19 Amazing Web Design Tips You Just Can’t Miss

If it is about the success of online business, web design has a major part to play. It can make or break the fate of your business! For instance, if your website takes too long to load, it will destroy your business. Also, if the visitor fails to understand the purpose of your website, there's no point in continuing with it. As an entrepreneur, you would want to make your visitors stay on the website longer. This is important to persuade them to invest in your services and products.

The valuable tips given below will improve your web design and help your business rank higher on search engines. Most importantly, your target audience will love you:

1. Emphasise on Logo Design

Good design demands special skills. When you design a logo in a simple yet smart fashion, it makes your brand stand out and more recognizable. Focus on making it unique and eye catching. This makes any logo a sure shot success. Experts believe in checking out a variety of logos others have employed since the company was founded. A design having a unique tinge of artistry is a good choice. Also use high resolution images for a logo. You should feature it at the upper left corner of the page for better viewing. A logo should be efficiently linked to the Homepage so that visitors find it easier to navigate.

2. Well Organized Layout

Focus on creating a visually attractive web design. The layout should be very clean, and free of clutter. Designers usually focus more on making a web design attractive. So they insert images with pictures, graphs, and many other things. Streamlining pages and boosting its informative factor is more important, brief and to the point. Also content should be restricted to only 6 lines. The idea is to allow visitors know what the website is all about, at a single glance! Excess information will only clutter vision.

3. Insert Intuitive Navigation

The navigation is confusing for most website visitors. Most confusing of all are the primary and secondary navigation options. Remember that visitors are impatient. They won’t waste time trying to figure out what is on the website. They will simply leave anything that confuses them. Hence, avoid placing links to less important pages. The best idea is to opt for intuitive navigation. Detract links from the home / landing page. Also place less important links and information pieces at the bottom end of the page. Keep these in the footer section. This will make it easier for the visitor. Also the layout will look more organized.

4. The White Space

Also referred to as the breathing room for the visitors, many designers are seen ignoring the importance of white space. You need to create space between paragraphs and images. This will allow visitors, some space to breathe and absorb all that website has to offer. This also improves user experience and even increase the return from the website.

5. Strategic Use of Fonts and Color

Strategic use of fonts and colors is important for a website. The colour code should cater to the taste of the targeted audience. So customize the color of the background and fonts in a way to attract targeted clients. A white colored background using light pastel shades is very effective in displaying elegance and sophistication. On the other hand, use vivid colors for targeting kids. The fonts used should be easily read across all devices and browsers.

6. Responsive Web Design

Smartphones are on the rise. So it is time you enhance user experience. Create a responsive web design and increase your fan following.

7. Professional Photography

Visitors are smart enough to make out an edited picture taken from the web. This will not leave a good impact on your brand image. So it is better to invest in professional photography. You will get eye-catching pictures that instantly catch attention in developing an emotional connection between the audience and content.

8. NO Flash

It is time you bid adieu to Flash. Go for options that are web and user friendly as compared Flash. “HTML5” has recently gained a lot of preference on the web with search engine friendly text. It also functions on all popular mobile operating devices without any plugin. Flash does not support any such thing. Hence, it is time you drop Flash and search for other better options.

9. Don't Ignore Buttons

Visitors will immediately reject unsightly and unimpressive buttons for 'submit' or 'send'. So make sure the form submission buttons are very appealing enough and inspire visitors to “click”. The designer needs to be very creative. So allow submit button change color, gradient, font treatment, etc. The button should be very attractive.

10. Eliminate Sidebars

Studies have revealed that sidebars when eliminated from the company blog, resulted in increase of the  number of clicks to over 35 per cent. The process encourages readers being more attentive to the article. Also the call for action from the visitors’ end increases. So get rid of the sidebars NOW!

11. NO Slideshow

Slideshow was an early introduction on the website. This was used to provide information at the first page of the website. But this didn't click well as visitors are impatient and do not want to waste time staying on the first page for a long time. So the idea is to keep messages brief, attractive and simple. You can create an image along with a message.

