Color and Emotional Response

Color can cause a visitor/customer to pass by your business, or leave your website altogether. For this reason, deciding on a color scheme for your business image is a very important first step.

BOLD

Warm colors such as red and orange are typically associated with boldness and strength. In web design, black can also trigger a feeling of strength.

PEACEFUL

Cool colors in the blue family conjure feelings of peace and calm. Purples are considered playful.

PROSPEROUS

Green and shades of it, cause most people to think of money, good health, nature, and/or prosperity.

PROFESSIONAL

Muted primary colors such as red, navy, or green along with black and dark gray convey a sense of professionalism.

You should avoid overuse of colors that cause a negative reaction such as bright (neon) purples, pinks, and yellows. Use of these colors in your website background can be particularly distressing to visitors. Unless you are looking for that specific type of reaction, you should avoid using them as the main colors on your website.

COLOR IN YOUR LOGO

The color of your logo should arouse the same feelings you wish your products to instill. As a general rule, a logo should not contain more than 4 colors. Many times even a black and white image is all that is necessary to achieve the desired response to your image.

It’s a good idea to study color and emotions when you are deciding on a color scheme for your branding. The knowledge you develop through a little extra studying, can make a huge difference in your brand’s future.

The post Playing on Color and Emotional Response in Your Brand appeared first on Nola Cooper Designs.

A basic website includes the following architecture:

• a HEADER-which typically contains your logo or business name and states the purpose of the site as quickly as possible through text and images. Some other items included in a header might be: trust symbols (such as security certificates, or BBB, etc.), a search box, a tagline, or contact information (such as a phone number, or email link).
• NAVIGATION-links to other sections of your site-typically on the top, left, right, or all 3-should be easy to read and understand. Text navigation is preferable for better SEO. Drop down navigation can provide better structure, and easier flow through the information on your site, and can help to lead your visitors to the right section. Lower or footer navigation is important when your pages require the visitor to scroll down for viewing. Lower navigation allows the visitor to find their way without having to scroll back up to the top of the page.
• the BODY of the website-the place where all of your information and images go. Placement is key in the body of your website. Important items should go “above the fold” (the area viewable before any scrolling is done).
• CONTACT INFORMATION-always make yourself easily accessible to your visitors. This is a key component for promoting security.
• COPYRIGHT-you should always include a copyright statement on your website to protect your content legally.

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A theme is your WordPress website’s template or skin. It’s what makes your site look good and work well. Depending on how it was designed, your theme should also have built in functions for the site, including menus (for upper, side, and bottom navigation of the site), widgets, blog integration, and different page templates.

Basic WordPress theme components:

• Widgets – the theme should (at the very least) have a widgetized sidebar.
• Custom Menus – WordPress added this feature as of version 3.0, so your theme should be able to utilize it…at least for the main navigation.
• Easy Customization – If you’re using a premium theme, and you didn’t hire a designer, you should be able to upload your own logo to and change some basic colors in your theme.
• SEO – your theme should be set up for easy integration of SEO plugins. Things like breadcrumbs, custom meta tags, custom page titles, etc.
• Fewer Plugins – Your theme should not require tons of plugins to function properly. The more plugins you use, the greater risk of increasing your load-time.

Okay…so what’s a Widget?

Widgets are tools or content that you can add, arrange, and remove from the “widgetized” areas of your site. Widgets make it easy to customize your layout. They show up within your WordPress dashboard in the Appearance menu (see image to the right). Typically, the widgetized areas of your site will be labeled (this one is labeled Blog Side Bar). You’ll be able to select the widgets you want, then drag and drop them into any area you want. You may have a widgetized sidebar area, or footer area. Using these little gems, you can add a search box, Social Media links, a blog roll (list of links), recent blog posts, blog categories and much more….making your site unique.

Creating a Custom Menu

To find out if your theme uses Custom Menus, visit the “Menus” link in the Appearance menu of your dashboard. In the Theme Locations box, it will tell you how many (if any) custom menus your theme supports. You can create menus and name them whatever you’d like (such as “Top Navigation”, “Footer Navigation”, etc.). Once you’ve created and saved a menu, you will then be able to designate which of your new menus should be used in which area of your site. In my example on the right, I created two menus: Top Navigation Menu, and Footer Navigation Menu. I then selected the Top Navigation Menu as my Primary Navigation, and the Footer Navigation Menu as my Footer Navigation.

