There are millions of website designers around the world. With the power of the internet, you have the ability to locate and choose any one of them. All of the website designers have different skills sets and creativity. It's always a difficult decision as to who to hire. But is choosing a website designer from a different state or even a different country a wise choice? Absolutely not, and if you answered otherwise, your answer is about to change.
A web designer is a creative person that you have to entrust to build yourself a successful online business. Creating a website to promote your local business is just as important to your business success as building an online only e-commerce store. The unlimited power of the internet can bring you thousands of potential customers that you could not have reached otherwise.
This trust cannot be established when you are talking to a faceless computer and not face-to-face with a real person. This face-to-face relationship with a web designer is what creates that trust that's needed for your business to succeed online. Hiring a local website designer also decreases your chances of being scammed. Online scams have been around for years and are still growing now days. If you don't know who you are dealing with, you cannot trust them with your money and your business.
You can sit down with a local website designer and have a face-to-face conversation. You can freely express your concerns and ask any questions. Internet website designers send you a questionnaire to fill out and you have to know everything. With a local website company, you ask the questions and the company gives you options.
Finding a local website designer is quite easy. The advanced technologies of search engines allow to narrow search results to exactly what you are looking for. For example when looking for a New Jersey website designer, type NJ website design in Google and you get results for the top website design companies that server the New Jersey state. Call their local numbers and ask them to visit you at your location. You are paying for their services, so don't be afraid to set demands.
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Saturday 21 March 2009
Web Design - 3 Reasons You Should Hire a Designer
Many online businesses start with little or no start-up capital. For this reason, many business owners opt to do all of the work themselves, including the creation of a product or service, creating a marketing plan, and the design and implementation of their company website. As the company business begins to grow, often time, the self developed website solution becomes too small to handle the expanding needs of the company. This can cause the business to halt all growth and sales several days to redesign the company website for increased growth.
If this sounds familiar to you, you may have started your company with very little start-up capital, and you may be hesitant to give your hard earned money to others for something you think can be done yourself! However, there are three reasons you should hire a web designer to save you not only time and money, but also heartache and frustration.
1. Saves Time to Run Your Business: By letting a web designer do a specific assigned job for you, you are not simply handing over the "dirty work" to the web designer. Actually, by paying the designer, you will eliminate all of the worry and frequent annoyances that often appear when trying to design your own website. This will allow you more time to focus on your business and the day to day operations of your company.
2. Quick Fix Problems: By hiring a designer, you are hiring professionals that are skilled at what they do. When you outsource your web design jobs, you will not have to be concerned with the issues that may arise, you can simply contact the designer to fix the problem. The designer will be able to quickly assess the problem and provide a quicker solution than you will probably be able to assess.
3. Professionalism: Surely, the designer you hire has been doing their job for a longer length of time than you. By hiring a web designer, you will have a more professional and polished finished product. Web designers do their jobs for a living, so they have to be superior at what they do!
Hiring a designer can be one the smartest business decisions you will ever make. Don't trust just anyone to make your vision a reality. Hire a web designer that cares and one that can help your company have the professional image it deserves.
If this sounds familiar to you, you may have started your company with very little start-up capital, and you may be hesitant to give your hard earned money to others for something you think can be done yourself! However, there are three reasons you should hire a web designer to save you not only time and money, but also heartache and frustration.
1. Saves Time to Run Your Business: By letting a web designer do a specific assigned job for you, you are not simply handing over the "dirty work" to the web designer. Actually, by paying the designer, you will eliminate all of the worry and frequent annoyances that often appear when trying to design your own website. This will allow you more time to focus on your business and the day to day operations of your company.
2. Quick Fix Problems: By hiring a designer, you are hiring professionals that are skilled at what they do. When you outsource your web design jobs, you will not have to be concerned with the issues that may arise, you can simply contact the designer to fix the problem. The designer will be able to quickly assess the problem and provide a quicker solution than you will probably be able to assess.
3. Professionalism: Surely, the designer you hire has been doing their job for a longer length of time than you. By hiring a web designer, you will have a more professional and polished finished product. Web designers do their jobs for a living, so they have to be superior at what they do!
Hiring a designer can be one the smartest business decisions you will ever make. Don't trust just anyone to make your vision a reality. Hire a web designer that cares and one that can help your company have the professional image it deserves.
