Proliferation

Mar 25
0

The Toolbox of a Web Developer

By | web development, website design | No Comments

Computers seems to have their own language with HTML, CSS and other acronyms that only computer savvy people know. So as a web developer, you will need to have some words and knowledge in your web developer toolbox, to help a company in their website design. 

Coding Knowledge

As a web developer, you will need to know at least basic coding. If you’re not sure what coding is, it’s the language of a computer. HTML is the underlying code in the Internet, and CSS is where web developers go to put the information together to create a webpage.  It’s important to know where to plug in words, numbers and symbols to help a website stand out and be useable. After learning your basic HTML, it’s also important to know how to connect the HTML with the CSS so you can actually do your job in the website design.

Know How to Research

When it comes to research, it’s helpful to know what language you are coding in, and we’re not talking Spanish and French. It’s helpful to know how to find the information online and in books on how to code. You’ll want to know your sources and feel comfortable knowing that they will help you in website design.

Bookmark useful websites and know how to navigate them, because as much as we all think we can memorize the language of coding, it is very unlikely. Practice makes perfect, and over time you’ll be able to remember different codes for different functions.

Becoming Knowledgeable

Learn how to use HTML and CSS in different ways and not in just basic design. HTML and CSS are just the basics in building a website, and knowing more than the basics is going to help. Different clients are going to have different needs when it comes to a website. Learn how to create your clients’ website, and really understand different codes.  Know the different platforms on websites, learn WordPress and spend time learning about media queries. In the end this will help you become a better web developer.

Mar 22
0

Fit in With Your Web Development Friends: The Acronyms to Know

By | web development, website design | No Comments

There are so many words, codes and acronyms when it comes to Web development and design. When a web developer looks at you and says something in computer language, it really doesn’t make sense to an average person. So here’s some basics to help you have an almost human conversation next time you’re talking to a web designer.

AJAX
Yes, this is a big word, and an acronym for asynchronous (timing control), Javascript, and XML. AJAX is a cleaning product, but in the Web development world it’s a way to create dynamic web applications and allows for asynchronous data retrieval without having to reload a page.

Bandwidth
This basically is going to tell you how fast your data is going to transfer or the amount of data you’re going to be given. This is where you’ll usually hear kilobits per second or bits per second. So if you have a lower bandwidth you’re going to have a slower internet connection, while high bandwidth will give you faster connections like cable or fiber.

CSS
This is a web designers dream. CSS is what really controls the look of your website in accordance with HTML. CSS stands for cascading style sheets, and this will really help in designing your website. You can change colors and fonts with CSS as well as background images and other content.

Domain
This is your website — or, the way that your website is going to be identified. Web developers use this to associate with an IP address.

Elastic Layout
This also effects the way your website looks. Elastic layout helps Web designers use percentages and ems for widths pairs. Basically it uses this to change the layout of your website, the size, the layout and the ability to accommodate the browser width and font.
Web development and design doesn’t have to be complicated, but it can be a whole new language. The real way to look smart is to know the terms and to look like you know what you’re talking about.

Mar 08
0

The Psychology Behind Clean Website Design

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Say two websites are selling the exact same service at the same rate. One website is a messy, difficult-to-navigate maze and features what appears to be a side navigation bar that hasn’t been updated since 1998. The other site — which again, sells the exact same service for the same price — has a clean website design, simple navigation and an appealing layout.

Upon which site will most people bestow their favor? Without a doubt, most end users will opt for the clean website design. Here’s a breakdown of the psychology behind why clean, simple site designs resonate more with end users.

The Science Behind Simplicity

A clean website design serves several purposes outside of its intended aesthetic appeal. An optimized micro white space (the minuscule area between letters and lines) not only looks better, but it also makes text easier for website users to read. Elegant simplicity also creates a positive, lasting first impression; this is critical for several reasons. Not only does a favorable first impression contribute to a lower bounce rate, it also creates a propensity for users to return in the future. A clean, sleek site layout that runs quickly and smoothly instills trust with the end user — coupled with a sense of luxury and efficiency.

Clean Navigation Increases Traffic and Revenue

In addition to creating a lasting impression on end users — specifically users who are visiting your site for the first time — a simple site layout with easy-to-use navigation increases onsite traffic and thus revenue. A site may sell a product or service for a lower price than a competitor; however, if end users can’t access a product, shopping cart or checkout due to a busy and confusing layout, the purpose of the site is ultimately defeated. Alternately, a site that’s easy to find, navigate and use will yield much higher statistics in terms of incoming traffic, revenue and positive consumer feedback.

