There’s no place better than a conference to elevate your creativity. Listening to fresh lectures from top-class experts from around the world and mingling with a ton of like-minded fellow professionals can really breathe life into your career and future plans.

To save your time, we have done the hard work of identifying 40 web design conferences you might be interested in, for your convenience. Check your travelling schedules, book your reservations and have fun at these 40 Web Design conferences. A table of summary has been prepared for you at the end of the post.

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CrossTrain Morning

CrossTrain will fulfill your precious morning with 6 killer presentations by UX professionals, learning space provided by Dallas User Experience Group and hundreds of dollars’ worth in giveaways. [Jan 24, Addison]

Mobile + Web DevCon

Latest mobile development tools, app optimization with updated HTML5 and JavaScript technologies, cross-platform app development are all highlights in this conference. [Jan 28-30, San Francisco]

RESPOND

In Respond, not only can you meet the masters of responsive web design, but also learn about mobile-first responsive design, data-driven interactive content and the current state of responsive images. [Feb 4-5, Sydney]

ConveyUX

Over 40 sessions with 30+ presenters in 3 full days, ConveyUX has everything you want to know about UX including content strategy, interaction, development, management and research. [Feb 5-7, Seattle]

Interaction

In this conference you will have 4 days of workshops and presentations to allow you to explore the interaction design practices, and gain inspiration plus insights from relevant disciplines. [Feb 5-8, Amsterdam]

Roost

Roost is the embodiment of conference and training that aims to provide you clear lessons about modern websites, applications and core processes, and principles to build them correctly. [Feb 10-11, San Diego]

IRCE Focus

The web design conference at IRCE will focus on current design and usability development and help online marketers tackle rising customer’s expectation. On the other side, the mobile commerce conference will supply insights about today’s mobile customers, and the latest commerce strategies to deal with them. [Feb 10-12, Orlando]

jQuery San Diego

It’s not only about jQuery itself, but also most recent jQuery-related projects, code architecture, design and implementation practices, tools and workflow improvement, and finally rising browser technologies. [Feb 12-13, San Diego]

Meta Refresh

Meta Refresh is a showcase for web designers and developers to present their original works, and what contributions they have made to advance the state of the Web. For 2014 the spotlight is on the front-end workflow process. [Feb 12-15, Bangalore]

In Control

12 world-certified educators and industry leaders will talk to you their professional ways of handling web and mobile designs in this conference. [Feb 17-19, Orlando]

An Event Apart Atlanta

If you are passionate about perfecting every corner of web design including code, content and usability, this 3-day educational event with 12 renowned speakers will take your web design skills to new heights. [Feb 17-19, Atlanta]

ConFoo

ConFoo is a friendly learning experience, spanning different programming languages such as Ruby on Rails, jQuery, Java, Asp.Net, and more! Check out the huge schedule. [Feb 24-28, Montreal]

O’Reilly Fluent

Fluent is the conference where developers and UX/UI designers gather together to share their experience in technologies like HTML5 and Node.js, and discuss the future of web. [Mar 11-13, San Francisco]

Smashing Conference

For sure Smashing Conference is going to be about real-life projects, workflows and practical insights that can be deployed as soon as you learn them. You get 2 conference days, 5 workshops, and 18 expert speakers with ticket. [Mar 18-19, Oxford]

Breaking Development Dallas

If you are that kind of person who always seek for ground-breaking solutions with flux of creativity, this event is for you. Featured speakers include Brad Frost, Ben Callahan, Jason Grigsby, Scott Jenson and Jonathan Stark. [Mar 31 - Apr 2, Dallas]

Microsoft Build

An event organized by Microsoft to help developers build better experience on hundreds of millions of Microsoft devices. [Apr 2-4, San Francisco]

WebVisions New York

Seek the visions of web and mobile technology, and eventually the paths to triumph in them with WebVisions conference. [Apr 3-4, New York]

Future of Web Design

In FOWD, designers and developers talk about the latest technologies and techniques that bring the revolution to the web, and that includes zero interface, digital agency revolution, responsive web typography, future of interaction, etc. [Apr 7-9, London]

UX Immersion Mobile

‘Design for the user, not the device’ is the slogan for the UX Immersion Mobile conference that will deliver on workflow, usability studies, design patterns and any other UX topic. [Apr 7-9, Denver]

