Your SEO and WebDesign Experts

If you are a new business or even a business that needs a website overhaul then you are going to be looking at a web design agency to help you along the journey. With a vast array of companies to choose from, navigating who may be best for you can sometimes seem tricky when it does not need to be. In our latest article Lead Genera have put together a guide on how to choose a web design agency.

Why Is A Website Important

To put some context on why choosing a web design agency is important we first need to look at why a website is important. A website is like putting your business in the shop window and giving your customers a destination to find out more about you. Therefore having a website that is easy to use, user-friendly, and also informative is important. Choosing who should build this for you is a key business decision for pushing you forward.

Things To Consider When Choosing

When choosing who should complete the design of your website there are some key factors to look at. Understanding these factors will help to decide if the agency is a business you would like to partner with, and also if their expertise is going to match your expectations. Some of the factors to consider when deciding how to choose a web design agency include the following:-

Previous Work

The first place to start is going to be looking at their previous work. This will give you a good understanding of what your website may look like, or to at least what standard it is going to be finished too. Previous work is also a good marker for how they may build a website tailored to your industry. We look more into relevant experience in the next part of this guide.

Relevant Experience

Relevant experience can be separated into two sections. Firstly will experience building the website you require. Most websites have other functions like quote tools or client logins, so ensuring that the agency you can choose has experience in these areas will help to produce better success.

The next part will be relevant to the industry you work in. Some industries are very niche, so making sure they have a knowledge of that industry, what is appealing to customers, and how to build something effective will only benefit your business in the long run. However, it goes without saying do not put too much emphasis on industries. Most agencies will conduct thorough research into other companies for inspiration when designing.

What’s Their Website Like

Let’s be honest if they have a second-rate website then chances are they are not going to give your project the best of looks either. Having a well-branded, easy to use and user-experience-focused website will speak volumes about what they like to achieve with you. If they have a great website, it’s easy to navigate, and gives you all of the information you require then they should definitely …

Here are the tips for choosing an ideal web design agency:

Do They Welcome Your Ideas?

You know what is best for your business because you are a professional in that industry. You have a good knowledge of the product or service that you are selling. You also know how the business should be presented to people. No one should know your business better than you.

Therefore, if the web design agency does not welcome your ideas or they are not open-minded to see better ways of marketing them, then that is a red flag. The duty of the agency is to listen to your ideas, improve on them, and take action based on those ideas.

Do They Make You Think Out of the Box?

An ideal web designer will not only welcome your ideas but will also make you see your business from a different perspective. You have to ensure that the agency you choose is one that will challenge your opinions and give you a better concept or strategy that will work.

Also, the agency does not only need to know about design, but they also need knowledge of conversion rate. This is because people need to visit your website and become paying customers. So, if the agency only does the exact replica of what you tell them to do, then you are not getting value for your money. The designer’s expert knowledge has to match yours to produce amazing results.

Is Their Marketing Team Experienced?

Some people think they just need to have a website so that their business can have an online presence. Whereas some others believe that a website is an essential tool for business growth. If you are in the first category, this may not matter to you. But if you are in the second category, it is important to pick an agency that has some experience in marketing.

An agency that does not have an experienced marketing team is like a car without an engine. It may appear good, but it will never take you anywhere. The internet is not static, things keep changing and you need consistent digital marketing to ensure that your website performs optimally.

You need a website that is not only attractive but effective. When the agency has marketers, developers, and designers, you are confident that the outcome will fetch you results.

Do they Have Knowledge of CMS?

If a web design agency does not encourage a content management system (CMS), then they are outdated. Your website should have a CMS, else you will be placed at a disadvantaged point in the digital market. A good agency will not recommend a static HTML website. They will also not use “do it yourself” software.

You may want to read more about content management systems here.

Is their Web Design Mobile-Friendly?

A website that is mobile-friendly ranks faster on Google. Many internet users surf the internet with their mobile phones. So, if your site does not support mobile phone views, you …

If you’re about to build a new website, wondering how much does website design cost in 2022 is a common question.  Depending on your needs a website can cost anywhere between $100 to $500,000+, so what’s the difference? Pricing variables that come into play include the complexity of design, programming needs, custom functionality, data imports, ERP integrations, and more. The best way to get an accurate cost for your website design project is to talk with a web design expert in detail.

