Best MAC Accessories

Macs have created a class of its own when it comes to laptops and computers. But does having a Mac alone is enough? We believe that with the right Mac accessories, you will have a lot better experience. The right Mac accessories will supercharge the performance of your computer – Either by charging your Mac faster or by keeping it safe from scratches while it is in your bag. 

The great thing is that with Apple’s computers, you don’t have to worry about a lack of selection when it comes to accessories. Apple boasts of a long list of accessories, both original and third-party. You will find accessories that will meet your requirements and budget. 

In this article, we present you with the best MacBook accessories for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook. These accessories will ensure that you get the most out of your computer. 

 

How to choose the best Mac Accessories?

Before you start your research for a particular kind of MacBook accessories, we suggest that you think about the features that you need in accessories that you wish to buy. There are some other factors that you must consider before buying a Mac accessory. 

 

Read Specs Carefully

We found many customer complaints on Amazon and many other similar e-commerce platforms that Mac accessories don’t work for them as advertised. But during our research, we found that many of these customers are actually not reading the specs in detail. It is one of the most important things that you should do before you purchase an accessory for your Mac. 

In some instances, we found that a customer bought a smaller size keyboard protector for their 15.4 MacBook Pro. But the specs clearly show that the keyboard protector is meant for a 13″ MacBook Pro. To prevent yourself from making similar mistakes, we strongly recommend that you read the specs shown on the product description page. 

 

Familiarize Yourself With Specs of Your MacBook

We cannot stress the importance of knowing your Mac in and out. You won’t be able to purchase the best accessories for your MacBook if you don’t know the specs of the MacBook that you own. 

It’s about time that you know about your Mac in detail. What’s the model of your Mac? Is it MacBook Air, or any other model? What kind of Thunderbolt ports does your Mac have – Is it Thunderbolt Ports or Thunderbolt 2 or 3? Familiarize yourself with every spec of your Mac. 

 

Top Accessories for Mac

 

Below is a summary of the recommended Mac accessories:

• Native Union Stow Laptop Sleeve 
• Logitech MX Master 3 Wireless Mouse
• Lacie 2TB Mobile External Hard Drive
• Twelve South Curved Stand For MacBooks
• Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Pro
• Apple Airpods 
• AUKEY Omnia USB C Charger
• Samsung T7 Touch Portable SSD

 

Best MacBook Accessories in 2020

 

Native Union Stow Laptop Sleeve

This sleekly designed and classy MacBook Pro sleeve is made of heat-resistant material. It also consists of genuine leather accents. Your MacBook will stay protected from scratches when inside the Native Union Stow Laptop Sleeve as the sleeve has a very soft interior lining. 

You are also provided with pockets in this Laptop Sleeve, and you can keep your essential cables and accessories there. The sleeve is available in indigo and slate colors, which makes the sleeve look even better. You can order this sleeve regardless of what size of MacBook you have as it is available in all screen sizes of MacBooks. 

 

Logitech MX Master 3 Wireless Mouse

When it comes to the best wireless mouse for your Mac, nothing comes close to the Logitech MX Master 3 Wireless Mouse. It has got everything you need from a wireless mouse. Ultrafast Scrolling? Checked – Ergonomic Design? Checked – Insanely Precise? Checked. Yes, it’s that good! 

You can pair this wireless mouse and seamlessly switch between three computers. Use it on any surface, and it will still work smoothly. It also has a pretty good battery that lasts for months after charging. The most interesting thing in Logitech MX Master 3 Wireless Mouse is that it also has a USB-C connector for charging. 

 

LaCie 2TB Mobile External Hard Drive

Macs are hugely popular for creating videos and music as they are powerful and can easily support heavy usage, such as creating media content. But video and music files can be large and thus, it needs a huge amount of storage. 

Lacie 2TB Mobile External Hard Drive will solve this problem for you. It won’t let large media files affect your Mac. With this hard drive by your side, you will be able to add a massive amount of storage capacity to your Mac. 

The great thing about this hard drive is that it comes in a portable package. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get your hands on this wonderful portable hard drive for your Mac. It is pocket-friendly as Lacie 2TB Mobile External Hard Drive is available at a price below $100. Unbelievable, isn’t it? 

 

Twelve South Curved Stand for Macbook

You shouldn’t work on your laptop while looking down at the screen. It is one of the most common reasons for which the complaints about neck and shoulder strain are rising today. We have brought this best MacBook accessory for you so that you won’t have to look down at the screen while working on your MacBook. 

 

Twelve South Curved Stand is the best laptop stand that is exclusively created for MacBooks. It sports a sleek-looking and low profile design and takes minimum space. This laptop stand has a modern aluminum design that makes it look great. At the same time, it will improve the airflow for your MacBook. Twelve South Curved Stand is the best laptop stand for MacBooks, and we highly recommend it. 

 

Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Pro

The modern Macs lack many ports as Apple’s focus has been on making Macs thinner and lighter. When it comes to MacBooks, it only has Thunderbolt 3 Ports. Hence, you need a dock if updating all the accessories isn’t your plan now. 

