Want to become a web designer but not sure where to start? There’s more to it than you might think, but we have broken it all down for you. Here are the six steps you should take to become a web designer.

Learn the basics of HTML & CSS

There’s a difference between a web designer and a web developer. Designers develop the look and design of a website, while developers build a site and create a structure. You can imagine “developers as construction workers, and web designers as architects.” Currently, many CMS platforms and code editors help do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to building a website. However, while a web designer’s job doesn’t require an in-depth knowledge of coding, it’s still vital to understand the fundamentals of coding, the language, and how it all works. Not only will it help you do your job as a designer, but your clients will also feel they’re in safer hands. Take a basic course on HTML and CSS to give yourself a solid base before you become a web designer.

Understand basic SEO principles

The fundamental purpose of a website is to rank in search engines and get found by potential customers, then turn those website visits into customers. Therefore, as a designer, it’s key not only to understand how to convert a lead on the site with an engaging layout, images, and copy, but to optimize the site for these search engines. Search engine optimization requires an understanding of both the front and back end. Everything from meta data, loading times, tags, and more go into being successful on a search engine. Alongside these, effective copywriting and valuable content are indispensable pieces of the puzzle. If your website isn’t optimized for SEO, it won’t be a successful product, so take the time to understand basic SEO principles so you can apply them.

The difference between UX & UI

These terms are often used interchangeably, but it’s important to know the difference and apply them. UX is user experience, or how a user feels as they navigate your site. UI refers to user interface, which is all about the visuals and the actual elements they interact with. They work together to create an effective product. When you become a web designer, your design will have a huge effect on a user’s feelings and actions. You must understand the psychology of color, text, layout, and more to take full advantage of them and create a more effective site.

Build a web design software toolset

To become a web designer, you have to learn various tools and develop your skills in all of them. Each of these will allow you to develop visuals and graphics for the site, build a design to present to your client, and then help bring it to life with the developer. Here are examples of the software you should learn.   Graphic Editors:

• Photoshop
• Canva
• Paint.net

Prototyping Tools:

• Dreamweaver
• Invisionapp
• Mockplus

CMS Framework:

• Wordpress
• Joomla

Join developer communities

No designer is an island. Connecting with other designers and developers will increase your knowledge in an applied setting. You can join Facebook groups, forums, and more for free to connect with like-minded individuals, get feedback from others in your field, and even troubleshoot a problem you can’t solve.

Experiment!

Once you’ve done all the learning, it’s time to do. Start designing websites to discover where your skills and knowledge are lacking and to get more comfortable with everything you’ve learned. Applying your skills is the only way to truly become a web designer. Our CEO says, “The best way to learn how to code is to actually code. I taught myself HTML by viewing the source of other websites and then tweaking the code to change the look of the website. While coding is more sophisticated these days, the concept remains the same - trial and error can take you a long way.”   ----- S-FX.com Small Business Solutions is a boutique web design and technology consulting agency geared towards start-up businesses, small businesses and non-profit businesses.  We specialize in implementing low cost technology solutions to maximize efficiency and reduce business operating costs.

There’s more to a quality website than the basics of your business. A quality website can help you build your business and attract more customers, especially when you are fully virtual. Here are a few ways to enhance your website with engaging and interactive elements.

Offer Online Ordering

More than ever, customers are looking for ways to order online, especially food. If you have a restaurant, bar, cafe, or similar, you should offer online ordering on your site. Implementing an online order form is a great way to draw customers into a sale directly on your website. And even if you don’t want to go that complex, simply putting your menu online and telling customers on the site that you take online orders by phone or text can bring in huge amounts of business. Tip: Make sure this message is very easy to find, maybe as a banner, or above the fold on the homepage. Also, make sure your menu is easy to find from the homepage. The longer it takes a customer to find information, the quicker you lose them, so a quality website makes information accessible.

