Some of that is changing and Facebook has made it easier to manage profile pictures, but for many Facebook users there is still some mystery involved in how to take full advantage of the options that Facebook offers. In this post I hope to dispel some of those mysteries.

Getting the right Size:

Let’s start off with some of the basic specs that Facebook provides. Facebook recommends that profile pics should be a maximum of 200px wide, while height can vary as needed with a maximum height of 600px allowed. Lets see what this looks like in practice. Below are three examples of different Facebook page profile pictures that utilize the full width of the Facebook specs, but have varying heights.

As you can see by utilizing the varying degrees of height there is a lot of room to creatively utilize the space of a Facebook profile picture. I am often surprised at the amount of businesses that fail to utilize this space.

Understanding How Facebook Crops Images:

Perhaps part of the reason that many pages don’t utilize the full depth is due to the extreme measure which Facebook will crop the profile image. This has forced many users to format their profile picture so that it is square and doesn’t get cropped in strange ways. Left unchanged Facebook will take a long image and crop it automatically smack dab in the middle of your profile picture to create a 50px by 50px thumbnail. The resulting image taken from our examples above would look like these below:

Default thumbnail cropping

As you can see these thumbnails are confusing to look at. I could never guess who or what these organizations are in a news feed or on someone’s wall. So how do we fix this? Let’s start by understanding exactly how Facebook works when it comes to cropping your profile picture. On an image that is 200px wide Facebook will utilize a 15px margin on either side before cropping, so when making a profile picture keep this in mind. An easy way to visualize how Facebook will crop your image is to simply use your image editing program of choice, in my case Photoshop, to create a 170px square semi-transparent box over your 200px wide image to see how much space you have to work with. Keep it centered on the profile image and you’ll see exactly how your thumbnail will look.

Cropping your picture in Facebook

Now for the part that most people don’t know about. Facebook actually allows you to change the position of the cropping area on your image. This was only just recently made much easier, so there’s no excuse to not take full advantage of this feature

Step 1. To see how this works simply go to your Facebook page and click the edit icon located in the upper right corner of your Facebook profile image. From the drop down menu that appears choose “Edit Thumbnail”.

Step 2. A dialog box will open allowing you to simply drag your image up and down and slightly side to side so that you can properly crop your profile image.

Design Tips:

Hopefully this little tutorial has given you some new insight on how to better utilize your Facebook profile image. From now on it may be helpful to think of your profile image as a banner ad. Using it to promote events, special offers, etc. are all great ways to effectively use this valuable space. As you design your new profile picture keep Facebook’s cropping specs in mind from the get go and make sure part of your image - preferably your logo - can be fully represented in the cropping scheme. As you can see below all of the thumbnails from our examples are now fully recognizable and carry a strong brand presence. Applying these ideas to your profile picture will allow you to have an advantage visually on crowded news feeds, walls and other important areas of Facebook.

Custom thumbnail cropping

If you’d like some help getting your Facebook profile picture freshened up or would like some advice on other ways to improve you social media efforts feel free to contact us we’d love to help!

UPDATE!

Facebook recently changed the maximum dimensions that are allowed for profile images. At the time of writing these dimensions where 200px wide by 600px high, however the new numbers slightly are smaller: 180px wide by 540px high. Please take these new dimensions into consideration when you design your profile image. Also keep in mind that from now on Facebook does not allow images that are more than three times as tall as they are wide. I hope that makes sense to everyone. Please visit the following Facebook pages for more information: http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Roadmap_Photos and http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=830. Also a special thanks to Kathy Burckhardt for making these discoveries and sharing them in the comments below.

You’ve probably locked those memories away in your vault of childhood traumas. Unfortunately, those nervous, gut-wrenching memories resurface today for some when they hear the word “portrait.”

I’m here to help you prepare for your professional, grown-up “picture day.”

Don't change your appearance

Within one week of your portrait, avoid changes in your appearance such as getting a haircut or tanning. Even switching lotions or makeup could be potentially unflattering.

