Happy New Years from Integraphix

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6 Web Design & Marketing Secrets from Santa Claus

Whether Santa Claus meant to or not, Santa Claus created one of the most recognizable brands and symbols in the whole world. It is one that parents and children alike have embraced for many centuries. So how did Santa do it? How did he become such a phenomenon?

Well, it took a lot of research but there are many reasons why Santa has become the sensation he is today. These reasons are lessons we can translate to the web design world.

Santa is incredibly reliable. Every year, the same day, and at the same time, we can expect the jolly man to come to our house and give presents. Most of us woke up on Christmas morning to find gifts by or under the tree, an empty plate, and a glass with some milk residue. Santa never let us down.

• How does this translate to web design? How reliable is your site? Is your site letting people down because of poor design or hosting? Our web visitors expect a site to give them information they seek and to allow them to purchase items or schedule a service appointment. 

Santa surprises and delights us all the time! Who doesn't like to see Santa? When we do, even as adults, we tend to get a little happier and excited (for adults, it is more the flood of memories from childhood). Why do you think that is? Whether it is his great beard or catch phrase, it works.

• How does this translate to web design? Well, being a great web design firm and creating great websites means making people happy. Can you say that it is true of your websites and their ability to surprise and delight web visitors? Study your analytics, your competition, and the web design agency trends. Find that "special something" that makes your site bring smiles to faces when they look at your site. 

Santa encourages us to write. We all know about all the letters that Santa gets every year. Better yet, it is even more incredible that Santa takes the time to read each email every year!

• How does this translate to web design? A website should be designed well enough and have great enough content that it encourages web visitors to do more than look at the site. Your site's goal should be to generate sales, which means that your site should be great enough to encourage people to write by filling out the "contact us" form or send an email. 

Santa rewards good behavior. We all know about the "naughty" and "nice" lists. He gives the well-behaved children on his "Nice List" good gifts.

• How does this translate to web design? Well, those of your consumers who are great with brand loyalty should get some sort of reward, like deals or other goodies. This one is more about the client using your good web design than it is about web design directly. 

Santa has elves and reindeer. Santa would be in some real trouble if he was not assisted by his elves and his wonderful reindeer team. His elves helping him build everything and his reindeer helping him deliver them. 

• How does this translate to web design? Well, it can go two ways-- 1) A great web design agency will have more than one person working on a site to get it finished in a timely manner; also, it helps make sure the site is great from the creativity of many, not just one person. 2) A great site has more than one web page. A page with one site will not perform well. As for the reindeer, a great site will have helpers putting the site out thee such as social media marketing and search engine optimization. 

Santa is unique & one-of-a-kind! There is no one else out there that is similar to Santa with his beard, suit, elves, reindeer, catch phrase, and place of residence. 

• How does this translate to web design? Your website should be unique and like no one else's. A great web designer will be able to create a wonderful, new design each time they create a website. 

Santa just seems to really understand how to champion marketing and give us great lessons about web design. If you want a web design company that really understands design and these lessons, then hire Integraphix, we are a Chicago web design company that operates nationally. 

What is the Difference Between Web Design and Web Development?

Many people use the terms "web design" and "web development" interchangeably, as if they were the same thing. However, they are two different things; despite their undeniable tie together, they are not synonyms.

Web design: This is the front end of the website, the part that web viewers see. A web designer will work with this half of the website and be more concerned with how a website looks to consumers. A great web designer will know how to put this end of the site together based on principles of design that allow for good usability, site navigation, and appeal.

Web development: This is the back end of a website, the technical stuff. This is where all the programming and interactions of the pages is built and maintained. A web developer focuses on how the site functions and fix any problems with it. A good web developer will use a platform to build a site that is customizable and easy to use, in case they need someone else to take over.

Does your business need a website, perhaps a website redesign? Then chat with Integraphix, we are a web design firm in Chicago that works with talented web developers to build custom websites.

If you are interested in a redesign, then start with a free website analysis and see what needs to be improved with your current site.

Why Should Your Website Have a Blog?

