C. A. Baker - Midnightson Designs

The Next Big Thing in Web Design

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Trends in the world of web design are always changing and it is extremely important to stay updated with them to make your website better. Some design elements seem to be making it big in 2023 and are being eyed by all designers wanting to create something extraordinary. If you also want to jump on the bandwagon, here are a few trends you should look at.

Custom Visuals

We are all aware of the importance of visuals in web design. For example, when I am building my website, I would create my logo in a way that tells the story of my brand while also being visually appealing. However, custom visuals are the new big thing in design. This means that complex and intricate animations with responsive designs are now ruling the world of websites. This is because custom visuals give stunning results and they serve as data visualization tools that help create interactive dashboards as well.

Human-Centric Design

People love simple designs that are easy for them to comprehend. This is exactly what Artificial Intelligence is trying to achieve. Human-centric designs are meant to enhance user experience. This design serves the purpose of a website by first asking why a website exists and understanding its goal and then, working towards achieving it. It is different from user- centric website design in a way that it focuses on the more “human” and “cognitive” needs of the users by taking a more emotionally empathetic approach towards the entire process of designing.

AI Chatbots

If there is one trend you can expect to blow up in 2023, it has to be AI Chatbots. Even though they have been around for a few years, they are predicted to grow by more than 30 percent this decade. The increase in their accuracy and usability is making them more and more popular with each passing day. It is also super cost-efficient and convenient for companies as they can easily cut down on their customer support staff and replace them with AI chatbots.

Ethical Design

Responsible and ethical designs are definitely at the forefront this year. Designers are now becoming more conscious about the impact of their products on users as well as overall society. This encompasses a lot of factors such as the usability of design which is the basis of every design. Designers are also making designs that are accessible to more people such as people who are visually impaired and cannot access many websites but as part of ethics, designers are consciously trying to make designs accessible to them. Privacy issues are now being taken more seriously as part of the ethical design to protect people’s data and information. Transparency is another important part of the ethical design as it allows users to make informed choices and works in their best interests.

Static Website Generators

Creating websites from plain text is another big thing in the world of web design. Many of these generators are being used as they help increase website speed and security. Static website design is also preferred for ease of setup. Businesses that do not want to invest a huge amount of time into building perfect websites but want to have a space where customers can learn about them and their business like to opt for this form of website design. As these websites load faster, it is also easier to make them rank on Google which increases visibility. It is also simple to build and costs fairly less money than any other website design would. This is why it is expected to become more popular this year.

90’s Navigation

The 90s may not be coming back but its designs are making a huge comeback. The 90’s retro theme is becoming a big success in 2023 due to its nostalgic feel and craving for the innocent designs of the early days of the internet. By emphasizing navigation and adding an emotional appeal to design with the retro theme, designers are seeking to create phenomenal website designs. This design is all about imitating the real world and real-life objects into web design in a way that reminds people of the old internet days. This not only adds to the aesthetics of the design but is also highly functional and convenient for users.

Conclusion

Every year brings new design trends with it but some trends are expected to have a more meaningful impact than others. All the trends discussed above have already been introduced and are gradually becoming more popular. As these design elements have many benefits apart from being unique, they are more likely to last and become the next big thing in web design than anything else. If you can use these on your website, you might be able to attract a whole new group of customers.

Why Hire a Copywriter for Your New Website?

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TypewriterHiring a Copywriter

Hiring a professional copywriter for your website means you’ll get expertly-written copy that tells your story and sells your brand while building your SEO, an important component of your overall marketing strategy.

But many business owners think that because they write proficiently enough, they should be able to write their own website copy and save a few dollars along the way. It’s probably one of the biggest mistakes a business owner can make when they decide to invest in a new website build because copywriting is so much more than telling people what you do. Good copywriters meticulously research your business, your potential client/customers, and competition, and carefully craft messages that speak authentically to audiences, building trust and a sense of community. Then, they embed keywords for SEO and can build long-term content marketing strategies that will keep your website at the top of search engines.

