For every real world business facet there is a corresponding cyberspace counterpart. In the case of the real estate upon which business infrastructure is located in the real world, its counterpart is the homepage of the business website on the Internet. In both cases, the asset’s usability plays a vital role to how successful it — and the business behind it — will be.

This is why in designing website homepages for small and medium businesses (SMBs), the usability factor is a very important consideration. Homepage usability dictates how efficiently your visitors turn from just traffic into conversion, and establishes that website’s presence in the Web.

The homepage should be usable and useful enough to offer visitors what they need — or a means to get what they need — as soon as they land on it. The homepage is the foremost and most important webpage in a site. Increasing homepage usability increases business value.

So how can you improve your homepage usability? There are a number of general and specific guidelines you can follow; we’ll look at nine pointers that make the most impact (aside from sound Web design principles and navigation development theory):

1. Group corporate info in a specific area

Sounds like common sense? It’s one of the most often disregarded guidelines to usable homepage design. Grouping corporate information in a single distinct area allows visitors to find out a little more about the business behind the website, and is quite essential if the website is recruiting, into PR or investor relations, and provides, offers, or is looking for B2B opportunities. If more information (like a backgrounder) follows, add a link to a separate webpage.

2. Emphasize Most Important Info and High Priority Tasks

This is another significant usability guideline that is often unheeded. The homepage should be able to provide its users with a clear starting point from which, ideally, one to four main tasks relevant to the website or business can be performed. Otherwise, you end up with a decentralized homepage that offers generic links instead of useful ones.

3.  Don’t forget the search box

The search box is a very handy feature and quite typical in homepages, but you might want to do better than putting in a generic search box. Search-dominance is the most prevalent user behavior — well over half of your traffic will be resorting to the search box to find the info they need from your website. If your search box is subpar and ends up wasting their time, they’ll soon spend it somewhere else. Also, advanced search settings might be useful for many search-dominant users. The size of the search box should be preferably 27 characters wide, to avoid obscuring some parts of the users’ query when entering multiple words. And lastly, avoid redundant design: don’t label the search area with the word “Search” when the button next to it says exactly that.

4.  Use examples of content from within the website in the homepage

In revealing site content in the homepage, use real examples of data or services from other webpages in the website. Don’t settle for just describing what’s underneath — go ahead and show them what’s in store. Prefer the specific over the abstract, and prefer to showcase the most recent updates or the best info or both.

5.  Employ meaningful graphics

Too many websites are using graphics for decorating homepages, instead of showing real content. Generic stock photos are used over photos that actually have something to do with the content or the purpose of the website. Improving aesthetics does not mean distracting users with pretty images that have no use at all. The eyes naturally gravitate towards pictures, so use them wisely. Think along the lines of infographics — these images can even standalone without website content.

6.  Don’t over-format critical elements

Your visitors often dismiss elements that are too graphical, taking them for ads or promotions. Chalk it up to banner blindness, but because of this, it is unwise to dress critical elements up with elaborate illustrations, colors, and boxes. Be careful to never use fancy formatting for important text and navigation areas, unless you want them to be mostly ignored.

7.  Do away with marketese and be explicit in what your site offers

The clever catch phrases and sales pitches may seem quite alluring to you, but your users require real services and not hyped-up promises. Use a straightforward approach and don’t hide your content beneath marketing lingo that leaves little or a bad impression on your users. Your visitors can only spare a few seconds of their time searching for what they need, so don’t waste these precious seconds with sales talk.

8.  Avoid content-free taglines and use true Web one-sentence taglines

Wait, what’s the difference? The branding slogan you spent millions to develop and trademark is all well and good, but if you want to use it, put it in with the graphic banner logo of your site where it can be ignored and use a real Web one-sentence tagline on your website homepage. This tagline, as opposed to the branding-centered effort of the brand slogan, explicitly tells your visitors what the site is all about. Don’t make your users go to an “About” page just to find out the site’s purpose.

9.  Avoid linking to your homepage from your homepage

From an off-page Search Engine Optimization perspective, this may seem like a grand idea, but really, the deep and intra-site link juice coming from all the other webpages in the site should suffice. In terms of usability, homepage links from the homepage only serve to waste your users’ time (if they click on it only to be returned to that same page) and confuse them (if they’re already on the homepage, why’s there still a link to the homepage?). For templates that have the generic “Home” link in the nav bar, try disabling it whenever the users are on the homepage, or make sure they explicitly know where they are in your website (like highlighting the ‘home’ link where they’re at).

