Portfolio Client Sites

PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE, not businesses! Put YOUR best face and info out there. Clear, concise, direct info. Encourage engagement, feedback, and support from YOUR clients whom YOU serve. They will support you IF you provide the kind of site and info, service, product or community they need/want.

CONTENT IS KING. User navigation is QUEEN. The pretty pictures are courtiers. Let’s start with the royal foundations for your SUCCESS! So much my team can do for you, if it’s a good fit!

ALL sample blogs/sites need more functionality, such as social media live links, RSS, options with video, indicating you is following you — there’s many available bells and whistles. That’s the most obvious, easy part. A well-designed, properly programmed, modifiable, growing site is the first step.

Farmers Choice and facebook.com/FarmersChoiceMarket: redesigned HTML static site, created logo and text for Facebook page. Updating blog as well.

LIST OF BEFORE and AFTER BLOG/SITES: (details listed in bottom section, because I did a lot more than meets the eye!)

I introduced myself to the Green Business Networking community. I offered to create a WordPress blog. This is a simple, basic layout, the first baby step.

I met Green Press Wire’s Michael Ratner. at the Green Business Networking gathering in May, 2010.

Chef BeLive, aka Brian James Lucas, is very active in the Raw Foods community, particularly Santa Monica/West LA and other parts of Southern California.

Tee Crane is an exceptional Life Coach. He chose to have a static home page, which is quite suitable for his needs. He wanted all visitors to see certain information on the home page.

ALSO JOOMLA-based sites vs WordPress:

I am far more focused upon:

  1. Clean design
  2. Excellent user navigation
  3. Organized content with deep linking within the blog/site and outbound linking to relevant other sources.
  4. Color, type size, and other visual elements.
  5. Writing for clarity and search engine results on the net. this seems to be something many resist. Think newspaper: who, what, where, when, how, why. Front-load your articles/posts/pages with this info!
  6. “Above the fold”: DO NOT make your readers scroll and scroll to find info. The average user spends 3-5 SECONDS on a site, before moving on or exploring the site.

I created these sites verify a WordPress blog is easy to maintain, many more advantages than having a static HTML (Site Builder, Dreamweaver, etc), Flash site, and/or a Blogger site, with limited design and no ownership.

  • I heavily edited all the sites listed. Editing is mandatory for more clarity and better search engine results. There’s an art and science to writing for the internet.
  • So many affordable themes, and tons of free plugins, which add functionality.
  • Unbeatable SEO (search engine optimization).
  • Static sites require extensive HTML knowledge and are harder to upidate.
  • Static sites are not indexed by Google and other search engines as readily as WordPress blogs/sites.
  • WordPress is a better Content Management System.
  • Very inefficient to have BOTH a site and a blog. It’s confusing for your readers, as well as yourself. Keep everyone and all your content in ONE place.
  • There’s a vibrant, supportive community.
  • You simply cannot compare using WordPress to anything else!

My habit is to suggest improvements, which usually require sites being rebuilt. Therefore, I’ve put created some samples. Can you see the differences? I’ve only listed a few items, but each redesign incorporates major improvements!

Before and After sites, in MORE DETAIL:

GreenBusinessNetworking.com, a static website.
Jennylens.com/GreenBusinessNetworking, sample dynamic blog, doubling as a site too.

I don’t have the information yet to complete their blog/site:

  1. Update social media links.
  2. PayPal.
  3. Email newsletter sign-up.

There’s many more details. Always wise to start with tiny, digestible steps, after seeing the big picture.

Green Press Wire: I wanted something minimal and direct. Less is often more online!

Green Press Wire, a static website.
Revised Green Press Wire, sample dynamic blog, doubling as a site too.

Suggestions re content:

  1. Submission page reads more like a sales page. No examples of acceptable work.
  2. Prices: minimal explanation of services, packages, separated from their prices. What are clients getting for the money?
  3. Missing deep linking nor outbound linking.
  4. Like being 1995, both in design, content and functionality.
  5. Sorry to be harsh, but I call it as I see it, read or hear it from my many associates.

Chef BeLive aka Brian James Lucas, is very active in the Raw Foods community in Los Angeles, particularly my hood, Santa Monica/West LA.

BeLiveLight REVISED dynamic blog, doubling as a site too.
BeLiveLight.com existing Joomla site designed elsewhere. Belivelight.com forwards to allstable.net/clients/belive/

I created this July, 2009. Therefore, it is missing current info.

The existing site has several issues:

  1. Chef BeLive doesn’t know how to update this. I love Joomla and find it easier to create and update. The issues are not Joomla based. So many people are using WordPress, its features, themes and plug-ins constantly improved. Therefore I’ve returned to it and highly suggest it for the average person and small business. NO web designer/programmer should ever create a site and not provide minimal training how to update the blog/site. Either write the steps, find free youtube or other vids, or something!
  2. Too much info on one page. Links within the article (deep linking) and navigational links on the top, sides and bottom organize the info more effectively. Do not expect people to scroll down for info, unless you also have indicated what is where with nav links.
  3. Formatting must be consistent. Careful usage of italics and bold must be followed! We use CSS, cascading style sheets, so that all entries are a consistent typeface, size, color, style.
  4. Images too large. I resized images.
  5. Information haphazardly organized. I reorganized the info.
  6. Additional items would be social media icons, to connect to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, plus a sign-up for email newsletter, RSS, etc.
  7. He UPDATES Facebook, who closed his primary account because he sent out too many emails! He started another Facebook page, still updates there, and neglects his OWN blog/site. That’s HUGE issue!

Tee Crane is an exceptional Life Coach. He chose to have a static home page, quite suitable for his needs. He wanted all visitors to see certain information on the home page.

Tee Crane sample blog/site I created.

  1. Scanned Japanese crest clip art, greatly modified the bird image.
  2. Created the logo in Illustrator.
  3. Created the logo-based background pattern in Photoshop.
  4. Downloaded images from his Facebook site, of him as a child and a recent photo. Created the Header in Photoshop.

T Crane Coaching, static HTML SiteBuilder site.

T Crane Coaching blogspot

ALSO JOOMLA-based sites, vs WordPress:

Created Diversity.Graphics.com

  1. Original OsCommerce previous site, with incorrect and missing categories, not organized at all.
  2. NOT provided a Product list, jpgs, nothing but the existing site.
  3. Copied/pasted text.
  4. Edited text for consistency.
  5. Informed client which items mentioned, but missing.
  6. Created detailed Product List, with sku, size, prices, categories, linked to correct images. Spent more time doing that than almost anything else.
  7. Categorized ALL items by holiday dates. Researched online for accurate information.
  8. Noted outdated items
  9. and more …

Diversity Graphics previous site:OsCommerce

Notice: I am dedicated to the Healing Arts. ALL the people, organizations, and businesses listed are contributing to economic, educational, healing communities. Some companies charge a lot of money to offer the analysis I have provided because I support their energy. NO negative energy is directed towards them! I make no money by listing them, but please support them IF it’s a good fit!

Please share feedback, suggestions. Namaste and thank you.

0 Comments

You can be the first one to leave a comment.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Designed by WPZOOM