Every good business owner knows the value of a good web presence. All current and future clients will find what they need there and frequently they'll go there rather than calling into a bricks and mortar shop.
A new website development is a major undertaking which many people do not fully understand - what does it take to have a top quality website design in Ireland? Some misinformed business owners believe that all it takes is to create a website, put it on the internet and instant success will come of it. But the rest of us know that that's not how it works.
The average successful website is not put together overnight, and it's never assembled by someone with little or no knowledge about best practises in web design. Also, it is one thing to create a site that looks good, but how it looks is just one facet of the website and how it performs could easily be argued to be far more important.
A professional website designer ensures that your site is attractive to your target audience, easy to operate, performs all the required tasks and engages with your website visitors. Below are some of the skill sets that a good web designer will bring to the table in order to provide you with a professional looking online presence.
A Precise Web Design Estimate
A professional designer will always ask you questions pertaining to your website to understand better what it is you are looking to achieve from the website and then to provide you with an accurate quotation for the work. Skimping on the details you submit now will only delay the entire process or end up with you having a number of quotes none of which are for precisely what you want. The more information you provide, the less questions you will be required to answer later.
One way to provide this detail is by giving examples of websites that you like, functionality that you like or a list of e.g. 5 websites that encapsulate some of the branding/theme/content ideas you have in mind for your site. This requires a small amount of work in the beginning, but in the end it could save you hundreds if not thousands of euros as you will be receiving quotes for exactly the website you want .
Web Design Portfolios
Professional web designers will always gladly display a few samples of their past projects. Online portfolios provide you with a unique chance to see what a designer is capable of while in your office or home. You have to view the portfolio in terms of it being graphic design and web development work done for different companies in different industries, but it will still give you a good idea of the web companies skills. Using the designer’s portfolio as a deciding factor and not the overall deciding factor will help you to make up your mind on whether or not you want to work with this particular designer.
List Of Web Design Services
Any professional web design company will offer you a host of add-on services for your website that include but are not limited to following list. It is important that they do have the skills to do most of this work as you may want new features added to your website shortly, or in a years time, and being able to get it done by the same company that built your main website will be another plus for that website design company:
- Custom web designs
- WordPress and many other Content Management Systems (CMS) theme customisation
- eCommerce - website shops
- Adding Website Blogs, Newsletters and Image Galleries to websites
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - Getting you onto page 1 on the Google search engine
- Graphic design - business logos, banners etc
- Flyers and brochures
- Website Calendars
- Website maintenance and updates
- Domain name services
- Web hosting and site-management
- Forums and message boards
- Database programming
- Flash graphics design
- Consulting as well as sub-contracting
Website Maintenance
Web maintenance for a website is much like going for regular oil changes for your car. Site maintenance is an integral part in the life of a website and involves updating the site and keeping the site in optimal working condition. Not everyone realises the benefits that accrue from website maintenance and having a website professional maintain and update your website.
Without proper maintenance and updates, your web content will most likely get old, your site falls out of favour with web visitors, your domain name could also unintentionally expire and someone else on the web could simply snap it up. The links on your site are also likely to get broken over time, some images can disappear and your overall rankings can fall on search engines. All of this can be prevented with a little web maintenance.
These are just a few of the things likely to happen if you do not have an expert to guide you along the way. You can also save money too since your website’s performance is optimal at all times when it's being maintained, thus increasing visitor satisfaction and converting more website visits to sales.
Wide web experience and in-depth technical expertise will save you money over the life of your website, and you only have to pay for work done.
Considering all the pitfalls that can befall your website design plans, it does not cost much extra to hire a professional web designer, and in return you get their skills and experience. Good luck with your website plans.
