Internet | WWW.Design

Hot Web Design Trends for 2011

Web design, like anything, is in a constant state of flux. Each year, there are new technologies and developments that change the way we do the process of web design. While the result, a beautifully created and highly functioning website, is the same, how we get there is changing. In 2011, there are several important trends that anyone who has an online business or designs websites should be aware of.

Simple Colors: We are seeing a move away from complicated color schemes. Instead, designers are relying on simple palettes based on primary colors. Stay away from black and white themes, and instead focus on basic colors in simple combinations.
Mobile Ready: As more and more people are purchasing mobile devices, it has become critically important that websites be optimized for viewing on these devices. Often, this means simple layouts, lots of negative space, and quick load times.
HTML5: It isn’t the same as Flash, but it provides a lot of the same functionality. Even better, it doesn’t have the negative impact on optimization that Flash traditionally has. Look to add HTML5 to replace flash elements in web design.
Depth Perception: designers are creating visually stimulating websites by playing around with depth perception. Look for designers to integrate the look and feel of 3D technology without they expensive hardware.
Touchscreen Capabilities: As more and more devices rely on touch screen technology, it is important that we designers keep this in mind as they build websites. Extra space and simple navigation are key.

Interesting Facts about Gaming

Three out of every four American households turn to computer and online gaming for entertainment on a regular basis, and it is not just children and teens that are playing. In fact, the average age is closer to 40 and one in four game players are over the age of 50.

NEW YORK - APRIL 17: Video games are seen for...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

People play from their computer as well as various handheld mobile devices. Gaming has become so popular that many companies have added games to their websites to entertain their customers while they shop so that they will return often.

While it is true that gaming can become an addiction for some, for the majority of people, children included, there are many benefits involved. Gaming allows people to keep connected to one another. Games provide mental stimulation and have been found to help Alzheimer’s patients. Life skills such as problem solving and time management can be taught with the use of certain games.

Oddly enough, online gaming also has some benefits for our planet. Since there is a growing trend of staying home and playing games online rather than traveling, less fuel is burned. Not to mention that some that took annual trips to Las Vegas to gamble are staying home and using an online casino bonus to gamble online instead.

Another interesting thing about gaming is that it helps our economy by providing plenty of jobs. Game companies employ over 100,000 people in the United States and as a growing industry it will continue to help our employment outlook.

Bottom line is that gaming can be a great activity in one’s life with many benefits.

Make Games a Part of Your Website

When you start an online business, your first goal is to generate traffic for the site. Without traffic, you will never have customers that want to purchase the services and products that you offer. You will quickly find, however, that you have a new goal keeping you up at night: finding more repeat visitors.

Image by niallkennedy via Flickr

The Importance of Repeat Visitors

Your business might function fine by selling items to casual consumers in search of the best deals online. To become truly successful, though, you need repeat customers that turn to your site before going elsewhere to find better prices.

Using Games to Create Repeat Customers

Using online video games could help you capture a larger market of repeat customers. When you have fun games on your site, customers will want to visit your page again and again. The best games combine simple goals with graphics, plots, and rewards that encourage people to continue playing. Players get bored with games that are too easy to play, but they also become bored when games seem impossible to defeat.

Making the Most of Your Site’s Games

Encourage players to sign up for newsletters, emails, and special advertisements that will keep them informed of your company’s latest developments. When you have a devoted fan of players, you have a target group that is easy to reach. You can even incorporate advertisements into your website’s games.

What websites have encouraged you to visit their pages over and over again simply because they had fun games for you to play? Do you think it had a positive influence on your buying preferences?

Design for Your Gaming Blog or Website

If you have a gaming hobby, you may find that you want to talk about it. There are many ways to do this, and blogging is one of the most popular today. Because of this, more and more people are starting to make websites based around betting, gambling, and gaming. If this is something that you are interested in, you may find that you need to come up with the perfect design for your new website or blog.

Many people decide to go with some of the basic, classic colors of gaming and betting. Blacks, reds, and greens tend to be popular for gaming blogs and websites. Another option is to take cards from games of bingo, and use them as backgrounds on your website. This can add a fun element to your site.

