The Elements of Web Design by Malcom Chakery

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Malcom Chakery

Your website is an extension of your company. Or, in some cases, it may be the primary location of your company. So, as the virtual representation of your business it is vital that your website be all it can be in order to build a successful business. So, if you are designing your own website, it is important that the final product contain 4 essential elements, so let’s get started.

Balance- A webpage should have visual interest. From colors and shapes to the sizes of your graphics and fonts, your website should encourage guests to interact without being distracting. This best accomplished by having a balanced appearance. You may chose a symmetrical plan in which elements of your site are evenly spaced (e.g. a graphic on the left with text on the right) or perhaps you will opt for an asymmetrical plan in which unlike items of equal weight are used. As you design your webpage, try several design layouts to find the one that encourages guests to stay.
Repetition- Sometimes referred to as rhythm, repetition is the use of a pattern that gives a consistency to your site. This rhythm makes it easier for your customers to understand. Having sudden changes in the patterns, size or spacing will create an exciting rhythm but may not impart the feeling you want for your company. Keep in mind the features of Gestalt-proximity, similarity, continuance, closure uniform correctness and 1+1=3 effects.
Emphasis- Often called dominance or the focal point, this is the element that lets people know who you are. Some ways it can be accomplished are through semantic markup, changing font sizes or images, the use of bold black type for headings, contrasting colors, putting important info in a text box or written on a curve or by using an unusual font for the most vital information.
Proximity or Unity- Be sure elements are placed in such a way that they belong together. Use visual cues to let readers know an article is a unit-item near each other are related; those far apart are not. Unity can be established by consistent fonts, repetition of shapes, color or texture and thematic visuals of similar colors, sizes or shapes.

Using the principles is a must for having a website design that attracts and retains guest to your site. Each of these elements work together to create a site that is sure to encourage guests to spend some time getting to know you.

About the author

Founder and President of Chakery Design, Malcom Chakery has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of a web based business operations. Possessing great amounts of expertise in regard to marketing, seo, web design and development, Malcom is extremely comfortable handling all details regarding the day-to-day operations as well as the sales and support of his many high profile clients. With a clear plan in place regarding operational procedures, all aspects of website design, seo, and promotional activities are managed and overseen by Malcom before they are completed. As a stickler for detail, Malcom believes in providing greater than expected support, superior customer service, and innovative programs, making sure to go above and beyond customer expectations. To learn more about Malcom and his companies please visit www.chakery.comor www.chakeryseo.com.

Hide or Seek: 7 Steps to Ensuring People Find You On The Web

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Malcom Chakery

Having a website is one of the most important things you can do for your business, This is because it allows you tell people everywhere what you do, where you are and who you are. However, a website is only good if people can find it. So, how can you ensure your website is found and that it does not require an elaborate game of Internet Hide and Seek? Here are 7 Google approved guidelines as shared in Web Designer magazine.

Provide quality content and services so that PageRank represents good quality sites linking to you. Remember, PR analyzes how many human generated links connect to your site.
Actively promote your site through social media, non-competitive sites and link bait so that you are actively letting people know about your website.
Be sure you have page titles that are interesting and accurate. They should have a title tag that tells both users and the Google search engine what each page is about.
Make sure your Metatag descriptions show a clear summary of what the page is about so Google will be better able to rank it.
Have a domain name and page URLS that are structured to convey content information easily.
Have an HTML sitemap on your website and use an XML sitemap file so users and Google can find all the pages of your site.
Make sure that Google is aware of your mobile sites, as soon as you have them.

Don’t play Hide and Seek with your website. If your site is difficult to find (or navigate once it is found), then your potential clients will soon become someone else’s customers. Use these 7 principles to make sure your site is “it”.

About the author

Founder and President of Chakery Design, Malcom Chakery has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of a web based business operations. Possessing great amounts of expertise in regard to marketing, seo, web design and development, Malcom is extremely comfortable handling all details regarding the day-to-day operations as well as the sales and support of his many high profile clients. With a clear plan in place regarding operational procedures, all aspects of web design, seo, and promotional activities are managed and overseen by Malcom before they are completed. As a stickler for detail, Malcom believes in providing greater than expected support, superior customer service, and innovative programs, making sure to go above and beyond customer expectations. To learn more about Malcom and his companies please visit www.chakery.comor www.chakeryseo.com.