So, when building a new website, how do you know what to budget? It’s difficult to determine website pricing as many variables come into play, but we’ll outline what to expect and differences in pricing levels. Understanding what a website costs will allow you to select the best website design company that matches your budget and goals.

What Affects Website Project Costs & The Overall Website Price?

It probably goes without saying, but the type of website you’re looking to develop will ultimately affect pricing. A basic website for a restaurant with 10 content pages is a simple project, while an eCommerce website processing millions in transactions with 50,000 items is a time-consuming website development undertaking. To learn more about eCommerce website pricing project, read pricing your eCommerce website.

Many factors can go into what makes a website complicated and are listed below.

Items That Determine Website Cost:

• How do you want your website to look?
• How many pages do you need?
• What platform will your website be on? (WordPress, Magento, Shopify, Onveos, etc.)
• Who will put your content into the website (Your agency or will you?)
• Do you need advanced CMS capabilities?
• Will your website integrate with other software?
• Do you need to process payments online? (eCommerce)
• Do you have custom functionality that’s needed?

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The website pricing below is based on working with a website design agency located in the United States. This does not include overseas prices, outsourced pricing, or working with freelancers. There are always options for lower costs, but risks are associated with lower website design price points.

Your Breakdown To Website Design Costs & Development Pricing:

Cost Factor	Average Price
Website Graphics & Layout	$3,000 – $25,000
Landing Pages	$150-$250 / page
Responsive Design	$2,000 – $20,000
eCommerce Features	$5,000 – $50,000
Data Integrations	$3,000 – $25,000
Content Management System (CMS)	$3,000 – $20,000
Website Copywriting	$100 – $500 / page
Domain Name	$10/ year
Website Hosting	$20 – $1000 / month
SEO Services	$500 – $10,000 / month
Website Maintenance	$500 – $2,500 / month

Cheaper Website Alternatives

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If the website prices above scare you, there are alternatives to developing a website without an agency. These days there are many plug-and-play options as well as websites that offer freelance services. At the end of the day you may have as much expertise on your side, but it should allow you to get a viable website online. If you’re a start-up business, that may be all you’re looking …

After more than 500 web projects, we’ve learned a lot, including common spots where you may have project risks. These are the top 6 to consider if you’re launching a new web project soon:

So you’re about to embark on a web design project; do you have a risk mitigation strategy in place? Do you know what you will do about migrating your content, enabling search or scaling the end result? The following risks and suggested mitigation strategies are some of the most common ones that we encounter in our work with clients.

1. Multi-year, multi-phase project

Embarking on a multi-year project requires that all stakeholders have a unified vision of what the solution/site looks like at the end of each phase. Your project discovery process needs to achieve this consensus. Incorporating exercises like journey mapping and discussions around applications lifecycle management and continuous deployment will help in ensuring that your entire team is on the same page from the get-go.

2. Scope and scale of content migration

Content migration is often underestimated. Once the information architecture is complete, we recommend that you begin the planning for the migration exercise. As a rule of thumb one person can manually migrate 20 – 30 pages of pre-existing content per day. Curious about how best to start planning for content migration? We’ve put together a helpful checklist to help you sure that you’ve got all your bases covered.

If you are fortunate enough to have your existing content stored in a structured way, automated migration may be a possibility, just keep in mind that will often require that the information architecture be similar.

3. Integration with cloud and on-premise applications

Early in a project the location of all the integration points may not be known – or may be in flux. This can often hide some of the larger technical, security and performance related risks. Our advice: nail this down as quickly as possible. If systems are in flux due to parallel projects, you may need to consider alternatives if the other projects’ timelines slip. Working on a Sitecore project? You’re likely weighing your options of hosting the xDB on premises or in the cloud. While decisions on that front are always changing given the evolution of the product, we’ve written a post to help you make an informed xDB decision (or check out our xDB webinar)

4. New approach to regions/languages

The potential change of the regional/language approach from the current state may require significant change management. There is also a possibility that existing systems make assumptions about regional content that will require them to be updated if the approach changes. A lot of the work we’ve done in incorporating new regions or languages has been using Sitecore, which has developed great multilingual capabilities.

