What's "In" for Website Design?

Website design is always changing; with new technologies emerging constantly, web design gets more creative, unique, and advanced all the time. But there are a few trends that have been recurring often enough that we know they will probably stick around for a while. Here are just a few:

Font Styles: Lots of website designers are employing the use of rich typography for their websites. Use a variety of readable, but eye-catching fonts to draw viewers in. Not only does this have a cool look, but it also makes your text more of a piece of artwork than just a page of information. Use a larger, bold font for your heading and a loopier, cursive font for subheadings. Mix and match flowy fonts with stark letters. Taking advantage of font styles for your web designs can add the finishing touch to an awesome web design. Some font styles are online for free, but others cost money. Make sure you figure out if you need to pay for your funky fonts.

Blocks: Lately a lot of website designers are using block style templates to make their websites. With block style web design, you can use a lot of different pictures and images to enhance your site. It also offers a segmented, organized view of what the website has to offer; web designers like to use blocks so that everything is clear and easy to find. It also creates an appealing visual with the variety of images and colors. You can contrast different colors and fonts to make a website look exciting, but also informative. Also, use different size blocks to create a collage-like web design. If you are designing for a company that has a lot of different things to offer, consider blocking off the different sections and including a contrasting image in each block.

Photography: Some companies want to bring their websites to life. This can be done using photography backgrounds, which enhance the reality component of the website. Users like seeing good photography on websites because it emits a life-like feel and connects them to the web design. Sometimes animated images can come off as fake or hokey. Real images remind us that web design is an extension of real life.

Large Background images: Opposite of the blocking approach, this web design tactic has the viewer focused on one big picture. Web designers will place one image in the background to summarize the overall feel for the website and the company.

Infographics: These have been in the business a long time, but they are still part of the trend. Infographics are little pictures or symbols that stand for a different web pages or features of the website. If you want to contact the company, for instance, you might see a pencil or phone infograph. If you want to learn about their policies you may see a question mark. These are good ways to save space on your website and also avoid running the reader down with too much wordage.

Handwriting: Using font that appears to be handwritten can give a website an easy going feeling. Also, using images that look hand drawn (albeit professionally) can add a touch of home feeling to the website design. If you are designing for a company that wants to attract families or feminine items, this may be a good approach.

Trends in web design may change, but these are some that are sure to be popular for a while. Website design is geared to making the online experience as real for the user as possible. Use photography, vibrant colors, and unique fonts to get the readers’ attention, but also remember to make your websites user friendly and easily comprehensible. CODANK Web Design is dedicated to designing websites for the customer, ensuring that the company’s business model is portrayed professionally and creatively. Contact us if you have questions about how your company can maintain a web presence today.

Take Control of Your Website

Many website design companies have IT staff and professional web designers on hand to make updates, revisions, and additions to their clients’ websites. But, as a client, being able to revise your own website makes it easier and more efficient to keep your company’s web presence up to date. That’s why CODANK Web Design employs content management systems as a part of our web design platform. We let you take control of your company’s website.

When handling updates and revisions with a website design team, the process can take more time than necessary. Let’s say you want to add something to your site—a calendar event, a blog post, or a new page. Let’s also say that you aren’t too computer savvy. Well, first you’ll have to get in contact with the web design company and IT department, or a web developer. Then, you’ll have them make the change, approve the change, and then see the revision live on your website. What if you want to make several changes? You’ll have to have a lengthy, descriptive conversation with your web design firm or internet technician about the additions you want put on your website. With a content management system (CMS) enabled website, you can make all the changes easily by yourself. You can make revisions and additions whenever you see fit without being at the mercy of the professionals on the web design team.

CMS enabled websites allow you to update your site as you see fit. CODANK’s custom made websites are all CMS enabled to ensure that the client will always have access to the website. We believe that the website is yours to mold and shape as your business changes. With our system, you can manually add calendars, upcoming events, links, images, blog posts, pages, text, contact information, and more. CODANK creates websites for the client, so we believe the site should be user friendly.

When it comes to online marketing, your website is an extension of your business; therefore, it should be yours to maneuver and control. For a custom designed, CMS enabled website, contact CODANK today for a free quote.

Read It or Watch It?