Time to Make the Doughnuts: Dunkin’ Donuts Goes Local

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Malcom Chakery

For several years, Dunkin’ Donuts had a rather generic website that served as the go to place for all information on Dunkin’ Donuts. And while the site had great information about Dunkin’ Donuts from a national viewpoint, there was little information regarding the local shops. However, not too long ago this lack of local focus changed.

The new site was inspired by feedback from Facebook fans who wanted to know more about what is going on at their local Dunkin’ Donuts store. The result is that Dunkin’ Donuts redesigned their site to meet this interest and made it available via Google Local to both the standard PC and their mobile devices. To learn what is happening at your local store, simply enter in your zip code or use the GPS function on your smartphone. This local feature also allows you to keep up with store openings, hours and ultimately, special promotions.

In addition, Dunkin’ Donuts has also added a blog and is streaming content from feeds on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. To make Dunkin Donuts more appealing to the health conscious consumer, the company has also added an “eating smart” menu along with an assortment of iced coffees around the holidays.

Dunkin Donut’s move to being a Google Local site is one that many businesses are making. After all, when your business is listed on Google Local you have an even larger customer base resulting in more consumer awareness and ultimately higher revenue. If you are interested in joining Dunkin Donuts and many other businesses by having a customized Goggle Local site, be sure to talk to the professionals at Chakery Design. We will be glad to talk to you and help you determine how to make the most of a Google Local site for your company.

About the author

Founder and President of Chakery Design, Malcom Chakery has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of a web based business operations. Possessing great amounts of expertise in regard to marketing, seo, web design and development, Malcom is extremely comfortable handling all details regarding the day-to-day operations as well as the sales and support of his many high profile clients. With a clear plan in place regarding operational procedures, all aspects of web design, seo, and promotional activities are managed and overseen by Malcom before they are completed. As a stickler for detail, Malcom believes in providing greater than expected support, superior customer service, and innovative programs, making sure to go above and beyond customer expectations. To learn more about Malcom and his companies please visit www.chakery.com or www.chakeryseo.com.

If it’s not Broken-Don’t Fix it! Does Your Website have Findability?

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Malcom Chakery

Have you ever decided that your webpage needed to updated/upgraded? Maybe you feel like you have been looking at the same graphics, colors, blog posts, etc. for months and it’s time for a change. Perhaps, you have been getting numerous site visits and sales are up, so you decide that if you make some changes this increase in revenue would be even higher.

Before, you call the website designer consider this: Does the website look old and boring because you look at it every day or do you really feel that some upgrades are a must? Remember, while you may think that the site lacks something it may simply be because you see it all the time.

However, if you look at your website and feel it needs to be improved or have more Findability, then take some time to note what elements of your site are working well, keeping in mind the following:

Take emotions out of the equation! When it comes to evaluating your website, be sure you look at “Just the facts.” Marketing guru Orvel Ray Wilson says, “Just about the time you are ready to throw up when you use your brand one more time, that is when your audience starts remembering and connecting to it.” If what you are doing is working and attracting customers, then it might be best to leave it alone!

When determining if a change to your webpage is necessary, don’t overlook the tools at your disposal. Run your site through tools such as Sitetuners.com’s Tuning Engine, the Google’s Website Optimizer or their Analytics tool and see how your site ranks. If everything is high, then leave your site alone. However, if there are a number of bounce-backs, a lessening of social media traffic, a decrease in time spent on site, then change may be in order.

If change is needed, create the new version of your homepage while saving a copy of the old one. Put the new one in active rotation and do a split test. Use analytics to see which page gives you more desirable results. Once the data shows which page is more effective make any other changes based on the information gleaned.

Not every website needs to be updated-especially if all is going well. You want your website to have Findability and if changes will not improve this, then don’t fix what isn’t broken.

About the author

Founder and President of Chakery Design, Malcom Chakery has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of a web based business operations. Possessing great amounts of expertise in regard to marketing, seo, web design and development, Malcom is extremely comfortable handling all details regarding the day-to-day operations as well as the sales and support of his many high profile clients. With a clear plan in place regarding operational procedures, all aspects of web design, seo, and promotional activities are managed and overseen by Malcom before they are completed. As a stickler for detail, Malcom believes in providing greater than expected support, superior customer service, and innovative programs, making sure to go above and beyond customer expectations. To learn more about Malcom and his companies please visit www.chakery.com or www.chakeryseo.com.

