Proximity marketing is the localized wireless distribution of advertising content associated with a particular place. It is a response against the endless “internationalization” of the internet and website design. Website designers claim on their websites that they can bring the businessman to international stardom with the help of properly calibrated predesigned website backgrounds. The dream of a world company or globalized website is free for everyone to think and fantasize. The truth is that it is that going global takes time, effort and plenty of thinking. One does not magically go international with a snap of a finger or by simply waiting for the Turks, Armenians, Chinese and Brazilians to go to one’s website. While there are stray visitors, it does not necessarily follow that same visitors would spend their money on your goods. They might be there because some link led them there and the only one they understand on your website page is the color scheme. That is why there is a need for proximity marketing. If you are serious about making your flash website work, you should at least consider the benefits of proximity marketing. Let’s take a look at some tips suggested by some of the experts in website advertising and marketing.

First, design of the free flash templates center on the demand or the expectations of the local target clientele. The advertising content even if localized in nature would be useless if the website design is for the illusive global audience. The basic rule is that one should be consistent – if the website design centers for a localized group, the advertising should also be at least localized. It would be the height of absurdity if the localized advertising are embedded or displayed on a globalized website design.

Second, proximity marketing commands that one should use local words or slangs. If you want to sell to the Romans, you should at least use words showing common opening statements in the Roman greeting systems. If you want to sell to middle-class soccer moms living in the rural areas of the United States, you should at least create ad words and catch phrases which they are familiar with. Here is another tip – hire language experts and search engine optimization experts who are familiar with the culture and demographics of your market.

Third, the best proximity marketing is individual marketing because at the end of the day, you are going to deal with individuals and not communities. That is why numerous websites discuss proximity marketing in terms of Bluetooth and wi-fi technologies. Reaching the customer through these devices can be very efficient and excellent. You can also avail of email providers; however, caution is given against dealing with underground characters in the email retail sector.

Proximity marketing is the marketing of the future whether we like it or not.  The power of the proximity-based advertising poses radical challenges to the mass model of aggregating large local audiences and selling them to local advertisers. The ongoing reductionism in internet advertising will continue to shape competition both online and offline. Learn more about proximity marketing and gain from the experience.

Other References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_marketing
• http://www.borrellassociates.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=garden_flypage.tpl&product_id=789

Loading bars are often ignored by website designers and website owners. Well, they have good reasons anyway. First, many believe that computer problems like speed and memory are fixed by current technological developments. Website owners simply place all their faith on the computer technology industry to improve computer speed so as not to think about designing a loading bar, and that they will simply stick with traditional ones. Second, there are numerous predesigned loading bars available via the click-and-drag mechanism. Why would one spend plenty of his time designing if there is a predesigned one anyway? It might happen that there are no predesigned ones which match the overall website design.  Reducing attention on loading bars will do no good to your website business plans. In the internet business world, there should be more attention placed on small items like the design of loading bars. Here are the common problems.

1)      The color scheme of the loading bar appears to be different or other than the general color scheme. According to cssjockey.com, this appears when one clicks on something and the clicker would be surprised to discover that the loading bar appears to be different in scheme than the rest of the page.

2)      Another problem with loading bars is that the design is too boring. Sometimes, they appear as single lines or dots. For someone viewing the website, he would surely be disappointed with the awkwardness of the design and he would simply get annoyed of the situation. It is like – “I am waiting then this is what I view while waiting”. As a good tip, one should consider the loading bars as intermission numbers which break the monotony of shows. Thus, there is nothing wrong if you experiment in designing the loading bars in such a way that they can surely catch the attention of customers. Massivetemplates

3)      One common problem associated with loading bars is that they are too big such that the internet viewer is blocked looking at other parts of the website. Sometimes, while something is being loaded, we tend to look at the surrounding contents – news links, articles, the background design, etc. However, if the loading bar is too big and blocking, then we are simply wasting seconds of our time staring at blank.

