Technology Resources
Explore the latest web design trends and tools with our comprehensive technology blog, packed with valuable resources and information.
Flat Design for the Web: What it is and Why It’s on the Rise
The era of the shiny button that looks like a gummy candy is over. And it’s been over for quite a while. (That style was known as ‘glass,’ by the way, and I spent a good number of hours learning how to add highlights and gradients to make graphic elements look like that back in the day.) When it comes to design for the web, flat design is a minimalistic trend that’s been around for several years, but has exploded of late. The flat trend is influenced by Swiss design, and it’s less distinctive than what we’ve seen in the past. That is, it’s largely defined by what it’s not; gone are those stylistic flourishes that make elements look three-dimensional. Flat design eschews drop shadows, bevels, highlights, and textures in favor of simpler shapes and icons that maximize functionality.
Bounce Rate: What it is and How to Bring it Down
For clients who subscribe to our monthly maintenance plans, we send out Google Analytics reports to check their current web performance. Bounce Rate is one of the metrics analyzed, and it is percentage of single-page sessions. In other words, the more people who leave your website after looking at just one page, the higher your bounce rate. And a high bounce rate is not ideal. When Google sees a website with a high bounce rate, it assumes the site is not providing value for searchers. A consistently high bounce rate can ultimately hurt your search engine rankings. But a relatively high bounce rate not necessarily a reason to panic. We’ll discuss when it’s okay to have a high(ish) bounce rate, and how to improve on your bounce rate in general.
Online Learning Resources for Polishing Your Skills
We often get requests for lessons on how to better use WordPress, or how to learn just enough Photoshop to get by. While we are happy to do training—and we even provide detailed manuals (upon request) for websites that will be maintained by our users—sometimes we recommend turning to our favorite online learning resources. With the resources below, you can choose to build one particular skill, at your own pace, for a minimal cost (or sometimes for free). We can’t tell you how often we turn to YouTube when we’re trying to figure out a new skill, whether it’s cleaning the carburetor on our lawnmower or how to modify a glue gun to dispense melted chocolate. We generally do recommend looking on YouTube first if you just need to learn how to do one particular task: how to do a Mail Merge in Microsoft Word, how to take out a background in Photoshop, how to use the review tools in Adobe Acrobat. Sometimes you can find some pretty comprehensive lessons on YouTube, but if you’re ready to take the next step, read on.
