So, your company’s website has been up a while and it’s time to go back to the drawing board and start working on the next incarnation of the site. It’s 2016, and for many–if not most–businesses, the company website is the most common point of introduction to the public. It is therefore critical that your brand […]
After explaining our web design and development process to a client (or prospective client), we’re often greeted with “huh…interesting. I’ve never heard of anyone doing it like that before”. It’s true, our process is unique and sometimes takes someone a bit longer to wrap their head around, but we believe we’re justified in our decision to […]
Word association time: when you think of the phrase “modern web design”, what immediately comes to mind? Styles change, and fads come and go, but a lot of what we’ve seen change in web design over the past several years is the result of a fundamental shift in mindset. The responsive mindset For the past […]
Since the early days of widespread public internet use, website security certificates (frequently referred to as SSL certificates) have been predominantly associated with e-Commerce. The reason is obvious - the financial information transmitted during an e-Commerce transaction is extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, and it’s therefore crucial-to both the buyer and the seller-that this […]
In part one of this series, I signed up for, and set up an identical test WordPress site on, five popular web hosting packages, each being specifically marketed to WordPress users. As physical proximity plays a key role in determining page load time, I was interested in the physical location of each hosted test site. […]
I’ve been working with, and thinking about, web hosting a lot lately. My last post, which offered general tips on choosing a web host, made me want to dig deeper and put some of the more popular web hosting options to the test. Great reliability, and a responsive support team are both incredibly important but tricky to […]
Before (or during) a website build for a client, one of the most common questions we receive is “who should I choose for web hosting?” Although no specific solution is right for everyone, criteria does exist which can be very helpful in finding a good web hosting option, and perhaps more importantly, eliminating bad ones. Public […]
This past Wednesday evening, I flew out to Boston for a two-day conference: The Email Design Conference (TEDC), presented by Litmus. I was incredibly lucky to have my ticket to the conference provided by the awesome team at Postmark (thanks so much, Natalie, et al.)! The conference, which was held at the beautiful Seaport World […]
Yesterday, Apple held their much anticipated iPhone event (the video is available here). As expected, Apple released two new phones, the flagship iPhone 5S and a plastic, entry-level iPhone, the iPhone 5C. The iPhone 5C offers little in the way of new features (from the original iPhone 5), while the iPhone 5S shows its most […]
Web designers and front-end developers are very interested in the market share of the various web browsers. Not because we’re nerds, but because usage statistics dictate whether or not we need to design, and moreover, code, the web sites we create to support legacy web browsers. Once an old web browser’s usage percentage drops below […]
Update: Check out Vladimir Sobolev’s Youtube Embed Player Customizer for way more options and a coding-free method of customization. As the third most-visited site on the web, YouTube is unquestionably the most popular method of online video distribution. YouTube does have its strongpoints: anyone can post an unlimited number of videos for free, basic analytics […]
Ready for a word association test? Tell me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the phrase animated GIF. Did you just picture a mid-1990s amateur website? Perhaps one created by your uncle, and hosted on GeoCities? If you didn’t, here is a great example of a common use of animated GIFs […]
As online marketers, we follow user trends closely, including Litmus’ monthly report of Email Client Market Share. Even a casual observer of email users has noticed that mobile email use is increasing; the speed of the increase might surprise even the most tuned-in email marketers. Email opens increased 48% in 2012 and 138% over the […]
For over a decade now, eCommerce has been an integral component of the lives of consumers. In fact, eCommerce sales have more than tripled since 2003. Mobile web use has also exploded, increasing by 39% over the past year. Naturally, the number of consumers making purchases via mobile devices is on the rise. As such, […]
During the past several years, mobile web use has exploded. Currently, mobile devices account for about 12% of web traffic in the US, and this number is widely expected to continue to grow rapidly. Apple devices, which account for about 50% of mobile traffic, offer a handy feature called “Add to Home Screen,” where users […]
If you read our blog often, you know that we love MailChimp. MailChimp is an easy-to-use, affordable, and incredibly full-featured email newsletter service that’s used by us, as well as many of our clients. Email marketing and social media are two of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing channels currently available, and SocialPro combines them […]
We see them all the time: “Like us on Facebook!”, “Tweet this to your friends!”, and to a lesser extent (sorry, Google), “+1 this page!”. The vast majority of these requests are ignored. What causes us to share X with our friends, but not Y? What’s people’s motivation behind sharing the things they do on […]
Out of the box, WordPress sites are very easy to manage, and come with a lot of helpful features built in. Thankfully, the developers of WordPress don’t try to include every feature anyone could ever want, as this would make the CMS harder to administrate, and would decrease performance. If your WordPress site is lacking […]
Looking for an easy way to increase subscriber engagement in your email newsletter? Why not try video? Video attracts interest for a number of reasons, including: It’s a change of pace in users’ workdays. Many people spend a large portion of their working hours reading, and video can give them an excuse to take a […]
If you’re using an iPhone with iOS 6 installed, you may have seen, or even used, Apple’s new app, Passbook. Passbook aims to replace coupons, tickets, and customer loyalty cards with one centralized application. Instead of scanning your gift card at Starbucks, the barista can now scan your phone. Your new balance gets updated in […]