Midnightson Designs has an in-house copywriter who works directly with our clients to create compelling, authentic marketing copy that converts website visitors to customers. It’s by far the best way to get the most ROI from your website, and it ensures that once you have the website you want, it will be working at full capacity to reach your customers.

key type pad

Here are five ways hiring a copywriter can benefit your business:

How Does It Work?

Our copywriter will meet with you and your team to learn all she can about your business—from what products and services you sell to what values you uphold, and everything in between. This meeting gives her a good sense of who you are and who your customers are.

After the meeting, she researches keywords, competitive businesses, customer demographics, and language protocols and designs copy with a focus on customer needs, customer culture, and current SEO trends.

Then she writes the copy, working with your web designer to ensure a flow of information and making sure the design and copy match in tone and feel.

All copy is okayed by the client, and a round of editing begins. Then the final copy is given to the web designer, and any tweaks or edits can be made before the site goes live.

ARE YOU READY TO GET STARTED?

Get a Free Quote below.

CLICK HERE FOR FREE QUOTE

5 Scary Small Businesses Website Mistakes that you can Fix Immediately

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Don’t Make Your Customers Run For The Hills With These Small Businesses Website Mistakes

Does this sound familiar?

You just got some superb information today....people are visiting your small business website. Exceptional! perhaps they may purchase your product or determine to fill out your form...but wait...oh NO! they may be leaving once more. “What?” you cry, “They only stayed for five seconds”.

You heard right, they stayed long enough to be appalled about your website after which made a fast escape to one of your competitors. in case your web page is not converting traffic to income, then you might be committing this sort of lethal mistakes:

  • Flash Driven Design

  • The Annoying “Welcome to our website”

  • We.... We... We... We... We...zzzzzzzz

  • Techic Talk

  • No Clear Call to Action

1. Flash Driven Design

Search engines hate Flash-driven website design.  In fact, they hate them so much that they will completely ignore your site no matter how pretty you think that it looks.

So what if it's smart and it contains a stunning design layout? No one is ever going to experience it. Google is simply going to pass right past your website as if you are the invisible woman. And thousands and thousands of iPhone and iPad visitors who use their tablet and mobile devices in preference to their computers certainly won't see it because they couldn't see Flash on their phones.

Google gets annoyed and chooses to disregard you. It’s YOU that won't get any traffic. Just because you could add whistles and bells doesn’t mean that you have to.

You invest a LOT of time and money encouraging people to visit your small business website. So why scare them off by making one of these 5 fatal mistakes?

2. The Annoying “Welcome to our website”

How long do you think you have to grab your visitor’s attention?  Here’s a hint: It isn’t 2 minutes, 1 minute or even 30 seconds.  It is more like 10 seconds.  That is all the time you have, so don’t waste it with such a boring introduction.

Most people don’t like to read much on the online, so when they first visit your website they are probably just going to quickly scan it to see if anything catches their eye.  Why would you want to squander an already tiny attention span by reminding people which site they are visiting?  Instead, use an attention-grabbing headline?

People should already know where they are just from glancing at the top of your site, where they should see your logo and a snappy tagline, or a short description of your site, so there is absolutely no need for stating the obvious with a banal “welcome to our website” message.  Yawn!

3. “We.... We... We... We... We...zzzzzzzz”

“We have a team of....”

“We plan to....”

“We have been in business for.....”

Sorry to sound blunt but. . . NOBODY CARES!

Visitors to your website are only interested in one thing: What is in it for ME?”

If your site doesn’t answer this question pretty quickly they will leave.

Instead of just talking about you and your site or your business, imagine that you are talking one to one with one of your typical customers and ‘speak’ to them as an individual.  Tell them how your product or service is going to benefit them.

4. Tech Speak

Every industry and business sector has its own tech speak and industry only words that nobody else understands.

