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2018 PLUMBING TRENDS?

When you make a list of all the latest trends that you want to keep an eye on going into a new year, “plumbing-related advancements” won’t necessarily rank high on the list - if they happen to make it at all. But the truth is that the world around us continues to evolve at a break-neck pace and the plumbing industry is absolutely no exception. There are a number of really interesting plumbing trends in particular that you’re going to want to keep an eye on in 2018 and beyond.

The Future Of Plumbing Maintenance Is Here

Gone are the days where diagnosing even simple plumbing problems used to require tearing your entire system apart just to get to the root of the matter. These days, a number of providers use a series of specially designed cameras to locate everything from leaky pipes to blocked drains with relative ease. Not only does this help save a tremendous amount of time and effort, but you can even get a live video feed of what is going on with your pipes at the same time - giving you the confidence that comes with knowing you’re not being taken advantage of.

Hands-Free Fixtures Are Here To Stay

Hands-free faucets, sinks and other fixtures have long been a staple of office buildings, retail stores, and other public spaces. 2018, however, may be the year where they’re ready for prime time - and your home.

Many plumbing companies and homeowners are turning to hands-free plumbing fixtures to help save water - something that can also help reduce the cost of your monthly utility bills at the exact same time. Hands-free plumbing fixtures are also naturally more hygienic than their more traditional counterparts, something that doesn’t stop being true just because you’re in the comfort of your own home.

Tankless Water Heaters Are Here To Stay

Tankless water heaters have been around for years, but for many, their initial cost far outweighed the benefits that they brought to the table. Thankfully, as technology has continued to advance the cost of these units has come down dramatically - meaning that if you’re getting ready to replace your water heater in 2018, now would be the perfect time to make the jump

Tankless water heaters aren’t just more energy efficient than their traditional counterparts, but they also overcome a massive issue that homeowners have battled for decades: standby heat losses. In general, tankless water heaters are also far safer to operate - something that you’ll appreciate when you don’t have to deal with a flooded basement or utility closet at any point in the near future. As modern day tankless units are also incredibly energy efficient, even the initial money that you do put forward on the investment will likely pay for itself sooner rather than later by way of the amount of money you’re saving each month on your utility bills (are you noticing a common theme in some of these trends, yet?)

These are just a few of the major plumbing trends to keep an eye out for going into 2018 and beyond. When you consider just how far the industry has come in even the last five years, it’s exciting to think about what the next five may hold for us all.

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How to avoid throwing money down the drain...Especially when it’s clogged...?

Is your sink not draining? Are you noticing puddling water when you shower? Toilet backed up? It’s possible you have a clogged drain. Sure, there are short-term solutions like Drano. These short-term solutions can provide temporary relief; however, they can cause long-term problems, such as weakened or cracked pipes. Proper drain maintenance and repair is an important aspect of both residential and commercial plumbing. Just because you can’t see something once you wash/throw/flush it down the drain, it doesn’t mean you can never think about it again. Out of sight, out of mind doesn’t apply when it comes to your drains.

How Can I Prevent A Clogged Drain?

Some basics for keeping your sink drains unclogged are as follows: place mesh screens over ALL your drains (including bathtubs and showers), run hot water through the sink after each use, try and reduce your garbage disposal usage, and teach your kids the importance of using your drains properly. Furthermore, don’t forget your toilets – if you start to see your toilet flushing slowly (also referred to as a ‘weak’ flush), it’s possible that a clog is beginning to form – don’t wait, grab your plunger and give it a push. Additionally, only use appropriate products to clean your toilet. Don’t dump bleach in the bowl – it can damage pipes and lead to the long-term degradation of your septic tank (if you have one).

How Do I Know If I Have A Clogged Drain?

More often than not, you will know when you have a clogged or leaking drain. Nevertheless, it is always important to be on the watch for tell-tale symptoms of a clogged drain. As previously mentioned, are you seeing water not draining efficiently or puddling water? Perhaps your drain is clogged you now have a leak. Some signs of leaks could be: mold, damaged paint/wallpaper, damaged floors and walls – or the most common – stained ceilings. Lastly, you may smell some strange odors – that’s a good warning that something unpleasant is festering in your drain.

