We worked with attorney Lora Holman to put together a great site that would work for her law office. The site includes a large list of services she offers, with a detail page to increase specific SEO on the site for those particular services and keyword phrases. We also created a back end of the site for easy editing, addition, and removal of posts, pages, and other content.
css
What is CSS?
CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS describes how HTML elements are to be displayed on screen, paper, or in other media. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) allows you to create great-looking web pages by adding color, style and positioning to a web page element. HTML (the Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are two of the core technologies for building Web pages. CSS is a simple mechanism for adding style (e.g., fonts, colors, spacing) to Web documents and is used to define visual appearance and formatting of HTML documents.
Here are a few examples of some topics on CSS strategies for websites for you to read about from our top CSS specialists.
Ways to Improve User Experience Through Web Design
Over the last few years, much has been said about user experience or UX, which, in a nutshell, pertains to how a user feels about using a product, application, service, or website.
For webmasters, the concept of UX just got real when Google announced that it would be an official ranking factor beginning in May 2021.
With Google rolling out page experience signals in ranking, it has become imperative for webmasters to ensure that people get nothing but the most helpful and enjoyable experience when visiting their sites.
So far, the best way to improve website UX is through web design. From boosting site speed to improving readability, here are some web design tweaks you can make to enhance the user experience.
Improve Page Speed
Internet users these days expect web pages to load in three seconds or less.
If loading your pages takes longer than that, they will likely bounce off to a website that loads faster.
If you’re not sure about your page speed, use Google’s Page Speed Tools.
As for web design tweaks that will help improve your page speed, some of the things you can do include optimizing your images and keeping the use of heavy graphics, custom fonts, and pop-ups to a minimum.
Make Website Navigation Easy
Bad website navigation can make a business lose customers. With the poor user experience that difficult-to-navigate sites provide their visitors, them bouncing off a website is understandable.
Website navigation needs to be easy to provide a good user experience. Some of the web design adjustments you can make to improve navigation include:
- Making all navigational elements clickable
- Featuring drop-down menus
- Putting up a working search feature
- Anchored navigation bars
- Internal linking
- Linking the logo back to the home page
Use The Power of White Space
Your website can offer a much better user experience if visitors find your content easy to read, and that is something that white space does very well.
Also referred to as a margin or negative space, white space gives your content a lot of breathing room, making it look more enticing to read than walls of text.
Aside from making pages more readable, white spaces also provide harmony and balance to your page. More importantly, white spaces make your calls to action (CTAs) stand out because the page no longer looks cluttered.
Keep the Design Clean
For a web designer, it’s easy to give in to the temptation of showing off their graphic design skills and end up with a website that’s practically begging for attention with the wanton use of animations, flashy colors, and other loud visual design elements.
Aside from slowing your website down, unnecessary visual elements also turn people off. In this day and age where minimalism is already a thing, keeping your web design simple and clean will always win people over.
Rid your web pages of unnecessary stuff, and you’ll have a much cleaner interface that will unfailingly enhance the user experience.
Make Mobile-friendliness A Priority
There are three billion smartphone users in the world today. Mobile users have long outnumbered desktop users, and they deserve every bit of effort you can make to make your pages look great on their devices.
Mobile users, in general, don’t relish the idea of pinching, zooming, scrolling sideways, or tapping on very tiny buttons of non-mobile-friendly sites. If your website forces them to do that on their devices, then you’re not providing them with an excellent user experience.
You can change that by switching to responsive web design, which will make your website adjust to the size of the screen people are using. Responsive web design gives mobile and desktop users alike an optimal browsing experience, which leads to a better UX.
These are just some of the ways you can enhance UX through web design. Partner with a reliable web design agency to make the necessary adjustments to your website design, and you’ll discover more ways to make the user experience even more remarkable for your visitors.
About the Author
Shawn Byrne is the founder and CEO of SEOPhoenix.net. Shawn started his career in I.T. troubleshooting workstations, servers and networks, then went on to doing SEO as a side project and quickly found success in ranking websites. It was easy for him to grasp not only the algorithms but also the technical side which most SEO strategists miss and neglect because of its complexities. SEO Phoenix then grew based on its own rankings and referrals.
