by Nick Throlson | Oct 16, 2017 | Web Design
Are you into web design? Maybe you have been designing websites for a while now, or you are new to this creative world, but you have probably already heard about people calling certain websites ?sticky?. What this basically means is that someone has made a website that makes visitors want to stick around, and quite probably bookmark and visit again. Every web designer aims at following contemporary trends and making their websites like this. However, there is also a lot of mistakes that they make that have a totally opposite effect. In this article, we are going to discuss some of those mistakes.
Overusing graphics
A whole bunch of graphics on your website creates clutter. This is when two things happen. First, people that have a slower internet connection will take forever to load the page. The fact is that it takes about 30 seconds for people to become annoyed and leave in order to check another website. Today, everything is immediate, so if you don?t get the attention of your users right away, you are going to lose them. Second, a cluttered page is a mess that makes it hard for people to navigate your website and decide what they even want to do.
Disabling the back button
A while ago, some web designers found out the way to override the browser?s back button. When a user clicks on it, instead of going back to where they were, they are redirected to an undesired location, a new window pops up and covers the screen, or the browser simply stays put because the designer decided that they don?t want you to simply leave. Don?t be that web designer. There are so many creative ways to keep users on your website, without annoying them.
Creating poor navigation
Everything that?s happening online is fast. So if a visitor comes to your website and can?t find out where they should go next in a few easy steps, they?ll look for what they need somewhere else. People tend to get frustrated if they have to backtrack a bunch of pages in order to get to another area of your business website. Your every page needs a navigation bar that intuitively leads users to where they want to go. It should be positioned along the top of the page, or along the left side, so that it?s always clearly in sight, no matter what the resolution is.
Too many different font styles and colors
If we take a look at some of the best web design in Sydney, we will see that the main goal of your every page is to have a consistent and unified look. Unexperienced web designers tend to get overwhelmed with the possibilities of using so many cool looking fonts and a variety of colors, that they make their web pages into visual hell. Your main task is to make your users aware of how stable and solid your design is, not show them wild artistry. It is also essential that your fonts and colors look proper on all available devices, such as desktops, smartphones, and tablets.
Too many ads
If you?re building a content website or a blog, the fact is that you will be making money off ads and not products that you are selling. However, a mistake that web designers often make is that they put in so many ads that the user can no longer tell the difference between what the content and what the advertisement is. If your user has to search your site in order to find the article, or the rest of the article that they were reading, then it means that you have just way too much advertising on your page. A couple of ads on your page is fine ? more than that is probably going to annoy people.
If web design is something that you like doing, then you need to make sure that you avoid some of the pitfalls of bad web design. This includes using too many graphics on your pages, creating poor and unintuitive navigation, disabling the back button in order to force your visitors to stay, and overcrowding your website with different fonts and colors, as well as advertisements. The idea is to follow good web design practices that will entice your users and make them want to revisit your website.? Try to invest in your knowledge, find relevant courses online and do a lot of practice and research. It will be worth your time and money.
by Nick Throlson | Oct 11, 2017 | Business, Web Design, WordPress
A website has its dignity in this technological era. A business cannot be considered without a site in this modern time as website plays a role of backbone for a company. Just admit that a human being who cannot move without spine same like a business can?t achieve high ranks and will not be able to run forward without a website. To make a business successful, one has to build and maintain an eye-catchy website so that company will be able to target his envisioned audience in limited time. Lots of things should be considered before development and creation of the website as website contains different factors which can affect business growth. Some significant elements which should not be neglected at the time of website development are summarizing here.Website design
The most important thing you have to consider before the development of a website as a business owner is that you have to make a website design which is bright enough for your customers and also for your visitors. Try to make appealing design and avoid ambiguous theme which may cause to disperse your visitors and affect your customers. Navigation between the screens tabs for online shopping and integration of social apps should be displayed vibrantly. Selection of color scheme for your website is also an essential part so colors should be used in such a way that they have a fresh and attractive effect on minds of the visitors. The logo of your website also works for you to make your business successful as a logo is the identity of your brand, so you have to maintain a logo which represents your brand effectively.Quality content
The content of a business website is the power of business, not only the power but also a reliable weapon to attract customers. It is mandatory for a business website to publish quality content on its site so the business owner must maintain check and balance on the content which is going to be published on his website. There is a strong reason behind marinating quality content on a website the idea is that people and visitors associate the standard of the brand and its products with the content published on the website. If visitors read quality content, then they assume that this name is providing reliable services so as a result, you will be able to give growth to your business. Responsiveness
