From small items like clothes and stationery to larger parcels like home appliances and furniture, we can get our hands on almost everything over the internet—and in the comfort of our homes!

Of course, it wasn’t always this glamorous and easy. In this blog, we’ll take you through the history of eCommerce, where it is today, and where it’s headed. 

The History of eCommerce

eCommerce has gone a long way from its humble beginnings. In 1979, Michael Aldrich, a British inventor developed online shopping. 

Back then, it was called teleshopping. Aldrich’s invention connected domestic TVs to a processing computer via the telephone, which allowed consumers to order from and message businesses using a simple interface. The technique was later renamed eCommerce.

When the Internet and the Word Wide Web became available to the public, eCommerce gained economic viability. In 1994, Pizza Hut started taking online orders on its website. A year later, eBay was born, and Amazon secured its first sale.

From there, more and more people enjoyed Internet access and participated in online shopping. In 1996, there were over $1 billion in online sales. When PayPal was introduced in 1998, it drove the growth of eCommerce further as it provided an easy way to pay online.

Unfortunately, the Internet bubble burst of 2001 left many online businesses bankrupt. To encourage online purchases, companies offered big sales and promos during the holidays. By 2005, eCommerce officially made a comeback and the term “Cyber Monday” was coined to mark the biggest online shopping day of the year.

The following years saw the continuous rise of eCommerce. Hundreds of online shopping platforms were established and global eCommerce transactions breached $20 trillion. 

eCommerce Now

Today, eCommerce remains unstoppable. Recent events like the COVID-19 pandemic greatly shifted consumers’ preferences from buying at physical stores to purchasing goods online. And now that most of the world is going back to the old normal, eCommerce maintains its progress. 

Important Statistics

So how big is eCommerce, you might ask? That’s something best described using numbers.

• Retail eCommerce sales in 2021 amounted to over $4.9 trillion. (Statista) 
• eCommerce sales currently make up 22% of the total retail sales across the globe. (Morgan Stanley) 
• 93.5% of all internet users have purchased something over the internet. (OptinMonster)
• There are over 12 to 24 million eCommerce websites worldwide. (WPForms)
• Annual eCommerce sales are forecasted to exceed $6 trillion by 2024. (Shopify)

Current Trends

Modern innovations have improved eCommerce tremendously, creating better online shopping experiences. In 2022, the most influential trends include augmented reality (AR), chatbots, and mobile shopping.

AR as a gamechanger

AR technology allows users to virtually try on a product before making a purchase. AR has been around for a while, but it wasn’t until recently that the technology became mainstream in eCommerce. 

Fashion brands utilize AR so that shoppers can “fit” clothes and accessories. Other companies grant users the ability to set 3D models of furniture into their space. Because the models are to scale, consumers get a good feel of the products without having to visit physical stores.

24/7 customer service chatbots

One of the best ways to attract customers and increase repeat buyers is to ace customer service. The advantage of online shopping is that there are many avenues to provide customer service even after business hours. And in this area, chatbots are currently in the lead.

Sophisticated chatbots can assist consumers while shopping by giving personalized recommendations, answering FAQs, and leading them to checkout. The best part is that they’re responsive at any given time.

Mobile shopping domination

Mobile shopping is steadily eclipsing purchases made on desktops. According to Statista, mCommerce (mobile commerce) is expected to grow twofold by 2025, amounting to over $710 billion. 

This trend emphasizes the importance of responsive design and a mobile-first approach to web design and development. 

Other trends

Apart from the big three, current eCommerce trends highlight personalization, big data, video content, and multiple payment methods.

Challenges

While eCommerce is enjoying the spotlight, the industry isn’t without problems. With millions of shopping platforms available, the market is saturated and small businesses have a hard time converting visitors and earning customer loyalty.

Customer expectations are also at an all-time high since users are accustomed to fast loading times and seamless shopping experiences from established brands. Because there are so many options available, users don’t settle for less and are quick to bounce out of unoptimized websites and web apps.

Another major challenge is cybersecurity and data privacy. Technological advancements are great for business owners and consumers, but they also empower cybercriminals. Since eCommerce platforms process a lot of confidential information, it’s pressing to double down on security measures to prevent data breaches. 

On the Horizon

Many experts believe that eCommerce is here to stay. The industry is going to continue evolving as new tools and software are introduced. Unfortunately, this means that businesses that fail to adapt are going to get pushed out of the competition. 

As early as now, it’s important to look ahead and keep an eye out for future trends. Voice search and visual search are getting tons of traction but not many eCommerce websites are utilizing them just yet.

Delivery drones are also on the rise. Amazon, UPS, and Domino’s already have them integrated into business operations, albeit on a small scale. There are long ways to go before drones get commercial approval and become accessible to startup brands. But what’s for sure is they will reshape eCommerce significantly.

Finally, and perhaps the most urgent, is the impending death of third-party cookies. When the time comes, eCommerce platforms would have to rethink their strategy on personalization. 

Future-proof your online platforms 

Want to boost conversion rates and leverage the latest trends? 

Work with a seasoned team of web developers and designers. At DevWerkz, we build stunning websites with the newest technologies to grow and future-proof our clients’ businesses. Contact us today.

Website navigation is something most users probably don’t even think about until they have an awful experience.

According to Yoast, difficult website navigation is one of the three main reasons behind high bounce rates. It also negatively impacts conversion rates and SEO. 

What is website navigation?

Website navigation is what users do to explore your online platform. Sidebars, header menus, footers, and quick links are examples of website navigation elements. These allow consumers to move from one web page to another, guiding their search and providing relevant information.

Ideally, your visitors should be able to find what they’re looking for effortlessly. Intuitive websites encourage people to stay on your portal and read through content⁠—even convert. On the other hand, confusing navigation designs prompt users to exit and hurt your brand.

Website navigation is also important in search engine optimization. Organized websites help web crawlers do their job more efficiently, increasing your chances of appearing on top of search engine results pages. 

How to Improve Website Navigation

Given how crucial website navigation is to boosting conversion rates and sales, it’s imperative to keep it streamlined and spotless. You can improve your website navigation by following our tips below.

1. Create a sitemap

A sitemap is a list of every page found on your website. It reflects the overall structure of your platform. There are two main types of sitemaps: XML and HTML. 

An XML sitemap is given to search engines to ensure that every page is accounted for during website indexing.  It is especially useful for large websites that have over 500 web pages. 

An HTML sitemap is made for website visitors. It is essentially a clickable list of web pages that users can pull up if needed.