 

With Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Pro, you will get 12 different ports, and these are:

#1. Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports

#2. Four USB 3.0 Ports

#3. One USB 3.1

#4. One USB-C 3.1

#5. One Gigabit Ethernet

#6. Ons DisplayPort

#7. One SD Card Slot

#8. 3.5mm Audio Input

 

The previous Apple Macs used to have all these ports, but then they started taking them away over time. You can call Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Pro as the Swiss Army Knife-equivalent of Docks for Macs.

 

Apple Airpods 

Apple Airpods have become a kind of iconic now. The combination of Macs and Airpods is like a match made in heaven and this is because of the H1 wireless chip. You are guaranteed a stable connection and effortless pairing between the Airpods and your MacBook through the H1 wireless chip. Not only Macs, but you can also even pair the Apple Airpods with other Apple devices if they use the same iCloud account. You will also fall in love with its sound as Airpods sounds really great. 

 

AUKEY Omnia USB C Charger

Some time ago, it wasn’t possible to get an third-party additional charger for your Macs. Therefore, the Mac users had no other alternatives but to opt for the official Apple-branded charger. Have you bought any additional chargers in the last four years for any Thunderbolt 3 port models? If you have, then you will find that Aukey Omnia USB C Charger is far better than the official Apple chargers. 

When it comes to additional charges for Macs, the 100W Omnia USB-C Charger takes the cake. It is our recommended additional charger for MacBook owners. The great thing about 100W Omnia USB-C Charger is that it is 50% smaller than the official Apple charger. It also charges your laptop faster than Apple’s official one. 

You can also use 100W Omnia USB-C Charger to charge your iPhone and iPad Pro and trust us, it does a phenomenal job. All your devices will charge quickly and won’t even feel warm after charging – A common complaint among fast charger users. It will fit in your pocket quite easily and is incredibly convenient. But you must also buy an additional USB-C cable along with it. 

 

Samsung T7 Touch Portable SSD

 

Cloud storage has made it very convenient for everyone to store their data. But there’s a significant drawback about cloud storage as you have to depend fully on the internet for it. Imagine that your internet connection is slow and you want to access the large files that you stored in the cloud yesterday. Would you be able to access it at the time of the need? Absolutely not, if your internet connection is slow. 

There’s a way to avoid a situation where you would be unable to access your most important files. Start storing your important, or shall I say the most important files on an external solid state drive, also known as SSD. When it comes to the best external SSD MacBooks, nothing comes close to Samsung’s T7 Touch. It is a small and light external SSD, and the Samsung T7 Touch SSD also has a fingerprint reader. You can unlock your encrypted backup through its fingerprint reader. 

We strongly recommend that you still set a password that is extremely complicated to guess as it will act as a fail-safe even if the fingerprint reader fails. But the fingerprint reader will make it extremely convenient for you to use Samsung’s T7 Touch SSD. It also has a USB-C to USB-A cable and USB-C to USB-C, and hence, it can be used with absolutely any Mac computers. 

 

The post Best MAC Accessories first appeared on JUST™ Creative.

[Podcast] Brand Mastery with Tobias Dahlberg

Get to know the super sleek brand educator that is Tobias Dahlberg all the way from Helsinki, Finland.

In this episode, we discuss the value of brand strategy for businesses and how it can be applied to multiple business units and not just marketing, plus exactly how to approach this and embed it in businesses. Tobias discusses brand theories such as “becoming the only choice”, “radical differentiation” and how he gets people on board when making “brand choices”. He also explains his background and the super work he is doing at The Future Academy. This episode is not to be missed!

Tobias Dahlberg is an Entrepreneur & Strategist. He is the Founder of Wonder, a strategic brand and design consultancy in Helsinki, Finland. He is also the Founder of The Future Academy – a learning platform for entrepreneurs and companies who want to build game-changing brands and businesses. He has consulted, advised and created hundreds of strategies and innovative concepts for brands such as: Nike, The Coca-Cola Company, Fiskars, Fazer, Iittala, Hartwall, Nissan, Paulig, Telia, Marimekko, Halti, Neste Oil, Altia, Mandatum Life, and many more, from start-ups to multi-national corporations.

Listen Here

• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Listen on Spotify
• Watch on YouTube
• Listen below

Love the show? Please review us on Apple or Stitcher.

 

Play Now

 

Watch on Youtube

Show Notes

• Wonder Design Lab
• The Future Academy

 

Learn Brand Strategy

Brand Master Secrets helps you become a brand strategist and earn specialist fees. And in my opinion, this is the most comprehensive brand strategy course on the market.

The course gave me all the techniques and processes and more importantly… all the systems and tools I needed to build brand strategies for my clients.

This is the consolidated “fast-track” version to becoming a brand strategist.

I wholeheartedly endorse this course for any designer who wants to become a brand strategist and earn specialist fees.

Check out the 15-minute video about the course, which lays out exactly what you get in the Brand Master Secrets.

 

The post [Podcast] Brand Mastery with Tobias Dahlberg first appeared on JUST™ Creative.

How To Prepare for Digital Marketing in 2021

This article has been contributed by Ryan Gould.

2021 is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about new digital marketing trends. In 2020 we saw drastic changes in digital marketing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it appears that 2021 will bring many changes as well.

One of the best ways to be a successful marketer is by staying on top of trends and implementing them into your own marketing strategy. It is critical to ensure your business is never using outdated or ineffective strategies to reach your audience, as this can lead to a spiral of downward events.

