We’ve setup quite a few WordPress websites at Snoack Studios and have used many different plugins. Plugins help extend the capability of WordPress and make things easier for you to maintain your site. While WordPress used to be just a blogging platform, it’s now capable of controlling a whole website and with the use of plugins, it’s easier than ever for our clients to edit their text, add images to sliders, and complete even more complicated functions all on their own. Our list of favorite plugins is long, but we’ve narrowed it down to our top 5 favorites that are invaluable on many of our projects. Here are our top picks.
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Big businesses can often have boring websites, and on the other side of the spectrum the automotive industry can get a bit loud and sales-y. However, I’ve noticed lately that there’s a trend of great-looking websites coming from the car industry. You’ll find great, large photography, new and cutting-edge website development techniques, interactive and fun features for users, and unique things that will help them stand out from their competition.
We’ve gathered a few in our collection today that we felt really stood out and were worth a visit. Enjoy!
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I hear lots of rumors or myths about websites and wanted to list a few that I’ve heard before so we could clear up any misconceptions you might have with your own website. These myths include thoughts on designing your site, maintaining it and everything else in between. Your website can be a great marketing tool for your company, so it’s important to utilize it well so you can maximize the greatest value from it.
Check out some of of the myths we’ve heard so your website can be a powerful tool for you!
The use of smartphones and mobile devices like the iPad are growing quickly these days, with more people searching, shopping, and surfing on their mobile devices than ever before. There are some pretty incredible statistics with phones and mobile devices and this infographic from Microsoft Tag estimates that mobile internet usage will take over desktop usage by 2014. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on an ever-growing audience and potential business. We’ll cover lots of great reasons to make the move and some great ideas on how to make your site more mobile-friendly too.
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The design is complete, your text and pictures are in, what else is left? You must be ready to launch your site!
There may actually be a few things you’ve missed, and a hasty launch before everything is complete isn’t usually a good idea. Make sure you’ve completed all the necessary steps before the launch to save yourself some headaches later on. See our checklist below that covers things to complete, check, and test before you launch, plus some possible items to think about including before it’s out there for the whole world to see.
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Blog Action Day is an annual event that allows bloggers of the world to come together and focus the conversation on one important topic. This year’s topic is food, so we could hardly turn down the opportunity to participate! This year also marks our 4th year that we’ve joined the conversation. Please check out the BAD website to see more information about this great event. Today, we salute local restaurants, farmers, foodie bloggers, and anyone working hard to bring great food to the table. We’ve gathered together a collection of tasty websites that showcase great design and good food. Enjoy!
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Texture is a great way to add some visual interest to a design and give it that extra spark. Depending on the choice of texture, it can also add some character to the design as well, so it’s important to choose appropriate textures that match the style of the company.
We love using texture at Snoack Studios and wanted to highlight some really great uses of texture in web design today. We picked out 8 sites that have different types of textures and also different levels of intensity too. They all do a great job of utilizing these textures to enhance the site and create a great look.
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Everything about your website gives valuable information to your potential customers, the typography, layout, content, etc. But the style of your website especially says a lot about your company, whether you want it to or not. We’ve mentioned it before and we’ll say it again, your website is often the first impression many customers will have of your company, so it’s important to make sure that impression counts and is giving an accurate representation of your business.
What kind of impression is your website giving?
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You may have heard the phrase before, it actually started with printed newspapers and later on was applied to websites as well. With newspapers, it refers to the part of the paper that is above the halfway point of the paper where it’s folded, it’s the most prominent area and the most valuable space to occupy. When papers are folded and sitting on the newsstand, you only see above the fold, so the phrase was coined to refer to that lucrative space. With web design, it refers to the space that users can see without scrolling. Today, we’ll talk more about this space and what you should know about it in regards to your own site.
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As we mentioned a few posts ago, font options used to be quite limited. The default way to render fonts online is to use the font library of the computer you’re browsing with. This is actually still true today (although this post will introduce other methods). Since Apple and PC computers come with different font options installed, you had to stick with a list of about 10 or so fonts that were considered web-safe fonts. These fonts were on every machine so it was safe to use them because you knew they would appear correctly on your site. Today, we have more options for fonts on your site so keep reading to find out more.
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