Head Resist

Deciding on a web designer can be a daunting task. You will get web designers of various kinds-from freelancers to glossy media agencies and their prices vary accordingly.

 

Before deciding on a web designer, look for a proven record of accomplishment. A good portfolio with the quality of their past work can be taken into consideration. Look for sites designed for companies in a similar market to your own or for sites of a similar size and scope to the one you require.

 

Select your marketplace- Do you want a local web designer or an overseas? If you would feel more comfortable working with your designer, then a local designer is for you. You can provide better backup and able to meet face to face to discuss your project.

If you are a bit budget conscious, then it is make sense to choose one web designer from overseas. Getting quotes from designers is not difficult at all. If you know exactly what you are looking and can explain them clearly in writing, you can save a lot.

 

Where to find-To find a list of local web designers, consult the yellow pages of that place. You can do a web search or check out related directories. For overseas designers, visit websites, compare the quotes and choose the best.

 

Don’t get confused between web designer and graphic designer-Although the basic design principles are same, there are a whole host of additional factors that a web designer has to take into account while designing a website. Design should be carried out keeping wider application of the internet and usability in mind.

 

Decide on your budget and make it realistic-Don’t feel compelled to go with the highest quote. Often for a small company, it can be difficult to know what the web budget should be, without knowing the rates. Before you choose a designer, it might be worth clarifying an hourly rate for any additional work.

 

He should be a good communicator-A good designer should listen to any concerns you have and do their utmost to ensure you feel happy and confident throughout the project.

 

Draw up a shortlist-You can do this by visiting their websites, getting a feel of what they are looking for and what is your objective. You can question them about the technicalities, about the clients they work for- if necessary.

 

 Get references-Any established web designer will be able to provide references he has been successfully working for. Ask them through email for your satisfaction.

 

Now you have a fixed price, references and confirmed timescale for your project. It is time to appoint a web designer.

 

Our Designers will determine the scope and nature of your Web site’s necessities, analyze and organize the layout and connectivity, and define and code the visible pages and assisting functions to meet these requirements. This is a non-recurring startup cost, and will be your largest primary layout.

Integrated Resolution Designs’ build’s websites for all types of businesses and budget constraints. Everyone should own a Web site to publicize their services and products online, but we don’t think it should cost you money that you can’t manage to have. Integrated Resolution Design’s Web Site Prices Fit Every Budget!

Good communication is the most important step in developing your Web site. Understanding your products, services, needs and expectations is our main concern. Discussing your ideas with one of our professionals will help to answer and make clear any questions you may have. This primary discussion is the basis for not only meeting, but exceeding your expectations. This is a valuable service that IRD is pleased to provide you at no charge. Contact us now for your FREE, no obligation consultation.

Prices For Different Types of Web Sites The following prices are based on sites that IRD has built. Whether a site is new or is a redesign doesn’t change too much in the way of its cost.

ONLINE STORES, SHOPPING CARTS



3 item, PayPal ‘buy now button’ with 4 page site, custom visual design ($450)

200+ items, lightly customized 3rd party cart, custom visual design, blog ($1275)

6000+ items, extensively customized 3rd party cart, training, custom visual design ($5350)



DIRECTORIES, PORTALS



3rd party directory script, very slight tweaking, 3rd party visual design ($675)

Custom-built events directory with basic searching, basic admin options, no visual design ($2100)

Custom-built membership directory with basic searching, basic admin options, no visual design ($2100)

Custom-built product directory with basic searching, advanced filtering, advanced admin options, member profiles, custom visual design ($4500)



CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS



16 simple pages, stock 3rd party CMS script, custom visual design ($731)

14 complex pages, articles sub-pages, customized 3rd party CMS script with searching, 3rd party directory script, 3rd party classifieds script, 3rd party banner management script, 3rd party visual design ($3150)



EVENTS REGISTRATION



Added to existing site: simple custom-built system with event selection, online payment, minimal admin options ($750)

15 pages, custom-built system, custom visual design, events registration, payment, workshop selection, complex admin area, support ($3094)



BASIC WEB BROCHURES



9 pages, 3rd party template visual design, four simple forms ($244)