This article will share some predictions for the 2021 digital marketing world and provide suggestions to prepare you for what’s in store. There is no better way to stay ahead of your competitors than by educating yourself about the future of digital.

1. Optimize for Voice Search

The creation of products like Alexa and Google Home have created a massive boom in the usage of voice search. These devices rely almost entirely on voice queries to serve customers. Currently, about half the world’s population uses some form of voice search. In 2021, that number is only expected to rise, which it’s why it’s important to make sure your company is ready.

Image source: oberlo.com

Most of us live very busy lives, which has certainly contributed to the rise of voice search. Voice search is a convenient feature that allows users to search for answers to their questions or schedule events hands-free. This is perfect for people who are constantly on the go, since voice search can be done practically anywhere, in just a matter of seconds.

There’s a major difference between optimizing for text search and optimizing for voice search. This means you have to reconsider your search engine optimization strategy as a whole and think in terms of voice queries. Voice searches are typically more conversational than a text search.

This graphic demonstrates how voice and text-based search differ:

Image source: coussins.co.uk

When users search via text they usually just type in a few major keywords such as “pub near me” as this is the quickest way to get to what they’re looking for. Voice search takes a quite different approach. Users are more likely to speak in a conversational manner and use long tailed keywords to get the best answer. These two searches require entirely different approaches and keyword targeting to be successfully seen by the customers who are searching.

One of the best ways to ensure your business is optimized for voice-based search is by ensuring you have an updated Google My Business (GMB) profile. If users are using the voice search feature on Google, the results will only consist of those businesses that have an active GMB presence.

This also means that it’s important to have a fully completed profile on GMB that contains hours, customer reviews and an accurate address. You want to ensure that the customers who voice-search keywords relevant to your business have all the information they need.

2. Beware of Ad Blockers

Social media advertising has allowed many businesses to become big overnight. Targeted and optimized advertisements allow you to create brand awareness and can be incredibly effective in increasing your bottom line. There’s just one issue — many people don’t like to see ads pop up on their feed, so they install ad blockers.

Ads can be overwhelming to some individuals. After all, not everyone wants to be bombarded with new advertisements every time they open their phone. Ads can also slow downloading speeds for some pages, which is another reason that users have made the decision to opt-out.

Image source: emarketer.com

Ad blockers have been around for years. These blockers filter out any advertisements — paid or organic — and stop viewers from seeing ads altogether. As these blockers have become more readily accessible, more and more users have jumped on the bandwagon. According to eMarketer, a quarter of all internet users used some form of ad blocker in 2019, and this figure will grow to 27% in 2021.

If you’re running a PPC or display campaign and the users you are trying to target have an ad blocker installed on the device they are using to search, they won’t see your ads. It doesn’t matter what extensions you try, how many different ad formats you’re using, the quality of your ads – if a user with an ad blocker searches for a keyword you’re bidding on, they simply won’t see your ads. This can cause a huge disruption for digital marketers.

The best way to adjust to the increased use of ad blockers is by staying aware of your audience. If you notice that your target audience heavily uses ad blockers, PPC and display campaigns may not be the most effective approach for your business. While it is likely not a smart idea to entirely eliminate search engine advertising, it might be wise to explore other marketing channels, like email marketing, and consider the benefits they can bring to your business.

3. Tap into Micro-Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has been a popular marketing tactic for years now. Originally, brands thought it was more beneficial to partner with massive influencers (AKA macro influencers) with millions of followers to promote products.

This approach proved to be very costly and surprisingly, not very effective. In fact, celebrities or influencers who have amassed over a million followers ask for upwards of 100,000 per post. Even with this high price tag, many companies have reported not seeing much of a pay-off. While these individuals have a massive following, their engagement rates are extremely low when compared to smaller tier influencers.

In 2020, micro-influencers became much more popular once people discovered the effect they have on purchasing decisions. Studies have shown that contrary to popular belief, the larger the influencer, the lower the ROI. Micro-influencers offer more of a “cult” following which means most of the time, their followers are more dedicated to actively engaging with their content.

Micro-influencer marketing also offers a far different approach that is typically more effective at reaching those target individuals. These smaller influencers typically have a specific market niche, which makes it easier to find audiences who will actually be interested in your products or service which means they are more likely to convert.

According to a Markerly study, influencers in the 10k-100k follower range offer the highest levels of engagement when it comes to both likes and comments – which are two of the most important components when it comes to an influencer marketing campaign.

Image source: markerly,com

Influencer marketing is only going to increase year over year. It is expected to quickly outgrow more outdated marketing channels such as print and email, which further emphasizes the importance of starting your own influencer marketing campaigns if you haven’t already.

Partaking in micro-influencer marketing is going to be a critical component of your marketing strategy in 2021. Start looking into influencers who have followings that would likely be interested in the products or services your company sells and start outreach today. Due to the recent rise in this form of advertising, many micro-influencers have brand waiting lists that are months long, so it’s wise to hop on this trend before the new year.

4. Use Video Advertising

With platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and features like “Stories” on Instagram, video continues to become more and more popular for advertising.

According to a study done by eMarketer, video ad spending will grow to a whopping $14.89 billion in 2021. In fact, one-third of shoppers will purchase an item after seeing a video ad. This shows the influence videos can have on buyer decisions.