4)      The loading tool bar is often misplaced. This is an observation noted in webappers.com. One common example of this misplacement is when the loading bar instead of being placed over the image or item to be downloaded is placed on another part of the website frame such as the navigation bar or on the page contents section itself. Ideally, the loading tool bar should at least be placed over the item to be downloaded so as to save the other parts.

Website commentators are constantly pressuring website developers and designers to place more attention on the loading bars. No one would like the loading bars to be a burden on website design. No one would like customers complaining about loading bars because they are too “minor”. However, there is a need for more attention placed on such bars to make website design more professional and more people oriented.

References:

• http://www.cssjockey.com/web-design-tutorials/an-easy-way-to-create-loading-bar
• http://www.webappers.com/2009/10/02/preload-a-web-page-with-loading-bar-custom-animations/

As mobile marketing grows more complicated and much bigger, it seems that every website business owner is setting up his or her online presence in the mobile market. The problem is the endless experimentations on mobile website design. First, the resulting mobile websites appear to be replicas of the old sites. The desperate attempt of some website designers in copying traditional website themes into the mobile marketing world is quite obvious. Second, we have seen numerous “unfit” designs like misplaced logos, complicated urban themes and gothic texts which are better left with the traditional website design. For a mobile marketer, here are some useful and important website design tips to jumpstart or catapult your online presence in the mobile marketing world.

• Avoid Pop-up Windows
According to an excellent threat at socialmediaexaminer.com, navigating between multiple tabs and browser windows is more difficult on mobile and can cause slow load times. That is why we should avoid using pop-up windows. Anyway, the use of pop-up windows is generally attempt to infuse or add more content. We see such practice during the early days of ecommerce. Website browsers even made programs to prevent the pop-ups from showing and annoying their customers. Well, the new mobile marketer must at least organize and simplify his contents so that he would not be utilizing pop-up windows just to make a point.
• Reduce Amount of Text
Reducing the amount of texts is quite important in doing mobile marketing. The free flash website templates mobile marketer must exert discipline in choosing the right words so as not to be repetitious and boring. Again, if you can explain a certain idea in just three words, then do it. If you are serious about doing business in the new mobile marketing world, then you better make sure you don’t cause boredom to your customers. That is why you should go back to the drawing table and analyze whether the words you are going to use are too voluminous or not. If the words are too heavy and highfaluting, then you have to open the dictionary to check for simpler synonyms. Besides, there are many websites giving tips on how to reduce the amount of texts for marketing or advertising purposes.
• Using Mobile Redirects
According to blog.exacttarget.com, once your site is designed and ready to go, make sure to put redirects in place that will sniff out when a visitor is using a mobile device and direct him or her to the mobile-optimized version of the site. The system allows the website owners to experiment on adding content and other important items which could be used for more efficient website marketing.
• Good Application and Proper Branding
Consider proper branding for your mobile marketing scheme. If flash templates introductory boxes were the brands of traditional marketing, the applications and logos are the new ones for mobile marketing. Never give up designing or perfecting the brands and applications. They are the ones you need to perfect your website business. The successful mobile marketers are the ones who made the perfect applications for their business. The internet is filled with information regarding their rise to power in mobile marketing.
Sources:
http://blog.exacttarget.com/blog/interactive-marketing-design-tips
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-tips-for-optimizing-your-website-for-mobile-users/

Animations are what differentiate our websites from the usual traditional media like newspapers, magazines, etc. It is said that a website without animation is like an online newspaper. At first, animations were frowned upon especially in places where the majority of the computers are as slow as glaciers. When technology developed gradually and people started using faster computers, animation was embraced by the website designers and website commentators. Creators of flash websites were free to build and set up whatever predesigned website background they have in their minds. They created and built animated websites or templates with heavy animation. Things started to backfire when animations were beginning to occlude or cover the important website parts. Instead of giving a speck of modernity and comfort, animations became a burden on website viewers. In some heavily animated websites, the navigation tool bar itself had to be “chased” because of the heaviness of special effects and the addition of heavy animation. A website commentator from jimhoulton.com mentioned the importance of the “optimum amount of animation” – not too much, not too little. In scanning the web, we got some tips to share to you.

