ISO 9001:2015 , ISO 27001:2022
Why isn’t my website ready yet?
When you meet with us to discuss a new project we’re all at the beginning of a journey together, and we want to make that journey as smooth as possible for you. Whether the scale of the project is a month, or a year, we like to stick to roughly the same simple process each time to ensure that we’re working at our most efficient for you.
We pride ourselves on our flexibility from client to client and project to project but, by taking each step logically, there’s far less margin for error and misunderstanding on either side. We like to do this by using our 8 step plan. So, how does it work?
Step one: Project scope
This is the part where we’ll do a lot of talking, ask a lot of seemingly daft questions and try to get under the skin of your business. Some say nosy, we like to say ‘thorough’. Because it’s going to be a bespoke design and build this is the part where we need to know anything you want in your new website. As much as we would love to, we’ve not quite mastered the skill of mind reading just yet, so the general rule is: if you don’t mention it, chances are we won’t build it! With a bespoke build you can potentially get everything on your wishlist, but please don’t assume that it’s automatically going to be included in your new site if it hasn’t been mentioned. Because it’s being built from scratch for you, this means nothing is already ‘included’ as default functionality.
Step two: Content gathering
This is sometimes part of step one too. It may come as a surprise but a lot of the early work comes from you, the client. We need a little bit of your time and thoughts before we can take over and do our bit. Why do we ask for your content before we can even start? As discussed at length in an earlier blog post here, we want to make sure we do our best to make the design fit around your content, not squishing your content into an already-designed website. Otherwise you might as well have bought one off the shelf. Your text doesn’t necessarily have to be word perfect at this point but we need to know what you want to say and in which format, how many words etc. We have some nice software to help you make sense of your content, lay it out in an orderly fashion and share the task with multiple people and we’d be happy to help you use this to collate your thoughts.
Step three: Wireframes
This is where we’ll basically draw a line sketch of your future website so check we’ve got all of the components you’d expect and haven’t forgotten any crucial parts. It also works as a map to help us, and you, to make sure we’ve got each element in roughly the right place on the right page. For example if we’ve guessed that you would like plenty of imagery, minimal text and the logo top left, and then you see it drawn out and realise you’d like a lot more text and your logo front and centre, then we need to know these things before we move to design. At the wireframe stage it’s super easy to make any changes and swap things around.
Step four: Design visuals
These are just flat images, like a good old fashioned drawing, but done on a computer. This is largely because a. it’s 2017 and b. we’re a digital design agency which designs websites, among other things, so it makes loads more sense to draw it on a computer. That’s where our skills lie and it’ll be a truer reflection of the finished product than if we got our paints out. This is often the most exciting part of the project as you’ll get to see what your new website could look like! If we’ve fully understood your brief, and nailed the wireframes before moving onto the visuals, then these designs should be a pretty good representation of your future website. If not, this is the part where we’d really need you to flag anything that’s not quite right. Once you’re 100% happy with these we’ll ask you to sign them off so we can get going on the build. At the design stage it’s slightly more complicated to make changes to the fundamental layout of the page than it was during wireframing. Anything you suddenly think of at the build stage is much harder to try to squash in and can sometimes require extra project time to go back to the design stage and add it nicely.
Step five: Build
This is the point where we set up a development environment and build the flat visuals into a working website. The links will link, the nav will nagivate, images will… nevermind. We’ll also add all of the bells and whistles at this point too; things like hover effects, loading effects and snazzy stuff that will add the finishing touches that make sure your website looks better than your competitors’. At the build stage it’s much more complicated to make changes, and we’d need to have wrapped most, if not all, amends up in the earlier phases so that the developers are able to just put their heads down and code to their heart’s content, using the visuals and their own genius to bring your site to life.
Step six: Testing and quality assurance
We know your website is finished, and you may have even seen it at this point, so you’re eager to get it live – but we really wouldn’t want to launch it without feeling confident that it had been fully tested. We’ll run all of our tests and try to break it internally, and then generally pass it to you to try to break too. If you’re going to do something we didn’t expect with it we’d much rather know before it’s public. Once it’s been through us, our Head of Build and you and anyone you’d like to rope in, we’d be happy to schedule the launch date.
