Best Web Practices

Web Design & Development: The Bare Essentials

One of the most common questions we receive from new or prospective clients is “What do I require from my website and should I be looking for in my web design company?”

That may seem a strange question to ask but on the basis that many clients have had a less than ideal experience with their previous designer or developer, we feel it’s a fair (and understandable) one. Creating a successful website requires a few basics and there are industry standards one should adhere to. Below are what we deem to be the (bare) essentials and our rationale on best web practices (those you can expect from us).

Accessibility

All of our websites are built for accessibility and in compliance with W3C (Worldwide Web Consortium) guidelines and best practices. But what does this really mean? W3C compliant means your website is compatible with all the different web browsers and search engine friendly so you can reach out to an increased audience, acquire better search status, establish improved brand credibility, keep website maintenance down to a minimum and kick back safe in the knowledge that there are no legality gremlins hiding just around the corner.

Key technologies commonly used by our developers include: Joomla, PHP, mySQL, jQuery (javascript), XHTML & CSS.

Usability

We do not follow usability trends, trends can become redundant. We take the full navigational structure of your website into consideration before we set about the design let alone the build. All of our websites are subject to rigorous testing prior to launch to establish usability – the user experience must be intuitive, enjoyable and never hard work!

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Like accessibility and usability, SEO deserves its equal share of attention. After all, what good is an engaging, functional and intuitive website if nobody visits it? From the offset, our developers factor in SEO as part of the core build using appropriate and spider-friendly meta tags, unique page titles and verifying the site ownership with Google and Yahoo search engines. Astute web content utilising keywords is often indicative of the site’s success and higher rankings, boost your site’s search engine results with (key)word power! Our specialist copywriters are proficient in the art of writing web copy – content that speaks to users and is rated by search engines.

Social Media Optimisation (SMO)

Digital marketing via the phenomenon of social media is fast becoming an absolute must. Promoting your brand via social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is an interactive method of brand marketing that can raise brand awareness, advertising and promotion. With their combined number of members exceeding 500 million in 2010, the possible reach to web users is an unparalleled volume. Some brands are even utilising their social media networks to provide critical market research or test product development making their customers a part of their brand’s journey and success.

Social media is an accessible, interactive and fun method of communication with your target audience – it’s free AND search engine friendly! Really. Those cheeky little tweets can help boost your Google rankings when your website is social media optimised. We advocate SMO for all of the reasons mentioned – oh, and a few more! Integrating social media in your website can be very rewarding – on many levels. But if you feel little bit intimidated by the jargon or like it could be too overwhelming to manage, we’re here to help. Bespoke digital marketing packages can be tailored to suit you and your brand. Simply contact us for more information.

Project Management

From your initial enquiry through to concept and completion, you will be assigned a Project Manager who will work with to ensure the project runs smoothly – on time and in budget. In fact, your Project Manager will stick with you for the entire lifetime of your website whilst it remains in our care, so should you have any questions or require guidance following the launch, you will have your very own Neon Hiver looking out for you!

This list is far from exhaustive, merely the bare essentials. No doubt we will add to it over time so be sure to check back real soon.

The Neon Hive offers a full one-stop website production service: custom design, build, development and hosting as well as ongoing support and maintenance packages, all of which can be tailored to suit your exact requirements.