Why Hire a Professional Web Designer

When you find a good professional web designer, you will not just get a better looking and better functioning site, you will also benefit from the breadth of their experience. This means that they will bring you suggestions about content, navigation, online marketing, search engine optimization and competitive analysis. They will also work with you to ensure that you integrate your website into how you do daily business. You just don’t get this type of support from someone who is not experienced. It is true that experience and expertise costs more, but it is well worth it. Your website is a reflection on you, your business or organization.

Your Website is a Reflection of You

Do you ever go to a website that does not work correctly or looks like it was just thrown together? What is your impression of that business? Now ask yourself what you want your website to say about you. Even if you do not have a huge budget, a professional web designer can usually offer creative solutions that will meet your needs and your budget.

A Recent Example

James Gilroy House Wright, a local Marblehead MA builder, recently came to us because they had gone the amateur site route. They recognized that the result was not a good reflection of their company. Their budget for the project was limited which meant that we needed to be able to deliver a professional website in a couple of days. It is important to note that they had a huge jump start because of the first project: they had set up web hosting, their content was written and their images were uploaded. What they needed was a professional design, information architecture (that means rearranging the content into logical and accessible pages with easily comprehensible site navigation) and quick implementation. The value that Novista Web offered was knowing what they needed and making it happen. It is not rocket science but it does take experience, knowledge and creativity to put the pieces together.

The Client

The Tommy Martin Fund is a small non-profit that awards an annual scholarship to figure skaters to continue their higher education.

Requirements

The Fund organizers wanted to have a website that would make their work easier. They wanted an online application for scholarship applicants and an easier way to communicate with people who come to their annual golf fundraiser. They also wanted a website that would have some liveliness and interactivity on the home page and that would reflect their organization.

Our Goal

Create a beautiful site that is approachable — not overly corporate, that will simplify management of the Tommy Martin Fund, and will reflect the sports and education aspects of the fund.

The Solutions

Novista Web designed a very clean and easy to navigate site that includes a form for scholarship applicants which also allows them to upload their transcripts, a sign-up form for golf tournament participants, and a simple contact form to keep spam e-mail low. We also set up a PayPal account so that donors can make payments and donations easily through the website. Lastly, we set up an e-mail marketing program that allows TMF to collect and manage their mail lists and easily send out personalized mass-mailers. The entire site as implemented includes a content management system (cms) which allows for easy updates over the internet with no need to know html.

The Extras

The TMF organizers were extremely busy and had very little time to focus on this project. We wanted to make the project as low maintenance as possible so we collected images and written forms as well as some previous communications materials. We then created all of the copy, selected images from their library and from stock photo libraries, set up all of the add-ons like PayPal and Constant Contact. We also registered the site and set up hosting, submitted the site to search engines. In total, the organizers only needed to devote a couple of hours to design reviews and quick meetings.

Visit the site

Visit the Tommy Martin Fund website. This is a good example of the thoroughness of our work. Regardless of the size of a project, we put a lot of effort and thought into the execution.

What does this designation really mean? You will find that companies in this category range from very technically oriented (strong in programming languages) to very design oriented (strong in visual presentations and graphic design) to the all-around generalists (pretty good in a lot of areas). Creating a website requires the entire breadth of the spectrum including business strategy. However, depending on your project, you may need more strength in one area vs. another.

Technical Sites

Are you creating a site with loads of custom programming requirements. This would be the case if you are creating custom functions. An example might be if you are creating a specific type of workflow management for your employees. In this case you may require a new database, login management, administration to manage user access and permissions, and customized functionality. All of this would be a breeze for a technically oriented company. However, if they are not also strong in user interface, you may end up with an application that is difficult to use despite its technological sophistication.

Visual Sites

Are you creating a marketing site that requires a bold and unusual visual statement? In this case, you will want a firm that is strong in the visual design end of the web development world. You will want to choose someone who has produced work that exemplifies what you are trying to create. Different designers have their own tastes and styles. Find sites that have the feel that you are looking for and see how they compare to your prospective vendors’ work.

