3 Essential Design Trends, December 2020

The end of the year tends to be busy for a variety of reasons and it can limit some of the freshness we see in designs during much of the year. Regardless, there are a few trending design elements.

What we are seeing right now is rooted in deep simplicity with a focus on the message.

Here’s what’s trending in design this month…

Activism and Engagement

Websites with a focus on societal issues have moved to the forefront. While the look and design techniques used for these websites can vary greatly, there’s a common theme of activism, community engagement, and support.

What’s great about this movement – and what it reflects – is that people can take to the digital space to help amplify their message or find support with people who are going through the same things they are.

While some of these efforts are backed by people and brands you may know, that’s not always the case.

The designs also work best when they reflect the personality of the spokesperson or mood of the issue at hand. Note the vast differences in the three examples.

The I Weigh Community uses bright color with a black and white image of promoter and celebrity Jameela Jamil to bring attention to mental health issues.

Wear the Waste by retailer H&M uses simple typography in a natural environment to set the stage for more eco-friendly clothing options.

Wavering Stripes uses an illustrative approach to bring attention to the stories of immigrants in detention.

Each design is vastly different but all are striking and draw attention to the causes therein. The common thread is that each design is simple enough to draw you in and help you better understand the message and not get lost in tricks or design effects.

In Your Face Products

’Tis the season for product promotion.

Designers are opting for larger-than-life product images that allow shoppers to see every detail before making a purchase. (Seems like a good plan in a socially-distanced pandemic world.)

It can work in a number of ways:

With an oversized image and ability to use on-screen controls to take a closer look;
With video and animation effects to see the product in action;
With super high-resolution and zoomed in photography.

Pair these visuals with strong descriptive language and you’ve got a winning combination.

The variance in the examples is a good showcase of how to do this well, while not over-doing effects.

The Fitbit Charge 4 website uses an opening image of the device that’s way larger in scale than reality (especially if you are on a large desktop screen). Users control using click and scroll to get more views and details of the device. Zoom and animation aren’t overwhelming, providing a solid look at the product.

The Nest Thermostat opens with a video animation of the device moving into the forefront of the screen. (It’s rather quick.) From there, if you want more detail, there’s a video to watch that provides deeper product information in a digestible manner.

The final example isn’t really a product at all, but rather an art installation. What’s interesting is that it uses these same oversized options to show the art in detail. This is a great way to handle seeing something that you may not be able to experience in person. What makes it work so well is that the angles of the photography mimic how you would view it, looking up toward the piece hanging from the ceiling.

Simple Motion for Impact

Carrying on the theme of big, bold, and oversized designs, this trend focuses on simple animation for maximum impact.

While all-out cinematic animation can be fun to watch, it can be a little overwhelming at times. This more subtle approach is easier to digest and helps put the focus on the content at hand rather than the effect on the display.

There are plenty of ways to use simple animated effects, including scrolling animations, hover actions, and constantly moving elements. (You can see each of these if you click through the examples.)

The Patrick Mahomes store, 2PM, uses a single line of moving text that tells you what the website is about. It differentiates the retail store website from information about the athlete or his other efforts. White text on a black background is classic and easy to read. The most important thing of note may be the speed of the animation; it’s timed in a way that’s scannable but not dizzying. Sometimes the hardest part of nailing an animation is getting the speed right.

The resume-style website for Naomi Niko is striking and simple, but neat hover effects and a simple scroll animation for her resume only – and not the photo or details on the left side of the screen – make the design intriguing. The almost awkward crop and directional pull of her image also creates interest and makes you want to get further into the design.

Guilbo uses layered hover animation to make it look like he’s blowing a glittery-dust off the screen and at the user. The rugged detail of his face with the sparkle of the animation is a fun contrast. The design uses layering with dots in the foreground and background for an additional depth effect. It’s also especially nice that the objects are made to stay off his face for a realistic effect.

Conclusion

While 2020 has been an interesting year, designers have continued to find new ways to evolve the craft and create visual experiences that are inspiring. These trends are no exception.

It shows that even in unusual circumstances or with odd constraints, that amazing work and creativity can thrive. Stay creative everyone, and keep those new designs – and potential trends – coming!

Source

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

7 décembre 2020/par Service comm.

Popular Design News of the Week: November 30, 2020 – December 6, 2020

Actualités, Actualités, Business

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

Sidekick Browser – The Fastest Browser Built for Work

Why is Apple’s M1 Chip so Fast?

