How Web Designers Can Put Together The "Perfect" Portfolio

When it comes to garnering clients, a portfolio really is a web designer's best friend. Whilst there is no 'right way' to put a portfolio together and the 'perfect' portfolio will differ from person to person, there are a number of tips and pieces of advice that we can offer you to ensure that your portfolio is as good as it could possibly be, hopefully helping you to attract more clients and to ensure a long and successful career.

Your profession: A web designer's portfolio should not only be highly attractive and unique, it should incorporate user-friendly navigation and readable text. Not only will this ensure that potential clients can browse your portfolio, it will show them the kinds of elements that they will be looking to achieve in their own projects. Your goal: You must also begin to think about the overall goal of your portfolio. Are you trying to land a full-time job at a design company or are you after some freelance work? Are you trying to get into a design school to further your education or are you trying to attract new clients? Each of these goals will require very different things from your portfolio.

Whilst it may seem fairly obvious, you should only use your portfolio to show off your best work. New web designers are tempted to include every single piece of work that they've ever worked on, even if they aren't overly happy with the finished product, just to show that they have plenty of experience. This is where the saying 'quality over quantity' really rings true, as shown by the following stages of portfolio creation.

Start from scratch: Once you complete a project and are considering whether to put it in your portfolio or not, you must ask yourself whether you think that the work is good and whether it accurately represents your level of skill. Established portfolio: When web designers have been in the business for a number of years, updating their portfolios becomes difficult. You need to review the work you currently have on display and take out anything that no longer embodies you.

Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast way for web designers to build a portfolio and keep it looking fantastic. This is an ongoing process and one that you will need to alter as the need arises, such as the addition of new services or skills for example. When screening your work to determine which you will put on display and which you will leave on the cutting room floor, remember to only include projects that you are proud of.

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The Art of Web Design

Web design is a rather tall order these days. If you remember web design in the 90's, then you were probably quite good at it. The design process was simplistic, and it did not take long to build a quality website. The definition of quality back then was debatable, but it was still an amazing undertaking. Today however there are more things to think about when working on websites for tradies. For example, will you be relying on graphics? Will you use CSS? What about PHP? Will you be creating a login interface? These are all things you need to consider, but first you should ask some obvious questions.

Where Will you Host? -- Before you can work on your web design, it would be a good idea to have a host in mind. There are a number of different hosts available of course, and you should make sure the host in question supports the format you will be using. Most web hosts support all formats and plugins, but some charge more than others.

Website Flow -- One of the biggest mistakes people make in web design is that of creating a website that simply does not flow. When you make your website, you should have others test it out. While it might look good to you, it might be ridiculous for others. That is just something to think about.

Lightweight Components -- Something that many people do not consider is the weight of the website. Yes, computers are more powerful, and the internet is faster, but when you are working with web design, you still have one major goal: to make your website as small as possible. The larger your website is, the longer it will take to load, and many people will simply move on to your competitor if they find that your website takes too long to appear. It might sound a bit harsh, but we are living in a world where timing is everything.

While you could try to work on your own web design, it would likely be in your best interest to seek out a web design company that will take care of the heavy lifting for you. Even though you might have the necessary experience to create a stellar site, you will find that owning the company in question gives you a blurred perspective. The things that you might find to be acceptable may be anything but acceptable on the internet. In addition to that, where will you find the time to create a website when you are running a business? Short answer: you won't. That being said, there are plenty of web design companies out there who will not only create a website based on your needs, but also help you to find a good web host. These are technical considerations that you should really never have to touch.

Will it be expensive to hire a web design company? It could cost you quite a bit, yes, but as we said before, it is better to have a fresh perspective when you are working on creating a company. Now would definitely be a great time to start seeking out a website developer that will get you to the finish line, and give your website the functionality it really needs.

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Get Noticed on the World Wide Web

The world wide web has developed into a real jungle and finding new cool websites has become increasingly harder. If you own a website yourself, you'll know that getting noticed is also getting harder and at some point you may scratch your head and wonder if there is anything you can do to become more popular.

The good news is that there most certainly is! Below I have listed 5 points that you can use to build up your websites popularity and increase your online visibility.

Web Hosting

The first point is aimed mainly at those of you who don't yet have their own website but are very keen to build one. After you have selected your websites URL you will need to choose a web hosting package. There are many different packages to choose from and they will cover a wide range of specifications. Outline exactly what it is that you will require from your website. Choose a host that will enable you to have a professional looking website up and running in minimal time. A reliable and well-maintained hosting service is imperative if you want to grow your presence on the web and become popular amongst website users.

Finding a compatible host though is often easier said than done. The website hosting industry has grown and grown over the years and the different hosting packages on offer can have you scratching your head. Seek out a hosting company that has a good reputation and a long history in the business. Visit their website and read references and appraisals. If the site doesn't have any, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Does the hosting company offer 24/7 support? Have they got a support ticket system that is free to use? Make sure they don't have an expensive premium-rate telephone number for service calls, this could prove very costly over the length of time that you use them. Choose a hosting company that has an easy to understand series of plans that makes sense, even to a novice.

