Web Design / Development

We are now in the 21st Century and every company either has or needs to have a website.  No longer is a web site a “nice to have” but rather a “must have”.  It provides credibility to the company and can also be used as a resource for information.  Finding the right website design company, however, is a cumbersome task.  There are so many website companies available, which makes it difficult to figure out which company to go with. 

There are a few things to consider when deciding which website design company to go with.  Below are a few checklist items:

Identify your website goals

Are you looking for an informational web site with no gimmicks?  Are you looking for a highly interactive ecommerce website?  Or, are you looking for a complicated business website solution that connects to a new or existing database in order to process orders, keep track of customers, or even run reports?

Determining the goals for your website will help determine the type of website design company you will require along with what the cost of the website will potentially be.  From this point you can begin developing and answering more specific web site questions.             

• What sections do you want to include in your website?  About Us page, Product pages, Press Releases, Contact page, Bio page, etc.
• Roughly how many pages would you like your web site to have?
• Do you have a company logo or do you need one designed?
• What color scheme do you prefer?
• Have you seen other websites who’s look and feel you are particularly fond of?
• Do you need dynamic pages on your website?
• Do you need a database connected to your web site?
• Are secure connections required for the website?

Questions like the ones above are questions you are going to need to be prepared to answer in order to receive the most accurate quote for your website project. 

Components to a Website

When developing a site, website companies will often refer to two component parts.  The first being the Front End of a website.  The second being the Back End of a website.  Let’s define both of these parts in more detail

Front End of a Web Site: This refers to the design portion of a website.  It is the part that users, visitors, etc, actually see when on the internet.  In other words, it is what your website actually looks like.  The front end of a web site should always be visually appealing and easy to use from a user experience.  Always ask for a portfolio of clients from a website design company, but don’t stop there.  Actually visit the websites.  That will provide you with a lot of insight on whether or not the site actually is appealing from a visual perspective and if it is easy to use.  Another item to consider with websites is how quickly it loads.  Many times website graphic designers will design a web site with large file images, flashy graphics, etc. which cause the website to load very slowly.  This is a problem in two ways; 1) poor user experience, and 2) hurts during the search engine optimization process.

Back End of a Web Site: This refers to the development portion of the website or the programming portion.  The programming language used for developing websites is HTML.  There are other variations of website programming which allow the website to be more scalable and functional.  Some of these are known as ASP, ASP.NET, Javascript, AJAX, PHP, and many others.  Don’t worry you do not need to know all of this information.  The website design company, based on your requirements, will develop the most appropriate strategy and language to use in order to complete your website project.

Ecommerce Websites:  E-commerce websites are sites that sell products online.  E-commerce web sites are a more complex project and require a complete separate set of specifications, tools, and pricing.