When you visit a website for a company, with the exception of e-commerce sites, you will likely find a blog on the website. As a Chicago web design firm, we have a blog on our main site, check it out. And this goes for many other marketing agencies, advertising agencies, PR firms, and other businesses in the creative sector and world.

However, why would you want to have one? We do we? Why do other companies? Here are several reasons:

• You can showcase the knowledge and expertise of employees. 
• Archive tips, knowledge, and other helpful information. Any good information you publish on the blog will stay there. 
• It's a great place to promote discussion and cooperation. When you publish a blog, people and comment on it and generate discussion. People are much more willing to speak up over the internet than face to face. 
• It generates fresh content on your site. Search engines like to see fresh content published on your site for indexing, a blog is a great way to accomplish that. This is a big help for your search engine optimization. 

However, you have to have a good strategy for your blog; before you start, answer these questions:

• Why are we doing the blog?
• What will we post?
• Who's the audience?
• Standards and guidelines for posts?
• Consequences for violations?
• Who will post?
• When will we post?

Running a blog is a lot of work but it is worth it and in the right hands, it is effective. If you know you need a blog on your site but do not have the skill or time, then hire a professional copywriter to write the posts for you! Our team of writers will make sure to write how you'd like and stay within your comforts and all legalities. For a great website, hire a professional web designer. 

7 Things You Don't Want to Say on Your Website

Your website is your 24/7 salesman. You need it to be convincing, affirmative, and not be timid. Diction is an important part of successful business; you never hear of a business that started making $100B a year because they spoke passively, "I guess we could help you grow your business."

If you want your chance to impress web visitors, then follow these great web design tips.

1. Let us help you. Well this one just screams desperation, even if you are not desperate. Why? Well, it puts you in a place of weakness. While that statement might sound like a humble approach, people don't often like to do business with a company that sounds desperate. 
2. Something, something "Industry standard". This is just saying that you are average and that is not going to spur confidence nor action in a consumer. Rather, say and show how you are above the industry standard. 
3. Whatever you need. Saying the word, "whatever" shows laziness. "This product will fix whatever you need fixed." Wow, can you get more specific there? 
4. We're unique. Well, aren't you special? I just visited 5 other sites in your industry that also said they are a unique company as well. If everyone claims to be unique, then what is special about saying it? Nothing. Don't just say you're unique, show it. 
5. Premium quality. According to other sites, everyone offers premium quality goods and services. What makes something premium? 
6. Needless to say… No, I'm pretty sure it does need to be said. C'mon. 
7. We can't be beat. Unless you are a truly dominating company and can dominate the industry, then chances are you can be beat… and are. That doesn't mean you are not a good company but unless you are the true industry leader here, then they're just empty words. 

Do you need a new website or perhaps a website redesign? Then hire Integraphix. Get a custom website design that suits your business and impresses the consumer. 

8 Things You Need to Know About Landing Pages

Every website has a landing page, it is the doorway to your website or section of your website. However, there is much to know about a landing page, according to our web design team. So let's dive in.

Is a landing page necessary? Too many people think that a landing page is only needed for an e-commerce site; however, this is not true. Every single website needs a landing page so you can direct your web visitors where to go and showcase things. A landing page is to a website as a lobby is to an office space; it has the entrance and allows people to gauge where to go without dedicating to a direction just yet. It allows you to promote things too, whether it be a product, deals, etc.

How can you make a great landing page? Well, several ways.

• Have good things to promote/sell on it. This means that your products and/or services need to be compelling enough for people to care. If your product or service stinks, then your landing page can only take it so far and you will end up with bad reviews and returns. So you might have to back track a little and make sure your product offering is good enough to build upon. 
• The proof is in the pudding. Social pudding. Getting testimonials about products and services allows you to say, "Don't take our word for it? See what these objective people thought about our product or service!" A great landing page will remove any cognitive dissonance about your product or service. It will give them all the info the consumer needs. 
• Get an endorsement. If you can have a reputable person give an endorsement, that is as good, sometimes better, than a testimonial. 
• It tells the story. You need to establish that connection with your target market and get them to understand the benefits of using your product, not just what is cool about it (the specs). Your landing page should relate to the consumer and get them to have that relationship of trust and loyalty with your brand. As a web designer, this is always something I consider when building sites and their landing pages. 
• It should be attractive. It should generate leads for sales. Here are things to consider:
• Headers and titles
• Buttons and links
• Colors, highlighted areas
• Good mix of colors but not too many. It should lead the eye downward and encourage them to take action. 
• Length of the page- Longer is generally better but it has to have good content, either way. And not too long. 
• Images

