Source: The Evolution of Making Page 1 [INFOGRAPHIC]

Source: The Growth of Social Media: An Infographic

Where is the Party
With hundreds of millions of individuals now online, social networking sites are among the most popular sites. To attract groups, try using a blog, twitter, flickr, digg, YouTube or even create your own podcast. Let your creative side show with these emerging technologies and let the party begin.

Navigation is Everything
It actually is the web site. With bad navigation and poor site structure your site will be confusing and hard to navigate. Most users typically spend 30 to 60 seconds on the homepage. If they spend most of that time trying to figure out where to go next chances are they will go to another web site that is easier to use. You will want to have simple navigation if you want to build a good website.

Keep Your Message Short
Studies show that over 80% of people online don’t read, but they scan. Take the text you planned on using for your web site and cut it in half, then take that and try to cut it in half again. Only include important and relevant information. You want your message to be meaninguly and memorable.

Less is More
Your design, especially the homepage, should be clean and not cluttered. If your site is too busy it may scare off or confuse the user. Web users are busy and they want to get straight to the facts or order a product. (see billboard design)

Billboard Design
You want your homepage to be like a billboard. Imagine driving down the highway and spotting a billboard, you only have a few seconds to look at it, process the information, decide if it is for you and what to do next; call or visit their web site. Your homepage should be the same way; the user should know what you are about within a few seconds.

Nice Address
You will want to try to get a domain name that is either short, easy to spell, or easy to remember. Also, try to buy the .net .us .info etc. extensions if your budget permits. Try to include keywords or company name in the domain if possible.

Tie it All Together
You want your web site to match and flow with your current identity and other materials. Additionally, you will want to put your web site address on all of your printed materials.

Spiders See Things Different
Your web site may look easy to comprehend on the outside, but to a search engine spider it looks completely different. A web site should be both people friendly, (Good Design, Usability, Navigation, and Content) and search engine friendly, (Keyword Density, Page Names, Site Structure, META Tags, Links, Site Maps and more). High ranking on a search engine is a huge asset.

Measure The Results
Having a popular web site is great but is all that traffic converting into sales or leads? How is everyone getting to your site? Is there a section of the site you could improve upon? With analytics strapped to your site you will be able to make decisions to improve your site and business based on fact not theory.

You Get What You Pay For
You could have your neighbor or secretary design your web site, but owning a computer doesn’t make them a web design firm, just as owning a first aid kit does not make someone a doctor. It’s best to leave design and programming to a web design agency that knows what they are doing.

These days it’s hard to find a good web design agency that fits your needs and budget. There are so many aspects to web design and development it can often seem over-whelming. Sites range anywhere from a few hundred dollars for some small amateur site to well over six figures for a full blown custom production. With this wide price range it can be hard for clients to determine fair value for a site. The old saying usually rings true “you get what you pay for”, hiring your kid neighbor to build a web site for your company may not be the best way to watch the bottom line. You should hire a web design agency that professionally builds sites.

To correctly build a web site that looks good, converts, ranks well, and is easy to navigate requires lots of work. Much more goes into a site than what is on the screen. It’s important to clearly define the goals of the web site and get to the core of the message. You want to make clear what your business is about and what you offer; this is accomplished through good design and focused content.

There are hundreds of talented web design agencies, but if their particular style and core skill set does not fit your business objectives you may be better off elsewhere. Some agencies are great at programming and web development, if your site requires lots of dynamic content these types of companies are a good fit. If your business requires leads and potential customers you should look for a web marketing agency that can help with the business and consulting side. Some agencies specialize more on the creative side with lots of graphics and flash development. Some offer clean user friendly interfaces and search engine friendly design. Whatever your need is it is best to go with a web design agency who has a core skill set that aligns with your needs.

