What is Crowd Sourcing, Anyway?

To begin with, you may be wondering just what in the name of all things holy crowd sourcing actually is. (By the way, we’ve also seen it spelled “crowdsourcing” but to avoid any jargony turn-offs, we’re going to opt to spell it in phrase format. No matter the orthography, though, the idea behind the concept is relatively simple: In times gone past, you would hire a specialist to deal with your problems. Do you have a pipe that needs fixing? Hire a plumber. Have to buy a house? Get a realtor. Need a new logo for your business? Find, hire, and coax a graphic design firm into giving you what you want. But what if we took this idea of need-and-purchase and stretched it out over the entire Internet? What if it were possible to use a mountain of producers, instead of a single firm?

Essentially, this is exactly what crowd sourcing does. The whole idea is that a business can access a crowd sourcing site, start the contest of its needs (logo design, website design, t-shirt design, banner design, etc.), and then accept bids and proposals from a sea of Internet-based designers. From this slush heap, the original purchaser can select the best deal, send out a single payment, and then receive the goods. This cuts out entirely the need for complex contracts, messy payments, and long waits at the firm. It’s a beautiful system, but DesignContest.com makes it even more appealing.

How Does it Work?

By nature, DesignContest.com works in the same format listed above, but with a few important distinctions. First and foremost, not just everyone can apply and begin posting on DesignContest.com. All contributing designers must first be pre-qualified for quality, ensuring that the proposals users acquire are professional and of the highest caliber. This is hardly a problem for you, we’re assuming, as we’d be willing to bet you create truly top-notch stuff on a regular basis. If you’re interested in joining DesignContest.com, simply bring along a few choice portfolio pieces, and you’ll have no trouble at all.

Also in direct contrast to other sites, DesignContest.com does not work off of bids and proposals, but finished projects. The company in need posts a project and monetary reward. Then, designers create the project in its entirety, and submit the results. The company then selects the one they feel best fits their needs, and the designer is instantly thrown the reward money. In essence, DesignContest.com takes crowd sourcing and turns it into a contest—it’s like that’s in the name somewhere, you know? And, of course, with each contest there’s only one winner. So what does that mean, you might be asking. If so, you’ve come to the right place:

What if I Don’t Win?

Sadly, not everyone wins all the time. In fact, it is but one lucky designer who happens to pump out the winning design. Thus, what happens to your submitted work when it doesn’t succeed? In essence, nothing! It’s yours to keep, and as the piece was not paid for, there’s no legal implications or issues. In a sense, it’s like you never even submitted it. However, there is an upside to all this, and it has to do with your portfolio.

Every piece you create is worth something, even if it’s just as a showcase of your talents. Theoretically, every piece you submit on DesignContest.com is a testimonial to your prowess, and as each unsuccessful bid is your property, why not throw it in your book? You’ll quickly flesh out your portfolio in no time, and best of all, you may find working on DesignContest.com quickly stretches your creativity and limits in ways you never thought imaginable. Think of it as boot camp for your designs, creating stronger muscles, finished works, and honed skills.

What Else is Essential About DesignContest.com?

There are a few other important features worth noting about DesignContest.com. For example, the company manages a dedicated knowledge-base of design information for you to troll through, expanding your horizons with a better education. Likewise, there’s also a dedicated design forum used by other designers like you. It’s a great place to talk about contests or get feedback from your last project. Add to this superior moderation, a fully updated design blog, and the aforementioned pre-qualification, and you’re looking at a first-rate community of nothing but designers.

All in all, DesignContest.com is an incredible way to hone your skills, expand your creativity, experience new projects, and potentially win a lot of money for your efforts. You never know what doors will open with the site, making it an indispensable tool in our eyes. If you haven’t been already, consider using DesignContest.com for your next design project.

