As we swing into quarter two of 2021, we’ve got some tree-mendous news from the information hut to share with all of you: DesignRush has named CreateApe the top digital agency of 2021! Rock on, team!

DesignRush is a B2B marketplace that connects brands with agencies. It was founded in 2017 and has grown into a global agency network with over 8,800 listed professional agencies from over 60 different countries and consulted by thousands of decision-makers looking to start a project.

CreateApe was ranked one of the top digital agencies for our user experience & user interface (UX/UI) design expertise and consistent ability to provide the highest quality of customer service possible.

We could not be more appreciative of being singled out for this award. We’re going bananas over it since it validates all of the awesome work we’ve designed and developed in quarter one for our clients. Our commitment to them and to our users is the foundation of who we are.

At CreateApe, we tackle every project, no matter the level of complexity, with a sense of purposeful passion because we value our clients’ success as our own. We develop modern, visually appealing products that aren’t just designed to look good but are also functional and intuitive to the user’s experience. However, we would be nothing without happy clients.

We’re always looking to act as a jungle guide to navigate you through the wild. If you need some help but don’t know where to start, drop us a line. We’ll do our best to clear out the brush and guide you down the path toward your digital and print goals.

One of Europe’s leading marketing events is hitting SoCal for the first time this year! The B2B Marketing Expo began and planted its roots in the UK. This year the event will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on October 2nd & 3rd, 2019. THIS WILL BE THE FIRST B2B MARKETING EXPO OF MANY (we’re sure)!!! Our proper villain, Alessandro Fard, is one of the key speakers and we can’t help but brag.

Each year the event attracts vast, highly targeted audiences and offers a truly engaging experience. We expect this event will be even larger as it will be the first time it hits the US. The B2B Marketing Expo is currently responsible for over 50 shows across the world ranging from niche industry events to major global events. No discrimations!!! They have offices set up in Germany, Hong Kong, US, and the UK (and we’re sure it’s not stopping there).

Our CreateApe team will also be exhibiting at this event along with over 200 other exhibitors. There will be hundreds of seminars and the expo is expecting over 10,000 visitors at the Los Angeles event this fall. THIS WILL BE A HUGE EVENT! You don’t want to miss…

The marketing industry is always changing, and this expo offers organizations some insight from thought leaders like Alessandro who can share their strategies and breakthroughs. Free access to proven leaders in their fields? No brainer. #winwin

Alessandro will be hitting the stage to talk about all things UX/UI related. LIKE A BOSS. Other keynote speakers include Nike, Google, and Microsoft to be sharing their thought leadership ideas. 

Jeetendr Sehdev author of The Kim Kardashian Principle will be the official headline host for the event. Sehdev is a media personality, the world’s leading authority on celebrity branding, and a sought-after advisor to top international companies. We are prepared to be dazzled by THIS INFLUENCER’S INFLUENCER. 

Some of the event highlights will include influencer marketing, data and analytics, direct marketing, AI, account based marketing, and UX/UI development (of course), among many other topics. This is the ultimate event for keen sales professionals.

Tickets are free for this event and can be requested here. Don’t worry if you can’t make it, you can still follow Alessandro Fard’s stories on Instagram/Facebook to get behind the scenes and watch him live in action! 

We are looking forward to this event and hope you will be too. SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday October 2nd, and be prepared for some “proper villain” magic from our CEO. Make sure to stop by our booth for more information about UX/UI. Let us show you how much proper UX/UI can benefit your business. See you in October!

SEO. It’s another one of those acronyms and buzzwords people in the tech space love to throw out. SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s the reason why certain keywords show up first when using search engines.

SEO can be vital for organic growth

Studies will show if you’re not on the first page of a search engine, it doesn’t matter where you are. In fact, if you’re running a small business or an entrepreneur, you’ve probably received a phone call from companies claiming to be Google and promising your company top placement on the first page. Chances are, they’re probably not Google. As much as we’d love to believe those in charge of ranking and indexing at Google have our personal cell phones, that’s not the case.

The Google SEO Game

This is important because in my opinion, if you want to play the Google indexing and ranking game, you probably want to look in to PPC campaigns. PPC stands for pay per click and is usually the single specialty of an agency. If you’re going to pay Google, actually pay Google and pay for the clicks. That way you know every dollar you spend is going towards a click that could be a future client. Essentially, you’re paying for eyeballs on your content. The cost per click might be pretty high, but is probably a wiser choice than paying an arbitrary company who claims to have the “secret sauce” to changing the SEO game.

WTF Is A Google Partner?

I’ve also noticed the new “Google Partner” badge on some company websites. First off, if I’m a UX/UI designer what does being a Google Partner have to do with anything? Google partner has to do with search, PPC, and SEO. If you’re an agency and you’re a Google partner… good for you I guess. If all you focus on is SEO and PPC it makes some sense, but you’re essentially paying a ton of money to have a fancy badge on your website.

