Website Design & Content Management for Greenhorns

General Design Tips for promotional materials

2006-01-21T03:25:00.000-08:00

I wanted to take some time and give all of you out there a few pointers on design. Most professional designers will know exactly what I'm talking about in this blog. If you don't fall into that category then read on and you just might find something that helps your home-made flyers look a whole lot more professional!

1. White space: Generally in my line of work a client will want a business card and then ask me to print the Bible on the back of it, or something crazy like that. White space is something, I'm finding, that most people fear. I think if they see paper that isn't covered by ink, text, and logos then they are wasting their paper and ultimately their time and money. Well folks, I've got news for you, white space is your friend. A design needs room to breath. It should flow well from top to bottom and left to right with little rivers of white flowing through all of it. The attention span of an average American hopped up on Starbucks is like 5 seconds, so your message should be quick, simple and most importantly TO THE POINT! If you have a bunch of info that your potential costumers would need, then use the back.... that's what its for.

2. Internet Images: I wish a had a nickel for every sample business card or flyer I've been given with images downloaded from Google that have been stretched past the breaking point. If your images on your document are beginning to look like a tile-mosaic when you stretch them then your are suffering from this syndrome. Generally, professional printers like to have images at least 300 dpi for printing. The internet image is usually set to 72 dpi for faster downloading times. For many years, only graphic artists really wanted to spend the money to buy graphic resource disks or photo services, but now there are "buy as you need" internet sites for you to use. I suggest http://istockphoto.com/. I really like their library of images and you can't beat the price.

We want to help you learn website design and web hosting.

2005-09-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

Why are we writing about website design, content management systems, and web hosting services on a medical education site? Physicians and people working in the healthcare industry will need websites to broadcast who they are, why they exist, and what they do to contribute to the community.

From the previous posts by Daniel (a.k.a. Sidekick) and Paul, we can see that a website is important for anyone conducting business. Your website is your business card. It is your real estate on the Internet that describes who you are and what you do. While pretty pictures and animations are pleasant, it is truly the content that is king. Without content, it’s like living in a big fancy house without furniture. But before you can express your creativity, content, and knowledge on the Internet, you must first learn how to get it on the Internet (i.e., website design and web hosting) and be found (i.e., search engine optimization).

While growing up, schools teach kids skills that are essential for their success later in life. This means kids will be able to graduate from high school, complete college, and find a job. While I was in junior high school, for instance, I was learning to type and program basic on the Apple computer. Little did I know at that time, that I would eventually meld these computer skills with my passion for medicine and science. Regardless of what career path an individual picks today, it is inevitable that computers skills are no longer a plus, but rather computer skills are essential. For instance, Medicare and the U.S. government have mandated implementation of Electronic Medical Records for medical practices. Most physicians are still using an archaic MS DOS based system in their offices or still rely on paper charting. We also depend on e-mail, Internet, and other Internet technologies to complete our work as physicians and scientists. In medicine, we are linked in, whether we like it or not, to Internet technologies.

During my last months of residency at the University of Iowa, our e-mail server went down for one week. It was shocking to see what was a fad ten years ago when I was in college has now evolved into an entity that is as crucial as our phone lines. The physicians, residents, and staff were upset. Another physician lost all of her e-mail she had saved, which contained years of content relating to her medical student curriculum. We are dependent on Internet technologies.

Unfortunately for physicians, scientists, and other medical people who did not have the interest to learn or neither the time to learn, they must rely on other services or individuals to provide their technology support. I learned web programming during medical school as a hobby and designed a few websites for my e-commerce business. During residency, I realized that most physicians had no idea how to design websites or setup a server to run their websites. Thus, some companies charge hundreds to thousands of dollars for server maintenance, and websites can cost as much as $50,000 dollars to design.

The reality is that website design and server maintenance is not complicated. These skills are definitely easier than learning cataract surgery, for example. We want to teach anyone who wants to learn. The hardest thing about website design is the graphics design. Thus, it is worth paying someone to do it, such as Sidekick-design.com. Alternatively, if you simply hate computers, then it is also worth paying a team like Lavier Consulting to design your website. When I created the MedRounds and the University of Iowa EyeRounds.org websites, my abilities in graphic design could only make a basic site. I had content, but lacked functionality and esthetics. Lavier Consulting taught me tricks that increased my understanding and skills of web design that brought me from the minor leagues to the major leagues. You may not need to learn all the advance skills; however, it is still important for you to learn some basics so that you can at least maintain your site and server without depending on a third party.

One of my favorite books is Robert Kiyosaki's, Rich Dad Poor Dad. This book was suggested to me by one of my partners, mentor, and good friend, Dr. Kwon. Kiyosaki states that he is shocked to learn that physicians, lawyers, and other professionals have great financial problems because most do not learn how to management their money. More importantly, however, Kiyosaki emphasizes that if these professionals learn just ONE more skill to add to their arsenal of talents, then their potential for wealth is exponential. In addition to your medical, surgical, or other professional expertise, the skills that will provide individuals with the greatest potential to make an impact in the 21st Century are the skills we will write about in this multi-disciplinary blog about website design, content management systems, and web hosting.

Websites! Who needs em?!

2005-09-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all! My real name is Daniel and I have recently been moving my graphic design business from primarily doing print media to focusing on websites and internet media. First, it is far easier to design for the net as print resolution is not a limiting factor and a computer monitor can produce up to 32 million colors! A graphic designers paradise! Secondly, since I have to outsource the printing I have found that even if I do my job right it doesn't mean they will do their job correctly. All that to say, "I'm pretty stoked about doing graphics on the web!"

