Archive for category Web Design and Development
7 Steps to a Great Seattle Website
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on August 18, 2015
Deciding to launch a website, or to redesign your existing one, can be a big step, especially if you have to start from the ground up. While costs vary, you have to budget a few thousand dollars for a good Seattle web developer, so it’s important that you know what you want, and how to get there. Working with your designer, ensuring that they know what they are doing, and ensuring that they know what you want are all crucial elements of getting a site you will love. The following 7 steps will help you with getting there.
1. Discovery, Research, and Strategy
The first step of building any website is planning and research. One of the biggest mistakes that small businesses make is putting building their website quickly ahead of any sort of brand research or targeting. Unfortunately, this is very much the wrong way to go. Take the time to do brand analysis, market targeting, and strategy based on that analysis, or choose a web developer who will do it for you. Communication strategy, primary audiences, and perception goals can all drastically change how your website should look.
2. Solid Architecture
You might not know what site architecture is, and that’s okay, your Seattle web designer will. What you need is to plan in solid site architecture, including backend, and great copywriting. This means search optimized, clear calls to action, and enough user oriented design that readers are guided clearly down the page to wherever you want them to go.
3. Design
Your actual web design is incredibly important because it affects your brand image and perception. A busy, flashy website might seem tempting, but studies show that simplicity and clean website design is much more effective. You’ll also have to consider your target audience in the design. For example, if you sell hearing aids or glasses, you’ll want large, clear text that’s easy to read for those with sight problems. The size and number of images, site design, menus, colors, and impression are also important. Generally, if you can go on the page and not find what you’re looking for in three seconds, it’s probably too busy.
4. Development
Whether you’re going with an existing content management system or want a custom one, you need great web development. Your development team should be able to build an interface that allows you to achieve anything you want (such as flash, interactive menus, etc.), but also that resizes based on phones and browsers, displays properly on different browsers, and allows you full functionality.
5. Stage 2 of Development and Design
You’re probably going to want a few adjustments to the initial design and development, so that should be considered as part of the process. Make sure you plan in going over the website and making changes, but make sure that you outline what you want, and why you want it as clearly as possible, so that your developer knows what to do.
6. Launch
Your website launch is important, and if you plan it correctly, you should already have a fair amount of hype for your site before it goes live. Some Seattle web developers will help you with marketing your site before it goes live, but make sure that you’ve budgeted for the extra cost if so.
7. Maintenance
If you want updates, new features, new designs, or just to ensure continued functionality, you will need the occasional update. While you don’t have to keep your web developer on the payroll, you should ensure that they’re willing to do updates from time to time, or even schedule regular maintenance to ensure that everything is going as it should be.
Hiring a Seattle web developer is a big step, but you do want to make sure that they offer help through every step, including planning, brand analysis, strategy, and maintenance after launch.
What is Flat Design? Seattle Web Design
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on July 28, 2015
What is Flat Design? Seattle Web Design
Flat web design is something of this season’s hip new trend, but by all appearances, it’s here to stay, and for good reason. Flat web design is rooted in some of the best web design elements, combining simplicity with clean lines, simple fonts, and minimalist design to create web design that really stands out, even when multiple websites use similar design. Flat design combines elements of visual style with simplicity to create the illusion of 3D while retaining simplicity. If you want to get in on the trend, your design needs the following features.
Simple Typography
Your typography says a lot about who you are, but a simple, plain, and easy to read font says more than the most interesting font in the world. Helvetica and Sans Serif are very popular fonts for this, but they are by no means the only option.
Shadows and Illusions of Depth
Flat design usually has an illusion of depth or 3-dimensional structure, so you need shadows, illusions, and lines that create depth wherever possible. This is fairly simple in theory, but you do need a designer who knows what they are doing in order to pull the look off.
Transparent, Interactive Design
Transparent but interactive design is one of the biggest and coolest themes you will find in transparent design. This often translates into translucent or opaque menus and buttons that allow you to see the button and press it, but also see through it, so that it looks more like part of the site rather than an ugly button. When used with buttons, it’s known as a ghost button, but it also works with menus and other text holders that would otherwise be quite intrusive.
Minimalism
A minimal design, complete with large graphics and plenty of blank space would have been rare ten years ago, but today, simplicity is in. Flat design incorporates minimalistic styles, imagery, and design, uses large graphics and lots of space, to create a site that is easy to take in, simple, and not overly complicated. Because simplicity vastly affects user experience, this can also boost your customer’s satisfaction with the site, as well as the design quality.
