Over the years I have realized that my children are easily persuaded. I can typically steer them one way or another with mere words. At first I just assumed my daughter was go with the flow and that her personality dictated the ease of persuasion. Once my son arrived, I realized the ability to alter one’s thinking was less the child and more the parent. I grew up in a family where Christmas was important. I’ve wrote about it before in my blogs, because when I think of my childhood, I think ... Read More
Website Development Articles and Posts
Website development articles and blog posts covering all aspects of WordPress website design for small to mid-market companies.
WordPress: The Perfect Solution for Building a Corporate Microsite
Your company is launching a new product this summer. As a marketer, you want to make a huge splash and not just a toe-dipping announcement. You’re killing yourself brainstorming ways to garnish the attention you need so that this launch is a success and your product is well received by the media, bloggers, and potential buyers.Social media, blogger outreach, and online advertising are all great ideas, but every idea you come up with always sends web traffic back to your boring corporate website. ... Read More
Non-Profit Website Design That Would Even Make My Aunt Happy
I’m thrilled to announce the release of Patricia, a non-profit WordPress theme that was just added to our stock theme store. This Genesis child theme can be utilized by not for profit organizations, charities, and foundation websites. Our firm offers pro bono services for non-profits, but we have a limited amount of charities that we can help each year. This has always bothered me because non-profit website design is important and we need to help make a difference. In creating Patricia, I ... Read More
Do You Have a Mobile Friendly Website?
How much time have you spent online today? Of that time, how much of it was via a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet? If you’re like many of us, it’s a lot. While mobile usage has skyrocketed in the last few years, many small businesses have been slow to build a mobile friendly website. I'm hoping that is about to change. Why Do We Love Mobile So Much? I own an iPhone 5 and a Retina iPad. Since I purchased those devices my own mobile usage has increased drastically. I use both devices ... Read More
Why Dora the Explorer Should Design Your Website Home Page
Your website home page is the most important page on your website. While your incoming traffic will many times arrive through other pages, website visitors will undoubtedly review your home page at some point in their visit. A website home page should provide a quick overview of who you are, what you do, and what you offer. It is also used to give website visitors clear direction on where they should go and what they should do during their visit. It should quickly tell them what is important ... Read More
One Stop Shop Web Design is Buyer Beware
This afternoon I thought I would duck out of work and take my son for "bessert". Bessert is dessert before dinner and it must be done in late afternoon. As we exited the Dairy Queen I looked up to see a storefront window for a computer repair shop. The long list of services with website design and hosting at the bottom struck my interest. Enough so, that I had to snap a shot of it for further investigation. When we finished our ice cream and errands I returned home to look up the website URL ... Read More
One Page Websites and Templates: Three Reasons Why I Absolutely Hate This Design Trend
A current trend in website design is the use of one page websites. While this trend is hot and there is a ton of industry buzz around it, you will not see these templates in our website portfolio or in our theme store. I am, and will be, strongly against the use of them as they go against my fundamental beliefs in web design. What is a One Page Website? A one page website is simply a single page website that uses only one HTML page. When clicking on navigation links, the user scrolls down the ... Read More
Websites Are Like the Clothes You Wear
For a while I’ve thought websites are like the clothes you wear. I used to think the clothes to website analogy was just something my quirky head thought of, but I was wrong. One of our clients recently said the same thing. Once I regained my composure, we chatted a bit about it and I realized websites really are like the clothes you wear! Websites Are Personal A lot of our clients ask for our opinion during the web design process. I’m an opinionated person and while I openly share my ... Read More
Website Navigation: The Who, What, and Why of You
The other day I was grocery shopping at Meijer. While waiting in line to check out I found my eye wondering across their ceiling and reading the department locators they have placed around the store. In my usual geek way, my mind wondered to my professional life and I started thinking about website navigation. Navigating Through the Grocery Store is the Same as Navigating Through a Website I’ve been shopping at this particular Meijer every week for about seven years. I know where the ... Read More
Successful Web Design Projects: 50+ Questions to Ask Before You Start
With every new web design project I get excited. After years of doing this, you’d think I’d be over the thrill of creating something new. But I’m not and I try to transfer this excitement over to the client in an effort to get them geared up for the project ahead. The cheerleader in me is there for a reason – the majority of our clients underestimate the workload involved in preparing for and executing a web design project. Companies struggle with website projects because they incorrectly ... Read More
