New Design

Old Design

I am excited to announce the redesign completion of ditoweb.com, Dito’s primary website. This site design is 100% hand coded using only HTML and CSS (the only exceptions are the javascripts for Google site search and site analytics).

-I based the web site design around the look and colors of our new logo. Every color on the site was selected from the logo itself. I wanted the site to be visually refreshing, and felt I could accomplish this with the soft colors and lack of borders.

-I wanted the ‘Request A Quote’ button to stand out, without getting in the way. I choose a perspective shadow and a soft gradient and a glassy finish to accomplish this. The button is located in the same place on every page, leaving a clear call to action regardless of which page is being visited.

-I scaled down the text on the site. I felt my old site did not do a good enough job of conveying a clear message to my potential customers. In an attempt to captivate my visitors, I have posed a question and answer on the top of several of my key pages. This is an attempt to engage my audience and get them interested in the content of the site. I read through my old site and made an attempt to deliver that same message in a more concise manor.

-I simplified the site navigation. The old version of the menu included a pesky ‘Services’ link that was a lead in page to our Web Design, SEO, and Hosting pages. I removed the ‘Services’ link altogether from the main menu and added the Web Design, SEO, and Hosting links directly to the menu. This should increase visits to those key pages on our site, and hopefully assist us in increasing conversions. Future plans include integrating the same menu and header into this blog. It’s a big project though and I am currently working on several client projects, so it may be some time.

-I added our physical address to the bottom of every page. I want people (and search engines) to know where Dito is located.

-The words ‘Web Design’, ‘SEO’, & ‘Hosting’ in the site header are all clickable links that lead to the respective pages on my site. Visual heatmap analysis of my previous site indicated that visitors were clicking on these words in my header.

-I added a 404 error page. When someone visits an invalid URL on my site, it redirects them the custom 404 error page, presenting a familiar interface and increasing the chances of retaining a visitor after an error.

-I added ‘message sent’ and ‘message error’ pages to the site. When a person submits a contact or a quote form, they are sent to the appropriate page to let them know if their message was sent of if there was an error.

That covers the primary changes made to the site. It would be great to hear your comments and opinions on this redesign.