What kind of design should you use for best results?
Thank you to Elaine Griffin of Elaine Griffin Designs for sponsoring the 8th Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest.
Jacob Share: Why did you become a designer?
Elaine Griffin: I decided to become a designer when I was a small business owner designing my own site. I was designing and sewing children’s clothing, and had no money to invest in hiring a professional to create an e-commerce website. So, I learned on my own and I loved it. Designing websites serves a dual purpose for me. I get to fulfill my need to be creative, and I can also provide small businesses with affordable websites to get their businesses rolling.
Jacob Share: Why do you like working with WordPress?
Elaine Griffin: I like working with WordPress because it is such a versatile content management system. It can be a platform for a blog, a small informational site, or an e-commerce site. WordPress also allows me to put power in my clients hands. With a little guidance from me, my clients are easily able to make content changes to their site, eliminating the need to pay someone to do it for them.
Jacob Share: Which design is typically the most effective for small business owners nowadays?
Elaine Griffin: A no frills, no bells and whistles minimalist approach to design continues to rule as most effective for small business owners. People have short attention spans. In fact, over half of all visitors to a website will spend around 15 seconds browsing. Easy to find, to-the-point content with strong calls to action and a direct way to contact the business helps convert potential clients to clients.
Client Case Study: The Trumansburg Area Chamber of Commerce (TACC)
When I was approached by TACC, they were in need of a complete overhaul. New website, new brochure, and new quarterly newsletter design. They had an idea of what they wanted for their website. Fresh, modern, and one that will be compliant with web design standards for the next several years. I took their existing logo as the inspiration for the color scheme, and gave them a mobile responsive, full-width layout with more obvious and simplified navigation. I also integrated their Chamber Master software into the WordPress site, transferring the new theme seamlessly. (Chamber Master is a member management software program). They now have a modern website that they can update and take complete control of.
The quarterly newsletter and annual brochure designs were also very out of date. I took the basic theme and color scheme of the website and translated it to their print designs, completing their re-brand. I also created templates to use in the future, reducing their print design budget.
Thank you to our Silver Sponsor: Elaine Griffin Designs
Elaine Griffin Designs specializes in WordPress website customizations, logo development, marketing material design, and social media marketing design. Elaine and her clients work hand-in-hand, and all of Elaine Griffin Designs' services are customized to meet individual client needs. In addition to her design services, Elaine offers social media content strategy and consultation services, and customized tutorials and how-to sessions so you can take control of your website and marketing needs.
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This is the beauty of wordpress. Even if a designer is first needed to set up the initials, the client (with a very small learning curve) can update and continually add to their site themselves.
My only concern is that eventually within a few years, wordpress may put most of us web designers out of a job
Stephen- why do you think that? There are already so many free themes available to download.