1. Brizy: The Best Website Builder for Non-techies

WordPress is a highly flexible content management system for website creation. A key reason for this flexibility is the wide variety of plugins available. You can add features and other improvements to your site.

The thousands of available useful WordPress plugins cover almost every feature for any type of website. Your website’s niche determines the kind of plugins you should have. There are some great WordPress plugins that every blog site needs; security, speed, SEO, and contact form, to name several.

The most effective WordPress websites create an enjoyable visitor experience. Whether you’re blogging about the latest fashion trends or selling products for your brand, you can enhance your website. Do it with one or more of these ten great WordPress plugins.

1. Brizy: The Best Website Builder for Non-techies

You might want to approach Brizy with caution because once you start using it, no other website theme builder you might try will ever seem as easy to use. Even better, you can download this WordPress website builder for non-techies (and for techies as well) for Free.

With the Brizy WordPress theme builder at your fingertips, you can –

build a brand new website or upgrade an existing one;
create dynamic templates for your blog and archive pages, headers, footers, custom pages, and more;
enjoy instant access to 150+ customer-friendly pre-made templates;
build your blog exactly as you envisioned it;
easily customize your WooCommerce shop site.

Brizy’s Theme Builder, Global Blocks, and Global Styling features are right at your fingertips, and WooCommerce integration is also included.

You can also choose the 100% White Label option if you wish to brand the Brizy Builder as your own. A Pro option is available.

Click on the banner to learn more about Brizy and download it free.

2. WpDataTables – WordPress tables plugin

While there are a host of good reasons for using wpDataTables, the main benefit is that it works with any WordPress theme, it can create a responsive table in minutes, and it requires no coding to use.

With this WordPress tables plugin, you can take advantage of a host of useful features that include –

four chart-building engines: Google Charts, Highcharts, Chart.js, and the new Apex Charts;
connecting to multiple database sources, e.g., MYSQL, MS SQL, and PostgreSQL;
fine-tuning a table or chart to make it responsive or editable and using conditional formatting to highlight critical data;
the ability to create tables from a nested JSON file;
and use dynamic single-cell shortcodes in many different options;
integration with Elementor, Divi, WPBakery, and Avada.

wpDataTables is a robust table and chart-building plugin that’s remarkably straightforward. Just click on the banner to learn more.

3. Amelia – WordPress booking plugin

Amelia is a WordPress booking plugin that can fully automate and streamline its appointment booking operations when added to a business’s WordPress site. This makes Amelia an excellent choice for beauty, healthcare, fitness, consulting, educational, and similar client-dependent businesses.

The Amelia plugin can –

manage an unlimited number of appointment bookings at multiple locations, and do so from a single platform and dashboard;
enable clients to book appointments online 24/7;
easily manage group appointments, package bookings, and events;
send notifications and reminders to clients via Email or SMS, and make payments online with PayPal, Stripe, Mollie, or Razor;
customize booking forms to match its host’s brand.

Click on the banner to find out more about how the Amelia WordPress plugin could be used to upgrade your business’s booking operations.

4. Slider Revolution – more than a WordPress slider plugin

Slider Revolution is a WordPress plugin that is more than just a slider plugin. It’s a highly popular plugin that designers rely on to create visuals they know their clients and customers will love.

Slider Revolution features –

250+ website and slider templates designed to impress;
innovative website animation effects and other features that push the boundaries of what is possible in web design.

Slider Revolution is trusted by over 9 million users around the world.

5. WordLift – AI-powered SEO

Structured data helps your website speak the language of Google, and WordLift is the most innovative way to create one.

It is an AI-powered SEO tool that:

adds structured data to your content;
creates a Knowledge Graph that makes it easier for Google to understand the relevance of pages, their relationship, and their value;
build up the expertise, authority, and trustworthiness of your website.

As a result, you get more organic traffic and audience engagement.

6. TheDock – Ship Solid Websites

TheDock is a design team-oriented WordPress theme builder that supports collaboration, speeds up website design, and helps to create sites that look sharp, perform great, and are easily maintained because of its –

custom Post Types and Custom Fields;
speedy page load;
flexible auto-adjusting layout system with UI components;
white-label builder for sharing access to TheDock if you want to;
built-in features that assure excellent security and easy maintenance.

