5 Essential User Interface Design Tips for Mobile App Developers

By Alka Singh  |   Submitted On June 03, 2016

  

At the present time, mobile apps have become the most influential tool for gaining easy access to potential customers all over the world. Whether you are an established web development company or a start-up, you can't neglect the importance of having an appealing, user-friendly and fully-featured mobile app for your business. In the mobile context, effective user interface (UI) design is a curial element because the small screen and unstable operating environment makes it tougher to operate an app, which good UI design can easily overcome.

The UI tips mentioned in this article will help you harness the potential of mobile apps to effectually engage customers.

Maintain Consistency

Consistency is of great importance in a good UI design. The only way to ensure consistency within your application is to set design standards and then stick to them. For example, if you have placed next and cancel buttons in a particular area of a dialog window, make sure they are placed at the same position across all the screens. It will improve the experience of users and create less confusion while navigating through the app.

Follow the contrast rule

If you are using different colors in your application, make certain that the text in the screens is legible. The best way to achieve it is to contrast rule: Light text on dark backgrounds and dark text on light backgrounds. Reading black text on a white background is easy, but reading black text on a blue background is difficult.

Understand your widgets

Choosing the right widget for the right task not just helps in improving consistency, but also makes it easier to build the application. To understand how to use widgets properly, you need to read the guidelines and standards of your company for user interface design.

Use suitable fonts

Use fonts that make reading easier such as Times Roman, Calibri, and Serif fonts. In addition, use the font consistently across all screens to ensure a gorgeous looking app design.

Easy navigation between screens

Easy navigation between screens is very important for your app. Easy navigation means switching from one screen to another should be very simple; otherwise the users will become irritated and give up. Design a navigation pattern which is simple and obvious. Always place the navigation system on the top and left of the page. If you are inserting your logo on every screen, link it to the home page.

Alka Singh is a lead creative writer and editor at Alchemist Infosystems a company that offers world-class technology solutions to its clients. She has extensive experience in writing about mobile apps, web design and development, UI/UX, ecommerce and CMS solutions, and online marketing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Alka_Singh/2267130

What Is Shared Hosting? A Guide

By Wendy Peterson  |   Submitted On April 07, 2016

  

There are many types of web hosting available. One of the main types of hosting is shared hosting, and this also happens to be one of the cheapest.

What is Shared Hosting?

Shared hosting is the most inexpensive type of hosting one can get. It is this cheap because multiple such accounts share the space on the same server, each of them having a certain partition allocated at the account opening.

It can be the best solution for a small business or an individual to have an online presence without needing to spend a lot of money. Shared hosting can be as cheap as a couple of dollars per month, and even cheaper shared hosting can be exceedingly good for most uses. This means that basically everyone can be online, regardless the amount of money they can afford to spend for that matter.

Now that you know what is shared hosting and how good it is for beginners, you have to know about the downsides as well. The main disadvantage of shared hosting is that all websites on a server share its resources. Whenever one of the websites gets hacked or has a traffic spike, it may happen that it consumes all available resources, thus causing the server to shut down (there are exceptions eg SiteGround). This means your website will stop working or slow down, as well as all other sites that are hosted together on that sever. This may last only a few minutes, but in case of serious troubles, it may last for hours or even for days.

This is why price should never be the only important thing when choosing a website hosting provider. A very low price might hide an ugly fact: the provider, in his attempt of increasing profits despite of the very low price, puts too many websites on the same server. As a result, the server becomes unstable and it may need frequent reboots, thus causing your site to go offline each time it happens.

There is a way to find reliable shared hosting: reviews of other users. This is why you should search the web for such reviews before signing up with any hosting provider. Discussion forums are very useful, as many webmasters would post there if they are unhappy with such or such hosting company. You can read that information and if you need details, you can join those forums and ask for it. People are usually happy to help, so you'll probably manage to find out pretty quickly if a certain hosting company is unreliable or has low quality services.

Now that you know what is shared hosting and how it works, all you have to do is find a reliable provider. You don't have to shy away only because your files will be on the same server with hundreds of other websites. If the server is good, if the site loads fast and there's online support that answers your inquiries within minutes, there's no reason to go for more expensive solutions if you can't quite afford them for the moment. Go with shared hosting and once your traffic grows, you can always migrate to VPS or dedicated servers.

BlueHost Best shared web hosting provider, read Bluehost Review here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wendy_Peterson/2200877

Creating a Facebook Ad? Implement These Call to Action Tips

By Peg McDermott  |   Submitted On December 03, 2014

  

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Anybody with a little bit of time and a few dollars can create a Facebook ad and run a campaign. Not everybody has what it takes to create an ad that generates clicks and converts these people into buyers.

When creating a Facebook ad, regardless of your company size or industry, the call to action is one of the most important factors. If your ad is boring and unattractive, you can't expect it to receive a high click through rate. On the other hand, if you implement a killer call to action, you may be surprised at how much traffic you drive.

