Red Tree Communications |

What is Responsive Web Design?

summest — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:50:53 +0000

So, what is a responsive website? What does it look and feel like?

According to Wikipedia, responsive web design is an approach that ensures all the pages of the website look, work and feel perfectly on any device. Whether it is a tiny old cell phone with a screen width of 320px, a modern phablet with 7 inches screen, a big iPad, or a TV with a massive diagonal line, all the main aspects such as content, design, and especially functionality should perform consistently to provide users with an excellent user experience.

In technical terms, responsive web design implies a set of instructions that help web pages change their layout and appearance to meet different screen widths and resolutions.

The concept of a responsive website appeared due to non-effective and ill-suited ways of handling screen sizes. Originally, pages were built to target a particular device. This approach implied creating a range of designs for each responsive tier resulting in different versions of the same page. However, with the mobile web becoming a reality and more and more devices with non-standard resolutions appeared, this approach has quickly become irrelevant since it could not handle this variety efficiently.

In the early 2010s, largely thanks to a gifted Ethan Marcotte, developers started to switch from popular adaptive design (an approach that implied creating several versions of one design) to responsive design (an approach that suggested only one yet flexible version of a website that stretched or shrunk to fit the screen). Although that technique was pretty new and untested, nevertheless, its benefits were hard to ignore. Even now, those advantages prove to everyone that a responsive website is the only way out. Let us consider them.

Benefits of Responsive Web Design

The main benefits of using a responsive website are

consistent visual experience;
better user experience;
no need for redirects;
lower bounce rates;
lower maintenance needs;
high web page loading speed;
no extra fees for creating and maintaining different versions;
easy analytics reporting.

Even though responsive design is not flawless, it has its cons, for example,

It is not fully optimized;
It can slow performance;
It may suffer from web browser incompatibility;
It makes it challenging to run advertising campaigns;
It makes it challenging to offer different things to different users depending on the device used;

Nevertheless, it had and has significant advantages over other solutions. Therefore, nowadays, responsive web design is a standard for websites.

Optimize Your Site’s Loading Speed

summest — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 01:23:33 +0000

Google usually doesn’t talk publicly about the ranking factors in their algorithm.

So when they talk a lot about a specific ranking signal, you KNOW it’s a big deal.

Site loading speed is one of those rare ranking factors.

This is why I highly recommend making your site load as quickly as possible.

(Especially on mobile devices.)

Your first step is to benchmark your site’s current loading speed. That way, you know where you’re at before you start making changes.

I recommend the super-helpful PageSpeed Insights tool.

After all, the recommendations you get from this tool come from Google themselves.

Plus, it doesn’t just tell you if your page is fast or slow. The tool gives you a detailed report that includes ways you can improve.

If you want to dig deeper with page speed stuff, check out Web Page Test.

It’s a free tool that tends to give a more accurate feel of how your site loads to actual users.

Either way, here are a few ways you can improve your site’s loading speed.

Compress Images: This is a big one. Images tend to make up the bulk of a page’s size (in terms of KB). Which is why I recommend using a tool like Kraken.io to shrink your image sizes.
Use Lightweight Themes: Bulky WordPress themes can slow things down. So if your theme isn’t optimized for speed, consider switching to one that is.
Use Lazy Loading: Lazy loading images can boost your site’s loading speed by 50% or more. The downside is that images show up as users scroll down the page, which isn’t great for UX. So it’s a tradeoff.
Use a CDN: CDNs serve images and other media on your site on servers that are close to your users.

Source: Backlinko “SEO Best Practices”

10 Things to Look for in a Web Host

summest — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 18:12:41 +0000

To get all the best benefits of web hosting, you need to find the right web host. With so many options out there, a newbie will understandably struggle to figure out how the different providers compare and which criteria are the most valuable to judge each option by.

No matter what type of website you’re launching, these are ten of the most important features to look for in a web host.

1. They have a strong reputation in the industry.

One of the best measures of a business in any industry is their overall reputation. When a business consistently serves customers well for years, word gets around. But how do you find out what a company’s reputation is?

Look for evidence from third-party sources. Have they earned any web hosting awards from reputable organizations or websites? Can you find reviews of them from tech publications? If so, what do they say?

