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10 Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring a Web Design Agency

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Finding a good web design agency is challenging, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. With so many options, it’s challenging to determine which best meets your needs.

The obvious place to start looking for a web design agency is by asking friends, family, and colleagues for personal recommendations, but bear in mind that they may not be qualified to judge your options objectively, and you’ll need to carry out due diligence on any web design agency recommended to you.

The process of researching and evaluating different design agencies can be time-consuming and complex. To make it easier, you must start with a clear understanding of your goals and expectations.

Begin by making a long list of web design agencies and freelance designers that might fit the bill. Then whittle it down to a shortlist by discounting anyone whose portfolio you don’t like — while design is about more than just subjective opinions, it’s also vital that you end up with a website you like and are proud to show off as part of your brand identity.

Now you have your shortlist, there are several key questions to pose to each potential candidate to ensure that they are the right fit for you. Here are the ten questions you should be asking to put you on track to finding your perfect website design partnership.

1. What types of website design services do you offer?

The first thing to realize is that there are many different kinds of websites, and as such, there are also many different kinds of website design services.

The types of website design services offered by web design agencies range from basic site creation to complex ecommerce solutions.

Basic web design services usually include developing and implementing a CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress, Joomla, or Craft. Agencies may also provide more advanced services such as custom website design, SEO optimization, and web hosting.

Different agencies and freelancers specialize in various types of sites, so you must compare their solutions with your requirements.

2. Do you have any case studies of past projects I can review?

Experience matters when choosing a web design agency. Ask potential candidates about the years they have been in business and the types of projects they’ve worked on. New doesn’t necessarily mean low quality — plenty of great agencies are founded by experienced designers whose portfolios are owned by their previous employers.

However, it is easier to ensure a web design agency is a good fit for your project if you can review case studies of previous jobs. Case studies will provide valuable insights into their approach and techniques and how successful their clients have been.

3. Where are you based?

When it comes to web design agencies, there are pros and cons to hiring a local or remote team. On the one hand, working with a local agency can provide many advantages, such as in-person interaction and access to their resources. On the other hand, working with a remote team may offer greater flexibility, cost savings, and access to a global talent pool.

It’s essential to ask about an agency’s location to understand their services’ advantages and disadvantages.

Effective team communication is essential for any project, so you should check the working hours of any agency you select — you don’t want to wait overnight for answers to urgent queries.

4. Do you specialize in any particular industries or platforms?

Web design agencies may specialize in various industries and platforms, depending on the specific needs of their clients. For example, some might specialize in ecommerce solutions such as Shopify or WooCommerce, while others might focus on frameworks such as Vue or React.

Additionally, web design agencies may specialize in creating custom websites for specific industries, such as healthcare or finance.

Suppose you can locate a web design agency with previous experience developing websites for clients similar to you. In that case, they will be better placed to anticipate challenges specific to your project.

5. What is your process for designing websites?

Before hiring a web design agency, it’s essential to understand their approach to website design. For example, some agencies may take a more traditional “design and build” approach where they create the entire site from start to finish, while others may prefer to work with an existing template and make customizations.

Some design agencies use a traditional waterfall approach, while others adopt an agile methodology. Waterfall is a sequential process in which each step happens in isolation, whereas agile is an interactive approach with frequent testing and feedback.

Knowing how an agency prefers to work will help you establish realistic expectations about how they will integrate into your company culture.

5. Do you offer any additional services, such as SEO or hosting?

Website design agencies may offer a range of additional services, depending on the needs of their clients. Beyond website design and development, many agencies also provide SEO (search engine optimization) and web hosting services.

All reputable web design agencies will ensure that your website meets the minimum standard for technical SEO. But some agencies will also adapt your content to incorporate keywords and phrases related to your industry to help you increase website traffic once the site is launched.

When it comes to web hosting, your web design agency will help you choose the best type of hosting for your needs, but some agencies also provide hosting and will set up and manage a server for you.

6. How will the project be managed, and what is your timeline for completion?

When it comes to website design projects, timeline management is critical to ensure that your new website is delivered on time and within budget. Managing a website project requires careful planning and execution to keep everything on track.

You should also ask how the project will be managed throughout its lifecycle so that you can schedule your in-house timetables.

7. What type of maintenance can I expect after launching the website?

Launching your new website begins a long-term relationship with your web design agency. It’s essential to ask about their post-launch support process to ensure you have all the help and guidance you need. The agency should be able to provide comprehensive maintenance services such as bug fixing, content updates, and security checks.

Additionally, you should understand the process for making changes and requests after the website launch. Find out how quickly they can respond to your inquiries and the cost of any needed updates. This will help you plan your budget accordingly and avoid any unexpected fees.

9. How much will the project cost?

Speaking of costs, it’s vitally important to establish ballpark figures before you shortlist an agency. Like any industry, there is a wide range of different price points, dependent not just on the project but the marketability of the web design agency.

Make sure you ask for a comprehensive quote that outlines all the costs involved. Ask for a payment schedule so you know how much you’re expected to pay upfront. Check on any additional fees, such as maintenance or hosting.

Never adjust your project to secure a web design agency outside your budget. If you can’t afford a particular provider, strike them off your shortlist and move on to the next candidate.

10. What do you need from me?

As a client, there are several steps you need to take to ensure that your website design project runs smoothly. You will need to supply a detailed brief if nothing else.

You should be prepared to schedule regular feedback sessions so your agency can stay on track. You’ll probably need to supply brand materials such as logos, style guides, and any text, images, and videos you want to be included. The agency may want you to sign a contract, agree on a payment schedule, and pay an initial deposit.

Conclusion

Hiring a web design agency is challenging, especially if you don’t have the technical knowledge to assess an agency’s past work objectively.

By asking the questions above, you’ll get a solid sense of what the company is like to work for, how well they fit your corporate culture, and whether their proposed solution is within your budget.

The more questions you ask, the better informed you’ll be, and the more likely your website design project will succeed. Good luck!

 

Featured image via Pexels.

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50 Best Websites of 2022

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We’ve seen some incredible websites in 2022. There have been more than the usual number of sites with a political mission, and plenty that made us want to travel. The big design trends were brutalism, huge typography, and bold positive color. We’re looking forward to what the web will bring in 2023, but in the meantime, take a look back at the best 50 websites of 2022. Enjoy!

Justice Reskill

Justice Reskill used bright colors and positive, uplifting artwork to create a supportive platform for people who’ve been through the justice system.

Pienso

Bold type and plenty of on-scroll animation made this site for Pienso stand out back in January.

Gazelle No.1

The promotional site for Gazelle No.1 used innovative scroll-activated video to sell the electric bike.

Mekanism

Mekanism’s site was the first agency redesign to impress us in 2022. Super-polished then, super-polished now.

Redbrick

Redbrick was well ahead of the trend for brutalism with a twist when it released this site promoting its coffee.

SOS Foods

Ethical and sustainable goods were top of the sales charts in 2022, and SOS Foods did a great job capitalizing on the style.

Hartzler Dairy

Hartzler Dairy embraced its mid-20th-century branding with a nostalgia-infused site.

Engineered Floors

Even in 2022, designers are still paying mobile short shrift, but this site for Engineered Floors is excellent on mobile.

Emi Ozaki

We loved the quirkiness of Emi Ozaki’s phone-style interface for her portfolio back in February.

I Killed A Cactus

I Killed A Cactus is a beautiful 3D site designed to help people care for houseplants.

Aris Hotel

We were tempted in the direction of Crete by this stunning luxury site for Aris Hotel on the island.

Milton Textiles

Milton Textiles is a big, bold site for a product that is usually an afterthought in the interior design world.

MAAP

The site for MAAP is predictably excellent, modern, and efficient. It encapsulated the apparel brand’s values perfectly.

Garden Eight

The promotional site for Garden Eight, a digital design studio in Tokyo and Copenhagen, was suitably standout eccentric.

Circus Shanghai

Circus Shanghai used a mid-century illustration style to reference the solar system and the Chinese flag.

Normand

Normand took the bold decision to step away from the typical law firm design strategy.

SND

Designing a site for UI sound kits is challenging, but SND pulled it off perfectly with this minimal site.

Polybion

We saw lots of brutalism in 2022, and Polybion’s site was a standout example of how to make the trend work.

neueMeta

Bold block coloring added depth and interest to this portfolio site for design studio neueMeta.

Dumpling Delivery

OK, we confess we spent waaay too much time playing this dumpling delivery game from Mailchimp back in May.

Nowhere Bakery

Nowhere Bakery succeeded in making vegan, paleo, gluten-free cookies seem appealing.

Triniti

We were mesmerized by the perpetual motion video for the pan-Baltic law firm Triniti.

Kim Kniepp

Kim Kniepp’s site impressed us with interconnected navigation and a superbly coded masonry grid.

Feed The 300

Feed The 300 is one of dozens of great sites to combat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In this case, it was aimed at feeding zoo animals.

Icons By Menu

Icons By Menu is a stunning minimalist site that is a pleasure to browse.

Museum Of Pink Art

The Museum of Pink Art is an immersive experience celebrating the color pink. It was easy to lose hours wandering around.

BelArosa Chalet

2022 was the year of illustrations, and BelArosa Chalet’s site used them to significant effect to sell a venue still under construction.

WTFFF

Online sexual abuse and harassment are particularly appalling when directed at young people. WTFFF tackled the issue sensitively.

Pretty Damn Quick

Logistics aren’t the most engaging topic, but this friendly, illustrated site for Pretty Damn Quick grabbed us immediately.

Norwegian Soda Co.

This site for the Norwegian Soda Co. uses beautiful photography to create an engaging one-page site.

Fornasetti Profumi

Fornasetti Profumi wowed us with its long-form videos used to emphasize stillness and calm.

Laesk Kombucha

We were convinced this site for Laesk Kombucha had been produced by Wes Anderson.

Cased In Time

Single-product sites are often underwhelming, but this excellent ecommerce site bucks that trend.

DS & Durga

Eschewing the well-trod approach of flowers and pretty models, this perfume site for DS & Durga fully embraces the brutalist trend.

Daniel Spatzek

We loved the way Daniel Spatzek’s portfolio site broke all the rules and still managed to be informative and engaging.

