Web design

Website design offers an interesting example of how art, science and technology combine to make something functional and beautiful. But, if you’ve been involved in a website redesign, you know that art, science and technology can clash just as easily.  When you add more than one person’s opinion to the mix, you’re almost certain to run into conflict, which is why design-by-committee can make things difficult.

So what can you do to resolve internal design conflicts as they arise?

The answer is usability testing. How does it work?

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Even after your company launches a new website, there comes a time when you may need to make some large changes on your website.  When the message that you need to communicate changes, you don’t always need to take on a complete website redesign.  Iterative web design may be a better option.

The issue, then, becomes how to change the website so that the user experience is not sacrificed.  We knew we had a challenge when Virginia Urology told us that they needed some significant changes to their homepage. We share this case study with their consent.

This blog details how our team used analytical tools to make web design decisions so that the visitor’s experience was not disrupted. Using a click tracking tool and good web design principles, we refreshed their homepage without a drop-off in user experience.

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We’re happy to announce the website redesign for Virginia’s Gateway Region, an economic development organization comprised of eight cities and counties just south of Richmond, Virginia.

Virginia’s Gateway Region (VGR) aimed to create a best-in-class economic development website to market their region to businesses both nationally and abroad with the goal of new business investment and expansion in the region.

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We’ve noticed lately that there’s a trend developing where small companies are spending more on their websites.  Recent data suggests that more companies are planning to increase their spending on websites than are planning to increase spending on email, online video, paid search (Google Adwords), mobile apps or banner advertising.

That’s not a surprise to us at all.  You see, a B2B’s company website should be the central point of all of their online marketing activity, and making sure your company has a solid web presence is foundational to any online marketing campaign to maximize your return.

Here are several reasons why we think businesses are spending more on their websites.

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Not long ago, we got an e-mail from a long-time client that made me shake my head:

“After much consideration and conversations, we have decided to go with a design firm that focuses on <industry> websites.  Our industry is changing very quickly over the next two years, so we decided it would be best to go with a vendor that specializes in that space.  You have been a great partner over the years, so I want to stress that the decision was not based on price, but on industry knowledge.”

There are several reasons why this was a bad decision.  And I’m not even counting “we’re the best choice for them” in that list.

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As your customers become increasingly mobile, you have to consider how your website looks on the screens of their mobile devices, from smartphones to tablets of varying sizes.

If you check your web analytics, you’ll likely find between 10% and 20% of your site visits are coming from mobile devices at this point, and those numbers are only going to rise in the coming months and years. In fact, our latest report for one client shows just over 30% of visitors are on mobile devices, an increase of over 15% this year alone!

Building a separate mobile website is a time-tested option, and if it’s designed right, it will accomplish what you need. But, it’s also a significant investment in time and money.

Responsive design provides a potentially cost- and time-saving option that can offer your users a flexible mobile experience.  But it has its own list of cons to consider as well.

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