The significance of sustainability, in web development goes beyond the world. It encompasses social responsibilities as well. With the expansion of the landscape, websites are also leaving a significant environmental impact. Sustainable web development recognizes this issue. Aims to reduce its footprint by optimizing energy usage minimizing server-related emissions and promoting eco-friendly hosting solutions. Moreover prioritizing sustainability also leads to user experiences, and efficient and well-designed websites result in faster loading times and improved accessibility. Sustainability in web development is not about factors; it aligns with the growing societal awareness of environmental concerns contributing to a collective effort to create an online ecosystem that is more environmentally conscious and responsible. Essentially integrating sustainability, into web development practices brings benefits not only for the environment but also resonates with a mindful digital audience.

Optimizing Performance

Improving the performance of a website is really important for a web design company, in web development. It’s all about making the site faster more responsive and overall more efficient. One way to achieve this is through coding practices. Writing lightweight code that reduces loading times. Another technique is to minimize the number of HTTP requests by combining files and using loading. Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are also crucial as they distribute content across servers around the world reducing delays and ensuring quick page loading for users everywhere. By focusing on optimizing performance web developers not improve the user experience. Also, contribute to sustainability by reducing energy consumption for content delivery. A faster and smoother website does not meet user expectations. Also has a positive impact, on search engine rankings making performance optimization an essential aspect of successful web development.

Efficient coding practices

Efficient coding practices are crucial, for creating performance and sustainable web development. This involves writing code that’s clean well organized and achieves its intended functionality while also minimizing resource usage and maximizing efficiency. One technique to achieve this is through code splitting, which involves breaking down codebases into more manageable parts to improve load times. Additionally, developers can optimize their code by reducing redundancy using indentation and commenting techniques and following coding standards. By embracing design principles code components can be created in a manner promoting efficiency and ease of maintenance. Overall efficient coding practices do not improve website performance. Also foster collaboration, among developers and lay the groundwork for a sustainable and scalable online presence.

Server optimization for energy efficiency

Efficiently optimizing servers, for energy consumption is an aspect of web development. It entails implementing strategies that minimize the energy used by server infrastructure thereby reducing costs and environmental impact. One effective technique is virtualization, which allows multiple virtual servers to share a server maximizing resource utilization and energy efficiency. Additionally optimizing server configurations using energy hardware and adopting cooling solutions all contribute to sustainability. Prioritizing energy efficiency in cloud services and data center management practices also plays a role. By focusing on server optimization, for energy efficiency web developers not only promote the sustainability of their projects but also contribute to a responsible and resource-conscious digital ecosystem.

Responsive Design and Accessibility

Creating websites that are inclusive and user-friendly requires prioritizing design and accessibility. Responsive design ensures that a website seamlessly adapts to devices and screen sizes providing users with an optimal experience whether they’re using a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. This not only caters to the preferences of users but also aligns with search engine algorithms that prioritize mobile-friendly content. On the other hand, accessibility involves designing websites in a way that allows people of all abilities to easily use them including those, with disabilities. This includes considerations such as making sure impaired users can access the content through screen readers providing text for multimedia elements and enabling keyboard navigation. By combining design and accessibility we not only enhance the usability of websites but also create a more inclusive digital environment where information and services are accessible, to everyone regardless of their device or ability.

Minimalist Design Approach

The concept of design, in web development emphasizes simplicity, clarity, and the intentional removal of elements. By simplifying the user interface and focusing on features minimalist design improves the user experience. Reduces loading times. This approach prioritizes aesthetics, efficient navigation, and a distraction-free interface to create a sense of clarity and ease for website visitors. Moreover apart, from enhancing user engagement minimalist design supports sustainability efforts by minimizing data transfer and reducing the impact of websites. By eliminating elements developers can craft pleasing websites that contribute to an efficient, sustainable, and user-centered digital experience.

Implementing sustainable analytics tools

Incorporating analytics tools is a step, towards promoting environmentally friendly web development practices. These tools prioritize efficiency by utilizing techniques, including data aggregation reducing server requests, and employing tracking scripts. Their main focus is to provide insights while conserving energy and resources for data processing. By selecting analytics solutions that prioritize sustainability web developers can strike a balance between gathering user information and minimizing the impact associated with data collection and analysis. This approach aligns with the objective of establishing an eco-friendly and responsible digital space highlighting the significance of efficient tracking and understanding of user behavior, on websites.

