It goes without saying that Web site statistics should be regularly reviewed for changes in traffic patterns, but other evaluation methods should be used to ensure that your Web site is properly reaching your target audience:

• Evaluate your Web site on the newest versions of each of the popular Web browsers: Display capabilities change with each new browser version, so it is imperative that you stay on top of how your Web site appears on the latest browsers. At a minimum, test on the latest Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, and Netscape. If you have access to a Mac, be sure to test Safari as well. Some advanced statistical packages will also tell you which browsers are being used to view your Web site. If you are getting significant traffic using an alternative browser such as Opera, be sure that your Web site works with it as well.
• Evaluate your Web site at different screen resolutions: There are several display resolutions currently being used by the vast majority of Web surfers. Change your Windows display resolution to match some of the different resolutions and visit your Web site. If you have a difficult time finding information on it at a different resolution, chances are that your visitors are too.
• Search for and compare with online competitors: Just because you’ve always faced the same competition from the same firms since the inception of your business doesn’t meant that there aren’t new competitors out in cyberspace who are taking your business. You may be pitted against many competitors that you’ve never heard of and your Web site might not be stacking up well.
• Determine what questions an interested member of your audience would be seeking answers to on your Web site and determine if the answers are easy enough to find. Many Web site owners approach their Web site as being a method of “telling visitors what I want to tell them”, but the most effective Web sites are constructed to easily allow visitors to find answers to questions that they have. After all, your visitors are the reason that the site is there. If they cannot find the information they are looking for, then your Web site is not doing its job.

Tools

There are many powerful tools that are inexpensive or even available at no cost that can help you evaluate and evolve your Web presence:

Evaluation Tools

• Google SiteMaps. This free service from Google allows you to learn a great deal about the searchability of your Web site and even allows you to “push” new content to Google instead of waiting for their spider to revisit your Web site every few months.
• Advanced search engine. An advanced search engine that shows the popularity of searches will help you determine what your visitors are looking for but cannot find in any other way than through the search engine. These results will allow you to more properly position and develop your content.
• Advanced Web statistics. An advanced statistical package will show you which browsers at what screen resolutions are being used to view your Web site, which pages are being visited (and which ones aren’t), and more. Services such as WebTrends and Web Side Story can help you evaluate the effectiveness of new marketing campaigns and edited Web site content.
• Feedback solicitations. Perhaps the best way to gather feedback about the effectiveness of your Web site is to solicit feedback on every page of your Web site. This will not only make it easy for your visitors to submit their comments, but will show them that your company is committed to delivering the content that they are seeking. Survey tools can also be used to solicit feedback.
• Link checkers. Most modern Web sites are built in such a way that internal links (links to other resources on the same domain) are always accurate, but even if yours is built in this manner, mistakes can still happen and external links (links to pages or resources on another domain) are always at risk of being broken.
• Browser checkers. There are many resources available to automatically check the appearance of your Web site in multiple browsers, platforms, and screen resolutions.

Evolution Tools

• Web content management (WCM). Web content management is a simple solution that allows your Web site to be changed as quickly as the market demands it to.
• Dynamic reorganization of content. Your Web site can be set up so that popular searches and links appear more prominently on your Web site automatically to help visitors easily find what they are looking for.
• Personalization. Each visitor has his or her own unique needs and viewing preferences. Allowing your visitors to personalize your Web site to their tastes will allow them to stay more informed about your company. The drawback to personalization is that a login is required.

NuRelm offers complimentary, personalized assessments of Web sites with no obligation. To request a free assessment, please visit NuRelm’s Website assessment page and one of our Web experts will be in touch to present a professional analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your Web site.

• The typical scenario involves one project manager who must track numerous projects and people.  That person becomes responsible for following up with each and every person involved in each job, which quickly becomes too much to effectively maintain.
• Most existing project management software provides a good way to create a list of tasks, then assign them durations and resources.  However, they are not as good at providing an easy way to track every detail of every task – a project manager must use a lot of valuable time making many, many phone calls to gather information.
• Most project management systems do not provide a way to notify team members when they are either due to complete a task, when they are late, when a task date has been moved, with a summary of tasks they have due in the next 30 days, or any useful data such as this.
• Most companies have specific needs that are not covered by systems that are not customizable.
• Creating on-the-fly reports is impossible, and any reporting is done by the project manager who is controlling the tracking system.  Many organizations literally spend days each week generating reports for management.

