by 247nywebdesign | Aug 17, 2020
5 Web Design Challenges for Creating Websites for Publicly Traded Businesses
Designing websites for your clients is never easy, but when it comes to publicly traded businesses, things become even more complex. Since publicly traded companies have multiple owners from the public, government authorities subject them to considerable scrutiny and these businesses must fulfill several compliance rules.
Rules issued by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) help prevent embezzlement of public investments and allow public investors to have full disclosure. In other words, these compliance requirements ensure that publicly traded companies operate transparently.
That said, these rules also make web design development difficult. In this article, we will discuss 5 web design challenges you will face while creating publicly traded business websites.
Risk of Heavy Fines
The SEC has set up strict guidelines for all publicly traded businesses. Therefore, web designers must incorporate all SEC guidelines during development, else their client will face fines costing thousands of dollars. In 2018 alone, publicly-traded websites were subject to as much $4 billion in fines by the SEC.
Pull SEC Filings
Public companies must maintain a department for managing investors separately, called ‘Investor Relations.’ The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 tells publicly-traded business websites that they must host Section 16 filings on the Investor Relations website.
Not only do they have to submit this at the end of every business day, but at the same time, they must file forms 3, 4, and 5 with the SEC. Extracting this data from the business websites is not easy. While you can link your website with SEC’s website and simplify the updating process, it messes up the user experience.
Additionally, because companies must keep having filings posted for at least one year, designers have to create a separate archive where they can store old filings and maintain relevant information.
Lastly, publicly-traded business websites need to post the company’s annual and quarterly filings regularly. These updates must be in-sync with the company’s filing process with the SEC. Unless the developer can create a system for posting these updates on time, the website will transgress SEC compliance.
Extract Filing Non-GAAP Financials
SEC dictates to make GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures consistent with each other. This is why web designers must extract and display information from press releases, audio recordings, & SEC, and then display them on their IR website.
Moreover, web designers must fulfill 5BLR filing requirements as well. Since all financial information is complex and difficult to sort and organize, web designers must consistently use various sorting & filtering tools to structure information and optimize the user experience.
Extracting Corporate Governance Information
Corporate governance policies influence the most critical financial decisions of public investors. Unsurprisingly, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act makes it mandatory for publicly traded companies to update corporate governance policy on the website. This means web designers must develop a clear sub-section to meet the SEC requirements.
Managing Proxy Materials and Cookies
Public company websites must post proxy documents and other materials on the IR website. Therefore, it hosts documents such as annual shareholder meeting invitations, importantly annual reports, and letters to shareholders.
All important information must be stored in an easily accessible manner. Web designers must ensure that these documents are stored and hosted in an easily readable, searchable, and printable format.
This is why all documents and other proxy material have to be stored in PDF files in the IR section. Lastly, web designers cannot use Cookies due to the limitations set by the SEC.
SEC puts publicly traded companies under heavy scrutiny to make sure they are transparent for public investors. However, SEC can still penalize your company if you don’t display relevant information because of a design flaw. While these rules make web design challenging for developers, an experienced web designer can save you from heavy fines and penalties.
by 247nywebdesign | Apr 24, 2020
With so many web design service providers in NYC area, selecting one for your business can be a little difficult. But we’re here to make the process easier for you. Let us see how you can go about this process:
They Follow a Well-Defined Process
This is arguably one of the best indicators that you are actually working with a top web design company. They will have a well-defined and state of the art design process in place. One that has been both tested and refined over time. In fact, the really good web design outfits will establish a markedly clear process to make sure that all of the client’s goals and deadlines have been met and they are completely satisfied with the end results.
Excellent Development Skills
The best web design outfits will always have a team of highly-skilled developers on their payroll. They will have specialists for specific projects, instead of hiring a team consisting of people who are jack-of-all-trades.
