CategoryGuides

April 19, 2021 — How are Core Web Vitals measured? How do you know your fixes have had the desired effect and when will you see the results in Google Search Console? Let’s figure it out! In this post, Barry Pollard is going to attempt to explain a bit more about what’s going on here and explain some of the nuances and misunderstandings of these tools. Read more…

April 15, 2021 — If you’re an agency owner, you know that you need customers to grow. No matter how big your dreams are, customers are the lifeblood of your business. But you’re probably wondering — how do you attract quality, high-paying clients?Selling is key to growing your web design business, but it doesn’t have to be complicated! With clear goals, customer research, and proven closing techniques, anyone can find new clients. Read more…

April 6, 2021 — With the explosion in popularity of the Jamstack has come the proliferation of new options for managing your content. Headless has become quite the hot topic in development circles of late, but where do you start if you are embarking on a new project and haven’t yet decided where to store and organize your content? In this article, David Eglin will give you a little bit of a primer on the CMS landscape, as well as some questions to ask to aid you in making a decision. Read more…

March 24, 2021 — Eleventy (aka 11ty) is rising in the ranks among static site generators. This Node-based builder is attractive due to its zero-config starting point, purely static output, and ease of achieving the coveted top Lighthouse performance score of four perfect 100s. Let’s dive into what else makes it unique, and learn about some essential concepts to help you successfully get started. Read more…

March 18, 2021 — The secret to growing a successful web design business is thinking of design as a service, not a product. When you focus on recurring revenue and sell to one targeted niche, you can grow a business faster than ever. In this two-part series, Stephen Roe shares the agency growth lessons we’ve learned. In this first part, we break down the pricing model that’s worked best for us and explain how to leverage it in your business. In the next article, we’ll share proven sales techniques you can use as you scale. Read more…

February 18, 2021 — In this article, we take a look at the topic of context and variables in Hugo, a popular static site generator. You’ll understand concepts such as the global context, flow control, and variables in Hugo templates, as well as data flow from content files through templates to partials and base templates. Read more…

February 16, 2021 — DevTools is very advanced and helpful, but can also be very intimidating and overwhelming. Let’s fix that. In this article, Vitaly reviews useful features and shortcuts for debugging in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. Read more…

February 15, 2021 — Adding video to your application can increase customer engagement and satisfaction. But the exact opposite can occur when there are issues with the video playback: video stalls are frustrating and drive customers away. In this article, Doug Sillars will walk you through the steps to optimize the video on your website to ensure fast playback and reduce stalls. Read more…

January 15, 2021 — Catch up on what’s been cookin’ at Smashing and explore some of the most popular community resources featured in our newsletter over the past few weeks. Spoiler: there are also new workshops, front-end & UX audits and truly smashing podcast episodes. This article covers pretty much everything you need to build fast experiences on the web today — from metrics to tooling and front-end techniques and strategies. Read more…

January 12, 2021 — Let’s make 2021… fast! An annual front-end performance checklist, with everything you need to know to create fast experiences on the web today, from metrics to tooling and CSS/JavaScript techniques. Read more…