Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I have had the busiest few months since I became self employed over two years ago! I have been working on several great projects that I can’t wait to share with you soon…

The website design is completely bespoke with a content management system to allow the StressCHECK Training staff to update the content themselves. The website features ‘call to action’ contact forms, latest news blog, examples of client feedback, case studies, RSS Feed and more.

StressCHECK Training were kind enough to provide the following testimonial:

“I would highly recommend Mark Langdale. I had specific ideas about the style of my website and Mark’s patience, flexibility and technical skill brought these ideas to life. I’m really pleased with the service and  intend to use Mark again in the future.”

Estelle Penrose – Director StressCHECK Training

To visit the website please visit www.stresschecktraining.com

The website is designed to act as a communicative portal for prospective and existing members with newsletters, a gallery of photographs, map and more.

Airedale Boat Club were great to work with and supplied some fantastic photography for use on the website. It made sense to try and incorporate as much photography as possible into the design and it really brings the website to life.

Click here to visit the website.

I often get asked the question, “How much is a website?”. There really is no answer to this, it’s a bit like asking “How much is a car?”. Just as cars can be big, small, fast, reliable, luxury, classic or rusty old bangers – websites too come in all shapes and sizes.

Whether you buy a Ferrari, a Volvo or a Range Rover depends on your needs and budget. Similarly, the creation process of a website must also be tailored to your requirements. After a brief discussion, a good web designer will be able to get a feel for what you are looking for and create something that’s right for you.

Look out for the dodgy dealers in both the car and web industry. You don’t want your wheel falling off as you pull away from the car dealership, or a website that doesn’t work!

They should look good and perform well

You wouldn’t show up to a client meeting in a car that’s chugging along with smoke pouring out of the exhaust. You wouldn’t show up to a client meeting in a car with pink and orange multicoloured doors (I hope!).

First impressions count, and it’s very important that your website looks professional and functions well. If a website looks ugly or doesn’t work it reflects badly upon you and could cost you business.

They can help you reach new places

A car helps you to broaden your horizons. A website helps you reach a larger market. Even the most basic website can act as a great shop window for your company. It’s a marketing tool that’s live 24/7 so you never know who might stumble across it.

More and more people use search engines to find the things they need. Hundreds of millions of searches are made on Google per day, so make sure you have a web presence otherwise you might be losing out on customers.

They need topping up

Without petrol a car won’t go anywhere, unless you fancy pushing it. Without fresh content a website starts to look unloved. I once read this summarised very succinctly – “A website is never finished, only abandoned”.

New content keeps your website dynamic and gives your visitors a reason to come back. Furthermore, the major search engines prefer websites with fresh, unique content and give them priority in their rankings.

Whether it’s an article, some research, pieces of advice or just the latest company news, it all helps to keep your site current.

They need crash testing

Before any car is released it goes through rigorous safety testing. A website must also be tested in a variety of different environments. For example, it needs to display correctly on all of the most common internet browsers and it must be accessible for people who use text only browsers and screen readers. It must also be user tested by other people to make sure the navigation is clear and easy to use.

Need a website? Please get in touch and I would be very happy to discuss it further.

Their content managed website is designed to be clean and easy to navigate, with a homepage featuring the latest news about the company. Please visit www.xrsolutions.co.uk for more information.

The website is created with WordPress, so it is maintained entirely by Tom and Dom and it serves as a great platform to interact with their fans, share photographs and media,  promote their sponsors and more.

It’s been great fun working with them to develop the website and I hope it helps to increase their popularity further. Whether you are into football or not, their podcast is well worth a listen (although sometimes not for the faint of heart!) so please visit http://bantamsbanter.com for more information.

Once a simple welcome from the principal, the homepage is now a dynamic communication portal, great for keeping students and parents informed. The clean, non cluttered layout also allows for the inclusion of some of the academy’s important information, such as their outdoor learning program.

Are they still in operation?

