Identity and Navigation
The two most important considerations are identity and navigation. Your site should look distinctive, and the design should be consistent throughout. A good designer will help you create a corporate logo or complete corporate identity, or ensure continuity of your existing corporate identity by modify your existing logos and printed materials for the web.

Navigation systems
These may involve drop-down menus, rollovers or multi-layer navigation. They should be easy to use and easy on the eye, and they should not distract from the content. Have you ever ‘got lost’ on a website? That’s bad navigation. Your visitors should always know where they are and how to get to the information they want next. Menu systems also need to be search engine friendly – too many sites with fancy menus have pages that are invisible to search engines.

Bells and whistles
You may think you need videos, music, animations. Perhaps these would enhance your site, perhaps they would only distract and obscure the content. Your website is about your business, not about how impressive your website is as an artefact in its own right, and a balance has to be struck. Don’t let any web design company sell you fancy stuff you don’t need. Although striking design is important, Content is King.

In a nutshell
Good web design is web design that brings you business and makes money. You need a web designer who will build you a clean, distinctive looking site that is both affordable and effective, and that reflects your corporate identity. It should load quickly, comply with modern web standards and look good at different screen resolutions and in all browsers. Good design should be as future-proof as possible and allow for for the growth and maintenance of the site. The projected lifespan of a site can be greatly extended if sufficient thought is given to the original design.

The post Web Design That Works appeared first on Web Design Oban, Argyll and Scotland.

Still working away, almost entirely with WordPress now.

Here’s just a few of the sites we’ve completed or redesigned over the last twelve months.

In July 2016 we completed the conversion of West Highland Sailing’s website to WordPress.

With over fifty pages, the site is bursting with information about the company, the boats and the canal and surrounding countryside.

Zoomable charts of the canal, booking forms, availability calendars, downloadable PDFs of all the major documents and lots and lots of really great photos.

September saw the publication of the Kold Kronicles website, a site for the readers and fans of a new series of groundbreaking fantasy novels.

The author was particularly interested in the blogging side of WordPress, and is using it to good effect to keep in touch with his fan base.

The post Wow, it’s been a long time . . . part 1 appeared first on Web Design Oban, Argyll and Scotland.

What does Google’s new algorithm mean for your business?

Since the 21st of last month (April 2015) Google will – for searches made from mobile devices only – reward sites that are deemed to be ‘mobile-friendly’ with higher ranking for the same search terms as non-mobile-friendly sites.

So what?

If your traffic mostly comes from desktop, laptop or tablet users then don’t panic – your search rankings will not be affected. However, it is worth remembering that approximately 60% of web traffic is currently driven by mobile devices.

How do I know if my site is mobile-friendly?

Simples. Go to https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ and plug in the URL of your site

Help! My site is not mobile-friendly. What can I do?

Firstly, don’t panic. Remember, searches  that are not from phones will not be affected.

But – we recommend that you consider updating your site in the not too distant future to use a responsive design that will look good across all platforms.

How can I do that?

Just ask us for a quote. We will set up a new WordPress site for you using a responsive design, and transfer your existing content.

How much will it cost?

How long is a piece of string? It depends on the size and functionality of your existing site. Roughly, it will probably cost as much or a little more as it cost to set up your site in the first place – if we did it. If your site was created by another company it might be very much cheaper than you think. Ask us for a free, no-obligation quotation –  fill in our contact form.

Are there any other benefits other than Google rankings?

Yes. You can manage a WordPress site yourself. Simple edits are a doddle –  no need to call your web developer. You – or us if you prefer – can add almost any functionality you can thing of in future, from e-commerce to galleries, forums or online booking. And the site is easy to transfer to another server or web provider with a few clicks should you ever want to do so.

The post Mobilegeddon? appeared first on Web Design Oban, Argyll and Scotland.