12. Faster Coding

CodeKit is the best option for browser reloading. This helps you to see any browser changes instantly. There's no need for refreshing. It works like a steroid for web developers. Once integrated with design, it lifts a lot of pressure off the web designer. Use of a good coding technique will let designs come out beautifully. Also, its website appeal increases manifold.

13. Layout Planning

Most part of web design success depends on planning. So make sure the website layout is planned strategically. Since no two businesses / brands are the same, it's crucial to create a design that's unique and distinctive. It should be visibly different from all others, even if the niche industry and target audience is the same. The idea is to keep the essence of design same with a distinctive outlook.

14. FitVids Plugins

These days, incorporating a video to websites is a trend. This makes a web page look and feel very innovative. It also enhances its informative value. You can use lightweight, user friendly jQuery plugin, that helps videos get some fluidity. This boosts its responsive capacity. The FitVids plugin supports various video vendors such as Vimeo, YouTube, Blip.tv among many others.

15. Photoshop Creates Magic

If you wish to have a wonderful web design, be descriptive when naming Photoshop layers. According to expert Rhys Little, one should be as descriptive as possible when naming layers of Photoshop. It does not take much time naming layers in a way others can understand. This is very useful for saving time and efforts for designer later. He also recommends adding some extra layers in Photoshop designs. This helps with reducing confusion. Photoshop modifies images and comes packed with some amazing tools for developing attractive graphical layouts from scratch. If you do this well, the results are outstanding.

16. Pinterest is a Good Idea

Once a website is designed for business, it is natural for the owner to keep integrating it with new ideas and valuable information. It is important to collect information and store it safely for future reference. Pinterest is a great platform used to create mood boards for layout, colors, images, and other material the designers find useful for future reference. Since other designers also create and share mood boards, these can be further used as a valuable support source.

17. Do Not Highlight Social Media Icons

Integrating your website with good design will attract your target audience towards it. However, wrong placement of social media icons will force them to leave. So strictly avoid placing social media icons anywhere near the header. Bury these in the footer. No website sends people to the website. It is always the other way round. Social media sends people to the website.

18. Content is Above the Fold

Studies have revealed that the majority of the people spends time focusing above the fold on web pages. This means they are more interested in what shows up on screen without scrolling down. Unfortunately, most designers tend to put everything in the header section and this makes things look clumsy. You can improve this via the modifying height of the header as per the requirement. Also keep sign-up button at a higher level on the page. This is important for grabbing visitor’s attention. Remember that “call-to-action” is one of the priorities of any website.

18. Keep Limited Number of Pages

If you are serious about making your website interesting, trim down its page count. It will also help with a simpler and easier navigation. Including too many menu items will make things confusing. Visitors will make visitors overwhelmed by choices. When you restrict the number of pages, it makes the website more attractive and friendlier to visitors.

19. Necessary Elements

This is a common tips web designers are asked to follow. However, there are times when the focus of the website is unclear. Most unnecessary elements tend to clutter and confuse. So it is important that you use the 80-20 rule which work towards trimming down the various elements of the website to the essentials. This strategy has helped a lot of business giants help increase sales on their website.

Remember that design should focus more on performance than how things look or feel like. It makes your web design an online success.

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Value of Money – A Facet of Service Web Design Freelancers Should Focus On

So you are a freelancer and satisfied with your work? This situation seems like as if you have a perfect professional life. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. A lot of freelance web designer feels that they have reached a plateau. There are times when they like to take up more challenging tasks. Another important thing is to work with clients who will pay more and appreciate the efforts made. Every hardworking freelance wants to work with clients who realize and respect the concept of value for money.

This is precisely where you start off with your journey from a freelancer to entrepreneur. The transition takes time, but you need to keep making efforts. It involves taking on more work, additional projects and learning simple yet effective ways to market yourself. These small steps will lead you to establishing your own business.

Being a theme pre-built websites user will help. It helps you know the overall cost of your work. You also know that using the right tools in the appropriate manner will help you save time and deliver excellent results.

Passion is Power

Passion is what can take you to the path of success. It should be topped smartly with business thinking.
Since the concept - 'value for money' is powerful, a freelancer must understand it well prior to applying it. Start off by having a close look at your work process. Make sure you realize the value against time, energy, and creativity (know the amount of time spent for each). Start by showing clients why your work and efforts were worth more than what they pay.

