Smart, clean and functional websites that your company can afford
There are many things you need to consider when building a website, from how it looks to how people use it, and how well it works with search engines.
Each site build starts the same way, gathering information. What are your goals? Who are you trying to reach? How can we make you stand out against your competitors? Who are your competitors? Where do you see your company being in five years time? Only when we have worked out answers to questions like these can we start thinking about the site itself.
JMD can design sites of just about any size, from a few pages (a single page even) through to large content managed or e-commerce sites. They all share the same things in common though, they’re usable, stylish and can be found by your customers.
First impressions are vital, and as the saying goes, you don’t get a second chance to create a good first impression. It’s therefore extremely important that your website looks attractive and interesting. There’s more however to building a good website than just making something that looks good on the surface.
The visual design has to appeal to your target audience and be attractive, clear and easy to understand. It has to lead the eye to the most important parts of the site while communicating a sense of quality and reliability. JMD aims to design sites that are elegant and engaging but are built in such a way that they work well with search engines and are usable for people with disabilities.
The key to an effective website user experience lies in understanding how people use websites and in making sure that the site is laid out in a clear and obvious manner. Usability is an extremely important part of the web design process. JMD tries to design simple solutions to complex problems, making sure that sites are easy to use and that content is always displayed in an understandable fashion.
Often it’s the small things that make a big difference. Do the sites colours work well together and make it comfortable for viewers? Has visual clutter been kept to a minimum so that your content is easy to find? Are the links to your main products or services more prominent than links to less important parts of the site? Is the site content interesting and informative? Has the site been designed in a way that allows people with disabilities to use it comfortably?
All of these things matter when trying to produce a website that really works.
We will listen and try to understand where you want your company to go and what image you want to portray. If your company already has an established brand we will try to provide a solution that is both attractive and stays within your existing branding guidelines. If your company does not yet have a strong brand or needs its branding refreshed we can provide a solution that communicates your values to your target audience in a modern and effective manner. We’ll make sure it works well online and offline too, on your stationery, on your signage and in your print advertising and promotional material. Your message should be clear, consistent, memorable and say at once what kind of company you are.
Content Development/Copywriting
It goes without saying that every effort should be made to make the content on your site interesting and informative. However there’s no point in having a website with beautifully written content if nobody is visiting your site. Search engines are looking at your content and they read things slightly differently to you or I.
An important part of writing for websites is writing in a way that works for search engines like Google and Bing. You need to develop content that is rich in keywords . Ideally your site will be optimised so that every service or product will have its own page, with that page featuring the correct amount of keyword rich text (there are many other factors you need to take into consideration as well though).
JMD can write search engine friendly content for your site that means that your traffic won’t just be landing on your homepage, it will be landing directly on the product page itself, helping you convert traffic into sales. Words are important, choose them and use them well.
JMD tries to keep things simple and will not bamboozle you with techno-jargon. All you really need to know is that all sites adhere to the latest technical standards and every effort is made to ensure that sites are as search engine friendly as possible. No corners are cut and every site is unique.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
I’m sure your company has at some point been contacted by an “SEO specialist” who guarantees that he can get you to number one in Google for a bargain fee. In fact he knows exactly how to do it because he used to work for Google and knows where all the back doors are. Obviously it’s a scam and these guys really give SEO a bad name.
Getting to the top of the search engines relies on many different factors but you won’t get there at all without having a properly built and structured site with excellent content. Well researched keywords, proper use of title tags, meta data and a well considered linkbuilding strategy are the cornerstone of search engine optimisation.
Content Management Systems (CMS)
Regularly updating your site is crucial to its success. JMD can work with you to update your site with fresh optimised content on a regular basis but if you want to change content yourself then you need a Content Management System (CMS). For a small additional fee JMD can add an easy to use CMS to your site, or working with partners, we can build a custom Content Management System tailored to your exact requirements.
You're busy. The last thing you should have to worry about is hosting your new website. So in addition to designing your site we can supply you with high quality, ultra reliable web hosting, giving you total assurance that when customers visit your site it will perform as intended, every time.
All of your hosting requirements can be accommodated, including registration of domain names and the setting up of all the email addresses you require.
Full instructions on how to configure your computer to access your new email accounts and easy to follow one to one technical support are all part of the package.
Website Design