Both sitemaps are essential to website navigation. While some argue that HTML sitemaps are obsolete, they still serve many purposes. A good sitemap acts as the blueprint of your website. It allows you to identify old pages and prioritize which ones should appear front and center. 

As your website grows and more web pages are published, XML and HTML sitemaps keep it organized and easy to navigate.

2. Be consistent

The majority of modern websites follow what is called Global Website Navigation. Its popularity is thanks to its simple design, which uses the same menu format across all web pages. As a result, users are less likely to lose their bearings regardless of where they are on your website.

If you’re using a global header menu, it’s practical to make it accessible at all times, meaning it should remain visible on screen as users scroll down.

Global menus are best paired with Local Website Navigation or the use of internal links integrated into web content. This type of website navigation makes the experience feel more natural and allows users to discover other pages that are not included in your main menu.

3. Follow standard design principles

Exposure to hundreds of websites created certain expectations for online platforms. Consumers are used to interacting with specific types of UX/UI elements, so much so that significant deviations from these standards confuse them. 

Follow established website navigation principles even when the goal is to set yourself apart from competitors. Use icons and layouts that are familiar to users so that there is no guesswork involved during their visits. Concerning UX/UI, usability always takes precedence over creativity. 

4. Use descriptive labels

The best way to communicate is to be explicit. You want users to know what options they have available and exactly what’s in store for them when they click on a link. To achieve this, you need to write descriptive labels and titles. 

Swapping general labels for specific keywords and keyphrases makes web navigation an easier task. It also benefits SEO as it helps you rank for niche searches. 

Take note, however, that using generic navigation titles isn’t a bad thing. For larger websites and brands with expansive catalogs, it makes sense to use broad categories first before moving on to more precise labels. What’s more important is they are clear and easily understood by your target audience.

5. Use a different font style for hyperlinks

As common as it is to use internal links and anchor text, a lot of websites make the mistake of not distinguishing them from non-interactive elements. Internal links embedded on web copies work great to increase pages per session but if users can’t tell they’re there, then they can’t serve that purpose.

Making hypertext obvious is easy. You can use a different font style or change the color of your anchor texts. You can also opt to underline them or make them bold. These little tweaks make a huge difference in improving site navigation.

6. Organize your navigation bar

One of the first things people see or look for on your website is your navigation menu. As such, it greatly contributes to first impressions and conversion rates.

When deciding what to put on your navigation bar, consider the 15-second rule. A study by Chartbeat revealed that 55% of visitors bounce off a page after 15 seconds of failing to generate interest. This implies that we must provide users with the information they need within that timeframe, including good website navigation.

Be thoughtful when deciding what to put on your navigation bar. Putting too many or too few links makes it appear unrefined and ultimately unhelpful. Think of what your visitors need and what you want to highlight.

You can add sub-menus to categorize links under main headings but avoid using drop-down menus. They perform poorly on usability studies and cause users to skip important web pages, harming SEO.  

7. Add a search feature

The overarching goal of website navigation design is to make site searches as frictionless as possible. And the best way to save users’ time and effort is by adding a search bar. 

Search bars are simple yet powerful tools that help consumers accomplish tasks faster. Rather than clicking multiple links to get to a specific product page, visitors can simply type in keywords and leave with a positive user experience.

Make sure that your search feature is visible and enabled with auto-complete. Additionally, program your search bar such that it tolerates typographical errors and pulls up the best possible results.

8. Optimize your footer menu

Complex navigation hierarchies lead to user fatigue. Even when your navigation bar is well-organized, sometimes it gets too tedious to expand submenus upon submenus over and over.

Mega footers offer a solution to this problem. They provide the links to all of your important and frequently visited web pages to ease navigation. With mega footers, users have a bird’s-eye view of all that your website has to offer in one place.

You can also take advantage of footers by adding target keywords to improve your Google Search rankings. What’s more, adding your location and contact details will help with your local SEO.

9. Use color and white space

The correct use of color and white space is something all UX/UI designers should master. In website navigation, color can be used to make interactive elements more conspicuous and direct users’ attention to the next steps towards conversion.

Choose colors that contrast your background colors nicely to make it clear where navigation tools start and end. Also, use white spaces to let your design breathe and prevent overloading your visitors with visual stimuli.

10. Apply responsive web design

Responsive web design is expected for all online platforms, especially eCommerce websites. Remember that mobile users have different needs than visitors browsing on their desktops. 

Simplify your web layout and navigation bar for mobile sites to improve user experience. Additionally, consider replacing hypertexts with buttons to make them easier to tap and read.

Final reminders

Once you’re happy with your design, don’t forget to run A/B tests. Collect data and see if there are any areas you could still improve or omit. 

Again, web navigation boils down to helping your users achieve what they want from your website. The less hoops they need to jump through to buy a product or check your price listing, the more likely they’ll swipe their card and stay loyal customers.

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Gadgets and platforms with difficult UI are easily dropped for more intuitive and efficient counterparts in a heartbeat. 

One of the most sought-after features in today’s context is multi-touch functionality. The overwhelming popularity of smartphones and tablets created a new avenue for UI development that overtakes keyboard shortcuts by a mile. 

In this blog, we’re going to cover the basics of multi-touch development: what it is, how to implement it, and the things you should keep in mind while designing gestures permitted on your platform. 

What is Multi-Touch?

Multi-touch technology is an innovation that allows devices to detect multiple points of contact at once. 

Instead of being limited to swiping and tapping, multi-touch allows zooming, scrolling, selecting, and more. Certain gestures can also trigger menus or control panels to open. 

Multi-touch is used both in touchscreen and TrackPad interfaces. These special surfaces have pressure-sensitive panels that respond to touch. 

Pressure applied on a touchscreen or TrackPad disrupts electrical charges carried by the panels. Computers read this as input and execute the corresponding function. 

Multi-touch is widely successful because it expands interface options, resulting in a more intuitive and seamless user experience.

Touch events, touch interfaces, and touch lists

To help us better understand how to apply multi-touch development to different projects, it’s important to be familiar with the terminologies in that domain. 

First, we need to understand touch events. These are APIs that support multi-touch interactions on different platforms. Touch events have three interfaces: 

• Touch – a single contact point on a touch-sensitive device
• TouchEvent – represents an event wherein the state of contact of a stylus or finger on a touch-sensitive device changes; detects the addition or removal of contact points and movement
• TouchList – essentially, the total number of contact points on the touch-sensitive surface

Basic touch event types are listed below. These are enough to support touch-based interactions and multi-touch gestures.

