Tag Archive for: website design

Making a Website That Attracts the Millennial Crowd

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beautiful, creative, daylight

The era now is basically the era of tech savvies and internet dependent kids, who are collectively called as “Millennials.” The world we are in is fast changing and that is okay. Developments and discoveries arise any minute of the day and the reason behind that is we want to make everything more advantageous to us. The younger generations are the prime example of how advanced the world has become.

In this day and age, millennials are the biggest clients that every business ventures want to target. The modern world’s demands have totally become more complex and advanced and this is what every single business should meet up with, and that involves designing a site that fits the millennials’ liking.

Here is how you can attract millennials:

  • FOCUS ON THE MOBILE

    Kids these days can totally forget everything else but their phones. Every survey targeted on millennials show that there is not a single teenager who is not fixated on their phones. Everywhere they go, they always carry their phones. Always. This is a reason why designing a website that is also perfect for mobile use is crucial. Make sure that the site’s design won’t annoy and bore your clients when viewing it using their mobile phones.

  • MILLENNIALS FOR A GOOD CAUSE

    The millennials are not only tech savvy but they are also people who love standing firm to something.  Millennials are not only tech savvy but they also love to stand firm with something they believe in, they have visions and principles that they can uphold with conviction. It will surprise you how much these kids are very much into charitable works. Encourage them to support you by integrating philanthropic causes to your site. This is a way to not only boost your site but to also help those who are in need.

  • APPLY WARM AND ENTICING UNDERTONES

    This is the where the fun part begins. Since we are talking about younger generations here, we are planning on how to make them follow our site.  The most important thing is to cut the all the boring stuff and make the design aesthetically amiable to your biggest clients. It is wise to use designs that looks familiar and appealing to their age. When it comes to published contents, make sure they can relate to it.

  • THE SIMPLER, THE BETTER.

    It is fun to spice things up with extra features and stuff, but the very best tactic is by being straight to the point. You see, people have busy lives and most of them don’t have time to figure out which way out is it in a maze, so cut to the chase.

Catching the attention of the younger generation is truly important considering the fact that they are your biggest market. Yes, they are young and still need to experience a lot of things in their lives but remember, nobody knows the online world better than they do. If truth be told, they are the hope of our future. In our case, the millennials are the hope our websites’ success.

Mobile Websites VS Responsive Websites

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business, computer, device

This article is made for those people who are going crazy over the confusion between mobile websites and responsive websites. One would think that these two are precisely the same thing or some would often wonder what is the difference between the two. The difference between the two is not equivalent to rocket science, it is actually rather simple.

The major difference between a mobile site and a responsive site is their URL STRUCTURE.

According to Christian Stack, an Internet Marketing consultant, “A mobile site exists on either a subdomain of your website’s root domain (m.yourdomain.com, for example) or a completely separate URL than your root domain (yourdomainsmobile.com, for example). While a responsive site is your main site and root domain; it’s just built in a way that allows it to respond appropriately when viewed on a mobile device.”

Basically, a mobile site is like a secondary site or a completely separate site while a responsive site is your main site.

  • Do not be confuse with one over the other. Using mobile sites might pose a lot of dilemmas because if you have two completely different versions of your site online, it can pose major issues such as risk of duplicate content issues.
  • Why is this a risk? Well, if Google will index your site, and if you have two different sites to choose from, Google might get confused on what side should be rightly indexed to its search engines.
  • Having a mobile site means you have two versions of your site, it also means that the content could be different from your main site. This can be awful for your search results and traffic. Having two different versions of your site, you will need to update content in both versions if you are making changes to your site. There are potential for mistakes, and the wrong content can be conveyed to your audience.

Sizing is another difference between mobile and responsive sites.