Just as importantly, what do reviews from their actual customers say? A little bit of sleuthing on Google will uncover a lot of information about what people have to say about the web hosting company you’re considering. If it’s generally positive, then you can trust you’ll be in good hands.

2. They promise at least 99% uptime.

If your website is for a business, any time it’s not available loses you money. Even if this is a website you’re starting for fun, you risk providing a disappointing experience to visitors and losing followers if they can’t access your website each time they try to visit.

The main job a web hosting company has is to keep your website up and accessible online. Every web hosting company will have to do occasional maintenance that will temporarily take your website offline. And if servers aren’t properly maintained, they could overheat or break down, which means more time your website is inaccessible.

One of the big differentiating factors in the quality of web hosting providers is how well they manage the types of issues that can take your website offline. In industry parlance, the amount of time a web hosting company guarantees that your website will be available is called uptime, and reputable web hosting companies routinely promise at least 99% uptime. The best web hosting companies go even further, offering 99.9% uptime with a money-back guarantee.

3. They offer a variety of plans.

Today, you’re looking for a hosting package that delivers what you need right now. But you have big dreams for your new website. You hope that in the coming years, the number of people that find your website and become regular visitors will grow. Maybe you hope to continually create new content to add to your site as well.

In either case, you need room to grow. Most new websites get everything they need with an affordable shared web hosting plan, but as a website grows in size and popularity, at some point you’ll want to upgrade to a cloud hosting, VPS hosting, or possibly even a dedicated hosting plan. When that time comes, you’ll have a much easier time making the transition if you can stick with the company you choose from day one. An upgrade is simpler than a full migration to a new company.

So before you choose the right hosting package for today, take some time to think about what you’ll need tomorrow and beyond and see if your provider has plans to match your future needs as well.

4. They provide 24/7 customer service.

When you’re up late at night working on those website fixes you’ve finally gotten around to, the last thing you want is to hit an issue you need customer support to resolve and realize you have to wait until the morning to get an answer.

Any time your website has a problem, you want it fixed fast. And you should be able to work on your website on your own schedule, without having to wait on the business hours of your web hosting company’s support reps. So make sure your web host offers top-notch customer support at all hours of the day. Bonus points if they offer a number of ways you can get in touch, so you can choose between phone, email, or live chat based on what works best for you.

5. The price is right.

Web hosting is a necessary cost if you want to have a website, but that doesn’t mean it has to be expensive. Simple shared web hosting plans start at less than $3 a month. When deciding on the right hosting plan for your site, keep in mind that web hosting isn’t a one-time cost. Web hosts use a subscription model for billing.

Make sure that the cost is something you’re comfortable with moving forward, and that it seems in line with what the plan is worth. While many new websites will manage just fine with the cheapest type of hosting plan, some will find it well worth spending more for additional features and higher bandwidth. Sometimes spending more is worth it, just make sure the value matches the price.

6. Their account interface is intuitive.

While the main service web hosts provide is keeping your website published and accessible, they also provide an interface that allows you to do a number of important web management tasks, such as:

Domain name management
Setting up redirects
Managing your SSL
Managing your domain email addresses
Adding new applications or databases to your website
Managing your backups
Upgrading or renewing your hosting solutions

You don’t want to spend a lot of time learning how to do some of the basic, but important work involved in running your website. Look for a web hosting provider that makes it all intuitive with a good interface and simple processes.

7. They provide ample resources for getting started.

Even if the overall design is intuitive, you’re still likely to have questions about how to do certain things with your website. Before choosing your web hosting provider, look into the type of resources they provide to help you learn how to use their products. They should have comprehensive support materials such as tutorials and how-to articles.

What’s even better is also having an active support community where you can turn to other people who use the web hosting provider for help with your questions. See if the company has an active forum, in addition to their other support resources and customer service team.

8. If you have a site already, migration is supported.

The idea is to find the right web hosting platform from day one, but not everyone meets that ideal. If you’re on the search for web hosting solutions because you’re not happy with your current web hosting company, then you want to find a provider that will help you with the process of transferring your website over. Look into what the migration process is like. Consider talking to a support person there for details, so you know what you’re getting into.

If they can make the process relatively simple and painless, then you’ll be able to switch over quickly and get back to focusing on the work of running your website.

