Which Web development company? A Guide to Getting the Gurus Right for You

As the internet becomes one of the most important and fastest growing business mediums on the planet, the importance of a solid and efficient online presence is experiencing international attention. In all sectors and niches, and for organizations both large and small, the power of making positive and lasting impressions on potential clients and providing them with effective and easy-to-use online tools is a major –if not the most prevalent– focus of business development. A web development company is a modern product of this widespread objective. Able to craft meaningful, informative, and attractive sites through a variety of media, a firm is often the window through which a business can take their operations online, or enhance existing sites. But with so many firms available on today’s market, how should a business go about selecting the right developer?

Understanding the needs of your business or project is a major component of any successful web venture. Taking the time to consider what kinds of services may be beneficial will result in the ability to single out a developer with the right tools and experience, creating a beneficial partnership. An excellent option for all manner of projects is to work with a one-stop shop such as San Diego Web Design, which offers a full range of services to take a site from idea to fruition with a minimum of hassle and expense. Trusting the complexities of your vision to well-trained and talented design and programming experts will help ensure that sites look and feel fresh, professional, and timeless. Enjoying a low-maintenance yet high-performance website free from the common pitfalls of hasty coding or compromising design is often a simple matter of choosing web design development and services that begin with dedication to quality.

With a talented and devoted firm like San Diego Web Design, even the most involved projects can be beautifully realized. Expert management and attention to details as well as knowledgeable organization are prime ingredients for the smooth operation of a site, not to mention its ease of use for visitors and potential customers. Amidst all of this conscientious work, the potential for expensive rates may seem high, but a competitive market along with developers’ efficiency translate to easily accessible pricing. San Diego Web Design specializes in keeping prices low while maintaining a high standard of quality, enabling web entrepreneurs and newcomers alike to achieve impressive, satisfying results without breaking the bank.

The most pressing concerns experienced by modern webmasters, covering those features and applications on the cutting edge of web development, are second nature to San Diego Web Design when it comes to solid creation and effective maintenance. From content management services to integration with social networking, incorporation of streaming audio and video and much more, no feature is too involved when working with the right firm. With ’round-the-clock availability and convenient billing and communication options, San Diego Web Design offers quick, simple, and painless interactions consistent with a company on the pulse of delivering excellent service online. Though finding the right web development company can be challenging in the face of a large and highly competitive market, the true signs of quality are plain to see. These signs underscore every project produced by San Diego Web Design, and render it an excellent choice for the smallest and most simple sites as well as the highly ambitious.

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Save money on your website development

I have a wide range of contacts and in these recession hit times, they’ve been asking me, in confidence, if there’s a way they can save money on their web development.  Some have asked me for private training or even discussed the possibility of letting their sites sit stagnant for a year or two.  The idea is that IT is expensive and surely the web is a specialist area which costs a lot of money and doesn’t help you make your products.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Well you might think I’m bound to disagree when I work for a leading web design consultancy firm – and you’re right!  Here’s why:  Recessions are a time when you need to think smart rather than cut every expense.  If your company is seriously thinking about leaving its web pages to stay static for a year or two, what does that say about your business?  It’s times like these you need to think about maximising your web presence rather than cutting back.  You’re sure right it can be expensive though.  Having a one guy web developer is pricey, and getting a local outfit to come in and discuss requirements every time you want to make a small change is both costly and exasperating.

Content is key.

It’s these customers that I think content management systems (CMS) are perfect for.  They’re great for both simple and complex sites alike.  They allow you to change your message at a moment’s notice.  Have a bank holiday or even a midnight special and you can increase trade and find you’ve made extra profit without even being there.

As easy as a word processor.

A lot of people don’t really know what a content management system is or how it works, and they fear what will happen when it stops working.  What do you do when you want to write a letter? I bet you open up Office and start writing.  Well, imagine every time you wanted to write a letter and you had to get an IT specialist to come along and craft you a dedicated letter, putting in images in crazy links, writing code to control the position of the company logo, setting up the database, uploading it all to a test server, and then finally uploading it to a live server.  Wouldn’t that be a pain?  I bet you’d stop writing letters.  Content Management Systems take the effort out of writing web pages, just the same as word processors take the pain out of writing documents.  You’ll find yourself wondering quite why you ever did without.

Which CMS?

There are so many content management systems out there that I struggle when advising over specific models.  What I like about working with our Web Development Team is that even that process is managed for you.  You can explain what sort of system you’d like, what you want it to do and what sort of costs you can manage. We can pick a good CMS system for you and add bespoke elements too.  Sure a small local company can do this too, but TrendZo has a lot of clients and a lot of modules and solutions already built.  Not having to reinvent the wheel saves us time, and it saves you money. We’ll even give you an existing website analysis and discuss your initial requirements for free.  It’s hard to beat free.

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Keyword Density Defined

What is the simplest definition of Keyword Density?

Keyword density is simply the measurement of the number of times that a keyword or keyword phrase is mentioned on a web page as compared to the total number of words in the web page text. Keyword density measurement is expressed in percentage.

How is Keyword Density Measured?

Keyword Density is measured by counting the number of times that a keyword or keyword phrase appears on the web page. Divide that number with the total number of words on the web page; the quotient represents keyword density

What is the purpose of Measuring Keyword Density?

Keyword density is measured for Search Engine Optimization or SEO purposes. It is used to determine whether the text that comprises a web page is relevant to a specific keyword or keyword phrase that is used when performing a search. The higher percentage of keyword density, the higher the chances of being presented as a relevant result to the keyword or keyword phrase specified in the search. Webmasters try to maximize the use of the keyword or keyword phrase within a single web page so that search engines would display their web page in search results.

