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Questions To Ask Your Web Developer

February 26, 2016

Author: Sean H.

Many of our clients aren’t savvy when it comes to web development and web design, but that’s why they come to us. Many times, clients don’t know the right questions to ask, so we thought we would make it easier for non-techie clients to know what to ask their web developers. All of these questions are useful when meeting with a developer/designer and we’ve included the kind of answer you should expect to hear.

When do you conduct in-depth keyword and competitor research.
(At Design Web, we do this first. Good SEO practice should be baked in from the start.)
Will the site be mobile responsive? Do you develop for mobile first?
(Yes! Mobile, tablet and desktop.)
Will you give each URL a meaningful name? Do you know what stop language is and how to avoid using it?
(Each URL needs a meaningful and unique name for SEO reasons. Stop language is avoided on all meta tags to prevent issues with search engine robots.)
Do you know how to use relevant meta tags and schema?
(Meta tags and schema are used to enhance SEO and social media sharing and to ensure that the site is semantic for search engines.)
What site speed is optimal and what do you estimate my site speed will be?
(We try to achieve a Google Page Speed score of “green” on both desktop and mobile)
Will you use a CMS? Which will you use?
(We can use multiple CMS platforms, depending on client needs, but we tend to lean towards WordPress for its ease of use and low cost.)
Will you set up and provide hosting and domain or will I be responsible? What will my hosting fees be and do you have a guaranteed up time?
(Hosting and domain are provided if the client does not already have them. We have a guaranteed 99% uptime. Hosting Fees are free the first year and $100 a year after that.)
What type of security will you be using on the site to ensure that it is not hacked?
(We have several systems in place to ensure that security is primary concern, including 24/7 security alerts on the site, so we can address issues at any time of day or night.)
Will the site be up to current web standards? Which languages will you be using?
(At Design Web, we prefer open source languages, such as PHP. We are able to use HTML, AJAX, CSS, Javascript, several JS libraries, MYSQL, PHP, .NET, ASP, and several others. We also have several trusted contract developers we work with to ensure we can cover any client programming need as it arises.)
Will I be able to see the progress on the site during development with a staging site?
(We provide a staging site during development so you can see the progress being done on your site. You will also have several opportunities to revise content and design during the development process.)
Will you be using any sort of Flash on my site?
(We never use any type of Flash or Java (which is different than Javascript) on our sites, since these are being phased out and will be an obsolete web technology in the near future.)
How will you incorporate SEO into my site? What types of SEO work will be done both on and off site? Will you set up both Analytics and Webmaster Tools/Search Console?
(We work from day one with on-site SEO, including keyword optimization, meta tags, and schema. We optimize our code to ensure it is up to standards. We set up Yahoo, Bing and Google webmaster tools, as well as Google Analytics.)
Are you familiar with current UI and UX standards? How will you use UI and UX to ensure my goals are being met?
(We make sure that current UI and UX standards are being met in order to turn a site visitor into a goal conversion. We are up to date on the latest UI and UX design techniques to ensure we direct the user to the proper goal.)
Will you be developing a custom backend for me to use to make updates to the site? How easy or difficult will it be for me to make updates to content on the site?
(At Design Web, we can provide a custom backend that will allow you to make changes to most of the content on the website. We also provide maintenance at 1 hour per month for 1 year after site launch for minor updates or changes. We provide a tutorial manual on how to use your new site, as well as training on how to use the site via GoToMeeting.)

If you aren’t satisfied with the answers that your current web developer is providing you, then feel free to contact us at Design Web and we can help make you the perfect website that is up to current SEO, UI/UX, and coding standards. In the meantime, stay up-to-date on all web development news and information on our Facebook page.

40 Free SEO Tips For Small Business – PART IV

February 19, 2016

Author: Sean H.

Our final installment of SEO tips will go into more advanced keyword and development SEO. These are things that may require professional help, which Design Web is proud to provide!

