Website DesignWhen we talk about your "design", we mean the actual graphical elements that make up your site including the header graphic, logo, background images, footer, photos, and any other graphics within the site. Website graphics need to represent your company and be attractive to your target user.
We can work with your existing logo, product photos, product descriptions, and other content to create a look and feel consistent with that of your company. If you don't have all that yet, we can help you create everything you need.
Graphic design is easily the most subjective part of the website creation process and it can also be the most time consuming. As we all know, time is money. So when it comes to the graphic design phase of your site, the most important first step is to identify what you want the site to do and work from there.
Don't Overdo It
The biggest mistake with graphic design is the over-design of a site. The more images, the longer it takes a site to load. The more graphic intensive a site is, the slower it moves. Most importantly, images are not search engine friendly, and this is the reason we recommend designing a site with purposeful graphical elements that allow for the use of plain text in the body copy of the site. We design sites to perform in the search engines, and the search engines need words, not images.
The Good and Bad Parameters
Another important part of the design process is to know what your target audience likes and doesn't like. At the very least, you should know what you like and don't like in terms of what you see on other sites. There are millions of sites on the Web, so pick a few that you like and pick a few you don't like. This helps us understand the type of design that appeals to you, and it also helps to avoid adding design elements that you know you don't like.
Most of all, it helps save time, which helps you save money!
Designers Who Get It
We recommend working with our preferred designers to meet the look and feel that you want for your site. We can provide the level of design that fits your taste and your budget. Most of all, we have designers who understand the way we develop our sites to perform on the search engines.
Our designers can give you exactly the look and feel you want for your site and they can do it within the parameters of the best practices for search engine optimization and usability. Many web designers focus solely on the look of the site and the way a human eye sees it (which is obviously important). They do this, however, at the expense of the backend code. The problem is that search engine crawlers see the site as a long line of code. The code has to be easy for a crawler to read; otherwise, your site will not rank well in the search engine results. The code should also be optimized to allow for easy updates to be made to the site in the future. After all, the point of a website is to be able to update and upgrade as often as you like.
If you rely on search engines to deliver traffic to your site, as most businesses do, then the backend code and architecture of the site are vital. Why spend all the money for a fantastically designed website if nobody can find it? Why buy a Picasso if all you are going to do is hide it in the closet?
Find the Balance
Remember that your website budget is not just for the graphical elements. Keep in mind the code that brings that site to life, then the optimization of that code, and the functionality of the site. You want a site that performs well and helps your site visitors to take the action you want them to take. Use the graphics to help facilitate that action, whether you want the visitor to see your number and call you for more information or if you want them to purchase your product right from the site.
Call or email us right away to discuss how we can help you.
|
|