Category: Marketing Automation

I’m happy to share that we’ve established a long-term goal that salaries at Buffer will not be based on location. We made our first step towards this last year, when we moved from four cost-of-living based location bands for salaries to two bands. We did this by eliminating the lower two location bands.The change we made resulted in salary increases for 55 of 85 team members, with the increase being on average $10,265. When the time is right, we will be eliminating the concept of cost-of-living based location bands entirely, which will lead to a simpler approach to providing generous, fair and transparent salaries at Buffer.In this post I’m sharing my thinking behind this change and our approach to pay overall.Location and SalariesIt’s been interesting to see the conversation about location and salaries unfold both within Buffer and beyond. We’ve heard from many teammates over the years about the pros and cons of the location factor, and of course we’ve watched with interest as this became a regular topic of conversation within the larger remote work community.I’ve had many healthy debates with other remote leaders, and there are arguments for eliminating a location component which I haven’t agreed with. I don’t believe pay differences across locations is unethical, and it has made a lot of sense for us in the past. However, the last few years have seen a lot of change for remote teams. A change like this isn’t to be made lightly, and at our scale comes with considerations.Our Compensation PhilosophyCompensation is always slowly evolving as companies and markets mature and change. We’ve been through several major iterations of our salary formula, and myriad small tweaks throughout the last 8 or so years since we launched the initial version. Part of the fun of having a salary formula is knowing that it’s never going to be “done.” Knowing that the iterations would continue, Caryn, our VP of Finance, and I worked together to establish our compensation philosophy and document our principles on compensation to help us determine what should always be true even as the salary formula changes over time.We arrived at four principles that guide our decisions around compensation. We strive for Buffer’s approach to salary, equity, and benefits to be: TransparentSimpleFairGenerous These are the tenets that have guided us through compensation decisions over the years. After we articulated them as our compensation principles, we were able to look at the location factor of our formula with new clarity. There are a few key considerations that were part of our discussions and my decision to put Buffer on a path towards removing our location factor from salaries that I’ll go into more detail about next. Transparency, Simplicity, and TrustOur salary formula is one of the fundamental reasons that we can share our salaries transparently. Having a spreadsheet of team salaries is a huge step toward transparency, but true transparency is reached when the formula is simple, straightforward, easy to understand, and importantly, easy to use.In one of our earlier versions of the salary formula, we calculated the cost-of-living multiplier for every new location when we made an offer. That was cumbersome, and it meant that a candidate couldn’t truly know their salary range until we calculated that. This was improved greatly when we moved to the concept of “cost-of-living bands.” After that, different cities and towns could more easily be classified into each band. This massively increased the transparency of the formula, and I think it helped create a lot more trust in this system. Anyone could relatively easily understand which band their location fit into, and with that knowledge understand the exact salary they’d receive at Buffer. This type of immediate understanding of the salary formula, and ability to run calculations yourself, is where transparency really gains an extra level of impact and drives trust within and beyond the team.However, with our four cost-of-living bands, there were still decisions to be made around where locations fall, and this has been the topic of much healthy and productive debate over the years. The conversations around locations falling between the Average and High bands is what led us to introduce the Intermediate band. And with four choices of location, it has meant there is some disparity in salaries across the team. With the benefits that come from the powerful combination of transparency and simplicity, alongside the increased trust that is fostered with more parity across the team, I’m choosing to drive Buffer’s salary formula in the direction of eventually having no cost-of-living factor.I’m choosing to drive Buffer’s salary formula in the direction of eventually having no cost-of-living factor. – Joel Gascoigne, Co-founder and CEO of BufferFreedom and FlexibilityWe’ve long taken approaches to work which have been grounded in the ideal of an increased level of freedom and flexibility as a team member. When I started Buffer, I wanted greater freedom and a better quality of life than I felt would be possible by working at a company. That came in various forms, including location freedom, flexibility of working hours, and financial freedom. And as we’ve built the company, I’ve been proud that we’ve built a culture where every single team member can experience an unusual and refreshing level of freedom and flexibility.Since the earliest days, one of our most fondly held values has been to Improve Consistently, and in particular this line: “We choose to be where we are the happiest and most productive”. This is a value that has supported and encouraged teammates to travel and try living in different cities, in search of that “happiest and most productive” place. It has enabled people to find work they love and great co-workers, from a hometown near family where it would be hard to find a local company that can offer that same experience and challenge. It has also enabled people to travel in order to support their partner in an important career change involving a move, something which allows an often stressful change to happen much more smoothly, since you can keep working at Buffer from anywhere in the world.Having a culture that has supported moving freely across the globe has been a powerful level of freedom and flexibility. That freedom has been matched with a salary system which adjusts compensation to accommodate those changes in a fair and appropriate way. However, knowing that your salary will fluctuate and can decrease due to a choice to be somewhere else, does limit that freedom and the ability to make a decision to move.Moving towards a salary formula with parity across all locations, will enable an even greater level of freedom and flexibility. It feels clear to me that choosing to move is a personal or a family decision, and it is ideal if Buffer salaries are structured in a way that honor and support that reality. I’m excited that working towards removing our cost-of-living differences will help significantly reduce the friction involved in making a potentially positively life-changing decision to live in a different city or country.Results, Independence, and RewardAt Buffer, we are not on the typical hyper-growth VC path. This comes with some constraints: we don’t have tens of millions in funding and unlimited capital to deploy in an attempt to find a rapid path to $100m and going public (thankfully, that’s not our goal).This path also means that our experiences as teammates in a variety of ways are directly tied to whether we are successfully serving existing and new customers. For example, the level of benefits, ability to travel (in normal times), and competitiveness of compensation, are very much driven by our revenue growth and profitability. But, this is independence too. The thing we often need to remind ourselves of, is that while we may feel more constrained at times, we have full freedom of what we do with the success we achieve. Making a choice like this is one example of that.It is my intention as founder / CEO that as we succeed together as a company, we all benefit from that success and see adjustments that improve our quality of life and create wealth. We are in a position of profitability which allows us to take a significant step towards removing the cost-of-living factor from our salary framework, which I believe serves those goals. And removing it entirely will be determined by us successfully executing on our strategy and serving customers well.Reducing Cost-of-Living BandsThe way our salary formula works is that we benchmark a teammate’s role based on market data at the 50th percentile for the software industry in San Francisco and then multiply that by the cost-of-living band. So, a Product Marketer benchmark at the 50th percentile of the San Francisco market data is $108,838. Depending on the teammate’s location this would be multiplied by a cost-of-living band (Low, Average, Intermediate or High). For example, if they lived Boulder, Colorado, a city with Average cost-of-living, the benchmark would be multiplied by 0.85 for a salary of $92,512.To best reflect our compensation philosophy, company values, and the path we want for Buffer, we have eliminated the Low and Average cost-of-living bands.What we’ve done is brought all Low (.75 multiplier) and Average (.85 multiplier) salaries up to Intermediate (.9 multiplier), which we now call our Global band. This is what resulted in 55 teammates seeing on average an increase to their salary of $10,265.Our two bands are now Global (.9 multiplier) and High (1.0 multiplier).This change is based on my vision for Buffer and how being a part of this team affects each of us as individually, as well as the direction I believe the world is going. I’m excited about the change first and foremost because it supports our goal of having a transparent, simple, fair, and generous approach to compensation.This is also a move that raised salaries right away for more than half of the team. This point in particular gives me a lot of joy because I want compensation to be one of the incredible parts of working at Buffer. Money isn’t everything, and we all need kind and smart colleagues, a psychologically safe environment, and to work on challenging and interesting problems, in order to be fulfilled at work. Beyond that, however, money really impacts life choices, and that’s ultimately what I want for every Bufferoo; the freedom to choose their own lifestyle and make choices for themselves and their families’ long-term health and happiness. It’s important to me that people who choose to spend their years at Buffer will have the freedom to make their own choices to have a great life. And, for our teammates who live in much lower cost-of-living areas, a Buffer salary could end up being truly life changing. I’m really happy with that outcome.The decision was also impacted by the direction that I believe the world is going (and, the direction we want to help it go). Remote is in full swing, and it’s increasingly breaking down geographical borders. I believe this is a great thing. Looking ahead 10 or even 5 years, it seems to me that we’re going to see a big rebalancing, or correction, that’s going to happen. I believe it’s important to be ahead of these types of shifts, and be proactively choosing the path that’s appropriate and energizing for us.What next?Our plan is to eventually get to one single location band, essentially eliminating the cost-of-living factor from the salary formula altogether. This will be possible once we can afford to make this change and sustain our commitment to profitability. So, this will be driven by the long-term results we create from our hard work, creativity in the market, and commitment to customers. What questions does this spark for you? Send me a tweet with your thoughts.

