s time to build the final website design – combining all of the content, images, programming, links, and coding into a finished product. The site is then uploaded to its new home and you will receive a link to view the site before it goes live – we will need your final approval.

Once the site itself has been launched, the final (and most important) step is to determine the most effective keywords and optimize for search engines with keyword rich text, title and metatags. This is the step that can determine the amount of traffic coming to your site. (But that is another topic for another day.)

If you would like to take control of your site to add and remove content as you please, a Content Management system will be installed. We will sit down and train you how to update and maintain your site. This can be used as an important marketing tool, because it allows you to make changes quickly, keeping the site ‘up-to-the-minute’ and current. On the other hand, if you would like us to be responsible for updating the site, just give us a call and we’ll gladly do it for you!

Those are the key factors when it comes to building a website for any client. At a glance, web design may seem like a process of throwing some images and text onto a computer screen; however, the process described above is a brief summary of the work that any designer/programmer does.So, to all those who think that making an effective and successful web page is easy – think again!