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IM Creator Student Discount

by ruthie July 29, 2014

written by ruthie

If there’s one way that student life trumps non-student life, it’s discounts. Discounted museum tickets, discounted public transport, discounts at the movies. Well, student life just got even better:

Partnering with top schools from around the world, IM Creator is excited to announce IM Creator Students, a special platform designed to help students get their careers off the ground by offering a 30% discount off IM Creator’s Premium Subscription.

Simply log in to IM Creator Students, insert your university email, and we’ll send you a coupon.

With your discount in the bag, you can choose from dozens of professionally-designed, fully responsive website templates that can be customized and perfected to fit your exact needs. Use your website to apply for internships, share your portfolio across social media, and generally prove to the internet that you are awesome.

Build a beautiful resume, show the world your art, and get one step ahead of life after graduation. Visit imcreator.com/students to learn more about our program and get your 30% off discount.

July 29, 2014 0 comment

Images Vs Text in webdesign

by ruthie July 2, 2014

written by ruthie

How many words is a picture really worth?

The proportions between the written word (text) and graphic elements in a website are an important factor to consider when designing the initial layout of the website.

image credit: Andrew Mason

Visual information is processed faster and requires less attention and time. Using pictures and graphics can be used to generate a specific emotion with the reader and enrich the design. However, there are a few technical disadvantages to take into consideration.

The downside of using images is weight and traffic. The heavier the page is, the longer it will take for the page to load. Pictures and other graphic elements weigh substantially more than text.

The second disadvantage of images compared to text is that they are not indexed by search engines. This is a big deal as driving traffic to your site is of a great importance. You can use Alt Tags to add information to images, but any text inside a picture or video, or text using special fonts, will not be scanned by the search engines.

The design of the website should enable the visitors to engage and consume maximum information from the pages they reach.

Images can be used to emphasize text or replace it completely, depending on your message or business. There is a limit however to what can be inferred from images alone and text has a higher likelihood of being remembered later on.

So how can you decide on the right mix for your website design?

Image Credit: David Geohring

Depends on the content and purpose of your website.

Portfolio websites for photographers, designers, models etc. are usually more visual, while company websites tend to be more verbal.

It all depends on the information they wish to share. For an artist, the most important use of the website is to showcase the art and work, which will be done through pictures, galleries and videos. Text can be used for as little as a short title for the images, or be left out completely.

Law websites, resume websites, hospitality websites and so on are more likely to use text as their main mean to convey the information to the visitor. Although images are more likely to get visitors to look at them, text attracts more attention and it can be used more efficiently.

No matter what combination of graphics and text you choose to work with, make sure to design an accessible and easy to navigate website, so that once your visitors arrive they will be able to enjoy the site to the full extent. Get some tips on how to set your menu for easy navigation here.

July 2, 2014 0 comment

Client spotlight IM Creator IM Creator websites

Meet James Burke, May’s Designer of the Month

by ruthie May 27, 2014

written by ruthie

Our May Designer is James Burke. James is the owner of Umag Inc, a marketing and promotions company offering services such as website design, mobile app designs, ad campaigns, and business consulting. James has built so many websites with IM Creator, we thought it would be cool to ask him a few questions about his experience.

What’s the first thing you ask a client when asked to create a website for them?

The first thing I ask clients is what is the look and feel that they are going for. Are they looking to build a product based site or an informational site.

Where do you find your design inspiration?

I find my design inspiration from looking online at some of the top sites in different genres.

What’s the most common mistake you see clients make when planning a website?

Many clients put too much information on their site and do not plan it to be search engine friendly. This is so important as you don’t want just to have a website, you want people to find it. Another major mistake I see people do is that they don’t plan their website to be user friendly. It’s great that someone is visiting your site but you also want them to stay.

What’s the easiest thing to do in order to make a website look up-to-date all the time?

I think you should keep the content fresh and try to use good quality pictures and content.

One great resource for free photos for commercial use is IM Free

What made you choose IM Creator as a tool for building websites?

It’s very user friendly and the tools make it a better builder than some of the most advance builders I have used from other companies.

What’s the best web design tip you can share with IM users?

The best advice I can give IM users is to be creative and push the boundaries of the builder and themselves and always think outside the box.

want to be June’s Designer of the Month? Send us an email to design[@]imcreator.com!

May 27, 2014 0 comment

Design Inspiration IM Creator websites

How To Sell a House with IM Creator? Or Better Yet, an Island!

by ruthie May 26, 2014

written by ruthie

Selling a house can be tough. Whether you are a real estate professional whose been doing it for years or a first-time home seller, you want your house to sell fast. You also probably want to get the asked price for it.

We all know how you can get people to know your house is on sale: if you are selling the house yourself, post an offline and online ad, publish a post on your Facebook page and that’s pretty much it. You can also hire a realtor to assist you.

But, once you get the exposure, you want people to see the house in its full potential and have your phone ring off the hook. Unfortunately, that is not an easy task with a short 1-2 line ad in your local paper or on online boards.

One simple and affordable way to achieve grabbing people’s attention is to build a dedicated website for the house sale.