Aro

Aro kept minimalism alive with a simple site that exudes luxury while selling a simple concept.

Think Packaging

Think Packaging took a case study approach to present its products, and it worked really well.

Steffie de Leeuw

Giant typography intertwined with botanical illustrations created a memorable site for Steffie de Leeuw.

Anna Jóna

The prelaunch teaser site for the Ana Jóna café and cinema was elegant and modern and had us eyeing a long weekend in Reykjavik.

Das Salz

More wanderlust courtesy of the fresh, enticing site for the Das Salz hotel and café.

Jono Pandolfi

This simple-to-use site for US tableware and cookware brand Jono Pandolfi sold us on hand-made ceramics.

LolaVie

We still can’t get over the fact that it took until 2022 for Jennifer Aniston to produce a haircare range.

Nathan Riley

Another big trend in 2022 was masonry-style sites, and this portfolio for Nathan Riley was one of our favorites.

Capsul’in Pro

With the excellent application of animation and careful use of color, this site for Capsul’in Pro transformed coffee pods into luxury items.

Seen

Seen is an essential site that explores themes of prejudice and racism in creative fields. It’s a strong approach to a difficult subject.

Glasfurd & Walker

Glasfurd and Walker’s superb portfolio site sets itself apart by over-extending the viewport. It’s a highly original idea.

The Other Side Of Truth

The Other Side of Truth is the standout site of 2022. It used the web expertly to present two interpretations of the facts surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Bannach

Back in October, we fell in love with the pixel-block animation loading for the Bannach furniture brand.

Karina Sirqueira

Karina Sirqueira’s portfolio was a joy to browse through. The morphing shapes imposed simplicity on a series of beautifully presented case studies.

Joshua’s World

We were amazed by Joshua’s World, a little island that can be titled and rotated to power the little cyclist along his career.

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20 Best AI Writing Apps

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Artificial intelligence is the latest buzzword in the tech world. It’s everywhere and has been for a while, but AI-powered writing software is a relatively new concept.

AI Writing Software uses artificial intelligence to write articles, blog posts, and other content in your voice. The goal is to provide a tool that will save you time and energy so you can focus on different aspects of your business or life.

To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of 20 AI writing software you can use to create content for your website, blog, or social media accounts.

1. Copy.ai 

Copy.ai uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to produce high-quality content for your business, ebooks, blog posts, articles, product descriptions, social media content, and more. It can also be used to rewrite existing content so that you can use it on your website, blog, or social media pages.

Since it uses artificial intelligence to mimic human writing patterns and styles, the copy will be more natural and easier to read than the typical machine-generated text we’re used to seeing.

Copy.ai differs from traditional content creation tools because it doesn’t just offer suggestions on improving your current content; it generates new text based on what it thinks would be most relevant for the topic or audience.

Key Features: 

  • Pre-built Templates – Copy.ai has a ton of pre-built templates for different kinds of content. For example, you can see below that it has options for blogs, social media content, video, case studies, and more:

  • Different tones and variations – Get access to tones like friendly, persuasive, professional, luxury, witty, bold, and more to align the content with your writing style. It also creates multiple variations based on your input – you can pick the one you like or make more.

    To illustrate this, here’s a screenshot of the results we got while trying to write the introduction for this article using Copy AI. 

  • Writing and Brainstorming tools – You also get tons of writing tools, brainstorming tools, and personal tools. Writing tools include essay intro, cliffhanger generator, adjective accelerator, passive to active voice, verb booster, and the like. Brainstorming tools have a name generator, startup ideas, viral ideas, and more – while Personal tools include birthday cards, clubhouse bios, cover letters, love letters, and shower thoughts.

    You can save your content and then return to it later if you wish. Plus, the software’s user interface is easy to navigate, and the program is simple. 

Luciano Viterale, Co-founder of Ticker Nerd, also shares his experience with Copy.ai, 

“I’ve been experimenting with AI copywriting tools since GPT-3 was released. I have explored many of the popular tools. However, my favorite tool by far is Copy AI. They have an outstanding blogging outline feature; the UX is clean and easy to navigate, and the pricing is reasonable.

Copy AI also generated the name of my startup, “Ticker Nerd,” which is an investing newsletter that was recently acquired.”

That said, Viterale suggests that the blog outlines can be repetitive. He says, “one thing I don’t particularly like is that blog outlines include the same point repeatedly but articulated slightly differently, essentially adding no value.” 

Pros: 

  • Copy.ai produces content at least 80% as good as a human writer (and often better). The system continually learns, which means the more you use it, the better it gets. 
  • It has an extensive library of templates available for different requirements. 
  • It supports over 25 languages, including English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, and more. 

Cons: 

  • Not suitable for long-form content. 
  • The content can get a bit repetitive after a while.  
  • The free plan lets you create only 2000 words per month. 

Pricing: 

It starts from $39 per month (if you pay yearly) for up to 40k words per month, unlimited copywriting tools, priority email support, Blog Wizard tool, support for 25+ languages, and five user seats. 

2. Jasper 

Jasper.ai is an AI copywriting tool that uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to create content based on user input. 

It helps you generate original content for your blogs, social media, websites, and more. Jasper also knows 10% of what’s on the internet and continues to learn more daily.

Just like Copy.ai, Jasper’s user interface is easy to use and navigate around. With its specific template for blog posts, articles, ebooks, and more, it’s also one of the few AI writing software suitable for long-form content. 

All you have to do is enter the title, your intended audience, tone of voice, and language options, along with the main point of your copy, and voila – Jasper can churn out a high-quality piece of content for you within seconds.

(Jasper Interface) 

Key Features: 

  • 50+ AI templates – Jasper.ai offers a variety of AI templates, including Blog Posts, Summary, Conclusion, Q&A, Ads, Videos, Social Media, Rewriter, Marketing Frameworks, Articles, and more. Each template has several use cases – for example, a blog has Blog Titles, Content Briefs, and Outlines.

Headline Generator

  • Boss Mode lets you write long-form content such as blog posts, stories, and books. It also allows you to organize your content into projects and find help with priority chat support, Grammarly integration, and plagiarism checks. You can also choose from 25 languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, and more.
  • SurferSEO Integration – If you have a Boss Mode plan, you can add SurferSEO to your Jasper account. This integration will enable you to find the best keywords, build a content strategy, create blog outlines, and more.

Content production using Surfer SEO Integration

Pros: 

  • No technical assistance is required.
  • Simple, easy-to-use interface.
  • Provides plagiarism-free content every time.
  • It helps you build a content strategy based on high-ranking topics and keywords.
  • Ready-to-use templates cover most of the use cases that a writer or marketer will need.
  • Excellent customer support is provided through live training sessions, live Q&A sessions, blogs, Facebook community, help docs, and emails.

Cons: 

  • Plagiarism-free content doesn’t always mean unique content.
  • Customer support options via chat or email are limited.

Pricing: 

It starts with $40/mo for 35K words, 50+ AI templates, 20+ languages, up to 5 seats, and chat support.

3. Rytr 

Rytr is a content generation tool that uses AI to generate high-quality, human-sounding content for emails, blogs, YouTube videos, and landing pages. 

It also supports multiple languages and tones and uses copywriting frameworks, including AIDA & PAS. And to ensure that your content is free of plagiarism, it comes with a built-in plagiarism checker.

Like Copy.ai. Rytr is also more suitable for short-form content and copywriting than long-form content. 

Key Features: 

  • 30+ languages – Rytr supports many languages, including English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Polish. It also uses a proprietary approach to support languages that are not supported by the limitations of GPT3.

Language Support

  • Use Cases: Rytr offers 40+ use cases, including Blog Section Writing, Blog Ideas & Outline, Brand Name, Business Idea Pitches, Call-to-action, Cover letters, Emails, and more.

    Each use case has a short description of what it’s about below it. Select the use case to write about, give a little context about what you want to write, and then select how many variants you want the AI to write for you (max is 3). 

You can also choose a creativity level by selecting one of 6 options, including Default, Non, Low, Medium, High, or Max.

Generating Blog Ideas & Outlines

  • Tone – You can add a personal touch to your content by choosing from over 18 tones, including Formal, Convincing, Inspirational, and more.

Writing in a formal tone.

Pros: 

  • Simple user interface.
  • Fast live chat support.
  • Using the magic command, you can produce content for poems, letters, and more.
  • Comes with an in-built tool for plagiarism checks.
  • Provides multiple resources for guidance.

Cons: 

  • Tone options are limited.
  • You will receive a small number of credits per month.

Pricing: 

It starts at $9/month for 100K characters per month. There is also a free plan with a 10K characters limit.

4. Writesonic 

Writesonic is a content-creation platform that uses generative artificial intelligence models to write SEO-optimized long-form blogs and articles. 

It has 65+ use cases or templates, including Article Writer 3.0, Landing Pages, Tweets, Quora Answers, Facebook Ads, and more.

You can easily create desired content by picking a suitable use case, typing a topic, and adding a paragraph of your own words. You can also set the language and quality level before generating it.

Generating Pros and Cons

Key Features: 

  • 24 Languages: You can produce content in 24 languages, including English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Russian, Czech, Danish, Greek, Hungarian, and more. They’re also continually adding more language options.

Languages

  • Unconventional Use Cases: It’s got a more comprehensive range of templates, including Sentence Expander, Text Summary, Conclusion Writer, YouTube Outlines, LinkedIn Ad Descriptions, Analogy Maker, Question Generator, Song Lyrics, Definition, and more.
  • SEMrush and WordPress Integrations: Writesonic integrates with SEMrush, Zapier, and WordPress.org. SEMrush helps you optimize your content for search engines, and WordPress.org lets you publish your blog directly from Writesonic. Zapier integration enables you to automate your content from Writesonic.

SEMrush Integration

Pros: 

  • Easy to use.
  • The User Interface gives you step-by-step instructions and tips for how to use the tool more efficiently.
  • There are many unique use cases, including a hook generator, pros and cons generator, and landing page creator.
  • Free trial available.

Cons: 

  • Like other tools on this list, the copy may not always be accurate. 

Pricing: 

It starts at $10/month for 12K words, 70+ AI templates, a Landing page generator, a browser extension, Zapier integration, and more.

