Web design Melbourne Trends and Opportunities

Web Design Melbourne

Web design is never a static culture – it is constantly updating, growing and moving with technological advances, social shifts and greater reliance on business intelligence. Many of these advances in technology are revolutionary, exciting new ways of moving closer to the customer, giving web design melbourne consultants the chance to engage directly with customers in mediums they prefer.

A website that was perfectly adequate 5 years ago may be lacking crucial functionality for today’s market, and therefore is at risk of losing valuable clicks to competitors. The following list describes some of the real trends in web design Melbourne over the past year.

Search Engine Friendly

Free advertising is a huge benefit. Free advertising on the first page of a Google keyword search is almost priceless, and should be the aim of all web design Melbourne consultants. More and more, companies and individuals are learning that search-engine friendly websites – with well research SEO keywords and linked phrasing – are worth their weight in gold. Organic, unpaid search engine listings can generate a huge amount of traffic, and should always be prioritised as a core business objective.

Always ensure that you are using a Content Management System that is SEO friendly, and research your keywords extensively before building them in to your text.

Social media Integration

It’s a fairly sure bet that you know more people with Facebook than without it. The same could almost be said about Twitter. The same could probably be said for your client base. The more exposure you have to current and potential customers through different media avenues, the better. Social media is a huge part of the online lifestyle, and Web Design Melbourne consultants that properly merge social and traditional online material are those that are winning more affection than their competition.

The hardest thing about social media for many companies is the loss of control – once a post is up, it can be commented about freely by the community, with both positive and negative feedback. To corporate citizens trained in PR, it can sometimes be tempting to jump in and administer the community with a heavy hand. This defeats the entire purpose of social media. Just wait – generally, the community becomes self-moderating with 80% positive and 20% negative contributors. Having your customers build their loyalty to an extent where they are commenting on, and defending your company’s products or services is absolutely priceless, and should be the core aim of web design Melbourne consultants.

Simplified websites and landing pages

Gone are the days where a simple link back to your home page from a Google ad would be sufficient to capture a lead. Simple, effective landing pages that display a product run down, as well as a short lead form (name, email address, postcode) garner the most positive amount of clicks to views. Don’t be afraid to experiment with landing pages – once you find a style that works, it can then be tinkered with to generate more sales and delight your customers.

Mobile and tablet websites

A rising percentage of users are now accessing the web from mobile and tablet style devices, with the number to reach parity with PC and laptop browsers over the next couple of years. Consequently, the number of customers viewing content and purchasing online whilst on the move is rising exponentially. Most modern web architecture platforms allow web design Melbourne consultants to build mobile and tablet sites right alongside regular pages for little to no extra cost.

Security

Security of databases and personal information is of paramount importance. You only have to look at the hacking of the Playstation network, or the infiltration of 200,000 Citibank accounts to observe just how crucial it is to properly secure all customer information. Web Design Melbourne consultants must ensure that all databases are protected by multiple layers of security.

In summary, current web trends are about moving closer to the customer, serving them streamlined, simplified content over every device they own.  New advances in mobile computing technology are putting an emphasis on quick loading, elegant and streamlined pages, with social media integration as standard. Chat with your local web design Melbourne consultant to find out more!

Web Design Melbourne – What you need to succeed

Birthing a web site from scratch can be a long process, especially if all branding, functionality and logic have to be created from the ground up. There are also some common pitfalls that customers often fall prey to when undertaking the process, whether with Web Design Melbourne or outsourced overseas. Next time you are engaging a company to build a new website, or even update an existing one, take a few of the following points into consideration.

Be realistic

If you want a website with a ton of bells and whistles, that’s great. If you that website up and working next week, it’s probably not. Proper time is needed for bug checking and user acceptance testing, as well as the build itself. Think about releasing it as a three or four stage process, with an initial release of the basic site, followed by large updates. Remember, when a web site is activated, it is literally a baby – it then needs to be worked on, and populated with dynamic, relevant content before it begins being effective.

You also need to understand what your customers want. There is no use going for a flash heavy site with a huge intro movie when your users want a simple point and click directory. The key to an effective website is a powerful, logic driven back end with a simplistic yet attractive front end. Check with your web design Melbourne contact –they’ll be more than happy to give you some options.

Be prepared to constantly update your website

Google and other search engines react best to sites that offer dynamic content. It should never be a case of “set and leave” – a website needs to grow organically to deliver the best results. Customers will be encouraged to visit the site more often if they believe it will display updating, relevant content. Often, the hard work begins after the website is released!

Ensure all functionality is agreed upon before design and implementation

The situation: you are a Web Design Melbourne consultant, sitting down with a customer to design a fantastic web portal with a robust content management system, and simple yet elegant front end. You both agree on the specifications, and work is begun. A few weeks into the process, the customer requests a heap of extensive last minute changes. It’s now back to the drawing board – much of the work already completed needs to be thrown out, timelines are now extended by a few weeks, and costs blow out. Both the customer and the web designer are now unhappy. Sounds pretty bad hey? Unfortunately, it’s all too common these days.

It’s vital to agree on the basics for the site before any work is begun. Obviously, some additions or modifications may crop up – if they are not completely essential, try relegating them to a second stage of the build. It’s a much better idea to launch a simpler version of the site, then add modifications in subsequent stages, than it is to spend months and months agonising over the launch version of the site. Remember, as noted above – once a site is released, it is only a baby. It needs updates, content and revisions to begin growing and maturing.

Inspect what you expect

This should be your mantra. Ensure that you are across every stage of the design and creation process – nothing should ever come as a surprise. It is much easier to discuss minor flaws with your web designer Melbourne before they are implemented and become major issues. All good web designers should keep you fully updated about what is happening with the site, and provide a build schedule to track the various processes.

The birth of a new website should be as hassle free as possible, to ensure that you, as the customer, can spend your time wisely within your business, rather than running around trying to put out web design spotfires. Simply follow some of the key points above – be realistic in your goals, provide continuous updates and content, agree on core functionality and inspect everything that goes on – and you and your web design Melbourne should have no issues putting together a website that will aid your business and delight your customers.