Step seven: SEO and visibility
We would strongly recommend that you enlist the help of an SEO pro before your site goes live. Unless of course you are an SEO pro. Although we design and build your website and have a loose understanding of SEO, we don’t actually specialise in the dark art itself. It’s a full time job to keep up with all of Google’s updates but there are people out there who live and breathe Search and all of its many mysteries – these are the people you want to hire to give your site a once over before we launch it. Luckily we know a few people who fit the bill and would be happy to put you in touch with them or help arrange a meeting.
Once you’ve picked who you’d like us to work with we’ll help them gain access and they’ll be able to check your new site has its very best shot at being at the dizzy heights of top of the first page on Google, or thereabouts. We like to compare choosing not having the SEO setup on your new site done to opening a shop in a remote part of town but not telling anyone your address. Instead you just hope that people who like what you’re selling will happen to walk past your shop while on their way to somewhere else. It’s a big internet out there and an SEO pro can help you make your presence known and increase your traffic exponentially.
Step eight: Blast off!
Once we’re happy with our work and, most importantly, you’re happy with your glorious new website, we’ll have scheduled a launch date in and the whole thing will be put live on the interwebs. Please note that there isn’t simply a Go Live Now button that can be pressed and hey presto! You’re online! The reason we say ‘schedule in’ is because it can take a little longer than this and we want to make sure that we have plenty of time to do it right. Because after all, we’re as proud of your new website as you are.
Benefits of Managed WordPress Hosting
My story starts on a Monday morning. I just returned from a blissful summer vacation with my best friends. We went paddleboarding, played beach volleyball, rode the coasters at Canada’s Wonderland and had fires on the beach. It was perfect. When I opened up my inbox upon returning to the office I received something else that was perfect – timing. Five minutes prior, our trusted WordPress security plugin began sending alerts of a potential exploit in a commonly used plugin. For those of you who aren’t familiar with WordPress security, hacker attacks on the software are prolific. The numbers are staggering. More on that later.
The sheer number of alerts I received from the security plugin was overwhelming. More importantly, the lack of information in these alerts was disconcerting. Many questions raced through my head. Have we been compromised? Where do we start? How do we fix this? After nearly a week of our team combing through log files, cleaning source code, updating passwords and software, the dust finally settled – the silicon cooled. It’s now time for answers. Actually, we just needed the answer to one question – how could this have been prevented?
The answer was hosting. We needed a host that can provide a wide array of protection. Not only that, we needed a host that knows WordPress inside and out. So our search for a WordPress hosting provider began. We talked to numerous reps, poured over 3rd party comparison charts, compared pricing and ran diagnostics. I’ll admit, paralysis of analysis was starting to set in. How is it possible to compare a seemingly endless multitude of comparable options? The only way was to test the services ourselves and a winner quickly prevailed – WP Engine.
There were a number of features that we required including security, CDN, automated backup, staging environments and customer support. WP Engine offers all of these. We’re very pleased to be partnered with such an outstanding managed WordPress hosting provider.
Here are just a few of the features we love:
WordPress Security
WP Engine offers multiple firewalls including detection and removal of malware. These services are built to prevent hackers from gaining access to your site. If they do, system scans will automatically detect and remove the malware. WP Engine also offers free SSL certificates!
CDN (content delivery network)
Nobody has time to waste. The CDN’s at WP Engine deliver content at lighting speed, no matter where the user is located.
This is one of my favourite WP Engine features. With 1 click, you can create a fully functional duplicate of your production site. Make content or design changes, update plugins and test new features behind the scenes. When you’re ready to deploy, your updated site will be live within minutes.
Customer Support
This is where WP Engine really shines. When you encounter a problem, which I guarantee you will, WP Engine’s support staff is there. Within minutes, you’ll have one of their talented engineers working on the case.
Automated Backup
Backing up data is essential. WP Engine makes it easy with daily, automated backups. You can also run a 1 click backup any time you choose.
The Difference Between Static And Dynamic Web Sites
Trying to understand the differences between a Static or Dynamic web design is not a difficult process. You do not have to be a master web design company in order to understand the value in either choice. In the information that follows, you will discover the difference between a static and dynamic website or pages, and why one or the other may be the right choice for you.