WebExpo

The conference will be sharing the most harmonious web development practices that bring joy to both developers and users; talk about a win-win situation! [Apr 11-12, Prague]

MinneWebCon

In MinneWebCon you are guaranteed 2 full days of committed knowledge-sharing sessions from speakers of all backgrounds and work environments. [Apr 14-15, Minneapolis]

Industry Conference

In this conference you will meet with 8 speakers from Foursquare, Etsy, Happy Cog, Charity:Water and The Washington Post to learn their insights in design in organizations, metrics, UX, CSS, business and web performance. [Apr 22-23, Newcastle upon Tyne]

The Next Web Europe

What is the next big thing for web? Over 2500 attendees will explore it together in The Next Web conference. Speakers include Chad Hurley, Stephen Wolfram, Matt Mullenweg and Kevin Rose – all famous people you recognize. [Apr 24-25, Amsterdam]

ConvergeSE

Be entertained and inspired with great tips covering design, gaming, frontend development, mobile development and marketing as well. You also get to hang out with new friends! [May1-3, Columbia]

Artifact

More and more mobile devices are going for different specs and features, and Artifact Conference wants to help you the web designer and developer to solve development challenges with tool adaptation as the core strategy. [May 5-7, Austin]

HOW Design Live

With 3000+ attendees and 80+ speakers, HOW Design Live is a combined effort to offer you the life-changing 5-day learning experience with topics covering print, package and web design as well as technology, leadership and freelancing. [May 12-16, Boston]

DESIGN Conference

Besides design theory and research methods, DESIGN Conference will present about design processes, tools, education and sociotechnical issues to ensure you understand your design from the inside out. [May 19-22, Dubrovnik]

PHP Conference

As a PHP developer, you probably don’t want to miss this international conference and workshops that will improve your fundamental understanding on not only PHP development, but also database, methodologies, web API, security, and more. [Jun 1- 4, Berlin]

WEB Conference

Web Conference returns this year with ‘future-friendly web’ as the main topic. You can check out past year’s schedule to get familiar with the conference. [Jun 9-10, Penn Stater]

Future Insights

Future Insight is known for bringing out the best inspiration and insights for thinkers, explorers and pioneers of web. [Jun 16-20, Las Vegas]

Generate

Launched by Net Magazine and Creative Bloq, Generate is the source of inspiration, education and social center for web designers and developers. [Jun 20, New York]

O’Reilly Velocity

Velocity is for web professionals hunting training events and information from companies of all sizes. You get books, newsletters and industry reports as well. [Jun 24-26, Santa Clara]

NAGW

Ethan Marcotte coined the term ‘responsive web design’, and even introduced the new way to design for multiple screens, and now he’s going to speak for NAGW together with other inspiring speakers. [Sep 9-12, St.Paul]

SmartWeb

SmartWeb is dedicated to east-European web designers and developers who are ready to boost their creativity and skill. [Sep 23-24, Bucharest]

Adobe MAX

In Adobe MAX, you connect with over 5000 creative minds to improve your development knowledge, techniques and strategies within 5 days. All for delivering your epic product. [Oct 4-8, Los Angeles]

Fronteers

Since 2008, Fronteers Conference has been one of Europe’s largest conferences focusing on front-end web development with workshops and meet-ups. [Oct 9-10, Amsterdam]

CSS Dev Conference

Want to master your CSS kung fu? Look no further than this. [Oct 13-15, New Orleans]

HighEdWeb

If you are both a web specialist and educator, HighEdWeb will be your ideal conference to explore all web issues related to colleges and universities. [Oct 19-22, Portland]

Web Summit

A conference with a gathering of the world’s leading thinkers from companies, big and small from all around the world. Last year, there were 300 speakers and 10,000 attendees.

Ready To Inspire

Get ready to be inspired with new knowledge of web design, type and code, shared directly by experienced web experts. On top of these, you got to enjoy live music, meet-up and parties too.

Summary [Table]

For your reference, here’s summary of all the conferences, dates, locations and price per pax.

