BKJ Designs

When designing a web page, especially if it is your first time, there is often a desire to throw in all of the bells and whistles that you can fit in. Calendar? Sure. Weather widget? Absolutely! Flashing text and bright colors? I want to be seen! After all, more is more!

The thing is, less is more when it comes to designing for the web. Adding anything and everything to your site can cause a couple of problems:

1. Your site load time will be longer
   • Everything that shows on your site is leaded in order. The more that is there, the longer it will take to load the main message of your site.
2. Your message will get lost in the noise
   • What are you trying to say? Your customers may not know in their effort to get through the noise and find your message
3. You will probably be off-brand
   • Part of the reason for building a professional site is to extend your business brand. A clean site equates to a clean and professional brand.

This does not mean that these cool features can’t ever be used. They should be used in moderation and with purpose. A lawn care company might use a feed of the day’s weather as an extension of information that could affect lawn services for the day. A religious institution may use religious text feeds to display daily or weekly readings and meditations. No one should use flashing text–ever. Nope, not ever.

By carefully choosing the elements in your page, you can communicate your brand and message clearly. The team at BKJ Designs can help you successfully choose the best elements for your brand. Book a Zoom call today!

Many, if not most, people have heard of WordPress and it’s ability to create web pages, but when is a good time to use it?

WordPress is primarily a blogging platform. This blog, for instance, is written on WordPress. Yet we still have a traditional web page. This is because WordPress is not always intuitive or meets all needs for all people.

If you are a not-for-profit (NFP), for instance, WordPress might be a good fit for communicating with your target audience with regular news updates and posts about how they can help or with information that can be shared online for activism. Another good application for WordPress integration is for a newsletter like a religious institution or NFP would use.

If you are a restaurant or a lawn service company, WordPress might not really meet your needs. WordPress hosting can cost extra, and it doesn’t make sense to invest that extra capital into a fairly static site. A restaurant could possibly use a WordPress integration to update specials on their site, but starting with a static site would make more sense.

Reach out to BKJ Designs to discuss which design solutions will meet your needs!

In order to have a website to be designed, yuo need two things. You need a domain name, and you need somewhere to host the site. If you are a medium-sized business or a not for profit, you may have that ability through your Microsoft server. Other entities will need to invest in a web host.

There are many web hosts out there. Each offers its own packages and perks. Some of the more popular hosts are GoDaddy, IONOS, and Wix. WordPress also acts as a host for WordPress blogs, though you can integrate WordPress into any site. There is cost associated with obtaining and maintaining a web host, but it is money well-spent if you can build your brand and drive customer contact.

For instance, IONOS offers a year of web hosting for $1 per month for the first year and a free domain name for the first year. After that, the cost is between $4 and $12 per month, depending on your needs. There is also a yearly fee for the domain name. GoDaddy does not offer the $1 deal, and hosting runs between $6 and $13, again with the domain name free for the first year. Wix is a build your own site host with a somewhat limited site builder. You cannot add any features that are not available in the builder. What you see is what you get.

Which you choiise is fully up to you. If you want to add the most features to your website, I would go with IONOS or GoDaddy and hire a developer like BKJ Designs. We can help you get the sit you want within your budget.

We often talk about what your brand says about you. Your brand defines the work you do and the devotion that you put into your passion. The thing that is rarely, if ever, talked about is what you say about your brand, or if you represent it like it represents you.

A brand is a two-way street, often only traveled in a loop like a racetrack. People work hard building a work reputation and fail to realize that interactions outside of work affect the brand they have spent blood and sweat building. Everyday interactions affect how people perceive you as a person. This, especially for a sole proprietorship or other small business, can affect how people view your brand.

An example. You are the type of driver who is somewhat impatient. Maybe you drive fast and cut people off in traffic. That graphic on your vehicle advertising your business is now ingrained negatively in people’s minds. They see you as a person who runs late or rushes through things. Your brand has been negatively impacted.

The same can happen if you are seen in public being rude or petty. People who recognize you might spread the word of your public display. These small interactions can have a big impact on businesses that rely on word of mouth to get work and grow.

The key takeaway here is to consider your public actions and interactions. Are they indicative of how you want people to see your brand? Do they speak to the ideals that you have tried to build upon and invested time and money to create? Just as your brand speaks about you, your actions, and failed actions, speak about your brand. The old Golden Rule applies here. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

As I continue to build the framework for BKJ Designs, it occurs to me that some of you may be starting to think about your own web and social identities, as well. Careful planning at this stage will save you time and money once you come to me for help developing your digital brand.

Now, I’m not saying that your site needs to be mapped out completely or that you have already started an Instagram account that is waiting for integration into a complete web presence. That is unrealistic for someone who is just getting started. What you should do, though, is think about your brand.

What does your brand mean to you? Is it an extension of you and your creative identity? Consider how that could affect the style of your site: colors, images, interactions. Build a logo if you don’t already have one. Consider images you would like to include on your site. If you are a landscaper, maybe some before and after photos or photos of projects you have completed. For a restaurant, maybe images of your exterior interior, and some of your signature dishes. The more of these things you have prepared by our first meeting, the faster we can mock up a design

Consider how you would like to elicit communications from your potential clients. Do you want them to call you directly? Do you want to use a contact form to gather more information that can be read when you are not potentially with another client? Do you want to provide a physical address where the client could visit you? 

Just these few things will help you form a picture of the website and/or blog that you want to develop and give you talking points for when we sit down to map out your vision. Additionally, these considerations will bring your brand concept to the forefront and give you ideas upon which to build out your non-digital brand. T-shirts, anyone?

We are a small business in York, PA specializing in web design from hand-coded static pages to WordPress blogs, to helping set up ecommerce using Shopify and Square. We are also available to maintain your site, arrange for and manage hosting, and to update your site using information that you provide.

We also provide social media management services, helping to create Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. We will teach you how to use the accounts effectively for your business.

Brian, our owner, has over 15 years of experience in web design and holds a degree in Information Systems specializing in web and application design. He is ready to help you expand your brnd through your web presence!

To get started, send an email to brian@bkjdesignspa.com.