Movses Karagozyan - Custom Web Design, Programing and 3D CAD Design in Illinois » Web Trends

Use Video On Your Website, It’s The New Content King

Movses Karagyozyan — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 05:23:20 +0000

The written word will always have its place, but the internet landscape has evolved and changed the way we think of information presentation. Website users have come to expect an interactive experience, and videos deliver. Here’s how videos became king of content, and why you need to start incorporating them into your website now.

The Rise of Videos

There was once a time when websites were simple and static. Lines of text, accompanied by basic graphics and illustrations, were the limit. But times have changed, and so has technology. Internet speeds now allow us to stream content with ease. Mobile technology enables us to decide when and where to view anything online.

Technological advancements may have facilitated the rise of videos, but they reign for one simple reason: they are the most engaging, captivating type of media.

Why Videos Matter

You may have heard of a little company out there called YouTube – also known as one of the biggest search engines in the world. The appeal of videos is obvious. Text is one-dimensional. Videos are fully dimensional, powerful and humanizing. Text takes time to read. Videos instantly engage. Excellent text is shared, but a powerful video can go viral.

Why Videos boost SEO

A fear that keeps some businesses from integrating video into their online presence is that videos don’t rank well as content. This is a proven misconception. Videos continue to surge onto the web, and people continue to click on them, for entertainment value and to learn. Search engine results reflect this growing trend. Type a question into a Google search engine box and one of your first results will likely be a demonstration or tutorial video. As long as people see videos as relevant, so will search engines.

Why Videos Sell

Videos helps people understand methods, products and services far better than any written description or instructions. That alone helps drive sales. A video on your page means that more time is spent on that page, which lends that page extra value in the eyes of the viewer and makes him more likely to take interest in the other elements and features you have there. Videos serve multiple functions. They establish a human connection. They inform, demonstrate, promote, engage and provide you with a perfect audience building tool. At the end of the day, videos sell better than any other medium.

You need videos, for your web presence and for your online marketing strategies, to engage today’s consumers and to tell a story about your company and your products that truly resonates with your customer base. Videos are your most powerful sales and communication tool. They can boost your site views, propel your social media marketing to new levels and increase your site’s relevance. Videos are the king of content, and great content not only sells, but is also crucial for the current and continued success of any business.

Need more evidence? Watch the viral video below and then check out Poo Pourri for yourself!

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Web Design Trends 2014

Movses Karagyozyan — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:37:32 +0000

2013 has seen a surge in new web design trends, driven by evolving user expectations, cultural shifts and new technologies. Design trends that started out hot this year have either gained momentum or fallen by the wayside to make way for more relevant design integrations. As the year draws to a close, certain design styles are breaking the mold, moving us away from the old days of information overload and toward cleaner, simper times, while offering users a more engaging and interactive experience.

Read on for a list of 2014 web design trends that are making waves and setting the new standard for today’s, and tomorrow’s, website.

Flat Design

With bold lines and simple graphics, and served up without drop shadows or heavy textures geared to resemble a 3D effect, the 2D (flat) look has been gaining in popularity this year and looks to firmly entrench itself as a key trend in 2014.

Flat Design: An In-Depth Look

23 Examples of Flat Web Design

Responsive Layout

The explosion of media devices, equipped with different screen sizes, can translate to either a poorly rendered site on each device or a slew of different site versions written for each individual media device. Responsive design layout solves these problems nicely by detecting different viewing environments and resizing the website layout and images to adapt. An optimized layout that enables continuity between mobile devices spells a breakthrough trend that’s a must-have for every business.

21 Fresh Examples of Responsive Web Design

Responsive Frameworks: Twitter Bootstrap Foundation 5

Mix-and-Match Typography

Easy to read sans-serif fonts have been the web design status-quo for years-until recently. Mixing up fonts that blend together to express the feel of your site, beautify the theme(s) of a web page or even enhance individual elements has emerged as a popular way to stylize and individualize websites.

Which Custom Fonts are Top Web Designers Using?

Google Web Fonts Typekit Fonts

Video/Photo Backgrounds

Capturing the viewer’s attention is the universal goal behind every website. More powerful than multiple graphics or static text, a full-width background photo offers an image that not only represents the business, but that the viewer can instantly connect with. More effective still is the background video trend, which delivers all the pertinent information needed while offering the viewer a dynamic viewing experience.

20 Web Designs with Stunning Video Backgrounds

Video in Web Design

Parallax Scrolling

This scrolling technique, which uses backgrounds that appear to move at different speeds, creates a sensation of movement and depth. This trend offers users a new level of engagement, along with a vivid way to showcase products or other elements, and is set to go mainstream in 2014.

20 Best Websites with Parallax Scrolling

17 Inspiring Examples of Parallax Scrolling Sites

Bold Colors

Gone are the grays and dull monotones that once governed the look of websites. The newest trend is all about hot shades. Bold, bright-and yes, even neon-colors are quickly gaining popularity as the new design norm. With the focus now on simplicity, this translates to a need for finding new ways to emphasize every element, and for that, bold colors always hit the mark.