Two Color Combinations – A Curated Collection of 164 Two-color Palette Combinations

5 Tips to Build a Stunning Website that Stands Out from the Crowd

10+ Bootstrap Newsletters

Text Fish – Get Just Text

Ecommerce Website Designs: 27 Best Online Shops and Why They Work

SpaceHey – MySpace Reborn

State of CSS – 2020

5 Overlooked Mobile Experience Design Best Practices

Modern Blackletter Inspired Fonts and their Use in Web Design

Internxt Drive – Secure & Private Cloud Storage Service

Spline – 3D for the Web (Preview Release)

Nots – A Free Beautifully Designed Note-taking App for your Desktop

Google Play’s Best of 2020

Beacon – Run SQL Commands in Slack

Designing for the New Reality: Getting Rid of Pre-COVID Assumptions

Undoing the Toxic Dogmatism of Digital Design

Color Theory: A Beginner’s Guide for Designers

Atkinson Hyperlegible Font

11 Tips for Creating a Usable Website Contact Page

The 7 Secrets to a Great Conversation

Checklist Generator – Create Checklists for Free and Host Them Wherever You Want

Empathetic Design: The First Stage of Design Thinking

Handy Guide to Networking for UX Designers

Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.

Source

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

6 décembre 2020/par Service comm.

3 Easy Ways to Use Emotion in Web Design

Actualités, Actualités

As human beings, we like to think that we’re rational creatures.

We tell ourselves that we make our decisions based on fact and logic. However, that’s rarely the full truth. As much as we try to make choices guided by rationality, the truth is that we’re often highly emotional people, driven by the way that things make us feel.

So, what does that mean for a website designer?

Though designing a functional and logical website is important, it’s crucial not to forget about the emotional impact of each interaction that your customer has with the sites that you build.

Sites that don’t elicit any kind of emotional response aren’t just boring; they’re forgettable.

A forgettable website is poison to any website designer’s portfolio.

That’s why we’re going to introduce you to some easy ways to use emotion in your designs this year.

Getting to the Bottom of Emotion in Web Design

First, you need to understand the part that emotion plays in user decisions.

Don Norman’s book Emotional Design says that there are many things that designers can do to make their designs more emotional. Even something as simple as focusing on the aesthetic impact of your website can make it more likely that you’ll reach your audience on an emotional level.

One important thing to remember about emotional design, is that it’s not just about making your customers feel good. Emotion can be both positive and negative. Sometimes negative emotion is more impactful than positive feelings – it all depends on the kind of site you’re trying to create.

A website selling health products to customers needs to make that audience feel comfortable and confident that they’re buying a trustworthy item. However, it may also need to trigger small feelings of worry or concern in the audience about what might happen if they don’t buy.

Knowing how to walk that balance between positive and negative feelings is how a designer takes a simple website design and turns it into something incredible.

So, where do you get started?

Step 1: Use Visual Elements to Trigger Emotion

Visual elements are one of the easiest points to get started with when you’re designing for emotion. That’s because visuals are fantastic at drawing out feelings.

An animation can create an emotional connection with your audience by helping them to understand how your product works or making them laugh when they land on your page. A genuine photograph of your team working together can inspire trust and feelings of affinity.

One of the most common visual elements used to trigger emotion is color.

Shades like blue and green in the digital design world are more likely to drive feelings of calmness and comfort. On the other hand, red and yellow often encourage feelings of enthusiasm and happiness.

The way that you use color can make a massive difference to how users feel when they arrive on a website. For instance, the Barclay’s website would have been pretty boring if it was just a basic black and white screen. However, a banking site can’t afford to go over the top with animations or illustrations in most cases, as this can detract from its professional image.

Adding small patches of blue in a way that complements the brand’s color palette is a great way to generate feelings of trust. Combined with the image of a genuine real-life person, and calm tones, the bank instantly presents itself as something approachable and honest.

At the same time, the clear hierarchical layout of the bank’s website, with an easy-to-follow navigation bar, easy-to-read font, and clear headings and buttons comfort the customer. Users get exactly what they expect when they come to a financial website, and that makes users feel as though they’re in the right place.

Step 2: Create Engaging and Emotional Interactions

Visual elements are a great way to embed emotion into digital design. However, they’re just the first step. The emotional aspects of your web design choices should also appear throughout the interactions that customers have with the website.

A good interaction on a website or app needs to be simple and straightforward enough that users feel comfortable taking the next step in their journey. However, it also needs to drive the right emotional response from users too.

For instance, when you sign up for a free account trial from Box.com, you don’t just get a form full of information that you need to fill out.

