While Fluid layouts are the best bet, but there are many instances where we just cannot use them. In such cases, we need to look beyond them to the basic styling.

A prominent option would be to use multiple CSS styles for different configurations and devices.  Another is going for an adaptive content that changes according to the screen resolution.

The iPad establishes one thing for certain. The website need not look the same on every platform. We have gone on to include Style Sheets for iPhone to include mobile devices, now we need to include them for iPad to keep in view the No Fold Policy.

In Portrait mode a very good portion of the website can be seen at one go. At the same time in the landscape mode the touch interface makes it very natural to browse sites that display content horizontally.

Primary method of user interaction with the iPad is and will be the fingers. The users will interact with our websites using fingers. So all those brilliant hover effects that were favorable for pointer-based devices, will be a hurdle in user experience on the iPad.

Also the links can no longer be concealed in a text and left for the user to dexterously click upon it. We might want to resize the links so that the user experience does not suffer.

While the world has been divided over Apple’s stand on doing away with Flash, we need to understand that the step in the direction has already been taken. With Google openly adopting HTML5 for Youtube, it is only a beginning of the things to come with HTML5.

As designers we need to understand this paradigm shift and devote our efforts in not only learning about HTML5 but at the same time doing away with Flash.

Yes It’s true: the mobile web growing by leaps and bounds. Most creative agencies expect by 2015, it will be larger than desktop Internet use. It’s no wonder everybody’s racing to build mobile versions of their websites.

Some are simply better than others, though. While many companies just build stripped-down versions of their current sites with a few links and maybe an image, others have taken the time and energy to really think about the advantages of mobile and truly become destinations that can be accessed on any platform. These well-designed mobile sites provide a glimpse into what we can expect in the future.

Look for more business and associations to have full function mobile sites in the near future. Contact Washington Graphic Services to learn how we can create this for you too!

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is not just for page or off page optimization to get good ranking in search engines, but it’s gone far through it. Companies have started recognizing the power of SEO to be use as a powerful tool for brand building.Branding is a vital part of all sales and marketing tactics. Branding is the only way that makes you exclusive and differentiates you from your competitors.

Whether you are small online business or big one, branding is very important idea to hold simply because it sums up everything about your business that will leave an eternal impression on prospects. Once a prospects visits your site through search engine optimization and if you have done branding properly then probability of him coming back increases. Wisely done branding seeks to make the product or services significant to the target audience.

Branding is directly linked with SEO and should go hand to hand, yet most website owners never think about the two in the same sentence. If branding is taken into consideration when the SEO campaign is being planned, chance of getting success in both increases significantly.

SEO increase the organic visibility of your site and same for your brand. In today’s web world you can accomplish a decent amount of brand awareness through SEO.

Hire Washington Graphic Services (WGS) for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and benefit from more visibility on Google, Yahoo and other national search engines.

Here are the first items our clients want us to address:

1. Getting to page one on the search engines
2. How fast its going to happen
3. The cost of making it happen

To ensure that you are going to be working with an SEO company that can deliver the goods, its important to dive deeper into each companys level of experience, how their process works, and whether their process has been successful for other clients. The following questions, divided into Part 1 and next weeks Part 2, should provide some answers to help you clarify which company will be the best to suit your needs, drive targeted traffic to your site, and improve the conversion rates from your sites visitors.On experience and the process:

How long have you been in business” Hiring a new company always carries its share of risks ranging from how well funded they are to their in-house skill sets. Dont let a discounted price distract you from these key issues. Insist on multiple years in business with a broad client list.

Tell me about your SEO process If the process doesnt start with extensive research on keywords and the competitive environment, run away. A process that doesnt define its starting point through thorough research is not going to reach its objectives. A company that bases its SEO work on initial research will be able to define the fastest and most cost effective path to success.

Can you show me some of your successes” Front page success with targeted traffic and conversions is what youre looking for and if the company has done it with others youre on the right track. Take it one step further and see if you can talk to the companies which have had successful campaigns run for them.

Have you done search engine optimization for anyone else in my industry” Industry specific experience may not be critical as most SEO work follows similar paths. If they are working with other businesses in the same industry, determine whether there will be any conflict issues, especially if both businesses are competing in the same local area.

There are two old clichs which apply directly to SEO; You get what you pay for, and Actions speak louder than words. To be sure youre working with an SEO that will deliver, dont be fooled by discounted prices and make sure that each companys actions have yielded success.

Website maintenance and quality assurance is the backbone of a business website and its content. The difference between an amateurish or professional approach to web design and development is the maintenance and quality assurance  process which have to be applied continuously.
Please note that the following list of measures does not target “initial” quality assurance. It assumes that websites are displayed correctly in popular user agents, and that HTML elements are used according to their semantics. Additionally, it prefers web-based tools over software that has yet to be installed.

Checks

One of the most important aspects of website maintenance and QA is to check the necessity and “plausibility” of all website parts, be it certain sections of the site, certain publications, or certain widgets and gadgets. And even though it is advisable to have a clear picture in mind when creating and establishing a site, it pays off to regularly check if everything the website offers is really useful and does really provide value for the user.

The User Test

While tests with users are especially crucial in the early stages of website creation and revision, they are also important in operation, by providing important insight into the usability of a website.  There is no alternative to testing with users, and testing is always helpful.

Tip: From time to time, ask friends or colleagues to e.g. contact you via your website, and observe how they perform.

Maintain The Site

Any content being published should not only be double-checked before release, it should also be checked continuously after release, as it is really important to keep content up-to-date. However, once an article or post truly gets “stale”, a quick update or comment might already suffice to inform readers about the development; as a last resort, you could (perceivably) note that the content in question is “probably outdated”.

Tip: Check some older articles if they still contain current information.