E-commerce & Shopping Carts

For stores that aren’t restaurants, shopping is shifting to online, so e-commerce is a must. Your website developer can create an online shop, shopping cart, and checkout for you so customers can order from you online. Even posting a partial inventory online can bring in more sales. Also, it’s a great way to keep track of your inventory. Tip: Use high-quality photos and reviews to spice up your e-commerce site and make it more attractive to shoppers.

Lead Generation

Every quality website should make use of contact forms. Contact forms help you gather leads who are interested enough to give you their information. It’s also an excellent way of gathering emails for e-marketing. Contact forms can generate a list of emails for you to contact through an email marketing campaign. Tip: You don’t have to limit yourself to a Contact Us page. You can place contact forms strategically throughout your site to target customers when they’re most interested, without making them click on a new page.

Fresh Content

Updating your website is a key way to draw in new customers and build a customer base. A stale website gets boring quickly, so add new pictures, update your inventory, post new blogs, and post the weekly specials or recent offers. This shows your customers that you have a quality website that is active and engaging, and encourages them to visit often for new information. Tip: Blog posts help your quality website's SEO; meanwhile, new offers/specials and blog posts are perfect content to cross-post on your social media.

Offer a Freebie

If your business offers services or consulting, giving a potential customer free tools, like a free template or a short e-book, builds trust and good will in them towards your business. Also, they get to see how much you actually know, and can have proven results that you are a valuable resource they want to pay more for. Tip: Put your freebie behind a contact form -- i.e. make them give you their name and email to download the freebie. This is another way to build that email list and send them a follow-up email.   Try out some (or all) of these methods and put your quality website to work for your business. You’ll see improved engagement, leads, and sales, and your business will grow thanks to your efforts. ----- S-FX.com Small Business Solutions is a boutique web design and technology consulting agency geared towards start-up businesses, small businesses and non-profit businesses.  We specialize in implementing low cost technology solutions to maximize efficiency and reduce business operating costs.

Every business needs a website. So it would follow that you should get one however you can, even if you “can’t afford” a professional website -- right? Wrong. A whole host of sites now offer the ability to create free sites -- but just because something is free doesn’t mean you should take it. Hotels offer free shampoo -- do you always use it? And when you do, do you feel as good as using the nice shampoo you bought for yourself? Restaurants always give you a free side of coleslaw -- do you actually eat it? Is it the same as getting a side you actually wanted? "Free" doesn't always equal “great,” and we’re going to explain why you shouldn’t invest any time in your free site.

6 Reasons Why Free Websites Are a Bad Idea

The templates you're using don't reflect your brand. The templates offered on these sites are simple and may look “minimalist” and appealing, but they’re just cookie-cutter designs that everybody else is using. It vaguely reflects your industry because other businesses in your niche have picked from the top three templates and used it for their own site, and now they all look the same. Set yourself and your brand apart with a customized, unique site that uses your colors, fonts, and image perfectly. Why should your business be like everybody else’s? They're very poorly coded. Badly coded sites make you virtually invisible to Google, as they don’t allow Google to properly index your site by getting the information it needs. Bad coding also slows down your site. They could have adverse effects on your site. Free websites often end up having poor performance. Many are not indexed by Google, which defeats any SEO efforts you had planned -- if the site even allows significant SEO. Also, the sites often have bad upkeep that leads to malware. These problems will cause you huge issues in the future, and you’ll end up needing a new site anyway. Save yourself the headache and invest in a site with good customer support and hosting. They often result in slow loading speeds. Slow-loading sites are a huge turn-off for visitors, who will click away from your site if it’s taking more than three seconds to load. If nobody visits your site, then why have one at all? It’s better to invest in a site that will load quickly and easily for your visitors and bring you the business you’re looking for. You’ll have an embarrassing domain. Free sites come with obvious domains like mybusiness.freewebsite.com, which any modern user can spot a mile away. These don’t look good for your business, and even if you do pay for a domain, it will usually cost you more than you’d pay for a domain normally. To make matters more, you also can’t set up your email with the domain either. Your business will have low credibility. Many of the issues with free websites can be summed up in this: you’ll lose credibility with your visitors (and even with Google). A website should reflect the best of you and offer your customers information, help, and a way to contact you or even buy. If they don’t even trust you, what good is your website doing for your business?   If you want a proper website that will impress, inform, and entertain your customers, hire professionals who will not only build a great website but also do regular maintenance. Your business will thank you. ----- S-FX.com Small Business Solutions is a boutique web design and technology consulting agency geared towards start-up businesses, small businesses and non-profit businesses.  We specialize in implementing low cost technology solutions to maximize efficiency and reduce business operating costs.  

