“For me, a lot of the day is spent staring at a computer.”

Well, that was standard for web designers, the next part is not.

“In my case, it’s a lot of HTML5, so some kind of text editor is in front of me — or, in some cases, Photoshop. I’ve spent so much time in HTML5 that it’s actually easy for me to just treat it as a design tool.”

Usually there is a stark division between Photoshop workers and coders, and the individuals with both really are delicate snowflakes and special talents. Failing to be a web wunderkind or prodigy, most people have to settle into expertise in one role or the other. But even the most secluded programmer should have a sense of the importance of design, just as any designer worth his salt will recognize the challenge and triumph of really good code.

Some designers think that they can operate ex nihilo, creating from nothing based on their own style and taste, and then throw the design over the proverbial wall to a nameless “programmer”. That programmer must then decipher and imagine without support how that image is supposed to operate as a interactive webpage. Some programmers prefer to not interact with projects in the design phase, thinking it’s out of their expertise.

The client and the users are the victims in this type of interaction. They suffer from the arrogance and ignorance of both, and the website is less educational, informational, and sales converting than it could have been or should have been.

This problem is one reason we work in cross disciplinary teams. And why designers need to be immersed in the web to be effective. And why developers need exposure to good design to stay sharp. I’ll say with certainty: final products improve when the people building them have breadth of expertise and depth in their field.

We have worked with outside designers most successfully when we come in early as developers, and most successful with developers when we involve them in design. Doing both in-house makes this process even easier. As we grow, our teams shift and change, but we should never lose sight of the fact that what you learned in grade school is still true: two heads are better than one.

If you ever visit the Skyhook office and poke your head into the coding room you’ll probably see three programmers with telltale white headphones plugged into their ears. They’ll likely have a focused look that makes them seem oblivious to the world around them. In fact, they might not even know that you’re looking at them. If that is the case, then they are wired in. This state of mind can be seen in the following clip from the movie The Social Network (required viewing for Skyhook employees):

Being wired in is a state of intense focus and involvement during any type of activity or work. There’s even a Wikipedia article about it. I know that for myself there are times when being wired in can make me feel twice as productive than when I’m not. And it’s not just for programmers. Everyone can find that level of productivity no matter what they’re working on. There are many other terms synonymous with wired in including in the moment, head in the game, or in the zone.

In The Zone

The Zone is a sacred place for us at Skyhook. We try hard to respect others when they are in the zone. Interrupting them could derail their progress towards a breakthrough. Or it could simply make them waste time finding their spot in what they were working on before the interruption. Of course that is if they haven’t already left the zone and can’t get back in right away.

When I’m wired in, I’m usually coding a part of a website and checking tasks off my checklists at breakneck speeds. And I usually have my headphones turned up loud to drown everything else out. How do you get in the zone?

Keep it Clean

Let me start by saying this is hard. You’ve got a complex, real-world business. There’s a lot to say about how great you are.  But it’s too easy to fall in the trap of trying to find a spot for every bit of content on every page. Not every new thing is “the most important thing”. You need to understand what your users are looking for, then pare it down as far as you can. Find your message, and stick with it.

Keep it Fresh

If keeping clean is hard, then keeping fresh is easy. (Unless you’re Outkast. They are both.) Your website shouldn’t say it’s 2007. Or 2009. Or anything other than the year it is. It shouldn’t have pictures of employees who left in shame after the last Christmas party. Not because of the shame, because they aren’t there anymore. Especially with a Content Management System, there’s no reason not to keep things fresh. It makes you look professional and relevant.

Keep it Obvious

Your business website can be clean and fresh and still not convert traffic to sales if it’s not obvious. A call-to-action is that thing you want your user to do: make a phone call, buy your widget, download your e-book. If you don’t ask them to do that, then they won’t, because they don’t know that’s the point. If you say “Well, it’s obvious!” then just make it look obvious. Don’t make anyone guess how to be your customer.

Pay Attention

Getting a website is not a “one-and-done” type of activity. The web is changing, growing, and advancing, and part of being in business is keeping up. If your site is clean, fresh, and obvious, you’ve made it for today. Tomorrow, check back. You change, your customers change, and the medium changes. Stay on top and ride the wave.

WordPress Basics

In the most basic form, WordPress.com allows you to set up a website and start publishing content in minutes. At Skyhook we use the open-source, self-hosted version of WordPress found at WordPress.org. Once set up, you can log in to the WordPress administration area of your site and start posting content, adding media, and customizing all of the options. Aside from some high-level settings, WordPress customization breaks down to two different areas: Themes and Plugins.

Themes

A WordPress Theme can drastically change the way your website looks. In fact, if you look at Skyhook’s portfolio, most of those sites were built using WordPress and custom Themes. Creating a custom theme requires a lot of work (but we love doing it). However WordPress offers a lot of themes for free that are created by the WordPress community. Plus, you can easily install any of them from the WordPress administration area.

When applying a different WordPress theme, the content of your site stays intact. It is really like playing dress-up with your website. You can see how your website looks with different colors, layouts, and typography. Since WordPress is open-source, you can even take a theme you like and make changes to really customize it to your liking.

Plugins

WordPress plugins can extend the functionality of your website. At Skyhook, we frequently wonder about the limitations of WordPress and if it will meet the needs of our clients. We always find a plugin (or come up with ways to write our own) that solve any roadblock in a project we face. From adding e-commerce abilities, to social and community based functionalities, to integration with other services – the sky really is the limit with WordPress plugins.