9. They support domain name management as well.

Web hosting is one of the necessary elements all websites need, a domain name is another. One of the most important steps in starting a new website is finding and registering your domain. And it’s just as important to keep your domain name registration current for as long as you keep your website.

While it’s entirely possible to register your domain with a different service than the web hosting provider you choose, you’ll have a much easier time staying on top of domain name management if you keep it all in one place. Make sure your web hosting provider allows you to manage your domain registration and renewals in the same interface you use for managing your web hosting.

10. They offer satisfactory security options.

Hackers and data breaches are an unfortunate part of the online world today. Every website owner ought to prioritize security. While there are a number of steps you can take to make your websites more secure, one of the best things you can do for website security is choosing a web host that treats it as a priority.

A good web hosting company invests in powerful firewalls, includes SSL certificates as part of their plans, and offers affordable security software or other add-ons to enhance your website security. Research the company’s reputation for security to make sure you’ll be in good hands.

by Kristen Hicks, HostGator

How To Update Your WordPress Website And Why

summest — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 16:54:43 +0000

post from https://www.designerblogs.com/.

Having a self-hosted WordPress site means that it’s yours. You own it. You and you alone are responsible for running it and keeping it updated. It’s very much like owning a car. In order to keep a car running in tip-top condition, you have to perform regular maintenance on it like changing the oil, checking the tire pressure, using the proper type of gas, etc. A self-hosted WordPress site must be maintained on a regular basis in much the same way. Your themes, plugins, and WordPress version should always be functioning with the most recent updates to keep your site running at its prime.

Updates can be a little scary because on rare occasions they will cause a problem with your site. Sometimes a plugin you update may not be compatible with an existing plugin on your site and it can cause issues. Because there is always a small risk of updates creating problems, it’s important to make sure you always have a backup of your database saved before you do any updates just in case something should go wrong.

If you ever run into issues after performing an update, contact your hosting provider and they can help you restore your most recent backup (if they offer such a service). Keep in mind that issues caused by updates are very rare, so please don’t let the fear of this prevent you from backing up your site.

Why updates are so important

WordPress is always working to improve its software. Each update they release is packed with security fixes, bug fixes, and new features. Here’s a look at why these updates are so important:

1. Security Fixes

According to WPBeginner, 83% of hacked WordPress blogs have not been updated. Hackers are always on the hunt for sites to destroy. Hackers watch the release notes for updates and as soon as they learn of a vulnerability they start their attacks on sites that haven’t been updated. When you keep your site updated, the updates patch up those vulnerabilities which strengthen your site against malicious attacks. Updating your site as soon as an update becomes available will reduce the time that your site is vulnerable.

2. Bug Fixes

Software bugs can come in many shapes and sizes. Some bugs cause minor mechanical issues after an update. For example, a recent update we did on our site, caused our sidebar to completely disappear! We notified Genesis of the “bug” we experienced with that particular update and within just a few hours, they pushed out an update that fixed the bug and resolved the issue. Other bugs can be more serious and can cause major security holes leaving you vulnerable to attacks.

Fortunately, the amazing team at WordPress and most plugin developers are quick to act against security threats and often push out an update before you even realize there has been a problem. Performing updates as soon as they become available ensures you will have the most secure and stable versions of WordPress, plugins, and themes possible. Unstable versions can crash your site or leave you prone to being hacked.

3. Adds Features and Functionality

Ever since its initial release in 2003, WordPress has been working hard to continually improve the platform. With each update they’ve pushed out since inception, WordPress refines itself and becomes more and more functional. Theme and plugin developers continually work in the same way to provide the best products possible. Keeping your site running on the most recent updates will allow you access to the key features and improved functionalities contained within each update.

How to Know if You Need to Update

WordPress makes it easy to know when updates are available. When logged into your dashboard, you’ll see notifications appear at the top menu bar as well as on your “Updates” tab whenever updates are available. By clicking on either option, you’ll be taken to the “WordPress Updates” page where you can perform the updates. You can also visit your “Plugins” tab and the update notifications will appear under any plugins with available updates.

How to Update WordPress

Before attempting any updates, remember to backup your database. It’s also wise to plan to do your updates at a time when your traffic is at its lowest because your site may appear in maintenance mode for a few seconds during the updates.

