3 Major Challenges in Creating Responsive Designs

There was a time when businesses thought of going mobile. But that’s no longer a choice. It’s a necessity. Designers and developers understand this and are shifting to responsive design more than ever. But, it is also a fact that it is much more complex than a normal site or a dedicated mobile website. This article looks at the major problems that designers face and provides tips on how to recover from them in order to ensure that your site is properly optimized.

Website Loading Time

The main reason behind going for responsive websites is to enable convenience for mobile users. Yet most of them fail in this attempt. A recent study tested more than 300 sites and found that irrespective of the site under test, the page size and load-time results were almost the same. All that you need to do is the following:

Avoid using larger Image Files and Videos

Avoid large assets on a web page, particularly Javascript.

Avoid using unwanted links and personal comment icons

Restrict ads and social media pop-ups

Avoid having too many Widgets

Over-Resourcing

Responsive designs rely on multiple images and CSS scripts for getting a customised layout that matches different screen sizes. At times, this might cud lead to a user downloading images that are not required as well.

This is where you conditional loading comes into play. If you want your design to run on desktops too as a dedicated mobile website, do care to check the code two to three times to ensure it is fully optimized to run smoothly.

Poor User Interface

That your ecommerce website runs well on mobiles need not at all mean that it is mobile friendly. Don’t look at only the aesthetics when you create a mobile web design but look keenly at the differences between needs of users who visit your site from different places.

Above all, it is important to know your customer’s feedback on what they intend to do on a mobile device as against their desktops. Make sure your responsive design adequately meets those needs.

 

Why Responsive Design Matters To You

It’s not desktops any more. Mobile phones have long replaced them as the primary device for web browsing what with the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and e-readers. Chrome, Firefox, IE, all of them are now readable on mobile devices. But does that guarantee viewership for your site. No. Not if your site’s not responsive. Being responsive means having scalable and adjustable images that adapt to mobile device settings.

So what is the first main idea in a responsive design? The first one is a fluid grid. It is this design that enables layouts to fit or adapt to any screen size. In responsive designs, fluid grids work hand in hand with CSS3 media queries. The media queries are supported by a wide selection of browsers, and they allow you to collect information from the site user. You can then use the CSS styles for the collected data.

So, what are the advantages of having a responsive design? Firstly, you don’t need to give your user two different URLs. With a responsive design, you will have only one website for both your desktop and mobile versions. And this is done as the design process includes formatting the site to be compatible on different platforms and operating systems.

Multiple URLs are more difficult to use than they appear at the outset. Multiple URLs means multiple websites and maintaining all of them can be very expensive. Also, a responsive web design keeps you from spending extra money on designing multiple websites for supporting different devices. When you want to make changes to your current website, having a responsive web design will allow you to make alterations to only one design. A mobile web design, on one hand, will need you to make specific changes to all the multiple websites you own. Building a responsive web design also increases your chances for greater ROI, since your website will become uniformly user-friendly across different devices.

But creating a responsive website demands competence and experience. Now, the next question is competence and experience from whom? The answer is, from developers, of course! Have you chosen the right partner to deliver the goods to build a truly responsive website that takes your business where it belongs?

 

7 Steps to an Ideal Landing Page

Every business wants to convert visitors to customers. Though there are many factors that determine this conversion, key among those is the design and ease of use of the landing page of the website. In this article, we take a look at the ingredients that go into the making of the ‘perfect’ landing page and how one goes about achieving it.

1. Page headlines and Ad Copy

• The landing page headline and advertisement copy should complement each other

• Your Adwords score allows the site to discover the cost-per-click. This score can be improved by having consistent content between the ad message and landing page text.

2. Clear and Concise Headlines

• Being one of the first things the visitor will read, the landing page headlines should not confuse or bore, but compel a visitor to take a closer look.

• Addressing a specific point that is related to the content of a website will catch a reader’s attention more than having a vague and uninteresting headline.