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The latest earnings call by the social media giant was less than stellar pointing to the changing tide in the online advertisement space. What does it mean?

On Wednesday, February 2, 2022, Facebook held their Q4 earnings call. This was not Facebook’s finest hour. They forecasted that the revenues for 2022 to be $10 Billion less than the previous year. As a result, the stock plummeted 26% in the course of 24 hours. This in turn knocked $230 Billion off Meta’s Market cap. 

The loss in projected revenue comes from a number of headwinds. Facebook had been the target of much bad press due to its business practices such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2016 and most recently the EU is pushing a law to limit the transfer of user data from Europe to the US. However, the main cause seems to come from Apple’s new Privacy Feature. 

 

Opt-in First

 

Apple’s latest IOS 14.5 update brings many new features meant to protect iPhone customers. The most newsworthy one is App Tracking Transparency. In the past, app developers were able to track user data as a default. The user had to proactively opt-out of tracking. Then, this data could be sold to third party companies who would use data coming from many different sources to build a mosaic of user behavior and make educated guesses in serving them targeted ads. However, the new way of working requires each app developer to give their users the choice to opt-out in the very beginning. If the user opts out, the app developer cannot track nor sell this data at all.

 

It hit a nerve

 

The biggest critic of this update has been Meta. They argue that it will make it more difficult and expensive for ad networks to target the users. Consequently, it will hurt SMEs which rely on highly targeted ad campaigns. 

 

Why does this matter in the grand scheme of things

 

In general, when compared with its $85 Billion ad revenue, $10 Billion does not seem like much. However, the online ad space depends on tracking data as its fuel. Without it, it is like playing darts while blindfolded. It is important to note that 96% of Facebook visits are made on smartphones and even at 14% IOS usage, things do add up. Not only do you lose data from a major source, a major consideration is in the demographics. Those who use iPhones tend to earn more and spend more. 

 

What now?

 

With the new IOS update and the depreciation of third party cookies by Google, this will no longer be a viable source of customer data. Luckly, there are alternatives. Many services are utilizing the use of zero and first party data to build their customer profiles. Zero party data are information that is voluntarily given to a business by the customer like their email addresses. First party data are those gathered by the business as a visitor goes around a website. 

Advertising service providers often have incomplete pictures of a customer as the sources of their data are often rather limited. As a result, the metrics from one service may differ from those from another. In general, zero and first party data allow the business to gather a huge amount of information about a given visitor which in turn is more accurate than those from third parties. This includes the customer’s interests and preferences. This way, a business can utilize many different channels to serve them product recommendations that the customer desires.   

Since 2012, SALESmanago has been in the forefront by providing Marketing Automation services to brands across the globe. Our Customer Data Platform is the perfect solution to this change in the online advertisement space. Our AI powered no-code Marketing Automation Software has been used by major brands like New Balance and Vodafone to make marked increases in email open rates and lead generation. Our CDP is a one stop shop where data is gathered, analyzed and recommendations based on those data are made. 

The platform will take a look at a customer’s behavior on your website as well as information gathered via surveys and build a 360 degree customer profile. After analysis by an AI driven engine, it will recommend the products that will interest them as well as the channels to use and the optimal time to reach out to them. As a result, you have a hyper personalized and desirable customer experience.

