MWWDesign - Michael Williams Web Design - New York Web Design

Jakob Nielsen’s study on how much users scroll (in Prioritizing Web Usability) revealed that only 23% of visitors scroll on their first visit to a website. This means that 77% of visitors won’t scroll; they’ll just view the content above the fold

Had a meeting with a client yesterday to discuss the possibility of using a 3rd party ecommerce software solution. I’m very resistant to outside ecommerce solutions based purely on my experience that every customer is different and ultimately wants different functionality in their online store. Sure there are some common elements, but it is in the nuances, the special elements that separates the packaged software from custom.

Our shop only offers custom programming and design solutions. We have found that in the end it really makes a better product, and the customer is satisfied.

I can see a day when the "holy grail of ecommerce software" is produced, and that effectively does away with that portion of our business. But in the immediate term, that baby has not arrived.

Below is an email response to a client considering using an outside ecommerce software solution, and not going with our in-house software.

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Went through the volusion.com site and read a few reviews by users.

This one in particular was interesting, especially the comments left by users recently as March 09:
http://www.smallbusinessarena.com/volusion-shopping-cart-review/comment-page-3/

I know you are second guessing the need for programming on your project, and frankly I completely understand why. There are many choices out there for ecommerce software that are "ready off the shelf", why pay for custom programming?

The holy grail of pre-made ecommerce solutions has never materialized. Yahoo tried it, among others, and none of them have come out as the clear winner. All of them have problems, and few users seem happy with them.

That is exactly why I went with organizing our own ecommerce solution that we could control and modify to each users’ unique requirements. I am well aware that the upfront costs are heavy, and have struggled with putting together a hosted solution that users could ‘rent’ on a monthly basis. That is still in the works.

In the end, the main benefits of going with our solution is personal service and support. Many of our customers have been with us for five our more years for a reason. We are committed to our client’s success. Their success is our success in working on future projects.

We are here to answer questions either about the website, marketing or business concerns in general. As a fellow entrepreneur, I can share my experience and knowledge, and hopefully help you help your business grow.

Read through the review link above and let me know if you have any questions. Ultimately I want you to feel good about your project and working with us.

Talk soon,

Michael

After a year and half of hard work at MW Design, successful e-commerce client EyeglassDirect.com is now on page one on Google for top keyword: eyeglass ! Not an easy task for such a common word.

Just in time for NY fashion week, Pantone, the leading color authority, has recently released their Fall 2008 Fashion Color Report.  Take into account that the fashion world isn’t the only one to follow these trends: they carry over into all design fields, including web design.

The popular blog decor8 explains:

Pantone scours advertising, magazines, movies, websites, and other facets of pop culture to unearth color cues, even surveys of socio-economic trends, art exhibits, and considering even the state of the global economy. After intense research and analysis, they sell colors to clients a few years in advance and then poll them to discern popular choices so they can then produce color planning guides that influence the multitudes. I walked around for years thinking these trends just happened for no reason at all. But oh no, everything is calculated. That’s why it’s critical for you to know what the color forecast is for each season because then you can use it as a guide in your design in order to stay current.

From Pantone themselves:

A Season of Change

Best described as a season of change, fall ’08 is defined by rich, elegant hues that offer a vibrant selection. New York’s fashion designers emphasize cooler blues, greens and purples in the top five tones used in their collections, followed by variations of warm red, orange and yellow.

“Fall is traditionally a time for subdued, quiet colors, but this season we are seeing a shift toward cool hues with bright, exciting undertones,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Conventional tones such as warm autumn hues, chocolate browns and steel grays are also among the fall color choices. Blue and purple tones have become staples, as illustrated by Blue Iris, one of the top 10 colors chosen by designers this season, and Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2008.”

Poke around to learn more about the power of color in design.  Try incorporating these seasonal colors into your projects for a fresh look!

MW designed and developed a website for US Oil and Gas Funds at http://usoilandgasfunds.com/ .

Take a look!