This information is available when you start customizing your Jazzer on the site. But what if I get all the above information for all the Jazzers at one place? That’s terrific!
So here is the new addition made to the SiteJazzer site where we provide a media preparation sheet. Users can refer to this to get answers to all the above questions. To refer to this sheet, login to SiteJazzer and click on the Jazzer you want to customize. You will see a link Click here to view media preparation sheet.

This sheet would help our users create faster Jazzers in seconds

Do let me know your thoughts or inputs on the media preparation sheet.

What is web design all about!



Many web designers will surely agree that designing a website is more than bringing about the elements of design and content. This thought process needs to be decided before one begins with the design elements as the design needs to attract attention and even convey the required message. Every designer has a unique approach towards a subject. Even then, not the best of web designers can achieve their goals with ease.

So, what is it that makes a website stand apart from the rest? Many web designers keep hoping for that secret ingredient so that the website attracts users and keeps them on the page. But then, is there such a thing as a secret ingredient? Well, a simple example will reveal about one very important approach one needs to use for web design.

A Tale of Two Outlets

We can take into consideration two product outlets that contained a collection of similar goods. Both targeted the same segment of people. These outlets were direct competitors. Yet, only one of them had the cash registers ringing. This was not due to strong advertising campaigns; the secret of the success was due to another factor.

The outlet that never really had to advertise to get ample sale used one strong idea to their benefit. This is something that is common but rarely used – interaction. There was a detailed approach in the way crowds were handled. They were taken care of, the product information was detailed very well and this in turn made consumers feel the outlet always had authentic goods! The products were even kept on trial basis, where in people could try it out and get the feel of the product. In this manner, the consumers found it enjoyable to visit the shop again and again!

At this point, one may wonder about the connection this has with web design. Well, the secret of the success is in this very example.  A website needs to be designed in a way to attract users. It also needs to keep the users engaged on the page. This is when interactivity and social interaction plays an important role.

How Website Interactivity can make a Difference

Fig 1: A website that sells various products has displayed the range in a traditional format. This may not always capture the attention of the user. A website can use many tricks to present the message in an attractive way. For a product website for example, the content and design can be packaged differently to make a user want to know more about the product range. This is when the message will be conveyed effectively. For example, the product range can be displayed in a 3Dimensional Flip Book. A user can enjoy flipping through the pages to know more about the products while still being there on the same page. This is exactly the same ingredient that was used in the example mentioned earlier! Making a web page interactive spells success for website owners.

Fig 2: This website has used the 3Dimensional Flip Book to present a collection of stories. It makes reading an interactive and enjoyable experience for users.

Great Examples of Websites with Interactivity

McCain products

This interesting interactivity is created by McCain products. The whole concept of branding has worked very well as the interactivity does not highlight the brand. Even then, a user is tempted to try it out. Here, a user is tempted to try out the interaction by filling out a friend’s name and a message. These details are then represented with a very interesting animation that includes the potatoes against a cheerful backdrop. It acts as a very cheerful egreeting that can be sent out to friends, further reinforcing the brand name!

bergh.dk

This photographer has a lot of creative talent and it’s visible in the portfolio. But users don’t only view the creative portfolio; they get an idea from the website itself. The website has a very beautiful use of Flash that displays the entire portfolio in an interactive way. As a user browses through them, the display engages users to explore the website further.

This creative agency does not need lengthy copy to prove their mettle. The website by Leo Burnett is an apt example of website interactivity blended finely with creativity.  As you view the site, the pencil displayed on the screen moves according to the way the cursor is moved. Every click takes you closer to the menu, from where you can view their portfolio and know about other details!

The plate interactive is boutique interactive agency and the website itself shows their thought process. A user tends to be engaged from the first screen itself. There are various interactions that happen in the center of the plate as shown above. The website has that right combination of elements to engage users and increase their desire to know more about the company.

These examples aptly display why website interactivity has helped to engage users on websites. In the recent times, with the number of websites on the increase, making a user stay and be engaged on a web page is of great importance. The main thing is to capture the attention of the user and present the message in an interactive way. This is when website interactivity can be used to the best advantage.