Related posts:

• August 17, 2011 – DesignContest.com – Perfect Design or your Money Back (100% Guaranteed)!
• September 7, 2011 – Getting by as a Web Design in our Down Economy
• December 11, 2011 – Top 5 Necessities For a Sales Oriented Website
• December 7, 2011 – Top 5 Common Web Design Mistakes
• December 2, 2011 – Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5 Review
• November 30, 2011 – Top 10 Tips for Web Design
• November 23, 2011 – The Evolution of Web Design
• November 4, 2011 – Crowdsourcing – what it is, and how you can use it.
• October 23, 2011 – Web Design: Do it Yourself or Outsource?
• September 17, 2011 – To Blog Or Not To Blog: That is The Question

With the use of Adobe Dreamweaver, companies and individuals can create outstanding websites that have a professional look and feel and engage users which draws more attention and traffic. Adobe Dreamweaver has been around for quite some time and the CS5.5 version is just an upgraded, user-friendlier version. Those who already own a previous copy of Adobe Dreamweaver can easily update to this newly upgraded version with absolutely no hassle at all.

This software can truly make your website so much better than it already is which means it is definitely worth upgrading to the latest version. If you want to see what types of features the application has to offer, you can even download a free trial of Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5 just to see what you will be paying for in the future. You get to decide whether you like it or not.

Subscribing to Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5

If you already have a subscription for a previous version of Adobe Dreamweaver, you can upgrade to the latest version without having to pay a single dime. With your prescription, you are eligible to receive all updated and upgraded versions of this system for no extra charge at all.

This is just one of the many benefits of having a subscription in the first place. You can buy this system from the Adobe website and once you pay for it, you can download it immediately which is most convenient for users. If you are a student or a business owner, you can receive Adobe Dreamweaver at a discounted rate.

Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5 Features

The application comes equipped with software that can be used for all of your web design needs. The software will help you design and develop everything you need to ensure that your website looks professional. The software also helps you with mobile applications as well. You will be able to use HTML5 and CSS3 with the Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5 application. If you need the right tools to build an interesting website or mobile application, this is the application for you. All tools are useful and will help you create some of the best websites and mobile applications with the HTML5 and CSS3.

The new and adjusted coding gives you the necessary support you need to design websites and applications that are decent and usable. Updates have been made to the interface as well as Live View. These updates will help your productivity levels increase dramatically. Live View is a program that helps to make your designs more enlightening which is essential for engaging viewers. The CSS panel has also undergone a few changes. With the new changes, you will have a much easier time with editing and using codes on your website.

Adobe Dreamweaver for Website Productivity

Avoid wasting time with junky designs and programs that are not advanced enough to give you what you need for your website or applications. Adobe Dreamweaver gives you the professional design you need to get your website and applications the well-deserved attention that it needs. Your website can become so much better because Adobe Dreamweaver has the potential to help you make the best changes for your website or application.

Along with the software, you can buy an Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5 manual. There are several different manuals, all of which can be beneficial on teaching you how to properly use the system to the best of your ability in order to reap all of the benefits that come along with the use of this product. This manual is perfect for web designers and webmasters who need help building and designing a website. The manual will teach the ins and outs of the program along with explanations to some of the trickier parts of the system.

The one I recommend is “Dreamweaver CS5.5: The Missing Manual” by David Sawyer McFarland.

Advantages of Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5

1. Updated and Upgraded Version

2. Powerful System

3. Helps with HTML5 and CSS3

4. Fully Functioning

5. Perfect for Web Designers

6. Not Too Complicated

Disadvantages of Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5

1. The product is best used by web designers and people who already have experience with the technological side of designing and building websites. It is not necessary ideal for people who are clueless when it comes to building and designing websites and applications.

2. The cost of this system is quite expensive. The entire system costs more than $300. You may be able to get the software for a discount if you are a student or business owner, but it will still be costly to most people.

3. Using the system and building a website can be quite time consuming. You will need to have plenty of time to devote when using this system and working on building and designing your websites or applications.

Conclusion

If you are an individual with an interest in web design and building/designing your website and you have some experience with web design in general, this software would be a great choice for you. Here is why. The software is perfect for people who already have some experience with web design but are more so looking for a system that makes building and designing websites and applications much easier and less time consuming.

