Website Design is Important
Small businesses are no longer limited to a website that looks like a small business. Affordable, quality website design is available for the do-it-yourselfer or the budget-minded business owner. Even companies with a single employee can look like a million-dollar enterprise with a few tips, a little money and time.
You can view our DIY Software Packages or Affordable Website Design Packages for further details.
One of the most important aspects of an affordable website design is that it must be fast-loading. While many people are on high-speed connections, you don’t want to alienate those that are on slow dial-ups by owning a site that takes too long to bring up. Less is absolutely more in this case – less content, less graphics and simplistic design is best. This is a general rule to website design however we are able to build websites and extract as much code as possible to make site run smooth, fast, user friendly and above give your internet presence the professional feel with Search Engine Optimisation built in.
The layout should be clean, neat and uncluttered. White space will actually enhance the look and feel of your site. Keep your visitors focus on your content or products rather than fancy mouse trails or flashing, neon lights.
Keep it consistent. All of the pages should have a basic design. Consider changing the colours while keeping the buttons in the same alignment. You don’t want to keep your visitors guessing as to what the next page might look like; you want visitors to see what other products or services you offer. This should be the goal of any affordable website design.
Too many links and buttons can clutter your pages. If you have more than a few choices, utilize a drop down menu or fly-outs from your main topics. Consider a horizontal graphic-rich menu along the top of the page and contextual links to the same sections along the bottom of your page. Repeat this throughout the site.
Add some graphics and effects but use them sparingly. You will notice that we use effects on almost all the images on this site. We do this as we know that if you roll over an image and something changes you are more likely to look or even click the image. We also know that this site has been designed to comply with certain search engine criteria which will help overall search engine rankings.
Avoid sounds unless your product or service absolutely requires it. Some passive interactions with guests are fine but don’t overdo it. A survey, poll, guest book, calendar or newsletter sign-up is great and not invasive if spread out over the entire site.
If you planning an affordable website, design ideas can be hard to come by. Visit large businesses in the same industry you are in (for computers, visit Apple and IBM; booksellers should take a gander at Barnes & Noble and Borders sites.) Take notes listing what you like and dislike about each site. Look at color schemes, interactivity, menu layout and how graphics are used. Once you have completed this you can then email us the details so that we can either quote you for your website design or even start the initial draft.