10 Minimalism Web Design Tips for 2022

February 24th, 2022 No comments

The old saying is true: You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

For businesses, a website and its design are as important as their front door, if not more so. A web design that involves the best website trends of 2022, including clean minimalism, reflects the company and its capabilities.

A website that’s hard to use or looks dated will send customers away, but web design with user experience in mind and the latest minimalism ideas incorporated will attract attention for all the right reasons.

What Is Minimalism?

Minimalism is a term that’s been bandied about in recent years, but what does it really mean?

Minimalism means less is more in interior design, art, and lifestyle.

Clean lines shine in minimalist art, and minimalism in interior design features an absence of clutter. Minimalism in lifestyle means living with fewer items of excellent quality.

Minimalism in web design is clean and uncluttered, easy to read, and well-organized. Minimalism reflects the trends of 2022 and brings visitors to websites a more positive user experience.

The Minimalism movement started in the post-World War II period of the 1950s. Western art and design in the 1950s through the 1960s and into the 1970s featured clean lines and a modern look that defined the era.

Today, minimalism is seeing a revival in everything from fashion to web design. Minimalism reflects a simple lifestyle that includes the best quality necessities and nothing that’s not needed.

Minimalism in design offers a fresh and effective look for 2022 and beyond.

What Is Minimalist Website Design?

Minimalist web design incorporates those minimalism principles. In many ways, minimalist web design is classic, and true classics never go out of style.

Current trends emphasize clean, uncluttered, and uncomplicated layouts. Minimalist web design offers an easy and convenient user experience and loads faster, too.

The simplicity of minimalist design may lead you to believe that thought isn’t required, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A minimalist web design must be well-organized and well-thought-out by the design team. The design process must include collaboration among members of the design team.

The design elements and design choices must be considered for compatibility so they can be powerful tools for users.

Minimalist graphic designs make the user experience positive and productive, with faster loading times. This minimalist design trend will continue to be popular because of its performance and timeless design.

10 Minimalist Web Design Tips for 2022

Incorporating minimalism in web design is easier if design teams first consider some of the principle design trends in 2022 and beyond.

Less Is More

Uncluttered, clean, and simple design is a hallmark of all minimalist designs, including graphic designs for websites and webpages. Too many icons and buttons for users to click on can be overwhelming and confusing for users. This can make web designs with an unattractive busy look.

With minimalism, less is more. The users’ eyes get a break when viewing a minimalist website’s white space and are directed to the central designs of the website. Minimalism offers everything needed and nothing that’s not.

Apply Minimalism to Your Images Too

Simplistic, elegant, minimalist design should continue to the images included in your web design.

Graphic designs should be clean and easy to interpret, with legible writing and without complicated serifs. Photography should be well-thought-out, showing subjects in a powerful but simple way that’s easy for website users to understand.

Always Keep Usability in Mind

The ultimate goal of all web design should be usability and user experience. The best web designs are the ones that are not only attractive but also easy to use. Follow these graphic design tips to use the best of 2022’s minimalist trends in web design.

Focus on the Content

Minimalism principles should extend to the content of the website. Less can be more when it comes to text for a minimalist website. Give users the information they need with the concise language they can easily understand.

Fewer well-considered words will make your website elegant, effective, and minimalist. Users will have a clearer understanding of the information provided.

Use Your White Space Wisely

The white space of your website should frame and accent the included icons. It can be hard to find the information needed on a cluttered website.

Not so in a minimalist website – this design style uses white space to make the graphic designs included stand out even more. This type of flat design can be timeless and effective as a powerful tool for communication.

Don’t Be Afraid of a Dark Background

Black background with white text and graphic designs can be an elegant example of minimalist web design. Some designers say that black and darker backgrounds give the eye a moment to rest.

These dark backgrounds also let the minimalist graphic designs and images pop for website users. Inversely, white backgrounds can also be effective as a background with brights as well as muted color palettes.

Be Purposeful in Your Design

Minimalist design must be thoroughly considered and well organized, so purposefulness in web design is central to minimalism and user experience.

All parts of minimalist web design must have a purpose and be functional for users and the overall website. A visual element should always have meaning and purpose within the entire design.

Use Only Three Colors

A new 2022 design trend is to use only three colors in designing a website.

These colors don’t always have to be bright primary colors. A minimalist website can also have a complementary color scheme that includes muted color palettes.

Bright or muted, these colors can become signature colors for the company or organization, even leading users to see a certain color and think of that brand and that website.

Different Fonts Can Be Your Friend

While minimalism design should be easy to read, the fonts used can go beyond Helvetica and Calibri. Consider a clean script that can add a creative accent to a minimalist web design. Don’t be afraid to mix fonts in minimalism.

Remember that the fonts should be read easily and fit well into the overall minimalist design. Fonts can also show the personality of the company or organization.

Keep Your Navigation Intuitive

Your website users shouldn’t have to think too hard when finding their way around. In minimalist web design, website navigation should be intuitive for users. Icons should be in places that make sense for website visitors, contributing to a positive user experience.

This responsive design combined with a clean web design will increase functionality and decrease eye strain.

10 Minimalist Web Design Examples

Incorporating minimalism in web design is easier when seeing examples of the best of 2022’s minimalist web design. These 10 websites show how less can be more when designing websites in 2022.

Each offers an excellent user experience while showcasing the brand’s personality and the company’s products and services within the principles of minimalist web design.

HalloBasis

This German design firm lets its creativity shine through. The minimalist design allows the art created by Hallo Basis to take center stage.

Its website serves as a gallery of the design company’s capabilities. HalloBasis uses fonts that are easy to read, bold, minimalist, and part of the website’s overall look. One visit to the HalloBasis website shows minimalist design trends and a gallery of Hallo Basis’ projects.

Jazz FM Romania

Click on Jazz FM Romania’s website, and you see a bold triangular “play” symbol, telling users in a universal language that their website offers music.

The bright yellow background conveys excitement but is balanced by elegant black graphic designs, making these complementary colors. This makes it impossible not to click play to hear the jazz.

Tinker

Photography of the watches Tinker designs takes center stage in this company’s website.

Its minimalist design blends into the photography, which at once shows the watches and conveys a mood.

Tinker’s website is well-designed, so users can quickly go from the home page to shopping. Muted color palettes make viewing the website feel comfortable.

Leen Heyne

An elegant black background with animation showing the Leen Heyne logo being written in white at once shows the style and personality of this jeweler. The website user sees breathtaking photography of Leen Heyne’s jewelry designs from that start.

Leen Heyne’s elegance is reflected in the design, thoughtful creation, and photography, which gives using this website a luxurious feeling. That gives shoppers a first-class experience buying Leen Heyne jewelry online.

We Ain’t Plastic

A user experience engineering firm must have a functional, well-designed website. We Ain’t Plastic uses high contrast, bold design, and concise writing to tell its story.

Neutral but bold background colors and clean design are a few of the modern web design trends this well-designed website reflects. The We Ain’t Plastic website showcases their UX expertise and creativity.

Nua Bikes

Nua Bikes manages to put a lot of information and photography on their minimalist website.

A wide variety of photos gives users a slideshow of Nua Bikes in use, increasing the customer conversion rate for the company. Users can see these bikes in use through eye-catching photography and comfortable color palettes.

Sendamessage.to

A black background makes the bold and innovative design of Sendamessage.to’s minimalist website.

A business that lets its customers send personalized hand gestures as messages, this website features an engaging photo of a fist turning into a thumbs up. The mission and personality of the service shine through the design of this website.

Maaemo

This three-star, Michelin-rated restaurant in Norway uses black and white contrast to add an air of elegance and mystery to its website.

Making reservations on the restaurant website is easy, showing the minimalist design and UX organization. Photos of food and wine aren’t shown, which piques interest since the restaurant is so well known.

Ava

This website highlights the star of the movie “Ex Machina,” an AI robot named Ava.

The black and white typography and interactivity, including portraits of users drawn by Ava, add to compelling and memorable visual effects and clean web design. Fans of the movie can even share these portraits on social media to promote the film.

Symbolset

A bright color block and clean design make the icon font vendor Symbolset’s website a great example of the minimalist design trend.

The flat background and color choices make their subject matter more interesting for users.

Final Thoughts

Design trends are constantly evolving and changing. Modern minimalist web designs, including graphic designs, complementary colors, and intuitive navigation, are timeless since they load quickly, have high conversion rates that turn visitors into customers, and provide excellent user experiences.

Not only are minimalist designs on-trend – showing up everywhere from fashion capsules to farmhouse home furnishings – for websites, but they also make sense. Minimalist web designs don’t create eye strain or confusion for users. They’re functional, and they load quickly. This keeps users happy and not visiting competing websites.