  • The reason behind creating these sites is the capability to scan contents on a smaller device, like your mobile phone, tablet, or any other devices. When it comes to mobile sites, it is designed to fit these devices with smaller resolutions.
  • If you try to view a mobile site using a desktop, your contents will dwindle and will become unreadable, so it is best to only view it using your mobile devices. In the case of responsive sites, it is designed to fit all existing devices. It can be seen using either your mobile phone or your desktop without affecting the content’s readability.
  • Doing such thing can make your visitors stay longer on your website and there is a greater chance that they will click the web elements found on your site such as call-to-action buttons, clickable phone numbers, and live chat.

The Conclusion

With all the reasons stated above, a responsive site provides a better experience for every user. It can prevent possible SEO nightmares because these sites are found and indexed by Google. Within the Web designing industry, there is an effort to promote mobile-first design.

How Important Is Typography in Web Design?

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blur, book, business

Most of the time, typography is often disregarded as something trivial but if you think about it, it is equally important as the other web elements of your site.

When you visit a website what is the first thing you notice aside from the actual content? Of course, it’s the look of the website including its chosen typefaces. Would you want to explore a website that is disorganized or a website that seems like it hasn’t been thought about seriously? NO!

This is why typography plays a significant role in web design. Typography not only polishes your website to make it look posh and chic. It also says a lot about your brand and your content.

BELOW ARE 7 REASONS THAT WILL PERSUADE YOU THAT TYPOGRAPHY IS IMPORTANT:

  • IT PLAYS A ROLE ON DECISION MAKING

    Something that seems unimportant actually a very crucial role. Typography could either make or break your content. Your readers’ perception on the contents that you publish will greatly affect website activity. Studies have shown that readers prefer some typefaces over the others because they believe that certain texts, with a particular typeface, are more factual and reliable. Choose a typeface that would make an impact to your website and something that would not stress readers.

  • IT TRIGGERS EMOTIONS

    This is the magical powers of typography. It not only influences your decisions, but it triggers emotions. When you see something that looks nice, you will be convinced to check it out. This will encourage people to visit your website often.

  • TYPEFACE RELATES TO YOUR BRAND

    As previously stated, typography is the reflection of your brand. It will give your readers a heads up on what to expect upon visiting your website. They will have an idea on the content of your website and the quality of products that you offer.

  • THE PERFECT TYPEFACE RECEIVES READERS’ TRUST

    Typography sets the overall mood of your website. You have to ensure that the website will make customers feel comfortable in trusting whatever it is you are saying. That’s why it is imperative to make your typeface relatable and professional.

  • TYPEFACE ENHANCES READABILITY

    The focus should NOT be: to make a website look pretty! Complex typefaces could affect the text’s appearances and website visitors may NOT find it readable. The main point of this is that content should be understandable. It shouldn’t make your readers question what they are reading.  Fonts are responsible for the user’s readability so you really have to choose wisely.

  • SECONDARY TYPEFACES ARE ALSO IMPORTANT

    You don’t stop when you find the ONE perfect typeface. A secondary typeface is equally significant because you also need to indicate essential subheadings. It should also scream like your heading. You can opt to use the same typeface, but there should be a distinct difference between the heading and the subheading. This is why the last reason important.

  • TYPE SIZE IS MATTER TOO

    It’s not only the typefaces that are valuable, but also the type sizes.  You want to emphasize certain words and highlight important data for readers to know the key points that support to the topic.

How to Use Hashtags in Promoting Your Website

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Two Man and Two Woman Standing on Green Grass Field

WHAT’S IN A HASHTAG?

  • Before, the pound sign is just another symbol. Now, it’s widely used in creating hashtags on various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and most especially on Twitter highlighting the trending topics online.
  • The truth is that hashtags are NOT just talking about a certain topic in pop culture. A hashtag may also help you to promote your website and its content.

HOW CAN A HASHTAG BOOST YOUR WEBSITE?