I’m sure many of you have heard of Square or Square Up by now. For those of you who haven’t it’s definitely worth taking a look at. I signed up a few months ago after I was at a GRAFF TOYZ event and someone wanted to purchase two of our boards but didn’t have any cash. I was unable to service that sale and lost out on the transaction. I had heard of Square prior to this but neglected to sign up at the time (I wish I had so I could of made that sale).

Basically Square allows you to swipe any credit card and accept payments right through your iPhone. If no card is present you can also key in the digits manually, or accept cash and keep track of the transaction that way. You do not need a merchant account. The service is free. There are no contracts to sign. It doesn’t get much better than this. With rates similar to PayPal and Google it’s another alternative for accepting payments and great for non-web transactions. The card reader or ‘Square’ is free. If you swipe the card it will cost you 15 cents plus 2.75% of the transaction cost. If you manually key in an order it will cost you 15 cents but 3.5%.

The ‘Square’ device simply plugs into your headphone jack and securely transmits the transaction through their iPhone app. Your account is not linked or attached to the device but through the app itself, meaning if the square is lost or stolen you won’t have to worry about any fraud against your account. The other advantage of that is the ability to log in and out of different accounts but use the same device – so you can charge a client for services under your business account, and then log into your personal account and charge your friend for those concert tickets you bought.

The app is very slick and simple to use. You can take a photo to accompany the order, the user ‘Signs’ on the screen which is kind of hard with your finger. An email receipt is sent to both parties along with a Google map location showing where the actual transaction took place.

I am hoping they will upgrade the app allowing you to switch between accounts with a simple click. Currently you have to log out and log in which may be cumbersome if you set different passwords for each account. I also hope they will come out with a web interface allowing transactions over the web as well. Currently you would have to use PayPal or Google Checkout for the web and Square for in person transactions, so it would be nice to be able to do everything through one place.

Check it out, sign up and let know what you think of it. I have done one test charge and two actual real transactions so far.

I was reading Smashing Magazine as I do every day and came across a cool site form their post “50 Powerful Time-Saves for Web Designers“. One of the sites that really interested me was Markup. It’s a very simple browser based tool that allows the users to make notations and markup a page right through the browser. The thing I love is that you don’t need an account, there is nothing to download or install. You simply bookmark the site in your toolbar, visit the site you wish to markup and click the link. Once you are done you can publish the page in which you are provided with a URL to email around showing your notations. The user can then make additional edits on top of that or start over.

From the drawing palate you can select from freehand, arrows, circles, rectangles, or lines. You can also select different colors and control the thickness of borders. There is also a text tool allowing you to the ability to type up explanations or directions for an edit.

I think as a web designer this application will be a good system for some clients to work with because there is no real learning curve or another login to remember. I know there are more elaborate apps and tools out there allowing for more detailed collaboration and version history but to me this is a great simple app. So make sure you check out Markup and let me know what you think.

So I came across blog action day from Smashing Magazine. I thought it was an interesting idea – how something so simple as water can create so many issues and problems around the world for people.

In thinking of a topic to write about I wanted to try to choose something that many people may not consider for another alternative for bottled water. The numbers are astounding on the usage of bottled water and the lack of recycling which is sad.

I have recently gotten back into camping and other outdoor activities. In my preparations of buying gear and supplies I discovered a few different water filtration options that may often be overlooked for every day use.

The first filtration system I purchased was the Katadyn Mybottle for around $40.00. It meets EPA guidelines for removal of bacteria and protozoan cyst. It can filter up to 26 gallons of water or about 140 uses of the 24oz bottle before the filter needs to be replaced. You simply fill the bottle up with any water source such as from a stream or even from a tap. As you drink through the sip straw the water is filtered making it safe to drink. If the water source is not the best I suggest pre filtering it with a coffee filter and then treating it by boiling the source for 10 minutes or treating with bleach – 2 drops per quart or 4 drops if really cloudy, wait 30 min and then run the water through your filter. This will not only ensure the safety of the water but also prolong the life of your filter.

