Shawn Rubel says, “One of the best ways to build trust with prospective customers is with good web design.It can no longer be argued that a website’s design is and will continue to be one of the most influencing aspects on a customer’s initial opinion of a company. Studies show that just updating the design to make it look more modern can increase conversion rates by upwards of 33%.Split testing something as small as the image or headline can make your visitors 2x-3x more likely to convert into a customer.But good web design that establishes trust goes beyond even gaining new customers.... [...]

Milad Oskouie says, “If you run a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business, or you only have one product to sell, then you probably have one single, dedicated pricing page.Here’s how to make sure your pricing page is effective:1. Keep It Simple, StupidLet’s start with some basic truths. People don’t go to the Web to read. When they are presented with something to read on the Web, they skim. If it’s too complicated to figure out, they skip. If they skip too much, they give up.It makes sense to keep your pricing model simple, so when you start to build your pricing... [...]

Rob Thurner says, “We should replace ‘mobile first’ with ‘customer first’.  Think about the many ways you can personalise the site based on that unique user.  Hot on the heels of Graham’s post, 23 reasons why mobile users will abandon your site, I’ve just moderated an Econsultancy roundtable on mobile site optimisation.Chatham House rules applied, so I make no references to the 12 people round the table handling content, marketing, performance, analytics, optimization and conversion for their retail, financial services, utility, travel and media businesses.We... [...]

Olivia Allen says, “Beware… bad web design can happen to good web pages. Compelling design is an imperative aspect to your website. Your visitors will spend an average of .05 seconds before they form an opinion of your site once your page loads.Make sure your design aids the user experience to ensure they stay on your site. Learn from these tiresome design flubs so your website doesn’t fall for them.1) SlidersI know what you’re thinking, “how did this make it on the list?” The truth is, sliders aren’t working for you; they’re actually working against you. As a marketing... [...]

Jessica Meher says, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression — that’s why your homepage is undoubtedly one of the most important web pages on your website.For any given company, the homepage is its virtual front door. If a new visitor doesn’t like what they see, their knee-jerk reaction is to hit the “back” button.That’s right — unfortunately, a lot of people still judge a book by its cover.What makes a website’s homepage design brilliant instead of blah? Well, it takes more than looks alone — it also has to work well. That’s... [...]

Andy Crestodina says, “The planning. The design. The writing. The programming and testing. Building a website can take hundreds of hours of work over months of time. And then, finally, it’s live.The result of all that effort depends on a lot of little things. And some of those little things can often hurt the result—big time.Some common mistakes have big consequences, but they’re also fixable. And some of those fixes are easy. This article is about a list of five mistakes that can cause big problems but have easy fixes.Note: The screenshots in this article are from sites... [...]

Chow says, “Finding a decent content strategy for your website may not be as easy as it would initially sound. Sometimes, we take a bigger issue with what the content LOOKS like.  Other times, we take issue with what the content SAYS.  These are both good, important things to worry about, and they are issues that need to be included in your strategy.  You obviously want to make sure that people can access the part of your site they want to easily, and they need to be able to find what they are looking for in a timely manner.Over the last few years, I have noticed more and more websites opting... [...]

Jessie-Lee Nichols says, “The end of the year is coming and that means your inbox will be flooded with “best of” and “trending” posts. I know, I know, it’s not even Thanksgiving. BUT, when it comes to what’s trending, you don’t want to be caught trying to plan big changes at the last minute. Coming from a compulsive procrastinator, trust me when I say this never ends well!Before we dive into my predictions for the top website design trends to watch in 2015, I’ll start by summing up key trends that emerged in 2014. I can do it in one word“.7 Website Design Trends To Watch... [...]

Rick Whittington says, “Is your company thinking about doing business outside the United States? Making your website relevant to potential customers in foreign markets will be an important step in marketing your product or service internationally.When you think about international websites, the first thing that comes to mind is translation.So I turned to Blake Dozier and Ignacio Garcia from Ingenuiti, a Virginia Beach, Virginia based company that specializes in eLearning translation and localization for international companies. Ingenuiti is a fellow program partner in Virginia’s VALET program... [...]

Neil Patel says, “Some of the pages on your website are more important than others. Okay, many of you probably find that fairly obvious — but I’m surprised how few people actually apply this knowledge to their websites to improve conversions.I’m all about low hanging fruit; about undertaking the easiest tasks that will have the biggest results. What I’m about to describe in this article has the potential to improve your site dramatically with just a few, critical changes.Let’s get right into it. Every website is different, bu generally speaking, here are the four... [...]