Wanna rack up sales?

1. Improve your website.
2. Get some traffic.
3. Hire people to do it if you can’t.

That’s why businesses are seeking an SEO company capable of meeting their demands and needs. However, optimization isn’t only for websites. It also applies to businesses.

How exactly does SEO affect how business works?

1. Companies have to consider expenses for online presence.

GIPHY

Some social media accounts are free but making it tailor fit for business involves costs. The same goes for creating a website. Some platforms offer free hosting, but it’s tacky and makes you look unprofessional. Getting your domain is better because then, it will be your own.

Besides setting up the online presence, there are services to consider.

• Who will set up the website?
• Is there anyone in the company capable of handling it?

Think of design, content, SEO and other back-end technicalities. Some tools can be found online and downloaded for free. But if there’s no one with the skills to perform the task, get someone to do it.

2. They have to account for the virtual and physical customers.

GIPHY

Businesses now have a bigger audience because of online presence. At the same time, they have to consider the customers they have in stores. Customers will have different personalities and traits online and offline. Hence, the approach to gain their trust and entice them to subscribe to the product or service will vary.

There should be a target audience, and they have to be online – in the case of digital marketing. If the targeted audience is passive and unresponsive, it will be troublesome especially if you are after conversion. Therefore, there should be a strategy on how to engage the online audience and real-time customers.

Other than the customers’ behavior, it is important to remember the Web is much larger than a shopping mall. There are distractions all over so it’s a must optimize your website and its contents to get ahead in the game [or sales].

3. There is content marketing.

GIPHY

 Content marketing is different from SEO, but they go like bread and butter.

SEO is the technicalities of the search engine. Content marketing is the practical application of SEO method – keywords.

Content marketing involves the production of high-quality content using the target keywords. An impressive content helps immensely in link building. When a popular page uses the published content as a link, it’s guaranteed to rank the source’s website on the search engine results page  (SERP). Consistently producing fresh content is also part of content marketing. New and updated content publishing will help the website boost its SERP ranking.

Without content, there’s no use for SEO.

4. The need to create a unique experience.

GIPHY

Customer experience and expectations are different in physical stores and online catalogs.

All the senses are engaged in a shop. They can see, touch, feel, smell and taste the product or service in an instant. But online, the experience is limited. It’s all in the head. Imagination fuels the fantasy and perception are two-dimensional.

There is also delayed gratification.

Upon purchasing an item in a store, the customer is immediately satisfied. It will take a few days or more to have the same experience when buying online.

Consequently, the experience of printed and online materials also differ. Both traditional and digital marketing offers a fantasy by stimulating the imagination. The marketing approaches also use different platforms thus the marketing plan must be tailored to enhance the experience. The approach is costly and will take time for careful consideration and planning.

Businesses should find the balance between catering to customers and users, aiming for their goals and objectives, and optimizing their website. The latter is a tool for their mission and objectives. If they combine their goals with user experience, queries, and needs, the workload becomes less. SEO is a business game changer, but the game changes when creativity is involved.

The post SEO is a Business Game Changer appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

UPDATES

San Miguel had already sold its 700 MHz spectrum to Globe and PLDT

Globe and PLDT started using the spectrum earlier this month

Both are planning to roll out the activation of the 200 cell sites progressively

If there is one thing the Philippines is notoriously known for that would be its slow Internet connection. Foreigners loathe such, having experienced super-fast Internet in their and other countries. It is even dubbed as the worst Internet service in Asia.

Do you ever wonder why the Internet in the country is so slow? We do.

Reasons for slow Internet

Infrastructure

An archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, having fixed networks continues to be a real challenge among service providers – current and would-be entrants. Not to mention, a duopoly exists wherein the available infrastructure is controlled by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. and Globe Telecom Inc.

Internet peering is not possible because of this, which is another factor for the slow broadband services. PLDT charges other providers for traffic riding on its networks.

Yet another issue we can look at is the fact that the Philippines has 15,000 cell sites. Not a lot, especially when compared to our neighboring countries. Indonesia has 76,477; Vietnam has 55,000; Thailand has 52,483 and even Bangladesh has 27,000 cell sites. Thereby, the telcos (telecommunications companies) are working based on what is available to them.