Theme Types

There are some basic types of themes available, the main difference being the home page layout:

1. Blog – Used if your site will function only as a blog. This theme will show your most recent blog posts on the home page, and you’ll have static pages for “About” and “Contact”. You can also add your blog categories as sections of your top navigation, or as a list in your sidebar to make it easier for your viewers to find content.
2. Static Home Page – Best used for a brochure site, a theme with a static home page allows you to put in whatever home page content you’d like. With this type of theme, you can create a separate “blog” page (for news or updates), or no blog at all. You would typically utilize the pages in this type of theme and not the posts and post categories.
3. Magazine Style – A magazine style theme is becoming very common amongst WordPress users. With a magazine style theme, your home page contains many sections. Those sections may contain blog posts from specific categories, widgets, image galleries and more. With the right theme setup, you’ll be limited only by your imagination! This type of theme can also have a separate “blog” page, where all posts can be accessed in one place. Magazine style themes allow you to showcase your content.

Your theme can also be divided into columns (for displaying your content); from one column all the way up to several columns.

How do I choose a theme?

The best way to decide on a theme is to know beforehand what you want that theme to do for you. Choosing to use the WordPress platform for your site was a smart step. The next one is to sit down and create a flow-chart of your site. Once you know your site’s basic sections, you’ll have an idea of how you want the site to function overall. This will then help you determine what type of “home page layout” will best suit your content.

Remember to keep your target market in mind when deciding on a theme. Usability is important, and if your readers are confused by your content, your site will not do well.

Another determining factor will be ease of use. If you do not have the budget to hire a designer, you’ll need a theme that’s super easy for the end user.

Colors matter! Make sure that the theme you’ve chosen also matches your branding color scheme. If it doesn’t, then it should be easy to change those colors without knowing CSS or HTML. If you have basic HTML and CSS knowledge, then you’ll be able to do even more with your theme, and colors will not be a factor.

The post Using Themes appeared first on Nola Cooper Designs.

There are two types of “WordPress” sites:

WordPress.com

Blogs that are set up on the WordPress.com site, are hosted there, and while you are able to use free themes (templates), and make some changes, you do not have the flexibility that you have with your own site…and you have the SEO disadvantage of sending website traffic to a domain other than your own.

Self-Hosted

Self-hosted WordPress sites use the free software downloaded from WordPress.org, and are installed on your own domain and hosting account. Besides the advantage of the traffic going directly to your own domain, your use of themes and plugins is only limited by your (and your designer’s) imagination.

To run a self-hosted WordPress site you need to be sure of a couple of basic things about your hosting account.  (1) You need at LEAST 50MB of disk space (more if you’re going to blog, or use eCommerce); and (2) You need to be able to create at least ONE MySQL database.

Why Use WordPress?

Simply put, the WordPress platform is easy to install, easy to use, and easy to optimize for every type of website. Even a novice can quickly get online with a WordPress website. The newest versions of WordPress make it easy to add images to your site, upload documents, and change your site’s navigation, content, and structure. With the added use of select plugins, it’s easy to embed videos, incorporate social media, and take charge of your website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

If you plan to “blog” or even just post regular “news” on your site, WordPress is an excellent choice. Your content (posts) can be organized using categories and tags that will then make it easier for your readers to find them. The regular updates to content that come from blogging or posting, make the system carry more weight with the search engines, thus help to improve your rankings. WordPress also allows interaction with your visitors via a built in commenting system that you have complete control over.

Because your site’s content is database driven, it is very simple to reorganize that content at any time, just by changing categories, tags, page order, or the site’s navigation. And with themes (both free and custom), changing the look of your site can be as easy as a few clicks!

WordPress is the ultimate platform to test everything from site layout to content. And what better way to insure you get the best visitors to your site, than to test?

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WordPress Expert Reveals Lurking Dangers of Not Upgrading WordPress And Why WordPress Updates are Critically Important

Mooresville, NC – June 20, 2011 – Have you upgraded WordPress lately on your blog or website? If not, Nola Cooper, of WordPress Website Upgrades, says you may be leaving yourself vulnerable to hackers. Yet many businesses fail to update their WordPress versions. Why would companies avoid doing something so important?

Here are 4 biggest reasons people fail to upgrade their WordPress blog.

