5 Design Trends That Small Businesses Can Use in 2011

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

In the past 12 months, we’ve seen a lot of changes in the world of web design. Growing popularity in the mobile device space — including smartphones and tablets like the iPad — have refined the way many users access and interact with content.

Likewise, the formal adoption of web standards like HTML5, web fonts and CSS3 by browser makers means that more and more users are now able to take advantage of the latest and greatest features on the web.

It’s often tough for small businesses to stay up on the latest web design trends because of the cost involved with redesigns and the necessity of being accessible by a broad range of users. Still, there are some great web design trends from 2010 and leading into 2011 that small businesses should consider incorporating into their sites.

We’ve already written about some of the aesthetic web design trends that small businesses should keep an eye on, so this list is more about some of the technological trends taking place in the world of web design.

Regardless of where you stand in the war over Flash, the fact remains that more and more sites and web developers are moving away from Flash-only solutions for video, animation and navigation.

Flash still excels when it comes to building fully interactive designs and Rich Interactive Applications (RIAs), but for small business owners who aren’t showcasing or providing that sort of experience, trading Flash for HTML5, JavaScript and CSS3 might just make more sense.

The fact is, Flash is not accessible on most mobile devices. Even the mobile devices that do support Flash don’t support each element reliably. As a customer, there is nothing worse than visiting a website from my mobile phone and finding out I am unable to access the contact information, list of products and services or location information because the navigation or core content was built in Flash.

Flash is a great tool for certain types of work, such as sites that can capture audio or video, do complex animations or run web games. If you’re still using an old circa-2005 Flash template, 2011 might be a good time to upgrade to something more modern.

Typography is an important — I would argue crucial — component of any web design. Historically, customizing the typography you use on a website has been a complicated and headache-inducing process. As a result, most designers were reduced to either using the small selection of web-safe fonts or using workarounds like text images or Flash as text replacements.

The good news is that in the past 12 months, the situation with fonts and the web has improved quite a bit. Thanks to services like TypeKit, Fonts.com Web Fonts and Google Web Fonts, it’s now possible to use web fonts on your own site with very little effort, for either free or very nominal costs.

You can also check out some of the latest trends in web fonts.

More and more websites — big and small — are taking the time to make their sites small screen friendly. Having a mobile compatible or mobile optimized website means that not only will your site load faster over cellular data connections but that content will be better formatted for the screens of smaller devices, making it easier to access and understand.

As smartphone adoption continues to soar, more and more of our online time is spent on our phones. For small businesses, making sure that that experience is fast and pleasant can be a great way to improve your website’s effectiveness.

There are a slew of tools and services that make it easy to optimize your website for mobile devices.

The popular microblogging platform TumblrTumblr is a great way to quickly and easily post updates, share content and garner direct visitor feedback. Tumblr has become a really popular platform and more and more small businesses are using it for their own company blogs or sites.

And while Tumblr has some great themes geared toward small business users, Tumblr itself is also having a pretty big impact on web design as a whole.

Even if you don’t use Tumblr for your company website or blog, you can incorporate elements of the Tumblr style — distinctive icons for post type, big, beautiful typography for titles and headings, and a minimalist layout.

As I stated in the introduction, it can be difficult for small businesses that aren’t in a design-related field to adopt many of the cutting-edge web design trends for fear of shutting out parts of their potential audience.

And while it is true that there are still some corporate networks and a smattering of home users using old, decrepit and nearly extinct browsers, the latest versions of the major web browsers — Internet ExplorerInternet Explorer, FirefoxFirefox, Google ChromeGoogle Chrome, SafariSafari and OperaOpera — all support CSS3 and HTML5 features and elements. Additionally, practically every modern smartphone supports advanced CSS3, JavaScript and HTML5 features, too.

At this stage, it’s OK to experiment with HTML5 or CSS3 elements on your small business website.

