Web Design

It goes without saying these days that if you have a business or organization you need a website. So just about everyone has one. Unfortunately, most of them are not that great. Why is that? How hard can it be? Just write up some bullet points about what you do, toss in a photo or 2 into your prebuilt online template and voila! Instant website, just add water! Just kidding, don't let water get on your keyboard, I've found out that it just means it's time for a new keyboard.

Here's the reality, throwing a website together is easy, building quality websites is hard. It's complicated. It takes thought, planning, careful preparation, discussion, editing, trying things, feedback and finally testing. The technical language of the web, HTML, has gotten more complicated with the move toward CSS layout. More and more functionality relies on complex interaction between javascript and advanced HTML. New technologies sprout and blossom like spring flowers, only to be replaced later by the summer flowers of new technologies.

Maybe you are a do-it-yourselfer and you want to create your own website. That's great. Hopefully you have a lot of time free to learn how to build them. You'll need to know the basic design principles that should guide any design, whether in print or online: typography, contrast, layout, hierarchy, grid systems, color relationships. You'll need to know about HTML tags, which you should use and which are out-of-date. You'll need to know all about CSS (cascading style sheets) and how to style any and all elements to get them to work as you wish in the layout (and which don't always work consistently in every browser). CSS gives you a lot of control and power, but it also gives you a great deal of opportunity to create an unworkable mess. One wrong setting can blow apart what are usually very complex layouts.

But enough about that. You have your business to run. Do you really want to deal with learning to build a website as well? And if you think that the online web building applications will solve the technical problems, you have a rude awakening ahead. You still need to know what's going on under the hood of a web page or it can quickly turn into a mess.

Why not contact us instead? We build websites for a living. Clean, organized, professional looking websites with nice colors. Clean code, search engine friendly, easy to use. But most of all, we talk you you first. Talking is the most powerful tool in our web design tool kit. We have to find out what you do and what makes your business/organization unique. Together we figure out what your goals are for the site and how we can best reach them. It really helps to talk about the business and site before we do anything else. You'd be surprised at how helpful it is for a business owner to talk about their business. It can be eye opening to have to distill the business into simple, short concepts. It doesn't matter if you don't know much about computers. All you need to know is your business and what you're trying to do. We are your consultant in the process and collaborate with you every step of the way to develop a website that is perfectly suited to your unique business or organization.

But it doesn't end there. We don't just build websites, we help our clients create a comprehensive online marketing program, with their website as the dynamic hub. Already have a Facebook page? A twitter account? Want to send out marketing emails? These and more work more efficiently when they are coordinated with your website.

So, if you're at the stage where you want a world-class website at a down-to-earth price, contact us today! We'll provide a low-pressure, no-obligation consultation so you can decide if we're the right company to help you.