How to choose the right web development company

Starting a business in today’s technology-led world is easier than ever before. With more tools and guidance at our disposal, it is relatively easy to become your own boss. Whether you are a doing web design in New York, fashion in London or dog walking in Paris, an idea and a laptop is all many people need to begin their journey. However, the online marketplace is also teeming with competition, so it is important that your website stands out for the right reasons. It all begins by hiring the right people for the job.

There are many ‘pre-packaged’ website templates out there, but they are noticeable from a mile away and can immediately put potential customers off. Your website must work for your business – not anyone else’s. It should be optimised for mobile and tablet users, and flow in a way that your customers will enjoy and understand. A good quality website can be the difference between a small business’ success or failure. It is therefore vital to select your web development company wisely. So what exactly should you look for in a web developer?

Know your bottom line

What do you want your website to do? It sounds obvious, but many clients can be unsure of their website’s purpose and simply want one because they think they should have one. Is your company an e-commerce business? If so, you might want to invest in shopping functionality. If it is a consultancy firm, investment in interactive literature could pay dividends. Know what you want to focus on, and what your desired ‘call to action’ is for visitors. Also know what is possible with your budget. Work with your designers and be transparent. Ensure you both have a clear idea of what is to be delivered and when, and for how much.

Ask to view their portfolio

Does your potential web development company’s portfolio resonate with how you want your website to look, feel and function? With so many developers out there, your perfect match is waiting. Everyone has their specialties: do not settle for a mismatch if something simply doesn’t fit.

Know your strategy

How will your website work towards building your brand’s authority – both in terms of search engine results pages and in the wider world? A good web development company knows that a business is more than a website, and will want to make your website work in sync with your brand strategy for maximum impact.

It’s not all about design…

A website is only as powerful as the content that it possesses. Many web design companies offer content writing services. They are not mere ‘add-ons’ – they are imperative if you do not possess a capable writing function within your company. Strong content can engage visitors, which will in turn invest them into your brand with long-term loyalty. Poor content will drive them away, likely never to return. Search engine optimised (SEO) content can see your website rank at the top of search engine result pages which will give your company lots of exposure.

Make sure your web development agency turns to your content before design. More often than not, the reason a company wants to refresh or rebuild a website is because its content is lacking. If your web development company is showing you colour palettes before a content management plan, red flags should be popping up. Be sure to know how you want your content to perform, and enlist the help of a specialist by investing in content writing services.

Video content and strong imagery also add further layers to your overall content, prompting new levels of engagement and social ‘shareability’.

Ultimately, choosing the right web development company could well make or break a small business. Invest wisely, ask questions, feel confident in the partnership, and know that your website is much more than a place to display your wares.

So whether you are a doing web design in New York,fashion in London or dog walking in Paris, make sure that your chosen company has a proven track record of deep-rooted, strategically sound website development projects that have played a part in their client’s success. That way, you can be confident that your website will have similar success.

This is the syndicated copy of an original article posted at https://hummingbirdwebdesign.com/choose-right-web-development-company/

Boost Your Business With Help From A Content Marketing Agency

By now we’ve all heard the term ‘content is king’ many times over, and while that is certainly true for marketing effectively there is still great confusion as to what constitutes excellent content. Content marketers need to understand that it’s never about quantity but all about the quality of the content offered to the customer across a range of media.

Here we’ll be taking a look at some of the keys professional web design services use to unlock your content marketing strategies and make your business more accessible to your customer base.

It’s greater than the sum of its parts.

The first thing to remember is that content is not just made up of one individual part, but instead is comprised of everything from text and images to videos and even infographics. For content to be effective it needs to be part of a successful package rather than a standalone piece of writing or a single video.

A good content marketing agency will not only focus on the website text, but will also incorporate things such as relevant blog posts, creating a buzz on social media, set up email marketing, and anything else your site needs to reach its target audience. The ultimate goal is to turn them from mere visitors into paying customers that you rely on.

Give them what they need.

Getting to page one on Google means more than just making content available to the masses, it’s about giving them something of value that helps them achieve what they’ve come for.

Knowledgeable content marketers know that websites have a range of purposes, such as to sell a product or simply to inform, and the content displayed needs to be tailored specifically to your customer’s needs.

If a customer is not getting what they want from you, they’ll simply go elsewhere. They may want to buy your product or use your service, but if it’s not packaged appropriately then it’s going to be a major turn-off for them. Content marketing involves hitting the right tone across a number of platforms to boost interest and maintain it.

Content Marketing Services

The three biggest components of content on the website itself are text, image, and video. Images and video are actually quite easy to get right, but so many companies place uninteresting videos that do not hold the visitor’s attention and images which are low quality and serve no purpose. There are many affordable content marketing services that offer to complete every aspect of this so no digital stone is left unturned.

As soon as your website is opened by a visitor they immediately start to consume the information with their eyes and begin searching for what they need. If your content does not quickly address their requirements then you can guarantee they won’t stick around for long. Images need to be appropriately sized, and if videos are used you should keep them short with an interesting title.

Content Writing Services

Text is perhaps the most important aspect of your website for a content marketer to get right. It conveys information images and videos cannot, and although images provide visual stimulus, the text is directed to the reasoning part of the brain. Here you can delve into the conscious, and sometimes subconscious thought processes of the visitor and generate emotion with your words.

But what should your text say, and how can you make sure it is of a high standard? Although search engines and SEO are important, especially correct keyword analysis, your website shouldn’t be created with keywords as the main focus. Your content needs to be geared towards the visitor and giving them what they came for first and foremost. They will be constantly forming an opinion of your site depending on a multitude of aspects such as the layout, the style or whether you are bombarding them with ads. You need to build trust from the moment the website pops open on their computer or smartphone, and good content marketers do just that. If you have spelling errors or broken links that cause annoyance, then what does that say about the overall quality of your content marketing services? Will you be making mistakes with the order? Will you be annoying them with your shoddy service?

Remember that a companying offering content marketing services will always aim to make your website more valuable, more credible and more helpful to your customer than it currently is- it’s what they do best. Be an authority in your sector that people can trust and depend on, and you won’t go wrong.

This is the syndicated copy of an original article posted at https://hummingbirdwebdesign.com/blogs-latest-updates/