Building a good landing page is well worth the time and effort. The good thing is, you don't have to be held down by the time and effort of doing so, you can let a professional web designer build it for you. Contact Integraphix and let us build your site efficiently, artistically, and quickly. We also build sites so they are mobile-responsive and SEO friendly. 

4 Benefits of a Website Designed by a Web Design Agency

There are many ways to get yourself a website; some ways cost money and some ways are free. You could create a blog, have that buddy do it that owes you a favor, sign up for a free service, or get a professional web designer to do it for you!

Your website is your selling tool that run 24/7, it never stops and always has to be on key or you could lose a potential sale. In order to get a site that you are not embarrassed by and will get the job done correctly, then you need to hire a web design agency. But why should you hire an agency to do the site for you when you can do it yourself, maybe for free?

1. It will save you time. It is one less thing for you to deal with if you are letting someone else handle the workload. Some of the best web designers in the country could be handling your website while you work on the jobs you want to do that you enjoy doing. Your time is very precious as a small business owner. If this is a startup company's website, then you might even be working another job during the day. Trying to build your website could add too much, especially if you have never done it before. 
2. You will earn more business from it. It is easy to tell when a website is done for free or by an amateur. Free sites don't often let you have your own, vanity domain. An amateur site looks like you would expect it too. It will also be internally optimized for search engine optimization. Your site has to be optimized or it will not rank well on search engines and that is a major point of a website, you want to be noticed on the web! 
3. It saves you from a lot of chaos. You might have that buddy that knows HTML and other coding but it is only best to go this way if your starting budget is very, very low. However, what if your site needs some changes or runs into some hosting trouble? Can they help you there? Well, a professional design agency could and quickly, too. 
4. It gives your brand some needed strength. Your whole brand is unique and having a website that is made by putting info into a machine and being given a cookie cutter site undermines that uniqueness. A professionally designed site will help you attract the clientele that you want. 

Does your company need a website or a website redesign? Then contact Integraphix, a design agency with over 2 decades of experience. We build our websites so they are easy to manage, even for a novice. Of course, we also build our sites so they are mobile-responsive! This is a must in web design or risk losing web traffic and business. 

5 Incredible Web Design TIps

The world of web design can be tough to get recognized and have real success in. The problem is that it can be easy to create websites that are too busy and complicated or just straight up boring.

Here are 5 tips that will help you create a website that is worthy of showing off to the internet world.

• Learn and adhere to fundamentals. One key factor to being a great web designer is to remember that a website should be clear and scannable. If someone can't scan the site and figure out where to go next, then it's too complicated. That being said, there are certain things you can do to help improve your odds:

• Make headlines bold and easy to read. 
• Choose a font that is easy to read. Go for practical instead of cute, if you have to choose between one over the other. 
• Make body copy as legible as you can. 
• An easy to read text. 
• If you think the font size might be too small, it is. 
• Shorter lines & small blocks of text. 

• Pick a great typeface. You will likely want to choose one that is easy to read, graphic, and with a touch of style. Like we said, if you have to choose cute OR practical, then go with practical but there are plenty of fonts that allow great practicality and a bit of style. Some designers will tell you that Helvetica Neue is a great choice. 

• Choose three colors for a palette and don't deviate. Having too many colors on a website will be a great way to make it too busy and people will leave. The color palette should be easy to choose if it is for a company or team that has a color scheme already chosen since you'll just adhere to that. The main goal is consistency. If you have your choice of colors to use, then neutral palettes with a bold accent can be a solid choice. 

• Photo size is critical. You don't want to have photos on a site that are too small, or worse, stretched. You will never be given credibility with photos on your site that are stretched. As a web designer in Chicago, I have seen lots of websites that feature photos that are ill-sized. 

