Type is the most important design element on a Web Page. Visitors click through to a site because they are interested in consuming information – not just looking at pretty pictures. Layout and choice of graphics help set the tone, reinforce the story and direct the user's attention, but content is the star.
Web layouts should be designed for the reader. The reader's ability to easily digest your content determines the success of your site.
When planning your content,...
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The fonts you use on your website will affect visitors in a variety of ways. Font size, face, color and spacing all contribute to the design and readability of the pages. Large, open, sans serif fonts tell a much different story than small, compact condensed fonts, which in turn create a very different mood than those of the sturdy serif variety.
Fonts are an much overlooked design element. Too often,...
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Last week we examined some of the strides website design has made while advances in technology continue to expand creative options. The year 2012 has seen the introduction of some interesting new styles and programming methods, as designers and developers eagerly experiment with some of the advanced capabilities in HTML 5. Here is the second part of our list of the top seven most popular web design trends of the...
Researching your competitors is an important aspect of both the website design and marketing process. Keeping an eye on what others in your field (and locality) are doing helps provide important insight as to what works and what doesn't. It also helps you avoid making the mistake of marketing your firm in a way that is too similar to that of other attorneys in you area. If your website looks...
Old web design advice is everywhere. You can tell a lot about the age of a list of website design tips is by what is being recommended. This, of course, is not the fault of the original author; screen resolution and browser usage statistics, along with programming languages, are constantly changing. At some point down the road, this post, like others before it, will be obsolete. When sifting through the plethora of...
Some website design projects offer a chance to create a new site entirely from scratch. Perhaps a firm is just starting out with a new url, or maybe it has a relatively young or neglected website that is nowhere to be seen in search engine results. This gives designers and developers the chance to flesh out an information architecture, design and SEO strategy with what is basically a...
Tricks or treats, which is your website handing out to you? While you are gathering your costume or procuring your candy, your website is still out there, speaking on your behalf and functioning as a brand ambassador twenty-four hours a day. Do you know what it is doing when you are not watching? What it says about you behind your back?
Simply throwing up a static brochure site...
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Great web design is many things, but above all it is functional. One of the first lessons new designers learn after they have left the cocoon of the classroom is that no matter how pretty their work may be, clients are only happy if it accomplishes certain objectives. In terms of law firm website design, this means turning visitors into prospects and prospects into clients. Attorney websites must convert.
Because of the need...
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For attorneys, mobile websites are becoming a requirement rather than a fancy add-on. Mobile devices are ubiquitous. People are increasingly opting to search with mobile devices in their homes and offices even when a desktop or laptop computer is available. Google estimates that by 2014, more people will be accessing the Internet with a mobile device then with a PC.
Although the percentage of traffic your firm receives...
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QR (Quick Response) codes have been popping up everywhere over the past few years. Some businesses have been in such a rush to be a part of the technological in crowd that QR codes have appeared in some fairly ridiculous places, like highway billboards and airplane banners. Who, exactly, is going to scan those codes?
Some of this over-coding is likely the result of the relative ease of creating and...
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