5. Grammarly Business 

Like most other tools on this list, Grammarly Business isn’t an AI-based content writer per se—it’s more like an AI-based writing assistant. Specifically, it checks your documents for grammar, spelling, plagiarism, and style mistakes.

Grammarly Business also provides feedback on your writing style so that you can improve as a writer over time. 

You can use Grammarly Business to:

  • Get suggestions to improve your writing style, including word choice and sentence structure.
  • Identify common grammatical mistakes and fix them in one click.
  • Improve your email response time by checking emails before they’re sent out.

It’s also ideal for larger teams of writers who need to access the same Grammarly accounts, enabling multiple users to edit documents simultaneously.

One of the best parts about this tool is that it integrates with every online writing space, including Google Docs. This allows you to write and edit simultaneously without waiting for one draft to be finished before making changes to the next.

Key Features: 

  • Custom Brand Tone: You can create multiple tone profiles to suit your needs and assign them to different Teams. You’ll also get real-time feedback on your tone and can adjust it while writing. Your tone can be anything from Joyful, Excited, Loving, and Surprised to Curious, Formal, and Cautionary.

Brand Tone Feedback

  • Grammar Checker: Grammarly gives you feedback on everything that can be improved in your writing – from typos to sentence structure. It also checks for grammar mistakes, spelling errors, and incorrect punctuation.
  • Style Guide: Grammarly Style Guide enables you to establish a uniform tone and style across all your teams. You can set a library of words, terms, and phrases that your teams should adhere to.

    You can also prevent them from using complex acronyms or jargon. Lastly, you can get feedback on how the performance has increased with the Style Guide.

Style Guide Analytics

Pros: 

  • Real-time feedback on errors and tone usage.
  • Grammarly gives instant, easy-to-understand feedback and lets you fix mistakes with just one click.
  • You can always add new words to the dictionary.

Cons: 

  • It flags passive voice as an error.
  • Grammarly is good at catching mistakes, but sometimes it corrects things unnecessarily.

Pricing: 

It starts at $15/month for one member, real-time feedback, style guide, snippets, brand tones, admin controls, and more.

6. Peppertype.ai 

Peppertype.ai is another AI-based content generation tool that claims to create content ten times faster, boost Google ranking, and optimize conversions.

It’s a simple but valuable tool for writers who need help getting started on their next article, email, or blog post.

Some of its use cases include a product review generator, Amazon product descriptions, personal bio, email subject lines, cold emails, paragraph writing, Google Ad copy, Meta descriptions, blog outlines, blog conclusion, and more.

Key Features: 

  • Projects: You can organize your content under Projects, which will group similar types of content so that you have an easier time finding and repurposing the content.

Projects

  • Output personalization: You can like or dislike the output so that the AI behind it can learn your preferences and improve its performance.

Personalizing output

Pros: 

  • If you invite your friends to use Peppertype.ai, join our community, write them a review, and schedule a training call, they’ll reward you with more word credits.
  • You can create teams, projects, and workspaces.
  • You can filter out unwanted results with annotations.

Cons: 

  • One seat is expensive, and the price increases with each added seat.

Pricing: 

It starts at $35/month for one user, 50K words, 40+ use cases, unlimited projects, customer support, and more.

7. Anyword 

Anyword is a copywriting AI that creates content tailored for your customers and target audiences. 

It has a unique feature – the predictive performance score to predict how well your copy will perform and engage with your audience. This helps you write optimized texts that boost your conversions.

It has 11 major use cases, including a social post generator, Instagram caption generator, sentence rewriter, AI writer tool, meta description generator, Ad copy, landing page, blog, and more. 

Generating Facebook Post

Although it can create blog post titles and outlines, it’s better suited for writing short-form content like ad copy, product descriptions, and headlines. When writing a blog post, it can generate the title, outline, and introduction before creating body paragraphs.

Key Features: 

  • Predictive Performance Score: This score is given to your copy based on its potential to perform well with your target audience. This can help you immediately improve your copy.

Predictive Performance Score

  • Website Triggered Messages: This feature helps you create and deploy multiple copy variations on your website and apply the best one automatically.

Pros: 

  • It offers a predictive performance score to optimize your copy beforehand.
  • It also offers a free social post generator. No sign-up is required.
  • It automatically creates and runs multiple copy variations to determine the best one.
  • A Freemium plan is available.

Cons: 

  • Limited use cases.
  • A bit expensive for the credits and the number of use cases it offers.

Pricing: 

It costs $24/month for 20K words and one seat.

8. Scalenut 

Scalenut uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to produce content that ranks higher on search results. It also gives insights into statistics such as word count, grade level, H tags, readability, and the number of images you should use in your content piece. 

Aside from that, it offers a variety of use cases, including SEO Hub, AI Copywriter, Talent Network, Chrome Extension, Cruise Mode, and more. With these features, you can create content for blog ideas, product descriptions, website copies, blog intros, and more.

Key Features: 

  • Integrations: You can integrate Scalenut with SEMrush for keyword research, cluster boost, and Copyscape to check plagiarism.

App integrations

  • Cruise Mode: Cruise Mode helps you create blog content in 5 minutes. You just need to provide your blog post’s title, outline, and main points to get your intended content. You’ll also get a real-time quality score that helps you improve your search ranking.

Pros: 

  • It offers a quality score.
  • Affordable plans with a 7-day free trial.
  • 24*7 chat & email support.

Cons: 

  • Limited use cases and features.
  • Content quality is not consistent for all businesses.

Pricing: 

It starts at $12/month for 100K AI words, 5 SEO reports, 24*7 chat and email support, and more.

9. Frase.io 

Frase.io is an all-in-one AI writing tool that helps you, research competitors, develop content briefs, and produce and optimize content.

First, you’ll analyze your search competitors using Frase so you can see what your competition is writing about. Next, you can focus on Then, your overall outline or dig deeper by focusing on individual headlines, external links, statistics, etc. 

Next, use Frase’s AI writer to finish your draft. You can choose from dozens of use cases to generate content, including product descriptions, blog introductions, and more. You can even automatically expand on what you’re currently writing or rewrite what you’ve already written. 

Finally, you can optimize your draft using recommended keywords and readability scores. Again, Frase provides real-time feedback as you fill in the gaps. 

Key Features: 

  • AI Writing Tools: They include an AI content generator, introduction generator, outline generator, paraphrasing tool, paragraph rewriter, blog title generator, meta description generator, product description generator, slogan generator, summary generator, sentence rewriter, and more. 

Blog introduction generator

  • Content Analytics: It fetches data from Google Search Console to provide insights into organic growth, content decay, and keyword opportunities.

Frase Content Analytics

  • Integrations: It integrates with Google Docs, Google Search Console, and WordPress. It also offers a Chrome extension.

Frase Integrations

Pros: 

  • You can add multiple pages in a single doc.
  • It offers content analytics, allowing you to see which articles are getting the most traction and which ones are not.
  • It enables you to do competitors’ research.

Cons: 

  • Limited word credits in each plan.
  • Max 3 seats available.

Pricing: 

It starts at $14.99/month for one user, 20K AI characters, and four articles (write/optimize) per month. There’s also a 5-day free trial for $1. 

10. Surfer SEO 

Surfer SEO is an SEO tool and AI writing assistance that uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to help you manage and improve your content strategy.

Rather than creating the body of your copy, it helps you create outlines and optimize the content you write based on that outline. 

It helps you to evaluate your content and find places to improve it using its content score metric, competitor research, SERP analyzer, and keyword recommendations. It also offers a content planner that you can share with your team. 

Key Features: 

  • Outline Builder for Content Editor: The tool generates headlines and paragraphs based on your competitors’ postings. You can use that content as is or edit it by copy-pasting it into the editor. Content paragraphs are available in English, German, French, Polish, Swedish, and Dutch.

Outline Builder Content Builder

  • SEO Audit Tool: This tool performs step-by-step optimization on your website to improve your Google search results. When you pick an URL to audit, it provides suggestions such as missing backlinks, internal links, word count, and important keywords to use.

Terms to use

  • Content Planner: You can start with your content planner by keyword or domain. Based on your keywords, it comes up with clusters that you can use to create your content topics.

    However, there is a learning curve involved. You will need to understand topic clusters, search intent, and keyword difficulty, among other metrics.

Content Planner

Pros: 

  • Easy to use interface.
  • They offer a 7-day money-back guarantee – if you don’t find it helpful, you get your money back.
  • It identifies keyword stuffing and prevents you from doing so.

Cons: 

  • Each plan offers a limited number of pages that you can audit.

Pricing:

It starts at $49/month for one website tracking and ten articles/month.

11. Copysmith 

Copysmith markets itself as an AI content creation solution for teams. 

This AI writer is best suited for bulk and short-form content copy like product descriptions, blog templates, social media content, advertising content, and more.

Key Features: 

  • Use cases: It includes product descriptions, content enhancement, ads & social media, blog templates, and brainstorming. With Product descriptions, you can generate descriptions for eCommerce Products, Instagram, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Flipkart. Blog templates include blog titles, blog ideas, outlines, intro, Kickstarter, and more.

Product Description

  • Campaign Builder: It includes several AI templates to help you generate SEO-optimized product descriptions, Facebook posts, and Google ads in just a few seconds. 
  • Integrations: Copysmith integrates with Frase to use SEO data, Google Ads to publish campaigns, Microsoft Word to produce content, and WooCommerce for products.

Pros: 

  • It’s easy to use and generates SEO-optimized content.
  • It comes with an in-built plagiarism checker.
  • Provides good training material for new users.

Cons: 

  • Not suitable for long-form content. 

Pricing:  

It starts at $19/month for 75 credits, up to 40K words, and up to 20 plagiarism checks.

12. ClosersCopy  

ClosersCopy is an AI writing robot that provides various templates for producing marketing materials, including website content, sales copy, email marketing campaigns, and social media posts. This tool doesn’t require any special skills or training to create engaging text.

Key Features: 

  • Use cases: It includes Facebook & Google Ads, email subject lines, landing pages, sales copies, social media content, and more.
  • LongForm editor: You can create blog posts, articles, sales copies, and email marketing copies.
  • Drag-and-drop builders: The drag-and-drop content builder makes your tasks more manageable by allowing you to drag and drop elements on your copy. The only thing you need to do is provide some context at the time of configuring this builder.