With all these, network modernization will certainly help. Additional cell sites will build more capacity, for example. But, the future might be bleak considering the billions of pesos required to support such an ambitious plan.

Not to mention the red tape involved at the local government units as well as the indignation of the militant groups who often respond through burning cell sites. For a telco to build a cell site, it needs to secure about 25 permits prior to approval. The actual construction of the cell site takes about 8 months, too.

Technology

DSL still proliferates in the country instead of the faster technology FTTH or fiber-to-the-home. In 2015, only 2% of the connections in the country were FTTH and the rest was DSL. Indeed, adoption of other more advanced technologies such as 4G-LTE. The majority of subscriptions are still 2G and 3G.

Cost

Despite being a relatively poor country, the Filipinos need to pay around $60 a month for high-speed broadband services. That’s even higher than what people pay in the US. Thus, Internet service is considered as a luxury by the locals.

For all one knows, only the wealthy and mid to upscale establishments can afford it. It’s one of the slowest services in the world and yet it is also one of the most expensive more than three times the global average. We are actually paying $18.19 per Mbps when the global average is only $5.21!

Anyhow, mobile providers offer free data on a daily basis although the connection is limited to Facebook and other social media sites. But, for sure, this is not enough.

The future President’s mandate

Evidently, the reasons are diverse and they come from all directions. And, the fact that the negotiations between San Miguel Corporation and Telstra had been terminated in March 2015 due to undisclosed reasons. It could have been the only hope for a faster Internet and it’s all gone now.

So, yes, there is hope. The Presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte himself warns the telcos provide better Internet services to the users or they will face foreign competition.

Conceivably, the giant telcos welcomed the challenge, citing that they too have strategic plans on how they themselves can improve their services.

For the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), nevertheless, the government should also do its part. It should support building more fiber optics and base stations. Infrastructure must be prioritized particularly in those areas without any connectivity at all.

Whether we will experience a fast Internet connection in the future is still uncertain. Let’s be hopeful! That’s one thing we can do now. The other? Put pressure on the government to keep its promise of providing us the Internet connectivity we deserve. We’ll see…

The post UPDATED: Why the Internet in the Philippines is So Slow? appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Digital is inescapable; it’s either you jump into the bandwagon or you lag behind the competition. Unfortunately, only a very few of the local brands have a digital presence. If they do, these are purely concentrated on the social media – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. There is nothing completely wrong with this. In fact, it is commendable on a country where the nationals spend more than 53 hours per week socializing on these platforms.

For emphasis, did you know that about 63% of all Filipinos think more positively about a brand with profiles on social networking sites? Filipinos join brand communities for three main purposes namely 1) learning more about a particular brand (92%), 2) getting advance news about the brand and its products or services (88%), and 3) sharing brand appreciation with other people (85%).

Let’s trace experiences in relation to local brands’ effort to implement a digital marketing strategy.

Disclaimer

The following accounts is the first-hand experience of the writer. It doesn’t, in anyhow, attempt to mud-sling any of the mentioned brands; it is not the goal. Rather, the goal is to determine how the local brands, through these examples, are mapping out their digital strategies.

The oh so good experience

Such experience came as a surprise. Presumably, all KFC branches have announcements regarding the survey at the counters. You may not notice the announcements at first although discerning consumers will surely regard them. The uninitiated may only pay attention upon looking at the receipt. Here’s an example:

Hitting two birds with one stone

The KFC survey is very applaudable because of the double win. First, it gets people to share their experiences online 3 days after the purchase in exchange of a free gift. Second, the people can only get their hands on the free gift if they make another purchase and it is only valid for 14 days.

[Based on the receipt, it is valid for 14 days from the date of visit although it didn't include any information whether from the date of the visit on the store or from the date of the visit on the site. There might be a bit of confusion here, and a first concern for me.]