The Rising Trend of Bright Flat Colors in Web Design

Flat UI Colors

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Top 10 Web Design Trends in 2012

Movses Karagyozyan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:55:27 +0000

Websites like many technology-based products and services, age in dog years. You may wishfully think your website is young and spry at 5 years old, but the reality of this particular life cycle reflects less of the original vibrant youth and more of the stuck-in-your-ways approach to middle age.

It isn’t that your website wasn’t awesome five years ago. It was. But look how far we’ve come since then. The very first original iPhone was released 5 years ago this June. The iPad itself was only a glimmer in Steve Jobs’s eye. Smartphones and tablets have completely reshaped the way we interact online, so much so that we can barely imagine our lives without them. And now it’s time for your website to catch up with the trends, starting with responsive design.

Web Design Ledger wrote a fantastic article with keen insight into web design trends this year. Rather than reinvent the metaphorical wheel, I thought I’d share their article “10 WEB DESIGN TRENDS IN 2012″.

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Sick of Internet Explorer, Using Firefox? Try Chrome!

Movses Karagyozyan — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:07:56 +0000

I don’t generally go out of my way to change something I’m happy with, but about a year ago a friend of mine suggested that I try Google Chrome as a web browser. Now a year later, while I don’t have much bad to say about my old go-to browser Firefox, what I can say is that Chrome has changed the way I browse the internet.

Here’s why

Simplicity. It’s easy to use and enjoyable. You can type in a website address or search for something all from the same navigation bar on top.
Gmail. If you have a Gmail account you really owe it to yourself to have Chrome. Need to attach some photos? Just drag and drop them into the attachment area of your Gmail and it does the rest. No clicking on an upload button and searching for the files on your computer. If you send or receive an email with a YouTube link the video can automatically play inside your email!
Syncing. Use more than one computer, at work or at home? If you do Chrome will sync your bookmarks and stored data such as passwords automatically. Bookmark something on your laptop, it shows up next time you’re on your desktop! To enable syncing, click on Preferences, Under The Hood, and then click on Sync.
Web Store. Think of the Chrome Web Store like the App Store on an iPhone or iPad. It’s filled with thousands of free apps and your bound to find a few you’ll regularly use. My favorites include Awesome Screenshot, Wunderlist and Flixster Movies.
Android. If you have an Android based smartphone there is a great Chrome extension available in the web store called Chrome to Phone that allows you to send the current webpage you’re viewing on your computer directly to your Android powered smartphone! Comes in handy when you’re about to leave the house or office and want to take what you’re looking at with you.
Speed. It’s fast, you’ll notice sites load quickly and it doesn’t feel bogged down by having countless tabs open.

If you haven’t tried Chrome yet I suggest you give it a try. Looking for Google Chrome Web Store? You can find it here.

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Get Rid of the Boring Website Fonts!

Movses Karagyozyan — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:49:36 +0000

Most of the websites you browse use one of a handful of “safe” fonts that are preinstalled on all Mac and Windows computers; the most common include Arial, Verdanna and Georgia. The benefits to using these fonts are that they scale well and they work great for body text on websites. But what about your page titles, headers, etc? Does everything need to look bland?

New technologies in font replacement now allow you to embed custom fonts, giving you the option to explore hundreds of font options rather than a handful. The gap between a web designer’s concept and a coded webpage grows smaller every day thanks in part to font embedding technology.

What’s our favorite solution? We’ve been using Google Web Fonts, the service is free and the font library expanding daily. Let us know about your favorite service! What font do you use on your website?

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Why Google+ will compete with Facebook

Movses Karagyozyan — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:20:50 +0000

I’ve shared on Google Buzz, customized my iGoogle page and even heard of Orkut (yeah, right?), so the popular tendency towards skepticism on Google’s latest attempt at social media is understandable. Facebook is huge, 750 million users and going stronger than ever! Why then am I able to say with confidence that Google+ will work?

Let’s go back to Facebook for a moment. Facebook has become the world’s largest social network and in doing so has also become a powerful marketing tool. Businesses are able to leverage the power of Facebook to stay in touch with their customer base and communicate on a more personal level than ever before. So why does Google+ stand a chance? Simple. Facebook is too large and too connected for many of us, making social media feel somewhat like your girlfriend shouting at you from the other room while the TV is on and the Brewers just went to a commercial break. There’s a lot of background noise. Now pretend that your boss just called and you accidentally answered on speakerphone. Many of us don’t want to mix our professional and personal lives together yet with the business world so prominent on Facebook while any post or picture feels like a unnecesary risk to our professional career.

Meet Google+, while still in Beta, offers a different approach to how you share or “post” content. The idea is simple, whenever you add someone or receive a friend request the person must be put into a “circle” which is essentially a category like “Friends”, “Family”, “Coworkers”, etc etc. When you post a photo, video or write something you choose which group/s of people see your information. Rather than try to explain everything that Google+ is doing, check out the video above for a more thorough explanation!

To get Google+ head over to their website and sign up. If you’d like to add me as a friend on Google+ search for the name “Movses Karagyozyan”. Cheers!

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