by Foster D. Coburn III | Sep 13, 2016 | Makeover, Web Design, WordPress
With more than half of all Web traffic coming via mobile devices, it is increasingly important to have a site that works well on mobile. Google also encourages mobile-friendly sites by giving them higher ranking than sites that aren’t mobile friendly.
The JC Printing Web site was originally created by another designer and Unleashed took over the site a couple of years ago. It was already an established WordPress site and the company was very happy with the theme chosen by the original designer. We had run into a few bumps with the old theme, but it made the site at least functional on mobile. That all changed with a recent update to WordPress and the theme developer was in no hurry to release an update.
When the owner of JC Printing contacted us about the site failing Google’s mobile-friendly test, we knew it was time to give the site a makeover with a different theme. Before we get into the changes, let’s take a look at the site on a phone before the makeover. Notice the menus and other content go off the right edge of the screen.
We knew the makeover wasn’t as simple as just installing and configuring a new theme. Numerous pages on the site were dependent on specific features of the original theme. This meant the makeover came in two major parts. Each of the pages needed to be rebuilt without the old theme’s features. Once the pages were all rebuilt, then we could install the new theme.
Earlier, we had installed Divi Builder on the site to use its pricing table feature. Therefore it made sense to use Divi Builder to rebuilt each of the pages. Then the site would only be dependent on its features rather than those specific to a theme. While rebuilding the pages, we also did our best to make the pages more attractive and also more functional and informative for visitors.
Once the pages had all been rebuilt, we installed the Divi theme and configured it to the preferred settings of the client. Even though we had to edit all pages of the site, the makeover came in under budget! Below is the site as seen on a phone after the makeover. To fully appreciate the functionality of the site on mobile, get out your phone and visit JC Printing!
by Foster D. Coburn III | Apr 13, 2016 | Makeover, Web Design, WordPress
There are some clients that have been with Unleashed for a very, very long time. Someone who attended one of our seminars backs in the early 90s has kept in touch over the years. Most recently it was to update a Web site that hadn’t changed much in years. Below is the old home page and the only real graphic is the logo. You’ll also note that the copyright claims 2004.
Given that the seminar the client had attended was all about graphics, the site was definitely in need of more graphics. It also needed an updated look that included responsive design. The new home page shows off the business better and is much more inviting to visitors as you can see below.
With this type of consulting business, the person doing the consulting is extremely important. The old resume (below) was monochromatic other than the profile picture.
After the makeover, the curriculum vitae has a much fresher look and even offers a PDF version for download.
This is a type of business where a lot of the work is very technical and probably doesn’t look interesting to someone outside the industry. Even looking at a list of services can leave those outside the industry a little confused. On the old site, there was nothing more than a basic list of services (see below).
The new page (below) has the updated look, but each of the services links to a dedicated page with detail information on that specific service.
Now when people need to understand a little bit more, they can click on an area of expertise to learn more about it. In addition to the updated pages, new pages were added to explain expertise to visitors as well as past projects and their conclusions.
One thing that helped keep the costs lower for the client was their graphics expertise. We provided specifications for various graphics and they provided us with a file ready to use on the Web site. Make sure to visit the new Drebelbis Engineering site to see all that was done. When you are ready for us to give your site a makeover, contact us with an overview of your needs.
by Foster D. Coburn III | Mar 13, 2016 | Makeover, Web Design, WordPress
Many years ago Foster was involved in a philanthropic organization in Phoenix for men under 40. While in that group, he befriended another member who was an up and coming television journalist. That was more than fifteen years ago and they only kept in touch via social media in recent years.
Jim Heath is that journalist and he had built a popular blog focusing on the “circus” of politics in the United States along with a book detailing his coverage of the previous two Presidential elections.
The previous blog page had a real problem with formatting of posts in the sidebar as you can see in the screenshot below.
Notice how some of the lines are text are only a single character which makes it nearly impossible to read and limits the number of posts that are visible. We were able to import all of the old posts (Jim did the actual import with our direction) in only a few minutes. He put a little polish on them to make them look better on the new site and the result is shown below.
This is a huge visual and functional improvement over the old site and should allow his readership to increase greatly, especially since he is covering the latest election cycle.
Previously his book sat on the dedicated frontrowseatatthecircus.com domain and it was only a single page site. While the old page didn’t have the visual problems found on the blog, it still left a lot to be desired as you can see below.
We didn’t make a lot of changes to the content of the page during the transition other than being part of the overall look of the new site. Just because it is together with all of his blog content, the book should get a lot more exposure. Below is the updated book page.
This was another project that was turned around in just three days time. Given the election news cycle, it was very important to makeover the site as quickly as possible so that Jim could benefit from the new site in the heart of this year’s election.
Now that the blog and book sites have been combined and made over, Jim is working on adding even more content to the site for those who love his political coverage. We’re happy to help him continue to build his platform into a political news force.
by Foster D. Coburn III | Mar 6, 2016 | Makeover, Web Design, WordPress
Each project we undertake has a different flavor. The latest project has two parts to the makeover and today the first part will be discussed. We were originally contacted by the client on a Monday and the project was discussed. Things were finalized on Tuesday and we were ready to start on the makeover. Then came the bombshell, the current hosting was expiring in a week and the point person on the project was leaving on vacation on Friday. So we basically had three days to harvest information from the old site and get a new VJ Properties site launched.
