Today I came into work and began reviewing projects for the day. My ongoing company website project looks like it will be taking the majority of my time over the next few weeks. To my surprise this morning I tried to login to the Admin area of the site and was quite frustrated that I couldn not remember the login/password… at least that’s what I thought had happened. Now I don’t claim to have a mind like a steel trap, however, I’m fairly certain of all passwords and combinations therein that I use so when I got an error, I had to dig deeper.

I hit the “forgot password” link and entered the email address and there is was:

The e-mail could not be sent.
Possible reason: your host may have disabled the mail() function

Well, I was positive that my host hadn’t disabled this function and I thought I could potentially take care of anything if I could get back into the admin area… After a good bit of searching I found a post on Resetting Your Password through phpMyAdmin. After following through the process I went back and logged in successfully to address possible plugin and comment conflicts.

I haven’t totally solved the issue yet, but hey, Im in and I got my password working again!

As some may know I am a fan of good talk radio. Shows like Howard Stern and Bubba The Love Sponge are highly entertaining and quite informative if you can stick around and deal with some of the shit they do. I realize that not everyone is a fan and that is fine; Im not gonna say you’re uninformed or cut on you for not listening… I would expect the same respect!

Anyway, today’s fun photoshop project came from Bubba. Yesterday he was talking about another DJ who was getting his panties in a bunch because some folks like myself did some photoshop work and may have made him look… well… like a jabrone. I thought that it would be fun to add a few of my own. Im gonna send these over and see what the crew thinks!

Adobe Photoshop CS4 - Full Adobe Photoshop CS4

Adobe Photoshop CS4 - Upgrade Adobe Photoshop CS4

A common question I get when I talk about web design is, “are web design graphics really that important when trying to sell online?”. Let me answer it this way:

Basically, I know of 2 groups of thought regarding graphic elements, and they are:

1. Graphic design does not affect anything, only content does. This would be your typical SEO response to web design and content creation. In SEO, content is king, therefor your graphics aren’t as important… however…

2. The second group thinks web graphics are very important, since they create that first impression when a new visitors arrives. Good web graphics can set your page apart from the rest and give you the needed accountability that largely formated content sites lack.

Which group is right?

I think the second group is closer to the truth. Let me explain…

The objective of any website is to get people to do things - buy stuff, or subscribe, or provide user generated content. We want are visitors to stay longer and do more things with us. It’s how you make money, and why we all do this web content creation thing.

If you go for a job interview, or go on a new date, what happens when you first meet? The first impression! That’s right, we all form an instant opinion when we make that first encounter.

You see, a new website visitor gets that same first impression when they come to your site, and if they get the wrong impression, they hit the back button or close button, and no one wins.

Anyways, do you think web design graphics have anything to do with first impressions? You can bet your last dollar on that, because they are proven to be the biggest factor in forming the first impression.

Put up a boring plain website that looks like other boring sites, and everyone will think “same old boring site” and leave. You will be just like every other boring site, with no reason to bookmark or visit.

Use some well matched web graphics on your site that grab attention, and you will see how it affects your sales, stats and conversions.

Think back to some of the websites you bookmarked on your first visit. Remember how they grabbed your attention and got you looking closely at what they offered? The first step is by the proper use of layout and web graphics to get people to start reading and watching. Now you know this, wouldn’t you want the graphics that give the best possible results?

It’s a key way to get that instant differentiation that makes you stand out to everyone, and luckily, you can get some pretty amazing marketing graphics for next to nothing out there.

If your website isn’t memorable, why not try putting some exciting graphics on your website? It might be just enough to tilt your visitors into action.