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Yearly Archives: 2019
Which is The Best Ecommerce Platform?
For business owners who are planning to start a new eCommerce business in 2019, it’s vital for them to get an idea as to how the eCommerce platform has evolved in the past couple of years. Before selecting a particular eCommerce platform for your business, you must keep the significant highlights of the eCommerce industry in mind.
Choosing the best eCommerce platform for your store is a difficult decision as there are many different things to consider. In case you are not up-to-date with the current eCommerce industry, there are a thousand platforms that can be regarded as the best eCommerce platform. Wix, Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce, 3D Cart, OpenCart, ZenCart – these are all popular eCommerce platforms, and they have active users and communities. With so many options it becomes challenging for the users to choose a particular one, especially when they all call themselves the best eCommerce platform.
When choosing the best eCommerce platform, you must consider the critical factors like popularity, features, cost, user experience, customer support, and overall reputation. Based on these vital factors, we have assembled a list of 5 best eCommerce platforms that can help you start your store in 2019.
Shopify:
This is a Canadian based eCommerce platform that has been assisting online businesses across the world since 2004. Shopify is always considered among one of the top eCommerce platforms that have evolved their platform according to the latest trends and technologies. Shopify provides its users with a powerful social shopping experience, and it even doesn’t let your customers leave their social media platform to purchase the product.
The most important advantage that Shopify offers is that you can directly integrate this platform with your Facebook account and make your FB account an eCommerce store. The only drawback of using Shopify is you need to pay additional transaction charges in case you are not using Shopify Payment gateway. Despite the drawbacks, Shopify can be the best solution for the startups and novice eCommerce entrepreneurs who are looking for a conventional eCommerce solution.
Magento:
Introduced in 2008, Magento is a popular open source eCommerce platform which is known for its reliability and ease of use. Due to its scalability, Magento is considered among one of the most popular eCommerce platforms available in 2019. Many popular businesses have their websites built on the Magento platform. Magento is the best choice for business owners with a massive volume of products. However, Magento is not the right choice for a business owner who has little or no knowledge in the programming language. At least, the store owner needs to have a team of professional programmers who are working on his team.
WooCommerce:
WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin, and it is widely popular in the world of eCommerce. It provides users with many benefits like secure payment gateway and a high-quality shopping cart. As it is open source and very easy to handle, even the novices with little knowledge in WordPress can feel the WooCommerce platform. However, one needs to install an additional plugin to initiate a multi-product eCommerce store.
BigCommerce:
BigCommerce is another important eCommerce platform which is often compared to Shopify. Like Shopify, BigCommerce also offers a similar user experience and allows users to choose from a range of prices and packages. BigCommerce is an affordable eCommerce platform, and all its packages are tailored to different kinds of businesses. This platform is highly customizable, and if you know the necessary coding, you can customize its themes and templates to build your eCommerce website. However, not all these themes and templates are free, and you may need to pay an additional cost to use a particular BigCommerce theme or template.
Wix:
Wix is the easiest of all eCommerce platforms available nowadays. It has unlimited free themes and templates that you can use to build your eCommerce website. Wix has an in-built artificial design interface that lets you create a website by using its AI program. Another important reason why most people prefer Wix is because it is very affordable. Wix comes in only $5/month. The most expensive plan for Wix comes with $25/month. It’s true that Wix doesn’t support multiple features that the other big eCommerce platforms do, but it satisfies the requirement of most small eCommerce entrepreneurs.
6 Reasons Why Flyers are Still Important in Marketing
Flyers are considered as one of the oldest forms of marketing. Due to the advent of digital advertising medium, online marketing platforms like email, social media, etc. have become an essential part of marketing strategies nowadays. However, many companies are still using flyers as an effective medium of marketing. Experienced marketers have even suggested that brochure is one of the most important tools for offline advertising.
Advertising that utilizes effective flyer design is a budget-friendly option to deliver your products or services to your target audience. If used strategically, flyer distribution campaigns can provide you with unlimited clients.
The reason why flyer is still not outdated is that it suits all types of businesses and can help them achieve their marketing goal in the best possible manner. Apart from that, there are many other reasons why most people consider flyer marketing as a useful tool for offline advertising.
Flyers are Relatively Cheaper than Other Online Advertising Methods:
When it comes to choosing the option of a flyer, business owners need to think about the concept as to how the flyers can be useful. The first step is vital as you need to discuss with a team or other likeminded people. Once done, you need to come up with an outline of the flyer design. Once the initial ideal is finalized, you need to hire a professional designer to draft the flyer design for you. It is effortless and much cheaper than running an online Advertising campaign or booking an advertisement online.
Easy Access to Your Potential Consumer:
With offline advertising medium like flyer, you can reach your potential consumers very quickly by applying the minimum effort. Unlike online advertising, where you need to make a detailed plan about how to target your potential customers online, you can easily place your flyer at different locations of your choice or distribute them among your customers by your own. This ensures easy access to your customers as a large number of people can view the flyer on the go, or they can go through its content on their way to home or office.
People Easily Get Attracted to Flyer:
Despite the overuse of online advertising mediums like banners, websites, social media platforms, etc., flyers still can grab the attention of people. Because of their unique design, people easily get attracted to flyers. Therefore, it is vital to create a uniquely designed flyer that can draw a thousand eyeballs.
