Love them or hate them, WordPress plugins are necessary to building a website efficiently.

What should I tell you about WordPress plugins? Well for starters they make life easy, but they can also break an entire and make you want to pull your hair out at the same time. There are millions of plugins to choose from and even more coming every day, but not all are created equal.

In this blog post, I’m not going to give you my top 53 plugins that I use or 204 plugins that are great for e-commerce sites. Today, I’m going to tell you about a few key plugins that I used for my current website project of a local brewery and how they help with producing the content that is needed for the site.

Once again, grab a coffee or today maybe grab yourself an iced latte get crazy, and let’s dive into these plugins.

Contact Form 7 & “Use Any Font”

Contact form 7, oh I do dislike you, but being the industry-standard plugin for contact forms, I will deal with it. Contact form 7 is a custom form builder with over 5+ million installations that supports CAPTCHA and Akismet spam filtering. As long as you are quite handy with CSS, then you can design this form quite easily and the form overall is pretty lightweight as far as code is concerned. The main problem is the amount of spam that still gets through these contact forms, but unfortunately, there is only so much we can do to prevent this from happening.

“Use Any Font” is a straight-to-the-point no non-sense plugin that does exactly what the name implies. With this plugin, you can import your standard font files in order to use your custom font on your website. In my case, I needed to use the new custom font for the rebrand that I created and thus this plugin was a lifesaver in order to bring that font into WordPress.

OxyMonster Framework & Recoda

Since the builder that I used for this site was Oxygen, it only made sense to bring some plugins that were designed for Oxygen users. OxyMonster Framework is a CSS framework based on the Tailwind CSS framework and you don’t what that means, don’t it’s okay as it basically just means that it’s utility-based framework that will make your life easier when it comes to designing the site. The framework includes design kits and 500+ blocks that you can use for your website. It’s both lightweight and packed full of features.

You can think of Recoda as a workspace that you can place inside of Oxygen to make things flow better with designing the site. Everything from one click interfaces and easily switch between interfaces to a number of additional shortcuts that recoda makes possible to use inside of the Oxygen builder. Recoda can significantly speed up the overall design flow and I highly recommend this plugin when building with Oxygen.

Modern Events Calendar Lite & Rank Math SEO

Can’t find when the next beer release is for your favorite brewery? Perhaps you should tell them to hire me to install a new events calendar for their website!

The modern events calendar lite is by far one the best events plugins that I’ve seen that you don’t have to pay an arm, a leg, and your soul for. This plugin makes it super easy to set all of the upcoming events for different days, weeks, or yearly events. You can color code everything to easily navigate through along with daily, weekly, or monthly calendar views and sorting options.

Rank Math SEO, I know, I know. It’s not Yoast, but hear me out. I’m quickly realizing how much I love Rank Math SEO and how easy they really make things for the fast-paced SEO team. Rank Math takes all of the guesswork out of what you should be doing for SEO and recommends/guides you through it all. The setup wizard is top notch along with a clean interface makes this my preferred SEO plugin.

There you have it

I know this list wasn’t that long, but sometimes you don’t need a million plugins on your site. You just need the important ones that can get things done. Which were your favorite? Do you use any of these plugins on your site?

Curious to learn more?

There are a ton of plugins out there and I would love to go through more of them. Let us know in the comments if there is a plugin you think I should dive into next time.

If you are thinking of having a website built or you are designing a website for your company, keep these design resources in mind and let us know in the comments if you have any additional resources to add?

Is your website meeting current design standards? Email me for a free consultation. 

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When it comes to building websites, it’s all about how to build them fast and efficiently.

If you are going to build a website and you don’t plan to write all of the code from scratch, (because who really has time for that?) then you will more than likely opt for a page builder and as long as you stay away from Wix or Squarespace then you’ll be alright. Nothing against those two, but if you really want to build the next great website with more customization than you could dream of then you’ll want to look into a page builder that covers all of your needs.