Try talking to friends and family about Autoresponders, SEO and long tail keywords and you’ll see their eyes glaze over as they slip into a coma.

If you use words, terms, and phrases that mean something to you but go straight over your visitor’s heads, then you are going to lose them.  We’ve already said visitors are going to scan over much of the content on your website anyway, so it makes sense to make it as easy as possible for them to be able to pick out and understand the main points from the bits that they do read.

5. No Clear Call to Action

As well as telling your visitors “what is in it for them”, your next job is to tell them what they need to do now.

It is absolutely pointless giving them great reasons why they should use your products and services, and then not tell them what they need to do next to get it.

You need to have a clear call to action AND make it blatantly obvious what you want them to do.

Do you want them to call you up for a free quotation?  Then tell them!

However, telling them to call you and then hiding your number somewhere on your website is another big fail.   If your call to action is telling them ‘CALL US RIGHT NOW’, then make sure you put your telephone number right next to it.

Do you want them to click on the ‘Buy Now’ button?  Again, you have to tell them, and then show them clearly where that Buy button is.

And don’t try to cleverly disguise the button or link.  Make sure that it is bold and clear enough for them to see what they need to press.

Never assume that your visitors will know what to do next… 

S-P-E-L-L I-T O-U-T for them!

Tell them what you want them to do.  If you make it difficult for them, then they will leave.  Yes, they probably could figure it out....but they won’t!  They will move on to the next site in the blink of an eye.

SSL Certificates and How To Get One

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What is a SSL Certificates?

SSL certificates are generally used with e-commerce shopping carts, or anywhere you want to collect information from a user securely on your website. If you use a secure server certificate with a form; and that form emails the results to you; keep in mind that the email is not secure.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer): Creates an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. CA (Certificate Authority): The vendor you will get the secure server certificate from CSR (Certificate Signing Request): A text file generated by a web server. A CSR looks like this:

-----BEGIN NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----
MIIDGgBNAGkAYwByAG8AcwBvAGYAdAAgAFIAUwBBACAAUwB
AG4AZQBsACAAQwByAHkAcAB0AG8AZwByAGEAcABoAGkAYwl
L0ygNwwNIvKLMPq4/LcUkZ9Oo4AssXW5mvvhHWGz2RWYRhrw8o
-----END NEW CERTIFICATE REQUEST-----

EVERYTHING YOU

Need to Know about SSL

Don't go without this in-depth reading about Secure Sockets Layer and more ways to protect your content!

Download our FREE book that will explain in details what SSL does and how it will help your business. In this comprehensive guide, you will explore 5 chapters on how you can protect yourself.



Download Here

everything you need to know about SSL

Hosting SSL Certificate things to consider

First, you need to decide whether to use your hosting shared SSL certificate if they offer it. The URL to your store will look something like: https://theirserver.com/youruserid/your/path/to/store.html

Or do you want to get your own SSL certificate? The URL will look like: https://yourdomainname.com

If you decide to use your hosts' shared secure server certificate, then all you need to do is find out the path you need to use to call your files securely, and you will be on your way.

If you decide to get your own SSL certificate, this is generally what happens.

You first need to decide who you are going to get your SSL certificate from. It is a good idea to make sure your host supports your particular vendor. Some certificate authority vendors are:

* Thawte
* Verisign
* Comodo
* You can also review several vendors at a glance at WhichSSL

Steps to buying an SSL Certificate

Before getting your own SSL certificate, you will need to do some reading on what your chosen Certificate Authority requires for a secure certificate, and you'll also need to come up with some documentation. There are several steps to buying a secure server certificate, once you have decided on a vendor.

This is an overview, not written in stone. Each CA is different, so make sure you read their documentation and what they require. Here is an idea of what they want:

All documentation that is requested must match *exactly*. Secure certificate authorities will verify that your organization actually exists, so they know they are issuing to the correct company. You will need to prove that the Organization Name and the Domain name are in fact yours to use.

