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Dereliction of Duty?

H.R. McMaster was known for speaking truth to power, and he appeared to have the organizational skills and command bearing befitting a three-star general. His unblinking academic criticism of national security officials reflected a conviction that officers were obliged to avoid repeating the mistakes of their predecessors, even if it meant challenging their superiors. One year ago, the optimistic view—I held it, as did others—was that McMaster would stand up to Trump. Yet as national security adviser, he has channeled Trump’s “Make America Great Again” jingoism.

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Only fossils remain of the dinosaurs that gave Dinosaur National…

Only fossils remain of the dinosaurs that gave Dinosaur National Monument its name. However, some large animals continue to prowl this rugged landscape along the Colorado and Utah border. These tracks in the snow are 5 inches wide and belong to a mountain lion, just one species of the amazing wildlife that lives in the park. Photo by National Park Service.

Blood on the Land in Brazil

The murder of Márcio Matos belongs to a new wave of political violence in Brazil’s countryside. Rural assassinations are on the rise against a background of economic crisis and political malfeasance. As corruption trials generate a crescendo of public attention on law and order, the countryside becomes bloodier. The two events of January 24—Lula’s conviction and Márcio’s death—were thus twin symbols demonstrating both the strength and shortcomings of the Brazilian state. The government could prosecute its ex-president but not protect its own people.

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How to Increase Conversion Rate: Top Tips in Designing Your Website

You only have 8 seconds to capture a visitor’s attention.

If you’re planning on making it big on the internet, you need to make sure you get that 8 seconds right.

How?

The answer is to keep your site’s visitors as engaged as possible. Make sure that your website is eye-pleasing, easy to navigate, and highly usable.

Based on a research done by Stanford University, over 46% of visitors stated that design is the most important factor they consider in deciding whether they’ll stay or leave a website. But how can you ensure that?

Here are 6 ways to increase conversion rate.

Establish a Visual Hierarchy

visual heirarchy website

Establishing a visual hierarchy helps users find the information they need to make a decision. You can apply the right visual hierarchy to your site to influence users and make them react positively to your call-to-action.

Here’s how you can create a powerful visual hierarchy:

  • Perfectly placed conversion forms
  • Call-to-action buttons need to be bigger, clear, and simple
  • Use of high-quality images
  • Brief and benefit-driven headline
  • Use of power words to make your copy catchy and compelling
  • A good layout that seamlessly moves eyes from one point to another

These design principles can improve the overall experience of your website in a way that users just don’t accomplish goals but also enjoy their visit to your site.

Use the right color combinations

Different color combinations convey different meanings and evoke different emotions. You can play with colors to get people to do exactly what you want.

For example, you can apply contrast psychology to highlight call-to-action buttons and to make headlines and texts noticeable and readable. Other important elements that you want to highlight should stand out from the rest of your site, too. Use the right color combination so that people can see them easily.

Use negative space effectively

Negative space is referred to as white space on a website.

In simple words, positive space has all the elements on your site whereas negative space refers to the empty space between paragraphs, sidebars, and texts.

Despite the name, negative space is valuable to the design of your website. Without it, your site will look cluttered.

Effective use of negative space is necessary to keep your website user-friendly and easy to navigate. So, avoid stuffing your website with too much information.

See Also: Web Design Strategy: How To Give New Life To Your Site

Good typography is critical

The right typography can enhance the readability of your content while optimizing your UI design. A good typography often goes unnoticed because it just makes sense. So, go for a simple yet bold typography that presents your content in a user-friendly way.

Here are some essentials of a good typography.

Consistency- Consistent use of kerning, typefaces, and formatting is essential to give your content a professional look and keep your users focused.
Hierarchy- Creating hierarchy is important to guide users through the content. For example, in web design, it has to be heading followed by subheading and then main copy.
Alignment- Alignment is important to keep the look of your web page unified. You can either settle for flush left alignment or flush right alignment to provide readers a stronger edge line to follow. As much as possible, refrain from choosing a centered alignment.

F Layout is the safest

A user’s natural pattern when browsing the internet follows the ‘F’ pattern. That makes it the safest and most effective website design to follow.

When visiting a site, visitors move their eyes from left to right, starting at the top of the screen. Next, they scan the page downwards to find the information they need. The bottom right of a web page gets the least amount of visibility.

Thus, to boost your site’s conversion rate, you need to place all the important pieces of your website along with that “F” pattern. This will encourage users to take specific actions, like completing a purchase, signing up for a newsletter or downloading an e-book.