Add a blog to your website. Regularly adding new pages of content to your site is a snap when you have a blog, and the more quality content you can add to your site the better. You can rank for the subject you focus your posts on very easily.
Create, collaborate and share with other websites and blogs. Once again, it is key to connect with real people who are interested in the same thing as you. Associating with sister sites, bloggers, or content creaters is always good for helping branch out your reach to potential visitors.
Don’t forget to marketing content. Don’t make people will struggle to find you. If they can’t find it, they can’t enjoy it, link to it, or share it.
Write a unique title for every page. Keep it to about 55 characters. Make the topic of a page clear to both humans and search engines and avoid using symbols. Automatic titles are never as good as a custom title.
Write descriptive meta descriptions for every page. Keep it down to bewteen 150 and 160 characters. Clearly describe the topic of a page and be sure to use your keyword if you have one. Write in a natural way that entices someone to want to read more. Never keyword-stuff… ever. Try not to use symbols or “stop words.”
Research keywords. Do your homework. Work smart. Spend your time wisely. If you choose the wrong keywords, you are just wasting your time, or worse yet, you might associate yourself with something that could hurt your business.
Use Google’s Keyword Tool. It can help you to expand on phrases related to the keyword ideas that you enter into it.
Outsource keyword ideas. Customers, suppliers, partners, friends, etc. can see your business differently. While you may be thinking in industry specific terminology and buzz words you are familiar with, the people you are targeting are may associate different words and phrases based on what they want to accomplish.
Focus on your most relevant keywords.

The more relevant your keywords are, the better your search samples will be. If your keywords are all over the place, you may not achieve any real ranking for any of them. There is nothing wrong with variety but you always want to be sure your pages are well organized and fit your theme and when a visitor arrives to your page they find quality information about the subject they were looking for.
Keep commercial intent in focus. You want visitors who are ready to spend money delivered directly to the products or services they are looking for and you want to deliver those who are just looking for information to arrive where they can get everything they need.

We hope that these tips can help you with your website. If you still feel that you need some expert help, including an SEO scan and report on your existing site, contact us today. Make sure to like us on Facebook and stay up-to-date on the latest news and information.

40 Free SEO Tips For Small Business – PART III

February 12, 2016 Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

We are now on week 3 of our SEO tips for small businesses. We have had 10 search engine optimization tips for small businesses for the past two weeks. This week, we have 10 more tips on how to improve your SEO on your website.

Create content for real people, not search engines. Content that ranks well won’t rank well for long if real people don’t find interest in your pages. No one likes to feel like they are being tricked into something. Don’t keyword-stuff and be natural in you methods to persuade visitors to buy or engage with you. Don’t be a grease salesman, be a genuine authority on your subject that people will go out of their way to find and share.

Remove duplicate content, duplicate content, duplicate content. It is annoying to real people and search engines. Most importantly you can be penalized by search engines for having the same, or very similar, content on multiple pages of your site.

Remove, merge, or add to pages with little content on them. Having lots of small content-light pages, can result in visitors spending short time looking at you pages which reduces page-view time or bounce rate and search engines may start downgrading all of your site’s keyword rankings if they perceive the fast click through rates to mean people are not staying long because they are not finding what they are looking for.

Plagiarism will still get you flunked. Don’t copy content from other websites. Duplicate information is bad when search engines find it on your own pages. If search engines find that content on your site has been taken from elsewhere, that is even worse. Some engines when they discover direct plagiarism may downgrade your rankings. It is not worth the risk and it could effect some, or even all, of your webpages.

Claim all of your pages. Linking your Google+ account is the first step, but did you now there are other places where your site or business may have automatically created landing pages? Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, and may others will create landing pages to content they deem useful, which may include you — without ever alerting you! Claiming and maintaining your content everywhere it may appear improves both rankings and click-through rate.

