Frankel Interactive

Designing the Perfect Website Homepage: What to Keep in Mind

Adam Frankel — 2016-10-18

The website homepage is like the front cover of your company portfolio and when it comes to e-commerce, everyone will judge your book by its cover.

Let’s face it, almost any visitor entering your website would visit the homepage at least once. You have got to make the page elaborately interactive but also add the necessary elements that will help to enhance the business value of your website.

There are three things that a homepage design is responsible for. These are –

Attracting and captivating the visitors’ attention
Educating visitors about your brand identity
Encouraging visitors to visit the other pages of the website

Elements that Make a Website’s Homepage

A website’s homepage design should have the following elements –

#1 – A Clear Value Proposition

In other words the ‘who’ and ‘what’. Most of the visitors entering a website would like to check this out first. If they are unable to understand what your website is all about, then they are not likely to stick around.

So what should the value proposition of your website include?

A company introduction can include a tagline as well as a brief run down on what offer and can do for the customer.
A clear path to the service pages that your brand is going to offer

#2 – Optimized for Multiple Devices

In the world of technology where everything has become mobile, not having a mobile optimized homepage will cause your business to lag behind. Mobile Optimization helps to ensure that a website can be properly accessed no matter from which device one may enter.

A website is mobile optimized when it enables easy navigation and is free from design clusters like the flash banners, pop-ups, animations and other kinds of unnecessary elements. Of course, one needs to implement the best practices in order to maintain a mobile-optimized website.

#3 – Intuitive Navigations

So you want your visitor to land on your homepage and look around your website without being confused? Make sure that you are following an intuitive navigation system. A website’s homepage should have easy navigations that can be easily understood by even the first-time visitor.

If a certain page on your website receives the highest number of traffic, then make the web page easily accessible by bringing it to the forefront.

#4 – The Right Color

Colors can influence visitor attention psychologically. When you are choosing a color for your website, try to choose a shade that matches the brand identity. Often, the wrong color choice can send visitors scurrying away and again, it depends on a lot on how a color can make a website communicate effectively with its clients.

Avoid incorporating too many colors on your website’s homepage. Here is a small guide that might come handy when you are deciding to choose a color for your website -

Try keeping bold colors at bay
Welcome white space element (the color white helps to maintain a color balance)
Do not try to overcomplicate the color scheme

#5 - The Right Font

Fonts can create the same psychological impact as colors do. So, when you are choosing a font type for your website, make sure that it fits the nature of your business.

Understand the product and the service that you are going to deal with online and build a brand identity around it. Also, you will have to understand when it will be more appropriate to use elaborate fonts and when it would be wise to just stick to simplicity.

It’s nice to consult with a professional web designer expert first before you head on to choosing a font type. Do avoid using too many different fonts on your homepage in order to keep the uniformity flowing. Do some proper research first if you are new to web design and do not know which one would best suit your business taste.

#6 – Bold Images

Words are not just enough when you are talking about online website design. People feel more engaged when there are interesting and bold images to browse about. This is all the truer when we take e-commerce in our discussion.

However, there are many websites that tend to use stock images in their web design. Stock image can get your work done but it is one of the five components that should be removed from the website. Nevertheless, a genuine image of your brand will help to keep visitors more engaged.

It is advisable that you hire a professional photographer to get your brand products and services shot. Use these high-quality images in your web design.

The above-mentioned points can be useful and will help you in designing a great homepage. Before you begin designing the homepage of your website, try visiting other websites to learn how they have used the different elements on their web page. Here are a few website references mentioned below that you would like to take a look at -

Some of the Best Website Homepages to Get Inspired By and Why They are Brilliant

Airbnb

Scroll from top to bottom and appealing pictures are the first things that you will get to notice when you visit the Airbnb website.

Speaking of the use of text, less is more seems to be appropriate here to speak of. When you take into consideration the kind of service that the company offers, the decision to use fewer texts and more images seems to be just apt.

Another point that is worth mentioning is the smart placement of different elements. Notice that the search box has been placed right at the center and not in the top right corner like other websites.

Next, is an explanation of how the service works and what kind of benefits can people earn by joining the Airbnb team.

Freshbooks

Freshbooks homepage is easy to consume. The website homepage is a good example of how to make a lengthy web page look more engaging. From the compelling introduction urging visitors to join to the content breakdown explaining how the service works, reading the content feels like reading some story.

The great way the CTA buttons have been positioned. This indicates that the company is confident and clear when it wants visitors to convert when they arrive on the homepage.

The style of copy used like for example the ‘Try it Free for 30 Days’ beside the Call to Action makes the overall message very compelling.

Mint

Mint has a homepage with a simple design and a strong straightforward headline.

The homepage design gives off an easy going vibe thus making a visitor feel confident about the product that is known for handling financial information.