When you are ready, visit your “WordPress Updates” page to perform your updates.

Once here, just click on any items listed here and click the update button.

WordPress Version

Before you update anything else, make sure you have the latest version of WordPress running. The latest versions of WordPress include an auto update system, which will automatically update your WordPress version with new point releases, so you most likely will already have the latest version of WordPress running. If not, click the update button to perform the update.

Plugins

Next, in the plugins section you’ll see a list of plugins with updates available. Be sure to double check that the new updates will be compatible with the version of WordPress you are currently running before doing the updates. Select the plugins you wish to update or check “Select All” to update them all at once and then click on the “Update Plugins” button. Again, your site may appear in maintenance mode for just a few seconds during the updates.

I recommend updating each plugin individually. Review your site between each update to make sure no errors have occurred. If an error occurs on your site after an individual update, it makes it easy to pin point which plugin update caused the issue. You can then report the error to the developer of that plugin so they can work to include a fix for the error in their next update.

Themes

You may occasionally see the need for a theme update. You might also see on occasion updates for themes that aren’t even activated on your site. That’s okay! Still perform any updates you receive notifications for. As always, make sure to back up your site first.

The Human Attention Span

summest — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 20:16:17 +0000

The average human attention span is now shorter than a goldfish’s — seriously. A recent study found that the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000 (or around the time smartphones hit the scene) to eight seconds today. In comparison, scientists believe that the goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds.

We are constantly bombarded by texts, tweets, push notifications, ads, Facebook posts, emails and more, and our brains get hooked on all that stimuli. We crave more and more new information, and it can be difficult to pay attention to any one thing for very long. Conversely, it also makes it difficult to hold anyone’s attention for very long. This creates a significant challenge for marketers, whose entire job is to cut through the noise and meaningfully engage with consumers.

In today’s over-saturated digital world, marketers need smart strategies for making the most of the eight-second attention span. This requires including images and visual storytelling tactics that will capture and hold attention before something else does. In fact, this phenomenon has a name — the “picture superiority effect,” whereby concepts presented with visuals or pictures are better learned and more easily and frequently recalled than those without. That’s why including an image with your social media posts delivers 180 percent more engagement or 150 percent more retweets. Words alone only have 10 percent recall, but adding a visual element increases retention of the content to 65 percent.

Check out this infographic, created by Wyzowl, about what marketers can do to combine the visual and the story into their content to multiply its reach and conversion rates.

Web design fundamentals

summest — Sat, 14 Aug 2021 02:26:18 +0000

The Internet opens up a world of opportunities for forward-thinking businesses. Online marketing is the way of the future – and the first step to establishing a foothold online is to have a good website.

Nowadays, there is no shortage of ways to get yourself a website. A business could bring a whole IT team on board to take care of the task. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can just use a website builder and make yourself a serviceable website in no time. However, by far the most impressive and cost-effective way to go about it is to hire professional WordPress developers to get the job done.

Regardless of which path a business chooses, the fundamentals of website building are still the same. To be successful, a website needs to be well-thought-out, solidly designed, and most importantly – user-friendly.

This last bit is more important than many businesses realize. Making a site as user-friendly as possible is a must nowadays as the Internet is an attention economy. Studies show that user attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. With this in mind, here are the main components you need to focus on to get the most out of your website.

Ensure Website Stability

To make your presence online felt, your website needs to be up and running at all times. It doesn’t matter how good your website looks and how user-friendly it is if users can’t see it because it is down all the time. This means that it needs to be well developed and optimized to achieve the lowest downtime possible.

Website development is not a straightforward task, even for seasoned professionals. Things “break” all the time. It’s an iterative process that requires a lot of time, effort, and dedication that can achieve astounding results. The first step on that path is to hammer out what the exact parameters of the job are.

What are the goals and objectives for the project? What can actually be accomplished, and in what time frame? What happens if plans change mid-development? All those questions need to be answered if you are to end up with a functioning website. Failing to do so at the very beginning results in instability in the development process. This inevitably causes complications, which in turn result in downtime – which you want to avoid.

