Web Development Trends For 2018

Trends in web development move forward extremely quickly. So much so that change is truly the only constant. CodePlateau an award-winning web development company in India ventures a guess to what could be the web development trends for 2018. We try to include in this list what we believe to be the upcoming development trends based on market behavior and what we have observed. Without further ado, here they are

Web Development Trends of 2018:

Functional Programming with Javascript improvements

Javascript has been a popular programming language for a while now. Only recently has it received quite stiff competition from React by Facebook. With the advent of functional programming improvements in Javascript, there seems to be more support for Javascript. Even if we look at the Trends for the past year we can see that Javascript is still a more popular term as compared to react. Functional Programming (FP) is the process of building software based on fundamental principles by composing pure functions. It is relatively easier than object-oriented coding as per most programmers. In 2018, Functional Programming especially benefits from the recent Javascript improvements such as ES6 and ES7.

New Players in Town

While VueJS is technically not a new player, it has been gaining prominence only in 2018. Created in 2014 by Evan You, Vue is a fast and lightweight script. Angular JS is backed by Google while React JS is backed by Facebook. Vue though is an independent open source project. Its creator was working on this as a side project and has recently been focusing on marketing and maintaining the open source project. What makes Vue a growing trend in 2018 is that it is now being used by a lot of major companies in China such as AliBaba, Expedia, Nintendo and more. It has also grown tremendously since it first began as it now boasts 20 people on its team.

Progressive Web Apps

Progressive web apps are web apps with the functionality and design of mobile apps. The idea is to create an app-like experience on web pages or websites. Although mobile apps are very relevant for businesses it might not be for all businesses due to cost considerations. Progressive web apps are worthy alternatives to choose. Since 2016 we have seen the popularity of progressive web app increasing rapidly. We figure 2018 will finally be the year for progressive web apps to burst into the mainstream.

Blockchain Technology

Ever since bitcoin blew up to unprecedented prices everyone seems to have become an expert in blockchain technology. It might be a little bit too late to say that blockchain is going to be a trend in 2018 as it has already accumulated a large following. A large number of companies are looking forward to incorporating blockchain technology in their industry. The blockchain is a method of collective data storage. Transactions in blockchains work without intermediaries. Since the transactions are verified using complex algorithms using a large number of computers it is seemed to be relatively safer.

Internet Of Things

Imagine a global network of appliances connected to each other using resources in the most efficient manner possible. That is what internet of things is trying to achieve. Although there are smaller home appliances using IoT, large multinationals are thinking of ways to utilize the development trend to improve efficiency.

 

CodePlateau is one of the best web development agencies in India. We are constantly on the lookout for the best web development trends that could become huge in the future as we like to stay on top of things. We believe in providing our customers with websites and web application development solutions in India that stay relevant for long periods of time. If you are interested in any of our services, let us know. Drop a message and we’ll get back to you soon.

Tips To Choose The Best Web Hosting Provider

You’ve got a fantastic business idea for which you’re thinking about building a website. You get in touch with the best web design and development agency in India – CodePlateau and the first thing they ask you is what kind of web hosting services will you be opting for? You’re not quite sure how to respond because you hadn’t really given it any thought. CodePlateau has witnessed this event on several occasions and to help you all out, has published a list of tips to help you select a web hosting service that meets your requirement.

What Is Web Hosting?

All sites on the internet are hosted on a server. Large corporations have their own servers on which they host their websites, because they can afford to and because they would like to keep control of their website at all times. Businesses that cannot buy and keep up a line of servers for their own websites normally purchase web hosting space from a website hosting provider. Your web hosting service is an important part of your website development.

Tips To Pick The Best Web Hosting Service:

Understand Your Needs

Website hosting is crucial because it controls the upkeep of your website. Your web host provider should be decided on the amount of traffic you expect on your website. For small websites, a shared server is usually enough to keep the website running. Websites whose pages run into the hundred thousand should consider getting an own server or slightly more server space if you want it to keep from crashing.