Value of Tools

Know the overall value of tools. Start by having a look at a WordPress theme of your choice. Try assessing if it is functioning the way it should. Is it really helping you provide value for money for clients. Are you travelling that extra mile and spending extra time installing themes? Have you thought of setting up new options? Customizing layouts are another thing you should focus on.

Assess the Theme

Prior to using a theme or a prebuilt website, assess it on all aspects of functions. It should be customizable, easy to use, and should not demand any complex coding. You should be well aware of the features that help you most in your work. Do you think the tool provides an effective way for spending resources?

Pick Wisely

Pick a pre-built theme wisely. Look for one that offers professional-level designs, matches your client’s niche, and customizable. Know the amount of time you will save. The best thing to do is show your clients editable layouts. It saves time.

Three Basic Elements

For delivering superior services, you need the following the three basic elements:

- Skill
- Experience
- Communication Skill

If you aren't getting enough requests for additional work from previous clients or they aren't referring you to others, there are areas you need to look for improvement.

Work Smarter

This is important whether you are a freelancer or not. Working harder may get you results, but working smart will attract success. Keep your eyes and ears open. The moment you see an area that requires improvement, start working on it. Also, research areas that demand help. You need to learn and explore more about the latest design trends, standards, rules, and much more. Listen to your clients well and adhere to their instructions keeping in mind the value for money concept.

Develop Yourself

Once you are capable of producing more value for yourself, you actually work towards offering benefits to all. Invest your time and money wisely. So start assessing your investments individually,  especially in terms of value for money. Towards the end of the month, you will get an idea of things that work well and the spots you require working on to improve. It is all about paying attention. When you pay attention, you facilitate the process of transition from freelancer to entrepreneur. This way, you become your own marketing resource.

Enjoy Your Job

Avoid doing a job just because you have to do it. Taking up a project and accomplishing it successfully is important. However, you should pay attention to small yet consistent improvements on a personal level. Remember, you have multiple skills and talents. Each of these can work for a resource that helps you supply value for money. All you need to do is understand these resources better and the best way to put these into use.

Take-away Ideas

It is crucial that you use value for money as criteria for a test to see the way your work impacts others. This will help you assess relationship with clients in a different light. Also the tools you use should be analyzed well to know if they are providing ample value for money. One of the best examples of such tools is 'Be Theme'. It offers over 220+ pre-built websites to users. When used wisely in conjunction with your niche skills and talents, you can make a huge success out of each project. Studies have revealed that over 50,000 designers love it.

In a Nutshell

It is important that you set a goal towards being a dynamic human resource that clients would look forward to for 'real' value. The mission is definitely achievable with dedicated efforts and using tools.

Good Luck!

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11 Incredible Ways to Supercharge Your Design Learning

Learning design is no rocket science, especially if you focus on going with the latest trends. Consistent efforts to learn what's new and integrate it to your own work will help a great deal. Luckily, present age has a lot of things at disposal making learning a lot more fun such as online communities, tutorial sites, people willing to share their knowledge etc.

Listed below are some of the best techniques and methods to help you learn new things every day, and succeed in the field of designing.

1. Daily

Make sure you develop a habit of learning. It helps with establishing a consistent learning routine that allows you to supercharge your learning experience. It also helps with maximizing outcomes of efforts you put in. It is important that you allocate time on a daily basis to learn design. Create your own unique designing goals and work on it daily.

2. Practise Each Day

This will help you become better. Commitment to learning is important. You must set aside some time and show up daily. Try becoming at least 1% each day.  This makes a dramatic impact on your progress in a year. Practicing does not mean repeating the same thing over and over again. Focus on learning new things. This will help you to gain benefit a lot.

3. Smart Learning

You must emphasise on smart learning than learning all. Simply learning about tracking, typeface anatomy, kerning, varied measurement units will not make you a great designer. Focus on things that will benefit you in real sense and maximize the outcomes. The idea is to think about the end goal to be able to be a mobile designer (for instance). Here, you must learn about the mobile industry, principles of design, behavior of people, etc.This is better than learning every single thing about design that actually doesn’t apply to mobile design.