First off, you need to know that one type of design is not better than the other. There are many who would argue this point, but really get nowhere because these designs are really used for different purposes. On the other hand, when using one or the other, you may need the services provided by a corporate website design Bangkok company.
OK, let’s clear the air by identifying the differences between both static and dynamic design, and what each of these could offer a web owner.
Static Website design
- When creating a design that offers a static page, this simply means that the information on that particular page remains the same regardless of who or what is visiting. When we say who or what, we mean targeted traffic or web crawlers. Most static pages are written using HTML coding. They do not use external files or databases in order to request information. These pages will need to be updated on a regular basis by a web design company, which, in some cases, can be really expensive depending on the type of design and templates used.
- Static pages do not have to be boring. They do not have to simply provide plain text either. They can feature a number of additional content such as multimedia, videos and more, but will need that constant updating.
Dynamic Website design
- Dynamic pages can use the same source code file and provide a different experience each time a visitor displays that page. In other words, content can change each time the page is displayed. This can be done regardless of the browser or operating system the visitor is using (i.e., PC, Phone, or tablet). Designers will argue that dynamic templates offer more, but an experienced Bangkok web design company will be able to provide choices that offer the best of both worlds based on your specific needs.
As stated above, you can see that there are significant differences when choosing either Static or Dynamic website design. You can also clearly see that one may not be better than the other, but this really depends on your specific needs.
When deciding what type of design might work the best for your online presence, you might find it necessary to contact a skilled corporate website design Bangkok. Using a company that prides itself in all types of design capabilities will be able to take your online presences to the next level. They will evaluate your current situation, then provide you with a detailed plan of which type of design works for the type of content you are trying to present to your visitors.
Why a wordpress website is perfect for your business
At Innovins, we specialize in making WordPress websites that are professional, mobile-responsive, SEO-friendly, and customizable. We never compromise on quality, and from our experience we have found that WordPress is by far the best platform for building most business websites.
WordPress provides the tools for building a website that meets our clients’ needs and our high standard of quality without getting in the way of our process. Here are some reasons why we believe a WordPress website is perfect for your business.
The Benefits of a WordPress Website
Since its creation in 2005, WordPress has continued to grow, evolve, and improve. Today, WordPress websites currently make up about one third of the internet, making it the most popular open source content management system around. This popularity has only made it more valuable to its users.
- WordPress has thousands of themes and plugins available, many of them for free, so your website can be tailored to meet your design and functionality needs.
- WordPress sites are SEO (search engine optimization) friendly, meaning they adhere to Google’s rules and standards for ranking in their search results. WordPress and its SEO plugins allow us to build a website to its full SEO potential.
- Most modern WordPress sites are designed to be mobile-responsive, meaning they function properly on a tablet or smartphone. This is critically important, as more and more people are using their mobile devices as their main sources for browsing the web.
- WordPress is user-friendly. Even if you are not a computer expert, it is easy to manage, edit or update a WordPress website. When we are done building a website for a client, we hand them the keys, and they are free to make any changes they need to going forward.
- WordPress has a large and knowledgeable community of users who are happy to help with questions or troubleshooting.
- WordPress regularly updates its software to increase security, keeping your site safe from attacks.
- WordPress is highly customizable in the right web developers hands. From a design and functionality standpoint, the possibilities are endless when it comes to creating a robust website.
Desktop vs. Mobile: Three Key Website Design Differences
By now most of us know that the experience of browsing a website on mobile is very different from the experience of browsing a website on desktop. Screen orientations are different, we’re using thumbs instead of a mouse or trackpad, and certain tasks are a lot more difficult or cumbersome. That’s why designing a website experience to meet the needs of mobile users is so important. Here are three key components of your website that need to be distinct on mobile versus desktop.
1. Content organization
One of the most complex elements of designing for mobile is the question of how content should be organized. The needs of your mobile users might be distinct from those of your desktop users. Or their needs might be the same (or similar) but their browsing behaviors will change depending on which device they’re using. When designing for mobile, the first priority should be organizing website content to meet the needs of mobile users. Content should be stacked vertically to fit the narrow widths of mobile devices. Desktop devices have portrait orientations so content can stretch across a screen and often multiple messages or images can live comfortably in such a wide space. Mobile devices are usually used in portrait orientation (and the smaller screens mean that even in landscape mode, horizontal space is limited).
