We have been using the web since it’s very early days and have seen the evolution of web design theory grow from amateur simplicity through to the multi dimensional and professional process it is today. We have experience of building both simple and complex sites, using various approaches and languages - so we are absolutely experienced enough to handle most web projects.
We can create totally bespoke systems using common web development languages, or use CMS and blogging platforms such as
Wordpress to speed up the process. We love using
Webflow for suitable sites too!
We can be flexible in most areas and are happy to work with your own design or marketing team if that is preferred, though we will not compromise when it comes to the fundamentals that we know are required to produce a great end result.
For best results we generally suggest starting out with a
consultation process in order to create a requirements specification document and perhaps a
digital marketing strategy which can then form the basis of any future design and development work (whether performed by us or a different team). The preparatory aspects cannot be skipped without negatively impacting the overall quality of the end result. We are, of course, perfectly happy to work with any competent strategy, branding and design documents you have already had prepared elsewhere.
Branding and style guides that may be needed for inclusion into the website design process can also be created early on.
Once we establish the requirements and aims of the intended website, our team will work to produce a structural overview of the website and some simple mockups for page layouts to ensure we are all on the same page (pun intended). Once we have agreement among all the relevant stakeholders that the vision and functional requirements we have documented are suitable, we will complete the wireframe designs for each page and our graphics team will produce options for the visual styling of the site.
Only once these essential early design stages are finished and the results are agreeable to all concerned will our development team start coding any web pages or other deliverables such as mobile apps or desktop applications. Typically, smaller websites take between 4 and 8 weeks to develop to an initial version and will then be adjusted afterwards for a period in order to correct any flaws and add in any extra requirements that emerge. Larger projects will understandably take more time to complete and the nature of the technology involved means that accurate timing predictions are challenging to make – however, we do find that we tend to complete projects in a more timely fashion than many of our competitors.
We suggest that our clients dedicate some time to thoroughly testing the finished product before making it live to the world via the internet. Our team will test their own work as they proceed but it is not possible to test for every eventuality. The more pre-launch testing that is performed by a variety of different people, using different devices, the better. Our team will fix any bugs and errors that are identified during this pre-launch phase as part of the initially quoted cost of design and development.
All of our websites are designed to be fully responsive, meaning that they will adapt to any screen size – plus they also conform to prevailing web standards, meaning that they will work on all major, modern web browsers. We typically test web pages in a variety of modern browsers and can optionally specifically focus on testing particular browsers if we are asked to do so.
If needed we can arrange to have the finished software/site hosted on suitbale webserver infrastructure operated by a reputable third party and can then maintain and manage the site for an ongoing retainer fee. Alternatively, we are also happy to hand over the site and it’s operation to your own team once all fees are paid in full. In some cases it may be necessary to stress test the hosting environment before launching the site, particularly if it is anticipated that the site will receive a large amount of traffic in a short space of time. This is something we will discuss with you before committing to any particular hosting solution and can carry out ourselves when the time comes.
Finally, if agreed, once the site is running successfully, we will move on in to a maintenance phase where we update the site as needed and make changes in accordance with any other ongoing marketing and optimisation processes, such as
SEO and
CRO.