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May 2007 - Vol. 1,
Issue 3 |
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 As
we discussed last month,
developing your website can seem daunting especially
since you only have a few seconds to make a great first
impression.
Organizing and developing appropriate content was the
topic of last month's issue; this month we're going to
tackle the visual aspects of effective website design.
The basic rule is simple: do not offend visitors with an
ugly design. Luckily our online tools offer lots of help
to ensure your success.
Hope you enjoy this issue.
Best wishes for growing your business,
Greg Owen-Boger, President
OwenProCo, Inc.
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HELP -- I
let my trial expire! |
Question:
I accidentally let my free trial period expire and can
no longer log in. Is it too late or can I continue
building my site?
Answer:
You're in luck. Simply
fill out this form and we'll re-enable your trial so
you can continue building your site. |
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| No
Ugly Designs Allowed |
Website visitors make snap
decisions when they first land on a site. They judge the
company's professionalism, trustworthiness, and whether
or not they want to do business with you almost
immediately. Don't encourage them to leave by insulting
their senses with an ugly site design.
Consistency
When you develop the visual look and feel of your site,
begin by developing a consistent design that will work
on all of your pages. Using pre-existing design
templates is a good way to accomplish this. Also use
consistent fonts and colors on every page. Experts agree
that varying these elements looks cheap and amateurish.
Colors
The general rule is to use colors that correspond with
your company's logo and other imagery. For example, if
your logo is royal blue, use royal blue as a base color
on your site. Then choose complementary colors to accent
various design elements.
Another general rule is to use contrasting colors
between text and background. For example if you choose
to use a background that's white, use a dark color for
text. If your background is dark, use a lighter font.
Use your best judgment and make sure the text is easy to
read.
Images
It's true what they say about pictures being worth a
thousand words. Make sure you choose images that are
high quality and convey the exact image you want to
convey -- you don't want those thousand words to be the
wrong words!
Our Do-It-Yourself Site Builders come with an image
library of thousands of royalty-free images that we
encourage you to use on your site. If the images in the
free library aren't what you're looking for you might
want to try istockphoto.com, which has millions of
inexpensive royalty-free images for use on websites.
If you use your own images, make sure that they convey
the right message. They need to be of the highest
quality possible, appropriately sized and quick to load.
There are lots of image editing programs out there and
each works differently but keep in mind that images
should be:
No larger than necessary (both in the amount of screen
space they occupy and in file size)
Set at 72 dpi
Crisp and colorful, yet true in color unless you're
making a creative statement
If you don't already own image editing software, try
Easy Image Lite which is inexpensive and easy to
use.
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Trade In
Your Old Website for a New One! |
Is your website looking
old and in need of a facelift?
Trade in your site for a new, more effective one with
our new Trade-In service. Just $399 plus hosting.
Click here to learn more. |
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Did You Know... Customizing a
Design Template |
As I mentioned earlier,
taking advantage of pre-existing design templates is a
great way to ensure your site has a consistent look and
feel throughout. Our Do-It-Yourself Site Builders
include hundreds of templates to choose from.
Your company is unique though, so it's likely that the
templates in our system aren't going to fit your image
exactly. No worries. It's easy to customize an existing
template to make it more tailored to your business:
Select a Template then Customize It
First, find a template that is close to what you want.
Maybe it's the header image that you like; maybe it's
the color palette, whatever. Select the template and
then make slight alterations to the design's width,
index (button) placement, font choice, etc.
Click here for more specific instructions on customizing
a template.
Add Your Logo
You'll probably want to include your company's logo in
your site's header. There are three ways to do this.
- Add your logo to an existing banner. Log
in to your admin panel and click on "Design" >>
"Edit Header" and upload your logo to the Header
either to the left or right. In most cases you'll
need to make sure your logo has a transparent
background.
- Modify your banner image by adding your
logo using image software. This may require a little
more know-how but it will be well worth it in the
end. View your existing template and right click the
header image to save it to your computer. Open up
the file in imaging software and add your logo, add
text, etc. Save your work as either a Jpeg or Gif
file. Follow the steps in #1 above to upload your
new logo/banner to the system.
- Enlist the help of a professional. This
option isn't expensive so email us for more
information.
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Site Enhancements... Improving
Your Site's Images |
 Making
the pictures on your site look good can be challenging.
They need to be resized and quick loading. Easy Image
Lite is a great inexpensive tool (just $9.97) that
will do the work for you without all the confusing bells
& whistles of most other imaging software. Simply edit
your images & upload them to your site. Easy!
 If
it's a new logo you're after, LogoMaker will do
the trick.
LogoMaker will allow you to customize your
colors, fonts, and sizes. With more than 10,000 unique
icons to choose from, you are sure to create a great
looking logo that will represent your company. Simply
create your new logo and upload it to your site. Easy!
If you have a tough job or just want a professional to
deal with your images,
contact us and
we'll point you in the right direction.
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Just for Fun...
Solitaire |
Faithful readers of this newsletter know that we
advocate playing games during the workday because it
helps clear the head. This month we're
highlighting
Solitaire from
Games-O-Rama.com
 GameHouse
Super Solitaire brings together your favorite versions
of Solitaire and a bunch you've never played before.
Whether you like the easy pace of Tri-Peaks or the fast
action of Turbo Solitaire, you'll find a game for every
mood - 10 different versions of Solitaire in all!
Clear your head at
Games-O-Rama! |
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I hope you enjoyed this issue. Please
let me know if there's
anything you'd like me to address in future issues.
Sincerely,
Greg Owen-Boger, President
OwenProCo, Inc.
OwenProCo.com |
DoItYourSelfSiteBuilder.com |
DoItYourselfSTOREbuilder.com
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