Commercial Web Design

The purpose and audience of a web site combined with the personal taste of the owner of the site will dictate the design of of the web site Depending on these ingredients, one commercial web site can take on a very different look from another. Here is a sampling of some of the sites I have either created or updated for local businesses. You may also wish to view my web site design for small businesses and individuals.

Team Matus, wanted an updated website with more information about their company and a fresh, new look.

Ashley Adams and Meriage Design met to decide what best to add to the site and how to best display their properties.

The new site keeps the company colors but updates the display and adds more content. There is now an MLS search to help locate new homes as well as a Properties page that gives detailed information about the properties which Team Matus manages.

A page about financing your new home and a handy mortgage calculator are also available to assist the home buyer.

Texas Stainless wanted to update the look and function of their website. Their site used frames for display. Frames are being deprecated and cause some problems with search engines. There were also some issues with the inventory search portion of their site.

We worked together to polish the code used by the inventory search to make the search more user friendly and to more accurately display what Texas Stainless had available.

A Sales Representative map was added to the site and the contact information for representatives was updated and a Texas Stainless contact form was added.

Shortly after the completion of the updates, customers commented that they liked the look of the new site and the ease of using the updated search form.

Key Connections for Learning, the website of education consultant, Marsha Thauwald, needed help. Marsha had tried for some time to build her own website and found it to be a much more time consuming project than she had anticipated. The template gave a pleasing appearance, but the project was just not progressing.

First we selected a new domain name which used the .com extension and was not so nearly the same as others on the internet. Next we chose a look that reflected children, movement and cooperation, all key components of Thauwald's philosophy. Finally we filled the pages with her qualifications, information about her workshops, and feedback from satisfied participants.

The resulting website is both child-centered and professional. It has a fresh open design that invites visitors to learn all that Marsha Thauwald and Key Connections has to offer both the business and education community, and how she can help your organization.

The City of Cottonwood Shores, Texas had been trying for some time to meet their website needs but they just were not happy with the results. They needed a site that their citizens could visit to find answers to questions, to see what was happening and to be alerted to situations that needed their attention. They also want people to see their scenic location. Finally, they wanted to have control over their site.

This project was not seen as a one-time happening, but as a living document that would change as information changed and grow as city personnel added content. This had to be an elastic, flexible site.

The new site has a fresh, open look with a rotating slide show to display the lakeside scenery around Cottonwood Shores. There is an embedded Google calendar with an upcoming events segment for the home page so citizens can quickly find what is happening, a Special Announcements box that can be easily updated using an include file. Navigation is also displayed using include files. With include files, new pages can be added to the navigation on all pages of the site by editing just one page.

The last step to help the city take control was to have their hosting provider place their files on their server using cPanel, a control panel with very user friendly editing applications to make addition of pages or updating of current pages more simple. However, even with a good application, there can still be problems so they have been assured that my support is always available when they need help.

Concept Home Builders, based in Belton, Texas, wanted to show people their beautiful homes and quality construction. They knew the style site they wanted and the basic content to display.

The final design highlights their product through the use of slide shows, both jquery and flash. There is also a page to present a featured home which they have built and is ready for move-in.

Frio's Hot Shot is a new business based in Troy, Texas, between Waco and Temple. The owner wanted to give potential customers information about his equipment and experience so they would feel comfortable making use of his transport company.

Mike Perez, the business owner, came to me with a rough sketch of his logo on a scrap of note paper. Later he sent a photo of his truck. From that beginning we created his logo, website, business cards and door panel layout.

The new site has information and images to show potential customers what can be expected from this company. The site also includes a slide show of his equipment and a contact form which customers can use to request his services.

Quality Seamless Gutters, based in Temple, Texas, felt they needed the additional exposure that a website could give. Their goal was maximum information in minimum space. Quality Seamless Gutters has a lot to offer customers and they wanted to showcase it all.

Many of the graphics for the site were created by the business owner and incorporated into the site. His contribution to the design of the site helped to create a site filled with information at a very reasonable price.

The work of Quality Seamless Gutters is highlighted in a jQuery slide show and customers are offered easy contact through use of a brief message input form. A YouTube video has been embedded into the site to demonstrate the seamless gutter installation process.

"The site looks awesome, and I can't wait for it to go live! You did a great job on everything, and I'm very satisfied with how it turned out!
Thanks again,"
Craig

Advanced Laser Materials, the leading provider of high performance polymers for the additive manufacturing industry, located in Temple, Texas, was ready for a website which they were able to update and over which they had more control. As an international company, they also wanted their website to reflect their customer care and professionalism.

Their new site kept the blue tones from their logo and the puzzle piece which they distribute as an example of their materials. Much of their previous content was used, but regrouped and updated.

The new site is hosted by a provider that has a WYSIWYG HTML editor to make editing the site a task which the staff at ALM can handle. The news and events section of the site is easily updated and the main menu is contained in an include file and controlled with CSS to make the addition of site pages easily accomplished.

“Marilyn worked with us through every step of the process, and her creativity and vision were instrumental in the success of our new website.  She took the time to really get to know our business, and understood what we were looking to do; we couldn't’t have done this without her.  I highly recommend her services to anyone, and she has earned our all of our future business.”