A website should engage your current and potential customers the moment it loads, and for the entire time they stay on it. How can you tell if your website is boring? Look out for these five signs, and then start working with your web designer to fix them.

It takes forever to load.

If an internet user has to wait longer than 2 seconds for your page to load, they’re going to give up and click away. You’ve probably done the same thing. Web users nowadays expect things quickly, almost immediately. Nothing is more boring than waiting. If your site is too slow, talk to your web developer about optimizing your site.  

It isn’t answering any questions.

Your website content is just as important as how it looks. If your website isn’t providing any information or entertainment for your visitors, then they have no reason to be on your site. Make sure your content is, above all, answering their questions. What does your business do? Why do you do it? What hours are you open? What are your social media channels? How can they reach you? What are your products? How can they buy them? If your site doesn’t answer these, write some new copy and do a website redesign.  

It’s an old design.

Users can tell when a website is old. Websites from a decade ago have a very different outdated look to them, and users are all about the new. They will judge your business based on it, and they will definitely get bored of being on it. Refresh your website design with a designer who’s up on the latest trends and can give your site a new, modern feel.  

The colors are off.

Minimalism and simple design are in, but that doesn’t mean that every website should be black and white. The wrong colors will make your website less interesting to a visitor. If the call to actions don’t pop, they won’t do anything on your site. If your brand colors aren’t used, they may even forget it’s your site. Color is powerful, so don’t be afraid to use it to your advantage.  

There are no images or video.

A plain site can be very boring. The right images and/or video can change that. (And they count as good content.) They can inform or entertain as much as copy can, and they are excellent for converting visitors into customers as well. Although they aren’t 100% necessary, if your site has zero of either, consider putting more multimedia on your page. Just get an expert designer’s opinion to make sure you’re using the right kind and amount of them in the right places.   Making a website more engaging can be a simple task, and you’ll be amazed at what fast loading times, good copy, the right colors, and a fresh feel can do for your site -- and for your sales and conversions.

There’s nothing like a really great Ted Talk to give you a new perspective and inspire you. As small business owners, this constant learning helps us grow as professionals and entrepreneurs. Here are five inspiring Ted Talks for small business owners, and what you can learn from each of them:

How great leaders inspire action - Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek’s classic Ted Talk on having a company “Why?” and the Golden Circle is the essential inspiring TED Talk for small business owners looking to grow. Starting your business with why you do what you do, and now what or how you do it, changes your business from just profits to something that stands the test of time. It’s scientific, and it’ll actually help you sell your product. When you sell to emotion and empathy, you’ll get better results than if you sell to logic.

Life crisis? Start a business. - Bailey Richert

If there’s one thing many entrepreneurs know, it’s that often they took the leap to start their business when things were at their worst. Bailey Richer’s Ted Talk discusses taking that leap, when to do it, and how to stop putting it off because we don’t know enough and just do it. It’s a good reminder that when it seems your life is “over,” it’s the best time to start.

Two reasons companies fail -- and how to avoid them. - Kurt Haanaes

Kurt Haanaes discusses that tricky question: how do you run your business well while also constantly reinventing it and innovating? Often we get into a comfortably successful spot with our business, especially a small business that took a lot of effort and years to establish. We are often afraid to rock that boat. But Haanaes encourages listeners to keep innovating -- because if you don’t balance exploration and exploitation, you won’t be in that comfortable spot forever. This is a very inspiring TED Talks for small business owners.