3. Taking Advantage of Trust Indicators

• For an effective way of building trust, incorporate testimonials, press mentions, guarantee seals, and third party trust and security certification

4. Proper Grammar

• In the example of an online reader who is asking the visitor to purchase and provide personal and billing information, the trust of the customer will be risked if there are spelling errors and sloppy grammar.

5. Using a Strong Call to Action

• After a visitor reads the landing page headline, it is crucial that they know what to do next.

• In the case of Mozilla Firefox, when they changed their call-to-action from ‘Try Firefox 3’ to ‘Download now-Free’, it outperformed the original call-to-action by 3.6% and had a confidence level of over 99%.

6. Use Images and Videos That Connect

• Implementing motivational speeches, videos of user testimonials, and product images into a home page can have a positive impact on viewers, as well as give shoppers an extra push to look further into a product.

7. Buttons and Call to Actions Must Stand Out

• Identify the keywords people interested in your service might be searching for and use words such as ‘free’, ‘new’, ‘buy’ or ‘download now’.

• The conversion button should stand out and be placed right below a call-to-action. The button should be big, bright, and above where a user would have to scroll to it.

To create the ideal landing page, you’ll have to get the services of an expert web design and development company, one that combines expertise with experience. If you’re looking for that, you’ve got it at Openwave!

 

How Does a Website’s Page Load Speed Impacts SEO and User Experience?

Do you know that websites that has good loading speed score well on search engine page results? That’s one reason why web development companies take site speed into account in our search rankings.

Going forward, we shall discuss on how page load speed impact Google rankings and user experience. So, let’s see.

Should SEO Worry About Site Speed?

Google representatives have stated on several occasions that the page speed algorithm impacts rankings for less than 1% of search queries.  A few reports significantly impacting rankings:

• A site with load time issues saw “quite the drop in organic referrals from Google” when the page speed algorithm was pushed live.

• A 40% growth in traffic after addressing to issues related to website performance.

• Rankings for 7 of its top 10 keywords improved after site speed was increased.

Summarizing, Page rankings are based on a combination of dozens of small algorithmic factors that can help boosting your site. It would be a good idea to dedicate a small amount of your SEO time and/or budget to speeding up your site so it’s prudent to optimize this ranking factor.

Page Load Speed Impact User Experience

Google implemented a few algorithms and the reports showed that “slowing down the search results page by 100 to 400 milliseconds has a measurable impact on the number of searches per user.”

• 25% increase in pageviews by speeding up its site.

• 75% of users would ignore the website that took longer than 4 seconds to load.

• Even 1 second delay can negatively impact the conversion rate by 7%

As a whole thing, Page load speed impacts website user experience, its usability and conversion rates. The good news is that at Openwave Computing Services, NYC we come up with a tailor-made package for all kinds of web design and development services that includes responsive web design, SEO, Inbound Marketing, and Website Maintenance.

 

How Can You Escalate Your ROI Renovating Website?

There are many reasons why people don’t make keep their website up to date. Updating your business website may sometimes appear like a hectic task involving both time and money with the selection of an appropriate web designer.

But then it is considered as an important job to update your website regularly in order to have a better interaction with your class of customers. Below are mentioned several reasons you should think about updating your website:

Significance of Update Your Business Website Regularly

Change is Constant: It is very important that business related facts and information on your business website should be accurate. Any out dated information looks unprofessional and does not portray much about the concerned company. Also, same old website design is considered as a huge mistake as it will not attract customers.

Constant Updates Save Time: If you are planning to update the full website design one at a time can consume many weeks and sometimes whole month. But instead making little modifications when required shall save time and also assures customers a new look each time they visit the business website.

Layout Management: Layout plays a vital role and that’s why hiring an appropriate web design company that best suits your needs is important. Update your website by adding various new products and services or updating various advertising fields. The layout of your business website improvises the clarity and appearance attracts various customers.

Competition Factor: Customers prefer the most professional looking company regarding the products and services. If this isn’t in case of your business website then surely you should update immediately in order to make it better from other competing websites.

Openwave simplifies the process of renovating your website alongside maintenance using various methodologies say Content Management System tools,  and also Search Engine Optimisation to ensure your online visibility.