As you can see, creating a minimalist web design takes more thought than one that is more cluttered.

The organization is essential in minimalism, as is color choice, writing, photography, and user experience design. Collaboration among design team members is required to make all the parts of the website design function well together.

Modern web design trends, including clean design and minimalism, will create a positive user experience, the best first impression that every company or organization wants to make with their website.

The best design trends will let the website show an organization’s personality and its products and services in the best light.

How using a website feels is a reflection of a business. A website that loads quickly and is easy to use and attractive is the best first impression online a company could have. Modern minimalist design trends can create positive online user experiences essential to successful web design for 2022 and beyond.

The post 10 Minimalism Web Design Tips for 2022 appeared first on noupe.

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Explain the First 10 Lines of Twitter’s Source Code to Me

February 24th, 2022 admin No comments

For the past few weeks, I’ve been hiring for a senior full-stack JavaScript engineer at my rental furniture company, Pabio. Since we’re a remote team, we conduct our interviews on Zoom, and I’ve observed that some developers are not great at live-coding or whiteboard interviews, even if they’re good at the job. So, instead, we have an hour-long technical discussion where I ask them questions about web vitals, accessibility, the browser wars, and other similar topics about the web. One of the questions I always like to ask is: “Explain the first ten or so lines of the Twitter source code to me.”

I think it’s a simple test that tells me a lot about the depth of fundamental front-end knowledge they have, and this article lists the best answers.

For context, I share my screen, open Twitter.com and click View source. Then I ask them to go line-by-line to help me understand the HTML, and they can say as much or as little as they like. I also zoom in to make the text more legible, so you don’t see the full line but you get an idea. Here’s what it looks like:

Note that since our technical discussion is a conversation. I don’t expect a perfect answer from anyone. If I hear some right keywords, I know that the candidate knows the concept, and I try to push them in the right direction.

Line 1:

The first line of every document’s source code is the perfect for this interview because how much a candidate knows about the DOCTYPE declaration closely resembles how many years of experience they have. I still remember my Dreamweaver days with the long XHTML DOCTYPE line, like Chris listed in his article “The Common DOCTYPES” from 2009.

Perfect answer: This is the document type (doc-type) declaration that we always put as the first line in HTML files. You might think that this information is redundant because the browser already knows that the MIME type of the response is text/html; but in the Netscape/Internet Explorer days, browsers had the difficult task of figuring out which HTML standard to use to render the page from multiple competing versions.

This was especially annoying because each standard generated a different layout so this tag was adopted to make it easy for browsers. Previously, DOCTYPE tags were long and even included the specification link (kinda like SVGs have today), but luckily the simple was standardized in HTML5 and still lives on.

Also accepted: This is the DOCTYPE tag to let the browser know that this is an HTML5 page and should be rendered as such.

Line 2:

This line in the source code tells me if the candidate knows about accessibility and localization. Surprisingly, only a few people knew about the dir attribute in my interviews, but it’s a great segue into a discussion about screen readers. Almost everyone was able to figure out the lang="en" attribute, even if they haven’t used it before.

Perfect answer: This is the root element of an HTML document and all other elements are inside this one. Here, it has two attributes, direction and language. The direction attribute has the value left-to-right to tell user agents which direction the content is in; other values are right-to-left for languages like Arabic, or just auto which leaves it to the browser to figure out.

The language attribute tells us that all content inside this tag is in English; you can set this value to any language tag, even to differentiate en-us and en-gb, for example. This is also useful for screen readers to know which language to announce in.

Line 3:

Perfect answer: The meta tag in the source code is for supplying metadata about this document. The character set (char-set) attribute tells the browser which character encoding to use, and Twitter uses the standard UTF-8 encoding. UTF-8 is great because it has many character points so you can use all sorts of symbols and emoji in your source code. It’s important to put this tag near the beginning of your code so the browser hasn’t already started parsing too much text when it comes across this line; I think the rule is to put it in the first kilobyte of the document, but I’d say the best practice is to put it right at the top of .

As a side note, it looks like Twitter omits the tag for performance reasons (less code to load), but I still like to make it explicit as it’s a clear home for all metadata, styles, etc.

Line 4: `<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-...`

Perfect answer: This meta tag in the source code is for properly sizing the webpage on small screens, like smartphones. If you remember the original iPhone keynote, Steve Jobs showed the entire New York Times website on that tiny 4.5-inch screen; back then it was an amazing feature that you had to pinch to zoom to actually be able to read.

Now that websites are responsive by design, width=device-width tells the browser to use 100% of the device’s width as the viewport so there’s no horizontal scrolling, but you can even specify specific pixel values for width. The standard best practice is to set the initial scale to 1 and the width to device-width so people can still zoom around if they wish.

The screenshot of the source code doesn’t show these values but it’s good to know: Twitter also applies user-scalable=0 which, as the name suggests, disables the ability to zoom. This is not good for accessibility but makes the webpage feel more like a native app. It also sets maximum-scale=1 for the same reason (you can use minimum and maximum scale to clamp the zoom-ablity between these values). In general, setting the full width and initial scale is enough.

Line 5: `<meta property="og:site_name" content="Twitt...`

About 50% of all candidates knew about Open Graph tags, and a good answer to this question shows that they know about SEO.

Perfect answer: This tag is an Open Graph (OG) meta tag for the site name, Twitter. The Open Graph protocol was made by Facebook to make it easier to unfurl links and show their previews in a nice card layout; developers can add all sorts of authorship details and cover images for fancy sharing. In fact, these days it’s even common to auto-generate the open graph image using something like Puppeteer. (CSS-Tricks uses a WordPress plugin that does it.)

Another interesting side note is that meta tags usually have the name attribute, but OG uses the non-standard property attribute. I guess that’s just Facebook being Facebook? The title, URL, and description Open Graph tags are kinda redundant because we already have regular meta tags for these, but people add them just to be safe. Most sites these days use a combination of Open Graph and other metatags and the content on a page to generate rich previews.

Line 6: `<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" cont...`

Most candidates didn’t know about this one, but experienced developers can talk about how to optimize a website for Apple devices, like apple-touch-icons and Safari pinned tab SVGs.

Perfect answer: You can pin a website on an iPhone’s homescreen to make it feel like a native app. Safari doesn’t support progressive web apps and you can’t really use other browser engines on iOS, so you don’t really have other options if you want that native-like experience, which Twitter, of course, likes. So they add this to tell Safari that the title of this app is Twitter. The next line is similar and controls how the status bar should look like when the app has launched.

Line 8: `<meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"...`

Perfect answer: This is the proper web standards-esque equivalent of the Apple status bar color meta tag. It tells the browser to theme the surrounding UI . Chrome on Android and Brave on desktop both do a pretty good job with that. You can put any CSS color in the content, and can even use the media attribute to only show this color for a specific media query like, for example, to support a dark theme. You can also define this and additional properties in the web app manifest.

Line 9: `<meta http-equiv="origin-trial" content="...`

Nobody I interviewed knew about this one. I would assume that you’d know this only if you have in-depth knowledge about all the new things that are happening on the standards track.

Perfect answer: Origin trials let us use new and experimental features on our site and the feedback is tracked by the user agent and reported to the web standards community without users having to opt-in to a feature flag. For example, Edge has an origin trial for dual-screen and foldable device primitives, which is pretty cool as you can make interesting layouts based on whether a foldable phone is opened or closed.

Also accepted: I don’t know about this one.

Line 10: `html{-ms-text-size-adjust:100%;-webkit-text...`

Almost nobody knew about this one too; only if you know about CSS edge cases and optimizations, you’d be able to figure this line out.

Perfect answer: Imagine that you don’t have a mobile responsive site and you open it on a small screen, so the browser might resize the text to make it bigger so it’s easier to read. The CSS text-size-adjust property can either disable this feature with the value none or specify a percentage up to which the browser is allowed to make the text bigger.

In this case, Twitter says the maximum is 100%, so the text should be no bigger than the actual size; they just do that because their site is already responsive and they don’t want to risk a browser breaking the layout with a larger font size. This is applied to the root HTML tag so it applies to everything inside it. Since this is an experimental CSS property, vendor prefixes are required. Also, there’s a missing before this CSS, but I’m guessing that’s minified in the previous line and we don’t see it.

Also accepted: I don’t know about this property in specific but the -ms and -webkit- are vendor prefixes needed by Internet Explorer and WebKit-based browsers, respectively, for non-standard properties. We used to require these prefixes when CSS3 came out, but as properties go from experimental to stable or are adopted to a standards track, these prefixes go away in favor of a standardized property.

Bonus — Line 11: `body{margin:0;}`

This line from Twitter’s source code is particularly fun because you can follow-up with a question about the difference between resetting and normalizing a webpage. Almost everyone knew a version of the right answer.