Make sure your page is good enough to be in the top results of search listings. If your site is just a facade, there is no way it will get featured on “The Lifestyles of the Click Rich and Search Famous.” Occasionally. a website will get a lucky strike and land smack-dab on the front page for a nice 15 minutes of fame. This is the opportunity to make and keep long-term valuable linkbacks,but if you haven’t created a structure that can withstand popularity than it will be all for naught.

Engaging your visitors. The more engaging, the longer people stay. The longer they stay, the higher the chance of a conversion/goal, and that is a signal to search engines that your site deserves more visitors and they will grant you with higher rankings.

Consider offering videos. Videos increase the amount of time people spend on your site. Videos also allow you an opportunity to get links from video sites like Youtube.

Charts, graphs and infographics are great content. People like to share and link to great easy to understand visual content more than plain written content.

More content sometimes means better ranking. Search engines reward, and visitors trust sites that are filled with lots of content. The key here is to make sure your content is well categorized and of good quality.

Each week, we will have another set of SEO tips to help your small business. Check out Design Web’s Facebook page here to stay up-to-date on the latest news and information.

40 Free SEO Tips For Small Business – PART II

February 5, 2016 Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Last week we touched on 10 search engine optimization tips for small businesses. This week, we have 10 more tips on how to improve your SEO on your website.

You don’t need to submit your website to the search engines. They have evolved beyond that now but you can request a forced crawl to update faster when an important page on a website, is created. Google’s direct advice on this topic is:
“If you’ve recently made changes to a URL on your site, you can update your web page in Google Search with the Submit to Index function of the Fetch as Google tool. This function allows you to ask Google to crawl and index your URL.”
Bing offers this url submission link.

Get advice directly from Google and Bing. Google offers information via their Webmaster Guidelines and Webmaster Help Videos. Bing also has a Webmaster Help Page.

Don’t risk Black Hat penalties. A penalty from trying to cheat the system results in a significant, and often long-term, loss of visitors to your site. Never use manipulative methods or try to cheat the system. Coming back from black listing and delisting is time intensive and very expensive to repair.

You are responsible for all of SEO on your website. Search engines won’t remove a penalty on the basis that you didn’t do, or didn’t know the implications of, the SEO work being done on your site. Many SEO companies can offer to sell you page likes, clicks and traffic but if it isn’t genuine engagement by real people it will actually hurt you in the long run.
Set-up and use Google and Bing Search Console. These consoles are a treasure trove of information about keywords, your site is ranking, and which sites are linking to your site.

Set-up and use Google and Bing Analytics products. Track how many visitors your site gets, the keywords they use to find it, and what pages they visit on your site.

Set-up a Google+ page for your business. The majority of internet searches come from google so having your google plus page filled out and avaialble for clients to find is just good and courteous business practice. Having a google+ page also builds trust with Google and may improve rankings for localized keywords.

Diversify your targeted traffic sourcing. Google is a great source of traffic but don’t forget Bing and Facebook. Being 100% reliant on any one source for visitors puts you in a vulnerable position. Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket. Branch out and you will see a big difference.

You may want to use Pay Per Click in addition to SEO. If you can afford to do both, then do both but keep an eye on your ROI or return on investment. Not all keywords or ad campaigns will give you a return as high as your investment. Some keywords are highly valued due to demand and not actual customer traffic value. PPC can be costly, you can get visitors to your site straight away for any keywords that you want but you want to be sure that you are not spending more than you are making.

Low quality equals high risk. Never pay for or endorse low quality backlinks and/or low quality on-site content. Never copy and paste content. It will just result in your site being penalized by search engines.

Each week, we will have another set of SEO tips to help your small business. Check out Design Web’s Facebook page here to stay up-to-date on the latest news and information.

40 Free SEO Tips For Small Business – PART I

January 29, 2016 Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

What is SEO?

SEO means “Search Engine Optimization” and it is the art of helping visitors find your website from search engines.