As a UX/UI vendor, putting that you’re a Google partner is nonsensical. It holds no bearing on your design chops, user testing procedures, or any other capabilities in your wheelhouse. Even if you’re doing development all the way to design, being a “Google Partner” still doesn’t have any benefit.

What to Actually Invest In:

When creating a website, there’s still basic semantic SEO, meta tags, and keywords. Then there’s actually implementing campaigns around high ranking metrics, organic SEO, or a PPC campaign. I would argue if you are looking to do a PPC campaign, you should go to an agency where PPC is all they do day in and day out. If they offer UX/UI, development, social media, branding, SEO, and PPC, they may be able to do it really well, but typically in my experience it’s better to go with people who specialize. Do you want somebody who does a little bit of everything kinda okay, or do you want somebody who does one thing extremely well?

If you’re looking for great UX/UI, go to a great UX/UI agency. If you’re looking for a PPC campaign, go to an agency where that’s all they’re known for. Although there are some benefits for being a Google Partner if you’re in the space of PPC or SEO, it really is a badge that validates how much money you put into Google. SEO results don’t happen overnight and neither does Google indexing.

And remember, no company has a magic bullet. They cannot guarantee specific metrics overnight. Do your research and let an expert team guide you towards achieving your goals.

In UX design, the tiniest elements on your webpage can make or break your site. The overall design, images, color schemes, and typography are all important to the user interface. These elements must support your brand voice.

Written content is no exception. Would you publish a blog on your site that had nothing to do with your brand? Would you use words in a heading that don’t convey your company’s personality? 

Your voice is unique — the copy on your website should reflect that!

Microcopy is small bits of written content that don’t occupy a lot of space on the webpage but instead guide the user through the interface. It’s an underutilized tool in UX, and a good copywriter (like the ones here at CreateApe ?) can use it to set a page’s tone, encourage users through conversion, and build a fully realized brand experience. 

Microcopy includes everything from:

• Call-to-action buttons                               
• Image captions
• Placeholder text
• Billing/shipping text
• Navigation tabs
• Error messages 
• Loading screens
• Instructions
• Search bars
• Cookie messages

Good microcopy should confidently guide users, gain their trust, and reinforce brand identity. It should also help the user understand website functions and complete tasks successfully. 

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The smallest microcopy can carry the user through your site and back again, or it could drive them away entirely. So, pay big attention to the small words!

CreateApe’s Guide to Microcopy

In our UX process, creating copy is just as important as the design and user flows. We know how to make everything on the site on-brand and user-friendly, including the words that drive conversion. Follow these steps when writing and evaluating microcopy:

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Evaluation

‍When evaluating a website, we take every single interfacing element into consideration. The first step to creating a user-friendly design is discovering pain points that slow down or stop conversion. Ask yourself these questions when evaluating microcopy:

• Is it visible?
• Is the wording ambiguous/misleading?
• Does it guide the user to where they want to go?
• Does it communicate our voice?
• Is the messaging clear and compact?
• Does the messaging inspire trust from our users?
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User Empathy

‍Anticipate your users’ needs to keep them coming back to your website. At CreateApe, we heavily rely on data and analytics, but it’s not all a boring numbers game. 

We use this information to create fictional user personas and give insight into the types of users visiting your page. User personas help us visualize and empathize with the user, creating an experience designed with a specific person in mind. A UXperience, if you will.

Ask yourself these questions to help empathize with your users:

• What does the user do on the website?
• Why are they doing it?
• How do they feel when doing it?
• How long does it take them to complete tasks?
• What, if anything, drives them away from completing tasks?
• What words and phrases speak to them?
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Voice/Tone

‍Once you get a big picture of your audience, figure out how to use your voice to guide them through your website. Write microcopy that supports your voice so the user knows they’re interacting with your brand in the conversion process.

On-brand microcopy lends uniqueness and authenticity to the overall UXperience. Consider this when applying your voice to microcopy:

• Does the user know they’re communicating with us by reading the microcopy?
• Does the copy reflect our attitude?
• Is it conversational/does it engage the user?
• Does it help the user understand how the site functions?
• Does the tone of the messaging reflect the actions?
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Testing

‍Iteration is key in ensuring your digital product is the best it can be. Test your microcopy to see if users can navigate your site, log in, checkout, and complete the onboarding process. Consider this when testing your microcopy:

• Did it direct the users where they wanted to go?
• Did it help them easily complete tasks?
• Did it drive them away at any point?
• Did it distract them from completing a task?
• Did it confuse/mislead them?

Revisit and revise your microcopy until you’re happy with it!

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So, Why Is All This Important?

By personalizing your website’s microcopy, you can subtly reinforce your brand identity and build a more personal connection with your user. When used right, it drives an effortless UXperience and boosts conversion. Keep it clear, conversational, on-brand, and aware of the user’s needs.