Low Usability = Less Income Generating Potential

There are a lot of sound guidelines to follow; these nine are some of the ones with the most impact on usability. Some might seem common sense but are not often used; others still might seem nominal but in fact have great influence on homepage usability and web design. The bottom-line is that if the homepage design follows these simple guidelines, an SMB website can avoid low usability which translates to low income generating potential.

It’s that time again to look at some of the recently submitted websites on Webmaster Showcase. These submissions were added both this year and late 2010. As always, we love to hear about Australian Web Designers doing great things and share them within our community. These are truly inspiring websites – Congratulations to you all.

Well it’s that time of year again when Webmasters Showcase announces its 2010 winner. It has been an exciting year for the community, experiencing strong growth in members, content contribution and general interest. With over 270 Australian website submissions, we hope that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

This inaugural award (we can say that now because it’s the second year running!) has brought about the awareness of some very hardworking and talented designers. Selected by peers, the winning business is voted on by programmers, website designers, and the general public. Criterion encompasses a range of factors, from design features and ease of navigation, to interface intuitiveness and performance.

But let’s get to it shall we? Drum roll please…

Congratulations to Design Lots Creative! Voted by the Webmaster Showcase community, they have become our Web Designer of 2010.

Based in Brisbane, this creative design agency specialises in professional website and graphic design, which is available to both overseas and domestic markets.

With a modern look and feel to their work, Design Lots Creative’s aim is to align solutions with customers’ business goals, while establishing longevity with their designs. This is achieved by “adapting new and traditional media…”

“Our services include the design and development of corporate identity and branding, business stationery and marketing collateral, and online media including website design, iPhone websites, email marketing and online shopping.”

Bringing Intelligent Design & Marketing to the table, Design Lots Creative shows both clean and bold design elements in their work. The resulting visual impact is quite arresting, offering a great contrast between light and dark. The engaging designs allow for marketing imagery that is both aesthetically pleasing, while fitting into the professional, corporate mould.

Congratulations again to Design Lots Creative!

With another year under their belt, Webmasters Showcase is looking towards the future. A community focussed on Australian webmasters, it is a hub to discuss current projects, web strategies and designs, and provide feedback and advice. Attracting designers, developers, programmers, and an array of other web design enthusiasts, Webmaster Showcase’s aim is to become the web design Mecca of Australia.

If you are in the web design market, they want you! Communicate with industry peers, show off your work, and find new clients today!

Sign up for your Webmasters Showcase Profile, and experience the benefits, all the while being in the running to become 2011′s winner. Register now and submit your business

Webmaster Showcase submissions come along each month, but only the best will make it to the top of the yearly charts. Only one site can win, so we need your help by voting your favourite to the top! Here are the leading sites thus far:

(please note: this list was put together on December 9th 2010. This list is still subject to change with 23 voting days still left for 2010)

View the current yearly leaders

1st Place:

2nd Place:

Tied 3rd Place:

4th Place:

Who are you voting for, and why? There are a lot of great sites to choose from!
Click here to vote now

Every now and again we come across Australian web designers and developers producing great things. Eli Burford, a 19 year old web designer from the northern suburbs of Adelaide has created simple circular social media icon set that is absolutely brilliant. Great work Eli and thanks for allowing us to share it.

Included in the set are icons for: Blogger, Delicious, DesignFloat, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Google, a heart icon that will work for anything (such as bookmark), MySpace, Reddit, an RSS icon, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Twitter, WordPress, Yahoo!, YouTube, AIM, Bebo, eBay, Hi5, Last.fm, LinkedIn, Windows Live, Ning, Orkut and Yahoo Messenger.

Download Social Media Icons Pack 2.0 (.zip)

Social Media Icons Pack can be used on both personal and commercial projects.

If you know of any other Aussies producing great web work or, have produced something yourself, drop as a comment below and we’ll be happy to add it to our blog.

Lets forget the rest of the world and internet broswer statistics for a minute.
We are very curious to know what internet browser(s) Aussie webmasters prefer.

1) When your designing / developing a website which browser do you intially design for?
2) What browser add-ons are your personal favourites for web design and development?
3) What do you think is the best browser available right now?

