What Adobe’s discontinuation of mobile Flash Player means for the web

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Last week Adobe announced they will discontinue mobile Flash Player and no longer pursue bringing it to new mobile devices. It was a move most people in the tech and design industries knew had to be made, yet few expected Adobe to actually do it. There was a time, when computers were the only devices being used to browse the web, that Flash was the most valuable and effective tool for building rich, interactive websites. But in today’s world of low-power touchscreen smartphones and tablets, Flash simply doesn’t fit in.

Many of the reasons Flash is past its prime were eloquently described by the late Steve Jobs in his open letter, “Thoughts on Flash.” In the end, Adobe conceded that Flash isn’t appropriate for mobile. Instead, the company will focus on helping developers make native apps and HTML5-powered websites.

This is good news all around, especially for those who advocate using open standards on the web. HTML5 is governed by a standards committee made up of many of the biggest players in technology. Their shared goal is to help advance HTML5 for everyone’s benefit. Flash Player and the tools needed to create Flash content, on the other hand, are controlled solely by Adobe. Their goal is to sell more software and services.

Also, viewing HTML5 websites doesn’t require installing any plugins. In contrast, users must install Flash Player themselves and carry the burden of keeping it up-to-date to protect their device from the latest security threats. There are significant performance and power consumption issues to consider as well.

Adobe took a big step abandoning Flash Player for mobile devices. It’s a huge change in direction for their business model and, more importantly, the future of the web itself. While Flash Player is still being developed for PCs and Macs (for now), the message is clear: Don’t use Flash if you want a wide audience to see your website’s content.

No Comments | Tags: internet trends, web design
Posted by Anthony in Web Technology

Responsive design brings The Boston Globe to a wider audience

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Responsive design is the most significant shift we’ve seen in the way websites are built in quite some time. Rather than developing a website that only works well on computers (and maybe a totally separate site for certain mobile devices), the responsive approach allows designers to build websites that seamlessly adapt to any screen size. Whether it’s a computer with a huge display, a tablet, or a smartphone, a responsive site is smart enough to adjust its layout and features to give users the best experience.

The most high profile website to incorporate a responsive design is The Boston Globe, which launched just a few weeks ago. For those who are curious about what responsive design really is, take a look and try resizing your browser’s window to see how the site reacts. The agency behind The Boston Globe’s new site started the project in November 2010 and spent nearly 10 months building it from the ground up. They solved a number of technical challenges and ended up with a final product that’s getting a lot of attention from both the design community and the site’s readers.

The Boston Globe took a mobile-first approach, which meant prioritizing which features and content were most important. By default, the site serves pages that are lightweight and fast to load – perfect for smartphones on slower 3G connections. The site then loads higher resolution images and additional content if the visitor is using a tablet or computer. This is a technique called progressive enhancement, which establishes a baseline for all devices and then dynamically adds features and improves the user experience depending on the device’s size and capabilities. The site also utilizes HTML5 local storage to allow users to save articles to their reading list so they can view them at any time – even when they’re not connected to the internet.

It’s clear that a lot of time and effort went into creating The Boston Globe’s new responsive site. And while it’s fascinating to deconstruct for design geeks like us, it’s also important to focus on the business benefits. Put simply, it’s all about creating a more pleasurable and immersive user experience for their readers. People expect the sites they visit to accommodate them wherever they are, no matter what kind of device they’re using. Responsive design achieves that and brings their content to a much larger audience of people who no longer rely solely on their Mac or PC to browse the web.

No Comments | Tags: web design
Posted by Anthony in Web Technology

What comes first – The Web Design or SEO?

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

You could consider this question like the chicken & the egg controversy… and you’ll get a different answer from different internet experts. 

I am often amazed at some of the websites that Google ranks #1. The design is elementary and the content is irrelevant or somewhat spammy.  These websites all have a very high bounce rate.  Why? …because their website looks terrible.  Nobody will take a tacky, unprofessional site seriously – even if it is ranked #1 in Google.

Obviously, a website is nothing unless it is aesthetically pleasing.    BUT you can’t get too carried away with the appearance. 

A few years ago, people got carried away with the design aspect and created entire websites in flash.  Search engines don’t read flash.  So any content that was on a flash site was irrelevant.  The people who paid for an outrageously expensive, beautiful site were scratching their heads wondering why there was no traffic. This pretty website is nothing but a façade and the company will end up paying a fortune in Pay-Per-Click because their website is no where to be seen in the organic search.

So what is the answer? What comes first?  The truth is, they go hand in hand.  A website needs to be constructed with SEO tactics in mind.  The extra time and money spent to do initial SEO set-up (keyword research, META tag writing and keyword-rich content) will go a long way.

This is why I believe so strongly in working with companies that cover the whole online spectrum – from branding to web design to SEO to social media.  I don’t want to work for companies that only do SEO or that only do web design.  Both need to be mended together from the beginning, otherwise the website will only be partially successful.  COMPLETE online marketing campaigns, will make the most successful websites on the internet.

1 Comment | Tags: branding, Google, pay per click, SEO, web design
Posted by Jessica in Branding & Design, Online Marketing

Want better PageRank? Ask the SEO Rapper.

Friday, April 4th, 2008

I was a skeptic when I heard that this guy was rapping about SEO and web design, but I have to say the dude knows what he is saying. So you if you want valuable design, web standards and SEO lessons, look no further: the SEO rapper. Or search him on youtube.

Just a quote from him to leave you wanting more: “don’t use italics, use emphasis, don’t use bold, please use strong, cause if you use bold it’s old and wrong”.

1 Comment | Tags: SEO, web design
Posted by Michel in Online Marketing

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