Uncategorized Archives - Page 11 of 15

Designing Websites For The Golden Generation

Written by wfootD on March 23, 2015. Posted in Uncategorized, Website Design.

Should you take the golden generation into consideration when you are designing a website? The short answer here is of course you should and in actual fact it is now essential that you think about the age range of people that could view your site when it is being designed. Studies have shown that the part of the market in the United States of people over the age of 55 using the Internet is now roughly equal in size to the number of people that own an iPhone. Now, do you feel that your website can ignore them?

The problem here is that people are often guilty of thinking about producing a website that is spectacular on the eye and full of seriously cool things and with social media icons plastered all over. However, even although this may very well look nice from a design point of view, we need to think about the practical aspect of a website when taking into consideration this golden generation.

A Simple Layout Is King

First, the layout. There is no doubt that a nice, clean, simply layout is the best option. It is important that you get your message across, but never overfill the homepage in particular because too much info from the outset is not going to do you any favors. Instead, break it up into useful sections on various pages and you will get a far better response.

Think About Fonts

You need to remember that, as we get older, our eyesight tends to not be as good as it used to be. What this means from a design perspective is that those crazy fonts could lead to problems for you. Keep it clean, although remember clean does not have to mean boring, and avoid using too many small font sizes either or you will find that people will feel that there is no point in them staying on your site.

Make Buttons And Links Bigger

Due to both eyesight and a reduction in what is known as motor control, which is a fancy way of talking about your ability to co-ordinate between your eyesight and hand movements. From a design perspective it means that you should increase the size of the buttons and links on your site just to make life that bit easier.

Keep Forms And Signups Simple

If you require people to sign up for an account for your site, say for example if you have an ecommerce website, then keep the form as simple as possible. Too many boxes and options can just be confusing and this is something that has to be avoided. Make life easy by limiting the information that you require or at least offer an easy to understand explanation of the details you want and the reasons behind it. A long form may look impressive, but is there any point to it if people are unable to complete it?

Make Contacting You Clearer

People need to know how to contact you, but it should also not be hidden away in a corner. Make the different contact options as clear as possible so that it cannot be missed as you will tend to find that people with less confidence in using the Internet will indeed have more questions. If they struggle to see how they can get answers to them, then it will lead to them clicking off and moving elsewhere instead.

Remember The Experience With Technology

However, even when you take everything above into consideration it is still vitally important that you remember their experience with technology. This becomes even more important when you push the age further and discover that more people over the age of 70 are now using the Internet and this entire idea of talking to people around the world in an instant is completely new and baffling.

Never assume that everybody that is viewing your website is an absolute expert with technology as that is not the case. Instead, it is best to always think of them as having the same limited knowledge and design your website around that.

Your designer will be able to advise you on the best course of action to take with your site because there is of course an understanding that some sites are promoting services, products, or ideas that are specifically aimed at the younger generation. This does mean that the advice above does not always apply, but at least knowing that there is a problem is a good step forward.

Only thinking about the younger generation is a major error on your part and even though it is impossible to predict how much revenue you are missing out on the mere fact that you are allowing any part of your market to pass you by is a real mistake. It only requires slight changes to what you are doing now, but those changes are important, so contact your web designer and ask their advice because exclusion is a bad thing unless it is for specific reasons of course.

2015 Image Design Trends

Written by wfootD on March 12, 2015. Posted in Graphic Design, Uncategorized, Website Design.

It is easy enough to look at website design trends and to then determine how you can shape your website accordingly, but it is often the case that one important area is overlooked. What are the images going to be like?

Yep, even images have trends with how they look and where they are placed on your site and in the eyes of many they are what is responsible for making your website pop. So, what can we expect in 2015?

Big And Beautiful

The first thing is that there is a trend for a site to have at least one image that is both big and beautiful at the same time. This main image has to be a real show stopper and will really dominate the home page and you are helped here by the fact that the quality of these larger images just continues to improve.

The use of stock image websites will make life easier for you to find the perfect one for your website as they have millions of images covering such a wide range of topics. Go for the highest resolution possible for the size that you need to really wow your visitors from the moment that they hit your website.

The Use Of Semi-Flat Design

2013 saw the emergence of flat design images, but in 2015 we are looking at semi-flat being where it’s at. The entire idea here is that the image creates a kind of 3D effect on your site along the sides while the actual image itself stays flat to the page. This is mainly being done with buttons and drawn graphics rather than photographs, but it is certainly quite effective with the look that it creates.

Try using this approach for those links to your social media pages or logos just to give your site that extra lift and bring it to life.

Creating An Experience Through Rich Content

Using rich content to really produce an experience for the visitor to your website might use up a substantial amount of your budget, but it can offer them something completely different from the norm.

The idea is to produce longform articles that include a lot of media, either images or even video clips with narration, in order to really put across certain points. This is aiming to replace the usual form of long articles as it is known that breaking it up visually makes it easier for an individual to remember the information and to process it accordingly.

