Tag: Personal website

5 Simple Tips To Make Your Website Look Good

In general, one thing that most people tend to overlook is today’s demand for functional design and aesthetics. While not all of us may be aware of the extent of just how much it matters, the fact remains that design is a very crucial factor towards success—any kind of success– including your website’s. Yes, your content is an important key towards reeling your audience in, but how your site looks will definitely be a determining factor as well.

Here are some basic tips on what you can do to improve your website’s design.

Add high-quality images

oars.com

whitetablecatering.com

You want to add the best quality images on your website that reflect your brand style, but if you don’t have a high-resolution camera or the money to pay a photographer, you can get free stock photos from sources like Pexels and Pixabay. Images should pertain directly to the content of your site. Including images is always better than no images at all.

Choose the right colors

Lawrence Boone Selections uses black to add a sense of luxury and value to their website

Juicebox used this zesty combination for people to get that organic and fresh that the brand represents

A website’s color scheme plays a big role in creating the proper tone and mood for your brand. Picking a nice color doesn’t necessary mean its the right one. Each color sends off a different message and response. Colors is one of the first things that site visitors notice and it can actually impact your website’s success.

Pick two to three base colors at most for your design. If you feel the need to add more color, you can utilize the tints and shades of your base colors. In color theory, a tint is the mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness while shade is the mixture of a color with white, which reduces lightness.

Additional Tip: There are great tools such as Adobe Colour CC and Coolors to make picking colors easier.

Use contrasting typefaces

There are more fonts other than Arial, Georgia and Times New Roman. Google Web Fonts offer a variety of typefaces you can use for free on your site. Just like with choosing colors you can easily over do fonts, so I suggest you do not use more than two typefaces on your website. Most well-designed websites use two typefaces only, one for the headlines and one for the body text.

Paring two typefaces can be hard even for designers. You could keep it simple by playing around with two different fonts from one typeface. If a second typeface is necessary, choose something that contrasts well against your first typeface. Normally, combining a serif font and sans-serif works well together. Another important tip is to choose typefaces that matches your company’s style. You could have the nicest looking font in the wold, but when used in the wrong context, it could still look terrible.

Keep it clean using whitespace

Whitespace is one of the easiest and most effective ways to create a visually effective website. Your website should look well organized and clutter free, directing users exactly where they need to go. Make sure elements stand out and are grouped together by using whitespace properly.

Make it mobile-friendly

People are probably going to visit your site at different times using different devices and screen sizes. While content is important, consistency across devices provides a better user-experience for anyone who visits your site. It makes it easier for users to share and link contents on your website to social media platforms on mobile. On top of that, Google prioritizes responsive websites on search results.

Additional Tip: Using Page Builder Sandwich on your website will automatically enable mobile viewing and adjust it for mobile screen size.

Conclusion

Remember: Underestimating the power of design is one of the worst mistakes you can make when building your website. You don’t have to exert too much effort when designing your website, of course, but in the meantime, simply following these tips can ensure that your site doesn’t emit any feelings of disapproval from your audience.

August 9, 2016
5 Reasons Why Whitespace Matters

Basically, whitespace, at its most basic definition, is the space around and between all the elements of a composition that is left unmarked. It’s not just a waste of screen space, as most websites owners think. When used well, whitespaces can actually provide benefits to better promote a product. It is an important key to creating good design and it makes a website better in every way.

Although the name whitespace implies that the space is white, it doesn’t always have to be literally white. Whitespace can actually be any color—It can even have a subtle pattern or texture. It’s an area that you don’t want the eye to focus on. Alternatively, it’s called a negative space.

So, why does whitespace matter?

Image Source: News Feed

Reason #1: Improves readability

Whitespace between baselines and paragraphs actually help people comfortably read all of the content on the site. Adjusting small details of your site (like line-spacing/leading or the letter-spacing) could make a huge difference in make reading easier.

The goal is to make people want to keep reading by designing layouts that are easy on the eyes.

Image Source: HP Magic Words

Reason #2: Speeds up interaction

Let’s be honest: most of your visitors won’t have enough patience to look thoroughly when browsing through websites. When a website looks cluttered, it keeps users distracted from finding what they are looking for.

