How to Design a website

How to Design a website by Amber Rolfe You don’t have to be a designer to design a website… Whether you want to make a page for your own business or personal project, or you’re looking to help others with the creation of theirs, designing a website can be a tricky task to master. Especially if you don’t have any previous experience in HTML or CSS coding.To give you an idea of the routes you could go down and what to consider, here are four things to think about when designing a website:Figure out your purposeFirst things first: you need to figure out what to include on your website, and why you’re creating it.What do you hope to achieve, what content will it include, and most importantly, how will you measure success?Whether it’s that you’re starting a site to showcase your design skills, an online marketplace that sells products and/or services, or simply a blog about your hobbies, interests, or career â€" it’s important to outline not just the what, but also the why.If you’re cre ating a website for a client, it’s important to communicate with them to understand exactly what they’re looking for.That way, you’ll have a clear goal to work towards, and you can ensure your website is designed in a way that will fulfil it.Draw up a (rough) layoutWhether you’re building a website from scratch or you’re using a free hosting service, it’s always a good idea to map out your site before you get started.For example, figuring out core details like how many pages you’d like it to have, what navigation bars you’d include (at the top of the page), and the general layout of the homepage will be particularly helpful when it comes to providing a great user experience.Other pages/menus to consider include a menu icon (at the top right), a ‘contact us’ page (at the very bottom of each page), a custom 404 page, and a search bar (at the upper-right side of the page).If you’re struggling to visualise how it’ll look, try drawing rough pictures of each page.C hoose the aesthetics OK, so everything has its place â€" but what’s its font/colour/size?If you’re using a free hosting site to create your website, you’ll often be able to pick an ‘all in one’ theme (including colour, layout, and font) that suits your brand or product. If not, you’ll need to put in a little more groundwork.Not only should you pick colours, fonts, and image themes that complement each other, you should also ensure you use designs that are aesthetically pleasing and simple â€" avoiding an overload of graphics, imagery, and text.Too many elements on one page will not only result in a poor user experience, but could also lead to slow loading times; especially for those accessing the site via a mobile device.Lastly, it’s vital to maintain consistency in your design choices, throughout each aspect of the site â€" from the homepage to the navigation bar. Leaping from a bright green menu to a pastel coloured ‘about us’ page is never a good look.Decide whe re to host it Once you’ve got a good idea of what your website is for and how it’ll look, it’s time to consider the logistics of building it.Generally speaking, you have two options:Build it from scratchUse a free hosting serviceWhilst building a website from scratch provides you with more freedom to turn the site into whatever you want it to be (and there’s no danger of it looking like anyone else’s), it will usually require a detailed understating of HTML and CSS coding.And if you’re a first-time website designer â€" this might seem like a daunting prospect. But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn. With a variety of courses available, you could be able to learn how to code in no time.But if this option isn’t for you, there are also a number of free hosting services you could use to create a website fast. Some of the most popular website builders include:SquarespaceGoDaddyWixWeeblyWordPressIn either case, you’ll need to choose and secure a domain name (although mo st site builders will guide you through this process).Seven reasons you should learn to code right now  Promote it Aside from bearing SEO in mind when adding content to your site (e.g. using most searched keywords in headers and blog posts), it’s also important to promote it.If you have a social media page for your brand, this is a great place to showcase your website. Not only can you post links and imagery to draw people in, you could also consider running contests and giveaways to encourage people to register.Additionally, some social media sites will allow you to promote your posts, showing them to a larger audience for a cost. Search engines such as Google also provide the option to pay for your website to appear at the top of certain search results.Other ways to promote your site include working with guest bloggers with a high following who may be able to provide content, along with spreading the word on industry-related forums and fan pages.Still searching for your perfect position? View all available jobs nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Career Development