Website Optimisation

Having a cool website is all very well and good, but if you do not rank highly in search engines results pages (SERPs) then no one will know you are there and your plans of a successful website will quickly evaporate. To make sure you get noticed in all the major search engines, you will have to carry out some search engine optimisation (SEO) on your website. SEO covers a vast number of elements and someone new to the subject can be easily intimidated, but with a little time and effort you'll soon start to see the benefits as your website becomes more prominent in SERPs.

When beginning with SEO for your website it is important to identify relevant keywords and always bear your visitors in mind when you are writing the content for it. Keyword density is an important element in SEO and when done correctly can reap huge rewards.

Another important consideration with search engine optimisation is back links, these are links from other peoples websites pointing to yours. Search engines consider these links as votes and the more votes you have the more popular your site is deemed to be. Back linking must be seen as being natural so spend a little time engaging with websites that are relevant to yours and guest blog or comment. If you have something worthwhile and interesting to say, you will soon build up a nice portfolio of incoming links from like-minded users who want to share what you have to say.

Social Networking is Here to Stay

Despite search engine optimisation being a major factor with your site's optimisation, you shouldn't stop there. Social media is fast becoming just as important and has developed into a very powerful online marketing medium. A social media strategy should include the following; make sure the content on your website or blog is relevant to your core subject and up to date. Visit websites that share a common interest and join in the conversation by leaving forum and blog comments; don't be afraid to share your knowledge and opinions. Make full use of Facebook and Twitter and provoke debate; give users a reason to re-visit your website.

Get Involved - It's good to talk

Making visitors to your website feel involved is a sure-fire way to ensure repeated visits, write your content from a personal point of view and pose questions that users will want to answer. Holding competitions is an effective way to get people talking about your site; the prize doesn't have to be spectacular as most people like to compete regardless of the award.

Everyone likes to air their views, so give visitors the opportunity to do so. Your online conversations could go viral and be picked up by local media or even better.

Usability is Key

Spending a little time to think out your websites design will reap huge benefits and should not be underestimated. A well designed website that is easy to navigate will instil trust from your users and encourage re-visits. Before you put the site live invite friends and family to test it and take note of their views. Do some research by visiting other websites and compile a list of good and bad points regarding aesthetics and usability. A badly performing website will deter re-visits and leave you out in the cold.

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Things That Make a Website Look Professional

For businesses looking for websites there are a number of criteria that must be met. Of course the website needs to be fit for purpose and it needs to actually be successful in converting visitors into buyers/clients. Of course it also needs to work on a variety of devices and not inadvertently be ruling out any large portion of the market by failing to load on specific devices. But before all of this it also needs to quite simply look and feel professional so that visitors feel like they're on a website that's owned by a serious and capable business and not one that's a botch job made by some kids.

This is why many people will use web design services in order to create their websites and why we often look at getting outside help also on creating the images etc. But what precisely is it that sets a good website apart from one that looks unprofessional? Here we will look at a few important areas.

Images

The images are something that often make a website look either very professional or very unprofessional. While there are various factors at play here, one of the most basic and important points is that your images should be high definition and they should look crisp and large. If they look fuzzy it will make your site seem outdated or just amateurish.

At the same time the nature of the images affects how professional your site looks, and essentially it's crucial to make sure that your images look specially made for your site, and that they involve professional looking people.

Colours

Certain colour schemes feel professional, others do not. As a general rule more serious and muted colours are the ones that will attract a business audience and this means using navy blues, blacks and whites rather than pinks and baby blues. Look at the documents you use in your office and think about how you are going to mimic that.

Layout

It's hard to put your finger on what it is about the layout itself that makes a site professional or otherwise, but there certainly is some correlation between the precise positioning of items and how professional the design appears. Make sure you don't have areas of your site that look too empty, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't look crowded or over complicated. Don' design a page yourself if it means it's just going to be a block of text.

Code

The coding of a website betrays how tech savvy the team behind it were. For instance, do visited links look purple still? Or are there flashy features like flash animations and drop down menus? Too much of the latter can be distracting, but in the right quantities it can show off that a professional team with real coding knowledge was behind the site which makes the site seem a lot more impressive as a result.

Font

And finally the font needs to be correct, so make sure that you choose a good one that's easy to read but that also has an air of professionalism about it.

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Landing Page Design: 3 Rules You Must Follow

Landing page design is hugely important in the post panda, penguin or whatever animal Google comes up with next, era! Any online business must think carefully about the first experience a user has when they have their very first interaction with you, usually through a landing page. Just to clarify.

A landing page is a page a visitor lands on (hence the name) when they first visit your website. This might be from a Pay per click advert, perhaps a banner, maybe an article you have written. It must fulfil the promise for the visitor of what they are expecting. This is often where online business owners start to make mistakes. So what are 3 golden rules to follow?

