Business

Learn how to run your design business, work with clients, manage expectations, and handle your finances.

Everything a Web Designer Needs to Know in 2024

Business / 16 Apr 2024

Everything a Web Designer Needs to Know in 2024

The job title “web designer” keeps expanding. Depending on your role and how many people are on your team, the term “web designer” can mean a number of things, and the scope that it covers seems to keep growing with every year that passes.

It can be beneficial for you to be familiar with multiple roles to help be the best, most functional, web designer you can be in 2023.

Here’s everything you need to know. From having a grasp on your job description, to the visual elements of web design, to the functional elements of how a web project needs to work and perform.

How to Use Envato Elements: 10 Tips to Maximise Your Subscription

Business / 9 Apr 2024

How to Use Envato Elements: 10 Tips to Maximise Your Subscription

Envato Elements is a treasure trove of design resources with unlimited access and freedom to download as many items as you want. However, with more than 18 million creative assets to choose from, it can be a bit overwhelming at first.

How do you find the best items? How does the licensing work? Is it actually unlimited or are there any hidden limitations? We have all the answers.

Whether you’ve finally subscribed to Envato Elements or planning on getting it soon, we have some useful tips and tricks on how to use Envato Elements to help you get the most out of the unlimited subscription.

Let’s get started.

10 Tips for Coming Out on Top After a Google Core Update

Business / 5 Apr 2024

10 Tips for Coming Out on Top After a Google Core Update

After several devastating Google algorithms and core updates, many websites, especially small blogs, lost significant amounts of traffic to their sites. If your site has also been affected, you’re not alone.

We looked at a few interesting case studies that provided great insights into the most effective ways to optimize websites for SEO after the Google helpful content update. And summarized the best advice into these ten tips. Follow along and take note.

Many users reported huge drops in traffic to their websites, some even losing up to 90% of traffic and impressions, after Google’s helpful content update. Then, to make things worse, Google rolled out another core update in March 2024 addressing spam content that brought down more sites, most of which were in the process of recovering from the previous updates.

This forced many website owners to lose hope of fixing their websites and getting back on top of Google SERPs. However, it’s not too late, you can still recover your website.

The problem is even the expert SEOs don’t have a clear idea of what works these days. So following random, untested advice is not going to work this time. Let’s find out how to fix and improve your site, according to research-backed data.

The 10 Most Innovative Web Design Agencies in 2024 (Setting New Trends)

Business / 2 Apr 2024

The 10 Most Innovative Web Design Agencies in 2024 (Setting New Trends)

Web design is a constantly evolving industry and it’s all thanks to the innovative web design agencies that continue to push the boundaries of web standards to create unique and incredible websites.

This is part of why AI will never be able to replace web designers as it can’t match with the unique ideas and creativity of human designers.

Today, we take a look at some of the most creative and innovative web design agencies that are setting new trends in the industry.

Usually, these types of lists include the most popular agencies that design websites for big corporations. Our list is different as we took the other way around by looking at the most innovative websites to discover the trend-setting agencies.

For this, we explored the most awarded websites on Awwwards and handpicked some of the most progressive web design agencies for this list. Let’s see how great they really are.

How to Avoid a Bad Client: Red Flags & Warning Signs

Business / 26 Mar 2024

How to Avoid a Bad Client: Red Flags & Warning Signs

Having to deal with a bad client is an experience every freelancer has to go through at least once or twice in their career. But, if you continue to get involved with bad clients, you need to evaluate your client onboarding process.

The key to avoiding bad clients is to spot them early during your initial conversations. If you look closely, you will notice specific red flags and warning signs that they give off. It will allow you to steer clear of potential trouble and focus on the clients who value your skills and experience.

In this guide, we will show you how to study the client, spot the red flags, and give you a few strategies to avoid bad clients entirely.

Web Designer vs Web Developer: What’s the Difference?

Business / 15 Mar 2024

Web Designer vs Web Developer: What’s the Difference?

There’s a significant difference between the roles of web designers and web developers, and not recognizing these differences can even lead to misunderstandings with clients.

In this post, we aim to clear all the misconceptions to help both clients and beginning professionals understand what these roles entail.