When talking about design on a website, you never want to forget about the header. This is a crucial part not only of your design, but also of your marketing itself. The header has to tie into the rest of the site, so that it all looks like a cohesive site. An example of this would be if you have bingo cards on the rest of the site, it can look awkward to have a roulette table in your header. Keeping the same theme throughout the site can help people understand the basis of your blog or website.

Design is a very personal choice. You want it to reflect what you are talking about in your blog or website, but there is so much that you can vary that you will want to make sure it also reflects you.

Gaming – From Console to Online

Image via Wikipedia

The gaming industry has grown a great deal over the past few decades. Moving from the popular console gaming systems that dominated throughout the 80s and majority of the 90s, to more advanced and interactive online computer gaming. The shift was subtle, but seemed to go by extremely quickly. This is simply due to the fact that technology is becoming more advanced at a seemingly exponential rate. In addition, video game designers and developers listened to the demands of the public and put forth the effort to produce more graphically enhanced games. The Nintendo Entertainment System boasted a sufficient 8-bit processor in its hay-day, which was the standard and nobody had any complaints. Years later, the coveted 16-bit systems came out: The Super Nintendo and Genesis, which quickly paved the way for the 32-bit Playstation and eventual 64-bit Nintendo 64.

As graphics became more of an emphasis for manufacturers and game developers, people began looking for other areas of gaming that they wanted improved. Among one of the more widely sought after aspects includes that of multi-player capabilities. People were wanting to experience these games with their friends in a setting that would allow for more than simply two players. Around this same time, computers were becoming a more common household item. In conjunction with computers becoming a more common household item, Internet access was becoming an equally popular commodity to supplement the computer.

Computers, and more specifically, Internet access opened a whole new area of gaming up to the public. Now, you can find all types of games online. Everything from games of bingo to games of war. With computers, people could get together and build a LAN for multi-player gaming.

Additionally, the Internet provided this concept on a much wider scale, without requiring people to leave their home in order to participate in multi-player online gaming. First person shooters were among the most popular in the multi-player genre, and introduced environments in which players could play in the same setting with 30 or more other players. These games consisted of cooperation games, or free-for-all games in which it was every man for himself. Online gaming has since become a dominant source in the industry.

Winning at Bingo

It doesn’t hurt to be lucky, but there are ways to make your own luck when playing bingo. There are definite strategies that can be employed when playing bingo that can improve your chances of being a winner. The successful bingo players are the ones who block out distractions and play more than one card at a time.

The number one tip for playing games of bingo is to pay extremely close attention. There are a number of potential distractions that can affect your concentration when you are playing bingo in person or online that must be avoided. Spending time chatting face to face or in an Internet chat room while trying to keep track of the numbers that are being called can lead to a critical error. If you miss just one of the numbers that is called, you may miss your chance to bingo.

One winning strategy that many players employ is to play multiple cards. It is fairly obvious that having two or three chances to win is better than just one. When selecting your bingo cards, try and find ones that have an assortment of different numbers. You do not want the cards to be too similar because that will not improve your odds of winning and will make trying to bingo that much more difficult.

It is also very important to understand the rules of the different games of bingo. One game might require a straight line to win while another may call for covering every number. It can be embarrassing to yell out “Bingo!” if you don’t really have it.

Elements of an Effective and Functional Website

An effective and functional website should be appealing, appropriate and professional. Here are some mistakes to avoid when developing a website that will increase its effectiveness.

While flash animations look great and are a way to showcase the developer’s talent, keep in mind that many website visitors’ computers cannot handle graphics-heavy sites. When the website freezes up on someone’s computer, they will immediately click off and keep searching. Also, people who are searching want information in a hurry. They don’t want to wait for the animation to stop. If you happen to be in the business of developing flash animations, have a separate portfolio page with samples of your work.

Image by smemon87 via Flickr

Websites should be easy to read and navigate. “Artistic” fonts, too many graphics and poorly labeled links make it difficult for visitors to find what they are looking for. One of the most common things that people search for on a website is the company’s your phone number, hours of operation and location. A functional website makes these things easy for visitors to find.

It’s also important that a website be kept up-to-date. Visitors clicking on a “latest news” tab are looking for the latest company news. When the latest posting is over a year old, it shows that maintaining the website is not a priority.

