I know, three versions in under twelve months? Sad. But, a small business must grow, and with the growth they must change things, add things, remove things, focus on things, etc. Version 3.0 is my attempt at doing just that. Version 2.0 had a primary focus of learning WordPress development and I can safely say that is now a readily available and used tool in my “tool-belt.” I felt comfortable enough to tackle a few client projects with custom WordPress themes. This is beside the point though. (Compare v.3 to v.2 using the images below).

[Show as slideshow]

Version 3 is a redesign, as was version 2, but it also brought with it a concept that is currently only visible on the blog, and that is Responsive Web Design. No matter the size of the your browser window or your device, you should be able to have a pleasurable reading and browsing expereience here, and on any website for that matter. To this end, the blog has been equipped with several responsive web design techniques, and more are added each day. This will eventually make its way across the entire website here, but in the meantime is focused on the blog only.

A second item that came along with version 3 was an updated mission statement. You can read a bit about this change on the About page, but essentially it is a shift in thinking inside the box to thinking outside of the box. Instead of focusing on “helping people make the most of the web” Aiken Web Solutions is focused on helping businesses increase: consumer awareness, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. I outline what each of these entail on the homepage. It allows Aiken Web Solutions to flex with the client depending on where they need our expertise.

In order to reflect this mission statement update the entire website was rebranded with the new AWS logo and a much more professional type face and size. I stayed with the professional white background, but did some experimenting with the top menu color as well as the paragraph color you see here. All of these things were accomplished keeping in mind the updated mission statement and the clientele we wish to attract.

Browse around and enjoy! If you have any feedback, please leave a comment on this post. And if you can use our services, or have a question about Effective Profile or QuikPics, please contact us using this form.

Cheers,

Aaron Aiken
http://aaron.effectiveprofile.com

You are currently on version 2.0, and if you have poked around and clicked the links you already have a good idea of the site.

When I sat down to redesign the AWS homepage I had one thing in mind: focus. My business was only 3 months old when I did the redesign, but I had focused my service list from 5 to 1 and my product list from 0 to 1. So focusing on these two items was priority number 1.

Priority number 2 was simplicity. The site needed to be easy to navigate and make sense to visitors. I believe that it is easier to scroll down a page and have the information you are looking for jump out at you, than it is to hunt and peck on links with your mouse to find what you are looking for. So the homepage is one long page. Just scroll down and what you are looking for will be found there. And if you want more of that click ‘more’.

The third priority was me. I am learning new things every single day; I do not know of a person that works with web design or development that doesn’t. So this project for me is taking everything back to the basics. Back to simple CSS and HTML. This is the foundation, if you will. As time permits I will take this and transition it to a WordPress website (since that is my business). Starting with the foundation will help me to learn so much more as I transition the site to a full WordPress site. I will appreciate the platform much more, too.

Cheers,

Aaron

This project was my baby for about one week. Lindsay and I discussed doing web design/development work on a full-time basis at our third home, Starbucks, and decided that one week later is when I should officially “launch”. So I got to work. Version 1.0 is built on WordPress and is an extremely customized theme. Version 2.0, above and current, is a little different. Bit more of thought and philosophy at play.

Version one was fun to make, and work with. But, something happens a few months into a business. You realize where your focus is heading and you, well, want to focus on that. Not only did I want to focus on two specific products/services (the Business and Personal sides) but I wanted the website to reflect the same thing. So version 1.0 was sort of my intro to this type of work, and version 2.0 is the business finding and narrowing in one a niche or two.

Cheers,

Aaron

P.S. Take a look at the screenshots below.