Refreshing Your Website – How Often? How Much?
So, you’ve had a great website designed and it’s helped your business over the last year or two. But, you haven’t updated it at all. Should you? The answer is a resounding “yes.” Your website, even if it’s a simple brochure for your company, is a representation of the business – and of you. If your site never has anything new to say, then it seems that you don’t.
There are tons of benefits to updating your website.
1. First of all (and this is pretty obvious), when repeat visitors come to your site they will see something new.
2. Web design evolves and if your competitors’ sites stay up to date on trends and new information, your business may suffer. When compared to other options, your site may make your business look behind the curve.
3. The search engines want to see new content. You will see your search rankings fall over time if you don’t add new content to your web site.
Simple things you can have done to refresh your site
New Content
New Photos
New Sections (services, faqs)
New Look
Add a Blog
Getting Away from Flash in Web Design
With mobile devices becoming a more common way of viewing sites on the internet, and of course with the non-support of Flash on the ipad, perhaps a good idea is to avoid Flash altogether. We recently launched this client’s site with a motion intro and a beautiful photo gallery, complete with fade transitions, using absolutely no flash.
Color Palettes for Websites
It’s not just the words that matter…it’s a visual thing.
An effective website, no matter what the industry, needs to have the power to keep a user engaged. In the fast paced environment we are living in, it’s imperative to have a substantial visual impact from the moment the user arrives on a site. Let’s be honest, the text is the driving force for explaining products and services and should not be taken lightly. The copy should be clearly written and well thought out. However, words are just words if no one reads them. So, the object here is to create an environment where the user wants to stay and read on.
A site should never fall short of creating a feeling. It can be anything from professional, comforting, warm, masculine, or somber…to playful, trendy, youthful, feminine or exciting…just to name a few. These feelings can be created by surrounding your text with pattern, photography, illustration, graphics and most importantly, a great color palette.
A color palette should be chosen with industry and demographic in mind and can set the tone and feeling of a website.
Here are a few examples of color palettes:
Professional:
www.ocdla.com
Whimsical:
www.sugarbabiescupcakery.com
Warm:
www.bikramyogasouthpasadena.com
Trendy:
www.hipurbangreen.com
Dramatic:
www.rosnermusic.com
Playful:
www.houseatthecorner.com
The Art of the Logo Redesign – 2010 Logo Case Studies
Are you considering a redesign for your company’s logo? Redesigning your logo can do many things for your business. The question is whether they will be positive. The positive effects are:
• repositioning – a reflection that your business has evolved or changed
• an appearance that your business has become a more established brand
• press and visibility
• a better connection to your audience
• a design that is more easily rendered in various media
You should also consider the negative effects it could have if not done well.
• confusing your customers
• bad PR/criticism
Before doing an redesign, or update of you business logo, you should definitely consider how much brand awareness you have with your current logo? If your business is an established brand and has high visibility, i.e. product packaging, delivery trucks, outside signage, advertising in various media, etc. then your logo is likely very familiar to your potential customers. If this is the case, then you need to consider the reasons for a redesign, retain key distinctive elements from the original logo, and make sure it is an improvement that accomplishes your rebranding and/or repositioning goals.
2010 Logo Redesigns – Quick Case Studies
Quite a few established brands redesigned their logos this year. Most recently, Starbucks updated their logo to considerable commentary. For a company that is so well-established it is unlikely that there will be any negative effects associated with the (mostly) negative reaction. As they say… “There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.” This is probably the case here. But not all companies are in that category.
Here are our notes on the positives, negatives and details of some of this year’s more visible redesigns.
Starbucks
I’d have to agree with a lot of the commentary that this update of the logo, while trying to present a more clean modern look seems to have erased some of the brand. It is a show of confidence that the brand awareness is so immense that just the color and icon is all that is needed for an instant representation of the brand. This is fine most of the time (the NBC peacock, AT&T globe, the Sirius dog), but in this case, the words were actually part of the icon. It is a “badge” style logo… and was pretty darn good.
San Diego Zoo
A great redesign that doesn’t retain any of the original. Truth is, I couldn’t have told you what the old logo looked like. It was a very nondescript logo for a pretty powerful brand. It’s a case of the previous logo not doing much to sell the product. This new logo implies fun, nature, and animals. It’s just great. Maybe a second color would have made it a little more lively, but just great!
