If you work in or with the web and make some effort to remain buzzword compliant, you may have heard the term “responsive web design.” Perhaps you’ve also heard of “adaptive web design” and “progressive enhancement”? If you’re like me, you may have found yourself wondering what exactly these words mean, what the differences are, and why everyone seems so giddy to use them in a sentence.
Everything changes. The Internet and web design are certainly no exceptions to the rule.
As we move through the days and months ahead, it’s likely that in short time we’ll find ourselves talking about new design developments that haven’t rolled across our lips or screens yet.
We asked some of the leading web and user experience designers in the field for their predictions about what we might expect to see in the web design world in 2012.
Joining us are: Adelle Charles, Whitney Hess, Lis Hubert, Randy J. Hunt, Franz Jeitz, Michael Martin, Eric A. Meyer, Sarah B. Nelson, Jason Pamental, Jon Phillips, Dan Rose, Jared Spool, Nick Walsh, Tim Wright and Jeffrey Zeldman.
After you’ve had a chance to read their prognostications, please take a moment and tell us yours, too. Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and well-designed 2012!
While most of us have visited YouTube to laugh at the funny videos, did you know that businesses often use YouTube to market their business and provide information for their customers? There are many benefits of YouTube, including SEO benefits. You simply need to know how to use them to help your business succeed.
You can use YouTube to connect to your customers like never before. Show your expertise, share knowledge, market and advertise your products, and even attract new customers all through your YouTube videos. The benefits of YouTube are far-reaching, as it can allow you to connect with potentially millions of customers.
Here are the many ways in which you can use YouTube for business, and there are certainly many benefits of YouTube for a number of businesses that offer any type of products or services:
Using YouTube can not only expose your business to millions of users, but can also improve inner communications within your organisation, strengthen relationships with clients, and ultimately grow your bottom line.
Internet Marketing can be a complicated business and is rife with jargon that can put people off who are new to this industry. It is also an industry that is, in many respects, still evolving. One certainty is that the Internet has made its mark on the world of business and is here to stay. And so, Internet Marketing needs to be a part of your Marketing Strategy and a part of your Business Plan.
Internet Marketing is not difficult but it can be a minefield of jargon, buzz words and unnecessary cost. It’s no longer good enough to just have a decent website – your website needs to be structured to take on the competition and to rank well in the Search Engines. But your website also needs to give your audience what they are expecting from an online experience – and you will find that your online audience is increasingly web savvy and more demanding.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is one of the keystones of internet marketing and is a phrase that encompasses many different aspects of making your website work harder for your business as a part of a wider Marketing Strategy.
The techniques employed in an SEO strategy will make your website rank higher in search engine results pages. Higher ranks (preferably on page one of Google and the other search engines) will lead to a greater chance that you will get a click from customers looking for your services.
Because the internet operates on an international platform, SEO if left unchecked, can leave brands finding themselves suddenly operating in circles which they are unaccustomed to. For instance, on a national or international scale, when they have been used to controlling their message on a much more local level. And so, alongside SEO there should also be an element of website traffic analysis to help with managing unexpected outcomes of a brand’s online presence as well as responding to those that are expected.
SEO, along with Social Media, Website Design, Content Development, Content Management, Web Analytics, e-commerce and eCRM systems are all elements that can be included in an Internet Marketing Strategy. By integrating online and offline marketing techniques, dramatic changes to the performance of your brand can be achieved.
Knowing what should be included is the trickier part. Whether we like it or not, the power of the Internet is here to stay. Enlisting the help of a proven Online Marketer to help integrate your online plans with your traditional marketing plan is no longer an added extra but a necessity.
This article was contributed by Deborah Porter, Essential New Media, Derby based SEO and Marketing Company.
There is no official standard for what makes something “Web 2.0”, but there certainly are a few tell-tale signs. These sites usually feature modern web technologies like Ajax and often have something to do with building online communities. But even more characteristic among these brands is their appearance. Web 2.0 sites nearly always feel open and friendly and often use small chunks of large type. The colors are bright and cheery — lots of blue, orange, and what we jokingly call the Official Color of Web 2.0: lime green.
You can see some of these striking commonalities in Ludwig Gatzke’s compilation of nearly 400 Web 2.0 logos. Read on for a breakdown of the fonts used in a few of our favorite brands.
View the full article here
Bear with me as I explain a vital way to boost your site’s conversion rate: usability guidelines. You’ll understand better if I begin with your brain.
The brain deals with billions if not trillions of bits of incoming information each second. Signals come from the 30,000 auditory pathways in your ears and 6 million cones in your eyes. The millions of nerves in your skin tell you how well your shoes fit or how comfortable your chair is. Ten thousand taste buds join the nerve endings in your nose to send what we hope are signals that your brain finds appealing. Whatever your measure, the brain processes massive amounts of data each second.
