The iPad is extremely responsive, lightweight, and easy on the eyes for reading. Is it going to be the netbook killer? As of right now, I would say no, but I believe the next generation will be. Not to mention the HP slate and other tablet PC due out within the year will also start making an impact on the netbook industry.

The iPad can be anyone’s new toy because of the versatility and portability. The applications are fantastic and can finally break out of their shells and harness a whole new feel with the screen real estate. The new A4 processor allows you to move quickly from one app to another in the blink of an eye. The iPad runs the same iPhone OS that we all know and love, meaning there aren’t any learning curves you have to tackle. Gaming looked great and was a smooth experience. All in all, if you’re a business professional always on the go, a sketch artist, or the casual web surfing, Facebook loving, music listening and video watching individual, this device will probably suit all your needs, but to a limit.

There are, however, a few flaws. First, the iPad doesn’t support multi-tasking. Working in the web design and development field, you are constantly working in multiple applications and programs at once. Second, Apple decided not to put a camera in the iPad. Why not? I understand this is debatable and some may say “Why would the iPad need a camera?”. If your target market is the busy, media driven community then you should cater to them and let them take pictures, organize new albums, sync with iTunes, upload to Facebook and other social media sites, and video capture. A front facing camera for video conferencing would be nice as well. I’m not sure that I would use video chat much but I know there are people in the world that would. And the largest flaw, no support for flash. We all understood when the iPhone didn’t have flash and Apple blamed it on preserving battery life and processing power. Now Apple has created its own processor for the iPad to help with speed, not to mention the dual battery it possesses, so you would think it would have enough power to handle flash. If you’re looking to have the iPad replace your laptop I wouldn’t suggest it. The iPad is more of a desktop/laptop companion and media device than a work horse.

As a web design and developer I wouldn’t mind purchasing the iPad. I could use it for a few reasons. Reason one being the iMockup app. iMockup lets you create wire-frames for any interface you desire and lets you manage multiple wire-frame projects. This is ideal for when you want to get away for a while, run to a local coffee shop and bang out some wireframes or wire-framing with a client. The second reason is the Sketchbook Pro app. This would be fantastic for logo design and branding doodles and again, having the portability of working on those doodles with a client or shooting them a quick email of the sketch. The final reason is organization of meetings, projects, to-do lists, and quick referencing with the Calendar, Contacts, Things, and Safari. The iPad is definitely a great start to tablet computing, but personally, l think I’ll hold off until next year.

On the Internet, a business website is merely an organization’s virtual domain. Aside from clean website design, accentuated in a visually engaging layout, the primary purpose of the site is to generate leads and to close sales transactions. The business website also acts as a mechanism to initiate dialogue with current and prospective customers. Not limited to layout, fonts, and the color scheme, the contents of website design consists of influential information, crafted to influence the reader to make a consumer action.

Website Design Content Overview:

Home Page

On the home page,  the  navigational structure should depict the contents of each site  page. The home page is an overall cover page, highlighting provided products and services. The home page includes the underlining advantages the organization offers its prospective and current customers. More importantly, the home page should make it clear what products and services are offered, tantalizing the visitor to learn more.

To accommodate mobile technology (iPhone, BlackBerry, Smartphone), the latest home page website designs are crafted of page links, which lead to the product and service pages.

Products and Service Pages

The site is comprised of information, pertaining to how your business benefits the target audience why your services outshine the competition and the underlying advantage of doing business. Products and service pages should provide a succinct overview of core competencies, highlighting benefits.

Each page of the website should consist of keywords related to the product and terminology appropriate for the marketplace and target audience.

About Us

The “About us ” page is a mini-executive biography, validating why your organization is the trusted provider (Includes licenses, code of ethics and other credibility supporting data).

An extension of the website, blog design is a  a collection of articles, video, and content crafted to entertain, edify and demonstrate an organization’s expertise and leadership in the marketplace. 

Contact a company, who knows web design.