7. Download Monitor – Best WordPress Download Manager

Download Monitor is a WordPress downloads manager that can help you streamline your business operations without having to go through the process of setting up a complicated or costly tracking solution.

With the Download Monitor plugin, you can –

track any type of file download (ZIP, PPT, XSLX, PDF, etc.);
assemble aggregated file download statistics about different file download types;
establish access rules based on user roles and download quotas.

8. Essential Grid – best WordPress grid plugin

Essential Grid is, by all accounts, the best WordPress grid plugin on the market. Essential Grid makes it ever so easy to spice up your websites by using it to create superbly engaging and professional-looking galleries.

This WordPress plugin can give you –

stunning, fully customizable boxed and full-width to full-screen grid layout options and various grid designs;
responsive designs that enable you to control grid appearance on various devices;
access to social media content.

9. LayerSlider – Best WordPress Slider Builder Plugin

LayerSlider is the best WordPress slider plugin, but it is not just for sliders. Create image galleries, popups, landing pages, animated page blocks, parallax and scroll scenes, and even full websites.

LayerSlider –

will fit your needs and is easy to use;
can spice up and add flair and style to an otherwise run-of-the-mill website;
supports any WordPress theme and page builder;
features 210+ highly customizable websites, slider, and popup templates.

10. YellowPencil – Visual CSS Editor

YellowPencil is a visual CSS editor you can use to customize any WordPress site in minutes.

Key features include –

a complete visual editing interface that allows you to redesign a page with a few clicks;
a simple interface that does not require coding;
the capability to edit any font and any color;
the capability to visually edit a design element’s size, margin, and padding properties;
the ability to undo/redo mistakes.

*******

It is almost needless to tell any WordPress user how important plugins are for a website. A good WordPress plugin has the power to boost the success of your business online by adding a range of helpful features and functionality to your website.

In this article, we have shared our expert pick of 10 great WordPress plugins for your websites in 2023.

[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of BAW media –]

The post 10 Great WordPress Plugins in 2023 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

17 janvier 2023/par Service comm.

11 Best WordPress Themes for 2023

Have you been searching in vain to find a great WordPress theme that you can use to create a website that will perfectly match your brand and vision?

Building a top-of-the-line website is no longer the complicated process you had to contend with only a few short years ago. More often than not, it was something best left to the developers. The WordPress platform has changed all that with its thousands of quality WordPress themes to choose from.

Finding the best WordPress theme to fit your needs is still not easy. The search to find that ideal WordPress theme can put your patience to the test.

We’ve tried out best to simplify your search. We believe we have succeeded with this listing of 11 Best WordPress themes.

1. Be – Multipurpose WordPress Theme

This big, beautiful, and powerful multipurpose WordPress theme is among the best in the business. 250,000+ satisfied users attest to its popularity. With respect to size, which readily translates into flexibility, BeTheme’s 40+ core features take care of that issue.

Those core features include a 650+ pre-built website library, a host of design elements and options, and the most advanced page and website-building tools on the market.

Powerful website-building tools BeTheme places at your fingertips include –

Be Builder is a fast, light, and super-intuitive website builder for WordPress. One of the Builder’s most practical page-building capabilities is viewing an element as you customize it.
Be Builder Blocks is a growing library of time-saving pre-built sections.
Be Builder Woo offers a quick and convenient way to design an online store with customer-centric shopping features like product previews, cart, checkout, etc.
Be Theme’s Header Builder 2.0 features 14 pre-build headers, including mobile-ready and interactive titles.

A setup wizard and helpful tutorial are included. You’ve been invited to test the stunning Be Builder’s capabilities in this Live Demo.

2. Total WordPress Theme

“Build it your way.” could serve as Total’s slogan. Flexibility rules in terms of providing users everything they could ask for to build attractive, engaging, and performant websites.

Total accomplishes this with its multiplicity of design options, customizer settings, layout choices, navigation options, dynamic template functionality, and the popular WPBakery frontend drag-and-drop page builder.

