Whether you are just starting out in business or the time has come to go digital, building a high quality website is vital to a thriving 21st century business. Whether you are going to use ecommerce or you would like to educate your customers and open up communication channels, you need to ensure you work with someone who can deliver on your needs, and relay that in a way that delivers what the online world demands from your web presence.

Using social media, online advertising and digital marketing strategies are all well and good, but it could all be for nothing if your website is not meeting today’s web standards along with your customer’s high expectations. For start-ups and small businesses, it takes much more than simply getting a website up and running to really leverage off the online world and all it has to offer. Do things right from the start to reap the rewards of being an online savvy business.

Building an attractive, easy to navigate, and responsive (mobile, tablet optimised) website is just one of the ways a designer can ensure a website is going to meet expectations.

Finding a balance between good looks and state of the art “extras” is paramount. Sometimes the simple yet attractive site is the best while in other situations, the site with a few extra mod cons is the way to go. For example, if your target audience is 60 years + there is no need for anything fancy, just a nice, vibrant website with good sized text. However, if your target audience is 20 – 30 year old online gamers, a few extra mod cons will not go unnoticed and will not confuse the user.

The next major hurdle for website designers is to ensure that website visitors can find the information they are looking for without being confused or mislead. It may seem like a great idea to add pop up ads or pop up subscription boxes, but for smaller sites, this can easily lead to visitors leaving before they’ve really taken any time to look around. The goal is always to provide visitors with the information they want and encourage them to make contact with the business or, in the case of ecommerce, feel enough trust in the business and enough confidence to make a purchase.

In a nutshell, finding a website design service that will take the time to understand you, your business, and your customers, and use all that information to create a website that’s fit for purpose is what you need to look for. You won’t find these things from the cheapest designer in town, but you probably won’t get them from the most expensive either. Take advantage of free consultations and pick a designer who has your best interests at heart!