Often times as a web design company in Lancaster PA we are confronted with a very familiar term, “I don’t know”. The client knows they want a new website or a website redesign but they just don’t have the full vision yet. Once the process begins, because the project wasn’t fully hashed out, we find that the client tends to add more items to the project, piecing it together as we go. This is difficult for a number of reasons. The first being simply that once a project’s scope has been determined, going back and adding new features or functions is sometimes difficult and can end up costing you more of your tightening budget. The second reason is that the project usually comes out weaker than it could or should have. When you piece a website together in this way it often causes problems because the foundation of the site may not have been built to compliment those additions. When this is the case we need to build out additional functionality to account for those additions which often makes the overall site (usability and functionality) less solid.
Building a website is like building a car. First you must ask yourself, “Do I want a Mercedes Benz or do I want a Yugo?” After you’ve figured that one out, what kind of features do you want? Sure, the Yugo is bare bones and the Benz comes with a lot of options… but you need a customized look and feel so you can stand out from the crowd. Do you want a a new paint job and rims (design)? Or do you want an upgraded engine with the satellite radio/DVD combo (development)? The options are endless… what do you want?
When a company wants to spend their budgetary dollars more wisely they will give a hefty amount of thought into what their web development and web design. They will brainstorm it and form a strategic plan of action. Sometimes, however, it’s not that easy. We don’t expect other companies to know the technical side of what we do, as well as we do, so we tend to encourage our clients to contact a web consultant.
A web consulting company can help you identify and outline your company’s needs as well as make recommendations on how to accomplish those needs. Did you know that choosing the wrong operating language for your site can cost your 10′s of thousands of dollars?! Do you know how to edit HTML and CSS code on your own? If you choose the wrong web design company you may be left having to pay for each little change you want to make if you don’t! Are you a high maintenance business that needs the site to run on it’s own? The right web development company will offer you maintenance and content packages so you don’t need to worry about the day-to-day operations. Is search engine optimization a big factor in your business? Do you know the cost of running a REAL SEO campaign? Did you know that running a campaign for a highly competitive term could run you upwards of $20,000 a month or more? All of these items and more can be answered by a good web consulting company.
So before you decide to go straight to the company that is going to build your site it may be a good idea to have a plan ready from a professional web consultant. With a plan in hand the development company will know exactly what is needed and what is wanted because the homework has already been done. This is make your web design or redesign project run much smoother and make your site that much more efficient!
Ok, we know it’s not the New Year yet and resolutions don’t really matter unless they’re serious commitments, but we have a New Year’s Resolution challenge for you and your business.
Look at how your business is represented online through your web development and web design strategy and make this simple commitment: I Will Care.
I Will Care enough to put thought into my website and how it represents my business online.
I Will Care that my website doesn’t look or feel like an afterthought.
I Will Care enough to put some of my own thought, time and energy into my website so it truly represents me and my business.
I Will Care to envision my website as an interactive forum with legitimate, current and valuable information people can use because I know this is what will create the “top of mind awareness” that I need.
I Will Care to seek out legitimate SEO and Internet marketing and NOT seek out the magic pills that tell me what I want to hear but ultimately don’t deliver.
I Will Care enough to be patient with my SEO if I’m just starting with it and active with my SEO to be sure it remains Google-friendly.
I Will Care enough to work with my web development and web design team on creative and valid new material to keep my site fresh.
Your site will be as successful as you want it to be…and that requires your input because no one knows your business better than you. Communicate clearly with your development and design team and with your SEO/Internet marketing specialist, as this connection is what results in the best and most powerful websites online:)
As people move towards a more web-based life you find that many tips and ideas are still spread by the most common way; word of mouth. Only this time “word of mouth” is actually something that is posted or shared on a social network and not at the water cooler. As a Web Development Company that handles Web Design in Lancaster we often browse message boards like ones found on LinkedIn and Facebook. What we read sometime, however, is a little scary and somewhat demonstrates how word of mouth can sometimes be a detriment rather than a benefit.
Many companies tout their experience on their sites. “We’ve been designing websites since 19 something and something”… “1,000 years of experience from immortal website designers”! All kinds of grand claims… heck, even we do it! There is nothing wrong with that, however, there is something to be said about staying current. Sure, you’re company has been around for years — does your website show that? How many sites have you been to that say, “Designing Websites for 15 Years” and their site LOOKS 15 years old? How many times do you click on a portfolio link and see the same basic design elements repeated over and over? What about the site that takes for god-awfully-long to load and then it’s just a big picture with a couple links? This is the problem with being an old web designer.
How does one avoid this problem? Answer: you must stay current!
Web design and web development are two ares where technology constantly changes the landscape. Specifically for development; newer updated codes and scripts allow you to do more with less strain on browsers. Are you one of those people who “needs Flash” on their website? Did you know you can do the same effects with just a script? You’d also save space making the site load faster AND it could potentially still be searchable where Flash is not. In order to keep going in this business you need to know what people want and how to best deliver it to them. With new scripts and programs coming out everyday it’s important to keep up — and keep on it! Web design typically follows trends but one trend that will never cease is clean design. A few years ago grungy graphics and websites were cool. A few years before that flash and shockwave were the rage. Before that there were animated GIFs and scrolling text… They all have their place in time however these trends are well passed their prime and probably should be put away with other childish things 
In short, you can tout your web presence and your experience all you want. However, if your website is out-dated, old, or just doesn’t work right — how does that make you as a company look? How current is your web team?