Next to the form, you also get information about what you’re signing up for, complete with small checks next to each of the free features you’re getting. This helps to put the customer’s mind at ease and remind them that they’re in the right place.

The use of a box, including discount information next to the sign-up form also helps to make the interaction more emotional, by reminding customers that they’re getting something for free.

Every time a customer interacts with a website, there’s another opportunity to engage them on an emotional level. On the Firebox website, when a customer adds something to their cart, there’s a small animation on the cart icon that informs them that something is waiting for them.

When they click through to the checkout, they get instant information, including what they can do to “gift wrap” their item, and buttons showing the various payment options available.

Whenever you’re designing a page for a website, whether it’s the checkout page, a product page, or something else entirely, think about the interaction that the visitor is having at that moment. How can you ensure that each customer feels more comfortable, delighted, informed, or engaged?

Step 3: Leverage Microcopy and Detail to Express Emotions

Visuals are an excellent way to express emotions.

However, they’re not the only option.

As a designer, you’ll need to think about how you can combine web design with the use of microcopy to connect with customers on a deeper level.

Rather than drawing attention to tedious, dull, or impersonal instructions, notifications, and error messages on a site, how you can you make sure that everything on the website delivers the same emotional impact?

The simple addition of a tiny illustration is enough to provide a much more emotional experience to customers. Compelling micro copy and illustrations on 404 pages can also strengthen the connections that customers have with the sites they visit.

Just look at how Google added a dinosaur game to the page that customers are sent to when they don’t have an internet connection.

The right micro copy and interactions can instantly transform even a negative experience, like not being able to connect to the internet, into something emotionally engaging and positive.

When it comes to making an emotional connection between your customer and their end users, web designers need to remember that often the smallest details can make the biggest differences. Little extra features, like implementing a way for customers to have fun when their internet connections aren’t working, are the things that make websites more memorable from an emotional perspective.

Don’t Choose Emotion Over Functionality

Although emotional impact can be an essential aspect of a fantastic website design, it’s important not to get carried away. Adding too much to a website in the form of little extra graphics and unique interactions could end up weighing down a site and making it slow to load.

Although it’s valuable to think about how every interaction an end-user has with a website will make them feel, it’s important not to overlook the basics of web design when you’re at it. You’ll still need to ensure that the finishing design is easy to use, engaging, and attractive.

Pay attention to the basics of user experience design, and make sure that the extra emotional elements you’re infusing into your sites aren’t going to damage the experience that end-users get.

If you can get the blend right between emotional impact and functionality, then you could create the kind of website that audiences will never forget.

It pays to implement emotion into your design portfolio.

Source

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

3 décembre 2020/par Service comm.

L’expérience client future : l’IA comme intermédiaire

Actualités, ERP & Applications, SAP

L’intelligence artificielle (IA) s’impose comme le nouvel intermédiaire entre les entreprises et les clients dans la décision d’achat.

L’IA s’impose dans l’expérience client

La complexité de la vie moderne soumet notre cerveau à une vraie surcharge cognitive. Pour y remédier, les clients se tournent vers les IA et se fient à leurs recommandations, délaissant les interactions traditionnelles avec les marques.

Ainsi acceptons-nous volontiers les recommandations de Netflix pour les séries, de Spotify pour la musique ou les résultats affichés par Google. Nous faisons tellement confiance à ces suggestions que 35% des achats sur Amazon et 75% des visionnages sur Netflix sont issus des recommandations du Machine Learning, selon McKinsey (1).

Pourquoi ? Parce que, dans l’expérience, les clients distinguent de plus en plus les aspects routiniers des aspects riches de sens (voir « Donner du sens à l’expérience »). Et à mesure que la précision et l’utilité des IA augmentent, les clients délèguent les décisions qu’ils jugent « sans importance ». Certaines entreprises se voient alors coupées de leurs clients et forcées de composer avec des IA agissant comme des gardiens.

Les IA relèguent les entreprises en arrière-plan de plusieurs façons :

Les IA effectuent de plus en plus de tâches

Les IA étant capables de regrouper, d’indexer et d’analyser des montagnes de données, les clients ont de plus en plus confiance dans leur capacité à interpréter leurs préférences personnelles et à faire des choix à leur place. Aux recherches en arrière-plan réalisées par les IA s’ajouteront bientôt les achats en arrière-plan.

Les IA, nouvelles audiences à conquérir

Le marketing émotionnel peut susciter la fidélité chez les humains mais pas chez les IA. À mesure que les clients confieront les décisions d’achat de routine aux IA, les entreprises auront besoin de nouvelles stratégies pour conquérir ces nouvelles audiences automatisées.

