Modern Website Design - Advanced CSS and Web Standards

Is your Website falling apart? Have you put time and money into having a site built that just seems to keep having problems? Or maybe your considering having a site built and aren't sure where to turn. Don't give up hope just yet! Read on to discover one of the most troublesome aspects of building a web site and some of the most powerful tips that will turn your site around.

Praise from our Clients

"Karen is my stress relief! When I have an idea that I would like to make a reality, one email to Karen and she accomplishes the mission. Thanks to her skills I can put my creativity to use and create websites that astound my customers."
~Stephanie Charette, Inspiring Your Public
"We have successfully hired the Altered Impressions team for over 3 years and 43 projects. We have been very pleased with the quality of work, both technically and creatively."
~ Paula Daniel, East End Business Solutions

"Working with Karen has taken a huge burden off my shoulders. Efficient, PATIENT and always constructive...what more could you ask for? In redeveloping a large medical site, she has withstood my countless requests for yet another design change, color tweaks and provided invaluable feedback on how to get it all done. Keeping the site easy to navigate was a priority and she came up with the perfect solution. All in all, she's been the perfect find. And oh so fairly priced!"
~Jennifer Park, Dermatologist News

Advanced Xhtml/CSS Web Standard Design

Custom Layout Designs w/ Full Client Involvement
we design to your specifications!
Web Standards Compliant Code
Dreamweaver Template coding
User-Focused and Friendly Design
WC3 Validated Xhtml and CSS
Basic Search Engine Optimization
Browser Compatibility Tested (all major browsers)
90 day Browser Compatibility Guarantee
Image Optimization Services

Learn more about our design packages

What's New? - Joomla! Template Services

It's been awhile since we brought a new service onboard, so we are pleased to provide Joomla services. Altered Impressions has been working with other web design businesses for the past 2 years helping them to develop and customize Joomla Templates. Our services can now help you make the most of Joomla too. We can help in designing custom Joomla templates, template customization, module selection and installation, Joomla setup and training support.

Are you wanting to take control over your own website? Joomla can provide you with the power you need to run a successful website. With Joomla you can not only manage your own content, you can also manage most everything to do with your site. You can add new pages, then update your navigation bar so people can find it. You can add your own photo gallery and manage it all within the Joomla Administrative area. But that's just the beginning! More Joomla! Service Information...

Joomla Template Design Services:

Custom Layout Designs w/ Full Client Involvement (we design to your specifications)
Web Standards Compliant Code
User-Focused and Friendly Design
WC3 Validated Xhtml and CSS
Browser Compatibility Tested (includes all major modern browsers)
90 day Browser Compatibility Guarantee (new browser version protection)

The Trouble with hiring a Web Designer

Maybe you are new to the web or you have been around for a while, but sooner or later your bound to run into trouble when it comes to hiring a web designer. The truth is, some web design companies are simply out to make a buck, or they simply lack the skills and experience to deliver quality. Unfortunately many of them do business at the expense of their own clients. Read More...

By providing services that are sub-standard, web designers can quickly produce Web sites at very low costs, but the end results can be less than desirable. Their clients can end up with a site that does not work well across many popular browsers or are doomed to fall to pieces as new browsers become available. The good news is it doesn't have to be this way.

Thanks to a little thing call Web Standards, Web designers can develop quality sites at reasonable prices that will not only work today but will work well into the future. These same Web Standards are what the browser developers use to help all sites behave properly. But if you hire an old school web designer or one who lacks key skills, your site will be out of sync with todays browsers and your business will face the consequences.

We all know that having something done right the first time can be a huge time and money saver in the long run. The same is true when it comes to having your Web site built. That is unless you enjoy having to have your site fixed over and over again while you continue to hand over more money to the designer who is responsible for the problems in the first place.

I encourage site owners and those responsible for managing a web site to seek out high quality Web design services. If a Web design company is more concerned with meeting your financial needs, you might just end up paying the difference in quality. And this lack of quality can catch up to you later and might very well end up costing you twice as much as it would have to get the job done right the first time.

This is one of those things that frustrates me to no end. I've seem plenty of cut corners in my line of work. I've had web design companies hire me to fix the spotty work that they have managed to piece together. One of the worst offenses I have seen are design firms who download free templates or code, make a few modifications and then hand off the patchwork to their clients as custom build web sites. Sooner or later they find themselves having to hire a professional to fix the mess they've gotten themselves and their poor clients end up footing the bill!

