What is UX Design?

UX design stands for user experience design, and it involves the interaction between a client and the services you offer at your practice or the products you sell. It relates to anything that can be experienced, including the office itself, your website, and the procedure patients undergo. You can use UX design to improve the interactions you have with potential clients and the overall feeling people have when they interact with any component of your practice.

What Do UX Designers Do?

• Content development
• User research and analytics
• Wireframing and development planning
• Track goals
• Coordinate with developers

What is UI Design?

UI design stands for user interface design, and it involves the actual look and presentation of your products or services. UI refers to the digital interactions your patients might have with your website and social media. A good design allows users to easily navigate your website, find working buttons to schedule consultations or call the office, and overall have a visually appealing experience. UI considers everything from icons and buttons to typography and color schemes.

What Do UI Designers Do?

• Design graphics and branding
• Adapt websites to all device screen sizes
• Look at analytics
• Work on the responsiveness of digital elements
• Improve interactivity of digital elements

How Do UX and UI Design Work Together?

UI is about how the product’s interface looks while UX considers the feeling users will get from that look. UX designers consider the entire customer journey; for example, what steps do they need to take to schedule a consultation and how easy is it to do that? UI designers consider which visual components will help create that easiness and what components users might have to interact with, such as swiping an image gallery or tapping a button.

Here is an example that might help. Let’s say your homepage has several clickable icons to separate facial procedures, body procedures, and aesthetics. If the buttons are too close together and users keep clicking the wrong button by mistake, UI is getting in the way of a good UX design.

How to Incorporate UX and UI Design in Your Marketing Strategy

At DLM, we have a team of marketing specialists, website developers, and content writers all working together to create your brand with visually appealing materials. The ultimate goal is to get patients in the door and both the look and feel of your website, social media, email newsletters, blogs, videos, or any other material will impact that patient’s design to schedule an appointment.

Upgrade Your Marketing Strategy Today

Our team of creative and technical designers has all the tools you need to create a strong marketing strategy. Give our office a call at 616-222-3735 to learn more about the marketing services we offer and check out our portfolio of visually appealing, user-accessible website designs.

The post What’s the Difference Between UX and UI Design? appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

Contrast

It may sound oxymoronic, but when it comes to web design, contrast should be consistent. Varying what people see on a web page but delivering on what they expect to see is key to a great design. The way contrast plays into that can be both large-scale in terms of site-wide colors, or as fine-tuned as how big your fonts are.

Color

Color is a clear indicator (for most people, anyway) of distinguishing one element from another. Let’s say you offer both surgical and non-surgical procedures at your practice. One way to distinguish those categories on your site would be to have different colors for the menu buttons that carry through to the headers on each of the pages underneath those categories.

Your brand also heavily relies on color. Bright and blue can indicate vibrancy and technological advancement. Darker hues and gold can make people feel like they’re getting VIP-level treatment from the first impression. Color drives emotion for those who are already interested in something that you provide, which means the right color scheme can entice the people you want to see in your office.

Size

Larger means more important. But what many average designers misunderstand about size is how different sizes interact with each other. When it comes to headlines, there’s definitely such thing as too big. And when it comes to granular details about a procedure or prescription side effects, there’s definitely such a thing as annoyingly small.

Great designers know that size matters, and relative size is even more important. If your graphics are too small, people won’t notice that they help interrupt a block of text. If your headers are too huge, they’ll take up valuable space where people have to scroll to get the information they are looking for. (This is especially true on mobile devices, which are more popular web browsing devices than ever.)

Emphasize important things by making them bigger, but not so big that they extinguish the attention someone might pay to other parts of your website, such as descriptions under before-and-after photos or too-small text on a main procedure page.

Scale

Website designers are only partially limited to “canvas space” compared to artists who paint on physical canvases. However, this doesn’t mean that the blank space, or white space, used on a website is limitless. The scale of a website can be overwhelming or impressive; these two feelings are close but distinct. When you have to scroll for minutes to find what you’re looking for because information is so spaced out between photos, testimonials, and other elements, you’ll likely lose interest. But when you find a site that has reams of information and credible authority, it can engender trust before they even pick up the phone.

Knowing how long a procedure page or blog post, or even photo gallery should appear on any given device is a key distinguisher of good vs. great designers. Great ones know when to end the page to encourage people to click to see more. That’s the beauty of web design at an appropriate scale.

Medical Practice Website Design By Professional Designers

If you’re looking for a top-notch website that will not only catch people’s attention but convert them into paying patients, DLM has designers that can help you turn an outdated site into a compelling layout to help boost leads. Find out more about our comprehensive medical marketing services and our philosophy of design and content creation by calling us or contacting us online today.