There are plenty of builders out there now and every day there is a new one that pops up, but not all of them are created equal. If you choose wrong, you could not only waste time and money, but you could also open your site up to hacks and limit your ability to scale your business. We’re not going to go through the hundreds of builders in this post, but today we are going to discuss the new kid on the block “Nimble Builder” versus the original gangster “Divi Builder.”

Grab a coffee (or your preferred beverage), because we are about to dive in and see which builder is the best in 2022.

The Interface and The Visuals

I might receive some flack for saying this, but I personally believe that the interface is the single most important thing when it comes to these page builders. Other people will probably say speed, content modules, support, and or other features. None of those things matter if you can’t even figure out how to use the builder to even build a simple contact page.

Starting with the Nimble builder. I automatically notice that it has all of the normal things that you would expect to find in a builder. They give you the ability to add sections, rows, and modules. Site wide options and a moderate amount of content modules to build the page out with. Nimble promotes itself as being simple and fast. I can honestly say that they really nailed down the “simple” aspect as the interface is straight black and white with very little design details.

I can’t help but be a little bored already by looking at this interface with how plain and simple it really is and once you go through everything a few times it’s not too hard to figure out where things are located and then being able to place the content on the page, but it does seem like something is missing from the experience of building out a page.

Now with the Divi Builder, you’ll be drawn to the easy-to-navigate interface that is also highly involved with using colors to help separate the differences between sections, rows, and different modules. As a more of visual learner, I’m drawn to these interface design aspects to help with building out a site. Both builders can achieve mostly the same things, but you will have to adjust to using one over the other and figure out how to navigate each interface to create the site that you want to build.

I need content now

Nimble Builder, I was able to locate the different content modules that you can simply drag and drop into your page. (All builders will have this drag and drop feature, but some of them will have more modules than others.) Nimble I was able to find roughly 25 modules ranging from text, buttons, accordions, and more.

Divi boasts more than 50 different modules that really run the gambit of what you can think of using for your site, but what is even better than that is the massive amounts of 3rd party developers that strictly create additional modules for the Divi platform. Divi might have 50+ modules, but the Divi community gives you access to thousands of modules and additional divi add-ons

Make it advanced!

Nimble’s advanced features include animations, additional header options, and other effects. With Nimble they give you the ability to create an animation on just about any element with a quick fade, slide, or bounce effect. Along with that, you can also define additional background colors and logo image dimensions on scroll, but that is about where it ends with Nimble when it comes to advanced features.

Divi’s advanced features include all of the normal animation options, but they now also include several different scroll effect animations for any element in order to really make your site a truly interactive experience. Another great feature that divi offers that I believe people tend to look past is split testing. Divi allows you the option to create split tests for any page, any section, any row. Split testing allows for tracking different audience interactions with the different versions of the elements and that will enable you to see which design delivers the better results. Divi is constantly releasing new features and I would highly recommend subscribing to their newsletter in order to keep up with their innovation.

Is it easy?

I know what you’re saying, you’re saying “Dan, okay cool I get it, but which one is the easiest to use, and how effective is each builder?”

How easy a builder is pretty subjective to what you feel most comfortable with using and your personal experience with builders. Both builders are easy to use if you are simply trying to put together a quick website with minimal content, but it just depends on how in-depth your website needs to be and what you need to implement into the site will determine how hard a builder is to use or to figure out how to incorporate different elements or design structures.

Which one wins?

When it comes down to brass tax, The overall design, features, the massive amounts of modules, and customization. I believe the Divi Builder wins this comparison 100x over. The divi community is one of the best builder communities out there and is always willing to lend a helping hand to new developers.

Nimble builder is simple and offers some of the most basic elements, but as they continue to grow and develop their builder I wouldn’t just completely rule them out just yet.

I would suggest thinking about which features do you value the most and of course another thing that might come in play is pricing and what will meet your budget. As always, its best to dive into each of them and simply play around in each of them to get a feel for both of them.

Curious to learn more?