Putting it all together

If the web world, designing a web site or technology in general is a foreign land to you, you will want a firm that is able to help you through the entire process. This falls into the general label of strategy. The web developer can help you define your goals, suggest how you can meet those goals and then produce the site. You will also want to be sure that the company will be there after you go live to help you to get the most out of your site.

Novista Web

Our strength lies in finding the right solution for you. There are so many great resources available, but they have to be used correctly in order to deliver the result that you want. We have years of experience in finding creative solutions to meet our clients’ technology and business objectives. It is all about how you putting it together and making life easier for our clients.

Updating a design

Maybe it is time for a face-lift. The old design is looking a bit worn around the edges. The components of a redesign project are the same as for a new site. (See Yes, but how much? for a detailed description of each project component.)

However, there is an advantage: the content is written so the content development phase is well along. If there are transactions involved, these are also available to re-use. In addition, you probably have a pretty good idea about what your strategy is. The main time requirements for a redesign will be focused on the design phase and then the implementation.

For a large company, a redesign can be extremely complex primarily because of the number of stakeholders, the internal system and design requirements and the introduction of a new site to their customers. For a smaller business or organization, a site redesign is usually easier than a new site. As always, the complexity of the site and the number of rounds of design will drive the cost.

Adding new features

Maybe you like the look of the site, but you would like to add some new features. As always, it is the complexity of the feature that will drive the cost. This could be as simple as adding a blog, or as complex as adding a storefront.

Business blogging is becoming increasingly popular. Let’s say that you want to add a blog to your site, and you want it to look and navigate the same way as the rest of your site: a full blog integration. In this case, design is minimal, content development will be up to you and there are free platforms available such as WordPress. This type of enhancement could cost as little as $1,000.

We will repeat this over and over – cost will depend on how much time is involved. You may not know if something is simple or difficult. Sometimes things that look hard are not and vice versa. Feel free to get in touch and ask us about your project or enter it in the comment section below so others can see the response as well.

Different Designs for different purposes

So what is my point? In order to design a great website, it needs to fit its purpose and accomplish it. What that looks like could be a cool flash site or it could just as easily be a plain jane html site. From my perspective, I prefer to use sites that look appealing and are easy to read. But I use craig’s list plenty when I want to find a new home for my used stuff or I have an apartment to rent.

What is your objective in having a website? Are you looking for repeat traffic; to sell something; to create an impression about your business; to publish lots of articles? The reason for the site dictates the design. The awards should go to the sites that most effectively meet their objectives.

Understanding the costs

Time is money: that’s pretty straightforward. Whatever takes time in the project will equal more costs. There are components of every site launch, no matter how simple or complex, that must be done by someone:

1. definition (strategy): there needs to be a detailed plan for what the site will do. What is it communicating, what transactions will be processed, who is the audience, etc?
2. site architecture: this defines what pages will exist, how the user will move from page to page, what elements are on each page.
3. site design: the design component brings in the visual elements. It defines things like imagery, fonts, colors, and page style
4. content development: this includes creating all of the content: copywriting, editing, photography and graphical choices.
5. coding & testing: this is where the site is actually built.
6. site registration & hosting: this includes purchasing the domain and hiring an internet service provider (isp) to host the site.
7. extras: brand creation, search engine optimization (seo), flash, custom photography, copywriting, analytics and reporting. There are plenty of additional options that may apply to your project.
8. maintenance: a site is not done when it goes live: it is just beginning. Site maintenance involves keeping the content fresh, responding to email correspondence, monitoring site traffic, transactional processing if applicable.

How do these components add up to a price for development and maintenance? Ask yourself, how complex is my project? Do I have a good definition for what content I want or do I need help with that? The more time that is needed for each of the pieces, the more the project will cost. Large companies usually have many stakeholders involved in a project. That alone can drive the strategy component into five figures.

As each project is unique and the starting points vary greatly (redesign v. new site, e-commerce capabilities, lots of content already written v. starting from scratch, etc) it is impossible to give a quote without knowing the details of a project. We are happy to provide custom quotes and are also currently offering a FREE one hour strategy session.