How to create a great brand name - Jonathan Bell

Branding is an important task for any small business. You want your business to stand out, and the branding should stand for what your business is. It should reflect what you are and what you could be. In this inspiring TED Talks for small business owners, Jonathan Bell leads listeners through what makes a great brand name specifically -- did you know there are only seven types of names? He also gives some practical advice, because we know branding isn’t all fun names and colors. 

Three ways that good design makes you happy - Don Norman

Although this Ted Talk is from 2003, it shows that some basic principles never change. Don Norman talks about good design, and how designing for people’s emotions works better than designing for “function.” We can apply this to our websites 16 years later, thinking: do we like looking at it? Do we like using it? And do we understand what it means? Because we know that designing pleasing websites -- ones that actually give people a good experience -- will bring in more customers than if we don’t. Check out these and more inspiring TED Talks for small business owners and start getting inspired for your business. ----- S-FX.com Small Business Solutions is a boutique web design and technology consulting agency geared towards start-up businesses, small businesses and non-profit businesses.  We specialize in implementing low cost technology solutions to maximize efficiency and reduce business operating costs.

Confused about the low number of people who are coming to your site, and staying there? You’re probably not doing one or all of these seven things that drive traffic to your site.

You don’t blog.

Blogs are an excellent way to build original, authoritative content for your website, especially if you don’t have the resources or skills to create webinars, videos, or infographics. Blogs drive traffic to your site by offering valuable information to your potential clients. If your website doesn’t have any content to offer, why would anybody visit? If you commit to blogging consistently and promote your blog posts, you will start to see how your traffic increases.

You’re not on Google My Business.

A Google My Business listing adds your business information to Google Maps, Search, and other Google properties. It’s a great way to get eyes on your site through a verified and trustworthy source. Have you claimed your listing on Google My Business? Maybe that’s why people aren’t reaching your site when they search for you.

You’re not posting on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is an excellent platform to post when it comes to social media, because it isn’t just a social platform--it’s designed for professionals. Posting your original content (see #1) on LinkedIn, where your followers are in the business mindset and want to learn, is going to drive traffic to your site. It’s so easy to do, and it’ll bring you many new and engaged visitors.

Your site is not responsive.

More and more people are using smartphones to search instead of computers. If your site was never designed with mobile in mind, it probably isn’t very fun to visit it on your phone. Double check how your site looks and works on your phone, ask others, and if it isn’t great, definitely make getting a responsive site the next thing on your to do list.

Your site is slow.

If your site doesn’t load in less than two seconds, most people will just give up and click away. Sure, it sounds harsh, but there’s a large possibility that you’ve done the same thing. All of us on the internet have gotten used to getting things quickly, almost immediately, and studies confirm that visitors won’t wait for slow loading content. If you want to drive traffic to your site, optimize your site for faster loading times.

Your content is expired.

Unfortunately, information changes at a rapid-fire pace these days. Although you do want content on your site, you don’t need old and outdated content. Hubspot recently deleted 3,000 pages of old content from their blog, and it did wonders for their SEO. If your site is very old, you can not just prune your content, but prune your entire site and do a redesign to organize your information better. Better content, organized more invitingly, will make potential customers more willing to visit (and stay on) your site.

You’re not optimizing for SEO.

Maybe the sound of “SEO” scares you, because you don’t have much knowledge of what it means and you’re nervous to dive in, but you keep hearing about how important it is to drive traffic to your site. Maybe you’ve never heard of search engine optimization at all. If you haven’t explored SEO for your site, whether doing it yourself or getting someone else to do it, that may be why your site is getting low traffic. Do your business a favor and get to it.   Getting more site visitors doesn't have to be hard. Make these seven things a priority and see how the number of visitors to your site increases--and from there, how your business grows.