If you don’t use SEO, search engines can’t categorize and rank your site for keywords relevant to your business. Keywords being the main words and phrases potential visitors are using to try to find the services, information, or products you offer on your site. If your website were a brick and mortar space on the internet, SEO would be represented by things like a big sign out front, word of mouth from a reputable source (Google), and great lighting so people looking for you can always find you with ease.

Both on-site SEO and off-site SEO are incredibly important. If you try to do one without the other, you’ll only end up with half the ranking you should have. On-site SEO includes things like making sure all of your images are tagged, all of your text is visible to search engine crawlers, and your addresses, phone numbers, and other information are labeled correctly with schema and rich text markup.

Start doing SEO now. SEO is like a running on treadmill. Do a little everyday, every month, or every time you think about it. Once you have the basics down, you will want to invest in a routine plan which might include adding blog pages, increasing social media activity, sharing and connecting to off-site SEO resources, or keeping the static content up to date.

Know your competition. Learn from sites ranking on the 1st page for the keywords that you want to rank and imitate the work they are doing. Don’t copy them directly as that can hurt your SEO, but do learn from their methods and use that information to increase the success of your own SEO plan.

Websites are like snowflakes, no two are the same. An SEO strategy that worked for one site isn’t guaranteed to work for your site because there are so many variables. Try to be flexible with your SEO plan. SEO results can be slow at times, but if you don’t see incremental results after a few months don’t be afraid to add new tricks to your action plan.

SEO doesn’t have to be expensive. You can get big results on a small budget if you invest time. The best SEO is based on grass-roots connections with real people. That doesn’t mean you need to go out and shake hands and kiss babies, but you do need to focus on creating good content and building online relationships with real people and not just the faceless masses.

SEO results aren’t instant. This is the hardest thing about SEO — the results of SEO work done today might not become apparent right away. Some SEO work you do might not be credited by search engines for weeks, or even months, and even once that credit is acquired it may take a little bit longer still to harness the stream of impressions you are receiving.

Newer websites need more patience. It takes time to build authority and trust. Think of building SEO like building political support. First and foremost, you will need to create trust and authority on your subject or service and until you’ve developed both. You shouldn’t expect to outrank older, more established sites that are already ranking highly for the same information right away.

Your website will never be finished. Just like a computer, websites will only last so long before they need upgrades… and every so often replacement. If you want your site to continue to rank higher, attract more visitors, and make more sales, then you need to create a plan to perpetually review, correct, grow, and improve.

Adapt to algorithm updates. Adaptability to your SEO strategy is key. Search engines evolve rapidly. Search engines continuously update algorithms that decide how they serve information to different types of searches. People have tried to figure out and exploit these algorithms since search engines came into existence. In response to these exploitative “black-hat” SEO tactics search engines are forced to continuously close exploitable loop holes to protect their users. What does that mean for you as a business owner with a website? It means you have to be ready to change gears to meet new requirements when they come out. It also means that you should always focus on the suggested methods provided by Google and Bing associates instead of using “black-hat” tactics. A risky attempt to exploit a search engine algorithm can result in serious damage to your ranking when that loop hole is found and closed — or worse yet when loop hole users are penalized with delisting.

Each week, we will have another set of SEO tips to help your small business. Check out Design Web’s Facebook page here to stay up-to-date on the latest news and information.

Top ten places to go sledding in Louisville and Southern Indiana

January 20, 2016 Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Happy Snow Day Louisville! Pull on your snow boots, yank a few sweaters over your head and pack some mittens. Time for things to go down hill fast… sledding style.

The best parks with hills for sledding in Louisville:

Dog hill in Cherokee Park aka, 745 Cochran Hill Rd.
Parking is tight but it is so worth the hike for a clear shot down a massive 45% hill. Be fore warned though this is a black diamond level hill and it gets very popular with the adult crowd.

George Rogers Clark Park 1024 Thruston Ave.
George Rogers has some great hills but there are a lot of trees so be careful. The good news is the hospital is literally across the street if you have an arboreal accident. The second bonus, both the park and the hospital have great parking.

