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Category: Web Design Planning

What Is HTML5?

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Chances are, if you are a website owner, you have heard of HTML5. It is sort of becoming a more common term as the HTML5 issue gets hotter.

What IS HTML5?

You are probably already familiar with HTML. HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is the coding language that browsers read, to render a website display. HTML5 is a new standard of that core coding language.

The core language has not been updated in a while, and HTML5 contains new features as well as performance increases. New HTML5 is helping your search results too. Search Engines are having a harder and harder time defining certain pieces of information on a website. For example, if they wanted to figure out what’s navigation, and what is actually content that might be useful to someone.

HTML5 and Web Browsers

You see, different browsers render HTML differently. For example, Internet Explorer might render something differently than Firefox (That is sort of an understatement actually).

Do you know that right now, your web designer has to actually do extra work, just to make sure your website works in all browsers. This costs business owners a ton of money.

Good browsers such as Firefox & Chrome are HTML 5 compatible, even though HTML5 has not been officially released. Good web designers should also already be coding websites in HTML5.

How to Get a HTML5 Browser

  • It’s easy. Download Fire Fox, Chrome, Opera or Safari.
  • If you use Internet Explorer, update to Internet Explorer 9. (Note, that you will not be able to update to Internet Explorer 9 if you are running Windows XP)

Is Your Web Designer Using HTML5?

At ClicksCrazy.com, we are committed to building quality websites, we do this not just by making high quality looking websites, but also by making sure that behind the scenes, we are utilizing the latest technology.

Design Trends of Old

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I was just thinking about this today, looking at some different website. What are some of the old design styles web designers used to use. These are styles you might find on websites that are 3 to 7 years old. If a site is older than 7 years old, and has not received any sort of new look, it is pretty much not going to follow any trend. Websites older than that, were more about slapping stuff on there, than focusing on design feel and usability. (Basically, just having a website and no thought beyond that)

Things Change…

Many don’t realize that just like design styles change with clothing, cars & homes, website styles are evolving as well. I find that many people settle for a site simply being up and functional, even though they can tell it just looks old. Read the points below, and see if you agree.

1. Tiny Text: It used to be the trend to have small text. This is text that is under 11px. For some reason it was used to give websites a sharp a feel. It was also at a time when monitor resolution was lower, and everything looked bigger on the screen.

2. Dark Drop Shadows: These are horrible looking now. Very out of date. A drop shadow would be a shadow behind an image, or box of text for example. Drop shadows are still used, but very lightly now.

3. Gradients in Navigation: Gradients (Fades from one color to another) are still used quite a bit, but you have to be careful with them. There was a time when designers would use strong gradients in navigation, like a dark blue to bright white fade.

4. Bevels: Bevels on anything pretty much are just old. A bevel is when an item, be it navigation or button has a sort of inner shadow trying to make it look like a glob on the screen.

The Situation…

The situation many users on the web find themselves in, is that they are constantly going to old websites. But again, consumers are just used to it.

For example, compare these two websites. They are just boring old credit card companies. But compare the overall style, and use the bullets mentioned above.

Old Look: https://www.chase.com/
Newer Look: https://www.discover.com/

What did you notice? What were the font sizes like? How did the page seem to fit on your monitor?

Conclusion

Those are just a few things I noticed today. I will update this list as I remember others, and come across examples.

What Are Your E-Commerce Options

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Whether you are selling a few products, or many products, you would agree that it is important to know what e-commerce options are available for your website. This article was inspired by LH Beads in Panama City Florida. Check out their store…I think you will be shocked what the Panama City downtown has hidden away.

Anyway, this article will explain a few options that ClicksCrazy.com uses, and may help you make some decisions on what is best for your company.

But First…

At ClicksCrazy.com we are highly qualified to build and promote e-commerce websites. However, we do encourage clients not to rush into this highly competitive field without doing much research.

Why do we say this? Thru our experience the e-commerce market is flooded with competition, and price cutting monsters. If not properly prepared (unique or one of kind items are a little different story), you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.

That is certainly not to say that selling a product online that is already being sold is not possible. It is! We can explain what is necessary to run a successful e-commerce store.

So you’re serious about this?

That’s great! Now let’s get down to your tool options that are vital to the success of your e-store.

Option 1: Full On, No Holds Barred E-Commerce

E-Commerce Website Design
Using a third party software like Pinnacle Cart or OS Commerce are perfect for companies wanting a website who’s main focus is e-commerce, and will depend on that website as their main revenue stream.

Third party software is much more cost effective for a small business. The sacrifice, is that it may not have everything that you want.

However, in most cases, your web designer can modify the software to suit your needs! At ClicksCrazy.com for example, we can easily modify the Pinnacle Cart software, as long as the proper license is purchased. (The developer license, that authorizes us to make changes)

Typical Features for this Option:

  • Quickbooks download/integration
  • Payment Gateways to accept credit cards
  • Inventory Control
  • On the fly shipping calculations thru UPS, etc.
  • A Member area for users to register
  • Order Tracking, Trends and Analytics
  • E-Newsletter options built in

These are all the advanced features the software should come with out of the box. It is everything you need to process many orders a day.

Option 2: Split Focus, to Generate Foot Traffic & Online Sales

E Commerce Website Design
This is accomplished with a combination of the WordPress CMS, and a e-commerce shopping cart plugin.

This is best if you have a physical location, and are interested in generating business at your local store as well as selling select products online.

This option gives you nearly all the features of option 1, with a few key things missing that might be a deal breaker for you. Things like the Quickbooks integration, or product suggestions.

For example, you could have a page explaining your location and how to find you. Another page could entice users to visit your store and check out all the unique stuff you have. But you would want a section for users to buy some unique products that you sell. So again, this is a split focus website.

Typical Features for this Option:

  • Payment Gateways to accept credit cards
  • Inventory Control
  • On the fly shipping calculations thru ups, etc.
  • A Member area for users to register

Option 3: Full E-Commerce, but just Selling a Few Products

If you are only selling a few things, using WordPress, and some entry level e-commerce plugins, or pay pal buttons are pretty successful.

My experience has shown that this option actually works for many businesses.

Typical Features for this Option:

  • Secure online payment with Credit Card..Not much else

How to Choose?

The above is only a guide. I have found that almost every business wanting to sell online is a little different. Some need inventory control, some don’t. Some need online payment, some don’t.

The best thing to do is to highlight the most important features to your web developer. They can choose what is best for you, but be prepared to make some compromises when using any third party software.