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S-FX.com Small Business Solutions is a boutique web design and technology consulting agency geared towards start-up businesses, small businesses and non-profit businesses.  We specialize in implementing low cost technology solutions to maximize efficiency and reduce business operating costs.

Without active representation on social media, your business is likely to have trouble staying in the competition. With customers and clients, both current and prospective, seeking social media sites, simply having a presence on these platforms isn't enough. You must also employ strategies to bolster your current techniques and to integrate new ones.

Update Content Regularly

Whether you're using Facebook or Twitter, stale content is sure to drive away otherwise interested parties. A lively presence means that visitors can get an updated look at what's going on with your business and feel a need to keep checking back. Imagine a small store that never added any products to its inventory or sought out better versions of current ones; this shop will likely not succeed. Your social media presence is similar. How often you should post depends upon the platform, the type of business and your overall goals. For example, constantly adding new jobs to your LinkedIn page might seem jarring and unreliable to viewers. On the other hand, a two-week absence on Facebook could signal that your business is struggling in some capacity. You also want to know your audience. If your target audience consists of people who work during regular business hours, scheduling your posts for the height of the business day isn't the best idea.

Interact with Visitors

You also want to show that you're invested in the people who check out your platforms. After all, they are taking the time to conduct research on your company and to interact with you. If you receive messages on Facebook about your business, make sure that you have a person or team who is dedicated to answering these messages. When followers comment on posts on Instagram or Twitter, comment back to them. While you may not have the ability to respond to every single comment, you should employ techniques to look for the most crucial. For example, if followers are asking questions and your business never answers them, you may find that these followers don't want to purchase products.

Integrate Content Marketing

Your presence on these social media platforms should be about more than posting witty status updates from time to time. Integrating the strategies of content marketing is also smart. For example, if you have a blog associated with your business, you can include snippets of it on your status updates. Then, you can list the link so that interested parties can read more. Bringing in photos and videos is also a useful way to employ content marketing. If your business sells products, such as ones for makeup application or cooking, you can create videos of people actually putting the products to use.

Match Branding Efforts

Chances are that your business has a website, and you have a particular design to that website. While you don't necessarily need to match every single element, a strong sense of cohesion should exist between your web design and your social media accounts. You want people to recognize your brand, and in order to achieve that goal, cohesion is key. Branding efforts of this nature can help to create a sense of trust in clients and customers. Also, imagine that your web design and your social media design are totally different from one another. Visitors might come to the social platform and wonder if it is even affiliated with your business at all.

Polish the Writing

Regardless of what social platform you choose to use, written content is likely to play a role. When search engine optimization, which is a set of strategies that you should study and use on your accounts, first came into the picture, stuffing keywords and phrases into content was common. The content would often lack total grammatical clarity and correctness in order to get these keywords and phrases in. Now, however, you should place a focus on writing content that is free of grammatical mistakes. What you may want to do is hire a professional writer and editor or a team of such experts to produce this content. -- Your presence on these social platforms is of utmost importance. Therefore, take the time to review your current strategies and to integrate new approaches.  If you ever feel lost or struggling, our social media experts are always available to help you on your next project.

Running a successful business requires more than honing in on products that are hot and in-demand. Today, building an online presence and brand for your business is just as important as delivering high-quality items to shoppers. Understanding the importance of professional website design and why it matters for your business is essential to truly maximize your online reach and ability to generate profits and long-term revenue.

Why Good Web Design Matters

In the beginning of the internet era, developing a website required information and simplistic graphics to captivate its intended audience. Today, the internet has become more prevalent in our everyday lives than ever, making it an extremely appealing commodity for business owners and independent entrepreneurs alike. When you visit a website for the first time, you are left with an immediate impression and response based on the overall quality of the website's design and layout. If a website appears outdated, grainy, pixelated, or simply unrealistic, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the attention and trust of your visitors. You only have one opportunity to make a positive and lasting impression on your website visitors, which is why it is so important to implement a layout design that is optimal for your business and brand.