  • Before we dig deeper, let us start by discussing the significance of a hashtag. In this day and age of the rampant use of social media, we can say that hashtags have helped in making posts, activities, topics more visible and more accessible to online users despite geographic differences.
  • Since a hashtag is a symbol we affix to a topic that we want to emphasize, or to a topic that we want to reach thousands or even millions of people both locally and internationally, it has been a great promotional tool for content creators to promote their websites or contents.
  • It is basically just typing a hash symbol preceding the topic of choice, and that’s basically it. When online users search for that same hashtag, or even a related topic, your content will be categorized as one of the possible choices, allowing other users to easily see your work.
  • Thus, increasing the chances for others to click on your website and read its contents. In simpler terms, it works like an online filter, which organizes posts for the convenience of the online users. Let’s admit that there are millions of content published each day whether it’s on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and etc. But there are a few pointers that we need to know before we start promoting online.

THINGS TO CONSIDER IN USING HASHTAGS

  • It is important to remember that in using a hashtag in a general sense, especially for promotional purposes, that the characters preceded by the hash symbol should not be separated by a space, there should be no spaces in between those letters or words.
  • It is also important to remember that your chosen hashtags should be related to whatever it is your publishing. Of course, it is common knowledge to use a hashtag that relates to the content that you want to promote. You cannot just use a hashtag that has nothing to do with your content because that will mislead the users. They will not trust you if they will found out that you used a popular hashtag just for promotion.
  • Also, using long hashtags can be a disadvantage because using hashtags that are way too long are not too memorable to online users. That is mainly because, it can sometimes be tiring and hard to remember long phrases so as much as you can use as little words to make it easier for the users to join in.

THE CURRENT WAY TO PROMOTE

These are only some of the most relevant things you need to know about hashtags. It’s the new way to promote your website and its contents. Hashtags help you boost your social media engagement. It also helps you promote your contents in the most modern and convenient method.

What Are Hashtags?

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Two People in a Discussion with Mobile Phones

A hashtag is a tag used on popular social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter,  and Instagram.

THE HASH

  • Back in the days, it’s just a number sign! Now, a hash symbol, (#), is used to highlight a particular word or phrase so that it can easily be seen by others users looking for the exact or similar content. In short, a hashtag is used to automatically classify similar posts or activities for the convenience of online users.

THE FORMAT

  • For example, you want to post a picture on Instagram and you would to highlight the the beautiful sunset in Greece, you can simply type #sunset. To recap, you need to  type the pound symbol and add the topic you want to highlight. MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT special characters like dashes, ampersands, question marks, and exclamation points. Also, hashtags do not support spaces.

Your post organized according to your chosen topic, making it easier for other users who are also searching for the same topic. That is how hashtags work, but there are still things you need to know when using hashtags.

SOME TIPS FOR YOU IN USING HASHTAGS EFFECTIVELY:

  • Starts with hash character followed by other characters.

    • Popular hashtags on Instagram include terms such as: #happy, #photooftheday, #cute, #selfie, #picoftheday
    • You can use your own hashtags aside from these generic ones.
    • A common mistake is that most users include popular hashtags in the description. In the end, their pictures are looking for attention and very unnatural. It won’t many social engagements as expected.

  • There should be a space before the #!

    • There is no space after the pound sign, BUT REMEMBER TO ADD A SPACE BEFORE THE HASHTAG. For example: It’s pourin’ rain! (space) #RainRainGoAway

  • Hashtags do NOT support letters with diacritics, special characters, spaces, and numbers only.

    • So, hashtags like #888 will not work, make sure it has words and numbers. #MTV2018 or #Grammys2018 are great hashtags for recurring events. Names like Renée Zellweger are not allowed as hashtags. You need to transform the “é” to an “e.” It would be something like this: #ReneeZellweger.

  • The wrong application of hashtags can bring about suspensions.

    • Using TOO many hashtags can lead to complications. It diverts your followers from the main point, which is your promoted content.

  • It’s NOT necessary to insert your brand in every hashtag.

    • Your followers will conclude it’s a hard selling tactic. It’s not all the time that you need to promote your business. Sometimes, you are using hashtags to ask your followers, to let them share and interact with other users. After all, that’s what social media is all about. Sharing and collaborating with each other.