It is also known for using a simple, direct and compelling Call-to-Action buttons.

You can look up on the internet to see how other websites have designed their homepages. There are plenty of examples that you are sure to get.

Conclusion

In addition to the points discussed above, the basic things that need to be kept in mind is how useful the homepage stands out in the eyes of the users. It should have a clear-cut approach in conveying the message of your business. Does your website homepage have all the elements that we have just discussed here? If is one another element that you would like to add, what would that be?

Image Courtesy: pixabay.com

7 Useful Tips to Optimize Your Website Lead Capture Form

Adam Frankel — 2016-09-14

For most inbound marketers, conversion rate optimization is a stumbling block. They tick all the optimization checklists for a better SEO, but fail to apply optimization tactics to the form, which can result in a higher conversion rate.

Conversion rate optimization may be difficult, but not impossible. A lot depends on the signup form. If the signup form looks appealing, assures privacy and informative, then visitors will be prompted to fill it out. Hence, optimizing the signup form means optimizing the conversion rate.

Here are some tips to optimize the forms and make them more presentable:

Keep the forms short

When conversion is your goal, keep forms short. Users tend to find long forms intrusive. The less you ask up front, the more likely you are to get the initial submission. Remember, visitors also lack patience, so the longer a form is, the more chance for them to disengage and more on without completing it.

The question becomes, how do you keep it short, still obtaining relevant information, and get the submission? In other words, how do move visitors into giving away their personal information with as few steps and questions as possible?

Well, you need to encourage and assure them. Start be eliminating unnecessary information. Primary phone number, alternative phone number, and extra address lines are all unnecessary information. Don’t include these items in the form. Keep it short and succinct.

The Call To Action elements

Web form optimization depends on CTA elements. By CTA elements, I mean:

CTA button texts
CTA button design

Both are important for an attractive lead capture form. The credit of composing polished CTA button texts goes to a copywriter. It’s his/her writing skills that could turn someone from a visitor into a customer. The text on CTA buttons should be concise, direct yet non-pushy. A company called Provident Resorts saw a 9% increase in their conversion rate after changing their CTA button copy.

The design matters as much as the texts matter. There are some rules of thumb to follow. For example, don’t use ghost buttons because the opaque format will distract visitors from the texts on the button. Make the buttons considerably large, so visitors can easily notice them, and add different colors to them.

Placement of the buttons is crucial. Placing them at the optimal location on the site increases the CTR. Track the eye-movements of visitors to know where they are most likely to look at.

Don’t use captcha

Captchas are notorious for throwing a wrench into your conversion efforts. Many online marketers put captchas at the end of a lead capture form. They do that because they don’t want robots to fill the form.

Fair enough. But what many of them don’t know is visitors abhor captchas. Adding captchas is among the avoidable mistakes when designing a web form. If visitors encounter obstacles the conversion rate can never increase, infact it will go down. Captchas, according to studies, can cause a site to lose out on 3.2% conversions. Hence, adding captchas will drag down conversion rate. Get rid of them.

But then how could you prevent robots from filling out lead capture forms on your site?

Simple. Use automated form filling script. Smart scripts can identify whether it’s a robot or a human being.

Add privacy note

Earning customer’s trust helps a business go forward.

What could be the better way to earn customer’s trust than adding privacy note to the form?

A short line can do the trick. See below:

Source

You can spice up the privacy note to attract visitors. Instead of adding a formal “We respect your privacy”, you can add something like “Feel free to share your details with us” or “We assure you that your privacy information won’t be shared.”

Personalization is the new mantra in marketing. Keep that in mind when you add a privacy note. Assuring visitors about privacy becomes easy when the message conveyed to them is personalized.

Secondary form positioning

You can and should add more than one lead capture form to the site. As I mentioned already, the primary form should be put on the most opportune place on the site. The secondary form can be placed elsewhere, preferably in a location that can drive a high CTR.

See the two images below:

Figure 1

Figure 2

Source

The A/B testing was done by Arenaturist.com. The result was fascinating. The second form field display type contributed to 52% higher conversion than the first form field display type.

It’s better to put all the “Rates & Availability” info as form field. Visitors are more likely to give away their info when they come across a form.

Do thank visitors

Brands should never sound rude to customers. But they do sound condescending sometimes without even realizing, especially when they don’t thank visitors after they fill out a web form.

You should always thank whoever fills out the form on your website. Some of them will end up becoming your customer and give you business. Not thanking them is rude.

Rudeness apart, thanking visitors can be a great way to make headway into the sales process. To make headway, offer them incentives while you thank them. The incentive can be a reward or a discount - something that can attract visitors.

Brands nowadays encourage impulse buys. Research has shown impulse purchases are not fully impulsive. Customers purchase out of impulse, but only from brands who value them as customers and look after their needs. Thanking visitors may very well be the first step showing you value your customers.