With a website, you can add pictures and videos of the house, you are not limited in text by the ad space in the paper or online board and visitors have a direct and quick link to you.

With a dedicated website, you can even add details such as Seller’s Story. Some houses are so unique, a story or the house history can increase the value of the house and make its sale faster.

You can add so much details about the house and stand out from the dull 1-2 line ads.

Add a video, photo gallery, map, downloadable file with valuable buyer information, tax and fees information and more. You can add all the information that is exactly what your potential buyer is looking for.

Selling an island? Ha! There are even websites for that – what a perfect way to showcase the gorgeous property.

May 26, 2014 0 comment

Client spotlight

Client Spotlight – Ursula, a Fashion Consultant

by ruthie May 15, 2014

written by ruthie

Meet Ursula, a London fashion consultant who loves building websites 🙂

Ursula Gross-Hohnacker is a Fashion Consultant and personal shopper who built several sites with IM.
We asked her recently about designing websites, her experience with IM and life in general 😉

Hi Ursula, so where do you find your design inspiration? We noticed your sites are very welcoming, with a lot of bright colors.

I have built 3 websites with IM – fashion, fashion accessories and fragrance. So I try to find inspiration in different places, depending on the nature of the site. I think color, the natural world and fashion constantly inspire me.

You can check out Ursula’s Pinterest Page

What’s the first thing you ask a client when asked to create a website for them?

I try first to get an idea of the image or branding a client (or just a friend seeking advice) is looking to achieve. From there, it’s easier to be able to portray an identity.

What’s the most common mistake you see clients make when planning a website?

Making them too obscure and artsy rather than sticking to their central subject.

What’s the easiest thing to do in order to make a website look up-to-date all the time?

I would make sure your homepage looks fresh, even if you haven’t got the time to update all of the content. An outdated website can make sure a bad impressions.

Why do you like using IM Creator?

Simplicity, friendly people (thanks, Ursula! :-P) and it gave me, who was a novice, a chance to do something a lot of people said I can’t.

What’s the best web design tip you can share with IM users?

Do not over-complicate things – make the site easy to navigate – I’m still learning this and allow the site to grow with you which is just what IM allows you to do.

May 15, 2014 0 comment

SMB Tips & Tools Website Promotion

Boost your Etsy business with IM Creator

by ruthie May 1, 2014

written by ruthie

Have an Etsy store? Terrific! Now let’s bring lots of traffic and visitors to it.

We love the Etsy community, it is a great and accessible way for people to sell their work and art. We also understand that our customers want flexibility when building their growing brand by having their unique website.

That’s why at IM Creator, we have an easy way to embed your Etsy store to your website. Build your website the way you want it to be – your fonts, galleries, color palette, videos, contact page – and simply add the Etsy store to it.

Start selling on your own website in minutes.

Francesca Mancini is an amazing jewellery designer and has a store on Etsy.

Building her business site on IM Creator, she was able to display her store on the website but also add additional pages about her and her work. This is valuable information that a potential client may miss, with only a slim Etsy page.

Integrate your Etsy shop to your site in 2 simple steps:

1) Create an Etsy mini

2) Add the HTML code of Etsy mini to your site through Add Element > HTML (no coding required :-))

Etsy store integrating perfectly –

May 1, 2014 0 comment

Client spotlight IM Creator websites

Meet Lou Gutowsk, IM Creator’s Designer of the Month

by ruthie April 2, 2014

written by ruthie

Creating your own website is a simple and pleasant process thanks to builders like IM Creator. However, sometimes you want to hire a pro, whose been doing this for a while and can help you build your dream website. Many designers use IM as it is a flexible tool for them to create beautiful sites that Google loves (clients love that too :-P). Lou Gutowsk is one of the designers working with IM and building great websites to clients. We asked him how it is to work with IM’s website builder and to share some design tips while we sit down with him.

Lou built many sites for his clients on IM and even his own portfolio.

Hey Lou! What’s the first thing you ask a client when asked to create a website for them?

The first thing I ask my clients is what is the overall theme they are looking to portray with their website. What message do they want to send to their possible clients?

Where do you find your design inspiration?

I spend a lot of time researching all different design websites and creative blogs to draw inspiration as well as keep up with the new trends and popular topics of discussion in the design world. I love looking at logo design websites to see how creative people are with their logo design as well as other IM Creator websites that are posted on their Facebook page which helps give me ideas as to what people are doing with the software and how I can expand my creativity using it.

What’s the most common mistake you see clients make when planning a website?

Took much content. Less is more…people aren’t likely to spend but a few minutes on your site so you have to be sure to keep their attention and not make them feel overwhelmed.

What’s the easiest thing to do in order to make a website look up-to-date all the time?

Keep it basic….make people feel like they can easily find what they are there to find. The more facts and information you add to your site the more likely that information is to not hold true in the future and makes the site look out of date.

Why do you like using IM Creator?

IM Creator allows me to create a creative and customized site without having to worry about writing code. Simple to use and fun.

Thanks Lou, I’m blushing ;-)What’s the best web design tip you can share with IM users?

Keep it simple and basic. Less is more…don’t overthink things. Allow people to visit your site and find what they want quickly and easily.

want to be the next IM Designer of the Month? Send us an email to design[@]imcreator.com!

