Stores are constantly adjusting their merchandise, putting new clothes on their mannequins. Magazines are constantly changing their layouts, commissioning new front pages. Businesses of all types know the importance of having a fresh look, otherwise they risk looking stale and stagnant.

Same goes for a good website. Actually, it may be even more important with a website. Trends, features, and tools come and go so rapidly online that if you don’t keep up, you fall behind.

I’ve posted before on the benefits of a regular refresh. A new look could be just the thing you need to get traffic moving again. It reminds your visitors that your website is alive, that there’s someone behind the wheel, and that they can come back time and again and expect something new and fresh.

Get a quote today for your website’s facelift.

I learned to do web design pretty much the same way Adam Savage learned to be a special effects artist — I just jumped in. When you’re learning something new, failure is unavoidable. But failure is necessary. It’s the mistakes that make you better at what you do. They refine you, provide you with wisdom, and, as Adam Savage put it, strengthen your intuition.

There are limits to what a person can accomplish given a particular set of boundaries. As a freelancer, it’s up to you to test those boundaries, and at times fail, so that you develop a greater understanding of yourself, and therefore know what you need to get the job done for your clients.

Let’s face it, trends come and go, especially on the internet. A stunning website you had designed just a year ago may pale in comparison to a website designed today. In my opinion, a design has about a 6 month shelf-life, and then it starts to go stale.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to scrap the whole thing and start back at the drawing board (although you might). Just do something different.

Bloggers should be especially aware. You may get the same TIME magazine every week, but at least the layout changes. Internet readers want the same thing. Keep your design fresh, and your functionality fresher, and your readers will keep coming back. You’ve got to keep up with the creative flow, otherwise your visitors will find greener, more interesting pastures.

It’s important, however, that you don’t over do it and lose the sense of identity you’ve established. In some cases, you may WANT to lose that identity, but generally, you need an anchor. Something that strings one design to the next, while still pushing the envelope.

Take Pepsi, for example. They recently made-over their logo. But, hold it up to the old one, and you’ll see that there’s a great deal of subtlety involved. Employ this same sense of subtlety when approaching a re-design. Even something slight can get people talking, and that’s good for business.

Another example is Tropicana. They gave themselves a new look, got some attention, then went back to their more traditional style. Don’t be afraid to reinvent your aesthetic. In another six months, you may want to pull it back, but you’re still keeping your site fresh and in the minds of your visitors.

Ever since the economy went sour, my web design workload has doubled. I can’t say whether or not it’s the same for other web designers out there (is it?), but to me, it’s indicative of a mass movement online during this downturn in the economy.

Why? Again, I’m not working with any numbers here, but it isn’t hard to see that people are desperate to connect with employers, customers, clients, and industry — all of which have begun to make their own home-bases online. You wanna find a good job? Sell more products? Get more clients? The internet has super-charged the idea of networking.

Sure, register with Twitter, sign up on Facebook, make a profile on LinkedIn, individually these sites can be useful, but, combine them, organize them, customize them, unify them, and you have yourself a pretty awesome website!

Think of it this way: Someone hands you a business card. It has some generic, watercolor-esque mountains in the background. It’s flimsy. On the back it says, “Free business cards at VistaPrint.com.” What can you conclude from this person’s business card? Would you even keep it? If you did, could you tell it apart from the others?

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace… They’re mostly just detailed business cards, but just because you have one doesn’t mean you can make an impression with it. An awesome website (easy to manage mind you) reminds businesses, clients, customers, and employers alike: You’ve got more to offer than everyone else. You’re your own brand. They need you because you understand how to package yourself.

Let’s face it, when you’re conducting business or heading out to an interview, you don’t want to wear what you rolled out of bed in. The internet is your public image. People often forget it (ie: pictures of a dude pounding back shots at a strip joint in Vegas on his Facebook account).

Years ago, when the economy was bad, you’d pick up and move to a new location. You’d physically travel, searching for a new place. The internet has changed things — but not entirely. We roam the internet now. Stake your claim and be prepared.

The internet allows customers to shop from the comfort and convenience of their home, where a computer monitor has become better for window shopping than a window itself. Now more than ever, it’s critical that business owners open up their own online storefront, before they get left behind.

With the economy in the slumps, online shopping begins to look more and more attractive. Why? Because the internet brings you and your product directly into the shopper’s home. It allows you to operate your business at reduced costs and, because the internet is a form of interactive marketing, it engages your customer before they even realize they’re shopping.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

But why the rush? Well, as more stores move their businesses online, they get a head start in establishing themselves within their niche.