Another concern

Upon presenting the receipt with the validation code, the cashier just looked at it, get the free gift, which is a brownie, by the way, and handed back the receipt and the gift. While a free KFC brownie is always appreciated, there is no sort of validation on the part of KFC.

Anyone may write a five-digit validation code so they can get their hands on the freebie. The cashier didn’t even write the validation code on a logbook the way they would do when a consumer buys with a discount card (i.e. senior citizen’s ID).

What if 20 KFC patrons presented an accomplished receipt? That means 20 brownies less the inventory, and the staff will be questioned for the missing items. No, you cannot just say 20 people walked in and presented their receipts. Where’s the proof? Where’s the documentation? That’s the loophole.

Yet another concern

Another thing, in the Facebook announcement, again, while freebies are always welcome, there is no brownie in the picture. Yes, that’s a minor concern, but this is another loophole – the lack of synergy.

For someone who already saw the survey announcement on Facebook, he or she would know what to expect when he or she goes to the store to redeem the free gift.

There is a complaint on Facebook. Here’s a screenshot.

To be fair, we didn’t experience such a problem when inputting the unique survey ID on the field. It would feel really good if KFC will address the issue immediately.

Side note: KFC is on Facebook since 2010. KFC updates its page at least once every day.

The forg-otto-ble experience

Moving forward, this experience also came as a surprise, but not necessarily in a good way. The order was made on September 20th. Here’s the screenshot.

Because there is no email received from Otto regarding whether the orders are ready for pickup or not, we decided to drop by at the nearest store, the pickup location. It was already September 25th.

Long story short, upon presenting the printed order receipt, the staff got confused. They thought we are just confirming if the items are available so we can make a purchase if these are available. They got more confused and suspicious when we told them that the items are already paid online through their website.

One of the staffs quipped, “Ano’ng website? (What website?)” We did what every good digital native would do – inform them that yes, Otto has a website and you can order items through the site and choose the pickup store option to pick up the purchased items on the chosen branch.

So, the Store Manager, we supposed, called another branch and ask how they should proceed because it was the first time that they’ve encountered a customer who purchased items online. When the Store Manager got back to us, she said that the person she talked to has never encountered an online purchase as well. Uh-oh.

My concern

It’s not the fault of the staff. They shouldn’t be blamed because they shouldn’t be blamed. They are not even aware that their company has a [or had (re)launched its; not sure about this] website.

Don’t get me wrong because the staffs are so accommodating and friendly while on the store and thereafter. The Store Manager sent me an SMS after 3 days that the items are ready for pickup. We had to replace one item and the Store Manager guided us on how to return the item.

For Otto, the only question is if you can invest to rebrand, paying Coco Martin as your endorser, how much would it cost to invest in your people? An email will do, telling your people that ‘Hey, we have a new website. Do check it out!’

Evidently, onboarding is not in Otto’s vocabulary. The staffs at the Antipolo store are so amazing so, don’t make them look stupid (apologies for the lack of a more appropriate term) in the eyes of your customers.

Side note: Otto is on Facebook since 2014. Otto updates its page at least once a day.

The key takeaways

1) Synergy

When tying traditional with digital, make sure that all the aspects are the same. It is part of branding that is ingrained to the very purpose of going online. As such, anything you post on your Facebook page establishes expectations that form the reasons why people choose to buy from you and not from your rivals.

When you deviate from those expectations, it may backfire. And the emotional connection established initially will dwindle. A lack of synergy may not necessarily lead to losing that customer’s loyalty. However, this is a possibility especially with the gradual emotional disconnection.

Keep on forming expectations and deviating from those and you will realize the eventual disconnection and thus the loss of loyalty.

2) Onboarding

In light of digitalization, getting the people on the same page is critical. Organizational members can only be effective when they understand what’s going on particularly on the processes.

Digitalization comes with new roles and responsibilities. Each of your employees needs to learn their new roles to be efficient. Without role clarification, they will feel incapable of performing their new responsibilities.

These are just the author’s experiences and two cents.

