Windsor Web Design

My name is Sebastian and I specialize in freelance website design in Windsor Ontario. This page will keep you up to date with my latest portfolio works as well as website design tips and tricks. If you have a small business in Windsor and are interested in having me design your website, use the contact me link below and I'll send you a no pressure free quote!

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3 Examples of Great Full-Width Websites

Thanks to responsive website design, it is becoming easier and easier to develop 100% full-width websites. What is a full-width website? It’s a website that spans the entire width of the screen no matter what size monitor that website is viewed.

Back when I first graduated from college in 2008, 95% of websites were “boxed-in” designs using tables to add various sections on a page. Nowadays thanks to responsive code HTML5 and CSS3, developers are no longer constricted to a 1024px fixed screen size when coding website.

This has allowed designers and developers to work together to develop beautiful full-width website that take up as much real-estate on screen as possible.

Here are a few examples of great full-width websites:

1) Renaissance Wedding - Decor and Design in Windsor

Renaissance Weddings recently re-designed their website to a full-width design. The website was done using a WordPress theme which was then customized to fit the look & feel of the Renaissance Weddings brand. By using 100% of the screen, the bright and brilliant photos really stand out on their website.

2) Fortis Group

Websites which showcase previous work are perfect candidates for full-width designs because high resolution photography looks great on a big screen. That’s likely part of the reason why Fortis Group decided to go with the full-width design.

3) Bjorn Meier

Bjorn Meier is a truly creative one-page design that uses 100% of the screen. There is no navigation on the page, just scrolling. All projects open up on screen and display beautiful images of work completed.

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3 Mortgage Broker Website Must-Haves

Having worked with several mortgage brokers over the past 5 years, I’ve learned quite a bit about what a mortgage broker website absolutely must have to be successful.

Most mortgage brokers in Windsor and the surrounding area understand the value of a website but rarely take advantage of all the tools made available to them.

Here are 3 must-haves for all mortgage broker websites.

1) Mortgage Calculator

This one may seem like a no-brainer but the reality is not every mortgage broker website has a mortgage calculator. This type of tool assists potential home buyers in their decision on which mortgage lender to work with. It also helps them determine how long it’ll take to pay off their loan and what type of budget they’ll require.

2) Online Mortgage Application

A simple online mortgage application process is imperative. People are becoming more and more comfortable with online purchasing and application so why not allow them to apply for a mortgage right on your website.

3) The Difference Between a Broker and a Bank

Many first time home buyers aren’t familiar with the differences between a mortgage broker and a bank. Help answer these types of questions without having to speak to someone first. An informed home buyer is a happy home buyer so provide them with as much information as you can either through a blog or FAQ pages on your website.

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How Many Form Fields Are Too Many on a Contact Form?

The explosion of content marketing on the web over the past 5 years has resulted in a huge jump in the number of on-site contact forms to help businesses generate leads.

Even if you haven’t heard it phrased as on-site contact forms, chances are you know exactly what they are. Here’s one we have on Douglas Marketing Group:

Essentially on-site contact forms are a way for your website visitors to contact you and/or submit their information to get in touch with you regarding business, newsletter sign-ups, additional content etc.

One of the questions we often get asked when creating these contact forms on client websites is “How many fields should these contact forms have?”

Truthfully, the answer varies based upon a few factors.

Factor 1: What’s the purpose of the contact form?

Is the contact form just a way for a user to get in touch with you and send you an email? If so, keep it simple and only take in information you need to get back to them (eg. name, phone and email information)

Factor 2: Where is the contact form on your website?

If the contact form is somewhere in the footer of your page and used to be accessed quickly, you may only want to take in name and email or name and phone. Users accessing this form typically want to get in and out, so don’t bother having them submit more information than they’re likely to take the time to submit. A good example of this is the contact form in the footer of the Windsor HVAC company Syles Mechanical LTD.

Factor 3: If your contact form is lead generating - what’s the nature of your content you’re giving away?

This is the one that has the most variables. You’re going to want to base the amount of information you’re asking for from the user on the information you’re giving away to them. If the information is just a one-page white-paper that details high-level ideas they can use, you should probably only ask for name, email, company and phone. If you’re offering a 24 page e-book that includes detailed ideas they can use, feel free to ask for much more information such as: education level, age, interest category, salary and more.