These people will have a rich portfolio of industry-specific clients that will be perfect for particular tasks. They will devote their energy and their experience in meeting all quality requirements. Apart from that, they will also provide training to their staff members regarding the many cutting-edge technologies emerging in their respective fields. These highly skilled professionals would have worked extensively on multiple high-quality projects with an excellent track record of successful projects.
A Steady Stream of Testimonials
Every successful web design company will have plenty of grateful customers who would be more than willing to share their impressions regarding their experience with the company. Their comments and testimonials will be available on the corporate website. Alternatively, you can also directly ask them for references from their satisfied clients. If they are really good at what they do, their customers will be more than eager to provide you with the required information.
They Are Always Extremely Flexible
Flexibility is deemed to be a major necessity for any good web design and development company. Suppose you change your mind in the middle of the whole web development process. In this case, the web design team should be able to adjust as per your new directions.
Time Range
All web design projects have a very specific deadline or a time range in which they must be successfully completed. The development company should possess the ability to create schedules that will satisfy the time management needs of their clients, They should adhere to all predictions and goals to ensure that their projects are always on time, every time. Their project managers will have to initiate, plan, execute and control the whole web development process as per the given budget and any other criteria.
A truly outstanding web design company in NYC should always be able to meet all the above-mentioned qualities. If you are interested in website design and content, don’t hesitate to contact us here! We are sure that our professional team of developers and designers will turn all your ideas into reality!
by 247nywebdesign | Apr 23, 2020
Studies have found that it takes only 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about a website after visiting it. Therefore, it’s incredibly important for web sites focused on online marketing to feature good web design.
Marketing in the digital age still shares some similarities with traditional marketing techniques from yesteryears. Like traditional marketing, digital marketing should feature content that is presented in a visually appealing and easy to understand manner that leaves viewers with a positive impression.
This positive impression can in-turn lead visitors to engage with the site’s content and become more likely to make purchases. Let’s look at some of the drawbacks of poor web design to understand the importance of web design in online marketing efforts.
Effects of Poor Web Design
Sites with poor web design are often visually unappealing and are difficult to navigate. These sites usually feature high bounce rates due to visitors being turned off by the site’s cluttered or messy appearance.
Some poorly designed sites may feature unresponsive links or deadlinks. They could also contain too many call-to-actions that confuse visitors and reduce their likelihood of following them.
The Importance of Good Web Design
A well-designed landing page should look pleasant and inviting to encourage visitors to explore the site’s other pages and engage with their content.
Poorly designed sites are seen as untrustworthy, so visitors may be hesitant to complete purchases or enter their personal information when signing up for such sites.
Visitors may view the quality of your site’s web design as a reflection of the quality of the products and services being promoted by the site, so it’s important to have your site designed by a knowledgeable and experienced web designer. New York has an abundance of web designers that can create all sorts of websites to promote your products and services.
Creating the right kind of website for your audience can boost their engagement with your content and improve their impression of your products and services. Marketers who understand their audience should work with web designers to create websites that are both functional and attractive to look at.
Many marketers will opt to have a website completely redesigned in order to attract more visitors. However, these redesigned websites often perform worse than their original counterparts due to poorly thought out designs.
A good web designer will be able to point out any functionality limitations that are imposed due to a particular design choice. For example, sites with lots of images and videos could be nice for visitors to look at, but they could severely reduce the site’s loading speed. This could increase the site’s visitor bounce rate from the landing page.
At the end of the day, there is no fixed idea of what constitutes as “good” web design. Marketers should know what they want out of a website, and they should be willing to work with web designers to make it happen.
If you’re interested in using the services of experienced web designers in New York, check out NY Web Design today.
by 247nywebdesign | Apr 22, 2020
Creating a website that attracts visitors has never been more challenging than it is in 2020. Marketers and content creators across the globe are scrambling to feature their content and promotions on sites with innovative design features to boost the visibility of their marketing efforts.