Les frontières entre les tâches vont disparaître

On regroupe souvent les tâches ménagères et administratives en catégories, comme le nettoyage de la maison ou le paiement des factures. Mais avec des IA qui prennent en charge différentes tâches à la fois, ces frontières disparaîtront. Les entreprises incapables de s’adapter à ce changement dans la façon d’appréhender les tâches perdront des clients.

Comment votre entreprise peut-elle s’adapter ?

Devenez l’intermédiaire IA de votre secteur

Créez une intelligence artificielle spécialisée qui apporte des connaissances uniques à vos clients. Appropriez-vous les fonctionnalités des IA pour mettre ces connaissances et compétences spécialisées à disposition des clients, directement et par le biais d’IA généralistes.

Proposez des produits optimisés par l’IA

Au fur et à mesure que les points de contact avec les clients seront relégués au second plan, les produits joueront un rôle plus central en tant qu’ambassadeurs de la marque. Le Big Data, l’IoT et le Machine Learning permettent d’améliorer l’expérience client en augmentant la satisfaction, en réduisant la charge cognitive et en éliminant les actions inutiles. Trouvez des moyens de créer un lien avec vos clients par le biais des produits.

Optimisez votre visibilité auprès des IA

Les systèmes basés sur l’IA constitueront le prochain « espace linéaire » numérique où optimiser le placement des produits. Cette discipline d’optimisation est encore balbutiante mais vous pouvez déjà vous appuyer sur votre équipe de référenceurs SEO afin de prendre le leadership dès le début. Des descriptions factuelles de vos produits et services contribueront à votre succès auprès des IA.

Améliorez les interactions avec vos clients

Utilisez des outils basés sur l’IA pour animer les interactions avec vos clients en fournissant aux collaborateurs de 1ère ligne des informations client et des suggestions de messages. Par exemple, les outils d’analyse et le Machine Learning peuvent servir à offrir aux collaborateurs une visibilité approfondie sur chaque client, améliorant ainsi la personnalisation des interactions.

Publié en anglais sur insights.sap.com

Références

(1) Ian MacKenzie, Chris Meyer et Steve Noble, « How Retailers Can Keep Up with Consumers » (Comment les détaillants peuvent répondre aux besoins des clients), McKinsey & Co., octobre 2013, https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights
/how-retailers-can-keep-up-with-consumers.

The post L’expérience client future : l’IA comme intermédiaire appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

3 décembre 2020/par Service comm.

Adding IoT to My Home Office Desk: Part 2

Actualités, Méthodes et organisation des process IT

In part one, I discussed the first version/Bluetooth version of my desk upgrade.

In this article, I’ll discuss upgrading the desk to use Google Smart Home so I can control my desk with my voice.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

2 décembre 2020/par Service comm.

The Latest Research for Web Designers, December 2020

Actualités, Actualités

2020 has been an interesting year, to say the least. And although I’m sure many of you can’t wait until the calendar flips ahead to 2021, it doesn’t look as though we’re going to be able to say goodbye to 2020 so easily. Many of the changes we’ve had to make this year are now expected to stay with us — a least for the following year.

The latest research gives us some hints about what’s to come.

If you want to start preparing for 2021 now, then these reports and surveys from organizations like 99designs, Upwork, Content Marketing Institute, and McKinsey & Company are a must-read:

1. 99designs Reports on the Common Challenges Freelancers Faced in 2020

I don’t want to make 99designs’s Design Without Borders 2020 report sound like it’s all doom-and-gloom. Because it’s not.

That said, 2020 has been a rough year and it would be irresponsible for me not to acknowledge the challenges that all of us freelancers have encountered this year. This report is one of the few I’ve found that includes data on the major challenges freelancers have dealt with this year, including:

36% have struggled to maintain a steady flow of work or a stable client base;
27% had clients who cut their business budgets and, consequently, their freelancers’ workloads;
26% had at least one project cancelled or indefinitely paused;
22% have been ghosted by at least one client.

Beyond working more hours and hustling to find new clients all the time, what else can freelancers do to weather a business disruptor like COVID-19? There are a number of things.

For starters, it would be really helpful to have a crisis management plan for your finances. It would also be beneficial to refocus your efforts on finding clients who pay for the value you provide and not for the hours you spend building websites. Clients who see the value in what you do will be less likely to ghost or drop you at the first sign of trouble.