The more information you receive from a lead, the better you’ll be able to segment your lists and nurture that lead to the point that they become a sale.

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Some SEO Success on Both Google & Yahoo/Bing

In my opinion, one of the hardest things to achieve as an SEO consultant is having quality SERP (Search Engine Rank Position) on both Google and Yahoo/Bing. For those who aren't entirely familiar with search, I combine Yahoo and Bing together because they both provide the same results to their users thanks to an agreement they made back in 2009.

The way the algorithm works for the two different search engines obviously puts different emphasis on different aspects of your website. For example, I find Google puts a lot less emphasis on keywords in domain name than Yahoo/Bing does. I also find that Google is a lot faster in indexing backlinks to your site than Yahoo/Bing are.

So with that being said, how can someone optimize their website for both Google and Yahoo/Bing. Short answer - You can't! Ok, ok, you can, but it's really difficult and almost always comes down to a few things.

Take Landau Gage for example. A client of mine (through Douglas Marketing Group) who specializes in functional & air gage measurement solutions for the automotive industry.

Here are their results on both Google and Yahoo/Bing for the term "variable data gage".

As you can see, I was able to get the Landau Gage website to the top of Page 1 on both search engines. Now please keep in mind, I titled this post "Some" SEO Success... the reason I add the "some" in there is because the ranking is not for a very popular term. The competition, as well as the number of searches for "variable data gage" is not very high, however I would still call this a success because that is a term the client is targeting.

So how did I make this happen? I think it was a combination of a few things:

Ensure you have your keyword located in text somewhere on your homepage with a link pointing to a page specifically titled "your-keyword-here.html"

Be sure to link back to the page which is focused on your keyword from other pages on your website. i.e. blog, news etc.

If possible, write a few external guest posts and link back to the page your keyword is focused on. Be careful not to overdo it though. Mix up the keywords you use when linking back to this page.

Of course, there are several other factors which attributed to the success I had, however if you start with those 3, you'll be well on your way to some SEO success of your own!

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No More Content Sliders on the Homepage of a Website!

I’ve had enough! I just can’t take it anymore. I’m fed up and I want everyone to know about it! I, Sebastian Agosta, can no longer stand seeing basic content sliders on websites! That’s right I said it. It feels like every single small to medium sized business has a featured content slider as the main source of content on their website and they all seem to look and function exactly the same. Just look at some of these examples: http://www.wfcu-centre.com, http://merithall.com, http://www.hummazing.com. While some of these featured content sliders are well designed and function perfectly, I still find them somewhat boring. Not to mention the fact that on some of them there is no option to navigate through them manually. Who is going to sit there for 10 seconds waiting for the next slide to show? No one, that’s who! Now I know what you’re thinking, “umm, Sebastian, just 7 months ago you showed us an example of the BX content slider and you loved it.” Very true, but a lot can change in 7 months, especially on the web. That’s why most of the designers I work with today are trying to find ways to display different sets of content on a homepage without the use of content sliders. I recently programmed the website of a headhunting agency in the Toronto area named Lucas Professional Search Group. The first thing that I brought up in the kick-start meeting with the creative director was the idea of not having a content slider on the homepage. She asked me for some examples and I had a few ready, the next thing I knew we were getting the design done without any content sliders at all! Oh happy day! Since then, most of the projects I’ve coded or designed have featured either a hybrid content slider like this one, or no content slider at all like this one. I plan on continuing this trend for the foreseeable future, but who knows… 7 months down the road I may end up telling you I hate sites without content sliders! NAH!

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Simple & Useful Content Slider from bxSlider

I was recently hired by a industrial printer service and sale business called Willtech Services. They specialize in the repair of high resolution printers and barcoders from brands like Videojet, Leibinger and Anser in Windsor, Kingsville and all of southern Ontario.

Their old website had been done using a do-it-yourself site builder and needed a bit of a refresh. The first thing I suggested was the use of a content slider on the homepage of the website. Whenever there is a product to sell, I always suggest a content slider because it's an easy and beautiful way to showcase a product and engage users on your site.

I searched through several different sliders online, but struggled to find one that would work for Willtech Services because the images they had available for the slides were fairly low resolution.

I ended up coming across bxSlider. After reviewing their documentation and a few of their example, I thought this would be perfect.