4. Adopt Learning Habits

You require a trigger to be able to develop a habit. Additionally, you must also have a consistent routine and a reward. So start learning the first thing in the morning, which may make for your trigger. Thereafter, study for 30 minutes. After this, have a nice reward that pleases you. This can be anything from a favorite TV show or a piece of cake.

5. Accept the Challenge

It is good to take up a challenge and publicly commit to a specific period of time. It helps you to create and show up daily. The process may be anything from a simple sketching challenge or even a tough one as a 365 photo daily challenge. Think of what you wish to learn. Now select a duration and deliverables. You must allow everyone to know that you are committing.

6. Teach

If you wish to learn something, try teaching it. So start teaching others about your skills and craft. Teaching will help you focus on the essence of the design. You need to understand and explain it in a simplest way possible. The process will help you to improve your analytical thinking.So start a log or even a YouTube channel and kick-start journaling processes for other individuals.

7. Side Projects

Keep aside some time and work on your passion. This means you can maintain and work on a side project that excites you. It should not constrain you excessively. Having side projects will help you experiment with things. It will also allow you to achieve much more progress.

8. Break Things Down

Moving fast will help you to build more things and learn at a faster pace. Unfortunately, most people slow down after a specific progress as they’re more afraid of making mistakes. Breaking things down to the smallest pieces and getting to the essentials will help. Thereafter, you need to recreate it in your own unique style. Joint design community. It shares everything from the what’s, how’s and why’s of present age design. There's also an option of downloading free project files for advanced image editing software such as Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator many more.

9. Freebie

Freebies are certainly a great way to find the best of designs to play with. The best part is that you don't need to pay for the same. Here's a list of some of the sources that offer the same:

- Freebiesbug
- Dribble Freebies
- Despreneur Freebie

10. Experiment

Are you afraid of experimenting? Well, you must set yourself free. The idea is to get into a mindset that all of your creations are an integral part of an experiment. This very simple shift will let you take criticism easier. You will be inspired to try out new things without being afraid of failure. Being a designer, you need to keep playing around with the technology and tools you like to use.

11. Learn to Steal the Way an Artist Does

As an artist, you should learn to be creative. Things are actually a clever blend of all that you consume. Hence, surrounding yourself with things you actually wish to absorb will help you get more creative. Stealing some great ideas is no sin. So don't get ashamed of the act. All you need to do is know the correct way ('ethic') of stealing. Each individual has a unique set of values that filter your thoughts. With ideas, you produce things of your own. Hence, studying designers and their work will let you come up with something that's great and 'you'. Instead of imitating, focus on transforming their work into something of your own. Adding your 'own' unique touch will make you even greater!

In a Nutshell

Hope this article has served as an inspiration for you to pursue a career in design. The post is also about learning how to excel in it. Investing some time and applying the above stated principles will help you reach the next level in your niche design direction. Happy Designing!

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Things to Know Before Building Your Small Business Website

Regardless of the size of your business, having a website is essential for its success. Unfortunately, a lot of business owners do not realize the actual meaning of having a website. They simply have one. Remember bad sites loaded with can be very damaging for your business.

So before you actually build one, you need to know what it takes to build an effective business website. A lot needs to be taken into consideration. Right from the design, advertising, content and SEO, you must know a lot about building a site. Hiring a professional will save you from web design failures.

Here are some very important tips to know prior to building a small business website:

1. Create Something Amazing

Take pride in creating something new and unique. You can use a variety of website building platforms that facilitates users to get a free site simply by clicking a few times. However, these are just to practise. Most of these platforms such as WordPress, Wix etc. are quite limited in terms of what they would allow you to make or modify. Hence, having ability to construct a website is important. You may also hire a professional who will any issues you might encounter.

2. Purpose of the Website

First and foremost, you must decide on what your website is going to do for you. Know what you expect from it. You may go for a static website or a responsive one that is compatible to all latest devices used by modern age individuals. The idea is to have a purpose and work on it to get results and help your targeted audience get what they want. This helps you know how to develop it going forward.