Glasses retailer, Warby Parker, rearranges content from horizontal alignment to vertical when viewing on a mobile device. Another thing to think about is what content to prioritize. Are the needs of your mobile users different? If so, it’s worth considering designing for mobile in a way that prioritizes the needs of those users, rather than simply duplicating from your desktop site, which was most likely designed with desktop users in mind.
In the early days of mobile web design, when our phones were less sophisticated and we were less comfortable using them to carry out more complex activities, it was common to strip out much or most of a website’s content and launch a mobile site with the barebones of what it seemed like a mobile user would want to know. In 2017 that approach is no longer acceptable. Today’s mobile users want to be able to access the same browsing experience on their phones as they are on their desktop computers. Furthermore, mobile is the sole or primary device for many people so a fully-operational mobile site may be the only way to reach a portion of users.
Cult cycling studio-chain, Soul Cycle, allows users to book a class on desktop or mobile. Content layout is vertically-aligned in the mobile version.
2. Form fills
As marketers we spend a lot of energy optimizing our web forms for maximum conversion. We know that a poorly designed form is guaranteed to be a conversion-killer. The same is true, of course, on mobile. And forms need to be designed specifically to make it easy for mobile users to fill them out.
Vertical alignment
Guess what? That whole vertical alignment thing? It applies to forms too. The principle is the same — it’s difficult and tedious for mobile users to scroll back and forth horizontally in order to complete a form. In order to make the form fill process as easy as possible for mobile browsers, make sure form fields align vertically.
Equinox rearranges form fields for easy completion on mobile.
Predictive text
Help your users out by providing predictive options for fields with many potential responses. Offering predictions allows users to move through the form quickly and reduces opportunities for typos, which are more common when typing with thumbs on a small screen.
Minimize fields
Because filling in forms on mobile is generally pretty onerous, you want to make it as easy as possible by reducing the number of fields. To accomplish this you should only ask the user for the information that is absolutely necessary to complete the transaction. Having additional information about the user might be convenient for your company, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of a conversion.
Whenever possible you should try to use a single field of entry. Again, the reasoning is that it’s annoying for mobile users to have to jump through a large number of fields. If you can condense multiple fields into one, it’s a good idea to do so.
3. Menus
Menu formatting is definitely a key area of difference between desktop and mobile. On desktop it’s common to have mega-menus with many categories and sub-categories. This type of setup works great for desktop users who have screens large enough that they can read the text in those menus and can easily click on text links.
It’s a different story on mobile, of course, because screens are small and thumbs are (relatively) large. Mobile menus should be designed with these things in mind. That means single-level menus with large text or buttons, and vertical alignment for menus with many options.
J.Crew’s desktop site has large mega-menus with tons of categories.
On mobile, menus collapse and then expand as a user narrows in on a category.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the features of a mobile website that need to be distinct from the desktop version, but we do think that these features are three of the most important ones. Remember to always consider the needs of your mobile user as well as the unique ways in which they browse and consume information. Hopefully the examples provided in this post serve as inspiration for improving the mobile on your site.
Responsive Websites vs. Mobile Apps, What is the difference
As you may already realize, we have gotten to the point that there are more mobiles devices in the world than there are people. Mobile devices have become the easiest, fastest and unquestionably the most common way people browse the Internet today. And it all looks as though this trend is only going to keep increasing with the passing of time.
The tech giants have already changed and adjusted themselves to this new reality. Google modified his code to favor mobile friendly websites within their results and has launched many tools to help every website owner analyze and repair how their site respond to different mobile environments.
Last year alone the growth of this market was incredible, and all indicators point that this trend will not change soon.
Based on that information we can conclude that if you have a website that does not render properly on mobile devices, you are surely losing business opportunities and your expectancy of online growth could be reduced up to 60%.
But this post is not about statistics and how much you need your online business to be responsive, is it about the difference between responsive design and online apps. Let’s get into it.
