Your brand on the Web goes far beyond logos and colours. The digital experience your website provides visitors heavily shapes perception.

In fact, your brand is what your visitors talk about to friends, family and peers after they use your website, products or services. And it can be negative or positive.

The scary thing for businesses on and off the Web is that people tend to talk a lot more about negative experiences than the positive.

Consider all the times you’ve dined at restaurants. How many times have you or others around you complained to a manager? And now think about how many times you or the people at your table asked to speak to the manager to give praise?

Your online brand is created with every single click, image and word. So be sure to treat your visitors with respect.

At the end of the day, their perception is reality.

RegistryPro, the exclusive operator of the .Pro top-level domain (TLD) on the Internet, reported recently it has seen momentous growth in the total number of .pro domain name registrations, thanks to expanded eligibility guidelines.

.Pro domains comprise the first and only domain name extension catered to professionals and professional entities worldwide.

“We effectively made .pro available to tens of millions of professionals and entities worldwide,” said Catherine Sigmar, general manager of RegistryPro. “And, we have had some excellent partners like Network Solutions join us. Given Network Solutions’ position in the top echelon of registrars worldwide, they are in a unique position to maximize the penetration of the .Pro TLD.”

When it comes to web content, many business owners believe they can accomplish everything a professional web copywriter can — and more. However, when business owners attempt to write their own web copy, it often leads to frustration, lost time and missed opportunities.

In fact, many businesses come to Webcopyplus looking for a web copywriter after struggling to complete their web content for weeks, sometimes months. In the interim, they get their web designers to upload their old web content, or just put the project on hold. Regardless, the final outcome is usually substandard.

Since web copy development often causes designers major hassles and delays, it’s baffling to find web designers who simply don’t grasp and appreciate the value a well-versed web copywriter can bring to a project.

An article written by a Maine web designer was recently brought to my attention, in which she stated (verbatim):

Continue reading →

Lacking inspiration for your latest website design? Escape from reality, and fuse fantasy and technology by looking to these intoxicating Sci-Fi TV shows:

10. Buck Rogers

Paint on some spandex and help Buck Rogers solve some of earth’s dilemmas, like clients who continue to insist on music-filled Flash intros.

Continue reading →

The Internet has entrenched itself within the landscape of business in a big way.

While the phenomenon made many entrepreneurs incredibly wealthy, many traditional industries were too slow to adapt, resulting in vast casualties.

Here’s a neat, quick read about six industries and businesses that were too slow — or perhaps too afraid or arrogant — to catch the powerful wave of the Web: Six industries / businesses the Web changed forever.

Annoying error messages occur frequently on the Internet — especially 404 file not found errors, which indicate a page no longer exists or is restricted.

The following Smashing Magazine feature brings to light 50 original 404 error designs, some beautiful, some witty and others more on the practical side.

Read 404 error pages, one more time.

Online visitors tend to scan the search results in order, confirmed recent eye-tracking studies conducted by Google.

“They start from the first result and continue down the list until they find a result they consider helpful and click it — or until they decide to refine their query,” reported the search engine giant.

Using heatmaps, the eye-tracking study revealed most users found what they were looking for within the first two results, and they seldom went further down the page.

See the full Google report.

Idea block is the natural enemy of the web designer (that along with escaped tigers and David Hasselhoff tunes).

What do you do when the idea for your next brilliant assignment just isn’t pouring out of your head like an industrial drum of Mrs. Butterworth pouring syrup over your project’s fluffy pancakes?

If the idea well has runnith dry, here are are a few tips on how to get the inspiration ball rolling:

Continue reading →

5. Invest in Sea Monkeys

For less than $20 you can raise your social status and credibility, and finally be able to conduct team brainstorming sessions. You can even name the cute critters to expand your design firm and justify higher rates.

4. Feel the Music

Find a wind instrument, sit cross-legged at your doorway and play Star Wars over and over again, until you see the light, or you collect enough change to get your caffeine fix.

3. Call on Nature

Get back to earth tones using Austin Powers’ teeth as your website’s colour palette. Select from a full range of tobacco yellows and decomposed browns.

2. Get into Character

With your deepest voice, answer the phone matter-of-factly with nothing more than: “John Rambo.” Chances are, after an awkward moment of silence, you’ll be engaged in some thought-provoking conversations with your prospect, client, or mom.

1. Crank the Led

Web design can require a level of intimacy. So, to set the mood, take a cue from the 1982 classic film Fast Times at Ridgemont High: “When it comes down to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV.”

For the seventh straight month, the market share for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer declined, according to Net Applications.

In January 2009, Internet Explorer commanded a 67.6% market share down from 75.5% in January 2008 and down from over 90% in January 2005.

The biggest gainer over the last twelve months was Firefox, which commanded a 21.5% share in January 2009, up from 17.0% a year earlier.

During December, Firefox exceeded a 20% share for a full month, which was a first.  Mozilla’s CEO, John Lilly, gave credit to the Mozilla community:

“Reaching 20 per cent worldwide market share is a significant milestone for Firefox and Mozilla. It’s a huge achievement by the global Mozilla community, one that just a few years ago most would have considered impossible. The open web is more vibrant than ever, and the thousands of Mozilla contributors around the world have played a major role in making it that way.”

Rounding out the top five in market share was Apple’s Safari (8.3%), Google’s Chrome (1.1%) and Opera (0.7%). The top five browsers accounted for 99.2% of all web browsing.