How does Keyword Density affect web page ranking?

A web page should have the correct keyword density percentage to get a high ranking on search engine results. It is quite easy to fill up a webpage with keywords or keyword phrases but will not guarantee a high web page ranking. Search engines implement various methods of determining relevancy to validate web page ranking.

How can San Diego Web Design help with keyword density and web page ranking?

Webmasters at Golden Web Design knows the ideal keyword density to get a high ranking for your web page. There are also various SEO techniques that Golden Web Design utilizes, other than keyword density, to ensure that your web pages attains and maintains high rankings.

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Planning Your New Website

You’ve decided to go ahead with a brand new website for your new company, but what do you really want it for?  I’m particularly asking small traders here who feel that they need a website because, “everyone else has one”, and feel that having one will give them some unknown advantage, even though they can’t say what that advantage will be.  In this post what I’m asking you to do is to have a good think about why it is you want a website – what exactly is the reason?  I’m not trying to put you off having one – no chance of that, but I’m trying to make you realise that just “having” one is pointless if you don’t decide what you want it to do.  This is what Informal Requirements Analysis is all about – working out what your expectations are.

Some people think that having a website will automatically generate more business – this isn’t true of course – if no one knows your website is there then who’s going to look at it?

Here are a few things to think about before developing a new website:

1.    How are people going to find your website?
You could have a business card with the address on, or print the address on the receipt, or have the address on a loyalty card.  Make sure you use it in the signature of your emails.  These are all ways which give your website a chance to be noticed.

Another way to be found is by being linked to on the internet.  A great way for this to work is by having an article of interest which people will search for.

2.    What will they think of you when they visit your website?
This is crucial.  There’s no point getting people to your site only to find out that you’re not worth looking at any longer.  Think about engaging your customers.  If you’re a café, don’t just have your menu there, have a couple of speciality recipes and cooking techniques.  If people like your food and they can find out how you do it then they’ll be delighted to see this.  Make sure you change the content too – change it at least every month and make it obvious that more stuff is coming along.  Add dates to articles and people will see progression.  No one likes to read old articles, even if they’re good.

3.    How will your website encourage customers to spend more at your business?
This is the most important aim.  Added value is what you’re after.  For a lot of businesses you can go far by offering web promotions.  This can even be as simple as having an online voucher to print off which will give you a free coffee when you buy two meals or a 10% off your bill when you spend over $100.  Time limited offers are best because people will go back to see what your latest deals are.  People love a bargain.

4.    Ask your internet development guys for advice.
This might not seem so obvious, but here at TrendZo we see so many different marketing approaches that we’ve seen the pros and cons of them all.

The main point I’m trying to put over in this article is to really think hard about what you’re website should do.  Don’t just rush into any old design because it looks pretty or feels like the right thing to do.  Think about what will help your business and make sure you consult some web design experts to talk about ideas rather than just about how the pages should look, otherwise you’re missing a trick.

Flash web design secrets

We get a lot of requests for flash websites, and it’s not surprising.  With our track record it is obvious that we’re a first choice for many clients.  We’re able to do the whole lot: requirements capture, design, development, coding… we’re pretty good really!  Now I’m going to surprise you, most Flash websites are a waste of time and money. Especially if your website is for a carpet shop.

When not to use Flash.
Customers want to have Flash on their website for so many reasons, but very rarely is it because it’s actually a good idea.  Generally it’s because they want to host a game (which their customers will hate) or to show a ridiculous menu (which is slow, cumbersome and confusing), or to provide some music (which will make their customers leave the site – customers can’t be bothered to look for a mute).

Hosting a game
It’s generally a bad idea to host a game.  If you’re a carpet shop, why have a carpet based game?  Do you honestly believe people will think your “flying carpet” game is better than Guitar Hero?  Well it’s not. Don’t do it.

Ridiculous Menu
It’s generally a very bad idea to make a Flash menu.  What’s so special about your carpet shop website that you need to run your menu in Flash?  Think about it – if the big media companies can manage without a Flash menu, what makes you so sure your carpet shop needs one?

Music
Don’t subject your customers to your tastes.  Just do some quick stats.  How many of your actual friends like your music tastes? 1 in 4? And they’re from your own background and you share common interests.  So what are the chances of your customers also liking your music?  Waaaay less than 1 in 4 – I can tell you that.  Unless you’ve got a music website about your band, then I can see no reason for music on your site.  Especially if you’re a carpet shop.  There’s no need for any music on a carpet shop website.

Some good uses of Flash
There are times when a little Flash is a good thing – even for carpet shop owners.  How about a Flash demo where you can chose the colors of your walls and match them with a carpet?  Or how about some video showing how your team of carpet shop fitters can tame a stair carpet?  Yes, there are some really good uses. Before and after shots are great in a Flash based gallery too – this is the point where I become hesitant about the use of Flash though. As soon as something becomes possible without the use of Flash, I start to question the need, and so should you.

Ask an expert
At trendZo, we’ll write any old Flash game or application you want, if you commission us to do so, but why not ask our opinion too?  We’ve seen a lot of tat that just won’t work and we’ve got opinions too.  Talk about your ideas and ask us what might work well for your site.  We’ll consider the sort of business you provide and we’ll think of ways to make your website work well for you.  And we definitely won’t suggest adding music to your website unless it’s there’s a very good reason.