Mobile optimization

Some web forms load on desktop devices, but when the site is accessed via mobile devices, they don’t load properly. It happens because such sites are not optimized for handheld devices.

If your site is not optimized for Smart devices, then lead capture forms will appear distorted. The CSS elements will not adequately load and that’d amount to a poor user-experience. Akin to desktop traffic, mobile traffic can also be converted to loyal customers. Hence, not optimizing your site for handheld devices could hurt your conversion rate optimization efforts.

So make sure you have a responsive site that loads equally well regardless of the device being used.

Summing up

Optimizing the lead capturing form(s) on your website is not rocket science. Its fairly simple really. Follow the tips above and enjoy the increase in your CTR.

Image Courtesy: pixabay.com

Why SEOs Need to Follow These 4 Web Design Trends in 2016?

Adam Frankel — 2016-02-24

It’s 2016 and web marketers are examining through new trends to decide which ones to pick up. Yesteryear’s top design trends are no longer useful in bringing an outstanding return on investment and new trends are the need of the hour.

In 2016, design and SEO are essentially linked. Design begets SEO. A website with an attractive layout and smooth navigation items has better chances to capture a lead than a site with unattractive layout. Top design trends for this year are

Use of cinemagraphs

Cinemagraphs are .GIF files, but unlike standard .GIF files, they mark only certain areas of still images. A cinemagraph is an image which has one or more areas to it in motion. The image of a moving ball after being kicked by a soccer player, in which everything is static except the ball is a cinemagraph.

Cinemagraphs made their presence felt in 2015 but were not taken seriously by SEOs. Ignoring them in 2016 could be a risky deal for marketers because case studies are proof that banner ads with cinemagraphs can lead to a CTR that is 5 times higher than CTRs triggered by still images.

If snippets appears on social media news feed with thumbnail size dynamic images, the odds of clicking on the snippet links will invariably increase. Whether used onsite or on social channels, cinemagraphs can boost engagement.

Ghost button

The complaint against ghost button is it can function like the secondary or tertiary CTA button but not as the primary CTA button. That’s only partially true. We already had a discussion over the importance of ghost buttons for sales conversion. A site with minimalist design can use ghost buttons to offer visitors a clean and unobtrusive browsing experience.

If it makes few changes on its homepage, then the minimalist design can bode really well with ghost buttons. The changes include the button turning colored from being opaque when someone hovers his cursor on it, the background being highly appealing, etc.

Basically, ghost button presupposes that your site has an outlandish background and the CTA button is not obtrusive to the viewing experience. So make the background rich with design elements or stock or original photography.

Ghost buttons are often dismissed for no fault of their own. They are often used along with parallax scrolling, which distracts visitors and ghost buttons get the blame. Two things to keep in mind if you expect success with ghost buttons are not putting too many texts around them and not using parallax scrolling.

Adaptive design

2015 saw the popularity of adaptive design rising. It’s an exaggeration that adaptive web design (AWD) is here to replace responsive design. A more sensible statement is AWD can overcome the shortcomings that limit the application of responsive design.

One such shortcoming, critical to search engine visibility, is on which side the site layout is to be determined. In case of responsive web design, the layout is rendered on the client side. Everyone receives the same file, and the file readjusts itself depending on the screen size and resolution of the device.

Due to this, some parts of the file may stay hidden and users may not be able to see them. As content is the key determinant of SEO success nowadays, an obtrusive viewing experience spells disaster for a site. But AWD ensures that everyone receives the same file and see the full content. That apart, AWD accounts for a quick load-time and increases a site’s SEO friendliness.

Mobile typography

I sincerely hope marketers understand the value of mobile typography this year. No, it doesn’t have any direct SEO benefit, but if you want to penetrate into the handheld user-base, then mobile friendly typefaces are a must. Handheld devices may be more sophisticated than desktop devices, but their screens are small.

A small screen poses challenges for typefaces. Lines may break, texts may not be juxtaposed properly, and certain fonts may not be visible at all. The biggest fear is users might not see hyperlinked areas in the text because of the screen being low-contrast. That apart, the typefaces may not appropriately accompany the multimedia contents, resulting in a hideous user-experience, which hurts your brand instead of giving it a boost.

To make sure the typography for your site is mobile-friendly and device-agnostic, you need to have texts, which are optimally sized, add extra space between texts, to margin and between lines. Most importantly, select a simple typeface because this is the age of flat and minimalist design.

Follow these trends

Want to be one step ahead of your competitors? Then follow all these design trends discussed here. This will bolster your online marketing campaign, you’ll get more fans, more engagement and have a better prospect of sale.