Scribd
This is really nicely done. The redesign accomplishes all positives. It improved the typeface, making it a more unique font, a font that could be associated with book type. It establishes this time a distinct color combination. And, finally it is clearly easier to recreate in different media. all good.
MySpace
Okay, I thought this one was a joke or a stunt. The goal here HAD to be a spike in publicity in interest (as myspace has clearly been struggling at the hands of facebook). It’s real… the real new logo. Again, this is an act of confidence in their brand awareness. The new logo has a feeling of irrelevance and emptiness. It just doesn’t work.
Comedy Central
I really want to like this because if my love for clean, impressionistic logo design. But, it’s such a departure from the original and doesn’t feel funny, clever or whimsical. It has a corporate feel because of it’s simplicity of color and design – clearly not a good thing for this brand. It feels like a lot of other logos too. I’m not really sure what the need was for the drastic redesign. Perhaps just a slight update would have been much better. Chances are it won’t matter given the visibility. We’ll all get used to it.
CNN en Espanol
So cool. Takes an element (the ~) that everyone associates with what the brand is trying to convey (Spanish).
Seattle’s Best
This redesign is drastic. The company has gotten larger and wanted to appear more established and clearly more modern. It seems like design for design’s sake though. It’s so generic and modern that it feels cold. It could be for many different products. The only thing retained from the original brand is one of the colors, and the gray color doesn’t not feel like “coffee.” The original felt so “established” and warm. Guess we’ll see what happens with this one.
Library of Congress
This is a great update. A flag and a book. So clean, so obvious, yet subtle.
Democrats (DNC)
This was another highly criticized redo. I’d have to agree with the criticism in general. There isn’t much strength in this mark. The lighter blue is especially weak for this brand. It looks a lot like the Chicago Cubs logo. It would be interesting to see what some of the other ideas were on this one.
Let us know what you think…
I want my website to be on the first page of the Google search!
We are often asked the question “How can I get my site to appear on the first page of the Google search?” It is not a quick or easy answer, but here are a few things we have to say on the subject of Search Engine Optimization…
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a process that requires some planning and can be tackled in phases starting with an analysis of your website. But before you start, or engage a professional to do an analysis for you, it is important to do some groundwork of your own by identifying and defining your expectations. Start by making a list of key words and search phrases. Then, by process of elimination, boil down your search phrases to a short list (length will depend on your specific needs). This should be a list of the things that you think your customer will actually type into the search engine in their attempt to find you or your service/product. Keep in mind that a search phrase will usually contain the subject, product or service along with the city and/or location. Once you have done this, you and/or your web developer will have a better base for which to build a custom “Game Plan”.
After your site has been analyzed it is important to prioritize, then delineate which items on the list of services will give you the most bang for your buck. Your final “Game Plan” will depend on which services you decide to move forward with.
Here is a short list of SEO services:
- Key words and key phrases (add or improve upon existing ones)
- Create alt-tags for all images
- Add and/or improve on meta content (name, descriptions, keywords and key phrases)
- Set H1 and H2 tags on all pages
- Submit URL to search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Alexa, etc.)
- Create a sitemap
- Set up an Analytics account to track site performance
- Resolve duplicate content issues
- Create ‘page by page’ relevancy between content and meta data
- Add ‘Resources and Links’ page (if necessary)
- Add and/or re-name pages to match meta and page content
- Incorporate social media links and “share” buttons on website
- Set up link exchanges with industry listings
- Link building consultation
- Blog installation and integration. This will give access to an admin area where you can input new content on an ongoing basis.
- Set up social media accounts
- Add a contact form (good for collecting email addresses for future email marketing)
- And so much more…
Remember, Search Engine Optimization is not a hard-and-fast science so there are no guarantees. SEO is better characterized as ‘fluid’ and ‘ever-changing’. That is why it is important to take an active role in your SEO. You will have the best and lasting results if you or your SEO professional continues to monitor your site on an ongoing basis.
For more information and Sunfish Design’s SEO rates CLICK HERE
Promoting your Blog – Best Blog Directories
So, you have created a beautiful blog with dynamite content… spread the word. Here is a list we’ve compiled of the best blog directories. These directories are specific designed for blogs, and there’s no harm in listing in as many as possible.
technorati.com
addyourblog.com
portal.eatonweb.com
ontoplist.com
bloggernity.com
bloggapedia.com
bloglisting.net
blogexplosion.com
blogpulse.com
icerocket.com
for a fee… but usually worth it.