• touchstart – executed when a touch point is placed on the device

• touchmove – executed when a finger or stylus is moved along the touch surface
• touchend – executed when touch stimulus is removed from the touch surface
• touchcancel – disruption of touch functions due to incorrect application of stimuli (e.g., too many touch points on the screen)

Touch events come with the following lists: 

• touches – a list of touch points currently in contact with the screen
• targetTouches – a list of touch points on the target DOM element
• changedTouches – a list of touch points whose items are dependent on their associated event type

Finally, the following list consists of objects with touch information:

• identifier – a number set to identify the current finger involved in the session
• target – a DOM element that is the target of action
• client – also called page or screen coordinates; signifies where on the screen the action took place
• radius coordinates – an ellipse marker that approximates a finger shape in contact with the touch-sensitive surface

How to implement multi-touch on web applications

Implementing multi-touch functions on web apps starts with the addEventListener function. 

An event listener attaches an event handler to elements that are expected to receive touch events. Your code should contain the event name and the event handler. A third argument is also made to enable or disable certain functionalities depending on the position of the element in the DOM tree. 

At this point, you can play around with designing your own touch gestures like pinch, scroll, rotate, and drag. 

The development process essentially follows these basic steps:

1. Create an event handler for each touch event type
2. Specify the application’s gesture semantics 
3. Open the attributes of a touch point
4. Turn off default behaviors

The last step is paramount to making the final product work smoothly. Default settings tend to mess with multi-touch gestures as they associate touch events with different functions. 

For instance, the swipe gesture may cause a browser to zoom in when it’s meant to navigate through different pages. Another example is the overscroll effect on iOS devices. These behaviors may confuse consumers and negatively impact UX. Thankfully, they’re easily disabled by a few lines of code.

Things to consider when designing multi-touch features

To ensure that your platform accommodates multi-touch gestures well, there are a few things you need to consider, including: 

Handling touchend

Recall that touchend is the event sent when a finger is no longer in contact with the device’s surface. It’s an intuitive function that may slip your mind during development. 

Using the handleEnd() function, your app will mark the end of an interaction and remove that point from the current touch list. This is especially important for functions like drag and drop wherein the event is executed after the finger has been removed from the DOM element. 

Canceled touches

Allowing users to cancel erroneous touch input is good for accessibility and overall user satisfaction. Rather than waiting for the command to follow through and then exiting, it’s better to have the option to abort the event immediately. 

The idea is to remove the touch input from the ongoing touch list by activating touchcancel. In this case, the event handler is made using the handleCancel() function. 

Complex gestures

The difficulty in writing multi-touch applications lies in complex gestures. When an event requires more than one finger on the screen, you need to be more deliberate about your code so that unwanted commands don’t get triggered in the middle of completing a gesture.

Render carefully and double-check how your program reacts to touch events. It’s good to keep in mind the difference between event.touches versus event.targetTouches. The former is a list of all fingers on the screen. Meanwhile, the latter contains active touch points whose touchstart event was triggered within the same target element as the current target element.

Testing

Testing is a non-negotiable step in web design and development. Unfortunately, the process is a little more tedious than usual when implementing multi-touch features. Since most desktops do not have touch input, you’ll have to switch between your desktop and touch device while debugging your program.

What you need is a TouchTest application that records the details of touch events per area so that it’s easier to reference when going back to your code. Fortunately, there are numerous options online to help with this dilemma so there’s no excuse for not conducting rigorous testing. 

Device support

Finally, you need to understand that multi-touch gestures don’t work on all devices. The completeness of touch features depends on the device model and operating system. Multi-touch support has become relatively broad throughout the years but some browsers still lack the necessary configurations for full implementation. 

Apple products with iOS 4.x fully support multi-touch. On the other hand, Android and desktop browsers typically support basic touch events but may not execute complex gestures.  

Outsource Your Web Development Needs to DevWerkz 

Got an idea for a web app but don’t know how to pull it off? Work with a team of professional web developers and designers to see it come to life. At DevWerkz, we use our creative and technical know-how to help our clients succeed in the digital space. Contact us today.

Touchscreens became more popular as companies released handheld devices. Personal digital assistants (PDAs) were extremely popular in the business world, but it wasn’t until Apple introduced the iPhone did the technology truly explode.

Today, touchscreen devices are everywhere, fueling the shift from desktop surfing to mobile use. In this blog, we’ll go through 7 ways you can improve your online platform for smartphones and tablets to edge out the competition with a better UX/UI design. 

1. Use a responsive design

First and foremost, designing for touchscreen devices calls for a responsive web design. Smartphones and tablets come in a variety of sizes. Your website or web app should look good and be easy to navigate on all of them.

Test your platform on different types of gadgets and ensure that your layout renders and functions well on portrait and landscape.

2. Enlarge touch elements

Although stylus pens are having a comeback, most touchscreen devices still rely on finger touch for navigation. Compared to a cursor on a screen, finger touch is less accurate and harder to pull off if you don’t know what you’re doing.

When designing mobile pages, avoid fitting too many elements into the viewport. This will make your design crowded and compromise the size of buttons, links, and others.

Target touch elements must be large enough for users to interact with effortlessly. Meaning, they should be able to accommodate the size of an average finger.

Moreover, provide adequate space between touch elements so that users don’t trigger other events unintentionally. Wrong clicks—or in this case, wrong taps—are extremely frustrating and could increase your bounce rate.

3. Minimize text entry requirements

Text input is considered one of the greatest hurdles to mobile accessibility. Touchscreen devices lag behind physical keyboards in terms of ergonomics. Switching between letters, punctuation marks, and other symbols is harder to do on a smartphone than it is on a desktop. 

The best we can do is to minimize the need for users to input long lines of text. Reducing web form fields is a big help as well as providing more convenient ways to answer questions such as checkboxes, toggle switches, and sliders.

You can also enable autofill and integrate your platform with profile-based software like Google and Facebook on your sign-up page.  

4. Make smarter dropdown menus

Because you have less area to work with, submenus can be difficult to open and close on mobile sites. Dropdown menus are especially problematic when the dropdown list is long and the scrollable area is too small. 

Users might miss important information and web pages when these items are further along the list and hidden from plain sight. We also don’t recommend using dropdown menus for web forms. 

Having to scroll through an endless list of possible answers is tedious. When deciding whether or not to use dropdown menus, always consider the expected input. Sometimes, manually entering a word or value is more efficient. 

If there’s no going around it, limit the number of items on your list and prioritize which ones should appear first. Adding a “start typing…” feature is another solution so that users could get to their desired option faster.

5. Drop the hover function

The hover function doesn’t exist on touchscreen devices. For the most part, leaving them on won’t mess with the functionality of your website. But sometimes, hover effects could hide elements on mobile pages and alter the double-tap behavior on iOS touch screens.