Find Out How Much Space Your Website Will Require

Your web development agency will be able to give you a rough idea about the web hosting space you will require handling the website properly. A heavier site with multiple requests will require a larger server space as compared to a smaller site. Ideally, the website should have all the functionality built into a small design. If you over pack the website and pick a smaller server your site will have a lot of downtimes which would impact the way your customers see your business. So choose wisely, have a word with your website development team if necessary.

Don’t Always Go For The Cheap Or Free Option

Although it can be very tempting to opt for the free hosting services, it is not always the best idea. Although you may shave some costs initially it will end up costing you in the long run. Find out what kind of services you actually need. How the website hosting providers price their products and then make the decision about which provider to go with. Picking a free website hosting provider might end up giving you a bad reputation with your customers because of the downtime your website faces.

Pick A Host With An Upgradable Option

How do you visualize your business growing? Have you made provisions for your websites growth as well? When picking a hosting service you have to choose someone with whom you can grow as well. You may not require all the services they offer at present but what about in a years’ time? Switching hosts can be extremely troublesome so right from day one pick a provider that has scalable options. Better servers, more space, more speed.

 

If you have any questions regarding web hosting services your website design and development company in India should be able to assist you. CodePlateau has a proud tradition of always helping out all their clients with whatever queries they might have. We believe in a collaborative work effort for success. If you would like to inquire about our services, give us a call or leave your details and we’ll get back to you shortly.

Importance Of Whitespace In Web Design

Most websites suffer from information overload. Line after line of text that blends into each other after a point, making the information verbose. For this reason whitespace in web design an important element that needs to be used. Your web design team needs to work with a well-established plan to ensure they know exactly how to draw attention to vital parts on your website. Viewer attention is difficult to hold for long as it is, whitespace plays a very important role in guaranteeing that even if your audience skims through the information on your website they know exactly where to look.

What Is Whitespace In Web Design?

Whitespace is also referred to as negative space. It’s the part of your web page that is left unmarked or blank. This forms the gaps between the graphics, different idea concepts on a blog, margins spaces. Whitespace is any space on the website that left blank. When used correctly, Whitespace can transform a website. The focus on web designers is to try and get as much targeted customer on page time as it can by delivering a great product to the client.

 

Why Is WhiteSpace Important?

We have discussed the fact that white space is important in web design, but we have not yet discussed why that is. Let’s take a closer look.

Greater Interaction:

Research shows that whitespace increases by almost 20% by removing distractions around objects on your website you want to draw attention to. We can use whitespace effectively by providing a natural flow to our web page. Higher the interaction visitors will have with your website the better for your business it is.

Call To Action Buttons:

CTA’s are extremely important to websites. It provides an action for the visitors to make. To ensure success for your business you have to make sure to properly highlight the CTA buttons. There are several ways of highlighting the CTA button. One method is by surrounding the buttons with whitespace.

Better Content Visibility:

Although your content might have excellent structure and logical flow none of it will be visible to your site visitors without the proper use of whitespace. Whitespace provides more legibility to your content by providing timely breaks for the eyes to rest before moving to the next thought. Content, especially quotes can be highlighted separately by surrounding them in a whitespace box.

Improves Visibility:

Making the web page tidier using white space makes it more attractive to your audience. It improves the visibility of the different elements of your website. White spaces also make for a more efficient and impressive website. Whitespace is especially important because it indicates finesse and ingenuity. Whitespace does not necessarily mean space has to be white in color, you just need to leave it blank. This provides you with an opportunity to play with color themes on your site making it fun and elegant.

The challenge in using white space

Most businesses see whitespace as a waste of useful resources. We have met with several clients who would prefer to cover every inch of their website with some form of text or the other. Sales driven clients who do not understand the concept of design well, argue hard to cover as much of their web page space with ads if possible.

 

CodePlateau is one of India’s leading web design and development companies. CodePlateau has years of experience in dealing with both national as well as international clients. If you are looking for the ultimate solution in web design and development in India at affordable rates get in touch for a free consultation and quote for our services.