In the last few releases of WordPress, the functionality of custom content has grown to be really powerful. Beyond the usual Blog Posts and Pages that WordPress offers, custom content types can be created that can fit the needs of most types of websites. This feature alone has helped WordPress shed the skin of being just a blogging platform to a more robust website platform.

Skyhook Has Mastered WordPress

At Skyhook, we have spent a lot of time with WordPress. Actually, we have been using WordPress since version 1.5, and we have become masters of it. Our designers know how to make a WordPress site shine, our programmers can work magic with the codebase, and our marketers know the best optimization tools out there. Give us a call and let us build an awesome website for you!

I can’t tell you how other website design firms do it, but let me tell you how we do it.

Collect information and provide a free, itemized estimate
Before we provide an estimate for your web project, we want to know all about your business. We believe that we will be much better marketers if we understand and believe in your product completely — that way we don’t have to pretend. We also want to make sure that you fully understand your problem. We have done this before, and we will ask difficult questions to make sure that the whole process is fully understood by both parties. In our experience we have come across dozens of products and solutions that will make building your website easier. There is no need to re-invent the wheel.

We will then take all of our recommendations and provide an itemized quote for you. The choice is yours which items you will do initially, which ones you will leave for later, and which ones you want to scratch all together. The final quote price will then be easily estimated.

Start with a template
The majority of our websites come from templates or pre-made designs. We find that it’s easier for most people to pick and choose what they want from a template site and then pay us only to customize it (even if it’s changed extensively) to create the kind of design they want. In cases where no customization is needed, you can save a bundle of money by using a pre-built solution by a professional graphic artist.

If you’ve already got a design in mind, we can work with that too. Our graphic artist can listen to your requests and provide mock-up designs based on what you want.

Add functionality
Once the design is solidified, the next step in website development is to add functionality. We will discuss the regions of your page that you would like to have special functionality — web forms, message boards, interaction, flash, etc. — and we will take care of the programming to make it happen.

Focus on internet marketing from the beginning
Internet marketing cannot be an afterthought. After all, your website is useless to you unless it makes you money. Before agreeing to an internet marketing job, we perform extensive keyword research to find out exactly what the competition is like. That way, we can sculpt your content in such a way to achieve maximum search engine rankings.

Final walkthrough
Your quote will also give you a timeframe for the project. You will receive periodic updates throughout the process (along with necessary communication), and will be given the opportunity to do a final walkthrough before your site goes live. All of our sites are built in a secret development area which you will have access to, and during the final walkthrough you will be able to inspect every facet of the project and insure that it is what you had in mind. Once the page is approved, we will help get the code transfered to your live server for all to see.

Continued relationship
We’ve been in business long enough to learn that even project based work doesn’t end when the project ends. We aim to develop an on-going relationship with our clients so that they can feel comfortable asking us questions and using our services in the future. If you stand still, your competition will pass you by and that’s why having a powerful internet marketing partner is so important.

If you’d like a free quote, give us a call or fill out our online contact form.

We look forward to working with you!

Dallin

This is especially true in virtual web design groups.

At Skyhook Internet Marketing, we take full advantage of every tool we can sink our teeth in to that promotes online collaboration. We use Google Calendar for planning out our timeline. We use Google Docs and Zoho for real-time, shared document editing. We have used E-groupware for project management and time reporting, and are currently giving Zoho projects and Zoho invoicing a try. It seems that with each release, these programs are making it just as easy for people to work together from across the country as it is for those who sit two cubicles apart!

Creating websites through virtual groups keeps costs down
Perhaps the biggest reason we take advantage of collaboration software to create websites is that it keeps costs down. Gas is expensive, but our team does the majority of our work from home and never has to commute! That also allows us to get an earlier start in the morning and often finish early or at least get more done because we spend our time and efforts working — not commuting! Because of this, we haven’t had to invest in an expensive office or any of the expenses that come with it. We wouldn’t use them! The same is true for office supplies, fees, etc.

Creating websites through virtual groups provides a better finished product for the customer
The real benefit of collaborating online through virtual groups is that it creates a better finished product for the customer. Because costs are down and communication is up, we are able to put a lot more effort in to our websites for the same price or cheaper than other firms. Not to mention the fact that being online all day exposes us to thousands of websites and we are often among the first to see new trends or hear about new ways to do business.

Virtual web design groups free up time to do what we want
Don’t get me wrong one of my favorite things to do is web design. But as you would probably agree, looking at a computer screen starts to hurt your brain after a while. Working in virtual groups lets us get our work done quickly so we can move on to spending time with the family, improving ourselves, exercising, thinking, organizing, etc. which, at least for me, is a huge benefit.

Virtual web design allows us to work when we feel like it
There are a lot if interests that vie for my time, and one of the things I appreciate most about online collaboration is that it allows me to work when I want. When I was in school, I was able to spend mornings in class and afternoons in study groups, letting all of my work pile up online during the day and then hammering it out at night.

Whatever evidence or reason there may be to avoid online collaboration is slowly fading away. As software applications become more powerful, there is every reason to switch to an online environment. It will give you the competitive edge over the other guys. It will help you live a better quality of life. It will help you produce better work which will in turn benefit society as a whole!

Dallin