3. Customize your Website

Each business is different. Hence, it is important that you know what differentiates yours from others in the industry. Your website needs to be customized as per your specific requirements. Make sure your website designer knows about your website needs and expectations.

4. Add Features

Add functions and features to your website to help your targeted audience reach you and navigate around your website. These features should make it easier for your potential clients get what they have been looking for.

5. Ease of Browsing

Your website should be easy to browse. It should not be complicated enough to waste time of your visitors. So create links and structure that are easier for your audience to reach out to.

6. SEO is Crucial

Optimize your website for search engines. This is how your audience will find you. The search engines will rank the website higher.

7. Valuable Content

Add valuable content to your website that offers information your potential clients are looking for. The content should be clear and interesting to read. Do not add fluff or stuff keywords to your website.

Following the above mentioned tips will help you build an effective small business website that ensures you amazing results.

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Reasons Designers and Web Developers Must Work Together

Website development is a serious task. Hence, it demands a lot of hard work and dedication from a team of developers and designers. In most cases, designers and developers work individually to come up with a client's requirements. However, many have realized the importance of encouraging a collaboration between the experts from two different streams.

Designers and developers can create magic when they work together. When important people work together on a project, it gets easier to create something incredible. Although the two have different skill sets and ideas for a project, the goals are same. This kind of collaboration result in harnessing methods of design together. And the end result is amazing! The final product has a better designed experience for the user.

Web Designer vs. Web Developer

Web designers make use of a graphic design software package. One of the most popular one is Adobe Photoshop. They decide on how the website will look. Thereafter, the web developer uses the design to code hypertext markup language, jQuery, Javascript, CSS and alternative programming languages. This ensures that the design works on the internet and gets appreciated by search engines. Designers and developers may work from separate places, capabilities of the opposite can ensure a phenomenal website. Hence, it is crucial that they work along.

The Benefits

Better User Experience

Synergy of two different minds can solve problems. First, it is important to understand that designers and developers contribute to a website project in different ways. Both are critical to success of a project. Working in collaboration will ensure clients a more seamless, highly interactive process that helps get the job done better and in an easier way.

Eliminate Hiccups

Joining forces will help everyone involved in the project can plan more effectively. There's no need to worry about the fact that the initial design the client fell for isn’t going to work. Here, the designers do not pass on the design to develop after creating it. The idea is to collaborate throughout the process and contribute towards making all crucial elements work from the get go. The designer might come up with a very clean design that appears easy. However, coding many be potentially impossible, and vice versa. Collaborating together prevents having to backtrack way after something has already been approved by the client.

Teaming up of two experts will help them go beyond meeting the client’s requirements. They can actually exceed their expectations. Working as a team helps keep a project within budget and timeline by allowing designers and creative team know what is possible and what’s not.

Above Design

It is no secret that designers and developers approach problems from diverse angles. The two live in different worlds. However, they are also critical pieces of an important puzzle. Developers are fully aware of what is achievable from a technical standpoint. So if their client has a tight budget,
they know an alternative, more budget-friendly design needs to be offered. This may not be known to the designer.

While a designer is familiar with the visual styles of a site, the developer understands the place these design patterns are implemented. Designers have a better idea of hot trends and keeping the design fresh and innovative. Communicating with each other will ensure a great website in all aspects.

Pairing Designers and Developers – How to Do it Right?

It is not tough to have developers and designers work together. First, they can start by getting opinions from others. Establishing communication on a regular basis will allow designers understand they can rely on their developers.

A Designer and developer can chat and get feedback, insights, and ideas from each other. The two shouldn't be afraid to reach out. Sometimes a design may look splendid but things may not go right once fully developed. A developer must identify this and supply it to the designer for their expertise.

Web developers need to be included in all crucial internal and client conversations. For instance, a  developer should be a part of all strategy and brainstorming and strategy sessions. This helps the entire team to stay on toes with new unique ideas. Any great suggestions can be polished up and worked into the project instantly instead of towards the end, which usually creates a lot of confusion and problems. Doing this will let everyone share their own experiences and insight about a project.

Benefits of Designer Developer Coordination – At a Glance

- You get a second set of expertise to look everything over and find flaws or mistakes
- More creative brainstorming and design
- Complete experience as designers can understand what the developer can create.
- The end product is more cohesive. All parts of the website are in sync.
- Dual specialization – Look and Functionality of the project.

