WEB

The internet dominates modern business. More and more industries are finding themselves forced online when even ten years ago it seemed like a strange proposition. Restaurants are expected to have a website with their menu, tradespeople are finding more and more clients going online to search for service, and even local self-employed workers like driving instructors are seeing the benefits of having a modest online presence.

Businesses without a website can very easily look old fashioned and out of touch. Think about it; if you need the service of a roofer and do a Google search, how likely are you to pick a business that is not in the first couple of pages?

You have taken to the internet to employ a service. If your company is not even in the race, what are the chances you will be picked? There are other forms of advertising, and these have their place, but not having an online presence means you are invisible to an increasingly significant portion of the market.

 

APPEARANCE vs PURPOSE

The job of a web designer is to combine great design and practical functionality. It is all well and good for a website to look fantastic, stylish, and flashy, but if no one can use it properly, then it is useless.

Design that is meant to be seen should look as good as possible at all times, but not at the expense of functionality. Web users operate in a certain way, and the layout should accommodate these trends and habits. Everything should be easy to navigate and use, gently guiding customers towards booking your service or buying your product.

You have to also consider how well the website is going to work. A lot of designers attempt to transfer their skills over to web design and produce sites that look good, even impressive; but do not function properly. For example, they may take a long time to load. If a website takes over three seconds to load, 50% of web users will leave the site. I will make sure that your site is optimised and will load quickly and efficiently.

Furthermore, the way we surf the web is changing. With people using laptops, phones, and tablets to browse websites, it is fundamental that your site looks good on all of these different devices. Many designers will create something that looks good on their screen but does not work on any other size of screen. Every site I design will be ‘responsive’, which means regardless of the size of screen your website is being viewed on, it will look fantastic.

 

DOMAIN & HOSTING

Every website needs a domain, essentially your website address. You will also need hosting, which requires a server that your site can call home.

I always include your chosen domain for two years, as well as hosting for one year, within the price of my service. If you would like to maintain either the domain or hosting after these dates, rather than taking them on yourself, then I will add a sum to your invoice.

 

CONTENT MANAGEMENT SITES (CMS)

Every website that I create will be a Content Management Site, which means you will have full control over the website after it is completed. This style of web design will allow you to add or edit content on your own for free, rather than having to pay me every time you want to change something or edit something!

After I build the site, I will provide a training session to show you how to access the ‘behind the scenes’ section of the site which will allow you to make blog posts, edit or post content, and anything else that you might want to do.

Of course, if there is anything you need help with I will still be on-hand to offer advice. Additionally, if you want to change anything that might take a bit more technical know-how than the training I have provided, for a small fee my services will still be available.

 

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)

SEO is the process of influencing Google so that your website appears higher in the search results when a potential searches specific terms. Having your business featured at the very top of Google can make all the difference when it comes to your online visibility, which makes it much more likely that potential customers will come across your website.

The process involves influencing certain features of your site so that Google determines you have more ‘authority’ than other sites, therefore prioritising your website. Since you are not paying Google for the privilege, this is often described as “organic” results.

Many elements of SEO are included in the standard web design package that I offer. However, for the full SEO package which will be required to push you to the top if you are in a competitive industry will come with additional costs. However, with time, it will become increasingly apparent how protifable the return on investment is.

 

THE PROCESS

The process of designing your site will take place over three steps;

Step 1: First we can have a chat, so that I can get an idea of what your business requires in terms of functionality. I will also ask some questions about what vision you have for the website. You can tell me as much or as little as you want, I can always fill in the gaps!

Step 2: After a period of time I will prepare a ‘proof’; an image of what your website will look like, but without any interactive functionality.

The proof means that I can very quickly give you an idea of what the final site will look like, take onboard any changes you might like to make, then actually build the site.

Step 3: Once the site is finished, I will send you the link, and you can review the finished product. At this point, I will make any final changes, upon your request, and from there the site is yours.

I will provide training on how to add to the site, or how to edit content that is already on there.