Design Techniques of Top 200 High Earning Websites

The creativity in ideas is very important when you want to design a website or blog with a specific brand. This is the only thing that will retain your visitors and keep them surfing through inner pages than bouncing away just after viewing the homepage of your website. For getting some design’s facts, a trusted web source has compared the fonts, backgrounds, colors and graphics of top 200 websites. The results are not only impressive but useful to take a note of if you are looking forward to create a remarkable design and layout.

After comparing the statistics, it is found that among top 200 highest earning websites, 167 have a white background. And in percentage of those 167, 83.5% websites have a white background with gray border, 14.5% are completely white and remaining 2% are entirely black, including border and background.

The statistics of the top 200 websites show the trend of “web safe fonts” and also called as the graphic fonts. These fonts are compatible to all browsers and used across all major operating systems. And, 78% of those top 200 websites are designed in web safe fonts. The only 12% of websites are created with other fonts known as Non-traditional fonts.

It is very important to add some eye-catching images with the beautiful brand design to make users stay on your website. Visitors immediately decide whether to stay on your website or not. Online reports and statistics reveal that most of the websites are designed with the images above the fold. The 89% of websites have images above the fold, 7% along the fold and 4% have images below the fold.

It is very true that the use of simple colors, catchy images and web safe fonts can do the magic for your brand website. A whole flash or non- traditional designed website can’t attract visitors much as the simple and classy website.

E-Commerce - Easy's & Hard's

E-Commerce is a very rapidly growing trend in today's world. Presence of a business in a well-known shopping plaza is bound to get you more customers, but add a successfully running website along with it & then you have everything you could ever wish for...let me repeat that "everything you could ever wish for"!!

Now, just from a general perspective, let's see what's so easy about this field of E-Commerce that it is growing so rapidly & what is so difficult about it that still attracts people to jump into the competition.

So, we'll begin with the "Easy" part...
Firstly, making up a website can be considered as one of the easy things to do here.
Why?
Because you can find companies doing that task for you very easily & effectively. All you have to do is to tell them you requirements, set up a budget & voila!! it will be done.

Then, the process of taking orders via the website is as easy as anything.
Why?
Because the customers will fill in the order form or send email or sign up for different packages displayed on facebook (or whatever might be the process specified over the website). You will only have to maintain a record of those orders, as they are requested.

Then comes the part of receiving payments, as easy as a pie!!
Why?
Because you have companies doing it for you. You just need to go take the cash whenever you need (a big grin on your face i suppose).

So, things like these fall under the easy side of E-Commerce!!

Now, come to the "Hard" things it has in store for you & me...
Let's go step-by-step:
So, start with getting traffic for your website...that's a tough job now. Working your way through SEO & keywords & search engines & adverts etc. is not an easy task.
Suppose you emerge victorious from this 1st struggle-battle...& there is another thing waiting for you on the other end
How to get people to visit you a 2nd time??
See, now it is not that easy, is it??

Moving on from the traffic issue, you don't just need people to visit your website, you need them to interact with it, buy things & sell things & all. You need to work on how to make them type in their credit card numbers (how to make them shop from you)..

& with all these things going on at one side, there are competitors to look out for...
I mean E-Commerce is a growing industry, isn't it? So, there are millions like you out there, striving for the very same thing as you are. You have to make your presence not only noticed but unique too.

So, you see, the hard things are as hard as the easiness of the easy things (bet you wouldn't understand this line in one go).

In short, if you're planing your future in E-Commerce...i've just got 2 words for you


GOOD LUCK!!

Why ask for Website Maintenance??

Hi,

I am the owner of a small jewellery business (& other fashion accessories). I started 5 years back from my friends' circle and in a very little time, i was famous in the local community. The next step was to give a bit more exposure to my business, so i made a fan-page over Facebook and Twitter. It helped a lot & i started getting orders online. I was very happy.

Someone suggested that i should make contracts with bigger companies & agencies. Now, that was an attractive thing to do. But it required a more professional approach...beginning with the development of a proper website.

I contacted a company to get me a website. It was a long process but i got what i wanted & it was beautiful. After deployment, they asked me if i wanted to go with their discounted maintenance package which is offered to clients along with website deployment. I was not sure what that was so i asked a friend.
"You have the website, you can manage it yourself. How hard can it be to manage? You've been managing your Facebook & Twitter pages for so long now, you can do it easily. Why waste more money?", was my friend's answer.