Thursday 19 March 2009
A Design Process - is There Such a Thing?
Every website has had a designer in charge of creating and adapting the look of that site. Of course, this means that it is immensely difficult to not have a design similar to that of previous websites.
With this in mind, have these designers used a process to create these websites?
Web designers such as ourselves, who use our skills to make unique websites for specific companies, are given a brief and idea of what is expected for that customer. We discuss colours, logos, images and text with our customers to make sure that all these attributes reflect their company and what they stand for. It is our job to create the right design that makes a company proud of their website as well as functioning to the standards we would want for our own site.
With the brief in hand, a large part of designing a website is the personal taste of the designer. Our creativity is what makes a design unique and specific for that person and their what they are trying to portray.
However, there is a theory that designers use a process of creating websites. Explaining the trend that sites are not made from original ideas. A successful design is repeated in a different format and lay out to correspond with the different specifications.
Of course the same with designing anything - as well as web - there is a matter of confidence when a design proceeds to do well and attracts wanted attention. With many examples of successful and replicated designs, especially in technology, a design that sells and proceeds to make a lot of profit for those designers. It creates a base for many other companies to follow this design to see if they can match or even improve the success of the first
product.
Website design is similar, however the processes some people undertake are different to others. All creativity has to be different and with web design, the processes are unique to each and every person developing websites. We have our own styles that are incorporated in to website we develop. When designing and creating anything time and time again, you find your niche and discover what your sites have in common, event though each are different.
Of course, there is a huge difference between getting inspiration from another design and just copying an old one. Fortunately, our creative flare and urge for finding original inspiration, specific to our customers, means we never copy any designs, whether it be our own or others. Although we may prefer to use a type of style, and use of flash, never do we use the same design for any of our many customers, or will ever do so.
In conclusion there could be a process in the way a designer first goes about designing and how inspiration and adaptation begins. However, to create an original web page for our customers, each of us has a unique process that changes with each design.
With this in mind, have these designers used a process to create these websites?
Web designers such as ourselves, who use our skills to make unique websites for specific companies, are given a brief and idea of what is expected for that customer. We discuss colours, logos, images and text with our customers to make sure that all these attributes reflect their company and what they stand for. It is our job to create the right design that makes a company proud of their website as well as functioning to the standards we would want for our own site.
With the brief in hand, a large part of designing a website is the personal taste of the designer. Our creativity is what makes a design unique and specific for that person and their what they are trying to portray.
However, there is a theory that designers use a process of creating websites. Explaining the trend that sites are not made from original ideas. A successful design is repeated in a different format and lay out to correspond with the different specifications.
Of course the same with designing anything - as well as web - there is a matter of confidence when a design proceeds to do well and attracts wanted attention. With many examples of successful and replicated designs, especially in technology, a design that sells and proceeds to make a lot of profit for those designers. It creates a base for many other companies to follow this design to see if they can match or even improve the success of the first
product.
Website design is similar, however the processes some people undertake are different to others. All creativity has to be different and with web design, the processes are unique to each and every person developing websites. We have our own styles that are incorporated in to website we develop. When designing and creating anything time and time again, you find your niche and discover what your sites have in common, event though each are different.
Of course, there is a huge difference between getting inspiration from another design and just copying an old one. Fortunately, our creative flare and urge for finding original inspiration, specific to our customers, means we never copy any designs, whether it be our own or others. Although we may prefer to use a type of style, and use of flash, never do we use the same design for any of our many customers, or will ever do so.
In conclusion there could be a process in the way a designer first goes about designing and how inspiration and adaptation begins. However, to create an original web page for our customers, each of us has a unique process that changes with each design.
Wednesday 11 March 2009
The 10 Commandments of Search Engine Friendly Web Design
What is 'Search Engine Friendly' web design?
It means that special care is taken to ensure your website can be easily scanned and indexed by search engines. A search engine friendly websites allows search engines to easily jump from page to page of your website, read your website content, determine what keywords are relevant to your website, and then deliver search results accordingly. This is absolutely critical if ranking well in the search engines is important to you. It doesn't mean that your website WILL rank well (there are many other factors that will influence this) - but it's a great start: it means that your website CAN rank well and that there are no hurdles preventing it from doing so.