Hashtags are a staple.

This article only covers the basics of what hashtags can basically do. Hashtags have become widely used in every social networking website. As you can see in Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, there are a lot of trending hashtags each day. You to use them wisely and not just used them for promotional purposes. If you put too many of them, other users might find it fishy and would doubt your authenticity. Remember to stay true to your brand at all times!

Why a Website Is Better than an App

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app, apple, application

Mobile apps provide convenience  for whenever we are on to the go, but apps are NOT always the best solution. Yes, apps make our life easier because we don’t need to bring our computers to play, to communicate, and to work. We just need to bring a handy phone and we use a variety of apps. Indeed, apps are quick and easy to use for the people on to go, but in this post, I will discuss that there are only 2 reasons to create an app.

First of all, what is an app?

An app is a stand alone program to created for a specific purpose. If an app fails to fulfill a purpose, it is not considered useful. Once you create an app, it needs to provide something a website cannot. If the app you made is a replica of an existing the website, it defeats the purpose.

There are ONLY 2 REASONS why you need an app:

  • The company needs an app for further brand recognition.

    Look at big companies, they create apps for you to gain rewards. It’s their way of paying you back for the years of being loyal to their brand. Of course, it’s also a marketing strategy to get in touch with those loyal customers. They develop apps to make customers love their products more. You DO NOT need to install the app first. The app is just an add on especially if you want to take advantage of the loyalty rewards.

  • The company’s product/service is the app.

    If the app is your business, then, you need to further develop that app. SNAPCHAT mobile app is the perfect example. It’s a fun way to share pictures and over 180 million people have downloaded and used the app. Snapchat is the business itself. It cannot function through a website, but it needs your mobile phone to function.

If none of the two applies, then, you don’t need an app. The truth is that people rarely ever download an app. People are picky and they only download apps that are verified and have established a reputation for themselves Instagram, Snapchat, Messenger, Viber, and etc. If your business is quite small, then, you might want to rethink app development and just focus on the website. If insist on making an app, you must keep in mind that the average retention rate for downloaded apps is roughly 3.2% so you do the math. Basically, if people ever decide to download your app, there is no guarantee that they will continue to use it. They will probably just uninstall it.
Let us not get ahead of ourselves and think that apps are the best thing to jump at because that is not always the case. Sometimes, you just have to improve you website, because people don’t search for “Places to visit in South Korea” in the app store right? They utilize SEARCH ENGINES. Popular examples of it are Google, Yahoo, and Bing and these are websites. Apps are not mandatory to your business. Developing your website should be a priority than creating an app.

5 Infallible Principles Guaranteed to Boost Website Sales

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accomplishment, achievement, adult

Majority of website visitors do not buy on their first visit no matter how much they want your products. They will have second thoughts in transacting online. They might not even come back to visit your website. That’s just how online businesses roll. Sales are not guaranteed once you have a website. You need to tweak your website to be more inviting to its audience.

In this article, I will let you know how to increase your online store’s profits without spending too much money and without going through complicated prodecures. In fact, you don’t need a PHD because boosting your website’s sales can be easy peasy if you follow the 5 tips listed below.

Infallible principles to help increase sales:

  • CHANGE YOUR COLOR SCHEME

    If you think the colors you chose are just for added style, you are definitely wrong. It does not only make your website look better and brighter, but the right choice can help you boost your sales. Using color schemes that appeals to your target market can convince them to try your products out.

  • GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS A TREAT

    If you look closely, shopping sites like ebay and amazon highlight pricing differences. When you click on a particular item, the description would always include the price. It get tricky from here because there are usually two or three prices listed. A product would usually have a list price and an actual price. The list price is always more expensive than the actual price. This will tell your customers that if they buy this item right now, they will take advantage this bargain. This is not to deceive to customers, but you are emphasizing on the price difference. This is an effective strategy that will make the price reduction very obvious and it would be such a waste if they would ignore a great deal.