How do cities, towns and  other  government funded departments scrap an outmoded Web site without enduring an excruciating web renovation? It’s called a content management system (CMS). But, not just any CMS will do. Powered by the Auctori™, the state of art platform gives cities the autonomy to post, update and perform regular site content maintenance:

• Announce special events and departmental meetings
• Publish agenda minutes
• Bid solicitations
• Archive outdated reports
• Notify citizens of time sensitive information – data alerts

Boundless web design. Municipalities are not married to using the same old, same old city templates. With Auctori, the possibilities of developing the website are boundless, presenting a wealth of features, engineered to ease making in-house updates. 

Efficacious workflow. Auctori supports all city programs, presenting easy updates for a professional designed Web site. Moreover, the content management system expedites the content approval workflow for all citywide departments, programs and services. Equipped with roles based permissions, the CMS enables administrators to post information in draft form for publication approval by superiors.

Unobstructed exposure. Attract local, national and international traffic. Auctori places the city Web site on the roadmap to high exposure. Attracting visitors, tourists and citizens is literally a no brainer. With its built-in search engine optimization features, Auctori works to ensure that your Web site is configured to procure new business relationships.

Fuss-free interaction. Auctori eases communications with its seamless survey modules. Poll, survey and interact with residents about tax modifications, infrastructure repairs or other pressing issues. Form builder module allows any municipality to create applications for parking permits, vehicle registrations, and other pertinent documents dissemination.

Read more about the power of Auctori for your municipality’s Web site.

Web design is an integral aspect of the site’s online presence. It’s the first impression that targeted traffic perceives when they visit a site. Quality web design anticipates a visitor’s next action. From the home, landing or company page, each site segment provides a subliminal blueprint of where or what action the visitor should embark upon next.

Quality web design anticipates the next course of action a visitor will take. The page highlights pertinent information specific to the target audience. The ability to anticipate what motivates the prospect and which buttons will incite action is critical to converting visitors into to clicks.

Use the following checklist to determine if your site’s web design accommodates your site traffic’s preferences:

• Is each page of your site properly tagged with an appropriate page name and description?

• Does the site’s web design reflect the philosophy of your brand identity?

• Is the web design’s navigation easy-to-follow or clumsy?

• Does the site’s web design  provide top,  bottom, vertical and/or horizontal navigation?

• Does your Web site load expedient enough to compel site traffic to explore your Web site, learning more about your offerings?

• Is each page of your Web site stocked adequately with images, content and links, leading to specified pages?

• Does the web design  include links to your social media networking pages (Facebook and Twitter)?

• Is your Website comprised of interactive features designed to stimulate the dialogue between existing and prospective new customers?

• Does the Web design anticipate and accommodate the target audience’s interests?

To read more about improving your site’s marketability,   click on  ”Google analytics consulting”

WHAT’S QUALITY WEB DESIGN?

As of December 3rd 2009, a Google search on the exact keyword phrase, “quality web design,’ returns 143,000 page results. That means a lot of Web design companies are touting “quality web design.”

So, the question becomes—exactly what is quality web design?

From web designer to Web design company, the concept of quality is subjective. Nonetheless, quality web design is an extension of the marketing strategy.  Starting with the word, ‘quality’, it is an overused marketing term. But for the sake of this article, let’s explore what quality web design is NOT:

Quality web design is NOT:

Cluttered
Web pages comprised of over-accessorized visual elements, distract and deter site traffic from learning more. With too many options and an inability to find the information, which lead the visitor to the site in the first place, there is a higher probability of low site retention.

Confusing
Most of us have stumbled upon the Web site with a confusing layout, esoteric pages and other hodgepodge features, and thought “what’s the point and what are they selling?” 

Quality Web design has an intrinsic ability to please MOST audiences.

Unreadable
Microscopic fonts, unsuitable dark backgrounds, embedded with a lucid typeface and unrecognized characters reflect unreadable characteristics. Any content illegible to the target audience is counterproductive to the web design.