External Posts:

Don’t depend on third party services nor Facebook to help you convert visitors to customers. Take charge of your own destiny with SALESManago. For more information, visit https://www.salesmanago.com/. 

Internal Blog

Don’t depend on third party services nor Facebook to help you convert visitors to customers. Take charge of your own destiny with SALESManago. For more information, get in touch with our Customer Support at support@salesmanago.com. 

 

Your website inspiration journey starts here.
Deciding to create a web presence is a big decision, but the best websites are a culmination of many small decisions. But one major decision that takes time, diligence, and a great deal of inspiration is the design of your website.

In this article, we’re sharing a few dozen of the best website designs we’ve seen. Click the links below to jump to explore website designs that crushed it in the last several years. We’ve also included a bonus section of designs that are just plain cool — so check them out, too!

Where to Get Your Design Inspiration
Website Design Inspiration Sources
Today’s Cool Website Designs
Best Website Designs from 2020
Best Website Designs from 2019
Best Website Designs from 2018
Best Website Designs from 2017
Best Website Designs from 2016
Best Website Designs from 2015 – 2014
Website Design Ideas

Where to Get Your Design Inspiration
If you want some design inspo, the good news is that you can find it just about everywhere.
One of the best ways to get inspiration for design is through travel. When you visit new places, you’re forced to get out of your comfort zone and experience something foreign.
What makes design so interesting is that everyone sees it differently and so, there’s always more to discover.
Another way to get design inspiration IRL is through the media. Every day, we are inundated with visual content. We make decisions about what we like, what we don’t like, and continue on our day.
But what if you were more intentional about how you viewed those interactions? You could come out of it with valuable insights.

You also can’t forget to leverage design communities. From design conferences to Reddit forums, there are hundreds of groups out there that can offer inspiration as well as advice.
Now that we’ve covered some IRL design inspiration sources, let’s cover the digital ones.
Website Design Inspiration Sources
1. HubSpot’s Asset Marketplace

HubSpot’s Asset Marketplace houses hundreds of website templates that you can sift through to get inspired for your own website.

The best part of the marketplace is that you can narrow down by industry and feature, allowing you to see the templates that are most relevant.
Once you find a template you like, you can view a live preview of the site to get a full experience then download it if you decide to use it.
2. Dribble

Dribble is where designers go to get inspired and to share their work. The website has everything from animation and branding to illustration and mobile.

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Once you navigate to the “Web Design” tab on the homepage, you can filter results by color scheme, editing software, timeframe, and tags.
Furthermore, if you find a designer whose work you like, you can save the design for future reference and follow their work to see other designs on their profile.
This is an incredible resource to use whether you’re starting from scratch or already have a solid plan in mind.
3. Bēhance

This is another digital platform full of creative inspiration to leverage ahead of your website design project.

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One of the best features on this site is the ability to filter by location. This allows you to see how designers in different regions differ in technique and style.
This can be particularly helpful if you are designing a website for a foreign, unfamiliar market. You can gain interesting insights by evaluating the decisions made by Behance designers.
4. Pttrns

Want to focus on mobile web design? Pttrns is the place to go.
This subscription-based platform allows you to gain access to thousands of mobile design templates and get advice from top designers all over the world.

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Additional features on this platform include:

A favorites and collections folder to store your favorite designs.

A studio to interact with other designers and get advice.
A design guide to understand the strategy behind the designs.

From familiar corporations to small businesses, to international organizations, the following sites push the status quo on the web. Whether it’s the design aesthetic, usability, interactivity, sound design, or value that the site provides, each one is a masterpiece in its respective industry and something to aspire to.
Not surprisingly, many organizations exist to highlight these sites and the contributions they make to the web. To help surface some of the most inspirational designs, I gathered several award-winners that have made their way through several key awards organizations — including Red Dot, Awwwards, UX Awards, The Webby Awards, SiteInspire, Best Website Gallery, and FWA.
As you browse through the list, know that each site excels in its own way and seeks to serve a unique purpose. While one site may be an excellent example of visual design, another may be an excellent example of interactivity.
This means that not all of these sites may be “conversion machines” or blueprint ideas that you can easily copy over to your site. Rather, they’re great ways to gain some website design inspiration and see the cutting-edge marketing that’s happening in the different corners of the web.
Keep in mind that web designs are fluid and change often. Some of the designs in this list have changed since they were awarded, but we do our best to keep them up-to-date. We’re confident you’ll find a design here that sparks your creativity.

Read More: 77 Examples of Incredible Website Design

Download this free guide to see even more examples of website blog, homepage, and landing page designs.
Beautiful Award-Winning Websites
Best Website Designs from 2021
IBM’s The Harmonic State
Award: Site of the Month (July 2021), Awwwards
When you land on this IBM web page, it’s clear to see why the design won an award.

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The best way to describe the website is as an immersive experience. In fact, IBM uses both visual and auditory elements to draw the visitor in and keep them engaged.
When you first land on the web page, you’re prompted to put on headphones to get the full experience. Even if you skip this step, you’re drawn in by the interactive background that reacts as your mouse navigates on the page.
In addition, the page is well balanced with a large title that grabs your attention across from a small description with a bold blue CTA.
With a topic as complex as AI, IBM then uses visual storytelling to explain how its Watson tool works in the real world. Visitors can explore three stories through video game-like functions and learn more about the tool.
It’s a fun and effective way to get users engaged in a topic that can be complicated and dry.
Superlist
Award: Site of the Month (April 2021), Awwwards
Superlist is a productivity app that helps teams and individuals change the way they work.
Too often, you land on a website and have to figure out what the brand is about. With Superlist, you know exactly what to expect as soon as you get to the homepage.

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The interactive homepage shows common work accessories, like headphones and keyboard with clear, to-the-point copy.
Superlist effectively uses white space to keep the focus on its copy. However, to facilitate navigation, they include a small button with an arrow icon to indicate that there’s more to see on the page once you scroll.
From there, the fun visuals continue – keeping you engaged as you learn more about the brand.
Hyer
Award: Website of the Month (2022), CSS Design Awards
Want to make a strong impression on your website visitors? Take a page out of Hyer’s book.