Responsive web design:
A responsive website will behave very well when it’s visited by someone using a smartphone or a tablet. There are certain things you can choose to hide or show depending on the device being used the visitor, but they will all look very close to your desktop version (computer). That’s all you really need to be considered a mobile friendly website, and Google, Bing and other search engines and tech giants will appreciate it.
This is normally something already included when you contract someone to create and develop your website (at least for us) and the price of developing a responsive website should not change a lot from what it originally would be for just a desktop version.
Online Apps:
A mobile app, on the other hand, is what the bigger companies are implementing to enhance the experience of their visitors. Take for instance amazon.com; you can quickly realize how different their app is from what you see on your computer, and to what you see when visit their website using your smartphone or tablet.
Online apps are an entirely a different animal, but they give business owners a more sophisticated tool to approach their visitors in a very different, more direct way. Besides a different experience, there is a lot of information and tools dedicated only to mobile users, GPS, notifications, better design, easier browsing, dedicated services, precise information and so on, we can keep going on this forever.
Or course, it all comes at a price, and a mobile app will definitely cost more than a regular responsive website, but depending on your business and your budget it is something that should be taken into consideration. “How much more?” would you ask… and as everything else, it all depends on what you have in mind and the specifics about your business. For more information about prices check out prices page or get in contact with us.
Do I need a Web App?
After reading about the difference between responsive web design and online apps that should be your next question. If you already have a website, it should easy for you to look at your statistics to understand how many people visit your site using mobile devices. From there look at the bounce rate from those visits and do a little research within your analytics tools to understand their behavior, where they are leaving and why.
Studying your website analytics will give you a better answer than anybody. From there you can put on a scale how much business you can be losing, it and it may also give you ideas about what you need to implement to fix this problem.
If you don’t have a website…. Our first and biggest recommendation is for you to give us a call right away. We can create one for you in a very short period and give you something that not only you will feel proud, but that works for you. Check what our customers say about us and our services.
From there you will be ready to follow our recommendations above
Conclusion
We will never sell you something you don’t need, we are proud of our honesty and as you can see in our customer’s reviews our main goal is to give you the tools you need and the possibilities to grow on them. That is why we will advise you to give us a call and talk to one of our guys, we can point you in the right direction with no commitment from your side at all. Web Designer Express has been in the market for more than 20 years and we plan to stay here for our customers for a long time still. We don’t only build a website, we build relationships.
13 Web Design Trends to Watch in 2024
he landscape of web design is constantly evolving.
Something that looked modern and fresh yesterday can appear dated seemingly overnight, and trends once dismissed as irrevocably passé can unexpectedly cycle back in vogue.
To help you prepare for wherever the web design tide takes us in 2017, we’ve put together a list of 13 trends to keep a close eye on. Check them out below, and get inspired to tackle your web design projects this year with style.
13 Web Design Trends to Watch in 2017
1) Bold Typography
More and more companies are turning to big, bold typography to anchor their homepages. This style works best when the rest of the page is kept minimal and clean, like this example from French agency Big Youth.
2) Cinemagraphs
Cinemagraphs — high-quality videos or GIFs that run on a smooth, continuous loop — have become a popular way to add movement and visual interest to otherwise static pages. Full-screen loops, like this stunning example from Danish agency CP+B Copenhagen, are sure to hold visitors’ attention for longer than a quick glance.
3) Experimental Compositions
To stand out in a sea of tidy masonry style layouts, some designers are opting instead for more eclectic structures. Design director Will Geddes displays samples of his work in this unexpected collage of overlapping images.
4) Bright Gradients
Kaleidoscopic gradients are coming back in a big way. Zurich-based agency Y7K illustrates a perfect example of how to make this two-tone effect look fresh and modern, with their full-screen, gradient-washed homepage.
5) Vivid Layers of Color
Staggered, stacked layers of color add depth and texture to a simple site layout, as seen in this stylish example from the São Paulo-based team behind Melissa Meio-Fio.
6) Straightforward, Simple Text
Some websites are cutting out images and prominent navigation sections altogether, relying on a few choice lines of straightforward text to inform visitors about their company.
Danish agency B14 uses their homepage real estate to simply describe their mission statement and provide links to samples of their work. It’s a modern, uncluttered approach to presenting information.
