The difference is that you are not going back to scratch. Web design also includes layout where “tuning” does not. With tuning you are only updating color and images.

In the case of CMS (Content Management Systems) you want to first pick a template. There are templates are specific to CMS systems like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and others.

When you find a template you like, you picked it because it had the desired layout and maybe color scheme that is closest to what you had in mind. A template tuner will modify the colors and images to better match your company’s brand.

For non-CMS web sites, these are static websites without a back end management system, the existing design can be tweeked or in some cases overhauled to be more streamlined.

Don’t think of templates as cheap. They are part of the process of website development and cut development time considerably. There are many places to get premium templates that are very nice. A web graphics specialist can “tune” the template to make it even better.

Also, there are templates that are meant for regular websites. However, be careful! Many web site owners think that the template they want to purchase has special features like “search” or “login”. They think wow for only $80 bucks that is a bargain! What they don’t realize is that the templates are displayed as mock ups. Just like fake TV sets in a model home, they are not real. It is just to show you how the feature would look and where the features are placed. Yes, disappointing, I know.

So if you are thinking of putting up a brand new web site, do some shopping and see if there is a template that represents what you are envisioning. To be safe, ask your web person if the template you want to purchase is a good one. They may be able to use it with modifications and “tune” it for you better.

Is Bigger Better?

Fast forward to the present and big screens and high resolution is the order of the day. So how do we determine what size to make our web pages? It depends on your target client. If your target client is high tech then you can design your site large. In other words, you want to make use of the technology and you have decided that if the user can’t deal with it, they are not really your target client.

If your target client is elderly they may not see items on the right that go beyond their monitor resolution. Chances are they have an old computer. There will be other issues like font size and color that you need to think about because this type of client does see to well.

Common Ground

Being a web designer, I see more websites than the average surfer plus I have a trained eye. Over the years I have witness subtle shifts in design trends. Many new sites are quite large especially online magazines and news sites. For now, I believe the common trend is about 960 pixels for the average website. It accommodates both the new and old monitors resolutions.

It is also best to center your page to “float” on an expansive background. This way you may have some color or pattern left and right of your page. Any time I see a page aligned to the left I immediately think “amateur”. Left alignment is very 90s and is almost never done these days.

Still Wondering what a Pixel Is?

For web graphics a pixel is a unit, but its size is relative to how it is displayed. For example a low resolution monitor shows jagged edges because you are actually seeing the pixels. Think back to the 80s with video games they were very pixelly. Now with high resolution monitors edges look clean. That is because the pixels are very small. For that matter we need to make larger graphics for larger pages.

In terms of print, about 300 pixels makes a good clean inch. The more pixels per inch the sharper that image will be. For example 600 pixels per inch. Depending on the application the human eye won’t notice any difference with higher pixel-per-inch values. It just becomes unnecessarily wasted bytes.

If you are still confused about pixels I invite you to see this old article I wrote about Pixel size.

Smart social media users will use avatars that are interesting. Interesting enough to click on. It could be art or something sexy. Don’t be surprised if the sexy female avatar is really a dude trying to get traffic to his web site.

Many of you are used to using avatars on Facebook or Twitter and you probably uploaded an image in your profile which in turn was used as your avatar. If you haven’t yet, shame on you. These are closed proprietary systems that use your profile image as an avatar, but what about the open web?

Introducing Gravatar.com! Now you can manage an avatar that can be associated with an email address. You can change the image anytime you want. Any where you make a comment, forum post or blog entry your avatar shows up along with it. This is a free service and may be a great addition to your online branding.

Signing up is easy and painless. Simple put in an email and verify it. Then upload an image. They even have online cropping tools so that you can make fine adjustments.

Many blogs and forums are Gravatar enabled and if they are not you can subscribe to a similar service. Gravatar is probably the most recognized global avatar system.

To see it in action go take a look at this post, scoll to the bottom and look at the comments section:
Many Webs Make Up Your Web Presence

Do you see who is using Gravatar and who isn’t?

Let me know if this was helpful to you.

Trying to get all the features in one web site is the stuff of enterprise level development and that can be really expensive. If you are a small (very small) business, you may need to look at your web presence in parts.

Many of you have starting using Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and perhaps YouTube as well. You did it because someone told you that you had to Get Social. Not bad advise if these things are part of your business plan and have a special purpose. Each of these social outlets give you the option to customize the “look”, well except for Facebook. If you haven’t done so already, you need to project your brand on all these profile accounts.

I have seen MySpace, YouTube and Blogger used as stand alone web sites. They are however, web sites with a special purpose. Most of this stuff is free. Just look for the customize tab and start experimenting.

Once you have your company logo and colors implemented, look for ways to link them together.

Blogs act as a good hub for all your social web activity because they usually have sidebars that contain special areas to add links. Plus a blog is the closest thing to a regular web site. Here you would link to your Twitter profile, Facebook Profile or Fan Page, YouTube Channel and maybe a MySpace page. Many profile accounts from various social platforms also allow you to create links to other sites, so make sure you have links coming from those places as well.

Since many of these online social accounts are free, don’t limit yourself to just one of each. You might post a couple of more blogs and maybe another YouTube Channel. Just make sure there is a specific purpose for each. For example a YouTube Channel dedicated to “Video Customer Testimonials” and another for “Product Demonstrations”.

Are you selling something? Don’t forget to link to your web store. Your web store may also be a different web site because while your blog doesn’t have the capability of adding items to a cart and online checkout, your web store doesn’t have the blog capability. All we need to do is link everything together and use 3rd party applications to their best benefit.

Since it is too expensive to have video serving, photo galleries, web stores, blogs and tweets all in one web site, it is better to just set up free or low cost sites all around the web. Use 3rd party applications and experiment with them.