Functional, affordable website design
Yes, it’s a real thing.
Okay, you need a website. Or you have a website but it sucks. Or you think your website could do more for your business. Or you had your website built in the 90’s (and it sucks). Or your previous designer has gone AWOL and you haven’t updated your content for years. Whatever your reason is, you are looking for someone to design you a brand new website. You found her!
How The Creative Lab can help with your website design
No longer do people use traditional methods to find businesses offering what they need. You need a number? You go to Google. You need a website designer *wink*? You go to Google. You need to make sure of the reputation of a business? You go to Google. Having a strong online presence can mean the difference between an okay business and a freaking awesome business. Read more about why having a great website is so important here.
My web design philosophy…
I can help you get into the head of your users. What do your clients and potential clients need to see/read to make them realise they absolutely need your product or service? What information is super important to your customers, and what information is just filling up space for the sake of filling up space? The biggest mistake website designers make making straightforward layouts, structures and content way more complex than necessary.
Navigation is key in web design…
The spectrum of web users out there varies from techie know-it-alls, to “umm…Google what?”, so you also need to make sure that your website allows for super simple navigation, so anyone visiting your site can find exactly what they need in a matter of seconds from any landing page. Our attention spans aren’t exactly long, so having an easy-to-navigate website is imperative to getting people both to your website, and getting them to stay on it.
Oh, be responsive!…
Making sure that however users are viewing your website, whether on their laptop, their smartphone or tablet, it looks good and adapts properly to the device size is also really important. Google also loves it when your site is responsive and in a recent study, the guys at Google found that “72% of mobile users say its important that websites are mobile friendly, and are five times more likely to abandon a website if it hasn’t been optimised for mobile”.
What are your website objectives?
Decide what you want your website to do for you.
It’s not just about chucking a couple of web pages up on the internet and hoping for the best. You need to decide right from the beginning what exactly it is you want to achieve with your website. Do you want people to pick up the phone and call you? Do you want them to buy your products online? Do you want to create awareness about a cause that’s close to your heart? Or do you just want people to know who you are?
Setting clear objectives for your website from the beginning will ensure that you can track whether your website is meeting those objectives, or whether you need to switch it up and try something new.
More than words and pretty pictures…
Building an effective website is not just about deciding this should go here and that should go there, or “that’s a cool image, let’s use that one”. There is much more to it. Knowing the way people read online material should influence the structure of your content, and should influence what images are used and where certain elements are placed on the page – why put an important call-to-action in a space that people rarely take interest in? Knowing what attracts attention and what will make people glaze over also important to getting the right message across. Same goes for using the right imagery and graphics. Do your graphics need to explain your content? Or can you be little more abstract with your imagery?
So, what can I offer you in a website?
To keep it short and sweet, here is what I can offer you:
- A professional, user-friendly, well-structured website that makes users inclined to spend more time on it
- A responsive website that looks good no matter how you are viewing it
- Functionality fit for the purpose of your website, whether it be a content-based site, an eCommerce portal, a restricted content area only accessible via login or a site focussed on specified call-to-actions
- Great, eye-catching imagery and graphics that are relevant to your content and industry
- A website built with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in mind, so that Google will be able to find your site easily
- An online space that keeps your brand integrity in mind, and stays true to your business objectives
Contact me on natalie@thecreativelab.co.za or fill in a short form here and I will get back to you, if you think I can assist in building a website that will give your business the online presence it deserves. I look forward to hearing from you!
My Work
If you’d like to see what I do for yourself, have a look at my work and browse through some of the recent designs I have produced for my clients. This page is regularly updated with new projects, so don’t forget to visit often!