The post Principles of Website Design: Contrast appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

This is a part of a four-blog-post series where we explain the fundamental principles of great design: Focus, Alignment, Repetition, and Contrast. Our designers and developers use this principles in combination with the latest best practices for hosting and operating the back end of a website to create gorgeous pages for our clients that not only look good, but also convert leads consistently.

Repetition

When it comes to branding, every marketer knows it takes multiple impressions of your logo, name, or even color scheme to become memorable to someone who sees it. This is why repetition, done well, is key to a great website design. Repetitive elements, such as accent colors, fonts, and photo placement, helps people remember who you are and what you can offer them.

Best practices for repetition don’t just rely on using the exact same formula every time, as we mentioned in talking about Alignment how asymmetrical balance can be a strategic part of overall consistent alignment. However, it does mean that once you use a font for an important element, such as your logo or website header, you need to use it again in other important places.

It also means keeping page structures predictable, if not interesting. For example, if your main procedures include an introduction paragraph, a bulleted list of benefits, and a call to action at the bottom, people will expect that to carry through all your main procedures. Anything less can limit people’s information at best, or at worst, confuse them to the point of looking elsewhere for expertise on their desired procedure.

Contrast Vs. Repetition

When it comes to design, contrast and repetition are similar to the relationship of yin and yang. They influence each other and create a harmonious tension that can be described as “changing things predictably.” Although you’ll use one or two main colors for your logo and site design, for example, you aren’t limited to where you can use those colors, to a certain degree.

Designers know to use both these principles in moderation, although they are near opposites. But keeping things in “the middle” in this sense doesn’t mean your website will look boring and bland. In fact, the pressures of needing both consistency and contrast can cause great feats of creativity and take your site and brand to the next level.

Professional Website Design By DLM

If you’re a medical practice leader who knows your website is out of date, but aren’t sure how to go about fixing it, our designers and developers can help. We can analyze your site’s performance and draft a design that can be quickly implemented to refresh your brand and link your site to a powerful CRM that allows you to collect and respond to leads via text, email, and phone calls. Learn more about how a new website can help grow your practice by calling our team or contacting us online today.

The post Principles of Website Design: Repetition appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

Over the course of four blog posts, we’ll explain the fundamental principles of great design: Focus, Alignment, Repetition, and Contrast. You’ll take away design concepts you may not know about, or ways to use them differently to make your brand consistent across the whole website. And if you’re ready to see how our professionals can transform your site into one that captures leads with excellent design, we’re just a phone call away.

Alignment

A major player in how people focus and follow content on your website is how certain things are aligned. Whether you want something classic, squared-off, and contained or purposefully all-over-the-place, your content can be aligned with your brand as long as you understand how this principle works.

In general, things can be horizontally and vertically aligned; left, center, and right; top, middle, and bottom. You might think that the most “balanced” approach would be to place everything directly in the center and spreading out evenly to all the edges, but this is what separates amateur design from great design. Great designers know that alignment helps people emphasize important things, rather than place everything on equal footing of importance.

For English speakers, we have a strong bias toward left-aligned text, as it gives our eyes a clear starting point, since we read from right to left. This means that things to the left are more important, in general, than things to the right for people writing and reading English text.

However, alignment can create distinct impressions when the rules are understood and broken in specific ways. This is where balance plays into alignment, since elements of design such as photos and text boxes can be technically misaligned from left to right, but still have balance among themselves.

Symmetrical Balance

Symmetrical balance in website design is functionally visual balance between the left and right parts of your screen. As long as the text box is the same width as the photo next to it, for example, you have symmetrical balance.

Unfortunately, symmetrical balance, while easy to achieve in many senses, can become boring for people using your website. With symmetry comes monotony, and no matter how compelling your content or dramatic your visuals, the human eye and brain are looking for changes in pattern to stimulate their attention. That’s where asymmetrical balance can help.

Asymmetrical Balance

Picture an old-timey scale with flat plates on both sides of a pivot point. You can put one heavy object on one side to balance several smaller objects on the other. The same principle applies to the alignment of content on a website. Your page doesn’t have to be a single layout of one element at a time, or even split into rows of two equal boxes. It can have a flow to it with large elements interrupting smaller, piecemeal boxes of text, for example.

Great designers know that asymmetry is a recipe for creativity, and website users will recognize a stale, formulaic approach compared to one that is designed to engage them in multiple ways.

Professional Website Design for Medical Practices

As experts in design and development, the team at DLM is here and ready to give your website the refresh it needs to look relevant in the most recent trends in design, and to enhance your brand to drive more leads to your practice. We have designed and launched websites for practices all across the country, and are able to customize your site to achieve the goals that are important for you. Call our team or contact us online today to get started.

The post Principles of Website Design: Alignment appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

Over the course of four blog posts, we’ll explain these fundamental principles: Focus, Alignment, Repetition, and Contrast. You’ll learn just a taste of what our designers think about with every web design project, not to mention the technical aspects of hosting and troubleshooting increasingly complex designs, to get a better understanding of when your practice’s website might need a refresh.