Educating users on sustainable web practices

Promoting awareness among internet users about the impact of their activities is essential for building a responsible and eco-friendly online community, encompassing even subliminal perception. It involves educating users about how their online actions, often subconsciously influential, affect the environment and encouraging them to adopt sustainable practices. By providing information on energy-efficient browsing habits, such as minimizing resource-intensive features and embracing minimalist design principles, users can actively contribute to a greener digital ecosystem. Furthermore, teaching users about the significance of supporting websites hosted on eco-friendly servers and adopting sustainable technologies empowers them to make informed decisions that extend beyond their conscious interactions. Through collaborative efforts between developers and users, we can foster a commitment to sustainable web practices, creating a positive impact on the overall ecosystem and promoting a more mindful approach to online interactions, even those influenced by subliminal cues.

The post Web design strategies for building sustainable websites appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Nobody knows when to stop adding things.

I’ve been involved in creating websites since 2004, either as a coder, copywriter, project manager, webmaster, SEO, content manager, content strategist or some other capacity. In every single project, the client used the word “clean” to describe their ideal website design.

So why does nearly every website eventually end up a cluttered mess?

I don’t care. 

We could spend the rest of this blog post investigating the cultural and psychological causes behind a desperate need to fill every inch of white space on a design. We could talk about how modern life gets us addicted to overstimulation, making us profoundly uncomfortable with things like silence and emptiness.

Or we could discuss how you can keep it from ruining your conversion rate.

Let’s tackle that last one instead.

You’re messing with my Zen thing, man.

First, let’s step back and get to a point of agreement that page clutter is a bad thing. A business website or blog is not a digital brochure, it’s a media channel.

Notice that word “channel”? It implies a free-flowing stream. Clutter dams the river.  Too many page elements make it difficult for a visitor to figure out what to focus on. Your calls-to-action get lost in the chaos.

When visitors first arrive at your home page, can they quickly find the ferry to their desired destination? Clutter means your visitor gets stuck on the bank like the avatar from Frogger, overwhelmed. Overwhelm translates to lack of confidence, fear and inhibition. Congratulations, instead of offering a warm, inviting welcome, you just intimidated your curious visitor like a bouncer outside a bar.

This isn’t just the prevailing wisdom, implied as having business value to justify aesthetic preference. Split-testing shows that eliminating page clutter dramatically improves conversions. In eCommerce websites, cluttered product and checkout pages increase abandonment rates, costing you sales.

But avoiding page clutter isn’t only important at the end of the sales funnel. It’s also vital if you use content as a lead nurturing tactic. Your content should be like you sitting down with a prospect, sharing your expertise. Would you rather that conversation happen:

• In a quiet coffee shop with no interruptions, or
• On a busy street with other elements screaming like street hawkers from the sidewalks?

At every stage of the sales funnel, it’s important to keep clutter to a minimum. Doing otherwise sabotages your carefully laid path to conversion.

The middle way to an uncluttered design.

I like metaphors. You can probably tell, because I’ve crammed a half dozen into this post so far. You probably won’t be surprised that I’ve got another one for you: think of your refrigerator. 

How many times have you had to ask someone “Where are the pickled ghost chilis?” only to be told they’re right in front of you… behind the milk? (Which you ‘ll need anyway, if you plan to eat pickled ghost chilis.)

What did Mom always tell you? “Everything can’t be in the front.”

It’s the same with your website. You can have as many pages as you want. You can have as many widgets and graphics and PDFs as you want. But everything can’t be in the front. Some things must be a click or more from the home page. Some things should be shifted to the footer. A page will only hold so many “featured” items, until nothing’s really featured.

If this was your fridge, what items need to be front and center (top of home page)? What could go on a lower shelf (below the fold)? What could go to the door (sidebar, footer)? What’s okay if you have to dig for it a little (doesn’t make the home page, but is easy to find in the navigation)?

I think we’re all in agreement that your terms & conditions page and privacy statement should be buried in the vegetable crisper.