Platforms like Instagram and Facebook, that were once photo-centric have now turned into feeds filled with videos. Advertisers have found that videos are much more effective in pushing customers to convert.

Studies show that 76% of adults in the US, UK and Australia have purchased a product after viewing a video. Video advertisements are especially great for interactive products such as makeup and toys. Video makes it easier for companies to really highlight the benefits and features of their products, which explains the large push towards this tactic.

Despite the proven effectiveness of video marketing, many companies still fail to use the tactic. This means if you add video marketing into your own marketing strategy you may be able to get a leg up on your competition. Many companies avoid video marketing due to the daunting upfront cost of producing video content. Sure, it may not be as affordable as snapping a quick photo and posting it to your company Instagram, but the benefits far exceed the costs.

Video also gives you a better chance to convey your story. It can be tricky to get your message across through photo or text, but using video allows you to tell stories through both sight and sound which makes it easier to connect to your viewer on an emotional level.

Start slowly adding videos in your different social channels, such as Instagram and LinkedIn. Give them a few days and then see how these videos are performing. If you notice an uptick in engagement or views, consider making video marketing a substantial part of your 2021 marketing plans.

Image source: emarketer.com

5. Add a Chatbot To Your Website

Artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded in growth in the last few years. AI helps eliminate repetitive marketing processes and allows teams to focus on more important tasks. Due to the discovery of AI’s many benefits, 2021 will be a year that many companies start to implement it into their marketing efforts.

One section of AI that is expected to rapidly grow is automated chatbots. In the past, customer service associates were hired to resolve any questions or problems that arose. Customers would have to wait on the phone to receive an answer to their issue, which proved to be an inefficient and sometimes frustrating process. Although some companies still rely fully on traditional customer service methods such as phone calls or email, many companies have made the transition to chatbots. While some people prefer talking to a real person, AI is becoming so good that many people can no longer tell the difference.

New artificial intelligence is smart enough to figure out answers to questions that aren’t even programmed into their system. Technology is reaching the point that it can actually outsmart humans. These extremely advanced AI systems are expected to take over due to the many benefits they provide.

AI chatbots are available 24/7 – the same can’t be said about a human. Plus, chatbots are a far more economically friendly choice. While the upfront cost can be daunting, they don’t require a salary or benefits like humans do, which means that in the long run they are far more cost-effective.

With 75-90% of all queries expected to be handled by chatbots by 2022, it is imperative that your company follows the lead. Chatbots are going to become the new standard for the customer service experience, and the last thing you want is for your company to fall behind.

Recent developments in AI have also allowed users to synchronize their chatbot across multiple platforms. For example, the chatbot you use on your website to answer simple queries can also automate answers on your Facebook messenger or Twitter direct messages. This allows customers to have a consistent experience no matter which platform they contact you on.

With chatbots becoming increasingly popular, customers are going to begin seeking them out on sites when they have a question. If your site doesn’t have a chatbot and only offers traditional customer service options, this very well may lead a frustrated customer to look elsewhere for a product or service. Buyers expect a seamless customer experience and chatbots are going to be part of what makes up that experience.

It is important to use a chatbot that is aligned with your customer preferences. Consider starting with a very basic chatbot service. Find one that will answer frequently asked questions and can provide basic services to your customers. If you notice your customers are having positive experiences with the chatbot, it’s time to consider upgrading to a more intelligent bot that can answer complex questions.

Final Takeaways

All in all, each year always brings about new trends and strategies for marketers to implement. Consumer tastes change by the day which means the best marketing tactics are constantly changing as well.

The key to success is keeping yourself informed and allowing your marketing strategy to be flexible. With the frequency of change in the business world, your marketing plan should never be something that is set in stone. Don’t be afraid to jump on a new trend – you never know what strategy might be the perfect fit for your business.

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About the author: Ryan Gould is Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Services at Elevation Marketing. From legacy Fortune 100 institutions to inventive start-ups, Ryan brings extensive experience with a wide range of B2B clients.

The post How To Prepare for Digital Marketing in 2021 first appeared on JUST™ Creative.

How To Create A Website Design That Converts – Guide for Small Businesses

This article has been contributed by Aslam Multani.

First impressions matter.

The first interaction a potential customer has with your brand is usually on your website. The way you design and develop your website can make or break your conversion rates.

If you see an increase in your website traffic but not in sales, then it is time for you to evaluate your website design. It really doesn’t matter what kind of company you have or what kind of industry you’re in, it really pays off to concentrate on the design of your website.

In fact, in a recent survey, 57% of respondents said that they would not recommend a business to their peers if it has a poorly designed website. Moreover, 88% of respondents in another survey stated that they are less likely to return to a website after a bad experience.

Hence, maintaining a website with good design and development is crucial for businesses – especially for small business owners. For small companies or newly launched enterprises, you may not get a second chance to encourage users back to your site if they don’t enjoy it the first time.

In this article, we will discuss the most important elements that you need to consider when developing your website to ensure that it converts.

1. Use Consistent Branding Throughout The Site

Never underestimate the power of branding. Your website is the best tool to build a brand and gain customer recognition.

Apple has perfected the exquisite branding craft. It’s not only about the brand’s distinctive logo; every aspect of the Apple website expresses its value proposition: sleek style and advanced features.

