Every Web Designer has experienced it on more than one occasion - the lack of inspiration for that next stunning design. Whether you are swamped with projects and simply cannot focus, or you just have not designed in so long that you have lost motivation, these tips will work for you.
1. Take a break - When you are trying to create a new design for a client, there really is no point to staring at the computer screen watching your mouse draw boxes on the Photoshop canvas. Take a break: exit out of Photoshop completely and do something else for a bit that allows your mind to open up. Try going for a jog (or maybe a walk if you are not the running-inclined), or even playing a video game or watching television. The key here is to take your mind off of the fact that you are having a hard time coming up with a design. Then, when you return to your favorite image editing program (do make sure to return), you will have a fresh mind. Or, better yet, an idea will have already hit you when you were on the break!
2. Colors - Color is a big part of design. So, instead of just sitting there, go find something colorful to look at. It can be something physical like a painting or sculpture, or it can be something digital such as color sharing websites (like http://colourlovers.com and http://kuler.adobe.com/). A nice thing about the latter is that those kind of websites usually allow you to download a pallet for Photoshop so you can quickly jump in and start playing around with the colors. If you don't like a certain pallet, just switch to another one - easy.
3. Start somewhere different - Instead of starting where you usually start, try something different. If you usually start creating the logo first, begin by designing the general structure of the website. Use different shapes to give you inspiration - try different rounded borders radii, try not using rounded borders. If you usually start at the opposite end of the spectrum, try creating the logo first. Start out with some basic text - maybe the website name or URL. Then spice it up... would that ampersand look better as a different font? Maybe you should use different colors separating different parts of the title? Play with font styles and sizes.
4. Get new fonts/brushes - No designer can have enough fonts & Photoshop brushes. Go searching for new ones - download a whole directory of fonts and brushes and play around with them in Photoshop. Brushes are a great way to give inspiration: pick a good brush at a decent size and start splatting it on the canvas. You may be able to actually fit what you make into a design, but if you don't you might find a good color contrast or an interesting effect.
5. Use other designers to your advantage - Web designers can be of great inspiration to each other, either directly or indirectly. Go out and talk to other web designers on IM, in person, on the phone, on social networking websites, etc. Let them know of your designer block - they will probably share similar experiences with you and how they overcame theirs. If you are not feeling so socially inclined you can also go out and look at other website templates for motivation - but be careful, you don't want to rip anybody off.
So use these tips to your advantage. Let's start with the first one - take a break! Good luck.
I am a professional Web Developer and Designer. If you are interested in my services please visit http://designandprogram.com/ - I also have a blog about anything of interest in my field.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Mackus
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Starting a Website? Then Choose Your Domain Registrar Carefully
A domain name is a valuable property of any business or any individual who would like to establish a presence online. It is extremely important to register your domain name carefully and with the right registrar. I would like to share my experience with you and hopefully you can use it to pick a domain registrar that will treat you fairly.
When you set up a website there are two important institutions that you must deal with, first the registrar and secondly the hosting firm. If your hosting firm treats you badly all you have to do is to change the "DNS" settings and move to a new hosting firm where you can upload your files. The process takes only 24-48 hours and involves little disruption.
However, if your domain name registrar mistreats you, you can end up losing your domain name entirely. A registrar is simply a company that has been entrusted to sell domain names to companies and individuals for a certain fee. The fees that are charged vary considerably and the service that the registrars provide also varies quite a bit.
A good price for a dot com name nowadays is about $10 per year. Beware of someone selling them very cheaply. For example, Yahoo was advertising domains at $1.98 and $9.98 per year and now is going to raise the price (July 2008) to $34.95. Anyone who stocked up on a lot of domain names will be in difficulty.
Yahoo is a big company and they are a problem. Even worse are small companies who actually resell domain names as agents for larger companies. Some of these firms have no contact details (telephone, physical address) and if they go out of business it can be a problem for you.
There are other firms that never notify you when your domain is about to expire. I have had particularly bad experience with Enom and with resellers of Enom domains. The minute your domain name payment is overdue, they shut down your domain (putting up ads instead) and if you wait for more than a month you may lose the domain entirely or have to pay a huge fee to get it back.