Getting back on the path

Sometimes, a website starts out beautifully focused. This happens most often with blogs. In the beginning, a lot of bloggers are able to start out with a fairly clean layout, partly because they lack the development skills to add much to a basic blog theme. The beginner’s mind grants clarity.

Then over time, the clutter starts building up. Someone wants to put banner ads on your site.  Someone decides you need a live chat box.  You win some meaningless web award, and decide you need that logo to show off how awesome you are “provide social proof.” Someone suggests you’ll sell more if you add the logos from the BBB, the local chamber of commerce, your industry associations and your brother-in-law’s Masonic Lodge.

Honestly, though, the worst offender when it comes to gradual clutter build-up is social media. You add a Twitter widget. You add a Facebook page widget. Someone says you need a Pinterest or a Google+ account, so you add those, too. You add share buttons to every page. You start adding share buttons to multiple items on a single page.

Then one day, you realize that your website has become the waiter from Chotchkie’s, with 57 pieces of flair. When that happens, it’s time to get back on the path. Let go of your attachment to that award logo. Or the badge telling everyone you sponsored that event. Don’t let your ego get in the way of keeping your eyes on the real prize: conversions.

Screenshot a few pages of your website. Print them out. Circle in red any items that you added “to see if they’d help.” Dig into your analytics, especially the In-Page Analytics and Visitor Flow reports. Have those items measurably helped guide visitors down the path to conversion? If not, ditch them.

Riding the white elephant

Sometimes, you get stuck with content elements that you can’t get rid of, despite their total lack of usefulness. This is especially true with corporate websites.

In that case, if you can’t get rid of it, the best approach is to see if you can at least make it less noticeable. If you can’t provide visitors a calm, zen-like environment, at least clear a path for them.

Push the clutter elements to sidebars, footers, and subpages wherever possible. Push it below the fold, if moving it off the home page isn’t an option. If it’s a graphic, see if you can apply a filter to grey out the item unless someone mouses over it. The same people who like adding endless graphics to an already-busy page usually love any kind of animation.

Also, consider the possibility of making subtle tweaks to your CSS and HTML to create the illusion of more space and fewer items on the page. Increasing the line spacing, leading, or font size can give users eyes a rest, as can softening the colors a bit. Gradients, drop shadows, patterns, rules and other background design elements can create a more sophisticated design, but if you have to sacrifice them in the name of clarity and content focus, it might be worth it.

Balance the value that each item adds to the page against the overall cost in creating greater friction for the visitor. Some items may have more value than the non-negotiable-but-worthless stuff, but if the plane is going down, you toss the bags of rice and hope you can find food when you land.

The supreme art of war is subduing the enemy without fighting. – Sun Tsu, The Art of War

Also, let go of the idea that every visitor needs to pass through the home page. If you’ve lost that ground, concede it. Instead of wasting your efforts fighting a losing battle, redirect your energy. Go build on uncontested land. More than likely, you have the power to create clean, streamlined landing pages anywhere but the home page. So create them, and then point your search, display, email and social campaigns directly to them.

In Summary:

If you want visitors to convert, you have to provide them with a clear and inviting path.

Unnecessary clutter can cause visitors to stumble on that path.

Identifying and eliminating clutter that has built up over time can improve conversion rates.

If you can’t eliminate or neutralize clutter, provide an alternative path.

Have You Registered For Explore Portland?

Don’t miss two days of intensive learning with some of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the digital marketing and social media marketing space. Join SME’s Jason Falls and Nichole Kelly, Unmarketing and The Book of Business Awesome author Scott Stratten, The Now Revolution co-author and leading strategist Jay Baer, Smart Business, Social Business author Michael Brito, allen+gerritsen strategist Tamsen Webster, Edison Research’s Tom Webster and more at one of the leading digital and social media marketing events of 2012, November 15-16 in Portland, Ore. DON’T WAIT TO REGISTER! Seats are filling fast! Reserve yours today!