 

Dos and Don’ts in Mobile-Optimized Shopping Experience

If your ecommerce site isn’t optimized for mobile then putting yourself on an equal footing with competitors requires a lot of exercises. Wondering how? Well…

The rise of smartphones, tablets, laptops and televisions has influenced online shoppers globally. So it is important to think beyond Ecommerce Website Development when marketing to potential customers whilst offering a satisfied purchasing experience. With so many screens to purchase, below listed are a few dos and don’ts for ecommerce merchants.

Do’s

Responsive Website: Regardless to the device used, whether your visitors are from a tablet or a television, responsive device organizes page content so that it may be easily read, seen, and used.

Optimize Images and Content: Besides a responsive ecommerce web design, a good multi-screen optimized website should serve up right-sized images, media, and content to ensure fast load times.

Complementary Technology: Take advantage of complementary technology say text messages which are more likely to get a shopper’s attention. Consider mapping tools that first collect a user’s location so that offer deals and discounts accordingly.

Content: To make your products seem more exciting online win them with the question: How can i help you? In precise, your content should be aimed at helping them, be it product descriptions or blog images.

Don’ts

Hide Content: if your site has been optimized for touching and swiping on different devices but after hiding content- what is the use?
Unplayable Videos: One of the excellent ways to communicate a product’s value in Shopping Cart Ecommerce is video. But what if they don’t play on mobile phones? Don’t waste time.

Pop-ups: These do well for newsletter registrations or similar actions but not for mobile commerce. Instead use a responsive design that converts the pop-up to a banner or similar on devices like smartphones, tablets, and televisions.

Above all, if you don’t hire professional website developers/ web development company who are skilled enough to handle multi screens, providing a completely optimized mobile experience for your customers is like half river crossed.

 

5 Important Facts Your Web Development Company Should Do

Trends come and go in web development. This transition empowers developers to build inevitable websites and faster apps that perform consistently across all devices.

Winning in a digital world still requires hard work, focus and new skills and what should you ecommerce developers being telling you?

Organic Search Engine Optimization

Most businesses in the past had to rely on advertising to attract customers. But now in the Google world all it requires is search engines to find you. Hiring an Ecommerce Website Development Company is important to build and optimize your website, social networks and content.

A team of “SEO” (Search engine Optimization) can enhance 40-60% of website traffic being a result of an online search.

Developing Ecommerce Site Requires Focus

Launching a new ecommerce website that ticks others is not to be taken lightly. It starts with workshops and then the hard part begins. It includes:
Creative brief, design, Development, Product loading, content creation, Integration, Testing, Launching, Optimizing, Marketing and Website Maintenance.

Content Is Important

A social web is the way to build trust and credibility is to publish online. That means crafting content that Educates, Informs with the latest news, Entertains, and Inspires your customers to change their business and their lives is VERY important.

Facebook Organic Search

Facebook is dominating the social web and so does many brands. Putting all of your eggs in it can result in a rapid demise of organic reach to your fans to single digits. Not only is it a smart and safe strategy but an integrated approach to your digital marketing strategy.

Automating and Integrating

Once websites were a standalone eco-system but now it has become a source of next day delivery, informative to customer queries and many more. Instead of manually break out somewhere automate and integrate your website with your back office systems. Hope your website developers are well informed of these.

Summing up, there is a lot more a professional website development company, NYC can do it for you. Say, we at Openwave Computing Services design various ecommerce solutions that deliberately focus on the user experience. And, our only objective is to ensure visitor retention and delivering high converting ecommerce websites that yield higher profits.

 

Does Your Business Require a Web Application?

Every aspect of our day-to-day life has witnessed change of life style from shopping to seeking jobs. The new technology has made it possible to conduct business online which results in the phenomenal rise in the number of websites.

Being a business starter, if you have ever thought about implementing web application development, then it is sure that it is approaching the success path. And here we shall see why and how does it happen?

Custom Web Application Development

Custom web application development is a way to filter up the needs of a company in the perspective that what they actually want. Say for instance, if a company wants to manipulate the number of website visitors arriving for one particular brand, they can approach a web designer to launch an online poll app and display it on their website. As end result, you get the essential information it requires to determine and thereby settle on the marketing strategy on these specific lines.