5 Easy Ways to Improve Traffic for Your Business Website
Most brick-and-mortar businesses nowadays are setting up their own websites to expand their audience reach and build an online presence. However, not every website is successful in driving traffic and conversions. It’s not just about putting your business website out there, but there are some strategies to be implemented for it to be considered a good one.
Having a poorly designed and uninviting website design with a tricky user interface is the quickest way to increase your bounce rate and repel relevant traffic. So how do you get people to notice your business in an infinite sea of digital content? Don’t worry. We’re here to help you rise above the noise by following some basic ideologies. These tips will help you gain authority, boost credibility, and drive traffic over time so you can hack your way to onto Google’s top search results.
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Implement Powerful Search Engine Optimization
Optimizing your website for search engines has results that can be worthwhile in the long run. There’s no point in having a website if it doesn’t show up in search results; therefore, employing a strong SEO strategy is crucial for the success of your business website. To stand out amongst other competitors in the market, customers must be able to recognize you as a credible source of information. To make this happen, you must follow on-page SEO guidelines that help your website rank higher on search engines and direct more organic traffic. Other techniques include attaching quality backlinks, optimizing long-tail keywords, and local SEO.
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Leverage Social Media Platforms
Today’s consumers always turn to social media to verify a brand’s credibility and check for any online presence. This means if you’re not on social media, now is the time to jump in on the trend and drive traffic to your website from these various channels. Social media networks like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are widely-popular amongst marketers as a tool for advertising and promotion of businesses. Now, Snapchat and the most-recent sensation, TikTok, have also become popular. Include your website link on all social media handles to drive traffic.
Brands can share a variety of content on their social media pages and gauge the reactions and behaviors of followers to track the number of click-through rates. Social media is also a great way to connect and establish relationships with customers, so they know you value your followers and care for their opinion. Remember not to spam your audience; it’s all about strategically spreading out your posts, so you don’t appear pushy. -
Publish High-Quality Content
The content you share on your website is what’s going to attract prospects to learn more about your brand. However, to attract the right customers, you must understand who your audience is and then create the kind of content they can’t resist clicking on. After a deep-dive into the background of your target customers and their search behaviors, you can get working on the content that goes on your website.
A major contributing factor to any successful digital marketing strategy is publishing valuable content to turn visitors to customers. Focus on posting high-quality, keyword-rich, and relevant content on your website, so potential customers are persuaded to take action. When the content you post educates and informs visitors about something, they’re more inclined to return your website and spread the good word about your business. Posting quality content leads to a higher Google search result ranking, which in turn means more visibility for your business.
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Optimize Website for Mobile Users
Gone are the days when people turned on their desktops to access the internet, now we can easily browse the web on our smartphones at any time. This is why businesses must ensure their websites are mobile-friendly. If you wish to drive unparalleled levels of traffic, then you need to prioritize mobile consumers and optimize your website for their usability. Create a mobile-friendly layout that appropriately displays content without having the user to pinch or zoom in to adjust the screen. Prospects that arrive at your website on a mobile device and have a positive user experience will consider your brand as a credible source of information and return regularly. Essentially, mobile-friendly websites result in higher conversion rates and more engagement.
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Improve User Interface
Most website owners neglect the significance of user experience when developing their site. However, if your website ends up looking unattractive and faulty, it will only cause you to lose potential customers. When creating a website, appearance, and usability are one of the most important factors to take into consideration. One must place themselves in their audience’s shoes to acknowledge the kind of experience they wish to have when they land on a website.
A website that is easy to use and visually appealing will lead to a lower bounce rate and generate abundant positive impressions. The easier it is for visitors to navigate and find valuable information, the higher the likelihood of them staying on your website and exploring other pages. Some other elements that are responsible for ensuring good experience include:
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Loading time
The last thing a user needs is to wait 10 seconds for a website to load. There is nothing more frustrating than slow-loading pages, and most visitors leave after a 5-second time-window frame. Make sure that your webpages are optimized for speed. The faster the sites, the happier the users and higher the chances of them browsing more pages on your site. Google’s search algorithm is also more likely to direct users to websites that load instantly, so work on speeding up your business website to drive traffic.
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Responsiveness
Nowadays, people use different devices to browse the web. Ensure that your website is responsive regardless of the device your visitors are using. If they have to excessively scroll or adjust the screen size to fit their screen, then they’re more likely to leave than stick around.