Related articles

• How to De-Clutter Your Company’s Blog
• 8 Landing Page Factors To Help Boost Online Conversions
• Breathe New Life into Your Home Page, Gain Loyal Readers

The post Zen and the Art of Website Conversion appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Your website’s user-experience (sometimes referred to as “UX”) is directly related to the perception your visitors have of how useful and efficient your site is in providing them what they want. Because everyone’s perception can be unique this means how a person feels about their experience on your website is subjective. The good thing is there are some best practices, trends, and standards that can help you avoid frustrated visitors and help them find the information you want to get in their hands.

Here is a quick list of a few things that contribute to a poor user-experience:

• • Cryptic navigation: The language used in the primary navigation doesn’t provide any clear idea of what you might expect to find when clicking.

• • Large dense blocks of content: There is a ton of content on each page with little-to-no headings, paragraph breaks, changes in color or placement making it look like a big block of text.

• • No clear hierarchy of information: When you first arrive on a particular page it looks flat and nothing draws your attention. You cannot tell what is more or less important in the content and on the navigational elements.

• Inconsistent messaging: The information or language used to link to another page does not provide a clear expectation of what should be found on the next page. The overall look and feel of the site changes dramatically in style and structure so that your visitors have to re-aclimate themselves to it.

Anything on this list strike a chord? Have you experienced something here? Maybe your company’s website is an offender of one or more of these?

In this article I am going to take a step back and first tackle how you can help pave a clear path for your visitors even before they ever reach your website. In order to do this we have to understand what is in the minds of our visitors or customers. I will follow up in a part 2 of this article and focus directly on your website itself and how you can reduce the friction points that may be causing your visitors to frown the entire time they use your website.

What is your visitor’s mental mode?

Understanding what is in the mind of your visitors is hugely important to knowing what information to provide them and how to visually present it. To start the process ask yourself two questions:

1. Where will visitors to my website come from?
2. What will visitors be looking for?

In an ideal situation you would have the opportunity to answer these questions during the initial planning stages of your website. If you are beyond that stage then don’t fret. The great thing about websites is, with a bit of effort, you can go back and tweak your pages as needed to make them more effective. But where should you start the process of creating a better experience for your visitors?

A smooth user-experience starts before someone visits your website

Is your company is using Facebook social ads to drive traffic to your site? Then you have only a sentence, an image, and a heading to provide context about what information your website offers. That context sets the visitor’s initial expectation as to what they will get in return for clicking on the ad. Will it be what they were hoping for or is it something completely different? A common approach to tackling this is to create unique landing pages for each set of visitors with the intent on targeting your message and keeping continuity between the referral source (in this case it is a Facebook ad) and your website.

There are a variety of other ways your visitors might be faced with a link to your site and a choice to click. Depending on what it communicates and what context it provides the user-experience can start off on good or bad footing.

Here are a few other sources that might refer visitors to your site and some questions to think about:

1. 1. Search engine result:
      When a page on your website shows up in search engine results does the page title and description they see accurately tell them what they will find if they click on it?

1. 1. Social Links:
      When you tweet out a link to an article, contest, sales page, etc… does the accompanying sentence or title tell others what they will see once they click? Can the same be said for links posted on your Facebook business page or on YouTube videos that provide a link back to your website?

1. 1. Traditional advertising:
      Is your website mentioned prominently in your radio, television, and print ads?  Should each of these channels point to your homepage or would a unique landing page provide a better experience?

The example below is an ad from one of my favorite online resources, Lynda.com.

This Facebook ad by Lynda.com clearly communicates what to expect if I click the ad.

Clicking on the Facebook ad (figure 1) brings you to this Lynda.com landing page (figure 2). Note that the word “WordPress” is used multiple times on the page (I placed a red dot next to each). The visitor never feels like they clicked something by mistake. For those wanting to learn more about what Lynda.com offers related to WordPress they have 3 links from this page directly to the collection of WordPress training videos (seen in figure 3 below) .

Figure 3 continues the experience by providing a list of all they have to offer related to WordPress.

So far we have discussed how to smoothly transition new visitors to your website from other places on the web. By understanding where they are coming from, the context the referring source provides and what is being communicated on the web page you direct them to you will be able to better craft the content of your website.

In part 2 of this article (coming soon), I will cover what to consider when designing your site and crafting your content, no matter where your visitors are coming from. Until then I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject. Have you ever had your time wasted by a bad user-experience?  Tell me about it in the comments.