Why YouTube videos are important for website marketing

People love YouTube videos. They can be funny, concise, and entertaining to watch. They allow people to self advertise and have the potential to reach billions of viewers. What’s even better is that they’re free—whether you want to watch a video or post one. When people are searching on the web and see the window with the video player and the play button front and center, they are most likely going to hit play. That’s why it’s important for you to utilize YouTube videos as an opportunity to advertise for your company’s website. At CODANK, a Charlotte web design company, we help our clients make YouTube videos for their websites.

In this age of internet speed and knowledge exchange, people want information—fast. Watching a video takes less time and energy than reading. If given the chance, most people will opt out of the long winded piece of writing and go for the short video clip. That’s why YouTube videos come up on the search results page first, before all the written articles. Videos are captivating and easy to absorb. They are also often more intriguing than a written work. People will be more likely to keep watching a video than keep reading an article if it gets boring. If you have a stimulating visual advertisement for your website, you will reach out to more people and increase popular knowledge about your company.

When trying to advertise your company on the web, it can be difficult to spread the word about your business. If your company’s website is at the bottom of the search results page, you’ll have trouble getting website traffic. SEO techniques certainly help, but that still won’t guarantee that people will click on your website’s link before the others on the search results page; therefore, you need to implement YouTube videos into your marketing strategies. When searching for anything on the World Wide Web, videos come at the top of the search results page; search engines know that people are likely to click on videos before they click on an article. By creating YouTube videos to advertise your business, you are raising the possibility that your video is going to come up at the top of the search results page. People will click on your video and be instantly directed to your company.

As a CODANK team, we help you make videos to improve your website marketing techniques. We work closely with our clients to ensure that we take the best route when creating websites and promoting businesses on the web. Check out our website to learn more about how CODANK can assist you with your website design and marketing needs.

Why Website Design Companies Should Offer Multiple Revisions

Many website design companies view website design revisions as a design team’s worst nightmare. It can be frustrating and time consuming when a client is not yet satisfied with the website layout and keeps asking for revisions. But while it can be frustrating, revisions should always be a part of the contract between a client and the design team. CODANK, a website design company in Charlotte, offers multiple revisions to ensure customer satisfaction and design variance.

When a client sees the first website layout, they may be thrilled and want no changes; most times you aren’t that lucky. The client wants a website that represents their business model, which means that it needs to promote what their company stands for. If you aren’t promoting it in the way they see fit, they have the right to suggest revisions.

As a website design company, it is important to offer revisions in order to let the magic of the design process run its course. Here are the benefits of offering revisions as a website design company.

The Growth of Web Design: The worldwide web is always changing. With a plethora of design possibilities at our fingertips, each website created has a different flair and a unique aesthetic. When clients ask for revisions, it forces your website design company to think outside the box and design in more innovative ways. In turn, this expands the variety of your portfolio and allows you to explore design options you may have never considered.

Customer/Designer Relations: Revising website designs not only strengthens the versatility of your website design company, but it also reinforces the line of communication between the design team and the customer. Customer service is of utmost importance when working with a client, and creating revisions shows the client that you are dedicated to making their website the best it can be.  Revisions also help you get a better picture of the client’s business model—what exactly is their business platform and how can the design company best display it through a website design?

CODANK believes in crafting custom designs for the client, offering after sales support and revisions. We will work hard to revise websites for our clients until they are completely satisfied.

CODANK is a top rated website design company in Charlotte, NC. Our commitment to top notch custom website design means you can be confident that whatever your project demands, our web developers deliver on time and on budget. We guarantee the best customer satisfaction!   

How to Find a Reliable Website Design Company

The internet has opened the gateway to world-wide communication. Having a solid website for your business can expand your clientele from local to global. It allows your business to remain open for twenty-four hours, reaching every possible customer anywhere in the world at any time. This makes finding a reliable website design company of utmost importance when considering the global image of your business. At CODANK, a Charlotte based web design company, we work closely with prospective clients to make sure we understand the design services, or web development services, they need to promote their business model. There are three important aspects to finding a website design company that will portray your business in an accurate, eye-catching way.

Credentials:
The first thing to look for when searching for a reliable website design company are the credentials of the web design team. Check out their website. If you aren’t impressed by the web design firm’s own website, it’s hard to gauge how well they portray their clients’ businesses on the web. Being impressed by their website doesn’t mean you have to approve of its style—just make sure the necessary website components are there. They should have, at a minimum, an “about” section (who are they and what do they do?), a content section (including blogs, some type of portfolio, and some stats about their company), and contact information. They should also have a site that is eye-catching and alluring, but also easy to access and comprehend. Funky icons and excessive coloring may mean that they care more about pizzazz and not enough about making websites user friendly.

