VISUAL COMMUNICATION
web design
The term Web 2.0 first appeared in 1999; instead of delivering static information that was passively viewed, the Internet made a significant pivot toward engaging the user.
And with so many free platforms available today, a common question is do I really need a website? If your followers and credibility are important to you, the answer is yes.
Why: Building a foundation on a property you do not own is risky. For example, if a free platform decides to put its property behind a paywall, you could lose your following overnight.
Building methods
Choosing the method to create a website is the single most important decision a website owner will make. For example, whole teams can use a Content Management System (CMS) to create, customize, and publish content; an ideal choice for organizations requiring a variety of high-end uses.
While Website Builders are not customizable, they are arguably the most user-friendly method. Most importantly, unlike a CMS, their developers are 100% responsible for maintenance and security; a cost-effective choice for nontechnical individuals, busy entrepreneurs, and small businesses.
Important: without maintenance and security, it is not a question of if your website will break, but when.
Why RWD matters: The main effect of Google's 2015 search engine algorithm update, aka Mobilegeddon, was to give search results priority to websites that display well on smartphones, and tablets.
Is your website mobile-friendly?
Mobile-Friendly-Test
search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
Responsive web design
Responsive web design is an approach that aims to make web pages render well on a variety of devices.
Style repetition
When sharing content across media, style repetition is essential to establishing an identity, also known as your brand.
Link preview: when sharing a link on different platforms, or in a text message, an image, SEO title, and meta description can prompt people to click through to your site page, especially if the description is relevant to the content of your page.
Engagement
There are a great number of free platforms where you can interact with other users, and drive traffic to your website.
The following platform examples all center around user-generated content:
Social Media Networks
Blogs/Microblogs
Video/Image/Audio Sharing Sites
Wikis, and
Podcasting
Email signatures
If an email recipient has view attachments turned off in their mail client, your email signature images will not display.
The solution: an HTML signature with links to images hosted on your website server (or a free image hosting server). Likewise, each image can include a link to a specific location. For example, a product, a mail-to, social media platforms, and a website.
Web 1.0
Web 1.0 refers to the earliest version of the Internet as it emerged from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Department of Defense.
Known as the read-only web, the characteristics of Web 1.0 are:
Static pages are provided from a server's file system, and connected by a system of hyperlinks;
HTML 3.2 elements, like frames and tables;
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS);
JavaScript;
Common Gateway Interface (CGI) forms to email, and
GIF navigation buttons, and graphics.
Do your Markup, and CSS validate?