Online Business Marketing Service by Xans Design.

5 Critical Things to Consider When Choosing a Website Design Company

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Once you’ve made the important decision to create (or update) your business’s online presence, another weighty choice is waiting in the wings:

Who are you going to task with this crucial project?

There’s certainly no shortage of options these days. An abundance of choice, however, doesn’t make the decision any easier. Should you opt for a do-it-yourself template that’s cheap on the front end but will cost you down the line? Or, should you call on a slick global firm whose cadre of services is more expansive—and expensive—than you could ever possibly need? For small to medium-sized businesses, the answer is usually somewhere in between.

In your search for the “Goldilocks zone” of website design, a local boutique agency is often the perfect solution. Unlike larger firms hawking mass-produced, cookie-cutter solutions or overly complicated and overly priced services, boutique agencies offer the flexibility to customise a website design solution for your business’s unique demands. The smaller client base of boutique agencies means that you’ll usually enjoy the advantages of direct owner involvement. And sourcing local talent means that help is always just right around the corner.

Boutique or big brand, local or global, there are 5 critical things you should consider when choosing a website design company.

1. What exactly are you paying for?

When it comes to website design, the old maxim “you get what you pay for” couldn’t be truer. If a solution for your business’s online presence seems too good to be true, it probably is. Find out what’s included in your web design company’s proposed fee. Do their deliverables end at a shiny new website, or is ongoing support built-in to the price? Does the site come equipped with a digital marketing strategy in place, or is it destined to languish in obscurity with no real chance of being discovered on search engines? Another important question to ask brings us to number 2 on the list…

2. Will you be expected to manage the content on your own?

Inexpensive templates with do-it-yourself content management systems (CMS) can seem like the ideal route for a budget conscious business looking for a polished site. That is until you realize that the real work of content integration is left to you. Few small to mid-sized business owners have the time or energy to run their business and play the roles of website manager and IT support. Opting for a design company that offers a finished website, complete with dynamic content, as well as ongoing support as your business grows, is an investment that will save you a whole lot of time, money, and headaches in the long run.

3. Will you have round-the-clock support?

For many of your customers, your website and your business are one in the same. You can’t afford to have your site go down—even at 3 in the morning. It’s important to keep this in mind when choosing a website design company. Will their support team be there when you need them, or will you be expected to troubleshoot bugs on your own? Can you get a real live human on the phone to talk them through the nuances of your issue, or are you expected to type questions into an instant messenger field and hope for a response? By hiring a website design company that’s committed to managing your site for you—24 hours a day, 365 days a year—you take the need for customer support out of the question.

4. What sort of creative chops does the design team have?

As a direct reflection of your business, your website should be sleek, stylish, and functional. It should be designed with the user in mind, with intuitive information architecture and effortless navigation. Designing a simple yet striking site is no easy task. It takes years of experience and cutting-edge coding know-how. The best way to know if a design team is up to the task of creating your business’s online presence is to learn how much experience they have under their belt, and what their portfolio looks includes.

5. Is the agency local Australian?

Choosing a locally owned and operated Australian web design company offers heaps of advantages. Your site is sure to perform better on locally based servers, giving your customers a quick, seamless online experience. You’ll have a support team right around the corner, providing the peace of mind that comes from working with your neighbours. And you’ll sleep just a little bit better at night knowing that you’re contributing to the strength of the Australian economy by keeping locals employed.

Choosing a website design company is one of the most important business decisions you’ll make. It can mean the difference between hours of aggravating troubleshooting and a professional site that all but runs itself. Keeping in mind these 5 critical factors will go a long way in making sure you make the right decision—both for today and for you business’s long-term future.

What Can SEO & PPC Do for You?

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When it comes to digital marketing, the best strategy is to go to the source. And when you consider that 60 to 70 percent of your website’s traffic will come from search engines, targeting this wellspring of potential customers is a no-brainer.

Search engine marketing (SEM) falls into two basic categories, organic and paid. The goal of each of these strategies is the same: a high ranking within the results for keyword searches relevant to your products or services. Organic SEM, commonly known as search engine optimisation (SEO), is all about fine-tuning your website’s content so that it caters to search engine algorithms. Paid SEM, also called pay-per-click (PPC), is where you pay for advertised rankings connected to your optimal keywords.

A sound digital marketing campaign is founded on a strategic combination of SEO and PPC, based on your industry, competition, and marketing budget. What can these invaluable acronyms do for your website? Let’s take a look.

Website visibility

The reality is simple: internet usage is driven by search engines. Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask—we’re dependent on sites like these to find what we’re looking for online. And we’ve gotten complacent. Rarely do we click past the first page of results when searching for online content. If a site doesn’t appear on the first page of a search return these days, it may as well not appear at all. SEO and PPC ensure that your website is a fixture amongst this valuable real estate. The more robust your campaign, the higher your ranking. And the higher your ranking, the more visible your website.

A credible online presence

There’s no better way to establish legitimacy and authority in your industry than with first-page search rankings. Outranking the competition on organic search results is the best way to increase traffic to your website. A solid foothold in organic search results can take a while to establish, though. For startups and smaller business just getting into the SEM game, PPC is a great way to ensure that your business appears at the top of relevant search returns.

Qualified leads from targeted marketing

Among the greatest advantages of digital marketing is efficiency. Traditional marketing strategies are the equivalent of sending your message into the ether and hoping it finds the eyes and ears of potential customers. SEO allows you to target qualified leads—those individuals who are already searching for your unique products or services. PPC enables even more precise targeting, putting you in front of users who aren’t just doing research, but are ready to buy. The more accurate your targeted marketing, the more efficient your marketing spend. And the more efficient your marketing spend, the higher your ROI.

Exposure to mobile users

Desktop PCs are slowly but surely going the way of the dodo. The future of the internet is mobile. Search engines like Google have already realised this, and their algorithms now give preference to websites that are optimised for mobile devices. Beyond the convenience of wireless access, mobile search connects users with local resources like never before. Customers are increasingly searching for nearby solutions to their purchasing needs when on the go. And local search results result in higher sales conversions. SEO connects you to the user who is in your neighbourhood and looking for your products or services. And PPC has been shown to be exceedingly more effective on mobile devices.

Right now, someone out there is in need of what your business offers. If they haven’t already, they’ll soon be typing that need into a search engine. The question is: will your website end up on the front page of their results? If not, you’re missing out on revenue. Multiply this by the millions of users around the world in search of the same thing, and you can see why SEO and PPC are indispensible to your digital marketing strategy.