Now about the title of this post... one of the compelling things about becoming a graphic designer for websites is that there are just so many bad looking websites out there! This has gotta change!

We live in a world where pharmaceutical companies have commercials on T.V. telling us what kind of medicine to ask our doctor for!!!! What ever happened to the doctor telling the patient what medication they need?!

Face it folks... commercial media drives the decision making process of most consumers. I've been working with several Chiropractors lately and I'm sensing a growing concern about their web pressence. My relationship usually starts with these Chiros doing some business cards or a sign for their window, but before long they want me to "check out" their website and give them a professionals opinion. Oh, how the tables have turned! Now it is I who is giving the "Check-up" (Insert diabolical laughter here) But, seriously, I usually find that their websites are sub-par at best. From a consumer stand point it looks like these doctors are cracking backs in their garages with the latest tools by Craftsman. I am 25 years old and the truth is I don't go anywhere or buy anything with out checking for it on the web first. Not because I am a snob... I usually just can't find where I'm going without a link to mapquest.

So the answer to the title of this article is.... we all do. If we are going to run successful businesses, if we want consumers, clients, and patients to feel safe and confident in the service we provide, if we want to grow... we need a good website. I remember thinking about 4 years ago when the Army put so much money into upgrading their websites and T.V. commercials, "Why do they need to advertise, won't they just draft us if they need us!?" But the truth is you catch more flies with honey. (Or maybe its bees)

I bet someday soon a building will be on fire and there will be some kid inside the burning building sending his GPS coordinates from his Blackberry to the most internet savy firefighter. Then the firefighter will use his website to plot the best route through the burning building... they will IM eachother and the message will say, "Meet in the stairwell, so I can rescue you :)"
And the firefighter will be a hero and they all will live happily ever after.

I guess the moral is if you want to be a hero... get a Blackberry and a cool website!

www.sidekick-design.com

The Best Laid Plans

2005-09-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to discuss a single topic regarding web site creation without touching on many others. It’s a bit like looking into double mirrored reflections. No matter how deep you look there is something deeper still. In this article I will help you find a reasonable place to start.

The Budget
Much as we hate to admit it, your budget will be the driving factor in most of your decisions regarding how you build your site, where it’s hosted, and how successful your enterprise is. Let’s set your fiscal budget aside and discuss a budget much more critical to the success of your site. How much time and man power are you willing to spend to assure that the site you create has the feel, functionality and content required to meet your needs?

If you have an adequate budget to hire a competent designer, who creates consistently pleasing, functional and content rich sites you are only half way there. We have designed several sites with nice banners, slick navigation and pleasing color schemes that have never been published for want of content. You could build a million dollar web site that sits idle.

On the other hand if you are willing to spend the time you may be able to create a compelling and successful web site with nothing but your own intellect, time and a few dollars a month.

One does not have to look far to find examples of simple, visually plain web sites that have become multi-million dollar enterprises or visually fabulous sites that have done nothing.

The Specification
So what do you want your site to do? What functionality must it have? Keep in mind that a static, unchanging web site will not keep your audience coming back. You must have a plan to maintain the site. Interesting, compelling and fresh content is a key element to success. If your content providers do not have technical expertise the system must provide a method for them to get content up to the site in the desired format.

Don’t rush your specification phase. A carefully planned site will have a much better chance of reaching the final goal. This is especially true if you plan to use a vendor to develop the site. Your vendor cannot do work unless you request it and just as important their quote will not cover work unless it’s in the specification. There is nothing worse than a blown budget and an unfinished project.

Other important planning factors:
1. How large is your projected audience. Should the site support 2 users at a time or thousands?
2. Will you be selling on line?
3. Do you need a forum or interactive blog?
4. Do you need to capture user information? If so how will that information be used?

Phases
Breaking your project up into phases will increase your probability for success. The probability for successful implementation is inversely proportional to the complexity of the project. So start with an achievable project and build. This will also give you opportunity to become acquainted with any tools or consultants you have decided to work with. If you are going to use a consultant give him a small project to start! This will minimize any unpleasant surprises.

Consultants
A consultant can be useful at any stage of the project. Many times the planning stage can be the best time to use a consultant. This can save you painful hours of research that can be dispelled in a moment.

Summary
A clear specification is key to successful site implementation. Make sure you have the resources and strategy to make it to the goal and the resources to keep you content fresh and compelling.

Future Topics
Content Management Systems 101
Open Source and You
Evaluating Hosting Services

Lavier Consulting.com

Email

Introduction

2005-09-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

In our 13 years of software development we have observed professionals with great expertise in their respective fields brought low by the need to apply computer software solutions to their environment. As busy professionals with more than full-time jobs, how could they be expected to wade through the plethora of vendors and solutions? Having selected a vendor how could they provide the software developers with the insight into their world to create the solution that fit the need?

Today you and I are presented with the opportunity to reach a world wide audience with our thoughts, ideas, services and products from the most remote outpost through a presense the world wide web. The questions of, "How do I create it?" and, "How do I let the world know I’m here?" can seem daunting. With something like 60 million active domains and 5 billion web pages how do they find me? There are literally thousands of tools and methods for creating web pages and an amazing number of hosting companies vying for your business.

As developers moving from the more “normal” world of software development to the internet applications we had the same sorts of challenges. Do we use ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, PERL or Coldfusion? What operating system and database do we use? And when we make a decision, even if it is the best one for today, will it still be a good decision for 5 years or even one year from now.

Our goal is to help you make your first steps into web site development easier, introduce terms and methods, and be a guide to products and services. We’ll invite experts to provide information in various pertinent areas and we hope that through your comments you will help us shape the information to fit your needs.