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10 Tenets of Excellent Web Development and Design

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | 10 Tenets of Excellent Web Development and Design

In 2023, 71% of business enterprises have websites. This is an increase over earlier periods, and the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects are significantly at play.

Your business’s online presence and first impression rely on your web development and design. With all the internet has to offer your visitors, they’re quick to bounce off and forget your business until they find what they’re looking for.

A poor visual design can make a company’s website fail. It communicates how seriously they take their products and services. A great visual design is not only appealing, but it’s pleasing to follow and navigate.

Whatever your goals are, you should be able to make improvements and achieve your ultimate objectives. Read on to know the tenets of excellent web development and design.

1. Choose the Right Combination of Colors

A website design should be inviting, visually stimulating, and easy to navigate. This is where color choices come into play. The first step is to choose a main color palette and then pair up complimentary colors that will make the site visually appealing.

Use contrasting colors to create emphasis and give the site an inviting feel. It is important to take user experience into account when selecting colors.

Research has shown that colors can evoke strong emotions, so it’s important to consider the purpose of the website and the right color schemes to convey the right message. The right combination of colors should make content easy to read, promote creativity, and ultimately help to produce desired results.

2. Put Quality Photos and Videos

Quality photos and videos catch the eye and reflect positively on the brand. People are more likely to stay on the web page longer if they can see nice visuals that go along with the content of the page.

Moreover, with the growth of search engine optimization, having the right images on your site can help improve your ranking in search results by supplying good quality media content. It is very important to be sure the photos are scaled correctly and sized so they can view them easily and in the best way possible. Quality videos also help engage with your target audience, increasing their time spent on your site.

3. Make Your Website Responsive

Responsive website design takes into account the user’s device and adjusts the layout based on the device size and type. Responsive design allows your users to easily navigate your web pages and find what they’re looking for efficiently.

Use responsive design techniques such as fluid grids, breakpoints, and adaptive images. This will ensure you’ll be able to display content most beneficially for each user and device.

4. Establish a Clear Vision

Having an established vision serves as the driving force behind the project’s plan, design, and functionality. It serves as a guide to determine how the product should look and behave, and how the user experience should be.

The vision should also include an established timeline and deliverables. The site’s objectives, goals, processes, and approaches should be kept in mind to complete an effective project.

5. Invest in Quality Code

Quality code makes your website more secure, reliable, and faster. Your code should be reusable, modular, and extensible so you can use it to create a variety of web applications. Investing in quality code can save time and money in the long run.

Investing in secure code can help protect against security threats and data breaches. It can also help a website run smoothly and efficiently, allowing users to have a better website experience.

6. Focus on Forms and Functionality

Forms are an integral part of a website that allows users to provide information, take surveys, sign up for services, and so on. Without forms, they can’t comply with these tasks online. Form fields need to be designed in an intuitive manner that allows a user to quickly find what they are looking for and provide information accurately.

Functionality is a key aspect of web development because it ensures that a website performs as expected and expected. This includes ensuring the website is accessible on multiple devices and works efficiently.

7. Make It Accessible to All Users

Designers must ensure that their sites are accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities. This includes those with visual, auditory, physical, neurological, cognitive, or emotional impairments. Ensuring accessibility is a legal obligation and should be a major priority while designing a website.

Accessibility must also be kept in mind throughout the process, from the design of the site to the coding. As a web developer or designer, it is essential to stay up to date on the latest accessibility requirements and tools. This will provide equitable web experiences for all users.

8. Maximize Your Load Times

Web development and design should always focus on loading times. If a website takes too long to load, then users may stop visiting. An effective design should explore ways to streamline the website’s structure, code, and images to maximize load times.

Tools such as page speed monitoring and lazy loading can help identify and reduce loading times. Regular testing of site speed may also be necessary to ensure everything is working properly and optimally.

9. Incorporate Quality Content

Quality content is essential for all websites, as it informs web visitors, establishes authority and trust, and keeps people coming back. It needs to be informative, up-to-date, and consistent in tone. It must also be optimized with the right keywords to ensure its visibility.

It should also be creative and able to engage visitors, as well as be easy to read and understand. Quality content increases the chances of visitors clicking on internal links and sharing a website on social media.

10. Consider Hiring a Web Developer

Hire a web developer that will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the project. They can help you create a modern, responsive site that meets the needs of your target users. They will consider usability, SEO best practices, and successful design elements so they can create a site that allows you to effectively present and promote your business.

Make the Best Out of Your Web Development and Design

In conclusion, excellent web development and design is an incredibly important parts of creating a successful website. Following these core tenets will ensure that your website meets the modern demands of today’s online users. What’s more, if you put in the extra effort to ensure excellent security and speed, you’ll be sure to see an increase in user engagement on your website.