Here are three call to action tips that can take your mediocre ad and turn it into something much more powerful:

1. Use at least one "action" keyword. A Facebook page is full of content and images, so your ad has to stand out in the crowd. By using an action keyword, you are telling your audience that you have something special to offer. You are telling them to take action now if they want to take advantage.
   
   Some of the best action keywords include: save, discount, book now, sign up today, order now, try, and subscribe.
   
   You can build off of these, based on your particular industry and offering, to create an even more powerful message. For example, if you are pushing a weight loss product, you could use a phrase such as "lose weight today" or "lose weight faster."


2. Don't beat around the bush. You only have so much time to grab the attention of your audience and convince them to click through.
   
   Don't make people read through your ad to find out what you want them to do. Instead, the call to action should be displayed in a prominent and powerful location. If your audience can identify the call to action at a glance, while also understanding what it means to them, you have reached your goal.


3. Ask a question. This is one of the best ways to engage your audience. Not only does a question draw people in, but it can improve your click through rate as they will be interested in learning the answer.
   
   Note: if asking a question, keep it short and sweet.

With these three call to action tips, you will find yourself taking a different approach when creating Facebook ads. Subsequently, you may also find that your campaign is generating better results.

Peg McDermott is an award-winning marketing communications expert,Internet marketing specialist, and public speaker. Peg is the founder and president of COGO Interactive, an innovative Internet Marketing firm specializing in helping small to mid-sized businesses increase revenue and awareness by leveraging Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Peg_McDermott/661777

10 Tips to Make Your Periscope and Facebook Live Broadcasts Successful

By David Tyler  |   Submitted On May 02, 2016

  

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From the looks of it, 'live' video on social media has become a thing. And to help it not turn into a monstrous thing from the deep I've put together this list of 10 tips to make your live Periscope and Facebook Live broadcasts successful and help you connect with your audience.

1. Your Title Should Grab their Attention

Think of the title of your Periscope-like a newspaper headline. Write a great title that tells the viewer what it's about and what they will see or learn. It should entice them to tune in. 'Untitled' isn't an option for success.

2. Don't Waste Time

Don't spend the opening seconds of the broadcast swinging the camera around the room showing us stuff, print out a copy of your company logo and slogan and shoot that as you welcome us to the broadcast and verbally tell us what's going to happen.

3. Stay Calm

When you point the camera towards you don't act surprised by the people logging in to watch, it's what you were expecting so go with it. Likewise, don't start giving shout-outs to viewers unless someone of note shows up... like The Pope. It could happen...

4. Don't Wait to Start

You should be starting the actual content of your live video broadcast within the first:60 seconds, don't forget that people who joined late will be able to watch the replay for anything they may have missed.

5. Horizontal Please!

It's one of my biggest pets peeves. My eyes are side-by-side on my face, not one on top of the other. Also, be sure to keep your head in the middle of the frame with your eyes on the imaginary line between the top 3rd and middle third of the frame. In the case of Periscope, when the comments and hearts begin to fly we will be able to still see your head.

6. Have An Agenda

As a guy who spent 25+ years working in radio and TV and doing hours of show prep before each broadcast... please, please have an agenda. Before you go live, outline what you're going to say and the points that you intend to make. Then follow that outline.

7. Do A Midstream Recap

If you notice a huge spike in viewers, it's OK to do a quick recap for those who just joined you, but again remember they can watch the replay later. Be brief about it and unless your broadcast is going to be "an epic", don't recap more than once.

8. Questions At the End

During the broadcast, if audience members start asking questions let them know that you will take questions at the end of the broadcast. This will help you stick to your agenda. And unless you have a fantastic memory (I don't) have them re-ask their question later. Just like your midstream recap be brief and get on with the task at hand.

9. Leave Them Wanting More

After you've finished your presentation stay on to answer a few questions from your audience but don't let this drag on. A good broadcaster knows to leave on a high note. Let them know if they have any further questions to contact you by email or via Twitter.

10. Use Graphics

Any URLs, email addresses, Twitter handles, etc. that you mention during the broadcast should be printed out on a sheet of paper and held up to the camera for people to take note of. Finish off the way you started with your company logo and slogan. Maybe a URL for your product or service.

Use a graphic During Your Periscope Facebook Live Broadcasts

Bonus Tip

Make an appointment with viewers. Either do your broadcast on a regular schedule (though this may not always be ideal) or Tweet 30 minutes in advance to your followers and friends that you've got a broadcast coming up. Mention the title too!

It's a brave new world out there and everybody has the tools to be a broadcaster. As I've said before, the artist, broadcaster or craftsperson knows it's not about the tools... but how you use them.

Let me know if I can help you or if you have any other tips to add to my list.

David Tyler is a creative communicator and voice over talent with 25+ years of experience in the broadcast world of TV and radio.

His mantra of 'Stop Communicating and Start Connecting' is his counsel to anyone attempting to use media, old or new, broadcast or online.

He writes and lectures on "The Art of Communicating Ideas".

Need help marketing on social media? Contact David Tyler Here: http://www.davidtyler.com/contact

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/David_Tyler/2275112

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