Huge Background Images

A year later, this trend has proven staying power. In 2015, we can expect to see even more use of large background images on websites for all sorts of businesses and brands. An eye-catching way to set-up your home or inner pages, it works well alongside dynamic typography. See it in action over at Google Nexus.

Mobile

As discussed here, Google is making big changes this month. Beginning April 21st, websites that aren’t mobile-optimized will be penalized in the search rankings. This is a big deal and, as such, 2015 is the year that mobile design will truly expand. Key to getting found online, a great mobile website benefits both businesses and their consumers, increasing conversions and ROI.

Increased Privacy

Websites today are more frequently being designed and developed with security in mind. Especially key for eCommerce, users are much more likely to visit and make purchases from sites that offer safe and secure forms and check-out processes. This is important to take into consideration if you’re planning on selling your services or products online.

Ghost Buttons

A trend that began in 2014, ghost buttons are more popular than ever. Clickable buttons, they are basic, flat and feature no fill – hence the name. Transparent aside from the outline and the inner text, they are typically large in size and placed prominently on the page. They are often paired with full-screen backgrounds, mobile applications and one-page sites. See it in action here.

Constantly evolving, 2015 is going to be a big year for web design. From ghost buttons to large background images, increased privacy and a focus on mobile, many of today’s trends are worth discussing. If you’re looking to start the year out with a great new design, our talented team of designers can help.

Digital-First Branding

Today, many consumers’ very first impression and experience with a brand is online. Though advertising venues such as commercials and radio are still quite popular, digital-first branding is gaining considerably. Companies are now conceiving their brand and how it works online before moving on to different channels. An innovative approach, digital marketing techniques are now often working in conjunction with, and enhancing, the traditional.

Custom Photography

In 2015, we’re going to see more professional photography that suits the needs and purpose of a website. Though there is still a time and a place for stock photos, custom images are completely unique and take the overall design of a great site to the next level. Highly personable, it’s a great way to show off your business – who you are, what you do and why you’re the best.

Hidden Navigation

Many websites (including Yabsta Global’s recent redesign!) are hiding their main menus, lending a minimalistic look to their home pages. A technique commonly used in responsive design, it is being carried over to overall site design when it was previously seen mainly in small viewports, such as smartphone screens. Clean and functional, the navigation becomes visible when the user clicks or hovers over the appropriate icon.

Bright and Bold

Vibrant design, a stunning, graphical combination of colour, environment, large typography, lighting, shadow, responsiveness and motion, is going to be a hit as the year progresses. A type of design intended to mimic the texture and experience of paper and ink, Google’s Material theme is a great example.

From vibrant design to digital-first branding, large background images and a few oldies-but-goodies, 2015 is going to be a great year online. What do you think the biggest trend will be? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

Image Credit: design by Maher Berro, via Flickr, CC License, no changes made

The goal of many small business websites is to influence the decision making process of the visitor, or potential customer. Many individuals attach emotion to colour and, as such, it can be used to invoke favourable reactions. The following colours, and their meanings, will help you design a website that portrays your business and influences users effectively.

Blue

One of the most popular primary colours for websites of all kinds, blue denotes trustworthiness, security, confidence and friendliness. Ideal for corporate companies and businesses dealing in money, lighter shades are also great for more social destinations on the Web.

Red

Hot and fiery, red is a bold primary colour that stimulates, activates and conveys strength and aggression. Use it if you’d like your website to portray power or a sense of excitement. Deeper shades appeal to older audiences and it makes a great accent colour for important design elements.

Purple

A secondary colour often associated with regality, purple embodies the notions of dignity, abundance and wealth. Also a nod to creativity and wisdom, it suits a luxury brand just perfectly. Created by mixing red and blue, varying shades can also portray the former’s passion and the latter’s stability.

Green

Another popular secondary colour, green is both calming and invigorating. A great way to represent balance in web design, it connotes stability, friendliness and earthiness. A colour that’s popular with both men and women, it’s perfect for environmental businesses.

Yellow

Perhaps the brightest primary colour, yellow is energizing, stimulating and warm. Ideal for giving an impression of happiness, pale shades are great for websites and businesses geared towards children. Yellow’s optimism is contagious.

Orange

Vibrant and inviting, orange is an energetic secondary colour that doesn’t overpower. It’s a great choice for movement in designs and for giving a balanced, friendly impression to a site. Another option that appeals to the younger generation, orange is an excellent choice for sites promoting children’s goods, entertainment and art.

Brown

Down to earth, brown can be overlooked in the web design world. Light brown is calming while shades of tan and beige have a conservative, boring reputation. Dark brown, wholesome and down to earth, appeals to older folks and represents reliability and honesty. Brown is ideal as a background colour.

Monochromatic

The monochromatic colours black, grey and white are commonly used as backgrounds in web design, paired with brighter accent colours. Black is seen as powerful and sophisticated, while shades of grey are, similar to light brown, calming and neutral. White implies purity, simplicity, openness and hopefulness.

According to Web Page FX, 84.7 percent of consumers site colour as a primary motivator in buying a certain product and 80% believe that colour increases brand recognition. An incredibly useful tool for conveying your business in just the right light, upping conversion rates and more, colour psychology is worth looking into.