Incomplete
Although, site pages are designed, pages are missing information, lacking details or photos, suggesting that an organization offers insufficient products and services.

Please click  quality “ web design” to review exemplary web development.

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What Do You Look For In A Quality Design?

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Web site design quiz, do you know when your site needs a makeover?

Today on Best Web Site Design, we’re playing a game called, “New Web site Design or no New Web site Design.” The premise of this quiz game will help you determine if your Web site’s design is working for or against your business.

This interactive assessment focuses on the web design features of your organization’s Web site. Respond with a “TRUE,” “FALSE” or “UNSURE” for the answer which best reflects your organization’s Web site:

1.    Our site is designed with SEO -friendly web design

2.    According to our customers and site analytics, our Web site presents clean and easy site navigation.

3.    All of our site’s images and graphics are properly compressed, and optimized for expedient load time.

4.    Our web design concurs with our brand identity.

5.    Thanks to our Web design company, we’re able to depend on our Web site for lead generation.

6.    Our site was designed within the last two years.

7.    Based on our site’s traffic statistics, our average visitor lingers for three to five minutes on our Web pages.

8.    Although our site has a 15 percent conversion rate, we’re NOT interested in generating more leads or closing more business.

9.    Our blogs and social networking pages match our site’s design schematics.

10.    When we look at our Web site, we feel a sense of pride and satisfaction about the image it projects about our organization.

Scoring

Use the following point structure to tally your score.

-    10 points – TRUE
-    5 points – FALSE
-    2 points – UNSURE

100 – 91
Bravo. Your Web site deserves an A+ plus. Based on your answers, your Web site complements your search engine marketing strategy. As a result, your site supplements and simplifies the process of developing new clients and customers.

90 – 81
Minor tweaks. Although your site is functional, it could use a few minor tweaks to support your marketing strategy. A comprehensive site analysis would provide insight into assuring that your site offers the best return on your advertising and marketing investments.

80 – 71
Oops. On the Internet, an average site grade means that your site generates insufficient new client leads and business transactions. Learning how and why certain improvements can enhance your site’s productivity would ultimately improve your organization’s overall lead generation and online sales processes.

70- below
Web design help. Understanding how solid web design influences your online results could help you develop a winning strategy, which dovetails your real world marketing efforts.

Thanks for playing this game of New Web site Design or No New Web site Design.
If you scored, below 96 points, you should consider a website analysis. Get started by clicking on “web design company.”

Related Articles:

Web Design – When Do You Need A New Website?

When Do I Need A New Website?

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At Best Web Site Designers, the focus is generally about the visual qualities of site design. All too often, corporations forget the underlying objective of the Web site: to convert sales and generate leads. A client-responsive Web site consists of clean design. Web sites are merely a company’s marketing “real estate.” They account for a substantial component of lead generation, sales and the cultivation of new business opportunities.

Use the following check list to accommodate your target audience’s preferences with client-responsive web design:

Basic Web page Features

Fuss-free navigation
-  Easy-to-follow site information, highlighted on the home page
- Immediate access to product, services and other offerings
- Site pages describing your company’s products and services
- A frequently asked question (FAQ) page highlighting specific consumer information
- Informative articles, white papers and case studies providing additional information about the value of your   offerings

Follow-up pages

- Contact information published on each site page
- A clear call to action, compelling the visitor to follow up the visit with an action
- Lead integration
- An announcement page or blog (designed using a content management system)
- Hassle-free contact forms followed by a capture form to deter spam

Optional Web design Features

- Audio – a voice recorded message and/or music should be an optional feature that the viewer can set according to their viewing preferences
- Flash animation video specific to the visitor’s needs
- A query field for searchable functionality
- A shopping cart to expedite sales
- Terms of service and / or a privacy policy page
- Security encryption to safeguard visitor information
- Product comparison tables

While the aforementioned list is a shortlist of Web site features, the best web design enhances the usability of each end-user’s interaction on your site, allowing for a pleasurable viewing experience – ultimately leading to a new lead or sales transaction.

