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Website Designers
Website design is a vital part of modern business that affects every company with an online presence - whether that be a simple information-based website or a complex ecommerce website where all of a company’s selling activity takes place.
Given the continued rise of the internet thanks to increased access to desktop and mobile devices, failing to consider website design as a part of your overall business strategy is almost certain to lead to losses, whether that be in lost potential revenue, or in lost brand engagement. Not only does this mean that you will lose revenue and accessibility in the short-term, but it may also lead to long-term concerns if you fall too far behind your competitors to catch up in the future. Moving online is a process that is better adopted early.
Looking into website design is one of the best ways for businesses to expand online and keep up with modern markets. If you’re interested in learning more about website design then keep reading.
Otherwise, if you would like to get free quotes from top web designers, complete the form above to start comparing options.
- Small Website Design Costs - Medium Website Design Costs - Large Website Design Costs - Cheap Web Design - Web Design Benefits - Web Design Misconceptions - Web Designer Questions Web Design Considerations -
Website Design Prices
Website Design Prices
Website design is crucial for any small business, but so is a balanced budget. A professional web designer can be expensive but you do not always need to pay a fortune to get a quality website, thanks to the increasing number of UK based companies that offer low-cost solutions.
A cheaper, simple website can lead to new customers if it’s created properly, and it can play a significant role in boosting your company’s profile. If you are a small or new business looking to get started online then affordable web design is likely to be what you’re interested in.
The web design packages available cover a whole range of features and will be suited to certain businesses, dependant on what kind of functionality or service they are looking to provide to their visitors. A news site or blog, for example, will require very different features to an ecommerce store.
| Type of Site | Cost |
|---|---|
| Basic Website | £400 - £800 |
| Advanced Website | £1,000 - £4,000 |
| Complex Website | £2,000 - £7,000 |
| Bespoke Website Applications | £2,500 - £12,000 |
| Ecommerce Website | £300 - £2,000 (Extra to website cost) |
| Website Redesign | Dependent on requirements |
For more information, visit our How Much Does A Website Cost? page.
Professional Website Designer Benefits
Professional Website Designer Benefits
For many website owners, and business owners with budgets in particular, the idea of paying someone else to create your website is off putting. If you feel like that though, you really need to consider the payoffs and benefits of hiring professional help. You can create your own website, but if you don’t have the tools or skills necessary to do it properly then you might just be throwing money away.
It will cost money for someone to design your website and put it together but for the majority of businesses this investment comes with a payoff. The profits made from a well designed and successful website are often more than enough to make up for the expenses that you will pay out on it.
DIY Web Design
It can be very tempting to attempt to design a website yourself. But as we’ve mentioned already, the money you save by doing so could very well be wasted anyway, whether that be in potential revenue you’ve missed out on, or in the time and money spent on equipping yourself to be able to create a basic and unintuitive website.
Professional website designers have spent years gaining the skills needed to make your site a success, and they will have a number of resources and tools at their disposal to help. This kind of experience, and these resources, are not something that can be replicated by someone with no previous practice.
As with any other job role, website design requires various skills. Listed below are just a few of the ones taken from the UK government’s National Careers Service site:
- An understanding of web programming and scripting
- A working knowledge of web design applications
- An understanding of technical web elements
For more complicated websites, designers will also need a strong awareness of various other areas and skills:
- Web development
- Multimedia design
- Interactive computing
- CSS, HTML, XHTML and XML
- Flash
- Java
Unfortunately for unskilled or amatuer DIY website designers, the online world is changing every day, meaning that as years go by there will likely be more ongoing work and updating needed to make sure your site stays as positively impactful as it can be.
If you aren’t in the industry and keeping up with these trends then there is a good chance that your website is going to fall by the wayside without help from professionals.
Professional Website Design
For businesses willing to employ a talented website designer, the issues mentioned above are not going to be a concern. A professional web designer will also be to create a complex and bespoke website that you would be unlikely to have the skill to create yourself.
Professional website designers already have the skills needed to create your website, and they’ll continue developing these skills in the future so that, if extra work is needed to bring your site in line with new industry standards, they will be equipped to help at that stage too.
The most important factor to bear in mind when you’re deciding whether or not to hire a web designer is quality. Most people would not try to build a real life, brick and mortar shop from scratch without help from an experienced builder, so why take that risk with your online property?
Hiring a professional website designer is the best way for a business owner to make sure that the walls, front and roof of their online store stay in place.
Choosing a Professional Website Designer
Deciding on the right website designer should not just be a case of picking the cheapest quote, and choosing will require you to know what you want from your website.
There is a great deal of variety between companies and the services they offer. Some agencies will be able to quote you for a website design package that includes additional services that some cheaper quotes may not include. These packages could include web hosting and email marketing services, for example, or graphic design options that can be used on and offline.