There are a ton of builders out there and I would love to go through each and every one of them in more depth. Let us know in the comments if there is a builder you think I should dive into next time.

If you are thinking of having a website built or you are designing a website for your company, keep these design resources in mind and let us know in the comments if you have any additional resources to add?

Is your website meeting current design standards? Email me for a free consultation. 

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Do I really need a landing page?

This is something that I get asked quite often and most of the time my answer is quite unexpected.

I tell my clients that it really depends on what you’re trying to have your landing page do for your business. In some instances, a landing page can be quite helpful in order to showcase your business to someone that has never heard of you and it can help achieve a quick goal like obtaining an email address by getting the user to sign up for the newsletter. On the other hand, not every website or business needs a landing page as most landing pages on average only have a 2.35% conversion rate and in some cases when designed poorly can turn customers away from visiting the rest of your website.

That being said, let’s discuss what all goes into a high converting landing page.

Keap

I’ve chosen the landing page for Keap.com for us to analyze and to dive into the details of what makes this such a great landing page for them. The best way to discover landing pages is by doing a simple Google search and then clicking on the links at the top of the search and yes these are the paid ads that I’m referring to.

This particular landing page for Keap I found when I searched for “Active Campaign.” Active Campaign is an email marketing and automation marketing services company. The main purpose of this landing page for Keap is to show the visitor that Keap is better than its competitor “ActiveCampaign.”

What’s their goal?

Right from the start, you’ll notice there is no main navigation on this page as the landing page only has one main goal and that is for you to see a demo of how Keap works and how they are better than their competitor. The main heading states “Keap outranks ActiveCampagin in every major catergory” and with this main heading set the tone for the landing page. Right under the main heading, they go directly into recommending that the visitor compare their services to ActiveCampaign’s services.

They are right away asking you to compare the two companies and expecting for visitors to take action.

The pictures make it real

Keap utilizes infographics along with images that show teasers for their features, but with each image and section showing the user reasons why they are better than ActiveCampaign. These are highly effective methods in showing the user the ways in which they are better, but it also shows the features and benefits of what Keap can do for their customers.

Features, benefits, and everything in between

Keap starts off with listing out the numbers such as 84% of Keap customers saw an increase in clients and they have a 9 out of 10 ranking for customer service. From there they go into their detailed infographic of what Keap Pro can do versus what ActiveCampaign can do. This checklist method can be found everywhere whether if it’s T-mobile comparing themselves to Verizon or Ford versus BMW, but it’s an effective way to show the features of one company over another.

Keap promotes easy set up, powerful tools, make more sales and get them faster, more organization with better value. I think the most compelling is their promotion of their tools from smart forms, campaign management, and even landing page tools all the while explaing why each tool is signicantly better than what is offered by ActiveCampaign.

Show me the proof

You can’t just say that you are better than your competitor and you can’t always show why you’re better either. One of the most effective things that you can do for your landing page is provide the proof. Social proof is where a business will showcase any awards or recognition from different rating services. Keap showcases their rating from Capterra and also their rating/award from G2.com.

Keap goes even farther by placing not one, but two section sliders with testimonials from thier customers to help prove what they’ve been saying throughout the landing page.

Make it effective

On this landing page, Keap has strategically placed 5 “See Demo” links and 1 “Try it free” links as their CTA. It’s becoming more and more popular to showcase these CTA’s in this fashion of the “See Demo” instead of all of the links being the “Try it free” method as see demo is less invasive and less commitment to just viewing the demo rather than clicking on the try it for free button.

Typically I know that if it says “try it free” then I automatically assume now that I’ll probably be required to give up my email or that I might have to actually set up an account in order to just “try it for free. The “see demo” eliminates the automatic assumption that I’m going to have to give up an email address or that it might take up more of my time than I’m willing to give up.

Curious to learn more?

There are plently of resources out there that go through the in’s and outs of effective landing pages. Two of my favorite resources is Neil Patel’s “How to make a landing page that C.O.N.V.E.R.T.S.” and SEMrush’s blog post on “4 Characteristics high converting landing pages have in common.”