It’s best to avoid these risks and remove hover functions from your mobile site altogether. The best alternative is to include the hover information directly on the web page. This requires you to trim down your captions and/or redirect users to the complete information with a text link.  

6. Enable course gestures for tablets 

On small touchscreen devices, interacting with the UI requires minimal movement. Unless users are typing lengthy paragraphs, it’s usually just the thumb doing most of the work. 

But for larger touchscreens like tablets and monitors, it takes more effort to tap faraway elements. For example, if your web app has its menu button way up on the corner of the screen, users would likely have to change the position of their hand and extend their arms while using their gadgets.

Although it doesn’t seem like a big deal, repeating these movements results in cumulative fatigue and dissatisfaction. To address this, take advantage of the larger touch-sensitive surface and make use of course gestures.

Examples of course gestures include full-hand pinch, multi-finger swipes, and crank motions. These movements allow the entire screen to serve as a control pad so you can do away with special buttons and links. The result is a more user-friendly and accessible UX/UI design.

7. Consider haptic feedback

Finally, we want you to consider haptic feedback. This refers to a physical response, usually a vibration, generated by the device to the user. It’s commonly applied to video games to increase accuracy and input speed on top of providing an immersive gameplay experience.

On websites and web apps, haptic feedback can be set to let users know that their input was registered. It can also be used to signal an error in the information a consumer has entered. 

Users with visual difficulties benefit from haptic feedback the most but even average users can draw satisfaction from this feature. Light vibrations increase input speed by up to 20% and reduce errors by about the same margin. 

Haptic feedback has little impact on power consumption but it still costs energy to produce the vibration. It can also get annoying if it’s overdone, so be mindful of applying haptic feedback to your touch elements. Only use it if it can truly add value to the user experience.

Improve Your Mobile Site with DevWerkz

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Optimizing images and cleaning up your code won’t make much of a difference if your web host is not up to par. 

Before signing a deal, double-check what’s included in web hosting packages. Ideally, web hosts should have uptime above 99% and offer regular backups and security checks. It’s also a good idea to research what other people have to say about the service provider.

Of course, if you do that, you’ll be sifting through hundreds of options. So to help you decide, we came up with a list of the best web hosting services in 2022.

1. Hostinger

Hostinger offers a variety of web hosting services, including—but not limited to—WordPress, VPS,  eCommerce, and shared web hosting. 

Hostinger’s team uses the latest technologies like HTTP/3, IPv6, and CDN to secure data and provide smooth online experiences. It operates on CloudLinux and regularly updates its system to prevent malware attacks and other cybersecurity threats.

Response time ranges from 11 to 274 milliseconds, while uptime is 99.99%. SSL certificates are included on top of a free domain, 24/7 customer support, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Its basic WordPress plan starts at $9.99, which is good for one website and comes with 30GB SSD storage.

2. HostGator

HostGator is a tried and tested web hosting service provider with over 2 million clients—30% of whom are web professionals. Like Hostinger, it offers round-the-clock customer support to address problems immediately.

Hostinger markets itself as a ready-to-go solution for WordPress website owners. Its control panel is intuitive enough for beginners to navigate, making it easy to set up auto-backups, restore previous versions, and handle account management tasks.

The web service provider reports 99.9% uptime and lightning-speed loading time to improve UX and SEO. Hostinger also scans your website daily and removes malware using top-notch web security tools. 

You can avail of its starter plan for one website for $14.86 a month with 1 GB backups, a free SSL certificate, and a free domain.

3. Bluehost

Bluehost offers shared, dedicated, and VPS hosting. All four of its shared hosting plans come with a free WordPress website builder, domain manager, resource protection, SSL certificates, Google Ads, and Google My Business.

For $9.99 a month, Bluehost’s basic shared hosting plan provides 50 GB SSD storage, 5 GB worth of database storage, and 10 GB of database usage. You also get 200,000 maximum files attributed to your domain. 

Meanwhile, its WooCommerce web hosting plan starts at $12.95 a month with 24/7 support to help you build a successful online store with multiple caching layers and on-site monitoring and analytics.

Moreover, if you have an existing website and wish to migrate your files, you can avail yourself of Bluehost’s migration services to ensure everything is transferred securely. 

4. Dreamhost

Dreamhost is a leading web hosting service provider and winner of PCMag’s “Editors’ Choice” award for five years in a row. The company emphasizes web security as a way to boost visibility and earn the trust of search engines. 

Dreamhost is packed with security features like Multi-Factor Authentication, auto-enabled sFTP, and free secure hosting with Let’s Encrypt. Its reported uptime is 100%, and Dreamhost guarantees fast and reliable services.

You also don’t need to worry about forgetting to backup your website. Dreamhost creates automatic backups of your pages daily and protects your data without additional charges.

For $1.99 a month, its basic WordPress hosting package includes a free SSL certificate, unlimited traffic, and a WordPress site builder, among others. 

5. GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks is a fast, secure, and eco-friendly web hosting provider. Since its launch in 2008, it worked its way to the top as one of the fastest, most secure, and scalable web hosts in over 150 countries. 

RAID-10 SSD storage, LiteSpeed, LSCache, and HTTP/3 are some of GreenGeeks’ secret weapons to reduce loading time significantly. Moreover, in-house WordPress experts optimize the technology to ensure 99.9% uptime. They also develop custom tools to give their clients a competitive edge.

But what makes GreenGeeks truly stand out from the rest is their use of eco-friendly data centers and servers. The company also fulfills its commitment to plant one tree for every subscription.

Its cheapest plan is $10.95 a month, which gets you 50 GB of web space, a free SSL certificate, a free domain name, and website backups. GreenGeeks is available for hosting WordPress websites, WooCommerce stores, and other platforms in need of either a shared or dedicated web host.

6. InMotion

InMotion offers cost-effective, fast, and reliable web hosting for small and large businesses. Featuring industry-leading speed and expansive security coverage, it’s trusted by thousands of website owners and independent sources.

InMotion has a 90-day money-back guarantee on all of its plans, which is a testament to how seriously they take their business. According to their website, their WordPress hosting is up to 40x faster than other service providers, while their shared hosting platform is up to 20x faster with the help of NVMe SSD storage.

SSL certificates are included, together with a free domain, free CDN, and remote SSH access in PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and more.

A one-year subscription to InMotion’s shared hosting costs $3.48 a month. This package is good for two websites with unlimited bandwidth, 100 GB SSD storage, a security suite, and marketing tools. Its annual WordPress plan, on the other hand, goes for $4.49 a month with the same specs plus native backups and migrations.

