Liverpool Website Designers

Web Designers Liverpool

Web Designers Liverpool

If you are looking for a Web Designer in the Liverpool area there are nearly 100 companies listed in the Liverpool Website Designers Directory so you have plenty to choose from. But do you know where to start.

What is a Web Designer?

It's really a misleading term because there is more to it than just design and many "web design" companies don't actually do website design. A better term would be Website Creator but Website Designer is the recognised industry term. The other recognised company description is "Website Development". A website developer is usually a programmer who produces applications that work on the internet. Liverpool has a wide range of all types.

Getting a Good Fit

It's important to get on well with your Web Designer. Think about what you expect them to be like. Do you expect a team of suits to come and make presentations to you or are you happy with a talented programmer who works from home but creates high quality design and coding and communicates via email.

Both can be as good as each other but it is true that a big concept most often will need a big Web Design company. The best way to find a big Web Design company in Liverpool is to sort the companies by Pagerank on LiverpoolWebsiteDesigner.co.uk There is usually a good match between company size and Pagerank. At the other extreme you may not have a big project in mind. You may be a startup business and just want to get yourself online. A small one man or woman Web Designer will be equally as good as the larger companies.

Before choosing your web designer you need to be clear about what you want. Here are some of the things you need to consider:

Brochure Website

Ideal for a startup business website.

Called a brochure website because it is the online equivalent of your company brochure. At its simplest it might only be a single page saying who you are, what you do and how to contact you. More usually it will contain that information but spread over 5 pages not a single page. All web design companies will be able to create one of these. Because of this competition will be fierce and you can negotiate to get a good deal. If price is important the smaller web designers might be best. Watch out for extras which sound good such as a built in Content Management System. But think carefully. Don't buy what you don't need. A simple brochure website is usually best updated by the web designers rather than with a CMS. Infrequent updates done in this way are usually cheaper.

SEO/SEM

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is all about promoting your website. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is about optimising it so that it appears higher in the Search Engine results. SEM and SEO may be at least as important as the look of your website. Do not think "I'll leave that until after the website is finished" Good SEO is an integral part of the website design and needs to be thought about DURING the design not after.

Most Web Design companies will be able to do a reasonable job of SEO/SEM which may be good enough for your needs, but if you MUST be on the first page of Google results for a popular search phase then you need a specialist SEO/SEM company.


Content Management

Have you thought about how you will manage changes to your website after it is finished? Because a website is never really finished. Of course it depends on your particular situation. You may just want a basic website that says who you are, where you are and what you do. A site like this isn't likely to change for a long time. The other end of the scale would be an e-commerce site where you are constantly adding new products and changing prices and descriptions daily.

There are 2 (main) ways to manage changes. 1) Explain to your Web Designer what changes you want and let him/her do them for you. 2) Ensure the site is created with a Content Management System (CMS) built in. You can then make the changes yourself using a Wordprocessor style interface.

So ask your Web Designer about Site Maintenance. Ask them to give you a demo of any CMS they propose so you can see if you like it. There is no reason why they shouldn't be able to give you a demo BEFORE you sign up with them.


E-Commerce

If you want to sell online this is a specialist area and you need a Web Designer who advertises E-Commerce in their list of website types. A hand crafted e-commerce site will be more expensive but may set you out as being a bit different and bring in more sales. A standard online shop will be cheaper but you might look just like the rest. It all depends on your situation. The way SEO/SEM are integrated into the shop are also important. Get the Web Designer to show a previous shop they have done and how it performs for a search phrase.

There are aspects to E-Commerce other than basic online shops. You may want to sell a downloadable item or subscription for example. These are better thought of as Web Applications rather than e-commerce though.

Web Applications

Look for the words "Web Developer" instead of "Web Designer" if you need something a bit different. There is a huge range here. You might want a Blog or Forum adding to your website. A user login for a protected website area. A web accessible company database with complex functionality. All things are possible.

The Portfolio

Perhaps the best way to assess a website designer is to look at their past work. Most will have a link to a portfolio.

Accessibility

Your website must be accessible to everyone. Make sure your Web Designer knows this. It is a legal requirement in the UK under the Disability Discrimination Act.

Flash Animation

Flash is a method of adding animation and interactivity to your website. You should think carefully about whether this really adds anything to your website. Animation can be annoying.