Ecommerce websites are a big industry. My articles on small and medium size businesses - and their need for a webpage, is often about webpage templates applications. Larger, more complex Ecommerce websites have their own strengths, problems and solutions. I found a company that specializes is Ecommerce webpages. When I wrote to them they agreed to let me interview Andrey Smagin, Creative Director at Solid Cactus.

How did you get into web design? “I was working at a local newspaper designing print ads for a local market and was really attracted by the web. That was about 10 years ago. By that time I had some experience in html but it was limited to text-only browsers like Lynx. I started thinking about creating a website for the newspaper and came up with several ideas. None of them was picked by editors but I knew I had a new career ahead of me.”

Do you remember the very first site you designed? “It was that newspaper site that the web has never seen. It worked on my computer though.”

You are doing a lot of Ecommerce, is this a specialization for you? “Ecommerce web design is a specialization for our company and 95% of what I do is sites that sell something online.”

Where do you get your art for these webpages? “I try to create original art every time when it is possible. But we use stock photography at Solid Cactus a lot too. Lately, Istockphoto.com has been a great source of original and affordable imagery.”

What will be the next big development in webpage design? “There is not going to be ‘webpage design’. The web is going to go further and further from print and the phrase ‘web page’ won’t be used much. Websites will be more and more interactive and multimedia rich, and nobody will know if they are still on the same page or not. It’s already happening. Ajax, Flex and technologies like these will make the web more like a desktop experience, and I think eventually it will replace desktop completely for the most users.”

Have you ever worked with website templates? “Not for our clients. It probably depends on what kind of templates you are asking about. A template is an already designed solution used many times. I usually work on original designs but use templates in some web products, like blogs for example.”

What do you think about Flash technology? “It’s amazing and will continue it’s development and it will be next thing since it provides best possibilities for multimedia design. And ultimately that’s the direction where web is moving.”

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Flash? “Too many to list here. But as with any powerful tool it can be dangerous when people don’t know how to use it. At the same time it gives tremendous opportunity for careful and creative designers and developers to build best experiences online.”

What are your sources of inspiration? “My life, music, nature.”

What are your favorite website designs that you did? “solidcactus.com, ferretstore.com, blog.solidcactus.com”

What are your favorite website designs that you did NOT design yourself? “apple.com, hicksdesign.co.uk, artlebedev.ru”

What was the toughest project or customer situation you’ve encountered? “Design of our company’s site is probably the
toughest project for me. It has so many functions and has to stay clean, uncluttered and useful for us and our clients. It’s always a work in progress and it gets better and better with time. It’s tough to keep it going, always up in quality and content. We have to make it fresh and consistent at the same time. Maybe that’s why it’s on of my favorite websites – solidcactus.com.”

What are your interests and dislikes in webpage design? “I’m interested in everything that has anything to do with web design. And it is hard for me, because there are so many things to know that I’m sometimes wondering if I’m spreading my knowledge too far and it will be too thin. But I tend to believe that the human brain is capable of many things and keep learning more and more new things, new technologies new techniques.”

Thankyou Andrey for your thoughts and insights on webpage design.

Reporting Live from Winter Wonderland,
Arthur Browning

Google AdSense has been the preferred way for many people to earn some income online. There are ways to improve your earnings with Adsense whether you have a WordPress Template blog or a major website.

First sign up for the free account, copy your ad code and paste it into your WordPress Theme or website. However much money AdSense is making for you now - a few adjustments can increase that amount.

1) Don’t use the traditional horizontal banner style or leaderboard image ads because people are blind to them.

2) Color code your ads to match your web site colors. Don’t use frames around your ads - choose the same color as your page background for the ad frame and the ad background.

3) Use Google’s AdSense optimization tips, especially the visual heat map to help you decide where on your page to place your AdSense ad code. WordPress Themes are flexible enough for a good bit of adjustment.

4) Research competitive keywords using a keyword research tool such as Keyword Discovery or use the list of the most popular keywords from various sources for your website. Targeting popular keywords should trigger AdSense ads on your pages that utilize those keywords. The more popular the keyword or phrase, the higher AdWords advertisers are generally willing to pay per click for it so the higher your commission on those clicks.

5) Use Google’s 4 and 5 link ad units wherever possible. They seem to have a much higher Click Through Rate (CTR) than regular ad styles. You can view all the AdSense ad formats when you sign up. WordPress Themes can handle several ads.

6) Place arrows or images next to your ads to draw attention to them.

7) Use the full allowance of multiple AdSense ads on each of your pages - 3 regular AdSense ads, plus 1 link unit. Use careful placement of these ads so they keep the look of your site.

8) Tailor your page content to a particular niche or focus to trigger AdWords ads that closely match your content and are more likely to interest your visitors and inspire them to click.

Fully Optimized,
Arthur Browning