Sources: Wix, Red Website Design, Social Media Week

Image Credits: tribal spirit 2 by Cheryl, color by Justin Belcher, CC License

With the goal of being seen and shared on the world’s social networking sites it’s good to build your posts knowing that images get 94% more views and are digested 60,0000 times faster than those without. Not to mention, the alt tag (or image description) acts as a second layer of SEO. Below is a breakdown of 4 different types of images that can enhance your content.

Personal Photos

A most effective tactic is to completely personalize your material. You can do this by infusing your writing with your own photos. As a content creator, every one of your experiences has potential to teach the world.

For example, in your post on Mexican woven textiles, including snaps of your trip to the factory can evoke an emotional attachment by giving readers the feeling that they are actually with you.

Charts, Graphs and Infographics

Instead of making your reader scan and re-scan your words, try making that dense post much simpler by putting the data where it should be – in visually appealing graphs. Charts and graphs give you the opportunity to use colour to help separate themes and thick visible lines and numbers to easily compare outcomes. If your post is all data, an infographic is the perfect way to tell your story. What would normally be consumed in 15 minutes, can now be swallowed, digested and retained in a matter of 3″

Stock Images

Stock imagery includes photographs and illustrations that can be bought on a royalty-free basis. In many instances they can serve as an inexpensive alternative to hiring a photographer. To make sure you stay on the right side of intellectual property laws, opt to purchase or license imagery, or find images under Creative Commons licensing at sites such as Flickr or www.500px.com. The quickest option is to look for photos that require attribution only which calls for a simple credit to the photographer and a link back to their page.

Imagery acts as a break from text where an engaging, relevant and carefully placed visual is not only great for setting the pace of your story but it helps assure the reader that your post will be short, digestible and useful, thus increasing your website’s average session duration.

Funnies

Comics can act as a wonderful outlet for your sense of humour. When relevant, it works to make heavy content lighter while still being effective at getting your point across. Comics are an acceptable way to poke fun at the ridiculousness of your industry or a life experience that might be shared by your readers in general. Most stock libraries will offer comic illustration options. Be sure to follow the copyright instructions to continue to protect and enrich your brand.

Personal photos, charts & graphs, stock images and funnies are all great images that are sure to enhance your content. A picture is worth a thousand words is a very old saying that is relevant now more than it’s ever been.

Photo credits:

Mexican Textile Factory: Angela Sevin, Flickr; Comic Strip: Duncan c, Flickr

1. Why is copywriting so important to the success of a website?

It’s important for both aesthetic and technical reasons. Depending on the platform, web copy should be written in a way that appeals to an online audience (ie. caters to shorter attention spans while still transcending the key points of the desired message). People don’t want to slog through paragraph upon paragraph of text, even if you’re extremely proud of your business and want to tell your entire story.

On a technical level, the way you compose your text has a direct effect on how well your site gets indexed for certain keywords on major search engines like Google. By following some basic principles of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you can appeal to Google’s algorithm through proper keyword density (not using a given keyword too many or too few times), optimized meta tags (taking advantages of important text fields that Google uses to determine what your site is about) and adhering to the basic tenants of good grammar.

2. What is your thought process for working with each client?

As cliche as it sounds, every client is unique with different business goals. Some business owners are more hands on than others. If I’m able to get an initial kickoff meeting with the client (which doesn’t always happen to our global scale), then great: I’ll feel them out to get a sense of their business, and that makes it easier. However, a lot of the time I’m working strictly from a design brief and supplied content with no personal introduction, so I have to revolve my writing style solely around that material.

3. How do our copywriters fit into the rest of the Yabsta creative chain?

We work with the sales reps, designers and developers throughout the whole build process. As it happens, clients may have to make changes at the 11th hour, so I always have to be ready for that. I’ll typically start the copy for a given web build before an initial design concept is proposed, then alter it accordingly to the typography of the design.

4. Do you think that it’s important for modern copywriters to have web development or graphic design skills?

Hard to say. It definitely couldn’t hurt, but the job descriptions are so different that in my opinion, most people who are full time copywriters wouldn’t have time to be involved in design or development. As I mentioned before, however, communication with the people who do have those skills is absolutely essential to the finished project.

5. What kinds of projects/clients give you the most satisfaction?

The ones where the client is actually making a difference in the world. For example, I manage and write for the Facebook pages of the Bermuda Heart Foundation and CORE, two organizations that are striving to make Bermuda a healthier place. It feels good to work for people like that.

6. What do you enjoy the most about working for Yabsta Digital?

That I genuinely like everyone I work with…We’re all functional nutjobs. It can be a very hectic environment, but having good relationships with your coworkers can get you through the toughest of work-related times.

7. What is a project that you would like to check off your list?

We’re currently building a website for a new internal product we’re launching (Yabsta Site Builder), and the scope is huge. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time on any one copy project before, so that.

8. If you could give our marketers one copywriting tip, what would it be?

It will take time to adapt to writing for the web. No matter how good of a writer you are, if you were taught a more academic style of writing (which most people are), you will feel frustration initially. Expect rewrites and lots of trial and error before you get it down.

9. What do you enjoy outside of work?

Fitness, craft beer, politics, serial television, film, poetry