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This striking illustration of the airplane, as it slowly moves across the screen, is sure to grab website visitors’ attention.

This page has everything you need in an effective homepage: An image that tells a story but isn’t too distracting, use of white space, easy nav bar, a tagline or slogan, and a clear CTA.
It’s a clean design that’s free of any distractions and invites visitors to learn more about the brand.
Best Website Designs from 2020
Swab the World
Award: Site of the Day (2020), Awwwards
Parallax, bold colors, and negative space shape the design and experience of Swab the World’s website. The organization brings awareness to stem cell donations. Their mission is to “Make sure every single patient finds their match. Period.” Photos of couples exhibiting love and emotions bring a human element to a historically complex and scientific process.
From a technical perspective, the design makes moving down the page feel natural, ensuring the readers reach each point of copy and every CTA on the homepage.

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Newest Americans
Award: Honorable Mention (2020), Awwwards
An organization with a responsibility as large as honoring past, present, and future migrating identities needs a beautiful and functional website to help spread the word. Newest Americans champion immigrant experiences in cities across the state of New Jersey. The website uses beautiful imagery of people, places, and items that represent this experience in a way that flows cohesively down the homepage, telling the story of this group of America’s newest citizens.
The website is both visually appealing and functional with a simple navigation menu, stories organized by photos, and a clean press page that puts the most recent articles front and center.

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Spotify Design
Award: Honorable Mention (2020), Awwwards
Spotify is known for accomplishing its fair share of amazing feats, and its latest iteration of Spotify.Design is no different. Serving as the hub for all things visual and creative for Spotify, the music and podcast giant gives listeners a look into the who, what, why, and how of what makes the app so sensational.
Bright colors, drop shadows, and smooth animations give this website character and depth. The flat geometric designs with abstract accents make albums and artists practically jump off of the screen.

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Andy Warhol
Award: Honorable Mention (2020), Awwwards
Artist, film director, and producer Andy Warhol’s life will forever be encapsulated in a splendidly designed website that captures his art style in a digital format. As you peruse the page, your cursor becomes a spotlight that converts every image you hover over into a negative image or inverses the colors of the text you’re reading.
The big, bold text makes a statement and emphasizes just how important copy is to website design. Subtle animations help pace the site and set the tone for each section as you peruse the home page.

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Human Interaction Company
Award: Corporate Website (2020), Red Dot
To see video done right on a website, look no further than the Human Interaction Company. From the moment you click on the site, the experience is lightning fast. You’re dropped directly into the action — the why, what, and how of Human Interaction and exactly what the team does.
This Red Dot Design Award winner aims to bring the study of human interaction to the masses, and in the process, show us just how engaging it can be to learn about it. Don’t get discouraged by their award status though — none of the photos on this site are photoshopped, so it’s a practical example of building quality with the resources you have available.

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Garoa Skincare
Award: Site of the Day (2020), Awwwards
How do you transform the feeling of luxury and practicality into a website? Garoa Skincare provides a blueprint. Whether your product costs half the price of your closest competitor or twice the price, your site can bring a sense of extravagance to just about any product you sell.
High-quality visuals, typefaces that complement each other, and a balance of negative space with useful copy can bring a simplistic elegance to your website.

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Best Website Designs from 2019
1917: In the Trenches
Award: Awwwards’ Best Website of the Day (2019)
This website, made to promote the film 1917, allows you to walk around the trenches and perform the same mission that the characters did in the film. You can also see their maps or access other tools.
This is a great example of a site that went above and beyond with interactivity as well as a site that leverages its content and prewritten storyline to market its film. This website won Site of the Day by Awwwards, which allows designers to vote and nominate great websites they see daily.

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The Octopus: A design blog by IDEO
Award: Business Blog/Website 2019 Webby award
IDEO, a global design company, won the Business Blog/Website 2019 Webby award for its Octopus blog, and for good reason. The blog features a sleek, black-and-white Octopus drawing as its homepage design, and uses yellow, black, and white to create a cohesive theme as you scroll.
If you hover over a blog post, the title is highlighted in yellow. If you hover over an image, the image is pulled towards you — two small features that make a big difference in terms of creating a unique and engaging user experience.

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Nomadic Tribe
Award: Awwwards’ Site of the Year nomination (2019)
This site, which was nominated for Awwards’ Site of the Year, is one of the more engaging sites I’ve seen.
The homepage immediately begins playing a stunning video featuring a man walking across a desert, followed by gorgeous landscape scenes and text like, “Are you lucky enough to call yourself an adventurer?”
The text throughout the website is playful, with colorful pinks and oranges and yellows, and the homepage is logically designed, with CTAs placed throughout that range in commitment-level from “Read More” to “Watch Now” and, finally, “Download the App”.
Ultimately, the website is beautifully designed with strong attention to detail, and tells a compelling story throughout.

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Diana Danieli
Award: Webby 2019
This 2019 Webby-winning site shows off imagery of art and architecture with either high contrast or heavy exposure. As a website visitor, you can click and drag your mouse to change the photos and variations. Each image shows a piece of work that highlights the artist who owns the website.
A cool plus about this website is its incorporation of audio and music. Clicking on certain buttons on the screenplays a piano note and truly immerses you in the Diana Danieli experience.

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George Nakashima Woodworkers
Award: Webby 2019
This woodworking website emphasizes nature and care for the woodworking trade. It’s essentially a slideshow of beautiful forestry and farming images. As a new image comes on the screen, a new quote related to wood or trees also comes up.
This is incredibly relaxing to the visitor and shows that the woodworkers recognize the beauty of trees and the environment. This website also won a Webbie in 2019.

