Author Archive for Yosia Urip

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What factors to consider in redesigning a website

Published on July 12, 2008 in Website Design. 0 Comments

It can be tempting with such a malleable medium to redesign your small business web site whenever the mood strikes.
There are some important questions to consider before embarking on a redesign. Here are some of them:

1. What do you want to accomplish?
What concrete improvements to the site will the redesign bring? Will there be more content, more functionality for users, easier/cleaner navigation? What problems with the current site will the redesign fix? Map your goals out carefully beforehand. Not only will this save time with design professionals, it’ll make it easy to judge your success later.

2. Is it worth it?
The companion to #1. Will the improvements be worth the disruption, and possible audience alienation of a redesign? Redesigns in both print and on the web have shown that no matter how great you think the new design is, there will be a segment of your audience that will hate it. Humans dislike change, and embrace familiarity. Even if people love it, they will have a learning curve with the new site, unless it works exactly like the old site. And if that’s the case, why do the redesign at all?

3. Who’s going to do it?
If you already have an existing site with enough problems/concerns to merit a redesign, I urge you to use a web professional for the job. Yes, it’s more expensive. Yes, it’s going to take time and effort to choose the right person or firm to do the project. But it’s worth it. You probably wouldn’t let a novice do your taxes, or design your next marketing campaign. So why let a novice mess with your web site?

4. Will it be easier to update?
This should be a major goal of any redesign that goes beyond the simply cosmetic. You should always be moving toward ease of administration, not just ease of use for the audience.

5. Will it be easier to navigate?
My pick for the other important goal of a redesign – the companion to #4. Does the redesign give users easier access to your content? This is especially important on the web, where every site has a different interface.

Choose your password wisely

Published on February 29, 2008 in Statistic Data. 0 Comments

63% of Americans admit to using the same password or a variation of it for all or most of their online accounts. 6.7% use a variation of a familiar password for most of their online accounts. 22.9% use the same password for most of their online accounts. 3.5% use the same password for all their of my online accounts, Protecteer survey found.

VC money being invested in 2007

Published on February 28, 2008 in Statistic Data. 0 Comments

Venture capitalists invested $928 million in Indian companies in 2007, a significant 166% jump compared to 2006 level, VentureBeat reports.

Americans 18-26 years old spend 12.2 hours online every week

Published on February 24, 2008 in Statistic Data. 0 Comments

Gen Y Americans (those aged between 18 and 26) spend 12.2 hours online every week, 28% longer than 27-40-year-old Gen Xers and almost twice as long as 51-61-year-old Older Boomers. Gen Yers are also much more likely to engage in social computing activities while online, Forrester Research claims. For example, they are 50% more likely than Gen Xers to send instant messages, twice as likely to read blogs, and three times as likely to use social networking sites like MySpace.

Viral Marketing within your website

Published on February 10, 2008 in News and Website Online Marketing. 0 Comments

One of our articles from this blog is published in Eastside business, the February 2008 edition.

Click here to see the detail.

Eastside Business are distributed FREE through over 300 local businesses and organizations including City Halls, Libraries, Chambers of Commerce and many, many more.

Northwest Equine Veterinary Associates New Website

Published on January 28, 2008 in News and Website Design. 0 Comments

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.

Quotation by Melinda Gates

Published on January 16, 2008 in Quotation. 0 Comments

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.

The Lifebuilders Creed

Published on January 15, 2008 in Motivation. 1 Comment

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.

Believing in your dreams

Published on December 31, 2007 in Quotation. 0 Comments

These quotes are about believing in and following your dreams. Something to digest for our Monday morning and for 2008…..

If you can imagine it you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.
Ward, William Arthur

Life is a cup to be filled not drained.
Anonymous

If one is the master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time insight into and understanding of many things.
Van Gogh, Vincent

What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.
Roethke, Theodore

Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer.
Anonymous

Your own words are the bricks and mortar of the dreams you want to realize. Your words are the greatest power you have. The words you choose and the use establish the life you experience.
Croquette Sonia

Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities
Ebaugh, Sue

The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
Fosdick, Harry Emerson

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Thoreau, Henry David

You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”
George Bernard Shaw

Defining Your Website Purpose

Published on December 22, 2007 in Website Design. 0 Comments

Once you have people visiting your website, the trick for many businesses will be to keep them interested and hopefully coming back to your website.

Much has been written on how to construct a good website; sadly much of it seems to have been ignored.

The first thing to keep in mind with any website is DON’T CONFUSE YOUR VISITORS.
By this I mean, make sure that anyone who is visiting your website understands quickly and concisely why they are there.
Your site must clearly convey a simple message; are you SELLING, BUYING or INFORMING your visitors.

If the site was developed to sell product, it is fine to describe what the product or service is, but the emphasis should be that it is a “sales site.” If your site is an online brochure for your company and you are providing a variety of offerings, make sure you are crystal clear so your visitors know exactly where things on your site are located.

  1. Grab your visitor’s attention right away. Your site needs to open with a simple, clearly defined message that will make the visitor want to look further at the site.
  2. Make navigation easy and intuitive. As a general rule, when someone is visiting a website they want to have the flexibility of moving from page to page throughout the website. It can be very annoying to navigate a website by always returning to the home or main page. Even worse is navigating through a website and finding that the only option you have is the “Back button”. When this happen many people simply “click” away to another website. Poor navigational links on a website are signs of poor development quality and or poor planning. In the mind of the visitor, a fault on a website, like poor navigation, reflects on the quality of your business. Make sure all your website pages contain all the same internal links.
  3. Avoid long and wordy paragraphs. Unless you are providing some technical information. Even then it is probably a good idea to provide this information using a downloadable format such as PDF files. It is best to use graphics or pictures to help tell your story. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is especially true on websites.
  4. Speed is of the essence. Especially when it comes to browsing websites. One of the best ways to drive visitors away from your site is by having a site that is painfully slow. Some of the things that can slow a website down are:
    • Graphic images that are improperly applied
    • Faulty scripts and programs improperly applied
    • Web-host operating with slow equipment
    • Animation or sound files improperly applied

When you work hard to attract visitors, the last thing you want to be doing is spoiling their experience with a slow website. Build your site according to the latest modem speed and computer viewing statistics. Finding this information on the Internet will require some research, but it is invaluable in making a better website. Keep in mind that when building your site, what looks good on one computer will be irritatingly slow to download on another.

Make your website easy and inviting to navigate. Always seek to improve!