All your prospects are using email. And if you can land well-designed emails in their inboxes, conversions are inevitable.

But that’s where most people mess up. They send low-quality emails only to find spam boxes—not new leads.

This guide will teach you how to create quality emails primed for lead generation.

You’ll learn:

• What email design is
• Why it’s important
• And proven tactics to give your brand the best impression possible

We also share examples to inspire your design.

What is email design?

Email design is the science of creating emails that engage your target audience. In B2B, this means turning prospects into leads and customers.

The importance of email design

Emails shape your prospects’ impression of your brand. If you design them poorly, people will report your messages as spam and move on.

But well-designed emails convert total strangers into loyal customers. Customers can instantly tell the sender is a serious contact who values their time.

Email design best practices

Email is the single most effective channel of B2B outreach when used right.

But good emails don’t happen by accident. Conveying your message effectively requires a strategic approach.

Below, we’ve shared tried-and-true design practices guaranteed to boost your success rates.

Craft attention-grabbing subject lines

33% of people open emails just based on their subject lines.

It’s the first thing your recipients see, in bold font. They look like this:

Email subject lines should earn readers’ attention—not expect it. Here’s how:

• Offer value, enticing people to open
• Don’t use clickbait—be honest with your intentions
• Talk like a human being (not too formally)
• Use as few words as possible

It’s about summarizing the email in a single sentence without being boring. For example:

• “The answer to [pain point]”
• “[Lead’s company] could profit from working with [your company]
• “[Lead’s competitor] struggled with sales. Then we increased inbound by 47%.”

Subject lines promising value tangible value are practically guaranteed to get opened.

Make your pre-headers count

An email’s pre-header is the text shown after the subject line. It acts as a preview of the email’s content.

Pre-headers are the most underrated part of email design. They’re the bridge between reading the subject line and opening the email.

If the subject line interests someone, they’ll read the pre-header. And if that excites them, they’ll open the email.

Here’s how to make pre-headers count:

• Build excitement with enticing text
• Strengthen the subject line, don’t repeat it
• Keep it under 50 characters
• Personalize it without being cheesy

Combined with strong subject lines, great pre-headers make emails irresistible.

Keep It Brief

The average professional gets countless emails each day.

If they open your email and see long-winded paragraphs, they’ll immediately close it and move on. Most people won’t even try to figure out what’s in your email if they can’t skim it.

So instead of writing blog posts, get to the damn point. Tell your readers:

• Who you are
• What you want
• Why they should care

The sweet spot for email length is between 50-125 words. Any longer, and readers will start to tune out.

Be personable (without sounding desperate or fake)

Personalization is crucial for making your emails stand out. Sadly, many think using someone’s name and gushing empty praise counts as personalization.

But it doesn’t—fake personalization only makes things worse.

According to B2B outreach pro-Jessica La, effective personalization is about specificity and tone:

“When you’re specific, you show true care towards strangers—something scarce in the digital world. By bringing up details of an article someone wrote or a comment they made on a post, you show attention to detail.”

But specifics alone won’t stop you from sounding desperate, she warns. “You want to be subtly confident. Here are two examples:

1. ‘I loved the article you wrote about conversational AI. Specifically, on how conversations build rapport and trust—you’re spot on with the retail store assistants.’
2. ‘I loved that piece you wrote about conversational AI! Conversations really build rapport and trust. It’s so true about the retail store assistants!’

Same content, but vastly different tones. Can you sense the difference?”

Stay brand-friendly

Your emails should always reflect your broader brand identity. This means:

• Using the same fonts and colors as anywhere else (website, marketing materials, etc.)
• Keeping the same voice used throughout your other content
• Using an email signature featuring your name, logo, and a call-to-action (CTA).

A quick word on email signatures: most of them are boring. Use a signature creator if you’re serious about branding your emails professionally.

Use visual content

People process images up to 600x faster than text. Adding visuals is the easiest way to make your email stand out.

In the example below, someone added the recipient’s name to a coffee cup in a cold email.

Combining personalization and imagery created an eye-catching email. Even if the recipient isn’t interested in their pitch, they’ll still reply to share a chuckle.

Just make sure to keep images under one megabyte. Otherwise, they’ll take too long to load for many of your readers.

Use impactful header design

Email header design isn’t an exact science—it’s decided by your brand’s style. While some companies prefer fancy graphics, others like a more barebones, personal look.

No matter your style, follow these guidelines for the best performance:

• Add a “view in browser” option. Your graphics might not load correctly in all email clients. Linking to a browser version solves this problem
• Add your company logo. If nothing else, put your logo in your header. It’s the most recognizable part of your brand identity
• Place a promo banner across the top. If your brand’s running a deal, featuring it in your header will get tons of eyes on it

Don’t forget the footer

Many marketers slack on email footer design, thinking nobody scrolls that far down. But that’s a huge mistake—footers are great places for:

• Unsubscribe buttons
• Social proof
• Legal info
• Contact details
• Mission statements
• Blog links
• Social links
• And more

For worker emails (rather than a marketing address), include a signature in the footer. These can feature headshots, social links, promotions, and more.

And thanks to email signature design tools, they’re easier than ever to create.

Format properly

Nobody wants to read giant blocks of text. They overwhelm the reader and make your text impossible to read (no matter how great it is).

Make your emails skim-friendly. Avoid long sentences, use 2-3 sentence paragraphs, and keep vocab at a middle school level.

Proper formatting makes your emails easily digestible. This leads to much higher response rates versus cluttered text.

Use email-friendly fonts

There’s a temptation to use stylish web fonts to stand out in your prospects’ inboxes. But if they fail to load properly in someone’s email, your message is lost.

So instead of risking it, stick to these fonts:

• Helvetica
• Arial
• Verdana
• Georgia
• Trebuchet
• Tahoma
• Lucida
• Times New Roman

If you need to use custom fonts for brand purposes, make sure it falls back to one of the above choices.

Don’t use emojis

Emojis can ruin emails, despite popular belief.

In a recent Nielson study, participants responded to email subject lines with emojis and without them. The result: emoji emails received far more negative responses than non-emoji emails.

In their own study, Search Engine Journal found that non-emoji emails had a higher open rate. So while some email marketers insist on emojis, the science says otherwise.

Use a call to action (CTA)

CTAs provide your customers with direction. Without them, your email lacks direction and purpose.

Here’s how to create compelling CTAs for your email designs:

• Have one near the top of your email
• Make them big enough to be visible
• Use a color that contrasts against the background
• Have specific language (don’t just say “learn more”)
• Give ownership (“Start my download” over “start your download”)
• Use a button design

Freedom’s promotion email embodies these principles:

Its CTA is:

• Near the top
• Large enough for visibility
• Contrasts against the background
• In button form
• Specific

Most importantly, it provides clear value to the reader.