Related Articles:

Features Of A Good Website Design

Good Website Design Features

Contact Pages

Although the best design can sometimes be a subjective issue, certain sites epitomize clean and spectacular Web site design.

For those who don’t know which characteristics or interface symbolize visually appealing Web site design, we’re reviewing ParentsAsTeacher25.org to demonstrate the features that compel your audience to learn more and/or take action.

As you can see in the jpeg above, our prototype ParentsAsTeachers has the following features:

•    Horizontal navigation enables visitors to expediently discover the information they are looking for on the Web site.

•    Each link on the Web site is properly linked, maximizing each reader’s span of stay on ParentsAsTeacher25.org.

•    Emphasized in white space and beige, the site is comprised of contrasting features and colors.

•    On the top right corner of the page, three blue buttons instruct prospective visitors which actions to take. Additionally, if the end-user hovers over each button, the animated features are not only seamless but are appropriately designed to motivate the visitor to an appropriate call of action.

•    The beige box on the right of the main text, titled, “updates,” reflects that ParentsAsTeacher25.org is maintained on a current basis.

•    ParentsAsTeacher25.org demonstrates the importance of allowing the visitor to experience the site according to his or her own preferences. The first image on the site is of a little girl. Instead of using a talking head, a prominent play button enables visitors to watch or experience the Web site on their own terms.

In the end, a professionally designed Web site is the difference between turning on or off your site visitors. Obtain a consultation from the best web designers in Missouri.

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Review these web design tips on identifying web development flaws…

Dear Best web designers,

Is our Web site plain hideous or does it have a few design flaws? Six years ago, we had our Web site designed using flash animation. The development was a nightmare. The designers took seven months to complete our site.

Recently, designers have approached for a site renovation. Although they’ve provided a few ideas to improve our company Web site, can you provide us with some basic web design tips? We’re trying to determine if our site has a few design flaws or it needs a makeover.

—————————————————————————————————————————

Without the URL of your site, it’s impossible to make an exacting assessment. But, we’ve listed a few web design tips for you to check on your site:

•    Does your site offer your visitors the option to experience your site without an animated presentation? Animated images and or scrolling text may detract from your marketing presentation.

•    Are the fonts used to design your site representative of your company’s offerings?  Certain fonts are too casual for some ecommerce sites. For instance, if your business is a mortgage company, the use of a comic sans font will contradict your entity’s professionalism.

•    Are your links obviously clickable? Underlined content that is not clickable is confusing to your visitors. Web pages should make it easy for visitors to find links and click onto pertinent information.

•    Are your images properly sized and compressed? Improperly compressed images negatively affect your site’s load time. Make sure your photos are compressed, saving site storage and reducing overall bandwidth usage.

•    Is the resolution of your site conducive for all computer screens? Your web site should be configured to accommodate all operating systems.

If you are unsure about any of the aforementioned details, obtain a complimentary consultation from the best web designers in Missouri.

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Screen Resolutions and Better User Experience

When’s the last time you checked out your Web site on another operating system, other then the one you use in your office?

Recently, The Net Impact was developing an email marketing campaign for a prospective client, who had their site designed by another Missouri web design company. Upon visiting their site to research some ideas, we noticed that their company website had glaring design malfunctions. Links were broken. Parts of the web page were missing. Upon further investigation, the problem was that their web designer failed to check out how the site looked on all browser platforms and whether the links were properly configured.

Although their site glistened with professionalism on Internet Explorer, on Mozilla FireFox, and Safari the site had serious glitches. Neither here nor there, our client was horrified to learn that their Web site was visibly impaired on other web browsers.

It happens all the time. A Web site appears great on one platform, but on the next, the HTML design is riddled flaws.

Moral of the story: Web browsers are in the eye of the beholder. Always make sure that your site is compatible with the three web browsers:

•    Internet Explorer
•    Firebox
•    Safari

In the interim, have your site tested, click web design tips for a free check up or simply dial, 1.888.629.4672.

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