There are many ‘Web Design Myths’, usability and design constraints that clients request having once heard that this is best practice. Most of these have come from the good old days of web design or even from constraints imposed on printed media. It is very often the job of a web designer to gently dispel these myths and dissuade clients from forcing them upon their site designs.

One such myth is the myth of the page fold, the point at which a user needs to scroll down to access content on your site. It was said that users would not scroll the page down meaning all content on your homepage should sit above this virtual line. The term originates from newspapers where the attention grabbing headlines would appear ‘above the fold’ so as to be seen on the newsstands.

Although Jakob Nielson, the self confessed usability guru and friend to all web designers was a big advocate of ‘above the fold’ content layout recent studies utilizing eye tracking software have shown that users almost always spend some time looking at the scrollbar to assess the size of a page.

The study carried out by U.K.-based design agency, CXPartners of 800 users recorded only 3 occasions where users struggled to scroll beyond the virtual fold line. The study also found having less above the fold actually encouraged exploration below the fold, completely dispelling the page fold myth.

As web designer’s we know that usability is as important as compelling content, leading users to the stickiest content first is common sense but trying to cram everything above the fold is just not good practice.

Next week: Debunking the Myth of the Tavistock Badger.

(Opinion: Simon Farow – Head of Digital)

Anyone thinking of going into web design or development should watch this video of Jeffrey Zeldman, one of the people credited with founding web standards. Click here.

(Si – NOW I understand why you keep banging on about AA this and AA that! Jim)

UsedCars2U is the UK’s first website that supplies fully serviced used cars directly the consumers’ door, at no extra charge. In so doing, they’re aiming to cut out the middle man. All of UsedCars2U’s cars have had one owner, come with a warranty, full service history, 14-day money-back guarantee and undergo a 120-point pre-delivery check… All the benefits of buying from a dealer but for about 20% less, AND without having to leave your sofa!

Although we might be slightly biased (we’ve been working on the company’s branding and web design), we think it’s a bit of a no-brainer. We’re confident this will appeal to the modern car owner – particularly when people seem to have less and less time on their hands. Who has time to trek around different dealers or to do background checks on the cars they’re interested in?

It’s been a really interesting project to be involved with – not least because we’ve chosen to collaborate with two other agencies. The urgent deadline for delivery meant we couldn’t do this one alone, so we’ve enlisted the help of local web design agency, Formoda, and online marketing and PR specialist, SGA Marketing. Even if we say it ourselves, together we’ve made a pretty effective team. Not only have we delivered the site on time and within budget, we’ve also put together a comprehensive post-launch marketing plan. We don’t walk away from our web projects as soon as they go live. We want to make sure our clients achieve their commercial objectives, so we stay involved, driving online traffic, offline awareness and, ultimately, delivering a bottom line. To UsedCars2U, this means spreading the word and converting web visitors into sales.

We’ve done various things to make this happen. Every car sold on the site comes with a detailed description, including a large number of photographs showing every inch of the interior and exterior condition – including tyres and mileage shown on the clock. Each photo depicts the true condition of the car, leaving the salesmen’s pitch firmly for those wandering into the car showrooms. What’s more, UsedCars2U.com sources all of its cars from a trusted and reliable source and will exclusively sell vehicles that are between one and two years old; this gives customers the benefit of the original Manufacturer’s warranty, as well as road tax.

UsedCars2U has already sold a handful of vehicles through the site – from family cars to a luxury Mercedes E class – and we haven’t even got started! Find out more at UsedCars2U.com

AOL launched their new look site today and, all in all, it looks pretty good. Have a look what they’ve done with their visual identity – they’ve given it life by creating a family of backgrounds against which the logotype can sit (you can choose one at the top of the page). It’s a novel approach. Hit refresh and you get a different look.

It’ll be interesting to see what they do with this – I wonder if they intend to keep the variety or if they’re using the new site to see which of their new logos generates the most clicks and repeat visits. In the past we’ve launched sites with different Home Pages to see which ones work best, but that’s always intended as a selection process and eventually we pick a winner, based on visits, click throughs, purchases etc. We’ve also given our own visitors some interaction on the DNA site, enabling them to choose a background (but that’s just for fun).