Flat design is rapidly evolving to fit new parameters, and often moving outside of the box or format that the first flat websites used. This allows you to create something truly unique, that stands out from other sites, while integrating a beautiful and popular design style.
Almost-Flat design, or Flat 2.0 is a little bit more complex, offers more flare, and is a good alternative if you’re not completely into minimalism, but still want simple with a touch of 3D. Flat 2.0 integrates many of the features of flat design, but allows you to fit in more content and more design. Because flat is not all or nothing, you can also choose to integrate elements that you find appealing, while sticking with more traditional web design options for other parts of your site.
Contact Rory Martin, a Seattle web developer, for a consultation or quote for developing your website.
How Important Is User Testing? Seattle Web Development
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on July 21, 2015
If you’re hiring a Seattle web development team to build your website, then you should be considering user testing. If you’re only planning on having a one or two page website for your marketing, then it isn’t as important, otherwise user testing can affect your website and it’s impact in a variety of ways. If you have a good web development team, they should actually ask you about it and include it in the fee, and the following reasons include why.
UX – UX is the buzzword in development and design right now and for good reason. User experience is incredibly important, if the customer isn’t happy, you don’t make sales, or at least not as many sales. Getting user testing allows you to ensure that the website is fully functional, easy to use, and that it makes sense to the customer before you put it in front of actual customers.
Bug Check – Developers can check for bugs all day, but nothing is quite as good at finding issues like a fresh pair of eyes. This is the same reason that many game developers now host open betas. Not only do end users have an easier time finding bugs because they aren’t familiar with the website, they’re also using it like a customer would, which is something that you most likely won’t be able to do.
User Based Recommendations – You might think your website is perfect, your developer might think it is perfect, but without the end user thinking it is perfect, it isn’t. User testing ensures that the website makes sense, works, and looks good to people who will actually be working with it, so it is important if you want it to be user friendly. This applies to design, graphics, written content, and development decisions like menus. It also helps you with getting out of the box of your own creativity to see how it looks from someone else’s point of view.
Comprehension Check – Many website users might not have the same education, life views, or language level as the people creating your website. Having normal people use your website to test it out ensures that the website makes sense, on a design and development level, as well as a language and graphic level. Ensuring that they fully understand the website is very important because comprehension does affect your sales
User testing can be a hassle, especially if you have a large and complicated website, but the more you expect people to be on your website, the more important it is. If you have a store, you should have 4-6 or more people testing your website. If you have a very large store, you should aim for more. If it’s a smaller website, such as a restaurant page, you can usually get away with a smaller test group.
If you want to know more about how user testing works at local Seattle web development companies, contact Rory Martin for more information, or for a consultation.
Branding Websites for Marketing – Seattle Website Design
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on June 23, 2015
Whether you’re already on the web or looking to build a website, branding is something that you should be paying attention to. While not something that every business utilizes, branding is an important and powerful part of your web marketing toolkit that will allow you to build recognition, brand loyalty, and most importantly, a brand personality, that will represent you everywhere on and off the web. If you’ve chosen fonts and colors for specific reasons, organized your store in a specific way, or created a visual identity for yourself, then chances are you’re well on your way to branding. If you still need your Seattle web designer to brand your site for you, the following will help you with what it is, why you need it, and how to get started.
What is Branding
Branding is essentially creating a visual identity. Usually, it starts with something as simple as your logo, but it doesn’t stop there. Your font, images, colors on your site, graphics, style, and even spaces between text all contribute to your visual identity. Branding is deciding on a specific look, feel, and style that will represent your business. You want everything to look the same, even when it’s in different formats, displaying different images, and offering different services. For example, if you write up flyers and print out business cards, chances are you want both to have the same font and the same logo. This extends to your website, which you can incorporate into your visual identity family.
Why Do Seattle Websites Need It?
Brands are trusted. Businesses are often not. Creating a recognizable, visually identifiable brand that your customers and potential customers can recognize anywhere they go is important if you want to earn and retain that trust. Branding yourself on the web allows you to establish yourself as a company with an identity. It also allows you to create a public perception of yourself through your brand imagery, using colors that the public associates with certain things, images, and graphics that suggest quality, trust, and value. It also allows you to differentiate yourself from competitors, because a good brand stands out.
How Do Seattle Business Owners Get Started?
The best place to get started is by finding a great Seattle graphic designer or web designer. You might already have an idea of how you want your website to look, but if not, a good graphic designer can help you, help you pick colors and styles that mean the right things, and ensure that everything looks great. The most important consideration is that you look at their portfolio first to make sure that you are happy with what they’ve already done. You can also check reviews, any recommendations they have, and their social pages to see what you think about the designer before you hire them.