Image Courtesy: www.entrepreneur.com

How to Select the Right Fonts While Designing

Adam Frankel — 2016-02-17

You have started designing your website. You have a proper structure of the site. You have all the content. Now is the time to lay them out. And, despite being a trained designer, you tend to falter at this moment. You are not confident about which font you should choose for the site. But this is an extremely important thing and you need to zero in on the perfect font. It’s not an easy thing to do. You will need to keep a lot of things in mind while choosing the fonts of your website. And a few expert tips can come in really handy for such a situation.

Here’s a quick look at some of tips for finding the right kind of fonts while designing a website.

Take Time to Select

You are almost done with all other parts of the designing before you’ve concentrated on selecting the fonts. So, it’s quite natural that you would like to select the font as soon as possible. And you will also try to be done with all the tasks.

This is where you might commit the greatest mistake.

It is not an easy task to select the right font. So, you should not do it in haste. Instead, take your time to think about the look you want your website to have. You can choose from:

serif fonts
sans serif fonts

If you are looking to get a simple website, you can go for sans serif fonts. However, if you are looking to get a website with a few decorations in the fonts, you can choose their serif counterparts.

Focus on Readability

You have decided to use a font for your website. You have also zeroed on the size at which the font is going to be used in the website. But when you set the font at that size on the website, you find that they are not properly visible. So, you might need to bring about a last-minute change.

So, the catch is that you might need to make a few changes while using the fonts. That’s because, your objective will be to make the content visible to the website visitors. The complete focus should be on the readability of the fonts.

The sizes of the fonts need to separate at different positions of the web page. All you need to do is ensure that each of the words on a web page is legible enough. If you are selecting the font for the body of the website, it should be one that can be read properly even when it is small. The other parts, however, can even do with a few decorative fonts.

Think of the Hierarchy

What’s the hierarchy of your web page?

You need to find out how many layers the fonts of your webpage should have. The size and type of fonts will depend on the hierarchy of the page of your website. You will have to keep in mind different layers of the hierarchy:

Headings
Subheads
Body text

The headings should have the fonts that are bold and catches the eyes of the readers the moment he starts reading. The body text should be simple fonts, which appear well enough even when small. The subheads can be the larger or bolder versions of the body text.

You Can Even Utilize Overused Fonts

There are so many websites around and each of them uses different kinds of fonts. But some of those fonts are quite overused.

So, do you think you should not use them?

Think logically. A font is primarily overused because it is really good for the website.

So, if you decide to omit a font from your website only because it has been overused, you might lose out on some good option.

You need to select the right kind of font that goes well with the content that you are sharing on your website.

Use Fonts that Partner

No designer uses just a single kind of font while designing a whole website. At least a couple of types of fonts are utilized. One of them gives shape to different headings in the web page, while the other is used in the body text. While choosing the fonts, you need to ensure that the two can be used to partner one another.

It is extremely important to choose the fonts correctly, so that the website that you are designing can have maximum impact on the viewers.

Image Courtesy: www.gavinfiorina.com

Web Design Tips to Convert Your Website Visitors into Customers

Adam Frankel — 2016-02-10

When you own a business these days, it's kind of imperative to have a web presence. And the best way to establish it is to have a website. Because it is one of the most important platforms that can help you focus diligently on a major thing - converting website visitors into customers.

But how can you achieve this?

According to experts, tailoring a website to meet the specific requirements tops the marketing strategies to convert visitors into customers.

With total Internet users exceeding 3 billion in 2014, it is highly anticipated that the number of visitors coming across your business website has increased too. And each of the visitors that your website plays host to is a prospective customer.

Now the question is, what percentage of your website traffic is actually contributing to your revenues?

If your website traffic hasn't seen much of a conversion lately, then you are missing out on something really interesting. And there's a thing that you can still implement to get the best results- that's web design.

When it comes to traffic acquisition, the role of website design is immense. Even tweaking minute details can up the ante conversion-wise. Here are a few suggestions that you can utilize to experience a surge in online conversion that you always wanted.

Use Responsive Design

Responsive design is a loaded weapon that has a huge impact on the marketing strategy of a business website. With screen sizes fluctuating with the introduction of new devices every passing day, your website needs to be ready for the change.

Now, there is another reason to embrace responsive web design. Google rolled out its mobile-friendly update on April, 2015. The primary purpose of this update is to give the mobile-friendly websites a boost in the search engine results page. In addition, Google has recently announced that the number of searches performed on mobile has exceeded that of a desktop. This is all the more of a reason to make your website design responsive.

Take Starbucks, for example. If you open their website on three separate devices (a desktop, a tablet and a smartphone), you would understand what an amazing work they have done. While implementing this concept in your website, make sure that everything functions on every device and browser you have optimized it for. Once you have double-checked, check again.

Your Website Structure Can Make or Break Your Conversion Strategy

Before we dig deeper, ask yourself the following questions:

How long does it take for your website to load?
Is your website simple enough to help your potential customers understand what it is all about at one go?
Does your site have a user-friendly navigation?

