Web design is a broad industry and there are many options and ways of attaining results. Most of the time people hire a web design company or a freelance designer to create their site for them. For those that have some knowledge of HTML, a simple option can be to download a free template, especially if your site is just a personal project. Here’s a list of some cool places to get good quality HTML templates that will cost you nada!

1. Free Web Templates
http://www.freewebtemplates.com/
Free Web Templates makes web design a breeze over 5,000 free HTML templates to choose from.

2. Free CSS Templates
http://www.freecsstemplates.org
A sweet selection of free lightweight and table-free CSS templates. They’re all W3C Standards compliant and valid (XHTML Strict).

3. Template Basket
http://www.templatesbasket.com/
Template Basket has a bunch of templates that are conveniently sorted out by category, including arts & photography, communications, fashion, food & drinks, law, and real estate.

4. TemplateMo
http://www.templatemo.com
Another good site with loads of free CSS and Flash templates.

5. Wix
http://www.wix.com/
This unique site will let you build your own free Flash website. Instructions are given through an easy to follow video and customization is done right online.

Hiring a host can get confusing and frustrating with the millions of choices out there. It’s a necessary step that needs to be taken if you are involved in a web design project.
More important than having adequate technical specifications met, is to have customer service that actually works and responds when you need it.

Several surveys have been held in regards to hosting companies’ customer service, and around 70 percent of customers have reported disappointment due to long response times.

Problems with downtime occur daily, so we are not hailing that these companies are perfect, it’s simply part of normal hosting life. It’s good to know that they have your back, to help you understand what’s going on and what are the steps to take in order to get your solution. That’s why we have faithfully served as your hosting guinea pigs for the past several years, and have tried out and tested many companies. Here are our picks. We hope these will help you make a conscientious decision in your web design process.

1. GoDaddy

www.godaddy.com

One of the world’s biggest hosting companies, GoDaddy has 9.99% uptime, 24/7 support, and data centers monitored that feature monitoring and fire systems.

2. Media Temple

www.mediatemple.com

Media Temple is open 24/7 (they never close), they’re affordable, they pick up the phone in under 2 minutes, its data centers have the highest level design and engineering features, and are affordable.

3. ICDSoft

www.icdsoft.com

ICDSoft has customers all over the globe, its team is 100% dedicated to its customers, 24/7 customers service with response times guaranteed to be less than 1 hour, all with a great low fee.

4. InMotion hosting

www.inmotionhosting.com

InMotion has top technical support (in the United States), 9.99% uptime (independently monitored) and is easy to use and feature rich.

5. JustHost

www.justhost.com

Just Host has a 9.99% uptime guarantee, 24/7 phone and email support, as well as an anytime money back guarantee.

In one of our last posts we talked about 5 of our favorite design tutorials. Here we will give you our top picks of tutorial sites, where you can find all sorts of information for tutorials of all kinds. Some do a great job of updating weekly, which helps keep things fresh. Bookmark these sites, so you will always have a new and current outlook for your web design skills.

1. Computer Arts Magazine
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials

Published by Future, Computer Arts Magazine is a British mag geared towards pros in the fields of digital art and illustrations. The tutorials are very clear and well organized, and you can download supporting files for each respective one. Most of the material that you find on the magazine is found on the site, so you can have access to content no matter where on the planet you are. The tuts are divided into categories like Photoshop & 2D, Web and New Media, and 3D & Animation.

2. N.Design Studio
http://www.ndesign-studio.com

Run by Nick La, creator of Web Designer Wall, this site spills style and skills. It originally began as a personal project for him to showcase his work, and it bloomed into a much sough-after resource for web designers world wide. The Freebies section has Wordpress Themes, Wallpapers, as well as tutorials. The tutorials are directed towards Illustrator users, but their simple and concise techniques can be applied in many different types of projects if you use your imagination.

3. Blog.SpoonGraphics
http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/

Owned and run by web wizard Chris Spooner, Blog.SpoonGraphics servers an excellent source of information about Illustrator, Photoshop and other web design related techniques and effects. There’s a premium section with exclusive members-only tutorials, downloadable source files, and discounts and giveaways.