Using the Web to Make Project Tracking Easy
Imagine how much easier it would be to track projects if individual team members could simply make updates on their own tasks directly, instead of requiring a project manager to transcribe that information into a tracking tool.  There’s no need to imagine this today, because this is precisely the sort of problem that the Internet is perfect for solving.

A Web-based project management system easily solves the problems listed above:

• Each member of a project team can simply enter task status information into the system via any Internet-enabled computer (no need to install software on each PC used because it is delivered via the Web from a server that houses the software).
• Project managers can use their skill where it should be used: for planning projects and handling exceptions, not for transcribing routine task data from team members.
• Project managers can use the project creation software they are used to (such as Microsoft Project) to create project task lists, then import them into a Web-based tracking system.
• Team members can enter more detailed information about individual tasks than might ever be collected by a project manager who is tracking thousands of tasks.
• An online system can notify team members automatically when it is their time to perform a task, and when they are late.  Team members can use a Web-based system to perform complex queries on their tasks, including which tasks are due in the next week, month, or year.
• Reporting in such a system is immediate, and always up-to-date.  Anyone, based on their permissions, can pull up a dynamically generated report from any Web-enabled computer.
• A Web-based system opens up new frontiers that are not possible using traditional tools.  For example, have you ever wanted to share certain information with clients, such as the status of their projects?  A Web-based project management tool can completely and securely automate such processes.

Evaluating Net Costs
A customized Web-based tool sounds expensive, but it does not have to be.  The net price of such a system should be evaluated not only in terms of up-front and maintenance costs, but also in terms of potential cost savings, efficiency improvements, and additional revenues.

Determining cost savings is relatively easy.  Figure out how much time your project managers spend tracking projects, and cut that by 80% to 90%.  Calculate how much time is spent each week creating reports for other people, and cut that by 95%.  And so on …

Projections for additional revenues that could be generated is not as easy, but it is an exciting topic to explore.  How much more business will your sales people close (compared with your less forward thinking competitors) if they are able to offer instant, on-demand project status updates to clients?  How could your office staff utilize additional free time created by automating the tedious tracking process?  These are questions that require some creativity to answer, but they are the types of questions that, if addressed appropriately, can give you a significant edge on the competition.

The final important aspect is the initial and ongoing cost of a Web-based project tracking system, which is easy to determine if you start with a clear picture of needs.  Before approaching vendors for a quote, it makes sense to make a list, in the clearest terms possible, of what you want.  If you are pressed for time and anxious to get started, NuRelm, for a very small fee, can come in and help you assess which project management/maunal process can be automated in order to improve efficiency.  Separating that list into “must haves” versus “nice to haves,” or breaking it down into a timeline showing features needed by certain dates can help break down costs in a way that is more affordable.

Once a list is complete, and validated with the members of the team that would be using such a system, then take it to a few vendors for price quotes. There is a lot of room for variation, so be prepared to spend some time with each vendor making sure that they understand what you want, and that you understand what they are providing for the price they have quoted.

Project management Web technologies generally pay for themselves in less than a year in terms of cost savings and increased business.

Choosing a Vendor
Finding the right vendor for a large-scale Web-based project is challenging.  But, as with any custom service from Web application development to building construction, some simple common-sense rules will make that choice much easier:

• Look for examples of similar work that you want done within the vendor’s portfolio of work, and make sure you are comfortable with a vendor’s ability to easily map to your requirements.
• Call references, and make sure they are very happy with the vendor’s. performance on previous projects.
• Evaluate responsiveness.  A vendor should be able to help you quickly refine your requirements (sometimes through a separate analysis project) to the point that a meaningful proposal can be create, and provide an on-time, professional proposal.

Conclusion
Managing large projects will always present challenges.  But, a well-built Web-based system can eliminate the most tedious of those challenges, providing the people in your organization with more time to use their brains instead of performing the tedious tasks that a computer should be doing.