7. WP Engine

WP Engine is a web hosting service we personally recommend over at DevWerkz. Over 1.5 million websites from across the world trust WP Engine, including big brands like Pandora, Yelp, and Thomson Reuters. 

Whether your website is for a small to medium business, eCommerce, or a large enterprise, WP Engine has the tools you need to succeed. The web host schedules automated updates and daily backups to help maintain and secure your portal. It also comes with DDoS protection, a robust firewall, and SOC-2 Type II examination backing.

If you’re new to the online scene, WP Engine is the perfect choice because of its renowned 24/7 technical support, intuitive website builder, and premium themes and block tools. 

WP Engine charges $23 a month for their Managed WordPress Plan with 10 GB storage, 50 GB bandwidth, 25,000 visits per month, maximum speed, and enhanced SEO. 

8. Kinsta

Kinsta has over 23,500 clients in its portfolio. From websites and online shops to agencies and large enterprises, Kinsta delivers top hosting services and expert support. 

What draws developers and website owners to Kinsta is their access to Google’s C2 machines and Google Cloud Platform. These technologies allow global availability and industry-leading speed to boost web performance by up to 200%. 

WordPress clients are also given custom-designed performance monitoring tools regardless of their chosen plan. These show web administrators which parts of their web pages contribute to slow loading time.

Kinsta’s starter plan is priced at $30 a month for one WordPress website, 10 GB disk space, a free SSL certificate, CDN, and migration assistance. 

9. SiteGround

Finally, there’s SiteGround. SiteGround is a powerful hosting platform with default static and dynamic caching enabled for optimal speed. It’s built on top of Google Cloud infrastructure and is quick to integrate new technologies and compression algorithms like Brotli, TLS 1.3, and QUIC.

Using Google’s SSD persistent storage, SiteGround has a failsafe in case the hosting server shuts down. Multiple redundancies allow the web host to redirect the storage volume to another hosting node without having to manually restore data. Meaning, your website is always going to be up and running no matter what.

Another unique feature of SiteGround is a custom PHP setup developed by the company. By reducing TTFB (time to first byte) and improving overall resource usage, web pages load up to 30% faster than average.

Pricing starts at $14.99 a month for one website with 10 GB of web space, a free SSL certificate, daily backups, unlimited databases, and more.

Final Words

Looking at our list, you might be tempted to dive in and sign a contract with a web host with the fanciest specs. But before you do, take time to think about what your website needs at this moment.

The size of your website and the amount of web traffic you expect are important considerations that will save you from paying for premium packages unnecessarily. Many web hosting services, including the ones we talked about, offer scalable solutions.

Also, don’t be afraid to avail of free trials if possible.

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In a nutshell, CSS lets you create a set of rules that tells web browsers how to render an HTML document. For example, if you want to change the color of your headlines from black to blue, you’d switch to CSS and enter a code that looks something like this:

h1 {

  color: blue;

}

Of course, that’s an easy example, but the logic behind CSS is fairly intuitive. For that reason, web developers and designers stand by CSS to effortlessly maintain and update the look of their websites.

CSS has changed tremendously over the years to improve its features and code. In this blog, we’re going to look at 7 new features CSS has to offer in 2022.

1. Container Queries

Responsive web design is non-negotiable in today’s context. It’s not uncommon to find consumers who surf the web using multiple devices at once. As such, your site must be prepared to cater to different gadgets with varying screen dimensions. 

To do this, you need to adjust your designs and move around visual elements depending on the size of the viewport. The problem is that some components don’t automatically adjust to the changes made to their parent containers.

For instance, a photo would keep its original size even though its container shrank to fit on the screen. 

Container queries define the full range of styles components must follow based on the specifications of their containers. You can still use a responsive grid for your general page layout while container queries fine-tune the individual sections of the page.

As you can imagine, this feature presents an elegant solution to common problems with CSS’s Grid. 

2. Accent Color

Styling forms is one of the most tedious tasks when building a website. Forms, along with many other controls, follow the default styles of web browsers. If you want to customize their appearance, you’d have to go out of your way to write code from scratch.

A single color change would require a significant amount of work that could slow you down. Accent color addresses this problem by allowing you to adjust the colors used on controls with a single line of CSS.

As of writing, accent color is supported only by checkboxes, radio buttons, range controls, and progress bars. Modifying other form controls require the traditional approach of styling. But don’t fret, we’re sure this feature will earn better browser support after a few more months.

3. Subgrid

A few weeks into exploring CSS, you’ll discover that a recurring problem is aligning nested subgrids with the parent grid. That’s because nested grids act independently of the main grid and each other.

With subgrid, there’s no need to manage separate grids to adjust their dimensions. Instead, you can indicate that certain rows and columns belong to a larger grid and have them respond to new ratios and positions accordingly.

Subgrid is already supported by Firefox but is not yet available on Google Chrome. 

4. Overscroll Behavior

Consider a web page with an element that has independent scrolling. When you reach the end, the default setting is for the scrolling to affect the next parent element. This is called scroll chaining.

Some websites take advantage of scroll chaining and work it into their UI design. But for many, scroll chaining is an unwanted effect that confuses users. 

Overscroll behavior is an elegant solution that overrides scroll chaining. With it, users can focus on modal content without having to worry about moving the main page.

Overscroll behavior is especially useful for mobile navigation, chat components, horizontal lists, and sidebars. 

5. New Viewport Units

Anyone who has ever tried to code a website for Safari iOS knows the pain of having to set viewport units. When a container is set to a size in the unit vh, the mobile browser displays it smaller than expected.

To work around this bug, you’d need to apply a script that resizes the container for you. Aside from the hassle of loading a new script, some workarounds negatively impact Chrome users.

Thankfully, CSS is now offering new viewport definitions and relative lengths. These include vw, svw, lvw, and dvw. These units correspond to 1% of the width of the UA-default viewport size, small viewport size, large viewport size, and dynamic viewport size, respectively.

dvw effectively solves the issue on Safari without causing glitches on Google Chrome. Logical variants like svi/svw are also available.

6. CSS Parent Selector :has()

:has() is one of the features on this list that have yet to gain extensive browser support. It’s a parent selector that lets you choose specific elements based on custom criteria. The best way to understand it is to think of :has() as a parent selector pseudo-class. 

It allows you to select  <div>s containing <p> effortlessly or apply styles to certain elements depending on their content.

Up until this point, CSS did not support parent selectors to avoid performance issues. Now, :has() opens tons of possibilities as it reshapes CSS entirely.

