A well hatched Idea and a new web site

It’s great when a project that has been worked on for a fair time is finally completed. Yeah Can’s designer has been working on the designs for Well Hatched’s new web site for some time now. And it’s been a matter of working on smaller items of the overall design in a loose type of collaboration with parties unknown, except for the main instructing client of course.

Generally Team Yeah Can gets involved in a project from start to finish. Idea/concept, wireframe, even sometimes keyword selection, then initial design for the home page, inner page design and the build on a testing server followed by migration and full on testing. That is once all elements have been signed off by clients of course.

But in this instance, Yeah Can only got involved in some design elements. The concept and build has been handled by other parties and only some of the designs were entrusted to Yeah Can’s designer. It makes for a slightly disjointed work process as the bits and pieces are designed in random order without too much background being provided. It’s a challenge, but not a problem really. It just requires a more imaginative process.

In the end, the site is now live and Yeah Can is well pleased with the final outcome. Everything of the very best to a great client whose amazingly clever idea is well thought-out and has been developed into a great website.

The post Well Hatched has a beautiful new web site appeared first on Yeah Can Web Design.

Yeah Can’s team have been involved in Hope Center since December 2010. It’s their favourite non-profit. Such amazing people. The current involvement is with handicraft product development. Not something Yeah Can have been involved in before. So it’s all new territory.

The current excitement is around developing a bangle. This came up by chance as the team at Hope Center mentioned that they have many cardboard rolls left after garment production. Those are the cardboard insides left after the fabric roll has been used up. Hope Center has a lot of those left over after uniform manufacture.

Then somebody else said why not use left over cuts of the A Luoi hand-woven fabric and we could have a win win situation. Two lots of recycled left-overs to be sold at practically 100% return. Very good business sense there.

That lead to a bunch of different width bangles made using bits and pieces of fabric. At this stage during prototyping only one sized diameter is available which of course fits only one range of wrists, mostly thin and smaller people. Trying them out on tourists showed the first short-coming.

However, the positive has been that Vietnamese young people love these bangles too. this means that there will be a local market as well. This is hugely exciting as it means that the shop will not have to depend on tourists for this particular product.

Team Yeah Can is quite optimistic about this product range for the new shop. There is a campaign page for funding required to set up this retail space. Please help with a small donation and get your free eBook at the same time. 54 beautiful images of Vietnam. Definitely worth having.

The post Handicraft Product Development at Hope Center appeared first on Yeah Can Web Design.

What most people and business people realise is that their web site is one of their biggest investments they can make for themselves and for their business. And yet most folk have the idea that appoint a web designer and the site will magically appear, no effort on their part required.Regrettably it’s not that easy and straightforward. In fact, the more effort the client puts into their website the more amazing the outcome.

No idea what that means? Here are some points to consider when thinking about a new website for yourself or your business.

1) The importance of your Homepage
Of course your home page is all about the shop window of your online existence. It’s where visitors land to explore the rest of your site. Sure. But it’s much more than that. Your Homepage has to deliver on your promise. And what might that promise be? The promise is all about the reason for why you want visitors to come to the site and delivering on that.

Remember that the basic idea for your website is for your visitors. It’s not about you. It’s all abut them. What do they want to find, read about, view, learn and more. This means that your promise that you offer on your site has to be something your visitors want to get.

Say your website is about your business and you are in the business of being a personal coach.  Your visitor wants to know what is in it for them. They don’t want to hear about you, but more what you can do for them. What’s the bottom line for the visitor? How do they benefit when they visit your site.

2) Knowing what you want to achieve with your website
You have been told that you need to be online. You have to have a website. That’s actually not a good enough reason. If you approach your website from that point of you, you might as well give up before you start.

Decide what you need your website to do for you. Is it more customers? Do you want to get a big subscriber base so that you can sell digital products to them? Do you want to promote courses, coaching sessions, decorating services, increase your client base and more. What is the purpose of your website? And just being online is not a good enough purpose.

There are always two points to this purpose determination. Want to sell something? How are you going to achieve that. So the How and What go hand in hand. Having a proper answer for this is hugely important to the success of your new site.

3) Who is your website going to be for
Would you start a bakery for gluten free cookies if you didn’t know there was an audience for this? Would you not identify exactly who the people are who would want to buy gluten free cookies from you?