Focus

Fundamentally, you’re interested in what people pay attention to when they’re interacting with your website and your brand. Attention can literally be drawn with focal points and proper layout of information. If you place elements too far apart, people’s eyes won’t be drawn to the next closest piece of content. If you crowd them too closely, it can be hard to see where one piece ends and another begins. This is the power of proximity, which can be used to imply hierarchy, or the organizing principle of creating focal points along with the most important information.

Hierarchy

As designers know, not everything on a webpage is as important as everything else. Things like your logo, the title of the page, and whatever information you want to use to support the subject of the page should be the main focal points you design with. These should be large and distinct, but not too distracting compared to the body text or the images you want to use.

Understanding what’s important for your visitors to focus on gives you a clear idea of how much contrast should be on the page, and what needs to be emphasized or de-emphasized.

Purpose

Harnessing focus from your website visitors means giving them plenty of room to explore while enticing them with relevant information. This means delivering content that matches the purpose of each specific page. For example, on before-and-after gallery pages, focus can be drawn with pictures and very little text for those who are interested in the results of a procedure they’re already thinking about. However, for those doing more extensive research, procedure information will be what they want to focus on, rather than an endless scroll of pictures.

Device

Focus on a website can’t be limited to one device these days, either. You have to think about how your brand looks on a mobile device as well as a large monitor. So-called screen “real estate” can drastically change your approach to design, which is why our team uses adaptable code to automatically re-calibrate your website design to optimize how close together elements are and how large the font is to make it seem natural for every device your potential patients could be using.

Professional Medical Website Design

Understanding the principles of design can help you spot when something doesn’t look right on a website or in real life, but it doesn’t help you build a great-looking site from scratch. That’s where our teams of designers and developers come in. With extensive experience designing brand-new sites for practices across the country, we’re here to help give you the guidance you need to build a website and brand that sticks out. Call our team or contact us today for more information.

The post Principles of Web Design: Focus appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

Print Media is Still a Feasible Marketing Strategy

While some marketing companies may feel that print media is no longer useful, it still has much to offer businesses. The greatest benefits print media offer include:

It Lasts Longer

Printed materials have a long lifespan if they are well-made and stored correctly, so businesses can continue to realize the benefits of their print campaigns long after they have ended. Also, print mediums may stand out from other forms of marketing as people increasingly go paperless.

It’s More Reliable

Print media often carries more weight than digital information which can often be published by anyone online without any accountability. It also creates a more personal connection between the writer and the reader and can be read at a slower pace for full mental absorption. Additionally, print media is a lasting record, unlike digital media which can easily be changed or erased.

It’s More Personal

Print is also more personal since a person is more likely to remember something they have seen in print than information they have read online. There is something to be said about holding a newspaper or magazine in your hands that makes this tactile experience, which is something that digital platforms cannot offer.

It’s Affordable

Digital platforms can be expensive, particularly if you would like to subscribe to multiple services. Print media is very affordable, saving your company money in the long run.

Overall, print is still a viable marketing strategy for businesses looking to reach a wider audience or develop long-term relationships with customers.

Tips for Creating an Effective Print Media Campaign

When creating a print media campaign, there is no one-size-fits strategy, as success will depend on the product or service being advertised, the target audience, and the campaign’s unique goals. However, there are some general tips to help you get started.

1. Begin with a clear goal: Start off by identifying what exactly you are trying to achieve with your campaign. This will help you to take the proper steps to tailor your campaign accordingly.
2. Know your target audience: Create your campaign to appeal to your target audience, or who is most likely to purchase your product or service.
3. Create well-designed ads: Eye-catching and professional-looking designs are key to enticing potential customers and boosting your brand’s reputation.
4. Prepare: Give yourself enough time to create your ads and a strong campaign plan.
5. Measure campaign results: Once your campaign is complete, take a look at the number to get an idea of how successful it was. This step will help you to fine-tune your strategy for the future.

Give Us a Call Today

If you are interested in implementing quality print media in your marketing strategy, our team at DLM can help from the early planning stages through to measuring campaign results with DLM Insight. Give us a call today at 616-222-3735 or fill out our online form to schedule a time to talk.

The post Is Print Media Dead In 2022? appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

1). Do you recognize me??

It is hard to remember someone, especially someone you just met, if they change dramatically every time you see them. If their appearance or their personality changes it is less likely that people will remember them. If your logo is changing colors on everything you put it on, or your brand shifts from a silly and cute tone to dramatic and serious and never stays constant it won’t be as recognizable. Your patients should be able to know who you are and whenever you are reaching out to them. Consistency is important, whether it is through your website, a phone call, or direct mail piece. 