Perfect answer: Because different browsers have different default styles (user agent stylesheet), you want to overwrite them by resetting properties so your site looks the same across devices. In this case, Twitter is telling the browser to remove the body tag’s default margin. This is just to reduce browser inconsistencies, but I prefer normalizing the styles instead of resetting them, i.e., applying the same defaults across browsers rather than removing them altogether. People even used to use * { margin: 0 } which is totally overkill and not great for performance, but now it’s common to import something like normalize.css or reset.css (or even something newer) and start from there.

More lines!

I always enjoy playing with the browser Inspector tool to see how sites are made, which is how I came up with this idea. Even though I consider myself sort of an expert on semantic HTML, I learn something new every time I do this exercise.

Since Twitter is mostly a client-side React app, there’s only a few dozen lines in the source code. Even with that, there’s so much to learn! There are a few more interesting lines in the Twitter source code that I leave as an exercise for you, the reader. How many of them could you explain in an interview?

<link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/opensearch.xml" title="Twitter">

…tells browsers that users can add Twitter as a search engine.

<link rel="preload" as="script" crossorigin="anonymous" href="https://abs.twimg.com/responsive-web/client-web/polyfills.cad508b5.js" nonce="MGUyZTIyN2ItMDM1ZC00MzE5LWE2YmMtYTU5NTg2MDU0OTM1" />

…has many interesting attributes that can be discussed, especially nonce.

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://twitter.com/" />

…for international landing pages.

:focus:not([data-focusvisible-polyfill]){outline: none;}

…for removing the focus outline when not using keyboard navigation (the CSS :focus-visible selector is polyfilled here).

Explain the First 10 Lines of Twitter’s Source Code to Me originally published on CSS-Tricks. You should get the newsletter.

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How to Identify Market Segments that Still Have Huge Potential

February 24th, 2022 No comments

When it comes to making money online, the key is to make money. Seems silly, right? What else would it be about? You may be surprised.

Many people who are trying to get those sweet magic internet monies are going about it completely the wrong way. Your first step is to find a gap in the market. Who isn’t being served? How can you serve them?

If you can’t answer these questions then it might be best to move on to another market. Or maybe it’s a diamond in the rough. How can you tell?

This is the kind of topic that makes marketers heads’ spin. If you want to know how to identify market segments that still have huge potential, you’re in luck. We’re going to try and break it down. Read on.

Find a Niche Using Google Trends

When you’re racking your brain and trying to come up with a plan for making money online, look no further than Google Trends to start your research. It’s a really easy tool to use.

Go to the website and plug in your topics. You’ll be given a graph that you can play with to fit into your desired timeline and you can even hone your search down by country. Keep in mind Google isn’t the number one search engine in every country and some countries have content restrictions.

For anyone who wants to make money online through a niche or authority website, you probably want to focus on certain countries. This includes the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

This group of countries has a lot of wealth and niches that do well in one can probably do well in the others. Whereas a customer in the UK probably does not have the same wants and needs as someone in a conservative Middle East nation.

For this example, let’s use cryptocurrency. It’s a niche that is growing every day. But is it still worth it to try and get into the hustle?

In this example, we compared the search term “Bitcoin” against “Online Banking”. There is a lot more interest in cryptocurrency right now than there is in online banking.

This is probably a good thing. Websites like NerdWallet have that niche locked down pretty hard. It’s going to be difficult to rank well against the likes of them and other big names.

But you can go into this even deeper. Let’s do another quick comparison.

This is a comparison of the Ethereum blockchain against a small blockchain called Fantom Opera. Fantom is starting to make waves in the defi space. But according to Google Trends, people are still searching for Ethereum more often.

Does this mean Fantom isn’t worth building content around? Is it too new? Let’s compare Fantom to another rising star, the Avalanche blockchain.

This changes the entire landscape, doesn’t it? You can see that while neither Avalanche nor Fantom is competing well with Ethereum, interest in both blockchains is steadily rising.

After doing some research like this, you’re probably going to go out and hunt down some cryptocurrency affiliate programs and then build a website around them. You could join discords for different protocols and create YouTube videos to promote your website.

Twitter and other social platforms are other great places to promote your work.

Putting all of these tactics together can make your website a rising star in the crypto world, which is a space that struggles when it comes to well-written content. However, it’s also important to keep search engines in mind. It’ll make your life a lot easier in the long run.

Focus on Long-Tail Keywords

Keywords are a big part of search engine optimization. Using the examples from above, let’s assume you decide to start targeting various crypto keywords with your content.

Right off the bat, you need to take keywords like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Blockchain off of your list. These keywords are simply too short and overly saturated. It doesn’t matter how good your content is, you will never rank.

Instead, go after long-tail keywords. Using the long-tail phrase “best protocols on fantom” the first piece of content that pops up is a Medium article. When was the last time you saw a Medium article rank in the number one spot?

Go to the article as well as a few others. Write something that is way better. Promote this content on your social sites and then reach out to the creators of these protocols. They will promote your piece, provided it’s good, on their own channels and in their discords.

This will bring tons of readers to your website and help you to build a loyal audience. When new protocols come out, they may even reach out to you and offer payment for writing a piece on their project.

Google will see traffic flocking to your content and you’ll rise through the rankings quickly just by targeting the right long-tail keywords.

It’s important to remember there is always more than one way to do something.

Secondary Keywords

Secondary keywords can be just as vital as your main keyword. But what are they and how do you find them?

Your main keywords should be included in your title, at least one header, and sprinkled throughout your content. Secondary keywords should be in headers and then lightly peppered into your blog posts. That’s some quality seasoning.

A good way to search for great secondary keywords is to go back to your original search and look for the People also ask box. It looks like this:

You can answer these questions as part of a FAQ section or just add the headers naturally provided they fit into the blog post.

Competition is a Good Thing

Pro-tip: Don’t be scared of a little competition.

Other website owners and marketers in your space are a sign that the niche has money in it. You should be more concerned if you’re the only creator or business owner in this space.

However, you may have to get creative. If someone or another business starts to outrank your website, do some digging. There are a variety of marketing tools out there that can help you track backlinks to your competitor’s website.

Spend a little time monitoring their content. What are they doing well? How can you make it better? Competition breeds innovation.

If you thought you could build a website and never update or try to make it better then you got into the wrong business.

As always, it’s also a strong belief of mine that a solid link building campaign can always help give you an edge in particularly tough but lucrative markets.

It doesn’t take much to pull ahead of the competition in that regard. The little things like creating a professional email signature, using branded email addresses, creating truly personalized outreach and focusing on quality over quantity can help a lot.

Keep Your Mind on Your Money and Your Money on Your Mind

via GIPHY

Snoop Doggy Dogg was not the first person to put these words together. He just made them famous with his hit song Gin and Juice.

Building websites, affiliate marketing, ad revenue. These are not hobbies. They are integral parts of building an online business.

Not only is it a business, but it has the same goal as every other company in the world, which is to make a profit. If you’ve done a ton of research and you’ve found a niche no one is living in, there’s likely a reason.

Bad niches have bad traffic and bad affiliate programs. These aren’t worth your time. It can cost thousands of dollars to build a great niche or authority site, which is why it’s so important for you to identify a dead market before you dive in.

How do you identify dead markets using the tips we’ve already mentioned?

Keywords – If the cost and the traffic for your main keywords are low then the market for products and services in this niche could not be moving. This could also be a sign there is no healthy competition, which means there is no money here.
Trend lines – If you spend an hour or two on Google Trends and every topic is a flat line, the desire just isn’t there.
Bad Programs – There is also a wild card category. If brands for a particular niche are constantly going under or if they’re a hassle to deal with, no one is going to waste their time. If you come across a niche that seems too good to be true, do some research on the best affiliate programs for it. If Amazon is all there is, it likely isn’t worth your time.

Conclusion – How to Identify Market Segments that Still Have Huge Potential

Finding the right market segments for your writing and website design style can be difficult for sure. Remember, you only have to be right one time. Then it becomes a matter of rinse and repeat.

If you use the tips above, it will make the process much easier. However, there is much more to making money online than just these ideas. You’ll need to become a subject matter expert, a social media extraordinaire, and your own SEO.
It’s doable. Thousands of people are doing it every day and so can you. Thanks for hanging out. If you enjoyed this post, you’ll like this one on how to grow your small business with affiliate marketing.

The post How to Identify Market Segments that Still Have Huge Potential appeared first on noupe.

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10 Minimalism Web Design Tips for 2022

February 24th, 2022 No comments

The old saying is true: You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

What is Minimalism?

Minimalism is a term that’s been bandied about in recent years, but what does it really mean?