Check out our other blogs on this site if you find this article useful in many ways!

3 Signs that Your Website Needs an Immediate Makeover

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Website Makeover|3 Signs that Your Website Needs an Immediate MakeoverA lot of business owners have an “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” mentality when it comes to a website. However, it’s not always evident when a website is not up to par, especially when you don’t know much about web design and the web in general.
If you truly want to know if your site is still competitive, you first need to have a clear view of your metrics. You should also gather as much feedback from your audience as possible and use the website as a customer yourself. All of these things should help you find out if your site’s design is acceptable or not. Let’s take a look at some clear signs that your site needs a makeover immediately.

Your Site Performs Poorly on Mobile

The majority of people primarily navigate websites through their mobile devices nowadays and Google uses the mobile version of a website to rank it. So, if your website is hard to navigate, acts erratically, or loads slowly when you browse it through a tablet or mobile phone, you will have to make changes right away.

This isn’t something you should try doing on your own, however. It would be much better to look for an experienced web development agency UK as they will have the expertise needed to create a website that will look great and work perfectly across all platforms.

If you want to know what to look for in a web design agency, make sure that they have experience working in your industry and that they’re located close to where you live ideally. You also have to check their track record as a web development agency. A good web design agency should also have received a few accolades, and you should be able to see some of the top clients and projects they’ve worked on easily. Once you’ve found one or a few agencies that fit those criteria, you can start making calls and comparing quotes and terms.


You’re Getting Uncharacteristically High Bounce Rates

If you’ve been looking at your website’s metrics for a while and you have noticed that you’re getting increasingly high bounce rates, this is one of the clearest signs that there is something fundamentally wrong with your website. You should also pay special attention to how long people stay on your pages. If there’s an issue in any of these areas, your site needs a major overhaul as soon as possible.

It’s Older than Five Years Old

Some people will advise that you change your website as often as every two to three years. Not everyone has the means to do that, however, and if your site is only three years old, it might still be decent enough. But, if it’s more than five years old, it’s almost certainly outdated even if it looks good. Consider speaking with an agency as soon as possible if your site has been around for longer than that and you haven’t made any serious changes to it.
If you notice any of these things with your website, there’s a strong chance that it needs to be updated or completely redesigned right away. The longer you wait to make changes, the more chance there is that you’ll start losing visibility on search engines and losing revenue, so act immediately for the sake of your bottom line.

15 Essentials for Your Startup to Succeed

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Startup|15 Essentials for Your Startup to SucceedBuilding your startup is life-changing and can enable you to fulfill your dreams. It can free you from an unfulfilling job and give you more flexibility in life both at work and with your family. However, it is no walk in the park. Starting a business and growing it is even more challenging. You need the courage, determination, and enthusiasm to overcome obstacles, persevere during hard times, and stick it out in the long run. The following essentials can help you drive your startup to success.

Be committed

If you’re a jack of all trades, you will be a master of none, and you are likely to set yourself out for failure. For your startup to be successful in the long term, it needs your undivided attention. You can start other businesses in your lifetime, but do it one at a time. Prepare to sacrifice a lot of your time, money, and energy for the success of your business. Choose a business idea that you’re ready to devote your time to.

Join organizations

Starting a business can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. Instead of isolating yourself, join the right organizations and associations in your industry. Here, you can make new connections and partnerships with like-minded business people through networking. The right organizations aim at empowering entrepreneurs like you by giving you skills that provide a stable footing in the business world. Be sure to attend seminars, conferences, networking events, and workshops. Since there are many organizations out there, choose the best fit that will be beneficial to you.

Create an outstanding team

No matter how hard you try, it’s impossible to build a successful business alone. Consider working with friends and family for a start as you increase capital to invest in a professional team. Employees bring something new to the table, like their skills and ideas, which are essential to the success of your startup. They also take a lot of work off your hands, giving you ample time to concentrate on core business functions. Consider outsourcing for repetitive tasks, form a board of directors to advise you, and create a remote team if you don’t have enough office space.

Set up a professional website

Having an engaging online presence is one of the business’s unspoken rites of passage today. Research shows that most consumers first go online searching for the products/services they need before purchasing offline. Work with a professional web design company to create a user-friendly business website. Ensure you include the necessary information to attract the right customers and ultimately boost conversion rates. Additionally, create optimized content that engages with your target audience and helps them find you easily. A highly-rated website signals to consumers that you are trustworthy and builds confidence in your brand.