Crucial: add an unsubscribe button

Ideally, your emails always go to people interested in your products. But since you’re not a mind-reader, you’re bound to contact people who aren’t interested.

In those cases, adding an unsubscribe button makes a big difference. Instead of marking your email as spam, they can click a one-touch button to opt-out.

This protects your domain’s reputation and gives your brand a good first impression. Who knows, maybe they’ll contact you in the future?

Unsubscribe buttons also keep you in compliance with CAN-SPAM laws. If readers can’t opt out of emails easily, the FTC could fine your company.

Important: use an email signature

Our research shows emails with professional signatures get 32%+ more replies.

Email signatures make you much more personable to recipients. By giving the full context of your identity, people feel like they’re talking to a real person rather than a text block.

Here’s what makes a great email signature:

• Professional headshot
• Full name
• Company name
• Job title
• Contact details
• Social links (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)
• Disclaimers

Email signature generators make it easy to design a signature with everything you need.

To

Subject

Make it yours

A/B Test your emails to find effective designs

A/B testing (AKA “split testing”) involves sending two versions of an email at the same time to see which design works best. It takes all the guesswork out of email design, allowing you to make tweaks based on hard data.

Testable email design components

Testing many changes at once makes it impossible to know which tweaks affect the results. Instead, try out different changes one at a time.

Start with these parts:

• Subject line
• From name
• Pre-header
• Email copy
• Visuals
• Email Signature
• CTA
• Length
• Personalization
• Delivery times

With enough testing, you can create a B2B email design earning phenomenal results.

Best email design examples and ideas

To help you craft compelling emails, we’ve collected some of the best examples from the business world.

Bonsai product update

Bonsai’s product update email appears directly to its target market’s needs. Starting with a personalized greeting, Bonsai gets right to the point.

Its minimalist design features sleek graphics, enticing the reader to learn more. Readers get pure value and no

promotional fluff.

Jasper.ai newsletter design

Rather than update their users with a no-reply address, Jasper’s marketing lead addresses them personally. Their email reads like a real person talking to a friend.

Austin’s text is straightforward, providing readers with pure value without wasting words. And for those who don’t want to hear from him anymore, he offers a one-touch opt-out.

And at the end, he features a fully-functional email signature. It lists his name, position, location, socials, and more. 

Wordtune social profile promotion

Wordtune sent this message to get clients to follow them on social media. This email design is great because:

• It features a quality graphic tailored to the message
• It’s brief—the entire message is less than 50 characters
• The formatting allows plenty of whitespace for mobile-friendly viewing
• It’s intuitive—it links directly to their socials, so people don’t have to find them

While long-form content has its place, short-form is more effective for busy readers.

Add an email signature for an instant boost

Effective email design is at the core of outreach success.

Every day, your audience’s inboxes overflow with dozens of emails. Only top-quality email designs will stand out from the crowd.

This guide explained many ways to make your emails more effective. But if you want to make a truly professional impression, there’s no alternative to a good email signature.

Luckily, WiseStamp makes it easy for anyone to have a top-quality signature. Try our generator for free now, and make signature drive responses, leads, and sales.

The post Email Design: the ultimate B2B guide appeared first on WiseStamp.

The post Turn on and off dark mode on Chrome appeared first on WiseStamp.

Don’t underestimate the power of having a solid newsletter design. Email still remains one of the best ways to engage and convert customers. However, without a captivating newsletter, your email recipients won’t respond as well to your emails.

Here, we’ll go over all the newsletter designs and different newsletter layouts to give you some tips and examples on how to design a great newsletter for your business. Let’s jump right in!

What are email newsletters?

Email newsletters are meant to tell your audience about a specific event, promotion, sale, or bit of news. Newsletters can also be used to distribute new or important content, such as your latest articles, videos, or social media posts. Essentially, a newsletter is a form of communication between you and your audience, and there’s no limit to what you can include in it.

Unlike a casual email where you’d fire off a question or a quick note to your recipient, an email newsletter has a specific purpose.

Basic layouts for email newsletter design

There are basic newsletter layouts that go into making a professional newsletter. In general, a newsletter layout should consist of the following:

1. Organized your layout in a user-friendly pattern

The idea is to lead your reader with a fluid pattern that the eye can follow.

For example: Below we have a Z pattern layout. The Z pattern trains a user’s eyes to go in a zigzag pattern. Meaning their eyes will go left to right and then top to bottom. This creates a fluent eye motion that feels intuitive for most people, and even pleasurable (kinda like looking at a tennis match with the ball going from side to side).

The Z pattern also allows splitting your newsletter into bite-size chunks that allow your readers to focus their attention on one item of content at a time. Essentially this makes your content look more accessible and more inviting.

The Z pattern gives your content room to breathe with white space. The images you set in the pattern also add attractiveness and additional context. Done right, a Z pattern layout ensures that you avoid engagement turnoffs like a “text wall of death”, or noise.

There are, of course, more UX design patterns that you can use, but the Z pattern is certainly the most appropriate for newsletters. Read our deep dive post on this subject if you want to get to know more UX design patterns.

2. Put your most important stuff first

A trademark of effective newsletter design is to start with your highest quality and most important content. Simply add your featured content at the top, in a dedicated section right below the header.

This section should include the main message you want people to see, and your best quality content. Also, if you have some offer like a webinar signup, or a free resource to download, this is where you want to place the CTA button. According to statistics, that’s where people most likely going to click.

3. Lay your content around engaging graphics like images or videos

The content displayed in blocks with a mix of text and images. Text content should be kept to a minimum as to not be too overbearing. As you can see below there is a good balance between text and images.

4. Use clear CTAs like promotional text or buttons

In the example below, the first section under the header has a promotional button and a CTA to social channels. If you go to the end you can also see an unsubscribe option or plus other details for subscribers. This is very important since you don’t want to send your emails to other users who don’t want to receive them.

What is responsive newsletter design & why it’s super important?

Responsive design is a newsletter design that is able to adapt to different screen sizes. So, whether your subscriber is opening your newsletter on a desktop, laptop, mobile phone, or tablet, they’ll be able to see the entire newsletter without any obstructions.

This is important since around 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices, yet we still default to creating newsletter templates for desktops. For example, create a template that is for both desktop and mobile.

How to create professional newsletters

There are a few things to keep in mind when building a professional newsletter. In general, you’ll want to map out the process in a few steps.

Step 1:

Decide on your newsletter’s goal, in other words, is your newsletter reckoned to gain leads? To grow your contact list? To generate traffic to your website? Understand your main priority and let that drive your newsletter.