Would love to hear your comments on this.

If you’re in the mood for some tips, tricks and inspiration regarding the Web world, then there are plenty of conferences and seminars taking place around Australia. They deal with anything from web design, development and marketing, and they are well worth looking into. We’ve put together a list below covering some of these events over the coming months.

Upcoming Events

ARIA & HTML5 Workshop

Sydney: Tuesday 23rd November. 9.00am – 12.30pm
SMC Conference & Function Centre,
66 Goulburn Street, Sydney 2000

Canberra: Wednesday 24th November. 12.30pm – 4.00pm
Conference Room, National Library of Australia,
Parkes Place, Parkes, ACT

Melbourne: Thursday 25th November. 1.30pm – 5.00pm
Ether Conference Centre (between the Swanston Hotel and Grand Mercure)
265-281 Little Bourke St, Melbourne 3000

Perth: Monday 29th November.
(Venue and time still to be finalised)

Brisbane: Wednesday 1December. 1.30pm – 5.00pm
Cliftons Conference and Seminar rooms
288 Edward Street, Brisbane 4000

Cost
WIPA and AWIA members $60.00
Non-members $90
Morning/afternoon teas will be provided

The workshops are being presented by the Web Industry Professionals Association (WIPA) and the Australian Web Industry Association (AWIA).

Bookings are now open for the ARIA and HTML 5 workshops in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. Perth bookings will be available in the near future. You can make bookings on the WIPA site at http://wipa.org.au/html5/

WAI-ARIA: Making the interactive web more accessible

Presenter: Steve Faulkner
I will make a serious attempt to demystify ARIA. Outlining its major aspects and how it works under the hood to improve the user experience. I’ll talk about what it is and what it is not, when and where it should be used, explaining the advantages and the pitfalls. I’ll also go into how it fits into the emerging HTML5 UI ecosystem. Don’t expect any live screen reader demonstrations (but maybe a video or 2).

There will be slides, code and developer tool demonstrations and expect some lively debate on the topics of HTML5, ARIA and accessibility with my co-presenter Bruce.

Steve Faulkner
Steve is the Technical Director at The Paciello Group (TPG). He leads the development of the Web Accessibility Toolbar, Color Contrast Analyser and AViewer accessibility testing tools. He is an active member of the W3C HTML Working Group and W3C Protocols and Formats Working Group. His work in these groups is focused on HTML5 canvas accessibility, use of WAI-ARIA in HTML5 and he is editor of the W3C Draft Specification HTML5: Techniques for providing useful text alternatives. Steve regularly publishes articles and research on accessibility issues on the TPG blog.

HTML5: The good, the bad and the quite interesting

Presenter: Bruce Lawson
I’ll introduce the new features of HTML5 and show why it can help you make more robust and accessible web apps using open standards. I’ll look deeply at the new semantic elements, adding intelligent forms that can remove the need for JavaScript validation, and adding native video to a page that doesn’t use plugins (although degrades to Flash in older browsers). We’ll look at the new APIs for canvas, Geolocation, etc – what they can do and how simple the syntax is.

The workshop will be a mixture of slideware, live coding and in-browser demos. It’s intended for those who write mark-up, and doesn’t expect deep JavaScript knowledge (we look at the potential of the APIs but not the intricacies of coding).

We emphasise simplicity of authoring and accessibility of the user experience.
Bruce Lawson
Bruce evangelises Open Web Standards for Opera. He’s been active in Web Standards since 2002, working with the Web Standards Project, the British Standards Institution’s guidance on commissioning accessible web sites. He’s currently on the W3C Mobile Best Practices Working Group and co-authored “Introducing HTML5″ (www.introducinghtml5.com), the first full-length book on the subject. He once had a girlfriend named Sheila, although neither were Australian.

webDU – Sydney 14th-15th April 2011
WebDU is a growing web technology conference that discusses what is new, while also providing training on experience in the process.

Events That Have Past for 2010 – look out for them around the same time in 2011:

Web Forward – Look out for it in May 2011
Web Forward is part of the CeBIT conference and features information on everything from search to social media.

These events have already occurred this year, but they are definitely worth checking out in the next. Get the calender out now to avoid disapointment. These events usually occurr around the same time each year.
A 2011 calender list will be available here towards the end of the year.

