Web Design Cork
Don't know much about Web Design? Don't panic!
We at Pride Web Design Cork do! We know the web, We love the web!
This is our easy to understand guide to all things web related and to our Web Design Process.
Every business has different needs and uses for their Website. The most basic solution, the very least every company should have, is an online brochure. An online brochure showcases a company's products and services in a clear, logical way with easy to find contact details.
Other businesses need their site to provide much more e.g. the hospitality trade, people now expect to be able to book their room on-line, any hotel that doesn't have an on-line booking system of some sort on their website is literally throwing business away.
I will outline the various functionality options in the "build process" in the sections below.
Pride Design can cater for whatever your needs might be from Content Management, eCommerce, Blogging to Real Estate Management solutions.
To read up on our web process read the following articles.
Introduction to Web Design
You and your Website
As more and more Irish people get a broadband connection, there are more and more people using the Internet as their first port of call when looking for a business.
Because of this your website is increasingly the first impression a potential customer will get of you and your company. As with any other method of communication, or indeed shop window, it's vitally important that you create a good first impression.
If a customer is looking online for a company that provides your service and they find you and two of your competitors, chances are they'll ring or contact the company with the most professional looking website first. If you have the best website in cork for your industry and you'll be ahead of the competition before your potential customer even picks up the phone.
Whatever the overall use of the site will be, the very least you should have is a smart, modern, up to date website, that is intuitive in both layout and navigation. This will give a positive first impression of your company and will increase the chances of your site generating a lead for you, which is after all it's purpose.
You simply can't afford to cut corners
You simply can't afford to cut corners when it comes to your website. Some companies will offer to build your site for next to nothing, these companies often won't take the time to get to know you and your company and as a result the site will lack planning, be done in a rush and the end result is that you'll wind up with a site that is not as effective as it could, or should, be.
So Why Pride Web Design Cork?
Unlike the budget web monkeys, who want to get the job done as quickly as possible, Pride Web Design Cork will
- Take the time to get to know you and your business
- Take the time to work out your online goals
- Plan how best to get your message across to your customers
- Plan your website, we don't throw your content into a template and leave you to it
- Professional, Friendly & Patient service from beginning to end
- We produce "Top End" Websites at "Mid Range" prices
- We will link your to the power of Web2.0
- We will work with you on your online strategy, we don't just hand you your site and leave you to it.
Good planning = Good website
Skip the planning stage and you'll probably end up with a website that does nothing for your business. Trust us, we've revamped enough sites to see the difference a quality site can make for a client.
A quality site will soon pay for itself!
A well planned, well designed and well executed website may be more expensive to get up and running but a quality website will very quickly pay for itself and should last the test of time.
"Why try to reinvent the wheel!"
We don't build Content management systems from the ground up, we use systems that other people have spend years developing. The Internet is moving along at an incredibly fast pace, we keep up to date with the latest software so we are constantly offering our customers the best solutions available. We don't just use any old Content Management System, we use the best Content Management systems available. We don't use any old e-Commerce solution, we use the best there is.
Top of the range site for a credit crunch friendly price!
All this sound expensive? Well not really, by using off the shelf solutions we save time a whole lot of time, a saving we can pass on to our clients. Also because we are freelancers we don't have fancy offices that cost and arm and a leg.
It all means that we develop top of the line websites for a very reasonable price.
"Red-Hot"
We have a range of freelance specialists to can call on, covering the full spectrum of new media, so whatever your web-sites needs might be, we can get an experienced professional to work on the job.
Does you site need Flash development? Video Editing? 3D Graphics? No problem we will call in one of our red-hot specialists to work on your project.
"Interested?"
Give us a call on: +353 (0)21 4322085 or email me
Shane O'Donnell
Getting Started
The first step in getting an on-line presence is to buy a domain name and hosting for your site. It is easiest, but not essential, to buy the domain name and hosting package at the same time off the same reseller.
The Domain name is the address that you will call your website. E.G. www.pridedesign.ie is the domain name for this website.