According to the latest research, it is observed that most of the audience is the mobile user so according to this observation, your business website should be responsive as you will be able to target more audience and ultimately will be able to generate more traffic for your site. That?s the reason that most of the business consultants in UAE maintain a responsive website as they have an understanding of the importance of a responsive website for their business. At the time of designing, you have to consider a web design which is not only mobile friendly but also able to display properly on all other devices like tabs, iPhones, etc. Backend infrastructure
For a successful website, it is compulsory for a site to maintain robust backend infrastructure because all purchasing is done through website especially in case of e-commerce business. So, if backend of the website is handled with care then you will be in a condition to make a trusty and healthy relationship with your customers as all information provided by the customers at the time of purchasing will be stored in the backend.Effective domain
To select a domain name for your website, you have to understand the nature of the business and website you are going to maintain as the domain name is the thing through which your website will be able to locate on the internet. Under the consideration of the nature of your website, you have to choose a domain name which reflects your brand and services so your customers will be clear enough about your services. It?s suggested you have to choose shorter and comprehensive domain name as it will be effective for a business website.The growth of the business is the dream of every business holder. Before the advancement in technology that task was difficult, but the invention of latest technology and usage of the internet make this job easy for business owners. A business owner just has to maintain a website with some standards and rules, and the rest of the work website will do for his business. Author Bio: Jessica Watson has been writing for websites and magazines for three years now. She had a fair share of writing in various niches but her main focus is technology, business, finance, and social media. Currently associated with a business consultancy firm Aurion UAE.
by Nick Throlson | Oct 10, 2017 | Guest Post, Web Design
We all know that a professional and user-friendly website has the ability to boost brand exposure and sales for your business. In this day and age, your website is (or should be) your most qualified salesperson. If it fails to generate leads on a regular basis, then it isn?t doing its job.When embarking on a web design (or redesign) project, there is a tendency to focus very much on the superficial ? how the website looks. Some business owners believe that a ?fresh lick of paint? is all that?s needed to attract more customers and improve conversions. But that really only scratches the surface. Here are four reasons why your new web design might not generate the profitable results you were hoping for. It should come as no surprise that #1 on the list is:You didn?t think about your users
Listen ? your web design can have all the image carousels, parallax scrolling, and Flash animated load screens you want. But these ?impressive? effects are the last thing you should be thinking about when designing or redesigning your website. First off, you should be thinking about the needs of your users. Even if your website looks the part, your users will soon become tired of it if essential components, such as being able to find things easily, are overlooked. When people visit websites, rarely do they spend their time gushing over how beautiful it is. They?re not here to linger and admire, they?re here to a) find something, b) read something, c) buy something. It may sound boring, but the truth is that people like familiarity. Your attempt to create something that deviates from the norm may actually put them off, particularly if it makes the website hard to navigate. So the take-home truth is this: don?t try to reinvent the wheel. Build a website that meets the needs of your users in a pleasant and efficient way. You went for style over substance
We?re often led to believe that creativity is the holy grail of marketing. I?m certainly not here to dispute that. However, when it comes to designing a website, creativity actually isn?t the be-all-and-end-all. ?What an unfashionable thing to say,? I hear you cry. Stay with me. Let?s consider the following statistics:- Nearly 8 in 10 of consumers will stop engaging with content that doesn?t display well on their device (Adobe)
- 39% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won?t load or take too long to load (Adobe)
- 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience (Econsultancy)
In other words, we need to focus on usability if we want to please our customers. That means having a responsive website that displays well across devices, optimizing the website for speed so that pages load quickly, and ensuring that users have a good overall experience so they are more likely to come back. A good web designer already knows all of this. What?s more, they also know the importance of having quality content. Whether you create the content yourself, bring a copywriter in-house, or hire a freelancer, you need to be thinking about your content alongside your web design. Why? Because at the end of the day, content is what drives traffic. It?s the food of SEO. Search engines need ample information about the what, where, how, why and when of your business in order to determine your rank in SERPs. Content is the ideal way to position yourself as an expert worthy of the top spot. You went ahead and made it yourself
Note: you may ignore the following point if you?re a web designer.However, if you?re not a web designer and you have no experience in web design, then designing your website yourself is a big reason why it may not work out the way you plan. The truth is it takes years to perfect the art of making beautiful, functional websites. The same result is virtually impossible to achieve in a few hours using a DIY web design tool. Nothing beats good old-fashioned experience, and while a website builder can give you something very passable for a reasonable budget, you may find it hard to recreate exactly what you?re after. By contrast, working with a professional gives you much more flexibility, not to mention saving you the headache of doing it yourself. Web designers not only understand the principles of design, they also know how to create a website that will bring targeted traffic and high conversion rates. Everything from layout and hierarchy to color and iconography has a role to play.Read more: Web Design Services That You Need. Tips for ensuring a successful web design
