Minimalism

Minimalism in web design means that you put an accent on the performance and speed rather than elements which will create disorder. These kinds of websites look simple, easy to navigate and are highly responsive. Minimalism in web design doesn’t make websites empty, but clean. The combination of letters and images must be in perfect accordance with one another. The contrast of colors is often used to attract the audience, while blank space is used to emphasize the elements of the website.

Websites like the one belonging to the Japanese product designer Mikiya Kobayashi or ETQ footwear brand are the excellent examples of how the motto less is more is used in the web design.  

Less Navigation

Websites start using fewer navigational options in 2016 and it continued through this year, too. The main menu is reduced to a smaller number of items since fewer options will save users from wondering off. This practical feature is great for smart devices and since more and more users access websites from their phones, it’s only fitting to make it easier for them and be aesthetically correct at the same time. For example, the navigational menu on the Villa Bellini Organic Vineyard website is so subtle that it doesn’t disturb the homepage or its effect on the visitor.

More Animation

GIFs and animation became a very popular manner to express the sentiments on the Internet, so it’s no big surprise that web design started integrating them in the websites in 2017. With CSS and SVG they became tools to create distinctiveness and unique design elements. Experts believe that this trend will continue in the future due to the placing of more attention to the content of the websites. Namely, they help the message to be transferred and received more easily than images and videos.  

Focus on Content

An overabundance of images, ads, popups, buttons and signing up forms has become tiring and annoying to users. In order to keep the audience, websites had to change the approach so that the visitors can get what they came for – the content. Any web design agency knows how important the content is, and if prepared correctly it can create loyal visitors and attract more attention to the website. This trend means that all the clutter needs to be removed from the websites and that design has to find viable solutions for their unobstructed integration in the pages.

Flat Design is Out

This is a period when designers want to show what they know through their creativity and ideas, and flat designs are not allowing that to happen. So little by little, some bold choices started showing up on the web design scene. They concentrated on showing off the appealing visual aspects of brands while still maintaining the quality of content and functionality. Instead of creating boring and unimaginative websites, the trend will bring uniqueness and individuality to each design and make them interesting and artful, as they should be.

Conclusion

You can use all or some of these trends. It all depends on your brand, purpose and target audience. Choosing the right tools when creating a website should be part of your marketing strategy and integrated into the main plans and activities. As a very unique and far-reaching marketing asset, a website can bring you more audience and help your business and/or services reach their conversion goals.

The post 5 Web Design Ideas for Online Businesses appeared first on Tech Web Space.

However, using this kind of service comes with its own set of risks. Cloud services haven’t been universally adopted due to great security risks that they come with. In the end, you, as a business, are entrusting the security of your essential business data to a third-party, which you can’t even be certain that is working in your best interest. Here is why it is basically impossible to truly safeguard your data without going offline.

Leakage of Data

Fear of data leaking is one of the main reasons why a lot of companies don’t want to deal with cloud services. The fact is that within the cloud, all the resources are shared, as it is a multi-user environment. Furthermore, it’s a service controlled by a third-party, which brings the risk of the data being viewed or improperly handled by the provider. It isn’t much of a surprise that businesses distrust third-parties, as they need a way to handle very sensitive business data. There is a variety of ways that data can leak. It could be from a malicious hack or a compromised cloud user account. A way to deal with this is to have strong passwords and encrypt data.

Lack of Control Over Data

Another big issue with cloud services is that companies have to deal with the fact that they are no longer in control of their sensitive data. When you decide to use a third-party file sharing service, the data goes outside the company’s IT environment, which basically means that you don’t have any control over the privacy settings. Most of the cloud services out there are made to encourage you to backup data in real-time. This means that a lot of data that you didn’t mean to share can be viewed by someone without an authorization.

Dangers of Hacking

Without the proper security measures, the files that are uploaded to the cloud are prone to get hacked. They are stored online and transferred via the internet, which is in fact, quite a risk factor. The best defense from this kind of a threat is to make sure that the data is encrypted and sent via a secure connection so that no one can access the cloud’s metadata.

Key Management

Another security risk that companies face is when managing cryptographic keys. It has become an even bigger issue when it comes to using cloud services. This basically means that effective key management is of an essence. The only way to do this is to secure the whole process from the very start and to be unnoticeable, automated, and active. That’s how you can significantly decrease the vulnerability of the data that is sent to the cloud. The keys also need to be jointly-secured, and retrieving them should be made into a difficult process.