Hosting is where your website will reside on the Internet. It is usually saved on a server that is on a machine that is constantly on and connected to the web.
Before deciding what to call your site you should read the articles.
Your Domain Name
A Domain name is the Address for your website. E.G.. http://www.yourcompanyname.ie.
As a lot of .com and .ie Domains have already been bought you’ll need to search for available Domains on the Blacknight Solutions Website, use the drop down tool on the top right hand side of their page. It is very important to pick a good Domain name. A couple of pointers for when choosing a Domain name:
- The Domain name should be short and snappy so it’s easy for people to remember. So instead of http://www.yourcompanynameandassociates.ie it is better to use the shorter and snappier http://www.yourcompanyname.ie. A good example of this is Blacknight Solutions whose Domain name is the more simple http://www.blacknight.ie
- Another way to pick your domain name can be to use a term that describes what you do. E.G.. A travel company that specialises in organising weddings for Irish people in, say, France might call their website http://www.marriedabroad.ie
Consideration should be given to choosing whether you pick a .com or .ie Domain.
- If your business is going to be aimed at a world wide audience then a .com domain is advisable as it’s used by sites all over the world and web users are well used to it.
- If your company wants to highlight the fact that it’s Irish or if your customer base is in Ireland then a .ie Domain is well worth considering.
Getting a .ie Domain:
- The Irish domain registry do not allow anyone to buy any Domain name they chose.
- You have to prove that you have a link to the Domain name you’d like to buy.
- The Irish domain registry guidelines for domain registration and the documentation needed.
Pride Design do not act as a Domain name reseller but I’m happy to advise on what name to pick and I can organise buying your domain name through Blacknight Solutions.
Functionality
Functionality
What do I want my site to do?
Okay. so now we know what to call your site. The next step is deciding what you want from your site. Examples of different types of functionality are Online shops, Discussion Forums or the ability to showcase properties.
We do this before starting the design process as the functionality of the site will have a bearing on how we layout the homepage.
We should also decide what functionality we want before buying Hosting as different hosting packages can or cannot host the various bits of software used. Also if you are going to have a lot of traffic on your site it might be worth buying a hosting package with more bandwidth so as the site doesn't slow down - and therefore annoy your potential customers.
A quick introduction to the various options avaliable. We will cover these and more in more detail later.
Brochure HTML site:
As explained above An online brochure showcases a company’s products and services in a clear, logical way with easy to find contact details. This is the most basic site build and as such it is the cheapest option.
Process:
- Build Site Template in HTML and CSS.
- Input Photos and Content.
Content Management System (CMS) Site Build:
With this option the client will be able to make changes to pre-defined parts of the website: Text and images. This is ideal if you need to change prices or information on a regular basis.
Process:
- Build Site template in HTML and CSS.
- Input Photos and Content.
- Define fields that will be editable by client. Add CMS code.
- Test CMS code.
See more in the CMS section later.
eCommerce:
There are a few different options for setting up an e-commerce solution, depending on your needs from the system:
Paypal Shopping cart:
This is the quickest and easiest system to set-up. However it lacks some functionality when compared to the more complete solutions:
Shop is not content managed - therefore the Client will not be able to change the price of products or add new products.
Stock Control - There is no stock control on the site, so you will need someone with Web experience to take an out of stock item offline.
Actinic and or Oscommerce:
For a more complete eCommerce solution I can use one of two off the shelf eCommerce solutions, either Actinic or Oscommerce
Actinic is hosted locally on your machine whereas the Oscommerce system can be accessed and edited through any browser, both systems have similar features but Oscommerce has multi-language capabilities.
Once we have the various shipping and tax rates set-up the software works out VAT and Shipping as a customer checks out. When there’s an order on the site you get an email. You have a program on your desktop which you open and download the orders, the software then allows you to print a packing list, invoices and so on. Once an order is packed, shipped and an invoice is printed the order is marked as closed.
