Building Business Relationships

Every established web design company has a consistent method of working with their customers, used for every website. While consistency is good and a key to success, it’s not always enough. The approach and the process needs to be efficient as well as make both the customer and the designers comfortable.

There are countless stories out there of business owners who got a website created and when it was done, it was done. The web design company moved on and the client didn’t hear from them after the site was complete. Then maybe they contacted the design team a few months down the road requesting updates to their site and were charged hundreds of dollars for the change. It’s important to build an ongoing relationship with the customer and go into it with future needs down the road in mind.

Beyond Custom Websites has a unique approach and relationship with our websites and our clients. We sit down with each business owner for a detailed consultation call to go over color scheme, logo, navigation and other preferences to get a solid foundation for what they are looking for. We then get feedback on the layout before moving on the complete the site, keeping the line of communication open throughout the process and for as long as we host a website for them. We don’t nickel and dime customers for future updates, in fact, we offer unlimited free updates and changes. Clients won’t be waiting around for their website to be complete. Beyond Custom Websites creates sites that are fully functioning and live in weeks, not months—we work on sites continually until they’re perfect. Our team picks up the phone and answers emails promptly because customer service is our focus. BCW has a team of experts in not only website development, but also in graphic design, copywriting, and entrepreneurial expertise.

To find out more about our custom website design services and the way we work, visit our website and discover how we can help you grow your business.

What Makes a Great Company Logo?

One of the staple marketing components of any small business is their logo. It identifies a business as unique from any other small business, it’s versatile for use on any type of marketing material, and it shows the company’s personality while revealing creativity. Established businesses have a logo that they may tweak every now and then while new businesses may still need to design a logo. Sometimes, this is because have no idea where to start. Developing a custom website and designing a company logo can be a process one in the same, so what makes a great company logo?

First, let’s cover the bases and mention what a logo should not do. A logo shouldn’t use really thin lines as they make disappear or break up in when used in some formats. While creativity is synonymous with a logo, it needs to be meaningful and clear rather than abstract. Customers need to easily recognize shapes and icons or else they won’t understand it.  However, be innovative rather than obvious—clichés don’t reflect well on the business. When choosing a font, stick to solid, well-known fonts that have been around for awhile to avoid outdating in the future.  Finally, focus on the effectiveness over the attractiveness. It should be both, but a cute logo that says nothing about your business is irrelevant.

A successful business logo needs to look crisp rather than pixilated at any size. Also keep in mind that your logo may be printed in black and white in some cases, so a black and white version of your logo is good to have on hand—which means you can’t rely on color alone for effectiveness. Not unlike a hit song, a good logo should have a “hook”, an element that is unique and ties it all together. The logo should be as direct as possible without a lot of “fluff”; over doing the design is possible as well. The best logos also make a statement about the business.

Beyond Custom Websites offers logo design and entrepreneurial business expertise to all of our customers. Give us ideas to start with and our professional web development team will put their graphic design skills to work to design a unique logo for your custom website. This is just one of the many services we offer, including keyword integration, branded email accounts, e-commerce, and more. Talk to the team at Beyond Custom Websites and find out how we can create a great logo and a successful custom website for you.  

What Makes a Good Mobile Website?

Mobile websites are very important to complete a custom website design package in 2013. People use the internet on their mobile devices every day, sometimes more than they use them to make calls or send text messages. 50% of local searches come from a mobile device. Beyond Custom Websites has helped many customers create a mobile site as a compliment to their regular custom website. What makes a “good” mobile website—one that is successful?

Mobile websites should include essentials that are streamlined for the limited real estate. The content should be prioritized for the smaller screen, slightly slower connection speed than wired desktop connections, and keeping the navigation features front of mind. However, the mobile website should match the regular website in appearance--that way visitors will quickly recognize it. That applies to colors, logos, names of navigation tabs, and more.

Remember, when people are using their cell phones, most likely the screen is an arm’s length away or sitting on a table. The text should be large enough to read at that distance. It is also more difficult to select and type in text fields on a mobile device because of the small area, so it’s a good idea to only include the necessary fields and forms. The links should be large enough to easily click on and have enough space around them so the user’s fingers don’t accidentally click on the wrong element—that can be frustrating. Since users expect a fast speed, the site should avoid using too many images, which can slow the pages down. Finally, there should be mobile specific features, such as “Click here to call”. This feature allows people to connect to a call instantly without having to close their mobile browser, go into their phones settings, and dial, all while remembering your number.

Beyond Custom websites includes and encourage our mobile website as an option with every custom website design package. We use all the strategies talked about here and combine them with our creative website development skills to bring our small business website customers a mobile site product they can rely on. These sites help to improve search engine optimization for both versions of the website and increase the number of users who find and repeatedly visit the company website.

How Ecommerce Trends Affect Your Business and Your Website

People love to shop online. It’s convenient, fast, and you have access to endless brands and products without leaving your home. In fact, people love online shopping so much, ecommerce sales increased by 33 billion in 2012 from 2011. While travel arrangements make up more than one third, retail e-commerce sales aren’t far behind. Big names such as Amazon are a great source to find what you need on the World Wide Web, however, businesses can set up their own e-commerce integration. Online shopping occurs on mobile phones as well: over 37.6 million people in the U.S. are mobile buyers. So what are the benefits for small business to have their products available on their website? Is it worth the effort?

As you can imagine, online purchases reach their peak during the holiday season. With so much planning going on, it can save customers a lot of time if they can order online. They can ship gifts directly to family and friends who live far away, ensuring they receive it in time. Shopping online allows the customer to compare prices, styles, and features online without the pressure of sales associates persuading them to go one direction or the other. If your website has good product descriptions and photos, customers will be more likely purchase from you. E-commerce integration also enables painless, guilt free returns. When you build a custom website for your business, your web developer can easily include an ecommerce purchasing system that is easy to manage and cost-efficient to create. By making your products available to order directly from your website, you are opening up a whole new customer base which is sure to increase sales and create new opportunities.

Beyond Custom Websites has built e-commerce features for many small businesses from jewelers to clothing stores and more. In addition to other custom website components such as logo design, unique navigation, keyword rich content, and image galleries, BCW includes ecommerce with any website design per the customer’s request. Beyond Custom Websites professional web development team will work with you to include product information, pricing, and photos on your products page, making them available for purchase and customizing your ecommerce features to fit the needs of your business.  BCW’s experts perform quality control testing on each website before it is considered complete and our unlimited technical support can answer questions and provide solutions at any time. Contact us to find out more about how ecommerce integration will benefit your business.