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Eight Free Fonts

June 5, 2017/in Blog /by Carmel

Where to get FREE fonts?

Whether you are doing a school project or designing a website, finding the right font is tough. There are a lot of choices out there and those innumerable options tend to confuse users. Read this guide for a list of FREE (Yes, free!) Open Type Fonts that you can use and the links on where to get them.

Butler by Fabian De Smet
This is a serif typeface that is free for both personal and commercial use. (In case you are wondering what a serif typeface is, you can review this article.) Butler is great for books, and other printed materials. Most of all, Butler supports different languages. When you need special characters, it has glyphs to display them properly. You can download the .zip file of the font here.
Ostrich Sans
The League of Moveable Type has made several free and open-source typefaces that everyone can download. I will list a few of their works. The first of many fonts is Ostrich Sans. It is one of their san serif typefaces. The long and slim design is perfect for subtle titles. Download it here.
Eau Sans
Aside from The League of Moveable type, fonts by YOfonts will be featured. Eau is French for water. It is a sans serif typeface and it has three variations. You can choose between proportional, lining and old-styled figures. You can try them out by following this link .
Melma Font by Rafa Miguel
This free for commercial use font includes three varieties: Melma Black, Melma Line, and Melma Cracked. This collection is great for banners, placards, and signboards with its bold and chunky letterforms. For free download, click this link.
Opuscula Sans, Serif , and Script
When in doubt, try all the types of font. Opuscula can be serif, sans serif, and script. It is very flexible to your needs. The sans and serif are the condensed and thick kind, but if you want an italicized variety, try the script. All three open type fonts are created by YOfonts and you can download them here.
League Script Number One
If you are looking for a script style typeface, this is for you. Thanks to people of The League of Moveable Type for this modern script font. League Script Number One is fitting for notes, scrapbooks, or even invitations. You can download it here and start writing those personal letters for that someone special.
Marta by Michael Chereda
Marta is your all-around font. You do not have to worry if you need to type in figures, symbols, and ordinals. This diverse serif font collection supports languages like German, Czech, Russian, and even Latin, and Cyrillic ligatures. You can download the bold, regular, and italic versions for free.
Blackout
If you want to make a statement, you can be loud with Blackout. This is another creation of The League of Moveable Type. With this font, people will surely notice what you want them you see. Want to try it out? Click here for more details.

Website Blunders to Avoid

June 2, 2017/in Blog /by Carmel

Avoid these mistakes!

Practical and functional websites make profit. They win the hearts of the customers. How can you make profit if your website looks awful? Your website should have a clear structure and uncomplicated navigation. The last thing you want to do is to chase away potential customers. Check out this list of mistakes that you should definitely avoid.

Broken Links
In the world of online shopping, broken (or dead) links should be avoided. You will use a potential customer if your website links do not redirect to the desired product. People are always searching for things to buy and the links you provide are important in helping them to get the products they want. You can check for broken links using this free link checker. Avoid the “page not found” error at all cost!

Small Font Sizes
How can you invite people to buy your products when they cannot even read product descriptions clearly? Customers like to search and browse for new items so verify that these texts are readable and the search results are understandable. The longer they are, the harder they are to read.As I have mentioned above, links are important to get to a specific product. Make sure these links are clear and legible. Customers should be able to distinguish the link and the description where it leads to. Same is true with buttons like Shop Now, Add to Cart, etc. Make sure these buttons, links, and search results are large enough for customers to read.

Unclear “Contact Us” page
I can personally relate to this. I am really particular in shopping for books. It should be in this edition, under this publisher, and so on. Rather than rummaging through over a million books, I usually contact the website and have them search for me instead. Some websites do not even have a clear phone number and email address for inquiries. I get the generic website email that probably will not get opened in a few days. I do not mind waiting, but it is not always the case. Usually, customers are impatient. They will find another website that will cater to their needs. Provide contact details that will guarantee a response. Most importantly, do not generate an automated response. It seems very impersonal and it will drive people away.

No (or inactive) social media accounts
This is related to the mistake above. Everyone now has a social media account. Advertise your official accounts together with your contact details. People tend to search for your business and inquire online. Answering questions quickly means good customer service. You give a positive impression that you want to help out customers and you care about them. You create that inviting atmosphere that will surely get loyal customers. Engage with people on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and those people will spread good things about your website in return. You can repost or retweet the positive feedback you got and certainly, it will encourage other people to shop at your website.

No search boxes
Most of the time, customers know what they want. Give them an easy access to that product. Whether you have five or a million products, always provide a way to search and to refine the existing search results. Prevent Choice Paralysis. It is always good to provide your customers many options, but when there’s just too much, customers get confused.

Need more? There is another list here!

Four Things You Should Know Before Building a Website

May 26, 2017/in Blog /by Carmel

What makes a good website?