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Best Website Designs from 2018
crypton.trading
Award: Site of the Day (4/3/2018), Awwwards
Meet crypton.trading, your robot accountant.
Crypton.trading is a trading hub for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, using artificial intelligence to predict changes in a currency’s value and identify key buying and selling opportunities. The website was rated high for its development and design, as it gradually explains more of the developer’s methods the further down visitors scroll.
This award-winning website makes tech-savvy visitors feel right at home the moment Crypton’s greeting appears across the homepage, one letter at a time.
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Southwest: Heart of Travel
Award: Best Visual Design – Aesthetic, 2018 Webby Awards
When Southwest Airlines wanted to prove that its customers were “more than just a dollar sign,” the company created a website where the design was assembled using the shapes of their customers’ flight paths.
The website, called Heart of Travel, even allows visitors to create their own artwork out of a trip they might plan on taking. In this way, Southwest’s website is a product of their most loyal passengers.
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Overflow
Award: Site of the Day (3/20/2018), Best Website Gallery
Overflow is a design tool that allows people and businesses to create story-like flow diagrams of their ideas so they’re easier for others to understand. Aside from this being just a good service, the Overflow website practices what it preaches: Along with vibrant red call-to-action buttons for downloading the tool, this website promotes its product the best way it knows how — using a flow diagram.
The website delivers this flow diagram in the form of a video. While embedded videos can look rather clunky sitting in the middle of a website’s other design elements, Overflow’s is perfectly placed and exactly what you’d want to see when landing on the site for the first time.

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Frans Hals Museum
Award: Site of the Year (2018), Awwwards
It can be tough for a museum to present all of its artwork together on a cohesive website. That’s what makes the website of the Frans Hals Museum so impressive.
Located in the Netherlands, this museum has created a website that uses a combination of digital design elements and its own exhibits. This mixture helps visitors understand what they’ll see, when they can see it, and where else they can get a taste of what this museum has to offer.

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Best Website Designs from 2017
Simply Chocolate
Award: Site of the Year (2017), Awwwards
You’ll get a craving for chocolate just looking at this website — and in a way, that’s Simply Chocolate’s website working as designed.
This appetizing website is that of a Denmark chocolate maker Simply Chocolate. Its website uses a variety of colors (and creative product names) to promote each chocolate bar. And as you scroll from one product to the next, they all seem to remain consistent in brand.
The three-dimensional appearance of each chocolate bar makes you feel like you can grab it off of your computer screen, while the “Add to Box” CTA to the top-left is ideally placed for users to select the products they want while browsing.

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NOWNESS
Award: Best Cultural Blog/Website, 2017 Webby Awards
NOWNESS is perhaps the coolest crowdsourced video blog on the internet. That was a mouthful…what does it all mean?
NOWNESS’ crowdsourcing is part of what makes it an award-winner. This means most of its content comes from independent creatives — an increasingly popular way for businesses to publish content.
NOWNESS is also a video channel, meaning all of its blog content is in video format. Together, these qualities help make Nowness a captivating hub for the stories that brands everywhere strive to tell.
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Best Website Designs from 2016
Rainforest Guardians
Award: Best Activism Website, 2016 Webby Awards
Rainforest Guardians became one of the most immersive nonprofit websites of 2016. Seeking to build awareness around deforestation, the site allows users to “visit” the various villages, natives, and waterways that make up the Amazon Rainforest.
The site puts interactivity at the center of its user experience — a wise choice if your goal is to get people to connect with your cause and convert into volunteers.

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Protest Sportswear
Award: Site of the Year (2016), Awwwards
The Awwwards calls Protest Sportswear a “shoppable lookbook,” and that’s exactly what this site is. As a clothing outfitter, this company has reinvented the way they market its product: Rather than promoting garments of clothing, Protest Sportswear promotes “looks.”
This makes the company’s product the most appealing part of the website itself, using a collage of styles to design a homepage that changes as often as its customer’s styles do.

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The Teacher’s Guild
Award: Best Association Website, 2016 Webby Awards
The Teacher’s Guild is a professional community of educators that addresses some of the most critical challenges in education. What makes this website award-winning is how it balances diverse content types — programs, solutions, approaches, and collaborations — without overwhelming visitors.
Not only are the background visuals prominently placed, but they also use white space to emphasize the written calls to action at the center, as shown in the screenshot below.

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Best Website Designs from 2015 – 2014
Virgin America
Award: Most Significant Industry Evolution, 2014 UX Awards
In a world where airline websites are known to be riddled with major usability issues, Virgin America has one of the best websites that pushes usability, accessibility, and responsive design forward.
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Feed
Award: Site of the Day (6/6/2015), Awwwards
Not only is Feed an interesting concept, but it also has a stunning execution that challenges our understanding of what is possible on the web. Through a creative blend of animation and video, the site immerses the user in an engaging experience.
As an atypical site, it contains several unique usability elements, including navigation that doubles as a scroll progress bar.
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ETQ
Award: Site of the Day (5/19/2015), Awwwards
ETQ takes a minimalistic approach to ecommerce with a stripped-down site. Big, compelling visuals of their product lay against simple, flat backgrounds accompanied by strong typography that keeps the focus on exactly what the user came there to see: shoes.
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Mikiya Kobayashi
Award: Site of the Day (7/4/2015), Awwwards
Mikiya is a Product Designer with a minimalistic portfolio that showcases his work through strong photography and subtle animations. His full site was originally created in Japanese and then translated into English, helping demonstrate the international scalability of his design.
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Woven Magazine
Award: Site of the Day (4/4/2015), Best Website Gallery
Woven is an online publication that celebrates artists, crafters, and creators alike. They confirm that publications can (and should) have beautiful, engaging sites with easy-to-read content. Free of distractions like pop-ups and intrusive ads, this site is all about the experience of the content itself.