Search engine friendly web design is a very important element of search engine optimisation.
The 10 commandments of Search Engine Friendly Web Design
1. Title tags should be UNIQUE
Your website title tags should uniquely identify the content on any given page - title tags give search engines the first clue as to what this page is about. If you have an ecommerce website, then every single product page should have a unique title tag - ask your web developer to make sure this is generated automatically for you, it can make a big difference to ranking well for individual product names.
2. Make sure your website is easy to navigate
Your menu should be obvious (at the top of the page) and straight forward. Avoid flash and javascript, desired mouse over effects should be able to be achieved using css. If you have a lot of deep level pages, then make sure you setup a sitemap and link to it from your home page so that the search engines can easy find it.
3. Content should be well structured and keyword rich
Just like users, Search engines like useful heading tags, bullet points, highlighted words and keyword rich content.
4. Be aware of keyword 'cannibalization'
This is when you target the same keywords across many different pages. In doing so, you water down the value of the keywords on any particular page and search engines can have trouble determining which page to display to searchers.
5. Update Regularly
A cms (content management system) or blog will enable you to keep your website up-to-date with fresh content. The more relevant the content you add, the more likely you will build natural links from other websites - link building is one of the most important elements of search engine optimization. By adding new content regularly, you also boost your keyword combinations and increase the chances of visitors finding you via long tail searches (search phrases that are typically longer and more specific than normal).
6. Clean layouts work best
The cleaner the coding of your website, the easier it is for search engines to access your website content. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) should be used for design implementation and all scripts should be contained in external files.
7. Avoid the excessive use of FLASH.
There are many obstacles to achieving search engine friendliness in Flash websites, so use it sparingly. Flash can be great for creating some eye-catching ads or dynamic flair to your website but should not be heavily used.
8. Avoid embedding text in images
Search engines can't read text that appears in an image - so you're better off displaying your content in real text wherever possible. When it is necessary to embed text in images then ALT tags can be used to describe the content to search engines
9. Meaningful directory and file names
Something like: www.clothes.com/jeans/levis/ is a lot more meaningful to search engines than www.clothes.com/index.php?cat=10&id=12. Your keywords should be included in directory and file names - this is another thing you can ask you web developer to generate automatically for you, it's well worth the effort!
10. Link to your domain, not index.php
Every-time you display a link to your home page, you should link to your full domain, not the file name. The number of pages linking to your home page (both external and internal) is an important element of seo, you don't want to divide the total number of incoming links to your home page between 2 different links!
It means that special care is taken to ensure your website can be easily scanned and indexed by search engines. A search engine friendly websites allows search engines to easily jump from page to page of your website, read your website content, determine what keywords are relevant to your website, and then deliver search results accordingly. This is absolutely critical if ranking well in the search engines is important to you. It doesn't mean that your website WILL rank well (there are many other factors that will influence this) - but it's a great start: it means that your website CAN rank well and that there are no hurdles preventing it from doing so.
Search engine friendly web design is a very important element of search engine optimisation.
The 10 commandments of Search Engine Friendly Web Design
1. Title tags should be UNIQUE
Your website title tags should uniquely identify the content on any given page - title tags give search engines the first clue as to what this page is about. If you have an ecommerce website, then every single product page should have a unique title tag - ask your web developer to make sure this is generated automatically for you, it can make a big difference to ranking well for individual product names.
2. Make sure your website is easy to navigate
Your menu should be obvious (at the top of the page) and straight forward. Avoid flash and javascript, desired mouse over effects should be able to be achieved using css. If you have a lot of deep level pages, then make sure you setup a sitemap and link to it from your home page so that the search engines can easy find it.
3. Content should be well structured and keyword rich
Just like users, Search engines like useful heading tags, bullet points, highlighted words and keyword rich content.
4. Be aware of keyword 'cannibalization'
This is when you target the same keywords across many different pages. In doing so, you water down the value of the keywords on any particular page and search engines can have trouble determining which page to display to searchers.
5. Update Regularly
A cms (content management system) or blog will enable you to keep your website up-to-date with fresh content. The more relevant the content you add, the more likely you will build natural links from other websites - link building is one of the most important elements of search engine optimization. By adding new content regularly, you also boost your keyword combinations and increase the chances of visitors finding you via long tail searches (search phrases that are typically longer and more specific than normal).