4. A List Apart
http://www.alistapart.com/

A List Apart, “For People Who Make Websites”, is a superbly written collection of articles that explore every part of the web design process. From visual web design to development, as well as the meaning of web content and web standards. The site is smartly split into the following categories: code, content, culture, design, process, and user science. Articles are constantly added and they give you great tips and different vantage points.

5. Nettuts+
http://net.tutsplus.com/

Nettuts+ specializes in delivering free and professional tutorials for web developers (newbies and advanced). The site sorts out its tutorials with the following categories: ASP.NET, CMS, Databases, Design, HTML & CSS, Javascript & Ajax, PHP, Plus, Ruby, Site Builds, Tools & Tips, and Wordpress. All of these tutorials are free, but there is also a premium section available for paying users which will give you access to download source files, bonus tutorials, and additional material.

Background images as patterns and textures, when used properly and tastefully, really make a difference in your overall design scheme. Here are a couple of our favorite hand picked sites that offer free background images and seamless patterns for your website design. Enjoy!

1. Template Yes
http://www.templateyes.com/web-backgrounds

2. GR Sites
http://www.grsites.com/textures/
A good list of backgrounds broken down by color and texture.

3. Kollermedia
http://www.kollermedia.at/pattern4u/
Awesome selection of cleverly designed background images including lined, dotted, squared, classic, dirty, funky, and real seamless repeats.

4. Grunge Textures
http://www.grungetextures.com/
High resolution photos that serve as backgrounds and textures for web designs.

5. 2Textured
http://www.2textured.com/main.php
Photos and textures split into categories such as fabric, wood, anatomy, animals, ornaments, metal, and ground among others.

6. Texture Vault
http://www.texturevault.net/
A collection of royalty free textures that include abstract, clouds, grunge, scratches, smoke, and wood.

7. ava7patterns
http://patterns.ava7.com/
Beautfiul site featuring a beautiful mix of patterns. A special color and shape picker on the top of the site allows you to search for your perfect pattern in no time.

8. Squidfinfers / Patterns
http://www.squidfingers.com/patterns/
Another lovely set of patterns to choose from. Over 150 patterns are available.

9. CitrusMoon
http://citrusmoon.typepad.com/
Free patterns, tiles and backgrounds.

10. Pattern Cooler
http://www.patterncooler.com/
A cool set of contemporary and retro patterns, perfect for your web design.

Starting a website from scratch can seem like a daunting task. After you have selected a web company to guide you through and create your website design, there are quite a few additional steps to take into consideration. Many factors influence the success of a website, not just the design itself. Things such as an initial brief, content, hosting servers, domain name, and target audience, are some of the main ingredients to this virtual recipe. Here’s an invitation to do like our Roman friends used to do way back then, “Divide and Conquer”, break up the pieces of the whole into smaller steps to make everything more manageable and clear.

1. Initial Brief
Well, you’re ready to get your website design rolling, are you sure you know what the exact purpose of it is? Do you just need a landing page with basic information? Do you need a site that drives real traffic toward it? Do you need a site where users and clients can interact? Do you plan on making money and monetizing your web enterprise?

Defining what your website is going to do, specifically, is the first and most important step. Let’s learn a thing or too from our friends in the advertising and marketing world. This first step is just like the initial brief an ad agency works on upon landing a new account. Here are a couple of tidbits to think about:

Website profile: Website name (domain name, which we will see in point number 2), mission, vision, and objectives. How long has your product/service been in the market for? Where is it located and how well positioned is it? Make sure you can tell which other websites are direct and indirect competitors.

Target audience: To whom is this material geared towards? We discuss this in point number 5.

Time and Budget: How much money and time are you willing to invest to bring forth this venture?

Examples and References: Are there other sites out there like yours? Are there sites out there that have exactly what you want? Are there sites out there that have exactly what you DON’T want?

This will make everything clear for your website developer and yourself, making the planning process more coherent because you will now know what tools and resources are needed and what direction needs to be taken.

