Last month we had the chance to start building Dyna Sport’s website. The owner wants something “explosive,” “hip,” “sporty,” just like his characters.
Dyna Sport’s goal is to improve speed, agility, power, strength, balance and coordination for athletes of all ages and abilities.
Here is what the new logo looks like:
And this is a sneak peak of the new website in progress:
Solomon’s keys to maximizing the power of our communication seem like common sense at first glance, but in fact they are anything but common today.
Proverbs 18:13 – He that answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame unto him.
Listen before speaking: Whenever we begin to answer a person before the person finishes making this point, we are both foolish and rude. I have been guilty of doing the same thing with my wife, business partners, children, etc. Even though I don’t mean to be rude, that is how I can come across.
Proverbs 10:18 – He that hideth hatred with lying lips, abd he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
Always speak truthfully – A recent survey of HR managers revealed that a high percentage of job applicants exaggerate, the same is true in marketing, little truth in advertising. If lying is foolishness, telling the truth is smart. It creates a foundation of integrity that we can build our life and reputation upon.
Introducing Northwest Equine Veterinary Associates new website.
Sky Soft Consulting is given the opportunity to build this great website and their new logo. After a tough selection process, we were chosen because of our past success and high rate of customer’s satisfaction.
Northwest Equine Veterinary Associates has proudly provided the highest standard of veterinary care for nearly 20 years to horses of all ages, breeds and disciplines in the Seattle and surrounding areas of Washington State.
The website is built with a custom Content Management System so the staff can easily change or update the content.
Another way of building trust is to provide information about your company, including basic real-world information, such as mailing address, phone number, and fax number, as well as background information on the company and the people in the company.
When people encounter your website for the first time, they have three questions in mind:
The ABOUT US pages are one way that a website can help answer these questions.
This particular page is important for establishing trust because they let customers know that there are real people and real organization behind an otherwise virtual world.
The about us page should provide information tailored to customer demographics, interests, and needs.
Craigslist has a simple, down-to-earth About Us page. The “mission” section describes the values and history pf the site. The “team” section describes the people behind the site.
About us page should help reinforce the website’s upfront value proposition.
Although your web page may contain many elements, your customers must b able to easily find the most important item on the page.
As a web designer, you have many goals for each page on your website. However, these goals often conflict and could cause you to lose focus.
The first impression technique is a feeling that sets the theme for the entire website. This is the dominant visual element that fuses all of the disparate elements of the website.
Some common choices include the following:
One quirk about website is that you don’t know what kind of display size your customers will have. However, most now have at least 1024X700 resolution.
Use the first impression technique to give each page a unifying focus on the most important message and emphasize the most important element of that page.
The large picture of the dish near the center of William-Sonoma’s homepage immediately draws people’s eyes.
Brand is more than just a logo and a tagline. Brand is not just the image, the graphic look, or even the logo of the company. Brand is what people remember. A company brand cannot be removed once it has been created with customers.
According to a research by a couple experts, website is accessed according to five criteria.
1. Content quality. Does the website have what I want?
2. Ease of use. Can I find what I want simply and efficiently?
3. Performance. Is the website fast?
4. Satisfaction. Is the overall experience satisfactory?
5. Brand value. Does the site provide something important and unique?
Build a strong website brand by differentiating your company from other companies through the promise you make and through the actions your company takes to satisfy customers. Then you can reinforce the brand image accros your website by:
1. Being consistent in style
2. Having a moderately sized logo
3. Positioning the logo in the upper left corner
4. Including reusable images optimized for speed
Make sure that clicking on your logo always takes website visitors back to the Home Page.
I read this article about Melinda Gates in Fortune magazine. One quotation from her really struck my heart and I would like to share it with you.
“If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped.” Melinda Gates, Valedictory Speech, Ursuline Academy, 1982.
Developing a company or corporate website is not easy. One of the reason is because there are so many different types of customer (everyone, current/potential customer, current/potential partners, press, investors, etc)
Company sites must address the needs of many audiences, therefore a company or corporate website that does not balance its attention to these different audiences in proportion to their size, will not succeed.
Company website engage, sell to, and support customers and partners. They also promote to media, inform investors, and recruit employees. These audiences have varying needs. However, if you want your company website to be successful, you need to focus on your primary visitors, focus on the primary audience and take care of its needs first. Don’t forget about the secondary audiences and your company branding too.
One way to tackle the issue is to dedicate 95% of the area and links to the visitor groups that account for 95% of the total visitor population and keep the remaining area and links for the visitor groups that account for the remaining 5 percent. Don’t forget to balance spacing for your branding against the navigation needs of your target audience.
Use simple language, use value propositions that they will understand. Include more information/presentations and list of information to keep visitors engaged if they want to know.
Go to www.williams-sonoma.com and you should see a good example of what a good corporate/company website should look like. The home page provides quick links to all the major parts of its site. It also provides highloghts to special features, such as cooking for kids, barbecues, wedding and gift registries.
This is a poem by Dale Witherington called “The Lifebuilder’s Creed.” This poem really blesses my heart.
The Lifebuilder’s Creed
Today is the most important day of my life.
Yesterday with its successes and victories, struggles and failures is gone forever.
The past is past.
Done.
Finished.
I cannot relive it. I cannot go back and change it.
But I will learn from it and improve my TODAY.
TODAY. This moment. NOW.
It is God’s gift to me and it is all that I have.
Tomorrow with all its joys and sorrows, triumphs and troubles isn’t here yet.
Indeed, tomorrow may never come.
Therefore, I will not worry about tomorrow.
Today is what God has entrusted to me.
It is all that I have. I will do my best in it.
I will demonstrate the best of me in it –
my character, giftedness, and abilities –
to my family and friends, clients and associates.
I will identify those things that are most important to do TODAY,
and those things I will do until they are done.
And when this day is done
I will look back with satisfaction at that
which I have accomplished.
Then, and only then, will I plan my tomorrow,
Looking to improve upon Today, with God’s help.
Then I shall go to sleep in peace … content.
We are given the privilege to build the new website of Pstyle Consulting.
Pstyle Consulting is a professional style and image consulting services business. Pstyle visionary, Bruce Pflaumer, offers experience and expertise of more than 20 years in the apparel industry including, buying, merchandising, apparel design and development, and brand building. He spent 17 years with Nordstrom, Inc., where his professional travels took him to places like New York, Paris, London, Italy, and many parts of Asia.
Bruce wanted something that would look elegant and professional, but not overly crowded. We enjoyed working with him from the concept design stage, flash intro development and the website building stage.
One thing that I would never forget: In one of our meetings, my laptop’s screen was dusty (after a long holiday) and Bruce couldn’t stand it. Thus, he went to grab a paper towel and clean it for me. It was embarrassing but I learn from this experience to always be on top of the game, and keeping everything clean is one of them.
The website is also built with a custom Content Management System (CMS) where Bruce can update and manage his customer’s testimonials/reviews easily.
Overall, it has been a great and fun project!
Visit the website here: www.pstyleconsulting.com
Please feel free to leave your comments in this blog.