Whitespaces should help lead the viewer around the page. Less elements competing for attention plus proper use of whitespaces can prevent distractions that slows visitors down.

Image Source: Google

Reason #3: Drive attention to the right elements

Whitespace can give users visual cues on where they should be looking. When used in a correct manner, whitespaces help emphasize information and draw attention to a particular area on you website.

Remember, if everything stands out, nothing does.

Image Source: Pocket Penguins

Reason #4: First impressions matter

The look and feel of a website is the main key to good first impressions. Good first impressions often leads to longer visit duration. Too little whitespace can make your website look cheap and unreliable. Visitors won’t think the site or the brand is credible unless it looks attractive. Having a good amount of whitespace helps create the right tone for your website. Whitespace can be a way to communicate ingenuity, freshness, and sometimes, elegance.

Tip: Here’s an idea on how to make your web design simple and familiar.

Image Source: Flock Knitwear

Reason #5: Helps create breathing room and balance

A balanced design doesn’t mean symmetrical. A large design element can be balanced by a few smaller once. Adding whitespace is a great way to balance different-sized design elements on your page. Create a flow so the users eyes won’t dart all over the place. A good design should be able to guide the user from one point to another without confusing the visitor.

Conclusion

Next time you visit a website and find yourself staying a while, think about what made you stay and read. Do you think the line-spacing makes an article easier to read? Does the experience make you want to keep coming back for more? Did you have a hard time looking for the navigation?

Take note of the good application of whitespace on the website. If you think it can also work in your website, learn to apply and manage how much space you should allocate on your element until you think you’ve conveyed the right tone and readability without sacrificing the “flow” you want for your website.

The ultimate goal of any website is communication. Visual appeal goes hand in hand with the success of your website.

July 27, 2016
3 Things to Consider Before Diving Into Page Builders

There’s an off-chance you’re here because you’ve heard that PBS is quite possibly one of the quickest shortcuts to site building. While page builders, in general, exist to make things easier, there are still a few things you might want to take into account before diving deeper into this particular realm of WordPress development.

Learning WordPress: A Crucial Page Builder Prerequisite

This is probably the most obvious item on this list, but still the most important one. Page Builders aren’t quite purchasable on their own, unfortunately. They come in the form of plugins in WordPress, which you’ll need to install and learn in order to manipulate. Rest assured that WordPress is one of the easiest and most legitimate ways to create a website. You won’t regret knowing something technical, considering the age we are in right now. There is a difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, and knowing which one caters to your need saves time too!

If you’re a little intimidated by the abundance of some of the technical terms in this article, though, fret not. There are few helpful sites you can visit to help get you started. Some of these areWordPress Codex, and Treehouse. It houses WordPress tips and website building, depending on your need and level of knowledge.

You might want to test out the waters first, just to be sure

It’s always a good idea to give free and/or trial versions a go before making any huge purchases you might end up regretting in the future. Thankfully, most page builders come with free/demo versions. Of course, we could also look into a ton of reliable reviews about page builders while otherscompares and contrasts page builders. Make sure to weigh in your options carefully!

Aside from going through articles and reviews, one of the things we like about WordPress is that it has a huge community behind it. There are individuals, teams, and even businesses, willing to lend a helping hand their fellow WordPress users, especially new ones like you! The community basically works on a pay-it-forward scheme than a give-and-take.

Designs make a huge difference

WordPress Enthusiast Donna Fontenot Cavalier makes a very good point regarding drag and drop Page Builders, and the importance of basic design. While drag-and-drop builders like PBS can save you a lot of time, basic know-how and at least some familiarity in aesthetics is another crucial thing to consider when creating websites. Imagine a scenario– let’s say you get your hands on a nifty page builder of your choice: that’s great! But then let’s say you’re a person who doesn’t exactly have the best eye for art, design and functionality: uh-oh.

Don’t worry, though. Page Builder Sandwich isn’t just a Page Builder; our team is also dedicated to giving other WordPress users a hand, too. So if you’re dealing with a bit of trouble regarding design, don’t worry– we have a bunch of articles here on the PBS Blog with a lot of useful tips to help you get started. That way, you get to do more, learn more, and worry less.

