There are many different types of hosting companies out there. Some of them require a monthly or annual payment; some of them are free. The thing you should know about the hosting companies that are free in comparison to the ones that are not is that usually with a paid hosting company you’ll get more features. What features this may be can be discussed with the hosting company you plan on choosing. The second thing that sometimes happens with free hosting is that in exchange for this “freeness” they will connect pop-up ads to your website.

          You should know before shopping around for hosting, about how much disk space you are going to need. This is because it directly affects your price. Also one tip is to up the number just a little to allow room for growth of your website. The second thing that affects price for hosting is bandwidth. Bandwidth is basically the amount of traffic transmitted from a site. You can roughly estimate this by multiplying your page size by your number of views per month. If you are transferring more than fifty gigabytes a month then you might want to consider getting a dedicated server. A dedicated server is one that is used solely for one company/organization.

          If customer service and support is important to you then you’ll want to check on how well the service is for the hosting company you are thinking about choosing. Some hosting companies have very poor customer service based on which one you choose. On last little tip I have before you choose a hosting company is to get recommendations from others. Like I said before, every website is hosted somewhere so there is going to be a lot of feedback about many different hosting companies. Lastly, if you decide on a hosting company and it turns out that you really do not enjoy working with them, you can always switch. Many people switch hosting companies every day. Don’t be afraid to do what it best for you and your website. For more information on web hosting check us out at DreamCo Design - Web Hosting. For more information on other types of web design take a look at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

          Eighth on the list is mismatched pages. I’ve also heard them called “alien” pages. These are pages that are on your website that don’t match the rest of the site. They have a totally different feel and makes the user think that they have traveled to a different website, or an alien planet. Try to decide on one design for your pages, one pattern, one layout, and keep it the same. Keeping your pages uniform looking is important because it makes the visitors feel comfortable and secure. Another subject that can go along with this is orphaned pages. These are pages that don’t have a way to get to them. No navigation, no link, nothing. They will never be found by anyone and they unintentionally become useless. Make sure all your pages are linked to and are able to be accessed.

           Nine is something that people overlook a lot when doing web design. When adding content into your website you should never have a font that is too small. This really strains readers’ eyes and they won’t attempt to read it at all. Make sure that your font is at least either a 12 or 14 point font. This will make your text easy to read and not harmful to readers’ eyes.

          The last mistake that someone can make when doing web design is music. So many website load up with music playing and usually it is the most annoying sounds ever. Although you may like it, the visitor usually does not. Either make sure you have a button to turn off the music or, better yet, don’t have music at all. There is also one other option and that is to have music but to allow the visitor to turn it on when they want.

          This concludes the top ten mistakes made by most amateur web designers. When you read all these mistakes you’ll start to judge websites a little harsher based on their quality and you’ll definitely be able to see all the mistakes I just pointed out. For more information on other types of web design take a look at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

          As we become more and more comfortable with the internet we also become more comfortable with the advertising on the internet. This is all those banners and all that flashing text that we now ignore. I actually read an article about it, and it’s called banner blindness. People actually ignore or don’t read or look at anything that appears like it could possibly be an advertisement. Internet users also close most pop-ups before they even load up, just out of habit! Keeping this in mind, tip number five is to make sure your text on the website never looks like an advertisement. This means no flashing text and nothing that is shaped like a banner. Visitors will not be looking at these areas. For more information on banner blindness look to my next post and I’ll go more into depth about it.

          The sixth tip I can give you is to tell you that spell check is a wonderful thing and everyone should use it. If you are designing a website and it looks fantastic, it won’t matter if you spell everything wrong and your grammar is atrocious. You don’t look professional and you definitely don’t seem educated. Even though it may be a typo or a common mistake people are unforgiving and judgmental when they surf the internet. Make sure to use that spell check whenever possible, correcting follies that may make your website look like you need to go back to middle school. If spell check is not available proof read your page manually to make sure you catch those little mistakes.

