Google Plus has recently redesigned there social layer. In doing so you know have the option to change your Google Plus Profile Picture. It’s similar to Facebook’s Cover Photo and template but lets just keep it simple and call it the Google Plus Profile Picture. Before the Google+ redesign, you only had the option of adding 5 thumbnail photos. That option still exists along with the new option to add one long profile picture. Below I have outlined the Google+ profile picture dimensions and even provided a template. Let’s get started.

Profile Picture Dimensions

First, you need to know that a lot of other dimensions you might have seen are wrong. The 940px x 180px is not correct! (okay, kind of is but I’ll explain why it’s not). When you upload your Google Plus profile picture, the size will be cropped to 940 x 180. But I thought you just said that’s not correct? Right – when you save the profile photo, it becomes cropped again to a size of 900px x 180px.

The ‘thumbnail’ profile picture that overlays and sits off to the right is 250px x 250px. However, it has padding of 5px around and 1px solid border (#ccc). The final size is 262px by 262px. This includes that white border area. The Google Plus ‘thumbnail’ profile picture lays 625px from the left.

On the left hand side of the Google+ Profile Picture, it also gets cropped by 11px. However, there is a small triangle that is transparent and will fill and display your profile picture.

Google Plus Profile Picture Template

Of course, to make it easier for you, I’ve created a Photoshop template for the Google+ profile picture. Using this template, you’ll be able design around the ‘thumbail’ portion and get an idea of what will be cropped. No more trial and error!

Happy Creating!

Download Template - Feel free to show me some love on Google Plus!

Local Web Hosting

Usually when a domain is purchased, website hosting is also offered and it’s really convenient to purchase it then too. But if you’re willing to work locally, your web host can set everything up for you.

Benefits of Local Website Hosting

• Relationship – Knowing someone locally will help establish a more ‘real’ business relationship.
• Face-to-Face – You can always meet in person.
• Customer Service – if you need help, you can pick up the phone and be able to talk with someone instead of an automated machine.
• Will usually handle all of your web admin and technology issues, saving you valuable time.

Disadvantage of Using a Local Website Provider

• Availability – You may not be able to contact your web host around the clock. Be sure to check with your local website host.
• Cost – sometimes local web hosting can be a little bit more expensive. Sometimes people look at this as a disadvantage. However, I don’t believe paying a couple extra dollars is a true disadvantage. With local hosting, I think you get a little bit more personalized service. And you are always able to call and speak with someone you trust. These days, there should be more value placed on customer service, and one of the best ways to get this is to buy local.

Web Hosting Recap

Again, even though the cost may be slightly higher that what you currently pay, working with a local web host has it’s benefits. Although paying for the storage and bandwidth can be done anywhere, using a local web host will allow you to get more personal and friendly service.

Have you used a local web host before? How has it compared?

An Awesome SEO Opportunity

This opportunity isn’t provided by me. Nope, sorry to disappoint. But maybe this will help. This was a voicemail that was left for Evad Design. The phone call came in about 8:30pm PST. Enjoy!

So yeah, if you need to get on page 1, here’s your guarantee! And in case you need a new website, don’t bother stopping here. They can do it for free! I’m sure this guy was just given my number to sell to but if a business name has the word ‘design’ in it, you may want to do some research and see if the business revolves around building websites.

What are you waiting for – time to pick up the phone and dial! Kidding aside, I’m scared about the possibility of thousands of uneducated business owners will consider this.

Like this voicemail? Add us on Google Plus!

In the first few minutes of using it, I could see how useful this might be. Instead of sending a text SMS message, you can send a voice message. For those that still try to drive and text, you’ll find this very handy.

The Interface

It’s very simple to use. At the top is a list of recent messages. Just click on the contact and press play. The record button is large enough and can easily be pressed whether you’re right or left handed.

Depending on your privacy settings, you can see other Hey Tell users in the area.

Go ahead and download it and find me via my email or phone number.

With the release of Facebook’s timeline profile layout, they’ve have inserted an area known as the Facebook Cover Photo at the top. The profile picture is now a smaller thumbnail version that rests in the lower left of the cover picture. Facebook’s cover picture allows individuals to express themselves with a much larger space.

Most people will just add another picture as the cover photo. However, us creative’s are always looking for a unique way to express ourselves. Customizing Facebook’s cover picture is another way to do that. Below are the dimensions of the cover picture layout.

Dimensions for Facebook’s Cover Picture

Cover Picture area
Width: 851px
Height: 315px
(*note: There is a 1px border around the outside but that will not affect the size of the final image)

Profile Picture Thumbnail
For those of you that are designers and know CSS, the profile picture is positioned absolute. Not that it’s uber important, but just saying. It sits 23px from the left and 92px up in the cover picture.

Width: 125px Now is 160px
Height: 125px Now is 160px
Border: 4px white (#ffffff)
Border-radius: 2px
Padding: 1px all around

There is a div that sits behind the picture and it’s border that has a background that is black with an alpha channel of 0.3. Essentially, it’s opacity is set at 30%. Although the whole background is filled behind the image, it only appears to the user as a gray 1px border. The complete size of the profile picture thumbnail, with the borders and ‘background’ is 135 x 135.

Facebook Cover Picture Template

To customize the Facebook cover picture, I have a Photoshop template that includes the profile picture thumbnail with it’s borders and also guides to help with the layout. It’s pretty easy to set up a template but to save you time, I’ve created one for you!