Plan ahead

Leave yourself plenty of time in the morning to avoid puffy eyes and dark circles. Wash your hair the day before and not the day of a portrait to avoid excess volume and frizzy hair. Men should keep in mind that a clean shave is very important.

Apparel Do’s and Don’ts

Your portrait should focus on you not your clothing. When someone looks at your portrait their eyes move to the lightest area in the photo and that area should be your bright and smiling face. Darker clothing is slimming and timeless. Don’t date yourself with trendy colors, styles or patterns. Keep it simple with a solid or classic look. A hint of color is encouraged, such as a dark business suit with a colored shirt and tie as long as it isn’t overwhelming. Avoid clothing with pictures, writing, large logos or busy patterns. Pick something that isn’t too tight or too baggy. Whatever you choose to wear, be sure that any wrinkles have been ironed out and that it’s free of pet hair and lint.

If you normally wear glasses don’t worry about a glare. The lighting setup and photographer's positioning of your head will eliminate the glare and reflections from your glasses. If don't want to wear glasses for your portrait remove them 30 minutes before to avoid impressions on the bridge of your nose and beside your ears.

Everything listed above is pointless if you don’t bring the most important item, a good attitude! The best photographers have a few tricks up their sleeve to make you comfortable and help you bring out your best smile.

There's no need to be nervous on your "picture day". To schedule your next portrait session, contact Tracy Estrada at 989-631-9560. You can also see some of my work.

Up until about two years ago, I was in that boat. Being 30 pounds heavier than I cared to be, I decided that the weight had to come off.

I have always been physically active, enjoying sports of pretty much any kind, but I wasn’t keeping a consistent workout schedule. That and my eating habits left a lot to be desired. It’s not that I ate unhealthy food, I just ate a little too much. Believe it or not, when you eat may be just as important as what you eat. I cut down on snacking, especially after 7:30 p.m.

Most importantly, I focused on the goal of losing those unwanted pounds. I began working out five days a week, which included 30 – 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and another 30 – 45 minutes of working out with weights. I know it sounds pretty fanatical, but the results speak for themselves. I lost the weight and I don’t feel like a slug when I get to work in the morning.

Which brings me to the benefits of exercise and how they apply to the workplace. I’m not suggesting that everyone has to workout like a professional athlete. Merely walking or taking the stairs instead of the elevator can yield very positive results.

Physical fitness isn’t just for athletes. There are many benefits to being a physically fit employee.

Employees who exercise are generally healthier and don’t take as many sick days. They have more energy and are more productive. They are more positive and aren’t as stressed because they work off the physical and mental tensions.

The good thing is, you don’t have to train like a world-class athlete. Here are some simple exercises that you can do at your desk. (Note: Be sure the desk or table and the chair you use are strong enough to support you and positioned so that they will not move while you do the exercises. That would, of course, rule out using chairs, desks and tables that have wheels.)

Desk Pushups

Stand facing your desk or a table. Place your hands on the edge of the desk, shoulder width apart. Keeping your arms straight, take a couple of steps back until your body is at about a 45 degree angle. Keeping your body straight, lower yourself until your chest barely touches the desk. Push yourself back up until your arms are straight without locking the elbows. Repeat 8 – 12 times. This exercise strengthens the chest, triceps and shoulders.

Desk Dips

This is great for the triceps. Stand facing away from your desk (or table). Place your palms down on the edge of the desk and take a couple of steps away from the desk. Keeping your feet close together and flat on the floor, lower yourself until your knees are bent at a 90 degree angle. Using your arms, push yourself back up to the starting position. Repeat 8 – 12 times.

Bicep Curls

This can be done with a water bottle or you may want to buy some light dumb bell weights (2.5 to 10 pounders). You can do this exercise while seated or standing. Keep your abs in and your spine straight. Hold the weight in your right hand, arm straight down at your side. Slowly curl the weight up to your shoulder and then lower it slowly down to the starting position. Repeat this 10 – 15 times and switch to the left hand for the same number of repetitions.

