FREE DESIGN!!! Yep and quote, just send us your link!

What did you say!? A FREE design? Yes, just send us a link to your current website and we’ll in turn send you a FREE design concept that will include all sorts of cool new ideas that will make your site STICKY to visitors. Yes, looks are important, but you have to also make sure that it functions well. If it hangs up, takes forever to download, or doesn’t do what it promises then you lost a customer.

So seriously, send us your current web address. In a few short days we’ll send you a quotation of the costs associated with redesigning your site and of course your FREE design.

You have nothing to lose, and LOTS of customer needs to fulfill.

Email your URL to: info@graphxevolution.com

You are under no obligation to purchase the design or web development, however if you do not purchase the design remains the property of graphXevolution and cannot be used by another company unless purchased.

Why Templates Suck!

If anyone knows me, they know my aversion to templates. Why the strong dislike to templates you ask?  Well I HATE (yes strong language) when there are two sites that look the same OR when you can clearly tell a purchased template was used. How can I tell you ask? On a purchased template****, if the “developer” (I use that loosely) does not have skill in both Photoshop AND coding, things do not line up, images looks misplaced, and the site has an overall amateurish feel to it.

Sure you can buy a template for $60, but did you notice that price tag for a unique purchase, where no one else can buy that template (any longer)? It’s well into the thousands of dollars. Guess what you can get for much less than that? Yep, you guessed it…a full service website redesign or new web development project. All with the ability to edit your site in a “Microsoft-Word-esc” style editor, a module or two (like a news feed or events listing) and customized design. Oh and don’t forget the customer service that you’d get. Without customer service, AKA Help!!!! how do you get your navigation to size correctly, or your hover effect to be readable, or make the site look right in Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 8, Firefox, Safari….augh….get my point?

Give us a call (570-647-8301), or send us an email, before you convince your boss how a template**** will solve your company’s problems, or before you approach your partner/significant other and say “ooo look what I can do”. Don’t waste your time or money unless you know code and are proficient at Photoshop.

****Here’s where I name names. These sites are the ones I’m talking about who sell common templates to unsuspecting individuals, claiming “How easy it is to get your own custom website!”…..BS I tell you.

• Template Monster
• Free Website Templates (even better let’s offer crap for free)
• Dream Template

Frustrated By Starting?

If you are getting ready to redesign your website, the best way to know what you do, or more importantly do not like, is to look at other websites.

We recommend looking at sites within your industry to see what your competitors are doing. We also recommend just surfing the web and jotting down some notes about what you find interesting, appealing, a must-have for your site, or plain old impressive.

Depending on your skill you may be able to implement what you like, but in some cases may need to enlist the professional skills of a web developer. Be sure when contacting a developer you know at least a basic idea of what you are looking to accomplish. Not only with the look of the site, but also how you want your visitors to interact with the site.

Many website redesign and new development projects start out with the first conversation of “I need a website, or my site just isn’t working the way I want.” OK but without knowing what your expectations are, and those of your customers, no one can put their finger directly on the pulse of your industry.

“Looking at bad web site design is valuable because it gives us the opportunity to learn from other people’s mistakes without having to make them ourselves.” ~ www.webpagesthatsuck.com

Our practice is to learn as much about your industry as we can, by talking with you, researching competitors and closely related industry information. After we determine the needs, then we figure out how best to align your website with these needs.

Give us a call or send us an email to start the conversation. Whether it’s a brand new website or a web redesign, we’ll give you our honest opinion and detailed recommendations.

What NOT to do if you’re a DIYer

Don’t put a lot of graphics and animations on your website.
Not only will it make your site difficult to be found, but it will also take forever to load. A BIG no no. Think to yourself, how long do you sit and wait for a website to load before leaving it from frustration?

Don’t experiment with all kinds of fonts and colors.
If the colors are too close in the color wheel, make you strain your eyes, or you can barely read the information, chances are you’ve chosen incorrectly. Choose 2-3 colors as your base for design. Usually black or even better, dark grey for your text, one complimenting color for a heading, and then possibly a third as an accent color. Keep ALL your link colors the same. Once a person visits your home page and sees teal green links, don’t go changing the links up to be orange.

Don’t go crazy at first.
Even though there are tons of cool things out there to add to your site, you don’t need every widget, photo, feed or whatever. Give your visitors what they expect and don’t annoy them with things they don’t. Doing so will show that you’ve done the site yourself, in your basement, at 2 in the morning when you have nothing else to do.

Don’t use “Welcome to blah blah blah” in the first line of your text.
We know where we are at, and we’re hoping you’re going to be welcoming. So start off with an important keyphrase to help the search engines find you.

I hope this helps the DIYers out there a little. There is a lot more to creating a kick-ass website than this, but hopefully it will deter your visitors from running away screaming, never wanting to do business with you.

If you want professional recommendations and a FREE website development proposal and design concept, feel free to contact us at info@graphxevolution.com or call 570-647-8301 and we’ll be happy to help you out.

Websites That Suck Increase Stress

Reprinted from Neuromarketing.com

Now, neuroscience is underscoring the importance of quick-loading pages and easy to use web sites. A study sponsored by Computer Associates and conducted by Foviance, a customer experience consulting firm, showed that poorly performing websites demanded more user concentration and increased stress:

Read the entire story here…http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/web-stress.htm

Website Redesign: Enter Your Ugly (or just in need) Site

Are you scared of looking at your website? Even worse are your customers? Now’s the time to get solid, professional advice on how to redesign, and most importantly REALIGN your website with the needs of your visitors. What about your needs you ask? Well aren’t your visitors, i.e. customers, your need?

We’ve been web developers for quite some time and we want to give the opportunity to a website owner who may not feel that their website is producing the results they want.

If you think that you’re website is in need of website redesign, by a professional web development company, here’s your chance. We are offering a $500 credit towards a new website redesign project purchased on or before 12/31/10, to what we judge to be the most “in need” website.

Only those who own a website, or authorized employees of a company within the United States may enter.

Check out http://www.mywebredesigners.com for complete details. Enter today!

It’s Launched!

The new MyWebRedesigners.com webpage is now launched. Check it out and see the cool design and even cooler contest we’re running.