It?s clear that design has the power to make or break your digital brand. Here are the elements that a good web designer will focus on to build a website that will benefit you and your business:- Intuitive navigation ? making it easy for users to find what they?re looking for
- Responsiveness ? automatic adjustment to different screen sizes
- Considered presentation and placement of CTAs for maximum impact
- Simplicity over clutter ? everything needs to justify its presence
- Form and function over frivolity ? UX is paramount
- On-brand aesthetics ? optimal use of color, graphics, and copy
So whether you?re out to create a new website, update one or two key pages, or overhaul your existing design, remember that it pays to go pro. Cutting corners may save you money in the short-term, but could lose you business in the long-term. With the right professional on board, you have the best chance of building a web design that works out exactly the way you planned.
by Nick Throlson | Sep 20, 2017 | Web Design, Web Hosting
It?s easy to get swept up in adverts for website builders such as Wix or Squarespace that promise the ability to build your own website in minutes. As a small business owner, you?ve got to watch every penny. So why should you pay a couple of thousand bucks to a web designer when you can do it yourself for a low monthly fee?But there?s a catch. There is always a catch. The kind of website that you build with Wix or Squarespace is a million miles away from the kind of website a professional web designer will deliver. As one of your business? key pieces of collateral, it is important that your website does more than looking good. Don?t believe us? Here are five ways a Wix or Squarespace website will let your business down.1. Your website won?t get found
Part of the reason many business owners get a website is to reach a larger customer base. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a great way for websites to attract users through search engines like Google. Website builders have notoriously bad SEO, however. Because these builders are drag-and-drop, they spit out a jumble of code that is so poorly structured it is hard for Google to crawl it. If Google struggles to crawl it, you'll rank badly. And there?s nothing you can do to improve it, either. That means that even if you hire an SEO agency, they will have a tough time working their magic on your website if it?s built using Wix.2. It will look bad on mobile
You look at websites on your smartphone, right? Exactly, and so do millions of other Americans. In fact, more people access Google on their phones than on desktops or laptops. With so many potential customers using the Internet on their smartphone, it?s important that your website looks great on mobile devices. Unfortunately, these website builders primarily care about how your website looks on desktop PCs. There are no guarantees that it will work well or look good on smartphones. A web designer, on the other hand, will usually build up from mobile first to ensure that your site looks great on any device.3. It will be slow
A fast website is key for great user experience. No one likes using a website that takes ages to load. In fact, most users will leave a website if it takes longer than a few seconds to load. If you want to convert visitors into customers, you need your website to be fast. Unfortunately, the bad code that makes it hard to rank a Squarespace website in Google also means your website will be slow. And just like with SEO, there?s very little you can do to improve it. A professional designer, however, will minimize code and images in order to make your website load as fast as possible. Your customers will thank you for it.4. It won?t scale with your business
Most web designers will use a Content Management System (CMS) to build your website. This will usually be WordPress. A CMS lets you add new pages to your website and edit the content of your website after you have built it. So when you need to add a new service or write a new article, it?s incredibly easy to do. This isn?t the case with a website builder. Once you?ve built it, there?s very little you can do to change it. You?re stuck with it.5. You can?t move it
Using a website builder like Squarespace or Wix doesn?t just mean that your website won?t scale, it?s also very difficult to move it if you decide to go in a different direction. Worse still, you don?t actually own the website. Wix or Squarespace owns the website and you must continue to pay them in order to use it. If you want to move away and have a website that you own or control, you?ll have to start from scratch. It?s much easier to hire a professional web designer from the start who can build a great website that is actually yours to own and use as you wish.See? Using a website builder like Wix or Squarespace isn?t all it is cracked up to be. If you care about your business and want to hire a professional web designer, get started with a free quote from us today. We can build the WordPress website your business deserves.http://www.throlson.com/free-quote/
by Nick Throlson | Sep 12, 2017 | Web Design
Developing a PHP application in itself is a quite exhaustive task requiring ample expertise and experience if you want it to be elegant and bug-free. But if you add to it the pain of deployment, the process becomes even more complex and cumbersome. While any reputed PHP application development company can take care of the first phase, it is the requirement of speed, efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the deployment process that elude many. And the solution too comes from a very similar place- Laravel. Besides being one of the top PHP frameworks, it offers, arguably, the best deployment tool- Envoyer.With the tag line of ?Zero downtime. Zero fuss?, Envoyer is known to deliver all that it promises. One thing, however, that it doesn?t reflect is the broad set of features that come along when you deploy your PHP application using Envoyer. Some of which include:- Unlimited project deployments
- Unlimited team members
- Multiple server deployments
- Seamless deployment rollback
- GitHub/Bitbucket integration
- Application health checks, and much more.