On Apple’s homepage, you can see some of the main branding strengths of this tech giant:

• A unique logo, clear but not distracting and positioned in a traditional location
• A quick title and subheading conveying the brand’s current main message
• Stylish photo of the product

Before you start on a web design project, open your brand style guidelines and keep them close!

To inform the site’s narrative and tone of voice, remember that your website is your main medium for telling your brand’s story. Use it to your every advantage to connect with your target audience and inspire an emotional reaction from them.

2. Keep It Simple

User-friendly websites have better conversion rates.

It’s as simple as that. The minute you add unnecessary options and complexity too early in the user journey is the moment your conversions will drop.

Several websites attempt to squeeze as much material on their homepage as possible. They want to show off all their assets, programs, awards, associations, contact details and everything else that you can think of

If this sounds like your site, the first thing on your agenda should be to simplify your layout.

Having loads of details on your website is great, both for the customer decision-making journey and for SEO. However, don’t put it all on your homepage.

Take a look at Mint’s homepage below.

See how effective it is?

At the top of the screen, the menu bar has only four items. There isn’t much text, so browsing through the website and focusing on the important sections is really easy for consumers.

The header image has a strong focal spot on the call-to-action icon, which urges visitors to register. What’s more, they’ve highlighted that registration is free, which is always a good thing.

Even if you’ve never heard of this business, this homepage makes it clear what services they offer, without going into unnecessary detail.

3. Leave Plenty Of White Space Between Elements

White space — sometimes called negative space — enhances important elements, while preventing the site from becoming overly crowded. If multiple elements are placed too close together, a visitor is likely to get confused and leave the page immediately.

Hence, you should use margins and padding to expand the distance between photos, copy and other elements when creating a website.

4. Reduce The Number Of Choices You Offer Your Visitors

Hick’s Law says that the time required to make a decision increases if you expand the number of choices that you give a person. This concept is known as “analysis paralysis.”

UX specialist Paul Boag says, “The most successful way to motivate users to make a decision when confronted with daunting options is always to recommend a course of action.”

Hence, if you want to increase the conversion rate of your website, effective CTAs play a crucial role. Moreover, instead of offering multiple CTAs to visitors, just recommend one that is most relevant to that particular page.

For example, adding a ‘Buy Now’ button on a product page is sufficient. To urge visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, using a relevant CTA on the homepage or blog pages is more suitable option.

5. Focus On Speed

In today’s era, most people lead a fast-paced lifestyle, and are used to accessing the internet at 4G and now even 5G speed. If a website fails to load instantly, visitors are definitely not going to be happy.

Hence, speed impacts conversion rates tremendously. If your website loads too slowly it will ruin your conversion rate. A recent survey stated that 47% of its respondents expected the average load time of a website to be a maximum of 2 seconds.

If you have loads of photos, long text lines, complicated menus, lots of colours, animated elements and other needless items, your website will not load quickly.

Moreover, you can also make use of plugins to optimize the speed of your website. In this case, WordPress is an excellent CMS as it offers a wide range of plugins that ensure your website loads at an optimal speed.

6. Use High Quality Pictures

A visually appealing website is known to garner more conversions for a business.

Websites without photos tend to be bland, dull and a little unprofessional. But that doesn’t mean you need to go all out and add as many pictures on your site as possible.

As stated above, using too many photos will affect the loading time on your website, especially if they’re not optimised. Moreover, Google found that pages with a limited amount of photos have better engagement rates.

Hence, you should choose the best images of the lot and put those pictures on the website. Basically, consider quality over quantity.

7. Conduct A/B Testing

Let’s say you made a few improvements to your homepage and you saw a rise in your conversions. Excellent, job done!

Or is it? Are you sure this is the best result you can accomplish?

One of the easiest methods of finding out whether you could be getting even more conversions is to conduct A/B testing.

A/B testing, also known as split checking, means running different variants of the same website to determine which one has a better conversion rate. 50% of the traffic sees one version, and the other 50% sees another.

When performing these experiments, it is crucial that you don’t adjust too many elements between the two versions. Otherwise, you won’t know which change had an effect on the outcome.

You’re best off modifying just one thing on the entire page, be it the copy, image, colour, or location or phrasing of the CTA icon.

Once you’ve A/B tested one element and found the optimal solution, then go ahead and check other elements, one at a time.

8. Apply The Rule Of Thirds

The ‘Rule of Thirds’ has been a vital component of the fine arts field for a long time. However, this concept is now largely used in web design as well.

The principle uses an overlay of two horizontal lines and two vertical lines which are equally spaced on the web page. The yellow intersection points in the image above indicate the areas that the human mind tends to look at first when looking at an image, whether it’s a picture of a landscape or a web page.

Knowing this, you can place your CTAs and other important elements in certain positions on the page, ensuring the visitor’s eye is drawn to the most important aspects first.

9. Use A Straightforward Call To Action

You can’t expect strong conversion rates if your CTAs aren’t glaringly obvious. This may seem like a given, but it’s surprising how many websites neglect the importance of CTAs.

In fact, very few websites have CTAs that are easily noticeable within the first 3 seconds of landing on the website.

People who visit your site are not going to waste time searching for the button that puts money in your wallet. If it isn’t clear, they are going to move on.

