Designing a Call-To-Action That Converts Every Time

September 18, 2018 - Posted by: CreateApe

If you’re in the design space, you’ve probably heard the acronym CTA. While it sounds like a disease, CTA stands for “Call To Action.” It’s a button or a link that users can interact with in order to inform or convert them to make a buying decision. Marketers love to throw out phrases like “We need a strong CTA” and we’re here to discuss what that even means.

A typical call to action you see on eCommerce websites are the “Buy Now” and “Click Here” boxes. Although it depends what your goal, product, and demographic you’re targeting is, there are some common denominators every CTA should have. Here’s a checklist to make sure you’re maximizing conversion every time.

1. Placement

First, a strong CTA should be easy to see and should have a prominent placement. Although some may think size and color are the most important factor of a CTA, it’s about what’s happening around the space that you need to be conscious about. Think about the button in context with the page. If you have a CTA with pictures all around it it’s going to be hard for the human mind to see it. A CTA with clean boundaries is going to get more clicks.

2. Color

General rule of thumb is to make sure the color is vibrant. Websites with a black box and white text may not perform as well. A colorful button that stands out in the design will attract more clicks. Be wary of going overboard. If you have a website that has colorful text, design, links, and you have a colorful CTA, it’s going to get lost in the composition.

This Madewell CTA could have been more impactful with color differentiation. Due to the black and white, the user has to stop and read both buttons to make a decision instead of making a subconscious choice. For example, a “yes” button being green and a “no” button being red.

In this example, the designer uses green and grey to differentiate. As a result, the user gravitates towards the green “Yes” intended to capture the greatest conversion.

3. Size

Your main CTA should be fairly large. Not large enough to be be obnoxious, but it should be larger than most of the items on the page. For example, on your typical landing page you’ll have title, subtitle, some text and two CTA’s. Typically, those CTA’s like “buy now” or “learn more” have a greater emphasis on them then the rest of the items on the page. The main CTA like “buy now,” should have a heavier weight due to it being the button that will lead to greater conversion and monetization.

Additionally, having a sub-CTA like “learn more” is important for those who aren’t ready to buy in the moment, but maybe want to buy in the future. In the context of this example, your main CTA “buy now” should be stronger than the sub-CTA intentionally. If they’re both the same weight then the mind will have to differentiate between the two. If the “buy now” is stronger, it will get more clicks.

Why CTA’s are Essential:

Most importantly, designing an effective CTA is the difference between converting a customer or generating a lead that will become a customer later on. It’s an integral part of digital marketing and user interface design. With the these tips, you’ll be able to design a CTA that’s effective and engaging.

Are you a business owner or entrepreneur that needs help deciding on which applications are best for your business? Let us help get you get #JungleReady. Let our CreateApe expert team be your jungle guide. We will help you traverse the wilds as we take your project to new heights.

Clutch.co Ranks CreateApe Top Design Agency in Orange County

September 6, 2018 - Posted by: CreateApe

CreateApe is now featured on Clutch.co and has already received two stellar reviews for outstanding service. Clutch is a Washington DC based research, ratings and reviews firm that covers thousands of business to business firms from over 500 different industries. Each company on Clutch is evaluated on multiple criteria such as; market presence, client base, and industry experience. Clutch’s platform allows firms to compare similar services and choose the one that best compliments their future business plans.

Additionally, CreateApe’s talented team of experts are not only capable of implementing the newest technologies on the market, but also excel at providing the highest customer service possible to all our clients. No matter the level of complexity of the project, CreateApe is eager to develop modern, visually appealing products that not only look good, but are functional and intuitive. In addition to UX and UI design, our team can also help with web development and over all digital services. For any business inquiries or questions, please contact us here.

A recent client of ours has given feedback on a project with us on Clutch.co and rated us a 5- star service. The project was to create a real estate management platform that was easy to use for all parties. The reviewer was incredibly impressed with our turnaround. They said,

“We can give them a skeleton model and they come back with an incredible representation of what we’re seeking.”

Another reviewer of CreateApe on Clutch’s platform really appreciated our refreshing approach compared to other businesses they’ve worked with. They said,

“What was refreshing about CreateApe is that they took the time to understand the technology we’re using.”