The post How to Create a Frictionless User Experience for Your Website (Part 1) appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

On the social media front, I’m excited to welcome David Finch to the team. A friend and fellow Social Media Club Louisville board member, David is an established blogger and thinker in the social media space, has a sharp mind and an astute business sense and happens to be pretty darn good at driving traffic to websites, too.

And from the development side of things, Seth King joins Doe as a web developer. He’s tremendously talented, has a nice blend of application work to go with an outstanding web design portfolio and even has some traditional design and creative experience that will come in handy as we try to forge a stronger relationship with our agency creatives.

I’m sure you’ll see David here as he’ll join the SME staff as a contributor along with Kat French. Seth may very well make a guest appearance as well. Certainly his work will on the occasion we launch and share some of our craftsmanship.

I’ve had several people ask me what Doe Interactive is going to do differently and, while I’ve been lost in the weeds serving as director, project manager and social media dude for the last month and haven’t had time or opportunity to formulate some formal plans, I’d answer by saying that we’ll do a lot differently. From the way the department is managed to the outcomes we expect of ourselves, I intend to try things that haven’t been done at an advertising agency. Below are some thought starters on what I want our philosophy, actions and outcomes to be. I’d love your input, opinions and thoughts on them as well.

What I hope for Doe Interactive:

• We build content-centric websites that engage audiences and drive them to the client’s intended outcome.
• We balance form and function in a way that produces both utility and beauty.
• We get out of the habit of building websites and into the habit of creating ongoing elements of the greater consumer experience.
• We bring search to bear fruits for all of our clients.
• We innovate, for our clients, for our agency and for our audiences.
• We are driven by results, excited by opportunities and enthused by collaboration with each other.

I’ve told my staff, which also numbers Kat, Jen Isaac and Jeff Hennis and will soon also include a project manager, that I am not the boss nor am I the coach. I’m the quarterback. We’re all on this field together and we all have roles to play. Everyone’s contribution is an equal part of our success, every opinion counts and the only bad ideas are the ones you don’t share.

Perhaps I’m being idealistic about it all. Perhaps we’ll get six months into this thing and the bottom line will prove I should give up the management part and go back to my full-time social media role. But with the team I’ve started to build, I have a hard time thinking we’ll be anything but successful.

Welcome David and Seth. Here we go.

The post Reinventing Doe Interactive appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

On Monday of this week, I was asked to lead the interactive department at Doe. The challenge to make the integrated interactive model work at our agency is all I needed to say, “yes.” I do love a good challenge.

I can’t do it alone and we have some positions open. If you’re a senior web developer or senior application developer (two positions … one front-end, one back-end) who can develop dynamite websites and/or applications and help develop dynamite web developers working with you, go read our job posting and reach out to me. I want someone who can help me establish best practices in compliant design and development, dynamic and content-centric websites, project management, internal systems, quality assurance and help keep Doe Interactive’s web design and programming at or beyond the best in the industry.

I’ll also be bringing on a third social media manager to work along side Kat French and me. This person will develop content strategies, facilitate listening and conversations for our brands, help devise e-mail marketing, SEO and pay-per-click campaigns and other on-line communications strategies for our clients. I need someone detail-oriented and organized. And, like my job posting when we hired Kat, if you’re not active in the social media space already, you need not apply. For more, see our job posting here.

Finally, with all the work we have and will continue to bring to the table, I need a task-master project manager to shepherd work, interface with clients and client services and help connect the Interactive team with our creatives and client services folks to ensure we truly remain an integrated agency. This individual will be detail oriented and a committed, hard worker instrumental in the success of every project we touch.

Now, the elephant in the room is that Jason Falls is a PR guy, not a developer or IT manager. That’s true. But what this says about Doe-Anderson, in my opinion, is that we know and understand that a website is not something your company or brand can just check off on your list of marketing things to have. We know that the online space offers unprecedented reach and opportunity for your brand. What companies need is an approach that tackles interactive or digital marketing or whatever you want to call it as a strategic effort in online communications.

