Web Design, Graphic design, Website Developer, EU UK USA ASIA AU

Flash is a program by Adobe that allows the user to create animations. Now this doesn't just mean cartoon style animations, although these are possible with Flash, it means any kind of movement. For example you might zoom into a photograph or move text around or create lighting effects.

The creative possibilities afforded by Flash are almost limitless, but why should you have it on your site? At BA Creative Web Design Brisbane we believe in making the most out of your web presence and also creating the best impression. Flash is state of the art, cool and effective, wouldn't you want those words associated with your company? Flash can also be used to ad video to your site in a space/time efficient way so you could feature customer testimonials or TV style advertisements easily and cost effectively.

BA Creative Web Design Brisbane websites

www.thumpaf.com

www.artisansgemsandjewels.com

What is Search Engine Optimisation?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a very broad term that is used to describe ways in which you can increase your website's search engine visibility. Search engines trawl through millions of websites everyday so it is important that every effort is maid to make sure that your site is seen by them and that it is indexed correctly. The BA Creative Web Design Brisbane SEO package addresses the following areas:

Layout - the website must be properly laid out to allow search engines to find it easily

Conformity - the website should conform to the standards laid out by W3C (an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards)

Relevant content - the website must contain content that is connected to the business that is being promoted, i.e. if the business is a web design the website should contain well organised text and images that relate to web design

Keywords - the website must contain the words and phrase that are considered key search terms, i.e. if the likely search term used by a potential customer is web design brisbane then these words should be used within the site liberally. The words can be separated so you could have information about Brisbane separate from information about web design but they need to be there.

No sneaky stuff - many people attempt to fool search engines by adding large amounts of keywords and phrases in hiding places. It is our belief at BA Creative Web Design Brisbane that the main search engines, especially Google are wise to this practice and will penalise sites that attempt to trick them into believe they are more important than they are.

Links - having lots of inbound links to a website is a very good way of increasing its perceived level of importance. The quality of the inbound link is important too, a link from Sony.com would increase a website's level of importance more than a link from fredstvrepairs.com.au.

Google search tips

If you want to search for a single word in Google it's easy - type it in, hit enter and away you go. The trouble is the web is so vast and Google so powerful that for any given word there are going to be gazillions of results. So you need to be a bit smarter with your Google searches and this guide will show you how.

Google searches are not case sensitive so why waste time with the shift key - just type away. For example if you are searching for BA Creative Web Design Brisbane you just need to type ba creative web design brisbane.

Google returns pages that include all of your search terms so there is no need to include "and" between terms. For example if you want to search for BA Creative and Web Design and Brisbane, you simply need to type ba creative web design brisbane.

Google ignores common words such as "the", "where" and "how". If you really want to include one of these common words in your search use the "+" directly before the word. For example if you wanted to search for BA Creative Web Design Brisbane and Where, simply type ba creative web design brisbane +where.

If you want to search for a specific phrase or sentence you should put double quotation marks around your search terms. For example if you wanted to search for BA Creative Brisbane is a one stop graphic design shop, simply type " ba creative brisbane is a one stop graphic design shop"

Sometimes you want to exclude words from you search and you can do this easily by using the "-" symbol directly before the word that you want to exclude. For example if you wanted to search for Rudd but didn't want results containing Kevin you simply type rudd -kevin

You've probably seen the " I'm feeling lucky" link at the top of the Google page, have you ever wondered what it does? Well if you type you search word/s in and click on the lucky link Google will take you directly to the most relevant site to your query, you won't see the search results page at all.

Our Favourite Websites

We often ask clients what websites they have enjoyed to give us an idea as to what they like in design. We thought it was about time we showed our hand and revealed what we we like in the world of web design. So here in no particular order are ten of the best according to BA Creative Web Design Brisbane.

'Course if you ask us tomorrow (or in ten minutes time for that matter) we'll have changed our minds!