• Google
  • Search box, with searched words, remains prominent at top
  • Option to view an “advanced” search page
  • Total number of results shown at top
  • Ajax-driven auto-complete for typed follow-up searches
  • Sponsored links at top and right
  • Paginated results
  • Results titles are large, bold, and hyperlinked
  • Searched words are shown in bold in a page snippet, in context
  • URLs shown in a different color under each result
  • Each result allows options to view “similar” and “cached”
  • Visited links are in a different color
  • Related search phrases listed at bottom
  • Search box with search terms repeated at the bottom
  • “Show options” link opens a sidebar for further filtering of the results
• Bing
  • Very similar to google but has some differences
  • Lists the user’s “search history” in the sidebar
  • The history to be cleared or turned off
  • The search history remains intact
  • Pagination unit at the bottom of the results page is more user-friendly
  • Pagination rolls over when moused
• Yahoo
  • Yahoo’s search results page includes a couple of JavaScript-driven enhancements
  • Ajax-driven slide-down unit that appears below the search box when a search query is being typed
  • “Search Pad” which allows the user to record notes on searches
  • “SearchScan” to help protect from harmful websites
• Youtube
  • Easily-accessible filtering options near the top of the search results
  • YouTube search result page lists detailed information
    • Including a thumbnail preview
    • Running time of the clip
    • User rating
    • And age
    • Also if a particular item is part of a series
• Twitter
  • Offers a very clean, intuitive JavaScript-driven interface that includes “Realtime” results
  • Their page also offers a list of “Trending topics” and a “Search tip”
  • Additionally, Twitter gives the user the option to refresh the page after it detects additional results in real time
• Digg
  • Each result on the Digg search results page includes the number of comments that have been posted for that particular story
  • In addition to other features that are unique to Digg, including “share” and “bury”
• Delicious
  • Lists search results in a very simple, list format that includes tags associated with each result
  • Plus the number of times the result has been bookmarked
• Amazon
  • Allows for the results to be sorted based on a variety of methods, including “Bestselling” and “Avg. Customer Review”
  • Amazon’s results page indicates if a book has the “Look Inside” feature
• Ebay
  • eBay’s search results page  allows for easy filtering via tabs at the top
  • eBay also has the option to view the thumbnail preview images in a different size:
  • Other features unique search results page are the options to change the amount of items displayed per page and the ability to go directly to a specific page by entering a number into a text box
• Flickr
  • Flickr  displays results by default in a simple grid-based format
  • Flickr also allows the images to be displayed either in a detail-heavy list-style view or inside of a Flash-based slideshow gallery
• Photobucket
  • Photobucket allows filtering of search results by “Most viewed” and “Most commented”. It also includes a link strangely titled “Follow”, which allows the user to enter their email address to receive notifications when the results for a particular search term are updated. A more appropriate title for this feature would be “Subscribe”, or similar.

For easy reference, here is a list of some of the best practices taken from Smashing Magaine’s Article:

• User should have easy access to the search box for follow-up searches
• Search terms should be clearly indicated at the top, and in context in the results
• Related sponsored links can be included below the search box, near the bottom, or on the right
• Titles should be clickable and clearly differentiated from details
• Visited links should be indicated
• Pagination units should be visibly block-shaped and have a hover effect, to easily differentiate from one another
• Related products, tags, or keywords should be displayed in a non-obtrusive section
• E-Commerce sites should allow the “view” to be toggled between “list” and “grid”
• Advanced search options should be easily accessible
• Should allow re-sorting or filtering of results
• Where possible, results pages should have RSS feeds or “subscribe” options
• For complex interfaces, clear, easy-to-access search tips or instructions should be provided
• Sorting and Filters should be JavaScript or Ajax-driven, where possible
• Popularity or star-ratings should be shown for individual results
• Include an option to increase the number of results per page
• To monitor future improvements, request feedback from users after searches are conducted
• If results span different sections of the website, indicate this by sub-headings or other dividers

So to sum it all up when building your own search engine try to come up with the best combination for your targeted audiance. But the overall goal should be your user’s experience and usability.

The 800 pound gorilla in the room, Google, is at the top of the Internet feeding chain and seems destined to stay there, at least for a while.  Google’s innovative online marketing programs are the best deal around for businesses that want to attract a large volume of motivated visitors to their Web sites .  If you don’t already know about it, you owe it to yourself and your company to get on-board with Google AdWords – a marketing program on the cutting edge of modern technology that actually delivers what it promises, IF you know how to work the system.