Pros: 

  • Its user interface is easy to use and navigate.
  • You can easily create content with their drag-and-drop builder.
  • The video tutorials provide in-depth, step-by-step instructions for each process.
  • Tone analysis helps you understand the emotions in your writing.

Cons: 

  • No free plan or trial period is available.
  • More expensive than most other AI tools.

Pricing:  

It starts at $49.99/month for two seats, 300 AI runs, 50 SEO Audits, an SEO planner, Email support, and more.

13. LongShot AI

LongShot AI is another writing tool that can help you write SEO-friendly content. It comes with over 30 use cases and a plagiarism checker to ensure your content is original. 

While most of its use cases are for short-form content, you can use templates like the content expander, write more, or bullets to text generator to assist you with your long-form piece. 

Key Features: 

  • Use Cases: It includes content rephrasing, FAQ generator, headline generator, blog ideas generator, meta description generator, text extender, blog insights creator, headline intro generator, product description generator, FAB copywriting framework generator, content readability improver, sales email generator, video description generator, and more.

Headline Generator

  • Integrations: It integrates with WordPress to enable you to export AI-generated copies directly to WordPress. Its integration with SEMrush will help you write SEO-friendly content. Apart from these, LongShot AI will also provide integration with Hubspot and Grammarly soon.

LongShot X SEMrush

  • LongShot AI Community: The LongShot AI Community is a group of researchers and developers working on open artificial intelligence problems. Anyone can join and contribute to the research.

Pros: 

  • The free forever plan offers ten credits daily.
  • Community is a big help for new users.
  • It gives you multiple ways to know more about the product, including blog posts, help videos, customer support, and announcements.

Cons: 

  • Aside from the free plan, it’s costly, especially considering the limited number of use cases and credits.
  • Doesn’t have use cases for social media content.
  • Supports only eight languages.

Pricing: 

It starts at $49/month for 1000 monthly credits, one user, basic integrations, and more.

14. INK Editor

Inky is a suite of content marketing tools that include AI-powered tools: AI Writer, SEO Optimizer, Copy Assistant, and Content Planner. These features can be used individually or collectively, and the price will be adjusted accordingly.

The AI Writer offers unlimited credits and helps you write long-form and short-form content. In addition, you can re-edit the generated copy with a single click as often as you want. The tool also offers WordPress plugin integration and open-source export API.

In addition, you get access to use cases like product descriptions, social media copies, sales copies, blogs, essays, emails, microcopies, product ideas, and more.

AI Writing Tools

Key Features: 

  • SEO Optimizer: INK’s SEO Optimizer is a natural language optimization tool that can improve your SEO score and increase engagement by providing recommendations on keywords, titles, alt text, and the like. Enter a keyword or phrase, and the INK SEO Optimizer will do the rest.

SEO Optimization Score

  • Content Planner: The INK Content Planner helps you group keywords and analyze search intent. You can also import your keywords and download your clusters for further analysis.
  • Copy Assistant: A built-in grammar checker automatically checks your grammar and spelling. It also checks words, tone, and sentence fragments.

Pros: 

  • Easy to use.
  • You can use it as an all-in-one content marketing tool. 
  • Offers unlimited AI text writing even on a free plan.
  • Offers keyword clusters to optimize your SEO strategy.

Cons: 

  • The paid plan is relatively costly for one seat.

Pricing: 

It starts at $50/month for one seat, INK Copy Assistant PRO, INK AI Writer PRO, INK SEO Optimizer PRO, and INK Content Planner PRO with 1,000 Keywords.

15. Articoolo

Articoolo is an AI content generator developed by a group of mathematicians, computer scientists, content writers, and marketing specialists. Thanks to NLP and AI technology, the tool drafts articles in a way that mimics the human brain.

Key Features: 

  • Use Cases: It includes Text Writer, Article Rewriter, Article Summarizer, and Image Scraper. Based on your keyword, Articoolo will also fetch images from royalty-free websites.
  • WordPress Plugin: This will help you export your copies directly to WordPress so you can post faster.
  • Plagiarism Checker: All you have to do is enter your text into the program, and it will scan for instances of plagiarism.

Pros: 

  • It has pay-per-use plans.

Cons: 

  • There’s no official website.
  • Customer support is missing the mark.
  • Not much information about the tool online.

Pricing: 

It starts at $19/month for a ten-article fixed package.

16. NeuralText

NeuralText is a writing tool that offers users keyword reports and cluster credits. It also has an API for developers looking to integrate its services into other programs.

Some of its most prominent use cases include a paragraph generator, content outline, and product description – making it a short-form content-centric tool. 

The best part is that it not only creates content but also creates content briefs and optimizes the content based on keywords and SERP analysis.

Key Features: 

  • AI Writing Assistant: This tool will help you produce text in any format. It also provides text recommendations while you write.

AI Writing Assistant

  • Content Optimization: NeuralText can help make your content more search engine-friendly and improve its score in Google’s search results. It analyzes your word choice and sentence structure to ensure your content is easy to scan and relevant to your topic.

Content Score

  • Content research analysis: It makes content research and studies more accessible, allowing you to see real-time data across SERPs. It also has a Google Docs-style editor, making managing your data points and keeping track of your research effortless.

Content research analysis

Pros: 

  • Free plan available.
  • Offers keyword clusters.
  • You can group content into different projects.

Cons: 

  • The community is not active.
  • A bit on the expensive side. 

Pricing: 

It starts at $49/month for one user, unlimited AI text generation, 50 content analyses, and 50 keyword reports.

17. AI Writer

AI Writer helps you create unique, SEO-friendly content that you can publish directly to WordPress. In addition, it offers features like research & write, text rewording, verifiable citations, and source summarizer.

Key Features: 

  • AI-Writer Content Kit: AI Writer uses artificial intelligence to analyze keyword difficulty and ranking opportunities based on the field you enter. It chooses up to 250 keywords and generates one article per keyword, which can be directly published to WordPress.
  • (Sub)Topic Discoverer: It checks to see what other writers have written about and then uses that information to create new topics for you.
  • Verifiable Citations: When it produces content for you, it also provides a list of citations so that you can check the accuracy of the information.

Pros: 

  • It offers a free trial for seven days.
  • One of the few AI writing tools to offer verifiable citations so you can confirm the accuracy of the content.

Cons: 

  • Not enough resources in the knowledge base for new users.
  • Fewer use cases.
  • Does not offer a free version.

Pricing: 

It starts at $29/month for one user and up to 40 articles.

18. Wordtune

Wordtune makes your previously written content clearer, more compelling, and more authentic by bringing out the best.

Although this tool doesn’t write content from scratch, it makes your content look more professional. It also integrates with Microsoft Word, so you can edit your work while you write your content.

It provides tools to: 

  • Rewrite your content 
  • Make your content casual 
  • Make your content formal 
  • Shorten your sentences to make them crisp 
  • Expand your sentences to give more detail 

Key Features: 

  • Paragraph Rewriter: Wordtune can rewrite your paragraphs entirely at once, one sentence at a time, and one word at a time. See below for an example.

Paragraph Rewriter

  • Tone: You can alter how your content appears by making it more informal or formal. Here’s an example: 

Casual Tone

Pros: 

  • You can make the text longer or shorter.
  • It offers a casual and formal tone.
  • Simple and easy-to-use interface. 

Cons: 

  • It doesn’t offer any other benefits besides rewriting.

Pricing: 

It starts at $9.99/month for unlimited rewrites. 

19. ProWritingAid

Rather than a full-fledged artificial intelligence writer, ProWritingAid is a grammar checker and style editor that’s available online. It helps prevent spelling errors, suggests impactful words, and corrects grammar and punctuation.

It supports general English, British English, US English, Australian English, and Canadian English.

Key Features: 

  • Document type: You can choose from 35+ document types for your content. They include general academic abstract, academic essays, admission letters, book reviews, business books, and more.
  • Reports: ProWritingAid provides three types of reports: real-time reports, summary reports, and style reports.

    Real-time reports show errors and corrections as you write. Summary reports provide an overview of all reports. It contains a spelling score, grammar score, and style score. On the other hand, Style reports identify problems in writing style and readability.

Summary report

Pros: 

  • It offers 20+ reports to track your progress as you improve your writing.
  • There are no limits on the number of words you can use with premium plans.
  • Notifies of style changes and suggests corrections if needed.

Cons: 

  • Only available through the web browser. 

Pricing: 

It starts at $20 per month or $120 per year (if you pay yearly). 

20. Article Forge

Once you provide ArticleForge.com with a keyword, article length, and other custom information, the program creates a 1500+ word article in seconds.

Your content will be checked for plagiarism and uniqueness before being delivered.

Key Features: 

  • Media-rich content: It can automatically find and insert relevant images, videos, titles, and links in your articles. To make it more relevant, ArticleForge also uses LSI keywords.

Creating an article

  • SEO Automation: It integrates with WordPress to automate your scheduling and posting of articles.

WordPress Integration

  • Interlinking: It can automatically turn URLs into links within your article. You can choose how often to do this for every keyword or just the first occurrence.
  • Languages: It can generate content in English, French, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian.

Pros: 

  • Produces SEO-optimized content.
  • Can schedule posts on WordPress automatically.
  • Plagiarism-free content.
  • Automatic keyword linking.

Cons: 

  • The content can be repetitive.
  • You need to check the accuracy of the content before publishing.

Pricing: 

It starts at $13/month for 25K words and the rest of the features.

Frequently asked questions about AI writing software.

1. What is AI Writing Software?

AI writing software is an artificial intelligence program used to write text. It can generate content for websites, blogs, and other fields. The content created by AI writers is often indistinguishable from human-created content. Still, sometimes it has a slightly robotic feel or may include words or phrases that seem out of place in the context of the writing.

2. How does AI Writing Software work?

The software uses an algorithm to mimic the creative process of human writers. It first creates a base text that modifies by adding words and phrases specific to your content. This ensures that you get high-quality original content every time you use it.

