Web Design & Online Marketing News Recap: May 10, 2014

Web design, online marketing strategy, social media—they’re all pieces of the same puzzle. This week, we’re bringing you some information about each so that you’ll stay on top of it all. Remember that they’re all very important considerations for your bottom line, so if you can see how they work together, it’s to your advantage. Check out our latest recap of industry news for more information.

Twitter Signs Amazon Deal to Let Customers Shop by Hashtag (Sarah Frier, Bloomberg Businessweek)

Careful—it just got that much easier than ever to purchase those tempting goodies you see online! Twitter and Amazon have signed a deal that allows users to purchase Amazon products via the social networking site, as reported by Sarah Frier at Bloomberg Businessweek. If you read a Tweet containing a link to a product you like, you can add it to your Amazon shopping cart simply by replying with #AmazonCart. This means that if you see one of your friends or your favorite companies tweet about something desirable, you don’t even have to surf away from your Twitter feed to make a purchase of your own. What will this ecommerce business plan, designed to capitalize on our impulse to buy, buy, buy, mean for shopping online in general? Only time will tell—but it’s always wise to pay attention to what Amazon is doing. And who knows—this deal may inspire you to work more closely with a popular social media platform yourself.

70 Percent of Digital Users Cross from Device to Device (Cynthia Boris, Marketing Pilgrim)

This week, Cynthia Boris of Marketing Pilgrim has an important question for you: can your ecommerce web site accommodate the 70% of digital users who cross from device to device? That’s up 63% since just last year. When you’re contemplating your web design strategy, make sure it includes designing responsively for smartphones and tablets as well as traditional desktops and laptops. Note, also, that users who habitually use only one kind of device to browse aren’t necessarily faithful to personal computers—25% of young, single adults under 24 access the web only from their phones. Be sure that website of yours loads quickly and beautifully on handheld devices, and that browsing, shopping, and checking out are just as easy as on a good old computer.

How to Design a SEO Friendly Website (Chetan Chaudhari, Web Design Fact)

Two of the things we love most—web design and search engine optimization—go hand in hand. Chetan Chaudhari of Web Design Fact has recently published a handy primer on how to integrate SEO best practices into your web design plan. If you don’t know how optimized meta data and images and social media capabilities can help your search engine performance, these are tips you won’t want to miss. Paying more attention to a handful of small details can make a noticeable difference!

Now that you have some inspiration, are you ready to make your website and business even better? The sky’s the limit!