Web Design

That makes life easier for you.

We design simple websites as well as shopping carts, event bookings, online forms and registrations.

Your website slots into your overall marketing strategy. Websites don’t work in isolation – they’re part of your business systems. You already know that your whole business suffers if one part of your business is under par. Your website plays a critical role in selling, marketing and customer service. No matter how good it looks, it isn’t fulfilling its role unless it accurately communicates what your business is, does and offers, and then feeds customers back to you. In order to provide web design in Canberra and the New South Wales South Coast that meets your business goals, we’ll ask a lot of questions about you, your business and your customers.

We provide face to face WordPress training.

Ask for a quote now on 1300 932 448 (1300 WEBHIVE), or +61 2 4017 0244 if you’re phoning from overseas.

How we work

Webhive approaches you and your business with genuine care. Business is about relationships and we choose to have good ones. That means:

• We tell you how to minimise your costs
• We act with your best interests in mind
• We give you full control over your website and domain
• We view your website as a collaboration. We’re highly-skilled web professionals but you’re the expert on your business. We’ll work together closely to create a website that really works for you.
• Websites are complicated and there’s a lot of scope for misunderstanding. We minimise misunderstandings by explaining what we’re doing and why
• We train you how to edit your website, if you choose

The process

1. A website usually starts with a phone call where we get a brief idea of what you need. We give you half an hour of our time for free to help you work out whether you’d like to work together or not.
2. We send you a quote.
3. You accept the quote, with modifications if required.
4. We send you our welcome email which explains our web design charges and how we work. We find that this reduces misunderstandings.
5. Attached to the welcome email is a worksheet that helps you clarify your needs. You can fill this out yourself, or we can help you. This is information any web designer will need, in order to do a good job.
6. We make an appointment to meet you. We prefer to meet you face to face at least once because the web build runs more smoothly, we understand you and your business better and frankly, it’s more fun! After that we can communicate by email, phone and Skype – whatever suits.
7. We create your website.
8. We load text and images you provide us with. We can help you write the text, but we must have source information to work with.
9. We set the site layout according to your preferences.
10. If you have a large website, you may add extra pages and content yourself.
11. You check the website and make comments.
12. If your requests are within the scope of the work we quoted for, we adjust the website accordingly. Otherwise, we issue a quote for your new requirements.
13. We repeat points 11-12 until you’re happy and ready to sign off.
14. Depending on your needs, we may train you and your staff how to edit the website.

Attracting Customers

If you’ve been in business a while, you know who your customers are and what they want. We’ll identify your niches so that your marketing speaks directly to them. This is soooo important on the web. Each one of us is bombarded by emails and advertising. We block out anything that doesn’t directly apply to us.

We’ll discuss the images that engage your customers, the words they use and their communication habits. (There’s no point running a Facebook page if your customers don’t use Facebook!)

We might put an email sign-up form on your site so that you can send out newsletters, tips and special offers. You might publicise sales days in our regional events feed, or publish your posts automatically to Facebook or your email list, so that you can reach more people more easily. We’ll talk this through with you.

Website designs

We’ll ask you what websites you like and why. We need you to be specific about what you like about each one, eg layout, colours, photos, copy, clarity, usability, look and feel. Don’t worry – we’ll guide you through this.

Please understand that we can’t see into your head! If you have particular expectations about the look and feel of your website, you must voice them. If you don’t have strong opinions, we’re happy to make decisions for you based on your client niches and branding. But if you do and you can’t explain them, we have a terrible situation where we guess and you don’t like it. We guess again and you still don’t like it. When we finally hit on a web design you like, we’ve spent a lot of time in trial and error. You’re unhappy because the costs have gone up, and we’re stressed. So let’s try and avoid this!

Filling out the client sheet will help. You’ll find it attached to your welcome email. Alternatively, you can sit with us in person or on the phone as we modify the layout.

Speaking up

We try and address common misunderstandings upfront, so that we can start off on a good footing. If you have any concerns during the web build, please voice them immediately so that we can respond before it turns into an issue.

Social Media

I can advise you how to use Facebook to drive people back to your website and capture sales leads. I place Like buttons on all my sites, and can install a Facebook feed, so that site visitors can see what’s happening on your wall. We can also set up your posts to publish to Facebook automatically and explain how to schedule posts, so that you can write them in one batch and leave them to publish themselves. That’s a real time saver! But always remember – social media is a conversation! So make sure you answer questions and comment on other people’s posts!

Calls to Action

Once visitors reach your site we use a Call to Action to lead them to the next step. For example, we may invite them to enter your online shop, phone you or join your email list. The Call to Action is determined by the purpose of your site and I’ll discuss that with you.

Editing your Website

We build our sites using WordPress. Wordpress is easy to use, so you can edit your site yourself. Some of our clients learn by themselves, or we can train you.

Alternatively, we can edit your site for you. You can buy an annual service agreement or pay by the hour.

Google

You probably want Google’s top spot! We can’t guarantee that because rankings are determined by a constantly changing algorithm and how heated the competition is for your key words. However, we’ll advise you on a strategy.

Google prefers sites with unique, relevant content that are updated regularly. It’s important to identify your most important key words and put them in the right places, and cultivate links to your site. You might need to publish posts regularly, and sometimes it’s necessary to assess and adjust your strategy.

We usually create a Google page for your business, so that you appear on the map in a Google search. We’ll also create a sitemap and upload it to Google Webmaster Tools. That will encourage Google to take your site seriously!

Photography

Good photos set the tone of your site. Images communicate a lot of information quickly. Given that site visitors decide whether to read or leave your site within about three seconds, it’s important to choose photos well. Stock photos provide good quality and value. However, some businesses will need professional photographs of their staff, premises and products, and I can recommend some excellent photographers.

Graphic design

If your business already has high quality logos and banners, we’ll use them on your website and set fonts and colours to follow your current branding. I can also recommend a graphic designer for your website, business cards, logos and other business needs.

How can your website save you time?

A good website design can save time for your business in Canberra or the NSW South Coast including Nowra, Ulladulla, Batemans Bay, Moruya, Narooma, Tilba, Cobargo, Bermagui, Bega and Merimbula by:

• Answering common questions
• Scheduling your posts and newsletters to publish to your website, email lists and Facebook automatically
• Providing product information
• Managing your customer details and emails
• Allowing bookings or event registration
• Taking payments

Shopping carts

I use Woocommerce shopping carts. They’re quite easy to use, so you can add your products yourselves. You may choose to accept Paypal, cheques and direct debit, or one of many other available payment gateways.

Membership Sites

If your business model involves a membership site that sells premium content and hides pages from non-members, I can set this up for you. I can advise you on the kind of content people will pay for and how to use free content to upsell premium content.

We can also create an online forum.

Most of my clients are between Batemans Bay and Merimbula. If you’d like a chat about your website, please phone 1300 932 448 or contact us.