• Give it some space. Your content needs to have breathing room. Don't have everything compacted together like a junked up garage. Utilize margins and breaks. It is easier on the eyes to read something with space and people are more likely to read something that is broken up. 

The rule of thumb is be aesthetically pleasing and consistent. If you need a website designed, then contact Integraphix. We are a web design company in Chicago with offices in LA, NYC, Charlotte, and Phoenix. 

2 Things to Remember About Cross-Browser Compatibility

When designing a website, it is important to remember a lot of things. A website has to look good and be fully functional at the time of launch or it will just be a waste of money and be frustrating. The pictures have to be the right size, the text has to be alluring, informational, and sales-oriented, and the whole site has to be internally optimized.

However, one thing that is often overlooked with web design is the concept of cross-browser compatibility. When you have a website, it has to be able to function on all the web browsers, at least the major ones like Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, and yes, Internet Explorer.

Now why do you have to remember cross-browser compatibility? Well, if you do not, then:

1. It looks bad for your client. The client you designed the site for will have a site that will not be functional for every web user out there. It seems tedious or unnecessary but think of it this way, anyone who cannot use the site is a lost sale. When those lost sales rack up, business hurts. Also, it will tank the web rankings. People will go to the site, see it doesn't work right, and leave within a very short amount of time. This will force their bounce rate to increase and that hurts rankings. The website is one of the first things we look at when we discover a business.

2. It looks bad for you. For one thing, that client will likely not use you again since they can see the product they got from you. For another thing, if you have your name at the bottom of the site, like most web developers do, then anyone who visits the junk site you put together will see your name and think, "Nice job, amateurs!" Or something to that effect, they might not be so kind. The bottom line is that it could harm your business as well.

Do the job completely and do it correctly if you are going to do it. There's not always enough time to do a job a 2nd time but there's always enough time to do it right the first time.

Contact Integraphix for a website that you can be proud of and will work across all web browsers! You need it, your business needs it, and we'd love to help you get the site you need to effectively be on the world wide web.

Web Design TIp: Reduce the Distractions

We have talked about the navigation of a site when doing web design and how important good navigation is. One thing that plays into the navigation of your site are the distractions on your site.

The navigation of your site is like a set of roads in a town; if you have a town that used streets that were terrible quality, they didn't lead you to where you thought they would/should, you had no idea where to turn next, you would leave the town (or just be really PO'd the whole time). Why would you want the same for your website? The worst thing you can do to a web visitor is make them wonder where they should go next because they're lost. A lost visitor = an angry visitor; an angry visitor = a visitor who won't come back… that's what I've learned as a Chicago web designer.

There are a couple things that come to be very distracting when on a website:

• When you have way too many calls to action. Not everything has to say "Do this!" "Get that!" Etc. Some things are allowed to be informational. Like driving down a road and every establishment says, "Come on in!" Eventually, you just ignore them. 
• Too many links. You want to have links between pages for easy navigation and SEO but you don't want to have 5 links on one page pointing to the same page. Still driving down that road and you come to an intersection but every road leads to the same place. No one likes redundancy. 

So what can you do? Put your "super important" pages at the main navigation bar that is at the top of your website. The less important pages should be accessible on the side or the bottom of the page. 

Looking for an experienced web designer who knows how to make a website that will get you noticed? Talk with Integraphix! 

Web Design Tips: Make Your Site Easy to Navigate & Read

When it comes to good web design, there is one thing to make sure you do most of all. That is to make your site easy to read and more importantly, navigate.

A great website has to be readable. Don't use language that no one will understand; make your content easy to understand, engaging, and simple. You want your content to flow from one paragraph to the next, from one page to the next, etc. It shouldn't be a pain in the butt to read.

One thing you can do is use a friendly font but not a silly font, like comic sans. Your font choice is a bigger deal than we like to realize as well. A text size of 14 pixels is often a good way to go. A nice tool to help you with this is Google Web Fonts.

As far as navigation, you should have multiple routes to each page. Have links to other pages in the site within the content. Make sure nothing in your site is more than 2 clicks away from any page. Your navigation bar should feature the prominent pages of your site, perhaps all the pages.

