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Posted on 21/01/2019
If you’re just starting a new business, or operating on a restricted marketing budget, but still want a website that does you justice, website themes are a great way to go. But choosing from a collection of designs can either be a lot of fun, completely overwhelming, or for most people, somewhere in between.
While any good website developer should offer you an array of choice and advise on the best option for you, here are five things to look out for when it comes to setting up a new site from a pre-existing website theme.
1) Capabilities
None of us have a crystal ball, but it’s helpful to plan ahead as much as possible and think about what capabilities your website needs now and what it will need in the coming months and years. It’s much easier to include capabilities in the build up front, even if they are kept behind the scenes to begin with, than it is to start from scratch later. Of course, things change, and new opportunities arise, in which case, hopefully you’ve maintained a good ongoing relationship with your web developer, so you can make changes as and when you need to.
2) Price
Website themes should be more cost effective than tailored websites, but as with any purchase, beware of the really cheap template offerings out there. The price you pay should reflect the experience of the team building your site and the quality of the finished product. In short, pre-designed website themes should offer excellent value for money – that doesn’t mean they should be cheap.
3) Support
There’s a common misconception that if you go down the route of building a site from a website theme, you won’t get the same ongoing support and maintenance as you would with an individually tailored website. Although there are some companies that don’t offer long term support, there are companies that do, so explore all options before you decide who to partner with. It’s easy to think you can manage on your own once your website is complete, but there’s always something that crops up – something new you want to add, changes you want to make that are beyond your abilities, or general updates that need to be made to ensure the site continues to run smoothly. Choosing a supplier that offers ongoing support could prove to be invaluable.
4) Always choose responsive
This is a no-brainer. If your site is not responsive, your site is outdated. Responsive designs make it possible to adjust the layout of your sites across different screen sizes and devices. An incredible portion of web traffic is generated from mobile and other hand-held devices and this trend will only continue to increase, so if you don’t make your website available to handheld devices, your business will suffer. Most designs today provide responsive, mobile-ready themes. However, there are still some that do not provide mobile-friendly layouts. Make sure you stay away from these aberrations.
5) Experience/portfolio of previous work
Last but by no means least, once you’ve narrowed down who might supply your website design, check their experience and if it’s not readily available, ask to see a portfolio of work. Looking at an array of website themes is one thing but seeing them up and running and fully branded and functional, is another thing altogether. A relevant and professional looking portfolio speaks volumes for any supplier.
The friendly team at Glazing Vault are always happy to talk through our strong portfolio of work in the glazing industry. We offer advice and ongoing support every step of the way to ensure customers have a website that perfectly fits their business. For more information, please contact us today.
Posted on 14/01/2019
Most of us now accept the importance of any business, existing or new, having an online presence. We know that consumers like to research companies and products before they buy, whether or not they make their final purchase online (which an increasing number of people now do by the way). But creating a new website that best represents your new venture, can be daunting. Glazing Vault has worked with hundreds of start-up businesses in the window and door industry and one of the things we often hear is that there’s a perception that there are only two ways to go when getting their new business online – costly professional design and development, or cheap and cheerful DIY websites. However, there’s a middle ground that’s perfect for new companies.
We deliver cost effective, professionally designed and developed website solutions that deliver real results. How? We use a collection of design templates that our experienced team can quickly tailor to individual requirements.
Cost effective professional websites, fast
Design templates are useful because they give companies with lower marketing budgets access to truly professional looking, fully functional websites, in a more efficient way. Choosing a template design doesn’t in any way mean your site will look like everyone else’s either, it will be completely styled with your brand and contain any and all information you want included. It’s the next best thing to having a new website built from scratch, entirely to your specification, which is naturally more time consuming and therefore more expensive. When designed and built by a professional company, these websites will not only look the part, they will also be maintained and regularly updated to make sure they stay current and fresh in terms of design and functionality.
Resist temptation
We understand the financial pressures on a new business starting out and appreciate the temptation to build a website yourself. With cheap and easy to use options readily available online, it appears on the surface an easy way to save money. However, what might be cheaper in the short term, will almost certainly turn out to be more expensive in the long run. We hear time and time again from people who have had a go themselves and just couldn’t quite get the design right, encountered problems when viewing the site on mobile devices, found the site hard to manage on an ongoing basis and simply didn’t get the results they were hoping for. Even worse, these sites are easier to hack and may not be compliant with all the necessary GDPR regulations. And of course, all of this, takes an inordinate amount of time to put right.
Best of both worlds
The middle ground between creating a website from scratch, entirely built around your business, and doing it yourself, i.e. using a professional web company to tailor existing well thought out templates to your individual requirements, is proving increasingly popular with new businesses and existing companies looking for a refresh, alike. The end result is a professional website that looks just how you wanted it to look and probably has even more functionality that you thought you could afford. With all of this working as it should, you are far more likely to achieve excellent lead generation from your new site too.
If you or someone you know is looking to give their new business the best start, get in touch with the approachable team at Glazing Vault today to find out more.
