Chicago Web Design: Restaurant Web Design Tips

Chicago Web Design



There are many things about many Chicago websites that could use a lot of changes, and there are a lot of things with many websites that are great! But there are certain industries that need to stick to a standard, and there is a specific industry that always leaves us hanging: Restaurant and Bar website designs are always horrid.

There has been many a time where you've gone looking for a great place to eat, found a website, and it was literally impossible to navigate. In addition to that, they're menu wasn't view-able on your computer, or it was an image so small you couldn't see what was available. It may have happened also that something you did see that was appetizing wasn't listed as seasonal, so once you got there...it wasn't available.

Having worked in the Chicago web design industry for some time, we love that working with web and print design is so flexible. There is no reason why restaurants cannot keep their websites up to date with pricing, seasonal entrees and new specials. There is also no reason that the entire website should be an image and have bad links to their pdf'd menu.

What ALL Restaurant Websites Should Include:

Web Fonts for Information & Menus
Use web fonts even if they break your branding and identity. Your informational copy doesn't have to be in the same font as your logo. Many computers and especially phones can't read alternate font styles, may be too slow to load a large image, and most importantly, since people search for restaurants on their phones, don't make your menu a .pdf. Smart phones can't open them.

K.I.S.S.
If you didn't know what that is...it's the web acronym for Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don't clutter up your website with flashy animations and huge images. Make sure the homepage can be read on slow internet connections and smartphones.

Nix Text in your Images
Unless it's a logo, all of your test should be HTML. Especially your address and phone number. And be sure they're displayed somewhere other than your footer or on the contact page. Additionally, link your address to your Google Place Page so smartphone users can get directions to your business easily.

Get a Second Opinion
Typos make you look dumb. Period. Your food isn't the only aspect of your reputation. It's your decor, your staff, and in the online world...your website. If you have browser incompatibilities, buggy slideshows, typos, grammar errors and broken links...say goodbye to that customer.

Display your Hours CORRECTLY
I saw a sign the other day that said: Lunch - 11:30pm to 3:00pm. What? Huh? This is a nobrainer.

Update your Website Regularly!!!
This is very important. People expect the specials they see online to be available at your restaurant. If you've got a special that expired 6 months ago...take it down.

People who love food and tend to search for new places online can be extremely picky. If they can't navigate your website, they'll move on. Make your website as frill-free and structured with fool-proof navigation as possible to keep your customers coming in! If you feel your website is in need of a facelift, or you just can't update your website as regularly as you feel, give Integraphix a shout at 847.537.0067 to talk about a website maintenance program or website redesign.

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Chicago Web Design: How to Upsell your Web Design Work

Chicago Web Design

New clients are not always easy to come by. We all know this. When you get a client though, being able to offer them more services, especially monthly ones, can dramatically increase your income potential. Fortunately for most web designers, there are plenty of add-ons that your clients are more than likely in need of but don't know you offer. If you're able to provide these services, you can generate a monthly income instead of living client to client, PLUS they'll come to you when they need things instead of going elsewhere.

All of these things can be offered at the time that you're selling your web design services, so your best bet is to include them as options in your sales documents. You can also follow up with past clients and offer them these services in a nice email or phone call.

1. Website Maintenance 
Many clients need ongoing maintenance to their website, or if they don't there is most definitely old information on there, images they'd like to change or staff bios and images that need swapped out. Having a few regular clients that you know you'll be getting regular payments from can help your bottom line significantly.

2. Logo Design
Not all web designers have the same abilities when it comes to Graphic Design, so only do this if you're actually able to develop good logos and branding solutions. If your client does not have a logo at the time of their web design project, offer this service to them in addition to their website. You'll be able to sell this easily since it is proven that branded companies do far better in the market than companies who don't have a solid 'identity'.

3. Printed Business Products
Business Cards, Letterheads, Envelopes, etc. If you've got the ins with a printer, go ahead and take advantage of that. Once you've got their logo down, ask them if they'd like business cards and other business products made up. A startup company will need these things moving forward. If you're going to be offering several items at once, offer to discount them on these products.

4. Search Engine Optimization
Obviously it is essential to optimize their website to search engines can easily find and index their website, but most clients don't know that you can offer a monthly service to help their website show up more often for carefully chosen keywords. Although not all clients will want these things, most business owners will take advantage of SEO services in order to increase their online lead generation. SEO is definitely a hefty topic to take on, so only do this if you are qualified.

5. Web Hosting
Hosting a website is a monthly fee, and it is one of the most popular add-ons for designers to offer their clients. Most hosting companies offer a re-seller program so if you're OK with managing these types of services, it's a guaranteed monthly income for you.

6. Banner Advertising Design
If your clients are advertising on other websites, they might have need for professional banner ad designs. This is a service you can offer anyone for a little extra money - especially since these ads should change quite frequently. It can provide additional work samples for your portfolio as well and should attract new clients easily.

Your thoughts?
Do you have experience in this subject? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.

/// Integraphix, a Chicago Web Design Company

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Beautiful Chicago Web Design

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Without inspiration (food for the mind), web designing becomes hindered and we can't think correctly. In fact, web design beginners usually need inspiration to get anywhere! And since everybody loves great imagery, I've put together a few examples of great vector web design for you to chew on. 

Chicago Web Design Company | Stunning & Creative Navigation Menus

Why design a boring navigation?