Total’s page builder blocks and extra modules, post entry cards, animations, layout options, and custom backgrounds make building a website a quick and easy undertaking.
Total fully integrates with WooCommerce, it features clean, developer-friendly code, and is RTL and translation ready.
The popular Slider Revolution plugin is included, and Total is compatible with many other popular plugins, including bbPress, Uber Menu, Easy Digital Downloads, and WPML, to name a few.

Click on the banner to learn more about everything that has delighted Total’s 48,000 users.

3. Blocksy Free Ecommerce WordPress Theme

Blocksy’s prioritization of flexibility, extensibility, and speed has resulted in a WordPress theme that gives you complete control to create and customize your website’s appearance and functionality as you build it.

These major Blocksy priorities find their way into this theme’s key features, which consist of –

an easy-to-use options interface and integration with WooCommerce, Gutenberg, Elementor, Brizy & Beaver, and Tutor LMS will provide you with a wealth of design approaches and options.

Blocksy’s other features of note include –

a Header Builder with a host of customized elements
a Footer Builder complete with a menu, social icons, and a widget area.
Five types of Content Blocks

And not to forget, Blocksy is free! Click on the banner to check it out. There is a Pro version of Blocksy, but the free version offers plenty.

4. Avada WordPress Theme

The fact that Avada, with more than 750,000 users, is the #1 best-selling WordPress theme of all time should be reason enough to give it a closer look.

This ultimate WordPress theme was created with speed and exceptional performance in mind.
Its WooCommerce builder is just what you need to create a shop, cart, checkout, and product layouts customized to match your brand.
features include 400+ pre-built web pages and 120+ design and layout elements.

5. Uncode – Creative & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

There is no limit to what you can build in the way of attractive and engaging websites and online stores when you have Uncode’s Creative and WooCommerce theme at your back.

Uncode places at your fingertips –

its advanced Drag & Drop Product Builder, high-performance Ajax product filters, swatches, and outstanding shop layouts
70+ professionally designed pre-made designs you can mix and match, and 500+ Wireframes carefully designed section templates.

6. TheGem – Creative and WooCommerce WordPress Theme

TheGem creative WordPress theme is a Swiss Army knife of web design tools with its creative modern layouts, super-fast loading times, and easy-to-use tools for building a professional website that will leave the competition in the dust.

Key features include –

Theme Builder for building headers, footers, products, popups, etc., in Elementor or WPBakery
400+ pre-built importable websites and TheGem Blocks collection of 600+ pre-built page sections
Extended WooCommerce tools for building pixel-perfect online shops.

7. Woodmart Woocommerce WordPress Theme

If building an online store is on your mind, you won’t go wrong with WoodMart, ThemeForest’s highest-rated eCommerce theme. Woodmart’s customization options are virtually unlimited, while its drag-and-drop builder can reduce your workflow to a minimum.

WoodMart design features include –

80+ pre-built websites
Elementor shop and product page builders with a multiplicity of product page display options and Elementor’s custom checkout
An AJAX shop complete with AJAX shop filters and product swatches.

8. Rey WordPress WooCommerce Theme

The Rey WooCommerce theme takes building a WooCommerce site to an exciting new level with its powerful Elementor and WooCommerce integrations coupled with WordPress’s sophisticated engine.

Rey’s other key features include:

A valuable selection of pre-made designs
A selection of Elementor widgets designed to cover most website design situations
Ajax Navigation and Filters designed to simplify your site’s page browsing and navigation functionality.

Rey is performance-oriented, responsive, developer, and SEO-friendly.

9. Litho – WordPress Elementor Theme

Litho is creative and modern, and it’s highly customizable. This WordPress Elementor theme is totally integrated with Elementor, the world’s #1 free page builder.

With Litho, you have the tools to easily create any type of business niche, portfolio, blog, or eCommerce website.
Litho’s design features include 37+ ready home pages, 200+ creative elements, 300+ templates, and the popular Slider Revolution plugin.
Online detailed documentation is also included.

10. Vault – Multi-Purpose Elementor WordPress Theme

Vault’s multiplicity of design tools and design options packed into a single framework make website building as simple as one-two-three.

