Andrew's Web Design Blog

For this weeks assignment, I am exploring Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how to design a website that is optimized for this process. The first tip I came across that I found particularly useful was “choose your keywords”. Codrut Turcanu said in his Sitepoint post ( https://www.sitepoint.com/skool-search-engine-success/ ) how choosing the right keywords can get the most traffic out of your website. His warning? “Never pick extremely popular keywords thinking that you’ll gain a higher rank in a search engine.” Popular tags have more competition so its better to use keywords that are just somewhat popular. A good tool to do this with is https://goodkeywords.com/ .

Another piece of advice he gave was to include a couple of keywords into the title of your website. What you write is what people will see when they search for your site so it’s good to make a title that is catchy. The final tip I found useful was an article about link building and establishing authority. According to the article, linking several websites to your website will make difference when it comes to search engine optimization. Using the links to five websites, for example, and putting them in your site is much better that using five links from just one site. When a website is linked to other sites, we can search for more keywords in a search engine. The article and more great tips can be found at https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/growing-popularity-and-links .

This week I am talking about flat web design. https://www.buildinamsterdam.com/cases is the website that I’m using to describe how a website uses flat web design. As you can see from the website, there aren’t any embellishments to the elements or boxes. Everything is crisp and flat which in turn gives it that unique look. There is also a lot of focus on the typography. Flat web design requires focus on the typography so that the communication will stand out against the simple background. Finally, the website has a minimalist style approach. By avoiding all the fancy stuff, it allows the user to consume the information and look at the products being advertised without being overloaded with unnecessary things.

For the Word Press blog post for February 7, I have been asked to review two websites and tell you what I like and don’t like about them. More exactly, it is one website that I find appealing and one website that I don’t find appealing. Now, there is one website I remember specifically that I hated so much it gave me diarrhea so I will start with that one.

https://twc.texas.gov/

That is the link to the dreaded Texas Workforce Commission website. I hate this site with a passion. When you go to the website, you’ll first notice that the website was probably designed by a blind man using text-to-speech software. I would never recommend this website and here are three reasons why:

• There are at least five ways to get to the same place. Why? Everything is webbed together into a big mess and to top it off, not every page has a link back to the home page. Also, if you want find something, you have to read a whole paragraph of text to see if that’s what you’re looking for. Also, not all of the links work and give you an error message. Do you know what else has multiple branches into dead ends and makes you read long, paragraph like riddles to make sure your going the way you want? A labyrinth… except the only angry Minotaur here is you. That’s reason one.
• Reason two: The Looks. Why is the big stuff faded out until you hover the mouse over it? Are they trying to hide their stuff? The blue to white fade boxes also makes it harder to see the site. It strains the eyes to make anything out stuff past all the faded stuff. To top it off they assault you and add green screen green to a blue to white gradation. A website shouldn’t hurt you to look at it.
• Reason Three: The site is either really outdated or somebody is just lazy. I’m going to make this one quick. Go click on the link and then click on the “Jobs Y’all” link. Did you see that? The website layout totally changes into a new, much better layout. Why didn’t they hire those guys to create the TWC website? Instead, they have this ugly, spiders web of a mess.

http://www.google.com

Google is the website I use most often and the one I most often recommend. If you were to use an analogy for websites and comparing them to alcohol, The TWC website would be like MD 20/20 or Hurricane malt liquor. It’s not that expensive, but it’s nasty and consuming it will lead to intense vomiting and possible organ failure. Google on the other hand is like Dom Perignon. It’s crisp, light-bodied, and consuming it makes you want more of it. Here are three reasons why google is like a fine champagne:

• Everything is simple. You want to look up something? the search bar is front and center. You want Gmail? It’s up at the top right. The links are one word and there’s not a whole lot there so you don’t forget how to navigate to where you where should you want to come back. Its very hard to get lost navigating google.
• Everything is easy on the eyes. I can go to docs, gmail, sheets, contacts, and all the other websites without straining myself. I can stay on google for hours and not want to vomit. Also, there is no clutter or a lot of words to give me an anxiety attack.
• The site is constantly updated and made better as time goes on. Every holiday has a new animation or game on it. Also, the search engine finds what you want with better and better accuracy with each update.

In summary, you cab find a job quicker and easier with google than you can with the TWC website. Don’t use the TWC site to look for work.

327 Creative Studio is a Portuguese based design studio whose mission is to create meaningful brands with a focus on effectiveness and creativity. The main purpose of their website is to demonstrate their work and who is currently using their work. The intended audience for the site is for business owners seeking to make or re-make a brand for their product or company. This website uses the color yellow very effectively to communicate to their intended audience. Since yellow is the easiest to see color the black words show up very well against it. Also their website is very simple in design which is another good way it is effective with communication.

Since this is a blog for school, I am required to answer some questions that the teacher asked. I am stating this so that someone who doesn’t know what is going on with the blog can know why I am writing this extra stuff.

“Is the site useful to you? Why or Why not”
This website is not very useful to me personally except as a reference. I can create my own designs and brands with no problem and for less money. Also, their designs seem to be a mix of bohemian and cal arts and I’m not a big fan of either.

“List one interesting fact of issue that this site addresses?”
This site addresses the need for a simple yet communicative website.

“Would you encourage others to visit the site?”
I would if I knew anybody with enough money and needed a simple brand for their business, I would.

“How could this site be improved?”
I think this site needs more words to describe what they are and what they do.

My name is Andrew Lewis. I am from Waco, Texas and currently live in Lacy Lakeview. I am a Media Communications major and my major interests are Art, Music, Cooking, and Fishing. My reason for taking Web Design is because I want to learn how build web sites for my own online art portfolio and because it’s a part of my degree plan. Two websites I find interesting are Youtube and Newgrounds. I have always been interested in how those sites were made. Youtube is a popular site for videos and the search engine and recommended video algorithm are things that greatly intrigue me. Newgrounds is a website for videos, games, artwork, and music. I have also been wondering what all goes into making that website.