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Usability is an essential goal of any website, and usable navigation is something every single website needs. It determines where visitors are led and how they interact with the website. Without a navigation bar, the interior pages of your website become useless. Menus need to be simple enough for the user to understand, but also contain the elements necessary to guide the user through the website — with some creativity and good design ingenuity.

Here the web designer wrapped the navigation around the side of the content area, and when the user hovers or clicks over the tab, the tab extends. The texture really adds to the design as well making it wonderful to interact with.

This example is one of my favorites as it includes hand drawn elements. This really accentuates the talent of the illustrators and web designers. These icons are not only user friendly, but unique at the same time.

I may be biased, but hand drawn icons are something that is really attractive and interesting to look at since there are so many different illustration techniques that can be incorporated into a design. These are a little 'hipster' but after all - has this ever been seen before?

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When I’m looking at excellent web design for design inspiration, one of my favorite aspects of design to notice is the navigation menu and the footer. While I enjoy seeing excellent designs of all type and various aspects of the site, a well-designed and well-executed navigation menu can have more impact on my appreciation of a site than any other single piece of the design.

In this post I’d like to take a look at more than 50 stellar examples of navigation menus that positively impact the design of a website. The list includes a great deal of variety. Regardless of what you personally prefer, there should be some inspirational examples in here for you.

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Chicago Web Design Flash and SEO is OK!

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A common misnomer (that even I believed until I read a few debunking articles) is that Flash websites can't rank well even with search engine optimization in place because search engines can't read them. There are plenty of examples that state otherwise (there's a flash website that's been number one for our keywords for ages). Years ago, this would've been very difficult/impossible, but since yesteryears, there have been several advances in the world of flash web design regarding SEO.

You must keep in mind, a website won't rank well with external search engine optimization alone. It won't rank well with internal SEO alone, and the design of the Flash must be taken into account. Websites rank according to relevancy and popularity. Nothing else. Your focus needs to shift towards a web design shift and towards building strong link popularity and niche authority.

First things first: Indexing a Flash website is not impossible since Google rolled out a Flash update in 2008. Big news! Aside from Google and other major search engines indexing your website, here are a few things you can start with to get your SEO on point:

1. Promote your brand and hire an SEO company to create useful and authoritative links to your most important website pages.

2. Make sure your SEO company has optimized your meta tags and descriptions with a strong call to action. Most importantly, your SEO company should be optimizing your title tags to include your most important and relevant keywords. But no spamming!!

3. Be sure your Chicago web design company is placing as much HTML in the code as they can and that the SEO you're working with is linking to the HTML part of the page.

4. Lastly, ask your Chicago web design company to break the pages into several flash files instead of one large flash file. It will give them the opportunity to add more html and make your website that much easier to optimize with relevant text and linking.

Flash is a wonderful tool to add attractive items to your website design, and please don't be scared to use Flash because it's associated with bad stigma in the SEO world. Like most internet issues, it's always improving and always finding ways to be a better product. Your Chicago SEO company should be following good and ethical SEO practices and taking from Google's strict optimization guidelines. It won't be long before Google figures out a way to crawl Flash sites just as well as pure HTML.

For more information on Chicago Web Design, and Search Engine Optimization, give Integraphix, a Chicago Marketing Company, a call at 847.537.0067 or email us! Visit our website at http://www.integraphix.com

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Chicago Graphic Design: Five Phases of Logo Design

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The best logos in existence did not simply pop into existence when the graphic designer put his pen to the paper. They went through a process. This process is sometimes rigorous and takes years to perfect. The Apple logo went through many different phases and took 30 years to get to the stage they're in now! Take a peek at the following process and see if you're going about it the right way.

Research! Research! Research!

Research is the most important phase of a logo design process. Research includes asking the client questions about their likes and dislikes when it comes to graphic design. It should also include research of top competitors logos and creative styles. In addition, researching your client's target market comes in handy and helps you tailor your design to their specific needs. The most important reason you've been hired as a Graphic Designer is to help your client and their business become easily recognizable.

Development

Everybody handles this stage in their own way. Chicago Graphic Designers like us prefer to take the information we've gathered, start with word association, brainstorming, a play on graphically describing words on paper and then move into Illustrator. This process is the most time consuming or SHOULD be. It will be greatly affected by how much time and effort put into the research phase of the Logo Design process. 

Proofing

This is the first presentation to the client, where you will show them what you've been working on all this time! The presentation is half the battle, as you need to sell your design even after doing so much work on it. Graphic Designers all around the world have spent ages on a design that is not only beautiful but inspiring and could have been the next great Apple Logo, but the client hasn't liked it. Don't get too attached to your designs because they may end up in your rubbish bin.

As a Chicago Marketing Company, we have a lot of competition. But we know that when we sit down with a client, our sales techniques are going to win the day. If you feel as if you're not on the up and up on Sales Techniques, look into getting a class or forcing yourself to give more presentations. It will only help!

Completion

It's finished finally! After all the time and effort put into the design, time spent with the client, and finally finalizing after your hard won presentation, you've arrived at the point in time where you deliver your product. And preferably get PAID too. Be sure to give your client multiple file types to work with as most printers take .jpgs, .ai, or .eps files.  They may also ask for .pdf, .png, or even .gif and .tiff files. Be sure to have a copy of each. This makes both yours and your client's life much easier.

Follow Up

The best way to lose clients is to not follow up with them. Make sure you follow up with your client, as this might be the connection between you and your next gig! 

Tips

1. Dont be lazy - do your research!

2. Don't rush!

3. Don't shortchange your client on proofs and designs

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