Simple is Better

Simple. A term we use at SMR Website Design with our clients all the time. You want to get your message across as quickly and clearly as possible.

Often, business owners want websites with large images, fancy fonts, and links to separate pages for every topic within their website. But are these requests and ideas the best way to keep a  viewers attention? More often than not, a visitor to a website is looking for certain information right away. For instance, if your company sells product-A, the visitor has come to your website looking for info on that product. They most likely are not interested in seeing dynamic graphics or hard to understand fonts. Not that these are not important, but they should be used to accent the website instead of taking it over.

"The product or service your are selling, should be front and center, and presented in a clear, understandable way. " - Frank, designer at SMRWD

Long Scrolling Websites are a trending design because of their simplicity. With only one or two different pages, in most cases only one, all the information is on one page. Information is quickly accessible, and presented in a clear way. The user need only to scroll down, or hit an anchor link, to find what they are looking for. This UX is what will keep a visitor on your site longer, which will result in a higher rate of sale.

This form also transfers over to mobile better than any other. Most people are viewing sites on their mobile devices, in which Long Scrolling is perfect for. It's much easier to scroll on your phone than to continually click and load different pages.

Confusing, hard to navigate, slow loading sites, are a thing of the past. Flash is gone. It's all about conveying your message as quickly and clearly as possible. Keeping you visitor on one page and not sending them away to links, will make it easier for them, resulting in a longer viewing session.

Material Design will start to play a large roll in this form of web design.
At SMRWD we are already fusing Material Design and Long Scrolling Design into one, creating vibrant websites that meet these simple design characteristics. The results have been very positive.

Analytics numbers show that these types of sites are performing better than the old standard design templates. Duration, bounce rates, and goal conversion rates, all have more favorable numbers, in similar time frames, than their standard website counterparts.

SMR Website Design will continue to merge these designs. If you are interested in having a website designed in this fashion, but would like to know more, please feel free to contact us. We are always willing to answer questions and give advice or help anytime we can.

Is The Client Always Right?

I'm sure we've all been there. Hired by a client to do a job for them. Hired for your expertise only to have them dictating to you what and how they want things done.

So what do you do?

I have recently had a client that hired me to build a website for them. We started off with a basic design, and as always I built something that I thought would serve the client's business well. I am always open to suggestions and any changes the client may want. If I think they're good ideas I tell them, and if I think they're bad ideas I tell them. I always try to give them the best possible advice I can to create the best product I  can.

After some collaboration, it became clear I was just doing the changes they wanted with the design they wanted. All of my ideas were discarded, and the design had become solely theirs.

So normally I really would not have such a problem with this. I am getting paid after all and that's why I am doing this. But  this website had become nothing that represents my style or my company. It actually breaks every basic rule of website design.

So what should I have done? Should I have put my company name on the project? I don't want potential customers to think this is my work.
Do I continue working with this client? If I don't feel passionate about a project, is it worth putting in my time and effort?

This is a difficult position to be in because it could affect your reputation. While on the one hand I do not want to do business with this client, but on the other hand I need the income, and do not want any bad reviews.

I have so many great clients, Next Level Speed, Acapellic Records, Nozze Marketing, to name a few. I also have 5 websites in development. So do I really need a client that I am not proud of the website produced?

SMR Website Design takes a lot of pride in our work.  We do not like to put our name on something unless we will stand behind it.

So our decision is still being made. It is a tough one.
If you have any ideas leave a comment on our website, this post, on our Facebook Page, or even Twitter.

We love hearing different views on issues that will help us be a more successful company and we value any suggestions from consumers.

- Frank 

SMR Website Design