The ONE thing you need to do to get what you want

The ONE thing you need to do to get what you want Think about a time when you were a kid and wanted something really badly from your parents. What was the one thing you did that made them give you whatever you wanted? The answer is probably this one: you ASKED. I know there might have been some crying and yelling involved too, but my point is that sometime in the past you were much better at doing one of the things that are most helpful in getting us what we want. For some reason, when we grow up we start being ashamed of asking for help or start believing that we need to get things on our own, and then we simply stop asking for help. And that is a huge loss! The good news is that we can learn how to ask again, and more importantly, how to ask better in order to be more effective in achieving our goals. To do that, all you have to do is ask in 5 ways: Ask someone who can help you Most of the time, we go to the person we are closer to or the one we believe will be more willing to help us. However, asking the person who has the right resources â€" knowledge, capital, connections, time or experience is the first step to success. The challenge is to be brave enough to ask the person who can really help us, and to face any emotions we might encounter on the way, like fear or shyness. To find that person, you need to start noticing who are those who have achieved what you want or who know how to get you there. And to find this information, you need to do some good research before asking; otherwise you will only lose both of your times. Ask specifically  Communication is an art. How many times have you thought you were clear about something, only to realize later that the other person understood it completely wrong? To guarantee results, you must describe exactly what you want, when, where and how. The more precise you are, the more clear you will be on whether the person can help you and the faster you will be able to adapt your strategy if needed. Ask while creating value for the person you are asking  The best way to guarantee your “yes” is to find a way to give value back to the person helping you. The value created could be monetary, but it doesn’t always have to be something tangible. It could be a feeling that he ´s being part of something great or that he ´s helping you build your dream. The more you are clear about what motivates this person, the more you will be able to offer him something valuable in return so again it is important to do your research before asking! Ask with strong belief If you aren ´t convinced about what you are asking for, how can anyone else be? When you ask, do it with absolute conviction and passion. Express why that is so important and what it means for you. Show that you are sure that you will succeed and that you will be able to create value to the person helping you. In the end, it ´s almost impossible to say no to a confident and passionate person! Ask again until you get what you want Many times people do the first four steps brilliantly, but they miss the fifth and maybe most important one of all. Like everything in life, the more we do something, the better we get at it. It ´s naïve to think that we will always get what we want in the first try â€" and even more naïve to give up after the first “no”. This doesn ´t mean we have to ask the same person or the same way again and again. It means we have to learn from every “no” we get and adapt our strategy accordingly, until we ask the right person the right way and get what we want! This is where kids have the greater advantage versus adults: they insist until they get what they want. So learn from the best and make sure you bring back that hidden talent you had in your childhood and start asking for what you want every day from now on! . Image credits. Main.  Ask.      Believe.

What is the Best Facebook Recruiting App

What is the Best Facebook Recruiting App Recruiting the perfect employee can be a difficult task nowadays, especially with the increased usage of social media. Its simple to contact a potential candidate via Facebook or LinkedIn but, at the same time, how accurate is their profile? This is where Work4 may be your saviour! This is exactly why I think its the best Facebook recruiting application. Work4 is a San Francisco-based company focused on social recruitment, used by a number of major companies  such as Disney, LOréal, Microsoft, Groupon or  Sephora.  Established in 2010, the company is backed by top tier investors such as Matrix Partners and Yuri Milner with offices in San Francisco and Paris. If you are the representative of a company, you can easily access and manage this application  from your smartphone. Posting jobs on Facebook has never been faster, all you have is to  add Work for Us to your page, the application will start to deliver you data about potential  candidates in less than 2 minutes. The mechanism is quite simple and natural: the best  employees for a company are its fans, they are likely to be willing to work for the company. Once the application has offered your relevant data, you can integrate your career site to  import jobs and automatically track candidates. Probably, you wont like it, but you have  to manually upload jobs, in order to maximise their visibility on your Facebook Page, the  application can perform it automatically, but it might be stopped by Facebooks firewalls.Once you have reached the most qualified candidates for your jobs, you will pay only when  those people will effectively view your announcements. In order to reduce time and money,  you can establish from the start that your query should prompt particular profile data, such as  education, work experience, skills or location. As well as promoting new job openings, Work4 Labs is great for promoting your employer brand. For instance, you can create rich-visual banners and embedded hyperlinks, to  render your company more visible on the social network. Your Facebook page can also  include a company blog feed, so that candidates can follow the evolution of the recruitment  itself or find out information about the companys performance. Work4labs will also use the infrastructure of Facebook, to push the public image of your  image. It analyses your job postings, so it relies on the fact that users will share jobs with their friends and other users thus causing your posts to go viral (of sorts). Not Just Facebook: However, Work4 Labs doesnt just work with Facebook it also automatically integrates your activity on other social networks, such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Jobs can be easily tweeted, and relevant LinkedIn connections can be recommended all from the easy-to-use dashboard.  Potential candidates have their own part of the history, they arent simple profiles to be  browsed, when the application starts. Social networks users can monitor the number of views,  the profiles of applicants and the number of likes generated for each job posted. Once they are  chosen by the application, they can accept to go on and negotiate face-to-face with the company  or simply leave the recruitment process. Pricing: Work4 comes in two guises: a free basic version, and an enterprise version.  For the moment, only  the Basic version can be installed, while for the Enterprise there is a free trial available. The two options both offer unlimited job postings, mobile compatibility for all devices, multi-language support, reporting and analytics plus manual or automatic sharing of jobs. Additionally, the Enterprise version allows embedded videos (for possible quick job summary videos), automatic job import (to save time manually inserting each one), source tracking, referral analytics as well as a social media consultant and permanent technical support. Conclusion: Work4 is easy to use and offers a number of different features which other platforms dont have. Its well worth the money!