7 pages, custom visual design, one simple form ($469)

16 pages, custom visual design, simple home page Flash animation ($731)

30 pages, custom visual design for home page, another for internal pages, two complex forms ($1313)

52 pages, custom visual design which is slightly different for every page ($1800)



BLOGS AND FEEDS



Add blog to existing brochure site ($225)

Add blog to existing ecommerce site ($300)



UPGRADES AND ADDITIONS



Install and configure email newsletter script, and provide training ($113)

Create .mobi version of existing 5 page site ($131)

Add complex form to existing site ($244)

Complex upgrade of a shopping cart ($488)

Here are some important tips for you to remember and some questions to ask your web site design or development company. If you don’t understand the ‘ownership’ issues when you are buying a web site design or web based application, this is must read material for you! Don’t get caught paying twice.

I recently interviewed a new client who was looking to add the functionality of a database to their existing web site. Their current webmaster had completed a business logo and designed the initial interface for the site. The clients asked their webmaster for a quote to add the functionality to the site and he returned a price that far exceeded the clients’ budget.

Long story made short, we found a great application that already exists that would meet the clients’ needs for substantially less than custom development. The client advised the previous webmaster that they were moving services. Do you think they got to keep their original web site? Nope. We had to start over again, which unfortunately meant that this customer had to pay for extra design time that they had effectively already paid for.

Here are some important tips for you to remember and some questions to ask your web site design or development company.

Web Design Source Code

When you hire a web designer or a developer they are going to produce a web site or web based application that your business is going to be dependant on. In fact, a web application may be your whole business. This is absolutely the case where a business is 100% online and depends on the process built into their web site. E-commerce stores are a perfect example of a whole business online.

Web designers create web pages with a compilation of images and hyper-text markup language (HTML). The HTML is a text based standard language that most every web designer in the world knows. The HTML is what is used to hold the structure of your web site together. It keeps the pretty pictures and text all in the right places. Your web browser interprets that HTML and shows you the web site images and text.

Your web designer will start your design by “drawing” your web site in a graphics program. Macromedia Fireworks and Photoshop are two tools that are very often used by professionals. Your designer will draw the site using shapes, colors, images and fonts that are all piled up in layers to create the final “look and feel” for your new web site design. The designers will then slice up the images and use the resulting smaller images to build your working website using HTML to hold it all together.

Here is the key. You need the original art file that was used to design your web site in Macromedia Fireworks or Photoshop or whatever software your designer uses. If you don’t get the source file, your next web designer will have to start your design from scratch if you want artwork changes. This is no walk in the park if the original images that were used are not available. Macromedia Fireworks source files have the extension .PNG (yourWebsite.PNG). Photoshop files have the extension .PSD (yourWebsite.PSD).

Another design issue that you may run into in the future is fonts. If your designer uses fancy fonts that are not installed by default on your computer or your future designers computer, you will have to substitute different fonts. In some cases, choosing a new font is not a big issue. However, if you could image that the font used in the logo for Coca-Cola® became unavailable because Coke® changed designers it would most likely cause them real damage. They need the font used in their logo or corporate branding and so do you!

Questions to ask your web designer

1) When you are finished designing my web site will you provide me with the source files used in the design of my new web site?

2) Will you transfer the ownership (copyright) of these source files to me or my company? Or at least give me perpetual license to continue using them and to make revisions?

3) Will you provide me with the names and files for all non-windows fonts used in the design of my new web site? At the very least, because there may be real copyright issues with transferring the fonts, you need to know the names of the fonts and where you can buy copies of them for your project archive.

Web Application Source Code

Web developers create programs that work as applications on the internet. They create code that is compiled, usually in real-time, at the web server. The code will, for example, connect to a database and extract a set of data. The data will then be compiled into an HTML table (so that it is readable) and then sent from the web server to your web browser as pure HTML. You will not be able to “view source” and read the scripting language because it never leaves the web server. If you “view source” from the web browser, you will only see the HTML.