Do you need a landing page for your business? What landing page attributes are important to you? Let us know in the comments below

If you are thinking of having a website built or you are designing a website for your company, keep these design resources in mind and let us know in the comments if you have any additional resources to add?

Is your website meeting current design standards? Email me for a free consultation. 

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Do you have the right tools for the job?

A Picture is Worth A Thousand….

Where does one find the best stock photography that is also free? Unsplash. Unsplash has a vast array of images to choose from and about 90% of my images come from Unsplash for a personal project. For professional purposes, I use Deposit photos as they tend to have more commercial typical photos. My other favorite is Pixabay, pixabay has a great selection of images and they tend to be on the funny side or just plain fun as opposed to the boring stock photos that everyone else has.

Ucon, Icon

Are you even a web developer if you don’t have a few dozen websites that are strictly full of icons for you to incorporate into your project? I really love Font Awesome because well they are one of the originals, but I also love the Noun Project because you can find some really interesting icons that are very unique.

Cascade Style Sheet & Beyond

The thing that designers love & also kind of also hate the most. CSS and all of its wonders are how we really turn a blank white internet website into a magnificent work of art. I go to every corner of the internet to research the latest trends in CSS, but my two go-to sites are CSS TRICKS and CodePen. CSS tricks have detailed blog posts with current css trends, tips, and tricks of all kinds. CodePen is a collection of other developers that have created different things using html, css, and JS, which you can view straight code with the ability to play around with the code right on the site. It’s pretty neat, you should give it a try!

Let’s Go to The Upside Down!

Now you might feel like you are on an episode of stranger things with this one, but one of the newest and hottest trends is “Dark Mode” and basically turning the lights out on rather bright websites and apps. Here are two resources that will help you navigate through the unknown. Material System and Apple’s Interface Guidelines both these sites are excellent resources in helping you find your way to the dark side.

Also be sure to read my other blog post on “4 Explosive Web Design Trends to Watch Out for & 1 to Avoid in 2021“

BONUS ROUND!!!!

I have a new resource that I actually found a couple of weeks ago and it’s HAIKEI this interactive site lets create different background images using a bunch of different fun things in order to create the background. I must warn you though, you might find yourself just playing around all day creating new backgrounds. I do highly recommend checking it out.

Final Thoughts

You shouldn’t have to spend hours upon hours just to find that perfect stock photo or a perfect icon that represents pet adoption. Take these resources and bookmark them in your new favorites folder and label it “My Freelance Tools” and you’ll be on the path to becoming a successful and talented web developer before you know it!

If you are thinking of having a website built or you are designing a website for your company, keep these design resources in mind and let us know in the comments if you have any additional resources to add?

Is your website meeting current design standards? Email me for a free consultation. 

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Whether you own a fortune 500 company or you are printing T-shirts out of your basement, you want to do everything that you can to make your business successful and hopefully get ahead of the competition. In this blog post, we are going to explore a few things that will help your website succeed and will become a powerhouse way of getting your content out there to the masses.

Lynchburg Regional Business Regional

Today, we’re looking at a massive website for Lynchburg Regional Buiness Alliance. Now right off the bat, this first page isn’t the home page, but rather a “landing page.” These landing pages can be great when you are dealing with a website that has an insane amount of content and one of the greatest features on this page is the clear and concise blocks to help direct users to certain sections of the site.

Chunked Out Navigation

If you want to check out the latest events, news, blogs, job postings, or anything else there is going to be a brightly colored box otherwise a link to help get you to that part of the website.

Chatbots

Another trend that you are seeing more and more often is the “Chatbox” or “Chatbot.” You’ll notice from the image above in the very bottom right corner is a chat feature and it’s here that sometimes you’ll be lead to an easy method to contact the companies support, or in some cases its a FAQ, or in rare cases it’s an actual live person. This trend is perfect for bigger companies that want to make sure they are able to provide support and eliminate the chances of not being able to help someone.