Source: ThinkItCreative | GMA Network

The post Jumping Into the Digital Marketing Bandwagon appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

We, as users, are after the usability of the website. Did you know, however, that there are people who work hard just to make sure that all the overall design, as well as all the functions and features of a website, is working well? Yes, these are the web designers and developers. If, for users, web design is all about how the site looks, for developers, it is a completely different story although the goal is making any website as user-friendly as possible.

What developers are actually doing

If there is one thing that separates the developers from the users that is the former finds ways to solve the latter’s problems. Developers narrow the gap between the users and the brands through uncovering issues that prevent a specific brand in realizing its full potential digitally. Solving business problems while providing users the experience they deserve is no easy feat, but someone has got to do the job.

During meetings, there is one agenda in the mind of a developer. This is not about discussing the project in terms of requirements and specifications. Instead, the developers are after knowing what the challenges the brand currently experiences and how they can address these challenges through design. It is about knowing the roadblocks of penetrating the digital world successful. This is true whether a brand is just thinking of building its own website or planning to redesign the existing one.

How design helps overcome challenges

1) Creating a digital identity

True enough, a website is the extension of the brand online. Easier for any developer to create a website from scratch or redesign one when there are existing marketing collateral from the logo down to the letterhead. There should be synergy and consistency wherein what a user sees in your office or store must be also seen in your site. Not literally though. These means your logo, key graphics, and key colors, among others, to show integration. In this way, the users will not be confused. They will know from the time they enter your site that it belongs to your brand.

Developers understand that the website cannot deviate from the brand’s identity. This is especially true for brands that are already existing outside the digital world even before they decide to hire developers to build their website. For redesign projects, eliminating weak points to emphasize the strong points is the necessary next step. The current website must be examined to determine if there is a consistent theme or whether the right fonts, colors, images, etc. are being used. This brings us to the second item.

2) Communicating the digital identity

Along with theme consistency, developers need to make sure that the elements in the website are talking to the right audience. Does the site use the appropriate wordings and relevant graphics? What if the elements are repositioned? Will it create a much stronger dialogue with the brand’s intended audience if the graphics are emphasized?

Decidedly, the developers will step into the process of building your website so that they themselves would understand the needs of your target audience. They will go through the process of understanding your target audience’s thought processes when visiting your website – may it be an old or new website.

Developers decide on specific things such as how the overall design flows, which elements attract the user’s sight the most and the least and how useful the navigation. The decisions, however, is based on how particular elements (i.e. background image, font types, colors of the call to action buttons, etc.) work together. It is through the combination of these elements the site will be able to communicate effectively to its intended audience. This brings us to the third item.

3) Speaking to diverse audiences

Speaking of the right audience, designers and developers are well-aware how diverse the audience segmentation is. Also, depending on the brand’s digital strategy, the website may target more than one audience, but with equally diverse factors.

A perfect example is a brand that targets both direct buyers and dealers. These audiences have competing needs hence it is rather easy to dilute that message for each if the website itself provides no clear boundaries which information is for who. A perplexing website has an inherent risk of excluding an important audience segment that is critical in the brand’s sustainability.

Thus, the job of the developers is to organize the processes for each target audience. For instance, there should be separate login forms for the buyers and the dealers or separate links for partners, stakeholders, and sponsors. This entails careful research on the part of the developers, asking questions and uncovering the brand’s goals for each target audience.

So, what’s the secret?

Ultimately, designing solutions is not without difficulties. The process is also time-consuming. Nevertheless, the most critical part of the process is listening. Listening and reading between the lines are the key getting to the core of every issue. There are instances when the brand owners and representatives themselves have no idea what the problem is. They just know and feel it intuitively thus they often don’t understand the root of the problem.

For developers, listening takes more than just listening to what the clients and perhaps, users are saying. They also have to listen and take a cue from how it was being said and what has not been said. Developers can only build a cohesive digital strategy and speak to the audience once they understand the breadth and depth of the issue through emphatic listening. It is only through this that the best solutions are created.

Image credit: HipGloss.com

The post Solving A Brand’s Most Daunting Business Problems Through Design appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Have you ever encounter an eye-catching offer online? Do you believe it? Now, have you been tricked by a tempting offer online? Good for you, if you haven’t encountered these tricky ads online yet. For some, however, these are their worst nightmare. A digital marketing agency Philippines can only inform and remind us users to be careful of these online scammers.