Mar 07
0

The Evolution of Internet Website Design

By | Design, web development, website design | No Comments

Since the since website went live in 1991, the website has been an enduring staple of Internet activity. From static, text-based webpages rendered in black and white to the dynamic, highly-responsive websites we have today, both the design and applications of websites have changed immensely.

Let’s take a look back at how website design used to be, not all that long ago.

The Early Internet

What do the first websites and the dinosaurs have in common? By today’s standards, they were both rather primitive.

Life as a website in the early days of the Internet was a simple existence; 16 colors were supported by most computer monitors, but the early websites only needed three: black, white and blue for hyperlinks. For early websites, text was all you needed — images didn’t come into the picture until 1993. Textures came online later, in 1994. And don’t even think about using CSS — HTML was the only programming language in existence.

The Dark Ages

The Internet’s limited color palette got an upgrade in 1994-1995, from the original 16 to a whopping 256 colors. Web designers ran with the new color opportunity, unleashing an onslaught of obnoxiously bright, garish webpages and flashing neon advertisements (like the ‘70s, but for the Internet).

1995 and 1996 introduces PHP and CSS programming languages, which bring with them the opportunities for vastly improved website design. Unfortunately, Web designers in the late ‘90s were too busy filling their homepages with sparkly, animated aliens and those things that looked like Bratz dolls to take notice of anything besides HTML. Geocities reigned supreme. It was a dark time.

The New Millennium

The year 2000 brought with it fun things like gradients and colors that didn’t hurt people’s eyes quite as much. Also, fear of the Y2K bug. As websites become more complex, design changes to become more user-friendly, with a focus on menus and other navigation tools. Internet Explorer continues to gain ground on previous monopoly-holder Netscape, forcing web designers everywhere to optimize their websites for the ill-fated Internet browser.

The Awkward Teenage Years

Around 2003-2004, the Internet proliferates in an explosion of more subtle color options and Flash-animated activity. Splash pages are very in vogue around this time. As dial-up Internet begins to fade and cable and Wi-Fi are incorporated into more homes and businesses, the Internet becomes accessible to a wider range of people.

The Internet starts to figure out what it wants to be, bringing us early social media pioneers MySpace and “The Facebook,” blogging website WordPress and YouTube in 2005. Design-wise, people are intrigued by the concept of video and are continuing to make everything a little bit easier on the eyes. Cell shading is a big thing.

Internet Young Adulthood

Having more or less figured out what it wants to be, the now grown-up Internet spreads its wings and works on subtle improvements. Social media proliferates, YouTube becomes a legitimate website and Google makes the lives of people around the world a little less frustrating.

Drop shadows and more realistic imagery become popular as screen resolutions get better and better. Color schemes are a thing. People are really into scrolling. Responsive design becomes more important.

Present Day

With a wealth of programming languages and design tools, today’s websites are more responsive and customizable than ever. Web designers have a multiplicity of options, a huge array of possibilities — and yet the prevailing trend is minimalism.

Aesthetically pleasing fonts are widely available, high-quality images are in abundance and animated GIFs and videos can be embedded every place imaginable. Most importantly, Internet Explorer is finally dead. Now if only people would pay their Web designers more, I’d say we’re living in an Internet renaissance.

Mar 03
0

Mobile Internet Use Around the World

By | digital marketing, marketing, Mobile marketing, web development | No Comments

In an increasingly global marketplace, marketing companies and digital advertising agencies around the world are devising methods to reach diverse audiences from the flat landscapes of Utah to the mountains of the Himalayas. With landlines and reliable access to electricity available sparsely in many locations, more and more people are turning to mobile as their primary method of Internet access — as are those in more developed nations.

As mobile grows in global popularity, marketers need to increase their mobile presence accordingly — or risk missing out on potentially lucrative opportunities. Take a look at these mobile Internet statistics and demographics and get a leg up on the mobile marketing game.
Mobile-Around-the-World

Feb 25
0

Landing Page Essentials

By | advertising, content marketing, digital marketing, marketing, web development | No Comments

The landing page of your website is so much more than just a place where end users go to learn more about your products and services — it’s also where they make a first impression of your company or business. There’s a specific science behind what makes a successful landing page and what might cause people to bounce from your site faster than a fifth-grade game of dodgeball. If you’re attempting to pursue any type of content marketing campaign — whether you’re in Utah or the Midwest — there are a few key components you should know about landing page content and layout.