I took the advice & refused the offer politely (i want to mention here that i am not at all a technical person)...this was the 1st mistake i did in my business career.

For a few months, everything worked perfectly fine...& then something happened...something really bad.

My website had a login system too; i had a long list of members who received special offers based on their membership type.

After reaching a limit of 350, new members stopped getting added to my list. They were able to register, their membership payment was being deducted from their accounts but their information was not being updated in my records.

I discovered it when a client called me up. He was very angry. He said he called up to talk about his orders & my manager told him that he is not one of our members & is not allowed to have the deal he wanted. I apologized on my manger's behalf & checked the records myself but the result was the same. The client told me that he registered a week back under the golden membership category (OMG!!).


That was the 1st incident & many followed afterwards. I don't know for how long it had been going on. I tried every possible thing i could think of but still could not find what the problem was. Then someone told me to contact the website makers again. I reluctantly did (reluctant because i refused their maintenance offer back then). They agreed to look into the matter but obviously i had to pay full amount this time (bad luck!!).

They worked on my site & figured out something wrong with the database (that was what they called it). So, they had it all sorted out in 3 days.

I had to figure out who went missing from my records & send apology messages to them. So, the reason behind telling this story was that, technical or not technical, you should never ever ever turn down the maintenance offer from the company responsible for creating your website.

I was lucky that they agreed upon working out the problem in my website; otherwise, all would have been lost.

Social Media Marketing - A Must!!

For the millionth time i argued with my brother over the social media importance. My brother is a newbie in the field of business. Now, he ain't anti-social but he sure is an anti-social-media person (he doesn't even own a Facebook account, can you believe it!!).

The day he announced that he'll begin with his own business, i kept on poking him to create pages and links over social media channels. He was of the view that they are a total waste of time. "Who would have time to look up for my name over Facebook & see how many fans i have? Or how many people are following my tweets? People are too busy updating & commenting on their own posts & pictures", he would say.

"It's the youth we are targeting here bro. How can you expect the younger generation to use any other means of information when they spend 95% of their times sitting in front of their screens?", i would ask.

"It's useless..", he would conclude & walk off.

Then, one day, it happened; an event that changed his life & his negativity against the social media. He had a friend (a very good friend, in fact) who moved somewhere abroad. He came to know about my brother's business & promised him a very heavy budgeted project. My brother was very excited about it. He spent days & nights gathering enough resources to make himself impressive & eligible for his upcoming clients. And, of course, he had even bigger plans for the money he'll soon be earning (I had a long list of things too that i'd ask him to get me).

In short, we were waiting anxiously for the clients' call...a week passed...then another week...& another week...& the whole month passed...no sign of the good friend or the heavy budgeted project.

One day, he caught his friend online. Upon inquiry, it was revealed to him that the clients thought a company having no social presence is not strong enough to handle such a big project (having a website was not enough in their view).
& CRASH!! came down my brother's big dreams.

When i came back home that night. I found him waiting for me (it was enough for me to guess that something was not right). A few moments of fumbling & mumbling & finally the truth was revealed to me.

I felt like laughing out loud, pointing to him & say "See, i told yaaa!!", but the dejected look on his face stopped me from doing so.
"So, what do you want from me??", despite feeling sad for him, i asked firmly (I can still get a few items out of the list i made....hahahahaha *evil laugh*).
"Please make accounts for me over the social media channels... I don't know what to do with them. Please manage them on my behalf", he pleaded.

"What?? I don't have that much time... It's a very difficult task", i lied to him.
"Please, i'll pay you...promise", he was near to tears.
"OK OK!! but i'll decide my salary myself", i grabbed the opportunity.
& it was settled.

I created the accounts for him & started managing his business & clients over them...posting new things he added...introducing new clients & projects...answering queries etc.
It took time to make him get noticed but finally we succeeded.
In the end, he got his accounts & a strong base for flourishing his business & i got my greens!!

Importance of User Interface

I was feeling very bored...nothing to do...didn't feel like working either...
So, i decided to explore some random websites (maybe i'll get some ideas for my next design).
www.google.com >>> good websites >>> *Enter*
& a whole list of links was displayed in front of me...
Thus, i began exploring...
Liked a few!!
Few were OK!!
Some were great!!
Some were a disaster!!
....
I came across a very eye-catching site & my mind drifted off somewhere else.
I am a designer myself (a bit self-obsessed), what was so special in this site that even i got attracted?? I started noting down the things that were creating the whole impact.

