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What to Look for When Hiring a Web Designer

Building a well-performing website is crucial for any business in today’s digital world. Your website directly affects the success of your business, which is why you must find an experienced web designer to bring your vision to life. Here are a few things to consider when hiring a web designer.

Appropriate pricing

Different designers charge different prices. Web designing rates vary widely depending on the type of website you want, the scope and size of the project, prevailing market prices, level of expertise, and many more. To find agreeable pricing, ensure that you set your budget before even looking for a designer.

Experience in your industry

Once you find designers within your price range, begin the eliminating process. Working with a web designer who has experience in your industry should be a top priority because it makes the process easier for you. Since they are familiar with your industry, they will do a much better job prioritising your needs and even coming up with new ideas on how to make your site more competitive.

Knowledge and skills

A good designer should be fluent in programming languages like HTML, PHP, XML, and JavaScript. You will also want to work with someone who pays attention to detail because minor errors in website code could have dire consequences.

An expansive portfolio

Working with a start-up web design company is a gamble. Although new web designers have the talent and knowledge, they lack experience. Therefore, it is safer to hire someone who can show you a detailed portfolio of their work with past clients. This will help give you some insight into their capabilities, design style, work ethic, etc. Click here to see our portfolio.

Website maintenance

It is important to know what kind of support is offered after your website has been created. If you do not have the time or knowledge to maintain your site yourself, choose a website designer who offers website maintenance services to keep your site functioning properly.

At Real Internet, we design and build websites for companies all around the country. Contact us today for more information about our services.

What is User Experience in Web Design?

Your business website is a digital portfolio that tells your target audience more about your company and your products/services while persuading them to take action. However, to achieve this, you need to provide customers with the best user experience so that they can do repeat business with you and recommend you to friends and family.

But, what exactly is user experience?

User experience can be defined as any interaction a user makes with a certain business and its products/services. It includes everything from how a user feels to what they see and hear and their emotional reactions.

What is user experience in web design?

In web design, user experience focuses on practices that make a website easy to use and appealing to consumers. A good user experience in web design means that:

• Your customer visited your site
• They scrolled through the different web pages
• They understood what your site is all about and what you sell
• They got what they wanted and took action, e.g., contacted you or made a purchase

Many factors influence a user’s experience with your website, but the main ones include:

• Usability: Is your site easy to use and navigate?
• Value: Does your site’s content/service/product make the time spent on it worthwhile?
• Credible: Does your brand build customer trust, belief and loyalty?
• Usefulness: Does your site satisfy visitor needs and requirements?
• Desirable: Does your website evoke or create an emotional reaction with the end-user?
• Accessible: How easily accessible is your website?

Achieving all these aspects might seem challenging, but it’s not impossible. Working with an experienced web developer or designer will help you improve your website, which improves user experience.

Importance of improving your website’s user experience

User experience is vital in web design as it significantly affects conversion rates. For example, if visitors find your website difficult to use and navigate, they’ll log off within a few minutes and find another site to purchase from.

Similarly, if your website looks outdated and functions poorly, visitors are less likely to purchase from it. Ultimately, if you want to improve your conversion rates, ensure you’re offering the best user experience.

Get in touch with us today for affordable, and adaptable web design services.

What is the Golden Ratio in Web Design?

While not everyone may have heard of the golden ratio, it’s actually a mathematical theory that dates back over 4,000 years. Invented by the Ancient Greeks, the golden ratio is all about achieving aesthetic harmony and balance. So, how does it work with regards to web design?

Golden ratio explained

The golden ratio is a theory that uses maths to determine how different elements can be placed together to create a harmonious look and feel. It’s by no means a new concept and has been used in the construction of many famous buildings, in nature and music, as well as by renowned artists such as Salvador Dali and Leonardo Da Vinci.

The theory states that the different sized elements used to create something should equal 1:1.618. This is often represented by spiral shapes and goes by the formula A/B = (A+B)/A = 1.618. So, if length A is equal to 100 px, then length B would be 161.80 px.