This reviewer goes on to talk about the results of the web design we created for them. They also said,

“It’s getting positive feedback on the look and feel, a major improvement from the previous site.”

All this positive feedback on Clutch has already made us a leader on their Orange County UX Designers page. Furthermore, Clutch just announced that on September 5th, they’ll be releasing a press release of the top business service companies in California. Even with two reviews, we’ll be included in this press release because of our hard work and commitment to clients.

We look forward to collecting more Clutch reviews on our profile to rank even higher as a UX and Digital agency. Thank you to our clients for spending the time supporting us and leaving us feedback through Clutch’s platform!

Why Go On A Retainer?

September 13, 2018 - Posted by: CreateApe

If you’re a client that’s been working with a company on a month to month basis for a while now- you might want to start thinking about going on a retainer. It’s a win-win for both the client and the business.

Why Get a Retainer:

One of the biggest benefits of working on a retainer is the security and predictability for both the client and the business. You know the resource will be available for your needs when you need them, and the resource provider knows they will secure that work. A retainer can solidify and strengthen your working relationship.

1. Things get done fast. Like really fast.

Retainer clients are often put first because of the predetermined agreement to a monthly workload. Like we said, retainer clients become family. If the offices are closed on 5 p.m. on a Friday, we’ll still be there to put out fires that would normally be pushed to Monday. When your business gets busy, there’s already a solid resource available.

2. You’ve found a vendor you already trust!

In the end, you’ll be spending money to have someone do the work anyway, and it might as well be with a designer you already trust. If you’ve been working with them for a while not only do you know how they work, but how you work together.

3. Stability and security is hard to come by.

Every month a predetermined amount of work and income allow both parties to plan for the future. Retainers take the guest work out of quarterly estimates and budgets. Both parties can budget and determine hiring based on the stability of a retainer.

What’s Included:

Retainers are different for everybody and usually vary from client to client. There’s no one size fits all for a retainer and it varies from the service provided and project needs. At CreateApe, we cover everything. From high fidelity mockups, new conversion centric websites, responsive mobile designs, or even seasonal marketing designs, we offer it all.

Usually a big project that starts off the relationship is the beginning of an ongoing retainer. For example, if there’s a huge eCommerce redesign, we’re going to be focusing on the redesign but also little things might emerge out of the project. Landing pages, marketing banners, print design, things that are needed for basic maintenance of an eCommerce website are a great fit for a retainer.

A monthly retainer service allows businesses to develop a cohesive and long term plan while tracking results, permitting for more return from funds you’d be investing elsewhere. However, in the end, the most important aspect of a retainer agreement is the relationship between the agency and clients commitment to achieving overall business goals.

Want to learn more?

Let us help get you #JungleReady. Let our CreateApe expert team be your jungle guide.We will help you traverse the wilds as we take your project to new heights.

Driving Conversions: Graphic Designer or UX Designer?

July 23, 2018 - Posted by: CreateApe

There’s a common misconception that a UX designer is just a glorified graphic designer who knows how to design for mobile. I mean, we get it. They both do graphic design work, and it’s a totally valid mistake. But the two couldn’t be anymore different.

Every designer has a niche and a medium, things that they’re very good at and specialize in. Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, you want to get the best fit service you can to make it happen. That’s where the differences come matter most.

Simply put, a UX/UI designer creates the interface and architecture of a website. UX/UI design includes copy, content, branding, and translating stakeholder wants with stakeholder needs in a web medium. UX/UI designers make sure that all digital designs created will look good for mobile and desktop. They pay special attention to where buttons should be placed, where titles must go, and everything in between to help best produce awesome metric-conversions. A good UX designer is going to take the content provided and come up with intelligent suggestions for design in order to create a conversion centric website.

A graphic designer may cover a multitude of things. Are they a print graphic designer, or illustrator designer, or do they make motion graphics? They are most likely specialized in one area specifically.. If you want an illustration that’s incredibly unique to your brand and not something that’s just tweaked on shutterstock, that’s when you would utilize an illustrator. Regular graphic designers, of the average variety, will often focus on beauty before function.