6. Clean layouts work best
The cleaner the coding of your website, the easier it is for search engines to access your website content. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) should be used for design implementation and all scripts should be contained in external files.
7. Avoid the excessive use of FLASH.
There are many obstacles to achieving search engine friendliness in Flash websites, so use it sparingly. Flash can be great for creating some eye-catching ads or dynamic flair to your website but should not be heavily used.
8. Avoid embedding text in images
Search engines can't read text that appears in an image - so you're better off displaying your content in real text wherever possible. When it is necessary to embed text in images then ALT tags can be used to describe the content to search engines
9. Meaningful directory and file names
Something like: www.clothes.com/jeans/levis/ is a lot more meaningful to search engines than www.clothes.com/index.php?cat=10&id=12. Your keywords should be included in directory and file names - this is another thing you can ask you web developer to generate automatically for you, it's well worth the effort!
10. Link to your domain, not index.php
Every-time you display a link to your home page, you should link to your full domain, not the file name. The number of pages linking to your home page (both external and internal) is an important element of seo, you don't want to divide the total number of incoming links to your home page between 2 different links!
Dance Web Design For Dance Instructors and Performers
While artists in other mediums typically employ the internet to great effect, professionals dancers and dance instructors have traditionally ignored the many advantages of creating a website. As a movement artist, dancers may not consider the website medium as effective for communicating their artistry as do artists who produce static images, such as paintings. However, modern website design methods, animation and internet technology make dance web design as relevant to the dancer as it is to the painter. Dance professionals who must market their service, but lack a website, are at a major disadvantage compared to competitors.
Software packages that make website building easy for beginners, combined with the widespread use of high speed internet, can allow any dancer to showcase their art worldwide using a creative, beautiful website. Using digital video, Flash animation, and other tools the dancer can create a dance web design can draw the viewer in with interactivity and motion without the help of expensive professionals.
While animation and website building software comes with a big learning curve, the dance professional on a very strict budget has the choice of investing time - well spent in a skill that is very relevant - rather than spending money in short supply. Instead, the dance professional who has a busy schedule may think of hiring a professional dance website design service. No matter what, the investment can in a very fast way pay for itself with more business, and the satisfaction of communicating one's artistry to a bigger audience.
Using this as a secondary benefit, having these well working do-it-yourself dance site design tools have made the cost of professional website design services. For the dance professional who prior too did not want to work on a website because of the cost which was involved may possibly want to now take a second look. A easy search online will show the typical costs that are involved in today's market.
When creating a site, first consider what is most important - business promotion or demonstration of artistry. The dance professional looking first to promote their business might build a less complicated site featuring simple text and images. This simple site could include as little as a photograph of the studio and available classes and services, and can be done in minutes on a home computer with internet access and a web hosting service. Many Internet Service Providers provide website development programs that are easy to use and styled after word processing software. These programs are also available as unique applications.
A simple website provides current and future clients with basic information. This information may include class schedules, pricing, images of the facility and instructor biographies and credentials. Dance web design that is more complicated may include video tutorials of steps, and may even include a virtual classroom for students unable to attend physical classes. Thanks to the web, instructors and performers can communicate and learn with others all over the world.
Using advanced website design methods, animation and Internet technology make dance web design just like the dancer as it is to the painter. Dance professionals who don't have websites and need to market their service, are already at a very big disadvantage compared to their competitors. A Dance Professional has the choice of spending time to muscle through learning curves or animation and website-building software at a lower cost, or employ services of a professional dance website design business for fast, business improvement. Both methods pay with improved quality of business and fulfillment. You can decrease your cost of using professional website design service, with temporary dance site design tool.
Software packages that make website building easy for beginners, combined with the widespread use of high speed internet, can allow any dancer to showcase their art worldwide using a creative, beautiful website. Using digital video, Flash animation, and other tools the dancer can create a dance web design can draw the viewer in with interactivity and motion without the help of expensive professionals.
While animation and website building software comes with a big learning curve, the dance professional on a very strict budget has the choice of investing time - well spent in a skill that is very relevant - rather than spending money in short supply. Instead, the dance professional who has a busy schedule may think of hiring a professional dance website design service. No matter what, the investment can in a very fast way pay for itself with more business, and the satisfaction of communicating one's artistry to a bigger audience.
