We think that you are on the Leading Motion website because you have searched for a web designer in Essex or Suffolk, or because we have been recommended to you. So you are past the stage of even thinking about a DIY website. You may have had a website in the past or run your business via social media but want to take steps to grow your business and your profile. 

 

We help SMEs with all aspects of digital marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), but the first step is always to have a great website to start with. We work with people at all stages of the process and it always works in the end! However, we thought that the following tips would be 'food for thought' and may give you a bit of a to do list if you do not know where to start or what you need. Why do we need this information? Unlike DIY solutions, at Leading Motion we design bespoke websites and the fees that we charge are based on designing a website. While we can tweak the website, to change or add text and images, the structure of the site needs to be built and we want to get it right first time. 

 

Logo / Brand 

 

You may or may not have a company logo. If you would like a new one or a redesign, we can certainly help. A logo is a great place to start as our Designers can use the logo as a starting point for designing the website, ensuring that the style and colours compliment each other. If you are just starting out, you may want to work on branding and your logo will be required for this process. 

 

Colours 

 

Following on from the logo, you will need to give any web designer some steer on the colours that you are expecting to see on your website. We will of course consider the logo, your industry and the tone that you are looking to set. For example, a solicitor is unlikely to have a canary yellow website but a childrens soft play centre might do. Think about the impact of colour and what the subliminal message is that you want to send to a client. 

 

Style 

 

Retro, glam, corporate or fun? We meet with all of our clients, face to face or via video to ascertain what they need from their website and to discuss and understand their business. It is really useful if we can show our Designer visual examples of websites that you like and why you like them. Similarly, if you dislike elements of websites that you have visited, it is good to include a few of those. We are able to provide a portfolio of websites for you to look at but a few sites that you really like can be from anywhere and help to cement your design brief. 

 

Objectives 

 

We suggest that you take the time to think about what you want from the website and to share that with us up front. If someone has a budget that will not allow them to rank highly on Google then we would rather manage expectations and show you how to strive to your objective in other cost effective ways. If you could get to the top of Google on a shoe string, then we would all be doing it. However, there are many ways to grow your business online and we want to share those with you as part of the consultation. 

 

Content 

 

Look at your competitors websites and start thinking about pages. The names can be changed further down the line but if you know that you want 6 main pages and you have 7 sub pages, covering the services that you offer, then it would be good to know that when you visit a web designer. You can provide the content at any point in the process but in our experience this is the piece that delays the website going live. Busy people have options and you can pay people like us to write the content for your website. If you are committed to doing it yourself, it may be good to do a page at a time and have a schedule for getting it done. Our websites can be edited at any time once they are live, so you can change or add content at any point in the future. 

 

Structure 

 

The look and feel, the number of pages, the sections without the content and images all make up the structure of a website. The navigation and where the logo sits and how the site works are all elements that can be coded in. We want to get the structure right once we submit the design brief and then show you how to add any additional content. 

 

These tips are important as time is money and we do not want you paying for a website that isn't live. If you start thinking about these options upfront you can talk to us about what services we offer and what you can do yourself to produce a website that is going to help grow your business. For a free consultation or to ask a question, please get in touch.