Why do you need a professional web design company to create your website?

Almost everyone would know a friend, a cousin or a nephew who is internet savvy and can easily get your website done in no time for a farthing or even no cost at all. But what kind of knowledge do you require to build a website.  Photoshop and HTML?

What does it take to build a professional quality website that can transform your business or organization?

Let me ask you this first. What is required to do a painting? A Canvas, paint and brush.  What does it take to make a painting that sells for a good price and gets you more and more buyers for your other paintings?  A very deep understanding of the art, medium, market, trends, lot of imagination and various techniques which will make the paintings saleable apart from the skills and knowledge required to actually commit it on the canvas.  

To build a powerful and effective website you need to have a great deal of understanding about how the internet works.  Thorough requirement analysis, research on trends, industry, demographics, competition, knowledge about what would work and what would not, optimum use of available technology, and lots and lots of exposure and experience which are updated on a constant basis. To implement all these and successfully launch your website you need a number of highly experienced people specailized in their respective fields – Visualizing, Concept and Prototype, Information Architecture, UI / Graphic Design, CSS based HTML, ASP.NET, PHP, JavaScript, Flash ActionScript, MS-SQL or MySQL Database, Usability, SEO, CMS, etc.

That was a lot of stuff and a bit scary; to think that to hire so many experts you’ll need a lot of money.  Not exactly – Professional web design companies can give you all these at a reasonable cost, and you wouldn’t need all of the stuff listed above for your website.  For example if you need a basic website to tell the world about your company or business, all you would need is a great professional design done by a qualified designer, good information architecture, basic Flash animation, all implemented using an experienced HTML developer.  A basic website should cost you around US$ 500 to 1000 based on the complexities involved. 

Author: Antony Robinson, Life New Media Solutions

How can a good web design transform your business?

Not everybody can possibly visit you in your office, but almost anyone can visit your website; and for them your website is you and your business or organisation.  More and more people have started making judgments and taking decisions based on how a website projects a business or organisation.  Your website is your face on the web, and needs to be taken very seriously as an extremely important aspect of business transformation.

A powerful web design can help you find new dimensions and possibilities in business development and customer service.  Creating a strong web identity by building a website that projects your business in its best form, or developing web applications that can help your customers find information and do business with you in a more effective manner, all can determine the growth and future of your business considerably.

A business that is not represented effectively on the web has a very primitive appeal.  Even if your business or organization is aimed solely at the local community, having a website gives a sense of security and accessibility.  This also opens up possibilities you never thought existed. 

Author: Antony Robinson, Life New Media Solutions.

Life before the virtual world

I still wonder why it took me a full decade to start a blog on the subject of the internet.  I spend almost 18 hours everyday with my laptop browsing, planning, designing, building, coding, buying, paying, getting paid etc.  Amid all these bustling activities it never occurred to me to look back at those days when we could never even imagine something like the internet being accessible for the common man.

I feel that thinking of those times can give a lot of insights into how many areas of the internet could function differently.  Not just being grateful for all the conveniences the internet offers, but being able to look at how raw (against sophisticated) people could think about it and get things done.  Look at the vast number of people who are yet to get exposed to the power of the internet.  How can the internet evolve to include those who are not yet in?
Isn’t it interesting to look back and try to understand how our transition was to get a better sense of how the transition can be for millions of people, and the immense possibilities out there?

Do write to me with any questions related to the internet and I would try to answer all of them, with help from my big network of internet specialists.  Also please visit my website  www.lifemedia.in