Using this as a secondary benefit, having these well working do-it-yourself dance site design tools have made the cost of professional website design services. For the dance professional who prior too did not want to work on a website because of the cost which was involved may possibly want to now take a second look. A easy search online will show the typical costs that are involved in today's market.
When creating a site, first consider what is most important - business promotion or demonstration of artistry. The dance professional looking first to promote their business might build a less complicated site featuring simple text and images. This simple site could include as little as a photograph of the studio and available classes and services, and can be done in minutes on a home computer with internet access and a web hosting service. Many Internet Service Providers provide website development programs that are easy to use and styled after word processing software. These programs are also available as unique applications.
A simple website provides current and future clients with basic information. This information may include class schedules, pricing, images of the facility and instructor biographies and credentials. Dance web design that is more complicated may include video tutorials of steps, and may even include a virtual classroom for students unable to attend physical classes. Thanks to the web, instructors and performers can communicate and learn with others all over the world.
Using advanced website design methods, animation and Internet technology make dance web design just like the dancer as it is to the painter. Dance professionals who don't have websites and need to market their service, are already at a very big disadvantage compared to their competitors. A Dance Professional has the choice of spending time to muscle through learning curves or animation and website-building software at a lower cost, or employ services of a professional dance website design business for fast, business improvement. Both methods pay with improved quality of business and fulfillment. You can decrease your cost of using professional website design service, with temporary dance site design tool.
Save Money on Your Web Design Project by Doing Some of the Work Yourself
You have finally found and hired the right web designer to develop your business web site. It is now time to provide the information, graphics and other items your web developer requires.
There are ways you can help your designer by doing some of the work yourself and cutting down on the billable hours your designer charges you.
First of all, give your web developer as much information about your business as you can. He or she probably will not use all of the information you supply, but your designer strives to make your site unique. The more information you offer, the more personalized your site will be.
You are probably supplying some type of textual information to your web designer. Maybe it is from your brochure or other advertising material. If all you have is a paper copy, it saves time if you type it up and send it to your web designer in digital format. A scan will not work, it has to be typed and saved in a word or text processing program. Ask your designer ahead of time what format he or she prefers.
If you are providing graphics to be used on the site, learn how to crop and re-size them. Graphic processing is resource and time-consuming. If you learn how to crop and resize your graphics and then send them to your developer, it could save you some billable hours. Pictures from your digital camera or other sources usually cannot be put on your web site without re-sizing. Most digital cameras take pictures that are 1600 or more pixels wide. A graphic on a web page will rarely be larger than 500 pixels wide. Before you re-size a graphic, you can often crop out unneeded areas. Focus on the object of your photo and crop out unneeded backgrounds.
Google offers a free image software program called Picasa that can be used to crop and re-size photos. Picasa can be downloaded here, http://www.picasa.google.com/.
If you are working with a committee on the web site, appoint one person to be the web designer's contact. The designer should only be given instructions from the appointed contact and only when the instructions are final decisions, not those that are still swirling around the committee. Get feedback from the designer, yes, but don't give him or her instructions until a final decision has been made.
Respond to your web designer's questions as quickly as possible.
Listen to your web developer. He or she knows the web and what is best for your site. Don't insist on having music on your site when your designer is giving you all of the logical reasons not to do it. (Unless you are a musician or in some kind of music business, of course.)
The more you help your designer, the sooner your site will be up and running. And, it just might cut down on the hours you will be billed for your web project.
There are ways you can help your designer by doing some of the work yourself and cutting down on the billable hours your designer charges you.
First of all, give your web developer as much information about your business as you can. He or she probably will not use all of the information you supply, but your designer strives to make your site unique. The more information you offer, the more personalized your site will be.
You are probably supplying some type of textual information to your web designer. Maybe it is from your brochure or other advertising material. If all you have is a paper copy, it saves time if you type it up and send it to your web designer in digital format. A scan will not work, it has to be typed and saved in a word or text processing program. Ask your designer ahead of time what format he or she prefers.
If you are providing graphics to be used on the site, learn how to crop and re-size them. Graphic processing is resource and time-consuming. If you learn how to crop and resize your graphics and then send them to your developer, it could save you some billable hours. Pictures from your digital camera or other sources usually cannot be put on your web site without re-sizing. Most digital cameras take pictures that are 1600 or more pixels wide. A graphic on a web page will rarely be larger than 500 pixels wide. Before you re-size a graphic, you can often crop out unneeded areas. Focus on the object of your photo and crop out unneeded backgrounds.