Of course, who would say no to tempting offers that seemed to be created for us? Sometimes, they are hard to resist hence some people grab the chance and avail the offer without any hesitations. Perhaps, these people are carried away by their emotions knowing that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; these offers are rare.

Clever are the scammers, they know how to lure online customers to act on their offers. How can you avoid them? Well, knowing the tactics of these online customers would definitely help. Here are some of these dirty tactics.

They ask for payments (fees) BEFORE disclosing details about the deal

The standard procedure of any transaction – be it online or offline – is showing the customer the product (the offer), deciding whether to purchase it or not, signing a contract and then, paying for the product or service. Documents including receipts are intended for legal purposes since they serve as proofs of the authenticity of the transaction.

Online scammers will usually ask for the payment first before showing you the special offer. Sometimes, they will show you the offer but they will ask you to send the payment first before they will demonstrate the product. They will even offer you some add-ons if you pay now. It is a big no-no to give anyone a payment without understanding the pros and cons of the offer and without knowing what you are actually paying for.

As a paying customer, you need to be very particular when it comes to money matter. After all, this is your hard-earned money that should be spent wisely. You have to think twice and double check the credentials of the company or individual behind the offer so your money will not be wasted.

They ask – almost forcing – you to wire money

Wiring money is the fastest and easiest way of paying for online transactions. You may doubt the process, too, if the merchant is asking you to wire the money from one bank to another especially for overseas transactions. However, it should go through proper channels such as reliable and internationally-recognized payment processors. This is the most legal way of transacting online unlike offline wherein you pay with cash and get a receipt. Online scammers tend to skip these processors.

Online transactions, nevertheless, have receipts too, but you have to make sure to keep the records of it such as in your emails. Proper documentation of the payments made is also possible only if the transaction will go through the proper channels. Print these documents in case you need to dispute the transaction.

They tell you that the product is not available as of the moment

Online scammers will resort to alibis including their supervisors are currently out-of-the-country. Such an excuse will never be reasonable enough for making the customers wait especially after paying for the said product. There should be adequate inventory to match the orders; there should be a steady flow of product supply.

If they don’t have something to present to you, then you have to question their credibility. There are scammers that manufacture a few products, show it to the people and ask for payment before producing the same product they show to the people.

Before making any payment, make sure that the seller has stocks, that the product is ready to be shipped and, ultimately, that the product really exist. Otherwise, you are paying for and waiting for something that you cannot have eventually.

They advertise the same product over again with different names and prices

Usually, there are official ads for an offer. There are times, however, that a manufacturer creates other advertisements for the same product under another name. They do it because their previous customers have already discovered their monkey business.

In some instances, some online merchants are selling older versions of their products and continuously offer the same customer to avail the updated model of the product.

If you’ve noticed that the product is advertised many times under different names and prices, don’t be confused. Leave, chances are, this is a scam.

They don’t have a good company background

As consumers, the SOP should be to checking the background of the company to determine its credibility. It should be complete with credentials so you can identify whether a particular company is a fraud or not.

For one, it should have a website of its own where you can check product details and testimonials, among others. If not a website, it should have a professional-looking page on the preferred social networking site. Anything that signals its willingness to reach out for the potential customers like you.

With that, it is also our responsibility that we should not immediately trust companies that appear to be fraudulent. Trust your guts and values and these will make you avoid problems that might occur later on.

Image credit: PoundstoPocket.co.uk

The post How to Prevent Being Scammed Online appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Here are some of the features that should be evident on a real estate site. Remember that it is all about the user experience (UX).

Disclaimer: We are not talking about a property portal here, but a branded real estate development website.

1) Search

While there are several ways by which a potential client lands to your website, the goal of any consumer is to search for properties to compare and purchase. Of course, they want to see all your listings on different levels (project type, location, and price range, among other filters). The search, which is often termed as ‘Property Finder,’ must be obvious to the user. It should be the first element that the user must see on the homepage.