1) Clear goals: Do you know exactly what you are trying to achieve with your project? You want to start with a clear definition. Good web development firms are willing to help with this part of the project — at a cost. The more your goals are clearly defined, the less time the web team will spend defining scope, the lower the cost to you. There may be situations in which you would like some help with the definition and strategy. Be sure that you choose a team that has the strong experience in this area. There are many talented folks building sites, but do they see the big picture? Can they suggest better directions and outcomes for you?

2) Scope: You want to be sure to define what will be included in the new site. How large is your project? How much content will you be presenting? What types of transactions need to be available? Are you interested in extras like flash? The web firm will ask you these questions. Again, if you are clear about what you want, the definition phase of the project will be greatly simplified. If you want more guidance about the scope, be sure that your vendor is capable of working with you on a strategy.

3) Assets: These are the things that make up the look and content of the site – copy and images. How will the copy be written? Will you provide all of the content or do you need someone to help with copywriting? At a minimum you will want an editor to review everything before you go live. What about photos? Do you have high-quality photos of your subject, will you be using stock photos or will you need custom shots for your site? If you are not sure, be sure to talk this over with your web firm before you get started.

4) Audience: Who will be using your site? How will they find you? This seems pretty straightforward, but often there are unrealistic expectations about how much traffic your site will get. If you need people to find you through search engines, a lot of attention must be paid to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This starts before the first design is drawn or line of code is written. You may love flash designs, but they do not work well for SEO purposes. On the other hand, maybe you have a built in audience and you do not want to register high on search engines — then a flash site may be perfect for you.

5) Maintenance: It seems silly to be thinking about maintenance of a site before you even get started, but this is the key to success. We assume that you want people to use your site for whatever purpose it was designed. Usually this means that it needs to be current. Even the simplest brochure-ware site must keep all of the information current. Who is going to do this and how? Are you contemplating a site with a content management system to make updates easy for anyone to do? If you want people to return to your site frequently you will need content that is fresh, valuable and enticing. How are you going to accomplish this?

There are many ways that we can help you to create a beautiful website that meets your goals. We are especially good at bringing ideas forward during the strategy phase. If you would just like to talk to someone experienced about your project, we offer a one-hour FREE strategy session. Sign up for yours; we look forward to hearing from you!

To create an effective online ad for Google Adwords, your ad should be structured so that line one is the Headline, line two will be the benefits statement and line three will focus on features. Take a look at these 3 ads:

Headline

The first line is the Headline, the offer. Do not be generic in your message! Be direct and specific and get to the point because you have less than one second to connect with a reader. Take a look ad the ads above. The first ad’s message is innovation, the second ad is specific to type of bicyclist and the third and is brand specific. Each of these ads are about bicycles but are targeted to a specific audience. The reader can tell right away if your store will meet their needs. This saves the reader time and will save you money by avoiding click-throughs by consumers who do not match your target market.

Benefits

The second line is your benefits statement, how the customer will benefit from your product. If your prices are lower than others, then say so. If the main benefit is quality then say so. Again you have less than a second to show the benefit. Make it clear and concise. In each of these ads the benefit is clear. The first ad focus’ on no hassle fun, the second ad focus’ on price and the third ad focus’ on innovation and price.

Feature

The last line should emphasize the primary feature of your product. The feature line should state why the benefit line is important. Take a look at the ads above. The first ad appeals to what a rider of the chainless bicycle will experience. The second ad focus’ on inventory (one stop shopping) and the third ad instills confidence and a call to action. What they all have in common is that each appeals to an emotion. The headline and benefits line appeal to the intellectual side, the feature line, the experiential line is what will lead the reader to take action.

Ad Testing

With Google Adwords, you can create ad variations to test which is most successful. Use this feature! It will allow you to test different ad variations to find the one that works best for you. In many cases, one word may be the difference between a successful ad campaign. For example, a campaign for exercise equipment may read “enhance stamina” and another ad may read “enhances stamina”. You’d think that there is not much difference but in fact, the ad reading “enhances stamina” did much better. Why? Because “enhance stamina” says that if you do something, there is a possibility of better stamina. “Enhances stamina” says that the exercise equipment will enhance you stamina for you.

Creating an successful ad is only one step in converting a sale. You can convince a customer to click on your ad but if your landing page is not designed to convert a sale, you’ll have wasted your money. More on this in an upcoming article, Creating a Landing Page.