We’ll be watching this space…

(Opinion: Jim Green – MD)

In a recent survey by Nielsen, 90% of people said they trusted recommendations from people they know (perhaps not surprising), while an impressive 70% trusted the opinions of other consumers posted online. These were followed closely by brand websites, editorial (invariably someone’s PR) and brand sponsorships.

The Internet has given the consumer the ability to post information online without having to go through a third party. Such “straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth” communication is clearly very powerful, demonstrating the potential of social media as a marketing tool.

Be warned though, social media can be as destructive as it can be helpful. Marketing a service or product through blogs, forums, social networks and other online communities necessitates losing control. One has to be a) supremely confident in the quality of what’s on offer, and b) willing to take the good with the bad!

OK, well this might be a bit of a techie rant against the Microsoft machine and its shoddy, market dominating browser, Internet Explorer, but firstly its a valid one and secondly its more about recognising the huge achievements of a lesser known browser, Opera. There are a myriad of different browsers and different browser versions being used all with different capabilities and different ways of displaying the same website content, this makes our jobs as web content creators very tricky. One thing that is fairly unanimously agreed upon throughout the industry is that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser is by far one of the worst and has gained its share of the market through dirty tricks and lack of user knowledge. Less known though is that a little browser called Opera has been at the forefront of browser innovation for many years, creating new tools to make your life easier that most of us only discover when we auto-download the latest version of Internet Explorer three years later.

Today, we reinvent the Web.

Opera’s latest innovation is called ‘Opera Unite‘. This claims to allow non-technical users to serve and share content and services directly from their own computers via the browser instead of traditionally just viewing content. Time will tell on this latest innovation, but if it’s as good as it claims to be you can expect to see it integrated into Internet Explorer in a couple of years time! The following article highlights some of the browser innovations that are now common place in nearly every browser but started many years previous in the perfectly crafted underdog that is Opera.

www.geektechnica.com/2009/06/8-browser-innovations-started-by-opera

Want to join the 2% of Opera users -  www.opera.com

(Opinion by: Simon Farrow – Web Development Manager)

The recession appears to have set in for at least a two-year period, and more and more people are turning to the Internet for a better deal. But still so many businesses are getting it wrong.

Most of us now accept that a website is a shop window. Just as most shoppers will look in a window on the High Street before they walk into a retailer, figures now indicate that more than 80% of potential customers will visit your website before they do business with you. With such compelling figures, why would any business not invest in a professional, well-thought-through web presence and online marketing strategy?

Click here for full article

Search engines exist to provide relevant, useful search results for their users. They are not there to benefit companies who are proficient at optimizing websites. If you think you have thought of a clever way to fool them – forget it. They are not easily tricked and, if they catch you, they will probably ban you. For businesses that depend on leads and enquiries from their websites, this can literally prove fatal.

If you want to drive people to your latest, beautifully designed website, concentrate on the following tips for generating web traffic, and don’t cheat! Click here.

In this latest version of the favoured email client of the business world Microsoft decided to replace the HTML rendering engine with that used in its Word application!? But isn’t Microsoft Word a desktop publishing package with a terrible HTML export option bolted on to it I hear you cry? Well yes; this means that you cannot display rich-media content such as Flash, audio, video or even the humble animated gif in any email within this new incarnation of the Outlook Software.

I know Microsoft have never been one for conforming to standards where web content is involved but for myself and other rich media content creators this appears to be a huge step backwards, begging the question why? The official reason seems to be consistency for its users between its product suite but surely this kind of ‘Nanny-ing’ won’t only frustrate developers but ultimately put off customers by seeming to vet the content that is available to them and ultimately inhibit user experience. Frustrating, but for now Microsoft know they have the lions share so we, as content developers have to conform to allow our customers to reach their audience.

(Opinion by: Simon Farrow – Web Development Manager)

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