The great thing is, it’s possible to use techniques that will offer an enhanced view on modern browsers but degrade elegantly on systems that don’t support the latest and greatest. There are even some great projects that make it easier to get started.

What trends in web design are you watching for in 2011? Let us know in the comments below!

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Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, marekuliasz

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Google: Chrome OS Still Coming This Year (It Just Might Be In Beta Form)

There’s a lot of hoopla right now that Google’s Chrome OS has been delayed and will miss the stated release date of “this year”. Much of this is based off of the comment that Google CEO Eric Schmidt made last week at Web 2.0 Summit, in which he said that Chrome OS would be available sometime in “the next few months”. So I asked Google today if they were still sticking with the “later this year” availability of Chrome OS — the answer I got? An enthusiastic “yep!”

But just in case, I decided to follow up and ask if that meant an actual shipping product was coming or some test version of the OS? The answer there was much more murky. “We’re not going into details at this point,” is what I was told.

Looking over the code issues in the Chromium OS forums, it looks as if work is still progressing to knock out a lot of late-stage bugs before the OS can be released. Many of these bugs are UI-related, but several seem much more serious, as well. That said, there are a few indications that a “beta” release of the OS may be drawing near. As you can see here, there are only six bugs labeled as “ReleaseBlock-Beta”. And almost all of them are related to the UI of buying a 3G plan from a Chrome OS-powered netbook. There’s also a “ReleaseBlock-Nominate” list, which features 38 bugs.

There are other indications that Google is removing certain features that contain “show-stopping bugs” in order to get a beta out there.

So, if I had to guess, I would bet that we’ll see some sort of Chrome OS beta launch in December. But that will disappoint many people, as we were originally told that ChromeBooks (Chrome OS-powered netbooks) would be here in time for the holidays. Unless some vendors are willing to ship a very beta product, that’s probably not going to happen.

But maybe there is hope. All About Microsoft’s Mary-Jo Foley says she talked to Google recently about the OS:

I had a chance to ask the Googlers about Chrome OS  recently, and was told that a preview version of Google OS is still going to hit this year and be available in test form on several new form factors.

Of course, she also notes that “Google, like Microsoft, is not going to have a viable iPad competitor available in time for holiday 2010.” But Google is already distancing itself from the talk that Chrome OS is meant for tablets. At the same Web 2.0 Summit talk which featured Schmidt’s comments above, he also said that Chrome OS was meant for keyboards, while Android was meant for touch.

That said, there’s no denying that ChromeBooks and iPads are very likely to eventually go head to head in the market simply because both will likely cost around the same amount of money. And despite Schmidt’s comments, Google has been thinking about Chrome OS in the tablet space as well.

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Amazon’s New iPhone App Offers In-Store Price Comparisons, One Click Purchases

As we near Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon is launching a new way to comparison shop on the go. Called Price Check, the free iPhone app allows users can scan the barcode of a product, take a picture of an item or say the product’s name to access product listings on Amazon.com’s marketplace. If the product is listed on Amazon, customers can then purchase the item with one click.

The beauty of the app is that you can use several ways to search for an item when you are in a store. Using Amazon’s barcode scanner, which was recently added to the company’s primary iPhone app, you can simply scan the barcode and the app will match an item and provide pricing from Amazon.com and other online merchants.

You can also use the app to snap a photo of the item and match the picture to books, DVDs, CDs and video games (Amazon says it will be adding more categories to this soon). You can also speak or type the product’s name into the app.

The app by default will display prices sorted from lowest to highest and will also show if the item is available for free shipping. Amazon says that Price Check includes prices on “millions of products” and also includes access to customer reviews; sharing via Twitter, Facebook, text message or e-mail link; and immediate purchasing using 1-Click ordering and Amazon Prime.

For online retailers like Amazon and eBay, comparison shopping apps that include barcode scanning is a way to draw in-store shopping to online marketplaces. As we wrote this morning, eBay launched a similar comparison shopping feature this morning that leverages barcode scanning technology.