Tyler Park 1501 Castlewood Ave
Tyler Park, for good but gentle hills in the highlands check out the tennis courts side of the park. They are pretty good and mostly tree free but be considerate when you park since this is a residential park area.

Joe Creason Park 1297 Trevillian Way
Joe Creason hills by the Zoo. This hill is another nice big hill sloping down the back of the Louisville Metro Parks Department The terrain can be iffy in places and there are lots of trees but there is still plenty of slope for slipping. Parking is decent but be prepared to do some walking to get to the hill if things get busy.

McNeely Lake Park 6900 Cooper Chapel Road
McNeely Lake Park, I’ve never been but I hear there are hills to be had. Check it out and report back!

Charlie Vettiner Park 5550 Charlie Vettiner Park Rd.
Charlie Vettiner Park, this one has been vetted by Louisville metro parks as a great place to go sledding in Louisville.

New Albany Riverfront Park New Albany. IN
Sledding at New Albany Riverfront Park at the levee. It is easily accessed via Pearl Street or Water Street in New Albany. Lots of great parking and good slope but be careful to avoid sliding into road ways. Bonus pretty view and snow selfie opportunity in front of the lower Ohio River below the McAlpine Dam and Lock system.

Paoli Peaks Paoli, IN
If you want to get serious with your sledding game you can always head over to the paid hills. Bonus- you get to skip hiking up that hill after you go down. If you are a couch potato by nature this could be the perfect option.

Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve 12501 Harmony Landing Rd, Goshen, KY
Support a great public charity organization while you sled!

Hounz Lane Park 2300 Hounz Ln
Hounz Lane Park is a great hidden little park with a few good hills. Worth putting on your radar!

Where do I get those awesome inflated tire inner tubes for sledding in Louisville?

As of right now:

Big O Tire in Lagrange on KY 53 has them ready to go and so does the one in J-town on Taylorsville Road.

The best inner tubes are the giant tractor tire sizes but any tire inner tube can work if you are ok with a larger inner hole. Just call around to your nearest tire dealer and ask if they will sell you an inflated inner tube. Expect to pay anywhere from $25 to $50 each. It sounds pricey but real rubber inner tubes are very durable and can last many many winters to come so as well as being a blast for river tubing in the summer.

Louisville Metro Parks has some great information to share about sledding in Louisville- Here are the highlights:

DESIGNATED SLEDDING HILLS:

Cherokee Park (Baringer Hill, intersection of Alexander Road and Scenic Loop)

George Rogers Clark Park (1024 Thruston Avenue, behind playground, near McKinley Avenue)

Joe Creason Park (1297 Trevilian Way, behind Metro Parks administration building)

McNeely Lake Park (6900 Cooper Chapel Road, near Korean War Memorial)

Tyler Park (1501 Castlewood Avenue, on Tyler Park Drive side of park)

Charlie Vettiner Park (5550 Charlie Vettiner Park Road, near Easum Road entrance)

SLEDDING RULES:

Sledding is permitted on designated sledding hills when the “Sledding Hill Open” sign is displayed.

Sledding hills will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. as long as there is adequate snow to protect slopes; all sledding hills will close at 11 p.m.

Park vehicles only in regular parking areas to protect your car from damage.

No vehicles are permitted off the pavement in any park.

No alcoholic beverages are permitted at any time.

Those who use the designated sledding hills are doing so at their own risk. Bonfires will not be permitted at Metro Parks’ sites, and sledders are urged to carry a cell phone in the event of an emergency.

SLEDDING SAFETY TIPS:

Only use devices designed for sledding.

Wear appropriate clothing – loose ends or flaps can easily get caught.

Sleds should contain a number of riders appropriate for the designated device during each descent.

Dress in layers, so you can remove one layer without risking frostbite. Several thin layers are warmer than one bulky layer.

Make sure you’re with someone who knows your name and can contact family in an emergency; parents should remain with their children.