How Google Search Is Changing

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Malcom Chakery

Have you been posting articles on your favorite sites, or writing blog post but have not seen any increases in revenue, site guests or SERPs in the past few weeks? If so, don’t despair. At the end of February, Google changed their algorithm, which affected websites of every type and size. This algorithm, dubbed by many as Farmer, is designed to weed out sites where there is an abundance of duplicate and less than stellar quality content. As a result, many site owners saw a significant downslide in revenue and a lowering in page rank.

When asked, Amit Singhal of Google, explained that the weeding determinations were made by sending questionnaires to testers and asking them to rate sites based on questions such as “ Would they be willing to share their credit card ?”, “Did they feel there were more ads than content?” and “Do you feel that this site is authoritative?” Once they had their answers, Google made changes.

To fail to do so, will mean one’s site(s) will rank low. If you are one of the 1,000’s who were affected, you may be wondering how to climb back up the page rank ladder. Here are several steps to help you recover:

Trash any web content that does not add site value.
Protect what is yours. If you run across content that was unique to your site on another page, run a WHOIS search to locate the site host is, then firmly request that your material be removed from the site.
Be creative! While imitation may be the highest form of flattery this not so on the web. Write original articles and blog posts so that your site will stand out from the crowd-not blend in at the bottom of the list.

By making just a few changes in your style, before you know it, you can soon be back where you were before the “Farmer” weeded the Web.

About the author

Founder and President of Chakery Design, Malcom Chakery has extensive knowledge and experience in the workings of a web based business operations. Possessing great amounts of expertise in regard to marketing, seo, web design and development, Malcom is extremely comfortable handling all details regarding the day-to-day operations as well as the sales and support of his many high profile clients. With a clear plan in place regarding operational procedures, all aspects of web design, seo, and promotional activities are managed and overseen by Malcom before they are completed. As a stickler for detail, Malcom believes in providing greater than expected support, superior customer service, and innovative programs, making sure to go above and beyond customer expectations. To learn more about Malcom and his companies please visit www.chakery.com or www.chakeryseo.com.

Website Development

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Malcom Chakery

Many businesses who are just getting online wonder to themselves why they need to look to a website design business to help them to get set up online. They may think that they have no problem setting up their own website online. They may feel fairly computer savvy and ready to take on whatever they need to in order to make their site look great and to be efficient.

Hundreds of hours later the same person may find that they now realize exactly why so many businesses look to a website design company to get their website off of the ground. Building a website doesn’t look hard, but it can be extremely hard. Yes, there are website design templates that you may be able to use to help you to get your site going, but it definitely will not look original, nor will the site give any indication of what your company is all about. A website design company, however, can work with your company to create a unique website that perfectly fits the mood and feel that your business has, allowing your potential customers and clients from around the world to understand what it is that you do simply by clicking on your homepage. Make sure that when you are looking for a website design company that you look at some of their previous projects to make sure that the design is something that you will like and that your not their first client. Ask for references or testimonials or pick a random site they have designed and call that company to see how the process went and if that company met the deadlines that they had set in the proposal. If the website design company offers search engine optimization see where their site ranks in the search engines or ask to see sites that they have done SEO for and then again check for the references. When your looking for that perefect website development team that is going to work with you on what will be the first impression one gets when they reach your site it has to be perfect. So take the time in the beginning to make sure that your dealing with a company that will take your business as serious as they take their own. Website Development begins once the relationship between the business and the client is at a good understanding of what the clients needs are and that both parties are comfortable moving forward.

Malcom Chakery
Chakery Design, President
“We are only successful when you succeed!”

Selling Online

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Malcom Chakery

I have found that even before the holidays that shoppers have been shopping online because it is very convenient in some situations to simply sit down point and click and within days have that product delivered to your home or business. Let’s face it.. businesses have already been doing this for years for a numbers of products from things such as computers, toner, paper products, water, and other office supplies and equipment. But now with the help of Google, Bing, and Yahoo you can now price comparison shop and see where you can find the best price for that product you are looking for.

If you are a business and would like to know what you would have to do in order to be able to sell online it’s pretty simple. First you would need to have a domain name for your business which is will cost from $10 – $25. Than you will need a hosting account which will run about $10 – $30 per month. Next your going to need someone to design your website. This is a very important segment of the process, and I would suggest doing a local search for your area such as “dallas web design” or if you feel comfortable working with a web designer anywhere in the country simply do a search for “website design” You want to make sure that you get someone familiar with shopping carts and e-commerce as well as search engine optimization or seo. This is very key as you want to make sure that once your site is built that people will be able to find it.

