We recently launched a new website for the Mosida Meats company. The farm in Elberta, Utah started primarily in dairy (milk - mmm good) and is now offering local delivery of their Grass Fed - Corn Finished beef. I was able to take a tour of the farm and do a photo shoot to capture the essence of the operation for the website. Needless to say I was impressed. We're glad to have been able to launch the new mobile friendly / responsive website so it can be seen well on smart phones, tablets and of.... read more

We've compiled a list of five quick checks you can do to help you answer the question, "how do I know if I need a new website?"  If your website fails all five, then you almost definitely need a re-design; but if you only have one or two then starting from scratch may not be necessary. Can you edit the content of your website? Or, does someone else still need to do that for you?  Editing a website shouldn't be any more difficult than editing a Microsoft Word document; and, if it is,.... read more

A Custom Website isn't what it used to be.  There was a day when a client would ask for a custom website, and they would get a brand new, professionally unique, design that encompassed the brand of the organization.  That original graphic design would be coded from scratch, hosting was set up, and, POOF, a new work of art was released to the world wide web.  That service has not gone away, but several corporations have popped up who are all pawning off modified website templates a.... read more

Remember that time you were sitting on your couch watching your favorite television program, and then the sun turned a corner and a glare the size of Montana started live streaming through your eyes?  You really wanted to turn down the blinds, but you had just sat down with a huge bowl of popcorn.  What to do? One of our newest clients, Tilt My Blinds, has developed a product/software combination that now allows you to automate your blinds throughout your house, and all you need is an.... read more

A website is like a puzzle; many components need to come together to make the perfect picture. When you hear the words, domain, hosting, code and more being hurtled at you at 100 mph, it’s no wonder many feel that developing a web presence is overwhelming.  Let’s take a peek at the components that make up a website and the services available to create one. Domain A domain is the unique name for your website (i.e. www.lunasoft.com). Type it in to the address bar and visitors will be able.... read more

Free Websites for Small Business: You Get What You Pay For These days, every business knows that they need a website.  At the very least, it serves as a digital business card to advertise on your actual business card, or to use as a tool in your advertising campaigns. Most small to medium sized businesses, agencies, organizations, and committees will need to decide whether to use a free website builder, learn to build it themselves, or to hire a professional development company, in order .... read more

Design trends in 2014 A new year is here, and with it, new design styles and trends to help you keep your website looking up to date, modern and fresh! This year the buzzword you need to be familiar with is FLAT. Over the past year here at LunaWebs we have been viewing our website traffic analytics carefully, and what we have seen is the incredible growth of mobile browser traffic coming to our websites. With a smart phone in everyones pocket or purse, it has become more and more common for pe.... read more

‘Humbling’ isn’t often a word you hear people associate with marketing, yet having worked in online marketing for the past few years has proved to be an extremely humbling experience. In the minds of many, SEO (aka Search Engine Optimization) is believed to be an exact science. Reality paints a picture showing SEO as being as much a science as meteorology. In other words, it’s predictable to a certain extent; however, there will always be those instances in which you find yourself caught in a d.... read more

Within your page editor, you may have inserted the image you love, but would like to spice up the way it looks in your page.  Maybe your header image looks like this: It is possible that the web design LunaWebs provided you with contains classes that are available for your use! To activate a class, click the "Insert/Edit Image" icon in your toolbar: You will then see a window full of functionality that allows you to customize the display of your image.  Head over to the "Appeara.... read more

  Build your Website like a BMW: Professional Websites and Luxury Vehicles BMW’s are considered the Ultimate Driving Machine. Why is a BMW the Ultimate Driving Machine? They build custom car parts that are beautifully crafted to work together. BMW builds their engines, they build their on-board computer system, they build their driveshaft, they build their frame, they build their safety system and it all works together.  The only items that are not built by BMW are the wheels and the.... read more

A Website Without a Logo Ideally before you build a website, your logo/brand should be designed first.  Then all other designs should compliment the brand/logo you've just established. Here's a few logo tips to consider before jumping in and building your website. Have a Cohesive Brand.  If you have a logo and a brand style - your website will look more cohesive and established.  You want your logo to look professional, and to fit the overall feel of your site. Think abou.... read more