  • MAKE CUSTOMERS FEEL SAFE

    Your products can look like good, but there’s still a big chance that people won’t bother getting one. Why? They are not of its authenticity. There are a lot of fake deals floating online. Customers are making sure that they getting their money’s worth. This is why it’s important to give your customers the assurance that your website provides high-quality goods and services. Also, give them an estimate on when products arrive at their doorstep and provide further explanation regarding the product’s warranty.

  • START A BLOG

    Blogging is a great strategy because you can highlight your products through it. You can provide instructional videos on how to properly use, care, and store your products. You can also share different tips and uses for it. Plus, through blogging, people know about your products. Once they read a positive review online, they will curious on that product and they will try it themselves. Blogging is also a way for you to address concerns of your existing and prospective clients.

  • LIMIT THE CHOICES

    You may think that providing your customers with limitless options is great. The truth is that it’s not. It will confuse them. They will not know what to pick. Better to limit their options.  Provide a list of your bestselling products, list gifts for him (or her), list buying guides. It’s NEVER about the quantity, but it’s about the quality of your products.

5 Tips to Increase Your Web Design Agency’s Productivity

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achievement, adult, agreement

In web design, we are expected to always deliver results efficiently!

To create a productive website, you need to learn to juggle work and deal with the limited time to complete the project,  budget, and human resources.

How to boost a web design agency’s productivity?

Follow the tips below to help deal with budget constraints, staying informed, and coordinating with your teammates.

  • USE CRM

    What is a CRM? It means CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT.
    In any business, the most important thing is always the customers. How you deal with your customers and meet their expectation can get greatly your web design business. This is why it is necessary for businesses to use a CRM. It organizes your customer’s information, contact details, and many more. It will help you to put things in order and it will make your transactions smoother.

  • BE INFORMED

    Before you start to aimlessly design and create something, know the details of the project first. When asked to design website for a particular online store, you will first need to talk to your client first. Hear what they have to say. Consider what they like before you give your expert opinion. Know what you are up against before you deal with a huge project. That way, you will have a plan on how to approach the situation. You need to know the littlest details to properly strategize the best forms, pages, and designs for your clients.

  • BE ORGANIZED

    In this part, you will be able to learn how to properly manage your design. Manage the individual departments of your web design company, from sales, designing, to the actual operations. The 3 project management tools below will help you organize and set up different tasks for different departments.

    • TEAMWEEK – An amazing management tool that works well like a relay. It can be used across different departments and you will have access to the whole history of a project. As the head, you will know its progress from day 1 until it’s 100% complete.
    • TRELLO – This is best for team members who are working from different locations. Geographic locations won’t be a problem. You can wherever you are with Trello.
    • WRIKE – Highly recommended if you are in one department and the members could easily create project workflows.

  • DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY

    Assign responsibility to the different members of your team. It’s not the time to work individually. A team should have a unified goal. To take note of the different tasks, you should use the project management tools mentioned earlier. Every one on the team knows what to do.

  • KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES

    Learn know what the urgent tasks and what tasks can be pushed back. As a design agency, there are a lot of tasks to keep in mind, from planning to actually designing the project. To perform your duties effectively, you should have the initiative to work on the important ones first then deal with the trivial details later.

The reality is: the web design business is tough. There are a lot of competent design agencies out there that are booming in the market. If you want to be on top of the leaderboard, follow these guidelines carefully.

The Role of Color Contrast in Your Website

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air, airship, art

When we think of important elements of a classic web design, we often put a little effort when it comes to color compared to other elements because we deem that it does not have that much of essence to the overall aptness of your website.

What has COLOR CONTRAST got to do with this?

In designing a website, when it comes to color contrast may seem a bit basic to discuss with but in actuality, there are a lot of factors to consider when dealing with color contrasts if you want your site to look flawless.