Start with selections from Vault’s 50+ full websites, 1200+ template blocks, and 230+ premium widgets.
Put into play the next-generation Theme Options Panel with its beautiful interactions and animations.
Pull everything together with Vault’s interactive design tools and customization options.

And you’ll end up with a modern, engaging, high-performance website.

11. KnowAll – WordPress Knowledge Base Theme

KnowAll is simply the most powerful WordPress Knowledge Base theme on the market. All the tools are there to help you build a high-performance and easy-to-use knowledge base.

KnowAll’s advanced analytics will give you an excellent awareness as to how visitors use your knowledge base.
KnowAll’s visitor feedback will give you a better grasp as to which content visitors find to be valuable and engaging and which articles may be less helpful.

*******

Each of the 11 best WordPress themes listed here are noted for their high-quality designs. Also, for their impressive selections of demos, pre-built layouts, and templates. Each offers a wealth of customization settings, options, and other genuinely useful features. They are designed to make your website serve its purpose effectively and efficiently.

These highly popular WordPress themes were selected for a reason. No matter which one you choose, you’ll be well on the way to creating an outstanding product.

[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of BAW Media –]

The post 11 Best WordPress Themes for 2023 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

11 janvier 2023/par Service comm.

Exciting New Tools for Designers, January 2023

It’s the start of a new year, and product designers are already launching thousands of new apps, tools, and resources.

In January’s edition of our monthly roundup of the most exciting new downloads for designers and developers, there’s everything from full-blown applications to helpful little side projects. Enjoy!

Observable

Observable lets you explore, analyze, and explain data as a team to uncover insights, and make better decisions. Build fresh data visualizations with drag-and-drop components or JavaScript.

Blocs

Blocs is a no-code website builder based on Bootstrap 5. It has a whole heap of templates, so all you need to do is pick one, customize it, and add your content.

blogstatic

blogstatic is a fantastic no-code blogging platform with a minimal UI that lets you focus on nothing but your content. There’s built-in SEO, plus themes and hosting is included.

Lessmail

Lessmail is an excellent way to clean out your inbox for the new year. Unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters, delete old messages and focus on the mail you want.

Ultimate Side Projects Playbook

Is 2023 the year you’ll launch a web-conquering side project? Give yourself the best chance with the free Ultimate Side Projects Playbook to guide you through the process.

Ashore

Get your web designs, prototypes, and other creative work sign-off fast using Ashore. Upload your files, share them with stakeholders, and track when your designs are approved.

Frase

Frase is an AI tool for researching, writing, and optimizing content with high-quality SEO keywords. Write anything from content briefs to blog posts in a fraction of the usual time.

Uiverse

Uiverse is a collection of UI elements designed by the community that you can use on your site for free or even submit your own designs for others to use.

Rive

Rive is an excellent app for building fast, small, interactive animations and motion graphics for the web. Animations built-in Rive can run on the web or in native apps.

Vuestic UI

Vuestic UI is an excellent UI framework for Vue. All aspects are fully customizable, and Vuestic UI seamlessly integrates with other component libraries for even more options.

Localfonts.xyz

Localfonts.xyz is a simple way to browse the fonts installed on your local machine in your browser. It’s a fast solution for choosing fonts for your designs.

PixelBin

PixelBin is a tool for optimizing and delivering images. It uses AI to transform your assets and allows you to use larger, higher-quality images without bloated load times.

EarlyBird

EarlyBird is a no-code landing page generator perfect for teams launching an early-stage website. You can get your product online fast and start validating it with real users.

RippleUI

RippleUI is a toolkit for UI design that improves on the Tailwind approach by simplifying classes to reduce the amount of code you need. In addition, it includes components and utility classes to speed up your web development.

No Code AI Model Builder

If you want to build your own AI models but you don’t know how to code, you can use No-Code AI Model Builder to generate AI models in minutes.

Templatify

Save hours creating social media templates with Templatify, a collection of 201 templates for Twitter and Instagram. There are dark and light versions, and a full video tutorial shows you how to customize them.

Detangle

Detangle beats small print by using the power of AI to generate human-readable summaries of legal documents so you can understand what you’re signing.