I was able to create a slider which showcases the high-end printers and barcoders Willtech Services provides repairs and sales for and I was able to show them in a neat way.

The bxSlider is completely customizable and allows me to change how many slides to flip through, how fast the slide and even the transition they use with a simple change of a bit of Javascript code.

I highly recommend the bxSlider to anyone in need of a quick and easy way to add a featured content slider to their website design.

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Executive Assistance You Can Count On

One of the hardest things to complete within a website design is the content. It's always difficult for clients to find the time to write pages and page of content and it's even harder (and more costly to the client) to hire the web designer to do it themselves.

I recently worked with a client who knew they wouldn't have time to write the content and because it was such a specific industry, they figured I might struggle with it too. That's when they decided to call Forte Professional Services to handle all the content for their site and they couldn't be happier.

They sent the people at Forte Services to work directly with me on the project and we got it done way faster than expected. Not only were they fast, but they were always accessible and just a pleasure to work with.

Forte specializes in executive assistance, as well as copy-writing, bookkeeping and accounting. You can visit their website for more information.

I highly recommend their services!

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Throwing a Social Party for Business Networking

Networking is crucial to succeed in business. Business still revolves around meeting others and making deals that benefit both parties, and it is often informal meetings that lead to great deals. Meeting others, however, can be a challenge; one option that is becoming more popular is holding social parties with other business professionals. Parties are a great way to meet others. The informal atmosphere makes it easy to talk to others, and the typical formalities of meetings are loosened. Instead of being characterized by small talk and polite conversation, parties often lead to discussions about sports and other topics that help people bond. Further, being able to see people in a relaxing, festive state helps attendees see the human elements that form meaningful connections. In response to the demand for parties, companies are offering party rentals to provide the tools necessary to hold a truly great party. Guests need access to seating and shade, and party rental companies such as Festival Tent & Party Rentals can provide this service. In addition, planning is necessary to ensure that everyone has a great experience, and a poorly-planned party can sometimes do more harm than good. With expert consultation, those who hold parties to make business connections can ensure that their guests have an enjoyable experience. The centerpiece of any party, however, should be a tent. Tents provide valuable shade to keep party-goers comfortable regardless of the weather. Tents are also a great place to get away from the signs and sounds of a party; their insulation allows guests to take a break and relax a bit. Those who are using their parties to network might find the test especially useful as a place to sit down and talk away from the crowd. Tent rentals are affordable and need to be a part of every party. It is also important to advertise a party appropriately and to encourage attendance. Too often, those holding parties fail to give guests enough time to ensure that their schedules are open. By planning well in advance, those running parties can boost attendance. Great invitations are also important; guests are far less likely to show up to a party that does not sound fun or exciting. Generating excitement is especially important for those who are trying to attract business professions with whom they have little personal experience. Just like anything else in business, a party requires vision, planning and execution. By taking a a party seriously and going the extra mile to ensure that everything goes smoothly, those throwing parties can set the right environment for making valuable business connections that can serve a company well for many years in the future. Hiring expert help, in particular, can make the difference between a mediocre party and a great party.

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Ways To Make Your Facebook Page Unique

Over the past few months I've met with several clients regarding web design and online marketing and one of the new ways businesses are interested in promoting their business is through Facebook. Many of them already have Facebook fan pages, however few of them have made them unique enough to stand out. That's where my online marketing and web design experience come in.

There are several different ways you can make your Facebook page unique. One of the easiest ways is by having someone create a longer, more promotional profile pic. Many businesses just use their logo as a profile image, but that really doesn't say anything about their business. As you can see on my Facebook page, I've created a profile image which is 180px width by 500px height and I've added much more information than my logo.

Another thing you'll see on my Facebook page is a Welcome tab and image. Anytime someone goes to my business page, they'll find an embedded animated GIF which also helps promote what I can offer. In order to make this happen you'll have to hire someone who knows how to create apps on Facebook and has some graphic design experience.

The last thing I would suggest you do is run some kind of promotion, contest or giveaway to gain Facebook Likes and draw attention to your page. One of the more successful campaigns I've seen was the one by Goodlife Fitness to giveaway a free month membership to anyone who liked their page from a certain date forward.

Making your Facebook page shouldn't be too difficult if you have web design or graphic design experience. If you don't, you'll have to hire someone to do it for you. The rates for projects like this vary. I've seen them priced as low as $150.00 and as high as $1000.00.