This system is great for people who already know what they are doing. If you have no idea how to build and design a website, this software may be too confusing for you. However, you can always buy a manual which will break down everything for you and can help you along the way with your website building and designing. Either way, buying this product is definitely an investment because it is so costly which is why it is important that you know what you are buying beforehand.

Related posts:

• January 10, 2012 – DesignContest – Workflow Innovation
• July 26, 2010 – E-Commerce Tips: Choosing the Best Font Size for a Website
• April 20, 2009 – SEO and Your Website Design
• November 19, 2008 – Should You Outsource SEM?

Small Font can be too Small

One major aspect of good website design and presentation is the font size of the content. The font size is the primary factor as to whether the website is readable and accessible or not. The most important tip is to not make the font size too small. A recent trend is to make the font small which makes the website appear sleek. It also provides more space per page for more content.

Unfortunately this often results in extremely small font sizes. With many platforms besides computers that display these websites, such as cell phones with small screens and projects hooked up to computers, excessively small font will distort the website. This will cause it to be difficult to use.  Most website visitors are extremely impatient so if they cannot read the text, they will move to a site where they can.

How to Adjust the Font Size

It’s correct to set the general font size in the body selector of the style sheet. For example:

Body {

font-size: 100%

}

In general setting the base size for a document to 1em or 100% is the same as setting the font size to the user’s preference. It’s best to avoid sizes smaller than 1 for the actual body of the text unless used with fine print like copyrights.   Once set, other base font sizes can be set by percentage, absolute sizes and relative sizes.

Base Font Setting

The percentage sizing increases or decreases the font size for the new element based on the original size in the main text. Absolute sizes are defined by CSS specifications including xx-small, x-small, small, medium, large, x-large and xx-large.  Finally, relative sizes can be set in either large or small.

Font size can be the difference in a website visitor staying on the page and potentially turning into a sale or leaving. A font size too small can have detrimental effects on the website. Experimenting with font sizes and styles is beneficial, but try to stay close to the default.

Related posts:

• January 10, 2012 – DesignContest – Workflow Innovation
• December 2, 2011 – Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5 Review
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• September 10, 2011 – Ecommerce: Trends and Benefits
• September 1, 2011 – Premium Web Hosting and Security Features Available in the Public Domain
• August 30, 2011 – Improvements with Sitefinity 4.2 – Is it Now Read for Prime Time?
• August 23, 2011 – The Newest Way to build eCommerce Solutions
• July 29, 2011 – Is SSL Essential for eCommerce Sites?
• July 14, 2011 – eCommerce Affiliate Tax Law War
• July 13, 2011 – A Bundle of Content Management System, Cloud Computing and eCommerce

When designing your site with SEO in mind, it is important to provide usability for your visitors and accessibility for the search engines.  A proper design will ensure that visitors can get around with ease and do not run into pages that take too long to load.  You should also know that Flash and errors in HTML code could possibly prevent from search engine robots from properly crawling and indexing your site.  A good site structure is one that caters to both your visitors and the search engines.  As a website owner, achieving a site optimized for the search engines could be a challenge, especially if you lack design skills.  When this is the case, you may need to rely on third-party professionals.

Expertise is Key

Because these elements are so important, several companies have emerged to offer their services.  Some even employ both SEO experts and web designers, allowing you to kill two birds with one stones by having someone make sure your site is optimized, and another to ensure that its easy to navigate and use.  The key is to do your research and take a little time evaluating different firms.   The best company is one that responds to your inquiries in a timely manner with satisfactory answers.  Rather than making claims about how fast or where they can ensure your rankings, they are honest and confident that their expertise will deliver results.  In short, you want a reputable firm that has proven the ability to create designs that meet W3C compliance and posses an understanding of the latest web trends as they relate to SEO.