Want to know more about how branding your business can help with building your reputation on the web? Contact Rory Martin for more information, or to get a consultation on your brand.
How to Protect Your Website From Hackers – Seattle Web Development Tips
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on June 16, 2015
If you have a business website then, you no doubt, worry about hackers, viruses, and other issues that could not only affect your website, but also your business reputation. This is especially important if you offer online purchases through a shopping cart. Even if you’re just starting to set up and build your site, the following tips from Seattle web developers can help to ensure that you take the right steps to protect your site. While these tips do not include coding issues, you can talk to your web development team to ensure that they are integrating security into your design.
Use Secure Logins
While you may be tempted to use your default logins, or ‘administrator’ plus “password123”, you should usually be a bit more creative. Some hackers are nothing more than good guessers, and some use software to input commonly used password and username combinations, until they get lucky. Make sure they don’t by ensuring that your password is a string of complex numbers and letters, with special characters, and that your username is something other than your name, ‘administrator’, or similar. A good idea is to use the name of your first pet plus your school locker number or your first phone number if it’s a personal website, or a randomly generated secure hash if it’s a website that multiple people are using.
Consider Security Plugins
If you’ve gone with popular CMS like Drupal, Joomla, or Wordpress, you can choose multiple security plugins to ensure that your website is as safe as possible. Options range from apps that only give you a few tries to log in until they lock you out, to those that email or text you if you’re logging in from a new location.
Don’t Integrate Third Party Flash Apps
Unless you’re using apps from a very trusted source like Google Maps, try not to integrate third party applications into your website. JavaScript and flash injection both allow hackers to insert malware into visitors computers directly from your website.
Purchase a Security Script
Buying security is a must if you want your consumers trust. Most web hosts offer security certificates, but you can also purchase them from popular antivirus companies like Symantec’s Norton. Posting these on your website tells your visitors that you are doing everything you can to keep them safe. If you don’t know how to set this up, don’t be afraid to ask your developer.
HTTPS
If you’re running a store, asking for personal information, or even asking for email addresses, you should consider setting up HTTPS. This means that your site is secure, as is the connection, so that hackers cannot access the information under normal circumstances. Once again, just ask your developer.
Knowing how to protect your website is important, especially with more and more vulnerabilities found in websites. If you want to know how to protect your specific website, ask your developer, or hire them to build in more security.
Five Tips for Choosing a Local Seattle Web Developer
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on May 26, 2015
Finding a quality web developer is notoriously difficult on the web, especially with thousands of overseas companies who operate under dubious credentials and often offer themes or pre-built websites under the pretense of a custom site. Going local is the easiest way to ensure the originality of your site, but it also allows you to find a company that understands your local customer demographic, local website trends, and that you can meet in person to determine their actual suitability for the job. Whether you’re looking to hire a one-off Seattle web development team to build your website, or need a long-term web specialist for maintenance, updates, and constant development, you can use these tips for choosing a good local Seattle web developer or team.
Understand the Market
The first rule of hiring a web developer anywhere, not just in Seattle, is that you have to understand the market, fair pricing, and what you can expect for the money. If you’re accustomed to choosing outsource and offshore companies with engineers and developers primarily in India and Pakistan, then you’re going to be able to afford considerably less if you go local. However, you also have to know normal pricing for a website of your size and standard, so that you can get a fair quote, without feeling that it is over the top or too cheap. Your best bet is to set a budget in advance and then figure out what you can get for that budget before you go ‘shopping’ for a developer.
Decide on Skills and Requirements Up Front
You wouldn’t hire a Japanese sushi chef if you wanted a French Crémeux, and the same goes for web development. While some developers are experts in everything, that’s rare and usually quite far fetched. Instead, look for a developer who has the skillset you need (I.E. JavaScript, PhP, and HTML) and make sure they can work with it before you hire them. There is no one size fits all developer, unless you’re happy with whatever they can build you.
Look for a Past History
While it may sound unfair to only hire experienced developers, you wouldn’t hire an inexperienced person for most other jobs, so don’t risk it with your website. Choosing someone with verifiable experience, standards, and hopefully references you can use to verify claims and ensure that the developer hits deadlines and offers quality websites is an easy way to cut out a lot of hassle.
Check their Portfolio
Finally, you want to know that you like their work and that they are capable of building you a website that you love. Checking your prospective web developer’s portfolio is the easiest way to make sure that they will offer you the website you want.
Want to know more about how a local Seattle website designer can help you? Contact Rory Martin to see if we’re a good fit for your needs.