You will know in a second as to why I'm asking all these questions.

If your webpage takes longer than 3 seconds to load, then you are losing out on a lump sum 40% of your potential customers. Large images and videos influence the time taken for a website to load.

Once you take care of that, the comprehension quotient comes into play. The quicker a visitor understands what your website is all about, the more likely it will be to convert them. A certain study has revealed that a website is allotted about 10 seconds to leave an impression with users and tell them what it is all about, because they will leave after that. A perfect example in the case is Poppy, a company that designs home appliances. It nails the simplistic design concept to increase conversion.

A website with poor navigation features is a major reason for increase in bounce rate. And enhanced bounce rate will affect your search ranking, which, in turn, will shoot down the number of visitors of your website and hence, potential customers. A user-friendly navigation in your website can save you all that trouble.

Effective Call-to-action Buttons are the Key

It is common knowledge that for a business website to thrive, it would need a call-to-action button. This button specifies what you are offering a visitor and, therefore, you need to make it compelling. Color, size, shape and text play a major role in making your call-to-action button stand out. And its placement and positioning on the webpage is also crucial.

Sometimes it is also a great idea to tell people what they would be missing out on, if they do not click on the Call to Action button. For example, in the website Crazy Egg, below the bright Call to Action button, the small, but conspicuous “No thanks, I treat all click behavior the same” increased their conversion rate by 6%.

In addition, incorporating social media buttons affect the conversion rate too. The more your website builds an online presence, the higher are the chances for your visitors to turn into customers.

Other tidbits

Content is quite effective in making your website stand out in a crowd. Other important aspects you might want to look into are mentioned below.

Establishing a trust quotient with your visitors is important. For example, displaying the price of a product or a service is a good idea, what would surpass that is presenting a reason as to why that price would be the best bargain for your visitor.
Make sure that your contact information is clearly visible to anyone who visits your page. Google Maps can be of immense help as a locator.
Creativity can take you a long way. Brand appeal could be a great strategy to start with. Think Mercedes. They don't sell cars, they sell the luxury. That's what appeals to people.

Once you have put all the essential components to use, you will find your website's conversion rate double in no time.

Image Courtesy: www.visionhelpdesk.com

Top 5 Web Design Tips to Attract More Traffic

Adam Frankel — 2016-02-05

If you are running a business and want to expand it further, it’s important that you let as many people know about it as possible. And it’s not that difficult too in this world of information and technology. Especially because you have the internet at your service. Going online is just the first step that you must take if you want to spread the word about your business. And with a perfect website you should focus on driving increasingly more traffic to your website.

But for that, you need to design the website in the perfect manner.

So, what are the best web design practices to attract maximum traffic to your website?

Here’s a quick look at some of them.

Create a Device-agnostic Website

Go responsive. In fact, that's the minimum you can do to drive traffic to the website. And it has become almost imperative these days.

After Mobilegeddon or the introduction of Google's mobile-friendly algorithm, only those websites that appear perfectly on all kinds of devices, including mobile ones, are ranked high on SERPs. And if you want to attract visitors to your web page, ranking high is essential. So, design your website to be device agnostic and create a responsive website. Only then you can remain assured that people will be using it from different platforms, such as desktop computers, tablets and mobiles. Thus, the traffic is sure to shoot up.

Focus More on Scrolling

Are you depending more on clicking for your website? If you want your visitors to click through your website to navigate it, you are surely in for a great mistake.

Remember, the number of mobile internet users are increasing at a fast pace. In fact, it has already crossed the number of internet users who surf on the desktop computers.

Remember, it is not easy to click when you are surfing the internet on a mobile device. So, when you are designing the website, make sure you include the scrolling option to make it user-friendly. It will play a major impact on increasing the traffic.

Marry the Content and the Design

Content is the king. And it's true to this day. So, if you are planning to create an amazing website with a beautiful design, you will have to focus on the content as well. Because no matter how well you design the site, if the content is not integrated properly, then it will make no sense at all. In fact, you will need to marry the content and the design in a perfect example of peaceful and effective co-existence.

The web design, in fact, will have to play the role of managing the content in such a way that it appears beautiful. Only then you can expect the visitors to spend a long time on the page and ultimately convert into your customers.

Use Minimalistic Design

It’s minimalistic web design that’s ruling the roost these days. And when you want to drag more traffic to your website, it’s essential that you don’t create a design that’s too over the board. Instead, go for something that’s simple. Even when you are choosing the fonts, make sure that they are minimalist as well. This form of design helps in a significant manner, as it is makes it easy for the visitors to the website to navigate through it. So, they don’t leave the website immediately, but visit different pages of the site. This plays a major role in reducing the bounce rate of the website and helping it rank better. It ensures that your website is visited by more people, thus increasing the chances of conversion.