Step 2:

Select the content you want in your newsletter, this is where you chose the type of content that will help you reach your goals. For example, if you want to:

e.g: Establish credibility: the best way is to provide content that makes you stand out from competitors, provide testimonials, and case studies.

e.g: Educate customers & provide value: offer valuable content that will help educate them, this can be articles on your blog.

Step 3:

Choose an app, software, or platform for distributing your newsletter. The top software for newsletters can be very pricey and may include features that will limit the overall newsletter design.

Step 4:

Create or customize a newsletter template, add all the content into your template, including links and personalization, must include CTA’s,

Step 5:

Test your newsletter and make sure everything including links & works properly. Do this by sending yourself a TEST newsletter. Play around with it and fix the broken links.

Step 6:

Ensure your newsletter is GDPR compliant, responsive, and displays correctly make sure your newsletter is legal with opt-in emails. A privacy law that passed in Europe in 2018, demands that email marketers can only send newsletters to those who have opted in to get them.

Step 7:

A/B test different versions of your newsletter come up with two different designs and send one template design to half the email list and the other template design to the other half. Later on, you can test to see which template worked the best.

Step 8:

Measure your success, analyze results, and re-adapt your future newsletters. Check the performance of your newsletter and refer back to the goal you established in section 1. Analyze which sections got the most clicks, and which sections contributed to your goal. Establish that and re-configure if needed. 

Common mistakes that lead to bad newsletter design

Aside from paying attention to general newsletter guidelines and best practices, it’s also crucial to ensure that your brand isn’t making these common newsletter design mistakes:

1. Ignoring mobile and newsletter responsiveness and optimization
2. Using fonts and colors that are difficult to read
3. Adding in too many topics in one newsletter
4. Not taking your target audience into consideration
5. Sending newsletters with generic or boring subject lines
6. Forgetting to add links or linking to the wrong pages
7. Using the wrong or low-quality images
8. Pushing too much promotional content

Basic components for email newsletter design

While the sky’s the limit when it comes to the content of your email, there are three main components of an email newsletter that should always be there.

Newsletter header design

The first part of your newsletter is the header, and it should be clean, bold, and recognizable. You’ll want to use your company’s logo in the header, along with a strong image. However, make sure that your header isn’t too cluttered since it’s the first thing recipients see in an email.

Header

Newsletter body design

The newsletter’s body can take on a lot of different forms, this is the meat of your email. This is where you can add in anything from more images, links, products you’re promoting, thumbnails and links to recently published content, a short text with a message you want to convey, and more. The design of your newsletter’s body will vary based on the content you want to use, which is why it’s important to plan out your content before settling on a design or a template.

Newsletter body design

Newsletter footer design

Finally, the footer of your newsletter is where you want to put in things like an unsubscribe link or a link to the subscriber’s preferences, links to your social media pages or website, and your company’s contact details including location.

You can also include things to make your email stand out, like a personalized handwritten signature or even a CTA in your signature. Like the header, the footer shouldn’t be too cluttered; the bulk of the email should have been in the body.

To

Subject

Creating an email newsletter mockup

Instead of jumping straight into creating and distributing your newsletter, it can be helpful to create a mockup of what you want your design to look like. This mockup can be as detailed or as vague as you want it to be, but it’s a good way to ensure you don’t miss anything in your final design. 

When designing a mockup, think of it as a draft. This is the stage when you should be thinking of who your newsletter is aimed at and what your goal is with it. You can play around with adding different content and placing images to see how they might look in the final version. You can create your mockup the old-fashioned way – on pen and paper or use an online program to play around with the design and move sections around as you see fit.

Creating the HTML for your newsletter design

While creating a newsletter can be as simple as choosing a template and plugging in the content you want, sometimes, it might be beneficial to use an HTML template. While it is a little more complicated, you can customize the template more to your liking and you’ll have more control over the design.

That being said, HTML does require some know-how and it’s not something you can do last minute if you’ve never worked with coding HTML emails before. But, once you learn the ropes, you might find you like working with HTML newsletter designs even better. 

When it comes to designing your own HTML newsletters, you have a few options of programs you can use. Photoshop is one of the more popular ones, as well as Adobe, InDesign, and various different illustration software. 

There are also a lot more details you need to pay attention to when designing HTML email newsletters, such as ALT text, title tags, the structure as well as the width of your message, tables, CSS files, and much more. If you want the benefits of an HTML-designed newsletter but don’t want the headache, consider hiring a programmer to help you out.

2. Canva

Price: free, $11.99/year for Pro Plan, or $30.00/month/person for Enterprise Plan

Canva is a great online design tool that allows you to create a variety of different graphic design objects from digital invitations to CVs and more. Canva comes preloaded with tons of free and paid templates that you can build your newsletter. You can select fonts, customize colors, add graphics like icons, images, vectors, and borders, and then download your design when you’re happy with it.

3. Figma

Price: Free, $12/month/person for Professional Plan, or $45/month/person for Organization Plan

With Figma, you can download and use tons of different files that users have uploaded to the platform. It’s essentially an online collaborative community where you have access to many different design and interface downloads.

You can opt to search for downloadable newsletter templates, or even just search for specific elements to download, like buttons or vectors. Once you download the design, you can access the file and customize it.

4. Visme

Price: Free, $15/month for Standard Plan, $29/month/user for Business Plan, custom pricing for Enterprise Plan

Visme allows you to create customized visual business tools, such as presentations, infographics, and more. There are plenty of useable newsletter templates on Visme that you can select and customize to your preferences.

Visme is simple to use and allows you to easily move elements around in your design and add things like images, vectors, charts and tables, quotes, text boxes, and more.

11 top newsletter design templates

Now that you have a better idea of what goes into a newsletter as well as some design tools you can use, let’s take a closer look at some great templates to choose from. We’ve broken it down into different scenarios so that you can get a taste of different designs and layouts that will help you find inspiration for your own newsletter.

1. Cool newsletter design

When you choose your design, sometimes you want to go for something that’s immediately eye-catching to get the reader to stay on your email or click on something. This email from The Outline uses bold and juxtaposing colors and text to grab attention. The design isn’t too cramped and a reader’s eyes are guided through the different headers that make them want to click and read more.

2. Modern newsletter template

This email newsletter uses a simple modern design but still attracts attention. By using a neat color scheme, implementing cohesive icons, and using easy-to-read text, this newsletter is effective at getting its message across. You’ll also notice that there’s a simple header the company logo and the title of the newsletter. Nothing too complicated here. 

3. Creative newsletter template

This newsletter from Kate Spade breaks the traditional mold of emails that use a classic body section filled with content like images, text, and promotional items. Instead, this newsletter goes for a bold header and a CTA asking users to click a button and complete an action. This creative newsletter shows that you don’t always need to stick to a predetermined template when designing a newsletter for a very specific reason.