You first need to work out the length of the smallest element and then multiply this by 1.618 to achieve the ideal length of the bigger element. This could relate to images on a page, artwork, photography, as well as all other areas of design.

Golden ratio in web design

One of the major characteristics of effective design is a clear user interface. All the elements of the website need to be well-balanced and placed so that users can easily understand the information on the screen and interact without any effort.

A website design company will make use of the principles of the golden ratio theory to understand how different design elements are best placed on a screen to enhance the user experience. This will include considering small elements such as icons, buttons, and logos to larger elements like images and text.

By using the golden ratio theory, a web developer can ensure that all the elements are in proportion to each other, are harmoniously balanced, organised, and easy to read, without looking out of place.

These designs just look right. Images, blocks of text, sidebars, buttons, etc can be placed in golden rectangles that form a “perfect” design. This makes visitors feel comfortable viewing the website because it, sub-consciously, reminds them of familiar works of art and, particularly, nature.

If you’re looking for a web design company that builds aesthetically pleasing results, contact us today.

What is a Web Design Company?

Having a top-class website is a must for digital marketing in the modern age. To create a great website, you’ll need to work with a reputable web design company, but what are they and what do they do?

What is a web design company?

In simple terms, a web design company is a company that designs and builds websites for businesses, public bodies, charities, and personal use. During your first consultation with a web design company, they will sit down and find out more about their client. They will also dig deeper into what the client needs their site to do, how they want it to look and what features they need on it. Once this consultation phase is complete, their team of expert web designers will build the site according to the client’s wishes.

Web hosting

Although designing and building websites is their prime service, many web design companies also offer web hosting services. This makes it convenient to find reliable hosting in the same place you have your website built.

In addition, some can bring existing WordPress sites into their hosting plans, even if you do not want a new site built. Some web design companies also specialise in areas such as graphic design and branding, which can be useful if you need help in sourcing the best marketing materials to stand out from competitors.

Why hire a web design company?

Some business owners may wonder why they should spend money hiring a web design company. After all, could you not save money by designing and building it yourself? While this is possible, it is likely that the site you end up with will almost certainly not be as responsive, stylish, and practical as one built by professional web designers.

Contact Real Internet today

At Real Internet, we have many years of experience in building websites that are not only feature-heavy and fast, but great to look at too. We also offer a range of additional services to clients in South West UK, from web hosting to graphic design and branding. Get in touch with us for more details.

 

 

How to Pick a Web Design Company

There are lots of web design companies that will promise to build you the perfect website, but how do you know which one to choose, and which is going to deliver? Here are some top tips for picking the right website design company.

Understands your vision

A reputable web design company should be able to listen to your ideas and understand your vision and goals, while translating these as closely as possible into reality, utilising their skills and expertise. Crucially, you shouldn’t feel that you’re being talked into something that isn’t right for you, just to suit a particular web developer.

Complete package

Choose web design services that incorporate all aspects of web development, from the initial design concept to website development, as well as secure and reliable website hosting, digital marketing, and SEO. A website doesn’t stay still once it has been created, so a company that can provide ongoing maintenance will ensure your site continues to thrive long into the future. By picking a website management business that provides a complete package of services, you can enjoy a seamless experience when getting your site designed and developed.

Keeps up to date

When deciding on which web design services to use, ask about what systems, methods, and strategies they use to keep on top of the latest industry trends. A website hosting and management business that stays up to date is more likely to offer web solutions that will be secure, responsive and adhere to the latest SEO guidelines.

Look at examples

There’s no better endorsement for choosing a good web design company than finding examples of other websites online that you like the look of, and then seeing who designed it, which is usually written somewhere on the individual site. Any decent web company should also be able to show examples of sites they’ve designed and developed, so you can see their standard of work for yourself.