2. Upwork’s Survey Reveals Educational Opportunities for Freelancers

Upwork commissioned Edelman Intelligence to put together its very first Freelance Forward survey. The goal of the ensuing report was to shed light on the state of freelancing, how the pandemic has changed it, and what we can expect in the future as a result.

One of the data sets I think web designers should pay close attention to is this:

According to this survey, freelancers only spend about 52% of their time on billable work.

Now, one of the reasons why entrepreneurs and enterprise companies make so much money is because tasks are relegated to different team members. For instance, if a design agency owner is good at building relationships with prospects, they’re going to spend time on sales calls and managing social media. The day-to-day admin tasks would then get offloaded to virtual assistants and billable project work would go to designers, developers, writers, and so on.

But as a freelancer, you don’t have the ability to delegate and scale when you’re working solo.

Rather than burn yourself out trying to handle all these things yourself, the report suggests there’s something else you can do:

Although freelancers recognize how important soft skills and business skills are, the first data set suggests that not enough attention might be paid to them.

What I suggest is that you take a look at the division of your work hours. If you’re spending less than half of your time on billable work, it might be a good idea to strengthen your non-design skills. That way, things like marketing, contract preparation, and client management won’t consume so much of your time in the future and you can bill more.

3. CMI’s Annual Report Reveals Profitable Opportunities for Web Designers

Content Marketing Institute’s annual B2B Content Marketing Report is, once again, chock full of useful tidbits about the state of content marketing.

While a lot of the data is focused around marketing organizations and how they’ve pivoted during the pandemic, I thought this bit of info would be really helpful for web designers:

For those of you who design B2B websites, take note of where these companies plan to invest in 2021. If 2020 has been particularly hard on you, or you simply want to expand your horizons, there are some other opportunities worth jumping into:

B2B Marketing Investment => Web Designer Opportunity
Content creation => Blog graphic design, infographic design, and schema markup creation
Website enhancements => Website redesign, website audits
Content distribution => Social media ad design, Google ad design, schema markup creation
Getting to know audiences better => UX research, UX design
Customer experience => Chatbot/live chat development, support portal creation

4. McKinsey B2B Analysis Suggests That Digital Is Here to Stay

For those of you who’ve worked for a B2B sales organization before, you know how important in-person interactions are to them. It’s not as though they can just sell their products or services online the way B2C ecommerce companies can. The key to B2B success is through customer (and partner) relationship building.

Prior to 2020, this meant lots of in-person meetings, phone calls, and emails. But something has changed this year, on both sides of the fence.

This chart from McKinsey suggests that digital relationship building and customer service aren’t just a temporary solution for COVID-19. B2B decision-makers are coming around to the idea that this is going to be their “next normal” (as McKinsey refers to it).

These new “go-to-market models” include the following:

Talk to prospects, customers, and partners via video calls;
Digital self-service options for customers who prefer the DIY method.

As a web designer, you can help your B2B clients level up their efforts to achieve this next normal.

For starters, you can integrate scheduling into their websites. This’ll empower prospects to schedule video meetings (for demos, discovery calls, etc.) with your clients’ sales teams.

Another thing you can do is build out self-service elements like live chat or chatbots, FAQs pages, knowledgebases, and support portals. As consumers become more confident with doing business online, these self-service options will make a world of difference in their experience with brands.

Wrap-Up

I know, I know. 2020 sucked. But at least we have a good amount of research and experience that gives us a much clearer idea of what we’re getting ourselves into with the coming year. (At least, I hope so.)

Source

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

30 novembre 2020/par Service comm.

Popular Design News of the Week: November 23, 2020 – November 29, 2020

Actualités, Actualités, Business

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

How to Make a Cool Looking Bokeh CSS Effect

10 Hot Logo Design Trends for 2021

Tailwind Builder 2.0 – Online Editor & Visual Studio Code Extension for TailwindCSS

Sidemail.io – Email Delivery Made Simple for Startups

Headless CMS: What and Why

Flow – Beautiful Animations Made Easy

Too Many Designers Worked for Free in 2020

Source Wireframe Kit 2.0 – A Huge Set of Blocks for Desktop and Mobile

Dev Fonts

SystemFlow – Like Tailwind, but for Webflow and Figma

Chartbrew – One Dashboard to View, Create and Share your Data

Build a Minimum Loveable Product

10 Embarrassing PR Fails that Show How not to Pitch

Slidepage: Create Mobile-focused Story Content for the Web

An Ex-Googler’s Guide to Dev Tools

5 Easy Ways to Create Images for your Blog Posts

“The Mandalorian” in AR? This is the Way.