Minimalism means less is more in interior design, art, and lifestyle.

Clean lines shine in minimalist art, and minimalism in interior design features an absence of clutter. Minimalism in lifestyle means living with fewer items of excellent quality.

Minimalism in web design is clean and uncluttered, easy to read, and well-organized. Minimalism reflects the trends of 2022 and brings visitors to websites a more positive user experience.

Today, minimalism is seeing a revival in everything from fashion to web design. Minimalism reflects a simple lifestyle that includes the best quality necessities and nothing that’s not needed.

Minimalism in design offers a fresh and effective look for 2022 and beyond.

What is Minimalist Website Design?

Minimalist web design incorporates those minimalism principles. In many ways, minimalist web design is classic, and true classics never go out of style.

Current trends emphasize clean, uncluttered, and uncomplicated layouts. Minimalist web design offers an easy and convenient user experience and loads faster, too.

The simplicity of minimalist design may lead you to believe that thought isn’t required, but nothing could be further from the truth.

A minimalist web design must be well-organized and well-thought-out by the design team. The design process must include collaboration among members of the design team.

The design elements and design choices must be considered for compatibility so they can be powerful tools for users.

10 Minimalist Web Design Tips for 2022

Incorporating minimalism in web design is easier if design teams first consider some of the principle design trends in 2022 and beyond.

Less Is More

Apply Minimalism to Your Images Too

Simplistic, elegant, minimalist design should continue to the images included in your web design.

Always Keep Usability in Mind

Focus on the Content

Minimalism principles should extend to the content of the website. Less can be more when it comes to text for a minimalist website. Give users the information they need with concise language they can easily understand.

Fewer well-considered words will make your website elegant, effective, and minimalist. Users will have a clearer understanding of the information provided.

Use Your White Space Wisely

The white space of your website should frame and accent the included icons. It can be hard to find the information needed on a cluttered website.

Don’t Be Afraid of a Dark Background

Black background with white text and graphic designs can be an elegant example of minimalist web design. Some designers say that black and darker backgrounds give the eye a moment to rest.

Be Purposeful in Your Design

Minimalist design must be thoroughly considered and well organized, so purposefulness in web design is central to minimalism and user experience.

All parts of minimalist web design must have a purpose and be functional for users and the overall website. A visual element should always have meaning and purpose within the entire design.

Use Only Three Colors

A new 2022 design trend is to use only three colors in designing a website.

These colors don’t always have to be bright primary colors. A minimalist website can also have a complementary color scheme that includes muted color palettes.

Bright or muted, these colors can become signature colors for the company or organization, even leading users to see a certain color and think of that brand and that website.

Different Fonts Can Be Your Friend

Remember that the fonts should be read easily and fit well into the overall minimalist design. Fonts can also show the personality of the company or organization.

Keep Your Navigation Intuitive

This responsive design combined with a clean web design will increase functionality and decrease eye strain.

10 Minimalist Web Design Examples

Incorporating minimalism in web design is easier when seeing examples of the best of 2022’s minimalist web design. These 10 websites show how less can be more when designing websites in 2022.

Each offers an excellent user experience while showcasing the brand’s personality and the company’s products and services within the principles of minimalist web design.

HalloBasis

This German design firm lets its creativity shine through. The minimalist design allows the art created by Hallo Basis to take center stage.

Jazz FM Romania

Click on Jazz FM Romania’s website, and you see a bold triangular “play” symbol, telling users in a universal language that their website offers music.

The bright yellow background conveys excitement but is balanced by elegant black graphic designs, making these complementary colors. This makes it impossible not to click play to hear the jazz.

Tinker

Photography of the watches Tinker designs takes center stage in this company’s website.

Its minimalist design blends into the photography, which at once shows the watches and conveys a mood.

Tinker’s website is well-designed, so users can quickly go from the home page to shopping. Muted color palettes make viewing the website feel comfortable.

Leen Heyne

Elegant black background with animation showing the Leen Heyne logo being written in white at once shows the style and personality of this jeweler. The website user sees breathtaking photography of Leen Heyne’s jewelry designs from that start.

We Ain’t Plastic

A user experience engineering firm must have a functional, well-designed website. We Ain’t Plastic uses high contrast, bold design, and concise writing to tell its story.

Nua Bikes

Nua Bikes manages to put a lot of information and photography on their minimalist website.

Sendamessage.to

A black background makes the bold and innovative design of Sendamessage.to’s minimalist website.

Maaemo

This three-star, Michelin-rated restaurant in Norway uses black and white contrast to add an air of elegance and mystery to its website.

Ava

This website highlights the star of the movie “Ex Machina,” an AI robot named Ava.

Symbolset

A bright color block and clean design make the icon font vendor Symbolset’s website a great example of the minimalist design trend.

The flat background and color choices make their subject matter more interesting for users.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, creating a minimalist web design takes more thought than one that is more cluttered.

Modern web design trends, including clean design and minimalism, will create a positive user experience, the best first impression that every company or organization wants to make with their website.

The best design trends will let the website show an organization’s personality and its products and services in the best light.

The post 10 Minimalism Web Design Tips for 2022 appeared first on noupe.

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CSS Database Queries? Sure We Can!

February 23rd, 2022 admin No comments

Screenshot of a tweet sarcastically looking for someone who can do CSS database queries.

Kinda silly sounding, isn’t it? CSS database queries. But, hey, CSS is capable of talking to other languages in the sense that it can set the values of things that they can read. Plus, CSS can request other files, and I suppose a server could respond to that request with something it requested from a database.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The idea of CSS database queries was a joke tweet going around the other day about recruiters looking for a developer who can connect to a database with CSS. Lee Mei Chin (total guess on the name there based on the domain name) wrote “Yes, I can connect to a DB in CSS” as an equally funny retort.

What’s the trick behind CSS database queries?

It’s nicely elaborate:

Use a hand-modified-to-ESM version of SQL.js, which is SQLite in JavaScript.
Get a database ready that SQL.js can query.
Build a Houdini PaintWorklet that executes queries in JavaScript and paints the results back to the screen in that -y way that PaintWorklets do.
Pass the query you want to run into the worklet by way of a CSS custom property.

So, the usage is like this in the end:

<script>
  CSS.paintWorklet.addModule('./cssdb.js')
</script>
<style>
  main {
    --sql-query: SELECT name FROM test;
    background: paint(sql-db);
  }
</style>

Which, you gotta admit, is connecting and querying a database in CSS.

This reminds me that Simon Willison did this last year with a totally different approach. His concept was that you have RESTful endpoints, like /api/roadside_attractions, that return JSON data. But then as an alternative endpoint, you could make that /api/roadside_attractions.css which would return a valid CSS file with all the data as CSS custom properties.

So, instead it looks like this:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/api/roadside_attractions.css">

<style>
  .attraction-name:after { content: var(--name); }
  .attraction-address:after { content: var(--address); }
</style>

<p class="attraction-name">Attraction name: </p>
<p class="attraction-address">Address: </p>

Which, again, is essentially connecting to a database in CSS (with HTML required, though). You can literally see it work.

CSS Database Queries? Sure We Can! originally published on CSS-Tricks. You should get the newsletter.

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7 Worst Fails in Email Marketing

February 23rd, 2022 admin No comments

The email channel is known for multiple advantages. It is convenient to implement practically, offers many options, and has a fantastic ROI of up to 4200%.

But we also face problems, the most disappointing of which is people ignore emails, not performing the desired action, or worst of all unsubscribing. Why does it happen?

The web is constantly progressing. It offers many tools like modern HTML template builders, ESP services, and other digital assistants that help us at all stages. But even the best tools are not enough; the secret of success still rests with us.

In this post we’ll cover the 7 cardinal sins of email marketing, to help you avoid them.

1. Being Too Late

I can define this mistake as probably the worst. It’s worse than broken links, incorrect dates, or prices. Even more harmful than ugly design.

We lose a lot when postponing email strategy implementation. Beginners often focus all their attention on the content, social media activities, SEO issues… All that is important, right. But ignoring email campaigns is a hard fail.

Thousands of visitors never come again to your website. In other words, they leave the very first levels of the marketing funnel. While regular emailing keeps them engaged and prevents churn.

So delays here are only profitable for competitors. Don’t wait until you collect “enough” contacts. Start as soon as possible.

Frequency matters too. Don’t bomb people with emails; it annoys and causes unsubscribes. Email frequency is an individual parameter depending on many factors.

2. Disregarding Clients’ Expectations

A fundamental axiom: people unsubscribe when emails are irrelevant. The same goes for neglected expectations. Even the best content with next-gen features won’t save the situation.