AdWords is an advertising tool that a rapidly growing number of businesses and marketing professionals are using to generate highly targeted online leads for their products and services.  Adwords uses a Pay-Per-Click system, meaning that you pay Google every time someone clicks on your ad.  It’s really not expensive considering that not many keywords are over $5.00 and a lot are under $1.00.  Sounds like the ultimate advertising tool, right? It can be, if you (or your online marketing vendor) understands the numerous tricks to get your ads ranked higher and noticed by your best prospects.  For those who want to boost sales by improving their online lead generation skills, here are the top 10 useful tips for Google AdWords.

1. There should be a viable online market for what you do before you start. You can go to google.com/trends and type in keywords that you believe encompass your business. If the trend is going downhill you may want to rethink your online business model.
2. Once you know that you have a target audience, you need to figure out what they are searching for (keywords). You can use the keyword tool in AdWords to see what keywords are most popular and which ones attract the most traffic. Another helpful site is www.askhowie.com/freewords. This site shows you what the top keywords are in that market.
3. Put someone in charge of your AdWords campaign. If there are too many people working on these campaigns, you won’t be able to see what trends are happening because they will be changed too often without notice. There is a lot to know about AdWords  so it’s best to put someone in charge that will spend time researching and implementing a cohesive strategy.Tip: The AdWords Learning Center is a huge help! You can study all there is to know about AdWords in either text or multi-media format, whichever works best for you. There are quizzes for each lesson to assure that you are absorbing the information. This is a great way to begin because it helps you learn the basics quickly so that you don’t make novice mistakes.
4. Quality scores matter! You should not have every campaign going to the same page on your Web site. Direct them where you want them to go. They aren’t going to sign up for your newsletter if they are landing on the contact page. If you test an ad for a month and it has received little or no clicks, either delete or pause it, because it is affecting your quality score. Don’t bid on keywords that people aren’t using. If there are no impressions, there will be no clicks.
5. Don’t assume you know everything there is to know about AdWords. It seems easy at first, but the more you learn about it the more complicated it gets. A great resource is AdWords for Dummies.
6. The goal is not who gets the most clicks! You want people to either buy a product, become a lead, or sign up for something. You must make sure that your landing pages are interesting and full of content. Web surfers are impatient. Make sure all your links and buttons are functioning properly.
7. Writing ads can be tricky. It’s hard to tell which ones are getting traffic because of what they say. The best way to “test” ads is to do different ad variations. Use the same content but change it around a little. See what works better, such as numbers or text.  Just put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Think about what you would look for and apply that to your ads. Google automatically rotates them and shows them when the search is most relevant for that ad. Then you can compare and see which one is getting more clicks. Take your time…Rome wasn’t built in a day.
8. Don’t think you can be tricky and use keywords that have absolutely nothing to do with your ad. Google has figured you out. Your ad will be considered irrelevant and moved to the end of the sponsored list, or Google will stop showing your ad all together. Make sure your keywords match your ad.
9. Make sure your ad is relevant to your Web site. For instance, you cannot claim that you are the best at something without having a third party confirm it on the landing page of your Web site. You also cannot offer Free downloads or 50% off of a product if that information is not available on the landing site. And of course, the trick of all tricks, having something like Paris Hilton Pics as your headline will not work. Not only will you get into trouble with Google, you will be paying for clicks and no one will be taking action on your Web site. These practices could have your ad placed at the end of the sponsored list or not shown at all.
10. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If your ad is doing well, it doesn’t mean that you should only do one campaign.  If your ad is doing poorly, don’t give up. It takes a lot of time and patience to make an AdWords campaign work. The key is to switch things up until you hit the sweet spot. You’ll never know what really works until you try a little bit of everything.