Product Pages: 16 Best-in-Class Examples and Why They Work

Boop!

7 Signs It’s Time to Fire your Clients (For Freelancers)

Top Tips on Running a Healthier Design Agency

12 Free CSS Paginations

How to Build an Illustration Portfolio that Gets You Hired

FrontPage: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

How to Use Bootstrap in WordPress: A Quick Guide

Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.

Source

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

29 novembre 2020/par Service comm.

Branding 101: How to Get Your Design Business Online

Actualités, Actualités, SEO

You’ve named your business. You’ve sorted out the visual branding piece. Now, it’s time to get your business online so you can start making money.

In this post, we’re going to look at where your web design business needs to set up shop online and how to get it up and running quickly.

Step 1: Set Up Your Website

As a web designer or developer, having a website is non-negotiable.

Not only does a website provide prospective clients with all the information they need about you, it can help you automate many of those annoying tasks that get in the way of your actual paid work.

So, let’s start here:

Buy Your Domain Name

If you haven’t done so already, use the business name generator exercise to come up with a domain name. You then have a couple of options for buying it.

To Do:

Buy it from a domain name provider like GoDaddy or Domain.com;
Or buy it from your web hosting company;
Check the next step to see which option makes the most sense for you.

Choose a CMS

Use the same CMS as the one you’ll use to build your clients’ sites. That way, clients don’t wonder why you’d use something like Squarespace for your site, but then recommend WordPress for theirs, for example.

To Do:

If you use a self-hosted CMS (like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla), hold on this until you purchase your web hosting;
If you use a hosted CMS (like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify), you won’t need to do the next step. Instead, just sign up for your website builder and buy your domain name now.

Buy Your Web Hosting

If you’re wondering what the difference is between the various types of web hosting, read this post.

Basically, this is what you’re looking for:

A hosting company with a good reputation that provides expert and timely support;
An affordable starter plan — either shared or cloud hosting;
Server locations near you (at the very least, in the same country as you);
Top-notch security features at the server level as well as the physical hosting facility;
Caching and other speed optimizations built into the server and on-site equipment;
Compatibility with your CMS (look for one-click install, too).

Also, look for add-ons like SSL certificates, CDNs, and, of course, a free domain name.

To Do:

Sign up for the hosting plan you want along with your domain name and SSL certificate (this is a must for SEO);
Install your CMS from the control panel once you’re ready to go.

Build Your Website

Ultimately, you have two goals here:

To build a website that convinces prospective clients that you’re the real deal;
To build a website that prospects would want for themselves.

So, there’s no need to go crazy with outlandish features or futuristic animations and design. Keep it simple. Keep it neat. And give prospects an honest portrayal of who you are, and what you can do for them.

Design It

The first thing to do is take all that work you did to create your visual branding and use it to design your website.

If you’re building a WordPress website, consider starting with one of these multipurpose themes.

Build Out the Pages You Need

A theme will automatically create the pages you need (most of them, anyway). If you’re not sure which ones to start with, these are the ones your prospects are going to be looking for:

Home
About
Services
Portfolio
Contact

You may also want to add separate pages for Testimonials and Case Studies once you’ve accumulated enough of them to show off. For now, you can include samples of your work in the Portfolio page and testimonials on the Home page.

Fill in the Content

Even if writing isn’t your strong suit, that’s okay. So long as the content you write for your site is free of spelling and grammar errors, your prospective clients are going to focus on what you’re telling them, not on how proficient a writer you are.

That said, if you’re nervous about this piece of your website, here are some tips to help you out:

1. Be concise, it’s not just minimal design that goes over well with modern audiences. Minimal copy does, too.

2. Be transparent. Tell prospects what exactly they can expect when they work with you and why your web design services are going to be different from the competition.

3. Consumers don’t trust companies that use meaningless buzzwords and make empty claims. Instead, focus on writing about the real and very competitive skills you have. According to research from NIDO Student, these are the skills employers look for when hiring a designer:

4. Let your images tell some of the story for you. Just make sure you use (or create) images that will impress your audience.

5. After you’ve written your content, take a step back and tackle the structure and formatting from a designer’s POV.

6. Before you hit the “Publish” button, run your copy through Hemingway Editor to ensure your content is error-free.

Add the Right Features

When I talk about features, I’m referring to anything outside the main design and content on your website. These are usually sales and marketing tools like:

Chatbot/live chat
Contact forms
Pop-ups or notification banners
Discovery call scheduler
Cookies consent notice

Only add the features you absolutely need. In other words, the features that will automate the marketing and sales tasks you’d otherwise have to manage on your own.