Mesher

CSS Hero’s Mesher creates incredible multicolor gradients that can be customized and exported to CSS for use in your projects.

OldestSearch.com

OldestSearch.com is a fascinating look at the web that was. Enter any search term, and it will return the oldest matching links available on Google Search.

Detect GPT

Detect GPT is a helpful Chrome extension that scans the content of web pages and determines if the content has been auto-generated by AI. It’s very handy for checking the validity of blog posts.

The post Exciting New Tools for Designers, January 2023 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

9 janvier 2023/par Service comm.

6 Predictions for Web Design in 2023

Welcome to our annual guessing game of what the next twelve months will bring.

As ever, the design world isn’t isolated from the world in which it exists, so when events shape our lives, they impact our work, the work clients ask for, and the work that inspires us. According to Collins Dictionary, the word of the year for 2022 was permacrisis. And frankly, 2023 doesn’t look any less turbulent, with some good and some bad things already on the horizon.

Russia seems all but certain to retreat to Crimea and claim its objectives in Ukraine have been achieved; Ukraine may not accept that end, but it will probably be enough to end sanctions against Russia, which will significantly impact the economy worldwide. Brazil may have been forced to watch Argentina lift the FIFA World Cup, but it has a new (old) president and fresh hope for the survival of the Amazon rainforest. Crypto has weathered a series of storms (although there may be more to come), and historical precedence suggests the bear market has run its course; 2023 will see stagnation, with an upward trend taking hold toward the end of the year. The former Pope has died, potentially paving the way for the retirement of the current Pope and the election of a new Pope, bringing with it either renewed liberalism or renewed conservatism to the world’s largest religion. Oh, and the IMF thinks a third of the world will be in recession at some point in 2023; the UK and Russia already are, and policymakers in the US are looking nervous.

And that’s just the obvious. Of course, there will be surprises, too, because there always are.

Against this backdrop, designers must not only navigate a problematic jobs market but produce designs that respond to the needs and desires of their clients’ users.

How Did I Do in 2022?

Before diving into this year’s predictions, let’s take a look at how I thought 2022 would play out.

I predicted that 2022 would be the year of blockchain, with decentralized data storage taking over. Well, I got the decentralized part right, but not so much the blockchain aspect (feel free to tell me I’m wrong on Mastodon because I’m not checking Twitter anymore). I’ll call that half a point.

I said design would be positive, playful, and accessible. I think design did emerge from its obsession with corporate minimalism, but positive and playful? Unfortunately, I’m calling that a miss.

I said everything would be green. Again, that’s a miss. If there was a color for 2022, it was a pink-purple gradient.

I predicted hero text would replace hero images, and in the third quarter of 2022, that’s exactly the trend we saw; tick.

Finally, I suggested that illustration would adopt a grainy texture. Well, some designers did, but it was hardly a dominant trend, so I’m going to have to call that a miss.

So for my 2022 predictions, I scored 30%. Way worse than last year’s clean sweep. Let’s see if we can’t beat that in 2023…

1. We’ll Stop Freaking Out Over AI

By now, you’ve probably tried AI, freaked out, and Googled how to start a small holding in the mountains.

The truth is that AI is just a tool. And a good one at that. AI is really good at derivative work. But it’s entirely incapable of improvising, holding opinions, having an agenda, or thinking outside the box.

AI will not replace your job — unless your job is deleting the background from photos, in which case it already has. Since when did Stephen King get replaced by a spellchecker?

If you haven’t tried an AI tool yet, I’d encourage you to try it. It does the small repetitive tasks well.

2. We’ll Embrace the Real World

One of the reasons AI can’t be creative is that it doesn’t have the same number of input sensors we have. We can smell, hear, feel, and experience the world in a multitude of different ways.

Most of us spent a year in lockdown working remotely. Then rushed back to the office, only to discover that our teamwork didn’t actually improve. With the worsening economic outlook, big companies are looking to budget, and the simplest way to cut costs is to ask staff to work remotely.

When your commute is a five-second walk to the spare bedroom, you find yourself with more free time. Sure, you could probably learn Python, but wouldn’t you be happier learning to paddleboard?