Chair Squats

This will strengthen the legs and hips. Start this exercise seated in your chair. Stand up straight with your feet at shoulder width apart and slowly lower yourself until your backside barely touches the chair and then stand up straight. Repeat 8 – 12 times.

Leg Extensions

Sit in your chair with your back against the back of the chair and your hands on the armrest for support. Keeping your legs straight, slowly lift them as far as you can and then slowly lower them to the starting position. Do 8 – 12 reps of this exercise. This may also be done one leg at a time. Good for the abs and lower back.

Chair Crunches

Sit on the edge of your chair with your feet flat on the floor. Point your chin down toward your chest and fold arms across your chest. Keeping your abs tight, slowly lean your upper body back to about a 45 degree angle. Hold there for a count of three and slowly return to the upright position.

These are just a few of the many exercises you can do in your office or at home. You don’t need expensive equipment to get fit. If there is a gym nearby, consider joining and workout during your lunch time a couple of times a week. Losing weight and getting in shape won’t happen overnight, but if you stick to a consistent routine you will see a difference sooner than you realize.

The Challenge:

As the world advances toward a more digital landscape, ClearRiver has remained on the cutting edge of this burgeoning technological market with its superb web and digital photography services.

Even with a confident position in our market area ClearRiver is always on the lookout for ways to communicate and promote its services within the context of our  “Get it done right. Now.” philosophy in a real and tangible way. The business expo provided a great promotional opportunity for ClearRiver in which we set out to achieve the following goals:

1. Build awareness and interest in ClearRiver
2. Showcase ClearRiver’s photography and Web capabilities
3. Gather names and e-mail addresses for e-mail marketing campaigns

The Solution:

We knew that to be successful in attaining these goals, we would need to provide the visitors with a powerful and meaningful demonstration of how we “Get it done right. Now.” The demonstration had to directly benefit the visitor and at the same time showcase our digital capabilities in photo and Web. Not an easy task! This meant that the old tricks of handing out free slinkies and office supplies all while standing there and smiling wouldn’t be enough. We needed to provide something that visitors would actually want and create a buzz. Out of these requirements an idea was born that we dubbed, “Your 15 Minutes of Fame Awaits!”

Here’s how it worked:

The idea played off the core human desire that most of us have of being important and famous. Hence, “Your 15 minutes of Fame Awaits!” enticed expo visitors to experience that sensation of fame by placing their image on the cover of magazine. We made this possible by setting up a mini photography studio in our booth. The visitor stepped into our booth and gave us a business card or filled out a brief form asking for his or her name and e-mail address. Then they chose a prop from an assortment that ranged from a sledgehammer to a wireless Mac keyboard. Next our Photographer positioned the visitor in front of a magazine cover background and snapped a picture that loaded up directly in an adjacent computer. We then did some minor edits in Photoshop that included adding the subject’s name and various sub heads. The images were then saved in a high-res format and finally uploaded to our Web site and made available for immediate download. Talk about “Getting it done right. Now!” As you can see from the examples below each cover turned out great.

The true beauty of “Your 15 Minutes of Fame!” is found in the way that we handled delivery of the final product. We created a landing page along with a series of pages on our Web site that were tailored specifically for this event. We made it as easy as possible for someone to find their photo and quickly download it utilizing built in search and browsing capabilities. By sending visitors to our Web site to retrieve their photos it benefited ClearRiver in the following ways:

1. Provided us with an e-mail address to use in our e-mail campaigns.
2. Drove people to our Web site quadrupling our normal traffic stats and giving visitors the opportunity to see more of our work.
3. Allowed onlookers to see first hand how the Web sites created by ClearRiver are easy to use and update.

The Results:

ClearRiver met and exceeded all of its goals.

We built awareness and interest in ClearRiver with everyone that came through our booth. It was a friendly, laid back environment that provided lots of laughs and a chance for us to really break the ice with folks. People could see first hand how we worked and even got a taste of what it was like to work with us.