It goes without saying that dead links and incorrect information are also details that should not be overlooked. Links to both internal pages and outside sources should work and not lead people to non-existent pages. Mistakes like these tell readers that the website creator is careless, which is not the message to send to prospective customers.

The Role an Aesthetic Web Site Can Have on Your Business

The Internet is a vast world that is growing daily. From the massive amounts of people who are accessing it for the first time on a regular basis, to the droves of businesses popping up and claiming their own piece of online real-estate; there is seemingly no end to the growth the internet presents in all aspects. With this growth comes a great deal of prospective job opportunities for people who specialize in various Internet and computer based trades. Those businesses who are just taking the plunge into the online world and are semi-unfamiliar with how to get the ball rolling tend to employ the services of these online specialists to consult them. Initially, for businesses that have existed in the brick and mortar world, per-say, there persists the difficulty that comes with getting their bearings on the Internet. The basis of any successful online business branch, however, relies simplistically on one basic concept, an appealing web site.

Web sites come in all shapes and sizes, from bland sites consisting of thousands of pages, to extremely interactive sites that have only a few pages of material, there are droves of different combinations that fill the Internet. When it comes to e-commerce and online business practices, nothing is more important than the first impression. This first impression is gained through numerous factors on the web page, the most important being the homepage, or the page the visitor will land on upon visiting the site.

As the practice of online marketing and business has continued over the past few decades, it has been proven that a visually appealing web site that is easy to navigate is the single most vital aspect to retaining potential customers. As such, it is important to incorporate elements into your business web site that catches the attention of visitors, while simultaneously presenting an easy to navigate user experience. This can be accomplished in a number of different ways via interactive java scripting and incorporating high definition graphics and aesthetic color schemes.

How Your Business Can Benefit From the Internet and Technology Overall

The ways in which the Internet and technology as a whole can benefit your business are almost too many to count. If you haven’t gotten your business online, or if you have and you’re not taking full advantage of technology that allows you to track customer satisfaction, you are missing out on a lot of opportunities.

Take the areas of public relations and marketing, for example. Both of these areas can benefit from your using the Internet and other computer technology. Marketing your products or services online gives you a better chance of obtaining new customers, as your business profile will reach so many more people than with any other type of advertising media.

Once you have those customers, you can make sure to retain them by taking advantage of computer technology that allows you to conduct online surveys or invite customer feedback. This not only ensures that they will continue to do business with you, but the fact that you are concerned with hearing their opinions will boost your public relations.

Using online survey or online customer feedback technology means that you will get faster results from your surveys or feedback forms. Instead of having to mail out individual forms, wait for them to come back (if they’re sent back at all) and manually tally them or read them to determine whether the majority of feedback responses are favorable or not, you now have the computer technology to do this for you.

Getting the results faster lets you start working immediately on any problem areas that are brought to your attention as a result of the survey or feedback responses. It also allows you to see what your customers like, and ensure that you continue to offer that product, improving on it if needed.

These are just a few ways your business can benefit from the Internet and computer technology. The sooner you start taking advantage of it, the sooner you’ll see positive results.

Online Betting is Better Betting

Betting at an online casino is pretty much taking the world by storm, lately. After all, they offer you the same kinds of benefits of a brick and mortar casino (like being able to win real money just by turning a few cards or rolling some dice), but without all of the extra silliness that takes up your valuable time and money. And with the graphics being what they are these days, you pretty much feel like you are actually in a casino, as opposed to just sitting there looking at a couple of pixels (the way the software all looked years ago). These are the same games you would be playing in a real life casino, only they are so much more convenient to do from your own home.

Casino gaming software has come an awfully long way, over the past few years. It used to be that you had to choose from a very small amount of different games- that is thankfully no longer the case. And while the graphics used to be like something you would have gotten off of a Commodore 64, you now get some extremely realistic graphics- almost to the point where you feel like you are really there. But of course, you aren’t in a real casino- but being at home can be an awful lot better, when you think about it.

For one thing, being at home means you do not have to go anywhere. There is no parking your car at the airport. There is no being searched and molested at security checkpoints. There is no having to pack and unpack (and risk getting bed bugs). And best of all, there are no expensive attractions to distract you from the most important thing at hand- wanting to place some bets. This isn’t Disney World, so who needs a bunch of silly attractions? You would do way better to just stay home and have a great time placing bets.