Lily Of The Valley Designs

  When a visitor comes to your site can they tell what you sell by the first 4 seconds.  If not you may have lost a potential customer.  You should test your site for this.  The first thing your going to want to try this new year is some usability testing on your website.  Ask users what you sell after they have viewed your site for 4 seconds and if the answer is wrong then it is time to change your graphics on your website to reflect what your products and/or services.

There are two buttons that I like to make they are: The starburst and the shop now buttons.

The starburst is a very popular web 2.0 button that is an eye catcher. First I start of with my image and add a starburst with the custom shape tool.

Then I draw the starburst and make a gradient overlay. Layer > Layer Style > Gradient.

Then give the star three dimension with a drop shadow. Layer > Layer Style > Drop Shadaw.

Then I write SALE on the starburst and walah!

To create a shop now button I first get the rulers to help me make a box (Ctrl + R). Then I drag the grid lines to make the perfect square.

Second use the grid to make my lines with the line tool.

Next I type in the words Shop Now in all Caps. One more finishing touch I create an arrow with a custom shape tool (Note I use Arrow 6)

And Wallah there you have it.

You know when you leave something in the refrigerator for too long it gets stale. It’s not a pretty site or

smell for that matter. Websites are similar to food they can get out-dated easily. It is very important to continually update your website or users will become disillusioned. Does your copyright date still say 2005? Continually freshen up your home page, it is the window to your website and needs to reflect current graphics and text.

“Web Design is a continuous process.”