Affordable Web Design

I favour building sites that are clean and
simple in design and that get the message across with the minimum of fuss. A modern website should be quick to load and adhere to the latest web standards and feature a clear and intuitive navigation structure.

What Makes a Good Website?

Ideally, a website will fulfil these basic criteria:

• Easy to use and navigate
• Deliver the information that the visitor is looking for
• Be consistent with existing brand identity
• Work across different browser software and devices

A couple of important points about my service:

• I follow official W3C standards for compatibility and accessibility
• All sites are custom designed - I don't use off the shelf templates

It's important to consider the user experience of your site - just looking good is not good enough. A clear navigation, text of a readable size, no gratuitous animations and graphics and no reliance on a particular plug-in or optional component - the site should just work properly on any browser or device that a user has.

Initial Steps

I will setup an initial consultation with you to establish requirements in four key areas: Purpose, Style, Audience and Content. It is also useful at this stage for us to study your existing branding and any literature in order to create a consistent style for the new site. At this point I can provide a reasonable cost and time quote for the project.

Design and Build

Once I know what the site needs to achieve, I will produce one or two custom page designs for your approval. When the basic design and layout has been agreed upon we can discuss the finer points of the content including whether graphic images will be supplied, bought in or whether a custom photo shoot will be required.

It is important at this stage to consider the search engines such as Google and Bing - you can get a lot of new visitors to your website from here. The most vital aspect of ranking well on search engines is to provide original and well written content. I can advise you on the best way to structure and phrase such content in order to be attractive to the search engines.

Once these points have been agreed, I can then get to work and complete the site.

Making Your Site Stand Out

There are various tools that can be employed to enhance the appeal of your site and differentiate it from the competition. For example by providing a search function, an interactive slideshow or a 'Blog' with news that your customers might find interesting. You may also want to consider using Google maps or Twitter updates. Or you may want a custom feature that is specific to your business. We can discuss appropriate options at the design stage.

Testing and Validation

It is vital that your website works properly no matter what browser software or device is being used. I always adhere to published web standards and fully test the site in all of the major browsers.

It is also important to design the site so that visitors with impairments can still use the site. For example, some people may increase the font size - this should not 'break' the page design and cause elements to appear out of place. Other people may turn off scripting or use screen reading software. When creating the initial design I take these scenarios into account.

Hosting

Your website will need to be uploaded to a web server. This could be the free web space that was provided with your normal internet access account although I recommend a professionally hosted server to ensure a fast and reliable service. Professional hosting is not expensive these days - a small site will cost around £15 per year. You will also be able to access statistics so you can get information on visitors to your site, such as their location and what pages they looked at etc.

You will also need a domain name - e.g. www.yourcompany.co.uk. Again these are not expensive but of course many common names have already been taken so you may need to think creatively here! I can manage domain names and hosting on your behalf if you wish.

Updates

Once your site is finished and live on the web, it is likely that, over time updates and changes will need to be made. I can do this for you at regular scheduled intervals or on an as-needed basis. You could also update the site yourself - I can create secure 'admin pages' that you can login to and update content as required.

Or you may prefer to have a blog so that you can keep site visitors informed of your latest news, products and services. I can fully integrate the blog into your website. With an ever expanding user base Facebook is fast beoming the place to be on the internet and I can also assist with setting up Facebook pages for your business.