1. Lack of knowledge in WordPress. Many business owners don’t know the first thing about upgrading WordPress for their website or blog.
2. Fear of losing WordPress posts. If something goes wrong in the WordPress update, there is always a chance of losing existing blog posts.
3. Messing up WordPress Plugins. Blog owners love the functionalities of their favorite widgets and WordPress plugins. Sometimes upgrading WordPress can prevent plugins from working properly.
4. Not knowing someone with the expertise to handle the WordPress upgrade. Not every web designer is familiar with WordPress. It’s important to find a company who specializes in WordPress update services to handle the upgrade.

Nola Cooper, who is a Certified Professional WordPress 3.0+ Expert says,

“Updating your WordPress version regularly is critically important. It protects your blog with necessary security patches. Having a professional WordPress upgrade service handle your WordPress update ensures that your blog database is protected, plugins maintain functionality, and that your WordPress upgrade goes without a hitch.”

Another advantage of working with an experienced WordPress designer is that they can help you get the most out of your blog. They can design a custom WordPress theme that not only communicates your brand but also has added functionality.

Nola says, “A custom WordPress designer can design a theme that enhances user navigation, loads quickly, and has features that make it easy to use. They can add plugins to boost SEO, reduce blog spam, and make it easy for visitors to bookmark a post on their favorite social marketing sites.”

About: Nola Cooper is the owner of WordPress Website Upgrades, a company that specializing in WordPress Update Services and designing professional WordPress themes. Since 1995, she has helped businesses to upgrade WordPress, maximize blog functionality, and create custom WordPress themes for their business. Find out more about how to get the most of your WordPress blog or website today by visiting her online at www.wordpresswebsiteupgrades.com.

CONTACT:
WordPress Website Upgrades
Nola Cooper
704-677-3037
www.wordpresswebsiteupgrades.com
design@nolacooper.com

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First of all, there are some things to remember…

• The more plugins you have the more memory it will take to run your site. Why does this matter? Well, if you’re on a shared hosting account (and most people are), then you ‘share’ the memory allotment for that account. This means that you can go over your allotted percentage of memory or ‘CPU’ usage. If you need to use lots of plugins, AND you get lots of traffic to your site, you probably want to move to either a VPS (Virtual Private Server), or a dedicated server. Make sure that your server uses CGI, not FastCGI. While FastCGI loads a site faster, it also runs ALL of the site’s scripts ALL of the time…so CPU usage is much higher. With CGI, the scripts are only called when needed.

Yes, a plugin is a script, so each time that plugin is ‘called’ or ‘used’, it uses memory.

• From version 3.2 (Estimated to arrive in 2011), WordPress will cease to be supported under PHP 4, with the minimum required PHP version being PHP 5.2. Make sure that you have the correct version of PHP on your server (hosting account). PHP 4 is outdated and thus WordPress is not tested on it anymore…along with most plugins. Check with your hosting company to find out which version of PHP your account is running on, and how to make the switch if it’s older. In most cases, there’s no charge to make this change to your account.

Also, keep in mind that older Themes and Plugins may have PHP code that eventually might not work with every PHP 5 version. Check with the Theme and Plugin authors for the specific requirements of the themes or plugins you’re using.

That all being said, let’s move on to some great plugins…

I start every WP site install with these basic (and I feel ‘can’t live without’) plugins:

• WP Database Backup. Yes, you can purchase more robust plugins for backing up and restoring your site. But, to me there’s no need. This plugin backs up your entire database, and you can schedule it and have it emailed to you on a regular basis. You’ll probably go through most of your online life, blissfully never needing this, but it is very important to have it all the same.

• Akismet. You don’t have to download and install this one, it comes with your WordPress install. However, it’s important (if you’re blogging or posting and allowing comments) to activate this plugin. It helps keep the spam away!

• WP Touch. In today’s fast paced mobile world, it’s important to make sure your site is viewable on mobile devices. This plugin converts your site to a special theme when viewed from iPhone, iPod touch, Android, Palm Pre, Samsung touch and BlackBerry Storm/Torch mobile devices.

• WordPress SEO. This plugin replaces many that I used to use as defaults: Robots Meta, Yoast Breadcrumbs, All in One SEO, Google XML Sitemaps, and even Headspace2. The WONDERFUL thing about this plugin, is that if you’re using all of those old stand-bys, you can install this new one, and import all of your settings! This puts everything regarding your site’s SEO in one place..making the task of optimizing your site so much easier!

• Ultimate Google Analytics. This plugin adds Google Analytics to each page on your website without making any changes to your template. You’ll need to get a Google Analytics account to use this one, but doesn’t everyone need one of those anyway?

