Working with Directors John Brandon and Kent Montee was a great experience.  While we met with several directors during the initial discovery phase, having two main points of contact through the production phase was a huge help to the success of the project.

The web design concept we presented in the RFP was a good part of why we were selected. With only a few minor changes, it’s that concept that is live on the site now.

Built using WordPress as the CMS, the design was implemented into a custom theme so that the Dallas Margarita Society could administer their own web site. With a manageable image slider for the homepage and customized image galleries, the new web design truly speaks to the Dallas Margarita Society’s style.

Final Cut Studio is grateful for being selected and proud to be a part of the great cause Dallas Margarita Society contributes to.

If you’re looking for a new look for your web design, contact Final Cut Studio to see how we can help you!

Web design has evolved into much more than this. Yes, there are still those folks who went to a traditional design school that believe they can design a beautiful website. While this may be (arguably) true, this doesn’t mean that the web design is effective.

One excellent example of this is to simply Google “effective web design”. You won’t find a beautiful, image heavy web site touting effective web design. Instead, you’ll find links to many web design blogs and even links to web design books online.

Effective web design is comprised of many different factors that contribute to a site’s effectiveness. Let’s face it, a beautiful website is pointless unless it attracts visitors and provides useful, relevant content. At a minimum and in almost all cases, an effective web design is one that converts a visitor into a customer.

Some Things to Consider in Effective Web Design:

Information Architecture - Information Architecture (in part) is the structure and weight of information on a web page. In web design, wireframes are almost always required to successfully lay out the pages of a site to indicate functional elements and main calls-to-action.

SEO Friendly Web Design - As mentioned above, unless your web site can be found, it’s not going to produce the result you’re likely trying to achieve. Flash-based websites and text embedded in images are not indexed by Google or other search engines. Just because you can read it, doesn’t mean a search engine can. SEO friendly web design takes everything from link text, page titles, headings and even alternate text for images into consideration.

Strong CTAs - It’s imperative to have strong calls to action in your web design. If you’re not clearly directing your visitors into taking the desired action to making that conversion from visitor to customer, it’s likely they won’t find it too quickly, get frustrated and abandon your website.

Having a Content Management System (CMS) - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an ongoing effort. As search engines continually change the rules and algorithms in how they rank pages and return search results, you have to be able to moderate your content and continually try to improve your rankings against your competitors.

Creating a Blog for Your Website - Content is King when it comes to being found on the web. If you’ve got a static, 7 page website, it doesn’t matter how beautiful your web design is or even how well it was developed for SEO. Finding seven needles in a haystack is just as hard as finding one… especially when that haystack is as big as the Internet.

In Summary:

Considerations in web design go far beyond the mere aesthetics of your website. Having a basic understanding of effective web design and a strong partner in your web design project will serve as a great foundation for your online efforts.

Dallas based Final Cut Studio has over a decade in web design experience and can provide solutions to your organization’s effective web design needs. Contact us to discuss your web design project today!

Client Service is a necessary and valuable facet of any company. Whether you’re selling hot dogs from a vending cart or providing business solutions or products, providing quality and valuable customer service is key to any business.

The size of your company and breadth of your services will dictate what your client service team size and skill level need to be. Let’s be honest, a hot dog vendor doesn’t need a customer service representative and can handle any complaints his clients may have. But client service is much more than just fielding calls from angry clients.

Client service is the art of building strong relationships with your clients. It’s about listening and it’s about partnering. It’s about providing solutions for your client, even if it’s not the solution they originally requested. Too many times have I seen where a solutions provider says “yes” to a client request without thinking it through and, perhaps, avoiding going down the wrong path to solve a business problem or, at the very least, incurring additional costs that cannot be passed on to the client. Perhaps their request could actually harm their brand. In a case like this, a true business partner would try to influence their client in a different direction to meet the desired outcome.

We’ve all heard the old adage, “The client is always right.” While that may hold true to the hot dog vendor that sells one thing for one price, it’s not that easy in business today. While I’m not an advocate of saying “No” to a client, I am a proponent of saying “Yes, but…” – Yes, but more time. Yes, but at a higher cost. Yes, but you don’t need that much.

We have to listen to our clients and, in doing so, ask the right questions to understand their real need. We have to partner with our clients and educate them in order for them to make an informed decision. Finally, we have to provide solutions for our clients, the right solutions — even if the right solution costs less or should be provided by another party.

Being honest with yourself and with your clients is a sure way to build that strong relationship. Today, businesses need to be partners rather than vendors. Listen to your clients, set and maintain their expectations appropriately and provide real solutions along with real value, and they’re sure to be with you for the long haul, as well as provide referrals for new clients.

Consider you had only 300 competitors in your area and offering the very same services you do. Imagine if all of you had a 10 page website, all SEO friendly design, well placed content and that were it. There wouldn’t be much else to determine whether your web site should come up on page one or on page fifteen.

