Fall is here, along with pumpkin spice everything and thoughts of a new calendar year. Have you started considering what your web presence should look like in 2016? We’ve scanned website trend predictions for 2016 and compiled this post for your consideration and planning.
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Looking Ahead to 2016: 5 Web Design Trends to Consider for the New Year
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Web Design: 6 Fundamentals of Customer-Centric Sites
Is your website designed with your customers in mind?
In his book The Invisible Computer, Donald A. Norman writes: “Quality only comes about by continual focus on, and attention to, the people who matter: customers.”
Norman, an advocate of designing products based on the needs and wants of the end-users, is credited with coining the term “user experience.” Now a buzzword in web design circles (and others), it has its own acronym: UX.
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Custom or Template? Choosing the Right Option for Your Site
Custom design or template? When creating a website, it’s one of the most fundamental decisions to make. Both options are valid, so how do you decide?Compare this to another fundamental choice: how to make a dinner entree. Will you make your own creation from scratch or follow a recipe?
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More Mobile-Friendly Google Search Coming April 21
Have you typed a term into Google search on your phone recently? If so, you’re in good company – as some estimates say more than six out of every 10 Google searches are mobile. If you’ve been in the six or seven, did you find what you were looking for? Did your search results provide a link to a relevant, mobile-friendly site, one that could be viewed easily on your phone?
Google wants to ensure its mobile users are getting “friendly” results. Consequently, in 10 days the company will institute a significant change in how it ranks pages in mobile searches.
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How Accessible is Your Website?
Is your site fully accessible to individuals with disabilities?
In March 2014, the U.S. Justice Department ordered subsidiaries of H&R Block to take specific actions to ensure individuals with disabilities have full access to its online information and services. The department acted in the interest of a lawsuit filed against the company in Massachusetts by the National Federation of the Blind, alleging violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
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Don’t Miss Out! Get Results with Video on Your Website
Online video is a hit! It’s popularity has some sources calling YouTube the web’s “second search engine.” Then there are stats like these from a study by Animoto (described in this Search Engine Watch post):
- 94 percent of consumers watched an online video in the previous week
- 76 percent of smartphone owners watch videos at least once a week from their phones
- 73 percent of consumers indicated being more likely to buy a product or service after watching an explanatory video
In addition, using video on websites is frequently cited for sales conversion impacts of 80 percent on up. (Here’s a link to one such a source. )
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Visual Web Content: Is Seeing Really Believing?
Reading recent statistics about the value of visual content on a website brings to mind this centuries-old adage: “Seeing is believing.” Consider these stats reported on wishpond.com, for example:
- Sites that use infographics get 12 percent more traffic than sites that do not.
- 67 percent of consumers consider clear, detailed images to carry more weight than product information or customer ratings.
- 60 percent of consumers are more likely to click on a business with images appearing in search results.
- 90 percent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. Visuals are processed by the brain 60,000x faster than text.
- Posts with visuals receive 94 percent more page visits and engagement than those without images.
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10 Ways to Prepare for a Successful Year in 2014
A brand new year is just around the corner. Are you prepared to make the most of the 365 days it offers? We’ve collected advice from around the web and compiled it here for your consideration as you finalize plans for 2014.
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1. Review your 2013 goals. Which ones did you meet? Which ones did you fail to meet despite your best intentions? What will you carry over to 2014, and what will you leave behind? Set action-based goals for the new year, assigning start-by and finish-by dates to each of them.
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