What’s no longer needed? With WordPress 3.0 and Custom Menus, you no longer need plugins like Page Link Manager, Exclude Pages, Simply Exclude, etc. With custom menus (and your theme must support this function), you completely control the navigation of your website.

Here are some BEYOND BASIC plugins that I love to use:

• Vipers Video Quicktags. Makes it more than easy to embed videos in your pages and posts…just the click of a button, and you’re on your way.

• WP Customer Reviews. Get your customers and clients involved. They can easily post their reviews directly from your website. You can set it to send you an email when a review is posted, and you have final say on which reviews are actually posted on your site. This plugin supports both Business and Product hReview types, which are parsed by Google.

• WP Render Blogroll Links. Probably the EASIEST way to add a links page to your website (for link partners or relevant link exchanges). Allows you to categorize your links, add descriptions, organize them, hide them, and even nofollow them.

• NextGen Gallery. For photo galleries, you just can’t beat the ‘out of the box’ ease of use. You can have multiple galleries, with multiple uses (such as slideshows). You can watermark your images. Drag and drop your images to sort them. Tag support allows flexibility in how you post your images. A sidebar widget is included. Plus, you can add other plugins to make the functionality even better!

• GTranslate. Uses the Google Translate service to translate with a single click between 58 languages.

• W3 Total Cache. I have to be honest…I’m not a big fan of Caching, but if you must, this one is (IMHO) the best.

There are so many valuable plugins out there. If you are smart, and do your research, you can end up with an absolutely incredible WordPress website!

The post WordPress Plugins – Post 3.0 appeared first on Nola Cooper Designs.

What are the elements of a good home page?

First and foremost an introduction that tells your visitor (quickly yet in detail) what your site is all about-and don’t forget to use your keywords. Ask yourself: What do I want my visitor to accomplish by reading this page? The answer should be a sense of understanding with a dash of excitement. Don’t forget to include an invitation…..you’re not a used car salesman, BUT you do want them to shop or read more! You should never assume that someone will just do that…..invite them to!

How do you invite someone to go further? When it comes to retail, place product photos, links, and descriptions right there on your home page. Have one or more “Featured” products on the page. To make it easy, place the code for a “buy now” button right there for at least one of the products! The fewer clicks to purchase, the better.

Photos…nothing is more important than your graphics….and when it comes to products, nothing is more important than showing them in a professional and clean way. If you’re just starting out, and you create your own products, my advice is to set aside a majority of your marketing budget to have professional product photos made. Why? Because looking professional and legitimate is not possible with dark or blurry product photos. As an important note, your photos will only be as nice as your products….make sure you have professional looking labels on your products! If your office printer isn’t quite up to par…..this is an important addition to your budget as well. If you DO print your own labels, make sure you have high resolution graphics on them…..using the web version of your logo won’t be the same.

What if you have an information site? The best way to draw someone in further is to provide “teasers”. Don’t put entire articles on your home page, choose 3 or 4 articles, and put just a few sentences from each (along with the headline) on the page. Use a “READ MORE” link to guide them to the full article. Be sure to neatly and succinctly divide the articles. Utilize tables with borders to draw the eye to individual “pieces” (sections) of the page. Use color and bolded text to give importance to headlines and specials.

Keep in mind that this page is the “eye candy” used to grab and hold a surfer’s attention. Try not to overload the page, or make it so confusing that they just surf right on by. If you must use banner ads, or links, place them so as not to cause a feeling of “information overload”.

Navigation-The navigation for your website should be the same throughout, whether its on the top, side, bottom, or all three, it should be in the same place on every page. Your home page provides a place for special sorts of navigation….take advantage of the opportunity to draw attention to specific items or sections of your site. And a snippet of javascript and place a “Bookmark Us” link somewhere on the home page.

And lastly….update, update, update! Very important for your search engine rankings and for those visitors who do bookmark your site and return, be sure to update your “store window” regularly to avoid boredom and keep them coming back for more!!

The post A Virtual Front Door – Your Home Page appeared first on Nola Cooper Designs.

Start your own tour of your error page with this thought…when someone lands here, they’ve either clicked an old link, a poorly coded link, or typed in a bad url. Does that mean I want them to leave my site?

Of course not!

What you want to do is guide them to the important areas of your site.

First of all explain to them (in laymen’s terms) where they are…instead of titling the page “404 Error-Page Not Found”, why not say something like “That Page Isn’t Here”?