April 2, 2014 0 comment

Creating A Website Design Tips IM Creator features

Design a Winning Navigation Menu

by ruthie February 27, 2014

written by ruthie

Each site has its own needs when it comes to how many tabs it needs in its navigation menu. But one thing all websites have in common – they need an easy to navigate, uncluttered and clear menu.

Visitors to your site should be able to find their way quickly (just like in real life, 😉 ), so here are a couple of examples to inspire you to help them do so.

No funny Business

Clean&Simple navigation bar – Wayne Rodrigues, music producer, chose a very straightforward approach to his navigation menu. With 4 tabs, his visitors know exactly where they are and can navigate easily between his bio, discography and most

Music to my ears

Dan McClew is a musician and his website and navigation menu is all about that – his art. The home page features a picture of Dan at work and the navigation bar easily directs visitors to his music, shows and bio.

Holding all aces

DDC Creative Design has a gorgeous website that shows what they do best – design. Same goes with their navigation menu which fits with the black and white, fresh and modern design of the site.

Where’s Waldo?

YourKitchen‘s website is a clever one. And so is their navigation menu. YourKitchen is a creative workshop and as such, not just every ordinary visitor will be able to find their navigation menu.. Can you find it? 🙂

Pure and simple

Guillermo Meza, is an up-and-coming brilliant Industrial Designer. His website is all about his work and products so it is only natural that his menu is out of the ordinary as well. His website is a one-pager so each menu tab is an anchor. Once clicked, you are redirected to the area in the page that the tab links to.

In the bag

Ana Beatriz Valladares is a unique artist from Brazil. Her website is has vertical elements to it and so is the menu navigation tabs. They’re clear, simple and direct visitors to her work and info.

Don’t miss a beat

Dennis J. Riggs provides accounting, consulting and tax services. His website is very chic and trendy, explaining the visitor immediately what he does. As his homepage has a lot of verbiage, Dennis made sure no visitor misses the navigation menu and added it twice – at the bottom and top of page.

February 27, 2014 0 comment

Creating A Website IM Creator

5 Tips to Choose The Best Template for Your Site

by ruthie February 20, 2014

written by ruthie

IM Creator has many beautiful and unique templates. No more cookie-cutter templates and dull and outdated websites. The creative revolution is here.

Who am I? Why am I here?

Well, these are not exactly the first questions you need to ask when choosing a website template. What you do need to first ask yourself is what kind of a website you need. Are you creating a website for you or for your business? Do you need a site that will host many pictures and videos or are you in need of a more text oriented site like the one below?

Now ask who am I…

Many templates have a specific theme – artists, designers, service providers, hotels, restaurants, event planners and more and more. A themed layout will guide you through the specific needs of the website you need. At IM Creator, all of our templates look like real websites (no lorem ipsum mumbo jumbo), so it’s easier to choose the best template and to add your content in the best spot on the site.

Bound 2

After figuring out who we are (it’s hard, I know :-P), it’s really important you connect to the visual aspect of your site and what it represents. Although all IM Creator templates are custumizable, we’re pretty sure that when you see a template you like, you’ll know it. An instant connection to the color palette, fonts and images is something that’s bound to happen. But remember, a good website is a website that people visit and browse through… Try to understand what kind of visual language will speak more clearly and be most effective to your target audience. Will your audience connect to a more vintage look or a more modern look? Are you building a Liverpool FC fan site and the color palette is blue? Fail 😉

Consider the content you need on your site

Now that you’ve pinpointed the goal of your website, its look, and know your target audience, what is the information and content you need on the site? No need to add everything immediately – you can start small and grow. But, there are some basic things you need before the site goes live. If you provide services or want people to contact you for your work, you must have some kind of contact details – whether it’s a link to your email or a contact form – you want people to be able to contact you.

If you also want to tell a little about yourself, so that visitors to your site will understand exactly where they are, add an “about” or “bio” page.

If you are an artist, designer, model, actor, a portfolio is always something important to have. No need for a full one of course, just one that showcases a selected part of your work – you can always add more later.

Have fun!

There are so many templates to choose from – finding the one you love and building your website should be a fun experience – so enjoy it!

Remember, with IM Creator, you can switch templates if you want to refresh the look of your site or rebrand it. So it’s not a life or death decision – pick the template you like now, that answers your current website building needs.

February 20, 2014 0 comment

Getting Started HowTo

Adding a Downloadable File

by ruthie January 23, 2014

written by ruthie

If the file is under 5MB, in the editor, choose the element (text, picture etc) you wish the downloadable file to be linked to –> Set Info –> and choose Link Type -> File Download.

If the file is over 5MB, you can host it on any free file hosting website and link it to the site by choosing the element (text, picture etc) you wish the downloadable file to be linked to –> Set Info –> and choose Link Type -> External Website.

See our video tutorial on links here.

To connect your site to a domain, click PUBLISH > choose a subscription > follow the steps in our wizard to connect it or buy a new domain from us (if you buy a domain from us, we will then email you within 48 hours that the site is up)

January 23, 2014 0 comment

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