So choose a domain name registrar that has proper contact details and that has a good record in notifying its clients about pending expiration and renewal dates. A very solid company that I have used is www.directnic.com . They notify you 90 days, 30 days and one week in advance of renewal dates and do not shut down the domain if you are late. They currently charge $15 per year.
Another popular domain registrar with a good record is godaddy.com (Although I don't like their website interface which always tries to convince you to buy various services that you may not particularly need).
I would avoid Enom.com and any reseller of Enom and, I am sad to say, Yahoo should also be avoided like the plague! Visit the prospective registrars and see if it is easy to understand their websites. Look at their contact and support information, and if necessary take the help of friends and colleagues who already have websites.
About the Author
Donald Nelson is a Search Engine Optimization specialist. Visit his website www.a1-optimization.com for articles and information on website promotion.
When you set up a website there are two important institutions that you must deal with, first the registrar and secondly the hosting firm. If your hosting firm treats you badly all you have to do is to change the "DNS" settings and move to a new hosting firm where you can upload your files. The process takes only 24-48 hours and involves little disruption.
However, if your domain name registrar mistreats you, you can end up losing your domain name entirely. A registrar is simply a company that has been entrusted to sell domain names to companies and individuals for a certain fee. The fees that are charged vary considerably and the service that the registrars provide also varies quite a bit.
A good price for a dot com name nowadays is about $10 per year. Beware of someone selling them very cheaply. For example, Yahoo was advertising domains at $1.98 and $9.98 per year and now is going to raise the price (July 2008) to $34.95. Anyone who stocked up on a lot of domain names will be in difficulty.
Yahoo is a big company and they are a problem. Even worse are small companies who actually resell domain names as agents for larger companies. Some of these firms have no contact details (telephone, physical address) and if they go out of business it can be a problem for you.
There are other firms that never notify you when your domain is about to expire. I have had particularly bad experience with Enom and with resellers of Enom domains. The minute your domain name payment is overdue, they shut down your domain (putting up ads instead) and if you wait for more than a month you may lose the domain entirely or have to pay a huge fee to get it back.
So choose a domain name registrar that has proper contact details and that has a good record in notifying its clients about pending expiration and renewal dates. A very solid company that I have used is www.directnic.com . They notify you 90 days, 30 days and one week in advance of renewal dates and do not shut down the domain if you are late. They currently charge $15 per year.
Another popular domain registrar with a good record is godaddy.com (Although I don't like their website interface which always tries to convince you to buy various services that you may not particularly need).
I would avoid Enom.com and any reseller of Enom and, I am sad to say, Yahoo should also be avoided like the plague! Visit the prospective registrars and see if it is easy to understand their websites. Look at their contact and support information, and if necessary take the help of friends and colleagues who already have websites.
About the Author
Donald Nelson is a Search Engine Optimization specialist. Visit his website www.a1-optimization.com for articles and information on website promotion.
More tips the Pros use for SEO
Welcome to the second article in our series on what you can do to increase your SEO rankings. The first in the series we looking at what you can do on your website to make the search engines happy. Now that you have optimized your site with text, landing pages, alt and title tags, what's next?
In fact your SEO journey has just begun! Your site is built and functional, but so are a lot of sites out there. What is going to make your priority according to search engines, better than the other guys?
There are quite a few things we can do for good SEO. The first we are going to look at is the domain name. If you have a domain name such as IWB for selling a butter product, called I Want Butter, youre not going to get very far. It's not to say you will fail completely at SEO, but to optimize your chances, you should have a domain name that contains your keywords.
The domain ILoveButter or IWantButter would be optimal. You might have to get a bit creative depending on what domain names are available. These days you can register a domain for as little as seven dollars a year, it is a great investment that will insure great SEO rankings.
Some people will tell you that you're site will take months to be crawled by the search engines if you register a new domain. Not True! Last week I built a brand new site on Tuesday. It was finished at 3PM. By Wednesday at noon, search engine bots were all over it. How did I achieve that? Well, I had optimized my keywords, homepage text, and landing pages. But I also did the below steps. If you do these too, you can ensure great SEO rankings.