Instant Feedback:
One important reason why most people still love flyer advertising is because of their ability to reach across to the correct audience in no time. Unlike online marketing, you don’t need to sit and wait for the results as people who get the flyer in hand give an instant reply. All you need to do is to distribute the flyers among the correct audience.
Compelling Art Form:
Flyers are a valid form of art as your target customers cannot even get a chance to overlook its contents. This is because people tend to read what is around them. When it comes to online advertising, there is a pretty good chance that a large portion of your targeted customers does not pay much attention to your ads. However, when people are at their workplace or in some other place, they surely read what is around them. Therefore, it is vital to create an effective flyer design that accurately conveys the right message.
Add a Personal Touch in Advertising:
When you are distributing the flyers in person, it can create a personal relationship with your targeted customers. Each time when the prospect will look at the flyer design, it will remind them of your promotional message. This adds a personal touch to advertising, and this is something that online advertising doesn’t offer.
Flyer advertising gives businesses a chance to promote their business within a limited budget and helps them generate real results. The success of flyer advertising most depends on the venue you choose for distributing the flyers. It is also essential to design your flyer in such a way that it grabs the attention of people and controls their will to purchase your product or use your service.
Why A Premade Logo Isn’t Good Enough For Your Business?
When it comes to design a business, many people prefer to use pre-made logos that are commonly available online. Most of these premade logos are available at a low price or event is free of cost. However, are these logos suitable for your business?
Before we come to the point as to whether you should use a premade logo or not, we first need to realize what a business logo is. A business logo is the identity of your business, and it creates an impression in the mind of your potential visitors. A good business logo should be designed by following your central business concept. The logo should represent your business values, core message, and the services you offer graphically. A properly designed logo should be memorable which can leave an everlasting impression in the mind of people.
What is Pre Made Logo?
As mentioned earlier, the premade logo is commonly available online. You can use these logos by slightly tweaking the font style, with your business name, etc. Some premade logo platforms also let users change the color to fit your style. The reason behind choosing these types of logos is because these logos are available at little cost, even free of charge. If you are on a tight budget, you can go for these logos, but it might not be the best choice for your business. However, if you are business with a vision and want to build an identity of your brand, then you should never use a premade logo as this will create a negative impression.
Mentioned below are the reasons why premade logos are not good enough for your business:
One Logo for More Than One Customer:
The main problem that comes with the premade logo is that you cannot make the right selection of your logo. Although it is against ethics, there are many readymade logo providers online that sell the same logos for some businesses. This is cheap and can damage your brand identity forever. This is not going to waste your money but can leave a negative impression in the mind of customers.
Logos without Exclusive Rights:
When you hire a professional logo design company, they will first listen to your concept and then come up with a unique logo design. The custom logo design that a professional logo design company creates for you comes with exclusive ownership rights, which you can never get with a premade logo. Premade template logos don’t have any proprietary rights, which can lead to unwanted trademark confusion with some other company.
Copy of another Design:
In most cases, a premade logo is made by copying the design of an already available logo design, with or without a little deviation. This creates a negative impression for a brand because if a customer sees that you are using someone else’s logo design, they will avoid your business. With premade logos, the uniqueness of the design is always lost, and it fails to show the brand value.
Designed By Unprofessional Designers:
The reason why these premade logos are available at little cost is that unprofessional freelance designers make them. Premade logo is never considered a sign of professionalism. The designers that are responsible for creating these premade logos are lazy, and they don’t do their job honestly. In most cases, they blatantly copy someone’s style with a little variation, which would never play well when used for your brand’s name.
No Design Customization:
Once you purchase a premade logo, there is no chance of customizing the same; even you don’t like something about the logo. Although some premade logo provider offers limited changes that you can ask for, they would surely ask for extra money for the same. However, this is not true when you are working with the professional logo design company. The professional logo design company offers a couple of versions of the same logo, and even if you are not satisfied with the style, you can ask for variations. The logo designers will always be ready to provide you with a free revision.
Considering the points mentioned above, it is strongly recommended that you avoid using the premade logos for your business. It is recommended that each company should hire a professional logo designer to create a uniquely customized logo that carries the visual identity of the brand.
Five Tips For Providing Your Designer With Helpful Feedback
Feedback is an essential part of any design process, and if it is done correctly, it makes sure that the designer gets full success in delivering the best work. The design process is a collaboration between the designer and the client and to create a successful design; the designer needs useful feedback from the client. However, how to provide your designer with the most helpful feedback that ensures the success of the work?
As for the designer, receiving feedback from the client is often stressful. If it’s not bright or full of confusion, the design process may be hampered. On the contrary, giving feedback to the designer can also seem a difficult task on the client’s part as well.
Mentioned below are 5 essential tips that help you provide your designer with the most helpful design feedback as a client.
Be Honest While Working With the Honest:
It would be best if you kept in mind that you are working with the designer to create a magnificent work that is going to serve a genuine purpose for you. During the design process, the aim of the designer should be to provide with the best product that you are delighted with, and that will serve your purpose as well. Therefore, in the course of the design process, if you find something not up to the mark, then be honest and tell the same to the designer. If you cannot provide the designer with honest feedback, you can never achieve the ultimate result. It is much more helpful for the designer if they get honest feedback from you, even if it seems harsh.
