Good web design guide

There are literally thousands of web design agencies or companies offering web design services but we think that there are not too many companies that offer really good web design solutions for clients. Below we are going to list our definition of good web design (our web design theorem if you like).

1. understand your client's business

The very first thing any web design agency must do before embarking on a web design project is to try and really understand the client they are working for, as well as the challenges that business faces. We try to do this by discussing our client's business goals for the new website in our initial meetings with the client. We believe understanding the client and defining clear project objectives from the start of the project is necessary to be able to measure a project's success.

2. Professional Project Management

All our projects from the very small to the very large are professionally project managed. Professional website project management is very important to make sure a project runs smoothly. Project deliverables must be delivered on time and to budget for a project to truly be a success. Making sure the project stays on track and managing situations where the project changes is all part of good approach to project management. We have experience in both Prince 2 and Agile methodologies for large enterprise grade projects.

3. Graphic design and multimedia that fits your company

Creative Theorem as a company is very design focused. We would love to be able to produce high end gorgeous looking websites for all our clients but know that our client's priorities must come first. The reality is that for many companies having a website that either makes them money or saves them money is more important than having a website that looks very nice but doesn't improve their business.

At phase 1 we will define the priorities of the website and at all times aim to strike a balance between a website that looks great but also works well and can be found easily in search engines.

4. Good web design is about good accesiability and usability

Front-End web design is as much about human computer interaction as graphic design. A good web design agency must be able to design easy to use user interfaces as well as websites that can be understood by all different types of users and conforms to the Disibilities Discrimination Act. Key to this is developing websites to industry standard XML with Cascading Style Sheets so that web pages can be read across many different devices including screen readers.

5. Build with search engines in mind

We believe it is important for most clients to have their websites optimised to be found on search engines. For customers who have not had a website before, this allows them to have a whole new sales and marketing channel bringing them business. Search Engine Optimisation kind of has a bad press as many of the first SEO companies used techniques to optimise their websites that were perceived as trying to manipulate where they ranked in search engines. Many of those websites ended up being banned. We believe good SEO is about providing relevant content that people are going to want to read. Inbound links to your site will come naturally if the content is useful. It is also important that sites are developed properly to allow search engines to index as much of the site possible and search for relevant keywords.

6. Innovate and make the website different

The web is such a new technology it is constantly evolving allowing people to create new ideas and business models themselves. A website is an opportunity for a business to communicate differently with its customers and also allows for the changing of internal methods and procedures. At the initial meeting stage of the project we try to look at ways web technology can be used to improve our client's business.

7. Good websites are also about compelling content

How do you attract visitors to a website, keep them there longer and keep them returning? The answer is through interesting content that web users will want to interact with. It may not be enough to just talk about how your company was founded and where it is going. The most successful websites give the user a reason to be there recommend it and keep on visiting.

8. Design the website with the future in mind

Websites should be developed using software best practices of extensibility that means the ability to add on future modifications and enhancements to the system without having to perform mayor changes to the website database or business logic. Websites should also be well documented and commented and documented for future reference and modifications by other members of staff.

9. Keep in mind the bottom line

A website is an investment, an investment that requires a good return. We devise entire online marketing campaigns that guarantee a solid return on investment for our clients. We will be more than happy to show you how we can do the same for your business.