As a London web designer....
As a London web designer, I specialise in creating affordable, user-friendly, easy to navigate and professional web designs that will promote your small business with simplicity and style. My focus is on a creative, tasteful approach to website design that will enhance your company's visibility on the web, rather than scare your visitors away.
Custom Website Design & Construction
Whether you need a basic website that simply lets the world know how to get in contact with you, or a more elaborate custom website design with online shopping capabilities, I can design a site to meets your needs.
My services include developing and implementing all elements on your website, from organizing your materials into a logical sequence, to visual design, to getting you onto the web with a reliable web site host. In addition, every web site I design and build includes basic search engine optimization (SEO) to help boost your ranking in the search engines such as Google.
Your website's "look and feel" can be something we work on from scratch, or something based on ideas you have seen in other websites that you like.
Email Set-up
Are you mind boggled about how to set up and retrieve your e-mail? Do you need more than one e-mail address for your company or use? I can arrange this crucial service for you, as well as teach you how to access and reply to your e-mails from my office or while on location.
Website Maintenance
It's possible that you or your staff may have the capabilities to make updates to your website after it's finished. If so, I'm happy to show you how to do this. Or, if you you prefer, I can take care of the updates to your site.
Updates are billed at an hourly rate, with a minimum charge of 1/4 hour. Depending on the amount of work involved, we can arrange billing on a monthly or quarterly basis. For most websites, routine updates do not amount to more than a couple hours each quarter. If you think that your website will need updates on a frequent basis, you may opt to enter into a quarterly maintenance contract.
Content Writing for Websites
One of the more difficult aspects of putting a small business website together can be writing the content. For many people, writing about themselves or their business is just not something they usually excel at. Additionally, website content should be written in a way that is "search engine friendly"
Having a site that is Search engine friendly/Optimisation helps generate traffic that can lead to business growth. And increased traffic to your web site can help you achieve your business goals.
If needed, I can put you in touch with affordable website content writers that can present your business to your website visitors in a professional manner.
Web site planning
There are many things to take into account when planning your website design. By spending a few moments thinking about some of the basics, I can get a better idea of what you're after.
Please don't feel obligated to come up with absolute answers; this is simply intended to give me a starting point in our discussions. I recommend you download and print this page Click Here (PDF file) so you can study it at your leisure.
- Who is your target audience? What are your expectations for having a web site? Are you aiming your site to the general public? Professionals? The elderly? Artists?
- How do you envision the organization of information; Amount of pages? Even the smallest web sites usually require a few pages...a Home page, About Us page and Contact us page. Perhaps your web site needs a few pages to display your products, or a Frequently Asked Questions page.
- Text/Content: This one is very important. Do you have text written for your web site, or at least a basic idea of what you will say on the various pages? Quite often, this is a stumbling block for small businesses, since many people are not comfortable with their writing skills. In some cases, it may be wise to hire someone with expertise in writing web site content.
- Visual Design: Most web sites require at least some graphic elements. Is there a specific color scheme you would like to use, or a particular logo? Do you want complex graphics or would you prefer a simple, sparse look for your site? What kind of "feel" do you want your web site designer to create for your site?
- Are there other web sites that you like? It's perfectly acceptable to use other web sites as inspiration for your own. Obviously, we can't just use someone else's web design, but using another design to stimulate ideas is fine. Keep a list of websites that you like and try to note what it is it that you like about them. Is it the color? The way the information is organized? The simplicity of the graphics? The flashy, high-tech look?
- Photos: Do you need photographs of your products, pack shots, personnel, facility, etc.? Are these photos already created and web optimised, or will you need photographic work done also?
- Video: Do you need your products videoed for youtube, personnel, facility, etc.? Are these videos already created and web ready, or will you need video work done also? YouTube is a great free service to promote your business.
- Forms: Do you need any pages on your web site that collect information from your visitors and then automatically forward the information to you in email, such as my own Contact form?
- "Shopping cart / E-commerce": Do you want to sell products online via an automated "shopping cart"? Or will a simple "fill in the blanks" form work just as well? Depending on your needs and the number of products, this can be very simple to very complex.
- Number of products: About how many individual products do you want to sell on your website? Take into account different styles, colors, sizes of a particular item.
Getting Started with Your Web Site
Perhaps you want a web site but have no idea what the first steps are. Or maybe you've worked up a detailed plan about how you want your web site design to look. Which ever stage you're at, I'm more then happy to discuss your ideas with you.
To help you in getting the process going, I have created a, very generalized outline of the process of getting your web site online, as well as some of the things you should think about in advance. Click Here! (PDF file) for a printer-friendly version.
In your search for a website designer, you will find a large selection of London website design companies that often charge excessive fees, even for a simple small business site. My custom web design services are highly affordable and are intended to get your website online with a minimum of effort. If you know you need a web site but have no idea where to start, you're far from alone. I offer a wealth of expertise in the full-range of web design services necessary, from organizing and designing your web page to setting up web site hosting services and promoting your web site with online search engines.
Browse through my website design portfolio, then contact me and we can discuss the many possibilities. Having your own small business web site is so much easier than you would ever think.