DevFest – June 28 to July 2, 2010 in Sydney
Brought to you by Google, this week-long event full of mini-conferences deals with topics relating to Google developer topics, such as Chrome, SEO, Wave and Apps.

Web Industry July 7, 2010 (6:00 pm) in Perth
Port80 is a gathering of web industry professionals to network and connect with others in a casual environment.

Joomla Day – Australia-wide
Joomla Days occur in various cities across the country, and those involve lectures, workshops and training using the popular CMS tool. Many have already passed for the year, but it is a good idea to check the website for future dates.In addition, there are also Joomla User Groups that meet as well for less intense Joomla sessions:

–Sydney: Tue 13 July,
–Melbourne: Wed 21 July,
–Canberra: 1st Monday Monthly,
–Adelaide: Thurs 17 June,

–Perth: Mon 2 November 2010

UX Australia – August 25-27, 2010 in Melbourne

UX Australia is a user experience conference that takes place over three days – two of which are for presentations, and one of which is for workshops.

Oz-IA/2010 Conference – Oct.8, 2010 in Sydney
The Oz-IA Conference is a two-day conference that covers information architecture and includes presentation, workshops and networking.

Web Directions South – Oct.12–15, 2010 in Sydney
Web Directions South is one of the biggest web-related events in the world, and it makes its way to Australia in October. It features days of events that deal with development, design and networki

Thanks Krystie for passing on all the information from the Australian Web Awards.

Australian Web Awards ‘cocktails with a twist’
- Monday 11 October 2010, City Hotel, Sydney
It’s a tradition to run an AWIA Port80 during Web week, well this time we are going crazy and stepping it up a notch, because we know you can take it! Come celebrate the best of the Web with the Australian Web Awards “cocktails with a twist” evening in Sydney as part of Web Week.

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Australian Web Awards ‘taking hold…..of your mobile”
– Tuesday 26th October, Hotel Urban, Brisbane
Get the buzz on the latest for mobile design and development from two of the industries leading practitioners, Oliver Weidlich (Mobile Experience) and Chris Mills (Opera). Also come celebrate the best of the Web with AWIA and the Australian Web Awards presentations evening in Brisbane!

Australian Web Awards’ Gala Dinner
- Saturday 6th November, Parmelia Hilton, Perth
WA and National award presentations
Last but not least there will be the WA State Awards and at the peak of this frenzy we’ll finish with the National Awards!

So, if you’re in WA, or you’re a State finalist and in the running for a National gong or if you need an excuse for a trip west and a celebration then this is your night of nights.

This list is definitely not complete! If you know of an event that should be added, please drop it in the comments below. We’ll be updating it periodically.

One of the most important websites any freelance web designer, or web design business, will have to create is their very own online portfolio. Being a straight source for displaying past work, portraying a vision and making a sale, it simply must stand up – and it needs to stay up. So, if you haven’t taken a look at yours lately, you just might want to in order to ensure it does in fact look as fresh and bright as you remember (industry standards are always changing!), or else you could be losing potential clients.

For reference and inspiration, we have put together a number of fresh and creative Australian portfolio examples below. We hope you like the collection, and you can see more work by these designers by visiting our homepage.

Bunton is a Brisbane-based freelance web design and branding business run by Sean Bunton. Sean’s online portfolio runs on simplicity, offering the visitor a clean and clear look at all past work, and on the ability to email or follow on Twitter. Basically, Sean has taken all of the clutter out of his portfolio so that potential clients can focus on what matters – his design work.

Sarah Enid Moule is a freelance artist and designer located in Western Australia. Her portfolio displays her work in web design, graphic design and illustration, all within eye view of entering the site. If that is enough to grab your attention, she provides a little bit of her background and work experience further down the page, but all with jump-to links for easy navigation.

Alan van Roemburg is a Melbourne-based designer that focuses on graphic design and icons. He founded a studio in Melbourne called The Graphic Order. As you can see from his portfolio, he also decided to keep it very clean and simple in order to showcase his work.

Design Lots Creative is a Brisbane-based design company. They have a team of creative professionals looking to give businesses the best. Their portfolio section of the website is crisp with nice images on a dark background. The most recent work contains a description, while the rest are referenced below.