2. Domain Name
A domain is your main calling card. This is how people will remember you and your company. It should be easy to remember and easy to spell. Try to keep it as short as possible and avoid using hyphens, as this may result in mix-ups with other similar names. When selecting a name, stick to your business name, or if that isn’t possible, try to use a word of a select combination of words that best represent your product, service or idea. This will help boost search engine results and will surely develop better memory retention for your target audience.

3. Content
Content is the fuel that drives web engines. If content is not relevant and kept fresh, then your website design, as snazzy as it might be, means nothing. Consider hiring someone to write for you if it’s not your cup of tea. A good way to organize this from the start is to plan out which site sections you will have in your site. (This influences the website design also.) Now you will be able to see and decide which sections of the site will be updated more frequently, so you can plan ahead on how you will be writing content and how often you will be uploading it.

4. Hosting
You need a place to put your files so they can go live and online, and this is where hosting comes in. There are many great companies that offer this services, so it’s a good idea to talk to friends or your web design company to recommend one for you. If you feel comfortable and know your way around this process, go ahead and purchase the hosting package (a yearly package is a good idea) yourself. If not, then your website developer should be able to offer hosting maintenance for a fee.

5. Target Audience
Ok, so you’ve defined what your website is going to do, what domain name to purchase, what content to create, and what hosting company to hire.

Who will be benefiting from all this stuff? Your product or service will give you the first hint (if you haven’t already defined this).
Where is your target audience located?
Age group?
Profile?
What interests are people after?
Motivation?
Where do they work?
Education level?
Hobbies?
Habits?
Lifestyle?
Negative attitudes and barriers your service/product might create?
Positive attitudes your service/product might generate?

Basically, make sure you ask yourself Who, Why, When, Where, and How.

By now you should have a good idea on how and where to start. Remember that planning is essential and is the most important step in everything including website design. It should never be skipped. This will give you the peace of mind to steer you through the process of creating a website.

To Blog or Not To Blog?

To blog or not to blog? That seems to be a common question in today’s blog-crazy web design world. The word blog is a contraction of Web Log. Let’s start off by seeing what a blog really is. Think of a blog as a form of virtual diary (yep, like the one you kept as a kid – Harriet the Spy, anyone?) where posts (diary entries) are written and open for people to read.

Depending on the author, these posts can be made daily, including several times per day (depending on the subject and amount of content being put out) or they can be specifically set to be shown on a particular day of the week. The latter is much more convenient for busy bees and people who can’t really dedicate much time to blogging duties or who aren’t really interested in venturing into a full blown website design.

Blogs started out as sites for people to keep track of their daily activities and shared them with friends. Blogs have turned into full-fledged websites that fulfill the need of divulging information for big companies, newspapers, and other enterprises worldwide. Blogs are also a convenient way to manage content dynamically, cutting back drastically on the time needed to upload new content and update a website.

Whether you are just starting or have been blogging for years, remember that the fuel that keeps a blog rolling is content. Without meaningful content, a blog is nothing. No matter how good looking and fancy your web design is; the material driving the content is what will really grab people and search engine’s attentions.

So what should what type of site should you decide on? A blog, a regular website? If you plan on updating content often (daily or weekly) then you should consider a blog or blog-driven site. There are some excellent blogs available for free, with varying degrees of user-friendliness, that offer the perfect solution to this problem. Many people also use blogs as a content management system, without it exactly looking like one.

So, once you have decided what you type of content you will be handling, that will give you a clue to whether you should create a blog or use the blog back-end mechanism to create an easily updateable website or choose to have your website design created that is not linked to any blog back-end.

Here is a list of free blogs that don’t need any knowledge of web design and programming. Happy blogging!