That is why simplicity is so critical, as discussed earlier. If your website has little to no distractions, the visitor’s eye is free to head right to your CTA.

Some examples of effective CTA text are:

• Sign up now
• Sign up today
• Join for Free
• Tap to read more
• Shop now to get 20 percent off

All of these are fantastic homepage CTAs. However, if they are all used simultaneously, they will most likely do more damage than good.

Visitors won’t know which one to click on, and conversions will be lost. Hence, rely on the text that is most successful for your site by carrying out A/B testing.

10. Optimize Your Mobile Page

It’s great that your platform runs perfectly on a laptop, but it’s not enough if you want the best conversion rates. You need to customize your website for smartphones and tablets.

Mobile optimisation is relevant for websites in every sector. But for eCommerce stores, it is even more critical. As much as 66% of eCommerce sales are made on mobile devices.

If you have a non-mobile focused eCommerce shop, you’re losing out on a large portion of potential business – maybe as much as two thirds!

Hence, right from web design through to development, every component of your website has to be crafted keeping mobile optimization in mind.

Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test is a good place to start to find out if your site could be doing better.

11. Compress Pictures To The Utmost

As we now know, the optimal load time for a website is only 2 seconds, but most websites load much slower than that.

Picture compression is one of the simpler, yet effective, approaches commonly used to decrease load time. You should not only upload photos that are no bigger than required, but you should also compress their size before uploading them to your site. There are plenty of apps and browser extensions that you can use for this.

12. Add Breadcrumbs

Think about your website as a global listing of different destinations. A guest is free to choose any location, but they still want to know where they are and how they got there.

Breadcrumbs are like the signs that say “You Are Here” at the shopping mall. They inform you where the user’s current page is in relation to the rest of the website.

If a website visitor wants to move back two or three pages in a single click, they can do so using breadcrumbs.

On large eCommerce sites, breadcrumbs are particularly important. When you’ve got hundreds or even thousands of categories, you don’t want your visitors to get confused. If they cannot locate what they are looking for, they will leave your website.

Conclusion

If you’re happy with the level of traffic to your website but not generating enough conversions, it’s crucial to evaluate the design of your website.

Use our tips to streamline your site structure, optimise images and load time – particularly for mobile, and conduct A/B testing on important elements of your site. You should start seeing better results in no time!

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About the author: Aslam Multani is the Co-Founder and COO at Multidots Inc, an Enterprise WordPress digital agency helping content publishers around the world.

The post How To Create A Website Design That Converts - Guide for Small Businesses first appeared on JUST™ Creative.

How to Get a Graphic Design Education with Coursera Plus

Are you wanting to learn graphic design online with a comprehensive course?

You’ve found the right place.

Although we’ve shared free & premium graphic design courses in the past, this offer from Coursera has to be one of the most comprehensive graphic design courses available online.

In fact, the “Graphic Design Specialization” career learning path from Coursera is compromised of 5 courses in one and you can get access with Coursera Plus. More on that below.

It will teach how to make compelling designs and how to apply the principles of graphic design towards a comprehensive branding project.

What you will learn

• Gain the fundamental skills needed to be a graphic designer
• Communicate through image-making and typography
• Complete a capstone project to add to your professional portfolio
• Learn everything you need to know to work in interface design, motion graphics, and editorial design

Graphic Design Specialization Overview

Created by: California Institute of Arts | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month or Coursera Plus ($499/year) | Duration: Approx 3-6 months

Offered by the California Institute of the Arts, the Graphic Design Specialization course is designed the give students the formal and conceptual tools for succeeding in graphic design.
Broken into five courses including Fundamentals of Graphic Design, Introduction to Typography, Introduction to Imagemaking, Ideas from the History of Graphic Design, and Brand New Brand.

Designed to be completed within 3-6 months, students will learn how to communicate using typography and image-making as well as completing a capstone project that you can add to your professional profile, and learn everything you need to know to work in motion graphics, editorial, and interface design.

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Skills You Will Gain

• Visual Communication
• Branding
• Communication
• Graphic Design
• Art History
• Typography
• Creativity
• Graphic Design Theory
• Color Theory
• Adobe Illustrator
• History
• Adobe Indesign

 

Graphic Design Specialization Overview

Below is an overview of the 5 courses within Graphic Design Specialization.

• Fundamentals of Graphic Design

Graphic Design is all around us! Words and pictures—the building blocks of graphic design—are the elements that carry the majority of the content in both the digital world and the printed world. As graphic design becomes more visible and prevalent in our lives, graphic design as a practice becomes more important in our culture.

• Introduction to Typography

Typography is the art of manipulating the visual form of language to enrich and control its meaning. It’s an essential area of skill and knowledge for graphic designers. Typography predates modern graphic design by around 500 years; it is rich in rules, conventions, and esoteric terminology—but it remains an exciting space for invention and expression.

• Introduction to Imagemaking

This course is for serious makers, and for students new to imagemaking. Imagemaking is a fluid and exciting area of graphic design that comes out of practice and process: experimenting fearlessly, showing and sharing ideas, and giving and receiving knowledgeable and constructive input.

• Ideas from the History of Graphic Design

This condensed survey course focuses on four key periods or themes from the history of design. Together we’ll trace the emergence of design as a recognized practice, why things look the way they do, and how designers approached specific design problems in their work.