Give a Specific Reason & Try to Give Examples:
If you don’t like something about the design, it is better to explain a little as to what you don’t want about the plan. This will be more helpful for the designer to understand your point as, without an apparent reason, they will be in darkness as to why you don’t like the design. As for the client, it is true that sometimes it can be difficult to accurately pinpoint the specific reason about what makes you feel wrong about a particular purpose. However, it would be easier for the designer to understand the feedback if you can describe a little detail – like how does the design make you feel, any specific part that you don’t like, e.g., the fonts, colors, background, banner, etc.
Although you are explaining your feedback in detail, there may be times when your designer has no idea about what you are talking. The best way you can get rid of this situation is to give specific examples so that it is apparent to your designer. This is especially true when you don’t have much knowledge about every aspect of the design, and you need to give feedback about the design work.
Ask Questions:
As the design process goes on, and the designer sends you regular updates, you may have moments when you see the design and have so many questions. Make sure to ask them to your designer. If you are not clear about a particular part of a design, ask the designer about what makes them include the same in the design and what purpose the specific element is going to serve. If the designer is concerned about your project, they will surely be able to answer your questions and give specific reasons as to why they have included a particular section in your design.
Consider Your Business Goals:
When evaluating the design and giving feedback about the same, you should consider looking at the overall design and think whether it is going to serve your business goal or any of your specific need. Imagine yourself as any of your potential customers and try to view the design in the eyes of a customer. If something is confusing in the design, you should immediately let the designer know about the same. Try to check whether the design gives you an overall idea about your business or the message that you are trying to spread through the design. If it is not delivering the purpose, be honest and tell the designer about this.
Give Realistic feedback:
If you are trying to get the right design that serves your purpose, you should always respect the designer’s effort and his/her choice. During the design process, you should still be realistic and treat your designer as a part of your team members. It would help if you never rushed and always give your feedback on time so that the designer has enough time to make all the changes according to your feedback. This helps you meet your deadline as well.
The more you are engaged with your design; the better will be the design work. The feedback is an essential part of any design process, and if you have a good relationship with the designer, the more likely you will receive a great design that serves your purpose.
The Ultimate Breakdown of File Types – Part 2
The Ultimate Breakdown of File Types – Part 1
Mentioned below are some of the examples of Vector Format image files.
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG):
This is a versatile vector image format which is commonly used for designing web pages as well as to serve other purposes. The main intention behind the introduction of the SVG file type was to create an image file type that can be used for all purposes. Since they are developed on XML, SVG file types are lossless and are considered as the most used vector formats available in the market.
Portable Document Format (PDF):
The renowned Adobe group developed this particular file type. You can view this type of file by using Adobe Acrobat software. However, Adobe Acrobat is available in free of cost, and you can easily download one and install in your system to run PDF files. When it comes to sharing any images, the PDF file is considered the most accessible tool and therefore, is the most popular vector file format in the world.
Encapsulated Postscript (EPS):
EPS is a favorite file type mainly used in vector based design by using Adobe Illustrator. Unlike the other vector file format, EPS file can be designed with text as well as graphics. Another reason why most people prefer to use EPS is that you can open these types of images by using any software and can edit easily. An EPS file is a postscript format and used in high-quality graphics and printing.
EPS is a unique file type as it offers a preview picture of the image being designed. The idea behind this to give the designer a simple preview of the end product. As EPS files contain many postscript printing commands, you can find an option in a printer device to save as EPS.
Adobe Illustrator (AI):
This is another essential vector file type which can be edited and created by using Adobe Illustrator tool. You can read this image file type by using Adobe Illustrator software only. Adobe Illustrator is also considered as the most popular software when it comes to design a vector image file. AI file type is suitable for using any projects, no matter whether it is a web page or printing project. Although the data contained in the AI format is mainly based on PDF, you cannot read this type of file in Acrobat. Whenever you create a design on Adobe Illustrator and save the file as .ai format, it instantly includes a PDF preview inside the file. This is the reason why AI format is the most preferred format by the designers when it comes to saving an image file.
The Ultimate Breakdown of File Types – Part 1
If you look at the online marketplace, every graphic that you view, no matter whether it’s on a website or a flyer, comes from an image file. The marketers and designers should be well aware of different types of image files available in the market. There are many reasons as to why it is essential to get at least a bit of knowledge on the image file types.
You must be aware of the fact that not all image file types serve the same purpose. To select the best image file type, you must have a clear about where the image is going to be used. If the image is going to be used on a website, you need to know which type of website it is. For example, you may require a sketching or illustrative file for your website. You also need some particular kind of software to open a specific image file.
Above mentioned things are just a few examples as to why it is essential to have precise knowledge about the types of the image file that you choose for your business. Mentioned below is a discussion on different types of image files available in the market.
One of the most important things that you need to know first to learn about the image file types is that all image files are mainly categorized as Raster format and Vector format.
Raster Format:
Raster format is the image which is in a grid of pixels. Depending on the high or low-resolution images, the pixels in the picture have their proportions. As a result, if the image is stretched beyond its pixel capacity, it is likely to get distorted. Some of the commonly used Raster format image file types are PNG, JPG, GIF, etc.