To use Actinic or Oscommerce I’d recommend you register with either WorldPay or Realex Payments. They vet the online credit card payments for you, and after a period transfer the funds into your bank account. You can see the various terms and conditions and rates on their sites:
As well as the licence for the product [Actinic: £300-700 depending on package needed, OsCommerce is free] the quote for an Online shop will depend on the number of products you will have online for the site launch.
Optional extras for any site:
Online Enquiry Form:
An online enquiry for allows customers to place an enquiry through your website. In order to stop Spam I now build into the form as standard a visual confirmation panel. Also in order to stop customers from making an enquiry without giving you important information we can set certain fields on the form as mandatory. e.g.. So a user cannot submit the form without giving you their contact details. [yes, people will do that if you let them!]
Blog:
A Blog is basically an online diary. Having a blog on your site allows you to keep customers and interested parties up to date on company news, e.g.. A new menu, special offers and so on. While not necessary, incorporating a blog on your site has certain benefits.
- They’re a great way to get your personality and passion for your business across to potential customers.
- Google likes fresh content, so it helps your Google rating and over time this will improve your traffic.
However I’d only really recommend a Blog if someone in the business will have the time to commit to regular updates. There’s nothing worse then a blog site with no recent updates, it reflects badly on the company, so this should be a key consideration in deciding whether or not to incorporate a blog into the website.
Process:
- Create a Database on the clients server.
- Install and set-up blog software -> connect Blog to Database.
- Edit blog template to fit website branding.
- Set blog settings: account users, categories, comments etc.
Flash Gallery Tool:
A Flash Gallery is a great way to showcase products. I use slide show pro for this: http://slideshowpro.net/
Process:
- Decide on Photographs. Crop Photographs to the right size.
- Add Photographs to Gallery
- Integrate gallery to website.
Hosting
Once you have chosen a Domain name you then need to select a hosting package that best suits your Website and it’s needs.
Hosting is where your website will reside on the Internet.
As with Domain names Pride Design do not directly provide hosting but we’re happy to advise and arrange the best solution for your needs.
We recommend Blacknight to our clients, they're professional, friendly and Irish.
Final Considerations
A few final considerations when thinking about your website before we get started.
It's well worth making a list of Websites that you like, possibly about three or four. It's even better again if you can have a list of features from site that you'd like your website to do.
You may as well make another list of sites that you don't like.
From there we can discuss the feel you'd like for your site and what functionality we need to incorporate.
you can read up on the various options available below.
Designing & Building your Website
Once you have decided on what you want to call your site and what you want from your site, then we start into the Design Process.
The Design Process
All our sites are designed with Search Engine Optimisation in mind and with what is considered to be best practice in terms of navigation and layout. Web users should be able to tell from a glance at your Website exactly what service or product the company sells or provides.
- From there Pride Design will then provide three website mock-ups with the site functionality in mind.
- We then take the preferred mock-up and develop it further to provide two, more developed, mock-ups.
- The client picks one of these to proceed to the build phase with, this will include provisions for 3 separate sets of amendments. Any more than 3 sets of changes will incur extra cost.
- For Customers on a tight budget we can use a pre-designed site template from Monster Template
From here we move onto the Build phase of the project.
Content Management Systems Cork
More and more clients are looking for site that offer more then just a static on-line brochure. At the very least clients like to have the ability to change the content on their site without having to pick up the phone and call someone to make the change for them. This is where content management systems (CMS) come into play.
A Content Management System (CMS) allows a client make changes to their website. Text and images. There are various different CMS's that we can use depending on the your requirements.
There are hundreds of different Content management systems available to Web Designers. We've played around with a lot of them and have settled on the two best solutions we have found.
These are the very simple, yet quite brilliant, Wordpress and the ultra powerful community building system Drupal.
What's the main difference? Well, Content Management Systems come in all shapes and sizes. There are a lot of Content Management Systems that really only allow you to change very small aspects of your website. Some of these systems are really very ineffective, so we have read reviews after reviews and tried out lots of different systems and come to the conclusion that for lower budget sites Wordpress is perfectly adequate and we will use Drupal where full content management is required.
If you don't have the time or if you're baffled by all this you can always give us a call and we'll be only too happy to go through the options for your site on the phone with you.
