There are many advantages to choosing a custom web design service for your company’s online presence. Your web site is one of the most important marketing decisions you will make, so it is important to make the right choice from the outset. Although a customized web site will cost more upfront than a pre-designed template, there are a number of distinct advantages to selecting this option. In fact, working with a professional web design company can translate into a great long-term investment for your business.

Here are 3 Great Reasons to Consider Custom Web Design over Pre-Designed Templates

1.    One-of-a-Kind Design. It goes without saying that your business and your brand are unique. With custom web design, you can convey that originality via a professionally crafted and imaginative web site. Unlike the many cookie-cutter templates on the market, a customized solution created just for your business won’t be duplicated all over the Internet. Instead, your web site will enhance and reinforce your marketing efforts by conveying a distinctive look and feel that is uniquely your own. This will increase customer recognition of your company and its products and services – and will help build greater trust and credibility with your potential clients. The end result is a more robust bottom line for your business.

2.    Better Search Engine Optimization.  As more and more people are taking their search for information, products and services online, the importance of this aspect of web design is becoming increasingly important.

Most reputable design firms are familiar with search engine optimization (SEO) techniques and will leverage that expertise on your behalf. This technical know-how is invaluable in terms of delivering highly targeted organic search engine traffic to your web site. On the other hand, if your site is poorly constructed from this standpoint – as is often the case with pre-designed templates - it can negatively impact its overall performance for years to come. In most instances, the amount of traffic your site receives is directly proportional to its overall success. It is very difficult to convert traffic that isn’t there into loyal customers!

3.    Design with Future Growth in Mind. Another great feature associated with hiring a professional web design firm is that they can help plan for the future growth of your company from a technological standpoint. This is great for many start-up operations working on limited marketing budgets. While it is important to establish a web presence as soon as possible, many young organizations are unable to invest large sums of money right out of the gate. However, by working with a professional web designer, you can quickly establish a near-term web presence that can be expanded as your business grows and prospers. In this sense, the web design firm you select is a true partner in terms of the long-term success of your business.

Although having your web site professionally designed will cost more at the outset, the long-term benefits of doing so make it a worthwhile investment in your business.

Quality web design can mean the difference between success and failure for your online business efforts. Whether your business is primarily “brick-and-mortar” or completely “click-and-order” (or somewhere in between), there are a number of ways that effective web design can help make your operation more profitable. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep these factors in mind before you launch a new website or revamp one that already exists.

One way quality web design can make your online venture more profitable is by making your website more visible to search engine spiders. There are a number of ways this can be accomplished by optimizing your site “behind the scenes.” One way is to incorporate targeted keywords into your title, “meta” and “alt” tags. Another is to develop an intra-site linking strategy which makes it easier for search engine spiders to find and index all of your web pages. When done correctly, effective search engine optimization techniques such as these can lead to more and more free (organic) web traffic coming to your site over time. This, in turn, creates more opportunities for you to convert those first-time visitors into satisfied repeat customers.

Another important aspect of effective web design is how well it appeals to and engages human visitors. The reason for this is quite simple: for a business to exist at all, it must have a steady supply of new and repeat customers. Therefore, your website must be designed in a way that grabs your prospects’ attention and holds onto it long enough for them to take action. After all, what is the point of having a website if the vast majority of your potential customers hit the back button within the first few seconds of landing on it?  It is really hard to make a sale to a prospect who has already left!

Good website design can also improve your bottom line by helping your site appeal to a wider audience. This can be accomplished by offering a value-added, content-rich layout enhanced by strong aesthetic appeal and intuitive navigation. The goal is to create a visually rich and welcoming destination that is easy to use and understand. As with other types of design, a simple and consistent approach is often best. For example, you may want to select only 2 or 3 complementary colors and use them consistently throughout your entire site. Same goes for font choices, formatting and text size. Using a limited number of options repeatedly is much more appealing than a random hodge-podge of choices that don’t follow any pattern. Without question, these and other bad design choices can be distracting – and can result in lost sales opportunities.

Remember, the key to effective web design – and a profitable online venture - is to stay focused on providing the type of products, services or information your potential customers are seeking. Keeping these basic principles in mind can help maximize the profitability of your own online business efforts.

Effective web design goes beyond simple aesthetic appeal. In fact, there are many factors which can contribute to the overall success or failure of a website. Therefore, it is important to have a solid understanding of the common pitfalls you will want to avoid before starting this process.