Vector Format:
Unlike the Rastor formats, vector format is a type in which the images are not formed in pixels. Instead of pixels, vector format uses points, lines, and curves in a definite proportionate according to a mathematical equation. As result images of vector formats are more flexible and you can resize the same freely without distorting the same. Some of the examples of vector formats of images are SVG, PDF, and EPF.
Now let us have a look at the types of Raster Format image files.
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG):
Of all types of image file types available in the market, JPEG or JPG is the most popular. The quality of a JPEG type image is directly proportionate to the size of the particular image file. This means the quality of the image is compromised as long as you compress the image. This is the reason it is essential to check the resolution of the photos before using it on the website or anywhere else.
Depending on the nature of your requirement, you need to choose the resolution of JPEG images. For example, if you need an image for DTP and printing purposes, you need to use a very high-quality JPEG image. The DPI required for this type of image should be a minimum of 300 dpi. On the other hand, you need to use a JPEG image of minimum 72dpi for a webpage.
Graphic Interchange Format (GIF):
In most cases, the animated videos are of very high quality and take time to load. The images used in an animated video are of high quality, and this is the reason the images used on animated videos are not suitable for web pages, where page loading time plays an important role. This is the reason why GIF images are used. GIF image types are mostly used in animated videos. As these types of format support 256 colors in RGB color space, they are relatively low in size.
Portable Networks Graphic Format (PNG):
PNG image file type is popular because of their lossless nature. This means you can compress or decrease their file size without compromising with the image quality. The reason why the PNG file type introduced was because of the need to overcome the limitations of GIF. In comparison to the GIF image type, PNG file types are of better quality and support more color. Another reason why most designers prefer PNG is because of their transparency. However, you cannot use PNGs for printing because they are of little resolution. PNG images work well with any webpages.
Above mentioned file types are few of the most popular Rastor format images. There are many other Vector format image files, which I will add to the list as well.
6 Best WordPress Themes for This Year
WordPress is considered the most popular content management system in the world, and with over thousands of WordPress themes available, it is challenging for the novices to find the most suitable theme for them. Also, many different individual WordPress themes fit all kinds of user requirement. You can use this type of multipurpose WordPress theme for building a website of any niche.
The theme is the backbone of any website development project. Having the right theme in hand can play a vital role in determining the success of a website building project. As mentioned, there are numerous WordPress themes and having a clear idea about the most popular from them is beneficial for the developer. Discussed below are the 6 most popular WordPress themes that are going to rule this year.
Divi – Multipurpose WordPress Theme:
Divi is considered one of the best among multipurpose WordPress themes available in the market. Developed by Elegant Themes, the world leader in WordPress theme development industry, Divi comes with premium membership plan that enables you to access all their plugins by paying for only one theme. Divi contains very easy to use modules, drag and drop design feature, predefined layouts, etc. Also, the theme comes with custom CSS panel which makes it unconditionally faster way to design high quality and modern website in no time. Divi has its library, in which you can save your custom layout for future use.
Ultra – Flexible WordPress Theme:
Ultra is perhaps the most flexible WordPress themes created by Themify. This theme uses some drag and drop tool, and you can create any website in no time just by using its powerful drag and drop tool. Ultra is available with a demo website setup that contains built-in designs in terms of settings, content tool, menus, widgets, and others. Also, Ultra theme comes with a unique library of predefined layouts and various landing pages. Professional designers create all these designs. Once you activate the primary theme, you will be asked to choose any one of the available pre-installed layouts. This is an optional choice, and once the demo content is imported, you can make changes in the content whenever required.
Beaver Builder – Web Page Builder Plugin:
Beaver Builder is not a WordPress theme, it is a website builder plugin, and it works with any WordPress theme. It is one of the best page builder tools available for WordPress website development. With this plugin, the developer can create a website in part by part. Once you are determined with the use of this Beaver Builder plugin, you can utilize this tool for any layout you want.
Another important thing that comes with Beaver Builder is that it is available with numerous unique page templates to choose from. Developing a website by using Beaver Builder is almost like an instant job. Pages created with Beaver Builder are 100% responsive, which means the pages will look good in all devices.
Astra – Customizable WordPress Theme:
It is a high customizable WordPress theme available in the market place. You can find numerous demo websites in this theme, and you can launch a prebuilt site by using these demo setups in just a minute. Once the initial set up is complete, you can then sit back in relax and customize the website look according to your preferences. Apart from these, many other features make Astra an inevitable choice for most web developers. With Astra, you can get the scope to remove the page title and sidebar if required. Moreover, this theme is compatible with any favorite page builder tool like Beaver Builder.
Avada – Best Selling WordPress Theme:
Avada is a multi-purpose WordPress theme that comes with 200+ predesigned website templates as well as 40+ preinstalled demo website setups. ThemeFusion is the company that created the Avada theme. It was first introduced in 2012, and as of now, it has over 15,000 active customers all over the world. Since it comes with literally unlimited design options, you can create and design any style without the need for multipurpose themes. All pages created with Avada theme is 100% responsive, and it appears fine in smaller screens as well.
Shoppe – Multipurpose WooCommerce Theme:
Shoppe is mainly used as a unique tool to build a professional looking e-commerce website instantly without applying much effort. Like many other WordPress themes available in the industry, Shoppe also includes the drag and drop feature, and you can also implement many different eCommerce website features like shopping cart, lightbox, search box, zoom image, etc. Although it is available with 50+ prebuilt website design layouts, they are especially suitable for WooCommerce. This type of theme could be the right choice for you if you are new to this field and want to start an online store.