First, animations are purely decorative in nature and they should never take over as the centerpiece of one’s web pages. Because of the easy accessibility of photo editing tools and the popularity of such tools these days, website owners and even their website designers experiment too much on animations. The result is a website which could only be appreciated by contemporary artists and not by serious online customers.

Second, despite the fact that computers are getting faster thanks to the competition in the communications industry, one cannot deny that heavy animation is still frowned upon. There is always a limit to what one can insert as animations. The website owner should always keep in mind that animated websites take longer time to upload. Moreover, if one overdoes the animation, the same will slow down the website to a crawl. That is why flash website designers only insert a small amount of animation.

Third, inserting a small amount of animation showcases the brilliance of the website owner. On the other hand, adding too much animation for obvious decorative purposes only displays the irrationality of the person managing the site. As a tip, we recommend that you add animation only on the introductory page for purely catching the attention of the customer and that’s all.

Fourth, whatever your animation plans are, you should never stay out of focus on your primary goal – to seek profits. Seeking profits is the reason we set up our online stores. If one’s animation is helping to gain money, then the animations are said to be positive and they should be advanced by the website owner. However, if the animations are covering the luck or causing fewer profits, then we can consider that the animations are negative in nature. Whatever your plans are, you should carefully consider the relevance of your animations on your profit-making scheme.

The world is filled with animations – according to a known website commentator. More animations will appear in the weeks and months to come. As a caution, before we use such animation or download a template with heavy animation, we should always think of the relevance of such website additions on our particular line of ecommerce business.

Resources:

• http://www.jimhoulton.co.uk/
• http://www.earwormmedia.com/

The general market demand popularized the use of search boxes in website design. In the past, website owners often ignore the need for a search box because websites then were much simpler and the four-page free flash website templates seem to be the norm. The word “information architecture” wasn’t born at that time because there was no need to organize massive information into a more readable form.  Website owners were contented with the search engine box system. However, there were changes in internet and computer technology which necessitated the use of search engine boxes. First, computers could accommodate more memory data into their systems. The computer memory got much higher and this gives an opportunity for website owners to display more information. Second, the internet connections got even faster. The free market nature of the information and communication industry allowed the internet service companies to provide us with even better services. Imagine if the internet companies were controlled by one single entity. Third, website owners got more aggressive in their marketing techniques such that they want their customers to know as much information regarding the products/goods/websites/services. With all these developments going on, we need to showcase the best search engine boxes. Here are some excellent tips in designing the search engine box for your free flash website templates.

First, the color scheme of the search engine box should match the general color scheme (noupe.com). Remember that having an aesthetic search box on one’s website is as important as being capable of establishing good content on the website itself. One should not just place a search engine box for the sake of having a search engine box. The designs of search engine boxes then were ignored because of the arrival of premade or predesigned search boxes.

Second, search engine box should be independent from the category section of the website. It is true that one could provide categories in order to allow users to search through contents to find what they may be looking for on the site. The question now is – are we still going to use categories even if we have a search engine box already? The answer depends on your business and the need of your business. If you are engaged in the real estate industry, then a good category section can accompany your site. If you are simply running a personal website for everyone to know your daily opinion, then a category section is no longer required.

Third, the contributor at netmechanic.com claimed that a search engine box gives control to the internet visitor. Well, what is to control if one cannot see the tool for control in the first place? Some website designers and website owners are guilty of overdoing the search engine box. Design inspirations from movies and fantasy books cause designers to create search engine boxes resembling magic wands, unicorn horns, grapevines, coffins etc. While a contemporary artist might appreciate such designs, the same is impractical. The customers would not know if box is a search engine or another decoration. To avoid confusion, we strongly suggest that one curtails his artistic instincts in favor of practicality and functionality.