4. Beautiful newsletter design

This email newsletter from Edited is especially stylish and encourages the eye to follow a natural path from the top to the bottom of the email. The bold ‘S’ at the start of the newsletter catches your eye, and then the design uses high-quality images that promote certain products followed by specific links to various clothing collections. It’s both simple and intricate and works really well.

5. Corporate newsletter

Just because an email is corporate doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Checking out this corporate company memo from Skyline Consultants informing its employees of updates and new procedures. This is a great way to send a corporate memo aside from just plain text since it’s more visually appealing therefore employees are more likely to retain the information.

6. Company newsletter design

Company newsletters can be just as visually engaging as promotional emails you get from brands. Here, Venngage uses a mix of icons and text with a very distinct layout to convey its message. The layout naturally makes a reader’s eye go back and forth across the page, so this is a great design to use if you have a lot of text.

7. Minimal newsletter design

Sometimes, less is more. That’s the theory that Homepolish went with on its newsletter. By using bold and beautiful images with just a few lines of text, the newsletter has a stunning impact. This is a great type of email template to use if you really want to showcase high-quality images or visual content.

8. Simple newsletter design

As we saw before with the minimalist design, you don’t need to cram a lot into each newsletter for it to be effective or to get the results you want. This email newsletter from Udacity uses a simple and straightforward design with muted colors and basic graphics to make their message clear to the recipient. It also personalized the email with the subscriber’s name, which is a great extra touch.

9. Clean newsletter design

We’ve seen quite a few email newsletter layouts with bold and eye-catching colors and designs, but you don’t always need to go that route. This clean email from Prettify Home uses a basic color scheme, one simple image, and an easily-scannable block of text in its newsletter. It’s visually appealing but doesn’t include any type of frills in order to get its message across.

10. Business newsletter design

Here’s another example of a business email from a CEO that sent a communication to company employees. You’ll notice that the colors here are very cohesive, from the text to the icons and even the border. This helps the entire newsletter blend together really well and even though the blue used here is relatively bright, it’s not overbearing.

11. Monthly newsletter design

This monthly newsletter from Zapier uses a pretty simple design but effectively gets across all the updates from the last month. There’s a header with the company logo followed by a title that tells the reader what to expect in the email. By gathering all the top posts over the last month, the company has made it easy for their subscribers to stay up to speed on the latest news and posts.

The post 11 best newsletter design templates & layouts (2023) appeared first on WiseStamp.

4. Instagram

Cost	Main benefits	Main downsides
Free: there is no cost to use Instagram.	Ease of use. Upload an unlimited amount of photos Interact with followers Mobile friendly	The app is so widely used that it is tough to make a splash based on talent alone. Knowledge of proper hashtag use and other marketing considerations need to be made with Instagram.

Instagram is a social media photo sharing platform that is easy to use for anyone with a cell phone. The program is ubiquitous, as over 700 million users now have an account on the site. Instagram is one of the best photo sharing sites that makes editing, posting, and sharing photos incredibly straightforward. 

Sharing photos is accomplished by the use of hashtags and the “share” feature depending on the user’s privacy settings. “Likes” and comments on posts can be seen by all users, and further analytics can be obtained with a professional profile enabled.

Some of the elements that make Instagram great, however, can also have their drawbacks: the platform is completely saturated with people taking pictures of anything they see. It can be extremely difficult for a photographer to rise above the masses and stand out on an app such as Instagram.

The post 8 best photo-sharing platforms to showcase photography & sell your work (2022) appeared first on WiseStamp.

The 3D design software you use depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. When it comes to CAD software, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. 

If you or your company is looking to add a new CAD software to your toolbox, then it’s important to get a good overview of what the software can do in order to see what program is best aligned with your goals.

While it can be worthwhile to invest in a more professional-grade CAD program, you don’t always need to dish out tons of cash if you’re just starting out.

There are options for free CAD software that you can use to get started. Here, we’ll go over a brief introduction to CAD software, discuss how to manage the selection process, and then give you some recommendations of software to use for all experience levels (beginners to pros).

What’s in this article

• What Is CAD software
• Why do you need CAD software
• How to choose the right CAD software
• Best free CAD software
• Best affordable CAD software
• Best professional-level CAD software

What is CAD software?

CAD, which stands for computer-aided design, is a type of software that helps engineers and designers create 2D and 3D models of projects. In essence, it’s a way to map or draft a project, such as a room design, before beginning the physical work. 

CAD software saves designers and engineers hours of work by eliminating the need for hand-drawn designs and mock-ups. In fact, most engineers, architects, and designers don’t really need to know how to produce hand-drawn models anymore since the industries rely so heavily on CAD software. 

Why do you need CAD software?

If you work in an industry that relies on design and 3D modeling, then you’ll need CAD software for a few reasons:

1. It helps your teams easily create designs that can be changed and edited a lot more simply than on paper.
2. It’s also helpful if you have a project where the client wants to keep on top of progress and provide input since, with 2D or 3D models, they can get a good idea of what the final outcome will look like.
3. Lastly, certain industries like architecture or engineering need this type of software in order to produce various stages of life-like models, drafts, and simulations before moving on to the production or manufacturing stage.

How to choose the right CAD Software

For most use cases you can’t just take any of the popular design tools to do 3d modeling. You’ll need a dedicated CAD tool. But before you invest in an expensive type of CAD software, take some time to assess your needs, and really get a better understanding of what type of software you’d benefit from the most. The software used by architects likely won’t be the same one used for someone who’s designing medical equipment, so taking your industry into consideration is an important first step.

Additionally, you want to select the right type of CAD software. For example, an architect is more likely to use 2D CAD software in order to create detailed floor plans. By contrast, an engineer is probably more interested in 3D software in order to see designs more intricately when it comes to things like mechanics. 

Finally, your level of expertise is also a factor in choosing the right CAD software. If you’re a student or a beginner, then there are options for free CAD software and free 3D model software available so that you can learn the ropes. Once you’re more comfortable using this type of software, you can invest in a more professional-level product.

Best free CAD software

Whether you’re just getting started in design or you want to cut down on costs, there are free CAD software tools out there for you to use. Here are a few of the free products we recommend trying out.

Note:

a handful of CAD Softwares are available for students free of charge. All you need to do is email them a file proving that you are indeed a student. It’s worth trying before you purchase.

1. FreeCAD

Operating system: Windows, Mac, Linux

FreeCAD is a free 3D modeling software that allows you to design any type of object in various sizes. The software itself is open-source and it’s often used to design and draw real-life objects. There are also 2D components since it allows for 3D to the 2D conversion of drawings.

Since it’s a free tool, it’s often used by beginners or students in order to learn how to use CAD software. It’s most commonly used in the field of product design for mechanical engineering, but can also be used by architects and mechanical engineers. Although it’s a pretty basic program, it works well for training purposes.