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In Summary
Running a good website requires constant maintenance, optimization, and patience, but once you’ve set up a strong foundation, it does all the work for you. It’s not about going big, even small yet significant changes can make all the difference in ROI and bring more exposure to your business. As more and more organizations make the shift towards digital marketing, the requirement for improved strategies to drive elevated organic traffic has increased.
Author Bio:
Shaheryar provides ghostwriting and copywriting services. His educational background in the technical field and business studies helps him in tackling topics ranging from career and business productivity to web development and digital marketing. He occasionally writes articles for Dynamologic Solutions.
How to Combine Fonts to Increase Your Messages Impact
Designers aren’t the only ones who need to understand how to combine fonts to make an impact. As a marketer, you’ll need this skill as well. After all, you can’t bring on a designer each time you create a new blog post, article, or social media content. Instead, you’ll need to be able to create attractive, attention-grabbing content. The artful use of font combinations is part of this. Here are some tips for using different fonts to make more impactful content.
Use Fonts that Complement One Another
Think about visual balance. When you choose multiple fonts, they should complement one another to create balance.
Imagine you’ve created a landing page with a scripted heading. If you chose another scripted font, that would probably be overkill. On the other hand, if you chose a font that’s a bit more neutral, you’d balance out the ‘personality’ of the scripted font.
Draw the Eye with Visual Hierarchy
Take a look at a traditional newspaper or magazine. It’s easy to see how the designers and layout experts use images, font size, spacing, and page layout to get readers to follow the page in the desired order. One way they do this is to use different font types and weights, as well as spacing to communicate with readers what information is most important.
This same technique can be used with digital content as well as printed content. Simply determine what pieces of information you want your audience to notice first, and remember most. Then, make font choices accordingly.
Always Prioritize Function
Great fonts are very artistic and can be used as such. However, you should always consider function first and foremost. “For example, a very artsy, hand-drawn font can make a beautiful impact. It might be great for larger elements such as title lines and headings. It would not be a very good choice for longer blocks of text,” advices Kristin Savage, a contributing writer at GrabMyEssay and BestEssayEducation. If you use a detailed font with serifs for titles, use a font that is reader-friendly for text blocks. Likewise, you can use a themed font to create an aesthetic, but then balance that font with something else for readability.
Use Serifs and Sans Serifs Together
Readability is just one reason to combine these two font types together. The other is that they simply combine with one another to create a visually appealing combination. You can enhance this look by using different sizes in addition to the two font types.
Mix Fonts to Create Interesting Contrast
You can also mix fonts together in different types, sizes, and widths to create interesting visual contrast and to make certain textual elements more memorable. For example, you could combine a thick, chunky font with slender elongated one.
However, if you do this, you have to be careful that a more ‘dominant’ font doesn’t overtake the other one. So, if you elect to use a blocky or fat font, you might elect to combine that with a slender font that’s taller or in a contrasting color.
Combine Fonts that Have Something Similar in Common
Keep in mind that there’s a difference between contrasting and clashing. Two contrasting fonts are different from one another, yet it’s clear that they go together harmoniously. On the other hand, clashing fonts simply don’t go together at all, and seeing them is displeasing to the eye.
One way to be certain that two fonts contrast vs. clash is to try and find one or two similar elements between them. For example, maybe both fonts have a somewhat rounded design, or both fonts have a similar spacing between letters.
Avoid Fonts that Have Too Much in Common
Think of this as the flip side to the previous rule. If you combine fonts that are entirely too similar, it won’t make much of an impact at all. One font won’t stand out as being more dramatic. They’ll both be too functionally similar to make a difference.
“If two fonts are almost identical, your reader could misconstrue your choice. Instead of seeing a visual contrast, they may think that you accidentally switched fonts,” says Marie Branes, a communication manager at TheAdsy.
Use Fonts from the Same Family
You don’t have to use entirely different font families to make an impact. Within each font family, you have several options. You can use different sizes, bold, italics, different colors, and other options.
This is a great option if you don’t have any design experience, or have a lack of confidence in your ability to choose different fonts that work together. When you use fonts from the same family, you can be confident that they were designed to be cohesive.
Also, in many cases, branding can limit your choices here. Your company or client may have a digital asset library that contains the fonts and other visual elements that are considered to be on-brand. If you are unsure of how to combine fonts in a way that works with your brand, consider getting some help with writing, editing, and formatting resources like, Canva, Trust My Paper, WowGrade, Instagram Layout, and Studicus.