          The last tip for this post, number seven, is that you should always take care of your title, meta, and keyword tags. When you don’t do this your page comes up as “Untitled Page”. This is the default title for all your pages before you decide to change it. Doesn’t seem like a big deal but that it what Google shows in blue when you look something up. It is the title of your page. If you used the term “untitled page” as your search for Google, you will see all these pages that never received these tags. They are very important! They help you get noticed by the search engines and in turn your site will be found better and receive more clicks. For more information on other types of web design take a look at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

because having such a busy background really takes a toll on the viewers’ eyes. Confusing them and possibly blinding them (if not by the background alone then by them gouging their eyes in an attempt to end the madness of the page). Try to tone down your background by using a solid color. Making sure, of course, that the text is still able to be seen. Another thing to avoid that goes somewhat in this same category is walls of text. The internet is not like a big book, and you should never write on it like you were writing a book. Everything should be broken up with bullets, bold font, or just having a bunch of breaks. If someone sees your wall of text, they end up thinking that there is no way they will ever be able to scan through the mess. Leaving them helpless and forcing them to not read any of it.
          Thirdly, a navigational mistake that is seen often is that there is a lack of it. You have to think about how people are going to be accessing your website. Most of the time it will be through a search engine, this means that visitors may not be going through your home page to see whatever information it is that they need. You should have a home page button on every page, if nothing else, but a whole set a navigational buttons on every page of your website is ideal. Making it easy for everyone to travel that groovy place we call the internet.

          My fourth tip is about your links. They have to work! Call me foolish but isn’t that what they are there for? After you make a hyperlink, whether it is in your text or on a links page, you should always test it. Making sure links work is going to help you immensely when a visitor is on the page; a broken link means bye-bye to most people because they can’t get to the information they want to see. People are usually very direct in what they are looking for when they use the internet. Not being able to find it with you just means they will find it somewhere else. Always test those links. For more information on other types of web design take a look at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

       So now you have your keywords. Which keep in mind, you should probably have a few, maybe around three or four. Now placement is the next step. Placing your keywords around your site is an art. Not only because there are so many rules from the search engine companies about it, but because you don’t want to sound too commercial either. Trying to be personable is the best way to win customers. To optimize your search engine position the best place to have your keywords is at the top of your web-page. This means your title tags, meta-tags, headings, graphic images and anywhere else suitable in the coding of the site. If you don’t know how to go about doing this chance are that you have a web designer doing your sight for you. If this is the case, make sure to express to you designer how important it is that he put your keywords in the areas I mentioned.

       The content of your website also helps in the standing of your website. When writing the content for your website you should think about strategically placing your keywords throughout your text where applicable. You should not, however, put your keywords in too frequently. If this happens it is known as “spamming the index” and you could be penalized by the major search engines for it. This means possible black-listing of your website. So don’t even think about it.

       This is the basics of keywording your site. It’s a great strategy for website marketing that is sure to help you be found by search engines. If you want to know more about website marketing go to DreamCo Design - Marketing. Want to learn about web design? Visit us at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

      I wanted to talk about a type of navigation that people feel is cool, but if not used in the appropriate instances probably will hurt you more than help you. I’m talking about MMN, or mystery meat navigation. Basically MMN is when you have icons on your website that are navigational buttons but don’t have any text around it showing that it is. Of course, if you scroll over the icon, it will then become clear what they are and where they go. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing MMN, it’s actually pretty cool looking and could design your website to look more clean and less filled with text, but it’s a web design risk. There are a few categories of websites that can get away with MMN and they are sites used for movies, music, bands, fashion, art, and anything where giving the impression that your cool is needed. Anyone else should steer clear of this. Your visitors are only going to get mad when they see your webpage and most likely not stick around to figure it out.

       The whole point for navigation is to get customers to stay in your website and find what they want and find it quickly with as little effort as possible. Think about this, most of the time when a person enters a website their eyes go to the top and to the left. These are both obvious places to put your navigation buttons. Also, keep it consistent. You don’t want to switch where you navigation is because it will confuse your customers and in turn drive them out of the website. Keeping them in is the whole point and navigation is key. Make sure you use it correctly. If you want to know more about web design? Visit us at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

What is considered to be an art? There are a lot of people that argue what art is just the same way people argue that pool, bowling, cheerleading are sports. They are not by the way. But honestly what is considered to be art today? Everyone pretty much thinks painting, sculpting, music, film, and photography are well established art forms. How about graphic design, or web design? Do we consider these to be jobs or art forms?