Pros of Offline Backup

If you ask an IT services company for advice, most of them will tell you that offline backup is generally considered a much safer way to store sensitive data. The data can be accessed only by you, and only locally. If you are using a drive that isn’t connected to the internet, your backup is safe from any security breaches, which is not something you can expect from online backups in this era of internet security issues such as NSA snooping and ransomware.

Another advantage of offline backup is speed. Uploading 500 GB worth of data to a cloud service can take forever. The speed of upload and restoration when it comes to offline backup is always going to be faster than storing data online, which almost completely depends on how strong your Internet connection is.

Offline backup provides easy access, as almost everyone keeps it close in their office or home. All that is necessary is that you plug in your USB stick or hook up your hard drive, and you will be able to quickly backup your data. There is also the matter of mobility, as most of the offline backup media is light and small, so that you can place it in a desk drawer, and put it in a backpack so that you can carry it around safely.

There is, of course, the problem of how reliable your hardware is, as the fact remains that local offline storage forms age and degrade. However, you can overcome this issue by using backup drives and making sure that you have a double backup of everything.

In the End

While cloud computing is affordable, easy to use, and meets storage and computing needs, it also comes with a set of security risks. No matter how careful you are with your data when uploading it to cloud services, you can never be 100% sure that it’s going to be secure, as you are relying on a third-party, and transferring data via the internet, where it can be intercepted. Offline storage is actually the most secure way of storing your data. While it is a fact that hardware tends to age and degrade, you can always rely on backup drives.

The post Why Is It Impossible To Safeguard Your Data Without Going Offline appeared first on Tech Web Space.

You Must go Viral

It’s true that viral content was the focal point of digital marketing, but that was almost 10 years ago. It’s extremely hard to fulfill such a goal, which can make the time and money you invested in it go to waste. Instead, you should establish a clear marketing strategy for success, always measuring how you’re doing and if you’re reaching the right people. Testing and adjusting is a big part of any digital marketing campaign, so instead of wasting time by trying to go viral you could try and make some improvements there.  

More Traffic Means More Leads

While traffic is extremely important, because without it you’ll practically be invisible, it’s even more important to have the right traffic. Having a thousand of visitors daily of which only five convert to leads is much worse than having a hundred visitors with twenty people becoming leads. Random visitors won’t get you far, which is why you’ll want to get highly targeted traffic. That’s why it’s so important to understand your audience in order to be able to reach them, through your offer, price-range, and quality content.

Email Marketing is Dead

This is one of those myths that can really hurt your campaign because it’s nowhere near the truth. Email open rates didn’t get any lower in recent years, and it’s never been easier to segment, score leads, or remarket to your customers, thanks to email automation. It’s all about sending the right content to the right people, which is why most people that claim that the email marketing is dead probably aren’t doing things correctly. It’s also very inexpensive, which makes it a very cost-effective way to advertise, second only to SEO.

SEO is Dead

While the fact is that SEO is changing all the time thanks to algorithm updates, it’s nowhere near being out of the picture. Most of the online purchases still start with potential buyers running a search through a search engine, which only makes proper SEO more important. What is meant by this is that some old SEO black-hat techniques are dead, like keyword stuffing or paying for a ton of useless links. According to the experts at Websitesthatsell that sell, these techniques will actually hurt your rankings today because Google improved their algorithm over the years. Today, the most important thing is to make the content user-friendly, instead of trying to cheat the engine.

Being Present on Every Social Platform

Social media has become increasingly important in the past couple of years, especially when it comes to its marketing potential. Because there are many examples of brands becoming extremely successful through social media marketing, business owners tend to believe that their business must have an account on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin, Instagram and every other social platform that exists. While being present on social media is extremely important, it’s also costly to do properly, and your target audience doesn’t necessarily have to be on every social platform. This is why you should focus your efforts and money on those platforms for which you’re certain that will push your business forward.

Traditional Marketing is a Thing of the Past

Today, digital marketing is a must for any serious business, but that isn’t to say that business owners should completely give up on traditional methods of marketing. TV, newspaper ads, or billboards can be a great way to combine with your digital marketing campaign for the best possible results. On the other hand, some small businesses use real estate window display systems to great effect because they can be catchy and memorable, a feature extremely important for any brand. Advertising your website in magazines or other printed material can also increase your traffic and get you more leads.