When building a website that uses icons you have a couple icons. You can save the icons as an image ( either one image per icon or a css sprite with all icons ) or you can create a font that has the vector for that image. The image has the benefit of being able to use multiple colors within the icon. However if you use the PNG format for your image then the icon will not scale or shrink gracefully. You could use an SVG format, however even with the modern advancements not everyone is using a SV.... read more

What's the one thing we all know about, have, and most likely use until our secret is out? A junk drawer. Sure, it holds plenty of necessary information, but if you have to sort through a mess every time you want to find it, eventually, most of us give up. The content of your website is no exception. If you want users to take in more or your content, you’re going to need a way to clean up the information. That’s where info-graphics come in. They’re the IKEA organizer of content. Spring clean.... read more

'Nothing in life is free,' my mum has advised me from a young age. As a business woman, I've come to see and realize firsthand, just how true that is. A free website is no exception. If you are considering a free or extremely low cost website, don't proceed unless you've educated yourself about the potential repercussions. Here are three strong reasons a 'FREE' website is very bad business for business... 1. A 'free' website is a horrible marketing tool.   You get the product for which yo.... read more

Having trouble fitting everything on the screen? Are you finding that you are displaying too much information all at once, potentially confusing the user? Consider collapsible interface design to hide areas/information that aren't the immediate need. This will allow you to conserve space and better direct your user to the desired action. Collapsible interfaces are great for administration interfaces, where there is a lot of editable information available but not all of it is commonly edited but.... read more

Messy PSDs (aka Photoshop files) are a nightmare. While it may feel daunting, it is critical that web designers understand how to keep clean PSDs in order to facilitate a smooth process for all involved. Ready for a crash course in Photoshop etiquette? Let's get started! Photoshop Commandments 101 1. Thou shalt name thy layers. You must name all of your layers. Why? Because if you don't, you end up with a PSD that contains numerous layers that simply say, layer copy... and let's be honest, wh.... read more

Maintaining a healthy perspective about a site's rank within search engines is often a challenge for many website owners. In an effort to be #1, many companies hire so-called 'experts' who excessively manipulate the code of a website with the hope of improving the site's rank. Does the code of your website really matter? Yes, the quality of your website's code matters a great deal! Although it may not directly impact your conversion, clean code does aid in... Overall performance of your web.... read more

I want to be #1 on Google! If I had a dollar for every time a client or perspective client has said this to me over the past 3 years, I'd have purchased one of those private islands being advertised in Dubai. I hope you caught my humor, but here's the thing... I'm not really kidding. It's okay; you can admit it: you want your website to be number one on Google and every other search engine. I get it... If you've read some of my recent blogs, you may already be familiar with some recent SEO in.... read more

By now you've heard about the 'less than 5 seconds' rule when hooking visitors to your website. Unfortunately this leads many businesses trying to cram a single page with as much information as possible. Bad idea. Let's take a look at some simple (and not so simple) sites and we'll explain why simplicity really is more effective.   Not-So-Simple The Problem: Too much information! Most will likely agree that there's just too much going on here. In order to avoid this common mistake, it'.... read more

Because the internet is not going away, your website is the best piece of marketing your business has With that being the case, it is absolutely critical that your company website be designed and executed in the right way. A common issue we've noticed over the years is that many business owners are extremely married to their idea of what, 'looks good'. Don't get me wrong, we want you to be happy with your site, however, a strong website will have the ability to reach your target audience, answe.... read more

Did you accomplish everything you wanted to this year?   Perhaps you didn't - but I'm sure the year had many highlights.   We recently looked back on our year and found we did indeed accomplish a lot. Did we do everything we wanted to. Probably not.  But that's ok. Taking inventory allows you to reset, make new goals and see how great the year really was. Here are Luna's top 10 of accomplishments during 2012... Worked with Many Great People to Launch Many Great Websi.... read more