1) the color combination used was very appealing...they matched so well with one another that the whole screen looked alive & in harmony (you can achieve the color sense with practice)

2) the arrangement of text & other stuff was very neat. All had separate sections but yet the screen wasn't looking crowded (it's a difficult task putting so much on a single screen without creating a mesh)


3) the navigation was pretty smooth (i bet my 7-year nephew can operate this very well)

I assumed that it would have been an expensive project...the design was, for sure, a custom design & not a simple design template copy (my experience told me that). I was really impressed with the insight of both the client & the designer. Usually, what happens is that when we sit down to design or instruct a designer to design something for us, we tend to follow something that we have seen somewhere (not very innovative). Later, we wonder why don't the viewers are impressed.

The reason is that whatever we have put up there for them is nothing new,; they've already seen part of it somewhere & the other part somewhere else. So, the basic point for getting a good UI is to think about the look yourself.
Picture how you want it to look like...
User friendliness is not the only thing (though it is very important), but there are other things that need to be combined together with it to get a proper, attractive interface.
Only a brilliant mind can live up to the innovation level of the designing phase of a website.

Website Development - The Future - Our Future

People often ask us what we do

We say, "We develop websites.."

The next question, "Why websites...when you have a whole lot of other things to develop/build/construct"

The answer to this question is very complicated yet very simple, very elaborated yet very concise, very close to reality yet very philosophical.

In today's era there are people who are not aware of computers or internet or other technical gadgets and stuff. But if we take in account the younger generation today, their everyday tasks begin and end on technology. Now, they are the ones who hold the future.

Believe it or not, our future pioneers are getting used to the usage of gadgets for almost everything they do. So, keeping that in mind, we can clearly state that the future of the world totally resides on the world wide web. These websites that are just another means of communication and advertisement now days will clearly become the ONLY means of business in the near future.

Tell me how many times have you bought something just by seeing an advertisement over the television/radio or by reading about it in some newspaper/magazine or by hearing from your mates that this thing is good?

OR

How many times have you made deals with people you heard or read about via the above mentioned sources?

Of course, none!!

Somehow, we are now used to trust things only if we can find enough information about them over the internet or find their website for the better.

So, the websites we develop are the only important things that our upcoming generation will be inheriting from us. By making them better & efficient, we are setting up a good example for our future pioneers.

People who say websites are a waste of time; a time which according to them can be utilized in devising up an even better business or marketing strategy, should know that if they go against this flow, all their brilliant strategies & plans will be a wastage of time for their heirs.

That's why we develop website...so we can give something to the future...so we can make an impact on the future...so we can leave our mark in the future!!

PM - Behind the Scenes!!

Hi!!
I am a Project Manager...

When you normally tell someone that you are a project manager, they picture you as a person:

• Roaming aimlessly in the office (with a devilish smile)
• Giving commands (or lectures in case you've done something wrong)
• Sitting all day long in his cabin doing nothing (coming out only to check if everyone's at his workstation)
• Circling around you all day long if a deadline is nearby (shouting over your head that you should have hurried with the things)
• Finding faults with whatever work you have done (& you were thinking he'd be thanking you for your hardwork)

etc. etc.
In Short, if you have a forceful Boss, you are for sure to have a bossy Project Manager.

Now, this doesn't mean that i am a bossy one...nooo, my team is really fond of me =]
But we are talking about general perception here...right??

So, as i was telling that the overall image...general image...of a project manager is not very good. People think that it's an easy way of earning money, without doing anything.
Now that's wrong!!

You see, even when i am sitting idle, there are a whole lot of hurricanes twirling & swirling through my brain. I am constantly thinking about ways to meet deadlines, fully utilize the allocated resources, solve issues between teammates, brief the newly demanded feature from client side (in a manner that won't make my team's head go CUCKOO!! CUCKOO!!) & other issues that my team has not even the slightest idea of.

If you think developers & programmers spent sleepless nights meeting deadlines, we project managers spent sleepless weeks arranging & scheduling the time preceeding those deadlines...i can't recall when was the last time i slept peacefully...maybe a month back...oh no, that was when i had my vasovagal episode (fainting) (yeah, that can happen when you are in a condition as i was).