I always make sure that I talk to all of my clients about blogging. First, if you’re not talking, no one is listening. But there’s really more to it than that. When you create a blog post with relevant content for your clients and also take into consideration your target and the search terms they’d use to find you, you create another page of content that will go in your searchable pot of valued information for your visitors. Think of each blog post you write as a lottery ticket. The more tickets you have for a drawing, the better your odds are of coming out on top of the search engine lottery!

There are many other things you can do to improve the post itself, where you link to from it, how you share it or market it. But the most important thing is that the content gets created.

Perhaps you’re a nutritionist and you want to share healthy eating tips or recipes. Maybe there are some food myths out there that could use some debunking to benefit your clients.

Whatever it is and whoever your target, make it useful, make it shareable. Links back to your posts also help in your SEO and inbound marketing efforts. So get creative, get writing and get found!

We’ve all heard the saying “…can’t see the forest for the trees.” It happens to all of us. Looking to completely redefine itself, yet smack dab in the middle of all these trees, Final Cut Studio’s Robert Ricker reached out to friend and colleague, James “Jimmy” Forbes of Vespir.com.

Vespir Design had great vision in presenting logo and website concepts that spoke to our mission: “Functional and engaging web design with search engine optimization in mind.”

It was a fast, painless experience to work with Vespir and hope to partner with Jimmy on many more future projects.

After about two days of staging, slicing, coding, testing and tweaking, we can finally see the entire forest! Feel free to take a look around and, as always, don’t hesitate to contact Final Cut Studio for any of your organization’s web design needs.

Dallas based Final Cut Studio web design group is pleased to welcome Canyon Creek Fitness to its portfolio of web design clients! Canyon Creek Fitness is a Dallas area Fitness Bootcamp for women specializing in overall health and well-being.

After a slow start with current web design efforts, Canyon Creek was referred to Final Cut Studio through a friend of the owner, Renada Diller. Renada was very interested in having the ability to modify her own content and have a blog and calendar for her clients.

Following a very productive meeting, Renada was excited to get started. Final Cut Studio is also looking forward to working with Canyon Creek Fitness with their web design needs.

If your organization is struggling with static content and looking for a way to make your online presence more flexible and manageable, contact Final Cut Studio today to see what we can do for your web design needs!

Dallas based Final Cut Studio web design group is proud to announce the release of the new website for The Londoner in Addison, TX. As patrons and fans of The Londoner, great care was taken to ensure the essence of the pub was captured in the web design – as well as keep ease of maintenance in mind.

The new website, found at http://www.londoneraddison.com, is built on an installation of WordPress. This gives Londoner staff the ability to make frequent updates for event information with ease – and with no need for knowledge of HTML.

Just in time for World Cup, come by and check out their new site! And, as always, feel free to contact Final Cut Studio to see what we can do for your web design needs!

The Londoner Pub in Addison, Texas has selected Final Cut Studio web design group to design their new site. After 12 years of being a valued customer and fan of ”The Pub”, we’re really excited to be able to contribute to their online presence!

Their current web design is very limited and is difficult to update on a day-to-day basis by restaurant staff. Final Cut Studio will be employing WordPress so that once the new site is up, The Londoner will be able to manage their own site pages and event posts, including an online calendar to link to specific posts.

We’re eagerly underway with the web design and implementation and look forward to going live with this within the next month! Please stay tuned for updates!

As always, if you’re looking for an online partner to build or redesign your website, contact Final Cut Studio today to see what we can do for you!

For Final Cut Studio, this was a very exciting project to take on! Creating a website where DJ Christian Zanni could edit his pages, blog posts, events and even music sets was no small effort, but the outcome was well worth it!

When asked how he felt about the new web design, Zanni said “I really feel that the folks at Final Cut Studio truly took the time to embrace my vision and exceeded my expectations. They have a real creative understanding and this is one of the reasons why I chose to retain their web design services on this major undertaking. I look forward to the continued partnership with them.”

DJ Christian Zanni currently resides in Dallas where he holds multiple residencies. He is a seasoned musician/producer/DJ with a style that reflects the fluid sounds of progressive, deep, tech and electro house.

Take a look around www.DJZanni.com and check out some his music sets! Simply awesome!

If you’re looking for a new “spin” for your web design, contact Final Cut Studio to see how we can help you!

Working with Rick Smith of Cre8tiv Werks Video Production in Concord, California was a true pleasure. Cre8tiv Werks had a website, but it left a lot to be desired in function and seachability. Rick came to Final Cut Studio for help with their web design needs.

We worked on a web design and shared many ideas back and forth on imagery for the site. Once a concept was in place, the rest came together quickly. Changing hosting providers was part of the project as well due to the lack of response and service from their current provider. Cre8tiv Works now has a website that they can modify themselves as the need arises, post blog articles as well as post videos directly to their Portfolio page!

Feel free to stop by and see their new site and, as always, feel free to contact Final Cut Studio to see what we can do for your web design needs!