An Age-Old Conundrum: Do Good Logos Need to Look Good?
Your business logo needs to be simple, distinctive, and good enough to convey a unique message. However, what makes a good logo? Do good logos always need to look good? How to differentiate between a good logo and a lousy logo? The specialist logo designers have made their mark doing that. Also, there is go-to-guide for the logo designers that help them create a standard logo design for their clients. However, according to industry experts, a good logo not necessarily needs to look good. The most important thing is how much the logo matters at all and what quality the logo has that it can affect a company’s marketing lineup.
In today’s online marketplace, where millions of logo design companies are boasting of creating great logo designs, it is confusing to choose someone who can help you create the most professional logo that stands out. Before you go for such a professional logo design company to draft the design for your business website, you must check out in-depth guide as to how to design a great logo that looks ‘good’ and at the same time feels ‘good.’
Use a Double Visual Effect:
Some of the best logos in the industry utilize a technique of creating a visual double effect. This is the technique to use two overly fancy images combined into one through a tricky interpretation of the central concept or idea. Logos made by using this technique always come out as clever and memorable. Your potential visitors love to experience this type of duel mind game that you are displaying through your logo.
Color is Vital:
The beauty of a logo depends on its color. The color palette is the most important consideration for designing a good logo. Color signifies important messages and communicates business ideas. There are times when you have to choose colors according to your brand, but other times you have full freedom to explore different colors. The color you want for your logo should bring life to the design. Remember a good logo is not always need to be ‘good’ and colorful in appearance. It will still act its purpose well even when designed black and white. When it comes to choosing a color for a logo, going simple is always the key. There are many examples of good logos that are designed in black or any single color version. This would be a bit tricky, but it is possible if designed by an experienced designer.
Don’t Follow the Old Trends:
Each year, new design concept comes and goes away. Some good design trend that was great in the last year may look cliché this year. Therefore, do your research first on the latest design trends and design your logos accordingly. There is no use of repeating the same design concept again and again as people will never accept a design concept which has become cliché because of repeated applications. It is always a good idea to design according to what you have thought up yourself rather than using anyone else’s opinion. People hate seeing the same design concept used by several companies.
Use Custom Fonts:
Typography plays a vital role in determining the aesthetic beauty of your logo. There is almost nothing that can give your logo a unique feeling than custom typography. Very often you will see logos that are designed with a simple font. These types of logos are fine, but there is no harm in trying different typeface to check which font looks the best in your logo. Using custom font is especially important when you have hired the professional logo designers to draft the logo design for you. Custom fonts make sure that your logo becomes unique and stands out in the crowd.
Let People know what it means:
There is a story behind every successful logo design. Beyond that overwhelming colors and typography, there is a profound message that every logo wants to convey. Be careful not to be overly complicated so that people find it difficult to understand the hidden meaning. Try to include a ‘clue’ that helps people understand the hidden message that you are trying to convey. Regardless of its shape, color and typography, the logo design should show its client how much thought and ideas went into the design process.
5 Features Your Landing Page Should Have
A landing page is considered the essential element for generating high quality leads for a business. However, it is often overlooked, or most companies don’t utilize this marketing tool enough. In most cases, the website owners give more importance to the home page as it is the first place where visitors first land. Studies say that websites with landing pages can convert more than the sites with no landing pages. Therefore a landing page is crucial for any business as it offers a targeted platform for converting a higher percentage of visitors into targeted leads. A well-built landing page may have 10-15% conversion rate on an average.
This is reasons modern marketers have started to give too much emphasis on creating a unique landing page to driver targeted leads. Landing pages are being used in all types of marketing campaigns including email marketing, social media, Google AdWords, Facebook ads, and others. The idea behind this is to send targeted traffic to a specific location conveying the right messages to each potential customer.
Are you still wondering what to put in your landing to make it more unique and improve the conversion rate? Mentioned below are the five most important features every landing page should have:
Bold Headlines & CTAs:
A landing page must contain attention-grabbing bold headlines and sub-headline. This is something that connects with your readers; therefore you need to take time in creating an enticing but unique headline. The headlines should be followed by a brief description of what is being offered by you and at least one relevant image or a video. There should be important Call to Actions (CTA) through the page to capture customer’s information. Apart from that, you can include a form at the above the fold section (the portion of the page that your visitors can see without further scrolling down) of the landing page to capture user’s information.
Business USP:
Once the above the fold section is appropriately designed, the next step that you need to highlight in your landing page is your Unique Selling Propositions (USP). For example, you need to explicitly tell people about what your business is and why you are different from the competitors. This should be carefully communicated on your landing page so that visitors find it beneficial to go for your service/products, rather than looking for anywhere else. An excellent way to describe this section is to use bullet points rather than long and dull descriptions.
Visual Representation of Your Service/Products:
People love to view rather than read. Therefore, you need to include some visual representation of your business on your landing page. This will help your visitors to understand better what your business is all about and how your service could be beneficial for them. The idea behind using graphical representation in your landing page is to get your visitors a chance to place themselves in a similar scenario and visualize how they are using the same service or product. Choose high-quality pictures relevant to your service or product. Also, you can also include a video that describes your service or product. This is especially important when you are selling a physical product.