It’s not always rainbows and puppy dogs though. As you click through the site, you quickly realize that the rest of the site doesn’t match the landing page and things quickly become crowded and just very different. It’s really important to keep the site consistent throughout in order to get things organized and concise.

Another thing I have to mention is the failure to use more white space and I know with a website like this, it might be hard to have a minimalist approach. However, I would highly recommend utilizing more white space when you are able to.

Don’t make it hard to find

If you are trying to get someone to signup for your newsletter or if you have a website that you have a lot of members using and they need to log into the site to access their information, then please make it easy for them to find it!

Hiding the login button or link in the footer is not doing anything good for anyone.

Final Thoughts

Your business deserves to be heard and to be seen, so make sure you are communicating everything that you can to your web designer and let them know what your goals are for the website. What are things are most important for your customers? Is it making sure they know where to find the latest news and events or is it the ability to quickly log in and view their information through the member portal?

If you are thinking of having a website built or you are designing a website for your company, keep these design trends in mind and let us know in the comments if any of these stand out to you?

Is your website meeting current design standards and trends? Email me for a free consultation. 

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In a world where we are constantly trying to grab the attention of a population that is increasingly becoming more and more impatient with how they want to consume the information or entertainment that they are looking for.

It’s important now more than ever to build websites and web apps that can deliver quality content with a memorable design that can not only be functional, but the design has to be out of this world in order for the user to experience that “wow” moment.

1. Dark Mode

Dark mode has been increasing in popularity as it promotes a low-contrast website or web application that you can view even while in low-light environments. Our eyes are not meant to stare all ultra blue light screens for long periods of time, so dark mode allows us to give our eyes a break, and not to mention it also saves on battery life for our phones. Now that is a “win win” situation!

Continue Reading: NFT’s Vs. Photography

Source: WeTransfer

2. Changes in Scrolling (Parallax for images/text)

This design trend is really something when done right as it allows a website or application to depict movement that can help tell a story for the brand or subject. The added movement helps users get more engaged with the overall experience otherwise it could be quite boring. No one likes to be bored.

Source: DrinkCann

3. Horizontal Scrolling

This one does tend to cause a bit of riot with some people as it does break the normal of scrolling down a page. At first it can really trick your brain and you’re not quite sure if you like it or not, but you continue on because its different and different can indeed be memorable. After all being memorable is what we are aiming for here.

4. Neumorphism

I know what you’re thinking, what does being scared of the mighty morphing power rangers have to do web design? This actually isn’t some made up word that a psychologist made up, but it’s actually the latest and greatest design trend that I believe will be around for quite some time.

Neumorphism is a combination of material design and skeuomorphism, in plain terms please. It’s 3D elements like buttons or image cards, ect. But with an attention to a minimalist design aesthetic. This design trend can make any site or application feel futuristic but without going over the top Terminator 2 method.

I would highly recommend avoiding this one

1. No Clearn Navigation or No Navigation at All

The navigation bar is one of the basic things for a website for your users to navigate through your website and without it, a user can become quite frustrated quickly. I’ve seen a good amount of websites that are simply leaving off a nav bar in order to showcase the content on the page and typically I see it done for portfolio websites or “edgy” websites that utilize a horizontal scroll or simply a scroll down to view all of the content. This method might be fine for those that really want to get “artsy” with their websites, but for the rest of us that are designing for the average person, its best to stay away from this trend or at the very least include navigation links in the footer.

Final Thoughts

We want to break the norms of web trends and we expect to see something that will capture our attention, something that will make us stop and really pay attention. These web design trends are just the tip of the iceburg of the designs that are being explored. What matters most is that design is well thought out, organized, and you’re avoiding any confusion for your user.

If you are thinking of having a website built or you are designing a website for your company, keep these designs in mind and let us know in the comments if any of these stand out to you?

Is your website meeting current design standards and trends? Email me for a free consultation. 

Did you enjoy the blog? Share it with your friends!