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Archive for the ‘Web Design’ Category

Top 10 Dos and Don’ts – Applying for a web design job

Friday, April 30th, 2010

1. DO – Take your time to read the application requirements in full, and make sure you meet them before applying. If you’ve been asked to supply particular information don’t overlook this as it could be seen as a lack of attention to detail.

2. DON’T – Forget to spell check!

3. DO – Provide a well written cover letter specific to the role. Avoid using generic cover letters for your applications as the company will see straight through this.

4. DON’T – Apply more than once. It sounds obvious but only apply for a job once. If you’ve not heard anything back be patient, the company has probably received a ton of applications.

5. DO – Work on your portfolio. Your online portfolio is one of the most important parts of a web design application and could make the difference between getting an interview and not. Show off your skills and any previous websites you’ve completed. Many web designers are also keen photographers – keep the holiday snaps elsewhere.

6. DON’T – Apply after the closing date. You’ll most likely be discounted on the spot.

7. DO – Research the company you’re applying to. Showing an interest in the background of the company lets them know you’re keen.

8. DON’T – Use humorous email addresses. There are many free email accounts around so get yourself a professional one to use for job applications.

9. DO – Tailor your CV to the role, if you’ve got previous experience in areas required beef these details up in your CV and perhaps leave out information which is irrelevant. Try to keep your CV to a maximum of 2-3 pages long, putting the most important and recent information first.

10. DON’T – Lie. If you get the job you’ll soon be found out.

Junior Web Designer Required

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

WebCatch are an exciting young web company now entering their third year of business. We are currently looking for a full time Junior Web Designer to be based in our Nottingham office.

As a junior web designer you will receive training from our existing web design team. Your role will include the designing of client websites as well as front end development. You should have knowledge of valid XHTML and CSS mark-up. Your main requirement is to demonstrate a passion for design and the Internet with a willingness to learn.

In order to apply for this role we ask that you have an up to date portfolio of work, either personal or professional. We also require that you supply a covering e-mail to jobs@webcatch.co.uk detailing your current skill set and expected salary.

Required skills: Adobe suite, XHTML, CSS

Desired: Flash, JQuery, Use of Joomla!

Strictly no agencies!!!

Website Conventions

Friday, January 29th, 2010

As visitors to websites we begin to expect certain elements on a web page to be in a particular place, which is why web designers will tend to stick to general website conventions. Some form of consistency is paramount in keeping the visitor on a website making sure they’re not given a reason to leave. A few examples include:

- Positioning of the website logo or name; typically this can be found in the top left hand corner.
- A business phone number; typically found in the top right hand corner.
- Navigation near the top of the page
- The underlining of links, making sure not to underline text which is not a link

Of course website conventions will depend of the style of website being produced, if you’re trying to push boundaries then look at your target audience. Different styles of sites will work better for different age ranges, or the level of computer and Internet literacy. These are aspects that your web designer will need to know before starting a project in order to provide you with the best possible solution.

At WebCatch for example, we ask our clients to fill out a creative brief which gives our designers the information they need to design a website that meets our clients requirements. We’ll then apply the website conventions that count.

Help choosing a domain name for a Business Website

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Choosing a domain name is not something that should be rushed in to, it will be your web address and therefore the address you’ll be shouting about to get visitors and potential customers. You need to think clearly about what people should ascertain from your domain name, whether you’re an established business or just starting out.

Here are our top 5 tips:

1. .co.uk and .com

For a business website it is advised to get a domain where you can order both the .co.uk and .com. This is to make sure that others don’t come in at a later stage and capitalise on all your hard work.

2. Easy to remember and read

Consider the length of your domain name as it needs to be memorable. Avoid really long domain names and too many hyphens, after all if your domain name is mis-read or mis-heard you may be sending your visitors to your competitors.

3. Use Keywords

If you have a brand name use this for your domain name, but if you’re just starting out and haven’t decided on a business name yet think about using a few keywords that best describe your business.

4. Keep your contact details up to date

That way, when your domain name is up for renewal you’ll be sent a reminder so you don’t miss out. Of course if WebCatch is purchasing a domain name on your behalf we’ll be sure to renew it on time.

5. Avoid Copyright Infringement

This includes brand names and trademarks. Google is king for filing complaints against companies about domain names, and to this date has only had 2 out of 65 rejected.

Google tells you how much of your website people can see

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

When it comes to browser sizes it’s important to remember that not everyone has the same, whether you’ve got a widescreen monitor, a small monitor or view a browser through a screen projector. To this end when laying out a website it’s vital to bear in mind where key elements are positioned, such as a ‘Buy now’ button or any other call to action.

Google have created a tool to help website owners see how much of their website their visitors can see depending on their browser size:  http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/. The main aim of this tool is to allow website owners to improve conversion rates and engagement. Have a go with your website and see if it’s optimised for the average browser size.

Of course at WebCatch we design all of our websites with this in mind, if you have an existing site but are worried that you’re missing out on potential customers due to the layout then get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.

VAT Increase

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Following on from our last post about keeping your website up to date, we’d just like to remind people that VAT will be returning to 17.5% from the 1st of January after being cut to 15%.

Stay Fresh

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Having a website, as I am sure you are aware is important for any business. As they say, if you’re not online you could be missing out on many potential customers. However, one thing a lot of people forget is that just being online does not mean ‘job done’. In order to get the most out of your website it will need maintaining.

Keeping your site up to date is key to providing your vistors confidence in your business and also helps to obtain repeat visitors. Some things to look out for include;

- Product / Service Prices
Make sure you have the latest prices on your website, if you’ve increased/lowered your prices avoid unhappy customers by making sure your website reflects this.

- Contact Details
Keeping your contact details current could be one of the most important tasks. After all if potential customers are unable to reach you they’ll go somewhere else.

- News
If you’ve got news on your site make sure it’s not from way back. If your vistors see that your news is out of date they may think that it’s a dormant website.

- 2007 – 2009
It may seem like a small change, but as we’re coming up to 2010 make sure you update the year you sometimes find at the bottom of web pages. An old year is a tell tale sign that the website is no longer in use.

If of course you feel your site ‘looks’ out dated then it may time for a redesign, but be sure to have clear objectives outlining what you want to acheive from your site to get the most out of it. After all, the new year could be time for a new site.

Cheap Web Design Packages

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

WebCatch have gone that extra step to help small businesses make their move to the world wide web. By introducing cheap web design packages we hope to offer a range of services to suit all budgets without compromising on professional quality.

To read more about these packages check out our cheap web design page. From small brochure style websites for start-ups, to larger flashy websites, we can put our skills to good use.

All of our web design packages come with a .co.uk/.com domain name of your choice, hosting for one year, at least one e-mail address and basic search engine optimisation for free. Just because we care.


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