• Brand New Brand

This course is the culmination of the Graphic Design Specialization and gives you an opportunity to tie together your knowledge and skills into a single project: a brand development guide for a company you will invent.

 

Get Access to this Specialization and 3000+ more with Coursera Plus

You can access Coursera for free for 7 days as a trial, or for $49/month or for $499 a year with Coursera Plus, which is where the value is at.

You can access the Graphic Design Specialization through Coursera Plus, as well as 3,000+ other courses in variety of domains including business, computer science, health, personal development, humanities, and more.

• See our related post: Best 9 Coursera Courses for Creatives

Coursera Plus will save you money if you are planning on taking multiple courses over the year.

A ‘specialization’ such as this 5 part graphic design course takes an average of three months to complete, so that would save you approximately $130 over three months or $520 over the year.

With Coursera Plus you can:

• Learn anything
  Explore any interest or trending topic, take prerequisites, and advance your skills
• Save money
  Spend less money on your learning if you plan to take multiple courses this year
• Flexible learning
  Learn at your own pace, move between multiple courses, or switch to a different course
• Unlimited certificates
  Earn a certificate for every learning program that you complete at no additional cost

Get Coursera Plus

 

Other specializations from Coursera

Once you’ve finished your graphic design specilization you could move into any of these:

• Graphic Design Specialization (as outlined above)
• Graphic Design Elements for Non-Designers Specialization
• UI/UX Design Specialization
• Interaction Design Specialization
• User Experience Research and Design Specialization

Ready to tackle a graphic design course? What specialization are you going to choose?

The post How to Get a Graphic Design Education with Coursera Plus first appeared on JUST™ Creative.

Best Oil Brushes for Procreate

Since the 15th century, artists have been using oil paint as a medium to bring their imaginations to life.

These days, the medium is still viewed by many as an important art form. The downside is that oil paint can take some time to dry, so with the advent and improvements in technology, artists can now use their Procreate app to create masterpieces with “digital” oil paint.

That gave us the idea to take a closer look at the offerings that are out there for those who prefer to use oil paints and highlight some of the best Procreate oil brushes available. So if you’re ready, grab your brush (stylus), and let’s start painting.

Top 15 Best Oil Brushes for Procreate – Free & Premium

• Oil on Canvas for Procreate – $16
• Oil Pastels for Procreate – $5
• Procreate Oil Paint Brush Set – $9
• Oil Paint Brush & Stamp Set – $13
• Procreate Paint Brushes – $8
• Oil Paint Brushes for Procreate – $18
• Oil Paint Brush Set – $5
• Procreate Oil Brush Set + Texture – $14
• Procreate Oil Brushes – $6
• Oils Brush Pack for Procreate – $15
• Real Oils for Procreate – $9
• Sargent’s Oils – Procreate Brushes – $6
• Procreate Best Oil Brushes Vol 1.0 – $4
• Oil Pastel Brush Set For Procreate – $10
• Procreate Oil Paint 2018 – Free
• Traditional Colors Terracotta Oil – $10

 

Best Oil Brushes for Procreate

 

Oil on Canvas for Procreate – $16

Created by Uproot Brushes, the Oil on Canvas for Procreate brush kit gives you the ability to paint amazingly realistic oil paintings using Procreate by making it super easy to obtain a gorgeous texture that all oil painting have but also be able to keep the look of a wet media brush. Included in the set is a pack of five separate brushes. The first consists of intuitive oil brushes in an untextured form, the other fours sets contain the same brushes but they’re designed to be a perfect pair with their respective canvas textures that are also provided in the form of a Canvas texture brush that gives you the option to work on any size or ratio format you choose and maintain texture consistency throughout your artwork.

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Oil Pastels for Procreate – $5

Created by BrushUp, the Oil Pastels for Procreate brush kit are some of the most realistic pastel brushes you will find on the Procreate app. Containing three incredibly realistic oil pastel brushes, each one also includes a built-in smudge feature, meaning that you don’t have to switch back and forth. The kit even comes with a paperclip eraser that lets you carve out neat patterns into your artwork. To control the load of the pastel, you can easily use pressure and also use longer strokes to create smudged, softer effects with realistic textures.

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Procreate Oil Paint Brush Set – $9

With the Procreate Oil Paint Brush Set from Artwork by Gabrielle, you can enjoy custom oil paintbrushes on the Procreate app. The set will help you create masterpieces in oil paint using custom brushes and canvas textures. Included in the set are 16 custom oil paint brushes, two smudge brushes, and 17 canvas textures. With these brushes and textures, the creativity can flow from your hand to the screen to create incredible oil paint creations.

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Oil Paint Brush & Stamp Set – $13

Created by Sketchwerx, the Oil Paint Brush & Stamp Set is filled with everything you need to create beautiful oil paintings on your iPad, and you get to keep your hands clean as well. With the array of different brushes and stamps in the set, you can create as many art projects, portraits, or abstract art as your imagination will allow. The set includes 10 oil brushes, 5 splatter stamps, and 1 canvas texture, all designed to help you create oil art so realistic on your iPad, many people won’t believe you did it digitally.