Include High-resolution Images

Want to drive more traffic to your website? You need to make the site interesting and attractive. And it’s not possible to achieve only with the help of text. You have to include images in the website. All those pictures should be of the highest quality. It’s true that the images with low resolution were preferred earlier, as they helped the page load faster. However, it’s no more the same and you need to include images of a high resolution. And these are going to make your website appear much better.

When you have a website, you should always focus on driving more traffic to it. And for that you should use all possible components. Web design should also be planned in such a way that it attracts more visitors, thus increasing the chances of conversion to a great extent.

Image Courtesy: mashclan.com

E-commerce Website Development: Tips to Ensure a Successful Project

Adam Frankel — 2016-02-03

Developing a successful e-commerce website is an extremely demanding process. Right from onsite usability to search engine visibility, the entrepreneurs and project managers developing or deploying the e-commerce websites need to consider an array of factors. However, it is possible to make the process simple with the help of a few steps.

Here’s a quick look at some of them.

Permit Refinement of Options

When the visitors are trying to search for the things they need on your e-commerce website, provision to filter options will save them a lot of time as well as effort. This acquires more value for items like clothes. The customers hate to find the perfect dress only to discover that it is not available in their size.

Keep Search Bars within Easy Reach

Customers use the search bar quite often in case they are unable to find the item they are looking for. Amazon.com has its search bar right on top to help the customers. Consider making this the key focus. This will keep the users longer on the website, since they will be tempted to look around.

Use Quality Images

E-commerce is chiefly about buying with eyes, as you do not see or touch the items until they are delivered and become yours. Usage of several pictures is a great way to attract business.

Plan the product page layout.

Decide whether the page will come with tiled thumbnails.

You can also include a product slide show.

The quality of these images is also vital, since the pixelated or the blurry pictures are a major put off. Moreover, such low-quality images also bring down the standard of the site.

Keep the Shopping Cart Visible

While giving a proper shape to the ecommerce website, you need to design the shopping cart properly as well. It is vital to keep the basket visible on all the pages of the website. Several designers prefer its usage in the sidebar. But this may clog the promotion area. Both the search bar and the basket need to be present in all the pages. Incorporate them properly to ensure a clean looking website.

Make Websites Easy to Navigate

There are several categories available in the larger websites. The fly-out and the drop-down menus are a great way to keep the pages uncluttered while ensuring maximum accessibility. For designing these two things, you need to keep in mind a few things:

Simplicity
Efficiency

These are key to designing these menus. Do not elaborate much since that will defeat the point of making the website easy to navigate. Breadcrumbs usage is key to making the navigation of website smoother.

Consider SEO

In the absence of a well optimized website, the best way to attract visitors is pay per click. Consider where and how to use the H1 and H2 tags. Keep the URL structure focused on the targeted keywords. You can consider including the targeted keywords like the name of the product or the core features in the URL.

Give Your Website a Personality

To make your website stand out, you need to add a bit of personality to it. A clean and easy-to-navigate website is no doubt the bedrock, but it is certainly not enough. Without a bit of personality, your e-commerce website will never be amazing.

A perfect example in the case is Pop Chart Lab. It has a clean layout and simple color scheme, but some tweaks to the style gives it a unique look.

Make a Provision for Quick Product Review

The visitors who are hunting down products online may need to browse the category pages to find items matching the need. Very often, clicking on individual items for more details on a separate page is avoided by the users due to:

due to slow loading speed
lack of time
personal preferences

By adding a fast review to the category and the search pages, it is possible to get the attention of users towards the product and its details.

Include Testimonials

If you had a lovely email from customers complimenting on amazing services, include it in the website. The potential users will view this as a reason to spend more money on your website. This works great as a sidebar addition or a slider.

Make Contacting You Easier

If you want to attract the older generation, it is important to include the contact details. Though mobile browsing and other technologies are growing in popularity, even today there are potential customers who are nervous to make a purchase online. If there is an option to speak with actual individuals, there are high chances to convince them of trust and process orders over the phone.

The successful projects in terms of ecommerce web design need to be well tested. Avoid rushing through the testing stage to get the website launched faster. The effective testing phases will pave the way for a smoother launch and ensure a positive experience for the users.

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Flat Web Design: Setting the Trend for the Future

Adam Frankel — 2016-01-27

There are two types of people in the design world: one who loves flat design and the other who doesn't.

So, which category do you fall in? The first?

Then you are sure to like this.

While shuffling through the rich history of design, Bauhaus stands firm as the root of the web design revolution. That is where flat design draws its inspiration from. And from International Typographic Style (Swiss style) and Modernism too.

So, you see, the idea behind flat design goes way back.

