Ok just launched an interim landing page website made with Sparkle!
It is a landing page for a seeker and seller of authentic crystals, gems and minerals here in Tasmania. For now it is an online business presence, a way to make contact, and get to know about the business’s social media channels.
I created the interim landing page across the 960 and 320 devices, and auto scaled it for the 1200 & 768 devices with the following features…
Image gallery with Lightbox
Tooltip Popups
Active social media links
Multi category Contact Form
Built in QR Code for the business to use on the go if they don’t have business cards on them to present to a client
Subtle supporting background graphics
Subtle and supportive animation on scroll
And some minor CSS to allow the social media icons (Images) to present a hover state
Looks nice, but my first impression was that the initial photo up top is fuzzy and unfocused. Sorry, but that’s not a good look. It should be… “crystal clear”
The photo does look crystal clear on my iMac! But not on my iPhone, which is where I first viewed it and commented upon. See phone screenshot.
So… that’s a little something that needs addressing.
Mmmm…
I might need to create an image just for mobile then? The original image is a whopping 7200x2700 @290dpi but maybe it is doing too much work for mobile.
I have created an image for mobile now which looks like this…
It’s definitely better to make device specific images when adding a full width image. Mobile device images only need to be the width of the screen, so a full width image designed for desktop may be unnecessarily large. Attached is your image in two formats, both of which will display clearly on the desktop and mobile variant. The size has also be considerably reduced.
On another note, I mentioned on another thread recently about adding social media links to the top of the page - it’s an open invitation for visitors to leave the page the moment they get there, so they may be better placed in the footer section - just my humble thoughts. However, I like the design and the simple colour scheme - it really focuses on the product.
I did realise that in the end and created a hero image specific for mobile which is similar to what you have in your example.
He he he, on your second point. I knew you were go to bring that up and that is why I mentioned in my post… “For now it is an online business presence, a way to make contact, and get to know about the business’s social media channels.”
My client works with a very varied clientele base and the younger ones are all about social media. Yes we can do our best to not have the User fly-off the site but in the end we don’t have total control over how a User uses the website, and they may never even scroll down to the bottom… So in this case they have the option catering to how they use websites.
Hi @FlaminFig, I wasn’t being critical of the placement of social media links per se. I just wanted to highlight a common misconception that clients often have about the role of social media and its integration with their websites. Many clients don’t fully realise that a website or landing page usually serves as the second step in a sales funnel, with social media being the first step.
In today’s world, social media often drives traffic to landing pages or new content on a website - it’s essentially the reason behind many posts. Unfortunately, some clients see this process in reverse. They treat their website as a means of boosting their social media following, using it as a promotional vehicle for their social channels. However, there’s little evidence that this approach is effective. In fact, it doubles the amount of work. Time, and sometimes money, is spent in promoting the website in order to increase social media traffic. Unfortunately social media isn’t really the place to do a good selling job.
Most successful businesses use social media as a promotional tool to direct users to their website, which acts as a central hub for their online presence. That’s why it’s puzzling when clients invest time and energy in attracting visitors to their site through social media, only to immediately send them back to the beginning of the sales funnel.
To me, it’s like creating an inviting storefront in a shopping mall (the social media post) but, once someone enters, they find themselves back in the mall instead of in a well-designed store (the website). Of course, this is just my perspective, and clients have their own views. My role is to advise them on the realities of the digital landscape. While some may not heed this advice at first, many eventually understand and benefit from it. It’s all about helping clients better navigate how the digital world works.
No Frank, I didn’t take it that way so all good!
What you say makes a lot of sense, and yes there is a bit of confusion out there regarding that your online website presence is the actual “hub” and everything you use (social media in this case) needs to go back to your website. This is where the owner has the most control.
And unfortunately we as Designers cannot change the way people interact with the web as much as we would like too. The younger generation is all about social media so in my books it is best to cover that base as they would use it where others will stay on the website.
For now my client has an interim landing page more so advertising that they are on social media with no marketing campaign behind it, to make an online presence (plus SEO) and a way for clients to contact them!