Remember, if you have any questions or concerns regarding page builders, or anything relating to the items above, feel free to drop us a line in the comments section below. We’re always happy to help our customers out.

Happy Site-Building!

July 22, 2016
Why WordPress?

One important thing to consider when building your first website– whether you’re a business, a freelancer, or anything and anyone, really– is that not everyone is adept in the language of code and software development. You could be, for instance, a chef who wants to publish his recipes online. You could also be a Fine Arts undergrad who needs a professional-looking portfolio, or a start-up business that needs a site of their own. Whether it’s one or the other or anything in between, the fact remains that while some of us may be familiar with the basics of code, we aren’t all full-time developers, and that not everyone who needs or wants a site knows how to make one from the bottom up. This is where WordPress might come in handy. Enter the question: “Why WordPress?”

REASON #1

WordPress is a Content Management System, Making It Totally User-Friendly.

The first thing you need to know is that WordPress is a Content Management System (or CMS). In simpler terms, this means that WordPress allows its users to create websites without having to build code from scratch. It has a systematic, organized interface that lets you constantly keep things in check without having to tinker with code every now and then.

Compared to building a website from scratch, which would typically start out like this:

With a Content Management System, you get to start out with something like this:

WordPress ‘s back-end interface. Managing and creating websites becomes easier with CMS.

You might ask yourself, though: “WordPress seems great, but what if it doesn’t have the features I want for my site?”, or “what if I want a map, a music player, or a caching engine, or a more reliable security system?”

…Technically speaking, WordPress probably does have that feature you want, and it will come in the form of a WordPress Plugin.

REASON# 2

Plugins: The Cherry on Top of the WordPress Cake

If you’re worried that WordPress doesn’t include that particular feature you might want on your site, don’t worry: it probably does.

Plugins are “extension features” that exist to increase your WordPress site’s functionality. If you’re an entrepreneur who needs a contact form for your site, you might want to take note that WordPress in itself doesn’t have that feature, but there are tons of plugins that do. And since WordPress is open-source—meaning just about anyone can contribute to its development—new plugins are created regularly. You can get that contact form you want, and more. You get the freedom to add other plugins ranging from social sharing buttons, to maps, and even additional security measures for your site, among many, many other features and extensions. Now tell me that doesn’t sound neat.

As of now, WordPress has about thousands of these plugins—and some of them are even available for free and/or have free versions, including PBS.

REASON #3

Open Source: The WordPress Community

WordPress is Open Source. This means that anyone is free to contribute to its development, and anyone is open to study its backbone code to learn more about software development, and even WordPress itself. There are even businesses that are solely dedicated to creating and developing WordPress-related products, such as the plugins and themes (like us!)

Because WordPress is open source, there are tons of users, developers, and even designers that constantly collaborate and even help each other out with WordPress-related problems. This way, you get real help from real people, and at the same time, learn from each other. This is something that your typical customer relations services hardly ever get to do.

REASON #4

WordPress is Legit.

CNN, The Official Star Wars Blog, Time Magazine, and even (GASP!) Beyonce all have WordPress-run sites, among many others. These big names aren’t the only thing that backs up WordPress’ legitimacy, too– according to Treehouse.com, about 25% of all sites up on the web are run by WordPress. Considering how many millions and thousands of websites exist… well, 25% is a pretty big number.

REASON #5

Customizations Galore!

WordPress has a ton of themes available for you and your site. You’re free to choose from free versions, premium ones, or even build one on your own (or hire someone to build it for you!).

REASON #6:

It’s Free.

Yep, you read that right. Through Local Development, WordPress is totally free, and you can install it in your computer with the click of a button. Likewise, instead of hiring a developer, you could use whatever knowledge you have about code to learn more about how WordPress works (and hey, learning is always good).

…not to mention that if there is a chance you don’t have time to get too deep into WordPress and site building, you could always get yourself a nifty page builder plugin and give ours a go.

Remember that there are endless possibilities with WordPress, and it doesn’t need to take a genius to figure out how it all works!

Using WordPress can save you a lot of time, money, and effort. And in a time when there’s very little of those resources, bear in mind that WordPress sites, their plugins (like PBS!), their themes, and its community especially, can totally help you out and make things much, much easier for you.

Happy Website-Building!

July 13, 2016