I mentioned the email frequency a bit above. Notice that if you announce the weekly emails but send them every day, this is an example of ignoring expectations. Be honest with readers.

Another typical issue is off-topic. If your subscribers are waiting for content related to smartphones, send them newsletters about smartphones, not dresses or domestic turtles 🙂

But in some cases, getting off-topic can be good. It all depends on the target audience, actual situation, and communication style.

3. Bad Segmentation

Once again, relevance is vital. So we must avoid generic emails. Instead, especially if your contact list is extensive enough, apply all the possible parameters: age, gender, location, customers history, etc.

Where to get the respective data? A typical solution is to use update preferences forms in emails or on the website. Let clients choose the topics that are interesting for them.

Use surveys, sign-in forms, AI-based techniques of segmentation… Smart algorithms are great helpers that track clients’ behavior and then process the data for segmentation purposes.

The better we know our subscribers, the deeper we segment the contact list. It allows sending precisely targeted newsletters to respective segments.

4. Insufficient Personalization

As Hubspot stats say, personalized emails’ open rate is 26% higher, and their click-through rate is 14% better. But even besides index data, poor personalization is just nonsense today.

Clients are looking for content that matches their preferences, so marketers have to consider these expectations. Segmentation and dynamic range are essential here, but they are not the only techniques.

Everything is much more sophisticated here, in addition to personalized subjects and content. Another solution is to generate recommendations that include the previously browsed products.

AI-powered automation comes to help. Machines will upgrade the classical personalization to the next level called hyper-personalization.

5. Underestimating Mobile-Friendliness

It’s simply unacceptable to send non-responsive emails today. With so many people opening email on different devices, this is a huge fail.

The modern world is full of gadgets and devices. Email has been opened on smartphones more frequently than on desktop PCs and notebooks in recent years. Up to 70% of readers will read messages on mobiles very soon. No wonder that responsivity turned into a mobile priority.

Regarding layout and design, there are no problems: modern template editors are featured with automated responsivity. But mobile-first means not only layout/design adjustment for mobiles, full-width buttons, or larger fonts. We have to work with content too. Don’t overwrite text remember that recipients read inbox emails on the run.

Just imagine yourself reading emails in the cafe or cab. And ask yourself: is everything convenient? Would you take the desired action on the run?

6. Non-Professional Approach

People are quite skeptical of new brands. We need to do our best to attract them. So everything must be done professionally.

The best solution: be a perfectionist. If newsletters look amateurish, they are likely to repel.

Being amateurish will also ruin your brand identity and reduce customers’ trust. Pay close attention to design, stick to your corporate style, analyze each detail in the context of overall harmony.

7. Overlooking Tests and Improvements

Testing is vital. Before sending an email campaign, check it via Litmus or Email on Acid to be sure that message looks just as planned. These tools allow testing email rendering by +90 combinations of email clients, devices, and OS.

Knowledge is power. Always try and test your marketing strategies. Are you satisfied with your actual performance? Run A/B tests and focus on the most significant wins and failures.

Summing Up

Of course, threats are not limited to these seven failures. The last piece of advice: never ignore trends.

Accessibility? Don’t forget about clients with special requirements. Get whitelisted and incorporate these technologies in your campaigns.

And constantly strive for perfection. With this doctrine, you’ll win!

Featured image via Pexels.

Source

The post 7 Worst Fails in Email Marketing first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

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Important Tips for Keeping Telehealth Secure

February 23rd, 2022 No comments

Telehealth and telemedicine solutions have been an indispensable part of the world’s fight against the COVID-19 virus. The ability of healthcare providers to consult with patients virtually eliminated many face-to-face visits and opportunities to spread the disease.

The population was able to maintain social distancing standards while still obtaining certain types of medical care that could be dispensed electronically.

Benefits of Telehealth Solutions

In addition to the advantages telehealth offered to combat the pandemic, it promises to provide society with many other benefits. Following are some of the reasons telehealth solutions are gaining popularity among patients and providers.

Reducing travel and waiting time – Telehealth can eliminate the cost and inconvenience associated with traveling and waiting for non-emergency healthcare visits.
Providing enhanced care to remote communities – Patients living in rural communities requiring extensive travel for checkups and appointments are better served with telemedicine solutions. Especially in the case of follow-up visits, telehealth apps contribute to improved patient care and outcomes.
Managing chronic conditions – Individuals with chronic conditions requiring extensive monitoring benefit from the care available with telehealth tools. Patients can easily contact providers to discuss ongoing treatment and receive updated care instructions related to their current status.
Reducing overhead for providers – The cost of offering virtual appointments is much less than in-office visits, providing substantial savings for healthcare facilities. In addition, telehealth solutions reduce the number of no-show patients, minimizing the associated financial losses to the provider.
Improving patient satisfaction – Reliable and accessible telehealth solutions improve patient satisfaction and confidence in their providers.

Telehealth will continue to grow in popularity for these and other related reasons as long as patient data can be kept secure.

Telehealth Security and Privacy Risks

The substantial benefits of telehealth come with increased risks to the security and privacy of sensitive patient data. The type of information contained in medical records and correspondence with providers presents an attractive target for hackers and cybercriminals. Citizens are understandably skeptical about how secure their sensitive information is when stored and processed electronically.

Data breaches and ransomware attacks occur virtually every day. By definition, all data breaches affect some kind of sensitive data. The special nature and sensitivity of medical information set it apart, making its security more important.

Concerns about sensitive medical information were first addressed in the U.S. by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). HIPAA defines protected health information (PHI) and electronically protected health information (ePHI) as data that can be used to identify medical records with a specific patient. They list 18 identifiers that include things like the patient’s name, Social Security, email address, and phone number.

These data elements are required to be protected by healthcare providers and the business associates who process patient information and records. Failure to maintain the privacy and security of ePHI subjects the offending organization to financial penalties and can destroy the confidence of its customers.

Before the introduction of telehealth solutions, electronic patient data that fell under HIPAA guidelines was primarily protected by dedicated information technology (IT) professionals. As the role of telemedicine increases, so do the risks to ePHI. The convenience and personalized use of apps that process ePHI introduce a large and diverse attack platform.

Techniques to Minimize the Security Risks in Telemedicine

The risks to telehealth solutions are real and need to be addressed effectively for society to enjoy all of its potential benefits. Patients who are concerned about the security and privacy of their medical information will not be motivated to adopt telemedicine apps. Gaining their confidence in the security of telehealth products is essential to promoting their widespread use.

Therefore, maintaining the security and privacy of patient data is the most important characteristic of a viable telehealth solution. Let’s look at this issue from the perspectives of providers and patients.

Providers

Healthcare providers should incorporate the following methods and practices when employing any telemedicine application with their patients.

Use HIPAA-compliant solutions – Strive to use HIPAA-compliant solutions when offering telehealth services. Some guidelines regarding security were temporarily waived to address the COVID-19 emergency. These requirements will eventually be enforced again, and HIPAA-compliant solutions should be put in place. This includes hosting systems with HIPAA-compliant providers and using apps that meet HIPAA standards.
Data encryption – All ePHI should be encrypted when used in any telehealth application. This includes third-party and cloud solutions which should be obtained from reliable providers.
Multi-factor authentication – Use multi-factor authentication to improve the security of sensitive data. Apps requiring multi-factor authentication provide additional layers of security and help minimize data breaches and successful cyberattacks.
Limit network access – Prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information by practicing the principle of least privilege. Techniques like network segmentation should be implemented by providers or their business associates to limit the potential misuse of ePHI. Cloud telehealth solutions should use dedicated private networks to protect data transmission.
Manage mobile device access – Employees’ personal mobile devices should not have access to sensitive apps, networks, or patient data. Ensure that company-owned devices with the appropriate level of security are used to access and process ePHI.
Use a secure area for telehealth visits – Limit access to the area to healthcare professionals required for a patient’s care. Secure visual and audio access to the content of a telehealth session. Sign out of all apps when the session ends and limit information requests to those necessary to treat the patient. This should be automatically enforced.
Keep patients informed – Organizations should keep their patients informed regarding the privacy and security measures that have been implemented to protect their data.

Patients

Patients also have roles and responsibilities regarding the protection of their sensitive health information.

Stay informed – Request information from your provider regarding their privacy and security practices. Know when you should be expecting telehealth communication. Be cautious of unexpected or suspicious contact through voice or email that may indicate a scam. Contact your provider directly if you have concerns.
Keep your device secure – Maintain security on the device used for telehealth visits so it cannot be used by unauthorized individuals to compromise your information.
Ensure the session is secure – Ask your provider if the communication is protected and verify data transmission is encrypted.
Choose a private location – Control who has access to conversations or video conferences with your healthcare provider. Consider using a room with a door if necessary.
Watch the backdrop – Remember that whatever is behind you will be visible during video communication. Remove anything that you may not want to share with your provider.
Keep your computer and devices updated – Manufacturers regularly provide updates and patches that improve security. You must apply these updates to protect your sensitive data.
Avoid public WiFi – Try to conduct telehealth visits using a private network to improve your security.