1. Fonts are an important attribute of a Web site.  It is essential that fonts are large and clear enough for viewers to easily read.  Although it is tempting to use fancy, script-like font styles, the content’s message is lost in translation.  Not only can some fonts be hard to read, all computers do not have the same font files, causing them not to load properly.  Universal fonts are safe to use, including Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana.  The standard font size advised is 10 point.  If you have another style or smaller size of font on your current Web site, you may want to reevaluate its use.
2. Branding is an important online marketing practice.  A company usually has a unique color scheme/logo that sets them apart.  To build more effective branding, the online presence should reflect offline marketing materials.  If different colors or images are used, consumers may become confused or think that the company is unprofessional.  If something familiar doesn’t immediately jump off the home pager, they might not even recognize you.   Always consider offline marketing materials when designing or redesigning a Web site.
3. Imagery is as important as the content of a Web site.  Results-oriented imagery is the most effective way to get the consumer’s attention.  Consumers can better relate to seeing a happy family standing outside of a brand new house rather than Joe President or Mary Saleswoman on the home page.  Imagery needs to assure consumers what they can achieve with the product or service being marketed and produce imagery that reinforces those feelings.
4. Web site content should always be in text format.  Web site content in an image-based format wards off search engines.  If you are not sure, ask your Web developer how the content is formatted.  This can seriously hinder the Web sites search engine rankings, because search spiders cannot easily pick out important keywords that are partially responsible for boosting your rankings.
5. There should never be broken links on a Web site.  It is a simple task to periodically check the links of a site to verify that they are working properly.  Broken links are a huge setback in search engine optimization, especially for an issue that can be easily monitored and fixed.
6. Clear navigation is another very important feature of a successful Web site.  Confusing navigation is a major reason why Web surfers leave Web sites.  Setting goals and tracking the steps to achieve them can help analyze the effectiveness of a site’s navigational structure.  For example, submitting a Contact Us form on a Web site is a very important goal.  Using Web statistics software, like Google Analytics, is an efficient way to track the path prospects must take to submit the form.

Creating an effective Web site can be a challenge and there isn’t a clear-cut path to success.  However, there are many aspects  you can control that will help the process.  Streamlining and regularly maintaining a Web site’s content, links, and images may not solely drive a business to become a Fortune 500 company, but it can help  to significantly increase the bottom line. Take advantage of NuRelm’s free Web Site Assessment services that can help you drive more relevant traffic to your company’s Web site.  To speak with a NuRelm representative about your Web site, please call 1-877-2NuRelm.

5 Networking Sites (In no particular order):

• Facebook
  • Can be used for professional or business use
    • A way to network with other people
    • A way to list your business for others to see
    • A way to share media
    • A way to post events
    • Free advertising
  • Specific examples where Facebook could be useful
    • A web developer could search for others in their profession
    • A company can create a fan page then link their blog to it
      • Blog posts can automatically be updated
    • With a fan page a company can have contests or other incentives
    • With a large enough network, you can use Facebook to get information and perform your own market research on connections.
• Myspace
  • Another Networking tool
    • A way to network with other people
    • A way to list your business for others to see
    • A way to share media
    • A way to post events
    • Free advertising
  • Specific examples where Myspace could be useful
    • A great way to reach a certain audience
    • A company can create a page and list all their business information
    • With a fan page a company an have contests or other incentives
    • Although Myspace is a great social networking tool, I wouldn’t necessarily recommended for a lot of businesses
      • Myspace is REALLY good for music and bands
• Twitter
  • Micro Blog
    • By building a follower list you can network with others
    • Also can broadcast your business to a specific audience
    • Also can research trends on what people are talking about
    • An easy way to get the most up-to-date information
  • Some ways Twitter can be useful:
    • A way to research if anything is being said about your company and/or competition
    • A way to keep people up-to-date on company’s goings-on
    • A way to find and meet up with other people
• LinkedIn
  • Another Networking Tool
    • A way to network with other professionals
    • A way to get your business listed
    • Great way to find answers to questions
    • Great way to discreetly promote your blog
  • Some ways LinkedIn can be useful:
    • Can have your blog linked to post automatically to your profile
    • With LinkedIn Polls, you’ll be able to find answers to your research questions by asking your network and other professionals
• Sphinn
  • Internet Marketing news forums and discussions
    • A way to find out hot topics, share news and start discussions
    • Specifically geared toward online marketers
    • A way to find out upcoming events and meet networking friends in person
  • Some specific examples of  Sphinn uses:
    • Great way to keep up with the on-goings on the web
    • Great way to meet other social networkers online
    • Could be a great source of inspiration for blog articles and discussions on forums