The rule of thumb for navigation is to remember that people are impatient and will probably not stick around to figure out your site if you make it too difficult for them. We're human, we don't like to wait.

If you are looking for a quality Chicago marketing firm that does great web design, then contact Integraphix. We are a leading Chicago web design company.

5 Do's and Don'ts of Great Web Design

When it comes to making a website that is effective, organized, and pleasing to look at, it takes a lot of hard work. There are several trends that work for websites while there are trends that are atrocious. What you do is up to you, however, there are consequences to going with decisions that will not be liked by website visitors.

So what are some do's and don'ts of great web design?

• Do structure pages well.
• It is important to have good structure to your pages; use grids and proper spacing. Have proper structure and balance of space and content (photos and copy). 
• Do not put things anywhere and everywhere.
• Have you seen a website where there is junk placed everywhere? It's gross, right? It's like when someone has junk all over their house, you think, "Do you even organize?" It can be very frustrating to see sites where nothing lines up or line up poorly, there is no organization of the content, it's all very poor craftsmanship. 
• Do have a focus. 
• Have a certain idea or product that you are building your site around? Great! Having a central focus to your site helps keep it organized and relevant. When you have no focus to your site, that's when you run the risk of having clutter pile up and force visitors to sort through the garbage. 
• Do not just post anything on your site. 
• Stay away from the irrelevant stuff. Have a site to sell shoes? Don't post stuff about teddy bears. Ward off the ads that are going to be mentioning the latest political gallop poll when your site is about food. 
• Do use color schemes. 
• Use colors that associate with your brand. The colors that are used in your brand, like your logo, are the colors you use on your website. 
• Do not use every color on the color spectrum on your site. 
• A colorful site is nice but not when you have the whole rainbow shoved onto a computer screen, okay? Don't make it look like you opened a box of crayons and smeared them on your landing page, it's gross. 
• Do K.I.S.S. 
• Keep it simple, stupid! Make everything easy to access and navigate (no more than 2 clicks), make it easy to read, make it easy to come back, etc. 
• Do not ramble. 
• Have a site that rambles and looks like a dump of emojis and incoherent paragraphs, etc? If you do, that is no bueno. 
• Do have amazing content. 
• Google loves good content on sites; in fact, they just released a new algorithm, Panda 4.0, that focuses on content (among a few other things). 
• Do not keyword stuff. 
• Google hates when you stuff your webpages with keywords like you do a Thanksgiving turkey with dressing. 

If you are looking for a web design firm that can create a site for you (and obey the do's and don'ts of web design), then contact Integraphix. As a Chicago web design firm, we love creating the tool that will help make your business into something great. 

10 Huge Tips for Your Web Design Project

As a web design agency, we know how hard it can be to make a website that is appealing to the human eye yet does all the things you need a website to do. There are so many things to remember about making a website so we thought that we'd help and and give you a list of ten very important things to remember when creating a great website.

1. You have mere seconds to capture attention. When you have a website, you only have 5 seconds to get someone's attention and convince them that they have to stay on the website; they need to explore past the first page. One of the most commonly used features of web browsers is the back button. Your site needs to let people know that it is the site for them right away or they will back out of your site, likely to never return. Using compelling copy, aesthetically pleasing images/graphics, and easy navigation will help keep people for longer than five seconds. 
2. Copy that captures. You want to have copy on your site that is clear, concise, and gives answers. If your site does not have copy that actually helps anyone but rather just keeps giving mediocre information, then people will leave your site, even if they have made it past the first page. 
3. Feature your call to action. Give the people who view your site some sort of command, like "connect with us" "Contact us" "Get a free estimate" or "Schedule an appointment" etc. Whether it will actually work on people depends on the person, but it's always good to have this on your site. 
4. Build trust with viewers. This is important to do no matter what kind of site you have but it's especially important if you have an e-commerce site, whether it sells products or services. Have that great shipping and return policy, show positive testimonials from clients or customers, etc. Make your contact information prominent so people feel like they can contact you easily, this makes people feel more confident using your site. 
5. Keep fresh content. Always try to keep the content on your site fresh; not every page always has to be refreshed but make sure all the content is always relevant and applicable. When you have outdated content, change it. Try to have an internal blog page and another page or two that is a place where you can constantly place fresh content. 
6. Have social media plugins. Using social media is a great way to connect with clients and consumers and it looks great when you have the plugins on your site that connect people directly to your social media. Social media marketing is key and tying that with your site will look great. 
7. Make navigation easy. If there is anything on your site that takes more than two clicks to get to, it is not as easily accessible as it can be. People should not encounter dead ends and have to figure out where to click to get to a new page, it should be very apparent. 
8. It's about the user, not you. It doesn't matter what you want, it matters what people who view the site want. What do these people want? They want to feel like they are making the decision to use your products and services, they want to feel like the hero. Don't brag about yourself but rather what you can do for the consumer. 
9. Keep up with the times. Don't fall behind on the times and what your competitors are doing, make sure to stay ahead of the game and current on the times. 
10. Create while remembering SEO. Your site should be launched already being internally optimized. If you have to go back in and do internal search engine optimization, then your site was not built correctly. 