To see what a few others have done already, check out this list of custom Facebook cover pictures.

I’d like to see what you’ve done already. Post a link below!

This was the message displayed on my profile page as I was editing the new profile layout.

Of course I hit publish now. I’m not waiting a whole week! And of course Facebook let me know just developers could see my newly enabled Facebook profile and timeline.

If you’re interested in getting the new Facebook timeline and profile through the developer release, I followed these steps on Mashable. Now, if you’re interested in customizing the new Facebook timeline, here are the dimensions of the Facebook cover and a template to download.

Importance of Professional Web Design

Your business is unique and trying to separate from competitors. I don’t want to put your logo and content into a template, change the colors, and call it a day. Your business offers something others don’t and your website should display that and stand out from the competition.

Here’s an example of the importance. You’re on vacation in Denver and you’re desperately in the mood for a nice steak dinner. You do a search on Google for best steak restaurants and you get a couple choices (Hey, SEO at it’s finest). Both restaurants have a website and menus available but Restaurant A has a site with high quality images that let you grasp the dining atmosphere. Restaurant B has a couple small images and looks like the same website template design as your barber’s shop back home. Which website appeases you more at the time? Which business are you going to choose. Restaurant A’s website offers a lot more and of course, you’re more likely to pick it to dine at.

Having a professionally designed website will create that trust and bond with the visitor and your business – all through the website. And a website is often the first place of contact between customer and business. Again, it’s important to have a professional web designer help you customize your site.

The new website provides a better structure and hierarchy, able to grow and improve as the business grows. The design is more modern and provides Creative Bathroom Solutions with a trustworthy looking site. To view this site and check out other work completed, take a look at my portfolio of projects.

Web services used: Web Design, Web Development, On-page SEO, Web Maintenance

How are web design rates determined?

Again, you’ll notice it varies between each designer or agency. For example, my website quote considers the following factors:

• professional design we provide
• time
• size of website
• special features or functions your website needs.

Hourly Rate

In a designers case, this is usually determined by quality of work, competition, and experience. Not every designer is the same and it’s why web design rates vary so much. However, sometimes you’ll find an occasional designer with little experience charging way to much. Just be sure you match their rate with their portfolio and quality of work.

In an agency’s case, they also have to account for overhead. They usually have a few designers, developers, SEO’s, and even content writers that they must compensate. These rates can fluctuate between $200-$500 per hour.

Design Quote per Project

This is usually my way to estimate a price for a project. Every client I work with is unique and needs different website features or capabilities. And the budget varies. What one business can afford may be different then the next. The per project quote factors in client needs and size of the website. Although time is involved, the per project quote isn’t directly dependent on the hour rate.

Why are there no set web design rates?

Some designers do offer set price packages. However, I believe no two businesses are exactly the same and should each have it’s unique website. They may offer similar products or service, but each one has its own personality and is trying to separate from the competition. Every business’s website should portray its brand and show how it’s unique. That’s where custom website design or web development can help.

If you have further questions on web design rates and cost, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below.

There’s been a lot of buzz about search results in Google returning websites based on social recommendations. It’s clear that social plays a part. And with the addition of the Google+ project, this has become pretty powerful…and exciting stuff in the SERPs. In their webinar yesterday, Rand and Eric showed how Google is even recommending websites based on friend’s Facebook Shares. While this post isn’t groundbreaking news, it’s the first social recommendation I’ve seen from a Flickr account and also got me thinking about stronger social connections.

Here is the example I wanted to share. The social recommendations come from Rand because he has the SEOmoz Flickr account connected to his Google+ account.

These recommendation results are the 3rd and 4th in the SERPs. When I turn off personalization, these results are nowhere to be found (Okay, I went 8 pages deep and found nothing). Again, pretty powerful and neat.

I quickly checked the image search but no social recommendation there yet (yes, I  turned personalization back on). However, you can probably bet that in the future if you’re searching for a person and they’re tagged in a friend’s public album, their photo will be recommended to you via social recommendations in the image search!

1 Way or 2 Way Connection

Now on G+, I follow Rand but he doesn’t follow me. He probably doesn’t know me but may remember when I used SEOmoz in my Halloween costume. The results and recommending make sense because I follow Rand, but it’s still somewhat interesting because this is only a one way connection (I follow him, he doesn’t follow me).

What if Rand did know me and connected with me on Google+, resulting in a 2 way connection. Would Google read this as a stronger connection and in return, place the results at position 1 or 2? I haven’t tested this yet, but would like to think Google would see a stronger relationship between us (love ya Rand) and place results higher in the page. If they aren’t doing it now, It’ll be something to keep an eye on.

However, I’m not so sure this will make a difference to searchers. If social recommendations appeared 3rd or 4th (as they did for this search) or even 5th, we’d still read what Rand or any friend had shared. We all want to see what our friends are recommending and reading! As long as Google is placing social recommendations on the 1st page at the top half of the page where searchers can see them, users will read them. To me,  social recommendations appearing 3rd or 4th will have just as much value as the top result. Hey, friends are significant. And it’s who you know, not what you know, right?

Oh, that search result returns pictures of Susan from the PubCon conference in 2007. No worries, all is good Susan.

Time to test the 2 way connection to see if it’s ‘stronger’ then the 1 way connection. Has anyone seen a friend’s social recommendation as the top result?

Also, what are your thoughts on the possibility of social recommendations in image search?