3. Who can use AI Writing Software?

Anyone who needs to create texts for their business or website can benefit from using this software. It’s also an excellent option for freelance writers and content marketers facing writer’s block. As it’s easy and fast, even beginners can start using it immediately and see great results within minutes!

4. Can I use AI writers for everything I write?

No — AI writers are best suited for shorter pieces like headlines or product descriptions because they don’t have much time to learn about your company’s brand voice or personality. 

While there are tools to churn out long-form content, you still need the human touch for longer and more research-intensive pieces like blog posts or sales copy. AI algorithms still can’t pick up on nuances like a human can.

5. What are some of the benefits of using AI Writing Software?

There are many benefits to using AI writing software. The most obvious benefit is that you no longer need to spend time creating content yourself. The software will do it for you! 

Another benefit is that AI writing software allows you to create content in any niche or topic you desire. You can even target multiple niches at once! This makes it possible to scale your business quickly and easily by leveraging the power of automation while still keeping your hands on the work itself.

6. How much does it cost?

The pricing depends on the type of service you want to use. Some companies offer free trials or even freemium versions with limited credits so that you can test their services before making a purchase decision. Some companies offer lifetime discounts for repeat customers, so keep an eye out for those offers when making your choice!

7. What’s the difference between AI-powered and human-written content?

While humans are still required for high-quality content creation, AI makes scaling up your content marketing efforts easier. By automating much of the writing process – from keyword research to formatting – AI can help you create more content at a lower cost per article. In addition, this frees your team members to focus on other tasks that require their expertise (like outreach) or simply spend more time enjoying their lives!

8. What is the best AI Writer?

The best AI writer depends on what you want it to do and how much you want to spend. If you’re going to write books or articles, many different programs can help you with this task. Our top pick for long-form would be Jasper. 

On the other hand, if you only need help with short-form content such as blog posts or press releases, there may not be any need for an AI writer because these documents don’t require as much work or effort from the user. In that case, you might want to use tools like Copy.ai, Rytr, and more. 

9. Can I use AI Writing Software to replace my human writers?

No, AI writing software isn’t meant to replace human writers. It’s designed to work alongside them, helping them create more engaging and relevant content for their audiences. You’ll still need human writers who can add style and personality to your content.

Over to You! 

Do you find writing to be an exhausting activity? If yes, you would want to try one of the AI Writing Software tools we suggested above. These are some of the best AI writing tools specially developed to boost creativity, motivation, and productivity.

There’s room for experimentation with AI-generated content as long as you can recognize where specific tools are lacking and how to incorporate that into your work. Ultimately, the future of AI writing assistant software will mean ever-more versatile tools for writers, so don’t be shy about testing the waters.

 

Featured image by pch.vector on Freepik.

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20 Best New Websites, November 2022

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Every month we put together this collection of the best new websites we’ve seen appear on the web in the previous four weeks.

In this month’s collection, you’ll find lots of daring interactions, some inventive portfolio sites, florescent yellow colors, and even some old-school mouse trails. Enjoy!

Joshua’s World

Joshua’s World is a fantastic animated site. Grab and drag to tilt and rotate the island and watch the little cyclist power past important links to milestones in his creative career.

Vana

Vana is a new service aiming to help you take control of your data. Its site is modern and lively and uses some great retro-illustrations to bring its features to life.

Velocity Nitro 2

This slick site has some incredible 3D renders for the Puma Velocity Nitro 2 running shoe. The scrollable animation guides you through each feature in a thrillingly engaging fashion.

Norwegian Soda Co.

The Norwegian Soda Co. uses beautifully shot photographs to capture the zest of its products. It’s an excellent example of how a one-page site can be rich and engaging.

Anytype

Anytype is a collaborative platform pitching itself to creative thinkers. It uses a lovely gradient animation to create a sense of power and technological evolution.

Dash

Dash claims to be almost the best tech company, and its modest site does a great job of expelling the tedium from HR. Plus, it has an old-school mouse trail!

Sileon

Sileon is a site packed with clever details. For example, the hover effect on text links is pleasingly minimal, and the photography shot through distortion is a simple but effective technique.

Karina Sirqueira

Karina Sirqueira’s portfolio is a joy to browse through. The morphing shapes add interest to a collection of case studies that are engaging and beautifully presented.

Hotel Santa Caterina

This beautiful website for the Hotel Santa Caterina on the Amalfi Coast captures the light and wonder of the region with a muted color palette and stunning photography.

La Lulu

La Lulu is a Columbian-American singer, dancer, and musician. Her site uses color to disrupt a fairly standard layout and infuse it with amazonian, psychotropic, South American vibes.

International Magic

International Magic is a design agency that boasts some impressive clients, from Maison Margiela to Nike. Its scroll-to-browse portfolio is a masterful example of selling design.

OAD

OAD uses color expertly to convey contrasting temperatures. At this time of year, who doesn’t want a pullover crafted to withstand the Norwegian weather?

También

También is a creative agency specializing in organizations that positively impact the world. Its scrolling collage of client projects is one of the best examples of this type of portfolio.

Dragonfly

If you were designing a website to be used in a 90s film about the internet, you’d create Dragonfly’s site. It’s packed with glitches, code references, and awesome pixelated imagery.

Elva

There’s a lot of distortion entering the design lexicon at the moment, and one of the best examples is Elva’s portfolio site, which uses it to enliven its black-and-white site.

Sussex Taps

Sussex Taps uses multiple full-screen video clips to sell its carbon-neutral tapware range, but it’s the horizontal scrolling product videos that really make this site stand out.

Angello Torres

Angello Torres’ portfolio is packed with daring typography that breaks pretty much all the rules and yet still manages to work somehow to convey energy and creativity.

Repeat

Repeat is an excellent service for upselling customers with repeat orders. It uses simple illustrations to represent generic products with an attention-grabbing yellow for interactions.

High Five Strategies

High Five Strategies eschew the formality of most business pitches to deliver a positive message with bold colors and typography that makes you feel ready to move forward.

Delight

Delight Snowparks employs a questionable lilac color, but its fantastic imagery and video framing more than makes up for that. Plus, there’s another super-old-school mouse trail!

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20 Best New Sites, May 2022

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Sometimes it’s easy to feel like the world is going to pieces all around us, especially when we’re doom scrolling Twitter between news alerts every few minutes. But if we step back a little, things may not seem so bad.

On the web, we see companies and individuals taking a positive stand, making changes, and carrying on despite challenging circumstances. So in this month’s collection, we celebrate confidence and accentuate the positive, as the song says. Enjoy!

Plastic Bionic

The ‘change view’ option is well used in this portfolio site for Plasticbionic design studio. The grid view is especially pleasing.

Fabricca

Creative agency Fabricca has gone for a simple look, with some appealing illustrations and custom icons.

Normand

The color scheme and display font choice (Knockout) make a strong statement here for law firm Normand.

Dumpling Delivery

We all need some bored-on-a-slow-friday-afternoon distraction from time to time, and Mailchimp delivers the goods here.

OTR

OTR is a mental health service for young people aged 11-25. The site does a great job of feeling approachable and friendly to younger users while not being condescending, cutesy, or childish.

neueMeta

Good use of block color adds extra depth to this otherwise brutalist portfolio site for neueMeta design studio.

Vitra Chair Finder

This interactive questionnaire helps the customer identify the best chair for their needs. The animation is done well here, and a page of swirling Vitra chairs is a lovely thing to see.

Chia Studios

A good balance here of serious and fun in Chia Studio’s portfolio site, professional but friendly.

Sagmeister 123

The concept behind this limited clothing range designed by Stefan Sagmeister is that, taking the long-term view, the world is actually getting better. As such, the Sagmeister 123 site has an overall feeling of quiet positivity. And a koala.

RecPak

RecPak is a meal replacement shake designed for taking during outdoor activities. The site has an active, dynamic feel that works well to convey a sense of rugged outdoor adventure.

Alicia Moore

This site for Alicia Moore clothing brand oozes style and sophistication with soft colors and beautiful fashion photography.

Think Packaging

Think Packaging’s website has a bright, bold, fun feel. Case studies are well presented visually but keep text to a minimum.

BP&O

Brand design and packaging blog BP&O has added extended content for subscribers, and their new site is a pleasure to browse.

The Future Factory

The Future Factory is a business lead generation agency, which doesn’t sound, well, a bit dull. But, some funky animation and slightly quirky type certainly do not convey dullness.

Polybion

Polybion’s new website has a spacious feel with a rich color scheme adding a sense of confidence and brand maturity.

The Empathy Experiment

The Empathy Experiment is an interactive ‘game’ from digital agency media.monks that examines empathy and inclusivity in the workplace while at the same time showcasing some technical skills.

Belle Epoque

The opening scroll on Belle Epoque’s site is really pleasing, and the random floating shapes are intriguing.

Richard Ekwonye

Richard Ekwonye’s portfolio site is clean and straightforward. Skills are on display, but without intruding on the content.

SND

SND has created UI sound kits. The site is as simple as it could possibly be, and yet it is impossible not to investigate all the sounds and start imagining where you could use them.

KMZ Industries

Regular readers will know how much we like technical/industrial-made-interesting sites, and this one for KMZ grain storage systems is a perfect example.

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Case Study: Redesigning Todoist for Android

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Todoist is a to-do list app that 25 million people rely on every day to keep their lives organized. As part of the Doist design team’s goals for 2021, we aimed to redesign the Todoist Android app to take advantage of the latest Google Material Design guidelines.

In this post, we cover the design decisions and processes behind redesigning the Todoist Android app for Material Design. We explore the Design and Android team’s collaboration practices that brought the app update to life, which resulted in winning the Material Design Award 2021 in the large screen category. Let’s get started!

Opportunity

When we started the project, our design implementation on Android was ready for a major overhaul. The last milestone redesign on Android was initiated after the release of the first Material Design guidelines in 2016. Since then the team successfully worked on continuous improvements to the Android app, but we saw the opportunity to improve Todoist on Android on a more holistic level.

We set out to clean up instances of older UI components, colors, and text styles and update them with the latest Material Design components. We observed that some interactions and navigational patterns had become inconsistent with what users were expecting on newer Android devices and were eager to modernize this experience. With new hardware and software changes in mind, we set out to make the experience on larger phones and tablets even better, so Todoist could take full advantage of the latest generation of devices. Material 2 and 3 provided an incredible new framework to rethink the current app experience. With this in mind, we set out to challenge what a modern Android app should look like and innovate on top of the default user experience.

