Website design and development
New Website Design
We'll work with any ideas you have to develop a fantastic web presence for your business, in-keeping with your present business branding. Website design is our speciality, and we take great pride in creating great looking websites which serve two main purposes; firstly to attract visitors to the site from a variety of sources, and then secondly, to provide the information and feel-good required to help ensure a sale or inquiry for your goods or services.
For a website development quote please click here or to contact us please check this page.
Website Upgrades
If you have an existing website which is old or simply not performing as it should then a new website may not be necessary. Contact us about getting a website upgrade. We can check out your existing website and suggest an upgrade plan to put the fizz back into your site, as well as discussing alterations with the aim of achieving great search engine rankings.
Experience
We have over 20 years of experience with computer technology, including NZ Computer Software Engineering qualifications and almost a decade of experience with website design and search engine workings.
Standards Compliance
We are now developing all our websites to comply with industry standards for HTML and CSS, so they will look great on all computer platforms and in different browsers now and into the future, and won't be subject to the problems which can plague non-compliant sites. Over 80% of websites are non-compliant with basic standards. For more information see our page about website standards compliance here.
Navigation
Clear and concise website navigation (page links) are an essential element of a well designed website. We place emphasis on creating user-friendly navigation bars (like the one on this website for example) to assist the user in moving easily from page to page.
Forms
We can create forms for your website similar to those on this site (here and here). Automatic form checking can be incorporated to ensure the user has filled in the required fields, their email address is in the correct format and so on. If errors are detected helpful hints are provided to the user to assist in correction. The results of the forms are automatically and instantly emailed to you.
Guestbooks
Many websites, especially tourism related sites incorporate a guest book so visitors can leave interesting comments. If you'd like a guestbook on your website that is no problem!
Availability
If you have a homestay/farmstay or similar accommodation website we can add our new Availability Module to your site so visitors can see in real-time on which dates you have vacancies. Availability is now becoming a standard feature of accommodation websites. Visitors expect to know instantly if you have vacancies, rather than having to wait a day or two for email replies to vacancy inquiries. Contact us for more information on our Availability Module or check out the Marina Lodge booking page to see it in action.
Search Engine design
Another essential aspect of good website development is the designing of pages to both look great and be search engine friendly. Well designed websites have keywords and content strategically placed to help ensure top search engines rankings. Having a website is pointless if your clients can't find it.
This aspect of web design is an art in itself, so we've got a page of information dedicated to it - check it out here.
Browser support
Many people think Internet Explorer is the only browser (program for viewing websites). But believe it or not, there are over 100 different browsers and browser versions available and they all render (display) pages slightly differently. A staggering number of websites render badly on browsers and platforms other than a Windows PC running Internet Explorer, and some are completely unreadable.
However, you can ensure your website displays consistently well on all computers by purchasing a properly designed standards-compliant website, which is tested on many different browsers and platforms. We test all our sites on both Windows and Linux machines, running an assortment of browsers from Internet Explorer versions 6, 7 and 8, and Mozilla Firefox (for Windows and Linux operating systems) to the lesser known Konqueror and Safari (for Linux and Apple Mac computers).
Databases
We can create database driven websites using the rugged mySQL database and utilising PHP scripting language. If you have a large number or products or listings then databases are a fantastic tool for sorting and displaying all the data.
CSS, PHP and Javascript
Javascript and PHP scripting languages are two extra tools we utilise to help create user-friendly websites. These languages are especially useful in creating website forms with error checking, and other aspects of web design which normal HTML code just can't handle. Add to that our knowledge of CSS for adding structure to coding and extra little effects to your site and you're on-track for a great Internet presence.
What we don't do!
We know it's unusual to see a section describing what a developer won't do, but we like you to know these things from day one, so here it is!
Flash® graphics: While we do see a place on the Internet for Flash® graphics (animated images etc), we use between very little and none in our developments. There are numerous reasons for this including steep development cost, search engine problems and browser compatibility and display issues. If you wish your new website to utilise Flash® graphics now would be a good time to look around for a different developer :)
Click here for a free website development quote, or to contact us please click here