Proof of Company Credibility:
Online marketing is entirely based on credibility and the best way to show your company credibility is to show what people are saying about your business. It is important to include a couple of your customer testimonials. You can also add a testimonial video to illustrate that other people have purchased what you are offering and are happy with your service. Visitors are more likely to convert into real customers when they see that other people have used your product before or are satisfied with your service.
Closing Argument:
You should have a final chance to communicate the benefit of your service before your customers finally leave your landing page. Therefore, include something catchy and bold statement as your landing page comes to close. This gives visitors a short reminder about what they have visualized in the entire landing page and your primary value proposition. Similar to the above the fold section, the closing argument should also be included with a couple of call to actions.
10 Reasons Why You Should Switch from Wix to WordPress?
A website is the face of a business. Business owners invest money and time in designing a great website not only to market their products or service but to create an online platform which can be a perfect alternative to their brick and mortar store. Websites today are more professional and build in such a way so that they can give competition to others.
If you a non-technical person and prefer to hire professional web designers to create your website, there are many factors that you need to keep in mind. For example, choosing the right content management system (CMS) for your website is essential. Creating a visually appealing website is fine, but when it comes to select the right CMS, you should be more careful as you may need to upload/remove new contents in the long run.
While WordPress and Wix are both considered as the most popular CMS for professional websites, there are differences between the two. For example, the ease of use of WordPress can easily make it the better choice over Wix. Apart from that, there are many other reasons why you need to switch from Wix to WordPress.
WordPress is a Self-hosted Platform:
The self-hosting nature of WordPress platform gives it a uniqueness. With WordPress, you have the right to choose your own hosting company and run your website in the same. You also have the right to switch between the web hosting service providers according to your wish. On the contrary, to run a website on Wix, you must choose it to host your website as well. This means you have to stick with only one hosting forever. Therefore, if in case you feel that your website is running slowly due to the poor hosting, you cannot just go for another one and transfer your website’s data to another hosting service provider.
WordPress is the Most Popular CMS:
WordPress is the most popular CMS and mostly used in the world. Therefore, you will have countless opportunities and online support to help you if in case you need assistance to manage your WordPress website.
Open Sources Platform:
WordPress is an open source platform, which gives you the chance to access its codes more frequently and use your theme, plug-ins etc. This gives you an overwhelming ability to customise your website according to your wish. On the other hand, Wix only has some limited number of tools and apps, created by their team, and you can integrate Wix tools into their website builder.
Unlimited Free Themes and Theme Modification:
With WordPress, you can have the opportunity to choose from an infinite number of free themes to design your website. Besides, there are premium themes that you can purchase as well. Also, the themes can be modified and adjusted according to your design requirements. When it comes to building a website with Wix, you will have more than 400 templates to choose from. However, none of them is customizable, meaning you cannot modify the code or make any specific changes to the design.
Unlimited Plug-ins:
Similar to the themes, you can have access to unlimited number of free plugins in WordPress. Also, WordPress gives you the ability to create your own plug-ins and customise an existing plug-in according to the requirement. Unlike WordPress plug-ins, Wix offers self-made apps to manage their website, but there are a lot less to choose from.
Better Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
WordPress gives you a chance to optimise your website according to the latest SEO parameters. WordPress website is very SEO friendly with numerous SEO features in it. You can use WordPress plugins to add meta descriptions to your pages, analytics, search console code and others. However, Wix offers minimal SEO features.
Heaven for the Bloggers:
If you are a blogger, WordPress is a heaven for you. WordPress was initially launched as a platform for blogging. Creating a blog post is very easy in WordPress, and even the non-technical users can publish their blogs as quickly as writing a story in a notepad.
WordPress is More Affordable:
When it comes to the cost of building a WordPress website, it is more affordable than any other platform. With WordPress, you have to pay for the initial set up of your domain, plus there is an ongoing hosting fee. After that, you can freely run your website by using the free themes, plug-ins available to you.
Wix offers a free website builder tool, but it comes with too many advertisements, which you cannot remove. Also, Wix doesn’t give you control over the domain name. While many of the Wix apps are free, you will have some limitations of use if you don’t upgrade the same to the premium version.
Ownership Rights:
The most pathetic thing is that Wix doesn’t let you own your website, domain content and hosting, unlike the WordPress, which is a self-hosted platform and gives you the ownership for all content you upload in your website.
WordPress Community & Support:
If you need help or support, you can quickly look for the WordPress community, which is full of experienced web developers, who are ready to assist you. However, with Wix, you will always need to go to Wix.com for any assistance.
7 Features Your Homepage Should Have
When you are planning to promote your business online, the first thing that comes to your mind is to create a beautiful website. Your website should be designed in such a way so that your potential customers find it attractive and can have an exceptional experience. Online presence is the key to any business. Therefore, it is essential to build a website, which is professional and have a great user interface.
Regardless of your products and services, companies find it very difficult to choose a perfect home page for their website. Even the experienced digital marketers struggle to decide as to which contents to put in the website home page. When it comes to design a perfect home page design that converts into actual sales, literally there is no such formula as there are many different options to choose from. However, professional designers can guide you in this regard, and they can provide you with a checklist to be implemented on the home page. It is imperative that you follow the list to achieve your goals in the best possible manner.
