4 Website Trends to Watch Out for in 2018

4 Website Trends to Watch Out for in 2018

by | Dec 1, 2017 | Web Design

Website Trends to Watch Out for in 2018

Businesses should have New Year?s resolutions just like individuals do. The new year is a great opportunity to implement fresh ideas that can help your business to grow, or perhaps 2018 will be the year you finally put your entrepreneurial hat on and start that business you?ve always dreamed about. Either way, you need a website, or you need to refurb your website for a fresh and optimized new start to the year. Here are 4 trends to watch out for in 2018.Mobile Friendly Each year, more people are turning to their smartphones when surfing the internet. Rather than switch on their laptops or use their desktop, mobile phones are proving more convenient. By having a website that is optimized to be mobile friendly, you can improve traffic, which, in turn, improves your sales and your bottom line. In 2018, it is even more important to get mobile-friendly, however, as this is the year that Google is planning to roll out its Mobile First Index, which will place more importance on websites that have a mobile-optimized site, showing them first in rankings. It?s not just about SEO anymore, and that is important to remember.Use of GridsAs years go by, the trend in aesthetics changes. Whereas in the 70s it was de rigueur to have busy brown wallpaper in the kitchen, in the 21st century we prefer (generally) a more classic, clean approach. The same is true of websites. Things change, and what was considered appealing a decade ago is no longer what is required to make your website somewhere people want to visit. In 2018, the look of your website may be going to change again, this time to incorporate an irregular grid layout. If that sounds like a foreign language, don?t worry ? that?s what website designers are for. Speak to a professional about redoing your website to incorporate this trend, and get ahead of the curve. Remember, an expert web designer will be able to help you whether you need with HVAC websites, or if you?re a retail e-commerce business, etc.?Bright Colors Once you have your modern design set up by your web designer, you?ll want to start thinking about the overall look of the website. Again, this is something that the professionals can help with once you have an idea of what you want. The trend for 2018 is for bright, bold colors that really pop from the page and catch the attention. No more minimalistic white spaces and black fonts ? it?s time to change things up and use some wacky and wild colors. It?s good to look at what your competitors are doing and try to choose different colors from them if you can; you need to show how different you are.AppsApps are hugely popular and take up a large amount of time when it comes to people using their smartphones and tablets. For 2018, the idea is that apps will be used on websites as well, bringing the portable feeling of a mobile device to the entirety of the internet. These apps won?t be quite the same as those found on a smartphone (the technology is different in many cases) but will be a hybrid of those apps we know and love and the web itself. They will be called progressive web apps, and throughout 2018 you will start to see them popping up on websites across all sectors.
Ideas For Sprucing Up Your Company Website

Ideas For Sprucing Up Your Company Website

by | Nov 26, 2017 | Business, Web Design

One way to draw your customers is to catch their attention online with a company website. After all, your website is your most powerful marketing tool, and can greatly improve your online visibility and successes. A website is a must these days, and you probably won?t have much luck being found or noticed without one. The key is not to build a webpage up in a matter of minutes and expect people to want to learn more. You have to be patient, take your time and have a desire to do it right. You want to be proud of your company site and all it represents. People are watching and will have opinions about what they encounter when they come across you. See ideas for sprucing up your company website. Speed it upOne way to experience better search results and gain more traffic is to speed up your website and improve its performance. Choose a trusted IT solutions company who you feel is going to help you achieve the best results. They?re out there and ready to inch you closer to your goals. They?ll help you become more dynamic, productive, secure and innovative through professional IT solutions for business.Refresh the DesignMaybe all your website needs is a refresh and redesign. Either hire a professional or learn the techniques yourself. A new look will instantly spruce up your webpage and attract new visitors. Your current users will also be impressed and love the fact that you take such pride in your website and company. Do a lot of testing to make sure the colors, fonts, and structure are appropriate and will go over well once it goes live. Add A BlogNow?s the time to add a blog and boost the visibility of your company even more. Publish relevant and interesting content to gain readership and show that you?re an expert and thought the leader in your industry. Post articles that are interesting and teach your readers new information. Manage a calendar of topics, so you?re consistent about posting and don?t repeat yourself. Invite guest bloggers to share their knowledge and allow them to take some of the work off of your hands. Having a current blog is a great way to secure repeat visitors and new interest in your company. ?Include more Details & ImagesBeef up your current pages and add more for a better user experience. Make it worthwhile for someone to take the time to visit your page. Include detailed information about your products and services and a page about your business and staff. If you add more text, be sure to also include more images, so your pages don?t get boring and heavy with a lot of written material. It?s all about having a nice balance, and nowadays people are more inclined to read small blocks of text with headings.ConclusionA well-designed website is an excellent way to offer more value to your audience. Figure out where you want to focus on implementing changes and use your skills to make it a reality. These are ideas for sprucing up your company website.
Ideas For Sprucing Up Your Company Website

Web Design Tips for a Professional Website

by | Nov 23, 2017 | Business, Web Design

Since websites are now considered to be a very good resource for information and shopping, web developers and designers from all over the world have been making changes to their craft in order to keep web visitors engaged.? This is not an easy process since the average attention span is getting shorter.? If a visitor does not find what they want in a few short seconds, they are going to backclick and check out the next website and you are out of luck.? Today, we are going to look at some of the top web design tips for a professional website.