Hip Web Design wants to help you get your online store started the right way. Don’t drop your business — literally, your entire business — into the hands of a cookie-cutter web firm. Hip Web Design will help you with original branding, design, search engine optimization, content management (cms), creative marketing (podcasting, videocasting, social bookmarking, blogging, etc.), and customization. With an online store built by Hip Web Design, you’ll have the ability to easily manage your store on your own, drastically reducing the maintenance cost of running your site.

I invite you to look through my portfolio and take a look at the ways I’ve helped others establish their own unique cyberspace identity. I give all my clients the individual attention they demand, and strive to offer an unparalleled web design experience. Just take a look at some of the testimonials my previous clients have left.

So stall no longer. Contact Hip Web Design with any and all questions, so that we can begin working together to build your new online store.

Fortunately, the internet has made running a business from your home easier than ever. But, if you’re going to be successful, you need to do it right, and I have just the tools you need.

Here are four key ingredients to any website: cost, design, accessibility, and maintenance. If you’re on a tight budget — as most people are — you’re going to need a flexible solution that can effectively negotiate your website’s needs.

Hip Web Design can help you develop that solution. My websites are custom tailored, meaning that there aren’t any templates or generic designs. Hip Web Design prides itself in being at the forefront of web design trends and functionality. My portfolio reflects a wide range of designs and businesses, from blogs and online stores to syndicated podcasts and corporate portfolios.

If cost is a major concern, Hip Web Design is happy to help you find a solution within your budget. Hip Web Design helps cut your long-term costs by using WordPress as the platform for your website’s back-end, giving you full control of all your content. This means less — or nothing — spent on making monthly maintenance and updates.

Also, Hip Web Design knows that once your site is made, it also has to be accessible. All our websites are search engine optimized (SEO) and can be fitted with all the latest social bookmarking tools (Digg, Myspace, Facebook, Reddit, etc.). In addition, my websites use validated RSS Feeds so that visitors can subscribe to your site and be notified whenever you make changes.

Getting a quote for your project is quick and easy. Just fill out my design form and I’ll contact you within 24 hours with a reasonable quote for your project.

If you’ve been waiting for a reason to invest in a website, now’s the time to do it. Hip Web Design can help you develop an internet presence and identity so that you can reach millions of people worldwide without leaving your home.

When the economy is down, get your website UP!

Sure, legit. But more often than not, you’ll be getting a template. It will probably be fairly clean looking, reasonable to manage, but it’ll still be a template. Many other people may have a site that looks similar, if not exactly, like your own. Your ability to leave a memorable impression goes out the door with your visitor.

That’s the reason some template sites allow you to purchase the exclusive rights to a template — for a price. What you get then, is template that you’ve had absolutely no input on, and that you can only hope will do, act, and feel like you want it in the long run.

Here’s a solution: Hip Web Design makes custom web sites. No one will have one like it. It will be yours, with your own vibe, with the ability to manage the content your own and still have it do, act, and feel exactly how you want it.

“Legit?” you might still be asking? Quite.

I’m a freelance designer, which means I only work on a handful of projects at a time. You get personal, one-on-one service that no corporate firm can offer you and at a price that is competitive.

So don’t be tempted by templates. In the long run, it isn’t worth it. You’ll grow tired of it. It’ll quickly become out dated. Your visitors won’t be wowed into coming back.

If you’re going to spend money on a website, you might as well do something that will get you noticed.

Clients and prospective web designers always ask me, “Where do you get your business?” To be honest, it seems to just fall into my lap, but there’s a reason for this.

I never thought that when I made my first post on craigslist I’d be able to sustain business off that site alone — and trust me, I still can’t. But that one job I actually got (that I did for super cheap) eventually lead the client to tell a friend. And then they told their friend and so on and so forth.

The truth of the matter is, everyone needs a website, whether they know it now or not. And for all those people who do have websites, they’re going to need new ones. Better ones. Cooler ones. More efficient ones.

My advice is this: Start building a portfolio. Do a friend or family member’s website. Do a co-workers website. Do your boss’ website. Keep your fee low to start so that when you’re done they think, “Wow, that wasn’t so expensive, and now I’ve got a website!” It’s only a matter of time before they show it off to their friend or co-worker and then you’ve got them asking, “Who’d you hire? I’ve been thinking about getting a website myself.”

Over time, you’ll build a solid portfolio and you can start to justify a more well-deserved fee. Bite the bullet to start and in time you’ll gain the materials you need to bag the gigs with the budget you want.

Like any freelance job, some of the hardest competition is at the start. Push through, work late hours, and turn out portfolio worthy work and in time, the clients will start coming to you.