Eleven Media is a Melbourne-based, boutique design studio run by Aaron Rutley and Blaz Robar. They focus on modern design projects, which can be seen via their website. The visitor is directly taken to a portfolio of work above the fold with the information for the company below that.

Webski Solutions is a web design and development company based in Sydney. Their online portfolio features a scrolling list project images over a stagnant dark background.

Adam Trickett is a freelance web designer based in Western Australia. Adam’s online portfolio features small images that are clickable to enlarge with details of all his past projects.

Jesse Dodds is a graphic and web designer that can offer a slew of services, including interface design. Dodds’ portfolio page is great with the ability to focus on one large past work image in detail by selecting from the icons below. It’s uncluttered and to the point, especially with his “What I Can Do For You” Services page.

Bara’ Design is a Gold Coast graphic and web design company with a lot of really fresh and colourful work to show off in their portfolio. The clean white background sets off the bold images and designs, while the rest of site is calm in comparison.

Jade Nagy’s web portfolio contains simple images on a dark background, with bits of text popping out in pink. Instead of being a collage of all the work, only a few in each section are presented in images, while the rest are linked below. Jade is a Melbourne-based freelance web and graphic designer that focuses on style.

When creating a portfolio, it is good to keep a few simple points in mind. You will surely notice that these tips were a trending topic in the list above and provide for excellent portfolios.

• Get to the point without drowning your visitor in words
• Make a clean navigation system
• Go easy on the eye by not cramming many graphics into an area
• Organise your portfolio with your target market in mind

Following these steps alone can give your online portfolio a boost and help you make the most of design work endeavors. But, of course, there’s nothing more important than the bits you are actually showcasing.

Webmaster Showcase is proud to have these designers as members of our website. If you know of any other inspirational Aussie portfolios that should be added to this list, please let us know by leaving a comment.

For those who have never heard about us, Webmaster Showcase is Australian community of focused designers and developers all after the same goal: to share our work, and grow from it. At its most basic level, Webmaster Showcase can be a website to turn to in order to gain ideas and inspiration for your next design. On the other end of the scale, the site is a way to track design trends, see how yours compare with others in the same field, and to basically do some advertising for your work in the process.

How it all works

Any web designer or developer is able to join the community (remember, it’s free), but you must be based within Australia. After joining, you are able to submit your own work to the website where it will be judged – side by side – with the 135 other submissions that are currently circulating throughout the site.

Judging takes place in votes, meaning the design with the highest number of votes at the end of the month or year will be drawn to the front of the website. As a member, you have the ability to vote, but please note that we do not allow multiple voting on the same design.

Getting the most out of Webmaster Showcase

–Set up a personal profile: Creating a profile gives you the ability to list your personal information, such as a link to your personal work, as well as build a better presence in the community. One of our top users, WebbyEasy, can be seen here as taking advantage of this factor. He made sure to create an avatar – the image that displays with your comments and submissions – to make his experience much more personal.

–Create an effective site profile: When submitting your work, create a clean and informative site profile. One Man Epic | North Pole Expedition is a good example of what we are looking for as it clearly gives the design description, category, tags, and it was created by a member with a complete personal profile. The avatar for the member is clearly displayed, and if anyone clicks on the user’s name, they get to view a finished profile. Think of this profile almost like a business card.

–Vote and comment often: Take an active role in the community by giving other submissions your honest feedback through comments and voting. The more you contribute, the more likely you are to get noticed, as well as get more feedback on your own. Participation and feedback can only help you grow as a designer, in addition to getting you to the top of the Top Users list!

–Create and join groups: Groups in Webmaster Showcase allow members to share articles and information with other members of similar interests. Groups are a great way to create discussion, share and grow in the community, as well as get noticed and show an expertise in your area.

Win awards and gain credit

One of the coolest features of taking part in Webmaster Showcase is the fact that you can win awards and gain credit in the design world. Each month and year, the top voted submission will earn a place on our Winners Wall, in addition to the right to sport a Webmaster Showcase badge on your own website. Just imagine how good that will look to potential clients that your design(s) has been selected as the top among many!

Think you measure up?

Take a look at just some of our latest submissions below, and if you think your designs match or standout amongst these designs, then we would love to see your work on the showcase.

We look forward to having you as a member of Webmaster Showcase and making a great 2010. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, too, for even more tips and info relating to the web design world.