Websites designed to meet your specific business needs

Designing for the web means designing sympathetically with the way people actually use the web, not how we think they should. Customers using your websites should find the experience functional and usable as well as pleasurable and appealing.

People use websites in very different way to other advertising materials:

They skim pages for clues, instead of reading thoroughly
They make snap decisions, instead of evaluating and judging carefully
They are driven by their goals, not ours

People visit websites because they want to achieve something - they want to 'get' something or get something 'done'. It could be information, finding a bargain, buying specific products to help them to feel a certain way (smart, fashionable, relaxed, excited) or buying products or services to solve a problem (new curtains, broken washing-machine, replacement part for machinery).

Lifestyle choices drive most consumer spending decisions, from clothes to bottled water. The need to reduce costs or source supplies efficiently drives most commercial spending. A website to be effective needs to be designed specifically and consciously with your customer in mind to enable your customers to achieve their goals - and ultimately yours!

Design your website effectively from the start

You can save money initially by using a friend who designs in their spare time, use an off-the-shelf solution or employ a web designer who uses a 'template, 'out-of-the-box' or Open Source (free) design to keep costs down. And you will usually get a very nice, attractive, professional looking website.

However, there are millions of web pages on the internet and there are an increasing number of directories both specific and general who are all competing for your customers and those first page rankings!

Without understanding HOW your customers shop and what your competition are doing to attract your customers, after your website goes live you will find yourself spending more money on additional advertising, correcting the design and trying to add effective search engine optimisation. This often adds up to substantially more money than an investment at the outset in a professional, well thought out, researched website that has been designed to find those customers who are already looking for the services and products you provide.

Design your website around words and phrases your customers are actually using

It is important to get relevant, informative information onto the website in a clear and logical manner so that your visitors can easily and quickly find what they want.

We guide you through the process of finding out how your customers are currently searching for your products and services (keyword research), using this research to compile a list of key phrases to structure your information into more manageable and meaningful bites. You will have a lot of information - product data, technical data, pictures, news - you want to put on your website that you think your customers might want or need. Without careful planning the web page can take too long to load or your customers won't be able to find what they want easily. Most importantly, not all the information may be relevant to what THEY need so putting too much on or using 'trade' language, will put customers off and lose you that sale.

We discuss your business goals and target market, review your existing website (if you have one) and business advertising to focus on what website solution will meet your requirements and budget. We help you gain an understanding of the needs of your customers.

Understand your business goals and how your website will help achieve them

The first stage of the process is for us to have a clear understanding of your business. Typically this will involve questions such as:

Who are your customers (business or consumer)
What is the ratio of repeat business
Do you wish to attract new customers via the search engines
Who are your online competitors
Information on current literature, logos, colours and designs

And we need to understand your business objectives for the website. Do you want it to:

be found under key search phrases on the search engines?
generate volume web traffic?
gather a database of customer information you will use for marketing and promotions?
raise awareness of certain products and services?
rate higher than competitor's website?
integrate with your existing business administration/accounts/shop

There are many different ways websites can be designed and constructed so we take time to ensure our clients fully understand the options and show examples where applicable. This is an important stage of the process because to change the format after it has been agreed will involve additional cost.

Website design - quality and compatibility

It is not always possible to find third party or off-the-shelf software that meets your precise requirements. All our websites are designed from a 'blank canvas' based on your particular business objectives and goals, your company style and your customers’ preferences.

Amateur websites or those with off-the-shelf or open source software will often look very good on one browser or one operating system, but look poor on different browsers. This is often due to a lack of knowledge and no checking or validation process. Many businesses still use Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 as their browser and a small screen to view websites but consumers usually have newer versions - IE7, Vista, IE8, Google Chrome, Firefox - and a wide screen which may leave your website displaying incorrectly or not working properly for a large proportion of your audience.

To ensure your site reaches the widest possible market, when designing websites we validate all website code and test the website with a number of browsers including Internet Explorer version IE6 upwards and FireFox. We test all new websites on a variety of screen resolution and monitor sizes and with regards to basic accessibility. We check all links (internal and external) are working.

We offer after sales service and unlimited technical support and are always available for any alterations or tweaks to your site after completion.

FREE Callback

Want to bounce a few ideas around and find out how we can help deliver a custom-built solution that's right for you? Take a minute or two to complete our contact form and we will get back to you promptly. Or you can call us on 01934 517003