Mentioned below are the 7 most important features that your homepage should have:
Start with a Creative Logo:
The first thing that every home page should have is a perfect logo. This is the first thing that your visitors see when they open your website. You should avoid crowding your logo with unnecessary visual ornamentations. It is essential to place your logo in the top left corner with enough space around it to make sure that it stands out. Also, consider the size of your logo and resist your urges to make it unnecessary bigger.
Professional Site Menu Bar:
Once you finalise your company logo, the next thing that you need to put in your home page is a professional looking menu. Your home page menu should include the most important pages of your website so that visitors find it very easy to browse through the pages. Nevertheless, it would help if you did not overcrowd the menu under any circumstances.
Quick Tip: You can use the hamburger menu icon, which is nothing but an image with three horizontal lines. These types of menu icons have become popular nowadays, especially on mobile devices.
Stunning Above the Fold Banner:
The above the fold section of your website is the part that users can see without scrolling down. This is the most crucial part of your home page, and you should never overlook this section. The above the fold banner should have the most engaging contents so that it attracts your potential customers. This is because in many cases customers are super busy and they don’t have time to scroll down and navigate through the entire website to find any information. Instead, they prefer to exit from the site and look for a better alternative (site). The above the fold banner should be unique, and there should be bold headlines with a prominent call to actions to engage your users.
Forms to Capture Leads:
This is important when you want to use your home page in different ad campaigns and look for inbound leads. A simple form with a clear call to action button like “Get a Quote”, “Book Appointment Now” etc. can engage your users more than anything else. You can also get a chance to capture your user’s contact information and use the leads for future marketing campaigns.
Enticing Headline:
The most crucial element of your website is the homepage headline. The purpose of using headline is to tell your customers about what your business is and who you are. No user wants to scroll through the entire page to know what your site has to offer. Therefore, you should be very careful to tell them about your business by using the unique and professionally written headline.
Call to Actions:
As mentioned earlier, call to actions are another vital feature of any homepage. Your website should have multiple calls to actions (CTA). It would help if you were specifically careful about creating a call to actions that are visually appealing.
Quick Tip: Always consider using the first word of your call to action button a Verb so that it looks like a command.
Don’t Forget to Include a Portfolio:
If your business offers any products or services, you should consider adding a portfolio to your website home page. Your portfolio is an essential element that your users would like to see first to understand your credibility.
7 Reasons Why You Should Not DIY Your Logo
1. New brand For a New Company
Several reasons are there for a company to become new even though the organization’s business perspective is the same. If someone’s company has a new name, for example, the brand performs the role of connecting the old to the original.
2. Companies Evolution
If some one’s company goes through a transition which has much meaning as far as the customer base is concerned, then for a brand which is in a refreshing condition it is an opportunity to assimilate the new & old in a unique manner. If someone promotes his/her companies age, many people do this in their logo & ‘est.’ Someone’s website & brand don’t have to reflect that he/she has not updated it for a long time. A company’s product which is named Wolley Home solutions is paying tribute to the past. Their brand & site has the demonstration that as far the faith is concerned.They are a reliable brand for the coming generations. They have a product which is accessible.
3. Support To Rebrand A Company
If there is a rebranding of any company then to support those hard work refreshing a brand is necessary. Through an updated brand a company conveys the message to its efficient customers “Here’s the new us” or “What’s New About Us.”
4. Expansion of Markets
If there is an expansion of new markets, then the primary purpose is served by a refreshed brand. So that the customers will come to know about the product, provide them the information about the newly launched product and its function. This is the right time for a refreshed brand to focus and to expand its reach. GAC services, business has been developed & then a broader variety of options were provided to its customers which includes cooling, heating & electrical options.
5. Brand Updates
There should be a reason for brand refreshment, one of the ideas can be mandatory for updates. If on the go too long, with no change in marketing material, it will not have a fresh look like garments, marketing design goes through styles.
If one look at Classic American companies like Ford, Starbucks & even Coca-Cola, they have a design & presence which can be differentiated, but they look different with time.
If one doesn’t have any idea about Starbucks then also there will be a logo along with Starbucks in the 1970’s words are printed on every coffee cup. With time logo also has changed. The emblem of Starbucks at present is a version which is streamlined of its water maid, it can be distinguished than the original, but they are close enough so customers can visualize if they see both the sides of the coffee cups.
6. Coordination of Social Media Channel
Channels coming through social media are significant in building networks with & driving sales to a person’s customer base. The different social media stalwarts of Facebook, Twitter & to various market segments they have a strong appeal. Instagram, for example, is most famous among youths & adults.
7. Brand ambassador For A Company
If someone’s branding has been very product or service oriented, a rebranding can result in a ‘face’ for that company. Selco, a company which deals with financial services that inform the customers about the rate of interest & products which are available. Employees in each branch are emphasized by their rebranding which takes place by including pictures.
Top 10 Brochure Design Trends For 2019
Providing a great new look to an existing brand requires a lot of market researches and feedback received from the targeted group. However, in most cases, companies do not have that time or the right resources to do the same. A wise way to rejuvenate the existing look and feel of your current is to hire a professional agency to design a brochure.
What is Brochure Marketing?
Brochure marketing is an essential tool that companies can use to put details of their products and services in an attractive layout for clients and targeted customers. A good brochure design can provide clients and customers with essential information about your business as well as gives a unique idea about the brand. By designing a beautiful looking brochure, a marketer can build an authentic brand identity of the company.