It sounds a silly question but in this competitive market a lot of web designers and web companies have ceased trading. Just because a company’s website is live it doesn’t mean that the company is still in existence. If their homepage looks abandoned or the footer of their website says Copyright 2007 then you are probably wasting your time.

Does their website look professional?

They say a plumber’s tap always drips, but if a web designer has a poor web presence it is absolutely unforgivable. Their website should look professional and be easy to use. Some key things to look out for are:

Spelling mistakes – We’re weren’t all junior spelling champions, but with software such as Microsoft Word it’s not hard to make sure that your content is free from errors.

Over SEO – A common mistake that website designers/companies make is to over search engine optimise their websites by filling it with repetitive keywords and phrases. It might give them a minor boost in search engines, but it comes at the expense of looking spammy and unprofessional.

Broken Links – If any of the pages of the website don’t work or say “Coming Soon” then alarm bells should be ringing.

Contact details – Look at the contact email address. If it ends in @hotmail.com @yahoo.com or any other free mailbox service then the chances are they lack technical skills.

Are there examples of live websites they have created?

Every design company should have examples of their past work in a Portfolio/Recent Work section. Furthermore these should be links to live websites. I often see portfolio work that is nothing more than a picture of a website, with no working version available.

Are the websites they have created any good?

Any professional is only as good as the work that they have created in the past. By looking at their past work you will get your best indication of how good they are. Do their websites function well and look professional? Would you be happy if your website was like these?

Do they spam the websites that they create?

It is common for website designers to put a subtle text link back to their homepage at the bottom of the websites that they have created. It shows that they are proud of their work.

Some companies take this too far by spamming their clients’ websites with chunky logos and long winded terms to promote their websites. In my opinion this is very unfair and unprofessional.

What sort of clients do they work with?

Some design companies are bigger and more renowned than others. To find a company that will suit your budget you should look at the clients they have worked with. If their client base includes Nike, Disney and other big names, but you are looking for a website for your local DIY shop then you might be best looking elsewhere.

Don’t be lured in by buzz words, insignificant awards or approvals

There are a lot of buzzwords that web designers and companies might throw in to entice you (SEO, Web 2.0, W3C, CMS etc.). These terms are important in the right context, but are often used to make things sound more flashy than they actually are.

At the time of writing, if you search for Multimedia Designer in Google I am 4^th in the list, but it’s not something I rave on about. In my opinion, if a website is made properly it will naturally be search engine optimised. Google repeatedly advise that websites are designed and built for humans, not search engines!

Look out for silly little awards and graphics saying things like “Approved web designer” – most of them don’t actually mean anything!

Will you be tied into a contract?

You will find that some companies operate differently. Some will hand over all intellectual property rights to your website and some will maintain ownership so that you have to pay an upkeep fee or maintenance contract.

Neither way is necessarily right or wrong, but it’s worth taking note of any pricing structure that will be involved.

Where are they based?

The creation of a website can be done remotely, so the location of the website designer/design company isn’t a massive issue. However, it is sometimes more convenient and reassuring if you know that your web designer is fairly local.

I recently completed a short spell of contract work with the digital team of one of the UK’s largest supermarkets. It was a great opportunity to work within a different environment, helping to create content for some household name brands. I hope to work with them again soon.

I am also working on several projects for some local schools and businesses that are looking fantastic, even if I do say so myself! – I can’t wait see them go live to add them to my portfolio soon!

I aim to write a blog post offering unbiased advice on choosing a web designer, so please visit again soon.

This was a unique project for me because the school had the fantastic idea of involving the children in the design process of the website. A design competition was held in school for all its year groups and the winning entries came from Courtney in year 6 and Logan in year 3. I met with Courtney and Logan to discuss their brilliant ideas for the website and a final design was developed. The outcome is great and got the thumbs up from staff and pupils at the school.

More information about the development of the website, including the entries from Courtney and Logan can be found on the developing the website page.

The website has all the usual great features – contact form, Google map, a latest news blog, galleries and much more, all maintainable in school by their staff.

Looking to develop your own web presence with a bespoke design? I’d love to hear from you!