Some of the code that your developer writes will be protected by copyright. Your developer may also buy code in the form of server components, use code blocks for functionality from other programmers or purchase complete application in order to finish your program. You need to ensure that the developer tells you that you can continue to use the software that they develop for your business for an unlimited period of time, and that if there are any licensing restrictions or reoccurring licensing costs that they are disclosed to you before you start the project. Find out if you will be bound forever to a hosting or server plan for you application.

Here are some questions you may want to ask your web developer

1) Will you transfer an unlimited a perpetual license to me or my company to use the application that you develop for me?

2) Will you disclose any licensing restrictions to me regarding the application?

3) Will you write code using common standards or languages that I will be able to move to another hosting provider or eventually to my own server?

4) Can I move my application to another server in the future if it is necessary?

Use of Encryption

So your web developer says “yes” to the last four questions and you think, “great, I’m home free, let’s get started”. Then two years later you decide it’s time to move your web application to your own servers because your e-commerce store is screaming busy and the cost of bandwidth and hosting is killing your profits.

You start the process to move your application to your new server and call up your webmaster for help, but he has gone to University in the states and “isn’t doing that anymore”. You think to yourself, “I guess I should have used a more established company…” So you find a new webmaster. Incidentally, I am often told by new clients that I am their second, third and sometimes even fourth web developer. So we go to move the web site, but wait, something is wrong… portions of the source code are encrypted. Even the government couldn’t decrypt it. We have to rewrite those blocks of code and the client has to pay… again.

If your web sites source HTML or application scripting language is encrypted then it may have to be rewritten or you will have no way to add functionality, or to fix bugs, without involving the original developer who holds the key to the encryption. They are quite clever, aren’t they?

There are some good reasons to encrypt some portions of the source code, even on in a web application. Most web applications will contain, in the source code, the database, username and password within one of the files. This is a great example of a code block that should be encrypted before it is placed into a shared hosting environment.

If your web developer is going to encrypt portions of the source code, make sure you get a copy of the unencrypted source code for your project archive. In this manner you will be able to work with a new developer.

Questions to ask your web developer regarding encryption

1) Will you be encrypting any or all of the source code in the application you are developing for me?

2) Will you provide me with a copy of the original source code prior to being encrypted?

Technologies

There are a number of technologies used in the development of web sites and web applications they include Pre-Hypertext Processor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP), Active Sever Pages dot Net (ASP.NET), and Cold Fusion to name a few. All of these scripting languages facilitate connecting web sites to databases and accessing functionality on the web server such as sending mail or uploading files. All of these technologies are widely used, widely available and there is a great number of developers that know these languages. There are some lesser known programming and scripting languages that may be able to do a lot of the same things as the more widely used languages. The pitfall is that you may have a more difficult time finding a programmer that knows the language.

Some web scripting or programming languages like Microsoft’s® Active Server Page or Active Server Page dot Net technologies are developed specifically for use on the Mircrosoft operating systems. These technologies are difficult, if not impossible, to run on a Linux operating system. When your programmer selects a language to develop your web application with, he may be marrying you to a long term relationship with a particular operating systems and software vendor. This is okay as long as you recognize the long term ramifications of these choices, some of which may be greater costs to you in the future.

Questions to ask your web developer regarding programming languages

1) Is the technology you use tied to one particular operating system or can I host my web site on my choice of servers with my choice of operating system? More specifically, can I host my application on a Microsoft web server and a Linux server?

Transferability

Make sure that you are able to move your web site to a server with comparable standards in the future should you wish to do so. Moving a web site to a new server is not necessarily due to a break down in the relationship with your web designer. You may be forced to move if your existing server can no longer handle your traffic bandwidth. If your costs become too high in a shared hosting environment you may find it more economical to setup your own web server and host your own application.

If you do choose to host your own application this is where the cost ramifications of your earlier choices will hit your pocket book. For example if your site was developed using PHP, an open-source scripting language for websites, then the cost of your new server will likely not include any software licensing because the operating system (Linux) is free. If on the other hand your site is developed using .ASP or .ASP.NET, you are going to have to buy expensive server licenses from the big guy.

Can You Use Your Site Into the Future?

