Many of our clients have requested do it yourself websites, where they can update their own photos and content. We collected a list of top 5 mistakes people make when updating their own websites and offer some tips to keep your site fresh and current, yet not spinning out of control.
1. Over use of font options. People go crazy with the new found formatting toolbars we have given them to update their sites making their text in a rainbow of colors ending up lookinglike last year's Christmas tree. Too many sizes of fonts, bolding, itallics and different styles of fonts make a site look busy and unorganized. Don't worry too much about your font being too small on the other person's end, you can't control the font size that a person chooses to keep their browser set to and their settings will override yours. Keep it simple, just use one font and one or two sizes and not more than two font colors. If you use too many, your site will quickly go from looking like a professional site, to looking like a amateur site. Can you see how this paragraph isn't as easy to read as the others?
2. Photos in various sizes and borders and styles. The new website tool we offer our clients has a variety of photo editing tools, you can crop a photo, add a border, choose a tilt option, even add a fade over a picture or give it a cute Polaroid look. Using too many of these styles on one website is a tell tale sign of a "do it yourselfer". Pick one style, one tilt, one border choice and stick with that for every photo you add. Don't go overboard, it just looks tacky. You can see below, I used three different photo effects, each by the themselves are cool, but together........ well, you get the picture!
1. Over use of font options. People go crazy with the new found formatting toolbars we have given them to update their sites making their text in a rainbow of colors ending up lookinglike last year's Christmas tree. Too many sizes of fonts, bolding, itallics and different styles of fonts make a site look busy and unorganized. Don't worry too much about your font being too small on the other person's end, you can't control the font size that a person chooses to keep their browser set to and their settings will override yours. Keep it simple, just use one font and one or two sizes and not more than two font colors. If you use too many, your site will quickly go from looking like a professional site, to looking like a amateur site. Can you see how this paragraph isn't as easy to read as the others?
2. Photos in various sizes and borders and styles. The new website tool we offer our clients has a variety of photo editing tools, you can crop a photo, add a border, choose a tilt option, even add a fade over a picture or give it a cute Polaroid look. Using too many of these styles on one website is a tell tale sign of a "do it yourselfer". Pick one style, one tilt, one border choice and stick with that for every photo you add. Don't go overboard, it just looks tacky. You can see below, I used three different photo effects, each by the themselves are cool, but together........ well, you get the picture!
3. Not enough text. Text is the most important thing on your website, it is what sets your site apart from the rest and it also is what search engines use to find and index your site and rank your site above or below others. We see people just putting up one paragraph on a page and it just isn't enough information to make it useful. We always suggest that you put yourself in your customer's shoes and think, what would they want to know about my business and how do I need to explain that to them. We also see clients who have websites that the text never changes on. This becomes the kiss of death for your clients and the search engine placement. Stale text is a no no! Use the blogging tool to keep your content fresh, it is so easy!
4. Photos too big. Sometimes when you take a photo off your camera, the files are HUGE. If you load those photos right up from your camera, to your computer, to your website with out resizing them, they will be very large files, taking both a long time to upload into the system, but also a long time for a user to download them and view on the other end when they view your website. We use Adobe Photoshop products to optimize images to smaller sizes suitable for the web before we load them onto our client's sites. We suggest if you are going to do it yourself, you get some kind of photo editor, like Adobe Photoshop Elements which isn't too expensive and use that to optimize your images before you load them into your websites. Having too big image files will be painful for both you and your website viewers.
5. Headers, headers headers. Header graphics can be really pretty if done correctly. The website tool we offer allows clients to update their own header files. Use this tool wisely, do not over do it and keep your style the same on every single page. If you use a header graphic with a type tool overlay, make sure the font you choose is the same on every header, make sure the border color and effect is the same on every one and you will have a fabulous looking site that you can change yourself.
After the dust settles on your new site, we are always there to help you just let us know if you need a any hand holding or help with updates. We are proud of our "do it yourselfers" and excited to share our new website solutions with all our clients. Give us a jingle if you want us to revamp your site so you can too be a "do it yourselfer".
Melissa Berschens
4. Photos too big. Sometimes when you take a photo off your camera, the files are HUGE. If you load those photos right up from your camera, to your computer, to your website with out resizing them, they will be very large files, taking both a long time to upload into the system, but also a long time for a user to download them and view on the other end when they view your website. We use Adobe Photoshop products to optimize images to smaller sizes suitable for the web before we load them onto our client's sites. We suggest if you are going to do it yourself, you get some kind of photo editor, like Adobe Photoshop Elements which isn't too expensive and use that to optimize your images before you load them into your websites. Having too big image files will be painful for both you and your website viewers.
5. Headers, headers headers. Header graphics can be really pretty if done correctly. The website tool we offer allows clients to update their own header files. Use this tool wisely, do not over do it and keep your style the same on every single page. If you use a header graphic with a type tool overlay, make sure the font you choose is the same on every header, make sure the border color and effect is the same on every one and you will have a fabulous looking site that you can change yourself.
After the dust settles on your new site, we are always there to help you just let us know if you need a any hand holding or help with updates. We are proud of our "do it yourselfers" and excited to share our new website solutions with all our clients. Give us a jingle if you want us to revamp your site so you can too be a "do it yourselfer".
Melissa Berschens
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