Don’t drink alcohol before sledding – it impairs your ability to use good judgment and causes the body to lose heat more rapidly.

Check your path for trees and other objects before starting your descent.

Don’t sled head-first or standing up. Good visibility is necessary during your descent. Don’t face backwards, and make sure your vision isn’t obscured by hats and scarves.

When climbing the hill, stay to the sides. Don’t climb in the sledding path. It’s important to remember that slopes can become very crowded during peak times.

Be safe and have fun!

Introducing… Budget Business Package

January 18, 2016 Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

The first website to be launched this year by Design Web is to promote our new service – The Budget Business Package(kyweb.design). BBP is a new product offering: quick and accessible websites for small businesses. This product is made specifically for small businesses and individuals who want a professional look and feel, but do not need all the bells and whistles. At Design Web, we have launched over 100 websites, so we have been able to put together all the best aspects of a website in this package, which allows you to get online and become a part of the digital world. Most websites can be launched in less than 2 days. This is also a great option for larger businesses who need a “landing” site up as quickly as possible.

For $500, you get a modern, attractive website with 4 pages, a contact form, SEO setup, and hosting for one year. Check us out at kyweb.design. If you’re on a tight budget, then our Budget Business Package might be right for you. You get the same great quality and support, but at a lower price. Your site will even be mobile and tablet friendly.

Budget Business Package is not for everyone. Many businesses still need something a bit more custom. If you are looking for specific features for your website, we excel at creating amazing custom designs for you. Contact us today at (800)767-1038.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Design Web

December 25, 2015 Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Happy Holidays From Our Family to Yours

Best wishes for a happy holiday season and our sincerest thanks for your business. May the New Year bring you peace and prosperity.

Looking for something fun to do in Louisville this holiday?

Go on a Christmas light tour around Louisville!

Here is where to see the best holiday decorations and Christmas light displays in and around Louisville:

Lights Under Louisville
Lake Forest Subdivision
Hillcrest Avenue
Christmas in Charlestown IN
Light up Louisville
Lights By Limo Holiday Tours

The Best Digital Gifts You Can Give

December 24, 2015 Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Digital Gifts are all the rage now. They take no time, require no shipping, and provide solace for those of us who are gift-wrap-paper challenged. Some may even argue that they are a green alternative to the material demands of holiday gift giving. So whether you are strapped for time, want to save trees, or you wrap boxes like a T-Rex with gloves, digital is a great option for everyone. Here is a list of some of my favorite ways to give digitally.

The All-In-One Digital Gift

Amazon Prime is a great Swiss Army Knife of digital gifts. Amazon Prime offers streaming movies, ebooks, music, free shipping on online purchases, and games for one annual fee. It is also accessible from almost any device that connects to the internet. You can also give an Amazon gift card and buy literally anything (including Swiss Army Knives) without the hassle of getting out of your pajamas.

The Game-Lovers Instant Gift

Steam gifts for people who love to play games. Steam has digital board games, party games, action games, and even movies. If you have a gamer friend in your life and you want to buy them a game, but you are not sure what they play, you can just get them a gift card on Steam. Steam is a universal game engine that will let you play any PC game on any computer. All you need is internet access. Just go to the Steam website, pick out a game, select the gift option at check out and send the gift by email. Here are few suggestions for casual parties, most popular pg-13, most popular kid games. Or you can just give a gift card.

One of a Kind Virtual Caricature Gift

Create an avatar of them to use on social media and in online profiles. This is another example of a small item that can really go along way. From Facebook to Linkedin, Twitter, Google+, you name it there are literally hundreds of places a good avatar can be used. Getting an avatar is fun too! It’s kind of like the modern version of getting a caricature drawing done.
Have a custom avatar drawn or make one for free.

A Virtual Stocking-Stuffer

Design a funny poster for them to be used as a desktop wallpaper. Wallpapers are something simple and fun that they can use at work or at home or on any computer or device. Its a great small gift with a lot of thought and personal flair. Its like a virtual stocking-stuffer, perfect as an accessory gift or just a little something to let someone know you are thinking about them. Give a custom drawn or designed computer wallpaper.