Sources:

1)      http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol5/design_no16.htm

2)      http://www.noupe.com/showcases/showcase-of-inspiring-search-box-designs.html

Each and every online store owner should consider the importance of mobile marketing. Since millions of individuals are constantly using their handheld gadgets in surfing through the virtual world, it is also a must that you renovate your business web page with the use of quality free flash websites that can boost your mobile site. Needless to say, devoting more time in this field will surely do wonders for your online company.

Since it is vital that your business should be one step ahead of its competitors, it is a must that you learn more about the best mobile marketing strategies that you can use to obtain quality traffic and a higher rate of conversion. It is a good thing that there are several online tools that you can use to attract millions of mobile users to browse through your business page. There is no doubt that going mobile is the next best step that you should take to be on top of the virtual ecommerce world.

If you have a local business and you want to target customers within a particular location, then it is recommended that you use mobile marketing. Another point to consider is the fact that the mobile market is continuously growing as several companies provide excellent handheld devices. Recent statistics shows that more or less 1.08 billion are using the innovative Smart Phone. Moreover, the increasing number of online shoppers is enough reason for you to learn more about mobile ecommerce.

If you want to improve your mobile web site, it would be best for you to check the following elements of web design: navigability, color schemes, web layout as well as the proper placement of texts and headlines. Everything about your mobile page should be highly optimized. It is vital that you learn more about mobile search engine optimization so you will know the right step that you should take in boosting your mobile marketing biz.

Nothing can change the fact the mobile ecommerce is a booming field. Even a greater number of local online businesses choose to intensify their marketing strategies on mobile platforms. Time will come when all ecommerce enthusiasts as well as online shoppers will be using their handheld devices and tablets to conduct all sorts of business activities. If you really intend to earn a huge amount of income on your online marketing activities, it is a must that you devote more time in learning about the secrets of mobile marketing.

Mobile ecommerce accounts for more than 90% when it comes to open rate of effectiveness. Compare this with only 20% for email marketing. Needless to say, it is more advantageous for an online marketer to make use of mobile platform to build the online presence of his business site. Instead of investing a great deal of time and money for improving your desktop-based online store, it is recommended that you choose to invest in mobile marketing. Leading online stores are now on mobile and you should follow their example!

Learn more here:

http://www.clickatell.com/solutions/mobile_marketing/mobile_marketing_benefits.php and http://www.startupnation.com/The-importance-of-Mobile-Marketing-/topic/

Typography is the art of arranging type in order to make language visible. Such an arrangement involves numerous factors like line spacing, line length, point size and typefaces, adjusting spaces between letters and adjusting spaces between pairs of letters. In the past, the art was practiced by certain monastic orders and educated members of royal families. At that time, complicated letter styles were devised for numerous reasons. Highly paid craftsmen wrote royal decrees and their writings were considered as written by some divine power. Monks rewrote ancient texts and bound the texts in books. The writing of the texts alone consumed weeks. In modern times, an interest in typography is gaining steam. Advertisers and website designers produced what we call “dynamic typography” to catch the attention of customers and the purchasing public. While most formal texts are in Times New Roman or its sisters, the ones used in the market are dynamic and brilliant. In fact, some text styles and fonts could be associated to a single corporation, brand or business. Let’s take a look at some instances when to use dynamic typography to have truly marketable flash templates.

First, the introductory box should comprise the right typography. Among the numerous website parts, the intro box is a good place to display the name of the company, company message etc. Its design should be focused more on style and layout rather than simple practicality. If the texts used on the introductory box are just the same as the ones used in the page contents section, then there is no use spending time choosing the right font styles and you can just use what is available in your Microsoft Word program. Remember that customers and patrons do associate the introductory box to your business. Besides, placing attention through using dynamic texts on your intro box can surely create an impression you are serious about doing online business.