Our digital photography and Web services were highlighted in a brilliant way that was fun and visitor focused. Everyone got to see how easy our Web site was to use and the ease with which their images were edited and uploaded.

By the end of the day this exercise yielded a plethora of names and e-mail address and has already produced a few serious inquires into our services.

If you’re looking for creative solutions like this to your marketing and advertising needs feel free to contact us! We’d love to help in any way we can.

Best regards,

Keith Heustis

I’m going to give you a simple overview of a few of the formats I see every day, some of which I actually use every day and some others not so much. I’ll try to keep this as basic as possible and avoid talking about all of the intricacies and exceptions, of which there are many. For example, some file formats contain both raster and vector info.

Unless you’re a graphics nerd like I am, you may be asking, “What the heck is raster and vector info?!?” Good question! I guess I should give you a quick look at the differences between raster-based formats and vector-based formats before diving into the file formats themselves.

Now lets look at the file formats used to save and exchange each of these types of graphics and why, for instance, a file with a .jpg extension is actually called a JPEG.

Raster/bitmap-based file formats

.jpg: This format, named after the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), is often used for photos, especially on the Web. JPEG files are small because they’re highly compressed to reduce transfer time, but the tradeoff is a loss of quality. JPEG doesn’t work well for images with text, large blocks of color or simple shapes because crisp lines will blur and colors can shift. JPEG also can’t be used for images with transparency. Each time a file is saved as a JPEG patterns or banding, not in the original image, can show up. I always make sure I save JPEG files from the original image, not from a previously saved JPEG.

.gif: Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is used to display graphics and images on the Web. Like JPEG it’s compressed, but it’s not as effective as JPEG or PNG for displaying photos online. It’s also not suitable for pieces that will be commercially printed. GIF format can handle crude transparency (I’ll resist the temptation here to make a joke about Madonna’s wardrobe), but not the kind of smooth transparency that PNG excels at. Still a pretty common format, but already a dinosaur in my eyes.

.png: Portable Network Graphics (PNG) is my preference for onscreen and Web applications because it supports alpha channel transparency. Sounds like a feature of the “Star Trek” teleporter, but alpha channel transparency actually means transparent areas with soft edges. This makes PNG ideal for overlaying an image onto a colored background because you don’t get the offensive “white box” you get when you use JPEG in the same situation. Some older browsers don’t play nice with transparent PNGs, so exercise caution when using PNGs on the Web.

.psd: Photoshop document (PSD) is Photoshop's native format, so it supports all of the venerable image-editing program’s features (layers, transparency, vector text and shapes, etc.) and has very tight integration with other products made by Adobe, arguably the industry-standard software developer for print and web publishing products. (And if you wanna argue about it, you know where to find me!) This makes editing of images placed into layout much easier and faster than in the past. So whitening someone’s teeth just a smidgeon after the image is already in layout is a snap when using PSDs.

.tif: Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF, TIF) works well for any raster/bitmap image and is supported by almost all paint, image-editing and page-layout software, as well as most desktop scanners. Like PSD files, TIFF files are large (a feature they also have in common with the headache most people get when reading long blog posts about graphics file formats), maintain their quality and are most commonly used for high-resolution print applications.

Vector-based file formats

.ai: Adobe Illustrator (AI) files are used to create illustrations, logos, charts and all things vector based. These files can then be placed into or opened by almost any illustration or page-layout program, as well as many other graphics applications. AI can contain both vector and raster/bitmap graphics but is primarily used for vector graphics, which it handles beautifully. (AI was also the name of a movie by Steven Spielberg, but it never caught on the way ET did… But then again, ET doesn’t have a graphics file format named after him, so there.)

.eps: Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files are used to transfer PostScript illustrations, logos and charts between illustration, page-layout and various other applications. EPS can contain both vector and raster/bitmap graphics. In my workflow, EPS files are being replaced by AI files and decaf is being replaced by espresso, but that’s a whole other post.