1. Design

Your website visitors are more discerning than ever before. The days of poorly designed websites are long gone. In fact latest data suggests that the better your design is the longer your visitor will stay on the page. Let's say you have a website selling Clothes for young girls. Something pink and feminine would be the order of the day. Not something black and gothic. An outrageous example maybe. Yet the subtlety of this seems to escape many designers. Think of the average age, and spending power of your market. What colours and design are appropriate? Make it appropriate to what you want to convey so that it gives a great user experience.

2. Content and A Call To Action

You need content on your landing page and content that is relevant to what the searcher is looking for. If I Google dog collars, I want to see information about dog collars on that page. Not dog leads or dog crates. Subtle I know and yet it will make all the difference to the user experience. The best formats usually start with a good headline with the keyword included. This can then be followed by a paragraph that gives the user information that they are looking for. You can then summarise these with some nice easy to read bullet points. Finally the all important part which is having an appropriate call to action. You must ask your visitor to do something. This could be ring to place an order. Sign up for our free recipes. Or any combination of these that moves your potential new customer forward.

3. Page Navigation

Every landing page you send visitors to must also have access to all your other legal pages that prove to your website visitor that you are an ethical company that adheres to the latest internet rules and regulations. Your navigation needs to be obvious and yet at the same time subtle. This is pretty easy to achieve with the many different pieces of website software available, specifically landing page software which makes it easy to create pages that enhance your visitor experience.

In summary. Decide the outcome of your landing page. Is it to get a customer to buy, pick up the phone and call or join your database?

Next make sure your design is appropriate for the job in hand. Think colours and style that align with your market and your offer.

Make sure your content provides value and is all about what your customer is looking for. Finally make sure you are compliant. Have all the appropriate navigation links visible for your visitors to explore further.

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How to Build a Website From Scratch? Choose the Option That Suits You Best

If you'd like to learn how to build a website from scratch you basically have 2 options. The 1st is to make the design, write the code yourself and make an absolutely customized web site using html coding. The second choice is to go with a free and easy program like WordPress that allows you to make a website fast and easily.

Option one - Html code

This can sound like the perfect choice since you will be able to do whatever you want with your website but I would not suggest it unless you're counting on opening a web design company where you will provide these services professionally. Here is why. You are about to spend a serious quantity of time and possibly money, learning html code and multiple programs like Photoshop & Dreamweaver. On average, learning html code to be able to create your own website will take you about three months.

As you can clearly see, if you're not intending to make a living from website design and since you want to create a complicated website, you'd better hire someone to do this work for you. The money and the time you would invest would far surpass the price of having a site expertly designed and made. It's possible to get a good website designed for about $1000 - $1500.

Option two - Use a free website builder like WordPress

WordPress is actually the right way to go if you do not have coding and design abilities. It's an absolutely free website builder to use and I've seen some lovely sites made with it. You can make a very good and attractive website in about two hours!

Even if you're new and have no experience, you need just to spend a few hours to learn the basics. In the official Wordpress website you will be able to find answers to every question you may have while trying to create your own website.

Requirements to use Wordpress

1. Domain name

You need to have your own domain name to be able to install Wordpress on it. For example buildwebsiteguide.com is a domain name. Domain name is your internet address where you will be able to upload the content of your website. You can purchase your domain name from a company named "Registrar" There are lots of companies you can find online. On average a domain name with an ending.com costs about 6-10 US dollars.

2. Hosting account

Since you want to create a website with Wordpress, you need to have your own hosting account. That means that you need to rent a space to a server from where the files of your website will go online. A monthly hosting fee is about 4-10 US dollars.

3. Wordpress Installation

Most hosting companies offer a very easy to use one click Wordpress installation. That means that you can install the free Wordpress platform through your hosting company with just a few clicks.

4. Learning Wordpress

Since you are about to create a website with Wordpress, you need to spend a few hours to learn how this website builder works. It's not at all difficult! You just need to follow a good guidance. Visiting this website, you will find a very easy to use step by step guide ton how to create a website with Wordpress

5. Install a Wordpress theme

There are some very good and attractive designs related to the website you are about to create and these are ready to use! These are called Wordpress themes. What's also pleasant about WordPress is you can flick through hundreds or potentially thousands of available free themes (related to the topic of your website) to install with a simple click, where you can select the look of your site immediately and change it at any point. There are both free and paid Wordpress themes

6. Add content to your website

Since you know how to build your website with Wordpress, you now start adding content to your website. Make your homepage, add your posts, pages and videos etc. Make it attractive! It's easy! Whenever you have problems in adding content to your Wordpress website, simply make a good Google research and it is sure, that you will find the answer to your problem.

In conclusion, nowadays, since not many people have the available free time to learn html code, and since you don't need a very complicated website, it will be very easy for you to create your website with Wordpress. Of course, you may face some limitations if you want something more complicated. Then you need to study html!

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