So… why approach custom web application development? Well, through which it is possible to exhibit the most business requirements and focus on matter that covers more attention.

 

Importance of Hiring a Good Custom Web Design Company

No doubt, web application can engage the users positively and assist online businesses generate huge profits. Howbeit, only a custom web design ensures attractive visual appearance, customization, flexibility, easy access and so on. This is why you need to hire a custom web design company. Their thorough professionalism is an imperative for a website’s smooth functionality or you are likely to lag behind.

Summing up, the implication of PHP Web Application is turning today’s online businesses. If used in the right way, chances are more to prosper business strategy and harvest success on the Internet.

 

Top 5 Common Mistakes Most Designers Fail To See

Either new or experienced, negligent professionals are vulnerable to commit mistakes while designing. So, let’s have a look at the common mistakes happening in ecommerce website design so that you are aware of such blunders and try their best to avoid.

Most Avoidable Website Designing Faults

Planning the Right Line of Action:

Some of the most accomplished web designers think it is okay to get into the web design phase without planning the right line of action. An action plan involves,

• Assessing the targeted audience, and

• The strategies that helps you achieve

Having a clear goal, tracking the design in different phases, and evaluating each section individually help you avoid from going wrong.

Be Creative but With No Complexity

When designing the website, most importantly you need to keep the clients’ requirements in mind. There is a need to create web designs that are relevant and adds value for the visitors. Furthermore, neglecting a client’s suggestions would only result in unnecessary revisions and wastage of precious time.

Use of Good SEO Techniques

This seems to be very important for the website. There is no use of creating a website or spending so much effort on designing a website where no one visits. Means, a good website designer need to incorporate SEO into websites or else it will be a serious negative point against them.

Connecting Every Web Design Element with the Overall Theme

The clash in the colour scheming or fonts or navigation will reflect negatively in the Open Source Shopping Cart and the visitors will easily find out such huge blunders and blame the non-professional attitude and lack of exposure and skills of the website designer.

Very Interactive Design Style

Almost 99% users prefer to interact with the website and this trend urges socialised Ecommerce Web Design Services. Not to forget, only the level of interactive tendency makes your customers feel like they have got some significance and value for the business being represented by the website.

 

Top 10 Features That Are Out-Of-Date for Online Website

In the trendy world not only dresses become old-fashioned, websites too. Having realized that, entrepreneurs are getting packed up with initiating new features on their websites and so does website designers.

Are you planning for redesigning your Open Source Shopping Cart? Try to exclude these features from it.

10 Features Out-Of-Date For Fashionista 2014

Flattery Web Design: Ensure your web designers make it neat, stylish and easy to understand while not overcrowding with images or elements.

AutoPlay Videos: Creating great video pleases people. With great content, people are sure to watch it in order to get to know you better. Having autoplay option can make people quickly close strange website than examine it.

Page Reload While Navigation: Don’t let your users to wait until the full page reload. Modern technologies allow reloading necessary content instead of the entire page.

Mobile Version: Yes, mobile version has gone out-of-date and Ecommerce Website Designers suggest a great solution like technologies responsive design.

Flash: With number of mobile users growing every year, say adieu to flash replacing HTML5 can perfectly substitute flash and would be visible on every device.

Overcrowded Fonts and Colours: Make sure your ecommerce shopping cart doesn’t flash with all colours of the rainbow but corporate ones and shades for background, menu bars, buttons, banners, etc.

Old Stuff: Different things tend to clutter in your website and getting rid of old stuff, though it seems to be still good, is required.

Automated Popup: They do not increase sales or subscription but only annoys, irritates, and most likely your visitor would just leave. Having abstract content would let them subscribe it.

Text in Images: Don’t put important text as a picture and chances is there your potential client will just miss something vital.

Old Date Content: If you have @2005 copyright or latest news of 2008 looks absolutely terrible.

Summing up, these are just a few simple steps to make your ecommerce store look fresh and nice!