.indd: InDesign document (INDD) files are used by InDesign for page layout of all kinds of printed pieces, from business cards to books, even to books about business cards. InDesign can import a variety of graphics file types mentioned in this post (and other file types) and generate an .indd or .pdf file to give to the printer or publisher for final output.

.pdf: Portable Document Format (PDF) works with both raster/bitmap and vector graphics. It keeps a document looking identical onscreen and when printed across computer platforms and with any application that supports it. I pretty much can’t live without this one! If PDF didn’t exist, I’d be spending a lot more time hand-delivering paper documents to clients rather than moving on to the next project.

Those are the most common graphics file formats I see on a daily basis. As for me, I mainly use the following formats:

Onscreen: .png
Print: .indd, .ai, .psd
Both: .pdf

Hope this post gave you some insight into the wild world of file extensions and jargon that you may see associated with various graphics files. Now it’s time for me to head home to the .wak (wife and kid), enjoy a .rboc (refreshing beverage of choice) and watch some .mma (mixed martial arts) on my .hdtv.

Check back next week for Keith’s blog about ClearRiver’s success at the 2009 Great Lakes Bay Regional Expo.

If you would like to learn more about file formats contact ClearRiver, we’d love to help.

~Nathan

ClearRiver’s bright, engaging design showcased multiple activities at the booth. Health care providers from MidMichigan Health and representatives from the Great Lakes Loons, Midland Community Tennis Center and Freeland SportsZone encouraged visitors to try exercises and techniques for fitness. Segments of “The Training Room,” MidMichigan’s radio program on ESPN 100.9 FM, were recorded during the Expo.

“Our partners during the Expo, the Loons, SportsZone and Tennis Center, made this year’s exhibit a success,” said MidMichigan Medical Center–Midland Public Relations Manager Millie Jezior. “Our relationships with these organizations demonstrate our efforts to improve the health and well-being of the communities where we live and work. ClearRiver brought it all together in an award-winning environment for this year’s exhibit.”

“It is a great pleasure for ClearRiver to be part of the team that made this year’s MidMichigan Health exhibit such a great success,” said Dan Umlauf, president of ClearRiver. “This year’s achievement was a repeat performance for MidMichigan Health and ClearRiver, who won Best of Show in 2006 for the exhibit Real Medical Miracles and Most Creative for Beyond the Cutting Edge in 2008,” he said.

According to the show’s sponsors, Best in Show is determined by an exhibit’s uniqueness which makes it stand out above other exhibits. It must clearly communicate information about services offered, and staff working at the exhibit should be courteous, approachable and informative.

Contact ClearRiver Advertising & Marketing if are interested in learning more.

“Is there a semi truck outside?”

Those are the questions I would get when I used my old printer/scanner. The inexplicable, obnoxiously loud “hum” that would emanate from my, shall remain nameless, printer/scanner proliferated to every inch of our office. Not only was the thing loud, but it took FOREVER! And don’t even get me started on having to flip over and rescan double-sided pages.

[ Enter my illustrious Fujitsu ScanSnap ]

With my new best friend, I can fly through stacks of documents with ease.

There are too many useful features on this machine for me to name my favorite. I am the kind of person who ignores the instruction manual and never uses half of the features on new electronic devices.

My husband and I received a new digital camera as a Christmas gift last year, which boasts about 15 different capture settings and I’ve probably used two of them. A techie guru I am not.

However, I will give you a quick rundown of the features that I love the most.

Auto-detect settings

Black & white or full color, one-sided or two, business card or legal document? It doesn’t matter with the ScanSnap. Feed your documents into the machine and it scans color as color, black & white as black & white and will even scan both sides at once if it detects a two-sided page within the document.

You also have the ability to scan color documents as black & white, or scan only one side of a two-sided document, which I most recently used to scan a 10-page invoice that had the disclaimer mumbo jumbo on the back of every page. Who reads that stuff anyways?

The guides on ScanSnap easily adjust to hold anything from a business card to an 8.5 inch wide sheet of paper.  A document carrier was provided for documents of a strange size and/or shape, but I haven’t found the need to use it yet.