In fact, we have been witnessing a trend shift towards flat design in the last few years with Apple and Microsoft ushering in the future. As Microsoft embraced it in quick strides, Apple looked away from skeuomorphism and landed right in the middle of flat design with the launch of iOS 7 in the summer of 2013.

And the world followed.

Flat Design: What It Is and What It Isn't

Flat design is what the name suggests. Simple and flat.

It is devoid of 3D ingredients like:

Gradients
Textures
Drop shadows

In a nutshell, flat web design does not contain any type of characteristic that makes it appear as though it lifts off the page or is three dimensional. It takes out the gaudy elements from a design and makes it subtle and future-proof.

Why Flat is the New Trendsetter

The flat design concept rose to glory because:

it allows a seamless adaptability of websites to responsive design
it conveys information easily and efficiently while making the design look elegant
it removes flashy and packed design confusions and paves a way to make the purpose and the content the hero

Flat isn't Boring

Flat design is more centered on minimalistic elements of colors and typography. It can be characterized by the three C's of web design:

Clear
Crisp
Compelling

If you add functional to that, you have a win-win situation at hand.

Bright and flashy designs sure can make the whole thing more attention grabbing, but it fails to make the cut. On the other hand, minimalistic design takes it a step further by gluing in simplicity while serving the purpose effectively.

Flat Design Essentials

When it comes to design, less is more. But even the most simplistic of designs need some amount of thought. There is a variety of components to flat design that make them stand out so perfectly and elegantly from the rest.

1.Color

When you think flat design, a lot of color palettes spring to mind. Think bright. Think bold. They not only make the design distinct, but also ensure that it is trendy and direct.

The flat design trend inspires a whole new batch of color usage, expanding the horizons of color palettes with exponential variations. Super-saturated tones have received quite a lot of attention with further experimentation and evolution underway.

Monotone color schemes, paired with a hint of pop here and there, have been making a breakthrough with flat design on the rise. Think blues and grays.
Retro hues have been shining a muted and toned down the pathway to the hall of fame. Let your creativity kick off with peaches and plums, or maybe muted blues.

2.Typography

Again, flat design is everything that is bold. In an effort to be consistent with the design aspects of flat, the typography needs to complement the whole look.

A simple sans serif family member can do the trick with a touch of novelty font sprinkled here and there to bring out the pop. But, of course, you would need to be on a tight budget with the usage of specialty fonts since a little tip on the sides might result in toppling over of the whole look.

The Future of Flat Design

The digital world is moving towards flat with an overwhelming momentum. The adaptability factor makes flat design the go-to choice for designers around the world. The perception of flat design plays to the strengths and limitations of design with an honesty and simplicity that is being heavily favored by the users. The effortless consolidation, paired with the minimalistic approach, makes flat design all the more attractive.

The beauty of flat design lies in the way it helps users interact with a website in a very easy and quick way without hindering the purpose of the design in any way. Even though a lot of evolution is yet to arrive at this approach of design, flat is here to stay.

Flat design is not just a style, it's a way of thinking. How well you do it measures your ability to stand out from the crowd. But then again, it also depends on your distinct approach to make it your own. Because at the end of the day, you are what you present.

Image Courtesy: www.onextrapixel.com

Web Design Mistakes Every Startup Should Avoid

Adam Frankel — 2016-01-12

You have a startup and you want to do better with it. The first thing you need to do is connect with as many people as possible. And the best way to do it these days is surely to go online. So, you need to have a website, which will help you go beyond the ordinary limits. And to do that, you have to perform the initial steps. Apart from the content, which of course is extremely important, you will also have to design the website properly.

So, how are you planning to design your business website? Are you going to design it yourself? Or, are you going to hire some professional web designer? No matter what you do, you will have to be wary of a few startup web design mistakes.

What are those web design mistakes every startup entrepreneur should avoid?

Here’s a quick look at some of them.

A Large Number of Homepage Offerings

What are the services your website is going to offer?

There might be many. But are you offering all of them on the homepage itself?

There’s a common misconception that providing maximum offers on the homepage of a website helps and adds more value to the site. This, however, isn’t true. If a visitor to your website finds too many information on the homepage, it is likely to make him confused. If you are looking to make the most out of the traffic, then you should try to focus on a single thing.

What is the most important thing that your website offers?

Try to keep the homepage limited to only that offering. The results will be much more effective.

Too Much Time to Load

When you are designing your business website for the first time, you might feel the urge to communicate with the audience as much as possible. And at one go. But, unfortunately, it might not be the right idea. Because if you want to offer too many elements to the audience, you’ll have to include a lot of materials to the page. And it will make the page heavy. Going for a flash intro is going to cause a similar kind of problem as well. The result: your website’s pages won’t load fast enough. And it’ll be a test of patience of the visitor to your website. This will increase the bounce rate to a significant extent.