If you suspect that your web designer is turning tricks on you, please contact us and we'll investigate the trouble, it might just be a simple misunderstanding or you may need to find yourself a new designer. Also consider reading a bit further on How-to Hire a Web Designer

Top Tips to get your site off to a Great Start

Getting Their Attention - positioning yourself for success.

Your homepage should clearly indicate what your site is about. I can't stress this enough. People are not going to try and figure out what your site is about. Don't make the mistake of thinking that since you know, it should be obvious to your visitors - it's not!

Of course this is not a hard and fast rule, some sites are meant to be figured out, they are suppose to be a puzzle or are designed to make you think.

Increasing Click-through Rates - guiding your customers.

Your navigation should be located where people expect it to be and use text links that are straight forward (i.e. 'Contact Us' as opposed to 'Let's Talk'). Keep the navigation system consistent on all pages. People do not want to learn your site's navigation system. More Web site Navigation Tips

Are They Reading or Clicking away - increasing what people are willing to read.

Your font size should be big enough so your text can be read without causing eye-strain. There are many people who will not bother to read very small letters or text that does not contrast well with the background. Don’t lose your visitors because of font size. Read More on Content that Counts

Creating Web Copy that Works! - it's not what you say, but how you say it

Internet copy and content writing has some very distinctive styles that must be taken into consideration if your site is to be a success. One way to ensure good readability is to break big chunks of text into paragraphs, bullets and single sentences that will make your content a lot easier to read. Read More about Web Copy Writing

Make them take Notice - making your words count

Creating emphasis is an important part of designing a web page that will be read. Handled with good judgment it can help direct and inform the reader about valuable content on your page. When these qualities are lacking, or someone feels that every word is important and must be emphasized in some way, then your web page starts to look like a battlefield and becomes difficult to read.

Read, Scan or Skim - how do people view your content?

Studies have proven that people don't start by reading a entire web page. First they scan for content that is important to them. Next they skim through the content and if they decide that your content is worth their time, they just might start reading some of it.

Making your Graphics Speak - don't skimp when it comes to quality

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. (well, sometimes this is true) This applies to your web site too. Your images should display value added, attractive photos of your products or relevant images of the services you offer. However, be careful about file size. Don’t compress your images too much or the picture quality will suffer. Learn How-To Optimize your Graphics

Don't Make them Wait - people don't have time to wait

We live in a busy world and people are not willing to wait a long time (in internet time this can be as little as 15 seconds! Yikes). Reduce the size of your graphics as much as possible without destroying them and watch out for excessive animations. Even page and text formatting can seriously add to the weight of your page, for this, turn to Cascading Style Sheets to eliminate undesirable and excessive code.

Speeding Page loads up with CSS - Using Cascading Style Sheets

This step alone will cut more than half the amount of code and cut your page load time in half. Since most of the code in an html document is table alignment code and font formatting you can greatly decrease the size of your pages just by replacing code in favor of CSS. Find out more about how CSS can help you

Need a Modern Web site that Works?

Did you know that a user-friendly, cross-browser compatible web site that is developed with professional appeal leads to far greater conversion rates that can actually help you to succeed on the Web? Call me today to find out how I can help! 425-948-6952

Custom Web Standards Design Services:

Custom Designed Sites

Custom Layout Designs w/ Full Client Involvement (we design to your specifications)
Web Standards Compliant Code
Dreamweaver Template coding is optional but included in the price
User-Focused and Friendly Design
WC3 Validated Xhtml and CSS
Basic Search Engine Optimization
Browser Compatibility Tested (includes all major modern browsers)
90 day Browser Compatibility Guarantee (new browser version protection)
1 hour of Image Optimization Services (should cover most sites)
Free 30 days Limited Maintenance

Template Design and Coding Services:

Complete Template Design and Coding Service

Custom Layout Designs w/ Full Client Involvement (we design to your specifications)
Dreamweaver Template coding is optional but included in the price
Web Standards Compliant Code
User-Focused and Friendly Design
WC3 Validated Xhtml and CSS
Browser Compatibility Tested (includes all major modern browsers)
Free 30 days Limited Technical Support (to help get you up and running)