What Seattle Companies are Doing Wrong with Web Design
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on May 19, 2015
With over 644 million active websites on the Internet, it can be difficult to make yourself stand out. Luckily, there are far fewer local Seattle websites to compete with, but you’re still going to have to make yourself stand out. While the average small business now recognizes that they need and should have a website, not everyone goes about it in the best way. A website is your brand on the web, and it has to be just as convincing as any physical storefront. Because many consumers are now visiting mobile websites before they go to a store for the first time, your site is becoming more and more important. With that in mind, here are few things that Seattle businesses frequently get wrong, and help from local web designers on how to fix those problems.
Forgetting to Research Your Demographic
If you’re in a hurry to get your website up, a new business, or don’t think you need a target demographic, you could be making a huge mistake. While some people don’t think they need to target anyone and others try to target everyone, both options are a mistake. Researching your target demographic allows you to market your website directly to the people most likely to need your services or products, allowing you to create more churn and make more sales.
No Marketing
No one likes to be marketed to but if you have a whole website with no calls to action, no links driving people to buy things, and nothing at all to tell the consumer that they should be spending money, then you’re probably missing out. Integrating strategic calls to action, links to products, and creating landing pages for users who search for your content on the web can be crucial to your success.
Overly Complicated Design
The 90s and early 2000s saw a rash of poorly designed websites with flashing banners, jQuery animation, and really cluttered design. If your website looks like an advertisement board, has more images than free space, or crams something into every possible space, you’re probably telling customers that you aren’t professional or modern. Go with simple, elegant, and easy to use.
Not Updating Your Content
Regularly updating your content, even if it’s as simple as changing all of the listed dates on your website once yearly, is crucial to being on the web. Customers like to see activity so that they can see you’re a relevant, real business. Consider linking your social media so that consumers can see your likes and social activity, keep a weekly blog and update it weekly, and post regular updates.
Using the Wrong Designer
The wrong designer can completely ruin your website. Whether you’re paying more than you have to and going way over budget, or paying less than you should and getting a substandard website, you’re making a mistake. You’re probably also messing up if you decide to do your website yourself, unless of course, you’re a qualified website designer. Go over your budget, decide how much you can make back from your website in a year, and choose a quality designer with a good reputation based on that criteria.
If you want to know more about quality Seattle web design, contact Rory Martin for a free quote.
Does Your Small Business Need a Website? – Seattle Web Design Tips
Posted by Rory Martin in Social Media Marketing, Web Design and Development on April 28, 2015
The first servers powering the web may not have been switched on until 1991, but in that time, it has expanded at a rate so exponential that it’s expansion could be said to be unprecedented. The technology, which was initially created to allow access to data from anywhere, has become such a common part of everyday life, that most of those born in the 90s quite simply cannot imagine a world without it. With over 640 million active websites on the web, it’s hard to imagine that there are businesses who don’t have one. However, with 27.9 small businesses in the U.S. and over 217,000 in Washington alone, there are literally millions of businesses that have not yet made it onto the web.
While it is an undeniable fact that a web presence can greatly benefit a business of any size, and the dot com is undeniably the gold standard for establishing your brand on the web, there are other options.
The Size Of Your Business
One important consideration is that many businesses are actually very small businesses. Very small business owners often bring home between $20,000 and $120,000 per year in gross profit depending on their business. Small businesses, which can make upwards of $1 million per year, can typically afford a website without any problems, but for very small businesses who use most of their income for living expenses, renovations and small personal luxuries, the often high costs of a website are not always an option.
Social Pages vs. Web Pages
Social pages are quickly replacing websites as the first place that customers visit. While anyone searching for a keyword or business type on Google, Bing, or Yahoo will most definitely find your website first, they can also reach your Google Plus page if it is properly optimized, your YouTube page, or even your Facebook page, depending on how you write your About description. Because services like Google Local allows you to put yourself on the map (literally) in search, web pages are becoming less and less necessary for simply telling people about your business. In fact, a busy social page with visible reviews, visible consumer interaction and fresh posts will leave the average consumer more convinced of the quality of your small business than most websites.
What You’re Selling
The last and most deciding factor for choosing whether to go with a website or a social page is your business. Depending on what you are selling, what you want to use the website for and what information you want to display, a website may or may not be right for you. For example, if you have a restaurant and you want an interactive menu, online booking and live chat, then you definitely need a website. If you have an auto-shop and you just want to let people know where you are and when you’re open, it’s significantly less necessary.
