Good Web Design is a key component to having a successful business. Having an online presence is no longer optional, and your website is often the first place people interact with your brand. What do you want everyone’s first impression of your business to be like?
As a small business owner, you want a website that clearly and effectively demonstrates who you are and what you can do for potential customers while also grabbing their attention. In fact, according to Forbes, you only have about 10 seconds to leave a lasting impression.
After you’ve met with your designer to go over the basics, they will take a week or two to start designing a sample for you. The only information they have to work with is what you told them in the meeting or in your artwork questionnaire. Sometimes, that information might not have been enough. Sometimes, the wires get crossed and the design doesn’t turn out exactly how you were imagining.
Don’t get discouraged. Don’t get angry. It’s time to get down to work and figure out exactly what you need to do to get your message across to them and get a design that meets your needs.
This is the most important piece of advice in this article. That’s why it’s at the top. When giving feedback to your designer, whether you love it or hate it, you have to be as specific as possible. Don’t beat around the bush or use vague language. They are pretty talented designers, but they can’t read minds.
Providing feedback to your designer about your new website can be challenging. You may not know what lingo to use, or what you are feeling. Take your time, review the design several times. When you feel you’ve had adequate time to review the site and absorb everything that is happening, then it’s time to start providing feedback.
You can use the handy comment function built-in to the page we sent you. This is helpful when making very specific comments. But what about the other questions you may have? Learn how to word your feedback in a constructive way to help your designer.
1. Look at other websites.
To start, look at other websites. Look at your competitors locally and nationally. Look at bad websites and look at amazing websites. This will give you an idea of what you may want to strive for, and what you don’t like.
Note the look, feel, and function of websites you like and don’t like. Having another website to look at could help the designer understand what you are looking for when you aren’t sure how to put it into words.
Choosing a company to design your website can be difficult. With several web agencies in the area, how can you be sure that you are getting the best bang for your buck?
Here are 20 questions to ask your web developer and web designer to ensure that you are getting the site your business deserves.
1. Do you use pre-made templates? Or custom designs?
Many web development companies use pre-made templates. These templates don’t look bad, but your website could look eerily similar to a few others in their portfolio. Be sure to ask if your website will be custom or template.
At Techno Goober, we create both custom websites and template sites. The main difference between the two is the budget. A larger budget receives a custom website, while we use templates on smaller budget designs to save you money. Don’t worry though. We have plenty of templates to choose from that will make your website look one-of-a-kind every time.
You just started a business and are looking to develop a website for your company. What do you do now? Pick a domain name.
Your domain name is the word or phrase that users type into the search bar to visit your website. You might call it the URL (although this is slightly different).
This is everything typed after the www. It does include the .com or .org but does not include anything after the slash like /about/ or /contact/.
Investing in domain names will help your company begin developing an online presence, which will contribute to your success down the road.
We call it an investment because you don’t buy your name outright. You purchase access to it for about one year like renting a parking space in a parking garage.
When should you invest in domain names? Make sure to purchase your domain names early in your business’s lifetime. Domain names get better with time, like aged fine wine.
What if you aren’t ready to focus on online shopping or marketing? Your business will benefit from having an online presence down the road when you want it.
If you wait too long to begin establishing your online presence, your business will be playing catch-up with other brands.
When buying domains, you are investing in your online presence for many years to come. Think ahead. Use this guide to pick and purchase the perfect domain name for your business.
There are a number of phrases we dread hearing from a client. Whenever we hear them, bad things happen. As a client, your goal is to get the best service and receive the best product. To avoid unleashing the wrath of our web developers and designers, do your best to avoid these phrases.
At any given time, the web development team is juggling twenty or thirty projects at a time. Our tech team is often taking care of ten clients a day.
In a busy business like Techno Goober, we find that sometimes it can be difficult to keep up to date on all of our projects. In order to stay up to date, we utilize a number of systems to keep organized like Slack and Dropbox.
Frank Payton, the Uber Goober at Techno Goober, shares his thoughts on contact forms after over 10 years developing websites for one client at a time.
Websites Generate Sales Leads
The core of Techno Goober lies in our ability to produce a quality website that produces leads. The most important reason to have a website is to have an online presence. That online presence lends credibility to your company or organization. It would be nice that your investment resulted in some return though right?
One of the methods for capturing leads from your website has always been the contact form. The goal of the contact form is for the user to fill it out. Then you receive it and contact them resulting in sales. Sounds pretty simple, but the flaws are undeniable.
Over time, I have come to despise this required form of lead generation, but my hatred has put our client’s websites in a better position because of it.