There are also considerations to be made in regards to what kind of site you want created. Some designers may specialise in ecommerce sites - which would benefit someone planning to build an online shop - whereas other agencies may be better equipped to create content management systems (CMS), which would better suit regular content and news publishers.
Why is Website Design Important?
With 85% of the UK population now considered to be ‘regular internet users’, websites have never been more important. Whatever industry you operate in, it’s likely that a large number of your clients and potential clients will be using the internet. By not having an online presence for your business, you’re as good as gifting customers to your competition.
Unfortunately, just having a website is not enough to guarantee that you will start bringing in new customers. Consumers are more web savvy than they ever have been before, meaning that businesses need to ensure that the website they create is well designed and usable.
Consumers aren’t only more web savvy though, they are also less patient - according to a study by Microsoft, the average attention span is now 8 seconds, and other studies have made it clear that a visitor makes their mind up about a website in the first second or two. If your site doesn’t grab their attention straight away, then there is a good chance you will lose visitors.
Of course, designing and developing a website requires a number skills - this is where professional web designers can help.
The Importance of Good Web Design
Imagine that you are setting up a shop on your local high street. It’s likely that you’ll want to make it as attractive and appealing to passers-by as possible. You’ll want easy access so that your customers can come straight in, and you will probably consider which elements - including your signage and window dressing - will be most likely to appeal to your target audience. A florist, for example, will want to present their shop in a very different way to an electronics store.
Your website is like your shop front on the internet and Google, Bing and the other search engines are the high street. You would not board up your windows and take the signs down off your real-life store and still expect people to come in, so why would you let your website design slip?
There is a good chance that your website will be the first point of contact for potential customers, and it’s important that you bear that in mind when you’re creating one. Whether they arrive at your site through a search engine or by social media, it’s essential that you guarantee the web page they find appeals to them.
Visitors should be able to find what they are looking for, and they should be able to do so easily. If they can’t, then they will probably go somewhere else where the information is better laid out and easier to get to.
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Web Design Questions
Web Design Questions
Perhaps one of the most important questions: how you find a good website design agency?
This is something that will matter a great deal to anybody considering having a site designed, especially as there are a range of companies that offer these services. However, there are certain considerations that can help you to choose the company that is most suitable to you.
- Portfolio. Take a look at the agencies’ portfolios. Do you think it demonstrates good design? If it does, do you think the design it demonstrates is suitable for the plans that you have? Has there been appropriate attention to detail? Spelling and grammar mistakes in a portfolio can be a bad sign.
- Reviews. Sometimes an online search can tell you a lot about a company, especially if that company is well known. An impressive portfolio is one thing, but as it’s always developed internally less positive examples of past work may have been hidden. Online reviews can be helpful, although it’s worth bearing in mind that people tend to review more often when they have had a bad experience than when they have a good one - because of this, reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt.
- Activity. How active is the agency in its marketing? Does it have a blog that it updates regularly? Does it use Facebook or Twitter? An online presence is a good sign, because it shows that the agency practices what they preach. It can also demonstrate the level of resources available.
- Team members. Normally you’ll find information about the team on their ‘About Us’ page and it’s good to take note. Bear in mind that you could be working with them for the next few months, if that turns out to be the case you will want to know that you can along and communicate properly.
What will the website designers need from me?
Although they are the ones creating the website, the designers you work with will need details from you too. Ideally you will provide the agency you choose with a document or brief which sets out what you want from your site, including any specific design or functionality elements that you want included.
The advantage of a brief is that it provides the designers with guidelines to refer to as they are working, but it also provides you with a point of reference when the work is completed and you are evaluating it personally. Don’t be daunted by the idea of writing a brief - using plain language and including images from other sites that you admire is often more than good enough to make clear your ideas.
Before you sign or accept any quotation, double-check what is included or excluded as this is important for maintaining an accurate web design budget. You may also want to ask if they offer any payment plans. A good website designer should do their best to accommodate you as a new client by being flexible with their terms and conditions where possible.
Web Design Basics
A professional website design company will take your idea from concept to a live, fully functional product. There are three major components of any web design project, including:
- Design. Getting the right look for your site is essential for attracting the kind of customer you are looking for. Design also affects functionality and usability. A bad design can put people off staying on the page.
- Website Development. A website with an online shop, database or CMS requires selection and integration of the right software platform to support the necessary functions. Some software is more expensive than others and, as a general rule of thumb, the more complicated the site, the more money and time it will take to develop.
- Web Hosting. Your website needs somewhere to live, a server on which to reside so that it can be accessed at all times without long loading times or visitor capacity issues. Most web design companies will be able to set your site up with a hosting provider, or else provide one themselves.
Website Design Considerations
Website Design Considerations
As with a number of specialist industries, web design is something of a mystery to people without direct experience in it. To help build your understanding, we’ve put together a list of a few debunked website design myths for future reference.