Conference	Date	Location	Price (General)
CrossTrain Morning	Jan 24	Addison, TX	$75
Mobile + Web DevCon	Jan 28-30	San Francisco	$1895 (Early Bird)
RESPOND	Feb 4-05	Sydney	$599
ConveyUX	Feb 5-07	Seattle	$995
Interaction	Feb 5-08	Amsterdam	$315 (Single Day)
Roost	Feb 10-11	San Diego	$599
IRCE Focus	Feb 10-12	Orlando	$845
jQuery San Diego	Feb 12-13	San Diego	$449
Meta Refresh	Feb 12-15	Bangalore	$42
In Control	Feb 17-19	Orlando	$595
An Event Apart Atlanta	Feb 17-19	Atlanta	$1095
ConFoo	Feb 24-28	Montreal	$715
O’Reilly Fluent	Mar 11-13	San Francisco	$1645
Smashing Conference	Mar 18-19	Oxford	$597.60
Breaking Development Dallas	Mar 31 – Apr2	Dallas	$995
Microsoft Build	Apr 2-04	San Francisco	$2095
WebVisions New York	Apr 3-04	New York	$325
Future of Web Design	Apr7-09	London	$595
UX Immersion Mobile	Apr7-09	Denver	$1689
WebExpo	Apr 11-12	Prague	TBA
MinneWebCon	Apr 14-15	Minneapolis	TBA
Industry Conference	Apr 22-23	Newcastle upon Tyne	$273
The Next Web Europe	Apr 24-25	Amsterdam	$725 (Early Bird)
ConvergeSE	May 1-03	Columbia	$325
Artifact	May 5-07	Austin	TBA
HOW Design Live	May 12-16	Boston	$1995
DESIGN Conference	May 19-22	Dubrovnik	TBA
PHP Conference	Jun1-04	Berlin	$1230
WEB Conference	Jun9-10	Penn Stater	$650
Future Insights	Jun 16-20	Las Vegas	TBA
Generate New York	Jun 20	New York	TBA
O’Reilly Velocity	Jun 24-26	Santa Clara	TBA
NAGW	Sep9-12	St.Paul, Minnesota	TBA
SmartWeb	Sep 23-24	Bucharest	TBA
Adobe MAX	Oct4-08	Los Angeles	TBA
Fronteers	Oct9-10	Amsterdam	TBA
CSS Dev Conference	Oct 13-15	New Orleans	$695
HighEdWeb	Oct 19-22	Portland	TBA
Web Summit	TBA	TBA	TBA
Ready To Inspire	TBA	TBA	TBA

While consumers might not have noticed it, businesses all over the world have certainly found it much more difficult to make sales through their websites than previous years. This is primarily down to the search engine algorithm updates by Google that have made it much more difficult to attract natural traffic from the search engine.

Having spent a few years in the online marketing and SEO industry, I can safely say that there’s nothing more powerful and reliable (in terms of convertible traffic) than your subscriber’s list.

For 2014, if you want your traffic stats to go ballistic and your visitors to make purchases on your website, then I have a secret recipe for you to help you harness your subscribers. It works for me every time, and will certainly work for you too.

Recommended Reading: 5 Must-Have Qualities To Improve Blog Traffic

What You Need

Alright, for every great recipe you will need a list of ingredients:

1. A valuable Resource To Give Away

Yes, you need to build an awesome resource (e-book, online course etc) and give it away for free. No matter how advanced Internet marketing strategies get, some things just never change, one of which is how excited we are with free giveaways.

Ironically, the best way to create a valuable resource good enough to attract visitors is to create it with a price tag in mind. Before you even start building it, decide on a price that you would charge for it. But once you get it done, give it away for free.

The good news is your resource doesn’t need to be a complex algorithm-based application that would unveil the secrets of making money online. It can be a free email course on a particular problem in your niche or a 20-30 page e-book with lists to the best online tools and websites for your niche. It can be anything that is worth spending time on.

2. A Short Marketing Video

Next, get your presentation skills out and make a short video to market your resource. Videos engage people better than any other medium. Yes, written content can bring more conversions but it does not immediately attract attention, which is what you need in order to promote your resource.

If you’re too shy to face the camera, try using animated video marketing services or use a few attractive images with your voice in the background. Make your video short and sweet. Promote the benefits of your resource and highlight the fact that you’re giving away a premium resource in exchange for just the visitor’s email address.

Read Also: 19 Websites To Download Free Stock Video Intros & Footage

3. A Brief Landing Page

Your landing page would be used to collect visitors’ email addresses. Your video marketing campaign will route visitors from different channels to this landing page. Simply collect their email addresses and send them the link to your resource.