As we open ourselves to new experiences, our design work will inevitably become more diverse and natural.

3. We’ll Reject Brutalism

It had a good run, but Brutalism isn’t a good fit for most UI projects. The trend of 2021–22 will vanish as quickly and as unexpectedly as it arrived.

4. We’ll Reject Darkmode

It has had a good run, and dark mode is a perfect fit for most UI projects. But we’re all kinda sick of it.

I hope I’m wrong about this one; not only is dark mode genuinely better for both your eyes and the environment, but the rich, warm blackness is the perfect antidote to sterile white corpo-minimalism.

Dark mode options are built into our OS, so it’s doubtful that it’s going to vanish anytime soon. However, dark mode as a design trend for its own sake is probably on the wane.

Typically trends come and go in symmetrical waves. Dark mode has been a dominant trend for years, so it should take as long to vanish completely.

5. We’ll Embrace Personal Retro

Every year we get the exciting job of guessing which decade the zeitgeist will rip off next. Will 2023 be the year of ’80s retro, ’90s retro, ’00s retro, or maybe (somebody shoot me) ’10s retro?

The retro trends we’ve seen over the last few years have been poor pastiches of their associated decades. If last year’s ’90s retro was inspired by the ’90s, it was a ’90s someone else was living.

In 2023 we’ll move beyond someone else’s ideas of what the past was like, to a personal vision of what came before. One in which the sunbleached colors of eternal Summers in the suburbs dominate.

6. We’ll Fall For Borecore

We’re all guilty of designing with our egos from time to time, and there is a tendency to hit users between the eyes with the biggest type, the loudest gradient, and the flashiest animation.

If you truly want to impress users in 2023, stop inserting pop-ups, adverts, cookie notices, and the other extraneous detritus that stops them from doing whatever it is they arrived on your site for. Impressing users in 2023 means clean typography, low-distraction art direction, and helpful content. Boring design just isn’t as boring as it used to be.

In 2023, the best thing designers can do for their users is get out of the way.

Happy New year! We hope it’s a good one.

Featured image by myriammira on Freepik

The post 6 Predictions for Web Design in 2023 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

2 janvier 2023/par Service comm.

Why Web Design Still Matters in 2023

As we move into 2023, there are an increasing number of ways companies can engage with their customers. And as the number of apps, browser extensions, social media feeds, newsletters, vlogs, and podcasts grows, you can be forgiven for thinking that websites are a little less essential than they were in say, 2021.

However, the truth is that websites remain an irreplaceable part of the digital landscape and they will continue to be into 2023 and beyond.

Websites, as the keystone of a centralized, privately run digital experience couldn’t be more relevant. Unlike competing technologies, websites allow almost total control of their source code, and that provides an opportunity for skilled designers and developers to compete against the biggest names in their clients’ industries in a way that simply isn’t possible in tightly governed systems like social media.

Not only does quality web design help businesses increase their traffic, but it can increase the quality of that traffic; an attractive and user-friendly web page will encourage web users to stay on the page longer, and explore more of the content it links to.

Websites vs. Social Media

For many brands, the option they turn to for connecting with customers is social media. Particularly platforms like Facebook and Instagram. While billions of us are happy to while away our free time on social media, it’s not a great platform for informed decision-making or task fulfillment. For any form of productivity, websites are superior:

Flexibility: Websites can be customized to suit a company’s vision and values, whereas social media tends to magnify accounts that reflect its own values.
Ownership: When you publish on your website you own your content, when you post to social media the platform tends to own your content.
Investment: As we’ve seen recently with a certain bird-themed social network, you can spend years investing time in your social media channel only to have it canceled by an individual with his own agenda.
Findability: Websites are discoverable on search engines, and although algorithms govern these search engines, competition across different search engines keeps search algorithms honest. Social media networks each use a single algorithm making them free to skew browsing any way they choose.
Scaleability: Websites can take advantage of the latest technologies to improve user experience, on social media user experience is governed by the network’s decisions.

Websites vs. Apps

When it comes to owning a piece of the internet, a connected app feels like ownership. However, websites have a number of benefits over an app, from a superior user experience to lower development costs. And ultimately, apps are also controlled by 3rd parties.