Blogger
www.blogger.com

Blogonize
http://www.blogonize.com

TypePad
www.typepad.com

Live Journal
www.livejournal.com

Wordpress
www.wordpress.com

Top 5 Web Design Tutorials

Honing your web design skills is the best way to advance personally and professionally. When you thought you knew it all, there are often people that discover quicker and different ways of going about the same solution you are seeking. It can also become an enriching experience to think outside the “screen” and try out a new technique in a field that might not be specifically yours. Learn a thing or two about typography, photography retouching, or perhaps even how to go about making colorful illustrations. You are simply strengthening your designer set of skills, which will make you a more wholesome web design connoisseur and with a higher degree of marketability.

1. Choosing Type
http://ilovetypography.com/2008/04/04/on-choosing-type/

Even though there is not set formula on how and what sort of typography to choose for your web design project, this article will serve as an informative tutorial on how to decipher this touchy subject. Like everything in art, typography is a subjective matter and there is no right or wrong answer. Read on to understand and start applying these concepts to make your web design life a bit easier and enjoyable.

2. Designing a fast loading website
http://www.entheosweb.com/website_design/fast_loading_websites.asp

Designing a fast loading website is probably the most important and logical rule for web designers to follow, right? You would be surprised to learn that a very large majority of professionals and amateurs out there hardly take this very important issue into consideration. Some basic elements to keep in mind are keeping image sizes to a minimum, optimizing images for web, keeping your html code clean (using div’s and css wisely), using Flash sparingly, and constantly check your loading time.

3. Illustrator: Abstract Vector Art
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/illustrator-abstract-vector-art/

Get those virtual paintbrushes out and start to have some fun already with your web design! Use these ideas to create different and new backgrounds, buttons and different styling elements. This sweet tutorial, created by Web Designer Wall, points out step by step of this creative technique. All you need are some basic Adobe Illustrator skills (make sure you have CS or above) and an open mind. Be ready to wow friends, and hopefully your boss too, with your new oh-so-cool skills.

4. Swift and Simple Animation
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/3d__and__animation/swift_and_simple_animation

The totally rad folks at Computer Arts Magazine have a huge list of free and excellent tutorials available to anyone. This handy tutorial will help you speed up the process of animations (which you can later apply to your web design) by using After Effects Expressions. James Wignall shows us how to animate one object, in this case a peacock and its feathers. You can apply this technique to many other objects or ideas of course. Keep on reading to download the support files and PDF tutorial.

5. Web 2.0 Buttons
http://www.webdesignermag.co.uk/tutorials/create-unique-web-2-0-buttons/

I know we’ve seen Web 2.0 buttons all over the Internet! But are they always good looking? Here’s a simple yet extremely effective tutorial that will make your buttons and web design look hotter than hot.

How to be a Good Web Design Client

We’ve all heard the shpeal and read countless articles on how to be good service providers within the web design industry. Well, what about showing our beloved clients (they’re the reason we are alive and working after all) certain tips and pointers to make the website design process go by smoother and faster – for us and for them!
Our staff at Turbonacho, including project managers, programmers, designers and even our CEO, has graciously compiled a list of ideas.

1. Have a clear understanding of what you need, not necessarily what you want
Starting a website design project can be very exciting. The possibilities seem endless as you make a list of all the sites, effects, menus, content, designs you like and have referenced from other places. Many times, a client will want to literally mix every single element they have seen from other sources to create their own site. Take into consideration that your design choices affect programming (dynamic content) and vice versa. A heavier graphic oriented website will carry more weight thus affecting visitor download and permanence times. If you are not exactly sure of what types of elements you need to accomplish your goal, talk to your website design company. They have the experience and they have options and alternatives for things you probably never knew existed or were possible.

2. Have a realistic budget
Sure, everyone wants to be able to buy the best products and services around. But being realistic of how far you can stretch your budget prior to starting and accepting a website design proposal will save you many days of headaches and wallet woes. Decide on how much you are able to spend, but do your research to also see what average market prices for services such as website design are at the moment. This way you will have a real number in mind thus allowing you to adjust your budget accordingly.