The company also recently launched a new shopping app, called Window Shop, for the iPad.

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The Engadget Show - 015: Sprint's Fared Adib, Google TV creator Salahuddin Choudhary, Galaxy Tab, Nook Color, and more!

Get ready humans, because we have an all new, amazing Engadget Show fresh out of the box. First up, Josh and Paul sit down with Sprint product chief Fared Adib to talk about the birth of the EVO 4G, what exactly defines "4G," where Sprint sees itself in relation to Verizon and AT&T, and why skinning Android devices might be a necessary evil. Next, Nilay goes hands on with the fully-automated house of the future at the Savant Experience Center in an exclusive new Engadget Show segment, then joins Josh on stage for a in-depth chat with Salahuddin Choudhary, a Google TV product manager who helped create Google TV in his 20-percent time. Then, Paul, Nilay, and Josh discuss all things tablets in a raucous roundtable featuring the iPad, Galaxy Tab, and Nook Color. To round it all out, exileFaker rocks the house with some killer chiptunes music with visuals by HN_i_C. What are you waiting for? Watch it now! Hit up the video stream after the break or download the show in HD below!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Special guests: Fared Adib, Salahuddin Choudhary
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger
Edited by: Danny Madden
Music by: exileFaker
Visuals by: HN_i_C
Savant segment music by: Kris Keyser and exileFaker
Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec

Taped live at The Times Center

Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 015 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 015 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 015 (Small)

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HP ePrint BlackBerry app brings mobile printing to FedEx Office, Hilton hotels, and more

By Joseph L. Flatley posted Nov 22nd 2010 2:46PM Why should iOS 4.2 users have all the fun? HP has announced a deal to bring wireless printing to select FedEx Office locations, Hilton hotels, Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges, and PrinterOn guest printing locations via the ePrint app for BlackBerry. The whole affair looks pretty straight forward: Download the app from App World (or from the source link), select your email or attachment, select a location, send the print job, stop by Gadzooks for a chain wallet and a pair of JNCOs, and then swing by your ePrint site to grab your documents. Simple, right? What are you waiting for? Go, get!

[Thanks, Bryson]

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Why SMS Marketing Still Makes Sense for Small Business

The International Business Series is brought to you by UPS. Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you.

Mobile texting paradoxically sounds like “old news” as far as new technologies are concerned. After all, we were able to send each other texts before our mobile phones even had color screens. While the Western world has focused on smartphones and flashy apps that let you pull up RSS feeds, find information, or fling exploding birds at structures, SMS marketing is still a hugely important part of our mobile lives.

Consider that while smartphone adoption has been slower than anticipated, nearly every mobile phone user in the U.S. is capable of sending and receiving text messages. Additionally, SMS has become increasingly important in developing countries where the penetration of feature phones far outnumber smartphones.

Companies or small business that can nail down their SMS marketing strategy, especially when the space is still ripe for innovation, can open up a number of opportunities. We spoke with four mobile experts for some tips, advice and insights on how to include SMS in a global business strategy.

There’s a huge population of consumers in the U.S. who do not own smartphones, notes Tom Cotney, CEO of mobile marketing firm Air2Web. “And if you’re going to provide some kind of customer service capability on mobile phones, you really need to reach as much of the population as possible.” That isn’t to say that mobile apps are useless, but having a way for text to complement or introduce those services can help you reach a larger base of people. This is especially true in developing countries where the percentage of smartphone users is even smaller.

Even though it may seem like global mobile marketing is just the purview of large, international companies, small businesses can also jump in. “We are a small business with no outside funding,” said John Pelphrey, CEO of One-Txt, an SMS broadcast service. “The trick is to find the right niche, something that you’re knowledgeable about and have some connections in and work it from there.” Pelphrey saw opportunities on continents like South America and Africa where cell phone access is more common than landlines or even open InternetInternet access. “Their first access to the outside world is their cell phone,” Pelphrey added.

