Shopify Growth Insights

This morning we biked to work via the multi-use path along the Des Plaines River, and got to test our new GoPro HD Hero2. Our goal this year is to ride 5,000 miles collectively. That would save 275...

This year we made a Christmas card for our clients and friends that could be turned in to a simple paper-craft Christmas tree.Some recipients were kind enough to send us photos of their trees–

If you as an individual want to write an email to your family, what would you do? I would open Gmail and compose a letter to my family. Maybe I would add a picture as an attachment.If your brand wa...

In addition to web standards, we have our own pro-tips and best practices that our developers follow.When writing HTML...Be semantic above all elseSeparate style from contentMake use of form featur...

On Friday, December 9th, Ethercycle joined nearly 100 bicyclists at Amlings Cycle & Fitness in Niles, IL to travel 12 miles to Mystic Celt in Chicago where we donated 1,000 toys to the U.S. Mar...

When we designed the 9th Annual Toy Ride website, we knew our registration form would directly impact rider attendance. Through split-testing, we were able to optimize the form right up until the c...

The Herman Cain campaign added a new section to their website called Women for Cain. Unfortunately, this carefully diverse group of women is actually just a stock photo entitled "Four happy young w...

After spending Thanksgiving with our families, we visited our local big box retailers to get a feel for consumer confidence this holiday season. Surprisingly, most stores had no lines. We felt the ...

If your HTML is strictly a semantic layout of your content, then you can always change your presentation with CSS and JavaScript. Semantic HTML is intentionally simple. At a glance, one needs only ...

The attraction to social media is its authenticity. People like the idea that they're talking to an insider at the business, not just reading ad copy in a newsletter.That's what is so ridiculous ab...

Throughout the design process, we include our clients in every step by submitting each design for their feedback. The best results come from this collaboration. However, not all feedback is created...

Music can set the mood, and it can also inspire. Here are some albums we've enjoyed in the office:Trace Bundy: Adapt – Incredibly technical acoustic guitar.The Glitch Mob: Drink the Sea – This has ...

Happy workers are motivated and productive workers. (And in our case, it also makes us more creative pixel workers.) Most managers acknowledge the importance of levity in the workplace. They know ...

I'm Obsessing Over is a advertorial photo-blog for Yvonne Estelle's that we took from concept to launch in four days.BrainstormIn an afternoon session, we conceived and planned the project with the...

Don't.You can't outsmart Google. Tips, trick, and secrets for better rankings only work short-term (if at all.) Google is literally constantly tweaking their search results through multi-variate te...

As web designers, who do we serve?Clients: Our duty to the client is to help them achieve their business goals. Often our work is a keystone in their sales process, so we must meet (and hopefully e...

Every few weeks a prospective client calls our offices and breathlessly explains that they have the next big idea. These grand plans all boil down to "It's X for Y." Some very real examples are:"It...

The Amlings Cycle Holiday Toy Ride is an annual charity bike ride event that raises toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation. The ride was started in 2003 by local bike shop owner ...

Is social media right for your business? Maybe not. Consider the following:Social Media is not free – Just because there are no subscription or setup fees associated with most social media services...

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me… Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” — Steve Jobs (1993)

Over the weekend we attended, sponsored, and presented at BarCamp Milwaukee 6. It's an unconference hosted by BucketWorks/SchoolFactory. It's a grassroots effort that has more in common with a wiki...

On, Thursday, September 29 2011, EtherCycle joined other local businesses to promote a fashion show benefiting "Making Strides for Breast Cancer." Fashions were provided by New Prospects, and 2 Sis...

Semantic HTML is a style of writing web pages that emphasizes a page's content over its presentation or style. Rather than use HTML tags to just create a document, we use them to describe the conte...

We've set up a machine running the Windows 8 Developer Preview to test Metro widget/app development in preparation for client requests, and working on another machine to test Windows to Go. (This m...