Don’t just focus on price

If you’re driven by a tight budget, it’s natural that price might be the deciding factor when picking a website design company. But, be cautious. Opting for the cheapest quote from a web company might not deliver a site that meets your needs, and their web hosting services might not be as secure and robust as you’d expect. While price is an important factor, don’t let it be the main consideration when picking a web design business.

When you’re looking for the ideal web design company, South West UK based business Real Internet ticks all the right boxes, so get in touch with us today.

How to Find a Good Web Design Company

A key part of any business’s digital marketing strategy is its website. This is the place where people can find you online and where they can browse your goods or services. In addition, your website is key for connecting with consumers and helping to build a positive image around your brand. It is, therefore, essential to have a responsive, well-laid out website that delivers an outstanding user experience.

The best way to achieve this is by hiring a professional web design company. This sees professional designers use all their expertise and knowledge to build a top-notch website for your business. With a lot of web design companies on the market, however, how do you find a good one?

Recommendations from your network

Networking is key to modern business and it often comes in handy when searching for a good web design company. This makes perfect sense as it enables you to get a trusted opinion on who to use from people you know. It also sees you getting recommendations on who to use from those with first-hand experience of the service on offer. Of course, networking itself can also be a great way to find a good company to use. Whether it is online at places like LinkedIn or offline events, this allows you to get to know the company personally and suss out how good they are.

Search online

It is also worth heading online to find a good web design company. Running a search for web design firms in your area in any major search engine is a fast and easy way to find ones to consider. Once you have drawn up a list of potential candidates, remember to check out online reviews of them. This is wise because it enables you to see how good the service they offer really is and what previous customers think of them. It is also worth looking at the company’s own website to see how well designed it is and if you like the feel of it.

Local advertising

Going online is not the only way to find good web design companies to choose from. It also pays to keep an eye out for adverts in your local area. This may be advertising in local print media, flyers being handed out, adverts in shops or leaflets pushed through your letterbox. All of these are great ways to find good, local design companies to hire.

First-class web design services from Real Internet

At Real Internet, we offer affordable web design services to businesses in the Gloucestershire/South West UK area. As a professional web design company, our expert team have plenty of experience in building responsive, agile and attractive sites. Get in touch today on 01454 806570 to chat more about your project.

 

How to Achieve Responsive Web Design

One of the biggest directions in digital marketing and website management is responsive web design. This is something that all brands and business owners need to be aware of, especially if they are hoping to attract online visitors, build engagement, and win those all-important conversions.

But what, exactly, is responsive web design?

Essentially, responsive web design is a tech-led, intuitive way of designing websites so that they integrate and work seamlessly with a host of other online technologies, across a range of different digital devices and interfaces. Why does that matter? Because your customers expect to have exciting, seamless, and fast online experiences that allow them to do what they want to do.

Remember too, that today’s online customers have varied needs and different preferences in the way that they interact with brands and spend money online. Many will go online via smartphones. Younger buyers, in particular, will expect to see products and services advertised on social media and then click to buy in just a couple of swipes. Others will want to use web chats to make bookings, find information rapidly, or switch between branded platforms to engage with a range of content.

Designing with different users in mind

Most digital devices are now touch screen enabled, so websites now need to be designed with mouse and touch screen users in mind. Responsive design means thinking about these aspects and adjusting the design accordingly. For example, drop-down menus are fine for mouse users but less so for touch screen users, hence the rise of single-page scrolling sites.

The rise of the fluid grid

Most web designers are now using fluid grids to achieve responsive design. These fluid grids intelligently scale website components for better sizing, which adjusts to every user’s screen. This prevents users from needing to zoom in and out. Users must be able to enjoy the same great experience on your website, whether they access it via a smartphone or desktop PC.

Achieving responsive web design

For better digital marketing, most businesses are now outsourcing their website design to a professional website design company that can deliver a responsively designed website that is future-proofed to integrate with all emerging technologies and to engage customers. Contact Real Internet to find out more about our excellent web design services that are designed to help businesses of all sizes enjoy better results from their digital assets. We provide affordable and adaptable websites, and cover the whole of the South West.