Make it mobile-friendly

mobile friendly website

A lot of people access the internet from their handheld devices. If your website is not mobile-friendly, then you’re way behind.

If you want to increase your conversion rate, your website needs to be able to provide a seamless experience to users. Moreover, Google also prefers mobile-friendly websites. You can end up in a higher spot in the search results if Google likes you.

With that, optimizing your website for mobile is no more just an option but a must-do.

See Also: The Essential Elements of Modern Web Design

Final Thoughts

Lastly, remember the K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid) rule for your web design. Keep it simple and make sure there are fewer distractions. The more aesthetically pleasing your website is, the higher its conversion.

The post How to Increase Conversion Rate: Top Tips in Designing Your Website appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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5 Life Goals That Will Change the Way You Live

 

5 Life Goals That Will Change the Way You Live

Most of us go through our lives just trying to accomplish the dreams and goals that we have set for ourselves. In the process of achieving these life goals, how often we push ourselves to an extent where we overlook the value of moments that life brings to us. But how certain are we that these goals that we so diligently work on are the ones worth spending our efforts on? Everyone has their own path to walk on, with different destinations to reach. But there are a few basic life goals that everyone should adopt. These life goals can change the way you live. Let’s find out what these goals are.

Personal Growth

We only get one shot at life, so why do we put the need of others before our own? While being selfless is wise sometimes, it shouldn’t be the case at all times. Fight for yourself, fight for the person that you want to be. And that happens when you do things that make you happy, do things that you have longed to do. It is always better to live life the way we want to, even if that means making millions of mistakes. This gives you the hold over your own life, rather than staying in the unknown. Remember, at the end of the day, you are all you have.

Dream Job

We all know where we want to be in life and where we see ourselves in the future. And that includes knowing what our dream job is. So why is it that only a few manage to work and accomplish that perfect dream job while the rest don’t? No job is given to anyone if they are not willing to work for it. We tend to take up the first job that we get, undermining our capabilities. Instead, fight for your dreams, fight for your capabilities and most of all fight for the job you have grown up dreaming about.

Friendship & Love

What use are all the achievements in life if we don’t have someone to share it with? Life keeps going on, we get older, but what sticks by our side till the end is the relationships that we make. No one ever said that life was easy, but no one also said that it can’t be fun. Surround yourself with people who don’t just bring out the best in you but are also the best version of themselves around you. We might not realize it now, but having people who you can rely on, who will stand by your side through thick or thin are life’s biggest treasures. Friendship and love are among the most important life goals that there is.

Confidence

Most of the time what brings us down is the confidence that we lack in ourselves. This is because of the rock bottom we hit when things don’t go right. What we don’t understand is that all of us go through a rough patch at some point of time in life. But the best thing to do is to move on from that phase. Over-thinking and over-stressing will not get us anywhere. Stay confident that if you have managed to push through all the hurdles that life has put in front of you in the past, then you most definitely can overcome all other situations in the present and the future. Nothing feels as liberating as being comfortable in your own skin and being confident with your life.

Honesty

The only constant thing about our lives and the people in it is change. Our lives change, and so do people. We can never guess, one year from today what our lives will be live. However, whether you are at the peak of success or struggling through a rough patch, always remember who you truly are. Being dishonest about things leaves nothing but a feeling of dread and dissatisfaction. Running away from the truth does not change the reality. Also, most of the times when people are being dishonest, they feel that everyone around them is hiding something as well. But when you are honest, there is nothing that stops you from experiencing a wonderful life.


About Author:

Ruturaj is the CEO and Founder of Pricekart. He is an energetic Digital Marketing professional with integrated marketing experience in the B2B & B2C domains.

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You’ve read 5 Life Goals That Will Change the Way You Live, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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Black Mushrooms

The entire fungus world is wild and unnatural.
In cottony growths on the forest floor, a few spores alight,
and, if moisture and food are available, swell and grow
into protuberances, with elongating stems and raised
caps, gills, and veils. It is not always possible to identify them…

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‘I Should Have Made Him for a Dentist’

Norman Podhoretz’s memoir Making It was almost universally disliked when it came out in 1967. It struck a chord of hostility in the mid-twentieth-century literary world that was out of all proportion to the literary sins it may or may not have committed. The reviews were not just negative, but mean. Even before the book was published it was an object of derision.

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