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JOHO’s Bean
Award: FWA of the Day (8/7/2015), Favorite Website Awards
The website for JOHO’s Bean has incredible imagery, interactivity, storytelling, visual design, and most of all, sound engineering. These all come together to create a compelling, emotional, and engaging site that tells the story of a coffee bean’s journey.
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World of SWISS
Award: Best User Interface, 2015 Webby Awards
Another airline? Yep. SWISS airlines built an incredibly immersive site that tells the story of what it’s like to fly with them — and they did too great of a job to be ignored. Strong visuals and animations introduce the user to different sections of the site that are packed with information beyond the usual sales and marketing pitch.
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Other Cool Website Designs
Guillaume Tomasi
As a Photographer in Montreal, Guillaume Tomasi has built a portfolio that’s truly fit to house his unique and awe-inspiring photography. His surreal photo style is juxtaposed by his simple, flat, empty, and minimalistic portfolio design that places all of the focus on the work itself.
His unique series navigation coupled with art-gallery-inspired work introductions and perfect scrolling interactions yield an experience reminiscent of that of a real gallery.
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The District
This branding agency takes its imagery seriously, and it should — it handles all channels of media for its clients. The District’s website alone is a journey through some of the most beautiful artwork and photography you’ve ever seen.
These provocative tiles change rapidly as you explore the website, and the wackier they seem, the more interested you become in learning about their past work.

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Tej Chauhan
Tej Chauhan has turned impressionist artwork into a business model with this intriguing website. Each image on this product developer’s homepage slides out to cover the previous image, offering little context around the object you now see in front of you. But it’s that lack of context that makes you want to learn more.
Plus, the tagline, “Souvenirs of The Near Future,” suggests these objects are a part of their product line — and an opportunity for you to bring these innovative objects into your life.

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Want a similar look for your website? Check out the new CMS Hub theme collection on the Envato marketplace.
Amanda Martocchio Architecture
An architecture firm might not specialize in web development, but its website should still demonstrate its commitment to visually pleasing design. Amanda Martocchio took that to heart with this gorgeous website.
It’s no secret that Amanda Martocchio Architecture loves its work — each picture on the homepage of its website is an enchanting shot of the houses the company designs. The website labels every house you scroll through with the type of design that was intended, along with numerous angles to each building.

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Website Design Ideas
Now that you’ve seen a number of beautifully designed and award-winning platforms, keep these potential ideas in mind as you create your own.

Consider ways that you can make your website interactive, like the 1917 example.
Make a website that emphasizes the mobile experience, even while it still has a good UX on desktops.
Create a website that tells a story about your brand with photos, text, or video.
If you can’t create a heavily interactive site, consider drawing in eyes with a site that presents a slideshow of your photos.
Ensure your call-to-actions are easy to see and encourage visitors to continue exploring your site

Keep navigation clean. Ensure your visitors always know how to get back to the homepage.
Integrate your social media sites via social embed buttons, so site visitors can easily follow you on your various social channels.
Keep each of your web pages consistent in design — including font, colors, images, and messaging.
Test your website’s usability with a heat map, which will show you on which web pages your visitors are most likely to bounce.
Include a live chat or chatbot to give visitors the option to engage with you directly on your website if they prefer live chat to phone calls. Live chat can automate functions for your sales and service reps and create a better communication experience for the customer.
Get an SSL certificate to ensure your website is secure. SSL is part of Google’s search ranking algorithm, so an SSL certificate can help you rank higher in search.

Build a Beautiful Website for your Business
Designing a website can be simple once you have a look and feel in mind. Use these examples as a springboard to develop the layout, color palette, imagery, and animations on your website.
Once you’re ready to start coding or dragging and dropping, you’ll have a beautiful website that your visitors will enjoy.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

When you’re interviewing people to join your team, you have to get creative — after all, there’s only so much that questions like “What’s your biggest weakness?” and “Are you a team player?” reveal about who your candidates truly are.
But what are the best interview questions to ask that will help you uncover your candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests?
To help give you some ideas for the next time you’re meeting with a job candidate, here are some of the best job interview questions to ask, plus good answers to each question.

Questions to Test a Candidate’s Honesty and Sense of Ownership   
1. “What single project or task would you consider your most significant career accomplishment to date?”
Lou Adler, author of The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired and Hire With Your Head, spent 10 years searching for the single best interview question that will reveal whether to hire or not hire a candidate — and this was the one.
A good answer to this question:
Candidates’ answers will tell you about their prior success and sense of ownership. A great answer will show they are confident in their work and professional choices while being humble enough to show they care about the company’s success. For example, if a candidate built a sales or marketing campaign they’re particularly proud of, listen for them to explain how the business benefited from it. Did it help the company sign a major client?
2. “Is it better to be perfect and late, or good and on time?”
If your candidate responds with “It depends,” hear them out — the interview question itself is phrased in such a way that candidates can sense there is a right and wrong answer, and they’ll be looking for signs from you that they’re heading in the right direction.
A good answer to this question:
For most companies, the correct answer is “good and on time.” It’s important to let something be finished when it’s good enough. Let’s face it, every blog post, email, book, video, etc. can always be tweaked and improved. At some point, you’ve just got to ship it. Most managers don’t want someone who can’t hit deadlines because they’re paralyzed by perfection.
Try to remain neutral as they feel out their response, though. They might not be able to relate to work that’s measured purely by quality and deadline, but it’s important that they can express how they prioritize their tasks.
3. “Tell me about a time you screwed up.”
An oldie but goodie. This is a tried-and-true test for self-awareness. (Honestly, well-prepared candidates should see it coming and have an answer ready.) Someone who takes ownership of their mess-up and learns something from it is usually humble and mindful. Candidates who blame others or give a “fake” screw-up (something like “I worked too hard and burned out.”) are red flags.
A good answer to this question:
A good answer to this question will do two things well:

Admit to a genuine mistake. Often candidates will dress up a mistake with a self-compliment or excuse to avoid looking weak. For example, “I was so committed to X that I overlooked Y.” On the contrary, good answers will just show that they miscalculated, plain and simple.

Explain what they learned from it. It’s one thing to screw up, but it’s another thing to take that screw-up as an opportunity to improve. Great companies learn more from failure than they do from success — candidates who do too are exactly what you need to grow.

