Web design is a constantly evolving profession. There are new trends and technology popping up with regularity. As things change, it is important to take note of what you should and shouldn't do while designing a website. We are going to focus on what you shouldn't do. For example:

1. Making the design too flashy.

You know what they say, sometimes less is more. Everyone wants to create a website that wows people. That doesn't mean you need to jam pack it with tons of videos, images, and effects. You don't want to be overbearing and make your client's website look like a 13 year old's MySpace page. There's a reason minimalism has made a comeback recently. 

2. Not making a website responsive.

Not making a website design responsive can create a huge competitive disadvantage for any business. Users aren't just using computers to access the Internet. They're using phones, tablets, game consoles, and more. Mobile browsing is exploding in popularity. If your client can't afford a responsive design that's one thing. You should definitely recommend it if they can though!

3. Creating a confusing navigation system.

Having a confusing navigation system is like trying to figure out a terrible map. It can become virtually impossible to figure out where you need to go, and create a ton of frustration for anyone using it. You need to keep the navigation as simple and streamlined as possible. More options can create more confusion. Focus on what is essential for the user, and make important pages easy to access.

4. Using hard to read fonts.

There are some pretty cool, crazy looking fonts out there. That doesn't mean you should use them for a public facing website. Users need to be able to read what's on a web page without having to strain themselves. That means picking standard fonts and colors. That means no wingdings and no neon colored letters. Make life as easy as possible for users' eyes.

Custom web design is a great way to build your online business presence. Instead of reading another article on the benefits and features of custom design, we found some great infographics for you! Check them out:

H/T to CoolInfoImages.com , MediaMarketers.com , Ocean19.com , TheNinjaWeb.com 

2014 has already been a very busy year for social media and blogging so far. Many people are still trying to figure out how to leverage these tools in their marketing. Well we got good news for you! We've compiled some of the top infographics of 2014 for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

H/T to Top Dog Social Media , Media Bistro , BufferApp, and Entrepreneur.com for the great infographics!

Small businesses are all about executing effective bootstrap marketing programs. Budgets, time, and personnel are tight. Small business marketing is value-centric, with a more bang for your buck mentality. That’s why small businesses love social media. It’s cheap, powerful, and can scale with any business. Small businesses can’t afford marketing automation software that can cost hundreds of dollars per months. That’s why it’s important to identify cheap (read: free) tools that can get the job done in a jiffy. For example:

HootSuite

HootSuite is the de facto social media management platform. You can aggregate many of your networks, schedule posts, monitor custom newsfeeds and much more. Also, you can upgrade to their very affordable Pro version to gain access to reports and other analytics. This is the solution for you if you need to manage multiple accounts on different networks.

TweetDeck

TweetDeck is basically HootSuite lite. It can still aggregate news from different networks, but is best suited for a company that wants to manage a couple of accounts. It’s UI is extremely streamlined and simple to use. TweetDeck offers many of the same features as the free version of HootSuite, just in a downloadable desktop client.  It is also owned by Twitter now, so support is great.

TweetReach

Twitter has a variety of metrics that are worth keeping track of to measure your ROI. Unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, Twitter doesn’t publish impressions. These have to be manually calculated and estimated, or a third party solution needs to be used. TweetReach is a great free-mium tool that analyzes any Twitter account and calculates its total impressions. It also highlights which posts performed well, your exposure, and top contributors. TweetReach is great for giving you a snapshot summary of your online performance. Keep in mind that it only looks at your past 50 tweets, if you want data beyond that then you will need to upgrade to the paid version. 

Having a great business website is all well and good, but you need to leverage tools to keep it optimized. There are a bunch of free evaluation tools out there that will help you keep your website in tip top shape. Many of them focus on areas like SEO, design, and marketing. It’s important to use a variety of them to get an accurate view of how your website is performing. Some of the best free tools available today are:

HubSpot Marketing Grader

HubSpot has made a huge name for itself in online marketing. Their main product is a marketing automation platform, but they have some other nifty tools like their Marketing Grader. This takes a look at a variety of things like social media and blogs to evaluate your online marketing. It evaluates everything in the marketing funnel, and then compares that to your competitors’. Definitely check this out!

Pingdom Full Page Test

Pingdom is great at evaluating your website in some key metrics. For instance, it takes a look at your website’s speed and bottlenecks, and identifies areas where you can make simple changes for big performance boosts.

SEOquake

This tool is, as the name denotes, SEO focused. It’s a toolbar plugin for your internet browser that gives Google/Alexa scores, and your Pagerank. It’s great for monitoring and analyzing links. It also offers features that can analyze your keyword density, and then diagnose problem areas on your website.

Fast Track Site Evaluator

Another great tool worth checking out is our comprehensive Site Evaluator. It measures your performance on everything that goes into a website like SEO, marketing, and design. Getting a full report will take a couple days, but it’s well worth the wait. You will receive a detailed analysis which identifies areas of strength and weakness, as well as recommendations on how to improve. Get yours today!