5. Lack of enterprise search product with content faceting

As user expectations of search continue to increase, the need for a true search product becomes more necessary. Thankfully something like Coveo for Sitecore is free to use,

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People go online to search for different types of information and this means that your company needs a strong online presence. Many users need to carry out searches before they make a purchase. Your business thus requires a website that will be ranked on the first page of search results. Websites represent companies and have the ability to determine whether or not users will be receptive to them.

Search Results

Having a website is important but in order for it to help your business become more profitable, it needs to be seen in search results whenever searches are carried out using particular keywords. This is based on the tendency of people to search according to what they are looking for, such as product or service.

Websites that do not appear on the first page of search engine results when people carry out searches can be regarded as non-existent among online users. This is why you need to ensure that your site ranks highly for specific keywords so that search engines place your site higher than several others that are related to the same keywords. SEO includes a variety of factors and plays a critical role in web design.

Value of SEO

Web design and SEO work together and more web designers are choosing to integrate SEO when designing websites. It is important for business owners to be aware of how important SEO is in web design and the value it adds to the design process.

A web design that is compatible with SEO is likely to draw more traffic. A website may be attractive and dazzling but if it is not search-engine friendly, you restrict the ability of major search engines to access your content.

If your website content is not readily accessible to search engines, it will not have a high ranking in the search results. Integrating SEO appropriately in your web design includes aspects such as technology, navigation, linking and content.

Content, Keywords, and Links

• The content on your web pages is vital for SEO success. During the process of building your site, it is advisable for the web designer to be aware of what your business entails. This makes it possible for lists of keywords to be selected in the initial stages of development according to what users are likely to search for when looking for information that relates to the site.
• Content is essential in SEO but should be used properly to avoid any unethical practices that may lower our ranking or lead to search engines penalizing your site. Strategic and meaningful placement of keywords will help you get a better ranking for your web pages in search results.
• Adding keywords to content while creating the web pages will help to cut down on the time used to change content on web pages for the purpose of SEO.
• Link building enables you to have links directed from other credible sites to help you achieve better search engine rankings for your website. In order for quality content

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This year, the need for SEO rose to an all-time high. As consumers shifted en masse to online, even the most traditional business realized that they need to accelerate the shift to digital.

SEO is the most viable and cost-effective way to both understand and reach customers in key moments that matter.

Many brands and businesses know (or think they know) that they need SEO for their digital properties, and the benefits they will get from the SEO work being implemented on their behalf.

SEO will certainly improve a website’s overall searchability and visibility, but what other real value does it offer?

Why is SEO growing in importance the way it is?

These 15 reasons should offer some clarity, regardless of the industry or business size, as to why businesses need SEO to take their brand to the next level.

1. Organic Search is Most Often the Primary Source of Website Traffic

Organic search is a massive part of most businesses’ website performance and a critical component of the buyer funnel and ultimately getting users to complete a conversion or engagement.

o, and many, many others.

That’s not to say that all search engines don’t contribute to a brand’s visibility – they do. It’s just that Google owns a considerable portion of the overall search market.

Nevertheless, it’s a clear-cut leader, and thus its guidelines are important to follow.

But the remaining part of the market owned by other engines is valuable to brands, too. This is especially true for brands in niche verticals where voice, visual and vertical search engines play an essential role.

Google, being the most visited website in the world (and specifically in the United States), also happens to be the most popular email provider globally with more than 1 billion users.

YouTube is the second biggest search engine and over 2 billion people access it at least once a month.

We know that a clear majority of the world with access to the internet is visiting Google at least once a day to get information.

Being highly visible as a trusted resource by Google and other search engines will always work in a brand’s favor. Quality SEO and a high-quality website take brands there.

2. SEO Builds Trust & Credibility

The goal of any experienced SEO is to establish a strong foundation for a beautiful website with a clean, effective user experience that is easily discoverable in search, thanks to the trust and credibility of the brand and its digital properties.

Many elements go into establishing authority regarding search engines like Google.

In addition to the factors mentioned above, authority is accrued over time as a result of aspects like:

• Natural links.
• Positive user behavior.
• Machine-learning signals.
• Optimized on-page elements and content.

But establishing that authority will do more for a brand than most, if not all, other digital optimizations.