3 Social Bookmarking Sites

• Del.ic.ious
  • Delicious is the biggest collection of bookmarks online, and can point you to high quality resources for just about anything.
    • A good way to share your bookmarks with people and get bookmarks in return
    • Discover useful and interesting things on the web
    • Can bookmark any site
  • Good things about Delicious
    • You can upload all your bookmarks already in your browser
    • Toolbars are also available  to bookmark sites as you find and not have to  go directly to delicious
    • Easy way to share and network sites on the web
• StumbleUpon
  • Similar to Delicious
    • Alternative way to search for web pages
    • Community based searching
  • Good things about StumbleUpon
    • Rating system on whether or not you liked a page
    • Can write reviews of a page for other people to see
    • Also has a browser toolbar for easy marking
• Digg
  • Another social bookmarking website much more similar to StumbleUpon
    • Great way to see top stories and breaking news across the web and share them
    • Community based searching
  • Things that are good about Digg
    • Has a browser toolbar
      • I REALLY enjoy this toolbar, it shows you stats on the certain item before you “digg” it
    • Also has a rating and review system
    • Enjoyable interface

5 Useful Social Networking Tools

1. Create primary points of focus – keep names the same. Using creative names detracts from usability. Also, avoid design that will be distracting or confusing for the user to understand and find what they’re looking for quickly.
   1. Once you figure out what parts of your website are “primary” and what parts are “secondary,” you can establish a visual hierarchy that enhances usability.
   2. Primary links are usually accessible from every page and located near the primary links. This shows the user that this information is important.
   3. The prime idea would be to design the secondary links likewise to show a hierarchy of importance.
2. Include A Search Box, typically on the right side of the website as a part of the navigation.
3. Avoid “Surprise” Drop-Down Menus. Drop-down menus  are quite prevalent in modern design because they simplify cluttered layouts.
   1. Visually indicating whether a navigation link will reveal a drop-down menu when the user mouses over it is best practice. This is most simply accomplished with a downward-pointing triangle, but whatever works for your design is fine also.
4. Before you design a horizontal navigation menu, consider link names, section hierarchy and any other factors that could affect usability.

When it comes to designing your own navigation bars though, common sense is key. What may make sense to you might not make sense to a user. Although horizontal navigation is now mainstream, having a vertical navigation isn’t out of the question if it works for your design. As long you have your hierarchy of importance set and it is obvious to the user, the sky is the limit. I personally do enjoy horizontal navigation bars and the fun things you can design to go with them;  Apple being one of my favorites for clean looks and simple navigation.  Last, who knows what the future holds for us web developers, for the internet is an ever-changing beast.

For Businesses

• Magento is open-source,  so it’s FREE to download (individual support comes at a price, but the online support forum is free to use)!
• The search engine optimization (SEO) features are top-of-the-line in comparison to other platforms.  For example,  Magneto allows merchants to create their own URLs for products on the administrator control panel. Most platforms create a product URL upon creation, which are often times unreadable for the search engines.
• Google Analytics,  a free tool that allows in-depth tracking of website statistics,  comes integrated with the download.
• Multiple stores can be maintained across different domains using only one Magento installation.
• The capability to zoom-in on product images is included.
• Rates for USPS, FedEx, and UPS are integrated at real time, so shipping and handling quotes are always up-to-date.
• Customers can compare products side-by-side.
• There is a one-page checkout system,  so customers are only a click away from ordering products.

Magneto also includes a ready-to-go iPhone theme, which will help retailers compete on the increasingly-popular mobile eCommerce market (mCommerce).  While iPhone users are only a small percentage of all cell phone users,  this is a nice start towards enabling smaller retailers to get their business on the mobile web.