Step 2: Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a very important part of the work you do to get your business online. Here’s why:

After you launch your business and website, the next thing you’re going to focus on is getting clients. This can take a lot of work as you pore over the following resources for referrals and leads:

Your existing contact list (i.e. family, friends, old employers, colleagues, etc.);
Freelance job boards;
Industry-specific job boards;
Social media posts, pages, and groups;
Google search results for “we’re hiring”;
And so on…

And when you’re not busy cold-emailing prospective clients or talking to them on the phone, you’re probably going to be working on your business’ processes. Running a business is very time-consuming.

So, what happens when you finally start working on website projects? It’s not like the client search ends there. It’s an ongoing thing. Which is why your website needs to be optimized for search.

Once your site gets indexed by Google and starts to generate authority, your pages will rank better and the increased visibility will start generating leads without you having to actively make the first move.

SEO is a huge topic, so I’m not going to cover it here. However, the links below will do a good job of guiding you towards your next steps.

To Do:

Speed up your website;
Write your content and choose your keywords carefully;
Play to your strengths. For designers, this usually means technical SEO;
Use these four tools to evaluate and fix your SEO.

Step 3: Get Active on Social Media

Your website is going to play a lot of roles:

Digital business card;
Authority builder;
Marketing vehicle;
Sales platform;
Content marketer.

But there’s one very critical thing it can’t do and that’s directly converse with your audience and grow your network. This is why you need to spend time building out your social media once your website is good to go.

As for which social media platforms to use (as there are way too many), here are my thoughts:

Become an authority on Twitter.

Twitter is a good place to share daily thoughts and interesting content you’ve found on the web.

Get discovered on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is useful because it’s another place to get noticed by potential employers, so make sure your relevant work experience and portfolio are up-to-date.

Connect with other creatives on Facebook.

It’s really hard to get noticed on Facebook unless you pay to play. Instead, use it to find groups that you can turn to for support, referrals, and brainstorming.

Share your work on Dribbble.

While you could use Instagram or Pinterest to show off your work, you might get more traction on a design-specific platform like Dribbble. Serve as inspiration for others and potentially get discovered by prospects looking for designers there.

Down the line you might decide to expand your business into recurring revenue opportunities like online courses. In that case, a platform like YouTube would be great. For now, focus your efforts on the main ones above.

To Do:

Create your social media accounts;
Brand them to match your website — both the visual component as well as the bio;
Start sharing content on a regular basis. You can automate sharing with a social media management tool, but remember to log in at least a couple times a week so you can engage with others, too;
Be careful not to commit these social media faux pas.

Wrap-Up

I realize this is a ton of information to throw at you. However, if you want to get your new business online and for it to succeed, you need to maximize the opportunities that are available to you.

I hope this three-part guide to starting a new business has been helpful. If you have any questions on the tips provided along the way, let me know in the comments.

Featured image via Pexels.

Source

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

26 novembre 2020/par Service comm.

8 Awesome Black Friday 2020 Deals for Designers (Up to 94% Off!)

Actualités, Actualités

If you’re interested in a sneak peek of this year’s best Black Friday deals, stick around. You’ll find a few web designers’ favorites, including a stellar deal or two.

This year, more than a few of the popular retail outlets are shifting away from the traditional “camp out all night and bust open the doors when the store opens” shopping model. You might just prefer this less chaotic, ecommerce approach.

All of us are trying to adjust to what may eventually become a “new normal”. We may not like some aspects of this new normal, but there are bright spots as well.

More shoppers are likely going to shop online because of the coronavirus. That means you don’t have to fight the crowds while desperately attempting to socially distance. The shelves aren’t as apt to go bare, and shopping is easy, convenient, and safe.

1. Slider Revolution

You will find the Slider Revolution plugin incorporated in a host of WordPress theme tools and products. This premium plugin can in fact boast of more than 7 million users around the globe.

What you may not be aware of is that it is much more than just a WordPress slider. With it in your web design toolbox, you can in fact create just about anything you can imagine.

Expect to find:

A stunning selection of elements including sliders and carousels;
Attention-getting hero sections designed to make your home pages really stand out;
Single-page websites with layouts unlike anything you’ve seen before;
Modular structuring that allows you to rearrange and reuse sections however you choose and the ability to mix and match modules with any WordPress content;
Add-ons whose cutting edge features push the boundaries of web design possibilities.

There’s more of course. To celebrate Black Friday and Cyber Monday you can NOW get any Slider Revolution subscription plan or one-time payment at a 33% discount.

