Business owners and entrepreneurs work hard every day. They think about their business 24/7. Most however don't have websites anywhere near as flexible as they are and fewer have sites that can jump into new opportunities as fast as they can. This hurts you in the fast paced business world we're in today.

And just as businesses are trying to integrate their piece of the social media explosion into their business plan (or even trying to understand how it can help them), the mobile web has exploded between iPhone and Android Google phones. Suddenly, we all realize that a dynamic, constantly updated website should be as second nature as getting your business cards updated with your new email address.

Your website should do more than just provide a list of services and a way to contact you because you do more than that in your day to day business life. You need your website to reflect your business dynamically - its direction, its events, its announcements, its new customers, and its know-how. Here are six tips to get you thinking in these terms:

1. Your Customer's Viewpoint. Know your audience. You research your prospects before your presentations so you should tailor your website to your prospective customers. What are their pain points? Your website home page needs to provide the answer to these points while making it clear your company is the solution. This is your message. It's the one sentence description of your company you use every day when you meet new people. It should be prominent and easy to understand on your website. It will give meaning to your call to action.

2. Cutting Edge. This applies to any business. You don't need to discover the next billion dollar patentable idea either. It just means you're forward-thinking. Your customers know you stand out but how do prospects get this from your static website? Show your methods, change them by improving them, and use your blog to let your prospects know you're not resting on past accomplishments. Show them instead your company has the depth and foresight to recognize and address key new initiatives in customers' industries.

3. Visibility. You pass your cards out, go to industry events, attend social functions and maybe even trade shows. How extensive is your internet activity? Twitter, Facebook Fan pages and LinkedIn Company pages are pretty much mandatory. Your website should have prominent links/buttons to lead to these company social media accounts. Further website integration, especially of Twitter also should be considered. You are not necessarily getting a new customer but you are marketing and further branding your company at every online turn you get. Social media integrated into your website is the easiest way to let people know your site is successful, thriving and dynamic. Of course, this will then be the view they have of your business.

4. Excitement. Does your business exude excitement? Is it cutting edge or does it just do what so many others do -- but with unbounded energy and enthusiasm? Show this on your website. Competent at what you do is expected but boring. You're not boring in person so your website should not be either. Create a lean design with prominent colors and clear message, frequent updates, social media links, blog articles where comments can be left and your Twitter feed. Excitement is a simple formula for your website.

5. Achievements. Your company may or may not have awards but having them lets you show off your recognized abilities. Even if you have them, and certainly if you don't, you have to draw attention to your business without looking like you're bragging -- and therefore out of the budget of what could become great customers. Stay in front of your existing clients. Get their feedback and reflect this on your website. Testimonials can be made more real with suggestions and your engagement in social media. Your website should show your close relationship with your customers, that you take feedback seriously, and that your business has the confidence to show its improvements.

6. Services or Solutions? Think about your customers. You let them know how you can solve their problem when you meet with them in person -- your website should too. Make your website a reflection of your live efforts with more than just a list of your services. Examples of how you have helped other businesses are helpful -- case studies. And an integrated blog should address common problems and unlikely scenarios alike giving solutions. A blog should be free advice with no sales pitches. The combination of these elements will show your customers your company's depth of knowledge and expertise while focusing on how you can solve their key problems.

Technology all makes this happen easier and faster than you think. Gone are days of static html websites. New internet technologies are to be taken advantage of. Open source content management systems are financially feasible, secure and customizable for your company brand. Content management systems let you frequently update your website and keep it as dynamic as your business. Since you won't slow down, get your website to speed up a little.

Lately, we have been getting some questions from clients wanting assistance with their Joomla site. There have been a few questions that are kind of specific to a certain situation but overall, a lot of them apply across the board on many Joomla web site designs. Here are 5 simple tips / points to keep in mind when using your Joomla web site:

1. The "pages" on your site are referred to as articles, the main content for each page. One of the first things you always want to do when creating a new page on your Joomla website is create a new article. Content Management Systems work by controlling how your site handles information, so it is natural that this should be your first step.
2. When working with menu (navigation) items, remember that these are just links that tell your site which article it is pointing to. The other thing menu items help you do, is assign modules to specific pages, rather than having to show them on every page or none at all.
3. "Modules" can be anything from text to pictures, forms or any kind of information you would need contained in a box that can be moved around to different sections of your site. A module lets you share more information on your pages without having to put everything in the main content (article) area.
4. When you want to work on new content on your site, but don't want everyone to see the content, there are a few things you can do. First, you can assign an "access level" to that page temporarily so that only registered users can see certain pages. Then when you are ready to show the world your new information, you can set the access level to "public" so everyone can see. You can do this in the menu item manager.
5. Sometimes, if you have multiple people working on the site, you can get locked out of a certain article or module because the web site thinks someone else is still editing that item. This is common and it isn't a big deal. Just go in the administrative side of your site and hover over the "Tools" menu item and select "Global Check In." Think about checking in books at a library. Now Joomla knows exactly what is being edited and if that article or section was locking you out before, but not really being modified, Joomla will unlock it so you can get back to business.

So there you have it -- 5 Simple Joomla How To tips to help familiarize yourself with your new web site. Our clients can always email us with any questions or troubleshooting needs. If you aren't one of our clients, we can still offer support packages and assistance at an affordable rate. Feel free to use our quick contact form to shoot us a message!

While a lot of non web designers probably don't know about HTML5 or why it's important, web designers have been discussing this topic for months now. There are plenty of positives that this 'new' (revamped) language gives us for web design and web development.