Apart from website interactivity, social interaction is another method that keeps users on the page and makes them come back to the site again! This social interaction can be in the form of forums, polls, etc. It makes users interact amongst each other and this builds a kind of a relation between users and with website.

Every web designer is blessed with ample creativity! The trick lies in getting all the elements together. A website that attracts users and keeps them on the page can be termed as successful! So, have you taken the interactive approach towards web design?

Pay-per-Jazzer is based on the concept of Micropayment. Micropayment is generally defined as means of transferring small amounts of money usually for purchasing digital content such as games, music, ringtones small applications etc.

Who can forget Apple’s iTunes Store where we could download music for as low as $0.99!

With this feature users would now be able to purchase a single jazzer at a time. One can now purchase a jazzer for as low as $5. To view per jazzer cost click here.

This feature would also help those users who have an immediate delivery requirement of their jazzer. It also helps users to make instant purchase decisions instead of going through the routine process of budget approvals. It also helps those people who need jazzers once in a while and hence are not leaning towards the subscription option.

Once a Jazzer is purchased users would be able to modify their jazzers for 30 days without any additional payment.

We have got a great response to this feature as soon as we released this feature.

I hope all our users are able to use this feature. Do share your thoughts and experience with us in the comments below.

The first question that always comes to your mind when you are a newbie to twitter is, how to get followers on Twitter? How do the other twitter users have hundreds of followers? Believe me or not, these were the questions that came to my mind, when I joined Twitter couple of years back.

Let me elaborate for you on the primary concern of “how to get followers on Twitter?” from my personal experience.

For getting followers on twitter and active followers you could do the following;

1. You could invite your contacts on Gmail, Yahoo and Facebook.
2. Register in one of the big Twitter directories like the Twellow (http://www.twellow.com/) or wefollow.com (http://wefollow.com/) etc. This will help you and others to search for people and companies related to your areas of interests and also by keywords. Add yourself to 10 other categories relevant to your twitter account and target audience. (It’s a great way to get your name into focus.)
3. Be discriminatory to avoid getting bogged down by random people you are following, as well as it shall help you research and follow people only to the areas of your interest.
4. Use your twitter link or ID on other social networking, social bookmarking and social media websites. This will help in targeted people in following you.
5. Add Twitter Widget to your website.
6. Follow people who follow your competitors and follow people who talk about your competitors.
7. Post relevant content that interests your target audience so that they follow you.

These are a few tips that can help you for sure in getting followers along with the way you tweet. I have experienced that simply getting large number of followers does not end our task. If you are not having an interactive conversation with your followers or your tweets are not interesting enough for them then your followers would be passive tweeterers. If you just keep tweeting salesy tweets, you would bog them down with spam.

The way you tweet also plays a crucial role in getting followers on twitter. Utilizing # tags for trending topics and getting involved in conversations by including @mentions could also get you noticed and so that twitterers start following you. Tweet about things other than your company to engage your audiences and initiate conversations. Use twitter on regular basis helps in expanding your list of followers. Participate in a TweetUp Group (Meet up with people nearby to your place or work place.) to gain followers. Have patience as twitter takes a long time to gain followers.

DON’TS:

1. Do not spam people.
2. Don’t DM (direct message) unless you know that person or twitterer personally.
3. Stop using twitter as a billboard.

I hope the above tips would help you get started. If you have any more tips do share those with me as well.

An interesting mix of visuals, effects, colors and layout.

This Flash based website has an interesting mix of colors, elements and effects that have a purpose. The portfolio is displayed in a creative way wherein the user needs to take the cursor over the black and white areas and the area selected is highlighted as shown in the image. A fantastic display of their creative work I must say!

Great concept presented in an equally creative way.

The name is as interesting as the site! GroBots is a cool concept where in objects are made from junk material. The groups create GroBots which are sold, the proceeds of which are given across to charity. The website has some interesting elements and forms that seem to ‘grow’ out of nowhere. You need to explore the site to find out for yourself.

A new concept with an equally novel display, the Volkswagon Polo 444 website sure has an edge over the others. This Flash based website highlights a shoe which has design elements taken from the interiors of a Volkswagon car. Each angle is shown in comparison with the car. The sleek Flash effects add to the overall appeal of the website!