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

  • There are rare cases that some graphic designers stick to a minimalistic approach in their respective designs that they end to opt for monotones and such and that is completely fine.
  • Though it happens rarely, there are still some graphic designers who prefers a minimalistic approach when doing their designs. When this happens, they end up using monotones and such for their designs, and that is completely fine.
  • However, we need to incorporate colors not only for the reason that they add a bit of flare to the entirety of your design, but also because it can create a greater chance that a client might want to visit your site. In doing such, you are splashing colors all around because contrast is very important to the image you are trying to present on your website.

THE HOWS OF COLOR CONTRAST

  • The important things you need to take note of are your product or service and the website itself. The vivacity of a color contrast’s role in web design was mentioned in the earlier parts of the article.
  • For example, if you have a product that is primarily covered in color ORANGE, will it be ideal to post the product on your website if the latter’s dominant color is likewise orange? I suppose not. Whatever you are trying to sell will only get lost in the background. This is exactly why color contrast exists because it retains you from combining incompatible colors that will only divert your clients’ attention from what you really want them to see.
  • There are many color combinations that can cause a total chaos to the totality of your website and do more harm than good when it is combined. It is wise to do a research about colors or shades that will never work well together to make sure that you are doing the right thing.

HOW ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE COLOR BLIND?

  • In our total population, there is a certain percentage of people who are considered color blind. Most of these people are men. When you are color blind, you don’t have the ability to see the colors’ real colors. Statistically speaking, the number of people who are totally color blind is fairly low, but that does not mean that we should disregard them.
  • The colors red and green are the usual colors that do not appear as they are to those who suffer color blindness. So if you want your design to be useful and universal, make sure to give this tip a consideration.
  • Annoying color combinations like red and blue, purple and red, blue and pink, and other similar shades are painful to look at. So, you better avoid using these combinations when you want to emphasize something.

How to Make Your Website More Accessible

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Close-up Photography of Magnifying Glass

The best component that you can add to your site is easy navigation.

  • Nobody wants to encounter a website with excessive number of difficulties. You have to assess the level of proficiency of majority of your users with regards to computer literacy, and most of them only know the basics.
  • It would be such a torment if your customers would always rely on Google to divert them to the links that identify with your site. The first step toward keeping your visitors engaged is to set up a navigation bar with a definitive page names, and if your website is filled with tons of information, adding an on-site search feature can be really helpful.

THE PROS OF FILTERING YOUR SEARCH

  • Today, you can literally search for everything with the help of search engines. Just type in a few words or a whole sentence, press enter and that is about it. After a while, you can have your desired results. Occasionally though, seeing a sea of results posted on the internet can be very overwhelming.
  • A very helpful way to avoid the overwhelming feeling is to filter your search. You can do this by narrowing the search box according to different classifications chosen by your users. Doing such will give your clients the most relevant results with regards to their desired topic.

OPEN-ENDED SEARCHES

  • Constrained search is very convenient but nowadays, most websites would opt to use open-ended search strategy. Open-ended search method is still widely used because constrained search can also be too restricting. If you’re planning to use this type of search, make sure that the results that will come up are relevant and accurate to what your customers are looking for because it would be frustrating to only look up for one particular word and be overrun by a million other articles that are not associated with the topic.
  • Your on-site search must be set up to look for the exact phrase first. Set up your on-site search to look for the exact phrase first. Despite the occurrence of irrelevant articles showing up, they should be filtered to show the most relevant results. The same process is important for pages that sell products online.

CONSIDER DIRECT SEARCHING TO SPECIFIC PAGES

  • The choice between using constrained or open-ended search is in your hands, just consider what is more suited for your website or you can opt to skip the search page if you like. Make sure that your choice can easily link all of the direct pages to your article and with just one click of the mouse, it can automatically direct the clients to the essential points of your business.

    THE BOTTOM LINE: Whatever option you decided to use, the most important thing is that an on-site search feature should be present on your website. If you search something and a lot of unrelated search results will come up, adjust it until you get the search feature to work appropriately. It is preferable to provide more specific results because that is what most people want when they are searching on a website.