From an attention-grabbing headline to straightforward design basics, here are a few tricks and tips to help you achieve a landing page that simultaneously attracts positive attention while decreasing your bounce rate.

fusion_landingpg

Feb 20
0

Why Web Development Agencies Supersede Freelancers

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When it comes to Web design and development, you can go one of two ways. You can hire a freelancer to handle your website design, content creation, social media marketing, SEO efforts and any other issue that may come up. Or, you can hire the services of a Web development agency. Although employing the services of a freelancer might be an attractive idea initially, it will always benefit your company in the long run to hire the services of an established agency.

A Web development company can provide you with four beneficial components: client support, communication, expertise and post-launch support. Here’s why each of these areas is so critical to the success of your business.

Agencies Focus on Client Support and Communication

Any professional Web development agency will be adequately staffed with enough customer support employees to immediately address complaints, answer questions and help familiarize your company with developmental projects.

Coupled with effective communication, this creates a pathway for success that a freelancer will have a hard time paralleling — no matter how talented he or she may be. Overall, a marketing agency will employ a more structured, systematic method of organization that ensures you always stay up-to-date with current projects.

Agencies Offer Expertise and Post-Launch Support

While a freelancer may be an expert in a couple of areas — at best — an agency will have a broad spectrum of expertise that extends into dynamic fields that go above and beyond design and content creation. Search engine optimization, social media marketing and online reputation management are just a few areas that can and should be addressed by an advertising agency for any successful online marketing campaign.

Post launch support is also an essential aspect of running a successful campaign online. Inevitably, your site will encounter some issues after it launches, making it essential to have the right team behind you to handle these issues as they arise.

Feb 17
0

How Important is Your Website’s Homepage?

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Once upon a time, the homepage was considered the single most important page on a company website. With shifting search algorithms and the continuing rise of social, however, times have changed; according to a New York Times innovation report, homepage traffic has declined by nearly 50 percent in the past two years.

And they’re not the only ones. Across the Internet, home page clicks are increasingly replaced by visits to landing pages, blogs and other more specific website content. For those working in Web development, this poses an issue — how much weight should be placed on the homepage, if any?

The truth is, the importance of the homepage varies depending on the business, as well as the website and how it operates. For clickbait news sites such as Buzzfeed or Gawker, the vast majority of traffic comes from social referrals, which lead viewers to a specific article or story. However, for your standard business specializing in goods and services, the opposite is true.

For the average business, website visitors need to know three things upfront:

Who are you?

What do you do, make or sell?

Why should customers choose your business?

The homepage is often the first impression viewers will have of your website or brand — so it needs to be flawless. Set a clear visual hierarchy behind your Web development and follow through on that hierarchy with the design. Frame information in a way that caters to customers, and be sure to present information in a clear and concise manner.

Not only should a homepage provide adequate information about your product or service, it should include a call to action that makes conversions easy — some clear way to get started. Don’t just bring in new customers, turn them into long-term customers.

While the overall Web development landscape has changed, the homepage remains a quintessential conversion tool for most businesses. Earn your visitors’ attention with a clear, smart homepage that tells your story — and makes visitors want to get involved.

Feb 12
0

Artificial Intelligence Makes a Web Development Breakthrough

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Siri, self-driving cars and autonomous search queries—these are just a few ways that artificial intelligence (AI) has been gradually diffused into our modern world. Existing primarily within the Internet and mobile apps, artificial intelligence has significantly reduced the amount of energy that we spend on menial mental tasks.

The Bloomberg Business stated that 2015 was a breakthrough year for the world of artificial intelligence and Web development. And with how quickly Web development breakthroughs are being produced, it’s not surprising. Here’s a look at how the game is changing.

How Google RankBrain Handles New Search Queries

Artificial intelligence is changing the landscape of Web development as we know it—with Google’s RankBrain being one of the major game changers. Google RankBrain is a machine-learning artificial intelligence system that helps Google decipher and calculate search results with the intention of providing more relevant, personalized search results.