Questions to Test a Candidate’s Work Ethic
4. “Tell me about a time you set difficult goals.”
If you’re looking for a candidate who is goal-oriented and results-driven — as most hiring managers are — this question will help you gauge whether they’ll be able to handle the audacious goals you have in store for them. Ask follow-up questions like, “What did you do to achieve them?” Have the candidate walk you through the process and purpose of the goals they set out for themselves.
A good answer to this question:
A good answer to this interview question shows they understand what difficult goals are, and that they put a lot of effort into attaining their goals while maintaining a high standard of work quality. Listen for answers that describe a lofty goal and show why this goal challenged their normal targets. Responses that admit the candidate came up short of this goal can also indicate self-awareness and confidence despite a lack of success.
5. “What have you done professionally that is not an experience you’d want to repeat?”
A candidate’s answer to this question will give you an idea of how they viewed work they weren’t very happy with, which is bound to happen to everyone in every job at one point or another.
A good answer to this question:
HubSpot’s VP of Customer Service and Support Michael Redbord says candidates’ answers generally fall into a few categories:

Something menial (e.g. envelope-stuffing). Pay attention to whether they understand the value of this getting done for the business, or whether they just think they’re too good for a job like that.

Something really hard. Why was it hard? Was it because it was poorly planned, poorly executed, or something else? Where do they put the blame on it being such an unpleasant experience?

Something team-related. Follow up with questions about the team, what their role on the team was, and so on.

Even the category of what they consider an experience they wouldn’t want to repeat is interesting, says Redbord. When you talk about extreme experiences that get people emotional, it can be very revealing. Keep in mind, however, that good answers don’t have to fall into any one category — what’s most important is if they extracted value from the experience despite their lack of interest in doing it again.
6. “What is your definition of hard work?”
Some organizations move at very different paces, and this question is an effective way to tell whether your candidate will be able to keep pace with the rest of your team and add value to your team. It also helps you identify someone who is a “hard worker in disguise,” meaning someone who might currently be at a slow-moving organization or in a role that is not well-suited to them, but wants to work somewhere where they can really get their hands dirty.
A good answer to this question:
A good answer doesn’t have to produce evidence of hard work — it should rather reveal if your candidate knows what it takes to get something done and solve the problems it was designed to solve.
Answers that talk about working hard by working smart are great, as well. Always listen for this — putting in the work to find the best way of doing something is often just as important as the task itself.
7. “Who is the smartest person you know personally? Why?”
These questions test what the candidate values and aspires to by forcing them to think of a real person they know, and then articulate what makes that person smart.
A good answer to this question:
Ideal answers vary, but could include specific examples of the person they’ve chosen’s ability to think ahead several steps and execute. They could also touch on the person’s decision-making skills, ability to connect, desire for learning, or application of the things they learned.
8. “What’s the biggest decision you’ve had to make in the past year? Why was it so big?”
Here’s a great way to figure out how a candidate approaches decision-making. Were they quick to make that big decision, or did it take them a long time? Did they spend most of their time reflecting on it by themselves or fleshing it out with others? How did they make a plan?
A good answer to this question:
Candidates’ answers could be work-related or personal. In addition to revealing their thought process, as described above, an effective response to this interview question will also show how the candidate was able to prioritize what was most important when each possible option might have had its own advantages and disadvantages.
If your candidate had hiring power in a previous position, for example, maybe they found it hard to choose between two job candidates of their own. A good answer might show that they saw immediate skill in one candidate but long-term potential in the other. Although both people had usable strengths, your candidate chose the second person because he or she offered he best return on investment.

Questions to Test a Candidate’s Interests, Passions, & Working Style 
9. “Tell me about the relationships you’ve had with the people you’ve worked with. How would you describe the best ones? The worst?”
Each team is different, so this question helps you tease out whether the candidate would be happy, productive, and well liked on your team. Their answer will tell you how they interact with others — and which kinds of interactions they want to happen.
A good answer to this question:
Answers to this question don’t have to focus on just professional elements of a relationship with colleagues — they can also be related to business culture. Maybe the candidate enjoyed their coworker’s positivity or thought their attitude lowered morale. Good responses aren’t one-sided, though. Look for answers that explain how their colleague’s work style thrived (or conflicted) with their own — not simply what their colleague did that benefited or offended them.
Many candidates are hesitant to bad-mouth their coworkers and bosses, so it’ll be interesting for you to hear how they navigate a question about their worst working relationships.
10. “In five minutes, could you explain something to me that is complicated but you know well?”
This is a much better test of intelligence than a college GPA, and it’s also a great gauge of a candidate’s passion and charisma outside of their core job responsibilities. Candidates who are passionate and knowledgeable about something — and can convey that well — are more likely to be enthusiastic and influential at work.
A good answer to this question:
The “something” in this question doesn’t have to be work-related — it can be a hobby, a sports team, something technical … anything, really. Good responses will tell you how well your candidate comprehends complex subjects and that they can articulate that subject to someone who doesn’t know much about it.
Explanations that use analogies also make good answers, especially if it’s a topic that is filled with industry jargon. This shows that the candidate can solve problems by drawing comparisons to things that are more universally understood.
11. “If I were to poll everyone you’ve worked with, what percentage would not be a fan of yours?”
At work, you can’t please everyone all the time. The answer to this question will help you find out if your candidate has enough drive and conviction in their own work to have ever conflicted with one or more of their colleagues.
Obviously you don’t want the candidate to be an unlikable person, though, so consider asking follow-up questions to find out why they might have alienated these coworkers: “If I were to interview these people, what words would they most frequently use to describe you?”
A good answer to this question:
The follow-up question about word choice is more important than the percentage they give in the initial question. In their answers, you should be encouraged by words like “passionate” and concerned by words like “lazy.”
Of course, not all negative words are red flags — while words that indicate a lack of work ethic might be a bad sign, words like “stubborn” could show a candidate’s self-awareness — and commitment to things their coworkers would rather move on from.
12. “What is something you’d be happy doing every single day for the rest of your career?”
While it’s important to hire for skill, it’s also important to hire someone who’s likely to be happy in the job for which you’re hiring. A question like this one will help uncover what makes each candidate happy at work — which is a great way to gauge whether they’d enjoy their role and stay at the company for a long time.
A good answer to this question:
There’s no right answer to this question — it’s more of a learning opportunity for you to see what your employees most enjoy in the industry. Nonetheless, a candidate’s answer to this question should align with the core responsibilities of the job for which they’re applying.
A sales candidate who says they could lead client kickoff meetings every day, for example, is a much better fit than a sales candidate who prefers to create lead-generating campaigns (a task that shows a bigger interest in the marketing side of things).
13. “If you had $40,000 to build your own business, what would you do?”
This question is a favorite of HubSpot Marketing Team Development Manager Emily MacIntyre. First, the type of business they choose to talk about can reveal a lot about their interests, values, and how creative they are. Second, it’ll give you insight into how business-savvy they are. By giving them a specific amount to work with (in this case, $40,000), they have the opportunity to parse out how they’d spend that money.
A good answer to this question:
The best answers to this question will get specific: They’ll offer an overview of the business and get into the logistics of where that money would go, whom they’d hire first, and so on.
Questions to Test a Candidate’s Knowledge or Interest in Your Specific Company
14. “Pitch our company to me as if I were buying our product/service.”
This is a unique and more challenging approach to the generic “What does our company do?” question. It forces candidates to not only drum up the research they’ve done to prepare for the interview, but also show they can use this research to craft a persuasive message that would be valuable in a business situation.
A good answer to this question:
This will come more naturally to some candidates than others. Above all, good answers to this interview question are able to combine an accurate definition of your company with what it offers to your core customer that they need or can’t get anywhere else.
Keep in mind that someone interviewing for a sales or marketing position might find it easier than someone interviewing for a non-client facing role — and that’s okay. You aren’t necessarily assessing their delivery. But it’ll be interesting to see how each candidate thinks through and gives their response.
15. “What has surprised you about this interview process so far?”
This is a question no candidate can really prepare for, and it’ll give you some indication of how candidates are feeling about the whole thing. Plus, you can see how they think on their feet.
A good answer to this question:
You’re looking for specifics here — something about the office space; the personality of the team; an assignment they were given to complete.
Honest answers are good answers, and answers that are directed at you are even better, as they show the candidate is confident speaking their mind in front of decision-makers. For instance, maybe the candidate was surprised you asked them about something on their resume that they don’t personally pay much attention to.
16. “Do you have any questions for me?”
This is another classic interview question, and like the one above, you’re seeing how candidates think on their feet. The answer to this question also reveals what’s important to the candidate. Are they wondering about company culture, or compensation? Are they curious about growth potential, or learning opportunities?
A good answer to this question:
There are no right or wrong answers, but personality and communication style are important factors when considering hiring someone to join your team, and you can get a sense of these factors with their answer.