Don’t go for very long landing pages with lots of text. Your visitors are already convinced so don’t waste anymore of their time. Just include a sign up form and a one-line message asking the visitors to enter their email addresses in return for the free resource.

Read Also: Beautiful Landing Pages: Tips And Examples

4. a Facebook Ad Campaign

I am, of course, assuming that your website has a Facebook page to start with. If you don’t, it’s time to get one, because you will need to run a Facebook ad campaign. A well-designed Facebook ad campaign will add the much needed X factor to this recipe. In fact, Facebook ads are the reason why this recipe is so effective.

The fact that this ingredient has a price tag attached to it might disappoint some of you. But trust me, the losses you suffer in terms of lost customers and wasted time is much greater than running cost of a Facebook Ad campaign.

Not only is it much cheaper than other paid advertisement services, it is also extremely customizable and can be targeted to a very specific market segment. Plus, you can start from as low as $10 campaign!

The Secret Recipe

Once you’ve got all your ingredients ready, you now need to mix them up and get things ready. Here’s how the recipe goes:

1. Upload the marketing video to your Facebook page and add the URL of your landing page in the post content.

2. Set up a Facebook ad campaign using the video that you’ve made. Select the "Promote a Post" ad type for your campaign. Select your video post to promote.

3. While setting up the ad campaign, choose the most relevant region, age group and interest group for your product. (Hint: Use Facebook graph search to find people who follow your competitors.)

4. Start your campaign with a daily budget of $10. Now wait for your campaign to run.

That’s it! Once your campaign starts running, you’ll see regular sign-ups for your mailing list. If your resource has good value and your ad is targeted correctly, you should get 80-100 signups for every $10 you spend. That’s 8-10 signups for every dollar!

Conclusion

As I said at the start, your subscriber base is the most critical asset of your business. With this recipe, you can literally get thousands of subscribers throughout the year. Once you have the subscriber base going berserk, your returning visitor count and your sales figures will soar as well.

The reason why I recommend this strategy is its cost effectiveness and the high returns it offers as compared to other traffic sources. And trust me, getting natural traffic from Google Search and Facebook pages is only going to get more difficult over the coming months.

I’ve found this to be an extremely effective strategy of building my subscriber base and boosting my sales. I would love to hear how it goes for you.

Editor’s note: This is a contributed post by Jawad Khan, a content marketing consultant and staff writer at CompleteWebResources, a leading SEO and web optimization company. You can follow them on Facebook, YouTube and Google+.

WordPress has a built-in WYSIWYG editor that allows users to write and publish posts easily. However, it requires an Internet connection, which is a problem in many places. A dropped Internet connection would make you lose your content, images that are being uploaded and unsaved data. The alternative is to write your post offline and publish it only when it is completely ready.

For Windows, bloggers can use the popular offline blog editor, Windows Live Writer (WLW), which is great but unfortunately not available for Mac. But there is an alternative application for Mac that can do something similar, called PixelPumper. Let’s have a look.

Recommended Reading: How to Customize WordPress Editor Styles

Using PixelPumper

Before proceeding, note that PixelPumper requires XML-RPC enabled to communicate with the site. If you are running on WordPress v3.5 and above, it is already enabled by default. Otherwise, you can enable it by going to Setting > Writing.

Download PixelPumper, and place it in your Applications folder. Open it, enter your WordPress credentials (the URL, username, and password), and wait for a while as it connects to your site.

PixelPumper Editor

PixelPumper is equipped with an editor that is compatible with WordPress formatting. You can set your alignment, add blockquotes and images, list items in bullets and numbers, embed hyperlink, and even add page break.

You can also add a featured image. Simply drag and drop the image into the box (see below), and you are all set.

PixelPumper will also retrieve the Categories that have been created on your site, and list them so that you can select the category for your post right from the editor.

To schedule the post, you can click the calendar icon under the post title and set the date and time.

You can also save it as a Draft, or immediately Publish it if you think the post is ready.

Adding Multiple Blogs

PixelPumper also allows you to connect to multiple blogs. Go to Preference, click on +, and enter your second WordPress blog credentials like how we did for the first one.

Final Thoughts

While Windows Live Writer allows us to connect to various blogging platforms such as Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress, PixelPumper only works with WordPress.

WordPress also has Post Format – which gives your blog social network-like features (such as status updates, images, and videos) – a feature both Windows Live Writer and PixelPumper do not have. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to seeing improvements to both applications in the comming years.