Recently it came to our attention that a site one of our web designers created for a business a few years back was redesigned. It’s not such a big deal that it was redesigned, but rather that it was redesigned poorly. One of the problems with current web design standards and web development based content management systems is the learning curve. While slight in some cases, like using WordPress, to incredibly difficult and tedious, like some CMS’s we won’t mention, the process is still time consuming. It’s not good enough to JUST have a website. You must use your website, but in order to use it you have to know how to use it. That being said, let us give a little info on the website in question for today’s lesson.
A few years back our designer was hired to a local security company. One of his task was to redesign their current marketing material and redesign their website. The hope was that the new website would #1: Sell products on the site #2: Increase their rankings on the search engines #3: Win an industry award for the website #4 Give a clean and professional look to compete with the likes of ADT and BRINKS. What was done with the website in just 3 months was nothing short of spectacular. Not only was the site cleanly redesigned for user experience it was also optimized for search and selling on the site. The site actually reached first page status on Google and appeared just under the major security competitors. This was a large jump from the 4th or 5th page that they were previously occupying. The site was also nominated for the industry award that was originally in mind. Sadly, another site took the honors, but neither our designer or us were really impressed with the end results of the other sites once we saw them. Realistically, in the whole process, the only major drawback was having someone other than our designer learn how to use the CMS, which was WordPress.
Unfortunately a short time later, our designer was laid off from the company, but not after he was also asked to redesign the sister site of the security site; a monitoring company that also had their site redesigned recently… seemingly by the same person/company. Now, to be clear, this post is not intended to bash, however, it is intended to show the difference between well thought out design and just throwing stuff on a page.
Here you can view the “Before” and “After” of the website in question. A few things to take note of… “Before” is cleaner, more professional. You see the product(s) immediately and are presented with a deal and a form, two things that are proven to convert traffic (and did) if done properly. “Before” also segments it’s target markets by providing alternate navigational items such as the “Home Security”, “Business Security”, and “Switch & Save” blocks. Unseen, but further down the page, were more links and graphic elements to display the companies top clients. On the usability side, “Before” was built on WordPress and was capable of changing content on the fly and made search engine optimization (SEO) easier. A blogging element was also implemented, however, never used after our designer was let go.
On the other side we have “After”. “After” has some necessary elements but misses the mark in a number of ways. First, the site is no longer optimized for search. In fact the “h tags” aren’t being used properly, if at all. I don’t believe I even saw an “h1″ and the “title” tags are nowhere near where they should be in order to pull traffic. “After” looks to be built in simple HTML pages, which is fine if you are just trying to get your name out there and have a presence. It’s a completely different story when you are trying to use your site to sell. Due to the loose structure of the HTML on these pages you notice things like spacing and sizes thrown off on particular pages. “After” is just not appealing to the eye… sorry, but it’s not. Functionality on “After” is completely thrown out the window. The contact page doesn’t even have a form. In fact the careers page, which had a resume upload function, now only has a “mailto” link going to the company’s Gmail account! “After” lacks consistency throughout the site. There is no one design “standard” for the pages. Visually the site is severely lacking. From the lack of a background to the shadows on the nav, the site just doesn’t make the mark.
Some things to note… what will happen to the site? Almost immediately the site will lose page rank. Since the markup is not properly done and major keywords and phrases are all but missing from the site, the search bots will have nothing good to index causing a drop in view-ability. They won’t be able to sell through the site or even take contacts from the site. Instead of having the site work FOR them, it’s just hanging out online like a buoy in the ocean… going nowhere. Of course the owners of the site could really push promotion of the site and the company, but once someone got there, what’s the big draw? What has this redesign done to improve your image or your business? And why would you promote now with a poor website, why wouldn’t you put that effort into the old site that could actually convert… and did!
Again, we do not aim to bash, but we must ask, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”
Web development and web design for you or your company’s website should lay a solid foundation on which your business can grow. The logo is there, the look is there, the feel is there and the functionality is there.
So what now? Many business people make the mistake of thinking they’re done at this point, when the fact is they have only just begun. The foundation is there, but a good foundation is only good if you use it properly.
Two words should be ingrained in your MIND: Be Active.
The same holds true for success with your website as holds true for your success with social media. The more active you are, the more successful you will be. You don’t have to monopolize every waking hour with it, but make sure you respond to emails through your site promptly. Make sure you post at least one new piece of useful information weekly for visitors to your site.
Two more words for you: Give Information.
Other than knowing that you have a product or service for sale, what information will visitors leave your site with? That is, information that will make you more valuable to them than your competition. Giving helpful hints and how-to’s are invaluable.
Keep visitors to your website engaged with legitimate helpful information, and you will build trust as a reliable resource.
Ain’t that what we all want?