7. Cascade Layers

The thing that makes CSS so iconic is also the cause of many of its problems. Cascading conflicts and selector specificity top that list, prompting developers to avoid using the cascade altogether.

CSS overrides style changes to one element if another element in the cascade has higher specificity. For big projects, it’s almost inevitable to run into this issue because of the large codebase. 

Different methodologies have been developed to circumvent this problem. The downside is that all of them require extra code work that’s time-consuming and inefficient. This is where cascade layers come in.

Cascade layers grant developers better control over themes, frameworks, and designs to take full advantage of the cascading system. Whereas original cascading is built around heuristics, cascade layers allow direct manipulation and management of the internal cascade logic.

By introducing an additional layer into the cascade to define style variations, the feature ensures that the components will not automatically follow the base styles. Instead, components are rendered depending on the rules written on the layer as well as the order of the layers you’ve established.

Conclusion

CSS will only continue to grow and evolve. As we wait for the widescale implementation of the feature above, new ideas are being conceptualized as we speak. 

Getting the hang of such updates takes effort but they ultimately improve our workflow. Take advantage of these developments to create robust products for your clients.

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Lifecycle marketing or customer journey has commonalities with the traditional sales funnel. But as opposed to looking at the sales process, the customer lifecycle focuses on the end-to-end experience someone has as they fulfill their transaction.

Moreover, the sales funnel guides marketing goals and future campaigns, while lifecycle marketing is better suited for improving customer service and enhancing customer loyalty. 

There is no better strategy between the two models. In fact, they’re used hand-in-hand in building a successful empire. 

In this blog, we’ll define each stage of the customer lifecycle and give quick tips on how you can maximize results. 

1. Reach

The beginning of the customer lifecycle is the first time they come across your brand and learn about your products or services. At this point, consumers are researching possible solutions to their problems. 

They’ll be scouring through customer reviews, social media, and google search results to see which brand fits their needs. Your job is to raise your visibility and leave a good impression through value-adding content.

Make sure that you stay on your customers’ radar through ads, social media posts, and blog posts. Refine your SEO strategy and keep your content coming.

You’d know when you’re doing a good job when customers contact you, eager to get know more about your offer and get a quotation.

How to maximize reach:

• Create detailed buyer personas
• Optimize your SEO strategy
• Invest in paid ads
• Produce and share relevant content
• Implement omnichannel marketing 

2. Acquisition

The acquisition stage is marked by the tail-end of the previous phase where consumers initiate a conversation to learn more about your products and services. Depending on the channel they use, you’d need to employ different approaches.

Over the phone, you must probe the concerns of your prospects, respond to their questions, and get as much information as you can. The setting is perfect to portray a warm persona and build a deep relationship with your consumers.

Emailing is more common in the digital marketplace. Conversations tend to get more formal in emails but that doesn’t mean you should forgo personalization. If you do it right, you can get consumers to warm up and subscribe to your email list. 

On your website, provide multiple means to contact you and enable a chatbot or live chat to answer urgent questions. 

How to maximize acquisition:

• Use a CMS
• Create an FAQs page
• Publish value-adding blogs
• Offer free trials or tutorials
• Hold one-on-one demos (if possible)

3. Conversion

Now comes the exciting part. Your prospects are closer to making a decision, and if you’ve made them feel valued and welcomed, they will turn into a paying customer. 

Approaching leads with a hard sell isn’t advisable. Instead, nurturing customer relationships through meaningful engagements allow the conversion to happen naturally. 

Apart from ensuring the quality of your products, you must invest in creating memorable customer experiences. Eliminate as many obstacles as you can for your consumers and personalize interactions to set you apart from other brands.

How to maximize conversion:

• Make custom landing pages
• Simplify your checkout page
• Optimize your web forms
• Recommend products based on web activity
• Add social proof

4. Retention

As soon as you’ve made a sale, you need to put in the work for customer retention. A simple thank you message followed by a customer satisfaction survey lets consumers know that you care about them.

Go through their responses and learn from them. Discover what you can do better and put those insights into action. It could mean tweaking your website, improving customer service, or making changes to your products.

Do your best to offer 24/7 support and be transparent about your policies on returns or refunds. 

Long-time customers and consumers who’ve made bulk purchases appreciate exclusive perks and privileges. Discounts, freebies, and virtual badges are some of the gifts you can offer. 

Most importantly, re-engage with your customers through Email Development and push notifications. Make custom product recommendations and suggest internal blog posts that are relevant to their interests. 

How to maximize retention:

• Use customer accounts
• Send re-engagement emails
• Provide customer support post-purchase
• Create a rewards system
• Extend proactive customer service 

5. Loyalty

Loyalty is the stage where customers bring prospects your way. They do this by sharing their experience on social media, writing product reviews, and referring their friends to your store. 

A loyal community of customers secures your brand’s future as businesses pop up with similar offers. Their history with your brand is a big factor that comes into play when they’re weighing their options. 

That’s why it’s crucial to put your best foot forward each time you interact with a customer. You need a strong foundation of trust that’s worked on consistently over time. 

How to maximize loyalty:

• Incentivize referrals
• Encourage customer reviews
• Respond to inquiries promptly
• Build a community with your customers
• Present your products as unique value propositions

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Consumers love to take their time and get to know a brand before placing their orders. Because they can’t hold products when shopping online, it takes a while for them to warm up and take the leap. 

Studies show that 97% of first-time visitors leave your website without buying anything. 

Let’s put this in the context of Black Friday, for example. As much as we want to churn out sales, some consumers just aren’t ready, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The fact that they’ve been to your website and have seen what you have to offer is a step in the right direction. 

But you need to work to bring them back—as in email retargeting.

What is email retargeting?

Email Development is one of the best ways to nurture customer relationships and expand your customer base. In email retargeting, you re-engage leads and clients who have not taken action or have been idle for some time.

A lot of people confuse retargeting for remarketing. Remarketing is when you reintroduce an existing product after analyzing how it has appealed to consumers. 

It’s sort of like a product relaunch. You improve the item or service after realizing it’s not attracting customers or that it fills a different need from what you’ve originally had in mind.

In contrast, retargeting is a gentle nudge. You contact consumers who have already shown interest in your product but didn’t push through the transaction. 

The item stays the same, you’re just sending a reminder to users in the hopes that their hearts are finally set to seal the deal.

When to use email retargeting?

Email retargeting can be done year-round and is a powerful adjunct to your usual Email Development campaigns. 

There are, however, certain situations when email retargeting makes a bigger impact. When you notice a spike in abandoned shopping carts, email retargeting helps recover lost revenue. 

It’s also effective in encouraging repeat buyers and personalizing promotions for your email subscribers.