Get Others to Link to Your Site
I'm sure you remember as recent as a few years ago, webrings were all the rage and directories that were just link after link. These were done to drive audience traffic and SEO rankings. Now, search engines aren't as keen on link farms, but the good ones will still work. Link exchanges where you put a link on your site because the other site did it for you, also have lower importance with SEO than they used to. These days what is all the rage is a one way link. Search Engines consider this as a vote of confidence. Such as, hey this guy has a great and popular site! He links to other site I never heard of, but it must be good if he says so!
Boom. Your importance improves in the search engines eyes. This is a great lesson and key to learn for SEO. The more high quality sites link to you, the more important the search engines will think you are. But how can you get high priority sites link to you? There are a few ways:
First, make sure they have a high Google Page Ranking. Anything over a 1 or 2 would be optimal, but if they dont have a page ranking at all, I would skip them all together. Why waste your time on SEO that isn't going to work?
1. Issue a company press release with links back to your site. Many free sites with good rankings let you do this. Its great for SEO rankings.
2. Submit your business to directories such as Yahoo, or any directory or search engine related to your field.
3. Create a blog and write information of interest. Remember to include your back links. Also make sure to use your keywords 2-3% of the time.
4. Respond to other blogs with useful information. Include your URL in your signature.
5. Get active in a forum community that is in your field of interest. Include your URL in your signature.
6. Write articles, like this one, and focus on your keywords. Post them on article sites and groups with a high page rank.
About the Author
Creating a website with a high SEO ranking is possible, but there is work involved. For information on tools that make this job easier, please visit: http://seosoftware.topconsumerproductreviews.com/ For more information on how to find article sites, blogs, and forums with a high page rank please visit: http://seosoftware.topconsumerproductreviews.com/
In fact your SEO journey has just begun! Your site is built and functional, but so are a lot of sites out there. What is going to make your priority according to search engines, better than the other guys?
There are quite a few things we can do for good SEO. The first we are going to look at is the domain name. If you have a domain name such as IWB for selling a butter product, called I Want Butter, youre not going to get very far. It's not to say you will fail completely at SEO, but to optimize your chances, you should have a domain name that contains your keywords.
The domain ILoveButter or IWantButter would be optimal. You might have to get a bit creative depending on what domain names are available. These days you can register a domain for as little as seven dollars a year, it is a great investment that will insure great SEO rankings.
Some people will tell you that you're site will take months to be crawled by the search engines if you register a new domain. Not True! Last week I built a brand new site on Tuesday. It was finished at 3PM. By Wednesday at noon, search engine bots were all over it. How did I achieve that? Well, I had optimized my keywords, homepage text, and landing pages. But I also did the below steps. If you do these too, you can ensure great SEO rankings.
Get Others to Link to Your Site
I'm sure you remember as recent as a few years ago, webrings were all the rage and directories that were just link after link. These were done to drive audience traffic and SEO rankings. Now, search engines aren't as keen on link farms, but the good ones will still work. Link exchanges where you put a link on your site because the other site did it for you, also have lower importance with SEO than they used to. These days what is all the rage is a one way link. Search Engines consider this as a vote of confidence. Such as, hey this guy has a great and popular site! He links to other site I never heard of, but it must be good if he says so!
Boom. Your importance improves in the search engines eyes. This is a great lesson and key to learn for SEO. The more high quality sites link to you, the more important the search engines will think you are. But how can you get high priority sites link to you? There are a few ways:
First, make sure they have a high Google Page Ranking. Anything over a 1 or 2 would be optimal, but if they dont have a page ranking at all, I would skip them all together. Why waste your time on SEO that isn't going to work?
1. Issue a company press release with links back to your site. Many free sites with good rankings let you do this. Its great for SEO rankings.
2. Submit your business to directories such as Yahoo, or any directory or search engine related to your field.
3. Create a blog and write information of interest. Remember to include your back links. Also make sure to use your keywords 2-3% of the time.
4. Respond to other blogs with useful information. Include your URL in your signature.
5. Get active in a forum community that is in your field of interest. Include your URL in your signature.
6. Write articles, like this one, and focus on your keywords. Post them on article sites and groups with a high page rank.