Timing is everything

Timing is essential when picking the optimal moment to launch your startup and deciding to make exceptional moves such as expansion. Determine when it’s best to launch your start-up by looking into what’s going on in your personal life; if you’re going to move places or get a baby, it might not be the best time. Ensure you understand the flows and ebbs of your industry and determine if the odds are to your advantage with things like competition and demand for your product.

Have a clean budget

One of the common mistakes that could set you up for failure real quick is failing to plan for your capital. Even though you have a lot of savings and additional funds from financial institutions, the expenses of a startup can drain them fast. Create a detailed budget that ensures your capital is sustainable until your startup is stable and bringing in a substantial profit. Remember that you have personal needs that need to be taken care of other than the startup. Keep aside funds for your basic needs and an emergency fund in case of unexpected business expenses.

Know your competition

Every type of business has competition, and you need to launch your startup knowing how to satisfy your consumers’ needs. Understanding how your competitors operate can help you create a more competitive business by filling a niche and coming up with better strategies. If you don’t have competition, then the business idea may not be a real need in the market. Research on your competition even as you grow your business to stay ahead in the industry.

Business plan

A business is not only essential when you’re seeking investors, but also gives you a blueprint of your goals, strategies, and destination. A business plan is the one thing you shouldn’t miss when building a startup; it’s where you go back to measure your progress and compare your outcomes with initial goals. When you don’t meet those goals, you can determine where there’s a problem and change strategies. It also motivates and keeps you and your team on the same page by specifying objectives and timelines to achieve particular goals.

Be curious and creative

When you’re an entrepreneur, curiosity and creativity are as essential as intelligence. Curiosity enables you to discover niches in the market that aren’t being satisfied and consumers’ sentiments regarding changes they’d like and their thoughts on particular products. Curiosity also enables you to learn from your competition and be better. Creativity helps you develop ideas that can provide solutions to problems in the market and boost success for your startup.

Effective communication

Without effective communication, your startup can’t be successful; a communication breakdown can cause your business to go under. As an entrepreneur, you have a responsibility to communicate clearly and effectively with employees, investors, potential, and existing customers. However, if one side isn’t listening or loses interest, this is the beginning of failure.

Communicate in a way that makes the other party listen by being confident, informative, and attentive. Effective communication, apart from motivating employees, can earn you long-term connections with the networks you build.

Have a daring vision

A vision gives you the much-needed energy you need to embark on your entrepreneurship journey. Not everyone who builds a startup becomes successful, but defining and selling your business’s vision can get you there. The same way you present other ideas is the same way you should share your vision. Be daring, realistic, and enthusiastic about it. A daring vision signals your passion for what you do and pushes you to explore, challenge, insist, and have the willpower to succeed even when the road gets bumpy.

Flexibility

One problem that many entrepreneurs face when launching a startup is the lack of flexibility to modify or rebuild the entire business plan. When you’ve been consistent, put in a lot of effort, and time into your startup, it can be challenging to accept that your idea just isn’t working, and it’s time to make changes.

As you begin this venture, keep an eye out for processes such as marketing, production, operations, and branding that need tweaks and alterations to make your business successful. It’s okay to immerse your energy in one business model, but be flexible enough to make changes in the strategies and methods you use to achieve success.

Be resilient

Even with a well-thought-out business plan, research, capital, creativity, and capital, a startup will fail if you aren’t resilient in the face of adversity. Be ready to put in the work, do the heavy lifting, and get your hands dirty instead of waiting on employees to do it for you. Every business experiences setbacks. But to be successful, you must adapt, pick yourself up, and dust off the frustration. Build resilience by staying calm when there are unforeseen challenges, treating yourself kindly, and seeing this as an opportunity for growth.

Be knowledgeable about the law

One of the things that can lead to failure or immediate closure of your business startup is going contrary to the law. Even while working with a lawyer or attorney, make a point of researching laws that affect your business. Avoid lawsuits that can cost your livelihood by keeping up with taxes, insurance, business registrations, permits, and inspections. Take care of your customers by giving quality service and legit products. Remember to treat your employees as assets to the business; ensure their safety by securing the place and insure them in case of any accidents.

Exercise discipline

Being disciplined isn’t all about using funds as you should. Exercising discipline has to do with many parts of your business, such as being timely and following through with plans that propel you to success. Being an entrepreneur comes with freedom from strict deadlines from bosses; you can clock in and leave as you please or consume products meant for sale. However, failure to exercise discipline is setting yourself up on a fast road to failure. Be an example to your employees to run a successful startup.