If you think about what arts essential elements are you can’t easily decipher what is art and what is not. Of course there is not a really clear cut check list that one can go through to make the determination that what they are creating is art. According to dictionary.com art is “the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.” So we have a pretty vague definition of what is to be considered art. Something that is beautiful, well what is considered beautiful differs from person to person. It works the same for being appealing and quality. And what about aesthetic principals? Aesthetics examines what makes something beautiful, sublime, disgusting, fun, cute, silly, entertaining, pretentious, discordant, harmonious, boring, humorous, or tragic according to Wikipedia.

So every one of the above adjectives all have to do with matters of opinion. Could it really be that simple, that what is to be considered art is a matter of opinion? It all really it makes sense, we all do not like the same movies. We all have varying tastes in music. So if you think about the above you can see where graphic design and web design can be considered art forms.

Not every website that is designed is going to be considered a masterpiece. In fact there is probably very few websites out there that would be considered a masterpiece. Website design and graphic design are newer, exciting forms of art. One day websites will be looked over in museums just the same as sculptors or paintings. You will be saying at a dinner party some where that so and so designed my landscaping or real estate website. And everyone around you will be very impressed. Maybe one day it will be the equivalent of having a Picasso hanging in your home. Okay maybe not that far but you get the idea.

Web design and graphic design are art forms plain and simple. Not everyone can play the violin. Not everyone can take a good picture (not those crappy MySpace artsy pics people take of themselves in the bathroom mirror). And not everyone can design a great website or beautiful logo. So all in all it is almost impossible to have a cut and dry checklist to determine if something is to be considered an art form. There are just so many differing opinions out there that it is best just to leave it up to the public.

DreamCo Design understands that web design and graphic design are the new wave in art forms. In fact we considered all of our web designers and graphic designers, web artist or graphic artist. It makes them feel more important, and that’s what DreamCo Design is here to do, stroke our developer’s egos. Not really but we like them to know their skills are appreciated. We honestly have one of the best team of web and graphic artists around. Give DreamCo Design a call today for all your web design and graphic design needs, and see for yourself. Or for more information on web design check us out at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

The initial conception of a website can be a really easy task or an incredibly difficult one, to take on. There are several things that you have to decipher before going out and spending the money to have one constructed. Being without a website for your business can not guarantee failure, however it may cause a few hardships for you. It is almost dire in today’s world to have a web presence.

If you consider the cost of establishing a well designed website for your business you may come up with a number that seems quite outrageous. You may be thinking that there is no possible way you could ever afford to have a website designed for your business. This is not the case in every situation dealing with web design. Yes, some websites can cost a lot of money. It all depends on the business and how large they want their website and what they expect it to do for them. Some websites are small with only a few pages, some are giant with several hundred pages.

You can not ever really give a ball park figure for web design. Most people expect you to give them an estimate right off the bat. They say “I want to build a site like this one”. We say “okay, what are you looking to do, exactly”. They reply “make a site like this one”. Well after about ten minutes you finally get the information from the customer; that the website they are looking to design has almost nothing to do with the website they want it to look like. And that’s okay. Some people choose things for looks, others for functionality. We do not expect everyone to know what we know. If that were the case why would you be calling us to build your website?

Basically it all comes down to the mind set of the customer. Sometimes customers feel like they might be roped into something if they tell the web designer what they are looking to do. It is a lot easier for them to point out a current website and ask how much? But we want to assure you that it is okay to ask and let us give you a quote for the project you had in mind. There is no red tape unless you want there to be. For instance someone has an idea for the next big web craze, and they do not feel comfortable sharing with a complete stranger. That’s alright; just have your lawyer whip up some papers and we can get started. We are not in the business of pushing customers into something they do not want. We are here solely to ensure you get the best experience possible while having a website designed.