Websites are not only about codes, images, and latest designs. You are building a place for visitors to know more about the products and services you offer. Everything you put into your website should be essential towards a certain goal. Like in any project that you do, it requires extensive planning. You would not want to waste money on something you would never use.

What is the purpose?

Define your goals. What do YOU want? Do you wish to sell online? Perhaps you want to inform people? Or maybe you just want to share your hobby and entertain your readers? Write everything down. Put your thoughts on paper first. You do not have to make a website right away.

What to put?

Every single element you will include in your website should coincide with your identified goals. It is important to know what information will your website’s visitors find relevant. Of course, you would want to show the world your work! Think also of what your audience needs. Do not exhaust them by letting them read long and boring paragraphs. Give them value. So, if you own a business, do not just put the photos of your products. Provide information on how and where to avail these products. Add other significant information like email and contact number. They can just call you if they have questions or if they wish to make reservations. If you have a physical store, provide a detailed map. Content should always be informative!

What photos to use?

Aside from great content, using the right images also help. Gather photos by utilizing free stock photos or you can even use your own photographs. You want those images to make a mark and you would want it to have a lasting impression. You can always buy photos, but purchase only photos when needed. There are already tons of free photos out there. This list of websites may help you.

What design to use?

You are very happy to have created a visually appealing design, but when you previewed it, it causes eye strain. You have allocated days to create that perfect design, but then, I am sure it will be outdated in months. Learn the fundamentals of design and typography. Remember, you do not have to need to fill every corner of your website. Design is more than the visual aspect.

Consistency is key. Do not use all the colors of the rainbow. When in doubt, use white space. Highlight the important details. Make text larger so it will be easy to read. Choose a set of fonts and stick to it. Lastly, the design should be flexible. It should be viewed properly in all browsers, and in all devices. Plan what works for you and what does not. This will help you narrow down your choices rather than changing deigns from time to time.

Making a website should NOT be expensive. This is still the initial phase. You should be well geared before starting that website you have been dreaming of. Having the content, images, design you need will help you get there faster. Chances of everything crashing down are higher if you are not prepared. If you are ready to take that leap and move on to the next level, this guide will surely help you!

Easy to Follow Tips to Have a Speedy Website

May 16, 2017/in Blog /by Carmel

reduce waiting time

We all want everything to be fast, right? We have so many tasks to do, and so little time. Thus, speed is important in websites. Internet users do not have all day to browse for answers. I will not dive into jargons and bombard you with heavy technological terms. In this post, I shall teach you a few easy tips and tricks to help your website load faster.

Tip #1: Always compress your images.

Vivid imagery is essential, but the sad truth is images also take up more page size than texts. When your website has a huge page size, it means it will take time to load. I am not saying that you should remove all images. You have to reduce the images’ file size or reduce its resolution. Like for example, a picture with a 1280 x 768 resolution is unnecessary. Yes, for a wallpaper, it will do. That is not needed in a blog post.

Tip #2: Simplify your theme.

Choose a fast and simple theme. All the beautiful user interface and colorful design will be useless if you have a website that does not load immediately. No matter how visually pleasing your design is, it will definitely annoy visitors if the site is slow. I suggest you keep it simple first and then, little by little, add something to optimize and enhance the look.

Tip #3: Clean up your website.

As you post numerous articles in your website, you will gain followers… and you will acquire a lot of junk. Like your house, you also have to constantly clean your website. The post drafts can take up space. If you have more than twenty revisions, you better clean those up. Another one that you could do is to delete those spam comments. Ten copies of the same comment are totally redundant. Anything that is not required should be eliminated. A little dusting can boost your website. No need to be pack rat!

Tip #4: Remove unused images, plugins, themes.

This tip is related to the previous one. Over time you will upgrade your website so those previously used images, plugins, and themes should be removed. Those images that you uploaded, whether you use them in a post or not, will consume your website’s space. It is better to say goodbye to those unattached pictures. For plugins, you have to deactivate it first and get rid of the ones you do not utilize anymore. If you are already using a new theme, there is no need for you to keep the old one. Out with the old, in with the new.

Tip #5: Organize your homepage.

Shorten your posts. Do not show the full post immediately on your homepage. Provide only a snippet of what viewers can expect. Limit the posts you will show in one page. There is always a “next” button or a “show more” option that visitors can click. Do not bombard them with all the information right away.

After applying all those tips, you can use a tool called Pingdom to test your website’s speed. You just have to enter your website’s address (or URL) and ─ viola! ─ you can see the results right away. It is very easy to understand. “A” is the highest score a website can get. You will also see the page size there. If your images are not compressed, it will reflect. Loading time is also indicated. You will know how long it will take for your website to load in seconds.

Posts

Eight Free Fonts

Website Blunders to Avoid

Four Things You Should Know Before Building a Website

Easy to Follow Tips to Have a Speedy Website

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