If you commission a web designer or developer to complete a project for you make sure that you have an agreement in place that clearly specifies that you can continue to use the project and the related source files when it is completed. Check the service agreement that you have signed with your web company. Of course if there is no documentation then you will not know if you own you web site or web-based application.

In Summary

There are some good reasons for web designers and developers to protect their rights and to ensure their future earning potential. As the client or purchaser of web design services you need to understand where you stand with regard to choices that will be made on your behalf regarding your web site or web based application.

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© eKzact Solutions Inc. 2005

The single most important factor in having a website is professional web design. A website that stands out from the crowd is the difference between you & your competitors.

Wensil’s web designers consult with you to learn about your business & the goal for the website design. Using expert web design skills we then design landing pages that entice visitors to act on those goals. Various steps which follow during designing sites.

Strategy during WebDesigning

1. Requirements Analysis

Determine the goals for the website from the perspective of the user and the business. Determine the user needs and target usability requirements. Evaluate existing versions of the site. Perform a competitive analysis. Perform user interviews and surveys.

2. Conceptual Design

Sketch out a site design and architecture at an abstract level. Conduct a task analysis to find critical features.

3. Mockups / Prototypes

Rapidly create visual representations (mockups) or interactive representations (prototypes) of the site. Evaluate usability through focus groups, user tests, and walkthroughs. Use the evaluation results to create more mockups or improve the prototypes. Repeat this process (design iteration) until the design and usability goals are met

4. Production

Create the final product. Evaluate functionality through testing, quality assurance, usability testing, and field testing. Use the evaluation results to improve the product. Repeat these processes (production iteration) until the business goals are met.

5. Launch and Maintenance

Launch the website. Maintain and refine with user feedback. Use the feedback to create new requirements, and begin major design improvements (system iteration).

Evaluation occurs at every stage of the process. Similar types of evaluation can occur at different stages of the design process to keep in mind the goals of the project and the users’ needs. And if it comes down to a choice, reduce the scope of the project rather than the usability.

In this Internet-driven world, each and every company is making online presence to increase sales. Over the years, the number of companies going online has been significant. Companies are going online primarily because of the reason that more and more people have access to Internet now. Customers are logging into online stores, making purchases, thanks to enhanced security features, better transactions facilities and time constraints. The number of customers making purchases online has increased by many folds.

There is huge competition in the online world. You can find millions of pages struggling to come to the first page for better visibility.  If your site is on the first page, then there is change of generating traffic to your website. If you don’t have a good seo friendly website design, than your chance of selling products and services is bleak. Web Design can make or break the fortune of your company. Almost all business whether it is small or big has its website for contact and web presence. Web design and graphic design has become important tool for all businesses. Designing a web site is an art, which can only be made by a professional website designing company. There are hundreds of web designers out there, from freelancers, to agencies, to online templates, how do you know what is the best for your company, and more importantly, for your goals and objectives? Choosing an ordinary web design company is not that a serious job. But choosing a good creative web design company is quite an uphill task. There are many people around us who believe that Internet has made business processes simple and global, but how about the complexities that Internet offers which are unique. You type a keyword and you will find hundreds of results for that keyword. When you are searching for a good web design company, you should visit all good websites that offer SEO-friendly creative designs at affordable prices. You should check out the portfolio and customers feedback.

If you are in need of a good web design and development company, then look no further. Come to us. We are a creative web design and development company that works hand in glove with clients to take them one step further, delivering real, tangible benefits to their businesses via the web. We are one of the most reliable professional end-to-end IT solutions providers with specialization in website designing and development. We offer you a complete range of marketing services that can take care of all your graphic design, web design and development specific requirements. Our creative designers are brilliant in their craft and they can make compelling web designs that can give your website the much-needed edge over your competitors.

At Avenues Consult, we offer clients more than 3000 website designs to choose from, once you have chosen, we will customize it according to your needs and deliver it within 3 business days. We can also design your website from scratch. Our web design services are not only affordable but also can beat others in areas that matters the most:  concept and creativity.

To end with, it can be said that our web design services are the best in the market, it is SEO friendly. Our clients are more than happy because we have delivered impeccable sites to them that not only generate traffic but also huge sales.