If you’re a digital publisher, design is a key factor in determining success – here are some tips to help boost your game
As websites become more and more sophisticated, the look and feel of portals has become slicker but it many cases more confusing as media companies attempt to use every trick, tool, and toy they can to impress visitors, retain traffic, and convert consumers. This is understandable, and sometimes it even works! Recently, however digital magazines have stripped some of the bells and whistles away, as publisher design has moved toward simplicity.
As Business2Community points out in one of their articles we cite in this post, Steve Jobs said “Design is not just what it looks like. Design is how it works.”
We couldn’t agree more, which is why the Mequoda Method favors clean, straightforward publisher design for our Members. To start off the week, we’re sharing some relevant advice from our helpful friends at Business2Community!
Publisher Design Trends to Pay Attention To
Among Business2Community’s 11 noteworthy design trends are minimalism, flatness, Pinterest-like grids, background images and videos, interactivity, infinite scroll (which has gotten some pushback when it comes to publisher design), and mobile-first responsive design.
“I think we’ve all at least heard of responsive design. If you’re not sure what it is, responsive design is how to code and layout a web page so it looks good on all devices. If your website is not using a responsive design by now, it should be. … But there’s also a thing called adaptive content. This is basically making text and images and other content assets adjust to different devices. That usually means text length and image size, but there are other options, too,” Pam Neely writes.
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“We’ve all talked and written a lot about responsive design, but I think we’re only beginning to move into creating adaptive content. One of the biggest ideas in current web design is to no longer create a design first and then make the content fit into it. Instead, you take the content you have and create a design that complements it.”
… and Publisher Design Trends to Lay to Rest
But how about the 8 trends that are on their last legs? According to Business2Community, they include autoplay videos and music, mobile-only site, overuse of parallax, modals, and splash pages.
Plus, Tips for Optimizing eCommerce Website Design
Ecommerce content strategy is on the rise among publishers, so it’s good to know that there are some best practices emerging in ecommerce website design.
For Business2Community, they include simplifying navigation, producing unique and timely content, and developing large-width responsive layouts.
Still Need Help? Suggestions on Hiring a Publisher Design Agency
Finally, there’s no shame in outsourcing your publisher design. Some qualities to look for, according to Business2Community: Don’t always go with the lowest bid; see what other services they can offer, or at least whether they’re conversant in SEO, security, and maintenance; and insist on weekly check-ins.
How’s your publisher design acumen? Hopefully a little better than it was before! But if you’re looking for some more feedback, contact us today.
To read more publisher design news, visit Businesss2Community.com.