Minimalism Is Good for Your Homepage

If you look at websites that were designed around five years ago, you will notice they all had one thing in common.? That commonality is that the homepages were packed with all sorts of information for the visitor.? However, this isn?t what you want to be doing today. Instead, you want to keep things minimal so that your visitors? eyes are drawn to the most important elements of your site. When too much information is included on one page, visitors become confused and are likely to bounce off your site.? An image, heading, or phrase describing where they are, and a menu bar is usually all you need to include on the homepage.? Depending on the type of website, you may choose to include a ?call to action? as well.

Visual Hierarchy Is Important

Now that screens are getting smaller and attention spans are shorter, it takes just a few seconds of time to grab a visitor and keep them engaged.? Being able to design a website using software developed for web design specifically usually has these factors programmed in already.? Create breadcrumbs for the visitor to follow, but remember to keep the content clean and easy to read.? Keeping each part of your website organized into categories, and then displaying them that way, will give your visitors a path to follow the information they are seeking.

Keep Personal Preference Out of Your Design

Remember that you are designing a website for your visitors, not for you.? Having a master?s degree in software development is a great tool to have when designing a top of the line website, but you should keep in mind that your personal preferences might not be what your visitors want to see.? If the content is good, easy to find, and easy to read, the visitors will be happy.? Sometimes, web design gets to be too complicated with all types of pop-ups, sliders and other gadgets that the visitor gets more annoyed than engaged.? Just because you learned how to code a cool image slideshow while earning your online software development degree, does not mean that you need to use it in your design.? Keep it simple and your visitors will thank you.

Colors and Fonts Need Attention Too

Now that you have all the content on your website, take a minute to make sure the colors and the fonts correlate as well.? There are resources online that you can use to determine which color combinations work best for your visitors? eyes, and even which fonts can be read easily on mobile devices.In the end, a website that you are designing must conform to the client?s expectations, but the above tips should help you along the way.
4 Website Trends to Watch Out for in 2018

How to give your retail website a makeover

by | Nov 22, 2017 | Web Design

No matter how big, or small, your retail business, it?s important that your website is fully functioning and provides an optimal user experience if you want to obtain those all-important sales. With events such as Cyber Black Friday, Thanksgiving and Christmas if you have a slow and poorly designed website, then potential customers won?t even give your company a second thought ? even if you are cheaper than your competitors. ?Often, your website won?t need a complete redesign, but by using a few tips and tricks you can give your retail site a much-needed makeover right in time for one of the busiest times of the year.Check your brandingThis is a relatively simple fix to start with. Your company?s branding, such as your logo and colors, don?t just need to be rolled out across stationery and merchandise. If you haven?t made sure that your company?s website is consistently branded then you could be letting yourself down. A customer is less likely to trust a site that looks unprofessional and dated. Factors such as an obvious logo, imagery, and a consistent color scheme are easy to update ? plus, they will have a huge impact on any potential spending power. So if your branding isn?t consistent, then chances are that you have confused customers who cannot fully commit to your business.ContentBlog posts, long-form articles, and social media posts are all important items of content that you should include in your editorial calendar. Remember, when you put content on your site, you can?t forget about it. Any responsible business will make sure that content is updated and checked regularly, to ensure that it continues to meet with business goals and key retail targets. You could even get any budding writers from your workforce involved too, and ask if they would like to help you create new content for your site. So if you aren?t posting relevant, timely content, then your disinterest will be wearing off on your customers. Make sure you implement a monthly editorial calendar and stick to it if you want to see results.Easy to useIf you want to ensure that your customers continue to come back to your site, time and time again, then you will want to make sure that it is easy and simple to use. Complex and confusing sites are an instant no-go for potential customers. Similarly, if a user is after a specific item or piece of information, then they will want to be able to find it quickly and easily. Sites such as www.ticketsales.com provide a great example of a simple user interface. So if you are seeing sales drop, and you aren?t sure why then your site could be overcomplicating matters.It?s easier than you might think to give your retail website a makeover. First, check that your company branding is consistent and used across your site. Next, focus on relevant and interesting content for your website visitors to enjoy and consume. Finally, check how easy it is for a visitor to navigate around your site. Once you have all three of these factors in good shapes, your sales are sure to rise.
How to reduce your Website?s Bounce Rate