It is very important for you to understand that you should be working on marketing yourself from using Twitter, Facebook, and any other sites that you can use to help market your site. I would suggest setting up a blog depending on your business. Discuss this with your web designer when you speak with him or her. Once you have worked with your developer and your site is ready to go public be patient as it is not always an instant thing. You can send out an email blast and pass out business cards but things do take time but it will take off.

You have made a big first step and you are on your way to becoming your own boss and congratulations to you for taking the risk that not everyone is prepared to take.

Malcom Chakery
Chakery Design, President

Using Facebook for Social Marketing

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Malcom Chakery

Facebook is one of the most widely used social programs on the internet today, and while it’s great for reconnecting to old friends, or staying in touch with family members, it also has another great use – as the perfect social marketing tool. If you use Facebook correctly, you can not only connect with your current clients or customers, you can also attract new ones.

All About Connection

One of the number one rules in business is that you need to connect with the people you’re doing business with in order to be successful. Many years ago this was easy, as the only way people could do business was in person. Now, however, it’s not as easy, as the internet has made it possible to purchase almost anything online, getting rid of the connection factor entirely, and making it difficult to not only get new clients, but to get repeat ones. Facebook can help you to connect with people in a way that was not possible online before.

Getting Started

In order to get started, you need to have a few Facebook accounts. You should have one for you and a fan page for your business. The page about you allows your readers to know exactly who you are and what you’re all about, and the fan page allows them to come together to discuss your company.

The fan page should be clean and uncluttered, but filled with useful information, including the company’s website address, your Facebook address, and other contact information. For the profile pictures you should include a logo that represents your business. It is also a good idea to put your company’s real location on the page as well. For the personal page, however, you can get a bit more relaxed. Include a photo of yourself on your page as well as some fun and interesting facts about you under the bio section.

Building

Now it’s time to build your site. Connecting with friends and clients is fairly easy, and experts say that one of the most important things that you can do on Facebook to keep your account relevant and interesting is to have an opinion. Don’t just sign up for an account and let it go stale. Instead, sign up for the account and be social! Get into discussions that are going on and make statements about not only your company but about yourself. This will allow you to connect with others, which is exactly the point of Facebook.

Have a creative day,

Malcom Chakery
President, Chakery Design LLC
Twitter: @chakery
Website Design | Search Engine Optimization | Logo Design

Ways to Optimize Your Web Site

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Malcom Chakery

Ways to Optimize Your Web Site
By Malcom Chakery
Copyright 2008
Search Engine Optimization is a technical process which is used to raise the rank of a website in the search engine index. SEO makes a website easier for the search engines to read and also helps the users in finding the best websites to read. It is an easy and cheap way to get more traffic on a website. SEO helps the different pages of a website to get a good rank in the search engine.

Let’s discuss ways to optimize your web site-

Content should be strong
Every search engine wants to give the best and most relevant results. That’s why they regularly review the sites and the content on them, in order to make sure that every search result is ranked according to its worth. Therefore, the first thing you should focus on your website is its content. The content should be strong and relevant to the subject and keyword phrase used by the website.

Use HTML
This is a very important step in the search engine optimization but it is often by the web site developers. A valid HTML format of the web site is a very simple thing to do but it is an important in order to optimize your websites. It has been found that a site in a valid HTML format gets spidered much easily and widely.

Decide on good keyword phrases
Choosing a perfect keyword phrase can be a difficult task but it is very important for optimization of a website. You must try to come up with one keyword phrase for every page of your website. The phrase should be focusing on the content of that page and should be relevant to the content on it. Also, use that phrase in the title of that page as that will enable it to appear as a link in the search engine.

Use the key phrase wisely
A website developer should make sure that the keyword phrase is used enough times in the content of the page. The keyword phase should come at least twice in every five hundred words in order to make it visible to the search engines. But on the other hand, one should not even load a web page with the keyword phrase as it will look like that the website developers are trying to cheat the search engines in increasing its rank. So, use it carefully and wisely.

Don’t optimize the whole site with one keyword phrase
Sometimes, the website developers take the easy way out and optimize the entire site with just one keyword phrase. This is the wrong way to do it. In order to optimize your site successfully, you should try to come up with different keyword phrase for each separate page of the site. This will increase the rank of the website and will also bring more traffic to it.

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Category Archives: SEO

Hide or Seek: 7 Steps to Ensuring People Find You On The Web

Time to Make the Doughnuts: Dunkin’ Donuts Goes Local

If it’s not Broken-Don’t Fix it! Does Your Website have Findability?

Website Development

Ways to Optimize Your Web Site