Second, the page titles and the navigation links (read more; learn more here, click here) should be seen written in dynamic texts. Why? It is for the simple reason that such texts are important in website design. Such texts should be emphasized because they say something about the general contents. Let’s say you are running an online pharmacy and that you have a website sector discussing purely about anti-impotency medicines. The titles should at least be emphasized properly using dynamic texts. Besides, linked items should be written in dynamic texts because such texts should “stand out” from the rest of the texts.

Third, page contents which showcase important messages like a public announcement, public apology, statement of company policy etc. should all be written using designer texts. Now, are we going to conclude that all important messages should be written using such texts? No, one should first assess whether the overall message appears excellent with the designer fonts because if they don’t appear good or that they are not readable, there is no point using them. However, we should caution our readers against the use of such texts on ordinary content. You don’t want your website to appear like a practice area for some artist.

Sources:

• http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/21-beautiful-examples-of-typography-in-web-design
• http://spyrestudios.com/beautiful-typography-in-web-design-2/

A great combination of professional and dynamic typography can bring the website to much higher levels in the online market competition. If used properly, the words can be transformed into catchphrases embedded in the minds of the purchasing public. Well, the use of dynamic typography is not something new; we have seen animated texts and unknown designer texts in magazines, newspapers, television commercials, and even on interstate billboards.  However, there are instances when such typography should not be used.  Let’s take a look at the instances when dynamic typography must never be used.

First, dynamic typography should never be used on the navigation menu bar. The words on the bars should be written using simple and readable texts. There is no reason to use fancy texts on the navigation tool bar of your free website templates. The navigation tool bar is the summation of the contents found in the website. Adding animated texts and awkward looking special effects on the tool bar will occlude the important details. How will someone see the word “Contacts” if the letters are jumping? How will the customer see the words “Clients” or “Partners” if awkward animated symbols were used to represent them? While dynamic typography is good for introductory boxes, it does not follow that they are also good for every text box or navigation tool box found on the website. As reminded in an excellent video presentation found in Youtube.com, right typography leads to functionalism.

Second, the page contents area should only contain simple texts. If you want to convey a catch phrase or sentence no more than 10 words long, then we can recommend dynamic and designer texts. If you want to promote your online presence using two paragraphs with more than three sentences each, we recommend that you use simple fonts like Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman. You don’t have to use flowery designer texts in explaining about business philosophy and business ethics. Black scripts and animated texts should never be used to explain something about one’s business partner or clients. If you have chosen the right free flash templates to start building your site, you better limit the designer texts you use. The website must be functional in the sense that the customers know what you are discussing.

Third, as much as possible, dynamic typography should not be used on the Contacts Page. The Contacts Page includes telephone number, fax number, mobile phone number, and other important details.  The reason why such a page exists is that you would like the customers to know about your physical existence or the brick-and-mortar location of the store.  How can your customers jot down or copy your contact details if the numbers are blinking or moving around? Animations can surely remove the boredom associated with browsing website; however, there are parts which should be devoid of any animation for the sake of functionality and readability.

Fourth, here is a rule in using dynamic typography – don’t use them on the links. Advertisers often use dynamic and animated texts on pop ups or messages like “You Win” or ‘You are the 19999^th visitor”. Well, we all know that such texts suggest fraudulent schemes in the internet.  The unique color scheme of the text-background of the links is enough to differentiate the same from the rest of the page. You should not add more.

Sources:

1)     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9mhbh9–nw

Website navigation is one element taken into primary consideration when designing a website. Navigation within a website in turn involves elements and methods to be utilized by web users in order to find information in the web pages that are components of the website.  In essence, the website’s navigation gives both location and direction:  location, being where the user currently is within the website, and direction, referring to where you intend to go still within the website or even in external links as may be included in your web pages.

There are so many elements included in web design, including but not limited to its overall thematic design, layout, color scheme, music, animation, graphics and icons, and navigation.  If you are not new to web design, by now you probably already know that when you work on the design elements, you do so with a purpose: primary of course will be to be able to convey the message you intend to share through your website, or to give effect to the purpose for which your site was created in the first place.