DreamCo Design has all the tools and knows how to put together a great website for you with out breaking the bank. We have the most talented team of designers out there and the best customer service in the industry. Don’t believe us? Give the rest a call and see what they can do for you. We are positive you will come back to us. DreamCo design has all your web design needs in one place. Give us a call today or check us out at DreamCo Design - Web Design for more information about web design.

So why is it that everyone out there is looking to get something for nothing or next to nothing? What ever happened to the term “you get what you pay for”? It does not seem to exist anymore. Everyone out there is looking to get the best of the best for the price lower then the worst. This could not be more apparent in any other industry then web design.

Every time you go on Craig’s List we see them, a web designer’s worst nightmare. They are those posts that usually go something like this.

Hello I am planning on starting my own business website and I am looking for a developer. I cannot pay you because I am just starting out. I will give you an opportunity to use the website you built in a portfolio.

Or my personal favorites.

I have a great idea for a website and I want you to make it the biggest, coolest, most beautiful website ever. I will pay you when I sell the website.

At least the first never promises to pay you. If you decide to get into the first type you understand that you are doing this for free. You cannot work on a huge project website if you are not sure you are going to get paid or not.

Basically it all boils down to this. People of the world if you are expecting to have a website built at least expect to pay for the services. The designers you are looking for have to make a living, and dedicating their time to your project for free means nothing. In fact it makes you look foolish. You would feel terrible if your boss came to you and said “I can not afford to pay you this month, but you still have to come to work and do a better job then you have been doing. And maybe if your work is good enough I’ll pay you later on”. You would quit in a heart beat. So why are you expecting the same thing out of a web designer? If you expect the website to be built for nothing, take a web design class and try to do it yourself. Or wait until you can afford to properly pay a web designer to develop it for you.

The point is to respect the service a web designer is offering. It is an insult to offer them nothing and expect the world out of them. If you expect to pay nothing you will get just that, nothing. You expect to pay for your car, gas, groceries, clothes, insurance, and for your schooling. So expect to pay for web design. Or at least have something cool to trade for it, like tattoos or something.

DreamCo Design understands the plight of the freelance web designer. We have your back. If you are looking to get out of the freelance world and work full time or part time give us a call. You will be properly paid. Make sure to have your portfolio handy. If you are looking for a great web design company that is not going to jerk you around you have found it. DreamCo Design offers the best product for the best price, bottom line. Give DreamCo Design a call today for all your web design needs. Or for more information about web design check us out at DreamCo Design - Web Design.

In the past few years there has been an unbelievable amount of technological improvements in the photography industry. The most recent has been the rise of the digital media. Digital photography has exploded on to the scene with the lower prices of digital cameras and photography software. It is now easier than ever to take the pictures you have taken and transfer them to any device capable of displaying that image.

Film has been dying for some time now. It is taking it’s time to leave and it may never fully disappear, but it will certainly be a rare thing to see in the future. A lot of the major companies have stopped carrying professional grade film and chemicals to develop that film. It will not be long before we see it disappearing from the eyes of the consumer as well. This is sort of unfortunate because there was so much raw emotion that came with film. Once you took the picture that was it. You had no idea what it looked liked or how it turned out. And if you screwed up developing the negative you were done.  There was no Photoshop that you could use to adjust the lighting and what not, unless you had one great scanner.

Since it has become so easy to transfer, edit and print photos, the industry has been suffering a little. More and more people are able to take professional quality photographs without the professional photographer.  This makes the market even more competitive than it was before. With fewer customers those that still remain become rare. The photography industry is still huge; there is always a growing need for corporate photography. So really the rise of digital photography has only hurt the freelancers. Most freelancers have their full time job and the freelance part comes in as a source of extra income.

Now that it is easier to take these pictures, you get every little highschooler with a $200.00 digital camera from Target thinking they are artist and putting all their artsy pictures on MySpace. This is not really y a bad thing, it is good that people have an interest in the arts. But that’s what most do not understand is that digital photography is an art just as much as painting or sculpting. You still need a professional to get the most out of the event you are trying to capture for memories later.

DreamCo Design has several options available to the professional and causal photographer. Check out what else we can do for all your photography web design needs by clicking DreamCo Design - Photography Web Design.