Because of the very tight timeframe, the first part of the makeover was simply moving the site. Once the point person returns from vacation, we’ll improve the looks of the site and update the information. The original home page had very little information and was composed entirely of a single Flash element. Flash is out of favor and losing support so some visitors would see absolutely nothing. Those who had Flash support would see the home page below.
It was visually OK for those who could see it. But with all navigation built into the Flash element, some visitors wouldn’t even be able to navigate to other pages. One of the other complications was that the company did not have the logo in a vector format. Part of the project then came converting the logo from bitmap to vector so we could use it in various parts of the site. The new home part is still very basic (shown below), but it will evolve in the second phase of the makeover.
As the company deals with commercial properties, featuring those properties is of utmost importance. The old site had the properties page shown below.
After the makeover, there isn’t a huge difference on the main properties page. We didn’t spend a lot of time on this aspect of the site yet as the list of properties is likely to change completely in the second phase of the makeover. Where we did focus was on the details page for each of the properties (shown below).
The old Contact Us page was very blah with nothing but text and no interactive elements. We added a nice map and a contact form in addition to the list of employees (see below).
While it may not be immediately visible from the examples shown here, the biggest upgrade is that the site is now responsive and works great on mobile devices. Before we started, the site didn’t work well on mobile devices at all. We’re looking forward to starting on the second phase of the makeover and making the site even better!
by Foster D. Coburn III | Feb 8, 2016 | Makeover, Web Design, WordPress
With most Web site makeovers, a company is simply seeking to improve their online presence. In the case of Kenn Cross Concepts, the business had also changed from interior and landscaping design services to one that also featured a furniture store. The goal was to provide a single site featuring the services as well as the new store.
There was an existing site that was attractive (see screen shot below). But it was not a responsive site that would render differently based on the device viewing the site. As such, it was hard to read on a mobile device. It was also designed so that everything fit into a small area and no scrolling was required.
In talking with the client, there was still a desire to have a site that required no scrolling. In general, horizontal scrolling is bad and vertical scrolling is a good thing. The right answer changes for each page based on the content on that page. We also had to suggest the client have more than simply a series of photo galleries that automatically cycle through pictures.
On the new home page (see below), there is a slider with photos that link to photo galleries of projects and the furniture store. But there is also information on the business. Lower on the page (not shown) is more information and a footer with a map, contact form and a connection with the company’s Facebook page.
The view shown here is what is seen on a computer. View the site on a tablet or phone and the view changes to fit the device’s screen. With the rising usage of mobile devices, this is extremely important. While there are pages of photo galleries, there are also pages (see below) that tell the story of the owner and the business.
Great photos are certainly important. But integrating text with photos is just as important. Search engines can see the file names of photos and “alternate text” attached to those photos. Yet the text displayed on the page can also help a page and a site perform better in search rankings. Plus it can help answer visitors questions and encourage them to become customers. With the makeover, the site now blends text and graphics into a a compelling integrated story.
by Foster D. Coburn III | Dec 13, 2015 | Makeover, Web Design, WordPress
When Karen Friend of Soaring Spirit Studio came to us, her Web site hadn’t been updated in many years. Part of the reason it wasn’t being updated was the difficulty of making changes due to the fixed design of the original site. Each page of the site was carefully crafted in Adobe ImageReady, a now discontinued product.
Our goal was to create a beautiful site that would be responsive and easy to update. While most changes would be made by Unleashed, we also wanted Karen to be able to add upcoming events and new pieces of artwork. Let’s look at the before/after of several pages. Click on any of the screenshots to see a larger image.
Soaring Spirit Studio Home Page
The home page on the original site (at left or top) is beautiful. But it was a fixed sized in all browsers and was not mobile friendly at all. Look carefully and you can see that some of the image pieces didn’t properly align on the right side making the right edge look strange.
After the makeover (at right or bottom), the home page is fully responsive so it looks great on all devices and it isn’t penalized by Google for not being mobile friendly.
Soaring Spirit Studio Artist Page
Once again the artist page on the old site looked great, but it was a fixed size. The new site features the pictures better as well as making the text more readable. Of course it is also responsive so it looks great on all devices.
Soaring Spirit Studio Contact Page
The original site didn’t have a dedicated contact page which is an important element on any Web site. A page was added with a big Google map, contact details and a contact form as shown below.
Soaring Spirit Studio Events Page
For an artist, having an up-to-date list of events where their art is shown is extremely important. The original site was showing dates more than five years in the past. On the new site, we decided that blog posts were the best option for telling visitors about upcoming events. Best of all, the artist can easily create the blog posts herself!
Soaring Spirit Studio Gourds Pages
Just like the events, photos of the gourds on the original site hadn’t been updated in a very long time. The layout was fixed and changes were not easy to make. Previews of the gourds were also very limited in size. Below are two of the gourd pages before the Web site makeover.
After the makeover, each category of gourds is featured on a single page and then large photos of each gourd are shown in a gallery. Adding photos to a gallery is quite easy so the artist can add pieces immediately after they are completed.
Publicizing Soaring Spirit Studio Pages
The look of a site is important, but it is equally important that the site is promoted so it can reach as many visitors as possible. Sharing buttons were added on each page so that visitors can tell others about the artwork on their favorite social network or via e-mail. In addition, SEO (search engine optimization) was performed on the pages so that they will rank better in the search engines. Previously there was no SEO at all.
Would you like Unleashed to makeover your Web site? Contact us with details of your project and we’ll get started!
