Lifting the SBI Block Builder Design To A New Level.

This page is for you, if you are an SBIer, and you...

• Are a Block Builder
• Either use the 3rd column option, or are intending to do so
• Want a unique one of a kind design for your site, and
• Dont want to pay the earth to get it done

The days of an old fashioned boring look to Block Builder are gone. Or at least they are for those who want to take the time to upgrade their Look and Feel to a new level.

Self Help Website Example

Look at the before and after pics below. This website has over 2,500 pages, so a change to uploading is out of the question. The best option was always going to be a revamp of the Block Builder look and feel.

A dark khaki color scheme does nothing to make the site look welcoming. And look at the header... six people in that image, and not one of them is smiling! Add that to the jumble of different colored fonts, screaming headlines and a huge bare white area to the right of the screen, and you can see why SBI Block Builder sites have got a reputation for being ugly ;-)

Now look at how it is after a revamp (cost...$250). Some of the features of this design:

• Font is changed from the standard black verdana seen on BB sites, to a dark gray Trebuchet MS. The headings are changed as well,
• also Trebuchet, but a very dark blue
• The right column is overlapped into the header area, with a simple top nav placed into that area
• Light blue fading body background
• Rounded corners, with drop shadow
• Signup box redone, and moved to the right column

Meditation website example

Cool ice blues, with burnt orange contrasts. Airy, spacious, and refreshing. A simple but unique header style, blends the page with the body background...no square corners in sight here.

Or maybe Math is more your thing?

Pastels set the overall theme, with primary color tangrams in the header providing some visual interest.

Organic website example

Hi AJ, I'm loving it! Thanks so much.

Sometimes, it's the little things that make the difference. like the subtle gradients, faint dotted column division, or the small faded flourishes in the corners of the page.

Vegan Food Website Example

OMG AJ!!!!! I just love it - what do you think?? I think this is the most creative BB I have seen. I can't stop looking at it!!!!!
Krista (proud owner of this new Look and Feel)

One of the most rewarding aspects of site design, is happy people who fall in love with their new look. It makes everything worthwhile. Taking a concept that you have, and turning it into something beyond your expectations, isn't always easy....but it's what I always aim for.

It can be the little touches. like a fading background behind the ezine box.....

Or something more major, such as a top navigation that won't move around on you when you resize the page (and believe me, this is NOT easy to achieve with Block Builder, unless you know exactly how to do it).

Aim for perfection. We can't always get that, but we can certainly come as close as is humanly possible ;-)

A Photography Website Example

One more example website, this time from the photography field. As this was a brand new website, there is no "Before" image to show you. But the owner had a vision of what she wanted. My job in this case was not so much to create a new design, as to take that vision, and bring it to life.

This may not be a true "grunge" design, but it is certainly heading in that direction (side note...if you want to see what real grunge looks like, keep your eyes peeled in the Site Redesignz page, a new design is coming soon). Notice things like the embossed leather with chalklike font, see through hearts, faded edging of the main content area, and inset bevelling of the right column?

Whoever said you couldn't have effects like these using Block Builder? The answer to that of course, is pretty much everyone.

How To Get Your Own Unique Block Builder Design

If you want an "average" design, you can do it yourself...or hire an "average" designer to do it for you. But if you want a truly unique standout design, then you need a truly unique standout designer. Stands to reason, don't you think?

Finding that unique designer is hard enough (although you have managed to do that). But when the cost is no more than you would pay for a run of the mill design, then you have struck gold.

Cost: The starting cost is $250 (US $). All the designs you see on this page fall within this price bracket. You may request extra additions...prices for these can be discussed. For example, connecting your blog to twitter and/or facebook. Revamping your sales page, creating extra graphics and images for text boxes and backgrounds, etc.

Requesting a design: Your first step is to email me, at site.designsnz (at) gmail.com to discuss a design for your site.

Booking ahead: If you are planning on a redesign, it is often best to book ahead of time. My schedule is kept full, and it maybe that I can't start for a week or more. It is not unusual for people to email me, and hope that I can start immediately. Sorry... while I would love to do that for you, to be fair to others I do designs in the order that they are received. Occasionally, you might get lucky, and find that I have a space available (somebody has pulled out at the last minute for example) but you can't count on it.

Some last thoughts....

Time after time, I have people emailing me to say how their page views have increased, bouce rate has gone down, and even that their Adsense earnings have improved. All because they have a nicer looking website. You are more likely to attract high quality link exchanges (would you exchange links with a site that you couldn't stand the look of?).

I'm not going to try and tell you that a new site design is guaranteed to increased your traffic. However, since the introduction of the "Google Preview", more and more people are taking the opportunity to see what a website looks like, before deciding to visit it. After one month with a new design, here is what one Block Builder emailed me with....

Dear AJ,
Just to let you know. Before you redesigned my site, I was averaging around 550 visitors a day. I don't know whether it is sheer coincidence but I am now averaging 1000 per day. I can't see how a new design would boost the traffic like that but maybe you know better. Also, my ezine subscriptions have doubled.

What a great site design also does, is make those visitor's experience more enjoyable... meaning more page views, longer visits, and increased earnings. That's a no-brainer: the longer a visitor stays on your site, the more pages they view, the more comfortable they feel, the more likely they are to buy your product/s.

Designing for Block Builder used to be a straight forward affair. Create a 725x135px header, choose a suitable nav button design, and that was it. Anyone with a smidge of graphic ability could do it. And charge you a couple of hundred bucks too, I might add ;-)

But the introduction of the third column has changed the dynamics of design for BB...just not everyone realizes it. Some of the things that can be done with the new Block Builder are things that other designers will tell you "can't be done". Obviously they can - you just need to know how.

Because it's not just about graphic ability, although that is essential. It's having a thorough understanding of HTML and CSS, and knowing the properties of the Block Builder templates. Knowing the limitations of those templates, and how to work around them.

Thank you for taking the time to read this page. I look forward to hearing from you.

What about one last design example?

Here is one recently completed. I don't have a "before" screenshot, but it was a typical Block Builder website. And now it is a slick looking 3 column site, with a nice newsletter signup area in the right column, and a drop shadowed call out box in the center column (can be floated either left or right).

All the best, AJ

ps: Have you thought about how a Flash Slideshow can add value to your website?

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