2. IronCAD

Operating system: Windows

IronCAD is another free 2D and 3D CAD software that is often used in the mechanical design field and uses solid modeling technology. One of its main selling points is how it uses modeling to provide computational methods for solving blends and shells and other geometric calculations.

The software uses a drag-and-drop design where you can select parts from a catalog and assemble them together. These designs are then used alongside other 3D and 2D models and both the drawings and models are updated as it goes through changes. 

3. SketchUp

Operating system: Windows, Mac

SketchUp is a 3D modeling program created by Trimble Inc. It’s used in many industries, including architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, engineering, and even video game design.

There is a paid version, SketchUp Pro, that comes with additional tools, but the free version is still good to use if you’re just getting started. SketchUp includes an online library where users can contribute and use different models, like cars, doors, windows, and more.

This software can also be used to produce drawings in different styles as well as photo-realistic rendering with the use of third-party add ons.

4. LibreCAD

Operating system: Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix

Like some others on this list, LibreCAD is also open-source CAD software. It’s mainly used for 2D designs, drawings, as well as drafting.

LibreCAD is comparable to the popular AutoCAD software, meaning it’s simple to begin using if you’re already familiar with this software. For example, LibreCAD uses the same AutoCAD file format to import, export, and save files. 

5. Leopoly

Operating system: cloud-based, works on any OS

Leopoly is a cloud-based 3D modeling software used to make digital objects that are meant to be 3D printed. This product uses tools like product configuration and other types of editing tools in its user interface. It’s also often used as a 3D and virtual reality animation software like the one below

Leopoly is often noted as a very easy-to-use piece of software despite it being a strong tool, making it a great choice for both professionals and beginners. Since it’s an online program as opposed to downloadable software, it can be used on any operating system.

6. TinkerCAD

Operating system: cloud-based, works on any OS

TinkerCAD is a free online 3D design tool that’s made with beginners in mind. With TinkerCAD, you can build models from a collection of basic shapes in a block-building type of design.

Since the software is online, there’s a collection of files users have access to in order to find the shapes and pieces they need. It’s a relatively simple program in terms of design, but that’s what makes it ideal for people who have limited experience with 3D modeling.

Best affordable CAD software

Maybe you’re past the stage of using free software if you’re no longer a student or in training, but you’re not quite ready to dish out hundreds or thousands of dollars for professional-grade products. Not to worry, there are still a number of affordable CAD software options you can choose from.

1. DraftSight

Operating system: Windows, Mac

With plants ranging from $99-$499 a year, DraftSight is an affordable tool for 2D drafting and 3D design. It’s mainly used by engineers, architects, and construction service providers. Users love DraftSight since it allows you to easily move back and forth between 2D drafting to 3D modeling. You can also transition from AutoCAD or other similar programs, making it a very versatile piece of software. 

2. CATIA

Operating system: Windows, Mac

CATIA is a CAD software developed by Dassault Systèmes, a French company. There are no set prices for this program, but rather the pricing is quote-based as it depends on different factors such as capabilities or tools you’ll need.

CATIA is ideal for mechanical and systems engineers and uses a cloud system that makes working with this program collaborative. It has also been used in industries like architecture, aerospace, packaging design, and more.

Best professional-level CAD software

Once you’ve had enough experience with free CAD software or other types of free 3D model software, it might be time to move on to something a little more polished and professional. These next CAD software programs are often used by experts in various fields, so you know the price tag is worth the investment.

1. AutoCAD

Operating system: Windows, Mac, Android

AutoCAD is one of the pricier options for CAD software, starting at $1,690 a year per user. However, the hefty price tag is for a good reason.

AutoCAD, created by Autodesk, is a highly popular software used by various professionals such as project managers, architects, graphic designers, city planners, engineers, and more.

It is available in multiple languages and can be used on multiple operating systems. There are plenty of professional-grade tools integrated into the software, as well as several add ons and verticals made for specific industries.

If you’re a student or educator, then there’s also a free version with a 12-month renewable license so that you can learn how to use the software.

2. Solidworks

Operating system: Windows

Solidworks is another program that uses quote-based pricing that is set based on your needs with the software. It’s also created by Dassault Systèmes and is frequently used by professional 3D designers.

There’s a range of tools with this program, such as reverse engineering, design validation tools, and detailed curvature modeling, making it ideal for industrial objects and designers.

As opposed to polygonal modeling, Solidworks uses dimensional sketching, which makes it a lot easier to resize objects. 

3. Fusion 360

Operating system: Windows, Mac

Like AutoCAD, Fusion 360 is also a paid Autodesk program used by professionals and intermediate-level designers, engineers, manufacturers, and more.

This cloud-based 3D CAD software allows design teams to work collaboratively on complicated projects. Fusion 360 stores all the model history and changes, making it ideal for team-based projects.

There are plenty of design options here, such as mesh and solid modeling as well as freeform. Prices start at $495 a year for a license, but there is also a free version for hobbyists. 

4. Creo

Operating system: Windows

Creo CAD software uses a subscription model as its licensing format, with prices starting from around $2,200 and going all the way up to $20,000 depending on the tier you choose and the functionalities you need.

Developed by Parametric Technology Corporation, otherwise known as PTC, Creo is often used for product design. There are many different functionalities in this program, like motion, parametric, thermal, structure, as well as freestyle, and modeling.

This all-in-one tool is ideal for manufacturing and is great for adding in all your dimension calculations so you get a good overview of your final product. You can get a 30-day free trial of Creo before committing to a subscription.

To Wrap Up

As you can see, there are plenty of different CAD programs that you can use. Research and test out a few of them before deciding on one that meets your needs and fits your level of experience using this type of software. If you’re just starting out, then there’s nothing wrong with solely using free 3D model software or free CAD software programs, and then working your way up to paid or more professional programs. 

CAD software can be expensive, but it’s a necessity if you work in a field like architecture, design, or engineering. It’s worth spending some time using the free CAD software programs before investing in a paid program so that you can make the best use of all the features when it’s time to invest in a more advanced program.

The post 12 best CAD software 2022 (free & paid) appeared first on WiseStamp.

Whatever the reason is, never forget about prioritizing user experience when developing a website.

This article will discuss twelve reasons why people dislike your website. This list is not to discourage! Let’s make sure your website visitors are engaged. The following top points will help you avoid committing mistakes.

1. Your Website Is Sluggish

The advent of Vines, TikTok, and memes have shortened people’s attention spans. Pages with multimedia that don’t load fast will cause customers to leave. Once users experience high-speed internet they will never wait around this demands a fast loading.

• Choose a reliable provider to host your site
• Use a clear coding language.