Just click on the banner and use the BLACKFRIDAY code at checkout.

2. Amelia

When done manually, booking and managing appointments can be tedious and subject to mistakes and errors. Amelia provides an automated booking process that is oh-so easy to work with and is error free; just what you need to help you acquire more happy customers.

Key features of Amelia’s fully responsive design include:

A dashboard system that enables you to track approved and pending appointments, booking changes, and revenue;
Zoom Integration, Google Calendar, and Outlook Calendar sync;
The ability to accept and easily manage recurring appointments that customers can schedule;
Front-end customer and employee appointment and event managing and backend appointment adding, editing, and rescheduling;
Email notifications for pending and approved appointments and events.

And much more that will save you loads of energy and a ton of time. Give Amelia a try, and if you like what you see (and you will), take advantage of the 30% Black Friday discount.

3. wpDataTables

wpDataTables 3.0, with its fresh, new look, gives you a host of different ways to generate attractive, customizable, and responsive tables and charts, and a host of different ways to present them.

Tables can be created from most data sources, the most common being MySQL query, PHP array, Google Spreadsheet, Excel files CSV files, and JSON and XML inputs;
A working knowledge of SQL is not required!
Addons include Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms, Report Builder, and Powerful Filter;
wpDataTables users can generate Tables and Charts quickly from massive amounts of data (saving hours of effort);
Tables and charts are customizable and maintainable (editable once placed in use);
Tables can be created manually if you wish.

Click on the banner now and take advantage of wpDataTables 30% Black Friday discount on all licenses and addons.

4. TheGem – Creative Multi-Purpose High-Performance WordPress Theme

In TheGem, the ultimate WordPress multipurpose toolbox, you will find:

A rich selection of 400+ premium pre-built multi-page and one-page websites, all available for Elementor and WPBakery page builders;
The ability to mix and match any of this demos, layouts and page sections to create your own unique look;
Extended WooCommerce layouts & tools for making online shops, which convert better;
TheGem Blocks: an ultimate tool for building webpages at the speed of light.

And much more. Just click on the banner and check this 5-star product out.

5. Mobirise Website Builder

Creating a Google-friendly can take time, unless you have Mobirise at your fingertips, in which case you have a number of helpful tools to speed things up.

No coding, it’s all drag and drop;
3,600+ website templates are at your disposal plus sliders, popups, forms, and more;
Many eCommerce features, including a shopping cart;
Latest Google Amp and Bootstrap4;
You can download Mobirise for free.

And, because it’s Black Friday, everything is yours at a 94% discount!

6. Get Illustrations

Get Illustrations offers royalty free and landing page Illustrations ready to drag and drop into your web design. You’ll have access to:

An extensive library of 4000+ illustrations with more added every week;
A wealth of design formats, including AI, PNG, SVG, Figma, Adobe XD, and Sketch;
Free updates and new illustrations weekly (included in the bundle).

Click on the banner and use the Coupon Code BLACKDEAL for your 30% discount.

7. XStore | Responsive Multi-Purpose WooCommerce WordPress Theme

For anyone planning on creating an eCommerce store, the XStore name says it all. Key features you’ll find in this powerful and flexible WooCommerce theme include:

More than 95 good-to-go-shops plus a full AJAX shop to get you started;
300+ pre-defined shop/page sections, a header builder, and a single product page builder;
Elementor, WPBakery and $510+ worth of premium plugins.

Click on the banner and sign up to become one of XStore’s 55,000+ happy customers.

8. Kalium – Creative Theme For Multiple Uses

Kalium is an easy-to-use, easily maintainable multipurpose theme for WordPress users that is always updated to use the latest WordPress standards.

Kalium provides its users with a host of professionally-designed pre-built demos and elements;
Many plugins such as: Slider Revolution, WPBakery, Elementor, Layer Slider, Advanced Custom Fields PRO, Product Filter for WooCommerce, Product Size Guide,WooCommerce and other premium plugins are included.

Kalium is responsive, GDPR compliant, and gives you full eCommerce and top-quality customer support. It has a 5-star rating after 36k sales on ThemeForest – seriously impressive!

*****

If you hit the retail stores remember to social distance.

Or, if you would rather take a brief break from the demands of Covid-19, take advantage of one or more of the above ecommerce sales. As you can see, there are some excellent ones!

[– This is a sponsored post –]

Source

Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

24 novembre 2020/par Service comm.

Popular Design News of the Week: November 16, 2020 – November 22, 2020

Actualités, Actualités, Business

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.