As feature-rich as the tool is, equally simple is the process to use it for deploying PHP applications. Here is a quick 4-step procedure to guide you for signing up to the final deployment.1. Sign up and Add a projectSince Envoyer is a paid service, you need to first create an account and choose your preferred package that ranges from $10 for 10 projects to 50$ for unlimited projects, each month. After you have your account and are signed in, click on the ?Add Project? tab to get started with your first project using Envoyer.
2. Add RepositoryOnce you click on ?Add Project?, you will be prompted to enter along with the name and type of the project, the repository of your code. One of the key highlights of Envoyer is that it supports repositories from all platforms like GitHub and Bitbucket, even self-hosted repositories.
3. Add ServersAfter adding the repository, you need to add servers to your project from the ?server? tab. Envoyer allows you to add as many servers as you like, after which, you will be provided an SSH key to be added to your server. Add this SSH key to the authorized_keys file for the users you want to connect.Once you complete the process, hit ?refresh? to test the connection. Generally, Envoyer should be able to connect to your server and perform routine health checks. But if the connection fails, you need to white-list the Envoyer IP addresses to allow it to access your servers.
4. DeploymentAfter your server is up and running, it is time for the final deployment, which quite literally, can be done by a single click on ?deploy? button. You also have the option to schedule to the deployment, to be automatically pushed in coherence with the code.
What?s more?As discussed above, it isn?t only the simplicity of deployment that makes Envoyer one of the finest tools but also the myriad of features that it brings along. After your application is deployed, you can simply setup heartbeat to monitor cron jobs and even setup notification channels like Slack and Hipchat to get notified of such tasks.Additionally, to prevent any downtime and rollback discrepancies, you can monitor the status of your application from three geographical locations (New York, London, Singapore), of which if any one suffers some breakdown or disaster, you can promptly switch to another.Final ThoughtsNo matter how robust or elegant a solution you get delivered by any PHP application development company, unless it is paired with equally robust and efficient deployment strategy, there is no way it can demonstrate its full potential.
by Nick Throlson | Sep 5, 2017 | Business, Web Design, WordPress
While in our every other post, we always talk about how businesses that follow latest technology trends can transcend their competitors, this time we are asking you to unroll your sleeves and stay away from few oddballs. Because not every time a new thing is good for your business growth. As web development and mobile app development are our favorite subjects, here, we?re going to point out some development risks every startup business or an established brand should avoid if they want to go online. Most startups launch with a bang, work for a year and then just disappear for the various reasons they didn?t heed attention to in the start. And we don?t want you to fall in the same category. For developing a customer-centric eCommerce website, a reader?s favorite blog site, a talked about social networking website, a profit-generating B2B website, quick launch and long project life are the secrets. Since your website is the online representation of your business, you can?t risk its existence. There are a couple of things you need to consider before, during and after web development, ensuring that you have a growth-driven website at the end.Risk #1: Doing it all by yourself?Don?t force pieces that don?t fit.? So, if you know business but aren?t an expert in technical development/ design and coding, you shouldn?t do that. The problem begins when each of you start believing that developing a website/web app can be done either by yourself (having a little knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript) or by asking a friend to do it as a freelance developer. You don?t have to be good at everything; it?s better to focus on your business idea, take charge of the sales and marketing before and after launch. Don?t risk your website in the hands of any run-off-the-mill developer.Solution:Hire a reputed, reliable web development company capable of delivering top-notch solutions and converting your idea into a professional, scalable online platform. Risk #2 Developer?s ProfileWhile startups and businesses look for full-scale web development agency to outsource their project, they fall for web developers that have a similar portfolio as their own project. Some decision-makers assume that it?s plentiful if the developer they hired has delivered the project that aligns with their planned idea. Hold on to this thought! All projects are not the same, even if they seem alike. And if you want to stand out, you need to bring the individuality.Solution: Find a dynamic and innovative web developer who is flexible in working with an advanced and new technology bundle pertaining to the same web vertical. A broad competence is more progressive and creative as they can propose expertise from other domains, other business areas and bring forth a future-ready solution.Risk #3 Lengthy IterationsIt?s not true that anything that?s done with attention-to-detail calls for a long wait. Of course, focus and step-by-step approach are paramount, but not at the sake of project getting delayed. A project development process horizontally involves different expertise from different departments, moving from one phase to the other. The common steps to any web development project include sketching the idea, prototyping, UI/UX design, development, quality testing and final launch. But in the course of implementing each of these linearly, you tend to lose a lot of time and may end up launching your project when it?s outdated.Solution: To avoid such a case, go for smaller development cycles, where the developers or designers don?t wait for days for BA?s to give them the blueprint of the whole project and then start on. As soon as a mockup for one screen is finalized, the design and development teams should work collaboratively to devise a final product in a relatively shorter time.Risk #4: Fixed time estimationThere?s hardly any project we have seen in our lifetime, which doesn?t require a scope change or a new addition to what?s planned initially. Once the development team starts the work, many times, it happens that business owners come forward with a new functionality which wasn?t discussed before or sometimes they even change the complete plan going forward. So, fixed time estimations are bothersome. Instead of completing a web project on time, strict estimates spoil the flow. Solution: Typically, the website owner and Project Manager should understand this time game and keep a hidden buffer at each stage of development. ?This leaves room for adding novel features or make changes during development.Risk #5: Project delivery at onceWith a sack full of web development companies onboard, the options are limitless. Not only early deliveries and cost-effectiveness are remunerative. Imagine if you receive a d?class? website in just two weeks of development, will you be happy? Clearly, no. This happens because as a business owner, you are only concerned with the end-product, insensitive to what the developers and designers have been doing. Project delivery at once is harmful because that risks the whole project. Even if it?s a one-page website, you should be allowed to see the website?s progress time and again.Solution: Think big, but pay attention to details regularly. Ask for the web developer to deliver the project at the end of each development cycle, which actively demonstrate how the project looks like and where it is heading. Exactly the way we do it.Over to youDon?t shillyshally ? take a wise decision sidestepping these risks that may pull you down from marshaling a high-quality robust website/web app. ?Be cautious during the website development so that you are not screwed up by the developers, bearing a far-higher cost.It?s time to get your physical business on the desktop and mobile screens of your potential customers and construct the best lead-generating system, with a revolutionary design. 
3. Add ServersAfter adding the repository, you need to add servers to your project from the ?server? tab. Envoyer allows you to add as many servers as you like, after which, you will be provided an SSH key to be added to your server. Add this SSH key to the authorized_keys file for the users you want to connect.Once you complete the process, hit ?refresh? to test the connection. Generally, Envoyer should be able to connect to your server and perform routine health checks. But if the connection fails, you need to white-list the Envoyer IP addresses to allow it to access your servers.
4. DeploymentAfter your server is up and running, it is time for the final deployment, which quite literally, can be done by a single click on ?deploy? button. You also have the option to schedule to the deployment, to be automatically pushed in coherence with the code.
What?s more?As discussed above, it isn?t only the simplicity of deployment that makes Envoyer one of the finest tools but also the myriad of features that it brings along. After your application is deployed, you can simply setup heartbeat to monitor cron jobs and even setup notification channels like Slack and Hipchat to get notified of such tasks.Additionally, to prevent any downtime and rollback discrepancies, you can monitor the status of your application from three geographical locations (New York, London, Singapore), of which if any one suffers some breakdown or disaster, you can promptly switch to another.Final ThoughtsNo matter how robust or elegant a solution you get delivered by any PHP application development company, unless it is paired with equally robust and efficient deployment strategy, there is no way it can demonstrate its full potential.