3. Be open and available for questions – lots of them!
Project managers have the task of organizing and transmitting all relevant information between client and designer. The first step before handing over a proposal to a client is asking a series of questions, evaluating them, and then asking some more. Project managers aren’t doing this to annoy you or waste your time; they are in fact doing it to get a clear grasp and understanding of what you, as a client, need and desire. Questions usually generate more questions along the way, and this has proven to bring forth solutions and more efficient alternatives to the result that is sought after. So be kind and be a little more open to the start of this wonderful client-project manager-web designer relationship. Lots of great things will come to fruition thanks to it! And if you come across a web design company that DOESN’T ask you anything and hands you a proposal right away and is in a rush to start – run! This will more than likely cause trouble later down the road.

4. Ask questions – lots of them!
We just told you that project managers will drive you nuts with all the questions they have for you. Payback is a bitch, so ask them about anything and everything you have in mind. Even if you think it sounds insignificant, stupid or senseless. The smallest thing can have huge consequences, so please don’t be embarrassed to ask. Remember the first day of kindergarten? If you want to know, just ask!

5. Pay in time
Money is a delicate issue but it should not be a problem if both parties are satisfied with the progress of a particular project. Stick to the payment schedules both you and the web developer agreed to at the beginning of the project. This will keep everybody in check and happy.
 
6. Learn the virtues of patience
Web design is not rocket science, but like most things in life it is a process and can take time. Learning the virtues of patience won’t bring you a step closer to sainthood but will make the experience more rewarding and fulfilling for everybody. Now go make your mother proud.

7. Do you want to win design awards or make money from your site?
Different sites have different needs. These are organic creatures in a virtual world that interact with others and depending on their characteristics (web DNA?) they fulfill specific roles if they are intended too. Elements such as site construction, design choices (from color palettes to layouts) influence things like monetary returns and traffic. Decide from the start whether your site is going to be tuned in more towards the business or design end of the spectrum. If your website company knows their stuff they will guide you and provide the best solution.

8. Research
Ideas can come to mind as fast as lightning, but acting upon them shouldn’t be taken so lightly! We know you have a genius inside of you, and that is exactly why we suggest to our clients they do tons of research prior to establishing their goals and fine tuning the foundations of their website design endeavor.  No matter what industry you’re geared to, stock up on material and information from both virtual (internet) and physical (remember the library?) sources. Even a trip down to your local bookstore can leave you with a great deal of information, so be sure to scope out the magazines (which are always current and up to date) and books. Talking to people with experience in the field you are working in, including peers (if you already know your stuff) will prove to be an enriching addition to your web design.

9. References
Don’t be shy or afraid to ask for customer and client references. More often than not, previous clients will be happy to guide you and let you know what their experience was like with that particular web design company. This will give you extra assurance that you are comfortable with your choice and that your idea will be generated with real and confident expectations.

10. Enjoy it!
After reading all of these tips, and since you are now on your way to becoming an even better client, you should feel more confident and relaxed with your decision. Make every moment of the web design process count and enjoy it! It’s your brainchild after all!

Top ten reasons Why Google May Penalize You

Getting a Google ban is more like receiving a life sentence in prison where you are alive but your life has no more meaning.

Grounds on which Google may penalize you

Google Penalty is the practice of black listing a specified site or blog. It is examined as a very big penalty for webmasters and is done to keep the Internet clean and free of awful sites. There are many justifications which may trigger a Google Penalty and I have tried my utmost to clarify each one of them below. 

1.  Short-Term Domain  Registration

This is one of the most contentious justifications that support the fact of Google Penalty. Google might penalize you in a sense if you run your blog on a domain that has been listed for just one year. The reason is that majority of the scam, deception and spam domains only get listed for one year and Google has less faith on short-term domains so you may receive lower search engine ranking positions. Good way to overcome this is to register your domain for a long-term.

2.  Duplicate Content 

Most of the bloggers are already conscious of the replicate content penalty by Google. Google may penalize your entire blog or some of your pages because of replicate content. Not that you composed them purposely but furthermore if you similar post content in your categories and archives. Notsoboringlife has a outstanding article that can save your blog from being reprimanded by Google this way.