At CreateApe, we speak the language of love. Not only are we here to help you traverse the jungles of UX/UI, but also the groves of the heart. We love holidays around here, so it’s no surprise we want to spoil our significant others on Valentine’s Day. Depending on your significant other’s tastes, the bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolate from the grocery store might make the cut. For most of our team, it’s impossible not to fall into a trap.

First, it starts with flowers, but then comes the contemplation of adding a nice piece of jewelry, maybe a candlelit dinner, or the gadget they’ve been casually slipping into a conversation for the past two weeks…

For the average American on Valentine’s day, we found that the classic roses and chocolates aren’t cutting it anymore. According to USA Today, 55% of Americans who plan to celebrate Valentine’s day are estimated to spend $143.56, reaching total spending of 19.6 billion. That’s 1.4 billion up from last year.

As our team searched around for gifts this year, we couldn’t help but notice some of the amazing Valentine’s Day landing pages that excel in their UX that made us open up our wallets (and our hearts of course). We’re a sucker for a good landing page, especially one made for the holidays. After all, they’re one of e-commerce’s biggest tricks and of course, fun for everyone.

So whether you’re shopping for a gift to surprise your Valentine or getting something nice for yourself, it’s okay we all do it, here are five landing pages that have a special place in our heart.

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1. Amazon

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Amazon is like Disneyland for procrastinators. Their prime shipping appeals to the masses and they know that it’s their strong suit during the holidays. On their homepage, they immediately show categories for all of Valentines Day’s most popular gifts. They include a concise section of gift choices, chocolates, flowers, jewelry, and gift cards. Not only making life easy for the user but also giving them a place to start.

To make life even easier, they include gift categories for certain demographics (yes, even your pets) and organize their site based on your Valentine’s Day plans. Date night in? No problem. Galentine’s Day? They already have pre-selected items and showcase the easy to shop possibilities. UX is about not having to make the user think, and Amazon does the thinking for you with their landing page.

Not only is each option presented for optimal use, but each option they promote is also visually separated by shades of pink, red, and purple accompanied by compelling photography. This allows users to segment each alternative without risking information overload.

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2. AT&T

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There’s something to be said about the power of a strong hero image. AT&T decided to pass on the various shades of pink and red in its design but instead went with a bold and captivating hero image that reflects AT&T’s brand identity of connecting people through their services.

The image speaks for itself, but text placed in the hero evokes tone and romance. Besides the image, the header and the call to action carry the heaviest weight on the page. The user’s eye immediately goes to the image of the couple and then to “Shop Gifts.” The clean and simple design is alluring and clearly paves out the users desired path.

Even when scrolling down the homepage, AT&T excels at directing the user to options. The packaged deals that indicate what phone plan are the best for you and your Valentine are mapped out and showcased in boxes with clever copy such as, “One for you. One for your valentine.”

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3. Chanel

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Chanel’s landing page features their most popular product during Valentine’s season, perfumes. Again, they use a powerful hero image to convey the emotions attributed to the holiday. Using light pink contrasted with the masculine black perfume bottle evokes desire, confidence, and love.

The most powerful part of Chanel’s landing page is within simplicity. They do an excellent job at straying from the overwhelming and kitschy Valentines Day ad’s that can appear too sales-y. They stay true to their brand heritage as a sleek timeless brand while giving the user an easy way to shop their products. The user is left wanting to seek the same emotions the landing page emits and explore Chanel’s other products.

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4. Kenneth Cole

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In 2019, standing out among the crowd can be a challenge. Kenneth Cole hit the mark this Valentines Day with their provocative and clever landing page. Instead of leading users to follow the desired path, they encourage the user to simply stay on their site with their attention-grabbing header “This Valentine’s Day Get Some For Date Night.”

Kenneth Cole does a great job of utilizing white space. Immediately the eye is drawn to the text in the middle of the page and there’s a purposeful weight assigned to “Get Some for Date Night.” The contrast between black and white makes it impossible to escape from their bold and playful design and piques interest in what Valentine’s Day items you can find on their site. If you’re looking for direction, we personally love their jeans.

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5. Lancome

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Lancome’s page showcases makeup how-to’s and three different looks you can try on Valentines Day. The best part of Lancome’s landing page is their storytelling element. They have the user imagining themselves in every different scenario wondering what their Valentine’s Day possibilities hold.

Each photo is linked to the product’s that are used in each look. This makes it easy to shop and pick out items based on the user’s needs. The emotional appeal is strong throughout the page, as you’re left wanting to emanate the same emotion Lancome has captured and explore their products.

Even cards and lipstick kissed letters are in the background of the makeup photos, adding to the allusion and asking the question what’s in the cards for your Valentines Day?

One of our biggest motto’s is UX/UI inspiration comes from everywhere. Whatever your plans are on Valentines Day, we hope you’re inspired and surrounded by the ones you love! And in the spirit of user experience, get some for date night.