You might be asking, well can’t a graphic designer just come up with a website? Sometimes we’ll see business owners and stakeholders go to a graphic designer to design their website, and the lucky few will have zero problems there. But a graphic designer that doesn’t specialize in web, and it’s not what they do day in and day out, will no doubt miss critical steps that are incredibly important to the success of your website.

If you want someone coming to your site, purchasing your product and sharing their experience on Facebook you’ll need a UX/UI designer (who’s a proper villain). You’ll be in good hands, and what your hoping to create will come to life in the best way possible.

Want to learn more?

Let us help get you #JungleReady. Let our CreateApe expert team be your jungle guide.We will help you traverse the wilds as we take your project to new heights.

How to Find a Proper Villain

July 13, 2018 - Posted by: Alessandro Fard

If you’ve been following our YouTube channel, we’ve been talking a lot about how to find a proper villain. If you’ve ever watched Oceans 11, I’m referring to the scene when Brad Pitt, playing Rusty Ryan, is walking with Don Cheadle’s character, Basher Tarr, and Tarr declares, “It will be nice working with proper villains again.” In the tech space, you know when you’re working with a proper villain. So what sets apart a standard UX/UI designer from a “proper villain”?

Know the basics of other specialties

A proper villain might be a designer, a developer, or even a copywriter, but they are a proper villain because they know more than just their specialty. If you can speak with authority and understand other disciplines in the tech space, you’re a proper villain.

If a UX/UI designer can speak to front end development, like what bootstrap is and why it can be important, you’ve found yourself a villain.

How do I find a proper villain in the UX/UI space?

The Portfolio

The first thing you’re looking for is a portfolio. If a designer has their own domain showcasing their designs, I can often get a feel of their personality and design work. I want to see they have an understanding of UX architecture, conversion, and mobile design.

Work should be curated and easy to browse. Showcase 3-4 detailed case study project that lead the viewer through a story about the start, difficulties, and outcome of a project. Simply, how did you get from point A to point B.

Keep it simple. The last thing you want is for a potential client or hiring manager to be looking at your portfolio and get overwhelmed by music and too many graphics. If you’re in the UX/UI space you want your portfolio to emulate an optimized, conversion-centric site.

Everything they present should work well, have smooth transitions, and look great. It doesn’t matter if you worked at Google in the past, if your portfolio isn’t up to par, you’re not a proper villain.

A LinkedIn

A proper villain’s LinkedIn should be hefty. There should be skills, recommendations, a decent work history. Be wary of red flags. If you see that someone has 10 different positions in the course of 2 years, ask more questions.

When you’re working on many different products from a freelance standpoint, really big, complex, and robust web applications, eCommerce sites, and mobile applications will take a lot of time. If someone’s been working in that area for over 1-2 years if shows they’ve been able to hone their skills from that project and rub shoulders with key players.

Know industry tools/trends

If I ask a designer what they often use to create their designs in and they follow up with whether that is high fidelity design or low fidelity design, I know I’m in the right place.

Knowing the trends that are happening within the space gives you an advantage. Applications like Sketch, which allows you to wireframe and do prototyping, works well with developers. This shows me you keep up with the latest advancements in a tech driven field.

Are they a good fit?

Proper villains need to work well with each other. At the end of the day whether it be a bank robbery, a heist,… or designing a mobile application, it needs to be a good fit! After about 5 minutes into assessing whether they’ve checked all the boxes to be a proper villain, I’ll ask about culture fit. Do they have a sense of humor? Do they play video games? Seriously though. VIDEO. GAMES. It’s a almost a “must” at my company.

So you’ve found your villain…

Truth be told. You’re never going to know how someone really works until you start to work with them. You don’t want to be in the middle of a crime and have your partner screw it up by accidentally stepping on lazer beams. That’s why sample projects are vital.

Sample projects

Sample projects let you know the things you never were going to find out in the interview. Give them a quick project like ideas around the homepage, designing a quick banner or social image. You’re going to see if they are responsive, communicate effectively, and what questions they’re asking. If they’re responsive and asking the right questions, you’ve found your proper villain.

Want to learn more?

Let us help get you situated for the Mobile First changes coming your way. It’s a jungle out there, click here so you don’t have to go at it alone! Let our CreateApe experts act as “jungle guides” and help you traverse the wilds as we take your project to new heights.