Maximize Your Online Reach

Adding a new layout and design to your website is not only great for optics when targeting current and loyal customers, but it is also ideal to maximize your online reach. When you want to maximize your online reach and visibility, relaunching your site with a brand new look, feel, and design is imperative. A new website layout and design is one way to stand apart from your online competition while establishing your dominance and authority in the market and industry of your choosing. With a layout that is modern, attractive, and relevant, expand your ability to appeal to even more visitors and prospective customers from around the world in less time.

Fast Loading Times

Creating a new layout for your website and optimizing your site altogether is a way to increase your page's loading times. A fast-loading website is much more likely to retain the interest of visitors. If your website takes too long to load or if your website times out for visitors, you run the risk of losing potential sales or prospective customers. If a website does not load properly or fast enough, your visitors are likely to seek out an alternative website or supplier that is more responsive and easier to access.

Get Contacted in Less Time

While working to create a new layout and design for your website, consider a single page website. Single page solutions help attract new visitors without redirecting them to various pages of your website, potentially losing their interest in your services or products in the process. A single page website is a great way to promote your contact information along with your company's purpose and links to your products or eCommerce hub.

Blow Your Competition Away

Modern web design is not exclusively available for art gallery owners and graphic designers. When you want your business to stand out amongst your local and international competition, begin with rebuilding a presence and website for your company that is difficult to forget. Building a solid and loyal following while also showcasing your products using a modern website has never been easier than with updated and responsive design. Even if you are working in a highly competitive market it is still possible to outperform your toughest competition by establishing your business and brand with an updated and attractive online presence. With professional web design solutions and services, showcase your business, its brand, and the products or services you offer in a modern and aesthetically-pleasing manner. Using proper website design not only helps with building a professional online reputation, but it can be one of the quickest ways to garner followers while gaining the trust of new customers and prospective clients.

Many of our clients and the business owners that we know here at S-FX put a lot of effort into growing their web presence. They’ll work to improve their SEO, constantly check their progress on Google Analytics, and might even try their hand at Search Engine Marketing. But, most will ignore one of the easiest and most effective ways to inform people about their businesses. It’s a service called “Google My Business” and it’s absolutely free. Welcome everyone. We hope you’re ready for your weekly dose of #TechTuesdays knowledge!

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a platform that lets you manage how your business information shows up across Google Search, Google+, and Google Maps. You can post your company description, hours, location(s), and photos of your company and employees. You’ll also be able to monitor all your Google reviews, and get analytical insights into your customers. You might think of it as the most powerful directory the world has ever seen.

Benefits of Google My Business

1. Increase Your Online Exposure: When a user types “Lawn Care in NJ” or “Pizza Places Near Me” the following shows up: The important takeaway here is that the Google Map results show up before the search results. The only way to get on that list is to fill out your information on Google My Business. Once you do, customers who are looking for your business, in your location, will be sent right to you! 2. Easy to Update: If you change your address, hours of operations, etc. Google my business gives you an easy way to make that update in one place. Now you won’t have to be worried that you forgot to update Maps, or Google+; make the change once, and it will take effect across the board. 3. Interact with Your Customers: You will be able to see and respond to all the ratings and reviews put up on Google. This will allow you to thank your customers if they put up good reviews, perform damage control for a bad review, and get a general idea of what your customers think about your business. 4. Analytical Insights: Google My Business will keep track of various analytics for you including: How many people viewed your business information, how many people clicked for driving directions (and where those people are from), how many people clicked the link to your website, and how many people clicked to call you from their cell phones. This can definitely be useful in determining if your web presence is doing enough to draw customers.

Get Started With Google My Business

Going to the Google My Business website and click on “start now” to list your business information. It’s simple to do, and has the extra benefit of being free. This could be one of the most powerful options you ever take to draw more online attention your business, and bring in more customers. Until Next Week!