2) Contact form

Conversion requires strategically placed calls to action that lead to contact forms. That is aside from making your contact details as locatable and clear as possible. Make the calls to action compelling for them to garner clicks. A ‘Reserve Now’ button is hard to ignore. Also, the contact forms should not be intrusive. Perhaps, build credibility first so that it will be easier for you to ask for billing details when the client is ready to reserve, for instance.

3) Layout

Indeed, the homepage is like your virtual reception desk wherein it should be uncluttered. The purpose must be clear to your visitors at first glance. Minimizing err — eliminating bounce rate is your ultimate goal. So, don’t overwhelm the visitors with elements and texts that they will not be looking at or reading. These don’t add up to a great UX. Never include anything that automatically plays – the often unwelcome video, podcast or music.

4) Content

As already mentioned above, there is no need to cramp your homepage with unnecessary contents. Most importantly, update your property selection and include updates on construction of future developments. Users will appreciate the additional information. One way of organizing useful contents is putting a ‘Home Buying Guide’ or FAQ tab that the users can immediately see. Other valuable information can be published on your site’s blog.

5) Link

Putting links on the homepage is inevitable in every real estate website. Think of internal linking as an opportunity for your visitors to explore the site deeper. For one, the menu should be easily comprehensible with obvious navigation to motivate the visitors to explore various pages on the site. Another way to do this is through a sitemap that provides a clearer rundown of the most important pages on your site.

6) Image

A real estate site will not be complete without images of the properties. Sometimes, an image can learn much more than the accompanying description. Not to mention, images of the property and its neighborhood can increase the dwell time of the visitors. Needless to say, images can make the homepage stickier, keeping the visitors engage longer than usual.

It all boils down to the fact that experience matters. As such, any real estate web design must be geared towards creating a great experience for any visitor. Driving users to your site is one thing; making them stay on your site is another. Let this be your guide if you are on the real estate business and you want a website of your own, or you want to redesign your current one.

Image: AvidaLand.com

The post The Best Features of a Real Estate Site’s Homepage appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Examples are provided.

1) Real-life imagery

Pinterest and Instagram had taken the social media communities by storm. Instagram-like photos expanded into various areas of visual design including websites. The majority of the websites that we see these days features real-life photos of people, food and objects. The goal is putting images that appear as authentic and credible as possible.

Interestingly, graphic and web designers are moving into the depiction of real people in real-life scenarios. Visuals are no longer confined to the traditional depiction of models – whites, blondes, slender figure, etc. There is diversity to make the ads, most especially, more believable.

Burt’s Bees Baby

American Eagle Outfitters

Prada

2) Motion graphics

Online videos are so popular nowadays thanks to YouTube and Vimeo and of course, mobile devices. Websites and landing pages are integrated with a flat design, full-screen video background, GIFs or real-object stop-motion graphic.

Yahoo launched its Motion Ads, the advertising format that combines HQ branded images with discreet animations. Through this, Yahoo is able to create high-impact user experiences upon logging in. Google followed suit with its Google Now.

Visit the website to view the graphics.

We Heart Trees

Wistia

3) Flat design

We have seen the best of flat designs in 2013 or so we thought because the trend is still strong this year. In fact, it is not showing any signs of dwindling down. Flat design is backed by minimalism wherein the traditional design techniques such as drop shadows and gradients are minimized.

Flat design is suited for mobile devices. Not to mention, the technique emphasizes the objects and other elements in the website.

Oreo

Aleksandra Kuban

4) Soft pastels

Pantone publishes its color of the year which is radiant orchid (18-3224), leading the pastel color trend for this year. Even the flat websites which embrace bold colors turn into softer hues this year.

Nowadays, not just the websites, print designs with backgrounds, images and fonts among other graphic elements are no longer sporting loud colors.

Every Last Drop

Future of Car Sharing

5) Textured fonts

Before, web designs are usually made from flat fonts, and textured fonts had traditionally been used for print designs. Those are the days because today we see more flat designed sites with textured and even pastel fonts.