Small desktop footprint

While I have quite a bit of space on my desk, I love love love that the ScanSnap only takes up an area of 5x11 inches when it’s sleeping. When the cover and tray are unfolded during use it still only adds another 5 inches to the front and you can operate the scanner without having the tray open.

Easy to Operate

Flip the cover of the ScanSnap open and it automatically turns on, adjust the paper guides if needed, push the big green “Scan” button and Voila! the ScanSnap Organizer pops up on your screen with a thumbnail preview of your document. The Organizer also displays the other documents that you have previously scanned until you choose to delete them. This is especially helpful when combining pages from multiple documents.

Jammed documents are very easily removed, which I may or may not have done several times. One button releases the front cover and the document pops right out.

Hey … when a scanner feeds a torn open envelope through with no problems, I tend to assume that it's invincible and will feed anything.

Cross-functionality with Other Programs

The ScanSnap boasts “One Touch” PDF creation. Every document that is scanned is automatically turned into a PDF document (unless you otherwise choose a JPEG file format in the settings). The Organizer also gives you the option to Scan to E-mail, Scan to Print, Scan to Word, Scan to Excel or Scan to PowerPoint with simply a double-click on an icon.

I have used the Scan to Word feature once before, and while it was very helpful to avoid retyping an entire document, I still had to do some proofreading to make sure that it transmitted properly. Since I have not used the Scan to Excel feature before, I decided to do a test for this blog post. I printed a hard copy to scan.  After scanning the page I double-clicked the "Scan to Excel" icon in the Organizer. Within seconds an Excel document opened on my screen.

As you can see, it is exactly what was scanned, with one exception, the "1/2" scanned incorrectly. (Please also note that I had my tech guru colleague Keith take the photo for me. I’m not Man Hands from Seinfeld!)

Because of the Scan to E-mail feature, I have become the "Scanner Lady". Every-so-often someone will need to have a document scanned and sent to someone. Rather than using the slow fax machine or another scanner in the office, they ask the "Scanner Lady" and have the email in their inbox by the time they can get back to their desk.

In the end, nothing is perfect and I do have one minor complaint about my ScanSnap. Due to the fact that the scanner runs on auto-feed and not a platen glass, there is a size limit of 8.5x14.5 inches. I scan documents in a wide array of sizes and they don’t always fit. However, this is few and far between for me. The size issue is merely a gnat in my giant ice cream sundae – I can work around it.

1. No one likes to be force-fed

Music and video are a great way to give your visitors something interesting to interact with, but the user should have complete control. Automatically starting music and video as a Web page is loading is one of the worst things that you can do to your users.

Many people surf the Internet in public libraries, at work, or in the dead of night when others are asleep. Others may already have their favorite piece of music playing on their computer speakers. More often than not, auto-playing a music or video file will only cause a user to be annoyed and hit the back button immediately.

So, when you decide to put music and video on your site, make it a priority to give your users control over it through a robust user interface that includes play, stop, pause, a timeline scrubber, and volume control.

2. Content is king

Web copy is different from content written for other media. Writing for the Web means that your content must be short, scannable, and to the point. Your Web site should give users the information they need as quickly as possible. It should be written in common language that a visitor to your site would be likely to use.

Keyword density should also be considered in the content of your site. By identifying certain words as keywords well before any content is written, you can work these words into the content and include them in the keyword meta tags of your site pages for improved search engine visibility.

3. Leave my little browser alone!

Have you ever been surfing the Web and had the misfortune to click on a link that takes you to a site that suddenly expands or contracts your browser’s window? Many of these sites like to make your browser window fill the entire screen. Personally, I like to decide for myself how large my browser window should be.

Resizing a window is a bad idea, because it takes control away from the visitor. Chances are that the user knows or has made a conscious decision about the size they would like their browser window to be. Changing the size of their browser window is much the same as forcing them to listen to music or watch a video. If you would like to employ a full-screen experience, the best way to go about it is to give the user a choice with a set of controls that will toggle full screen on and off.

