Tips for a Successful New Website Design
You may be a small business or a sole trader who has explored and dismissed the idea of a DIY website? Quite rightly so in our opinion as we have never seen a self built website at the top of Google. However, there are many wheels in motion that make up a great website design company. Here at Leading Motion, Colchester we have over 10 years experience and we are going to share with you some top tips on choosing a fantastic web designer and also to manage your expectations around your involvement in the process.
What We Do
From the outset a web design company needs to understand your business and your goals. Therefore, we would always advise meeting someone prior to making any payments. Typically a first meeting with a website consultant from Leading Motion, involves us learning about your business and showing you some examples of our work. Our websites are bespoke and anything is possible in the development world. Therefore it is important for us to assess your business needs and give you a breakdown of costs upfront.
What You Can Do
If you know before the free consultation that there is something that you want as part of your website, then show us. This could be a particular shade of a colour, or integration with another platform. It may be a search function that we are going to build for you. Therefore what are the search parameters? We can choose and do lots of this for you and we have many clients who have said, "use your creative vision, I trust you". So ask yourself, are you that client? Are you happy to hand over the reins and leave the design to us or are you a visual person with a vision and do you need to share that with us? All options are welcome and there is no right or wrong answer. It is just worth thinking about your personality type and if you know what you want already, then knowing up front saves time further down the line. We want to deliver your website as effectively and quickly as possible.
We Take Care Of...
We hear horror stories about other web design companies from new and old clients (who return to us), around erratic website management, frequent billing and poor website performance. We are big on support, so we keep in touch with our clients regularly. For those who are local to Essex and Suffolk, we meet face to face (pre Covid) and are also happy to see clients in our main Colchester Office. We understand that you want to feel supported and we will prompt you to update your website or we offer services to help you to keep your website updated, for example writing regular unique blog posts.
We are clear and transparent about what is included in our services and if something needs development then this would be agreed upfront.
Leading Motion are here to keep your website secure and we invest heavily in security and responsive design. We believe in consistency across devices. Our websites are quick to load and look good too.
You Could Think About
Are you computer savvy and used to using business systems? If so, then you can update your website easily with our friendly website editor. If computers aren't your thing or you have no time, then tell us. Our service is bespoke, so we can certainly help. If you have a website already and are not happy with it, do you know why? If not, then contact us for a free website review. We can highlight all aspects that are not performing as they should be and talk to you about how a new website would eradicate those issues.
Shop around and ask questions. We always encourage potential clients to shop around and to talk to different web design companies. It is important for you to get a feel for who is out there and find a provider who ticks all of your boxes.
Ask questions, particularly in relation to cost. A website provider should offer you a free consultation where there is no obligation and you understand their pricing and what is included.
Our Process
Once we have met with you and you are happy to come on board, we design your website by firstly putting together a comprehensive brief. The website is bespoke and is fully editable by yourself and us. We then work with you to finalise the content, images and make any tweaks that may be required. We then set the website live and we offer services to help make the website as visible as possible online, such as help with Social Media or SEO.
We Suggest
If this is a new website or you are changing the website copy that was on your old website, don't delay. People often put off providing a relatively small amount of content and it delays their website going live. If you aren't confident to write the copy or simply do not have time, we can help you. It is important to get your website right and to get it online as soon as possible, so that it can represent your business and work for you.
We can supply stock images as part our offering however, sometimes it is better to show your own services/products. Please think about how those images will look on your website. We may be able to recommend a local photographer, depending on where you are to provide high quality images for your website. Take a look at any website and the images will stand out. They need to be high resolution and sharp and if they are not it affects your experience and your reaction to the website and the services that they provide. Only embark on providing your own images if you have a good camera and are able to provide images that have a uniform background, if relevant, for example if you have a shop website and are photographing products.
What Now?
Whether you are looking for a brand new website or you are simply not happy with the one that you have, start a conversation with us about it.
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