Some aspects of web design are relatively simple on the surface. A website of a few pages with nothing but text and images can usually be built in a short time with few worries. Many purpose-built plugins and widgets can expand functionality with minimal headaches. But what do you do when you have systems with age or programming languages that keep them from playing well with others? Manufacturing businesses often have specialized needs that aren’t easily covered by off-the-rack solutions, which is where custom website design from Cain & Company proves its worth.
Website design exists on different levels. First, you have prebuilt template-based designs that sites like Wix, SquareSpace, and GoDaddy Website Builder offer their prospective clients. These are a quick and at times an easy way to get a website up and running; however, you are restricted to what these sites offer for features. Plus, if you wish to move your website in the future, you may have to start all over again, because you can’t get your data out of their system.
Second, there are prebuilt management systems like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. These systems can get you up and running quickly with more flexibility due to the wide variety of plugins available. Yet, they still have limiting factors which may not allow you to effectively connect to applications your business uses or to achieve your design goals such as becoming a certified WCAC 2.0 ADA accessible site. This is where custom website design comes in.
Custom design is tailored to a single-use case: yours. Some of these integrations are straightforward and relatively quick, involving a bit of code that facilitates database management or that allows your CRM to communicate with your accounting software. Other designs require a full-blown application that mediates between different types of software and systems, especially when newer applications need to work with legacy hardware or software, or when an existing solution would fall short of W3C standards or WCAC 2.0 ADA standards. We’ve often found that these projects can take on a life of their own since automating a process can be a lightbulb moment that illuminates other opportunities to streamline your workflow and make your business more effective.
Downtime is the bane of any website’s existence with poor user experience (UX) running a close second. Integrations that are incompatible with your existing code or that are poorly implemented can lead to crashes and poor performance. That, in turn, can frustrate users, hobble your sales funnel, and increase your bounce rate (the number of customers leaving your site for greener pastures — like your competition). Proper design ensures that page load times stay short, that your customers stay happy, and that search engines do not penalize you for poor SEO.
There are a few ways in which website design can improve your website, boosting UX for clients and internal stakeholders alike. Server-side designs can be helpful for file transfers, both internally (where multiple employees are collaborating on a project) and externally (where, for example, the finished product passes through the hands of manufacturers, vendors, clients, and others, out of the public view). This is also useful for scheduling repetitive tasks, like system backups.
Another common form of website design is the web interface. These are the parts of your website that facilitate customer interaction or that, in some cases, allow websites and applications to “speak” to one another. These can be as pedestrian as social sharing buttons or an RSS feed, or they can be custom solutions that integrate several information streams in a format customized to your needs and goals.
A custom website design will also allow for a very flexible graphic presentation of your brand which can encompass using video, audio, animation, and such to grab your visitors’ attention and get them to look further into your website.
Cain & Company provides full stack web development services that encompass strategy, design, development, and marketing. Our sites are designed to generate and convert leads, and our custom website integrations are but one of many tools in our kit deployed to that end. If you need web design and development services in Rockford (and in surrounding areas), get in touch. We will evaluate your existing web presence against your goals in the immediate and long term to ensure it’s optimized to perform.
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Robin ChandlerMarketing Coordinator & Copywriter |