BA Creative Webdesign Brisbane says: we didn't want to pick anything too main stream but this is so useful we had to pick it

BA Creative Webdesign Brisbane says: you wanna know what colours work well together? This is the site. It's nicely made too

BA Creative Webdesign Brisbane says: we like this boy, saw him play in Brisbane a couple of years ago and he was very grumpy and very good

BA Creative Webdesign Brisbane says: a great magazine and a great website - full of inspiration

BA Creative Web Design Brisbane says: it's a clean and well designed site with easy navigation and clear product images.

Getting Employment as a Web Designer in Brisbane Australia

So you want to work in a web design company in Brisbane? This article gives you useful tips and advice for all would-be web developers in Australia’s most livable city.

The web development job market is very crowded in Australia, as it is in most countries. Not only do you have fully qualified people looking for jobs, but you also have self taught enthusiasts and those who think being able to edit a Facebook page means they can be called web designers. Fortunately there is also a high demand for web development so new job opportunities are springing up all the time.

One of the important choices that you have to make when looking for a job in web design is do you want to work in a small or large firm. In Brisbane we have a good mixture of these two types, so there is plenty of scope.

Let’s look at the relative advantages and disadvantages of working for small or large firm.

Small Firms

Small firms offer the advantage of a high level of variation in projects. One day you may be making simple edits to a web site the next you might be designing a site from scratch. Another advantage that you might find is that you are able to effect the strategy and direction of the design firm. If it’s a small team your views will be heard and your decisions will make a difference. Of course this can lead to higher levels of responsibility and therefore stress, but at least you’ll feel in control of your own future. You will have to be prepared to use a wide range of skills in a small firm, if you only know Dreamweaver then a small firm is probably not the place for you, but if you are happy to jump into Photoshop, think nothing of setting up an FTP connection and know your way around the most popular content management systems, you might feel right at home.

Disadvantages of working for a small firm include the amount of relatively menial tasks that may have to be performed. For example you might be hoping to test your design skills to the full and feel disappointed to be doing simple page updates or admin tasks. The lack of a structure at work may also be frustrating; an ‘all hands on deck’ approach is often used in small firms.

From a monetary point of view working in a small firm can be good and bad. Many small firms are cash poor and can’t match the salaries of the big firms, but they can experience far higher growth. Your input could result in a small firm’s output increasing substantial and potentially upping your salary. My advice would be to negotiate some kind of profit sharing or commission incentive; it’ll help you get more dollars in your pocket and keep you focused and interested in your work.

Large Firms

It can often appear quite glamorous; flash offices, big clients, impressive colleagues. And it is true that you will probably be exposed to the higher end of the market, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be wining and dining clients and working on the glitziest projects all the time. Starting out in a large firm often means starting low and working your way up, so be prepared to do the hard yards. The ability for you to make decisions and to affect the company’s direction will almost certainly be limited compared to working in a small firm.

The large firms can often afford to pay web designers very well and in the right place your skills and talents should be noticed and rewarded, but perhaps not as quickly as in a small firm. Larger firms can also allow for a greater degree of specialisation, you may have responsibility for just one discrete element of web design. Whether this is seen as an advantage or not will be an indicator as to your suitability for life with the big boys.

Brisbane’s Choice

In Brisbane we have a wide range of web development firms that can be seen as potential employers. The larger firms tend to be in the city and you will have to make appointments either with the human resources department or via a recruitment firm. Sending a resume in will not do any harm especially if you include examples of your work.

I would recommend avoiding the very smallest of firms as these are often home office type setups and may not be run very professionally. The next step up are the small firms with offices or shops, of these I would chose the most visibly and active, after all you don’t want to work in dingy back office with no new clients.

Look in the areas of Brisbane known for creative industries; these include Woolloongabba, West End and the Valley. Have a walk around and get a feel for the how the firms look and how busy they seem. Don’t be afraid to pop in and have chat.

BA Creative is a small Brisbane web development firm with a lovely shop in Woolloongabba. Pop in to talk about great web design. Peter Accini is the Creative Director of BA Creative a boutique design firm (web, print, signage, anything) with offices in Brisbane and Melbourne. For web design Brisbane, contact BA Creative today.

What is Flash and why should you have it on your website?