Conclusion

Despite the potential risks to privacy and security, telehealth solutions are here to stay. The benefits to healthcare patients and providers are too great to ignore. It’s up to application developers and the organizations that implement their telemedicine solutions to take the necessary steps to ensure the security and privacy of ePHI.

Patients also need to understand their responsibility in protecting their sensitive information. With the proper safeguards, telehealth can provide a secure and flexible method of providing society with improved and flexible healthcare options.

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Tips for Creating Stock Photography that Sells

February 23rd, 2022 No comments

Ever heard the saying “photography is the story that fails to be put into words”? Well, there certainly are many stories out there– and a lot of them need a unique and creative eye to really bring them home. Think you’re up to the task?

Whether you’re an expert who’s well-versed in photo practices or someone who’s just simply curious and passionate about this aspect of visual storytelling, it is never too late to break into the stock photo game. Follow our guide on how to sell your photos online on photo stocks and start raking in some cash!

What is Stock Photography?

Let’s first begin with a definition. Stock photos are images that people can license for use in their projects, be it personal, in-company, or other. People like designers, educators, and social media professionals use stock photography on a daily basis, providing for a considerable demand in the field. And whether you’re a professional photographer, influencer, or just someone with a strong passion for snapping shots, selling photos online on photo stocks is something you should seriously consider.

It is also important to understand what kind of work would be needed from you since long gone are the days of generic images of people obviously posing. Stock images have evolved from staid and staged over the years, with beautiful authentic photos that have come to take their place; this is also a wonderful shift from an artistic standpoint. Emotive and diverse work is valued much more these days– casual and clean images of real people in real situations have come to define and dominate the world of modern stock photography. Time to bring that camera out.

Tips to Snap Stock Photos that’ll Actually Sell

Take Your Camera (or Phone Camera) Everywhere You Go

This one may seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people forget about this tip. A simple look at the stock photography market trends will show you that real magic is captured in real-time. True, it is important to plan out your photos, but when those amazing authentic moments pop out seemingly out of nowhere (and they will); it is absolutely essential that you have your camera on you, at all times. It is a great way to explore subjects or niche topics you may not have realized are accessible for you.

People Watch

Creating and beautifully delivering authenticity comes with an important first step–people watching, in the least creepy way possible. Begin by observing people in natural settings such as at a party or in a coffee shop or at the office. Plan out for that perfect moment by knowing how people realistically interact with each other and surrounding objects. For instance, someone sipping a drink is an easy thing to get wrong because a lot of photographers tend to instruct their subjects to pose in the process, while objectively this is far from what happens in real life.

But not everyone in your life wants to be a model, that’s okay. You can easily take candid photos or stage a similar scene with models. Unless the people’s faces are obscured or cut off, you are going to need a model release form to sell these photos. But the bottom line is; aim for realistic, even if you are featuring models. Allow for spontaneity to happen in your work through natural-looking gestures and interactions. Put yourself in the model’s shoes, picture yourself with friends and family, and–assuming everyone signs model releases–try and snap as many candids as you possibly can.

Explore Niches

The most searched-for-keywords for stock photography are also the hardest to try and compete with. Try and think about what subject matter companies will have trouble finding unique and authentic stock images for, whether it is a medical procedure or an under-explored travel location. For this, you’re going to have to do a bit of research and find out what’s missing on stock photography sites–planning shoots around those niches would be the next step.

Walk with the Trends

Emerging technology such as commercial drones, virtual reality, and the world of crypto have much fewer stock photography options than subjects like love, happiness, or family. The latter are subjects that have existed since the dawn of time, with many people putting their own artistic spin on it; basically, a lot of content exists on these subjects already. Emerging tech often comes in the form of a product, but it is also quite possible to paint a broader picture of the product’s implications.

A stellar product shot is as important as knowing how to tell its story in a stock photo. Think of the now-iconic and meme-ified photo of the distracted boyfriend; that stock image has a story to tell. So why not stage a narrative (using to their full advantage the setting, models, and props) to convey a concept like the rise of technology or the impact social media has on people?

And as other trends such as self-care or veganism (to give a few examples) rise and become more mainstream, the need for good stock photography increases. Stock photography players like Shutterstock, Wirestock, and Adobe typically keep tabs on emerging trends and requested shot lists, which can help you plan out your future work.

Capture Real Events

Event photography is another highly requested component in the market of stock images. But again, there is a lot of authentic energy to be captured; only this time, try and plan for a shot list with a mix of candid and staged. Your photos are likely to stand out immediately if you feature people in unusual costumes or in bright, stylish outfits. And, whenever possible, try and get a behind-the-scenes shot for a more intimate outcome.

Remember, event photography follows a particular set of rules, one of the most important being knowing your light source. Learn about camera etiquette prior to traveling and attending the event itself. Model releases will again be needed in any photos that feature people’s faces.

Don’t Forget about the Holidays

When it comes to selling your stock photography, seasonal events (especially ones that are less mainstream in your area) are always in high demand. And even though certain holidays, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s, have a lot of stock photography around it, it is still more than possible to carve out a niche in those areas.

Think of the more intimate moments that get overlooked–a child happily unwrapping their Christmas gift, or families saying what they’re grateful for this year, or a couple celebrating V-day with an outdoor getaway. There’s inspiration to be had everywhere, and the same goes for creativity and uniqueness. As the seasons change though, do not forget to take into account how outdoor lightning might affect your shot.

Approach the Shot with a Concept in Mind

Despite spontaneity being key to moments of beautiful authenticity, having a rough concept in mind is equally important. Make sure you know why you are shooting and what you’re after; this comes with understanding the mood and the setting. If you’ve found yourself interested in a niche that requires a darker environment for a complex idea, going to sunny places is not necessarily going to give you the shot you’re after.

Don’t Limit Yourself to the Same Stock Photos

Finding a niche that you’re good at can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, you can see yourself growing and perfecting this one in-demand area, but on the other–you can end up shooting the same thing over and over again. Every once in a while, urge yourself to try something new, something you haven’t tried before; make it a personal and professional challenge. A rich diversity is a surefire way to snag buyers’ attention. For instance, you can experiment with different angles or try your hand at wildlife photography (make sure to do your research on the best cameras for this one). Take many and different shots and think of ways to make your work stand out.

Think of Certain Shots as Thumbnails

Picture a designer or an influencer scouring stock photography websites for an upcoming project. Whatever image they’re looking for, it is likely to become a thumbnail in the future. Aim to cover your bases with this demographic as well. Consider taking photos that allow for text or design treatment. This way, designers and influencers can use your work for brochures, online ads, Youtube videos, or website cover photos.

Cater to Pitch Decks

Marketers and creative directors who work on pitch decks often use these images to illustrate a certain type of persona; these are usually fictional representations of people who use their product or reflect their target audiences. Ensuring a variety and diversity when it comes to people and age groups in your images is going to do you wonders in the long run.

Post-Production Makes Perfection

After the shoot, make sure your photos are as close to being perfect as possible through post-production. This means editing; straightening crooked horizons and lines, zooming in, and removing dust marks or distractions, as well as ensuring that basic color corrections have been made. Then, help users find your stock photos more easily by adding relevant keywords and clear descriptive titles in the metadata of your images.

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Reliably Send an HTTP Request as a User Leaves a Page

February 22nd, 2022 admin No comments

On several occasions, I’ve needed to send off an HTTP request with some data to log when a user does something like navigate to a different page or submit a form. Consider this contrived example of sending some information to an external service when a link is clicked:

<a href="/some-other-page" id="link">Go to Page</a>

<script>
document.getElementById('link').addEventListener('click', (e) => {
  fetch("/log", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }, 
    body: JSON.stringify({
      some: "data"
    })
  });
});
</script>

There’s nothing terribly complicated going on here. The link is permitted to behave as it normally would (I’m not using e.preventDefault()), but before that behavior occurs, a POST request is triggered on click. There’s no need to wait for any sort of response. I just want it to be sent to whatever service I’m hitting.

On first glance, you might expect the dispatch of that request to be synchronous, after which we’d continue navigating away from the page while some other server successfully handles that request. But as it turns out, that’s not what always happens.

Browsers don’t guarantee to preserve open HTTP requests

When something occurs to terminate a page in the browser, there’s no guarantee that an in-process HTTP request will be successful (see more about the “terminated” and other states of a page’s lifecycle). The reliability of those requests may depend on several things — network connection, application performance, and even the configuration of the external service itself.