The way to deal with potential issues is simple. Get good developers and hammer out the details of the project carefully with them before you start. Be honest and upfront with them as the project goes on and treat the task at hand with the seriousness it deserves

An important factor for website stability is how the website itself is hosted. Nowadays, there are plenty of free hosting services out there that you can use if you’re aiming to go as cheap as possible. However, if you want to avoid server issues, you’d do well to consider spending some money on a hosting service.

Focus on Accessibility

Another crucial aspect that should be bumped to top priority when designing a website is accessibility. This means making sure that your website works well on all platforms and on all browsers.

For many companies, getting a website that’s really good-looking on desktop devices comes first. The goal of it being accessible on mobile, or through less popular browsers, is often something of an afterthought. This way of doing things is counterproductive in the extreme in today’s online environment, for a few reasons.

Firstly, a staggering amount of searches, and therefore – traffic – actually comes from mobile devices. Users stumbling onto your website on their mobile devices are the norm, rather than the exception. You need to make your website as appealing to them as possible.

What’s more, as of mid-2021, Google has made mobile-friendliness a ranking factor for searches. This means that making sure a website is optimized for mobile users is not only crucial for user experience, but for SEO as well.

This is why companies who want to do well online should focus on making their websites as accessible as possible from day one.

Design for Navigability

Making sure your website is stable and accessible should be your first priority when planning it out. Taking care that it is designed to be as easy to navigate should be your second order of business.

True, there are many aspects of website design that need attention, and at the end of the day, you need to cover all bases. Still, as the cornerstone of a good user interface, navigability is probably the most important. Luckily, achieving it is not that difficult, if you put your mind to it and stick to what works.

Use the color palette on your website to emphasize certain elements on each page. There is no hard and fast rule as to what colors you need to use and where to put them. Using bold colors and contrast on certain elements of your design creates a clear visual hierarchy. Incorporate striking design to emphasize the elements that a user would find most useful.

Make sure everything on your website is clearly labeled. Every detail on every page should be marked out and be immediately recognizable at a glance. Achieving this effect without making your design too intrusive or aggressive may prove to be a bit of a challenge, but it is by no means impossible.

Make sure you incorporate a working Search function into your design. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the focus of user attention at all times, but it should be easy enough to find. This is just one of many tried and true methods of dramatically improving the UX on your website.

Design the structure of your primary navigation with simplicity in mind. Put it near the top of your page, and make it straightforward to use. Don’t cram all the navigation options into it, as that will make it clunky, not to mention unaesthetic. Remember, although you want to establish a clear visual hierarchy, you don’t want your website to be too “top-heavy.”

Incorporate a secondary system of navigation in the footer of your site, or in another section. Any other part of the site the user may want to visit should never be more than two to three clicks away from their current view.

Finally, limit the use of lead-generating strategies on your website. Landing pages, pop-ups, and live chat can work wonders for converting clicks into sales. Still, bear in mind that if you overdo it, this strategy will backfire. Aggressive pop-ups, in particular, are an instant turnoff for many users. This is why you need to find a balance, and include just the right amount of them when you’re designing your website.

Written by: Marice Peralta
4 May 2021, Digital Agency Network

Essential UX Statistics — Everything You Need to Know

summest — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 02:19:56 +0000

To a lot of companies, good user experience equates to having a website that’s pretty to look at.

We’ve been told that’s what audiences want. That’s why it’s so disappointing when our website’s bounce rates remain high and we don’t generate nearly as many leads as we hoped for. So, why does this happen?

In many cases, it’s because we rarely put much thought into user experience. UX statistics show that this common mistake turns consumers away and costs businesses a lot of revenue. A beautiful website simply means very little if it’s frustrating to use.

We’ve compiled this list of stats to point out the sheer importance of UX. Modern-day interfaces need to be fully optimized with consumers in mind, and understanding industry trends can help you figure out how to improve your business. We’ve also included an FAQ section at the end; if you’re looking for quick answers, scroll down.

User Experience Stats—Highlights

88% of online shoppers say they wouldn’t return to a website after having a bad user experience.
70% of online businesses that fail do so because of bad usability.
Only 55% of companies currently conduct any UX testing.
You are 279.64 times more likely to climb Mt. Everest than click on a banner ad.
53% of mobile site visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load.
People form 75% of their judgment on a website’s credibility purely on its aesthetics.
Bad mobile optimization annoys 48% of users.