Joe Tucker,
Inside Sales Manager,
Applications Engineer

Wildfire Trailer Sales, located in Salado, Texas, next to Bloomer Trailers, felt their site was too dark and somewhat dated. They wanted a site that was more current lighter to highlight the quality trailer conversions they produce. They also wanted to be able to add and remove trailer galleries without outside assistance.

The updated site uses colors and images from their logo but brightened the page by using a white background. The page layouts give them the opportunity to show their quality craftsmanship and amazing product to potential customers. The gallery is simple to maintain with a small amount of editing skill. To help with this, I created a document with detailed instruction on the use of their cPanel to load images and do the limited editing necessary to display the new gallery or remove an old one.

Bedding Express , located in Temple, Texas, was not happy with their current website hosting company. They wanted to feel less pressure to buy extras and to have more control over their site. We decided the best way for Bedding Express to present their inventory was through the application of dynamic pages using a mySQL database to store the information, and to continue to use the current Logo to preserve branding.

The resulting site allows the owner of Bedding Express to enter information into the database using the hosting server's control panel. This eliminated the need for product admin pages and reduced the cost of design. There are also elements of code that allow Bedding Express to display special promotion banners on the home page during dates specified in the database. If there is no current special promotion banner, the home page returns to the default design.

The resulting site, has a welcoming look that introduces visitors to Bedding Express, displays their product and gives useful product information to the visitor.

Wright Builders, Temple, Texas, was one of my first design customers after receiving my Webmaster Technology certificate. Four years after their first design, the original site was updated to use style sheets to control the layout of the site and the look of the navigation links. Now, after a few more years, they were ready for a complete makeover.

Their updated site, in bronze and black, uses a flash slide show to highlight their uniquely beautiful homes and functional, yet attractive, commercial sites. The new site still uses simple HTML photo albums to display their work while making it easy for the office staff to add or remove photos.

The redesign also has a section to highlight homes by Wright Builders in the Misty Creek subdivision. Once again these pages were designed to allow office staff to add new homes or remove those which have sold.

The clean-cut lines of this black and bronze site give a look of sophistication that complements the homes and commercial buildings for which Wright Builders is known.

The Learning Zone Child Care, thought it was time to expand from printed advertisement into the internet. Since the Killeen/Harker Heights area has a high turnover of residents, the internet is a great way to attract potential customers before they arrive in the area. Many people now use the internet as their first resource when shopping or looking for a service provider.

The criteria for the new site were as follows: Keep it short; have a flash photo display to highlight the facility; put the emphasis on learning; and use some of the ideas the owner had created in the past for other ads.

I designed the border drawing from one Larry Carter created earlier incorporating tools of education and bright primary colors. CSS design techniques allows the length of the border to grow as the page content lengthens.

The photo display is designed to allow the site owner to change images with a minimum of maintenance time. In this way the photos can stay current and highlight current events at the Learning Zone.

The second page of this three page site gives information on child development and The Learning Zone basic curriculum goals for each age level, detailing the facility's focus on education at each child's pace.

The resulting site is bright and cheery as well as informative.

Spradley Property Management, was ready for a web site to present their real estate listings to potential customers who are searching the web for a new home. They wanted a site that was clean, open, and used the colors of their company logo. They needed a password protected administration section that would allow them to add, edit, or delete properties.

The resulting site meets these criteria. The information about properties is stored in a database and displays on either the sales or lease page of the site. The layout of the property description is dependant upon the information entered into the database, allowing Spradley Property Management to use the same input form to add homes for sale, homes for rent and acreage. There is an optional photo album available for properties with multiple photos to view.

When the site design was complete, I created a document of instruction to assist Spradley Property Management when adding documents, images and property listings to their site.

The David Nix Agency, located in Temple, Texas, wanted a web site that would attract potential clients and provide them with easy access to online insurance quote forms. The information must be handled over secure connections and protected from abuse. Email is not secure and was therefore not an option.

The solution was to create a site with quote forms using a secure connection. The information is stored in a secure database and an email is sent to The David Nix Agency to notify them that a quote has been requested. Password protected admin pages allow the agency to view, print, and delete the client information. This information is protected every step of the process.

The resulting site presents a web site with a professional look with easy access for clients, gathering useful information for this company.

 

Griffith Fine Art Gallery, located in Salado, Texas, was ready for a web site makeover. First and foremost, the site had to display the art images well. Secondly, the site navigation was to be simple and easy to follow. Finally, Kay Griffith wanted to be able to create and update the web site using Contribute. The process was long and many phone hours were logged helping Kay learn computer basics and Contribute details. In the end she created over 300 large view pages, and over 50 thumbnail pages, cropping, resizing and optimizing all the art images. The end result can be summed up in the words of an artist who viewed the site. When asked how she liked the web site, her response was, "I really can't say. I was too busy looking at all the art." Exactly the desired result!

An added bonus: Using the design tips that I gave her, Kay has designed pages that work well with search engines. When a potential viewer Goggles for one of her artists, her site often comes up on the first page of search results.

"You can use my name anywhere you want. I never could have done this site without you."

Kay Griffith