As a result, sending data at those moments can be anything but reliable, which presents a potentially significant problem if you’re relying on those logs to make data-sensitive business decisions.

To help illustrate this unreliability, I set up a small Express application with a page using the code included above. When the link is clicked, the browser navigates to /other, but before that happens, a POST request is fired off.

While everything happens, I have the browser’s Network tab open, and I’m using a “Slow 3G” connection speed. Once the page loads and I’ve cleared the log out, things look pretty quiet:

But as soon as the link is clicked, things go awry. When navigation occurs, the request is cancelled.

Viewing HTTP request fail in the network tab

And that leaves us with little confidence that the external service was actually able process the request. Just to verify this behavior, it also occurs when we navigate programmatically with window.location:

document.getElementById('link').addEventListener('click', (e) => {
+ e.preventDefault();

  // Request is queued, but cancelled as soon as navigation occurs. 
  fetch("/log", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }, 
    body: JSON.stringify({
      some: 'data'
    }),
  });

+ window.location = e.target.href;
});

Regardless of how or when navigation occurs and the active page is terminated, those unfinished requests are at risk for being abandoned.

But why are they cancelled?

The root of the issue is that, by default, XHR requests (via fetch or XMLHttpRequest) are asynchronous and non-blocking. As soon as the request is queued, the actual work of the request is handed off to a browser-level API behind the scenes.

As it relates to performance, this is good — you don’t want requests hogging the main thread. But it also means there’s a risk of them being deserted when a page enters into that “terminated” state, leaving no guarantee that any of that behind-the-scenes work reaches completion. Here’s how Google summarizes that specific lifecycle state:

A page is in the terminated state once it has started being unloaded and cleared from memory by the browser. No new tasks can start in this state, and in-progress tasks may be killed if they run too long.

In short, the browser is designed with the assumption that when a page is dismissed, there’s no need to continue to process any background processes queued by it.

So, what are our options?

Perhaps the most obvious approach to avoid this problem is, as much as possible, to delay the user action until the request returns a response. In the past, this has been done the wrong way by use of the synchronous flag supported within XMLHttpRequest. But using it completely blocks the main thread, causing a host of performance issues — I’ve written about some of this in the past — so the idea shouldn’t even be entertained. In fact, it’s on its way out of the platform (Chrome v80+ has already removed it).

Instead, if you’re going to take this type of approach, it’s better to wait for a Promise to resolve as a response is returned. After it’s back, you can safely perform the behavior. Using our snippet from earlier, that might look something like this:

document.getElementById('link').addEventListener('click', async (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();

  // Wait for response to come back...
  await fetch("/log", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }, 
    body: JSON.stringify({
      some: 'data'
    }),
  });

  // ...and THEN navigate away.
   window.location = e.target.href;
});

That gets the job done, but there are some non-trivial drawbacks.

First, it compromises the user’s experience by delaying the desired behavior from occurring. Collecting analytics data certainly benefits the business (and hopefully future users), but it’s less than ideal to make your present users to pay the cost to realize those benefits. Not to mention, as an external dependency, any latency or other performance issues within the service itself will be surfaced to the user. If timeouts from your analytics service cause a customer from completing a high-value action, everyone loses.

Second, this approach isn’t as reliable as it initially sounds, since some termination behaviors can’t be programmatically delayed. For example, e.preventDefault() is useless in delaying someone from closing a browser tab. So, at best, it’ll cover collecting data for some user actions, but not enough to be able to trust it comprehensively.

Instructing the browser to preserve outstanding requests

Thankfully, there are options to preserve outstanding HTTP requests that are built into the vast majority of browsers, and that don’t require user experience to be compromised.

Using Fetch’s `keepalive` flag

If the keepalive flag is set to true when using fetch(), the corresponding request will remain open, even if the page that initiated that request is terminated. Using our initial example, that’d make for an implementation that looks like this:

<a href="/some-other-page" id="link">Go to Page</a>

<script>
  document.getElementById('link').addEventListener('click', (e) => {
    fetch("/log", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
      }, 
      body: JSON.stringify({
        some: "data"
      }), 
      keepalive: true
    });
  });
</script>

When that link is clicked and page navigation occurs, no request cancellation occurs:

Viewing HTTP request succeed in the network tab

Instead, we’re left with an (unknown) status, simply because the active page never waited around to receive any sort of response.

A one-liner like this an easy fix, especially when it’s part of a commonly used browser API. But if you’re looking for a more focused option with a simpler interface, there’s another way with virtually the same browser support.

Using `Navigator.sendBeacon()`

The Navigator.sendBeacon()function is specifically intended for sending one-way requests (beacons). A basic implementation looks like this, sending a POST with stringified JSON and a “text/plain” Content-Type:

navigator.sendBeacon('/log', JSON.stringify({
  some: "data"
}));

But this API doesn’t permit you to send custom headers. So, in order for us to send our data as “application/json”, we’ll need to make a small tweak and use a Blob:

<a href="/some-other-page" id="link">Go to Page</a>

<script>
  document.getElementById('link').addEventListener('click', (e) => {
    const blob = new Blob([JSON.stringify({ some: "data" })], { type: 'application/json; charset=UTF-8' });
    navigator.sendBeacon('/log', blob));
  });
</script>

In the end, we get the same result — a request that’s allowed to complete even after page navigation. But there’s something more going on that may give it an edge over fetch(): beacons are sent with a low priority.

To demonstrate, here’s what’s shown in the Network tab when both fetch() with keepalive and sendBeacon() are used at the same time:

By default, fetch() gets a “High” priority, while the beacon (noted as the “ping” type above) have the “Lowest” priority. For requests that aren’t critical to the functionality of the page, this is a good thing. Taken straight from the Beacon specification:

This specification defines an interface that […] minimizes resource contention with other time-critical operations, while ensuring that such requests are still processed and delivered to destination.

Put another way, sendBeacon() ensures its requests stay out of the way of those that really matter for your application and your user’s experience.

An honorable mention for the `ping` attribute

It’s worth mentioning that a growing number of browsers support the ping attribute. When attached to links, it’ll fire off a small POST request:

<a href="http://localhost:3000/other" ping="http://localhost:3000/log">
  Go to Other Page
</a>

And those requests headers will contain the page on which the link was clicked (ping-from), as well as the href value of that link (ping-to):

headers: {
  'ping-from': 'http://localhost:3000/',
  'ping-to': 'http://localhost:3000/other'
  'content-type': 'text/ping'
  // ...other headers
},

It’s technically similar to sending a beacon, but has a few notable limitations:

It’s strictly limited for use on links, which makes it a non-starter if you need to track data associated with other interactions, like button clicks or form submissions.
Browser support is good, but not great. At the time of this writing, Firefox specifically doesn’t have it enabled by default.
You’re unable to send any custom data along with the request. As mentioned, the most you’ll get is a couple of ping-* headers, along with whatever other headers are along for the ride.

All things considered, ping is a good tool if you’re fine with sending simple requests and don’t want to write any custom JavaScript. But if you’re needing to send anything of more substance, it might not be the best thing to reach for.

So, which one should I reach for?

There are definitely tradeoffs to using either fetch with keepalive or sendBeacon() to send your last-second requests. To help discern which is the most appropriate for different circumstances, here are some things to consider:

You might go with `fetch()` + `keepalive` if:

You need to easily pass custom headers with the request.
You want to make a GET request to a service, rather than a POST.
You’re supporting older browsers (like IE) and already have a fetch polyfill being loaded.

But `sendBeacon()` might be a better choice if:

You’re making simple service requests that don’t need much customization.
You prefer the cleaner, more elegant API.
You want to guarantee that your requests don’t compete with other high-priority requests being sent in the application.

Avoid repeating my mistakes

There’s a reason I chose to do a deep dive into the nature of how browsers handle in-process requests as a page is terminated. A while back, my team saw a sudden change in the frequency of a particular type of analytics log after we began firing the request just as a form was being submitted. The change was abrupt and significant — a ~30% drop from what we had been seeing historically.

Digging into the reasons this problem arose, as well as the tools that are available to avoid it again, saved the day. So, if anything, I’m hoping that understanding the nuances of these challenges help someone avoid some of the pain we ran into. Happy logging!

Reliably Send an HTTP Request as a User Leaves a Page originally published on CSS-Tricks. You should get the newsletter.

Categories: Designing, Others Tags:

How to engage users on your website? 10 Hacks To Use Today

February 22nd, 2022 No comments

Website engagement hacks help a great deal in engaging users and increasing conversions. The strategies to improve online engagement include many different activities that can have a positive result on the overall user experience of your website.