The Gift of a Good Story

So you are a terrible writer, but you love to tell a good story? Have a copy editor write or edit your story. You can write a story about your friend, preserve a great memory, talk about your friendship, about your love story, or anything you can think up — you can even make up something crazy. Once you are done and are beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea after all, hand that mess over to a pro who will artfully turn your jumble of word salad into the Crème Brûlée of short stories.
Give the gift of a good story.

Cliff’s Notes for Lovers Letters

Love letters are hard to write. I have tried to put my heart on paper so many times; I am embarrassed to admit it. Unfortunately, despite all my efforts, I have nothing to show for it since, sadly, I am no poet and most of my work ends up getting filed in the recycle bin. Sometimes you just need a little help. There is no shame in getting some help, especially if it helps you say the things you need to say to the one you love. I like to think of it like baking a cake. People will love it whether you made it from scratch or from a mix. What matters most is that you put your heart into it.
Send the love letter you always wanted to send,

The Puppet-gram

Puppet-gram — yes any message you have to share can be made at least 20% better when delivered by a puppet. Say I love you, say Merry Christmas, or say anything you want. It’s adorable and hilarious coming from a muppet, puppet or, for a creepy twist, try the ventriloquist marionette.
Who wouldn’t want a puppet video for a gift.

Ebooks, so, so, so many ebooks…

Oyster Books Just another of the many, many, many ebook streaming service that gives users unlimited access to avid reader access to a gajilion books to read. It’s easy, it’s cheap and its a good gift. Another book service to consider gifting is Scribd. The digital library offers ebooks just like the rest for a monthly fee. All of these services are based on monthly access to the books so you don’t have to pay by-the-book, however, once you stop your subscription you lose access to your books since you never “own” any of them.

How to give just one special ebook

If you prefer to read-for-keeps alternatively you can order individual e-books and deliver the gift by email. This method is nice because if feels a little more personal to pick out a few special books for someone.

The Box o’Bacon Subscription Gift

The Goldbely subscription box ($39-$649). Every month, they’ll get hand-selected feasts and you can pick the theme, bacon of the month, pie of the month, cake of the month, bacon of the month, cookies of the month, sandwich of the month, Bacon of the month…did I mention bacon of the month? Whatever you pick they will love it.

Digital Massage… it’s a pun!

No double entendre here. You can order a set of skilled hands for a massage with Priv who will schedule a body expert straight to your home, that is if your home is in Los Angeles, New York, or London. For the rest of us living outside of the mega cities you can always get a gift card to Massage envy which you can find pretty much anywhere.

The Paper-Free Magazine Subscription

Texture e-magazines and it is a lot like Netflix of magazines. You can gift the service by the month.

Flexible Instant Gift Cards

Giftly is the flexible gift card kind of like a visa gift card but with a little;e more personal of a touch. You can select a variety of options and suggestions for your giftee to pick from but in the end they get to pick just what they want and you get to send it via email or text.

Surprise Luxury Gift Box

Popsugar boxes it’s $100 worth of full-size luxury products curated by editor-in-chief Lisa Sugar of Popsugar. The products include items like in beauty products, fashion items, home goods, fitness tools, and chic foods.

iTunes Gift Cards

An iTunes gift card, one of the original mainstream digital gifts. It’s only good for people who own Apple products but its a small luxury Apple-loving people tend to like to spend money on. If you happen to be and apple person you can even send a specific app or a song straight from your phone to your giftee.

A Digital Mixed-Tape

Spotify gift cards unlimited access without ad interruption to all the songs you could ever want to hear. Add a personal touch by creating your person a digital mix-tape by creating a play list for them and sharing it to their account.

An Instant Gift for the Couch Potato

Hulu Plus or Netflix all great digital gift options if you are looking to give the gift of streaming movies, music and tv.