The YouTube section can be a fun place to engage your audience and continue the conversation. However, it can also be a source of negativity.
At its best, it can build community and at its worst, it can harm your brand and distract viewers from your content.

With this in mind, it’s important to know how to manage your comments. Discover how to delete and disable comments plus troubleshoot a common problem.
How to Turn on Comments on YouTube
When it comes to comments on a video-level, there are four main settings you can have:

Allow all comments – This allows user comments to be immediately visible.

Hold all comments for review – This requires you to approve every comment before it will show in the comment section. It will stay in the review tab for up to 60 days

Hold some comments for review – If some comments are flagged as potentially inappropriate by YouTube’s system, they will be hidden and held for review. You can also create a blocked words list that will hold comments containing or closely matching these terms.

Turn off comments – This prevents any user from leaving comments under your video.

When you start a channel on YouTube, the default comment setting is to hold inappropriate comments for review and allow all other comments to show immediately under the video.
If you had changed your settings and now want videos on your channel to display comments, you can do so by following these steps:

Access your Studio dashboard and click on “Settings.”

Select “Upload defaults.”

Navigate to the “Advanced Settings” tab.

Scroll down to the “Comments” section and select “Allow all comments.”

Scroll down to the “Comments” section.

How to Delete YouTube Comments
When it comes to deleting YouTube comments, the rule of thumb is to use it with intention.
It’s not sustainable or effective to delete every comment your brand disagrees with.
You might ask, “Well, what if a comment says something false or damaging about our brand?” In this case, responding to the comment may be a more effective strategy. This way, you address the comment and can redirect viewers.
To save time, focus on deleting comments that are hateful, explicit, or spammy.

Open YouTube Studio.
Select “Comments” from the sidebar.
Sift through your published comments.
Tap “More” to see the option to remove the comment.
Delete and return to the “Comments” dashboard.

How to Turn Off Comments on YouTube

There are two ways to turn off comments on YouTube: at the channel-level and at the video-level.
Here’s how it works at the channel level:

Access your Studio dashboard and click on “Settings.”

Select “Upload defaults.”

Navigate to the “Advanced Settings” tab.

4. Scroll down to the Comments section.
5. Select “Disable comments” and click “Save.”

To turn off comments on a specific video, you can do this during the uploading process.

In the “Details” tab of the upload, scroll all the way down to “Show more.”

Under “Comments and Ratings,” choose “Disable comments.”

Note that you can change this setting later after uploading your video.
Troubleshooting: Youtube Comments Not Loading
If your YouTube comments aren’t loading, there’s a good chance it’s your internet connection. If your connection is slow and unreliable, the comment section may not load properly.
Another reason why your comments may not load is if you’re using a different viewport. While on the web app, YouTube comments load automatically when you scroll, on the mobile app, you must tap to see the comments section.
Lastly, certain browser extensions may affect how elements load on a page. As such, test disabling your browser extensions if your comments are not loading.

Anyone interested. There is a meetup next week on how to use open-source Customer Data Platforms to improve segmentation in marketing automation systems. Meetup is open – feel free to participate. https://www.meetup.com/Mautic-Meetup-Lagos/events/283633470/
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Implementing marketing automation in your business will help you automate repetitive and boring marketing tasks – it will also free you of stress so you can focus on growing your business!

When it comes to personalized, targeted messaging, product recommendations are generally at the top of the priority list — and for good reason. For consumers, product recommendations are a way to get a curated list of items they may find useful based on their individual needs and preferences. And for eCommerce marketers, they’re a creative…
The post What Are Product Recommendations and How to Use them In Your Email Marketing appeared first on Benchmark Email.

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