2. Lack of mobile optimization

Most people visiting your site also own a smartphone, and currently, mobile users outnumber users of desktop computers. That is why it is almost compulsory in today’s worldwide web to have your website optimized for mobile phones.

Users that visit your website are most probably smartphone holders. It’s important to have a webpage that is optimized for mobile phones. You don’t want to have customers zoom in and click the wrong button.

Using a mobile-optimized theme or application will help improve your visitor’s experience. Your site needs to be ideal for mobile use in order to be effective and competitive in today’s digital market.

3. Difficult to navigate

People may dislike your webpage because it’s not user-friendly. Meaning it’s hard to understand which page leads to what. This leads users to want to withdraw from your site.

Poor navigation can negatively affect the SEO rankings, the number of traffic, and the bounce rate. Here you go, If you want to learn more about UX patterns and design from experts.

4. Media That Auto-plays

If your site has an automated voice when clicking on it, get rid of it. This can be seen as music, instruction, or a video. Get rid of it, it only causes customers to bounce. If the customer wanted a video they would go to youtube. Nevertheless, this is something that you can control.

5. Incomplete contact information

If a site visitor has a question or wants further information, they will go to your contact page. If the contact information isn’t filled out correctly the user will think your site is fraudulent or unprofessional.

To avoid this, make sure that your contact information is up to date and accurate. When you receive calls or queries make it your priority to respond in a timely manner.

6. Incomprehensible “About Us” Page

Believe it or not, visitors do check out the “About Us” page frequently. Visitors who check this part of your website may be driven by curiosity or care. The about page is the break it or make it a test. If a client is interested and the about page is unbearable to read. You will most definitely lose the client!!

Make sure that your “about page” speaks to the emotional side of your clients. Focus on the language that people can connect with.

7. Keyword bombardment

It was believed before in the world of SEO that more keywords would mean better content. Optimization previously would have meant such – inserting keywords into all corners available.

The good news is that the times and search engines have kept up with the changes. This means that overly optimized does not necessarily mean good.

SEO writing tips are available everywhere on the internet and putting up engaging content into your website will more likely make your visitor a believer.

8. A blog-less site

A website with a complimentary blog is more effective since a blog site can provide opportunities for your site visitors to get more information and to proceed with caution through research. Business blogging is an effective tool to boost your website and company further.

Blogging is one of the best marketing strategies to drive clients to your website. There are a lot of search opportunities to use to create a proper blog post.

A potential client may do intensive research first before making contact for a possible service or sale.

If your site visitors see answers to their questions in your blog and that your posts have reassured them, they are much more likely to contact you or your team.

9. User-unfriendly internal links

Internal links are really helpful except when done incorrectly. Readers or visitors of your site may be pointed directly to other parts of your website that may give them relevant information.

However, one of the reasons why people may dislike your website is because your internal linking is not user-friendly or worse, nonfunctional.

Avoid using internal links excessively, only add these links to pages that will lead your site visitors to other relevant pages that will improve their experience.

10. Excessive pop-ups

Pop-ups can be useful, but too many of them are very disruptive. There is a right way to use pop-ups, and you may start by using them in moderation and tracking them for effectiveness.

Make sure that your pop-ups are smart, which means these are directed to a particular type of visitor or used for a certain purpose in your marketing. Do not forget to assess their effectiveness and whether these clicks create a better user experience on your site.

11. It looks ancient

Modern graphic design is cool and accessible. If your website looks as if it is stuck/ frozen in time that is a bad sign. With GIFs, and flashing multimedia content that reminds you of the early 2000s, your visitors will leave.

There is a lot of available software and applications out there that can help you make your site look stunning. There are sites that provide templates and themes that can be modified to suit your brand or objectives.

You just need the patience to look for them and perhaps throw in a few bucks to acquire that domain.

12. Too Many Stock Photos

What people hate about certain sites is the excessive use of stock photos. This practice will make your site indistinguishable from other sites. This could make your marking go downhill.

Too many stock photos also make your site look generic which will increase the bounce rate. To avoid this, use images that are unique (definitely with consideration of their copyright).

You may also opt for illustrations or simply use your own company’s photos. Websites with high-quality images are more compelling, and thus, receive more views.

The post 12 Things people absolutely dislike about your website appeared first on WiseStamp.

Finding and using great images doesn’t have to be expensive, you can actually get free stock photos if you know where to look. And not those cheesy fake ones either.

To save you time and headache we made you our list of best free stock image sites, that we know, love, and use every day.

How to use free stock photos to make handsome content that people love

Our list of top stock image sites is NOT a tool to make horribly cheesy content. Save yourself, and your users, from those cheesy fake stock photos you see on spam sites. Read our basic guidelines for turning free stock images into engaging paying content.

What to look for in a stock photo site.

• Make the image relevant to your surrounding content – When you perform a keyword search for a stock photo, the results should closely match your query
  
• Drive for authenticity – Unless you want a funny or exaggerated vibe, the best stock photo sites will offer authentic-looking photos where people look natural and not like they’re acting. Some of these real looking photos will actually be real people the photographed themselves.
  
• Stay safe with flexible licensing – It’s important to familiarize yourself with the different types of licenses that legally define how you can use a photo. Do this wrong and you could get sued.
  
  “creative commons public domain” licenses are the most flexible and let you use, modify, copy and distribute stock photos even for commercial use.

Now, let introduce the free stock sites you’ve been waiting for:

1. Unsplash

How does the platform work?

Unsplash is one of the best free image websites. Unsplash’s selection is organized into popular categories like Each selection is organized into popular categories like “Business & Work,” “Travel,” “Fashion,”. Use the search bar to find the image you are looking for.

Terms of use

Unsplash photos can be used freely, their license reflects that

• All photos can be downloaded and used for free
• Commercial and non-commercial purposes
• No permission needed (though attribution is appreciated!)

Ideal for: General use and business use

2. Pexels

How does the platform work?

Pexels is one of the top photo-sharing platforms with high-quality photos. There is a large selection of visuals and videos that are tagged, searchable, and can be found id discovered pages.

Terms of use

It provides images and videos that are licensed under the (CC0) Creative Commons Zero license.

Fun Fact

Pexels is one of the few websites that provide free space images, such as pictures from NASA. Browse for images by themes, including locations, emotions, and pastimes, as well as search for a specific image.

Ideal for: General use and business use

3. StockSnap

How does the platform work?

StockSnap has a good number of search options. Users can search for visuals with a certain keyword.

StockSnap uses a very clever filtering method by organizing images by dates, analyzing which images are trending. It identifies the number of downloads or views. According to the results, they will adjust their placement accordingly.

Term of use

It provides images that are licensed under the (CC0) Creative Commons Zero license.

• Download the image file
• Publish, revise, copy, alter, and share that image
• Use the image (as-is or as you’ve altered it), in both personal and commercial contexts

Ideal for: B2C, media sales, consumer technology

4. FoodiesFeed

How does the platform work?