Accessibility: Websites are universally accessible, while apps are usually limited to certain operating systems or platforms. If you want to distribute to devices, you’ll need to be approved by the store owner who can (and will) change the terms and conditions of store distribution without consulting you.
Flexibility: Websites provide a greater level of flexibility and scalability than apps.
Cost-effective: A simple website can be created and launched in a weekend, they are considerably more cost-effective to develop and maintain than apps.
Findability: Search engines have evolved around website technologies, and it is far easier to create a discoverable website than an app that ranks high in an app store.
Universality: Websites have lower entry costs for users, and there aren’t any downloads or purchases required.
3rd-party features: Websites can integrate 3rd-party content like chatbots, payment gateways, and forms, that generally require licensing to include in an app.

Websites vs. Podcasts and Vlogs

There’s no question that podcasts and vlogs are engaging types of content. However, they are very limited when it comes to different kinds of experience. These tend to be passive, linear experiences. Even if your podcast opens itself up to listener interaction, your customers are still passive consumers.

Cost-effective: Websites can be set up very cheaply, podcasts and vlogs on the other hand require high-production values to compete.
Longevity: Well-written website content can remain relevant for years, the lifespan of a vlog or podcast is often just a few months.
Flexibility: Websites can embed podcasts and vlogs, as well as virtually any other content; podcasts and vlogs can only ever be podcasts and vlogs. Websites will continue to evolve long after podcasts are obsolete.
Simple: There is now a range of no-code options for creating a reliable website, meaning it can be done with little to no skills or experience. Podcasts and vlogs require a great deal of technical knowledge to produce.
Findability: As with other technologies, podcasts and vlogs can’t compete with websites when it comes to search engine optimization.
Faster: A well-designed website is much smaller than a podcast or vlog, making it cheaper and easier to access, especially on a cellular network.

Websites in 2023 and Beyond

In 2023 websites will still be a critical part of a successful business strategy and web designers will continue to be essential members of any team.

Websites continue to offer numerous benefits over other technologies including increased flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and superior search engine opportunities.

Unlike social media platforms that allow you to customize a few assets like avatars and colors, websites can be completely customized to fit the tone and style of a brand. Additionally, websites have a far lower barrier to entry than podcasts, vlogs, or apps. While apps may offer a richer set of features than a website, that is offset by the restrictions on platform and device capabilities that apps impose.

Websites will continue to evolve as the tech landscape changes. New ideas for consuming digital media will appear over time, offering unique new experiences — for example, mass adoption of AR (Augmented Reality) is just around the corner. However, the website is perfectly evolved for the types of simple customer interaction that businesses rely on, and will continue to matter in 2023 and beyond.

Featured image by fullvector on Freepik

The post Why Web Design Still Matters in 2023 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

28 décembre 2022/par Service comm.

40 Best New Fonts of 2022

Choosing the right typefaces for your website can elevate a design from dour to delightful. The right typeface gives personality to your brand voice and can make sure your content gets read.

And so, every month, we put together a roundup of the best new fonts for web designers. In this roundup of the year, we look back at the past twelve months and showcase our forty favorite fonts of 2022. Enjoy!

Tellumo

Tellumo is an elegant geometric sans-serif that oozes positivity. It comes with a standard set of caps and an alternative set of swash caps.

DT Random Display

DT Random Display is an original approach to typeface design. It’s perfect for posters or a branding project with a courageous client.

Rebrand

Rebrand is a sans-serif packed with character. There are display and text versions, each with seven weights.

Aiglon

Aiglon is a monolinear semi-geometric sans-serif. It is simple and forthright, without being dull or forgettable.

Shorai Sans

Shorai Sans is a blend of geometric sans-serif and calligraphic brushstrokes. As well as Latin glyphs, there’s a complete set of Japanese characters.

Monden

Monden is a high-contrast serif with a clever little kick on the lowercase h, m, and n that adds richness to body text.

Canora

Canora is a calligraphic typeface with two styles: Frente leans to the right, and Verso leans to the left.