Bottom line

Launching your startup can be full of exciting highs and frustrating lows, but you need to be resilient and follow through with your business plan. However, avoid startup failure by being flexible enough to make necessary changes when necessary. Go into this venture with enough information from research, know your competition, and stay committed to your goals. Build an effective team, know the laws in business, exercise discipline, and most importantly, have a daring vision.

Understanding The Challenges That Come With Building Your Own Website

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Build your own website|Understanding The Challenges That Come With Building Your Own WebsiteMany people take on the challenge of building their own website, nowadays. This is largely thanks to the large range of DIY website builders available on the market, with many offering the chance to build beautiful websites without having to learn a single line of code. Of course, though, there are a lot of challenges that can come with building a website, and it’s always worth considering them before you get started.

Using The Code

While tools like Wix and Shopify promise to enable you to build websites without code, taking real control of your online platform is only possible if you’re able to use HTML, CSS, and Javascript. It’s very hard to make a website stand out when you use the default options you have available, and this means that you need to have a way to give yourself an edge.

Security

Many people don’t realise, but websites are key targets for hackers. Viruses and other security issues can easily impact a website, and this means that you need to have a good understanding of security, backups, and SSL to be able to run a website successfully. This can cause serious issues for companies that take sensitive data from their customers, with most countries having strict laws to protect people when they give their information to you.

Search Engines

No matter how you build your website, you will always need to perform SEO work to make sure that you appear in search engines like Google. This sort of work is a very specialist field, making it hard to break into it when you have a lot of other work on your plate. DIY platforms are better at dealing with SEO than they used to be, but most of this work happens away from your website, and this means that you can’t rely on them to help you.

User Experience

Designing a website that works well and appeals to users is very hard, some of the top Chicago web design companies are requiring that their team members have a lot of experience in the field of UX. Many people find that they are able to build a site that appeals to them, but this won’t impact other users in the same way, and more work has to be done to create a website that is good for a range of users.

Overcoming These Challenges

Overcoming these challenges has never been easier, but you don’t have to do it for yourself. Finding a web design agency to help with your website will ensure that you get the best possible results, while also never having to deal with the long list of challenges that can come with a DIY website. In most cases, your users will have a much better experience with a professionally made website.

Building a website can be a challenging process, with many people finding that they need help along the way. Thankfully, there are plenty of agencies out there, and you can usually find a company that is willing to help with your website.

Three Housekeeping Tips to Help eCommerce Businesses Thrive This Summer

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |eCommerce Business|Three Housekeeping Tips to Help eCommerce Businesses Thrive This SummerIt’s not just the fact that spring is coming in and bringing the longer days and brighter sunshine with it: there are reasons to be optimistic as we head into the summer of 2021. It’s been a tough twelve months for businesses of all shapes and sizes, and we’ve all had to work twice as hard and twice as creatively to keep our heads above water and keep our companies running.

Now, as the vaccines roll out and we start making plans to see our friends and family, it’s time that we start thinking about how we can take our businesses to the next level in the months to come.

When Was The Last Time You Thought About SEO?

When you’re running an eCommerce site, it’s fair to say that you have your hands full most of the hours of the day. When you’re juggling so many different tasks, some of the housekeeping jobs can end up getting neglected, but it’s so important to conduct regular SEO audits on your content.

We don’t doubt that you know what SEO is and how it works, but with Google making constant changes and refinements to the way it displays results, and with the needs and concerns that we input into search engines changing so rapidly, you need to make sure you don’t find yourself falling behind.

Is Your Website Working Hard Enough For You?

While you need to keep one eye on your SEO to make sure it’s all up to date, we shouldn’t forget about the bigger picture either. Your website is so much more than a catalogue for your business, it’s a statement about your brand personality. It tells your customers who you are and what you’re about, and it’s not always easy to translate your vision for your brand onto the page, and if you are feeling the need for a new look then it is absolutely worth bringing in the experts.

Professional eCommerce web design is a complex and multi-layered process that should be tailored to your specific needs and vision. Cake Commerce knows that it’s about more than making your site look pretty, and they will find the perfect business solutions for your unique aesthetic.

Are You Available For Your Customers?

We don’t need to tell you how competitive it is out there for eCommerce businesses. It’s been a battle to stay afloat over the last twelve months, and one of the most important tools in any company’s arsenal has been excellent customer service.

We’re not just talking about making sure that you are responding to any and all customer queries that come through your website (and making sure that it’s clear to customers how they can make those queries). We’re talking about using your social media channels to show your customers just how important they are to your business and showing that you know that their support has helped to keep you afloat during this impossibly difficult time. While there may be brighter times ahead, “normal” is still a little way down the road, so let’s all keep in touch.