Metrics To Track User Engagement

There are multiple metrics that can help to measure engagement. Here are few of the most important ones:

1. Bounce Rate:

This metric defines how many users leave the website without interacting with it. The lower the bounce rate, the more engaging your site is. If you have a very high bounce rate maybe people cannot find what they were looking for on your website or they might find better information somewhere else so they leave immediately.

2. Time On Website:

This metric shows how long users stay on your website. It’s crucial because if people spend lots of time on your site, it means there are relevant contents and things to learn from it. Tracking this metric will help you engage visitors better by understanding what kinds of content they appreciate most.

3. Returning Visitors:

This metric represents people who come back to your website and browse it again. Website engagement strategies include tools that help you to better engage returning visitors and that encourage them even more for next visits.

What is website engagement?

Website engagement usually refers to the process of encouraging users’ engagement with contents on a web page, such as by adding social media buttons or displaying comments sections on blog posts.

Website engagement can also refer to encouraging user interaction with other parts of the website through features like quizzes or surveys.

Top Website Engagement Hacks You Should Know

So, let us explore 10 Website Engagement Hacks to use today:

1. Add Social Media Buttons To Your Website

Social media buttons are the easiest way for users to share your content with their network or follow you on social media platforms. Once you have noticed an increase in traffic from these shares, consider offering something special only to those who followed through the links provided by you.

This could be a discount code, free premium access, or a simple invitation to give feedback about the site’s features. Remember that sharing is not going to influence anything unless users feel rewarded for it.

2. Website Popups

Website popups are one of the most known ways to improve your site’s conversions. Website popup example that evokes curiosity, can be used in re-engagement efforts or help with boosting sales by offering alternative payment options (for instance customers who did not pay using PayPal could get the option to pay using a credit card).

Website popups should be subtle and short enough to leave visitors no other choice but to interact if they want to exit the page. Website popup examples like this one work because you don’t need more than 10 seconds’ worth of attention span from users while providing useful information at the same time (such as coupons, marketing campaigns, etc.).

3. Make Your Website Responsive

Having a responsive website can help you to engage more customers. Website responsiveness is especially important for e-commerce websites since users are expecting the same experience everywhere they are browsing or shopping online.

Make sure your site responds nicely on different devices so avoid building one website version for every device, instead focus on providing tablets and mobile users with simplified interface options that will improve their browsing experience.

Website responsiveness examples like this one include offering a single version of content that is easily readable on all devices. A responsive website makes it accessible to a larger audience.

4. Website Countdown Timers

Website countdown timers have shown to be effective at increasing conversions during sale events by encouraging visitors to buy before time runs out.

Website countdown timers can also be used as re-engagement efforts – for instance, if there is some promotion running only for the next 48 hours you could include a counter on your website with this information in order to encourage users to act before it’s too late.

Website countdown timers offer serious motivation in taking action fast in order to get an attractive discount or benefit upfront.

5. Website Scrolling Mechanic

Website scrolling mechanics are helpful for showing additional content based on the user’s behavior and preferences, these usually appear right after first landing on a certain web page and can be used as re-engagement efforts (for instance showcasing free premium content if the first 3 articles were read by visitors).

Website scrolling provides further insight into customers’ browsing behavior and allows marketers to identify what exactly needs to be improved so that more customers would convert.

6. Website Reviews

Website reviews are one of the most popular ways for marketers to understand their targets’ needs and interests, website reviews can be either product or service related, but they are definitely one of the best re-engagement efforts these days – especially if they are coming from people who have shown some interest in your brand online.

Website review shows trustworthiness to website visitors by showing targeted testimonials straight from people who were actually using services provided by you.

7. Include Video Tutorials On Your Website

As video content is very engaging (users love videos nowadays) it would only make sense to include them on your website in order to engage more users and increase conversions at the same time.

User-friendly video tutorials are especially important for website usability since there is no better way of guiding your customers to use your website or services.

Website videos help visitors a visual guide to using the site, by breaking down things into easier steps and it’s always better than written instructions that are hard to follow.

8. Website Navigation & Flow Improvement

Website navigation improvement is all about customer-focused experience which can significantly increase conversions if handled carefully. Website navigation is an often overlooked part of every website design process that needs constant adjustments in order to match business objectives with customer expectations.

Website navigation example with color coding helps users understand where they are on the web page, what other options are available and how to return back easily if needed.

Website flow improvement is all about creating a smooth browsing experience for your visitors and it’s especially important when trying to increase conversions.

Website flow improvement (including quick and easy registration and checkout process) can help you make the website buying process as fast as possible which increases conversion rates without actually annoying users with troublesome sign-up procedures.

9. Product Screenshots

Product screenshots are helpful in providing additional information to certain web pages. They usually appear on the home page, feature pages, or product detail pages.

Product screenshots offer clear insight into a company’s credibility by showing real-world numbers that definitely improve website trustworthiness and show true popularity of certain brands online.

10. Include FAQs

Website FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is another way of engaging users on a website. Website FAQs are helpful for improving website navigation and user experience since they provide answers to the question that visitors might have about a specific web page or product.

The FAQ’s section helps customers understand what you offer without forcing them to go through the entire web page every time they visit your site.

What is Your Favourite Hack?

We have explained some of the best hacks to improve website engagement that can give you better metrics and business revenues.

Now it’s your turn to implement these tips on your website or online store to grow your business. Let us know in the comments below how these hacks have helped in meeting your goals.

The post How to engage users on your website? 10 Hacks To Use Today appeared first on noupe.

Categories: Others Tags:

Newer Entries Older Entries

Archive

What Is Minimalism?

What Is Minimalist Website Design?

10 Minimalist Web Design Tips for 2022

Less Is More

Apply Minimalism to Your Images Too

Always Keep Usability in Mind

Focus on the Content

Use Your White Space Wisely

Don’t Be Afraid of a Dark Background

Be Purposeful in Your Design

Use Only Three Colors

Different Fonts Can Be Your Friend

Keep Your Navigation Intuitive

10 Minimalist Web Design Examples

Final Thoughts

Line 1:

Line 2:

Line 3:

Line 4: <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-...

Line 5: <meta property="og:site_name" content="Twitt...

Line 6: <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" cont...

Line 8: <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"...

Line 9: <meta http-equiv="origin-trial" content="...

Line 10: html{-ms-text-size-adjust:100%;-webkit-text...

Bonus — Line 11: body{margin:0;}

More lines!

Find a Niche Using Google Trends

Focus on Long-Tail Keywords

Secondary Keywords

Competition is a Good Thing

Keep Your Mind on Your Money and Your Money on Your Mind

Conclusion – How to Identify Market Segments that Still Have Huge Potential

What is Minimalism?

What is Minimalist Website Design?

10 Minimalist Web Design Tips for 2022

Less Is More

Apply Minimalism to Your Images Too

Always Keep Usability in Mind

Focus on the Content

Use Your White Space Wisely

Don’t Be Afraid of a Dark Background

Be Purposeful in Your Design

Use Only Three Colors

Different Fonts Can Be Your Friend

Keep Your Navigation Intuitive

10 Minimalist Web Design Examples

Final Thoughts

What’s the trick behind CSS database queries?

1. Being Too Late

2. Disregarding Clients’ Expectations

3. Bad Segmentation

4. Insufficient Personalization

5. Underestimating Mobile-Friendliness

6. Non-Professional Approach

7. Overlooking Tests and Improvements

Summing Up

Benefits of Telehealth Solutions

Telehealth Security and Privacy Risks

Techniques to Minimize the Security Risks in Telemedicine

Providers

Patients

Conclusion

What is Stock Photography?

Tips to Snap Stock Photos that’ll Actually Sell

Take Your Camera (or Phone Camera) Everywhere You Go

People Watch

Explore Niches

Walk with the Trends

Capture Real Events

Don’t Forget about the Holidays

Approach the Shot with a Concept in Mind

Don’t Limit Yourself to the Same Stock Photos

Think of Certain Shots as Thumbnails

Cater to Pitch Decks

Post-Production Makes Perfection

Browsers don’t guarantee to preserve open HTTP requests

But why are they cancelled?

So, what are our options?

Instructing the browser to preserve outstanding requests

Line 4: `<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-...`

Line 5: `<meta property="og:site_name" content="Twitt...`

Line 6: `<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" cont...`

Line 8: `<meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"...`

Line 9: `<meta http-equiv="origin-trial" content="...`

Line 10: `html{-ms-text-size-adjust:100%;-webkit-text...`

Bonus — Line 11: `body{margin:0;}`

Using Fetch’s `keepalive` flag

Using `Navigator.sendBeacon()`

An honorable mention for the `ping` attribute

You might go with `fetch()` + `keepalive` if:

But `sendBeacon()` might be a better choice if: