Almost all the clients I worked with required one for them, for their news and update or press release. But does it work well with it? Not exactly.

For my point of view, a business, depending on the services, a slideshow is a showcase, in a way.

It should emphasize the business itself. Attractiveness is not a priority, but the effect of the slideshow counts. Delaying too long is not good; invisible button is not good; button not clearly shown is not good and so on.

It is always good to use JQuery for the slide instead of Flash, because Flash already breaking the first rules of the slide – Delay. It needs to load and depend on how fast/slow the Internet connection a visitor has. However, overusing slideshows may make it all little boring too…

Both of us are from a small town, where not much of businessmen believe web can benefit them. Which in turn, no web designer in town. I did not strongly advertise my field in the town yet though. As I have some job coming in from the web itself.

However, even if web doesn’t bring in business, I believe it does help in promoting the services/products online This is what businessmen doesn’t know…

Like getting Philadelphia jobs, a portal/web is essential. As an online door for potential customers.

But what makes up the percentage of traffic are the social media. People started to go for social media for review and comment instead. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are most visited for a product/service review.

However, as a newbie to social media, I have no idea how to… Construct a good copy line for my services.

After a few coaching session, I find out that we are too hurry to the business. We tend to take the saver move by hoping to get customers from one site and place them on another site. After a few analysed with my wife/partner, the site become a showcase instead of service provider. That is the biggest problem.

The coaching give us the chance to run through head to toe again. By starting off with target audience, services and gaining traffic, which is good. The money worth it all But wasted it too. As previously we did joined a training about all these, I know it’s stupid, but still worth it

There, web appearance is just a “design” for them, period. Web is none other than a good design that attract people and give some information, that’s all. Which is a very limited point of view I would say. I told him “Get your equestrian apparel I’m taking you for a short ride ”

Web is a gateway

Web is a front door, a door where people in some corner of the world open and see you without having to physically come to you. The web should re-present your products/services/ideas. Design does not re-present it, but the concept of the design present it. It’s about the concept. A simple layout can be a powerful message of a concept.

Web is the long-listed email

Look around, most company website doesn’t stop on a few static html pages anymore. They keep improving their appearance and their information. It save you a long listed FAQ from the visitors to get to their point.

Web is a brand, an asset

While most people thought that web is a marketing tool, which is truth too. But to be precise, it is an asset for your company. Not only can it helps selling your products/services/ideas continuously, if the web is well maintained.

While I was with Windows XP, there was this little IE6 stand alone packed for my convenient. But then, naughty me, I upgraded to Windows Vista not long ago, because I wanted to test Vista for a long long time and now I’m addicted to the interface, like how I did with Macintosh.

Recently I found a little software called IETester. Which can render from IE5.5 to IE8 (!) I love it!

Overally it doesn’t have much function. All it did is render your page in IE and do only this, and do it well

One thing I should hate about IE6 is the margin/padding problem, and it does not support .PNG file type. PNG-24 has been a good friend with me

The difference between big and small company is big company already has a loyalty clients, big R&D department and good Executive, everything run on manpower, big budget. For small company, they need to do it in a tight budget. That’s why most small company like to use new age website expecially interactive game or something else (Facebook perhaps?).

This however, means something. Web designer requirements are getting higher and higher. Looks into the paper or job site, most web designer are require to be able to work on Flash. I don’t know how much knowledge should one web designer have on Flash, it definitely not only on doing some logo animation that easy. I myself, when I work on Flash website, it gonna take me hell lot of time to create the content and copy, but if it’s just some information website, without design, it simply takes only half an hour. The difference is very prominent. Hopefully this new age web designer don’t get cancer like mesothelioma that easy nowadays… Sometimes I hate facing LCD for such a long time too.

Are you a web designer?

1, Due to the long live internet and website, people started to get their own comfortable website that they went for information. Example, Wikipedia, it has been one of the site that students has in their bookmark toolbar. Yahoo! music also one of the way people gets their update about music industry. In other word, internet started to stick with sites they’re comfortable with and hardly went for search engine anymore.

2, My girl friend and I have a site making WordPress theme. It surprise me when she told me that she can actually auction the sponsor footer link. This sound like some easy to earn income, but the insider is – Popularity. That also explain why paid posting was so heat up the blogger community last few years (And properly started again due to the economy down fall). I myself has been assign the same keyword for few times, because popularity of keyword on my blog as well as the traffic in my blog. When Google banning and elaminating blogs with paid post, my blog was PR0, so what?

3, Blogs can sometimes be so informative than any other website, well, this mostly due to the paid posting and the love from search engine too. Some people might search for the keyword “weight loss pills” they might come into my blog – Popularity.

Yahoo!, Google, MSN started to get away from search engine. They invest in a lot of other services, Google coming into mobile (I believe they wanna go into OS industry too). MSN are now named as Windows Live, the online storage is one of the point right now. Yahoo! also investing a lot of other site, be it buying or selling. I think I have to look for way on developing website nowadays.

Resume is just like a website. When you apply a job, you present your resume like marketing yourself. Especially for creative field, if it’s boring, it’s on the trash. If it’s interesting they keep looking and maybe share it. Just like a website/blog, it’s like an online resume with the portfolio or promotional items for company website. And if the visitor sees that they will not benefit to your site, he will give no response; if the site is interesting, they’ll keep coming back.