Of all these design elements, navigation is one that should definitely come with a purpose, and strictly influenced by it.  Website makers and web designers may include some or several graphics, icons and other elements in there that do not necessarily embody the main purpose for which the website was created, as for example design elements that are only meant to beautify the site and make it more interesting without conveying some relevant message; however in the case of navigation, one cannot just randomly pick out a navigational scheme without taking into consideration the effect it will have on the overall design and layout of your website.  To do so may end up in disaster, that is, if the navigation scheme and features will not allow your users to easily and conveniently find information he needs from your pages.  That is why purposeful website navigation is of paramount consideration in web design, whether it be free flash templates design or paid design templates from thousands and thousands of web design companies you find on the web.

If your website navigation system is effective, your website visitors will have no difficulty, or experience any confusion, when visiting your site.  They know exactly where they are, and conveniently where they are headed to.  This necessitates the site map features, and links that are easily seen and deciphered.  Web designers should make visible distinctions among and between navigation elements and choose proper menu types, as well as easily understood icons.  Imagine yourself as the website visitor, and how frustrating it will be if you have no idea where to go, and it takes considerable time for you to find what you are looking for in the website.  It tends to be very frustrating, and if that happens to you, chances are you will never click on that website anymore.  Do not let that happen to your website.  It will definitely benefit your website if you design your navigation with your website purpose in mind.

• http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/a-look-into-color-theory-in-web-design/
• http://k8cooke.org/web/navwhy.htm

Big is beautiful. As more and more people are joining ecommerce, there is a much higher tendency that every single player is planning to outdo his competitors. The oversized icons could be created using Photoshop and its sisters. In creating an oversized icon and infusing the same on his website, there are some tips to consider. Take a look here.

• The design of the icon is dependent from the overall design scheme

A list of great icons could be seen on the website webdesignledger.com. Take a look at the numerous icons created and developed in the past year alone; observe how they were used especially in the major sites. Observe that the design of the icons is related to or intimately connected with the overall website design. What if the design is not related? The result is that the customer might think that the icon is a mere popup or a surplus in the design. That is why it is better to ask people around you whether the icon appears connected with the design. If they have some reservations, then you better assess again – try separating the icon and the website. If the two appears poorly related, then you better fix the problem.

• Not too oversized

If the icon is too large as to cover the entire screen, inserting the icon should be reconsidered. Come to think of the relevance of the huge icon on one’s marketing or advertising strategy. It would be absurd if one inserts an icon and said icon covers all the important and necessary website details.

• Simple Color Schemes can do

Why create a flashy website with an outrageous color scheme? Why create an ornamental website containing icons with flashy color schemes? The temptation to create one is availability of editing tools and the prevalence of computers with high memory. An icon is not an image and a painting of the Mona Lisa should never be considered in designing the icon.  Besides, the simple color scheme would emphasize the important points on your website design.

• Always Use Known Icons

Use only known icons. Don’t dare use animated griffins, floating hydras, or zombie heads should never be used as icons. Despite one’s background in mythology or philosophy, you better use icons which are known to the purchasing public. Besides, how can you make an icon with a simple color scheme if the same color scheme appears outrageous and detached? There is no point creating an outrageous-looking website with an ugly icon.

• Icons are not centerpiece images

If you download premium flash templates, you would observe the presence of centerpiece images. Now, if you are planning to infuse oversized icons for advertising purposes, we strongly advice against making the icon the centerpiece image. Again, the icon is merely used for guiding customers and not for covering the centerpiece images.

• Observe the Usage of Oversized Icons in Other Websites

The best suggestion on using oversized icons and other website parts could be culled on how such parts were used by more successful websites. Hongkiat.com has a list of the best icons and how they were used by a particular website. Learn from the best – that’s what they say.

Sources:

• http://webdesignledger.com/freebies/200-big-and-beautiful-highly-detailed-icon
• http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/web-design-trend-2012/