About the Author
Creating a website with a high SEO ranking is possible, but there is work involved. For information on tools that make this job easier, please visit: http://seosoftware.topconsumerproductreviews.com/ For more information on how to find article sites, blogs, and forums with a high page rank please visit: http://seosoftware.topconsumerproductreviews.com/
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Dot Biz or Dot Com-Which is better for you?
There are more than 30 million registered web domains in the big world of internet. A bulk of these names comes from .com, .net and .org registrations. With so many registered domain names over the internet, it is becoming increasingly hard to get a decent expired domain name. A good expired domain name is a big necessity for your expired domain name business. The domain expiring name that you choose must be credible and commercial enough for your future success. A relevant and practical expired domain name will tell your prospective buyer that it makes sense to buy your domain. However, with so many extensions, which one are you buying for your customer?
Top level domains are getting scarcer day by day and those expired domain names with a .com or .biz extension are also getting fewer day by day. Though .com expired domain names are the most common names in expired domain name industry, other extension names are also becoming famous day by day. However, .com expired-domain names carry a number of benefits over a conventional .biz or .net name.
Dot com expired domain name is instantly recognizable by almost all people in the world, while a .biz or .net extension is still in the second place as far as their commercial appeal is concerned. In the current scenario, buying a .com expired domain name seems to make sense to you. Most of the famous browsers still consider .com names as the de facto standard names. For example, just type mynameisxyz into most browsers without entering www. or .com. The result is that you will end up invariably at www.mynameisxyz.com! For sometime, .com extension names will be the preferred flavor and preferred standard for all expired domain names.
Though .biz is becoming well known as a preferred domain name for a number of businesses, it may take some more time for ordinary people to accept it as a good alternative. The reasons are very obvious; .com expired domain names are perhaps the oldest domain names apart from their extended usage. The average rate of return for a .com expired domain names is much more than a .biz name; under normal circumstances, the average selling price of a .biz name could be just $30 while a .com name could be climb steeply to more than $500.
Dot com expired domain names offer you another unique advantage. It offers you a unique selection of very good to average names in a broad price range. You can pick and choose your own domain name at a price that is most suitable to you. Dot com names also offer you a number of other benefits like easy transferability and transactions with least hassles. As of now, a dot com name provides you a bright business opportunity followed by a dot biz name. However, the latest trend in internet domain registrations is witnessing a fresh scenario of people shifting over to country specific domain name extensions. It is estimated that these domain names are expected to trade for very higher prices in the future, as the demand for a dot com name comes down in a steep manner.
About the Author
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is the owner of the path breaking web site called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
Top level domains are getting scarcer day by day and those expired domain names with a .com or .biz extension are also getting fewer day by day. Though .com expired domain names are the most common names in expired domain name industry, other extension names are also becoming famous day by day. However, .com expired-domain names carry a number of benefits over a conventional .biz or .net name.
Dot com expired domain name is instantly recognizable by almost all people in the world, while a .biz or .net extension is still in the second place as far as their commercial appeal is concerned. In the current scenario, buying a .com expired domain name seems to make sense to you. Most of the famous browsers still consider .com names as the de facto standard names. For example, just type mynameisxyz into most browsers without entering www. or .com. The result is that you will end up invariably at www.mynameisxyz.com! For sometime, .com extension names will be the preferred flavor and preferred standard for all expired domain names.
Though .biz is becoming well known as a preferred domain name for a number of businesses, it may take some more time for ordinary people to accept it as a good alternative. The reasons are very obvious; .com expired domain names are perhaps the oldest domain names apart from their extended usage. The average rate of return for a .com expired domain names is much more than a .biz name; under normal circumstances, the average selling price of a .biz name could be just $30 while a .com name could be climb steeply to more than $500.
Dot com expired domain names offer you another unique advantage. It offers you a unique selection of very good to average names in a broad price range. You can pick and choose your own domain name at a price that is most suitable to you. Dot com names also offer you a number of other benefits like easy transferability and transactions with least hassles. As of now, a dot com name provides you a bright business opportunity followed by a dot biz name. However, the latest trend in internet domain registrations is witnessing a fresh scenario of people shifting over to country specific domain name extensions. It is estimated that these domain names are expected to trade for very higher prices in the future, as the demand for a dot com name comes down in a steep manner.