3.  Link Buying/Selling 

MattCutts, who is a Google Engineer, gave a short interpretation some time ago on how selling paid links on your blog can cause Google to devalue your blog. Moreover buying links just for the sake of maximizing Pagerank is also examined as an evil activity and is not acknowledged by Google. Checkout how Google can apprehend your paid links.

4.  Hidden Text or Hidden Links

Google does not like concealed text or hidden links on your blog. Buried links or hidden text can effortlessly be composed by wrapping them around a zero font tag or by using the display:hidden css property. Even if you code the links/text to be the same color as that of their background afterward they are examined as hidden by Google and this procedure may lead you to a ban.

 5.   Excessive Use of Keywords 

Google likes keywords that are applicable to your blog content or post content. If you have a technology blog it is not essential for you to add the keyword “technology” in all of your blog posts. Only use keywords that are at most applicable to your article/content. Using inappropriate or unnatural keywords can give you a penalty.

6.  Automated Redirects or Doorway Pages

Google has less admiration for sneaky or doubtful redirects. Those pages which just offer a doorway to other web pages and exercise automated redirects can be excluded by Google at once. These pages bewilder the search engine and are highly ostracized by Google. Using a Mod Rewrite rule or a 301 Permanent Redirect is a good procedure to save yourself for this kind of penalty.

7.  Linking To Banned Sites 

In the actual world you are recognized by your community. The same rule is pursued by Google on the Internet. If you time and again link to sites that have a Zero Pagerank or are themselves excluded by Google then Google may furthermore eliminate you too from its good books list.

8.  Getting Linked By Bad Sites 

Make certain you don’t exchange links with sites that have a Zero Pagerank. Scam sites, online phishing sites and other deception sites can get you reprimanded by Google if they keep on linking to you.

9.   Violate Google Webmaster Guidelines 

I don’t believe there is much to state about it. It is appreciated that Google will ostracize you if you do not comply with their Google Webmaster Guidelines so don’t think of going against them.

10.   Link Building Campaigns 

It is a very universal practice amidst bloggers to start link trains in order to get more back links but this can be risky to your blog sometimes. Even many blogging kings like John Chow have been influenced by this too. It is favorable for you if you escape excessive link exchanging campaigns.

Original article written by Abhinav Ghirdar

Top 5 Website Design Directories

Having many options available is often an advantage the Internet has to offer, but sometimes it can become a bit overwhelming. Who should you hire for your next design project? Where can I find info about a specific web design company? Who’s got the skills and the reputation to get my job done? Here we’ve listed 5 of our top rated web design directories. You can find a wide range of services available, from web design, graphic design, logo design, corporate ID, flash animation, 3D animation, architectural renders, consulting, and marketing. Companies are usually listed by location (city and state), making browsing a breeze.

1. Top Design Firms
http://www.topdesignfirms.com/

Owned and operated by Cider Media, this Kentucky based Media Communication agency tops our list with its vast array of nationwide web design companies in its roster. Only companies with the highest standards are allowed to publish their info, assuring you that only the best are for hire.

2. Design Firms
http://www.designfirms.org/

Design Firms has an excellent stock of web design companies available for hire, with an added bonus – featured sections like reviews, jobs, portfolios, awards and articles will complement your search with useful and relevant information.

3. Web Designers Directory
http://www.webdesigners-directory.com

Holding over 10,000 web design firms, Web Designers Directory lets you search for companies and designers in your area, as well as pricing your web design project right on their site. The Web Design Price Calculator specifies rates for each type of designer or company available (student, freelancer, expert consultant, and professional firm). An average cost guide is also given, to give you a good starting point for price ranges.

4. Freelance Designers
http://www.freelancedesigners.com/

Hiring someone to freelance your web design may be the best-suited choice at times. Freelance Designers compiles freelancers in web design, graphic design, fashion, photography and video. You can request a bid based on service type, budget, location and deadline times.

5. Web Design Stuff
http://www.webdesignstuff.com/

Web Design Stuff lists many great companies and also lets you see which are their top rated picks. A well selected list of web design resources is available, as well as a best design showcase. Good source of inspiration to get your web design started!