Consumers on Mobile Devices Don’t Convert

A lengthy checkout process is something that most people try to avoid on mobile devices, that much is true, but that’s only a reason for you to simplify the whole thing for those users. The simple fact is that 62% of smartphone users have purchased something in the past 6 months in the US, which only means that you need to have a responsive website and a mobile-friendly version of your shopping cart. By avoiding any unnecessary steps you’ll make sure to increase the conversion rates.

Do Thorough Research

In order for your digital marketing campaign to be successful, it’s important to use all of its features effectively. Knowing what is important and focusing your efforts on it is vital, which is why you need to be aware of these myths and the actual state of digital marketing at the moment. There are many other myths that may attract your attention, so always try to check their credibility through multiple sources before plunging in and changing your strategy according to that.

The post 7 Digital Marketing Myths Debunked appeared first on Tech Web Space.

Speaking Engagements

Talking in-person to your highly targeted and interested audience is a huge marketing opportunity for any business. Not only will you be able to highlight your expertise and thus boost your reputation, but it also is a great way to establish thought leadership inside your firm. It is important to take the right approach when it comes to speaking engagements and it might just become a very good way for you to obtain leads. However, it can be difficult to obtain a speaking engagement opportunity if you’re just starting out, so try to start small with local associations. You’ll get some invaluable experience that will help you in the long run.

Offline Social Media Promotion

Social media advertising is a great way to increase traffic to your website and boost your brand’s reputation. Using offline means to attract new followers can really pay-off, especially when combined with a good online campaign. The best way to promote your social media offline is to remind people to follow your social media accounts on your brochures, real estate window display systems, flyers, business cards and other printed material. You can easily acquire such advertising services via various b2b search engines such as Yak Portal. You can also announce social media giveaways and contests through printed publications and increase your leads that way.

Cold Calls

Once the most popular way of marketing is in decline today, but still can add a personal touch and resonate with your interested buyers, especially if you’re contacting the targeted audience. While phone calls are more personal than emails, you’ll also get an instant response – which can be good and bad. Always make sure you have a concrete reason why you’re contacting and try to have your agents respect your call recipient’s time. Mentioning a valuable piece of thought leadership during a cold call will also increase your chances of scoring a positive result.  

Trade Shows

Attending trade shows can be a great way to connect with other industry leaders and potential buyers. Trade shows will allow you to make the most out of your effective offline marketing strategies once you’ve put them in practice. Not to mention that you can actually pass out print materials, make your products stand out by using display stands and maybe get an opportunity to be a featured speaker. All in all, attending trade shows can really push your marketing efforts forward, making your brand more visible in the process.

Print Publications

While print publications don’t offer any of the benefits that online articles do, like back-linking or SEO, they still take an important place in offline marketing. Having a place in relevant industry magazines will help your efforts to increase your brand visibility, but also highlight your expertise. The one advantage that printed publications do have over online articles is that people tend to trust them more. This isn’t to say that you should forfeit your efforts post content online, as that is incredibly important for your organic search visibility.

Conclusion

While online marketing is becoming more and more important, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should just forget about offline marketing strategies. There’s no need to choose between the two, as combining and effective use of both is the most effective way to make your brand more visible. Offline techniques are great to supplement online marketing campaigns and their combination is bound to bring more leads and conversions coming your way.

The post How Can Your Online Brand Benefit From Offline Advertising appeared first on Tech Web Space.

Now, look back a bit – how many times have you engaged in a campaign because they had a good video? Or shared a powerful video on your profile because you liked it so much? Storytelling through video can help a great deal in online marketing and that’s why it’s the next big thing. In today’s fast-paced world, video marketing is one of the few types of online material that provides the value, relevance and flexibility consumers need, all while catering to the on-the-go lifestyle they want.

Skeptic?

In case you’re not convinced video marketing is the way of your future marketing campaign, think again. Video marketing has become popular in the recent years, and that’s because it’s effective. Video is projected to claim more than 80% of all web traffic by 2019 – which means you have to invest in it if you want to succeed.

According to YouTube, the largest video sharing website in the world, mobile video consumption grows by 100% every year. Research found that by watching a video, consumers get more interested in a product and are more likely to buy it. Add that to the fact that a third of all the time people spend online is dedicated to watching videos, and you have your perfect equation for the next marketing effort.

Why You Should Use Video Marketing

Increase in traffic

Having in mind the statistics that are basically screaming: “More than two-thirds of online traffic will be due to videos!” you need to have a killer strategy and a flow of creative content for your brand if you want to boost your brand’s traffic.