Creating content for your website is really important. It helps ensure your website will get "indexed" by search engines like Google and Bing.  Fresh, unique and regular content is a must for a healthy website. But don't just build out content for the search engines and ignore your users. Your website visitors will enjoy your blogs and articles more if you provide graphs, infographics, photos and videos. You can even get free high quality photos if you do a little be of research. So where .... read more

Websites that don’t contain interactive elements often feel like little more than brochures. Over the years, there have been a number of ways to add interactive content to your site. Flash and CSS are still commonly used in some tasks but with the introduction of AJAX during the web 2.0 era, and with increasing interest in HTML5, a lot of attention is being focused on JavaScript. Here are a few tips to make sure that the JavaScript on your site is running better and faster. This list is m.... read more

In previous articles we’ve covered some of the things to think about when developing mobile apps. In this brief article we’ll focus on some of the fundamental differences in creating apps for the three most popular platforms; Android, iOS and Window’s Mobile. Google Android Google prides itself as giving software developers an open-platform to develop applications on. This means that unlike some of it’s competitors they don’t require approval to develop for it&rsq.... read more

Jquery is a great library used by many. Those who are just starting out can become a bit confused by the jquery selector format. I want to take some time today and give you a primer and some examples on using selectors in jquery. Using them effeciently can save you time and headache. If you aren't familiar with unobtrusive javascript techniques, now would be a good time to brush up. If you create your javascript in an "unobtrusive" way, this means that you keep your javascript code separated fr.... read more

So you've decided to look in to creating a website for your business. You've looked at various options, met with multiple designers, and been quoted a whole range of prices. Chances are, the expense is likely to be one of the considerations you will take in to account when selecting your firm. This is understandable. That being said, one thing I tend to hear a lot when speaking with perspective clients is, 'We had a designer, but he was extremely cheap, and well, I finally figured out you get wh.... read more

We recently launched a used restaurant equipment site call Restaurant Equipment Listings. The site engages Luna's listing manager technology which allows restaurant owners to quickly post their used restaurant supplies for free or for a fee. Features of the site include the ability for users to post their old commercial restaurant supplies and equipment without the need to know html. Visitors can also search the front end of the website to find restaurant counters, refridgerators, pizza ovens .... read more

Fact: Internet searchers judge a website within five seconds of visiting it. This means that your site has to snag the attention of your audience the first time they see it. You may have the best looking website on the planet, but knowing what makes your audience tick can make or break a potential conversion. Ask yourself this question: Exactly who is your online audience? Mothers? Middle-aged men? College students? Is your site something this audience would find attractive? The Breakdown.... read more

There has been a lot of hype around HTML5 in recent months. I have heard individuals singing the praises of it without really knowing what it is. First HTML5 is not the end all for Flash and Javascript. Both mediums still have their appropriate uses and will continue to live on. Second HTML5 still a little "half-baked". There is not a single browser that supports all of the new features in HTML5. It isn't expected to be completed until 2014. Third HTML5 is not an all new programming langu.... read more

Websites Tend To Be Big The average website contains around 273 pages. Out of all of those pages how do we know which ones have the content we are truly looking for? Even a smaller web site with 50 -100 pages can seem like a lot of information to wade through. Though some websites seem to have an infinite number of pages, most of them are there to support just one main idea or a small handful of ideas. Your Users Need Direction No matter how large or small your website is, your users will .... read more

The CSS text shadow property has been around since the release of CSS2, but has not been supported by mainstream browsers until recently. The level of support is still limited, but with time we will start seeing it more and more.Basically text shadow allows you to render text with a blur, glow or off-set shadow without using an image. Benefits of this include: The ability to allow text to be searchable by popular search engines like Google or Yahoo. Reduce load time by eliminating image file.... read more

In an age of high resolution phone displays and widescreen desktop monitors, it is important to have quality images on your web site – but don’t make them too big. The amount of time it takes for a page to load can have an effect on your website’s credibility with search engines as well as drive away users if it is slow. Luckily there are some easy ways to make your images look great on the web without sacrificing quality. Most photo editing software gives you ability to ea.... read more