7) Illustration
More companies are turning to illustrators and graphic artists to create bespoke illustrations for their websites. After years of flat design and minimalism, adding illustrated touches to your site is a great way to inject a little personality, as seen in this charming example from NewActon (designed by Australian digital agency ED).
8) Ultra-minimalism
Taking classic minimalism to the extreme, some designers are defying conventions of what a website needs to look like, displaying just the absolute bare necessities. The site from designer Mathieu Boulet is centered around a few choice links to his social profiles and information.
9) Duotone
These parred-down, two-tone color schemes look cool and contemporary, like this example from Australian Design Radio.
10) Mixing Horizontal and Vertical Text
Freeing text from its usual horizontal alignment and placing it vertically on a page adds some refreshing dimension. Take this example from director Matt Porterfield, which mixes horizontal and vertical text alignments on an otherwise very simple page.
11) Geometric Shapes and Patterns
Whimsical patterns and shapes are popping up more frequently on websites, adding some flair in a landscape otherwise ruled by flat and material design. Canadian design studio MSDS uses daring, patterned letters on their homepage.
12) Modular Design
Modular design is certainly sticking around in 2017. It’s a foolproof way to create a clean, accessible website that keeps visitors interested. This example from design studio Waaark offers a twist on modular design: When you hover over the dividing edges between modules with your cursor, you produce an unexpected ripple effect.
13) Overlapping Text and Images
Text that slightly overlaps accompanying images has become a popular effect for blogs and portfolios. Freelance art director and front-end developer Thibault Pailloux makes his overlapping text stand out with a colorful underline beneath each title.
Need of Professional and User-Friendly Website
We live at a time where going online is a compulsive decision businesses need to make. Without leveraging the internet, no business can benefit and grow in true sense as all prospects exist there. We know physical world has limitations while no boundaries exist online. This is why businesses can reach to any market and cross any geography to build their base. All this is not possible without having a feature-rich and powerful website. Every business with online dreams will need a professional website in order to reach to their target audience and convey their brand ideas and messages in an effective manner.
The website should look charming and it should be easy for users to access and use. It should also let users navigate easy from one part to another and find all information related to products or services without facing any problem. Likewise, the website has to be available on every device type and it should be accessed from all web browsers around. This is the way to connect to more users and tap into their potential. From colour combination to text placing to image optimisation – every element in the site should be in sync with the spirit of the business to not confuse users in any way possible.
Moreover, the website should look professional and it should give a consistent appearance across devices and platforms. It should not go overboard with graphics and sounds as this impedes downloading time and puts off users in a big way. If the site’s loading speed does not match the industry standard time of 2-3 seconds, it might them make users go away to other ones and realise their goals there. Likewise, a good business website is one where all links work perfectly or where dead links are non-existent. Be it internal or external links, all should work fine and help users benefit from the site optimally.
More so, the website should be clear and to the point which means visitors should not feel confused at any stage of the visit and they should know what the site stands for. Which means, a good site is one that is designed keeping in the view the target audience. Visitors should get all contact details at appropriate place in the site so that they can face no issue in contacting you. In a way, the site should reflect the business and its spirits so that the target audience can feel a type of instant connect with it.
Quite clearly, having any website is surely not going to help the cause of your business. Rather, you should need a website that is rich in features and that is designed to support the objective of the business. This kind of website is only possible when you have hired a professional website design company. Such companies often employ dedicated resources and complete the project on time. They have an experienced team of designers and developers to take care of technical as well as visual superiority of the website in true sense.
Choosing the Right ECommerce Website Developer
If you are planning to launch an ecom wbeiste, choosing an eCommerce website developer is obvious. But with so many eCommerce developers in the market, choosing the right one is a burdensome task.
1. How Much Experience the Company Has in Developing Ecommerce Portals?
Don’t get carried away by the techy jargon-filled languages used by the developer. Instead, ask for real life examples that the company has built before. Pay close attention to the design, user experience and features in each eCommerce website developed by the company.
2. Which Software Will Be Used to Build Ecommerce Website?
There are lots of options available when it comes to choosing an eCommerce platform. You should demand a platform that has intuitive features, powerful and easy to manage. After, all you will manage or transact on the store on a daily basis.