Contact Details Not Readily Available

The website visitor has checked your site and he’s interested in your offerings. He is now planning to connect with you to hire your services. But he can’t find the contact information.

This is a common problem found in the startup websites. The contact information is buried too deep inside the website. So, it is not easy for your potential customer to find the contact details from the website. As a result, you might end up losing a lead. Even asking the potential customers to fill up a form to connect with you might not be a good idea.

It is essential for you to provide the contact details in such a way that it is readily available. This is likely to increase your chances of getting a business manifold.

Not Making the Website Responsive

Responsive web design has been around for quite some time now and it has become almost synonymous with an advanced website. And this is not without any reason. These days, a large number of internet-friendly devices have surfaced. People are using these mobile devices on a large scale. Hence, it is important for website owners to ensure that their sites fit perfectly on those devices. And this is where responsive design becomes relevant. Even if the visitors use different browsers, the pages appear in a proper manner.

However, a lot of startup businesses ignore the necessity of a responsive website. As a result, they lose out on the potential customers whom they could’ve pitched properly with a responsive website.

Playing Too Much with the Typography

What typography are you using in your website?

Remember, these days, typography rules. Hence, it is extremely important to use the perfect fonts.

So, how should the fonts be like?

It is essential that the fonts are all easy to decipher.

It is graphical in nature, although not too informal.

A website is a must for a startup these days. But a lot of startups commit a few mistakes while designing these websites. It is essential to be aware of these mistakes and take the necessary steps to avoid these.

Image Courtesy: www.smartworkforcestrategies.com

Why Visitors are Leaving your Website?

Adam Frankel — 2015-12-15

You have written great content for your website. The product images are polished and thanks to the marketing initiative, you are getting traffic to your website as well.

Why are few visitors are getting converted into customers or leads?

Converting web visitors is not simple. Capturing conversions online needs a special combination of various factors.

If you are facing trouble getting visitors to stick, consider whether you are making any of the below-discussed mistakes.

Outdated Design

The books are often judged by their covers.

In a study, participants were asked to review websites and rate them. 94% of the respondents attributed uneasiness to the design of the website. Design matters a lot. You can go for a professional face lift if you think your website design is outdated.

Poor Site Navigation

Have you ever lost yourself while browsing a website? You start navigating and all of a sudden, there is no link to the homepage or a map of the website. Poor site navigation is one of the most significant aspects that make visitors leave a website. Proper website design not just focuses on the features, aesthetics and content but a user interface that is consistent, easy and intuitive.

Here are the key points.

Provide a navigation menu. Place them on all the pages at the same position.
Create a site map.
Provide a search bar to allow the users to find relevant information accurately.

Improper Color Selection

Selecting the right color is vital to aesthetics of a website. Unlike print media, colors on a website are much more vibrant. The web designers have much more to work with. There are several studies that address the question of customer psyche and colors. Websites are accessible to millions more than print media and the demographics, as well as the likes and dislikes are quite varied. Go for colors and combinations that attract a significant part of the potential customer base. Choose the background, images, and the text color carefully. Poor selection of colors can cast an adverse impact on your business.

Difficult to Read Content

The design is not just about images, graphics or colors. The font used, color of the text and the background determines how easily people can read and digest the content you present.

If the content is hard to go through, it will never convert users.

There is no hard and fast rule about the fonts to use and the fonts to avoid; stick to contrasting color combinations and clean and ornamentation free fonts for best result.

Videos in Auto Play Mode

Nothing makes one click the back button of a website faster than videos that begin playing all by itself. The digital savvy customers of today prefer to choose when and how they consume content. Blasting at them without consent is one of the fastest ways to drive away potential customers from the website.

Obtrusive Registration Requirement

Gated content, or making it protected from the public, is a great way to drive leads into the website sales funnel. However, gating content and protecting it with the by requiring login or submitting information first, can also prevent conversion if the information required is too invasive.

While creating registration opportunities, ask whether every field that you add is essential.

Unclear Product Benefits

If you don’t share the benefits of your product clearly on your website, you are not compelling your visitors to move down the sales funnel. Highlight the benefits rather than features.

You need to understand this concept and implement it while you attempt to diagnose the conversion problems on your website.

Absence of Call-to-Action

Though this may appear as a no brainer, 80% of business websites did not have a call to action as recently as 2013. Having no call-to-action is just crazy. Your site should have some sort of value proposition, and be asking for information form the user in order to provide them with hit. You can't get the sale or the lead if you don't ask for it.

Customers won’t take action unless they are prompted. Every blog post, sales page, and product page should come with a relevant call to action to encourage the visitors take an action.

By addressing these issues, you can achieve major gains in the performance of your website. While these are not the only factors affecting the ability to convert visitors into customers, you can use these tips to ensure that you don't make obvious mistakes while optimizing your website.

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