If you are in the food industry, Foodiesfeed would be a great alternative if you can’t take your own food photos. This website is dedicated to food photographers from all over the world. You can browse the website or filter your image search by providing a keyword.

Terms of use

Sharing visual content under a creative commons zero.

Ideal For: food-related online advertising

5. Gratisograph

How does the platform work?

Gratisography is probably one of the most captivating and creative free photo stock sites out there. This is not your ordinary photo choosing site, according to the site creator states that

“To become a Gratisography image, a picture must bring something unique to the table. Of course, it has to be perfectly composed, with the right amount of light and exposure, sharp focus on the central subject. But that’s just the beginning.”

Ryan Mcguire

Terms of use

Gratisography offers high-resolution photos as well as royalty-free, similar to others all photos are categorized and organized by themes. For example business, nature, sports and more.

Ideal for: Media and advertising sales, entertainment, and consumer technology decks.

6.Pixbay

How does the platform work?

Pixbay offers a vast library of free images, the unique advantage of Pixbay is that you can easily search for illustrations, vectors and video in addition to photos. If, for example, you need to source a graphic for your website and not a photo, Pixbay is a great resource.

Term of use

Pixabay images, videos, and music can be used freely for commercial and non-commercial use. However, there are some restrictions.

Ideal for: Media and advertising sales, entertainment.

7. Kaboompics

How does the platform work?

Kaboompics offers a big selection of free-of-charge high-resolution photos that can be used for both commercial and personal use. There are a lot of color-oriented collages and albums that can be useful for advertisement purposes.

Terms of use

Under the Creative Commons Zero license with one rule redistribution for distributors. They may not share their photos with other photo stock sites that have already been approved by Kaboompics.

Ideal for: Media & consumer technology

To end things

These are the top free photo-sharing websites that you can use for your small business. Note that a beautiful and vibrant image has the power to captivate your audience, competitors, and or any other person in between.

With your photos, you can bring your brand to life and voice your opinion. Most importantly don’t underestimate the strength of your graphics.

The post 7 Best free image sites that will make your content look great (and original) appeared first on WiseStamp.

Email footers: an overlooked boost to your email marketing efforts

When it comes to your business emails, you want to make your Email footer and general design look as professional as possible. You are probably used to the basics: addressing the client’s name, personalizing the content, and signing off by thanking them (see our full list of email sign-offs) and our arsenal of email signature examples.

You may even have a classy signature with tons of contact information added to the end. However, if you’re not utilizing email footers, then you’re missing out on maximizing each email opportunity.

Email footers often get overlooked by the recipient. They’re perceived as “the fine print” that nobody reads or considers when reading an email. However, more often than not, email footers are crucial to growing and they can also protect your business.

To

Subject

Make it yours

There are many different types of email footers you can implement. Some of them will help you market your company, and promote your brand, and some of them are helpful to have in order to make your emails legally compliant.

In this article, we’ll look at why email footers are important for your small business, and what types of email footers you should consider using along with some examples.

Why are email footers so valuable?

Like any piece of content you add to your emails, a footer only helps cement the professionalism of your brand. There’s certain information that seems obvious to include when you sign off on an email, such as your name, contact details, and company address or website. Email footers generally go beyond that point and add more specific information that is helpful to both the recipient and your business.

To

Subject

Make it yours

When it comes to email footers, a little goes a long way in terms of value-added for your client. These short signature disclaimers or additional bits of information can protect your business as well as your client, so adding them to each and every email you send is a no-brainer.

Legal and confidentiality footers

Legal and confidentiality disclaimers are important pieces of information to add to your emails and are typically used to protect the confidentiality of the details in the email as well as the identity of the intended recipient. Imagine you accidentally send an email including billing information to the wrong client. This can land you in legal trouble, however, by adding a confidentiality disclaimer to your email, you’ve added an extra layer of protection to your business.

It might be in your best interest to consult with a lawyer to discuss the exact legal verbiage and information you should include that makes sense for your business.

According to a law firm, this is a good example of a legal disclaimer that can work for your business:

To

Subject

Make it yours

The information transmitted by this email is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed. This email may contain proprietary, business-confidential, and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, be aware that any use, review, retransmission, distribution, reproduction, or any action taken in reliance upon this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from all computers.

The GDPR disclaimer should be used in the event that you collect any type of customer data that can be interpreted as personal or confidential and that can potentially identify an individual person. Therefore, if your clients ever fill out a web form with details such as their name, address, or email address, this data is considered personal and needs to be protected.

In order to inform your clients that your business is GDPR compliant, the most common way to do so is by adding a disclaimer to each email. You should also be adding the details to your company’s Privacy Policy.

The GDPR email footer might look something like this:

To

Subject

Make it yours

[Company Name] is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679. We are committed to guaranteeing the security and protection of the private information that we process. To understand more about how we collect, store, and process your personal information in compliance with GDPR, please take a look at our privacy policy. 

Security or virus disclaimer

If you usually send a lot of links or attachments in your email, this is an important email footer to include. You don’t want to hold your company liable for any unknown viruses or malware that might be lurking in any of your emails. 

Consider adding a brief email footer that warns the recipient of the (small) but potential threat of viruses being transmitted via email. Consider phrasing it like this:

This email may contain viruses that could infect your computer. We strongly recommend using a malware scanner to check the contents of this email and its attachments, if there are any. Since emails can be lost, intercepted, or corrupted, [name of your company] accepts no liability for damages caused by viruses transmitted via this email.

What are green Email footers?

There was a time when people would print out email messages to serve as reminders or to use in meetings. However, nowadays we tend to print a lot less and it’s not as common for people to print out their emails. 

That being said, adding an environmentally conscious email disclaimer is still a good move. These email footers show your client that you committed to being a more environmentally friendly business, and also serve as a small reminder to help reduce paper consumption for those few people who might still consider printing out an email.

If you don’t want to mention printing emails, there are other ways you can be eco-friendly as well. You can choose to include an environmentally-themed quote in your green email footer or share a short eco-friendly tip.

Unsubscribe footer links

As a business, it’s always a little bit of a heartbreak to see a customer unsubscribe from your mailing list. However, do you know what’s even more frustrating? Searching high and low for an unsubscribe button.

Though you might not like it, adding an unsubscribe form to your emails is crucial. Not only is it helpful for clients who no longer wish to receive your emails, but it is also considered to be important for GDPR compliance.

If you’re sad to see a client go, look at it this way: the recipient who unsubscribed likely already wasn’t interacting much with your emails. Now, you may have one less client on your mailing list, but your mailing list has become more streamlined in that you know that the clients who are receiving your emails truly want to receive them.