Should you use a one-page website for your business?

In an age of drastically reduced attention spans, thanks to social media, cell phones, and widespread Internet access, retaining customer attention is an immense challenge. This is where a scroll-friendly single page web design makes a difference. Here’s a reality check on single page websites:

Do You Need A One-Page Website?

Single page websites work best for an industry or subject that requires the use of limited text. An infinite scroll website template is great for brand building and initial customer queries. Showcasing your portfolio on a separate one-page site isn’t a bad idea either. A new product, app or service launch can make a cool publicity campaign on a single page template. If you intend customers to recognize your brand name, and a few important keywords, a one-page site makes a groovy, dynamic, online visiting card for your business.

Small businesses that need to quickly summarize all details for their customers can do with one. Organizers of events, conferences, weddings, annual festivals, seminars, are other ideal 1-page website users.

But it’s not like big businesses can’t use a single web page to their advantage. If you are into graphic design, film, architecture, web app, photography or a hotel business, a single page website can effectively reflect your company mood and creative side. Dazzling fonts, colors, animations and graphics can result in awe-inspired designs and induce a wow factor.

The SEO Factor

A one-page website may not be ideal from an SEO point of view. Limited content can’t fit in a lot of keywords on a single page. There is a limit to the volume of search traffic that can be directed to the website. It’s not a lost cause though. In-depth SEO keyword research, posting highly relevant content, creating distinct content segments, using anchor links, embedding backlinks, and using analytics can help boost single page website traffic. Even though you have a single page website, you definitely need to create paginated blocks on your website to help with your website do better on search engines. As your web development team that also provide digital marketing services, we can definitely provide you with better solutions on how to improve your websites search engine optimization.

User Experience 2.0

One-page website design helps you focus the user attention to relevant content. Users no longer read information now; they scan text. Readers are now more likely to scroll down a single page, rather than browse through many website pages. A one-page template is also more mobile friendly, ensuring a more leisurely content browsing experience. Many social media websites have a one page home page scrolling section which then links to other articles. Facebook can be considered as a good example of a website that has a single page scrolling. Similarly so does Twitter.

At the same time, continuous scrolling can put off many users if the content is verbose and daunting to read. Applying clever website design solutions can help you surpass these problems and make it user-friendly.

Design Solutions

Use sticky menus to ensure that the user doesn’t have to scroll to view a particular section of content. Have a return-to-top button for easier navigation. We definitely provide you with excellent solutions in case you need an infinite scroll webpage. In case of multiple-page content, use a single home page template that has the navigation elements to support multiple blog and article postings.

CodePlateau is one of the premier web design and development companies in India. We plan and execute our design strategies with the utmost commitment. I hope the information shared helps you take a decision about whether to go to a single page website.

Best Usability Testing Tools – Better UX

As one of the leading website design and development agency in India, we have to constantly be on our toes. Things can change in the blink of an eye and we have to be light-footed to be able to adapt to those changes. When we work on design and development elements for our clients it’s essential to have all the features thoroughly tested before we put them into production. Testing not only lets you know what elements of the design are successful but tell us what we can change to make improvements from real users of the products.

There are several excellent testing tools out there which we use on a regular basis that helps us refine our user experience levels. See if these tools are as beneficial to you as they are to us:

Best Usability Testing Tools For UX

Optimizely:

Optimizely is a great usability testing tool that uses machine learning to provide better results for your analysis. Not only can your track visits and conversions on websites, it also allow you to track user experience on mobile apps, TV apps as well as full stack apps. Optimizely is not a free tool although you can use a trial version for free for 30 days.

5 Second Test:

This tool requires a little bit of input from your end. You need to start with basic questions you would like answered about your website or application. Send the test out to your focus group. When they open the testing tool they get to look at the website and once they’re done, they are requested to submit a test which takes 5 seconds to complete. The better the questions you ask, the more relevant your answers. Most website designers use this test to figure out what was the most eye-catching detail about the website and use these hints to improve not only their design but their user experience.