Louis Vuitton's support for Edun's mission.

Louis Vuitton lends its support to Edun’s mission. This is basically done to create more jobs and reduce poverty in this region. The various sections of the website are beautifully represented through Flash. The whole website has a nice earthy feel with its various elements displayed interactively!

I am sure these examples will inspire you to stretch your imagination and reach for higher limits. Three cheers to exploring Flash to its true potential! Here’s to a creative year ahead!

With 2010 year coming to an end and earnestly waiting for the New Year 2011, I cannot stop myself from looking back and summarizing on how 2010 played out for us.

The idea of providing an easy customizable way to create jazzers for websites without the need for a person to get into programming and delivering it through SaaS model was the biggest thought of 2010. 2010 saw the birth of SiteJazzer right from idea, conceptualization to implementation and rollout.

We rolled out SiteJazzer in August and in last 5 months we have seen lot of support from our users in believing in this idea and sharing their inputs from time to time. It helped us improve SiteJazzer every month as we planned out the new releases. In less than 5 months of release we have hundreds of users using SiteJazzer and making creative jazzers for their website!

It makes us feel good that there are hundreds of people who believe in SiteJazzer today and are supporting us in every possible way to make this product a success. Based on our user inputs SiteJazzer also rolled out HTML5 version for all the 11 jazzes in less than 2 months of time frame.

Considering our user base needs we developed one more Jazzer which would help them display various products and offers in eye-catching way in the form of 3D Carousel for the holiday season. We are already seeing many people have started using this jazzer in various unique ways.

2010 has also seen some great success stories of SiteJazzer. Few of these stories are available to view at http://bit.ly/bL8BjL.

Looking forward for continued support from all our users in 2011 as well.

Happy New Year
Nouvelle Année Heureuse
Feliz Año Nuevo

When it comes to website design, well….there is no dearth to competition! The time factor plays another important role here. Website users hardly have the time to observe the details of a website and there is always a chance of high bounce rate. This means a user may jump to another website if the site does not provide the information in few clicks.

3D Carousel that Displays Content Attractively & Interactively!

This is when I again emphasize the importance of making your website design click for you! For example, having a 3D Carousel on the website lifts up a page without making it Flash-heavy. I mean, we all love Flash but we know it can’t always be used ‘generously’ on the website. What I’m suggesting here is having a visually-appealing display of the information, wherein the text is presented on click of rotating images. This 3D format not only brings one’s attention to the website, it also presents information without really making the page appear text-heavy. This gives a site user an option to choose which area to navigate to!

Information Presented on Click of Image

It’s time you take a second glance at your website. Perhaps this time, your website might really click for you!

1. Building Brand Awareness:

‘Building a brand’ is getting your product or company to the forefront i.e. getting them noticed. It is your brand that differentiates you from your competitors. Doing so on Facebook is no different. Get cracking onto to building awareness of your brand on Facebook by

i)    creating a page

ii)   befriending your customers and potential customers

iii)  be active on your Facebook wall

iv)  Initiate discussions and interactions on your page with your fan base

Check out more details on our Facebook Page J http://on.fb.me/eRLoqm

2. Driving your Sales:

Social Media like Facebook helps to rope in people, visitors (of your product, brand and company) or entrepreneurs by resolving their doubts on an informal base. This is one of the ways you can use Facebook to your advantage over driving sales. Few tips:

i)    Provide an easy path for purchasing.

ii)   Talk about or discuss on topics that your customers or potential customers can participate in.

iii)  Your Facebook page should provide solutions and must act as a platform for your clients to have informal conversations with you.

iv)  Use the FREE advertising medium on Facebook by incorporating an incentive in your advertisement

For more details visit: http://on.fb.me/ftBiuk

3. Forming a community

Forming a community of people who share your values is crucial for success of any business on Facebook. But, of course it takes a while to get started and establish a community. To get started for creating a community here are few tips:

i)    Create a community on Facebook, either by opting for a page or a group.

ii)   Avoid letting your community from becoming stagnated, by posting latest events, various wall posts, via discussions et al.

iii)  Have a wide range of topics related to your community goal

iv)  Do not post too much of information in a short while!