Favorite Fonts of 2010 for Logo & Web Design
The perfect font is an important element of any design or identity/logo creation. The old standbys are great (helvetica nueue, futura, cochin, century gothic, goudy, myriad pro), but finding something special is the way to really set a logo design or a printed piece apart from others. This year we had the opportunity to work with some new fonts, some chosen by clients and happily embraced by us, and some that we chose to try. Here is our top fonts list:
sugarbabiescupcakery.com
eringloweslp.com
All of these fonts can be found at myfonts.com.
The Benefits of Email Marketing
Email marketing is an inexpensive way to reach a large audience and great way to improve existing customer relations as well as exciting new clients. It’s also a way to invite people and draw traffic to your website and let them know more about your products, services and/or special events.
You don’t need to be a genius to know that more visitors to your website can mean more business. Once you have an online presence, it is important to continually let people know that you are out there and make it as easy as possible for them to get to you.
We are frequently asked what the benefits are of doing custom HTML (+ plain text) email blasting using a service such as Constant Contact or Vertical Response, as opposed to simply sending out an attachment from your own email account.
There are many answers to this question, but the most important thing to know is that not all email clients are created equal. This means if you send your own email, from your own email client with an attachment like a jpeg, the way your email gets displayed on one persons computer or mobile device is different from the way the next person will view it. In many cases, jpegs and other attachments will not show up at all.
We feel that If you are going to the trouble of doing email marketing, you want to be sure that the recipient can view it easily. Thus, having your email created as a custom HTML (or plain text) document and sending it through an email service, is a way to ensure that your full message will be delivered regardless of browser compatibility.
Another important benefit of having an account with an email marketing service is to help build and manage your contacts. You can capture email addresses directly from your website using the “Join Our Mailing List” signup box, as well as expanding your list with a “Forward-to-a-Friend” link. An email marketing account also gives you access to reports that track the recipients who are opening and forwarding your email and clicking through to your website. This is valuable information that can give you insight as to whether your marketing strategy is working.
Along with all of the benefits, there are some design limitations that an HTML email presents. However, at Sunfish Design, we have the ability to customize your email and make it look unique and professional, retain and even enhance the integrity of your corporate identity.
Here are just a few practical rules for email marketing:
• Keep your message and design simple.
• Keep the important information up at the top of the email for easy message identification.
• Concentrate on a single promotion and/or provide helpful tips and specials.
• Make sure all of the people on your mailing list want to receive emails from you.
Who owns your Domain Name? Do you?
Registering a domain name is a simple thing and should be done by the person who is planning on owning and controlling the domain. Sometimes, of course, you want to have someone register it for you, perhaps an employee or a web developer. If this is the case, It’s important that they make you the registrant by placing your name and your valid email address on the account. This will ensure that you are in control over your account, and that you are the one who receives notices of expiration and renewal. As soon as the domain is set up, be sure to request that the username and password are given to you and keep this information in a convenient place for when you need to make any changes.
Now that you know this, you probably want to know if there’s a way to find out if your domain is controlled by you and your company. You can find out do this by going to www.whois.org or www.godaddy.com scrolling down to the bottom and clicking on WhoIS. This will show you who the owner of your domain is. If your domain name is registered to you, you’re all set. But what if it’s registered under another person’s name? What does this mean? It means, for all intents and purposes, the other person owns it and can alter or take down your current website at any time.
Your domain name is the asset of your company and should be in your name. The name on the registration is the person that has control over your domain name. That individual can take down your current website at any time.
To keep your domain name in your control, the only rule of thumb is to have your domain name registered to you, in your own account and with a separate registration from your website vendor. If Sunfish Design purchases or registers your domain name on your behalf, you are still the owner of that domain; Sunfish Design is simply the administrator of the domain and ensures the management for you.
Sunfish Design can help you in all aspects of your domain name selection and registration. Domain name registration is provided with all Sunfish Design web site design packages.
We recommend www.GoDaddy.com for domain registration.
New Work to Show Off
Some new work to show off…
We’re happy to just have launched a few new sites! Both clients will be showing off their products at the Anaheim Natural Foods Expo, March 5-8th, 2009.