• Offline Support — There are certain features that come along with HTML5 that allow you to store more offline information (more so than cookies / cache) which is a huge plus for mobile application developers. This will allow useful applications to continue to function even when there is no available internet connection.
• Canvas and Video — These features make it easier than ever before to add images (not really too big of an issue before) and video (big issue before) to a web page and make it cross browser and mobile compatible.
• GeoLocation API — It isn't really part of HTML5 but since HTML5 is associated mainly with mobile device use, GeoLocation goes along with this discussion quite nicely. Developers can now more easily integrate user-specific location based information into an app and do things like that 'cool' augmented reality stuff people have been talking about. That's how it's possible to point your iPhone or Android device at a street and have it tell you where the closest coffee shop is (ever wondered why your iPhone asks to use your 'Current Location'?).
• Advanced Forms — Now your mobile browser can handle some of the background stuff that is required to make sure information that you enter in an online form is accurate (form validators) instead of having to run additional scripts to do it. This really will speed up load times and increase that user experience stuff.

That being said, HTML5 sounds great and all developers should stop what they are doing right now and start using it shouldn't they? That's not necessarily the case. HTML5 is not yet supported by Internet Explorer (I know, shocking right?) and in addition to that, there are few other 'deal breakers' that will hold HTML5 up from being completely integrated into all platforms right away.

• The biggest issue is the acceptance (or lack thereof) of microformats across multiple browsers. HTML5 uses a slew of new tags that add new 'semantic richness' to a web document but does not fully utilize microformats (class attributes, etc.) which makes HTML5's backwards compatibility non-existent. Being a graphic designer on the web, this is a bad thing.

Most of the other negative points start to get sort of complicated and difficult to explain so for now, I'll leave it at that. It is important to know that HTML5 is still a good thing -- it's just going to be a bit before it is completely integrated into every developer's day to day routine. As mobile internet browsing continues to grow, however, it will very soon have its place.

Used to be, back when I started out as a young web developer, I would hear words like “flow and pop” used in reference to website design and I would literally cringe. But over the years and multiple projects later I have come to understand the native language of the average netizen and prospective website owner. As a Project Manager, I have to understand that the dreaded "flow and pop" lingo is not going anywhere and that translated properly it can reveal many valuable insights into my clients' expectations. But essentially, understanding and creating pop and flow is the difference between having your uncle that “knows how to make websites” make your site for you and going to an experienced web design and development company. Here are some translations to better explain…

Can you make my website pop?

Translation: When used in this general context a client is most likely referring to the broader fundamental layout of the site -- appropriate alignment and spacing. And if not thats a good place to start, using proper typographical techniques like using CSS style sheets and applying Anti-Aliasing to text to minimize distortion can give that polished look commonly associated with pop. Another commonly overlooked but very important consideration is site width. Containing the site properly can have a lot to do with how it will appear to pop. Sites are commonly developed at 1024px now a days to accommodate newer wide screen monitors. See my other article here concerning site width.

Can you make the images/graphics pop?

Translation: When in reference to images or graphics “popping” we use subtle drop shadows usually in combination with gradients and stroked borders. Something that really makes a difference in making a website pop is the use of 1 pixel stroked borders and lines. Using a stroked border can really add that extra crispness to a design as it gives some extra contrast to the surrounding elements and gives the design needed depth. Another huge factor in web design is the quality of your icons, images and photos. They are usually quite prominent so proper care should be taken to assure they are of the best quality. The amount  of color balance, sharpness and contrast should be in harmony with the rest of the site.

Can you make our website flow?

Translation: When used in this general context clients are usually referring to a broader human interaction factor. The GUI or graphical user interface should be prominent, intuitive and easy to read. Many Web Developers have adopted the tabbed navigation approach for their main navigation menu. Tabbed navigation is a menu that looks like each item is a tab on a file folder, with the active tab connected to the body of the page. Tabbed navigation isn’t just eye candy, it provides a usability benefit. Also, to communicate navigation options in a more effective way, designers often make use of appealing icons. In such cases it’s important to make sure that the icon is easily recognizable, clearly conveys the message, corresponds to the link it stands for and isn’t too small or ambiguous.

My content just doesn’t flow right. Can you help?

Translation: When used in this manner clients are usually referring to what we call hierarchy and call to action. What’s the first thing someone does when they visit your site? Is there a clear hierarchy of what to do first? Is the purpose of the website clearly evident? A call to action would be a like a “Buy Here” button or “Click Here For Pricing” that creates an appeal to further action from the site visitor. Proper consideration and thought should be put into color, size and position of calls to action. This combined with a clear navigatin flow and hierarchy will drastically increase the flow of your site's information. When in doubt, remember less is always more. 

So, the next time you set out to design a website or have a website designed for you,  ask these questions:

• Are the basic fundamentals in place?
• Can I make improvements in my alignment or spacing?
• Has the appropriate anti-aliasing been used?
• Have I sharpened my images or text with strokes or borders?
• Can I create extra depth to my page by using gradients or drop shadows?
• Is there a clear hierarchy with an appropriate call to action?
• Are all image colors corrected, balanced and sharpened?
• Are there any elements you can remove, fix, replace, move, change or edit?
• Does any one element draw too much attention?
• Are there too many colors in general?
• Is there aesthetic consistency?
• Am I effectively using the white space?

And last of all, ask yourself this…Does my website flow and pop?