Solution

The team set itself the goal of redesigning our Todoist Android app and aspiring to make it the best-designed productivity app on Android. The project was ambitious and scheduled to take several months to complete. We set ourselves the following targets while working on the project:

  • Review the current implementation and older design specs.
  • Study the latest Material Design Guidelines and assess what is relevant for our project.
  • Research great Material Design apps and case studies and learn from their execution.
  • Define the new Todoist Android app design language and document the changes.
  • Design and development work together to assess the proposed solution and implementation.
  • Test an early version of the new app internally to gather feedback and make adjustments.
  • Invite beta testers to the new app to gather feedback and make adjustments.
  • Refine the app and address core issues before launching to the public.

Review

The project was kicked off by reviewing the current Todoist Android app implementation, noting down what areas needed to be fixed and what was up to date. While reviewing, we took screenshots of the app implementation for reference. This way we could easily see the current state of the app and compare it to the new design proposals that would be created. Once the review process was finalized, we had a comprehensive overview of the current state of the app and the layout, component, and styling changes we wanted to make.

Study

We continued the project by studying the latest Material Design Guidelines, assessing the components and practices that were most relevant to Todoist.

When the project kicked off in February 2021, Material 2 was the most recent version of their design system. Since Material 2 had already been released for quite some time, we anticipated that design changes to Material would be announced soon at the Google I/O event in May 2021. Rather than wait, because we expected the changes to be iterative, we pushed ahead with our work.

We identified 25 components and UI patterns that we wanted to change across the app. The changes included buttons, forms, menus, sheets, navigation drawer, app bar, system bars, text and color styles, and more. We started by creating a table view in a Dropbox Paper document with the component changes and references links to Google’s Material Design Guidelines.

This components list was a starting point for discussion to plan the scope and complexity of the changes. Close async discussions between the design and development team in Twist and Dropbox Paper comments helped us make decisions about scope and complexity early on and set a solid foundation for the project.

Research

In the initial Material Design study, we also researched inspiring Material Design apps, Material studies, Play Store apps, and Google Workspace apps to learn from their execution.

We started out by studying the Material Design Award Winners 2020 and tested out the products that were showcased. The showcased winners struck a good balance between implementing the Material Design Guidelines while maintaining their own product’s brand within the system. This balance between Google’s guidelines and the Todoist brand was also key for us to get right and so we strived to find this mix across the work we created and implemented in the project.

Along with the MDA winners, we researched the Material Studies that Google produced to showcase what apps could look like with branding and Material Design guidelines applied. It was a great reference to see how far components could be customized while maintaining the core platform principles. The Reply case study in particular offered valuable insight to us as its content type and layout came closest to Todoist. It showcased how components like the app bar, navigation drawer, and large screen layouts worked while being customized.

We continued our research by searching the Google Play store for inspiring app examples. Google Tasks, Press, Periodic Table, and Kayak stood out to us as the level of polish and quality of the apps were on par with the experience we were aspiring to create.

Sometime later in the project when Material You was released (more on that later), we stumbled upon the Google Workspace apps blog post which previewed Material 3 changes that Google was introducing to their own products. It offered a great glimpse at what was to come before the Material 3 Design Guidelines were officially released. This post sparked new internal discussions and further design explorations that we considered for future Todoist Android updates.

Design Spec

As we started to define the new Todoist Android app design language and document the changes, we opted to create a design framework, focusing on creating components rather than designing every screen in the app. This allowed us to consistently apply the design system in the app. We did so by using the previously defined component list that we created during the review and study process.

Core screens from different areas of the app were chosen to demonstrate how the components could be applied. We chose to mock up the Todoist project view, navigation drawer menu, project view edit screen, settings, and project detail view, among others. These screens gave us a good overview of how buttons, forms, drawers, lists, and other components would work together and in different states; selected, pressed, disabled, etc.

During the project, we were transitioning our Doist design system to Figma and started creating our first components in the new Doist Product Android Library. We started by using some components from the Material Design UI kit – Components library from the official Google Figma resource file and added them to our Doist design system. We then continued to build up the Product Android Library file with our Todoist-specific components such as task list & board views, detail views, sheets, colors, typography, etc.

We continued by documenting color and typography changes that were based on the Material Design guidelines. The design team opted to implement a new Design Token framework that would share the same values between our design system and the development implementation. The development team would output the values they had in the current implementation and the design team would analyze which values were needed and which could be merged, changed, or deleted. This informed the new Design Token color and typography system which we then documented and discussed with the team to implement. Later in the project, we were happy to see a similar token system introduced by Material 3 in the latest guidelines which validated our thinking and principles behind the new design system.

The design documentation expanded to hold other edge-case mockups that could sit alongside the design system. We documented different responsive screen experiences between phones and tablets against the previous implementation. Additional sections were created to document the motion that should be used for certain components and screens by referencing existing Material Design guidelines examples or prototyping custom motion in Principle and After Effects. The design spec also touched on haptic feedback that should appear on touch targets, how dark mode should work across the new components, documenting Todoist themes within the new design language, and more.

Design Implementation

At Doist, the benefit of the squad is that cross-team collaboration is built into the make-up of the team. Designers, developers, support, and product managers work together in a squad to deliver the project. This close collaboration from the start is key to bridging the gap between scope, estimations, design, development, and delivery. The squad discussed their findings on a daily basis and came up with the best plan of action together.

Designers started by creating components in Figma and shared them with developers in Dropbox Paper. We used screenshots to document the current implementation next to the new designs and linked to the default Google Material Design components. This allowed the team to compare all references in one place. Developers shared their feedback, adjustments would be brainstormed together as the designs were iterated.

Designers on the project would share their work in progress on a weekly basis with the rest of the design team in a design review Twist thread. Here details about the designs were discussed, alternatives mocked up and bigger picture plans made. Design reviews brought up topics like FAB (Floating Action Button) placement, theme options, accent color usage on components, consistency with other platforms, navigation options, and shadow elevation. After thorough discussions and alternative mockups were presented, the design team aimed to find the right balance between Material Design and Todoist brand guidelines. The development team, also part of the design reviews, gave their feedback on the solution and raised technical complexities early on.

Eventually, the design was stabilized and consistencies updated across components and mockups. The design spec was kept up to date so the development team could always review the latest designs in Figma.

Testing

As soon as the development process started, the Android team provided early screenshots and videos in Twist threads while they were implementing the design spec. This practice allowed us to review the app implementation early and often. Designers could review the development work and share feedback in Twist, which resulted in getting the implementation to a high quality. Alongside Twist discussions, the team set up a Todoist project to track ongoing issues and fix bugs. Designers logged new issues, developers would solve them and share the new implementation for designers to review.

When the team had the first stable version of the Android app, we shared it internally at Doist to get more insight and feedback. Other Doisters could access the redesign via a feature flag that could be turned on in the app settings and test the new version for however long they wanted. The feature flag system allowed people to give us early feedback on the design decisions we made and report bugs. Feedback was submitted by the wider team through a dedicated Twist thread and designers and developers could discuss how best to address the feedback during the active project implementation.

After we refined the app implementation further and addressed early feedback we opened up the app update to our beta users. Here users had access to the new Android redesign and were able to give us feedback. Our support team gathered feedback and shared it with us in a dedicated Twist thread. The squad aimed to analyze every comment and looked for patterns where we could make tweaks and improvements to the user experience.

As part of these tweaks, we made changes to how the bottom bar and navigation drawer worked. Some users reported frustrations with the way the new bottom navigation and menu drawer worked. In its first implementation, the drawer was half raised when opened and had to be swiped up to be raised again to see the full content list. This was an issue for some users as it was slower to get to the content below the list. So we decided to fully raise the drawer by default when opening. We also made it easier to open the navigation drawer by sliding up from the bottom app bar. This was a small shortcut but it enabled users to get to their content faster.

Material You

While we were in the testing phase and about to wrap up the project, Google unveiled Material You, and sometime later the Material 3 Guidelines were published. With the newly announced resources, we went back to study the latest guidelines and references we could find to see where the Todoist Android app redesign fits in and which adjustments we might need to make now or in the future.

Dynamic Color was a big new feature that was announced as part of the Material You update. As Todoist supports many different themes the Material You Dynamic Color feature seemed like a good fit for our product. We decided to prioritize this feature and implement Dynamic Color light and dark themes as part of our Todoist theme settings options.

To implement Dynamic Color, the development team started off by creating a demo prototype that utilized the Dynamic Color system and showcased how we could select from a range of color choices that the system defined based on the wallpaper choice. From there, we tried to incorporate system behavior in our design mockups. We designed a range of different color mockups and components to see which ones could fit with which components. We then came up with a color system that worked for the Todoist app and the new themes. These new Dynamic Color themes would sit alongside our current theme options in the Todoist app settings. From here users could choose between Dynamic Color Light and Dark themes.

Along with Dynamic Color, the team also created a customizable bottom app bar, allowing users to set up the app in a way that’s most convenient to their workflow. The location of the Dynamic Add Button can be changed to the center, left, or right corner of the screen. The order of the Menu, Search, and Notification buttons can be rearranged to best fit the ergonomics of the user’s dominant (left or right) hand and optimize their navigation patterns.

Launch

As critical beta feedback was addressed and stability tweaks were made, the squad felt ready to release the new Todoist Android app to the public. The team logged the issues that could not immediately be addressed for future reviews and updates.

The design and marketing team readied the launch by creating What’s New banner artwork and copy that are displayed within the app when launching the update. The Doist marketing team also created release notes and shared the app update announcements on our social channels. The brand and product design team worked together to create custom image assets and copy that summarised the project work in a simple and beautiful way.

What’s Next: Material 3

After a successful launch of the redesigned Todoist for Android app, Google contacted Doist to announce that Todoist was selected as the Material Design Award 2021 winner in the Large Screen category. The team was excited to be recognized for their hard work and it felt like we achieved the goal we had set out to accomplish.