Steps you'll be taking:

* Gather required documentation
* Have your host generate a CSR
* Complete certificate authority online application
* The Certificate authority will process your request
* Pickup and install your SSL certificate (usually an URL is emailed to you to download the secure server certificate)
* Depending on the vendor, it can take a few hours to a few days.
* Send the secure certificate to host for installation. (Send in plain text)

Once your web hosting provider receives this information; they will generate the CSR and send it back to you in plain text. You then send it on to Verisign or Thawte, or whoever you have chosen as your secure certificate authority. They will then generate an SSL certificate for you which you will send back to your host for installation. Your web host may charge a fee for installation in addition to what your SSL certificate vendor charges.

Something to think about:

If you've decided to purchase your own SSL certificate, you will need to decide how you want your URL to be called. If you, as a rule, call your domain name in your coding as www.yourdomainname.com, then make sure you indicate this to your host when you request a CSR from them. If you don't, and you get the certificate for yourdomainname.com (without the www), this will cause browser errors, making the certificate seem insecure, and you will need to change your coding.

Always use yourself or your company as the technical contact.

How to tell if a site is secure?

After you've browsed to a site securely; using https:// in the URL, look on the lower right-hand side of your browser. You should see a closed lock. This will tell you the site is secure.

What You Should Know About Using SSL

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4 Top Benefits of Using SSL

Did you know that there are 3.74 Billion internet users in the world? What does this mean for your business? Simple, you get tons of potential customers every day. Let us just say that you get about 1% of the total number of internet users; you get around three hundred thousand potential customers. That is whopping prospective revenue for you!

As you continuously create marketing strategies to increase your customer reach, you should also include web security in your plan. Have you heard about the Google Security update that was released in October 2017? The security update requires all websites to run using an SSL Certificate. You might have heard about this security update, but the question is, have you decided to contact SSL Experts? When you use an SSL Certificate for your website, you get tons of benefits.

EVERYTHING YOU

Need to Know about SSL

Don't go without this in-depth reading about Secure Sockets Layer and more ways to protect your content!

Download our FREE book that will explain in details what SSL does and how it will help your business. In this comprehensive guide, you will explore 5 chapters on how you can protect yourself.



Download Here

everything you need to know about SSL

What are the benefits you get

from using an SSL Certificate?

Customer Confidence

Protects Sensitive Information

Layer of Authentication

A Trusted Website

Here are some compelling reasons why it is essential to start using an SSL Certificate.

First, you build customer confidence.

Your customers would like to transact business with a company that uses an additional security layer. When your site uses an SSL Certificate, your customers see a green lock icon before your web address, or they see a message that indicates that your website is secure.

Once your customers see this secure message, they feel confident in doing business with your company. Your customers know that when they share their personal information to your website, it is protected and will not be easily hacked by cybercriminals.

Second, it protects sensitive information.

This benefit is connected with the above advantage. The main reason why a website needs an SSL Certificate is to keep sensitive or confidential data protected from any hackers. When classified information is sent across the internet without encrypting it, these data can be easily intercepted by cybercriminals. With an SSL certificate, you and your customers get the assurance that whatever you share on the internet, it remains protected.

Third, it adds another layer of authentication.

Aside from encrypting data, you also want to make sure that you are communicating with the right server. Keep this in mind; some hackers can imitate your website. They can quickly create a website that looks the same as yours. If this happens, your customers are sharing information with an imposter. With SSL, it helps create an authentication process, confirming that you are the legitimate business.

Fourth, your site becomes a trusted website.

When Google sees that your site is using an SSL Certificate, you get its nod of approval. You become a site that can be trusted, and in turn, Google can help promote your business. As simple as that! You want to gain customers and lose them!

These are the significant benefits that you get from using an SSL Certificate. Just a word of advice, it will be best to start securing your site with an SSL Certificate if you want to still be in the competition.

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