Typography designs are used just like images, graphics, videos and illustrations in influencing and conveying identity. Why not? Textured fonts have the capability of pushing the boundaries on normal, 2D designs while also giving new meanings to brands as taken from the typographical point of view.

Church on the Rock

Moustache Me

These are the trends that we have seen so far in terms of image, graphic, illustration, color and typography. These are the trends that we should embrace now because we are going to see more of these in 2015 and beyond.

Further, these are the trends that can elevate the status of your brand. Remember that consumers are constantly exposed to hundreds of advertisements in print, media and digital on a daily basis. Breaking the clutter will be difficult.

Nonetheless, there remains a need to resonate with the prospects and customers. These visual design trends could be the answer since these elements easily catch the attention of the target market.

Variations of these elements continue to creep into the digital marketing strategies of the brands. Why not? These trends proved to be successful for the brands mentioned above. The next online brand success story could be you!

The post 5 Inspiring Visual Design Trends of 2014 appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

1) CSS3 Click Chart

CSS3 Click Chart is more of a reference tool used specifically for CSS3 attributes. The best time to use the tool is when you forget the required order of CSS box-shadow values. The tool shows you the proper way to use specific attributes through a demonstration for each attribute.

2) Spritebox

Spritebox is a system used in generating CSS sprite classes using the WYSIWYG interface. You simply have to upload the sprite image. With the use of the WYSIWYG tool, define and preview each element within the sprite. Lining up the graphics will be easier with the use of this system.

3) CodeKit

CodeKit is a Mac app, making the lives of SASS developers easier. CodeKit compiles the SASS files automatically. It also optimizes the file sizes of the images and reloads the page live while on the browser window.

4) Cloud9 IDE

Cloud9 IDE is an open-source editor mainly used as an online development environment. Cloud9 IDE is used for JavaScript, CSS, HTML, PHP, Java, Ruby and Node.js applications. You are free to write your own extensions for connecting any web-based platforms.

5) Patternizer

Patternizer is a tool that can be used in generating CSS3 stripes or checks through the use of online interfaces. The tool has its own library of available patterns. You can also customize the stripes and checks in terms of the width of gaps, angles and color.

6) XRAY

XRAY is a bookmarklet allowing the interrogation of a page through viewing the box model information regarding the page elements. XRAY must be dragged onto the bar. The next time you view a page, click the icon and then click the page element that requires interrogation. A popup will display the data about that element including its position, basic style and classes and IDs.

7) PrimerCSS

Primer is a web tool that allows pasting HTML into the window directly. Then, it come up with blank CSS on the basis of the classes and IDs used in the pasted HTML. PrimerCSS is for those developers who create their markup first prior to applying styling. What the tool does is to parse the HTML, grab classes and generate empty CSS nodes sets required for developing CSS.

8) CodeAnywhere

CodeAnywhere is an app wherein the users can simply login to access the files. The files you kept open when you logged out will still be open when you login again on the app. CodeAnywhere supports CSS, JavaScript, PHP, HTML and XML.

9) CodePen

CodePen refers to a social code sharing app. This means that frontend codes are created through sharing. Entering CSS, JavaScript and HTML is required before it can display the combined results at the pane beneath. You can save your own Pen and share it. You can also explore other Pens. CodePen is thus a great tool to show off your work, troubleshoot and demonstrate bugs.

10) Opera Mobile Emulator

Opera Mobile Emulator is a program where users can test how the app looks on Opera browsers. The program is available for Max, Linux and Windows users.

11) Adobe Brackets

Adobe Brackets is an editor built on various technologies like CSS, JavaScript and HTML. Brackets provides you with Quick Edit views that, in return, provide context-sensitive access to the contents.

12) HTML5 Boilerplate

HTML5 Boilerplate is a boilerplate template for HTML5 developers. Downloading the latest version is required though.

The list is not exhaustive. Nonetheless, the apps and tools featured above are very helpful for any developer. Meanwhile, if you think an app deserves the spot in this list, let me know.

The post The 12 Best Web Design Apps and Tools to Use appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.