It’s one thing to say there are opportunities in global mobile texting. It is another thing to come up with a plan and put it into action. For Pelphrey, a successful strategy is about intimacy and immediacy: “To have the right information for the right person and at the right time.”

Most expert advice focuses on capitalizing on the intimacy of a cell phone. “The mobile phone is the most personal form of technology there is, barring hearing aids and other medical technologies,” Cotney said. Rather than sending out a text blast, treat your messages like a conversation with the customer while offering them value: “You really need to offer consumers a foundational benefit as the primary reason for having a mobile relationship with you.”

Of course, mobile texting isn’t all just sunshine and rainbows. There are some key limitations to consider before jumping in. First, SMS is necessarily limited by its character limit. In the U.S., text messages are limited to 160 characters — which is fine if you’re checking in with friends but more difficult when you’re trying to connect with or sell to consumers. That limit further varies by country. While Asian countries are closer to 70 characters, their individual characters usually have more meaning than Western letters.

There’s also the problem of getting your message to its destination. “There’s no single international body that goes and hands out short codes,” said Andrew Kenney, Chief Operating Officer at ONEsite. “You have to get one for a specific region. Carriers won’t deal with the particular brands.” After that middleman, it’s important to think of how your audience receives your messages. Not everyone has premium messaging or unlimited texts, Kenney warned. Texts can be expensive for your consumers, so make sure there’s value to make it worthwhile.

Ideally you could set up regional offices to best understand the communities you’re contacting. If that’s out of the budget, try to set up a contact already living in that community or do your research to make sure you know what times of day people are most social or what kind of information or language will be most effective. “Every country, every tribe, they’re all going to be different,” Pelphrey said. “You can’t take the lessons you learned in South America and take it to Africa. Those cultures are so distinct even within a few miles of each other.”

One hesitation businesses have when it comes to SMS is determining if it is a dying breed of marketing, especially when faced with smartphones or the increasing emphasis on mobile apps. While SMS has greater reach, it also has less interactivity. “It’s certainly possible to set your DVR using text, but it’s not a great user experience,” said Griswold.

Anyone worried about text disappearing as a marketing tool should consider that 2008 was the first year that text messages outnumbered cell phone calls. Cotney cited a study that showed users get mobile text alerts seven times more than they used to with feature phones. “Text is not just a technology, it’s an actual type of interface,” Cotney said. “Usually the older a technology, the less frequently it will be used, but text will be around for a long time.”

There are a lot of ways to approach SMS marketing, whether you’re a big company or a small startup looking to branch abroad. There are basic tips like offering your consumers real value, emphasizing intimacy, and being conscientious of cultural norms and traditions. Part and parcel, Kenney advised that “people should go do their research and they should pick partners that they can trust to build long-term relationships.”

Cotney emphasized reach, namely, how many people is your mobile strategy going to touch? While mobile apps may look nice, they can sometimes be a case of prioritizing new technology over a real strategy. “Have a strategy and incorporate how many people you’re going to be able to reach when the product actually gets out there.”

Still, it seems that the most pervasive advice was just to get started. “If businesses think they may want to do text, it’s never too early to collect numbers for the opt-in lists. There are lots of ways to do it…” Paul said. “You don’t have to have everything in place. By the time you do start, you’ll have a head start.”

The cell phone is really the first piece of technology that people started carrying with them all the time, Kenney said. We use it to find our friends or find information on a daily basis. That personal proximity and it’s social capability allow us to have an intimate relationship with our phones and what they can do. SMS is an immediate way to capitalize on those qualities without having to worry about downloading an app or compatibility issues. SMS, if done properly, is an effective way to reach customers both domestically and globally.

Series supported by UPS

The International Business Series is brought to you by UPS. Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you.

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Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto: fotosipsak & spxChrome

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Google Launches Plugin That Fuses Microsoft Office With Google Docs

For years, we’ve been hearing that the future of productivity is in the cloud. But while visions of real-time collaboration leave technophiles like me starry-eyed, it’s a prospect that means one thing to millions of people: leaving the familiar turf of Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 so that they can learn their way around yet another application, not to mention some pricey upgrades. But Google wants to let you have it both ways.