Its capabilities all seem quite impressive until you try this simple test. Look at this number for 5 seconds; then look away and try to repeat it:
643792813562
Most people’s brains stumble over recalling 12 random numbers. On average we can hold 7 (plus or minus 2) random bits of data in memory at one time. How can our remarkable brain manage millions of data bits yet not be able to hold twelve random numbers in memory?
Now, try this second test. Look at this number for 5 seconds, then look away and try to repeat it:
121212121212
No doubt, you can recall these twelve digits perfectly. Keep in mind that while you took this quiz, your brain continued to handle the incoming mountain of sensory information. Why are we designed to remember patterns well, but not random information? And how does that affect your web business?
To read the full article by usability expert Todd Follansbee, Click Here
There’s a bit of confusion among many web designers and seo specialists surrounding the use of the alt attribute to provide alternative text for images and other non-textual elements.
In alt as a tooltip, Anne van Kesteren points to a document on the Channel9 Wiki site that contains feedback about Internet Explorer Programming Bugs. The alt attribute (yes, It’s alt attribute, not alt tag) and how it is displayed by Internet Explorer is discussed in the “Browser Behavior” section. Several people point out that Internet Explorer is wrong in displaying alternative text as a tooltip while also displaying the image.
They are all correct. Unfortunately, judging by the response from one of the IE developers it seems Internet Explorer will continue to display alternative text as a tooltip.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a popular topic among website owners. Everyone wants to have the number 1 spot in search engines, but it’s hard to know what advice to follow.
Sometimes reading SEO tips and tricks can cause more harm than good. Following bad advice can be dangerous and can potentially get your website blacklisted by search engines.
Google’s algorithm for determining how to rank websites in their search results may be a secret, but the fundamental concept behind it is not. Google wants to provide quality content that matches what users are searching for. The best way to optimize your website for search engines is to focus on building the best website possible for your visitors. If you are able to accomplish this, your website will already be optimized for search engines!
When selling online or by some other distance-selling method, there are several key sets of regulations you should be aware of. The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations cover businesses that sell to consumers by mail order, phone, fax, over the internet or on digital TV.
Generally these regulations require you to:
The Electronic Commerce Regulations place some similar requirements on businesses that sell or advertise products to businesses using the internet, email, interactive digital television or mobile-phone SMS text messages. Whether you sell to businesses or consumers online, the regulations also require you to:
Remember you must still comply with a range of other laws on the supply of goods and services. In particular you must ensure:
You must also comply with privacy and data-protection law when contacting customers or processing any personal information about your customers.
Businesses that sell to consumers by mail order, phone, fax, internet or digital TV must give clear and comprehensible ‘prior information’ to help them decide whether to buy. Distance-selling regulations require you to set out:
You must also specify if you want to offer substitute goods if those ordered aren’t available. If you do, you must make it clear that you’ll meet the costs if any replacement goods are returned. You must provide this information before the order is placed.
Unless the information has already been provided in written form – eg an advertisement or brochure – you must also confirm it in writing, at the latest when the goods are delivered. You must also state:
The consumer can cancel the agreement up to seven days after the goods are delivered.
When selling to consumers online you must give them a cooling-off period during which they have an unconditional right to cancel the contract.
In the case of goods, the cooling-off period normally ends seven working days after the day the goods are received.
Consumers must inform you in writing – by letter, fax or email – of their decision to cancel.
Consumers’ money should be reimbursed in full (including postage costs) as soon as possible – and in any case within a maximum period of 30 days.
Your contract with the consumer should also specify who pays any postage necessary to return unwanted goods.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) – is a worldwide security standard developed by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council to protect cardholder information, such as credit and debit card numbers and cardholders’ personal details. It includes requirements for security management, network architecture, software design, security policies and procedures, and other protection of customer account data. The standard is applicable to any organisation that stores, transmits or processes cardholder information; be they a merchant, third-party processor or acquirer.
PCI DSS is a set of six principles that encompass 12 specific requirements.These requirements are equally applicable to any organisation holding personal information and are intended to reduce the organisation’s risk of a data breach.
Build and maintain a secure network
Protect your cardholder data
Keep a vulnerability management plan
Implement strong access control practices
Monitor and test your networks on a regular basis
Keep an information security policy
The PCI Security Standard Council encourages businesses that store payment data to comply with PCI DSS and become certified to help reduce financial risks from data compromises. However, it is the payment card schemes, eg MasterCard or Visa, that manage the actual compliance programme. In practical terms this means the programme is managed by acquirers and you should check with your bank to seek advice on your specific compliance obligations and how your business can become certified.
Failure to be annually certified can become an issue if you have a security breach and your customers’ card details are stolen, in which case penalties levied by the card schemes and costs can be heavy depending on the number of cards compromised.
Even where a merchant is certified this does not protect them from potential penalties if it is deemed that their own actions through negligence, omission or accident contributed to a breach.