You people think that PM stands for Project Manager only...wrong again
The P is for:

• People you have to look after (clients, boss, team)
• Pressure you have to bear
• Problems you have to deal with
• Projects you have to manage

The M is for

• Money matters you have to handle (even if it means a simple lunch arrangement for the team)
• Machines you needs to look after
• Motivation you have to provide to your team
• Messages you have to convey from boss to team, clients to team, team to boss, team to client, boss to client, client to boss (woahhh!! i lost track of my words...)

So you see, this is not an easy task. Yet " I ", the project manager:

• Greet everyone with a fresh face
• Walk around the office with full energy
• Solve problems with an innovative mind
• Guide you with a smiling face

& still they say i have no work to do...*sigh*!!

SWS - Yippee!! & Oh-Oh!! of Public Holidays

Public Holiday is a badly awaited thing by all living souls (if some one is not included in this list, he/she is "actually" not alive!!). People make big plans for their days off; family gatherings, picnics, late night movies and sometimes carrying out all chores around the house, like:

• raking leaves
• snow shoveling
• spring cleaning
• garage sales
• fixing the pipes :p

Here at SWS, we undergo the same kind of feelings when public holidays are around the corner. Some time away from the computer screens and softwares feel good...no??

Whenever we see a highlighted holiday in our calenders, BOOM!! goes happiness in our tiny brains.

Yippee!! no more getting up early (enjoy lazy breakfasts)

Yippee!! no more staring at computer screens (blank - sleepy to even think what goes into the header line)

Yippee!! no more waiting for coffee-breaks (have it whenever your heart says)

Yippee!! no more client updates (they are all away on vacations)

Yippee!! no more executive chairs to twist on (only executive beds to rest on)

Yippee!! no more dress code (only worn-out sleeping suits all day long)

Yippee!! Yippee!! Yippee!!

Every client is happy and wishing us a happy holiday break. So, we rock and roll away the time and be as lazy as we can possibly be through the break!!

Time flies when you are having a great time & therefore, we end up back in the same building, on the same chairs, with the same screens giving us their icy-stares.

But this is only the initial description of what dreadful end lies ahead of us...

Oh-Oh!! there's a due milestone in the next 24-hours

Oh-Oh!! i still need to make the corrections the client pointed

Oh-Oh!! the client is demanding updates over his project

Oh-Oh!! didn't i already debug this part before the holidays??

Oh-Oh!! Oh-Oh!! Oh-Oh!!

All good things come to an end, an end that is as dreadful as blissful the holidays were.

Praise the Lord Team SWS!!!

You are warriors, surviving war after war between the Yippee!! and Oh-Oh!!

SEO - The Story

I was getting very late and i wanted to find all the stuff in the list my mom gave to me early in the morning, fast and cheap. I stepped out of my car. Just a minute of standing and observing all the stores around me.
BINGO!! there's a neat store that will have all the items i need...
I went inside, and within an hour, i was done.

Well, that was easy...right??

But when i reached home and handed it over to my mom, i came to know there was another store somewhere on the back side of the market that was even high in quality and low in prices...
I mean how would i know?? They should have put up some sign or something on the front... Who told them to open up on the back when there were similar stores on the front... Not my fault mom!!

Easy to understand...right??

Now that store on the back could be you IF and only IF you don't use SEO; losing all your customers to that store on the front, despite having better quality and more variety and low prices etc. etc.

In short, when people search for stuff online, they only tend to click on the websites appearing on the 1st page of the search result; hardly ever the other pages are noticed. SEO gets you on that 1st page!!

Our New Look

Hey Bloggers!!
The new "Makeover" of our website is almost done. Our "Makeup Artists" (developers) and our "Stylist" (designer) have done an awesome job. Here's a little preview of what it will look like & tell us what you think!!

Refreshing...right?? ;)

Best E-Commerce Platform

Hey Bloggers!!
so, here's a question for you all
According to you, which is the best platform to use for E-Commerce websites & why??

Come Up with good reasons to defend your choice!!

Our Story

The year 2009 gave the world of web an entrepreneur with an insight as experienced as a tycoon and ideas as inspiring as the inspiration itself… Adam Butt.

We Began when Adam started up “Asian Nation”, an event planning company, in Europe. Success and fame could not stay away from Adam’s expert skills and management tactics for long. Shortly after Asian Nation’s success stories began to make headlines, HedKandi, a well-known European event planning company, showed interest in buying Asian Nation and Adam accepted.

The next thing in line was Super Web Solutions; a platform for providing excellence and eminence to the affiliates of the business world.