Here are 8 specific ways to avoid some common web design mistakes:

1. Avoid fancy, flashing or too-small fonts.  Less is often more in the world of web design and this concept definitely applies to making font selections for your site. Remember to keep your human visitors in mind while making your selections and stick to those that are clear and easy to read.
2. Break content blocks into bite-sized pieces. Internet readers tend to prefer material that is easy to scan over novel-length dissertations. Try to break up long paragraphs by incorporating bullets or numbered lists whenever possible.
3. Clearly communicate what the site is about - fast.  Your visitors should be able to understand what your site is about right away. You have a brief window of opportunity to convert a first-time visitor into a repeat customer – so the more clearly and quickly you can communicate your message, the better.
4. Skip the fancy introductions. This applies to anything that makes it harder to visitors to get to what they want. The fewer steps between landing on your site and finding what they are looking for, the better. As always, make decisions based on what is best and easiest for your human visitors.
5. Avoid auto-playing music. You may absolutely love the Red Hot Chili Peppers – but there is no way to guarantee that every single visitor to your site will. Even if they do, odds are they don’t want everyone at work to know they are surfing the Internet during the day – and a sudden blast of loud music coming from their computer is a definite give-away.
6. Incorporate value-added audio (or video). Audio and video presentations can be a great way to enhance the user’s online experience.  Just make sure they don’t significantly increase your page load times and enable your visitors to start and stop each presentation at will.
7. Avoid clutter.  Too many badges, banners, association labels or other items can take away from or confuse your ultimate message.  Again, good web design is usually simple and straightforward – so try to stay focused on only those elements which enhance your primary message.
8. Limit scrolling.  Some amount of vertical scrolling may be necessary, but try to limit it as much as possible as web surfers have notoriously short attention spans.  On the other hand, horizontal scrolling should be avoided at all costs – you want the width of your entire web page to display upon opening (vs. needing to scroll across to see the whole thing).

Clearly, there are many factors to consider when deciding on the right web design options for your business. This list and the recommendations of a reputable web design firm can help you avoid the most common mistakes as you establish a successful online presence.

We're excited to announce that the Beachwood Schools website, with web design and development by WRIS, has won a Standard of Excellence award in the Web Marketing Association's thirteenth annual WebAward Competition.  The website (www.beachwoodschools.org), won in the School category.  To date, WRIS has won thirteen WebAwards with 2009 marking the seventh consecutive year of wins.

The website WRIS developed for Beachwood Schools was launched in February of 2009 after several months of careful planning and programming.  Located in an east side suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, The Beachwood City School District has approximately 1,600 students enrolled in four separate school buildings. In an effort to streamline communication, the newly designed website includes updateable news and announcements on the home page and a powerful school-wide calendar sortable by school campus and category. All of the site's content, including photographs, is updateable through a password-protected Content Manager managed entirely by school staff.  The mission of the new Beachwood Schools website is to make it easy for prospective families to gather information about the school district, and provide valuable information to existing members of the school community including students, parents, faculty & staff and alumni.

The Beachwood School's website scored well above the industry average for design, content, technology, copywriting and ease of use. Judges from the WebAward competition said, "This site is a great first step toward providing better school websites." Another judge commented that the site was "well laid out and easy to navigate."

Founded by the Web Marketing Association in 1997, the WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks based on the seven criteria of a successful website: design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting, and ease of use. Thousands of sites were adjudicated in 96 industry categories during this year's competition. The competition was judged by a team of independent Internet professionals representing a variety of relevant disciplines of Web site development. Judges included members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, corporate marketing executives, content providers and webmasters.

The goal of the WebAwards is to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective websites on the Internet today. Beyond validation, entrants benefit from a website assessment by a professional judging panel, which provides specific feedback on how each site ranks against standards of excellence.

A standard bearer award-winning school district, Orange City Schools recently upgraded their web site to reflect the mission of their schools and serve as an informative and useful tool for the community which they serve. The new and improved website includes a fresh, new design interface, a multimedia section full of slideshows and videos, and a more powerful Content Manager that enables Orange administrators to update the entire site. 

A combination of the WRIS Content Manager and Macromedia Contribute make the entire website updateable by Orange Schools faculty and staff. This means important information and announcements can be posted on a timely basis. In addition, correspondence and schedules originally distributed via regular mail can now be sent via the WRIS Email Engine, allowing Orange to easily expand their audience, increase the frequency of communication and reduce postage expenses.