The last 48 Hours Taught Me Website Usability is an Adventure
This week we launched a redesign of our website and for me it was a valuable lesson in the importance of website usability. I originally initiated this project so we could make sure our website was capable of serving the ever growing mobile market. Our client websites were all responsive, but we had yet to take the time to make our own website mobile friendly. I completely underestimated the value of a redesign so I was taught a very valuable lesson in the process. Good Usability is Backed by a ... Read More
Free Website Audit: Everyone Deserves a Great Website
The new year is upon us and its time to get ready for a successful 2013. We're kicking the year off by offering our website audit for free to website visitors. This fifteen page report will assist you in evaluating if your website ready for the year ahead. Why Perform a Website Audit? We believe in the power of the Internet and we believe anyone can turn their website into a profit center. It just takes a little introspection, some knowledge of web design and SEO, organization, and a lot of ... Read More
Rocking the Music World with WordPress Websites
The music industry was once a place of creativity and expression. This world of pitch, rhythm, and sound has morphed into a world of independence where artists can produce music without labels and where marketing and self-promotion is within the reach of every artist. Artists are now free to boycott major brands, interact with fans via Twitter, and promote their gigs via Facebook. The negative side of this new found independence is the old misperception of “what you don’t know can’t hurt you”. ... Read More
Creating Law Websites that Rule the Internet
Over the years we’ve worked with or talked to a number of law firms and lawyers who needed assistance with their websites, blogs or SEO efforts. Their struggles with internet marketing inspired us to create a stock WordPress theme specifically designed for their industry. This month we released a new law WordPress theme designed for smaller law firms. In preparing for this theme design and launch, I researched some of the best practices associated with legal website design and online ... Read More
It’s All Fun and Games Until the Website Flops
It’s the moment of truth. The moment when you finally know whether your new website is a lead machine or a money pit. It happens. Virtually every business owner with an internet presence has been there. The moment when your new website is live and you can finally determine if your web design project was a huge success or a dismal failure. This is the thirty-day mark and what I call the moment of truth. Thirty is the Magic Number Once a new website or redesign is thirty days old, you can ... Read More
Five Amazing Website Makeovers
When I founded our company three years ago I was highly focused on SEO. I quickly learned that for most companies, effective SEO meant rebuilding their websites from the ground up. While this wasn’t my initial plan, it was where we ended up. What I didn’t realize is that I was going to love website design. Without question, I fell head over heels in love with WordPress and the world of website design. I love to watch Google Analytics shift from good old fashion SEO, but I also love to ... Read More
Introducing Hans: A WordPress Real Estate Theme
Earlier this month we launched a new premium WordPress theme designed for individual realtors, real estate companies, and home builders. The new real estate theme is a Genesis child theme and has functionality similar to the AgentPress theme from StudioPress. An Example of a Real Estate Firm Website Launch A few days before we officially released the theme I received a call from the president of a real estate firm in California. He needed a custom Genesis theme that was capable of integrating ... Read More
The War of WordPress Theme Frameworks
WordPress theme frameworks are not new, but their usage is growing in popularity. As the WordPress community grows and the usage rate of WordPress escalates, our collective skill-set builds in sophistication. With this growth comes the ability to create, deploy, and utilize advance features and functions. When I first started working with WordPress, I taught myself about components of themes and their basic usage. I next migrated to creating my own themes with a software package called ... Read More
Our New Child Has Finally Arrived: A Genesis Theme Store
Our WordPress web design just got a whole lot better. We’re expanding our website design offering to include premium WordPress themes based on the Genesis Framework. Didn’t we always offer Genesis child themes? We sure did, but our websites were only designed for specific clients and their unique requirements. We’re still married to StudioPress and we still do a lot of custom Genesis theme design, but we’re expanding who can take advantage of our Genesis child themes. Building a custom ... Read More
Six Ways to Quickly Kill Your Website Design Project
If you’re considering embarking on a website design project, you’re most likely venturing into unchartered territory. Or, at the very least, headed down a path you only travel down every five or so years. Because of this “path not taken”, the road is many times bumpy and it is easy to get side tracked or completely lost along the way. Each week I receive a lot of incoming requests for web design quotes and proposals. I ultimately work with a lot of different small business and personality ... Read More
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