Need more tips? Check this note http://on.fb.me/gAMNTB

4. Listening to feedback about your brand:

Feedback is of vital importance for any brand or company as it helps to know the stand of your product or company in the market. Getting it directly from your community members and customers is even more crucial.

Few actions to be done to get right feedback from your Facebook community are:

i)    Before launching a product you should try weighing your product in your group or community and get feedbacks from your community members.

ii)   But this boils down to having higher number of members in your group or community.

iii)  Another way of getting feedbacks on Facebook is by typing your name in the search section and checking out your fan pages or fan pages related to your company or products.

Check out for more details at http://on.fb.me/hpsjC7

While elaborating on each of the points jotted above, I tried adapting to them. Interestingly the approach resulted in being much more organized and uncluttered. It helped me gain a decent amount of knowledge about Facebook to start using this great social networking tool to its utmost capacity.

Go ahead and try it out. It definitely works! If you need clarification on any of the points above do comment on the blog post.  I would definitely try to answer those.

Management of websites has become so much easier with CMS. Content Management System has reduced the need to know hardcore programming, for creating websites.

Earlier when you created a website for your business or for your personal purpose, you had to go to a professional (i.e. a person or a web designer who knows programming for creating websites et al). The professional agencies would create your website and host it for you. But if there were any changes needed, then you had to undergo the entire tedious task of finding a reliable programming professional, checking how big a dent is going to be made and then explaining the changes required in your website. Don’t you think this is a lengthy process to undergo each time you want to make any updates to your website? Also, in this fast changing life the website too has to be updated frequently to showcase your latest offerings and deals. Going through the above process every time is not feasible in such cases.

Nouveau way of managing your website content through CMS rather than through the age old way of creating websites, has made things easier. The best part is that you can do it yourself! You can customize your website as per your requirement without having to go to a professional. Saving up on time and your moolah is an asset here.

I have tried and tested CMS for my website with lots of advantages:

• Accessibility: Access to Content Management Systems is easy and readily available online.

• User Accessibility: Once you sign up for a CMS, you can also assign other users by power of authority to make changes in your website in case you are unable to do them yourself.

The best part is anyone can do this as you need not have programming knowledge.

• Regular Plugin’s: You can easily add plugin’s to your website when required. It no longer remains a tedious task. External elements also can be added to your website. New plug-ins gets added very easily to the CMS and hence you can use the latest trending tools on your website in no time!

• Drag Drop: In CMS you can create your website with just drag and drop, you need not know or remember the file where you have stored the earlier content. Whichever webpage requires a change can be done easily by logging into your CMS account.

• Master Pages: (It includes your header, footer, side panes and the elements that you want to be consistent on your website.) Master Pages or Templates of your pages can be created and customized in CMS. They can also be changed as per time, if you want to give your website a new look. You can do this without getting into the hour-long tedious programming.

• Manipulation and Controlling: Manipulation and controlling of your content is easy and can be changed instantly, if you spot an error. You no longer have to let the error remain on your website, until you get a professional and explain the changes.

You can also manipulate the publishing dates of your articles. This works when you feel you need to update your website in future, but would be unable to do so due to prior engagements. You can easily set future publishing dates for the changes.

CMS Options
Now, let me tell you something that is at the top of your mind. How deep would be the dent in my pocket? How cost effective is it in comparison with the professional? This would definitely turn out much cheaper in comparison to working with a professional. There are CMS websites that you can register to, to get started. Registration is needed as it secures your website from being manipulated by other people or visitors of your website. Some of the CMS’s are open sources, while some may charge you minimal.

There are many CMS’s available online. The choice of your CMS depends on purpose for creating a website. Let me name some CMS’S for you that are most preferred and commonly used by people;

1. WordPress (though WordPress is commonly used as a blog, but it is a great and common example of CMS)
2. Drupal
3. Joomla!
4. Expression Engine
5. Text Pattern
6. Cushy CMS
7. Radiant CMS
8. Contao

(The list has been acquired from http://bit.ly/9GPpNq. You could check out more details about these sites from the link provided)

Let me know if you have any doubts or queries regarding CMS’s. I have tried to tell you about things that are the most important to know.