Google offers a free image software program called Picasa that can be used to crop and re-size photos. Picasa can be downloaded here, http://www.picasa.google.com/.
If you are working with a committee on the web site, appoint one person to be the web designer's contact. The designer should only be given instructions from the appointed contact and only when the instructions are final decisions, not those that are still swirling around the committee. Get feedback from the designer, yes, but don't give him or her instructions until a final decision has been made.
Respond to your web designer's questions as quickly as possible.
Listen to your web developer. He or she knows the web and what is best for your site. Don't insist on having music on your site when your designer is giving you all of the logical reasons not to do it. (Unless you are a musician or in some kind of music business, of course.)
The more you help your designer, the sooner your site will be up and running. And, it just might cut down on the hours you will be billed for your web project.
Professional Web Site Design - Yes Or No?
We've all seen them. Those web sites that have blinking text, clashing colors, huge graphics and music that starts playing, making you jump our of your chair! And worse yet, it's a business web site. It may even be difficult to tell what the business does.
These days every business needs a web site. Unfortunately, this is a place where many business owners scrimp. They ask their 13 year old nephew to create one. Or, they use one of the many do-it-yourself web design programs or systems out there. Some are inexpensive. But if you go with one of these, you may not be getting the website your company really needs.
An experienced, professional web site designer knows how to create an attractive, easily navigated site that will appeal to visitors. A professional designer has studied color and how it relates to the web. An experienced web developer knows that people use different web browsers and designs so the web site layout will work in all of them. He or she will know how to optimize graphics for the web, will have learned and kept up with the techniques for rankings in Google and other search engines. A good web designer will walk you through the process so developing your web site is not a chore.
It takes time and dedication for a serious web designer to learn everything there is to know about designing for the web. It takes ongoing education. It takes experience. An experienced web designer can give you so much more than a template or do-it-yourself program can.
Here's another way to look at it: Did you make your own business sign or did you use a professional? Did you put your own plumbing in or do your own electrical wiring? Unless you have the specific training to do those tasks, you probably hired a professional. The same should be true of developing your web site.
Your web site will be seen by people all over the world. When people visit your site, they form an opinion about your business based on what they see. If your site is hard to navigate, is unclear about what you do and takes forever to download, their perception of your business declines. It's as if they walked into your physical store and found dirt and dust everywhere. That is not the impression you want to make.
The fact is that the public expects a business to have a professional looking web site that provides them with the information they need. Unless a business owner has the time and skills to create such a site, he or she should seriously consider hiring a web professional.
These days every business needs a web site. Unfortunately, this is a place where many business owners scrimp. They ask their 13 year old nephew to create one. Or, they use one of the many do-it-yourself web design programs or systems out there. Some are inexpensive. But if you go with one of these, you may not be getting the website your company really needs.
An experienced, professional web site designer knows how to create an attractive, easily navigated site that will appeal to visitors. A professional designer has studied color and how it relates to the web. An experienced web developer knows that people use different web browsers and designs so the web site layout will work in all of them. He or she will know how to optimize graphics for the web, will have learned and kept up with the techniques for rankings in Google and other search engines. A good web designer will walk you through the process so developing your web site is not a chore.
It takes time and dedication for a serious web designer to learn everything there is to know about designing for the web. It takes ongoing education. It takes experience. An experienced web designer can give you so much more than a template or do-it-yourself program can.
Here's another way to look at it: Did you make your own business sign or did you use a professional? Did you put your own plumbing in or do your own electrical wiring? Unless you have the specific training to do those tasks, you probably hired a professional. The same should be true of developing your web site.
Your web site will be seen by people all over the world. When people visit your site, they form an opinion about your business based on what they see. If your site is hard to navigate, is unclear about what you do and takes forever to download, their perception of your business declines. It's as if they walked into your physical store and found dirt and dust everywhere. That is not the impression you want to make.
The fact is that the public expects a business to have a professional looking web site that provides them with the information they need. Unless a business owner has the time and skills to create such a site, he or she should seriously consider hiring a web professional.
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