When Google BrainRank identifies a word or phrase that it’s not familiar with, it’s programmed to make an educated guess regarding what words or phrases are similar, and to consequently filter the search results.

By using artificial intelligence, Google RankBrain introduces an immense amount of language into mathematical entities called vectors, allowing Google to easily handle new search queries that it has never seen before. This is just one improvement in the vast landscape of how artificial intelligence is gradually becoming a staple within the Web development community.

Theoretically, Apps Will Update Themselves

The artificial intelligence spectrum has exploded, partially due to the new learning algorithms that are simultaneously being developed and improved upon more quickly than ever before.  In theory, as the technology behind artificial intelligence continues to evolve, apps will eventually be able to detect and implement updates on their own. This will allow the tech workforce to render even more advanced artificial intelligence processes.

Apple, Facebook and Google Incorporating AI

The recent growth of artificial intelligence comes down to three basic components: its affordability, practicality and quick evolvement within a short period of time. And with key players such as Apple, Facebook and Google incorporating AI into their most recent slew of consumer products, the landscape will only continue to grow and change substantially within the next few years.

Nov 11
0

3 Ways Social Media Should Influence Your Website Design

By | Social Media, web development | No Comments

It’s no secret that social media has radically altered the world. From the way we communicate with friends to the way businesses attempt to sell their products and services, social media has had a significant impact on the digital landscape. And while much of the world’s attention has been on social media’s societal impact, there’s no denying that social media has also had an influence on website design.

A recent article from Upstart Business Journal noted that social media’s storytelling methods have also influenced what consumers value in a website design, citing innovations such as responsive Web design and user-generated content as being directly influenced by social media practices. And while these tools have certainly had an impact, it’s certainly not every business that is looking to have user-generated content populating its site.

However, there are several other lessons from social media that can be applied to a company’s website design as well. Here are a few important ones to be aware of.

Visual Storytelling

As mentioned in the article from Upstart Business Journal, social media’s prominence has made the Web a much more visually-oriented place. One needs only take a look at popular social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat (which are completely built around images), as well as the popularity of sharing photos on Facebook to see that visual storytelling is more important than ever in the digital space.

When it comes to website design, companies are no longer well served by simply presenting visitors with page after page of thick text. While it is important for companies to still provide valuable information through text, if there aren’t engaging images to bring the company’s story to life, it is unlikely to garner much attention from consumers.

In addition to making Web content more interesting to site visitors, images can also be used to present information in a more shareable format. Infographics, in particular, can serve as a more engaging method of providing pertinent information while also contributing an interesting piece of content that is more likely to be shared on social media.

Transparency

Social media has also led customers to expect a higher degree of transparency from companies, political groups and other organizations. While you should be making an effort to be transparent in your social media efforts (such as responding to complaints and other feedback), a company website is another great place to showcase a company’s commitment to transparency.

It doesn’t take much to include background facts about your company, or even information about some of the people that work there, but these snippets of information can be quite important—especially for business-to-business companies. Many professionals wish to get a more firm understanding of the background of a company and its leaders when deciding whether or not to work with it. Including this information when planning your website design makes it easier for potential clients to make an informed decision.

Brief bios for company leaders (or even a brief overview of a company’s history) also provides a great opportunity to showcase your expertise and success. For example, if your CEO has received several industry awards, including this information in a bio page can increase customer confidence and trust, especially when it comes to making a business-to-business purchase.

New Content

It can be very tempting when creating a website to simply slap up a design that contains some basic information and a contact form, but social media has trained users to expect regular updates from friends and companies alike. After all, a social media profile that never posts might as well not exist at all.

And in some ways, this attitude has also affected modern websites. It seems that almost every new site—regardless of industry—incorporates some type of blog. And this is for good reason. Blogs have been found to be highly effective, in some cases increasing lead growth for small businesses by 126 percent when compared to companies that don’t have a blog.

And much like on social media, it’s not just any random update that will do. Taking the time and effort to craft well-researched, quality blog posts not only gives site visitors stronger incentive to continue browsing, but it also sends signals to Google and other search engines that your site is an authoritative source for industry information. As a result, a regularly updated and well-maintained blog not only improves customer relations, but it also can provide a solid SEO boost.

Conclusion

There should be little doubt that social media will continue to influence website design and other digital media best practices. Businesses large and small would do well to adopt these trends to ensure continued digital success.