In today's world, too many businesses are victims of wannabe website designers and developers. Due to the MySpace generation, many think they have what it takes to call themselves website designers. In reality, developing and designing a website is a long and difficult process if you want it to bring you results.
Successful websites don't become that way overnight. It takes countless hours of back-end development, a keen eye for a creative design, and ongoing, daily optimization work to continually increase its search engine rankings.
The most important part of a successful website is having a web developer that will work with you to bring your vision to life, to get you seen on the Internet, and to bring you more business than you could have ever imagined.
Think this is all a dream? Read on to learn more about how to select the right website developer, and where you can find one that has proven themselves time and time again.
Smoke & Mirrors
Many people are under the impression that websites cost a fortune to build and maintain. While it is true that developing a top notch website requires a decent amount of cash, it's important to remember that a well done website will pay for itself and all its ongoing costs.
Numerous web designers will claim they have no control over search engine rankings, and that pay per click is the only way to get to page one in free search engine results. They'll probably also hide something in their contract saying you owe them money if you do, in fact, get to page one. They'll claim they can do the same type of work as other website designers, but for less money.
It's important that you as a consumer know what you're getting for your money when you select a web developer. Don't fall for their tricks, their frightening claims, and the one-liners they feed potential clients over and over again.
Cookie Cutters Should Only Be Used for Cookies, Not Websites
The first, and probably most important aspect of building a website, is how it is developed. So many wannabe web developers use templates (some more than once!), changing the color scheme, moving the navigation slightly, and hoping you don't notice that another business in the area has the exact same website. Hopefully it's not someone in your same industry!
Here are a few reasons why template websites are bad:
*the coding is so messy, it's beyond readable
*it's nearly impossible to make any major design changes
*it's been used over and over again for businesses in a variety of industries
*reusing templates means reusing codes for a different industry, putting you in search engine results that your business has nothing to do with
Templates are the easiest way for second-tier web developers to make money. They've already designed the layout, now all they need to do is slap your information into it and they can call it done. DON'T fall for this trick. Make sure your web developer is building your website from the ground up. This means writing the coding from scratch, customizing it to YOUR business and YOUR industry.
Let's not forget that the purpose of having a website is to be found on the Internet. If search engines can't find you, how will you bring in any business? The way search engines are able to find you is by search engine spiders. No, they're not creepy-crawlies, but they do crawl over your website, reading the code of your website to learn more about it. If your website code is messy and unreadable, the spiders move on, and you don't get found when people are searching for you.
An Eye for Flair
Your website needs to represent you and the business you're in. Website visitors need to know exactly what industry you're in the moment they arrive at your website. It's important to make sure the design and the layout of your website is representative of your industry in the blink of an eye.
A great web designer will ask you for input on your website – how you imagine the layout, what colors you would like to use, how you envision the pages to look. Get involved in the design and you'll be much happier with the outcome.
Great web site designers are also willing to make any changes to the site that you need. Does the original design/mock up not look as cool as you thought it would? Sit back down with your designer and tweak it until you're satisfied. A great website designer will not charge you anything to make the changes necessary to build a great website. Lesser web designers, however, will probably charge you exorbitant fees for every little change.
Write On!
This is the area most people skimp on when it comes to building a website. A great looking website with cleanly written back-end coding won't get you business if you're not showing up in search engine results. And whatever you do, DON'T turn to pay per click to try to help increase your page rankings.
Remember those search engine spiders we mentioned a few minutes ago? Well, not only do they crawl your website to read the coding, but they also read the text on your website. Therefore, it's important to use industry specific keywords in the text of your writing, so when potential clients are searching for these terms, guess who's right in front of them. That's right, it's YOU.
Great web development firms are also skilled at writing keyword rich website content that draws the website visitor in and urges them to make contact. This reader-friendly writing convinces them that they do, in fact, need your service or product, all while feeding search engine spiders the right keywords to help you move higher and higher on free search engine results.
Many people think they can write their own content. But when the right keywords and content can make or break the success of your website, isn't it best to entrust this portion in the hands of a qualified web designer?
Your Web Developer Should Never Tell You, "The job is done."
Just because your website has gone live, doesn't mean you never have to look at it again. An important part of maintaining your website is making sure you're adding worthy content and updating it on a regular basis. Great web developers will assist you with this, most often referring to it as Ongoing Search Engine Optimization. This means that every month, work is done to your site to increase its value and help your website move upwards in free search engine results. Each website and each industry is different, so what's done during this monthly search engine optimization work varies for each customer. Meet with and work with your web developer to find the best method of search engine optimization for your website.
Introducing, the One, the Only…
There's one company in particular that has proven themselves in building profitable websites for all their clients, over and over again. I'm sure by now you're dying to know who they are, how they became successful, and how they can help turn your website from a monthly marketing cost to the most successful marketing material your business owns.
Drum roll, please…
iNET is the most popular and well known Milwaukee web developers, thanks to their exceptional ability to make each and every one of their web customers more profitable than they ever expected. Even though iNET is located in Waukesha, Wisconsin (a suburb of Milwaukee), their impressive client list includes customers all over the United States.
iNET prides themselves on their ability to create and build top notch websites from the ground up, all of which appear on pages one and two of free search engine results. With a team of dedicated sales representatives who stay on top of your website production at every turn, you're never left in the dark. Their team of "creative geniuses" are constantly hard at work creating a visually appealing website, while their marketing gurus compose keyword rich copy write work hand in hand with the search engine optimization specialists. iNET's entire website process leaves wannabe web developers behind in the dark ages, promising results and delivering nothing, while iNET continues to thrive.