An unsubscribe link in your email footer is especially important if you’re sending out newsletters. They’re not always relevant to personal interactions between you and a client.

For example, if you’re contacting a potential client to answer a question about your business’s services, it would be a good idea to add a banner with a CTA that promotes signing up for your service. 

Create a branded Email footer using WiseStamp

The post How to create the best email footers: tips & examples (Updated) appeared first on WiseStamp.

Although great websites come in every shape, size, and color, there are some rules you should follow to give your visitor the best possible experience with your brand identity.

#1 Awesome visuals

Website visuals are composed of many things. It includes the images you use, the way you structure content on your pages, the way you present your videos, and the way you present your website interface.

Add original creative and high-quality images

Websites are visual creations. No matter how well you can explain your business, it’s the look of your website that will convey much of the information. That’s why it pays to put the time into finding the right high-quality images.

A large, full-width hero image can work beautifully to show off you and your product or services in the best light and make that first impression count.

Images can also work to break up the text on your website and keep your visitor’s attention, especially if your site is text-heavy. The general rule is to have at least one image on every page of your website. Any images should be related to your product, blog, or service and should serve to enhance your overall message rather than distract from it.

If you fancy yourself as a DIYer there are some nice photography tricks out there that make it easy to get creative and take your photos for your website. Alternatively, if you don’t have the time, there is a great range of high-quality stock photos that you can use for free.

Create a favicon (the logo that appears in the browser tab)

If you have a business, a great logo will make your brand stand out and add legitimacy. If you want a logo but are no designer yourself, there are some first-rate options out there without an eye-watering price tag attached.

We like 99designs, where you can sponsor a logo competition and a variety of different designers will post entries so you can just pick the logo that is right for you. Once you have a logo, you can use it everywhere—on your website, product packaging, social media accounts, and email signature.

Use white space

Too much information or clutter can be a strain on the eye. Though it may seem counterintuitive to leave space on your web pages, that “white space” makes it more visually pleasing and easier for people to focus on important information.

#2 Simplicity of use

According to Google’s research, users prefer simple and familiar designs —and they make a snap judgment about a website in less than the blink of an eye. Fortunately, most website builders offer templates and suggested layouts, so you already have an outline of where to start. Then you can just prioritize what is essential for your website.

Easy navigation

A clear and easy navigation bar should be short with a maximum of seven items. The more time people spend searching for what they want, the more likely they are to bounce. So prioritize your items to fit into one line of navigation. This makes for a more visually appealing website and is easier to scan through. If you need to add more items you can always create sub-pages.

Clear content

All the graphics and web design in the world won’t accomplish anything without some quality text that gives value to your readers. Quality text for your business doesn’t mean your website should be the next “War and Peace” novel, but take the time to think about what you want to say, then condense it in a bitesize paragraph or sentence. Asking a friend to proofread your work will make sure there are no hidden typos that can make your website seem unprofessional.

Scannable text

We live in an age where we can track news on our smartphones in real-time. People want to find the information they need and fast. Most viewers will likely skim-read your website, so try not to leave big blocks of intimidating text that people will just pass over. Break up your text into small pieces, use bullet points, headings, and images to add more white space.

Clear call to action

Of course, you want people to enjoy your website, but if you have an online shop or business, the chances are your main goal is to encourage visitors to buy your product or service. Once your visitors is interested in what you’re offering, a good call to action can help convert them into a customer.

Use a link or a button with an active tone to convey an engaging and snappy action to give the visitor a clear direction. For example “Curious? Read on” or “Let’s go!” The trick is to create a sense of urgency or anticipation and get people excited about your product in a positive way.

One call to action on each page is a good rule of thumb and will avoid your visitors searching around your site to get started.

Visible social media buttons

Whether you love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. Everyone is getting on the bandwagon; from Barack Obama being the first #POTUS on social media to more established brands realizing they have to change with the times.

Social media buttons should have pride of place on your homepage so visitors can easily “like” or “share” your post. It is an invaluable tool that previous generations didn’t have, to build up a fanbase and maximize exposure on a global scale.

#3 Solid infrastructure

Building a good-looking and easy-to-use website is only the element that people can see, but some of the most important aspects of a great website are happening behind the scenes and under the hood. These infrastructure elements can make or break even the prettiest website. Things like your technical SEO, your domain name, and the responsiveness of your website architecture.

If you are commissioning a website you should make sure these aspects are addressed in the design proposal. If you are building a website for others you should include these in your proposal (you can use this website design proposal template to save time).

Lay down solid foundations for SEO

Think that only humans will read your text? Think again. Google spiders are also crawling your website. There is a whole industry around SEO and keywords to get the best possible competitive edge.

Try to use words that people would type into Google to search for your website. For example, if you’re selling spiralizers on your website, you might want to drop in a few associated keywords or terms like “healthy lunches” or “healthy diet” in your website copy. If you are ready to go further but don’t have the luxury of an SEO expert on your team, try using Google’s Keyword Planner to find more search terms.

With most website builders, there are SEO settings that you can fill in on each page with a title and description. That will help Google know exactly what your page is about, and make your pages look better in search engine results.

Use a custom domain

A domain (website address) will show that you are professional and committed to your business or blog. Try to keep your domain name simple and catchy, so it sticks in people’s minds. If they love the service and remember your URL, the chances are they will pass it on to a friend.

If you can grab a “.com” domain for your business— great! Otherwise, there are also some good alternatives that you can associate with your brand, for example, “.org”, “.co.uk” or something like “.consulting” which is related to your business.

Build responsive page templates

Every day more people are checking websites on their mobile. This means your site has to look great on a desktop, tablet, and smartphone.

If you are building your website, make sure you have a responsive template active to help out mobile visitors. This may seem obvious to a more tech-savvy generation, but time and again I have checked out a reputable company’s website on my iPhone to find that text is all over the place. As a bonus, Google rewards mobile-friendly websites in its search results, so having a responsive template will help your search engine ranking.

Conclusion

Simplicity is key when building a successful website. Be creative with your content and imagery, but stick to a basic layout that visitors can navigate and understand.

Most importantly, remember that “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and neither will your website. Think of it as a work in progress that you can improve gradually. Even if you don’t have everything checked off your list, you can get started with the basics, and then finesse the details later. Your website should be a fun experience so enjoy the ride!

Article provided by Jimdo, a simple way to build your business website, with no coding or special skills required.

The post 3 Essential elements of a successful website appeared first on WiseStamp.

This is why our infographic tips will center on the fundamental principles of information visualization and information architecture rather than the practical creation process (don’t be frightened by the technical words, they spell out in simple and actionable tips).

This is a mildly advanced guide. Take a deep breath. Let’s go.

The post Irresistible infographics that go viral: 9 fundamental tips appeared first on WiseStamp.