4. Don’t “Flash” me unless you really need to

While Flash is a wonderful technology for motion graphics, animation, video and audio, it has its limitations and should be used in moderation.

For starters, Internet browsers need a special plug-in to view Flash through the Web browser. This plug-in is not installed by some users and is not compatible on some operating systems and many mobile devices. Flash can also take a long time to load and use up a lot of memory because of the large file sizes that may be associated with it.

Perhaps one of the greatest drawbacks of Flash is its incompatibility with search engines. Google, Yahoo and other search engines cannot read the content in Flash like they can in HTML, making it very difficult to achieve good search engine optimization (SEO) rankings.

In the end, Flash should be thought of as a powerful tool that can deliver a compelling user experience, but only when used in moderation or in a context that absolutely requires features that only Flash can deliver.

5. Be on the lookout for visual noise

When it comes to effective Web design, less is more. This adage is especially true for Web sites that offer copious amounts of advertising space. Also known as ad clutter, this space not only annoys users but also greatly diminishes ad effectiveness and reduces traffic to the publisher’s site. In fairness to the advertiser and the publisher, Web ads should refrain from excess blinking/flashing or motion. While exceptions are allowed, for the most part, ads should be in a clearly defined area separate from the main content.

Web sites that offer advertising space are not the only sites susceptible to visual noise. In fact, the most common culprit responsible for cluttered Web sites is simply bad visual design practices, for instance, the overuse of icons, visually complex background images, lack of white space and use of too many type styles and font sizes. It takes a keen eye to discern how all these visual elements should function together and ultimately work in harmony to help the user find what they seek.

6. Invisible links?

One of the first things that I scan for when entering a Web site is all the possible places I could go. I look for links. Surprisingly, many sites do not clearly differentiate links from content. Looking for hidden or invisible links is not how I like to spend my spare time.

Links should be visible at first glance and identified by a different style, color or icon/symbol. If you really want to be safe and make sure users can locate your links, underline them. The underline is burned so deeply into the psyche of Internet users that it's always a good way to indicate links. This conditioning also means that you should never use underlines for anything else unless the meaning of the underline is clearly explained.

7. Don’t be shy

Most sites do offer their visitors a way to contact the owner, however the ease of finding this information – or even its availability – varies from site to site. Even if you own a site that does not require others to contact you, because you aren’t selling anything or offering any services, you should still make that information available.

Having your contact information available is important for several reasons. For one, it adds a layer of validity to your site or business. If users can see that you have a physical address, phone number and email, the information on your site will instantly gain another level of trust for the user. In addition, it’s wise to have contact information so that general inquiries can be made. Maybe a visitor caught an error or typo and would like to let you know, or better yet would like to buy your domain name for $100,000. How would you know if you didn’t make your contact information available? Lastly, make your contact information not just available, but easy to reach. It’s good practice to place a link to your contact information on every page.

8. Faster is always better

Nothing is worse than waiting too long for a Web site to load. Recent common wisdom suggests that users will wait only five to eight seconds for a page to load before becoming frustrated and potentially leaving your site. If your pages don't fully load within 10 seconds on an average broadband connection, search engines are going to penalize your Web site, and people are going start avoiding it, especially those on dial-up or cellular Internet connections. The following factors can all contribute to a slow-loading site: poor-quality Web hosting, too many graphics, un-optimized graphics or poor coding.

9. Have you optimized?

As mentioned above, un-optimized graphics can slow down your site. Many people who post photos to the Web forget or don’t know the importance of optimization. For instance, let’s say you have some digital photos that you are going to post on your site. Raw photos straight out of your camera are usually at least 5 megs in size, or more if you have a nicer camera. Optimization is the process of reducing that file size. The process can be done with any modern image-editing program and will drastically improve the load time of your site. Learn how to properly edit photos before using them in your Web site, or rely on the services of a professional.