3. How Will Both Parties Communicate?
Effective Communication throughout the development process is vital to the success of the project. You need to remain involved in the development process throughout rather than coming into the picture when it is already done.
4. Is the Ecommerce Website Mobile Friendly?
It is necessary that your eCommerce website is mobile friendly. Today, a large number of shoppers make purchase through their mobiles while on the move. Without the mobile friendliness aspect, the user experience will be greatly affected and you will lose customers.
5. Are SEO Fundamentals Covered in the Development Process?
Developing an E-Commerce website is more like a building a house. Without a strong foundation, it will survive longer. For such website, ignoring SEO during the development process will be a costly error.
6. How the Tests Will Be Run?
Your eCommerce website should not only look nice, but it should also function properly. Make sure the developer uses a testing environment before making the site live. Get information about the testing process and how the bugs will be documented and fixed.
Custom Web Design vs Website Templates
Business owners are always looking for methods to save money and make the business profitable. When it comes to creating an online presence for the business, just like the marketing materials and office’s appearance, the website needs to project a professional image. The more professional looking your business appears, the more creditable it looks.
Many business owners don’t really understand the difference between having a custom web design done and using website templates. Here we’ll look at both ways of having the website built and the costs involved.
Custom Web Design
Many think having a custom web design is too expensive but let’s look at the advantages of hiring a web designer over using a free website template or purchasing one.
Benefits of custom web design:
Unique design
With a custom web design it is created just for your business. The website will be different from anyone else’s.
By hiring the right web designer, it will be constructed so it is search engine friendly. How the background coding of your website is done will influence your success in the search engines. The website will be more adaptable to your company’s needs.
If you have done your website planning, you will have a list of features you wish to have. By prioritizing this list of website features, you will give the web designer an idea of what to accommodate for in the future if your current budget doesn’t allow all the features to be implemented from the start.
Scalability
Just like adaptability, if you have planned what you want in the future for your website, a good web designer will take this into consideration as they select the technologies to use while building the website.
Are you planning to maintain the website yourself?
If you do not intend to learn how to code a website (or have someone on staff that can do this well) then you are going to have to request that a content management system be incorporated into the web design. There are limitations on some content management systems so be sure to review our Choosing a Content Management System article so you ask all the right questions about the proposed content management system the web designer is planning on using.
Another idea if considering a custom web design is, just have a template made incorporating the website theme. You can then, if you have the skills, recycle the template theme to create the web pages for your website.
Website Templates
There is a misconception on how beneficial and economical using free website templates or purchased website templates is. Let’s look at some points about website templates:
Website templates are good for:
Getting inspiration on colours, layouts and features
You cannot have your web designer copy these, but they do give the web designer an idea of the look you would like. Very low budgets where you need to get up and running as soon as possible.
Shorter development time
It would appear that using a website template would include a shorter development time required for your website.
Using website templates do have some downfalls:
There is going to be a ton of other people using the same template.
Unless you pay the “Exclusive” price for the template, the template website is going to keep selling that same template to anyone that comes along. Keep in mind, even if you pay the exclusive price, there are others who have bought the template prior to you and they still have the right to use it.
If it’s a really appealing template, there may be lots of other people who have already bought that very template.
You will be limited on the customization of the website template.
Without web page coding skills, you are still going to have to either spend the time and money to learn how to code a web page or hire someone to help you.
Some templates are laid out very specific. Meaning if you incorporate your own graphics or have extensive content, the template could break.
Some website templates are not built to be search engine friendly.
As explained above, it is important how the background coding of your website is done. If not done correctly, it could hurt your marketing efforts on the internet.
Custom Web Design or Website Template?
When deciding if a custom web design is the way to go or if a website template is a better choice keep in mind that you want your business to stand out from the crowd and be memorable.
In either case, you are still going to have to do some work to get up there in the search engine results. Having a website that looks nice is only part of the internet marketing package. You will have to research the phrases that your target audience would type in the search box to find you then incorporate those phrases into the content of each of your pages.
To maintain or build the website yourself you are going to have to invest some time (and money possibly) into learning all there is to building a web page.
-Mukund Pilankar