How does email retargeting work?

Email retargeting has a lot to do with understanding consumer behavior. Which of your links or buttons get the most clicks? At what point do people usually bounce off of your website? Which ad led them to your digital store?

The beauty of it is that there’s been initial contact, which means it’s only a matter of pushing the right buttons. You already know what your users are interested in and you can use that to your advantage to craft highly personalized messages.

The most common way to track key web activities is to enable website cookies. Marketers also use tracking pixels to monitor what users do upon opening an email message.

With good copy, stunning graphics, and perfect timing, you’ll push consumers further along the sales funnel and secure conversions.

Email retargeting tips and best practices

While there’s already some groundwork laid out, you need a detailed strategy for a successful retargeting campaign. Some of our tips include:

Track web activity

There is an abundance of tools out there to help you monitor and make sense of consumer behavior. But if you don’t know what you should be looking at, then they’re all worthless. 

On top of the list is identifying which of your web pages users looked at the most and how visitors move through your website. You’d also want to check what kind of emails have the highest and lowest engagement rates.

If you’re retargeting past customers, look back to their past purchases, how much they spent, and how frequently they order from your store. 

Segment your subscribers

Email segmentation is non-negotiable. Consumers have different needs. Even if two people fit the profile of one buyer persona, they may be on different stages of the sales funnel or have varying interests. What’s important for one customer won’t exactly apply to another.

Creating highly targeted lists ensures that you reach out to consumers with content that is most relevant to them. The more specific you can get, the better.

Personalize your emails

When you’ve done your research and grouped your consumers, don’t let your work go to waste. Work with your data and personalize your emails. 

This goes beyond addressing consumers by their nicknames. Notify them on blogs or new items that are aligned with their interests, target their soft spots, and create meaningful online experiences.

Optimize graphics

Emails with pure text don’t leave much of an impression on your readers. In fact, lengthy blocks of text seem daunting and give off an unapproachable vibe. 

Images and illustrations aren’t just for aesthetics. When you present information using graphics, it’s easily understood and consumers respond better and far more quickly.

Time your emails well

One of the many conveniences of the internet is that it makes information very accessible. But at the same time, it bombards us with so much stimuli that it’s easy to forget what we’ve seen on one website as we jump to the next.

That is why you need to act fast when re-engaging first-time visitors and those who have left stuff in their cart. BI Intelligence reports that abandoned cart emails sent within three hours after the user exited have a 40% open rate and a 20% click-through rate. 

Timing makes all the difference and determines whether or not you’d be able to convert leads and keep your consumers.

Give your consumers space

Although it’s urgent to send reminders and make an effort to minimize customer attrition, you need to be mindful of how frequently you contact your email subscribers. 

Waking up to an inbox full of your messages and ads can make consumers feel suffocated or that they’re being stalked. 

Use automation tools

To help you get the timing right, take advantage of Email Development automation tools. Most tools allow you to integrate your email blasts to your website so that certain actions trigger sending messages.

You can set your tool to contact users on their birthday, during the holidays, and other special events. Tools for customer segmentation are usually included on the dashboard. 

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To make sure you’re all set, we’ve created a last-minute checklist for your website. Go over this list and watch this year’s Black Friday Sale go off without a hitch. 

1. Site speed and performance

The holidays bring in a lot of new visitors to your website, especially if your marketing team did a good job. While it’s exciting to think that more people will be looking into your store, you must be prepared for it. 

Traffic surges cause a lot of problems in site speed and performance if you don’t have the right infrastructure. The last thing you want is to experience downtime in the middle of the biggest sale of the year. 

Conduct regular speed tests leading up to the day and ensure that your servers can handle thousands of users at once.

It’s best to have dedicated servers for this occasion so upgrade your web hosting plan if you must. Also, Identify bugs and outdated software and address them immediately.

2. Website copy

Web copy that works on a normal day may not be enough during Black Friday. After all, you’re up against other brands that likewise aim to maximize their earnings. 

Optimize your web copy by doing keyword research and incorporating what you find into your copy. Every year is a little different. Current trends and the context of your shoppers influence what they’ll look up online.

Rather than aiming to rank for generic keywords, go for niche-specific or long-tail keywords by adding specifications. They may get less search traffic but they’ll appeal to shoppers who know exactly what they want to buy. 

The most important keywords should be on your main headings, title tags, alt texts, and product descriptions. This will make it easier for buyers to find your unique offers online.

3. Landing pages

Hopefully, by now, you’ve realized the power of custom landing pages. Many studies support the use of multiple landing pages to match different buyer personas and traffic sources for increased conversions.

It should go without saying that the ads you run for Black Friday deserve landing pages of their own. This gives consumers the satisfying feeling of continuity which encourages them to see the engagement through checkout. 

The design doesn’t have to be anything fancy. What’s crucial is that the content and visual elements are consistent with what the user saw on your ad. 

Focus on your offer and remove distractions. Landing pages exist with a singular purpose so anything that strays from getting a conversion has no place in your design.

4. Featured offers

You’ve probably heard a lot about integrating data analytics into your eCommerce website. Come Black Friday, the insights you’ve collected over the years are ten times handier. 

Knowing your best sellers helps you maximize profits. Your most loved products should be front and center on your website. If you can come up with a good bundle deal, you’ll attract a big crowd and claim a lump sum by the end of the holidays.

Choosing featured products is crucial since it sets the tone for the rest of the shopping experience. Whatever you highlight should be compelling enough to stroke someone’s curiosity or make the sale in an instant.

As always, place the most important and relevant information above the fold, and don’t forget to optimize banners so they load fast.

5. Discounts

Consumers are enticed by discounts because they create a sense of urgency. A ticking clock on slashed prices nudges buyers to swipe their card and checkout.

Advertise discounts as soon as possible to build anticipation. When it’s finally time to put them into action, make sure that they’re reflected on your website. 

Double-check whether or not they appear on product pages and the checkout page. Additionally, see to it that they match what you’ve put in ads and social media campaigns.

6. Promo codes

In the same vein, promo codes afford users the same rush. But what’s risky about them is faulty promo codes result in high cart abandonment rates. 

We’ve all probably experienced entering a promo code only to find that it doesn’t work or that it comes with a catch. It could be an issue of minimum spending, restriction to a particular payment method, unclear expiration dates, or simply that you haven’t updated your website.

Remember that your consumers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get what they want. Be transparent about the limitations of your promo codes so customers know what to expect from the start. Doing so will not only earn you more sales but also prevent customer attrition in the long run.

