Finding a web design company in Perth
Choosing a web design company to create your companies presence on the web can be a daunting task. There are so many design companies out there and once you have selected a company to represent your business there are a lot of design considerations to think of not to mention the need to come up with material to put on the website.Questions for your prospective web developer
Firstly when selecting a web designer there are a few questions you should be asking, one of the most important ones is.....1. What technology are you using to create my website?
There are a number of ways a website can be created and many backend systems that these websites run on. If you are going to invest in a website these days it should be based on a CMS (Content Management System). A CMS allows you to make changes to your own websites content quickly and easily with little to no technical knowledge. The CMS is generally web based so you don't need special software to manage your content. All you need is a web browser and the login details for your website backend. This leads us to the next question....
2. Is the CMS open source?
Not all CMS's are created equal and not all CMS's are open and freely available. This is an important consideration because the last thing you want is to own a website that is created on a proprietary CMS. Basically if the website runs on a proprietary CMS you don't really own the website. If at some stage you want to move hosting providers or would like someone else to manage your website you will have to get the website redeveloped otherwise you are stuck with the one company.
There are many Open source CMS's available with some of the most popular being Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal. If your website is developed in one of these systems you truly own your website. You can move it to just about any hosting provider that supports PHP and MySQL (which most do) and there are thousands of developers that are familiar with these systems who can maintain and update your website.
3. What about support?
Make sure the web development company you choose uses Australian hosting and Perth based developers. There are many companies using offshore hosting providers that can make getting support a nightmare should your website ever run into problems. There are also many development companies that outsource their development to cheep firms in India. Supporting local business is a great way to ensure you have direct access to your developers and there is no middle man to interpret and translate your requirements.
Questions you should be asking your self
Below are some of the things you should be thinking about in the lead up to beginning a web design project.
Website Appearance
Think about the image and personality you want your website to portray. This could be an image of prestige, fun, simplicity, corporate or value for example. List a few websites you have seen that you like and point out some of the things you like and don't like about them. This will help your website designer get a feel for what you want the website to look like. If you have any existing logos or colour schemes you like let the web development company know.
Website Content
At the heart of your website will be the menu structure, think about the information you would like to present and the pages you would like on your website. Common pages are home, about us, photo galleries, products, services, price lists, contact us etc. You can also have sub menus, for example the services menu may contain a sub menu that leads to a separate menu item and page for each service you provide.
Pictures
People are visual creatures and pictures play an important role in your website. Generic stock images can be used where appropriate but its best to use pictures of your work. Using your own pictures gives the website a personal feel that relates more closely to your business and shows off your talents. Take a look through your library of photos and pick your favourites to be showcased on the website. These pictures should be high resolution and of good quality.
Text
Each page should have a good amount of text on it. Think about the text you are going to put on these pages, keep your language simple with short sentences and most importantly keep it interesting. If you are targeting Google search you will want a minimum of 300 words on your key pages that you want Google to rank highly for. Your website designer should discuss which keywords to target for Google so think about the types of things people might search for on Google when looking for your products or services.
The following topics are the sorts of things you might like to add in your text where appropriate -
- How long have you been in business?
- How many years experience do you have in your field?
- How many employees/ outlets/ centers do you have?
- Do you have any high profile clients you can list?
- Do you have any partners or use any high profile products you can include?
- Do you have any testimonials you can include?
- Do you have any certifications or accreditations?
- What do you specialise in?
- What makes your business stand out from the rest?
- Are there any common questions you get asked that could be answered on your site?
- Would you like any special offers or pricing information displayed on your website?
- Is there any general helpful or interesting information about your field you could provide on your website?
Website Functionality
A broad range of functionality can be incorporated into your website. Some of these include mailing systems, contact forms, CRM (Customer Relations Management), invoicing systems, ticket tracking systems, blogs, Facebook and social media integration, scheduling systems and many more. Have a talk to your web design firm about any additional functionality you would like from the website that would aid in your business process.
Website Maintainence
Think about who will maintain the website and update the content. CMS websites are easy to maintain with very little computer knowledge and you should receive some training in the use of the system. Your other option is to purchase a website maintenance package from the developer and have them do any updates for you.
Website Launch
Launching a website can be a great excuse to contact and interact with your past clients. If you already have a Facebook following or a mailing list discuss a website launch with your developer to get people to look at your new website. If your budget permits a competition or special offer may be a great way to increase brand awareness or even pickup some business in the short term.
Paid Advertising
Do you want any paid Internet advertising? You can run a paid Facebook advertising campaign or Google Adwords campaign to target specific people and attract them to your website. These paid advertising services are generally pay per click so you only pay when someone actually clicks on the link and visits your website. Getting organic search traffic from Google can take some time so this is a great way to get visitors to your website in the short term.
Hopefully this will give you some idea of whats involved in getting your website up and running. FX Web Design Perth specialise in Wordpress website design and provide local hosting with the kind of personal support that is second to none. Make sure you give them a call when shopping around.
