Dec 13,2009 Juno Ecommerce Ecommerce
Creative Web Design, SEO and conversion... what are we doing?
We are finding our way in web design on an ever changing path and working to decipher the best route. In a world of free templates and companies bashing out cheaper than cheap web design we stand working to define an approach that is unique, that we believe is the most powerful for our clients and delivers the best value.
Website cost is defined by the time involved in conception and build, the quality of the product outcome and the value of the website to the client in terms of the revenue the website generates in its lifetime. For the perfect result the website must generate a lot more than the money invested in the creation for sure. To increase the likelihood of this and to achieve this level of success so many variables need to be considered.
There is a magic inch in design that is unquantifiable and if achieved the outcome is significant. It is the same in all things, and is paralleled in fashion with the difference between a Burtons suit and a Paul Smith classic... who gets the job? Business people work hard pushing forward with all resources, with no guarantees, no safety nets, just a dream and a will. Every inch counts, and a website is the banner we go to war behind.
The search engines can provide traffic but no guarantee of return, it can be a soulless place of huge investment and chaotic competition. To achieve the maximum online you must reach the right market, with a great product, strong brand and engage the user converting them to sale.
I am not sure that squeezing your business into a not fit for purpose, sterile and hastily prepared out of the box website is right for every business. Certainly for the startup it is a cost efficient solution short term and works if you have a product so brilliant that you do not need to differentiate yourself from the rest of the world. For mainstream business it is the way that you differentiate yourself from the competition that is the source of success. It is the unique character of the individuals in a business that must be communicated in the visual flavour and content of the website.
It is very obvious if you do not go through that creative process and in most cases results in the detachment of the user and the loss of an opportunity to evoke emotion or any feeling on initial page load.... the few seconds that count.
Investment of time in the design process to create a skin that is truly personal to a business is essential. Key figures in a business should have a level of involvement in the process to influence the outcome, to make it unique. SEO capability is inbuilt in a website if it is designed correctly, it runs through every element of the site, every character of the content and the completed architecture. Get it right in the design and save money long term, the spend for optimising a poorly conceived site is many times what it takes to optimise a well built one.
To a business owner a website is an interface for brand communication, product display and sale and the centre of business in the largest marketplace the world has ever seen. The internet is quite literally a new universe of commerce and we have but a very few pages to make an impact. There is some value in all approaches but it is the unique, tailored and targeted that stands the best chance of glory.