What makes a successful web project?
Before you start a project, it’s useful to complete some research. We always ask; What has lead you to this point? What is already on the market? What makes your concept so special? What is your online first impression? This is where confidence in your product or service begins.
Functionality and site responsiveness is where MM&B will increase your site’s user retention. Web based applications require an iterative approach, we constantly refine the process to achieve the best outcome for your business. Content will be informative and each page will provide the user with a call to action to take a step closer to contacting you or purchase on line. Here’s a few notes on how to prepare.
What are your objectives?
Making the most of your time and budget
We begin with a complete matrix of details about the objective for your website or system as a whole, and how each page or function will help you achieve that objective.
- Improve efficiency
- Improve online process for customers
- Make a difference
- Increase care
- Generate reports
- Increase profit
- Allow accountability
- Improve Lifestyle
- Monitor Activity
Whatever your objective, we’ve thought of all the things you haven’t when it comes to development. That’s why we’ll make a fantastic team together. MM&B has years of experience working with a wide range of clients from education to engineering. Your objective will help us to generate your project proposal document. We’ll outline all of the things you want to achieve and we’ll provide you with detailed costs to bring your system to fruition.
Pages, copy and professional content
Keep it honest, engaging and gradually refine
Web sites that look beautiful are so inviting to read and navigate. Good design gives your audience a gratifying experience. Therefore, the importance of professional photography and copy writing should not be overlooked. The font styles and tone of voice is very important. Your copy should be reassuring and written with confidence and experience.
Professional copywriters and photographers are an asset to any business. Provide a few paragraphs to encapsulate your customers and what your business offers. Then together with site plans and visuals, we work with copywriters to rephrase concisely. Grammar will be checked and text kept simple to enhance user experience.
Responsive design
Access for all devices
There’s no excuse really. Your site must work on mobile – a desktop application usually has a mobile front end page for users to find further information, even if the web application is a desktop tool. It’s important to consider the amount of text, image placement and large buttons that commuting users can’t fail to miss. Keeping your site easy to use is the first step in understanding your online product or service.
We will start our process by designing layouts for mobile and gradually building on the design to take advantage of larger desktop screens. Custom built responsive layouts can be expensive to design and test, for smaller budgets we use pre-designed themes which can be installed and customised
Photo shoot
Photography? I’ve got a camera!
Professional copywriters and photographers are an asset to any business. An art directed photo shoot with a specific requirement for web use will give you the competitive edge.
Images will build trust and should aim to turn your audience into loyal supporters who crave to buy into your brand. Professional photography gives a company a tangible feel, reassuring their audience that the company is legitimate and trustworthy – see our professional photography blog post.
Interactive functionality
All the bells and whistles
A slick, interactive and functional experience can make a big impression on your audience. Embedded videos and animation can help guide your customer or service user through a complicated data entry exercise or demonstrate a product. Complicated registration forms can be made a lot less overwhelming by hiding and revealing certain options or input fields.
Ask us for a demonstration on how we can improve your customer’s experience.
Security & Privacy
Protecting your service users, data and intellectual property in the digital age
We have worked on projects ranging from volunteer-led charities to Non-Disclosure Agreement protected R&D for some of the largest multinational corporations in the world. No matter how large or small, all people are bound by the legal obligations of the specific geographic jurisdictions in which they operate. GDPR, SSL Certificates, Cookie Notice and Privacy Policies are all legal obligations in Europe, particularly if you are trading and holding sensitive data.
We provide a basic, in-house security service and best practice techniques when creating software and websites for our clients. For systems which hold data which is particularly sensitive, we are able to draw upon the expertise of colleagues who now work for GCHQ. We will advise upon the level of service you require during our meeting and proposal process.
Domain & Hosting
Own your own – this is your virtual space
It’s important that you own your own domain. This is your company identity and this should be directly in your control. You need to sign up with a registrar to purchase / rent your domain name annually or purchase several years in advance. (We use Heart Internet) We can help you to set this up, we can also assist with domain related emails to maintain a professional company profile.
Hosting requirements depend on the size of your website’s maximum user base – if you are receiving a few hundred visitors per month then standard hosting will be fine. If you expect to have thousands of visitors using your website, you will need a dedicated solution which can be scaled and migrated to suit your international audience.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
“Can you get me to the top of Google?”
It’s a specialist job – a one stop shop is not always the answer. All marketing requires planning, realistic expectations and a clear understanding of long term goals. MM&B work with several SEO partners at varying price points. We also offer in house advice to get started and use MOZ as a trusted source of expert information.
SEO should be considered as part of a full marketing plan. Mix with printed advertising, social media, email and good old customer support. Brand building should always remain at the heart of any marketing campaign. A brand always requires substance with features and benefits to maintain your customers loyalty.
Launch Strategy
How do you expect people to find your website?
As part of your proposal we’ll suggest how you can get to market with a live web site as quickly as possible. It’s important to begin generating interest from day one, a landing page and a sign up form can help you to start building your audience before your site goes live.
Prepare your marketing strategy in advance, how will you drive traffic to your web site? First, ensure that your business is listed correctly. Before embarking on a campaign consider your target audience carefully. MM&B offer focus groups to help understand what influences customer purchasing decisions? What groups do they belong to? What do they read? Where do they spend their leisure time and their money? When will they consider a product or service similar to yours? How will they contact similar businesses?
Gaining a clear understanding of your audience will enable you to implement the correct launch strategy. Early beta testing will help us to record user interactions and continue to improve your site post launch
MM&B Studio
Need design inspiration? Looking for a system as a solution? Want to know more about MM&B Studio? Please get in touch.
Contact us:
Call us: 01298 600 377
Email us: david@mmandbstudio.co.uk
Meeting us (by appointment):
Working remotely since 2019
Typically meeting clients between London and Manchester in normal times, we have been using Zoom, Teams or the video conferencing platform of your choice.
MM&B Web Design Studio
29 High Street
Buxton
SK17 6HA