According to Google, “…we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

Google will continue to use other factors in ranking search results, so high quality content pages which are not mobile-friendly, could still get a high ranking. Rankings are page-level, and mobile-friendly pages on a site will get higher rankings than non-mobile-friendly pages.

The rollout begins on April 21st, and will take approximately one week for all sites to be indexed by Google. Every time a website is crawled and indexed, Google will determine its mobile-friendliness. Pages can be tested using this mobile-friendly testing tool from Google.

Luxembourg has the highest number of per capita developers – 39.8 per 1000 people. The US accounts for 25% of the traffic to Stack Overflow, with India second at 12.5%.

Google announced they will start encoding YouTube videos in VP9, an open source video coding software, developed by Google. VP9 provides quality streaming, including HD and 4K videos, at half the bandwidth.

With video comprising over half of all internet traffic, a 50% bandwidth reduction is a substantial improvement.

VP9 is currently supported in the Chrome browser and on Android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S6, Sony TVs and console games from Sony, LG, Sharp and more.

Based on previous video codecs, this open source software prioritizes the sharpest image features and uses asymmetric transforms, to provide an exceptional video experience at lower bandwidths.

Galxyz (pronounced: galaxies) is an intergalactic, scientific adventure that takes kids across the galaxies as they unlock curiosity particles in their quest to battle the evil King Dullard. The game is designed for grades three through twelve, and the players learn scientific concepts – such as gravity – as they advance through the various levels, while also developing their problem solving, collaboration and creativity skills.

Galxyz is the brainchild of Osman Rashid, whose previous startups include Chegg, a textbook rental service, and the educational software platform Kno. Backing the Galxyz venture is Relay Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Emerson Collective.

Royal Deer Design is proud to be working with Osman Rashid, providing web design and web development support: www.galxyz.com.

Although Windows 10 will be released with a completely new browser, Internet Explorer will not be totally erased from view. Windows 10 will include both browsers, to help those businesses using legacy systems that still require “…technologies designed only for Internet Explorer, such as custom ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects,” according to Jason Weber, program manager of Internet Explorer.

But much like Zune and Microsoft Bob, Internet Explorer’s days are numbered.

Microsoft has struggled for years to deal with the poor public perception of Internet Explorer, with little effect. Research has shown that having Microsoft as part of a brand name, increases its appeal, so expect the new web browser name to include the word Microsoft. This is all part of Microsoft’s bigger strategy to have people fall in love with Windows all over again.

Look for the Windows 10 launch sometime during the summer of 2015.

You want your website visitor’s to know your site is current and active, but a footer with a date that is a year or older will give the impression your site and its content are out of date. If your website does not include functionality to automatically change this information, we have the answer – a plugin named UpdateYourFooter.com, which can update your website footer quickly and easily.

Choose whichever snippet of code suits your purpose. You can update the year, choose a date range, and even provide additional information, such as your company name.

Some of the functionality included with the new Twitter plugin include:

The plugin is available in 28 languages.

Use Powerful Images
We’ve all heard a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is equally true for web design. People spend more time and give more clicks on sites with strong visual imagery. The right photo, chart or infographic can tell a story as well as any words. Just make sure you don’t overload your site with bandwidth intensive graphics which impede the user experience. Instead, pick one or two relevant images that convey your message and connect with your customers.

Employ Responsive Design
This is a must! Responsive web design adapts automatically to the user’s viewing environment, whether it be a desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. Responsive design gives the same user experience regardless of how or where the information is viewed. By using a “begin with the end in mind” approach (a good philosophy for any endeavor in life, not just web design!), you first design your website for mobile access – tablets and phones – and then work your way to a laptop and desktop. This is especially important if mobile devices are how your customers most often get online.

Flatten Your Design
Microsoft, Google and Apple all do it, so why don’t you? We’re talking about flat web design. Shiny buttons and drop shadows which were once all the rage are now outdated. A simple, classic esthetic is what flat design is all about. The user experience is the focus, not flashy buttons and network rich images. Simplicity does not mean boring. Blocks of color can be used to great effect, text should be clear and obvious with links and buttons easy to find and click. Flat design works well as a responsive design and looks good across all platforms.

Include White Space
In the visual arts world white space is known as negative space, the area on a page left blank and free of text and images. White space gives our eyes a place to pause and rest, much needed in today’s over stimulated world. Sometimes less is more, and for the end user a site with less stimulation can draw their attention quicker than a site over-packed with graphics, photos, charts, videos, maps, buttons, links and text.

Interact With Your Visitors
Static, passive web pages may be good at presenting data, but do they engage your website’s visitors? Interactive elements serve a dual purpose – they give your visitors something to do on the website, while allowing you to collect data that can help improve and increase your business. Interactive elements can be as simple as requesting an email address in exchange for a reward (an ebook, video, coupon), to answering a poll to providing feedback, ratings and reviews. If you want to know what your customers want and need, give them a way to tell you. One caveat – don’t let interactivity impede the overall user experience. The last thing you want to do is turn off a customer because of a cumbersome process. Allow interactivity, but do not force it on your visitors.

With a few simple changes, you can create a new look and feel for your website and provide additional value to your customers.

At Royal Deer Design we have the pleasure of working with Dan Smith, who as you may know, can teach you guitar.

We are excited to announce that over the weekend we launched his brand new, custom built, responsive WordPress website, which you can find at DanSmithGuitar.com.

Dan Smith flyer in a Chelsea deli

Dan Smith Website before redesign:

After redesign: