6 Visual Design Principles That Increase User Engagement
Effective visual content does more than make a website “look nice”—it helps visitors feel oriented, confident, and emotionally connected to your brand. When design choices are intentional, users stay longer, explore more, and take action more often. Below are six visual design principles we love (and use often at AndiSites) to create websites that are […]
Top Benefits of Migrating from Drupal to WordPress (And What to Consider)
If you’re currently managing a Drupal site, you already know how powerful the platform can be. But you might also feel weighed down by its complexity—especially when it comes to updates, usability, and ongoing maintenance. Because it can be a bit much, a lot of organizations eventually reach a point where Drupal feels like more […]
4 Ways to Create an Interactive Map on Your Website
When you need to express where something is, how to get to you, and/or what’s going on geographically in your user’s area, interactive maps are a powerful tool for your WordPress website. A cool interactive map can effectively communicate complex information in a clear, understandable way. Overall, interactive maps are proven to increase user engagement and leave a lasting impression on website visitors. In this article, we’ll share four ways to create an interactive map for your website and give examples of effective interactive maps AndiSites has created for our clients.
5 Principles of Visual Symphony in Website Design
If you know AndiSites, you know that we focus on creating websites in partnership with our clients that are functional and emotionally engaging–selecting and combining elements that work together to create an overall story (or, in the case of this article, “song”) that welcomes the user and compels them to take your desired actions. Whether […]
Happy 15th Anniversary, AndiSites! :-)
Here’s a message from me, Andi, as we celebrate our 15th anniversary: Dear Friends and Clients, and Friends-and-Clients-To-Be, I fell in love with coding in the late 1970’s with the TRS-80 and Level I BASIC. Radio Shack was my hangout spot, and over the following years I made magical-to-me programs, like the one that rained […]
Tips For Conversion Rate Optimization
If you’re looking to improve your conversion rate optimization – whether it’s sales, subscribing, or more – check out our top tips! What is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)? Anything that improves the conversion rate of your website, landing pages and blog whether offsite or onsite. Your conversion rate is the number of conversions on a […]
8 Things AndiSites Does to Ensure Website Accessibility
The principles of web accessibility are known by the acronym “POUR”: Perceivable Operable Understandable Robust Accessibility, as it applies to the web, can be best described by the definition of the word. The quality of being easy to approach, reach, enter, speak with, use, or understand. How We Ensure Website Accessibility AndiSites works hard to […]
Ode to The Sidebar
Do you love or hate sidebars in website design? To find out what we think here at AndiSites, here’s our Ode to the Sidebar. The AndiSites Ode to the Sidebar Ah, the website sidebar. Holder of secondary navigation, Keeper of ad space, And container for random things That You don’t Know Where else to Put. […]
The Return of the Beautiful Web
Why is a beautiful web important? Does the “simple web” make us happy? Here’s our views on making the world a prettier place. Website Design Trends Design trends come and go, and the “utilitarian” look of websites has persisted for the past several years. Flat design brought large blocks of solid color instead of gradients […]
Creating Solutions Beyond the Obvious: Ideation
So what is ideation? Read on to find out more! As proud members of the Interaction Design Foundation, we love creating online user experiences that are easy, intuitive, and engaging. Solutions aren’t one-size-fits-all, though, and creative thinking is an important part of the process. Website projects can be tricky. Budgets and timelines may be limited. Team […]
5 Ways to Build Trust With Your Website
Do you think that you build trust with your website? The Internet can be a daunting place to some people – especially when they’re planning to make a purchase. Understandably, users worry that personal information they enter can be used against them; that their behavior is being tracked; and that the information they see and […]
Reflecting Your Brand Values in Your Website Design
Defining your brand values is crucial to the success of your business. Knowing what your company stands for aligns and strengthens your team. Defining your personality (e.g., caring, family-friendly, professional, exclusive, etc.) is also an important part of humanizing you to your customers and clients; it lets them know what to expect when they work […]
Carousel Best Practices
Follow our Carousel Best Practices for the most efficient use of home page space! Carousels (also known as sliders) are widely used on home pages. However, they can have adverse consequences on user experience and affect your website’s performance. To make your home page carousel effective, follow these best practices: Carousel Best Practices and Tips Avoid […]
We Like Big Buttons and We Cannot Lie
A button is one of the easiest, most effective calls to action on a website. Bold and big buttons, prominently displayed and properly labeled, will help your users know at a glance where to click to get what they need. So how can you ensure that they convert visitors to customers? 6 Top Tips for Creating Successful […]
Making Your Website Speak to Actual Human Brains
Want to learn how to make your website speak so that real humans can interact with it? Here’s our thoughts and comments. How Does a Website Speak to a Human? We all talk about “user experience” and “user interaction” design, and here at AndiSites we’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to make a […]
Website Sidebar: Yes or No?
Sites with a sidebar have been a mainstay of website designs for years. They provide a handy content area for navigation, summaries, calls to action, social media feeds, and all those little extras that don’t seem to fit anywhere else. They can also slow your site down, distract your users, and display strangely on mobile devices. […]
Match your Website Design to your Target Audience
When designing a website, it’s vital to create a design that matches your target audience. Whether designing a website yourself or through an agency, it’s easy to get caught in the trap of trying to please ourselves (or our boss), and forget that a successful website needs human visitors who use it, enjoy it, and buy from […]
Elements of Successful UX Design
Here are our top tips for successful UX design. A website with good UX – User Experience – is vital for anyone visiting your site. What is UX Design? In simple terms, user experience is the satisfaction visitors get from your website. But beyond the surface, user experience is far more significant and can affect […]
Creating a Landing Page Website that Converts
Here’s how to create a landing page website that actually converts! Read our top tips for converting visitors into customers. What is a Landing Page Website? A “landing page” website (like the one we just launched for the Scaling Up Workshop) has a specific purpose in mind: to convert visitors to customers (or attendees, or subscribers, […]
Tips For Effective Navigation Design
Here’s our top tips for effective navigation design and why it is so important to both you and your website’s users. What is Navigation? Well, you could say that it’s the element of your website which allows your customers to find what they’re looking for, or you could say that it’s a way to lead […]