Less is More
If you try to combine too many fonts in one piece of content, that can be problematic. This is especially true with shorter pieces, and pieces that don’t require much visual complexity. For example, a blog post with a simple heading and two or three subheadings isn’t going to be improved with four different fonts.
So, how many fonts is too many? That really depends on what you are trying to accomplish. You have to take into consideration what you are trying to accomplish visually, the length of your content, and how you plan on formatting that content.
Finally, take your motives into consideration. Try to finish the sentence, ‘I’m using this font here because…’. If you can’t come up with a good reason, consider backing away from that choice.
Improve Font Combining with Practice
Fortunately, if you know how to highlight text, it’s fairly easy to change fonts. You can experiment with different combinations easily. Then, get feedback from others to see what seems to work best.
Final Thoughts
Interesting and visually impactful font combinations are a perfect pair with interesting and memorable content. Use the tips here to learn to create these combinations to enhance your marketing efforts.
Diana Nadim is a writer and editor who has a Master degree in Marketing. She combines her passion for writing with her interest in research and creates thought-provoking content in various fields. Besides working as a contributor writer for SupremeDissertations, Diana also runs her own 3to5Marketing blog. What inspires her the most in her writing is traveling and meeting new people. Follow her on Twitter.
Boutique Retail Shop Website Design
LOUaBULL needed a better ecommerce solution that was more functional both on the front-end and back-end. We wanted to give them a great platform to sell their LGBTQ+ clothing and accessories, as well as support the community. We put together a fantastic site that was able to sell and tell the story behind LOUaBULL. We also had a ton of fun at several photo shoots, including the Kentuckiana Pride Parade!
Pro Bono Website Design Services for Non-Profit Organization
Design Web teamed with New Beginnings Family Services(NBFS) to rebrand their 3 websites (Viacolori.com, kentuckyfostercare.com, and newbeginningsky.org). NBFS is a foster care placement organization for children who may have been the victims of abuse and/or neglect. We provided the design and development of these websites at no cost in order to promote this amazing organization and help get more foster children placed in loving homes. Design Web made it easier for NBFS to update and promote through the website, as well as easier for visitors to navigate, find information, answer questions, and sign up to become a foster family. The redesign of the website has increased potential foster family sign-ups. We absolutely loved working with Dusty and the rest of the gang at New Beginnings Family Services.
Multi-Vendor eCommerce Marketplace Website Design
We’ve been working and perfecting the Logan Street Market website for a little while. It started as a landing page, just to let people know they were coming and give the media some information. In the background, we’ve been working on a multi-vendor ecommerce solution that would allow all the different vendors at Logan Street Market to sell their goods and services, while allowing for market management, job postings, event rentals, and much, much more. The site was able to provide it all. If you have events, markets, or are in need of a multi-vendor (or even a single vendor) eccommerce platform, contact Design Web to get started.
International Finance Website Design
ClipperData is an international company that has been featured in Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNBC. They provide data to traders and investors, so we had to make sure the site was functional and looked fantastic. We were able to put together a great looking website that provided easy navigation to the data. We did a lot of research and design work to improve user satisfaction and increase conversions and leads. We are very proud of this website and all the time and work that went into it.
Niche Lifestyle Retailer Website Design
Samantha Heavrin came to us with her business idea – creating a website that could sell fly fishing gear to women, as well as being a resource for women who fish and love outdoor adventures. We were able to put together a great design that not only told her story, but sold her products.
Samantha put together a fantastic brand with Reel Fly Girls showing women who love adventure and recognize that being the best student, wife, mom or boss means taking time to care for themselves. The focus of the site was for selling fly fishing apparel, but the gear can be used for any outdoor activity, or even for a night on the town after the sporting fun.
Automation Company Website Design
Nationwide Services, LLC works with moving large machinery and entire factories, as well as dealing in scrap and other industrial services. We put together a website that would help boost their search presence and increase their reach to clients. Not only did we help Nationwide Services with a website, but we also helped conduct an SEO campaign that increased search ranking and their business online.
Our campaign is helping to increase the search ranking of the website, as well as increasing the position zero, metadata positions, and other business information for the business.
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