For Developers

• The company backing Magento, Varien, is active in updating the platform’s code and fixing bugs.
• The default template included in Magento is professional and attractive to the average consumer from the get-go.  Magento works off of a theme-based structure that separates  the templates,  layouts, and skins,  so that each aspect is easier to locate in the source code and update.
• Even though the Magento platforms comes with an extensive feature-list at download,  developers are free to create add-ons and plug-ings to enhance the platform’s functionality.
• Many free Magneto themes are readily available for download

Even though Magento includes features at download-time that were typically only achieved through the purchase of add-ons with other systems, it is still a developer-centric platform when it comes to achieving the look-and-feel that a retailer wants to accomplish.  Small business owners wanting to download an eCommerce system that they can stylize and customize on their own may be disappointed with Magento, since a strong knowledge of PHP, AJAX, HTML, and CSS is required to get the most out of this product.  If selecting Magento as their eCommerce platform,  retailers should be sure that they have a knowledgeable team of developers behind them to reach their goals.

Regardless of your business’ size,  Magento is a promising eCommerce platform that can help drive up online profits. With its user-friendliness and simple administrative area, it is no wonder that Magento is soon to be the predominant choice in an eCommerce platform.

In steps CSS3 …

The newest family member to the style sheet family is CSS3. With the possibility of new and exciting things when it comes to designing and how you design, things look hopeful on the horizon. Word on the street is that with CSS3, you can create more diverse styles sheets for large variety of occasions and much much more.  All of this information can be found at css3.info more in depth and detail.

If you don’t want to wade through all the details, here’s a summary for Web developers and Web users broken down into website parts:

Borders

• border-color: in Firefox there is now an option for a fading gray border, a very common effect that is now achieved in somewhat kludgy ways.
• border-image: this feature can define an image to be used instead of the normal border of an element. This feature is actually split up into a couple of properties: border-image and border-corner-image.
• border-radius: a new feature in CSS3, which allows you to create round corners on box-items (very sexy stuff … if you’re using Firefox or Safari, check out how that works here, a page that helps you roll your own “themes” on the site of our favorite Javascript library, jQuery).
• box-shadow: another new feature in CSS3, gives you the option of setting up a shadow on a box-item and varying the options … once again, a very common activity that is currently done in unsettlingly dirty ways.

Backgrounds

• background-origin/background-clip: this property is going to be used to calculate background-position of a background in a certain box. A feature in this property is used to determine whether the backgrounds extends into the border or not.
• background-size: You can specify this size in pixels, width and height, or in percentages of a background.
• multiple backgrounds: this snazzy new feature allows the implementation of multiple backgrounds on one element.

Color

• HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness): using hexadecimal colors as well as HSL colors are going to be implemented in CSS3.
• HSLA (Hue, Saturation, Lightness, Alpha): similar to the HSL feature it allows a fourth value, which sets the Opacity (via the Alpha channel).
• Opacity: this feature can used by implementing HSLA & RGBA colors.
• RGBA: similar to the HSLA feature where there is now an alpha channel option to create opacity.

Text Elements

• text-shadow: eliminates the need for Photoshop when all you want to do is a simple shadow.
• text-overflow: for this particular feature sometimes when text will have to be clipped you can place a  “…”  to show there’s more text.
• word-wrap: this feature allows the extremely large words or sentences to wrap much cleaner and more efficiently than in previous versions.  For example if the text is in a box you can constrain it to said box.

User-interface

• box-sizing: you can force the browser to instead render the box with the specified width and height.
• re-size: yet another new feature of CSS3 that allows you to deem a box re sizable.
• outline-offset: this new element allows the offset to be rendered away from the edge of the specified element.

Selectors

• attribute selectors:[att^=val],[att$=val] and [att*=val] are the three new attribute options added to the mix in CSS3 to matching substrings in the value of an attribute.

Other Modules

• media queries: this new feature makes it possible to change style sheets based on for instance the width and height of the viewport (such as firefox, iphone, etc.).
• multi-column layout: this feature allows text be fitted into columns, in two ways: by defining a width for each column, or by defining a number of columns.
• web-fonts: by using @font-face website makers can use any licensed TrueType (.ttf) or OpenType (.otf) font in their pages.
• css speech: this feature is used for creating style in speech synthesis in aural user agents (e.g. screen readers). There were several additional properties added to this new media type.

In short, it looks as though there are a lot of exciting things on the horizon for Web designers and Web surfers alike.  However, you may not want to go right out and create your first rounded-corner, drop-shadow enabled Web page quite yet, as it’ll be a while before browser software writers agree on, let alone implement, these new ideas (here’s a slightly dated, but pretty darn good compatibility table, in case you’re interested in the details).