10. No one likes filling out forms

If you’re anything like me, you probably detest having to fill out an online form. In general I find that on the Web forms are used too often, are usually too long and ask too many unnecessary questions. If you are going to have a form on your Web site make sure that it follows some of these basic guidelines:

• Don’t ask questions that are not absolutely needed. For example the visitor’s Salutation, Position/Job Title, Mailing Address, may not be needed on a simple contact form. If it’s not needed, don’t ask for it.
• Try to minimize mandatory fields unless they really are mandatory.
• Seek to support the autofill feature of modern Web browsers by avoiding unusual field labels (just use Name, Address, etc.).

In the end, just remember that the more questions you ask, the lower your form submission rate will be.

As I mentioned earlier in this post, being aware of these issues and finding solutions to them will have a profoundly positive effect on your site and help give your visitors a comfortable user experience.

If after reading this post you feel your site could use a little tune-up, maybe we can help you. Contact us and we’ll spend some time with you free of charge to see what we can do.

Take care,
Keith Heustis

Although ClearRiver has been operating successfully online for more than five years, we felt it was time for a major update. After nearly a year of design and development, our new Web site aims to enhance the user experience, make it easier to view our diverse portfolio, and provide a more accessible and visually appealing way to explore our company.

What makes this site better?

Fast and easy access

From the outset, one of our main goals has been to maximize ease of use. One way we’ve done that is through “modal windows.” When a visitor clicks on a link to a piece in our portfolio, the samples are loaded on top of the current page, and there's no need to leave the current browser window. This user interface design feature provides a quick and easy way to view our extensive portfolio, which contains over 150 samples of our work.

Content management system (CMS)

Another big reason for updating the site was our desire to add content easily wherever and whenever we wanted. Of the plethora of content management solutions available, we found everything we needed and more in Expression Engine (EE),which has become our CMS of choice. Not only does EE make all of our updates quick and easy, it also gives our designers compete freedom in design and coding, and allows us to have a standards-compliant and exceptionally search-engine-friendly site. We highly recommend EE if you are looking for the same kind of design freedom and high level of functionality.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization has changed a lot over the years and has become a much more complex endeavor. It used to be that a developer could stuff a few keywords into some metatags and get lots of traffic. Today, search engines are much smarter. Google, for instance, uses more than 118 factors to determine a Web site’s position in the search engine’s rankings, and no one really knows much about how the search engines work because the algorithms are secret. Despite the difficulties associated with SEO, when we redesigned the ClearRiver Web site we took several time-tested steps to ensure that our site could meet the needs of current search engines.

• We made sure that our site was built with standards-compliant XHTML and CSS coding techniques that make our pages load faster, allow greater accessibility to people who may be visually impaired, and provide a very digestible format for Google and other search engines to index.
• Having developed a good foundation for SEO through careful coding, we moved on to implement the beginning of our long-term web marketing strategy, which at its heart has a commitment to build a site full of quality information and content. More than any other factor in SEO, we know that creating quality content is the most important thing we can do to drive visitors to our site. As the days and months go by, you will see the content on our site grow through informative and educational blog postings and new sections that will help you understand more about how ClearRiver can help you meet your advertising and marketing goals.
• Finally, no effort to improve SEO can be complete without solid numbers and statistics on which to base decisions. That’s why we use Google Analytics and Google webmaster tools to monitor traffic and learn more about the types of people who use our site. By compiling this data and analyzing it regularly, we’ll be able to make informed decisions about the value of our content and accurately identify areas of our site that could use a little help. Of course, the data we collect is anonymous and we would never use any of it for anything outside of the guidelines set forth in our privacy policy.

The best is yet to come

We still have a lot of content in development and plan to roll it out in the next weeks and months. Our site will change constantly, and here at ClearRiver we believe change is a wonderful thing, as long as it means that things get better. As we roll out new content and offer more useful ways of interacting with us, we hope this site will become an even greater asset to our clients and others who may need creative design services.

Let us know what you think

We invite your comments and feedback below. Look over the site and let us know what you think.

Best regards,
Keith Heustis