You’ll be Remembered

As much as 80% of customers remember a video if they’ve seen it in the past month. Video content is extremely persuasive and therefore easier to remember than other text-based content. That means that customers will remember your brand – and you can expand your online reach.

Building a Brand

Videos can help you build your brand and become more recognizable. To make them as memorable as possible, ensure that you’re keeping them in line with your brand strategy. Keep the same color, fonts, logo and voice in your video and customers will recognize you instantly after some time.

Boosting your SEO

A study revealed that more people prefer video results than text. Videos prove to be eye-catching and interesting. They encourage people to stay longer on a specific site. By adding video to your landing pages, website and within text content, it’s easy to improve your company’s SEO value and improve your click-through rates across the board.

Videos can be Played Anywhere

When a company’s content doesn’t perform well on a given device or browser system, the business behind it loses traffic and suffers decreased conversions. Fortunately, video is fit to be played on almost anything. If you want to attract attention, companies like DisplayMe offer solutions to display your video to the public using all kinds of holders and adapters.

More Clicks

When you include a video in an email, the click-through rate increases by 200% – 300%. This is why heavy text-based emails are replaced with simple and engaging videos. If you want to impress, make sure to add “video” in your subject line.

Creativity Leads the Way

You need to be creative, not only with the videos themselves but in the campaign strategy you build around them. Build a name, a brand, a colorful picture, make people remember you through your videos and leave a mark. Don’t neglect channels in which you can promote your brand and stay true to your message.

The post Why Video is the Future of Content Marketing appeared first on Tech Web Space.

Content Marketing is More Popular than Ever

Businesses and brands are often spending more on content marketing now than on traditional advertising, as it’s more cost-effective. This makes perfect sense especially when it comes to small businesses as they have to pay great attention to optimizing their company’s budget. More businesses will have developed content marketing strategies, rather than just dabbling in it.

Multiple Types of Content Instead of Just One Format

Businesses are realizing that their content must appeal to a variety of audiences, so they must use more than a single format. A combination of formats including e-books, webinars, white papers, blog posts, and instructional videos, may be appropriate for many businesses and will attract more internet traffic than just social media postings.

Even More Emphasis on Visual 

The majority of internet users actually prefer visual content such as videos and infographics, over traditional text. Specifically, video content, including live streaming, is expected to continue to grow.  Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and Snapchat are all good options for live streaming, and they require very little technical skill. The video is also expanding to email, as another way to reach customers. If your business doesn’t already have a strategy for video content, it’s time to develop one.

Augmented and Virtual Realities are Here to Stay

Augmented reality has found its place in content marketing and to a lesser extent, so has virtual reality. Augmented reality, made popular by the game Pokémon GO, is being used with success in apps, such as Google Translate. In the Google Translate app, for example, you can point your phone camera at words in another language, and Google can translate them for you.

Virtual reality has been mostly limited to use with bigger businesses, because the technology is still fairly expensive, but can be used to showcase new products, particularly higher-end products.  As the technology gets less expensive, expect to see more companies utilizing it.

A Resurgence of Email Newsletters

Despite so many reports that email content is dying, it continues to live on and in some cases, the email open rates are actually increasing. Email newsletters are a vital part of content marketing for B2B marketers, as a way to reach potential new customers and share information with existing clients.  This isn’t going to change in the near future.

Heavily Produced User-generated Content

This is the most effective form of content marketing, allowing your customers to speak about your brand for you. Facebook posts and comments, tweets, and images that are shared by your brand’s audience provide authenticity and social proof for your brand. Internet users trust other internet users and recommendations, often more so than the company’s own information.

Interactive Content Continues to Attract

Internet users have quickly become fans of interactive content. This includes content such as personality assessments, quizzes, and contests that require registration. Interactive content is a very effective method of collecting information from potential customers, such as email addresses.  Internet users feel that they’re getting something of value when they hand over their information and according to the majority of SEO Experts, this is a key to conversions.

Native Will Replace Push Advertising

Push advertising is the traditional form of advertising which relies on heavily promoting a product or service through flyers and other forms of advertising. As internet users get more annoyed by pop-ups and banner ads on websites, native advertising is starting to take its place. Native advertising is usually an article or video that is intended to promote a product or a service, but in a more indirect manner, and is much more appealing to internet users.

Do not get Left Behind

Content marketing continues to evolve, and businesses should always be adjusting their strategies to utilize it. With these trends and predictions, you’ll be able to fine tune your content marketing strategies in a way that will make your methods even more successful.

The post Content Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2017 appeared first on Tech Web Space.