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Procreate Paint Brushes – $8

Created by MiksKS, the Procreate Paint Brushes kit collects 24 paintbrushes in such mediums as gouache, oil, and acrylic paint for your Procreate app. These brushes can help you create rich textures as well as interesting effects when they are mixed which is based on the wet paint feature that newer versions of Procreate come with. The set also includes a sheet of swatches so you can see how a brush will work before you even choose it.

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Oil Paint Brushes for Procreate – $18

With a total of 52 oil paint brushes at your disposal, the Oil Paint Brushes for Procreate kit provides you with great tools that any digital painter or illustrator can use. Create by Guerillacraft, the brushes give you the ability to create playful images with many different brush strokes. These brushes are rich in texture, meaning that you can get that natural look on digital paintings easily. Containing realistic textures in every brushstroke, each stroke is made from various materials including rough linen canvas, impasto paint strokes to subtle smooth oil paint. Along with the 52 incredible brushes, the kit also comes with a cheat sheet to help you find your favorite brush quickly and easily.

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Oil Paint Brush Set – $5

A fun set for Procreate, the Oil Paint Brush Set from Seamless Team has created a fun brush set for your Procreate app that you can use right away. Containing 14 pressure-sensitive brushes, the brushes in the kit come in a variety of brush styles to give you more and more ways to give your artwork an oil/wet paint look. As a bonus, Seamless Team has included a 3000x3000pc painter canvas that can help bring your artwork to the next level.

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Procreate Oil Brush Set + Texture – $14

Created by SEE SEE out of a love for painting using oil paint as a medium and for Procreate, the designer combined their two loves into the Procreate Oil Brush Set + Texture kit. An excellent option to create replica oil paintings digitally on the app. While using real oils on a real canvas is the preferred option, you aren’t always able to do so and that’s what makes this kit so wonderful. With 10 brushes that help to block in colors and details in your artwork, plus brushes that give the illusion that each brushstroke comes along with the texture of the bristles, something that can get lost on a digital platform. Last but not least, the designer has included a canvas texture image that you can lay over your final work so you can emulate the look of an actual oil painting.

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Procreate Oil Brushes – $6

Extremebrushes is proud to introduce you to Procreate Oil Brushes, a collection of 10 incredible brushes that you can use to create beautiful oil paintings on your Procreate app. Each brush is a brand new creation never before included with other brush packs, giving you access to something unique every time you use it.

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Oils Brush Pack for Procreate – $15

The Oils Brush Pack for Procreate from Razum_Inc provides you with 22 new brushes that you can use to bring life to your still images as well as use for concept art and illustrations. As a bonus, the pack comes with 7 seamless paper textures that you can use to get the best experience creating artwork with digital oil paint on your iPad. The pack has also been recently updated to include an additional 16 brushes you can use to create even more incredible artwork.

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Real Oils for Procreate – $9

Designed by BrushUp, the Real Oils for Procreate kit is one of the most realistic oil paint collections that you will find for your Procreate app. Loaded with 18 incredibly realistic brushes that you can use for oil painting which have been fully optimized for tilt and pressure sensitivity. Perfect for creating oil paintings and illustrations that have a smooth and glossy look, the brushes included in the kit have been designed to make blending strokes to create smooth transitions incredibly easy while still keeping the high-quality canvas and oil texture.

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Sargent’s Oils – Procreate Brushes – $6

Created by Sadie Lew, the Sargent’s Oils – Procreate Brushes set is a tribute of sorts to John Singer Sargeant, a master Realist painter from the Impressionist era, and the brushes contained in this kit have helped the designer and can help you achieve the same look. With 12 custom brushes, each of which comes with realistic brush shapes as well as a seamless fabric canvas texture. Created using actual paint brushes, every brush features the same fabric canvas texture to be consistent throughout.

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Procreate Best Oil Brushes Vol 1.0 – $4

With their selection of eight oil brushes including X Oil Soft and X Dry Oil, the Procreate Best Oil Brushes Vol 1.0 from Extreme Brushes offers artists incredible tools that you can use on the Procreate app on your iPad. While it doesn’t contain as many brushes as some other kits on our list, the selections that the designer has chosen to include in this first pack of many will be able to give you the feeling of using real oil brushes with every stroke.

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Oil Pastel Brush Set For Procreate – $10

Created by Seamless Team, the Oil Pastel Brush Set For Procreate set provides you with that classical oil pastel feel and texture that can remind many of their childhoods. Great for illustrators and sketching, the 16 brushes that come in the kit include options such as a standard pastel brush, a soft pastel brush, and more. With all of the different pastels available in the Oil Pastel Brush Set For Procreate kit, you won’t run out of ways to bring your imagination to life.

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Traditional Colors Terracotta Oil – $10

With 20 brushes that you can use to simulate oil painting, the Traditional Colors Terracotta Oil from Eliza Moreno Illustration can help you turn your iPad into a canvas and help you create incredible artwork. This kit is a great option for anyone who loves using traditional techniques. Along with the 20 digital oil brushes, the kit also comes with 2 canvas style textures to help seal in that traditional look.

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Best Oil Brushes for Procreate

Choosing the right oil brushes can make every aspect of your artwork sing and with the list of the best oil brushes for Procreate that we’ve compiled here, we feel as though you can take any of these brushes and create the best art you’ve ever done

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