Next offer either a link to your Site Map, or if you feel you have the space, put a copy of your site map on the page.

Are you building a list? Is the form prominently displayed in your sidebar navigation? If not, why not include a section with your list form? Make it look nice!

WordPress sites offer some great opportunities for your error page via plugins and other coding. For example on my own error page I’ve included “Recent Blog Posts”.

You could also use this as a page to highlight your most popular products.

The main thing to remember is that your error page is just that…a page of your site! Don’t leave it blank, and lose the additional opportunities it could be generating for you!

The post Valuable Website Real Estate appeared first on Nola Cooper Designs.

It’s called a Favicon. The file is actually “favicon.ico”. Having a favicon file for your website is becoming a necessity as businesses develop their brand on the web. So just exactly what is it?

Formal definition: The small icon displayed next to a URL in the address bar of a browser; A small icon that is used by some browsers to identify a bookmarked Web site; or small image displayed on the browser address bar when visitors view or bookmark your web page .

The following is my favicon…

How do you get one? Not all image programs will create favicons, but your graphic designer should be able to create one for you that matches your site design. Whether you use part of your logo, or a memorable image from your site is up to you. Keep in mind that a favicon image is 64 px by 64 px with 16 colors, so really complicated graphics may not “shrink to fit” well. The resolution of the original graphic can make a big difference.

I include a favicon in every website I design…after all it’s a part of your branding strategy! However you may need to purchase the graphic separately. Prices can range from $10 to $75.

You can also generate favicons online:

favicon.ico Generator

They may not be as custom or high quality as you’d like, but they are free!

The post That tiny little image… appeared first on Nola Cooper Designs.

Why can’t I use a really cool looking font everywhere on my website?

The answer is simple…You can, IF you make everything an image, IF you use Google’s Font API, or you go with an all Flash website (not recommended for SEO).

Why is this? Again, simple, but not widely understood….Not every computer in the world has those cool fonts installed on it.

Scenario: So let’s say your using a really neat handwritten style font you have called “Kristi” because you want your website to look like a handwritten letter. On your machine it looks fabulous! However, you decide to check out your site on your son’s laptop, and then you see it….a substitution! His laptop doesn’t have “Kristi” installed on it, so it’s substituting that font with something it has…and boy is it UGLY! The whole idea of your site is completely moot because the font’s not right!

Solutions: There are three ways to “fix” this issue.

(1) Create Images. You can make every page full of textual images, increase your load time and lose all your Search Engine Optimization, or you can choose certain sections that you really want to stand out, and change those text areas into images. Keep in mind that images do not carry the same “weight” with the search engines as text (even with detailed alt tags), so you should make every effort to only use non-keywords (or keywords that you repeat frequently) in your textual images. (example for me would be: design, graphics, purchase, contact, about, email, etc.).

(2) Use the Google Font API. Google recently added a beta program to use fonts from a directory on their site, simply by adding a little code to yours. A list of Google’s web fonts can be found here: www.Google.com/webfonts. You add these fonts by adding a stylesheet link to < head > area of your website, then styling an element with that font in YOUR stylesheet (you can also use inline styling, if absolutely necessary).

So to add the “Kristi” font, you would add a stylesheet link to the < head > area of your site:

Then style an element in your stylesheet using that font:

Google adds this important note:

When specifying a web font in a CSS style, always list at least one fallback web-safe font in order to avoid unexpected behaviors. In particular, add a CSS generic font name like serif or sans-serif to the end of the list, so the browser can fall back to its default fonts if need be.

Full instructions for using a Google web font are provided in their Getting Started section.

(3) Use A Universal Font. Universal fonts are fonts that are commonly installed on all computers, no matter the brand or platform. Using these commonly installed fonts will mean that your site content will look the same no matter who is browsing, and what type of computer they are using (PC or Mac).

List of Universal Fonts:

• Arial
• Arial Black
• Book Antiqua/Palatino
• Comic Sans
• Courier New
• Georgia
• Impact
• Lucida Console
• Lucida Sans Unicode
• MS Sans Serif
• MS Serif
• Segoe
• Tahoma
• Times New Roman
• Trebuchet MS
• Verdana

Verdana and Segoe happen to be my personal favorites, because there is a very significant difference between bolded and normal…why bother to bold something if it’s not going to stand out? 🙂

Once you understand this very important aspect of web design, you’ll be able to make the decisions necessary to create your “killer” website!

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