No Guarantees

Even when turning to a professional web designer, one should never automatically assume that shelling out cash will guarantee you a top spot on Google.  The internet has opened up numerous opportunities and because of this, the web is a very competitive arena. Chances are, there are thousands of entrepreneurs who share your ambition for succeeding online.  They could even be targeting the same market as yourself.  You can spend a pretty penny on web design but without optimized content and a good marketing strategy, your beautiful website will get buried in Cyberspace.

Expectations will constantly be higher as the web continues to evolve.  Your visitors expect more feature-rich content while search engines increasingly prefer fast loading sites.  For this reason, the proper coding and effective optimization of your site are crucial.  If you don’t get it right the first time, you could find yourself paying even more to get the right design.

Related posts:

• January 18, 2010 – Search Engine Optimization – The Basics Explained
• July 24, 2009 – Avoid These Five SEO Mistakes
• January 16, 2012 – Top 4 Ways to Optimize WordPress for Search Engines
• September 10, 2011 – Common Advice in Search Engine Optimization
• August 6, 2011 – RankCheck.org – free tool to check rank of your website
• January 21, 2011 – Where is Google Headed?
• November 9, 2010 – How Anchor Text is Used in Search Engine Optimization
• April 23, 2010 – SERPs and Backlinks – The Keys to SEO
• September 23, 2009 – How Search Engine-Friendly is Your Domain Name?
• April 29, 2009 – Using a Generic Domain for SEO Purposes

Skills Needed

In order to determine if SEM should be cultivated in-house or outsourced, one must first understand the skills required for such as task.  When it comes to effective marketing, these skills are generally divided in the following categories.

Linguistic Aptitude: For the most part, SEM is a linguistic strategy that calls for the matching of the language used by web surfers as well as the language on your website and how it is interpreted by the search engines.  Because some of the most skilled web designers often used highly technical terms, many of them are not able to clearly present content to the visitor.

Research: Accepting the fact that you don’t know something and taking the initiative to learn is a key to effective SEM.  Extensive research will enable you to find out what keywords your niche market is using, how a search engine handles JavaScript, how Flash can be incorporated into an SEO campaign and much more.  When combined with a good knowledge of marketing, sound research can help you find all the answers you need to the burning questions of SEM.

Technical Experience: The more experience one has with web technologies, the better they will be at SEM.  This comes in handy when working with campaigns such as AdWords and Overture as search engines have a different system for the links used in these programs.  Additionally, someone with an understanding of the web should have knowledge on what type of URLs and redirects are SEO-friendly.    

SEM Experience: Although it goes without saying, the more experience SEM expert has, the more qualified they are for the job.  Don’t be fooled by someone that simply has a site or two under their belts.  Get definitive proof on a person’s SEM background before investing into their claim.  This can be done by obtaining WebPosition reports and server stats for the sites they have worked on.

Conclusion

There is so much that needs to be considered in terms of in-house or outsourced SEM activities, especially when the campaign involves more than keywords and link popularity.  You need to think about costs, turn around time, the firm’s experience and much more.  One way to make this determination is to hire an experienced SEM vendor to provide some insight.  A reputable vendor should be able to evaluate your ROI potential in the investment of an SEM venture.  This will give you a few ideas on how to improve the design of your website and optimize search engine traffic conversions.  Because such a move can help you decide on what an SEM investment is worth, it also works wonders on the decision of whether to outsource the operation.

Related posts:

• September 1, 2011 – Search Engine Marketing Effect
• March 3, 2009 – The Importance of SEM
• December 18, 2008 – SEO and SEM: What’s the Difference?
• December 5, 2008 – A Closer Look at SEM Basics
• August 20, 2009 – How Specialities Can Hinder the Overall Effective of an SEM Campaign
• January 16, 2012 – Top 4 Ways to Optimize WordPress for Search Engines
• December 1, 2011 – The Importance of SEO
• September 25, 2011 – Search Engine Optimization tips for Bing
• September 21, 2011 – Are Search Engine Optimization Companies – Worthy of the Cost?
• September 15, 2011 – Add-Ons That Will Save Your Web Hosting Business