7. Checkout experience

Speaking of abandoned carts, nothing kills the prospect of a sure conversion faster than a dreadful checkout experience. 

When a customer is ready to pay, don’t block their way with lengthy forms. Buyers should be able to accomplish checking out their cart with just a few clicks, especially if they’ve done business with you before.

Adding multiple payment options helps speed things up and accommodates a variety of users. E-wallets like Google Pay are picking up steam so take steps to include them into your website.

For new shoppers, prioritize securing the sale before asking them to make an account. This way, they won’t need to re-input information they’ve provided and prevent them from bouncing off of your website.

8. Location data

Although we’re talking about eCommerce and online shopping, the pull of brick-and-mortar stores is still undeniable. 

If you have a physical store, verify and update your location data on your website. While you’re at it, do the same for your social media pages and Google Maps. 

Customers are going to be looking at your official channels for information on store branches, business hours, and contact information, so don’t let them down.

9. Customer service

Excellent customer service is expected of every brand and determines whether or not you’ll see repeat buyers in the future. On the busiest shopping weekend, you want to provide answers fast at all times.

Enabling a chatbot is the easiest way to keep communication lines open and serve customers in a timely manner. You can program chatbots to respond to frequently asked questions, help buyers during checkout, recommend products, and more. 

Chatbots are very useful but if a customer needs to speak with a live agent, make sure you have that option available.

Aftercare is also very important but often neglected. A simple thank you message upon checkout reinforces buyers to stick with your brand. 

Furthermore, consumers should also be able to track their purchases on your website without breaking a sweat. Provide them with a tracking number and contact information in case something goes awry. 

10. Mobile-friendliness

Finally, test for mobile friendliness. By the end of the year, mobile commerce sales are expected to reach $3.56 trillion, accounting for almost 70% of all eCommerce.

Invest in responsive design and mobile sites. Regardless of screen size, your website must be easy on the eyes, intuitive, and responsive to all user requests. 

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Checking your site speed, updating product descriptions, and applying discounts are basic tasks on your to-do list. To ensure these won’t go to waste, you need to reach your audience and entice them to visit your website. 

A strong lead generation plan wins half the battle as it nudges consumers just the right amount to swipe their card. In this blog, we’re going to run down on five of the best lead generation tools on the market. 

We’ve included tools for Email Development, data collection, and landing pages to keep you on the right track. Even after the holidays have passed, these tools will serve you well to grow your business. 

1. Leadfeeder

Leadfeeder’s unique selling point is uncovering hidden leads visiting your website. As you know, not everyone is willing to fill up a form and connect with your brand. First-time visitors are especially hesitant to give out information even if they’re interested in your product or services.

Anonymous web traffic creates missed opportunities to grow your contact list and customer base. This is where Leadfeeder comes in handy. It reveals detailed information like the company names, email addresses, and phone numbers of hidden prospects.

Leadfeeder also tracks their online activity and automatically sifts and sorts data for easy consumption. You can qualify leads right on its dashboard according to industry, demographics, and other custom properties.

Leadfeeder Lite is free with limited features and logs seven days’ worth of leads. Its premium version costs $73.03 per month with unlimited data retention, custom filtering, CRM integrations, and more. 

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a popular marketing tool perfect for reaching new consumers and boosting conversions. You’ll find almost all of the essential marketing and commerce tools in one place including data analytics, creative tools, marketing automation, and audience management.

It features a Creative Assistant backed by powerful AI that automatically generates designs for your campaigns. While it can’t replace seasoned designers, it’s an excellent place to start, especially when you’re pressed for time. You can also customize designs and personalize them before sending them out or publishing them on social media.

Meanwhile, Mailchimp’s audience tools make behavioral targeting easy. The platform groups users based on how they engage with your website or marketing campaigns, then it creates messages in response to specific actions.

There are several packages to choose from depending on the scale of your business and customer list. You can sign up for free or try its standard marketing platform offer at $14 a month to get advanced automation and optimization tools. 

3. Hotjar

The secret to creating quality content and ads is knowing your audience. Looking beyond routine demographics and buyer personas helps you predict what buyers are going to do next. 

Hotjar is a website tracking software for that very purpose. The tool generates web activity heat maps, records web sessions, identifies pain points, analyzes site abandonment. It’s one of the most powerful data collection tools today with the capacity to log 2000 page views a day. 

What does this have to do with lead generation? The insights you gain from Hotjar allow you to Improve your website, thereby increasing conversions. With every piece of the puzzle you uncover, the better you get at creating memorable online experiences.

Hotjar also comes with a real-time suggestion box you can integrate on your web pages. Users can send their feedback fast and you’ll see at what point of their online journey hit a snag. 

Hotjar’s free services record up to 1,050 recordings per month. You can also create unlimited heatmaps and analyze up to 35 web sessions daily. The business package starts at $99 a month and comes with up to 2,500 daily sessions, access to rage clicks data, and custom-built integrations.

4. ConvertPlus

ConvertPlus is a WordPress website plugin that remains one of the must-have tools year after year. It collects and organizes information from leads and integrates them with email platforms for seamless sending and user segmentation. 

Its bread and butter, however, is creating a space for your forms and CTAs. ConvertPlus helps you design popups, headers, footers, slide-in forms, sidebar widgets, social buttons, and more without breaking a sweat. 

It boasts an expansive library of conversion-ready templates that are proven to drive sales and subscriptions. Of course, you can whip up your own designs and tweak templates to your liking. 

Everything you make using ConvertPlus is mobile-friendly and responsive to different screen dimensions. What’s more, you can test what the finished product looks like on different devices and conduct split testing right there on the platform.

ConvertPlus is priced at $23 a month. Apart from the features above, you’ll also be getting time-delay trigger controls, referral detection, and scheduling options, among others.

5. Unbounce

Unbounce offers several products to close sales. One of its highlight features, Smart Traffic, automatically redirects users to the best landing page that matches their profile and traffic source. 

All you need to do is to create the landing pages, enable Smart Traffic, and allow its AI to learn from the first 50 visitors. The longer it’s on, the more sensitive the tool becomes to picking up subtle nuances and matching users with relevant content.

You can choose from more than a hundred ready-made templates or craft your own with the help of Smart Builder. Taking into account your industry and target audience, the platform recommends suitable colors, fonts, and imagery to be incorporated into your landing page. 

But what sets this tool apart is that it predicts how well the page is going to perform. Through Copy Insights, you can test your CTA copies before they go live, minimizing lost conversions. Once they’re published, Unbounce tracks their actual performance so you can optimize for better results.

Plans start at $90 which includes SmartBuilder for unlimited landing pages, popups, and sticky bars.

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