WordPress is the world’s most popular blogging platform and is used by web designers everywhere. One of the biggest reasons for this is that it supports templating and plugins, so it is simple to use to customize website

Great Functionality and Value

Because WordPress is an open source site, most of the plugins available are free for anybody to use. So that means the price is right as well!

Here, then, are some of the most helpful and popular WordPress plugins for web designers:

1. Google Analyticator — What the Google Analyticator does is add the JavaScript code to your blog or website that enables Google Analytics on your WP Dashboard. This is a helpful tool that tells you not just how many visitors are landing on your pages, but what keywords they are using to find them.

2. Shareaholic — Want to share options to your site? (Of course you do!) The Shareaholic plugin puts a social bookmarking menu on your posts, pages and index (or all three), plus adds related content if you want.

3. nrelate —  Speaking of related content, nrelate (all lower case) is a plugin that automatically generates content links for your pages. You can use the plugins shortcode to manually insert links to related posts that your visitors might find fun or interesting.

4. Viper’s Video Quicktags — Embedding videos into your pages can often be a real hassle. What this plugin does is simplify the proces by adding platform-specific buttons that let you past the URL of the video you want to embed. That’s it. Easy-peasy!

5. WordPress Calls to Action — If the purpose of your web page is to get visitors to do something (by a product, opt-in to your mailing list, etc.), this plugin provides a quick and easy way to create call to action (CTA) pop-ups. It also tracks conversion rates and enables split testing.

6. Events Calendar — This plugin lets you quickly create events and let you do things like have a calendar view, search events and even integrate maps. It’s ideal if you are hosting events, running a club, or doing event planning.

Web designers and other people who work with computers have a disadvantage when it comes to fitness. Because they are sitting in front of a screen for eight or more hours per day, they are more likely to gain weight, be less active and have related health issues.

There’s even a term for it: “Web Spread”.

This is a real problem because as more and more jobs become automated, a growing percentage of the work force will be spending an increasing amount of time sitting at a computer.

Ways to Beat ‘Web Spread’

One recent study that was widely reported in the media bombastically claims that “sitting is the new smoking”. In other words, the sedentary lifestyle a growing number of people are embracing is leading to as many health consequences as cigarette smoking.

So how can the average worker avoid web spread and the resulting health issues? Here’s a few tips:

• Stand More Often — If you spend most of your workday sitting down, make a point of taking regular breaks. Walk around the office for a few minutes every hour or two. Go outside during your lunch break and walk around the block or parking lot.

• Snack Better — There’s a tendency to eat mindlessly when working in front of a computer. Many people don’t even realize they are eating — or what they are eating — when they are engrossed in their work. Switch to healthier snacks, such as microwave popcorn, carrot sticks or celery stalks. Not only are these lower in fat, but they contain important vitamins and nutrients that will improve your immunity and overall health.

• Consider Getting a ‘Standing Desk’ — One of the newest trends in office furniture this year is the standing desk. This is an elevated surface that you can work on while standing up. Typically, these types of desks are adjustable, so they can be used when you are sitting down as well.

Working in front of a computer all day can be hazardous to your health. Add these healthy habits to your workday and you can avoid getting web spread.

Today more than ever before, consumers are turning to the Internet to find the products and services they want. Given the convenience of shopping online, that’s not surprising.

When you shop online, you don’t have to drive down to the shopping district or mall, you don’t have to deal with the crowds, and you don’t have to interact with ignorant or inattentive sales staff. All you need to do is perform a quick search for what you want, click on a button and it will be delivered to your home within a few days — or even a few hours, in some cases!

Web Design and Online Shopping

The rise of online shopping has been a boom for most web design firms. That’s because even the smallest brick and mortar businesses now need to have a website in order to compete for customers. Most businesses are now taking it a step further and asking for web pages that are optimized for use on mobile devices like smart phones and tablets.

The trend for online retail isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, it’s only going to get bigger.

Shopping – Investing in the Future

In response, many big retailers are looking for ways to simplify and speed up the process so that it’s easier than ever for their customers to get the products and services they want. Free delivery and next-day delivery have become so commonplace that many consumers now take them for granted and may balk at retailers that don’t provide these services.

Other big online retailers, such as Amazon, are now working on providing same-day delivery, investing huge sums in warehouses, distribution centers and delivery systems. Amazon is even experimenting with pilot-less drones that can deliver your order to your doorstep within an hour of placing your order!

For web design firms that seek out innovative and effective ways to make it easier for businesses to connect with customers, the future is very bright indeed.

The right images not only bring life to your web pages, they also can make them convert better. People don’t want to simply browse a website. They also want to experience it. When you use the best images, you can boost your site’s conversions and connect better with your target audience.

But there are still plenty of  websites that seem oblivious to the importance of images when it comes to getting the most out of their existing traffic. Here, then, are some top techniques for boosting your conversion rate by being smart about the types of images you use on your web pages:

People Are Ruled by Their Emotions — Most people make a buy decision because they are having an emotional experience. If you can find a way to make your page visitors fee just right, they will take action. Use positive images to bring out positive emotions. These can include such things as a pretty girl smiling or an image that makes people feel warm and fuzzy inside.

The people who land on your pages aren’t dumb. They know what you’re trying to convey with your images. But if you can make them feel happy, proud, wanted or draw out some other positive emotion with your images, they will connect with your web pages and are more likely to follow your call to action.