To Sum Up

With so many benefits of web designers and developers working together, there's no doubt the two should collaborate. And why not, at the end of the day both have a singular goal - To develop a remarkable performance oriented website.

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14 Most Common Interaction Design Errors on the Web

Having an interactive design is a crucial aspect of every website. Introduction of the latest techniques and tools are making it quite challenging day by day. The designers need to understand the need to solve user’s approach and enrich their experience on the internet. A focus on creativity, functionality and usability can ensure a kick ass website.

Listed below are top 14 common mistakes designers make while constructing Interaction Design and how to avoid them:

1. Complex Navigation

Remember that good navigation is the foundation of a good website. Your site visitors should know where they are at a specific moment. They should also be able to travel through website pages without any problem. Tips such as including pagination into the design, one page layout, and filters simplifying search customers can work well here.

2. Poor Readability

Good readability is certainly the basic of a good website. Unfortunately, some designers tend to neglect it. Excess creativity without focussing on readability can be dangerous.

3. Heavy Images, Animations / Flash Based Graphics

These elements tend to make your website heavier and decrease downloading speed. If you are serious about increasing traffic, ensure you have a lightweight website. Avoid flash and heavy images.

4. Clutter!

Make sure you leave ample white space for your content to breathe! In short, you should learn the art of minimalism to impress your audience.

5. Poor Typography

It is one of the most crucial elements of Interaction Design. These days, designers focus on adding fashionable fonts to make design interactive. However, they fail to understand that only a few fonts can be used safely on websites. This allows visitors to see them from any device and browsers. It is better to use Google Fonts.

6. Pop-up Windows

This is very irritating for a customer. It leads to the disorienting experience for a visitor. Hence, make sure only one pop-up window is accessible at a time. You may also make use of light boxes that grays out all distortion to enhance perception. Also make sure the user can close a pop-up clicking anywhere on the screen.

7. All Attention on Homepage

Of course, a home page makes the first and most important impression on the user. However, the subpages are no less. Make sure these include essential info and are equally attractive. Don't make them look like step sons or daughters!

8. No Testing of Website

If you don't test a website on all devices before going live, you lose users. It should be tested properly across all popular devices and show optimized performance.

9. No Clear Call to Actions

You have created a website for a specific purpose. In case, you fail to give clear call-to-action on a page, your chances to reach target audience are second to none.

10. Broken Links

Links leading to nowhere are signs of unprofessionalism. These small details may ruin the overall impression even if you focus on having a brilliant and attractive design.

11. No Search Option

Ignoring search bar can be a problem. Remember that it should be present at every site and that too, in a very prominent place. This helps customers navigate easily and saves their time.

12. Not Adding Responsive Design

This is a sin! If you include user interface elements that fail to work well on mobile, you upset your audience. A huge registration form looks complex and is tough to fill out on a mobile device. Add responsive layout to help it margin. Also, responsive designs make users skip a few steps in filling out the profile smartly. This allows user complete steps on a laptop or a desktop computer. Remember, if your website is unable to adjust to all major screen resolutions, you lose visitors. They won't stay long on a site that has not been optimized for their experience.

13. Registration Before Value

Do you make users register way before showing value? Remember that users have a lot of options for apps to choose from. So any attempt on your part to make them share information prior to communicating the value offered will eventually add the risk of losing them.

14. No New Content!

It is important to display new info on your website. This is crucial for returning visitors as they want to know what’s changed since they last visited. If it is a blog, this is conducted automatically. However, this is done automatically on blogs as posts appear in descending order based on date. For other types of websites, try devoting a whole section for new content. For instance, you can start off with a page that links to the latest content. This may be a section within home page or another page linking to the latest updates. The process helps returning visitors find out what's new and exciting.

Conclusion

Try as hard as you can avoid the above listed interaction design errors in the long term. The present age advances in technology have resulted in increased expectations of users. While highlighting yourself in the web crowd is as crucial as your business, make sure you do it right. Invest quality time to conduct feedback sessions with clients. Also make sure you follow them.

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