After looking at the web design company’s site, you should be sure that they offer after sales support. This means that they will work hard to ensure that you are 100% satisfied with your website after its creation. They should offer regular updates and edits to your site as your business continues to grow. They should also respond to your suggestions in a timely manner. If the company does not offer after sales support, you might as well be making the website yourself using a free template. You are paying this company to make a solid website for your company; therefore the site should meet your every need. Remember, this is website represents your business on a global scale. It should portray your business exactly as you see fit.

 Once in contact with the website design team, make sure that they ask lots of questions about your business. Their job is to portray your business model in your image. They may know how to create the most important pieces of a website, but you know exactly how you want your site to look and what information is vital to your business model. A good website design team, therefore, will work directly with you to ensure complete satisfaction.

Portfolio:
As I said before, when checking out the website design company’s website you should find some sort of portfolio. Who have they worked with before? What other websites have they produced? It’s important that they have unique, varied designs for each of their client’s websites. You want to make sure that they approach your business’ site from a new angle; having a unique brand for your business is key to getting lots of website traffic and drawing in lots of customers. Also, make sure they create websites from scratch. You want your business to have an original website, not one designed from a template. The design firm’s portfolio should showcase the website design firm’s ability to create original, varied websites for each of their clients.

References:
Make sure you ask for a list of client names and numbers and find out what this company has done in the past. Call previous clients and ask about customer service. The website design firm should be reliable in terms of meeting your needs. They should communicate openly with you, even if you know nothing about web design. As I mentioned before, they should also heed your suggestions and revisions. If you like their work and if their previous clients assure you they are reliable, they could be the company for you.
If you are currently searching for a reliable and reputable design team, contact CODANK. CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

Ten awesome, grungy rock-n-roll fonts

Two of the latest design trends over the past year have been unique, outstanding typography and grungy website and graphic designs. Although not all trends should be followed, this is one that's caught my attention and has warranted a lot of interest. While doing a lot of browsing on the web, I compiled a list of some of my favorite grungy fonts that are available – for free. Take a look; you might find something you can use in a design concept. If nothing else, just take the time to look at how far typography for the web has come since the days of Comic Sans and Verdana.

1. Old Press

Old Press lives up to its name; it has this nice, old school punk rock feel to it. The eroded print makes it look almost like it came from newspaper. It's perfect for posters or designs that have newspaper elements to them.

2. Birth of a Hero

This font caught my interest because it looks a lot like a font one of my favorite bands uses for their logo. The difference here is that the clean, sophisticated lines are juxtaposed with deconstruction. It gives it this nice grungy look without being overwhelming or looking too dirty. This is one of the cleaner grungy fonts out there – it's sure to catch attention when used in posters, banners, and graphics.

3. Acid Label

Acid Label reminds me a lot of something you'd find on an alternative clothing label. The hatching and speckled displacement is in all the right places to make a really spectacular impact. You won't forget this one easily.

4. Far Cry

While some of the other fonts could be described as punk rock if compared to a genre of music, Far Cry is more reminiscent of 80's arena and glam rock. The way some of the characters are larger than others makes them really stand out and draw attention – it's a bold statement in more than one way.

5. Requiem

Although I tend to prefer sans serif fonts, Requiem caught my eye. It's a strong font that makes its statement – it's grungy but elegant.

6. HVD Poster

7. VTKS Ink

8. Denial

There's something about Denial; maybe it's the backwards N character that drew me in, or the subtle stroke lines around the lettering. This font looks like something you'd use on a stamp – it's bold and loud with an industrial flair.

9. Keyboard Plaque

10. Trash

Trash is one of the most interesting grunge fonts I came across. I love how it looks like it's been cut out of a magazine, with the print smeared. But what really makes this font fantastic is how the letters are at varying angles. It's a real eye- catcher.

Even if you aren't a designer or aren't interested in being involved in designing something, hopefully these free fonts have given you some inspiration for a concept. You can contact a designer, like Codank Web Design, to discuss any ideas you have and set up an appointment to launch your design project into reality.