Websites with visually appealing and functional design features are known to draw in far more traffic than poorly designed sites. In fact, search engines are likely to provide sites that offer better user experiences with higher search rankings so the design of a website could make or break a particular marketing campaign.
Here are 3 must-have web design features to give you an edge over other sites in 2020:
1. Custom Typography
Typography is an integral part of web design and should be given careful consideration when designing your website.
Many company websites have adopted the use of typography that is unique and specific to their brand. This typography helps site visitors recognize the brand whenever they encounter their content, and sets the brand apart from its competitors.
It’s no longer enough for websites to use generic Arial or Verdana fonts for their headings, so web designers may have to get creative with their typography choices.
2. Dark Mode
As users continue to browse websites at odd hours of the day, many find the inclusion of “dark modes” on websites to be incredibly helpful. Dark modes are theme options for websites that swap out the site’s default backgrounds for black or darker ones that are more soothing to look at in the night time.
The widespread popularity of dark modes has prompted many web browsers to include add-ons that automatically convert sites with bright themes to ones with darker backgrounds.
However, sites with built-in dark mode functionality tend to look better than the dark mode filters provided by these browsers, so it’s important to include the feature when you’re designing your site.
3. Good Navigation
All websites should feature well thought out roadmaps that make navigation a breeze. The quality of your content or products won’t matter if users have a hard time exploring your site and locating sections that are of interest to them.
This can be challenging if your site features a wide variety of content. Websites like these usually feature multiple sections with subsections that contain the specific content users are seeking.
Websites that are easy to navigate require the expertise of an experienced web designer. New York is a major hub for marketing agencies, so it’s easy to find web designers who are familiar with creating sites that provide good user experiences.
These are just a few of the many features that can improve the quality of your website in 2020. If you’re interested in hiring experienced web designers to design your website with all these great features, check out NYC Web Design.
by 247nywebdesign | Apr 21, 2020
Web designers should stay up-to-date with the latest website design trends so they can create websites that look modern and innovative in 2020. Many of these website styles and features could be updates of existing trends, while others could be entirely new ones that provide added style and functionality to sites.
Staying ahead of the curve is important in the digital age, so here are three of the latest website design trends in 2020.
1. Hand Drawn Icons
Many brands and businesses have opted to use sleek and professional looking icons on their websites. The downside of using these icons is that they tend to look lifeless and generic due to their widespread popularity.
Some websites have started using hand drawn icons as a counter-culture response to these smarter looking icons. Hand drawn icons can be created using a variety of line styles and tend to convey a more playful character due to their imperfections and the absence of perfect lines and curves.
This allows hand drawn icons to feel more “human”, which resonates more with viewers and leaves a lasting emotional impact. Try using some hand drawn icons in your next website. They’re sure to set your website apart from the rest.
2. Combining Photographs With Graphics
Another stylish innovation that is taking off in 2020 is to overlay photographs with graphics on websites. This allows ordinary photographs to be recontextualized with the use of animated shapes and filters to add more charm to them.
This combination is also a great way to make widely used photos more unique and personalized. Brands can tailor photos to reflect their aesthetic without having to rely on reshoots.
The customization options for these combinations are limited only by the imagination of the web designer. New York based fashion websites were one of the first to adopt this style, and we bet it will become more popular in 2020.
3. 3D Elements
Many websites have started using more 3D elements in their backgrounds. These 3D elements can be static, animated, or interactive.
3D elements add more depth and immersion to photos and backgrounds on websites. Their open and inviting appearance encourages visitors to stick around your website and interact with its contents.
Some websites even feature 3D backgrounds with motion effects that activate as you’re scrolling down the page. However, 3D elements can slow down the speed of websites, so they should be used sparingly whenever possible.
Finding the right balance between visually stunning 3D elements and website loading times is essential for creating immersive 3D experiences for visitors.
These website design trends are sure to be a hit with visitors when implemented properly. Remember to use the services of an experienced web design company to help you integrate these design features into your next website.