You can make a website for free
- Although this isn’t exactly wrong, it is misleading. Most ‘free websites’ are just basic and restrictive templates that you can’t customise.
- To make these websites fit for public consumption and to get the most out of them, you will almost certainly have to subscribe and pay for upgrades and features.
- In the majority of cases, ‘free websites’ are sales tools created to sell design and functionality add-ons.
There are a few platforms like Wordpress where ‘free websites’ are available - but even on these you will need to pay for your domain, for themes and for certain other options too if you want a professional and functional site.
Flash websites are the best
- Most website designers would disagree with this statement. Although Flash can be useful for certain sites, with movie hosts potentially benefiting for example, it is counter-intuitive for a number of reasons.
- Flash is not supported by iPads and can’t be read by Google. If you design and publish a Flash site, then you are instantly cutting accessibility down by a significant margin.
- The majority of web designers and developers would recommend HTML5 for those people looking to create a dynamic and accessible website.
There are some instances where a Flash website would make sense, but it’s rarely the best choice. If your web designer recommends it, then make sure to find out exactly why.
My website will work perfectly on mobile devices
- This may or may not be true, but it depends on whether or not the website has been designed and published correctly.
- To make sure your site is responsive and usable on mobile devices you’ll need to work with a designer capable of this kind of work.
- The two options for a mobile friendly site are: creating a separate site or mobile app that loads on mobile devices; or using a responsive website design that causes your site to display differently according to the device being used.
Mobile devices now account for a significant portion of all web traffic, so optimising your site for them is vital. It is possible to succeed based on your desktop traffic alone, but the likelihood is that you’re missing out if you don’t have a site that is also easy to use on a phone.
If you are planning to have a website designed for your business, there a few other considerations to bear in mind as well as questions to ask the website designer you work with.
How quickly can I get a website designed for my business?
How quickly your website is designed will depend on a few factors. For some sites, you could be live in a day, although you’re unlikely to have had all of your needs met.
A realistic timeframe from a professional website design company is likely to be at least a couple of weeks. A bigger or more sophisticated website may take longer than that to be designed and put together depending on how many pages and the kind of features included.
Will I be able to edit the content on my website?
If your website is built using a content management system (CMS) then you will be able to change, add and edit pages as you see fit. The most common CMS platforms are Wordpress, Drupal and Joomla. Using any of these CMS platforms will mean that, if you need need work done in the future, you will have a wider range of web design or development companies to choose from.
As the website owner you would ideally be able to edit, add or remove pages whenever you need to, but it is important to bear in mind that on some sites and with certain structures removing one page could affect the stability of another. If you use categories, for example, that connect several pages, then you will need to be careful when removing or editing the top page to avoid damaging the authority of function of those that lie beneath it.
If adding or removing pages regularly is a function that you are likely to need, then it is important that you mention that to your website designer in your initial consultations.
Find a Website Designer
It might be that, instead of going to a web design agency, you will want to approach an individual to become your website designer. Although this is not always the ideal choice for every company, and it can be an effective one in some cases.
Of course, deciding which website designer to use is a difficult process. There are several considerations to bear in mind though.
- Portfolios speak volumes. If they have a good portfolio, that is a good sign. There is no point using a designer if you do not first see examples of their work. Make sure that the portfolio is accurate and properly accredited. If they cannot prove that they worked on a site, they might not have done.
- Suitability matters. Although good design can offer all that you need, in an ideal world you would also be working with a designer that suits your business. If you have a particular tone that you would like upheld, it may be that some website designers better suit than others.
- Budget. As with any other form of web designer, the budget is important. Knowing that you can afford to pay a designer for the work they are doing is essential.
- Skill is key. Although the considerations above are important, this is probably the one that should matter most. One reason that a lot of businesses opt for web design agencies is because they want a range of skills. With agencies, there are likely to be multiple team members, all of them with particular specialties. If you work with a single designer, they may be unable to complete the work fully if they do not have the specialities that matter.
Compare Website Design Quotes
When you are looking to find a website designer, the considerations above are vital. It may seem an arduous task to find the right person, but taking this time is the best way to ensure quality.
In the digital age a website is no longer an optional extra, it is an essential marketing and selling tool. It can attract people to your brand, provide them with information about your products and services, help you to market, and even allow for direct purchases and revenue generation.
If you would like to create a website, then comparing quotes from top UK designers is the best way to start. Approved Index compares the companies, services and prices relevant to your specifications so that we can offer you the best prices and deals. We do not charge for this comparison and there is no obligation to purchase when you use our one-minute quote service.
Approved Index only works with top-quality, vetted web design agencies to ensure that the service you receive is exceptional.
Further Reading
Essential Web Designers Articles
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