Following Steve Jobs' comments in 2010, Apple insisted that its iOS software wouldn't continue to support Flash long into the future. That opened the door for a new coding language designed to build rich digital content for the Internet's consumption. Today, that coding language alternative has a name: HTML5.

Released in October 2014, this new coding solution has inspired a lot of debate over whether it's an actual improvement over Flash, and how, exactly, it's able to elevate the ceiling for online content development. While long-term forecasts for this coding language remain high, many developers think it will ultimately provide a more versatile and agile platform for content creation than Flash. Nonetheless, the release of the new coding language has been met with multiple challenges that impede its present stature and give the language a bad name.

Here's a rundown of what challenges HTML5 developers currently face on the long road to a (hopefully) better coding language solution.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, as the old adage goes, and while that doesn't specifically apply to landing page design, it's certainly comparable. If you are running campaigns without optimizing your landing page, your chance to make a good first impression is lost. As a result, consumers may be bouncing at a higher rate.

Though there are many ways to optimize your landing page design, here are some quick fixes you can do right now to reduce bounce and encourage conversions.

If your website includes a call-to-action (CTA), you're in the minority. According to Entrepreneur.com, some 70 percent of small businesses don't include a CTA at all. But if you're in the business of making money online, your CTA is an integral part of your strategy. Likewise, if you've done any experimentation, you know that not all CTAs are alike. There are thousands of possible calls to action, and while wording, placement and design all matter, it might surprise you to know what it takes to tip past bounce to conversion.

Unpacking the Call-to-Action

To start, let's look at maximizing your potential for success. According to MarketingLand, there are three key ingredients in any CTA:

Digital marketing mistakes can be deadly to your bottom line. You've done the hard work of getting visitors to your site, but the job of conversion has only just begun. Here are five of the biggest digital marketing mistakes — and how to fix them.

1. Your Site Is Slow

Consumers love to look, but hate to wait. With the average page size coming in at a whopping 2 MB, according to SitePoint, load times are slower than ever. Search Engine Journal notes that making your page load just one second faster can increase sales by 7 percent. Shoot for a 1 MB page size.

As many organizations update their websites based on the latest Web design trends, there is a potential for your site to get lost in the monotony. However, as current developments are all about finding unique ways to connect with your audience, there are more opportunities for you to make your site stand out to a targeted group. Overall, most trends in imagery, layout, color and typography are moving toward a simpler design.

Imagery

As 1stWebDesigner points out, one of the current Web design trends involves incorporating large background images. While you may already be seeing these types of images everywhere, you can give your brand an edge by adding subtle movement. According to 99designs, one variation on this trend is animated storybooking, in which an animation sequence is triggered when a user scrolls to a certain position on his or her screen.

It can be difficult to create a landing page design that is both attractive and effective. Here are some guidelines that will help you ensure that your landing page lands you results.

Keep It Simple

You should make your navigation system so user-friendly that your customer can get anywhere with one click. To avoid confusion and keep your user's attention, you should also make sure that the link your user clicks on to get to your website lands them on the page with the information they were promised.

The visual appeal of your landing page also plays an important role in your user's experience. A simple design is most appealing because it is not overwhelming to the user. You should make sure that your design — i.e., headers and color scheme — is consistent across all touch points.

U.S. consumers are spending more time than ever on mobile devices (last year showed an 81 percent increase in mobile data traffic, according to Re/code), but ConversionXL reports that mobile conversion rates remain low. This is a huge opportunity for marketers who can create mobile Web design that encourages user engagement — and that means more than a pretty typeface.

Try these six practices to turn browsers into shoppers:

1. Plan for Change

Users expect to access their data everywhere and on every device. It's not enough to plan just for smartphones and tablets — you want to use responsive design to adapt to the evolving mobile ecosystem. Create designs that suit these platforms rather than trying to replicate the desktop experience.

Recent high-profile data breaches like the ones at Sony and Target have raised consumer privacy concerns to new levels. It's important that your company website has a privacy policy in place, especially because, as Mintz Levin notes, this is often required by law. If you think only the big guys like Google, Facebook and Microsoft need to worry about potential lawsuits, think again. Your bottom line is also at risk.

The Importance of Privacy Policies

According to TRUSTe, studies have shown that consumers take action based on their privacy concerns. Up to 89 percent of U.S. Internet users claim to avoid doing business with companies where they believe their privacy is not protected. In one such study, conducted at Carnegie Mellon University, consumers were more likely to purchase from sites where privacy information was accessible. More interesting still, these participants were willing to pay more for the same items when they believed their privacy was secure. It's likely there's untapped potential in gaining your website visitors' confidence.

*This article is a guest post written by our web services partner, Cardinal Web Solutions. 

A few weeks ago, a rock skipped up and hit my windshield as I was driving down I-85, creating a crack about 15 inches long. After asking neighbors and friends if they knew anyone in the area who could fix it in a timely manner without breaking the bank, I was referred to a company whose pricing looked great and could have it done the following day. 

I hopped on their website and proceeded to the contact page, hoping to secure my appointment, when I noticed the form was broken. There was no “Schedule Work” button or way to submit my information. I called the number listed on the site a few times trying to get in touch with someone, but was unsuccessful.

Developing a slick retail website is tough work. When brands are then told that they need to build multiple versions of their website, including mobile-friendly designs, it's easy to feel resistant: the costs are high, the time intensive, the technology unfamiliar.

These are valid fears for leadership that doesn't understand how tech trends affect commerce, but they can inflict serious damage on a brand in the long run. Thanks to responsive design, the demands of catering to different devices and platforms aren't as significant as they once were. Responsive design is a one-size-fits all Web design solution that fits any device, anywhere.

Now, instead of building multiple websites — at a very high cost — companies can invest in a single version of their website that modifies itself to fit the device functionality of each individual user. It's cost effective, SEO friendly and offers other benefits, including unified design.

But business leadership may still ask, "What's the benefit of considering mobile in the first place?" Here are some convincing key points.