An eGift your Comicon Friends will Love

Marvel comics 10,000 new and classic comics in Marvel’s online archive need I say more? Its a fantastic way for comic book lovers to indulge in unlimited access to every comic line in the marvel universe and it starts at just $10 a month.

Give the Gift that Gives Twice

The old standard, give the gift of a donation to a cause your giftee would love to support but with a twist. Did you know some charities only give pennies on the dollar of your donation to the groups they say they support? If you give to a cause be sure to check them out on a charity review site first and make sure your gift truly supports the cause they believe in. It’s a great way to give twice with one gift.

The Most Surprisingly Original and Completely Useful Gift on This List…

Give a website. Hear me out it sounds like a strange gift but it can actually be a really thoughtful and useful gift. Does your giftee have a talent, a small business or a club/hobby they are involved in? You can put together a simple one page site or have a whole eCommerce built just for them. Help them get exposure, help their business look more professional and find more customers, help their club or team find new members and sponsors. We are living in a time when everyone has a website, even the little kid selling lemonade on the corner has a website where you can pre-order and accepts credit card payments on-site with Square. Having a website is such a great way to get and stay connected with the people that matter. Because, as you know, here at Design Web, building custom websites just happens to be what we do best…

Is Your Site using UI and UX?

December 18, 2015 Author: Sean H. Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

The design of a website is an influential part of navigating and using the site. If the design catches our eye, we will be more apt to return for a future visit. When trying to attract someone to your web site, it is important to have a design that not only catches the attention of the people, but is also easy to use. When the flow of the design is flawless, customers will keep coming back. If your design is lackluster, you will not have the traffic you desire. The layout of your design may have to be restructured in order to get the flow you need. Technological advances can ensure that the best web design is created. It is important for the flow of the design to evolve as the needs of the consumer evolves. By using the latest standards of user interaction (UI) and user experience (UX), we can ensure that visitors will get the information they need.

Web Design and Development

It is important to have a clear set of goals in mind before setting your design in motion. Developing the right structure will help to guide the visitor directly to your goal. The basic structure of the design is an essential element in its overall success. It is important to enlist the help of a UX/UI designer to overhaul the initial design and create a flowchart of user movement through the site. Every new design will always have some flaws. When choosing a UI/UX developer, it is important for them to have a clear understanding of what you are trying to get accomplished. Developing the right design structure depends on many different elements. The designer has to identify what elements need to be developed and in what order they should be placed for your website to have an effective design. Size, demographics, operating practices, and essentially the audience it is meant for may influence the structure of the design. It is important for the designer to keep these in mind when developing the outline of the design. Never give up on an idea that will enhance the lives of others.

For example, one of the sites that we worked on, kentuckymedicareplans.com, has larger buttons, easier flow, larger fonts, and more accessibility to allow for seniors to use the site more easily.

Design and Technology

Technology is always changing and also plays a huge part in many aspects of design. Utilizing technological innovations may ensure a well developed design. Instructional design and technology are tools that could potentially enhance how well your design is developed. Pairing them with the PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act) will give designers the tools to ensure the design survives in the 21^st century. As the content of the design evolves, the trends and structure of the design will evolve with it. There is always going to be room for many improvements. Implementing new and innovative ideas into the design will essentially contribute to the design’s success.

We mentioned User Interaction and User Experience earlier. Making sure that the right UI and UX is completed on the site takes a lot of research. If you have an existing site with any sort of analytics, it can be used to gather more information about how current users interact with the site. Using this information, a professional UI/UX designer can put together a great design that helps direct users through your site and directly to your goal.

No matter what the structure of a web design may be, there will always be room for improvement. Many different elements influence the direction the design should follow. It is essentially up to the business owner to determine the direction of the design. It is also important to know whom the design is designed for. When you know your audience, it is relatively easy to develop the design around their needs. Aligning all the aspects of the design with innovative ideas and technology will give the deign a chance to evolve and be successful.