TryMyUI:

If you do not have the right group to test your user interface no worries. You can use the services of companies like TryMyUI, where they provide you with a pool of candidates to try out your website and provide feedback on the same. It also provides you with the necessary reports like heatmaps, mouse clicks, keystrokes etc. This tool has a monthly subscription but provides you with the first month for free.

Crazy Egg:

Crazy egg is another excellent resource for testing user experience. It provides it users with a heat map of the general pattern followed by the customers. Heat maps provide you with a better indication of where the customers are looking and give an insight into placing the call to action buttons at the right place. If you are looking to answers to come common questions like:

  • Where do people get stuck?
  • Where users click on your website?
  • What are they looking for?
  • What’s making your visitors leave?
  • Where do they want to go?

 

These are all important elements of your design and user experience. Crazy egg helps you answer those questions.

There are several such tools that web design companies in India such as CodePlateau use to enhance the user experience. Usabilla, Qualaroo, UserFeel, ClickHeat, ClickTale are just a few other usability testing tools that are highly recommended.

CodePlateau best web design and development agency in India is not only committed to providing visually stunning websites but websites that have the most intuitive feel. Great user experience is appreciated by all and understanding how to make it better is what we do. If you are in the market for some really top-notch web design services in India, get in touch today.

App Advertising Secrets No One Told You About

Since app advertising was such a large business many spurious app developers had published apps on the play store. Google fairly recently announced that it took action against “bad” apps in the play store and deleted more than 7,00,000 apps as well as removed over 1,00,000 developer accounts from the play store. This was with regard to the apps that violated their terms and conditions. Being the best app development agency in Pune, we never had any fear of such a thing affecting us. However, due to the action from Google, it now seems like businesses are hesitant to build apps for their businesses.

This is surely a big mistake on the business end. We have written extensively about why a mobile application is absolutely necessary for a business. In that blog, we talked briefly about the advertising potential of mobile applications and how it can have a monetary advantage to your business.

Let’s have a look at the app advertising secrets in more detail:

Different Mobile App Advertising Models:

Freemium Apps:

This is a pretty popular model. Part of your app is available to the users for free at all times. However, there are some features that are available to the users only after they buy the application from the play store. This is a great business model for any business that has an essential feature that no other app can adequately replicate. Larger organizations have been using this approach to sell their software as well

In-App Purchases:

Another method of gaining income from apps these days is to make in-app purchases possible. Users can pay for upgrades for the app content within the app itself. This is a popular method especially for games to make money from. Normally users of an app will purchase in-game bonus features to get an advantage in the game over their opponents.

In-App Ads:

This is classic advertising strategy. While you provide the app for free, you provide advertisers with a platform to advertise on your app. The ads will either be in the form of a banner or an no skip video.

Paid Apps:

There are certain apps that themselves are a source of income for the business. Paid apps are sold to users with the promise that they serve a function that is not adequately resolved by any other program in the app store or play store. People would be willing to pay for the apps in order to seemingly make their lives slightly less cumbersome.

Sponsorship Model:

This business model utilizes advertising in the app to reward the user for engaging with the app. This is also a popular method of receiving revenue from the app.

These app advertising business models are used in conjunction with each other or in isolation to provide the businesses with an additional revenue stream. To most large organization the revenue streams from the apps are all that is supporting the business, for others the revenue from the apps is just a drop in the ocean.

Irrespective it becomes extremely important for a business to have an app to constantly remind the users about the organization and provide additional marketing emphasis and branding opportunities for companies.

Why Pick CodePlateau As Your App Development Agency?

CodePlateau is one of the leading iOS and Android App Development Company in Pune. We have worked with several large organizations to build native apps for various in-house processes. We always ensure to work within the framework and guidelines set by Apple and Google to ensure that any app we build fully adheres to the rules set by them. If you would like to know more about our mobile app development process, costing structure please do get in touch. We provide you with a free consultation and we can take the conversation forward from there.