What about a service such as motor car mechanic. Would you market your service to somebody who has no car? Of course not. But yet most websites are put up without one thought as to who the target audience might be or what their interests, tastes, preferences etc could be. How often have you heard, I’m selling my product or service to everybody. Everybody needs me. Mmh. Maybe not. Find out who your target audience really is. It’s worth it.

4) A call to action
Don’t forget that strong call to action. Your business of selling a consultancy service has a website. Are you asking your visitors to call you to discuss their requirements? Where is the phone number, the form for email enquiries, the physical address or the Skype ID? Are you really seriously asking them to contact you?

5) General Contact points
How easy is it to find your contact details? Is there a phone number visible? An email hot link, a form to complete, an address to check? How easily can your website visitor get hold of you and are you encouraging them to do just that?

6) Easy Navigation
As the web matures there are certain conventions that are settling in to become the de facto way to do things. One of these is the navigation. It’s no longer practical to place the main navigation menu items anywhere else but above the content of the site. Don’t bother with side navigation bars for instance. You don’t want to confuse your visitor. She is used to the menu bar being in one place by now. Don’t lose her because you want to be ‘creative’ in your design.

7) Testimonials
Let people know that you have been praised for your services or products. Encourage your customers or clients to provide you with testimonials. It’s something that is read and appreciated by your visitors. In an age of constant fraud and corruption, people want to know whether you are trustworthy. Show them.

8) Sharing
It’s social media time. Make it easy for your visitors to share the page they are reading. Encourage them to share by placing the share menu bar in the most accessible and easily seen place. You might not be a big Twitter or Facebook user, but your readers could be. And not only does it mean you have more visitors if you site is promoted on Twitter but you also get Google love for the Tweet.

9) Make it visual
If you are lucky to operate in an industry where there is a lot of visual material, this is an easy point to follow. Designers, photographers, architects etc are lucky in that their work is so visual. Which means their websites can be loaded with gorgeous visual stuff. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find some clever images for your plumbing business, your relationship coaching site, your manufacturing focused business.

10) You get what you pay for
Don’t go cheap and nasty. It’s always surprising that clients will spend a fair amount on business cards, or brochures, even the odd advert in the newspaper. But the budget for the website is $300. And for that budget they want the world. After all web design is so easy and requires no work at all. On the contrary. A web site is a combination of good design, clever coding and a fair amount of effort and know-how. Be fair. Pay a good fee. You will be rewarded with something special rather than with a rubbish thing you are too embarrassed to tell anybody about.

So launching yourself into a web site project? Get yourself a designer who knows how to do web design. That means avoid the cousin three times removed who is ‘creative’ or so your aunt says. Or the print designer who has no idea how the web works. Or the blogger who has set up a few blogs and now knows all about web design. But over and above a good web designer, remember the above pointers and your new web site will be a winner.

The post 10 powerful points to help you make a killer Web Site appeared first on Yeah Can Web Design.

Yeah Can has been involved in the shop design of its favourite client Hope Center. Hope Center was Yeah Can’s first client. A pro bona one. Social responsibility before making money. Good approach.

From logo design to web design for Hope Center was always on the cards. But designing the interior fittings for a shop? That was a new one. But then team Yeah Can will not hide from any challenge!

At this stage of the development of the shop space the floor has been redone, the bamboo side walls and ceiling completed and painted with white oil based paint, the spotlights and fans put up and now the shelving units are in place.

The awning also received its branding as the brand police force is slowly implementing the same look everywhere. It’s a slow process with the office still sending out documents without the logo. But constant reminders will work there too.

The last decorative element will be the photographs above the shelving unit. These will show the Hope Center’s artisans working at handicraft production as well as the weaving crew and sewing teams. The photographic montage will be the only colour in an otherwise white decor.

It’s been designed to give the products and the photos of the members of Hope Center the spotlight. They are after all the important folk here.

The post Shop Design is Part of the Client Services on offer! appeared first on Yeah Can Web Design.

Juani’s Churros, Andalucia’s finest Churros!