The Use Of Typography

Mixing typography with images is big in 2015. However, great care has to be taken over the forms of text that you use because big and bold is better than small and old. If you thought that you were limited to the likes of Aerial or Times New Roman, then you are wrong. Instead, go for something unique that ties in perfectly with your website and what it is all about.

Do not be afraid to use something different and make it big so that it grabs their attention as soon as they land on your site and use a variety of fonts just to spice things up a bit. If you thought that the text on your website had to be plain and boring, then you are going to be stuck in 2014 rather than 2015.

The Use Of Hand Drawn Illustrations

Hand drawn illustrations have been around in the world of Internet marketing for some time, but now it has made the leap into actual websites that the general public are going to check out. They might be difficult to produce, although obviously help is at hand, but there is no doubt that they really do grab the attention because are we not all fascinated by animation?

We are not talking about something along the lines of a Pixar movie, but rather shortish clips that has some simply drawn illustrations that manage to press home the point that you are trying to make. However, we recommend that you do not overdo this on your website as it could end up looking quite cheap and boring.

The Use Of Background Video

If you thought that it was just about still images, then think again. Instead, 2015 is going to see an increase in the use of background video on websites and this is possible thanks to people having better Internet connection so there is less lagging.

The cool thing about using video is that it really does bring your website to life in a brand new way and with it playing in the background it also feels as if it is less intrusive. However, as with other forms of media it is always better if you do not overdo it because then you could be looking at a few issues for people that perhaps have not caught up with the modern day broadband speed.

There is no doubt that, from a design perspective, 2015 is going to be quite exciting. Technology is still improving and as can undoubtedly look forward to some pretty cool websites being produced. Make sure that you are not left behind with your own website and get some professional advice on how to spruce it up and bring it up to the modern day. Give us a call now to arrange one of our team to discuss your needs.

2015 – Top 5 Widgets For Your Website

Written by wfootD on February 16, 2015. Posted in Tips, Trends, Uncategorized.

Now that we have moved into 2015 it is a good time to go ahead and look at what we can expect to become popular, or absolute must haves for your website. Looking at design features is one thing, but there has been a real movement towards using widgets in websites in recent times. This is a trend that is anticipated to only gain more momentum over the next 12 months, so it is a good idea to check out the top widgets for 2015. Here are our top five.

1. Marketing By Email

It is widely accepted that marketing via an email list is going to give you a far higher return on your investment than pretty much every other form of marketing out there. However, the hard part is staying on top of your email list, including your contacts, but help is at hand with a number of extremely useful widgets.

The most popular ones out there just now come from companies such as MailChimp and Ininbox and they just make life so much easier on the back-end section of your email marketing. Basically, by using one of their widgets you will be able to take advantage of templates for your very own email newsletters, find it easier to manage your contacts, send out emails via automation, and a whole host of other cool features that just makes life easier. Thanks to this widget you should see an upturn in the success of your email marketing.

2. Booking Appointments

If you have a business where appointments need to be booked, then offering this option via your website is certainly something that will be appreciated by your clients. This widget shows the dates and times available and they can then go ahead and arrange it to suit themselves and it is all done in real time.

The idea behind this widget is that it does vastly improve your customer service and it also allows your staff to get on with serving customers rather than being stuck on the phone all of the time. It is also surprising who can utilize this particular widget as it is certainly very helpful when trying to organize your schedule.

3. Analytics And Search Widget

A big thing now is having a better understanding as to how well your website is doing via analytics and there are widgets out there that can provide you with all kinds of up to the minute data. One widget that should be of interest is called eClincher as that not only tells you about your website, but also allows you to deal with all of your social media accounts from one single dashboard.

This is going to make your life a whole lot easier, but we also mentioned a search widget as more and more people want to search for specific information on your website rather than read everything that is on there. Swiftype is one example of a widget that allows you to add a search function to your site and you should see an increase in the time people spend on your site as they explore more of what you have to offer.

4. Slideshows

Slideshows are making a huge comeback in 2015 and there are a whole host of widgets out there that will allow you to have various shows all over your website. This is a great way to showcase products you sell or work that you have previously done as it is still accepted that we love visuals rather than just a lot of text on a website. However, one cool trick is to make sure that you can link it to photos that you have on image sharing websites or social media and Photosnack is one such widget. This will result in you being able to take photographs on your cell phone and upload to Flickr or Facebook and it will also then appear directly on your website.

5. Floating Social Media Buttons

Everybody already understands the importance of social media for an online business as it does increase awareness of a brand and makes direct marketing so much easier. However, previously it was a case of links to social media accounts being stuck in the corner of a website and the result was that a lot of people did not even see those buttons. Of course this is a bit of a disaster from a marketing point of view, but that has now changed with floating social media buttons.

This widget will have all of those logos linking to the likes of Twitter etc floating on your page as people scroll up and down. It sites at the side so as not to impede them and annoy them, but you will see a real increase in the number of people that then click through and subscribe or join your page.

There are of course a number of seriously cool widgets out there just waiting to be added to your website and the ones that work best for you does depend on what you hope to achieve from your site. However, the one thing that is clear is that we all need to look more at widgets and what they can do as there is no doubt that they do improve the experience that people have on your website.