Brochure Design Trends:
Just like any other graphic designs such as company logo, website, business cards, newsletters, banners among others brochure design trends also fluctuate as the time flies. Some of the design trends go away each year and others stay forever. As a marketer, you must have a clear idea about the latest brochure design trends before designing one. Like any marketing elements, marketers also want to draw the attention of the targeted customers or clients by using brochure. Therefore, they always look for the latest trends to implement in their brochure design ideas so that the result is something that can stand out in the crowd. Fortunately, a bunch of design trends come every year to create a memorable brochure design, and you can choose any one from them to hit the market.
Mentioned below are 10 key brochure design trends that are going to rule in the year 2019:
1. Decent Typography:
Typography is the most important of all design elements that designers love experimenting with. The first thing that most brands customize is typography. In 2019, using typography of different styles and notes is in the trend. For example, bold typefaces are going to rule this year.
2. Bold and Bright Color Combination:
Bold and bright colors are in the market. In the past years, designers were reluctant to use colors that are bright and bold in nature. They were mostly depended on soft hues to convey the message of the sophistication of the brand. However, this trend has changed a lot, and bold and bright colors are back again. Nevertheless, instead of using bold and bright colors directly, you can use different gradients and patterns of colors, especially when it comes to rebranding the brochure.
3. 3D Design:
Another essential design trend that is going to be very popular in 2019 is 3D design and typography. Three-dimensional models can change the entire composition and give a feel just about ready to pop. However, there is no particular rule for this; you can use any font and render the same in 3D.
4. Avoiding Rigid Grid-based Designs:
Designers are now moving away from using rigid grid-based designs. Instead, brochure designs are now made with various templates-based designs that feel more alive. In short, the asymmetrical design trend is on, and you can follow this for your brochure design as well.
5. Duotones and Gradients:
Gradients are also known as color transitions, and they are a well-recognized trend in this year. Simple one-color brochure design is not working anymore; more and more designs are now made with gradients.
6. Warm Color Palettes for Images:
If you are using many images in your brochure design, you can use something warm to give them a vibrant look. Using warm colors in images will give your design a feel more like the days when cameras and screens were not captured by using saturated colors.
7. Shapes and Structures:
Brochure design in 2019 will come with more geometrical shapes and structures to experiment with the look and feel of the company branding. Brochures will be made in some unusual geometrical shapes like triangle, rectangle, and square.
8. A lot of Illustrations:
Using many illustrations in brochure design is the latest trend. This is because illustrations can get immediate attention from potential customers. Also, designers get the chance to show their creativity when illustrations are used in the design.
9. Open Composition:
Although sounds like a bit peculiar, open brochure design composition, where you feel like you see a part of the whole story, is in the trend. These types of compositions embrace a lot of white spaces, and the elements are placed in such a way as if they could float away.
10. Using Color Fonts:
More and more brochure designs in 2019 will be made by using color fonts. The color font is the next big thing, and this will be incredibly popular this year. The most important reason behind this is that the software for using color fonts has recently launched and there is a pretty good chance that designers will use the software aggressively.
Why Should You Invest In Newsletter Design?
An email newsletter can be an effective marketing campaign, and it can be better than anything else your marketing team currently does. Email campaign significantly more effective way to drive targeted leads than any other marketing strategies – nearly 40-50% better than social media. There is a particular reason why an email newsletter is so influential. According to researchers, nine out of ten individuals check email every day; this number is even more than they shop online and visit social media sites. Therefore, there are pretty good reasons why you should invest in email newsletter design.
Creating Great Newsletter for Your Business:
Once you have made up your mind to invest in the newsletter campaign, the first thing that you can do is to hire a professional agency to design one for you. Your readers might have an inbox filled with a bunch of newsletters, with no or little time to go through all of them. That means your newsletter has to be designed magnificently with a great subject line to grab the attention of your reader. One way you can do this by letting the professionals do it for you so that they can provide you with a stunning newsletter design that works.
How to Design Great Newsletter Design?
The initial but most important part of your newsletter design process is to decide on a theme and subject. First, ask yourself why you are designing the newsletter. Is it going to offer any of product or is it for distributing some important announcement or data that drive traffic back to a particular page of your site? It is vital to have a clear idea as to what activity you want your newsletter subscribers to perform when they see the email.
Another thing you need to keep in mind that the newsletter design should coordinate with the basic appearance of your business website, you should let your subscribers know who the email is from as soon as they open the email. The subject line and the quality of the words you use in your newsletter are also crucial as they set up a connection between you and the reader.
Why is Email Newsletter Design Still the Best?
The strategy of grabbing the attention of your customer with an email newsletter is an old concept, but it can still give you significant result even today. However, the truth is that the process of grabbing the attention of your reader is more laborious today as it was ten years ago. Designing a stunning newsletter is still worth the effort. Despite the popularity of social media marketing nowadays, an email newsletter still works as it promotes the chance of 1:1 connection with the customers. If you can put some serious effort behind creating a stunning looking newsletter design, you can save the right amount of marketing dollars.
Another important task for you is to test a couple of versions of your newsletter design. This will give you a chance to understand better which version is affecting your results. Nowadays many different email tools come with built-in A/B testing capabilities.