Today, Google is launching a new plugin for Microsoft Office called Cloud Connect, which will tie Google Docs directly into the ubiquitous productivity suite, free of charge. Editing a document in Word? It’ll automatically sync to your Google Docs account each time you hit ‘Save’. Want to share a preview of your document without worrying about what file format your coworkers can open? Just send them a link to the Google Docs file. The plugin supports Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and it’s a big deal for Google’s strategy with Docs. The new product is going live for Apps for Business customers today as part of a preview program; everyone else will get it soon. Update: Google says that the demand was so high that it can’t accept any more volunteers, but you can sign up to receive a notification when it’s available.

Now, Microsoft is integrating online collaboration with its newest version of Office, but Google is doing them one better: this will work on Office 2003, 2007, and 2010, and there’s no fiddling with SharePoint required, either. Google also points out that Microsoft’s version doesn’t offer Excel support yet.

The new plugin is a result of Google’s acquisition of DocVerse back in March (note that it only took Google around eight months to get this out the door — obviously a lot of people want it). Installing the plugin should be fairly painless; the download takes around thirty seconds, and the installation process doesn’t take much longer.

Once you’ve installed it, you’ll notice a new ribbon toward the top of the Office UI, which gives you a Google Docs link for the document you’re currently working on, as well as a notification to let you know when it’s been synced with Google’s servers. Documents being edited locally save to your Google Docs account whenever you hit the ‘Save’ button, but unlike the normal Google Docs web editor, changes aren’t saved as you type them. Google Docs product manager Jonathan Rochelle says this is done because of user expectations — Office has always required that you hit the Save button to save (safety recovery versions notwithstanding) so it makes sense to leave it this way.

Multiple people can edit the same document and have their changes synced with each save (hooray for the cloud). But because these changes aren’t reflected in real-time, there’s the potential for conflicts — I could edit a PowerPoint slide to say one thing, and my coworker could put something else on the same slide. Google deals with these conflicts by presenting users with an alert prompting them to choose which version they’d like to save; if they want to go back and switch again later, they can using the document’s version history.

In practice it looks like this should work well, though there will be a bit of a learning curve as people navigate through syncing and version conflict resolution the first few times. And then there’s actually getting them to use the features that Google Docs and the cloud affords. Baby steps.

And that’s really the theme here: baby steps. Google says that it often speaks with businesses who are eager to switch to Google Docs, but who have a significant number of users who still want to stay with Office for whatever reason. This plugin will help clear that hurdle by allowing for organizations with a ‘hybrid’ setup. And in the longer term, Google is hoping that as users get more familiar with Docs, they’ll be more comfortable abandoning the Office client altogether.

There is one significant caveat to the integration with Office, but it’s a bit complicated to describe so bear with me. If you save a document from Powerpoint to Google Docs, and then edit that file using the Google Docs web editor, you will not be able to sync those changes back with the native version of the file. You’ll be able to generate a new PowerPoint file that reflects the changes, but they won’t sync automatically.

This is because Google is still working through fidelity issues, and the conversion from native Office document to Docs web document may introduce some formatting changes that the user didn’t intend to make. Obviously Google hopes to offer this in the future, but we’ll probably be waiting a while for it to overcome document fidelity issues entirely.

You may also recall a company called OffiSync, which we’ve been tracking over the last couple years. OffiSync has offered much of the same functionality that Google is launching for some time — but now that there’s an official solution, it seems like it could hamper OffiSync’s business. Not so, says Rochelle, who explains that OffiSync actually has some additional features compared to Google’s product. He also believes that there’s room for more than one solution to this problem.

Note that this isn’t available for Mac. Google explains that Microsoft doesn’t offer the same public APIs for the Mac version of Office, so there’s nothing it can do.

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