About the Author
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is the owner of the path breaking web site called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
How To Buy A Domain Name
The easiest thing to do is to buy a domain name and the reason why I say this is because you do not have to go over your text wondering whether your idea was good enough. People buy domains because they have noticed a name that their business or organization would be enhanced by. You can easily buy a domain name online and all you have to do is to search for the sites which have domain name resellers and choose your pick. You might want to buy a domain and you have not yet picked any specific name and by viewing the hundreds of options available, you will get to know which name sounds like your business. Before you buy any domain name, you need to consider some important details and they include the following.
You need to consider the following about your company your name, the products and services you intend to sell, the type of marketing you wish to engage in and the kind of traffic you want to attract. These details, will help you know exactly how to strategize and plan your business. A client or customer should be able to tell that kind of business you do by viewing your domain and it should also be short and clear. A customer should therefore be able to comfortably remember your domain if they want to refer to the site. Achieving this may need you to have somebody who can critic your options until you arrive at a suitable name. You might be overwhelmed by the numerous options but the idea is to take time and think about it.
There are domains that are very valuable and others that are not so popular. The most valuable domains are of names that are known to sell and, one such example of a domain that earned up to 3 million dollars is vodka.com. Pizza.com also sold over a million dollars in a week long online auction. You will find very cheap domain names when you buy a domain name. Sometimes, people who buy domain names are accused of not being creative enough and this might have some truth in it but, it will be unfair to label everyone. Buying a name saves you stress and heartache and it is a form of appreciating what others come up with. Therefore, providing revenue for the people who are in business and promoting the industry.
The internet is full of resources that will enable you to make the right decision and you can compare the pricing. If you are on a budget, then go for one that is affordable. Once you are pleased with what you find, make sure that all the qualities that will suit your business are present and you are now ready to register it. Register with a plan that will suit your business. This could mean that you need a private domain registration, if indeed you need your private and personal information to be protected. Buy a domain name and save yourself some heartache.
About the Author
Peter Gitundu Is A Web Administrator And Has Been Researching And Reporting On Domains For Years. You Can Post Your Views About Buy A Domain Name On My Blog Here Buy A Domain Name Feel Free To Read My Other Articles On Domains Here Buy A Domain Name
You need to consider the following about your company your name, the products and services you intend to sell, the type of marketing you wish to engage in and the kind of traffic you want to attract. These details, will help you know exactly how to strategize and plan your business. A client or customer should be able to tell that kind of business you do by viewing your domain and it should also be short and clear. A customer should therefore be able to comfortably remember your domain if they want to refer to the site. Achieving this may need you to have somebody who can critic your options until you arrive at a suitable name. You might be overwhelmed by the numerous options but the idea is to take time and think about it.
There are domains that are very valuable and others that are not so popular. The most valuable domains are of names that are known to sell and, one such example of a domain that earned up to 3 million dollars is vodka.com. Pizza.com also sold over a million dollars in a week long online auction. You will find very cheap domain names when you buy a domain name. Sometimes, people who buy domain names are accused of not being creative enough and this might have some truth in it but, it will be unfair to label everyone. Buying a name saves you stress and heartache and it is a form of appreciating what others come up with. Therefore, providing revenue for the people who are in business and promoting the industry.
The internet is full of resources that will enable you to make the right decision and you can compare the pricing. If you are on a budget, then go for one that is affordable. Once you are pleased with what you find, make sure that all the qualities that will suit your business are present and you are now ready to register it. Register with a plan that will suit your business. This could mean that you need a private domain registration, if indeed you need your private and personal information to be protected. Buy a domain name and save yourself some heartache.
About the Author
Peter Gitundu Is A Web Administrator And Has Been Researching And Reporting On Domains For Years. You Can Post Your Views About Buy A Domain Name On My Blog Here Buy A Domain Name Feel Free To Read My Other Articles On Domains Here Buy A Domain Name
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