Proofread Site Content

Copy editing might basically be seen as a part of content maintenance, but it can be separated because of two important reasons: On the one hand, orthographic mistakes can fly under the radar for a remarkably long time, on the other hand do spelling mistakes evidently have a negative impact on the credibility of your business. U

Tip: Print some of your articles and check if they contain any typos (they will).

Checking Links Often

Links become broken often due to a variety of possibilities, such as new domain names, administrator redirects, hosting company issues, just to name a few.  And even though external resources feel like it’s others who are responsible for these links when pointing into nowhere, it’s easy to take care of links by regularly utilizing software that checks broken links. Your system IT or creative team should do this regularly. Don’t let your visitors get angry about broken links – or you.

Tip: Schedule at least a monthly link check, when possible automated.

Load Time Verification

Load time is an important factor of the experience a user makes with a website; speed is an attribute of good web design.  Your system IT or creative team should do this regularly to avoid inefficiency due to e.g. teaser image or code changes.

Tip: Try to find a machine with a slow connection (or iPhone or Blackberry) to remember the times where we had no broadband access.

Validation

Invalid documents and style sheets can often (not always, actually) be considered a result of sloppy, unprofessional work. Similar to a house, a website won’t necessarily collapse when there are a few bricks missing or not in the right place, but the web developer in charge should answer the same questions as the bricklayer. Quality assurance of websites explicitly includes validation. The more flexible maintenance of a site occurs and the more people work on it, the more often tests should be carried out. As a matter of course, deficits should be fixed.

Tip: Make validation a routine, even with style sheets, and look for ways to automate this (probably you or your company already runs certain tests that could piggyback HTML/CSS validation as well).

More Tests

The quality of a website can be evaluated and improved by a additional tools. Depending on technologies in use and site update frequency, this should be done regularly as well to avoid user frustration, technical issues, higher costs, as well as professional reproaches.

Tip: Your system IT or creative team should be able to research the latest tools and software available to do this regularly.

Success

The author just cannot share his experience with maintenance and QA without pointing to the fact that it is helpful to ask and reward visitors for pointing out mistakes in order to spot them and milden their effect. Encouraging and rewarding error reports easily increases the likelihood of noticing otherwise invisible mistakes by a factor of 10.  Quality has its price.

Tip: Offer your visitors some kind of incentive for mailing you when noticing typos and the like, and observe what impact that has on both frequency and quality of these mails.

I responded to a connection request on Linked In when I came across a question a colleague posed about Social Media Marketing. This was the question:

How would you define a social media/marketing roadmap? As I am talking with my contacts in the marketing field, I realize there is still a very inconsistent understanding of what social (media) marketing entails. Some believe the focus should be on viral, others focus on managing the blogosphere, or on facilitating online communities. What are your preferred social marketing areas, and how do you prioritize them?

My answer was “all of the above and then some.”
Generally defined, “marketing” consists of the strategies and tactics used to create and maintain satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and the marketer. Internet Marketing is, well, marketing on the internet.
Social media marketing is one of the primary categories under the Internet Marketing umbrella. Other categories include Web Design and Development, Search Engine Marketing (SEO & PPC), Link-building, Online Advertising, etc.
Social media marketing is inherently interactive and generally informal compared to traditional corporate marketing communications tactics. It’s like a quality happy hour with your colleagues – “take off your tie, order a drink, and let’s talk about what is really happening right now…” Social media venues are inspiring a new level of trust and authenticity in the business world.
Under the social media marketing umbrella are:

• Blogs and Forums
• Online Communities
• Consumer Review websites
• Email
• Video and Photo Sharing
• Social Bookmarking
• Wikis

I’ve heard every story in the book about the trials and tribulations of building a website. But time and time again, the same story resonates:
You are a growing company and trying to watch your costs. To build a new website, you choose a design team on the cheap. The team builds a site based on your direction, but no upfront planning was done and your goals weren’t established. The project drags on. By the time the site finally goes live, it is over-budget and under-developed. Despite the site being live, there is no optimization and search engines can’t find you. Which is probably a good thing, because the site is disorganized and the design is poor.
Sound familiar?
At Washington Graphic Services (WGS), we plan your site based on your goals, products and services. We look at web development as a holistic process that includes design, development, and online marketing strategy. We have an in-house team of experts to guide you through the process and make solid recommendations that exceed your expectations.
The WGS process is organized and includes:
•    upfront strategy
•    wireframes
•    development of a site through design and build
We have a system of checks and balances at each step to ensure approval and understanding that is the basis for a successful site tailored to your needs.
We’re always happy to engage in a conversation about your internet marketing needs and put you on the path to a successful and happy web development experience.

Take one look.  What’s this logo for?  I’ll bet you get it on the first try.
It’s that beautifully direct and simple, whimsical and charming, cleanly sophisticated.  It asks you to figure out what it represents, but it helps you along by virtue of its elegant clarity. That’s engagement with a smile, and if it’s right for the double-decker bus service in London, there’s no reason other businesses can’t explore options for branding and logo design that explore this territory, because it’s potentially valuable.
Being clever in your logo design, if done appropriately, raises the quality of your first impression with your audience.  If you’re developing a new logo, whether for a company or a product offering, you need to explore options that create that moment of delight and immersion with people when they see it for the first time, because that process of recognition and realization (what Jeff Goodby once called “closing the loop”) creates a distinct pleasure that makes that first encounter with your brand all the more memorable.
Visit our home page and check out our own branding and logo.

According to eMarketer, 2010 is the year when social media will begin to pay off — for email. Because it provides new avenues for engaging customers and prospects, even B2B prospects, social media is not just a potent tool on its own, but can work in tandem with email to deliver deeper relationships and more abiding results with a firm’s audience.