Peter Marino, Chief Designer and CMO of New York-based HTML5 Web design and social media marketing firm, reelWebDesign.com:

“Although I can not speak for all Web designers I would have to say my biggest problem is getting a constant flow of new clientele. If you work for yourself you probably understand what I mean. Therefore, I think it’s important that all designers understand SEO and some PPC marketing in addition to their design skill-sets. If you don’t have a webmaster tools account for both Google and Bing you need to open one and figure out how to utilize all of the components in it. In addition to this you should have an AdWords/AdCenter account in both Google and Bing respectively.”

See the full article here:

Tired of using the same old standard fonts in all your web pages? For too long now basic fonts like Georgia, Verdana and Arial have ruled the day on most websites. More than ever, modern design aesthetics demand variety to allow your web page to be notable and declare a truly unique entity.

@Font-Face

Until @font-face showed up in the CSS world, however, there simply wasn’t a reliable method of including unique fonts that would be viewable through all different web browsers. All the major browsers, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer now support @font-face, which has lead to a proliferation of new stylistic options without resorting to images for fancy fonts.
{NOTE: This will also help your search engine optimization since the text will be legible by the search engines. This is even more important if the fancy font’s you want to … Read More »

Everyone needs some help when coding for a website so here is a large printable image that you can use to make your job a little easier.

Using CSS, you can add effects to your website’s design to enhance its appearance, such as stitched or rounded borders, shadows, and background images. This can all be done with simple CSS3 coding.

For the sake of example, let’s begin with a blank box that you can add these effects to. After that, we will examine how these can be applied to images. You can start by adding a div tag to your HTML, with class=”customclass”.

It will look like this in your HTML file:

Then go into your stylesheet and define your custom id or class.

Here are some basic attributes to get started:

customclass {
background: #55ccaa;
position: relative;
width: 500px;
height: 400px;
margin: 20px;
padding: 10px;
}

BORDER EFFECTS

Thanks to CSS3, adding rounded corners to your box or image is simple.

All you need to do is write this code inside your custom class or id (this can be … Read More »

Development of HTML5 started in 2009 and was still going under development as late as October 2011. There is a lot of hype surrounding this newest version of HTML. Many game programmers are talking about how HTML5 is going to replace Flash and more complicated programming for gaming. Since HTML5 will work the same on smart phones as it does on a desktop or tablet, the question remains whether smart phone apps will become obsolete.

What a difference a millisecond can make. When it comes to browsing the web, every tiny moment counts — and the fewer moments that pass between a mouse click and a fully loaded page, the better.
More reading >>

My latest article ‘Making the Case for Ruby on Rails’ is now online @ Website Magazine.

It’s a classic case of Photoshop versus website. Existing wireframing and prototyping tools are incapable of accurately reflecting the environment of the web.

They produce static designs that can’t be seen through the variable known as the web browser. And when you build the final website, some elements won’t look exactly like their draft counterparts, and the client will notice those minor differences in fonts, positioning, etc.

You may be more comfortable with a graphics program, and rendering the design iterations may seem to take longer if you have to hand-code the HTML.

However, the advantages of creating a wireframe in HTML from the start are beginning to outweigh the alternatives: not only do we have new layout elements in HTML5 and more powerful selectors and styling in CSS3, but by combining them, we can throw together a simple layout quickly.

Read … Read More »

One of the unexpected issues of the digital era is not the unprecedented amount of information it generates, but rather how any one person can meaningfully interpret it. For businesses and website administrators, web analytics has helped group this data into basic, identifiable categories. But statistical columns and raw numbers form only the most primitive stage of information gathering. Infographics, and the realm of data visualization in general, are the tools to a much richer and far more intuitive understanding of what all this information means — or at least, they provide a far more compact and visually engaging method of measuring the transactions of the digital world.

For a long period of time, the enriched-web juggernaut known as Adobe Flash seemed like it would remain the unchallenged king of the proverbial mountain. With the introduction of libraries such as jQuery and MooTools, it seems JavaScript, a once-haggard, much-maligned competitor could be making a comeback in the face of insurmountable odds. So, what is it that has web developers flocking to JavaScript?

Read my latest article on Search Marketing Standard about Google TV and how it will change media and how we interface with it:
http://www.searchmarketingstandard.com/google-tv-the-end-of-linear-pixel-slop.

HTML 5 – What it Is and How it Affects You

HTML 5 is about to completely redefine how websites are created and experienced. HTML, or Hyper Text Markup Language, is the code with which websites are written. With the release of HTML 5, many things that were difficult or impossible to do in HTML 4 are now easy. Read on to learn more about the release of HTML 5 and what it might mean for you.

Graphs, Charts, Complex Graphics – On the Fly
In the past, you had to use outside plugins or code to generate graphs, charts or other graphics. Now HTML 5 will support an element called the Canvas Element that allows you to generate graphics right on the fly.

Embedded Video and Audio

HTML currently supports a rudimentary method of embedding video and audio that nobody really uses. It’s slow, … Read More »

The goal of every business is to attract as many customers as they can. Businesses create websites with the goal of increasing their chances of acquiring more customers either through direct sales or as prospects.

With the number of websites increasing, there is a need for business owners to either learn good seo practices or hire someone else to do the work. With good seo , you are assured that your website has a constant flow of visitors who need your product or service.

Copywriting is the one skill which all online business owners should learn. As an online marketer you communicate through words – if those words aren’t effectively conveying your message, then you’re in for a long and bumpy ride or a short drive off a cliff!
Here are a few copywriting tips to help you get started:

1. Know your Target Market – Good copywriters know exactly who they’re writing for before starting. They speak directly to ONE person and keep that same person in mind at all times. If you try to reach too many people with your copy you’ll end up missing your target altogether and not reaching anyone at all. Before starting, know exactly who you’re writing your copy for and stick to it.

2. Headlines that Intrigue – Use clear headlines throughout your copy to guide the reader. Your main … Read More »

When you say the words “keyword search” to most internet marketers you’ll get one of two responses. You’ll see them groan and shudder or you’ll simply see them shrug their shoulders. The fact of the matter is that many don’t know how to or have never taken the time to do a little keyword research. It’s not difficult and the information can be invaluable. Once you know what keywords your audience is using to find relevant information, you can position your company so they the find you instead of your competition.

The first step in any keyword research project is to come up with a few words to start with. You can pull them out of the air, do a bit of brainstorming – what do you think your clients might be using to find your business? You can check your … Read More »