For an affordable options, please visit my portfolio and get in touch with me for a free quote.

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Site Review - Health & Fitness Focus

A friend of mine asked me to review one of his websites because he has been thinking about a re-design and asked if he thought he needed one. He build the site himself about 4 years ago and has made small changes ever since. The site is directed towards those who are interested in reading about health and fitness. The site is aptly named Health and Fitness Focus.

As you can probably see from the screen capture above, the site needs some work. My friend is a great programmer and knows a lot about health and fitness, however his graphic web design skills are a bit lacking. He's actually gotten a lot better over the years, however this was one of the first sites he ever built and that was about 4 years ago.

The key points I told him I didn't like or that I would change were;

- His navigation menu. I've never liked making links the same color as text. Even though they have a hover on them, I'm still not a big fan.

- His logo. It isn't much of a logo at all. Just black text with some images behind it. Could create a much nicer logo and brand the site a bit better.

- His Google Adsense. I understand that this is one of the ways he makes money, however the ads could be integrated in the site so that they aren't an eye sore.

These were my three biggest issues with the homepage. I gave him an entire list of things he could improve upon when it comes to web design and online marketing.

The good news is, my friend doesn't mind criticism and actually appreciate my notes. He plans on having me work with him on a new website design in the near future!

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As most of you know, I recently created a my own Facebook page for my Windsor web design freelance work. I hadn't really done much to the page other than add a bigger, longer profile picture.

Last week I finally added a "welcome" tab, which shows the image you see above. I know most people create entire websites in their Facebook tabs, but I wanted to start with just a animated GIF.

What do you think?

*I just realized the animation on my animated GIF isn't working on Tumblr. Click the image to see the animation.

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Tumblr Tag Cloud Generator

Just over a month ago, I created a post talking about the few changes I made to my Windsor web design Tumblr. One of the changes I made that people seemed to really be interested in was the one to add a custom Tumblr tag cloud. I received a few emails from people asking me how they could install it on their Tumblr, so I needed to direct them towards the page where I found the tutorial on how to use it.

It took me awhile, but I finally found the tutorial again. It was created, (I think) by a girl named Heather Rivers. She does a great job describing how to install and customize it on her site.

Just in case you're one of those people who trusts someone you know over someone you don't know, I'll also post a quick tutorial on how to use it.

Take the Tumblr tag cloud code and install it on your page. Most people put it in the sidebar of their theme. That's where I have mine as well.

<!--Start Tumblr Tag Cloud--> <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://rive.rs/javascripts/tumblr_tag_cloud.min.js?css=default&minsize=120&maxsize=280"></script> <!--End Tumblr Tag Cloud-->

That's pretty much all it takes to install the code itself. After that you need to customize it to fit your Tumblr theme. There are a few different variables you can use to do that.

css=default (or flickr, custom)

minsize=120 (or any integer)

maxsize=280 (or any integer)

limit=none (or any integer)

order=none (or frequency, alphabetical)

math=log (or linear)

And in all honesty, that's about it! Like I said, there is a more in-depth tutorial on Heather's page. If you have any problems with it you can refer to her or you can email me and I can do my best to help you out!

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Web Design For Montessori Early Years

I wanted to quickly show everyone the updated web design I created for the Montessori Early Years in LaSalle Ontario. I originally designed this website back in March of 2010. I then re-designed it to what it is now in February of 2011. (Click here to see the old design) After having a full year to look at the statistics of the website, the people at Montessori Early Years decided they wanted a fresh look. I came up with this "box-like" design with much softer yellow and blue colors than the old darker brown and black colors. The entire site is coded using a DIV-based layout and CSS.

I also worked on the back-end PHP and mySQL with a friend of mine to create a "parents-only" section which features pictures of the children at school as well as newsletter and lunch menu PDFs.

I also handle the site administration which includes updating the PDF's monthly and the news section whenever that's needed.

All in all, it was a pleasure working with the Montessori Early Years again. I'm honored that they would come back to me for a re-design of their website. I look forward to working with them in the near future!

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Importance Of Title Tags In SEO

There are two different types of search engine optimization. One is on-site SEO and one is off-site SEO. Off-site SEO includes; trading links to gain popularity, submitting to directories etc. On-site SEO includes; things you can change on your website to help it gain a bit of traction in the search engine rankings.