While statistically, more than 140,000 websites are launched per day, the truth is that with social media, the days of one page websites and web pages are virtually over. Not everyone needs a website when they can establish a web presence just as effectively, and without the hassle, using social media. Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a website, it just means you might not actually need one.
If you want to know more, contact Rory Martin for a consultation.
Integrating Customer Service – Seattle Web Development
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on April 21, 2015
Whether you’re an established business or just getting set up on the web, customer service is becoming increasingly important for Seattle businesses online. While in the past, customers were accustomed to waiting days or even weeks for a full reply, today’s service based industry demands faster responses. In fact, quick customer service can actually make sales.
The following include a few tips from Seattle web development professionals on what you can use to integrate customer service directly into your website.
CRM
A CRM or Customer Relationship Management system is an easy way to integrate customer service directly into your website. Available options include everything from ZenDesk to Zoho, and allow you to create live chat boxes, click to call functions and customer support forums, where customers can ask questions and help themselves. These customer service solutions require no technical knowledge or development skills, but do charge a monthly fee based on your usage and required features.
Custom CRM
A custom CRM can provide all of the offerings of a subscription based CRM but does not charge a monthly fee. Instead, you pay your Seattle web development team to design and build a chat function, forum or help desk for you. This means that you pay one fee upfront for the development, wait for it to be built, and then allow them to integrate it into your website. This allows you to manage as many customers as you want without paying more. However, you do have to wait during development and you do need occasional maintenance.
Social Media
Social media allows you to integrate a free chat system directly into your website, but it is not foolproof. While you can direct users to your social pages to chat with you, send you messages or post on your wall, this requires careful monitoring and requires that you manage your social media closely. The faster you respond to customers on social, the better they will feel about the experience. If you have a small business, you can likely do this yourself, but if you have a lot of customers and a lot of questions, you may need a dedicated manager. In most cases, you can integrate the Facebook Messenger API into your website, or have your developer do it if you aren’t sure how. You can also add links to your Twitter and Google + as needed.
There are a variety of customer service solutions that you can choose from, and sometimes, the best option is a mix of both. If you have a large business that processes returns, then a help desk with a ticketing service is a must. If you just have a small business, social media may be an adequate solutions. Because there are plenty of options, you can also integrate both to offer more service.
If you want help deciding on what’s the best way to integrate customer service into your website, contact Rory Martin’s Seattle web development team for a consultation.
Seattle Web Development: Why Choose a Custom CMS?
Posted by Rory Martin in Web Design and Development on March 24, 2015
Moving to the web requires a lot of thought and planning and one of the decisions is what to do with your content management system (CMS). One option is to choose a custom CMS, but, like most web choices, it is not for everyone.
What is a CMS ?
Just in case you are mostly unfamiliar with the term, a CMS is a content management system. It allows you to interact with and update your website without the use of code or a web developer to help you. Over time, this allows you to update your website on your own and lower costs. Depending on your CMS, you might be able to do a variety of tasks, such as updating web content, posting blogs, and even changing the design or colors of your site.
What Are Your CMS Options?
While a custom CMS is an option, it might not be your best option. There are a variety of free to use CMS platforms on the web, including Joomla, Drupal and WordPress. Just because these are free to use does not mean they are the worst choice. For example, some of the biggest websites out there, like CNN, use WordPress. However, each free to use CMS is limited to a specific number of usages, only supports certain tasks, and might be quite limited without paying for or developing plugins to add extra features.
How Do I Choose?
One of the easiest ways to choose a CMS is to decide on what features you need, what you want to do with the CMS, and how much you can learn. Some CMS systems like Drupal have a steep learning curve, which might not be suitable if you don’t have the time and energy to put into it. Others, like Joomla are feature rich for creating business websites, but do not innately support shops or blogs. WordPress websites are ideal for blog and magazine websites, but can support single page sites and shops as well. If you need something that none of the available CMS options provide, then you may need a custom CMS.
How do I get a Custom CMS?
The easiest way to get a custom CMS is to find a quality Seattle web development team and talk to them about what you need. They will tell you if an existing CMS will suit your needs and potentially save you a great deal of money. They will also tell you how much it will cost to design a CMS around your needs, if your requirements are possible, and how long it will take to get your site up and running. Unfortunately, the hardest part here is deciding what you want and need, but usually, a good Seattle web development team can help you with that as well.
One important thing to keep in mind is that your content management system and your website are separate things. Your web development team can build the CMS to allow you to update your website. With this in mind, you may also need a web designer if the team does not do design. Want to learn more? Or want a quote on creating a custom CMS or installing an existing free to use one? Contact Rory Martin’s Seattle web development team at 206-402-6347 to find out more.
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