How to reduce your Website?s Bounce Rate

by | Nov 22, 2017 | Business, Web Design

Websites have always been and are still being used as one of the primary tools for leveraging businesses. It is almost rare as a unicorn to find a business that is making insane profits without having a website. And that is because, for a prospective customer, a website is a door to the company?s products & services. Now some people may argue that choosing mobile app development could have been a better option, but then a website, somewhat, builds a foundation where you can connect with your customers in a much broader sense. But then there are times when you wonder why in the world your website isn?t generating business as expected, despite spending a fortune on it. You start doubting your product, as well as your business potential. But most of the times, the real culprit is ?Bounce Rate?. What is Bounce RateThe simplest definition of Bounce Rate is - it is the percentage of visitors that leave a website after viewing the first page. Even simply put, your product or service didn?t seem interesting enough to them. The effect of Bounce Rate on your business could be disastrous if, over the time, nothing is done about it.According to a research, 26-40% Bounce Rate is great, 41-55% is average and anything above it is not what you should be aiming for.So how do you reduce Bounce Rate of your website? If you are looking for an answer, this guide is a must-read for you:ReadabilityThe connection between Bounce Rate and readability is quite apparent; the better they understand, the more they are interested. If you have a WordPress website, you get a free SEO plugin from Yoast. Install it and follow the corrections it suggests to improve your content?s readability. According to Yoast, a piece of content has good readability when:
  • Not more than 25% sentences have more than 20 words.
  • Punctuations and grammar have been well taken care of.
  • There is sufficient use of transition words.
  • Passive sentences are less than 20%
Use sufficient InfographicsVisual communication has always been much more efficient at getting the message across, compared to text only. People find it the content more engaging when you use pictures, GIFs, and videos to communicate. Besides, Google also gives priority to content that has more infographics. And if you good ranking on Google search; chances are, people already trust you enough to go to your website. Integrate the content with your brandIntegrating the content with the brand brings uniformity and a sense of credibility to your website. The sections on your landing page should not feel scattered and must not talk about different or contradictory goals. Carry out extensive research on the tone of how others, in the same line of business as yours, pen down their ideas. Have a logo and a summary of your vision, mission, and offer, apparent enough on the landing page itself. The effect of appropriate content is almost the same on a website and app. That is why, the best mobile app development companies as well, understand the importance of appropriate content integration and make sure it has been seamlessly done. Load-TimeAccording to statistics, a 1-second delay could cost you 7% conversions. According to another study, 53% mobile sites turn into ghost towns if the load times are more than 3 seconds. What do these figures say?It is that people don?t like to wait, periodYou can decrease your website?s load time by using page optimization techniques like using compressed pictures and videos. Apart from that, using cached pages also decreases your load time as the server deploys web pages from local cache.Only use authentic web-hosts to host your website. Some popular web-hosts in India are HostGator, GoDaddy. Author Bio:Hari Krishna is a well-versed content writer working in FuGenX Technologies, an emerging?mobile app development company, New York. He likes to write on technology, start-ups and latest technological innovations that people like to know and share with others.
Five Reasons All Retailers Should Have a Website

Five Reasons All Retailers Should Have a Website

by | Oct 18, 2017 | Business, Web Design

Local stores have the benefit of being able to sell directly to their demographic with ease. You can become a pillar of the community, and become a business that is well-loved by your neighbors and the community at large. The problem with only selling locally, however, is that it doesn’t allow for growth. That is why you need to have a great, modern website that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but can also sell worldwide. With a website, retailers can benefit from: 
  • People Buying Online
Bronto Software has recently conducted a survey, stating that one in four Americans buy online on a weekly basis. Purchases online nearly totaled $400 billion in 2016, and continue to increase as online shopping becomes the norm and more companies put their wares online. Missing out on this market is a huge mistake, and you don’t need to be a big business to set up an effective online store. All you need is a BigCommerce website design to ensure that your website looks great and is user-friendly, while selling your products/services effectively.   
  • Selling Globally
One of the biggest draws for when you set up an online presence is that you are no longer selling only to your community, but you are selling worldwide and to a larger demographic. This is particularly useful for those who sell unique and customized wares that would act as perfect gifts. However, understand that you may have to market with accordance to cultural and weather differences if you’re targeting far overseas.
  • Marketing More Effectively
One of the best parts about being online is that you no longer have to market blindly. Companies like Google or Facebook, allow you to direct your marketing endeavors to the people in your demographic. You can market to a specific gender, age group, and narrow those results down further by those who are interested in what you sell. This targeted marketing means that you can introduce yourself to people who would be interested, instead of wasting your money on people who aren’t. Also, by having a simple sign-up sheet on your website, you can easily collate and access a person’s information, ideal for more targeted results. 
  • Creating a Community
When you are online, you can create a community. Sign up and link social media accounts to your website, and you can directly communicate, sell, and provide key value to your followers. You need to remember though, that social profiles need to be social. Marketing aggressively won’t get you anywhere. Instead, create a persona that people can connect with, provide value at every turn, and share good photos which aren’t stock photos.  
  • Increasing Your Customer Service
People can communicate directly with you when you are online. They will do this either through social media or your website. When there is a complaint online, deal with it professionally and genuinely – how you handle a complaint says a lot about a company, and hiding all the bad reviews or comments you receive will only make you look suspicious. Instead, admit when you are wrong, and make amends. Your website is your online persona, and it is your online store. You can sell more products, market more effectively, and provide more value to your customers than you ever have had before. Not everyone will be able to make it into your store to buy something, but they can access your website anywhere, anytime, making it the perfect addition to any company.