The problem is, it’s impossible to build trust and credibility overnight – just like in real life. Authority is earned and built over …

Through the course of this article, we’ll go over each of these points and explain exactly how to find the website designer or website design company that best serves your needs.

Why is website design important?

The internet is over 30 years old now. What?! Yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed that either. People are shopping, socializing, dating, networking, learning, and doing business online now more than ever.

There is an old saying “first impressions last.” Over 80% of shoppers will look you up online first before buying.  How do you think they’ll react if you don’t have a website or your website is a poor representation of you and your business? Would you expect to make a sale showing up to a sales meeting in a dirty, old shirt, or worse still, naked!? Your website, or lack of one, instantly tells your people if you’re worth their time and money.

If you’re struggling with sales or selling higher-priced products or services, a new website, or a website upgrade, maybe just be the thing you need to reach your goals.

The Role of Your Website in Online Marketing

In your online or digital marketing strategy, your website is the star of the show. It’s the piece of internet real estate that belongs to no one but you.

It’s also the only place online fully controlled by no one but you.

Marketing online has everything to do with controlling attention. With all the digital noise of social media and other competitors, your website is the only place you can easily direct people’s attention where you want it. This is why when you click on a social media or online advert the first place you get sent to is the advertiser’s website. Digital marketers know that once you are there, there is a much higher chance of you engaging with their brand and becoming a buyer.

Another important reason to have a good website is so that people can find you and find out more about your products or services quickly and easily. Have you ever gone half crazy trying to find a business’s email or contact number but it isn’t listed online? You’re not alone.

Along with finding you, your website should take your people one step further. It should inspire confidence in your business and create fresh leads that become sales. A good set-up, an attractive website can do this for you while you sleep.

Choosing the Best Web Design Company or Web Designer

In choosing the best possible website designer or company, it helps to understand as much as possible about what you really need. You can then find a provider who best answers these needs.

Your Website Requirements List

Make a list of requirements for your website.
It should include:

• What your website will focus on— news? Your products? Your reliability? Your speed of service? etc. A website with a clear message has a better chance of being understood and leaving a strong impression on

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Keep these five pointers in mind when designing your website and you could soon start seeing your content rank higher in the SERPs.

When you’re trying to improve your website’s performance, it’s important to remember that you have to focus on numerous factors simultaneously.

In both life and digital marketing, we tend to give all of our attention to one or two important elements while neglecting something else that can turn out to be equally as important.

If you want to do better in the SERPs, it takes more than just SEO.

Your website also needs to be designed well, or you risk squandering all of that organic equity you have been building.

SEO and web design work together more seamlessly than many people might realize.

Their components mingle and flow together so well that, when executed correctly, your website visitors should not actually notice anything about what you have created; they should simply start navigating through your site.

So, what are those elements where SEO and web design collaborate? Check out these five ways they are used together.

1. Mobile-Friendliness

Anyone who’s even slightly familiar with SEO or web design should already know the importance of making your website mobile-friendly.

In fact, if this isn’t something you’ve taken the time to do yet, you’re already a few years behind.

Google made mobile-friendliness a ranking factor in 2015. That’s half a decade ago.

The search giant then introduced mobile-first indexing in 2017. It’s clear to see how importantly Google views mobile-friendliness, but many websites still haven’t caught on.

The number of people searching on desktops has been declining for a few years now, while the number of people searching on mobile devices has been steadily increasing.

More than half of all web traffic is coming from mobile devices, which means that more than half of your audience is also likely to be on their mobile phones.

Without a mobile-friendly website design, you could be accidentally alienating half of your users. That is massive.

A website with a high bounce rate due to not loading properly on a phone or tablet is going to send bad signals to Google, and your rankings could plummet.

2. Easy-to-Read Design

If you’ve been working on improving your SEO, content is likely something that you have spent a lot of time on.

Some people might not realize what a huge impact the design of a website can have on your content, or at least the presentation of it.

Poor web design can make it impossible for users to read what they came to your website to do.

Pages with blocks of content in strange places, with too many hyperlinks that don’t serve a clear purpose, essentially erases any audience that you managed to bring onto your site.

And if no one can get the information they want, what’s the point?

At some point, you’ve probably been on a website that had text that was impossible to read because of the page design.

Maybe it was …