2). Perception is everything

How do you want your brand to be perceived? For starters, you will want to have a clear message about who you are and what you do.  If this message is alway changing from one thing to another, peoples perception about your practice will likely change with it. This creates conflict and confusion.

3). Too legit to Quit?

You want to be legit in everything you do, from your accredidations to how your brand is portrayed it all matters. If your brand is inconsistent it makes you look unorganized, unprofessional and cheep. Every point of contact you have with your current and potential patients should be consistent. This consistency keeps you looking put together and adds credibility to your practice

When Developing your brand here is a short list of things to keep in mind that build consistency:

1. Have a mission statement: Who you are, what you do, what you want to accomplish
2. Brand personality: How do you want to come across to people? What is the tone and voice of your practice? What kind of imagery do you want to use?
3. Logo Variations: Pick options for how your logo appears and only allow these specific variations. Can it be black, white, etc. Can it be all text or should it be just the logo mark without text? These are itmes you need to decide on.
4. Fonts used: Pick 2-3 fonts that will always be used, from your website to print material and everything in-between.
5. Colors: Your colors should stay consistent throughout your brand.

If you are interested in learning more about how DLM has created strong brands for Plastic Surgeons, please contact us today.

The post It’s Your Brand! 3 Reasons Why Brand Consistency Matters. appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

PHOTOSHOP

Strengths: Web Designs, Photo Editing

Weakness: Text, and Scaleability

Photoshop is a raster based program. Raster refers to the use of pixels. Pixels are tiny squares of color that make up an image. These pixels only allow for an image to re-size so much before the image gets distorted, “pixelated” and blurry.

Rules to design by:

• Don’t do text in Photoshop for print materials. Bring design into Indesign then add your text. This will keep text crisp and clear.
• Standard resolution for print images is 300 DPI, web images are 72 DPI (this can be found in Photoshop index Type_image size_resolution) (ADD SCREENSHOT)
• Pixels are for web, inches are for print.
• Know the exact dimensions of what you are designing. It will help you layout your designs proportionately and it will help you see how much space you have for your content.

ILLUSTRATOR

Strengths: Logo design, Scalability

Weaknesses: Image Editing, Text Formatting

Illustrator is a vector based program, meaning it uses mathematical equations to determine objects appearance. This allows for objects like your logo to scale as large or as small as you need and it won’t effect the quality keeping your perfect logo looking crisp and sparkly clean. Illustrator is usually the best choice for logo creation. Logos appear on many platforms – everything from the sign on your building to the footer of your website. Your logo has to be able to scale from one extreme to the other.

Rules to design by:

• Save your logo as an .ai or .eps file (these will keep the logo in a vector format)
• Outline text (when sending logos to other people make sure your text is outlined. Not everyone will have the same fonts as you. If they don’t, their computer will change the font to its default font which is usually boooring. Outlining turns the text into shapes and will keep the same look of the font you used. Only do this after the text is finalized and no further changes need to be made. Once it is outlined, it isn’t considered text to the program and can’t be edited.)

INDESIGN

Strengths: Print, Digital Publishing

Weakness: Image Editing, Logo Design

Indesign brings all your design pieces together. Think of it as the glue of your design, allowing you to take advantage of the strengths of each program. It is best used for pieces that are text heavy. Brochures, informational pieces, ebooks, ect. It offers the best option for text formatting and keeps pages organized and easy to access. Indesign can get a bad rap sometimes but once you learn and understand the program, it will change your life.

Rules to design by:

• Place files into Indesign (File_place) it creates a link to the original file which can be edited by the original program and updated in Indesign
• Make style guides for your text (there’s character styles and paragraph styles)
• Save PDF files from here. They just work better.

(there are tons of tutorials for each of these programs if you need help don’t be scared to try them out)

The post Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign: Strengths, Weaknesses and When to Use Each appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.

Isn’t Responsive Design the Same as a mobile Site?

No. This is a very common misunderstanding. A responsive website is built to adjust to any size screen. This means that your site will look great on your desktop, tablet, and mobile device. Essentially, a responsive design shifts various objects in place depending on the size of the screen you are viewing the site on. This ensures that your website will look great on various platforms. So, you will still have a mobile version of your site, however it will be built into the original design. A traditional mobile site does not satisfy that demand and is typically a subdomain of your site, m.yourwebsite.com.

Responsive Design Benefits SEO for Medical Practices

Google prefers for a website to have one true version, not multiple versions of a site to fit different devices. A responsive design is one version of the site, built to fit all devices. This in itself give strong signals to google and in turn is more favorable when it comes to increasing in the search engines.

Responisve website design for Medical Practices will increase your conversion rate

Since responsive design is programmed to fit nicely on all devices, this will increase your conversion rates by showing your visitors the most important elements of your site to fit the device they are on. So why not increase your chances of a booked consultation?

The post Responsive Website Design for Medical Practices & Why You Need It! appeared first on Digital Limelight Media.