We will continue our established best practices of building websites and web-based applications by taking each client through a thorough diagnostic process to pinpoint exactly what the goal of their website or online activities are. We will work back from those goals and develop a user experience that will not only engage the intended audiences, but deliver the intended payoff. When we can’t do something, we’ll say so, then we’ll go find a partner who can. But our intent is to have the internal resources to meet the ever-growing interactive needs of our current and future clients.

We will be transparent in our work. We will be honest to a fault. We will always strive for perfection.

And, though fun has to be at the heart of who we are and what we do, we will work our asses off.

So if you want to be a part of that kind of place and join me in a true collaborative effort to lead Doe Interactive, read the job posting and apply. I’ve never been more excited to see resumes as I am now.

The post I’m Up To Something Again … And I’m Hiring appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Friends who play in the social media sandbox can relate and probably won’t get more than entertaining prose out of this post. What I’m going to write here is for clients, corporations and colleagues. This is not so much a listing of what social media is but rather what social media isn’t.

“Make This Viral!”

The keystone of social media thinking is engagement. It is achieved by creating interesting content. Whether you’re contributing videos, images, stories or reviews, contributing something meaningful to the community is your admission fee. You are allowed to play here if you can show the ability to add something of value to our little party.

Content that becomes viral – that which is shared by members of the community with others who, likewise, share with more – is not made. It is born that way. A brilliant blog post is a brilliant blog post, even in a vacuum. The funniest video you’ve ever seen on YouTube is funny because of what was videoed, not what was done with it afterwards.

Let’s say you have a moderately amusing television commercial in your company’s archives from 10 years ago. No matter how hard you try, no matter what social media, digital marketing or interactive genius you hire, you will not make that video viral. Why? Because it is a moderately amusing television commercial. The only way to produce a viral effect is to add strategic thinking, commentary, additional video or some other such resource to the video to amplify amusement to the point of being strange, hysterical, bizarre or shocking.

My point is that no matter how many coats of paint you put on a turd, it’s still a turd. And the online audiences will watch and say, “Dude? That’s a turd!”

A more appropriate approach would be for you to say to someone like me, “Help me create content that could become viral and thus promote my product, service or website.”

“Go Find Some Traffic!”

Building websites has changed. While the purpose of some is still to drive buyers to online stores or provide basic information, those that are most successful today are built with the Web 2.0 online participant (and consumer) in mind. They are constructed to engage the audience which attracts return visits, inbound links and high search engine positioning. Again, engagement is the goal.

Unfortunately, many companies build fancy websites chock full of information, images and slick videos that would have been lauded as groundbreaking and beautiful five to seven years ago. But, they are still online billboards because they are planned to be, well … online billboards.

The site is launched, no one is coming and everyone’s trying to figure out why. The popular course of action seems to be to bring in the social media guy to promote the site. “Make it viral!” “Go get us traffic!”

The root of the problem is the site concept wasn’t created with driving traffic in mind. It was created with a fancy billboard in mind. You’re essentially asking your social media advisor to figure out a way to make people want to stop, get out of their cars, climb the pole and have a conversation with the billboard.

Content generation should be the prerequisite focus that dictates the design and development of your website. If it wasn’t, you’ll have to dive in and find a way to make the site dynamic and interesting, with content, not Flash presentations and videos, to compel people to come and come back.

And, as an aside, what about a video or a Flash presentation is interactive? A presentation is something you watch, not participate in. There’s no interactivity in either.

Clearly, the understanding of social media is imperative for co-workers, colleagues, clients and other C-words to appropriately direct its usage in building engaging websites and creating viral content. Until social media enthusiasts can successfully educate them all, we will be called upon to “make something viral” and “got get traffic.”

And we will, as best we can, and hope for the day when our clients, companies and colleagues all see the underlying truth: Social media shouldn’t be a fix. It should be a strategy.

Other posts you’ll find interesting:

1. Make Your Website Linkable
2. 99 Resources For Web 2.0 Design
3. How To Make Your Website Appealing To The Masses
4. SES Session: Igniting Viral Campaigns
5. How To Write Excellent Blog Content

[tags]social media, optimization, website, design, viral content, creating viral content, viral campaigns, web design[/tags]

IMAGE: “Drivers fixing car muhumbili 2” from Malangali on Flickr.

The post Social Media Can’t Fix Your Website appeared first on Social Media Explorer.