Internally, designers and developers continued to study and discuss the Material 3 updates. The design team started exploring mockups and design changes inspired by Material 3 and Google’s Workspace app updates. Some of our current Todoist explorations include changing the FAB styling, updating the app bar, further removing elevation shadows, and more. Here is a preview of what a future Todoist update could look like.

We hope these insights into Doist’s design process and collaboration practices have sparked your interest. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for future design updates!

Takeaways

  • Study the Material guidelines, Material Design winners, Material studies, and Google Workspace apps to make informed design decisions when designing your next product or app update.
  • Evaluate which Material Design components and practices are right for you and implement them into your product.
  • Carefully balance the Material Design guidelines with your brand guidelines to create a unique and consistent experience between your product and the platform it lives on.
  • Collaborate with your Android developers early and often to ship app updates efficiently and increase the design implementation quality.
  • Use design components and build a design system along with practical mockups to create an efficient design spec.
  • Consider how the latest Android features fit into your product and which have the most impact on your users before deciding to implement them.
  • Test and review builds with your internal team and external beta users to get valuable feedback and make adjustments before releasing them to the public.
  • Create announcement artwork to showcase your latest app or feature update along with a clear description to share in-app and on social media.

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How to Kickstart Your UX Career in 2022

As a UX designer, you get to work on creative, rewarding, even life-changing projects. It’s an industry with flexible working and countless opportunities. All this, and you get paid well too.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not a creative prodigy, or a tech grandmaster; you can learn to become a UX designer with the right mindset, a few tools you pick up along the way, and some committed learning.

By the time you’ve finished reading this post, you’ll be well on your way to designing your new career.

You can do this, let’s get started…

What is a Career in UX like?

Every career is different, but generally speaking, a UX designer works on making a user’s interaction with a product or service (normally websites) as intuitive as possible.

Just as a golf architect designs the layout of a golf course to flow through greens, tees, and holes, with buggy paths for access, and the odd bunker to add a challenge; so a UX designer creates the optimum experience for a site. A golf architect doesn’t need to reinvent the game of golf, and neither does a UX designer need to reinvent websites.

A golf architect will not design a course with a 360-degree sand bunker surrounding a tee (well, they might, but they really really shouldn’t), or a hole too small for a golf ball. In the same way as a UX designer, you’re not going to design an ecommerce site with a cart in the bottom left, a non-existent search feature, or hidden pricing.

The best thing about being a UX designer is that you don’t need to spend years in formal education to get qualified. The flipside is that if you want to be a great UX designer, it’s not a walk in the park.

Every designer is different, but some of the main traits of successful UX designers are: an enjoyment of problem-solving; good listening skills; curiosity; open-mindedness; attention to detail; creativity; communication skills; process-driven; and adaptability.

Before committing to this career path, check out a few podcasts, and read a few blog posts, to dip your toe in the water.

Still interested? Excellent, the next step is…

Getting Certified as a UX Designer

UX design is a practical skill. It’s all well and good knowing the theory, but without practice putting the theory into action no one will give you a chance to prove what you can do. So how do you get practical experience? You get certified, and there are three popular options: online, in-person training, or self-taught.

A good UX syllabus will include portfolio-building projects, tool mastery, networking opportunities, and even 1-2-1 mentorship. As well as learning the fundamentals of UX, you’ll cover user research and strategy, analysis, UI design, and more.

Option A: Online Course

Online courses tend to be much easier on the bank balance, as well as being flexible, which means you can fit them around your current job. You can work at your own pace, and in many cases choose modules that interest you, once you’ve completed the basic introduction.

There are many online course providers, including Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, and Career Foundry.

Whatever option you choose, it is a good idea to get as broad a perspective as possible, so consider following more than one course — perhaps mix and match a paid course with a free one.

Option B: In-Person Training

This could be a university course, or a local boot camp where you physically sit in with an instructor and classmates.

This is more expensive, but it provides benefits that nothing else does. Firstly, you’ll have classmates you can bounce ideas off, collaborate with, keep motivated, inspired, and accountable. You can also get real-time, intensive coaching and advice from someone who’s been there, done that, bought the T-shirt (and redesigned it so it fits better).

Seach local boot camps and workshops, check out workshops at local conferences, and ask your local college what courses they offer.

Option C: Self-Taught

Being self-taught is the cheapest of all options. Work at your own pace, where, and when you want to. Watch YouTube videos, read blogs, garner information anywhere you can find it.

This option involves a lot of stumbling around in the dark. The biggest challenge is that you don’t know what it is that you don’t know. For this reason, it can pay to follow the syllabus of a local college course, even if you’re not enrolled and don’t attend lectures.

In reality, all education is self-taught to an extent, even the most prescribed courses need self-motivation.

Some of the most in-demand UX designers in the world are self-taught, so why not? Start exploring UX blogs like Nielsen Norman Group articles, Google Design,  UX Planet, and UX Matters.

Mastering UX Tools

Recruiters and hiring managers will seek your technical ability and your experience using popular tools from user research, to wireframing, to prototyping. When you get your first job in UX, the tools you use will be determined by your project manager, so it’s a good idea to have a passing familiarity with the most popular. These will include Maze, Userzoom, Sketch, XD, Figma, Marvel, and Hotjar.

If you’re following a guided course you should get an introduction to at least a couple of important tools. Once you understand one, you can probably pick the others up quite quickly… because, after all… they should be intuitive.

You do not need to know how to code, but understanding the roles, and restrictions of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is very beneficial. When you get your first UX job, you’ll need to be able to talk about how technologies fit into the plan.

Building a UX Portfolio

Your portfolio is your résumé. The golden ticket. The silver bullet. Amassing a content-rich portfolio is paramount. You don’t need a real-world job to build your portfolio, and you should already have content to add from your course.

You need to demonstrate knowledge of UX tools and processes (what future employers will look for). Case studies that incorporate research, problem-solving, strategy, imagination, and (if possible) results are the best way to do this.

There are a variety of ways of building a portfolio, but the best is taking a real website, and redesigning it. Don’t worry if your first few projects aren’t the best; as long as you demonstrate improvement and growth, that counts for something.

You can showcase your portfolio on sites such as Behance, Dribbble, or preferably create your website.

Landing Your First Job in UX

Start combing the job boards to see which companies are looking for UX designers. There’s a global shortage of qualified UX designers, so if you can’t find anything you’re looking in the wrong place! Make sure your whole network, from your Mom’s hairdresser to the barista at your favorite coffee place know that you’re looking; you never know where a good lead will come from.

Some companies are looking for UX skills as part of other roles. Others are looking for full-time UXers.

Don’t be disheartened if “Junior UX Designer” positions require 2 years of experience; HR just throws this in as a pre-filter. If you think you can do the job, apply anyway, if your portfolio’s good you might get an interview regardless, and if you get an interview they think you’re worth taking the time to meet.

If you don’t get the job, don’t be downhearted. Remember: every time someone else gets a job, that’s one less person you’re competing with for the next job.

Quick Prep on Some Common UX Interview Questions:

  • What’s your interpretation of a UX Designer?
  • What has inspired you to become a UX Designer?
  • How do you take constructive feedback and non-constructive feedback?
  • Who, or what companies, do you look up to in this industry, and why?
  • What’s your process with a new project?

Good Luck!

So, now you know what it takes to get into the field, it’s time to start applying yourself to this newfound and richly rewarding career. As the great writer Anton Chekov said, “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” So get out there and practice, practice, practice. Add and add and add to your portfolio.

To become a UX Designer, enroll in a great course, build your portfolio, network, apply for roles, and always be learning. Always be open to new ideas and suggestions. There’s a lot of leg work, but the juice will be worth the squeeze.

Featured image via Unsplash.

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Another excellent guide to help people to prepare for job interviews to give them the best possible chances of success and not make some common mistakes can be find here : https://www.ireviews.com/interview-resources/

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20 Best New Websites, November 2021

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Welcome to this month’s round up of what has caught our eye on the web. As it’s November we’re going to help chase those winter blues away with some color.

Color does so much of the heavy lifting in visual design. It can create a mood, reinforce a brand identity, establish a hierarchy, differentiate sections, highlight type or reduce it; color even makes a statement by its absence.

Good use of color isn’t just about getting the most appropriate color scheme for the subject, it’s also about how much color to use, and where to use it. In this collection we’ve included a range of use examples from bright and full of color, to restrained with subtle tones. Enjoy!

Toboggang

There’s a pleasing UPA cartoon feel to the colors and type in this compact portfolio site.

On

On digital technology studio keep things simple with a black on light blue, and infinite scrolling.

re_

A pleasing mix of reds, greens, pinks, and golds liven up a simple grid layout for re_ package free grocery store.

LA Art Box

This site for LA Art Box makes great use of horizontal scrolling and animated transitions.

JYZ Design

Strong color and geometric shapes create a vibrant feel for JYZ Design’s company site.

Hyperframe

Hyperframe’s site takes on board the ‘show, don’t tell’ theory by cleverly using on scroll animation to demonstrate its product’s major selling point.

Rebecca Atwood

Rebecca Atwood’s site combines product shots with a color scheme that reflects the aesthetic of her designs.

Natural Paint Co.

For any paint company, displaying the available colors is a central function of their site. Natural Paint Co. do a really nice job of this with an interactive picker that changes the background color of the window.

Piaule Catskill

Beautiful photography and minimal text do a great job of selling the experience of Piaule Catskill cabins, and the horizontal scrolling on desktop adds extra focus. I found myself looking up flights to New York…

Rose Delights

There is a vintage, hand made quality to the mix of video and photographs on Rose’s home page, that creates a sense of warmth. The transparent mail list sign up is nicely non-invasive.

Voila

This site for Voila instant coffee creates a modern feel with fresh pastel colors balanced by a grounding dark blue.

Chiwawa

Wrestling masks, skeletons and lots of tone on tone color makes this a lively and appealing site for Chiwawa cantina.

HI(NY)

Keeping the rest of the design elements minimal here allows the movement of content areas not become cluttered and fussy feeling.

Think Tank Team

The divided square motif on the Think Tank Team homepage is a nice visual metaphor for building blocks coming together to create a whole.

Just Egg

Lots of yellow, and food close ups in the what part of Just Egg’s site is bold and confident. But the how section with its scrolling animation is the really good bit.

