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Website Designers
Website design is a vital part of modern business.
It affects every company with an online presence - and every modern company needs an online presence.
The design of your website will impact your brand's reputation, sales and overall success. This will be true whether it's a simple information-based website or a complex ecommerce site.
A poorly-designed website reduces the accessibility of your business, making it harder for you to make money both online and in any real-world locations than your competitors with professionally-designed web presences. It goes without saying that a business with no website is missing out on a huge opportunity for growth.
Even if you already have a website, re-designing it for is one of the best ways for businesses to reach new audiences and expand. A website designer can add features to your existing site such as mobile-responsiveness or a user log in portal.
If you’re interested in learning more about website design then keep reading.
For free tailored price quotes from top web designers in the UK, complete the form above. We'll help you to find designers that suit your specific needs, and give you the chance to compare price quotes to find the best deal.
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- Website Price Quotes - Web Design Costs Table - Professional Website Designer Benefits - DIY Website Builders -
- Why is Website Design Important? - Web Designer FAQs - Web Design Misconceptions - Freelance Website Designers -
Website Design Price Quotes
Website Design Price Quotes
Website design is crucial for any small business, but so is a balanced budget. Thankfully you don't need to pay a fortune to get a quality website. If you only need 3 or 4 key pages, plus the homepage, there are an increasing number of UK based companies that offer low-cost solutions. A small, affordable website can still have a significant impact on your customers- if it's well-designed.
On the other hand, a higher initial investment could pay off in the long run. An advanced website package will give you greater control over your content, as you can include a Content Management System (CMS) in the design. This gives you the ability to update parts of the content yourself. Using a CMS is similar to using a website-builder such as Wix, but without the limitations of generic pre-set templates, and with no hidden extra costs.
Opting for an advanced website means you won't need to sacrifice features either. Want Google Analytics integration to track your site's performance? Done. Want Google Maps to suggest your business to local searchers? Done. These kinds of features aren't covered by basic web design packages, or builders.
Every business is unique, and so will be the requirements for your website. For example, a news site or blog will require a vastly different style to an ecommerce store. Web designers can suggest and adapt features to suit your particular needs. Of course, as your list of requested features increases, so will the complexity and total price. But your chosen designer will talk you through exactly what you can expect before starting the project.
The table below gives a rough idea of the price range for various website design packages.
To get bespoke quotes and find a website designer for your business today, use Approved Index's simple form.
| 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 no costs, visit our How Much Does A Website Cost? page.
Professional Website Designer Benefits
Professional Website Designer Benefits
Many businesses start off by creating their own website, using a drag and drop builder. These are easy to use and free to sign up to. They can be a great starting point for individuals or blogs.
However, you should bear in mind that there are certain limitations to using these tools. For example, you'll need to upgrade to a monthly paid membership to access many of the features, and you won't be able to deviate far from the assigned templates.
What's more, the total time spent on building your own website will greatly exceed the turnaround time in which a professional could create your custom design.
DIY Web Design
If you do want to attempt to build your own website, Approved Index recommends the following sites:
However, for a growing business searching for a sleek, professional and customised result, it is likely to be more valuable to opt for a designer.
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.
Professional Website Design
As with many other job roles, website design requires various specialist 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:
- Multimedia design
- Interactive computing
- CSS, HTML, XHTML and XML
- Flash
- Java
Amateur website designers without these skills, or using DIY tools, simply won't be able to keep up with the industry's everchanging trends and technological developments. 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.
Choosing a Professional Website Designer
Deciding on the right website designer should not just be a case of picking the cheapest quote. 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 89% of the UK population, and 99% of 16-34 year olds, now considered to be ‘regular internet users’, websites have never been more important. Whatever industry you operate in, a large number of your clients and potential clients will be viewing websites daily. 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
"How do I 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. An online search can tell you a lot about a company, 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 get along and communicate properly.
Preparation for a New Website Design
"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
"What are the key milestones in a web design project?"
A professional website design company will take your idea from a 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.
"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.
Website Design Misconceptions
Website Design Misconceptions
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 basic and restrictive templates that you can’t customise.
- To make these websites fit for representing your business and to get the most out of them, you will 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.
Working with an Individual Website Designer
When you work with web design company you will likely be assigned a particular individual as your main point of contact. They will work hard to understand your needs and ensure the company achieves the best result you could have hoped for.
In some circumstances, they may even be the sole designer working on your site. Of course solo website designers can work alone too, freelancing. You may want to approach an individual to become your website designer, rather than a company.
This is not generally the ideal choice for a business, but it can be an effective one in some cases. Just remember that without the resources or backing of a company, an individual designer may take more time or have restrictions as to what they can achieve, dependent on their skill set. You'll have to make sure you feel comfortable working with them on a personal level too; they'll be the only person to go to with your ideas, feedback, or should you encounter any problems.
If you do want to work with an individual designer, consider the following factors:
- 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
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.
It may seem an arduous task to find the right website designer for your business, but it is important to ensure quality.
Approved Index can help you make the right decision.
Tell us your needs and we'll match your business with up to four Approved suppliers we know could be a good fit. We'll then offer you the chance to compare their best prices and deals. We do not charge for this comparison and there is no obligation to purchase when you use our service.
Approved Index only works with top-quality, vetted web design agencies to ensure that the service you receive is exceptional.
Further Reading
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