Epicene

Epicene is a beautifully baroque typeface with some intriguing details. There are two families, a display version and a text version.

Sangbleu

Sangbleu is a super-family of typefaces with five complementary styles: Empire, Kingdom, Republic, Versailles, and Sunrise.

Forme

Forme is a typically British grotesque typeface with the bonus of having an equally functional Arabic sibling.

Aprello

Aprello is a robust sans-serif that’s ideal for branding projects. There are six weights, each with an italic and a variable font version.

Selva

Selva is an elegant serif typeface in the Scotch tradition. It has a vast number of weights and a particularly attractive italic.

GT Planar

GT Planar is a unique typeface with both italic and retalic styles that slant up to 45 degrees in each direction.

Veqay

Veqay is an elegant stencil typeface with organic shapes, making it ideal for certain branding and editorial design.

Apta

Apta is a clean sans-serif with excellent proportions. Unusually it comes in three versions, a geometric style, a humanist style, and a combination style.

Antodits

Antodits is an energetic script face that has the feel of graffiti. This is a great display font for headlines.

Delvard

Delvard is a family of three typefaces, Display, Subhead, and Text. It’s a beautiful serif with script-like strokes.

Rosales

Rosales integrates a humanist style with geometric forms and calligraphic alternatives to create a unique typeface.

Fisterra

Fisterra is an informal serif with two different styles: Morte, with emphasizes curves, and Fora, which emphasizes sharp lines.

Connection

Connection is a precisely drawn typeface with beautiful detail courtesy of a calligraphic influence.

Ping Round

Ping Round is a simple sans-serif drawn with as few strokes as possible, resulting in some characterful letterforms.

Mule

Mule is a hard-working serif with friendly, engaging letterforms. It has a great rhythm, making it ideal for extended text.

Arnika

Arnika is a contemporary typeface with a large x-height. The flares on its strokes put it mid-way between a serif and a sans-serif.

Kingsad

Kingsad is a sans-serif designed for branding. The generous curves and wide letterforms make it best suited to short text.

Apice

Apice is an elegant script font perfect for posters, branding, and editorial design. It’s a variable font with a setting to control stroke contrast.

The Future

The Future is a reworking of the ideas behind Futura. It has a great mix of Western and Japanese typographic traditions.

Mallory

Mallory is an Art Nouveau-inspired display face. It has graceful sweeping curves and strong contrast.

Fabbrica

Fabbrica is a functional sans-serif that performs exceptionally well at small sizes and especially well on screen.

Gills & Co

Gills & Co is another of this year’s crop of Art Nouveau-inspired typefaces. It’s ideal for editorial design.

Satiata

Satiata is an energetic typeface that almost dances across the screen. Best used for branding or display type.

Fold

Fold is a no-nonsense sans-serif that’s plan spoken and trustworthy. It has four weights with corresponding italics.

Bells Morten

Bells Morten is a display font inspired by vintage signage. It’s bold and all-caps, with sharp flared serifs.

Mori

Mori is a versatile sans-serif inspired by contemporary Japanese design. It’s ideal for branding and editorial design.

Nitido

Nitido is a humanist sans-serif designed as a companion for the popular Nitida font family. It’s beautifully suited to branding work.

Lithops

Lithops is a fantastic display face for posters, T-shirts, and editorial design, with a pattern making up the letters that’s reminiscent of seaweed.

Rapidissima

Rapidissima is a companion typeface to Rapida. While Rapida is a careful usable serif, Rapidissima is an exploration of speed.

Firelli

Firelli is a warm, contemporary slab serif with a range of weights. It’s an excellent choice for display and body type.

OBO Star

OBO Star is a semi-monospaced typeface, meaning that most of the characters use the same space.

Nagel

Nagel is a uniwidth sans-serif with a low stroke contrast and some bold detailing. It’s ideally suited to short texts and branding.

Practico Slab UI

Practico Slab UI is a workhorse slab serif that blends European and American mid-century styles. It’s available as a variable font.

The post 40 Best New Fonts of 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

26 décembre 2022/par Service comm.

10 Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring a Web Design Agency

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.

The post 10 Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring a Web Design Agency first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.