Whether you’re a client looking for the right freelancer for a web design project or a professional hoping to get started in the industry, this guide will allow you to get a clear understanding of the roles of web design and web development to make the right decision.

Let’s dive in.

What Is the First Step in the Web Design Process? How to Get Started

Business / 8 Mar 2024

What Is the First Step in the Web Design Process? How to Get Started

Designing a website is a complex process that involves multiple steps and stages. So, what is the first step in the web design process? How exactly do you get started? Let’s find out.

If you were to ask this question from expert web designers, they would have very different answers. Some would say the first step is creating a design brief. Some others would say it’s defining goals, creating wireframes, or finding inspiration. The list goes on.

In a way, there is no one correct answer to this question. As long as you get the job done, it doesn’t matter what you do first in the web design process.

However, there’s one important step that you should try to complete early in the web design process. And that is understanding your client’s needs. That’s what we’re going to discuss today.

Before diving into the topic, let’s first understand what’s involved in the web design process.

10 Tips for Using AI in Your Web Design Business

Business / 5 Mar 2024

10 Tips for Using AI in Your Web Design Business

Using AI in your business is not about trying to replace your team and employees. It’s about empowering them with better tools so that they can do work more efficiently and productively.

According to a recent study, it has found that AI can improve a worker’s performance by 40% when “used within the boundary of its capabilities”.

Today, AI can deliver the capabilities of multiple enterprise-level corporations at your fingertips. Especially when you have a web design agency with a small team or working solo, AI will give you the tools you need to compete with even the biggest design studios in the world.

Here’s how.

15+ Bullet Journal Ideas, Templates, and Fonts

Business / 13 Feb 2024

15+ Bullet Journal Ideas, Templates, and Fonts

Bullet journaling is one of the most effective ways of organizing your life, work, and boosting productivity. It’s also a great way to embrace mindfulness and self-reflection.

In this post, we will give you a few bullet journal ideas to get you started on organizing your tasks, thoughts, and goals. Not only that, we will also suggest a few bullet journal templates to easily create your own bullet journal pages as well as find you the perfect fonts for bullet journals.

Whether you’re looking to increase productivity, improve mental health, or even express creativity, bullet journals can be a great outlet to get all your ideas, thoughts, and feelings well-organized in one place.

Your Brand Refresh in 2024: How to Plan + Execute

Business / 9 Feb 2024

Your Brand Refresh in 2024: How to Plan + Execute

Is it worth doing a brand refresh this year? Is a brand refresh the same as a rebrand? How do you plan a brand refresh? We’ve got all the answers.

Over the past few months, many popular brands introduced new improvements to their brand identities. Some were subtle and some were long overdue. And it played a big role in maintaining and boosting the stock prices of those big brands.

Every business should consider doing a brand refresh from time to time. It’s not about making news, stock prices, or even making changes for the sake of it, it’s all about staying relevant in a rapidly evolving market.

Today, we will explore this topic further and discover what a brand refresh is all about. And we’ll also cover a brand refresh checklist to help plan and execute your refresh.

Adobe Certification: What Is It, and Could It Help You?

Business / 6 Feb 2024

Adobe Certification: What Is It, and Could It Help You?

Anyone can claim to be an expert in Photoshop or Illustrator but they will always struggle when it comes to backing those claims in a resume.

Adobe Certification is a program designed as a solution to that dilemma. It’s a meticulously designed exam created by Adobe to test and validate your Adobe software skills.

With the Adobe Certification, you won’t have to say more to prove how skilled you are at Adobe Creative Cloud apps. Landing that dream job will be a walk in the park.

If you’re wondering what this Adobe Certification really is about or what kind of skills you need to take the exam, you’re at the right place.

In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about the Adobe Certification program from basics to even the questions you’ll be getting in the exam.

What Is a Lookbook? (+ 15 Stunning Examples)

Business / 1 Feb 2024

What Is a Lookbook? (+ 15 Stunning Examples)

Whether you’re a designer wanting to show off work or have a request to create one for a client, a lookbook can be an effective way to showcase a variety of elements in a single design.

A lookbook is a portfolio of sorts and has wide application in a number of fields, including website design, graphic design, and development.

Here’s a guide to what a lookbook is, what to include in one when you start designing it, and some examples that are sure to help you find a little lookbook inspiration.