Moooi Paper Play

Although not a standalone site, this is a very pleasing animation centred around a particular product from Moooi.

Maersk Upside

Logistics giant Maersk have added a more user-friendly and visually engaging section to their corporate site, with use cases and real case studies.

Sol’ace

The color palette for Sol’ace furniture is has been carefully chosen to reflect the idea of luxury and natural materials.

Terra

A good mixture of standalone product shots and styled photographs works well here. The navigation options–shop by type, material or collection–have been well thought out too.

Thanxiety

And finally, for our readers in the US, Thanxiety is a carefully chosen collection of conversation topics to help avoid any uncomfortable silences, or family rows, around the dinner table at Thanksgiving. (And maybe the rest of us could use it on other holidays…)

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How To Leverage Social Proof Successfully

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Customer reviews are incredibly valuable to your company. Around 95% of customers say they read reviews before they make a purchase. Another 72% say that they won’t even consider buying your items until they’ve read the reviews associated with your business or product. 

No matter how good your marketing and promotion strategies might be, your audience will always turn to other customers for a credible insight into what buying from your brand is really like. That’s why it’s so important to leverage as much social proof as you can.

Unfortunately, gathering reviews and displaying them correctly on your website can be challenging.

In this article, we’re going to look at what you can do to make your reviews stand out when you’re ready to display them online. 

The Different Kinds of Review

Before we get into looking at all the different ways you can effectively display your reviews on your website, let’s get the basics out of the way. 

There’s more than one type of review. Some are simply comments left on the bottom of your product pages by customers that were impressed by whatever you sold. Other reviews are available in the form of videos or badges. When you want your website to look as credible as possible, the best thing you can do is decide which types of reviews will have the most impact. 

Ideally, you’ll want a combination of different review types to add depth to your site. Putting various kinds of reviews on your website increases your credibility while also boosting your SEO. 

Here are your main options:

The Testimonial

Testimonials are one of the most common types of review. Essentially, these are the messages shared by your customers that highlight the things they liked and didn’t like about your product. Testimonials often include a picture of the person leaving the message, and their name, to give them a greater sense of authenticity. You might also include a link to a website or case study with a testimonial to give it more depth. 

Most testimonials go at the bottom of pages. You can showcase these reviews on your home page to start generating credibility as soon as someone interacts with your brand. Alternatively, you could allow users to place their reviews on product pages. Here’s an example of what a testimonial might look like from ducttapemarketing.com:

Review Badges and Widgets

If your customers tend to leave reviews about your company on other sites, like Angie’s List or Yelp, then you can add a widget or badge to your website that makes it easier for other customers to find them. Sometimes, you’ll just include a small button on the bottom of a website pay that says, “find us on Yelp.” Other times, you can add your star rating too.

Some review sites will also give you the option to showcase the actual reviews in a widget that frequently updates with new messages. 

If you’re only showing reviews from one third-party site on your website, it’s best to focus on Google reviews, as it’s one of the most recognizable options. 

Provided that you’re using them correctly, badges and review widgets shouldn’t slow your website down too much, and many can be customized to suit the style of your site too. However, it’s essential to ensure that you don’t add too many widgets to your site if you want to avoid performance issues. 

Case Studies

Case studies go beyond the basics of the standard review and provide potential leads with a tremendous amount of information about how you’ve previously interacted with other companies. With a case study, you’ll often create a structured document that demonstrates a customer’s problem and your strategies to overcome those issues. 

Case studies often exist on their own pages, so you can go in-depth with sharing valuable information. For example, you’ll include an overview that introduces the customer you worked with and details on the outcomes you achieved together. 

Although it’s much harder to interview customers for complete case studies and get all the statistics and numbers that make these reviews appealing, it’s often worth the effort. Particularly if you’re running a B2B company, case studies demonstrate the effort you go through to support your customers. They also act as proof of your success and set valuable expectations for customers. Here’s an example of a case study page by Fabrikbrands.com:

The Rating

If you’re just posting basic five-star ratings on your website or asking your customers to give you a number between one and ten for how positively they’d rate your service, then you can use a few handy automation tools to create one of these visuals. 

All you need to do is add a little basic CSS to your website or use a star rating widget that automatically calculates your average score based on all of the reviews that you collect from customers. 

Just make sure that your star ratings are positive not just on your website but on other review sites too. For instance, if you give yourself five stars by adjusting the CSS and then get three stars from Yell, customers will begin questioning your authenticity. 

Notably, while star ratings grab customer attention, they are a little basic if you’re trying to convert people and convince them to buy an expensive product. Most customers will often need more information than a basic star rating can provide. 

How to Display Reviews on Your Website

Now that you know what kind of reviews customers can leave about your product or brand, you can start exploring ways to display them on your website. 

You could decide to let your reviews show up on other third-party sites and leave it at that. For instance, if you’re a hotel manager, you may know that your customers are already leaving reviews on Booking.com and TripAdvisor. However, leaving your audience to seek your reviews out for themselves means that they spend less time where you want them – on your website. 

There’s also a risk that failing to add reviews to your site will make you look less credible. If you don’t own your rating or score, customers might wonder what you have to hide. 

Fortunately, we’ve got some great options to help you get started.

1. Create a Testimonials Page

The first and perhaps most accessible option for showcasing your reviews and testimonials is to design a page where your customers can easily find all the information they need about your brand. Having a dedicated testimonials page can be a great way to demonstrate transparency as a brand and show your customers that you’re not hiding anything. 

You could even add a form at the bottom of your testimonials page that allows other customers to leave their reviews and information. Just make sure that you have a CAPTCHA or another security measure in place to prevent people from spamming your site. 

It makes sense to showcase some of your most positive reviews at the top of your page, so your customers see those first. However, it could also be a good idea to showcase some negative reviews alongside them. That’s because customers generally expect to see at least some negativity associated with your brand. If all your reviews are positive, they might assume that you’re hiding something.

When displaying your negative reviews, make sure you also show that you’ve responded to them and are working hard to address any issues. You can even publish the “thank you” you get from an unhappy customer after rectifying the problem. 

2. Show Reviews in Your Website Header

The great thing about using reviews and testimonials on your website is that if you have a little coding knowledge and the correct information, you can display them wherever you choose. Most companies leave the reviews at the bottom of the website, but this could mean you’re missing out on an excellent opportunity to connect with your audience as soon as they visit you. 

Having a positive review highlighted at the top of your page could immediately boost your credibility and give your audience a reason to keep reading. Remember that a picture of the person sharing the review and their name can make them look a lot more credible when you’re trying to build trust. 

3. Add Some Reviews to Your About Us Page

It’s best not to hide your reviews somewhere your customers will have to search for them, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t scatter a few testimonials around other pages. A great way to give more credibility to your brand and your website is to create a sidebar on your “About Us” page or just showcase a handful of reviews underneath the description of your business. 

Suppose you don’t want to show customer testimonials on your About Us page. In that case, you could always show different kinds of reviews, like badges that show your certification with certain industry bodies or awards and recognition you’ve received.

Showing that you’re connected with major industry groups and that you’ve been recognized in your sector is a kind of review in itself. It indicates that other people have already assessed your business and see you in a positive light. 

Every review doesn’t necessarily have to come from your customers. Any business or person who can give more credibility to your business deserves some representation too!

4. Embed a Carousel on Your Site

As your business begins to grow, the number of regular reviews and testimonials you get from happy customers should start to skyrocket too. You might even get to a point where you’re not sure how to fit all the reviews you want to showcase onto the same page of your website. If you already have a dedicated “reviews” page where people can go to get more insights into your growing collection of social proof, try a carousel. 

Carousels are a great and dynamic way to showcase customer reviews while getting your audience more involved with your website. Give them a button they can click so that they can browse through a broader range of reviews after they’ve seen the ones that show up straight away on your carousel. It’s also worth including a link nearby the carousel widget that the user can click to visit your review page or your company’s page on a dedicated review website. 

If you want to go beyond putting carousels on your home page, remember that you can add them to your product pages and menus too. Online reviews impact around 67.7% of purchasing decisions, so it makes sense to put them somewhere your customers will see them when they’re figuring out whether or not they should hit the buy button. 

5. Add Reviews to Your Social Media Ads

Reviews can be an excellent way to add an extra spark to your advertisements elsewhere in the digital landscape. Telling your audience on Facebook that you have the best steaks in the country is great – but it’s not going to make a significant impact on most of them. That’s because every business claims to be the best. Most of your clients expect you to speak well of yourself. 

However, if you can combine an attractive image on social media with a quoted review from one of your happy customers, your ads will make more of an impact. You can include the quote from your customer in the text above your Facebook ad or create an image to display it instead.

Remember to add any hashtags and extra information that might make your ad more appealing and share it as often as you can with the right audience. Targeting your audience carefully towards people who are in the “consideration” stage of the buyer journey may help you to get more conversions. 

While customers usually scroll past dozens of social media ads every day, a genuine statement from a real person still shakes up the status quo and grabs attention. Include a button below the ad so your customer can learn more about the product the customer is talking about. 

6. Link to Reviews in Email Signatures

Finally, social media ads aren’t the only way to bring attention to your reviews outside of your website. If you want to get more external customers to go and check out your products or rediscover what your business is all about, you can add review links to your email signature too. These links can go directly to the case study or review pages on your website, reminding customers what it is that makes your service or product special. Alternatively, you can get dedicated signatures for your email that link to specific review sites too. 

Showing your clients how many ratings you have on Yelp or how many stars your products have earned with Google Reviews gives every message you send a lot more credibility. Most email marketing software solutions make it relatively easy to add information like this to the footer of your email.

Remember, your signature shouldn’t take up too much space in your email, so don’t add any specific reviews from customers. A star rating and a link back to a page where consumers can get more information will spruce up your content without weighing down your emails. 

Show Off Your Social Proof

Successfully collecting positive reviews that show your prospects how much customers love your company can be challenging enough. However, that’s just the first piece of the puzzle. Once you’ve got all those great reviews, you also need to show them off in the most effective way. From dedicated pages on your website to scrolling carousels and Facebook ads, there are a million ways to prove your credibility to your customers with testimonials.

 

Featured image via Pexels.

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