If you have questions about web design or search engine optimization, then make sure to contact Integraphix - a Chicago marketing company. We have been a chicago creative agency for over twenty years and clients of all sizes. 

How To Make a Good Website: 2 Tips

A website that is intriguing and effective is something that is not always the easiest thing to do; sure, in the past, all you had to do to get business from your website was to simply have one on the web. Nowadays, you need to do more than just put your site on the web, you have to make it worth while.

Your website has to be intriguing and eye-catching, there are two things you can do to keep your site up-to-date, fresh, contemporary, and worthwhile.

The first thing you should remember when you do web design is that sometimes, simple is best. You need a website that caters to the needs of someone who is viewing your site; one of those needs is to navigate through your site without having to jump through hoops and have a compass. Have a simple design that is not complicated or busy and makes viewers feel at home. Now, this does not mean you should have little content and images on your site. You need plenty of content on your site, 300-500 words per page, include pictures, etc. Make it appealing and cool but do not make it complicated and busy.

The second thing you should remember is that your site should feature storytelling. Use compelling copy on your site with captivating images to draw people in. Make your site fun to look at. Let people who view your site to be wanting more and establish that connection. Your site can be like an adventure. Yes, this can be a challenge but it is a challenge that is worth while and should be one you'd like to conquer.

If you have questions about web design, then contact Integraphix - a Chicago web design agency. See how we can help improve your presence on the web.

2 Myths of Web Design Are Debunked

Like in any industry, web design has its share of its myths and legends; some of the legends and myths are understandable while others are more of a stretch. Now, we have found some of the myths that are held for web design and seen how they are actually not true.

One of the biggest myths about web design is that the aesthetics are the most important part of web design. Web designers in the past have believed that if your site does not look amazing, you have done a poor job of designing a site; this myth is more true for small businesses since large businesses are able to break more rules). The main point of great web design is that you have a site that is functional, practical, informational, and navigational. Theoretically, looks are the last thing to be on the list of "super important tasks to accomplish in creating a great website". Why? Well, if your site looks fantastic but has little info or is a major pain in the rear to navigate, then no one will want to look at your site for more than a few seconds and search engines will hate it as well. Good luck getting any SEO from it. If you said, "Hey search engines and target markets, our site stinks but it looks amazing!", you would hear, "Who cares!" in response. True story. A good web design company knows that good web design is more than just making things look good.

Another big myth for web design is that your website should be your sales tool. While a website should be able to change some minds and help the sale, it is not what is going to be your salesman. If you try to make it so, then your site will have a lot of things like big buttons and flashing text saying, "Click here for deals!" and such. We avoid those things like the plague. Again, yes, your site is a sales tool but it should not be acting like a salesman. People will be much less likely to return to your site if they feel it is one big sales effort. Your site should inform and impress, those things will help the sale and do so gently and not push the consumer away.

Go and make your site the best it can be. Your site will love you back if you show it love first. Make your site beautiful like a butterfly: effective, pleasing to the eye, gentle.