I also wanted to try the Berkey Sport Bottle filter so purchased one, they retail for around $30.00. It functions in the same way as the Katadyn though is lighter in weight (the Katadyn is not heavy by any means) making it my choice for my camping pack. I decided to move the Katadyn into my car as a backup if I was ever out and needed clean water I would always have one with me. The Berkey Sport has a longer life with around 160 refills of dirty water and 640 fills of city municipal water making it a good choice for your every day use, easily getting a year’s worth of use out of one filter. The Berkey filters 99.9999% of E-Coli 99.9% of Toxic chemicals 99.9% of Radiologicals 99.9% of Heavy metals and 99.9% of unpleasant tastes, orders, chlorine.

Both filters come with the highest reviews and ratings and are a solid option for filtering your water on the go. There are dozens of YouTube videos in which people post reviews about both products and suggest looking into these if you are considering purchasing one.

These filters are a great solution to not only stop using bottle water but also ensures you have the cleanest water available no matter where you may be wither it be backpacking through the woods or running to a meeting in the city.

The other day I noticed my little 2GB flash drive had broken off of my keychain. The good thing about it was it’s a good excuse to buy a larger drive! So I went to Office Depot and purchased the Lexar 16GB TwistTurn drive. Currently Office Depot has it for $40.00 so go check to see if that sale is still going on. I’m pleased with it so far.

After replacing the drive I then realized that if I did have any private information on that drive anyone who found it could access those files. So this prompted me to find a simple way to password protect / encrypt the data. After searching for a short amount of time I came across LameSecure. (Lame name, no pun intended). The program is designed for Macs but it works on USB drives as well. After doing some testing I found it does not work on a PC, it doesn’t show the files so they will be secure, but if you need to password protect files and transfer from a Mac to a PC this is not the best option. But if you are only working on Macs and want some basic security that is simple this looks like a good bet.

Download it

Launch it

Once its opened select the folder you want to password protect

In the drop down select both

Type your password and confirm it

That’s it

When you open the folder it will ask for that password. You can have different passwords for different folders if you want.

If you ever want to remove the password open the program, select the folder that is already password protected, enter the password, then click remove

wow, it’s been ages since the last blog update. I’ve been busy enjoying my summer and have to say I have had one of the best if not the best summers ever. I was able to travel quite a bit and do some pretty exciting things some of which include – NBA Finals Game, Front Row at a Skynyrd concert, 3 Phish concerts, 3 new MLB Parks (Braves, Brewers, Twins), amazing trips to Atlanta, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine for 2 weeks, and Best Man at my Best Friends wedding. That’s a lot of stuff in a short amount of time! So needless to say those are part of the reasons for lack of updates.

Now that I’m back into “work” mode it feels good and getting involved in some projects. I have started work on a site and calculator ap for an insulation / energy audit company in New Hampshire. I will post about that once the project is completed in the next month or so. Work also continues on GRAFF TOYZ which is going well. We have our next two products designed and just working out packaging and pricing details now.

I also have availabilities for some smaller design and print projects as well so if there is anything you need just let me know!

Digital Skratch is now proud to offer Laser Etched Business Cards and Invites as a service. Most business cards look and feel the same, and are easily lost or forgotten about. If you have a creative or innovative business then you need to convey that message through to your business cards. These cards are totally original and every person you hand these out to will be impressed and look them over.

With a variety of materials to choose from the ideas are limitless – mattboard, clear acrylic, metal and wood. The cards are more expensive than traditional cards and start at around $1.50 and go up from there depending on the size, type of material and the amount of engraving. These cards are not for everyone but if you want to leave a lasting impression and want to show your card to speak about the type of business or service you offer these are the way to go.

Using the process we can also create amazing invites for parties, graduations, corporate events, and more. In a world of e-invites the art of the traditional invitation has been lost. So if you have a special occasion bring it back in style with a laser etched invite.

Fore information on this service please check out our Laser Etched Business Card page. We will soon be offering a quote calculator allowing you to select different materials, size and the type of design to receive an instant estimate quote for your project.