Category:
Web Design
If you are the proud owner of a new website, then you know how confusing and downright difficult the process of designing and building a website can be. It’s not uncommon to go through the trouble of finding a hosting service and choosing a domain name, only to get stuck when it comes to actually putting a site together and making it presentable for viewers. Fortunately, there are some very basic things, even for newbies, that can make the process much easier. Here are some simple web design tips for new website owners: Templates. One of the fastest and easiest ways to design an effective website is to choose a customizable template. Customizable templates are easy to find. Simply search online, load them to your site, and make whatever changes you want to make the design your own. If you use a blog hosting service like WordPress to build your website, you will be pleased to find that you automatically have – Read the full article
When it comes to blog design, there are several common design mistakes that scare away your visitors (or worse, your profits). Here are seven of the biggest pitfalls. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! 1. Too Many Ads. Though you want to make money off your blog, usually through advertising, an overload of ads will be the surest way to turn off potential readers. Do not let ads overwhelm your content — people are not visiting your site to see advertisements, they are visiting it to see what your blog has to offer. If all it has to offer are ads, don’t expect a return visit. Instead, pick a few tastefully placed ads in high traffic spots, such as under your banner or one on the sidebar, and leave it at that. Ads in and of themselves are not the turn off, but if that’s all your site appears to be, that will be. 2. Large Blocks of Text. If – Read the full article
Web design is more than just creativity, it’s usability. Understanding your visitors and how they use your website will lead to increased conversions. For each new website, our team of graphic designers, SEO consultants and marketing specialists work together on strategy, design, usability, and goals. _ Over 180 million people in the U.S. prefer to use the internet to find information about local business and about half of those who conduct a local search end up making a purchase.1_ Web Design Vision Our dynamic team of web designers is as creative, driven, and skilled as any in the industry. We have the tools, techniques, and technologies in place to come up with the freshest – “awesomest” – designs. What sets us apart from the rest, however, is our experience in working together with businesses, brands, and clients who, like you, want to be found and chosen by the people who matter. And this experience enables us to design websites that – Read the full article
This week we received an email from a DePaul student (Go Blue Demons!), who was looking to interview a web design company about usability. I spent some time thinking about it and developing some answers and I thought I would share it on our blog- Enjoy! (1) Describe the company. Briefly describe the products they build and/or the services they provide Here are some quotes from our website but basically we are a web design company that focuses on Search Engine Optimization and Conversions by using the latest W3C complaint coding (xHTML and CSS) and also using the latest usability compliance. “Web design is more than just creativity, it’s usability. Understanding your visitors and how they use your website will lead to increased conversions. For each new website, our team of graphic designers, SEO consultants and marketing specialists work together on strategy, design, usability, and goals.” Lakeshore Branding, what started as a small marketing firm in 2007 has evolved into – Read the full article
Our recent post on premium WordPress templates was a hit. (Thank you, readers!) So we decided to make another list showcasing even more WP templates and themes. Hopefully, it will help you: Enhance the visual impact and usability of your WordPress-powered website, blog, e-Commerce site, or Web page; Ease the development and administration of your site and lift some burden off your shoulders (or Webmaster); Reflect more appropriately the personality and character of your brand and business; Enable you to organize your template files more efficiently and configure them for use under specific situations or seasons; And drive your WordPress site in a way that meets your specific requirements and business goals. If you’re an Internet marketer, online advertiser, blogger, business owner, entrepreneur, online retailer, musician or artist, journalist, photographer or designer, or mom-and-pop store owner, we highly recommend that you use WordPress, Lakeshore Branding’s favorite content management system. (The very site you’re reading is powered by WP, too.) It – Read the full article
There is a multitude of WordPress plugins that can make your site more SEO friendly and the same ones are repeatedly recommended with little variation. If you have not installed WordPress’s All-in-One SEO Pack, W3 Total Cache, Google XML Sitemaps, SEO Slugs, Trackable Social Share, or similar SEO plugins, go do that right now. If you have already addressed your SEO needs with these handy dandy helpers, then you might want to think about installing these less frequently lauded but still awesome plugins. After all, good SEO is about solid, engaging content, and these plugins will provide the opportunity to connect with your users in different ways. BuddyPress BuddyPress elevates your site by enabling you to construct your own social network on your WordPress site. When installed, it will make your site more interactive and encourage users to build upon what you have started. This powerful plugin provides a whole host of social networking components including activity streams, fully editable extended profiles, and extensible groups – Read the full article
You asked for it. Now we’re giving it to you: a list of the best WordPress themes of 2012. From designer WordPress themes to business WordPress themes – classic, elegant, simple and minimal, flashy and fancy, nice, naughty (or whatever adjective with which you want to describe them) – we’ve got the 2012 WordPress themes to suit your every need. The list is a result of our efforts to help users recognize the value of a content management system like WordPress, which, with its easy-to-use interface, rich SEO features, and excellent flexibility, is something we here at Lakeshore Branding have grown to love. And we hope you love it as much as we do, because we’ve got the best 2012 WordPress themes for your blog, company website, creative portfolio, wedding website, online magazine or news site, and online e-Commerce store. Let us know what your favorites are by tweeting about the post or leaving a comment below! U-Design WordPress Theme – Read the full article
UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who participated in the Lakeshore Branding Happy New Year 2012 Giveaway that we organized with UPrinting.com. You all posted awesome responses! Unfortunately, there can only be one winner. And we’ve chosen Andi Luther-Philippe of WeLoveSoap.com as the recipient of a custom set of 250 business cards from UPrinting. Congratulations, Andi! We certainly hope that the cards help you jumpstart your new handmade artisan soap company. (Hey, we might order ourselves some, too.) Again, thank you so much to everyone who participated. We’re liekly going to run more promos soon, so stay in touch and please do keep visiting our blog regularly for updates. *** We here at Lakeshore Branding would like to thank our clients and readers for a great year. Thank you! The year 2011 was an absolute blast, but 2012 is going to be even more fun. To celebrate the transition, we’re going to do something cool here. We’re going to run a contest – Read the full article