What Can I Do If My Drain Is Clogged?

You can try some home remedies for clogged drains. We’ve all seen or heard about someone taking a coat hanger, straightening it out, making a hook and doing some good ‘ole drain fishing. More conventional approaches would be hot water, plungers and drain snakes. These home remedies can provide your drains with temporary relief; however when you need professional help, call the Plumb Doctor – we’ve got the remedy for your serious drain problems.

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5 Tips to Ensure Your Site’s Design is Mobile-Friendly

1. Eliminate Intrusive Pop-ups

Think of the times you’ve stumbled upon interesting content on the web, only to leave because of those annoying pop-ups which completely cover the contents of the web page.

Since the mobile-friendly algorithm update in 2015, Google has been devaluing websites with intrusive mobile pop-ups. And rightly so!

Below are a few examples of intrusive popups:

Image Credit: Google Webmaster Central Blog

According to Google, intrusive interstitials result in poor user experience due to the smaller size of mobile screens. As such, you should avoid having too many pop-ups on your website.

Not all popups are intrusive though. Check out this article by Search Engine Journal on how to use pop-ups without harming your SEO.

2. Speed Up Your Landing Pages

Site speed is a crucial search engine ranking factor. The quicker your landing pages load, the more engagement you’ll receive.

The speed at which the landing pages on your website load is even more important when they are being accessed via mobile devices.

Users won’t stay engaged for long if your web page takes a long time to load, no matter how valuable the content is.

So how do you go about decreasing the load time of your landing pages?

Start with these 3 simple steps:

Identify larger images on your website and compress them using tools such as ShortPixel or TinyPNG.

Next, analyze every piece of JavaScript and CSS and minify them when need. Here’s a useful guide on how to minify CSS and Javascript files in WordPress by WPBeginner.

And lastly, minimize as many redirects as possible. These redirects create additional HTTP requests, which increase your page’s load time. Google recommends sending users with mobile user agents to the mobile equivalent URL without intermediate redirects.

RELATED SEO Tools for Startups: 5 Best SEO Tools All Startups Should Be Using

Need more tips on how to improve your site’s speed and performance? Check out this article which highlights 8 simple to steps to boost your website’s speed.

3. Use the Right Font Size

If the font size on your website is too small, you may force your visitors to “pinch to zoom” in order to read. You’d ideally like to avoid this mistake by using the right font size.

To do this, specify a viewport for your web pages, set your font sizes to scale properly within the viewport.

Read more about font size best practices here.

4. Resolve Unplayable Content Issues

Some types of videos or content are not playable on mobile devices, such as experiences that require Flash or other players that are not supported on mobile devices.

Unplayable content, when featured on a page of any website can be very frustrating for mobile users who may receive messages like these:

Image Credit: Google Developers

To provide a better mobile experience for users, follow these tips:

Use HTML5 standards for animations to provide a good experience to all your users.

Use video-embedding that’s playable on all devices.

Consider having the transcript of the video available. This will make your site accessible to people who use browsers that cannot play a proprietary video format.

Here are some more video best practices you can follow.

5. Keep Your Design Simple with Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)

Google recommends keeping the website design as simple as you can to provide a better user experience to mobile users.

To keep your website design smooth and simple, here are 3 recommended actions:

Keep your calls to action (CTAs) front and center while keeping secondary tasks on the menu or “below the fold”.

Keep your menus short and sweet. Mobile users don’t have the patience to scroll through a long list of options to find what they want. Reorganize your menu to use as few items as possible, without sacrificing usability.

And lastly, make sure all your contact forms are designed for mobile.

RELATED Top 17 Google Search Ranking Factors [SEMrush Study]

Conclusion

Having a mobile-first design approach is a must for all site owners as mobile continues to drive more web traffic than desktop. Start by implementing the above tips to improve the mobile design of your website and stay on top of the latest SEO trends to proactively make any future changes.