People Like Cute Mascots — Have you ever wondered why so many companies continue to use cute and cuddly mascots for decades after they were first introduced? It’s because they work. People connect with mascots, so if you include a site mascot on your page, it can be an excellent opportunity to reinforce your branding. Mascots help sites create a powerful image in their audience’s mind. They also are highly memorable.

Mascots can help solidify your marketing motif. They also make it much easier to create the desired emotional effect you want on your web pages. Characters and site mascots act as a type of emotional shorthand that visitors can immediately grasp and hold on to.

The Human Touch – Boost your website’s conversion rate by including human faces on your pages. Images of real people cause your visitors to focus more on your page, drawing them towards a common point of interest.

Validate Your Products — TV commercials are an effective way to get people to buy products because they usually show models, actors or real life people using the product itself. When people are praising products, loving them, going crazy over the, it validates the product in the mind of the viewer.

People want to feel safe before buying anything. They have a built-in need to be convinced that they are making the right decision when they buy. And they fear being wrong. When they see other people being pleased with a particular product, it reinforces the idea that this is something they want and need.

Keep the Focus on Them, Not You — Your customers are interested in themselves. They don’t necessarily care about your product or company. It’s the “me” factor that ultimately can lead to conversions. Show your visitors they are smart to choose your products. Make them feel comfortable with high-quality images. Provide the experience that they arrived on your page to feel. This will open up doors to get more people to convert when they arrive on your pages.

It’s a new year, so it’s time to review some of the top web design features that can make your web pages more unique, more attractive and and fresher in 2015.

While it’s not necessary to use each of these cutting edge design elements on every page, by mixing and matching them in different combinations, you can create memorable pages that truly jump out at page visitors:

1. Unique Fonts

Most websites use whatever default font setting is on their dashboard. But you can really make your pages look interesting by choosing modern-looking fonts that are cool and stylish. Just make sure they aren’t so extreme that they make it difficult to read your content.

While choosing a great looking font can improve your web design, once you find a cool font you like, it’s a good idea to stick with it throughout your content. Mixing together too many different fonts on the same page can be jarring and may cause page visitors to click off of your pages more quickly.

2. 3-D Is Out

Using too many three-dimensional effects can make a web page look phony and dated. Instead, go for a flat design look for your web design. Flat design uses simple illustrations that usually have bright, primary colors.

Flat design is appealing because it offers a minimalist look that draws attention to your content, rather than to the cleverness of your web design. It also can make your pages look clean and slick.

Modern looking pages have more white space, compared to older web pages which tended to cram as much as possible into every possible corner of the web page. Today’s web users appreciate simplicity.

Top Web Design Elements for 2015 – 3. Hover Effects Are Back In

For a while there, every web designer avoided hover effects like the plague. But now they are back in vogue among the cool kids.

Hover effects change the color of what you are looking at when you place your cursor over a part of a website. This draws your page visitor’s attention to what you want them to see. Plus, it’s a cool effect that can enhance the user’s experience. Unlike pop-up boxes, hover effects aren’t intrusive. But they can help the visitor keep track of where they are looking on a page.

Top Web Design Elements for 2015 – 4.  BIG Product Images  

While product images have always been a big part of promotional pages, modern web pages tend to have big product images. How big? Close to novelty sized.

Big product images serve a dual purpose: They fill up a lot of space with an attractive image of whatever you are trying to promote. Plus, they allow page visitors to get a detailed look that they couldn’t get from a tiny thumbnail image or a smaller image.

In addition to the primary image, you also can include big images that highlight details you want your page visitors to see more closely.

Including the most up-to-date web design elements on your web pages can make them look modern and appealing to your page visitors so they will keep coming back again and again.

The holidays are finally past and much of the country is settling in for another long, cold winter.

That makes it a great time to bring warm, sunny images to your web pages to make them seem brighter and more cheery for visitors who land on them. Here then are 10 web design tips for warming up your web pages:

1. Don’t Go Overboard — While you want to use warm, fuzzy colors such as orange and yellows during the winter months, don’t go too far. Background colors should be soothing, not glaring.

2. Spread Your Text Around — Don’t bunch your text up in the center of the page, in the margins or in another concentrated area. Spread it around the page to make your web design seem more relaxed and less cluttered.

3. Keep It Short — Visitors aren’t going to read dense blocks of text. Instead, use short, punchy sentences or bullet points to get your message across in as few words as possible.

4. No Motion — Avoid the temptation to add motion of moving GIFs on your web pages. These will only distract your visitors and prevent them from absorbing the warm overall mood you are trying to create.

5. Not Sure? Drop it! — If you aren’t sure why you are including something on your web page — an image, text or something else — it probably doesn’t belong there. Drop it like it’s hot!

6. Don’t Forget the Contact Information — A big mistake many web designers make is to forget to include contact information. If visitors have no way to reach you, it’s a web page FAIL!

7. Avoid Graphics That Aren’t Universal — Visitors to your page will use different equipment to view it. So make sure your graphics are accessible to everyone regardless of their browser.

8. Visit Your Own Websites — Check out your site from different browsers to see how it looks. Colors may look different, images may not be viewable, or other mistakes can be caught.

9. Avoid Blue Text — Don’t use blue as a text color because most visitors  will assume it’s a link.

10. Sparse is Best — Winter lends itself to sparse, wide open spaces. Reflect the season by leaving more open space on your web pages during winter months.