But, Rome wasn’t built in a day … and in fact CSS3 will take way less time to adopt than it took to build Rome, so keep your eyes peeled.

Reviewing C.R.A.P.

Be bold.  Leave plenty of blank space for a place for the eyes to rest.  Be asymmetrical,  it typically makes your efforts stronger.  Don’t be afraid to make text or images big or  small.  Proximity is where related items should be grouped together.  Separate items that are not directly related.  Alignment: make sure to keep pieces unified and keep alignment with other elements on the page. Repetition is the stronger form of being consistent,  see what you already consistently use and make one of the elements stronger.  Contrast draws the eye to the page, the strong black versus white space.

Extra Tips & Tricks

Identity Packaging - the most prominent features of an identity package are cohesive repetition throughout.

Business Cards – Use second colors sparingly. Talk to the print shop on how to set up your business cards on a page.  Standard business card size is 3.5 inches by 2 inches (vertical or horizontal).  Some pitfalls to avoid on business cards are to keep things out of the corners,  avoid using Times, Arial, or Helvetica typefaces.  They’re dated. Try to avoid using 12-point size font business cards. Typically, 10-point or smaller is used.  Finally, don’t feel like you have to use the entire space. There’s no need to have the words email or website on the card. A left or right alignment gives a more professional look than a center alignment.  Use periods instead of dashes or parentheses, it gives a much cleaner look.

Letterhead & Envelopes – Use a similar format on the letterhead, envelope and business card.  Make one element dominant, but avoid having the boring center aligned across the top layout.  If you make a second page take a small element from the first page and use it alone on the second page.  Since you’ll invariably be faxing or copying your letterhead avoid dark or speckled paper.

Flyers - With flyers the sky is the limit. You want your piece to stand out because it has to compete with all the other readable junk out there.  Most of all you want to call attention to your headline.  Some pitfalls to avoid: boring typefaces, putting characters in boxes, instead of hyphens or bullets try zapf dingbats instead, don’t center everything (boring),  avoid  ho hum gray contrasts, watch your line breaks so there are no unnecessary hyphens. Try using interesting new typefaces. Use a big graphic element or typeface in a huge way.  If you draw the reader in with interest they will read the text.  Try to use subheadings that contrast so the reader can scan,  make a strong focal point,  use repetition for typefaces even if the typeface is bold or different.  Finally, make sure to choose one kind of alignment.

Newsletters - The main element when designing a newsletter is consistency. Each pages should look like it belongs.  That doesn’t mean everything needs to look exactly the same, though.  Also don’t forget your white space. Your flag or masthead sets the tone for the rest of your newsletter. It should tell your readers who you are.  Use contrasting type, but use your type consistently throughout the newspaper.  Make sure to have your headlines and sub heads bold and contrasting so the reader can skim.  Avoid using a sans serif typeface for the body text as it’s hard to read.

Brochures – Before making a brochure you should sit down and fold a piece of paper to determine how you want your brochure to look.  Choose the style for the front and back panel and how it will open.  Be careful though, the fold measurements aren’t the same on the front as they are on the back.  Be aware of the folds. You don’t want information getting lost in the folds.  You will need a “gutter” to keep you from losing text in the folds.  On the other hand, feel free to have graphics flow from panel to panel. As always keep alignment consistent throughout the whole brochure and keep the text size under 12-point.

Postcards – Postcards are a great way to grab attention.  Be different.  Use an odd sized postcard to make it stand out.  Be specific with your message but keep it brief.  Use color to attract the eye. The guidelines for business cards can also be applied to post cards.  Be brave in your design and don’t forget your white space.

Newspaper Ads -  White space is a must. It gives the reader something to land on.  Be clever with your headlines, be clear on your purpose, and be brief.  Readers want simple and to the point.  Avoid reverse type (white type on black background).

Websites – As always repetition and clarity are important. Websites must be inviting and easy to navigate. Consistency is also a key factor is designing websites.  Line lengths of text are actually shorter than what is used on paper.

What now?

If you’re still confused or need help please don’t hesitate to call NuRelm 724.430.0490!

Preview of next article:

How to design with typefaces and make them work effectively.