Err. We did. That was the plan. Let’s focus on something we are really good at. We said. Just focus on offering affordable but still totally professional web design. That’s what we had in mind. But then we know what happens to the best laid plans of mice and men. Yes we do. They often go awry. (thanks to Robbie Burns for those words of wisdom…)

Yeah Can has its first Spanish client. Not quite totally local in that client is in Granada, but close enough for Team Yeah Can to go and visit and make an acquintance face to face. That’s always great. Although of course, it takes up a lot of time which could have been spent in the studio. This was especially so because we got lost trying to find the offices.

Granada is trying to build a type of tram line system of public transport. They ran out of money. Aah oops. Now with some extra money from the EU they hope to finish. What it does to the road system is of course a nightmare to visitors. Although, speaking of which, when we went down a one-way road and hit a dead end, we were closely followed by a butcher delivery van and other lost souls.

One would imagine the meat wagon is local and on local deliveries. It seems that Granada moves the goal posts regularly so even Granadians (is that what they are called?) get lost. However, with our UK number plates people should always note. Don’t follow the tourists!

New client has an export agency. And he has persuaded a client of his who makes Churros, the Spanish national nibble which apparently gives donuts a run for its money, to exhibit at an Expo for Spanish Products. Which means that Team Yeah Can is now designing large posters for the walls. Mmh. Whatever happened to web design only.

Variety is the spice of life. Or in this instance Famous Andalucian Churros made by Juani’s Churros do the trick! It’s a family business and has been going since 1949. Great to see a business grow and flourish over such a long period of time. Not that they are stuck in the past century. They are offering gluten free product as well. Definitely moving with the times.

Trip to Granada past the glorious Sierra Nevada

Our trip to Granada was interesting too. Many flowering trees with new green leaves made the countryside even more lovely. The whole scenery framed to one side by an extensive snow cap on the Sierra Nevada mountains proof of a rather chilly April. Beautiful country, our new home of Spain.

All that’s left to do now is to learn Spanish. Not as easy as that might sound. But we’re working on it.

By the way, Yeah Can has a Facebook page now. Please visit and ‘Like’ us!

The post So who says Yeah Can only does Web Design? appeared first on Yeah Can Web Design.

Here is top model Kim Megson showing off the first of a small range of fun T-Shirts which the Hope Center, Yeah Can’s favourite charity, will be selling for fund raising purposes. Product design rather than web design – indeed.

Well, the top model is not quite the right label. Kim is a volunteer working for Hue Help at the moment teaching English. He was ‘persuaded’ to try on the T-shirt and pose for the camera. Not something he has done too often hence the embarrassment on his face.

This particular T-shirt is one in a range of fun slogans around the expat’s favourite beer. It’s consumed in great quantities in Hue. The heat contributes to the consumption levels but mainly it’s a great tasting beer brewed with the help of a Danish brewery. Hence the name Huda which is a combination of Hu for Hue and Da for Danish.

Now we need to find more models for the T-shirt range so that the images can go up on the Hope Center’s website. Never a dull moment in the lives of Team Yeah Can.

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There are a number of compelling reasons why outsourcing is becoming such a strong option for small to large businesses. It’s obviously about costs as it is so much cheaper to appoint a freelancer for a project than to have the overhead of a division to cope with.

Of course it is also about talent.  Outsourcing to flexible and expert freelancers who constantly stay on top of latest trends and skill sets makes sense rather than struggling to find suitable staff.

To service this trend of outsourcing a range of easy to use tools and cloud based services make communicating with freelancers easier and efficient. Services such as InVision, Slack or Basecamp allow companies to easily work with freelancers.

Check our Infographic on freelancers and how they are benefiting from the growth in outsourcing.

Freelancing is the New Career Trend

The post Growth in Outsourcing means Freelancing is the New Career Trend appeared first on Yeah Can Web Design.

A blog design for a professional blogger was one of the earlier projects for Team Yeah Can. As the blog is all about the blogger, as they generally are, it was decided to create an illustration of the blogger’s profile photograph. Using the client’s favourite colours his illustration really fits well into the design.

Professional bloggers use the internet to make money and a web presence is important to them. A blog as a business is more than just a blog to write articles on. Although those help of course as good content is a winner. The site needs to attract and keep readers engaged. It’s appearance is therefore just as important as if it were a full website.

The post Rohail Rizvi – Blog Design appeared first on Yeah Can Web Design.