In my opinion, the most important part of on-site search engine optimization is the title tag of your site. If you're an absolute beginner to web design, you can find your title tags within the <head></head> tags of your website. They'll look like this; <title></title>.

You'll want to edit that to include the title of your site as well as well as list the descriptive keywords/keyterms you're targetting. For example; if you run a computer repair shop in Windsor a good title would be "PC Repair Dog - Your #1 source for cheap computer repair in Windsor Ontario". You'll also want to change the title tag on each page on your website. For example; your services page should be something along the lines of "PC Repair Dog - Services". Another page would read "PC Repair Dog - About Us". Each page should have a unique title tag.

Why is this so important? It's simple. When you search on Google or Bing or even Yahoo, the title tag is the text that Google uses to link to your site. You want it to be descriptive and you want it to have the keyword/keyterm you're targeting at least once or twice. Be sure not to make it to "spammy" and be sure to include the title or brand of your business.

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Anyone Plan On Using Schema.Org Markup?

Even though this article was written in San Francisco, I read it on the Windsor Star website. It's titled Search Engines Make Websites Easier To Find and it talks about how the big three search engines; Google, Yahoo and Bing, have combined to create Schema.org. Schema.org will help web designers and developers create sites that will be easier to find because of the markup language these three web giants agreed upon.

I'm just wondering if anyone has had a chance to implement any of this on their web designs yet and what the results have been. I personally don't think I'll be using it. I may give it a try on one or two small sites, just to get a feel for what it really does. I'm sure a lot of the uneducated search engine optimization experts will either jump right into this or brush it off as a non-factor.

I personally like doing a bit of research myself. As soon as I implement this markup on one of my websites, I'll report my findings her on my Windsor Website Design Tumblr.

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Twitter: Likes & Dislikes

Late last night, I had a conversation with a web design colleague of mine about the success of Twitter and how useful it really is. This made me think that it would be a great time for me to do a Twitter likes/dislikes post. Below you'll find a few of my likes and dislikes when it comes to Twitter.com

Like: Being able to instantly update my followers of news about my web designs, thoughts on news around the world and local events in Windsor Ontario.

Dislike: Not being able to gain many followers no matter how often I tweet or what I tweet about. They say post quality content and you'll get followers - not true at all.

Like: Networking with some of the best web designers and online marketers in the world. Sharing ideas and having conversations about the latest trends and topics.

Dislike: People who follow you, only to get you to follow them back. Then when you don't follow them back, they stop following you.

Like: Getting an inside look on how millions of people feel about sports, news, technology and pretty much anything else going on in the world all with a click of a trending topic.

Dislike: The amount of people/spammers who add trending topics to their tweet attached with a link to some pharmaceutical company or off topic website.

I sometimes wonder whether or not the positives of Twitter out-weight the negatives. I could easily find more dislikes with Twitter than I could find likes. The biggest problem with Twitter is that people would rather write than read. It's not going to stop me from using Twitter all together, but it may stop me from using it as much as they hope.

Want to follow me on Twitter? Check out my account @sebas_agosta

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Small Changes to Windsor Web Design

Just wanted to update everyone on a few of the changes I've made to my Windsor Web Design Tumblr!

As you can see, I now have a picture of myself as my favicon and about image. I feel this makes the page a bit more personal and since I'm a freelance website designer and not a corporate business, I think this is the way to go. I kind of think the picture is a bit dorky looking, but my mom says she likes it, so it stays!

I've also added a "tag cloud" similar to what you might see on many Wordpress blogs. This will make it a lot easier for people who view the page to find posts with particular tags they are looking for. I'd love to give credit to the website/blog I found the code on, however I forget where I found it! Sorry! Thanks though!

For any of you who would like to add a Tumblr tag cloud to their page, here is the code;

<!--Start Tumblr Tag Cloud--> <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://rive.rs/javascripts/tumblr_tag_cloud.min.js?css=default&minsize=100&maxsize=240"></script> <!--End Tumblr Tag Cloud-->

As you can see, I added mine to my sidebar. If you aren't familiar with HTML/Javascript code, you may want to ask one of your web design friends to help you out with it.

If you can't find anyone to help you, just drop me a message. I'll be happy to help!

That's all for today, thanks for checking out the update. Back to working on an all new mobile web design for one of my clients!