Drupal
Drupal is an award winning Content Management System [CMS]. It provides a user management and CMS framework around which we can install various "modules" depending on what we want the site to do.
Using Drupal is is possible to build the following type of sites:
- Community Sites
- Newspaper Sites
- Directory Sites where users pay to publish their ads
- FULL Content Management Websites
- e-Commerce Websites
Drupal is a hugely flexible and scalable system. By building the framework of a site in Drupal we will have a built-in User Login and management system through the whole site. This will allow users to register and, should we choose to allow, enable them to comment on blog entries, articles, products, post on the forum etc. We can pick and choose which types of page they can comment on.
When the site is ready to launch we simple set the client as an Administrator level user and from there they are able Add and Edit any content on the site, by simply clicking the "edit" button on each page.
The standard Drupal installation includes a Blog and a basic Forum. We can use the blog to update users on company news. From there we can then add pre-built "modules" to allow different types of functionality.
The following are a list of the sort of functionality, that can easily be added to a Drupal site:
1 "Rate This" Module.
Allow users to rate articles and/or products using a simple 5 Star system. From the results of the votes we can create a list of the "5 highest rated" products on the homepage.
2 "Comment" Module.
Allow Users to comment at the end of Articles-Products-Blog entries. This will allow users to leave feedback, ask questions about products and/or blog entries, thus enabling them to feel connected with your business. (assuming you have the time to answer their queries!)
3 "Video Player" Module.
Allows admin users to upload video into their content.
4 "Images" Module
Allows Admin or contributor users to upload images into the content they create.
5 - "Share This" Module
This module adds a "share This" button, you'll see it on newspaper sites and sites like the BBC. Clicking the "Share This" button allows users to publish snippets of your articles or pages onto their facebook (or similar) page, this snippet brought over to facebook will link back to your site. Thus users will be able to market your site for you, no doubt prospective brides would just love to share a picture of their potential dress ideas with friends.
6 - "Email to Friend" Module
This module adds an "email this page" button to each Article-Product-Blog entry. Allowing each Article-Product-Blog entry to be sent to a users friends. This is a great way to encourage e-word of mouth marketing.
7- "Enquire" Online
We can create an online enquiry form in Drupal so people can request an appointment through your website.
8 "Advanced Forum" Module:
Allow users to discuss topics with fellow site users. This is User Generated Content UGC which is all the rage on sites at the moment, employed along with a Blog Google just loves all this constantly changing content. It also bring users back to a site again and again.
9 - "RSS Feeds":
created with the "Views" module
Allows Users to subscribe to any content on the Site.
10 - Google Analytics:
We can add Google Analytics which is a hugely comprehensive stats package that you get with your Google Ad Words account.
These feature's will make it as easy as possible for people to spread the word about your site, a sort of online "word of mouth". By allowing people to comment and receive replies about products and or upcoming events, you will allow them to feel connected to your company through your site.
However Drupal can do so much more.
Drupal e-Commerce installation:
Drupal has a fully integrated e-commerce system called Uber-cart.
However it's not as powerful as some of the latest eCommerce solutions. We'll need to discuss your future eCommerce needs before deciding on the best potential solution.
Drupal Full Social Networking:
By installing a range of other modules we can add full social networking functionality to your site, these can give a registered user an advanced profile page where they can list their friends, they can save their favourite articles from the site. In fact we could allow Users to upload photos and or Videos to their profile and even allow trusted users to keep their own Blogs.
Here's a YouTube video about the powers of Drupal, we think it really is the solution for most websites as we go into 2009.
Wordpress
Wordpress, as they say themselves is
" ... a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. Wordpress is both free and priceless at the same time."
It's a great system that allows people keep a blog on their site, in fact you can build a CMS site around the blog.
Wordpress can also be configured to allow video and audio content, so the client can easily share video through their YouTube onto their site.
The best thing about it is the ease of use, clients of ours that we've setup with Wordpress have always found it easy to get to grips with, even some with serious cases of technophobia!