Full Stack Application Developers

Written by wfootD on February 7, 2015. Posted in Application Development, Uncategorized.

Did you know that Webfoot Designs is a full stack application developer? You might be wondering, what is a web application? Simply put, an application is a code based program that handles tasks which are generally database driven. In it’s simplest form, you can think of a contact form on a website as a mini-application. The form collects the user inputted data, and depending on it’s configuration, that data may be stored on a web server in a database and the information is generally passed along to an end user by email. This is a very simple application.

We build and manage applications which are much more complex than a contact form. Our lead developer and operations manager at Webfoot Designs, Brad Morrical, is a full stack application developer. You can visit his personal homepage and technical blog found at BradMorrical.com. He is proficient in PHP, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Joomla CMS, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Javascript, and much more. When deciding the best way to build and implement an application, we would start by learning exactly what the goals of the application project are. We need to determine exactly how the application needs to function as well as how the customer and their clients interact with the application. Once we have a clear understanding of how the application should work, only then do we begin the coding phase and the application build out.

Is a website an application?

Well technically, yes, and many times it’s easy to confuse an application with a website. While a website should be considered an application, in the context of what we are describing here it doesn’t quite meet the requirements. Now don’t be confused, we have been building websites since 1997 here at Webfoot Designs and that remains a primary focus of our design shop. But we also build heavy application and database driven systems for our customers tailored around their very specific business needs and requirements. These applications generally service very specific functions and is a program where the customer and their users have an easy and intuitive system to navigate and work within, with a robust foundation which focuses on functioning at peak performance.

We know how to bring it all together. From the User Interface/User Experience (UI/UX), to the database portion which holds all of the data, to the back-end programming which ties it all together; We know how to build your full scale application. We can ensure that all the data is secure, and any information passing into or out of the system is done with industry best encryption techniques.

Website Analytics – Why They Are Important

Written by wfootD on January 21, 2015. Posted in Analytics, SEO, Uncategorized.

If you have a website and ever take a look at your control panel with your hosting, then you may have noticed a section that deals with analytics. Now, this is often a section that people will simply gloss over and feel that it is more for their webmaster, or anybody that deals with the technical side of the website, but this is not the case. Instead, you should take a real interest yourself for reasons that will now be explained.

Analytics Help You Know How Popular Your Site Is

First, this is the place where you will find out how many hits your website is receiving and knowing how popular you are, or unpopular in some cases, is always rather interesting to know. By actually seeing how many people are visiting your website, it will mean that you will learn if you are on the right path and are growing or if there is a need for you to perhaps change your marketing strategy. However, do note that it is best to look at unique hits to see how many individual people are checking out your site rather than just the same batch going back repeatedly.

Analytics Help You Know What People Are Looking At And For How Long

If you delve deeper into the analytics you will learn all about the individual pages that are being viewed, and which ones are most popular, as well as how long people tend to stay on your website before clicking off. This is clearly very important information as you can learn about the pages that are clearly giving your visitor something whilst others are acting as a bit of a turn off. From a business point of view, you can then determine the changes that need to be made to increase these stats especially with the length of time they are hanging around your website. Basically, if they are landing and clicking off what does that tell you? Well, it says that your home page sucks, but then that is where your web designer can help.

Analytics Let You Know Where Visitors Are Coming From

There is a section in the web analytics that is extremely useful and that is where it lists the various keywords and terms that people have used in a search to ultimately land on your website. You can see why this is useful information as it will help you to assess how well your Internet marketing and search engine optimization is working and it also makes it easier to then alter your approach. In short, if you see that you are getting a number of hits from certain terms, then maybe it would be useful for you to put some effort into marketing these keywords as they are already working? Why continue to spend money on terms that next to nobody appears to be clicking on?

This section will also tell you the countries that people are coming from and it just helps you to determine if you are hitting the correct market. If you are focusing on the United States, but you are getting more hits from the United Kingdom, then surely you need to wonder why that is the case?

Analytics Helps You Identify Site Errors

Perhaps the other key area within the web analytics is a section where it tells you of errors within your website and even though you may not fully understand what is going on, this is something that your webmaster really should be taking notice of. When you look at it, you will see different error numbers and even though the figures might be high you should also note that this will pick up errors that are as a result of issues outwith your control. This is something that can be explained to you by your webmaster if you are at all concerned.

What To Take From This?

So what should you really take from all of this? Well, it really tells you so much about the inner workings of your site and the key is to then take this information and do something useful with it. Are people bouncing straight off? Well, maybe you need to change what people see as soon as they land? Are people only checking out one page? Perhaps you need to make it easier for them to click through to other pages? Maybe your keywords are not as effective as you hoped? Change them and discuss your findings with an SEO expert who can help you take advantage.

Your best course of action is to examine these analytics on a regular basis and discuss them with an expert that fully understands what everything means and how you can. Get a good web designer and internet marketing expert and grant them access to these statistics. Allow them to then work their magic on your site or marketing approach and you will more than likely be amazed at the turn around in your fortunes. Do yourself and your website a favor and contact us here at webfoot-designs.com now to see how we can help.