Today it seems as though there is a race for businesses to get online. Sure, there are templates that allow you to “fill in the blanks,” add a few stock photos and throw up a website real quick. This is the cheap way to do it, but what most businesses don’t realize is that when you use a template that thousands of other websites have used, your business is also seen as “cheap.” Your website should be custom designed with your customer in mind. You have spent time creating a brand and image for your company. Why destroy that brand with a website design that a thousand other people are also using? By doing so, you are sending out the message that you don’t want to be unique and that you are not better than your competitors.Choose a Website Designer that is Raising the BarWhen selecting a website design service, it’s vital that they not only fulfill your needs in the design aspect of web development, but also ensure that your website is a direct extension and reflection of your business. The right designer will assist you with:Business Development – Your brand image, logo design, brand development and even the training of your own webmaster.Business Consulting – Creating the color palette, icons and other nomenclature specific to your business that will create an overall professional look for your company.Identity & Branding – Creating more than just business cards and letterhead, but also customized emails, newsletters and more.Information Architecture – Creating a solution that allows you to create an easy to use solution for the update and management of your website.Web & Graphic Design – Services that mesh your corporate identity with your online portrayal. Combining the components of your brand and identity into your web design creates harmony between your marketing materials and branding as a whole.Logo Design – The creation of your logo because your logo is your business’s face. This is how customers will identify with you.Business Collateral – Creating print material that corresponds with your website’s design and graphics. It should all work together cohesively and the right designer will help you to ensure just that.Marketing & Sales Material – Ensuring that every aspect of your website works with your marketing and sales material as well from your letterhead to other promotional items such as press releases, fact sheets, press kits, and more.Services Your Web Designer Should ProvideNot only should your website and business image work together cohesively, but it must appeal to the customer or client as well. A premiere website design service will ensure that your website does just that by providing you with:An appealing header and logo that is easy for your customer to remember.High quality photographs that show off your location, products and property.A color scheme with aesthetic tones that convey an up-to-date view of your business.A professional website appearance that shows you are an authority in your industry.Browser compatibility that ensures all Internet users can view your site the way it was meant to be seen whether they use Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari.Analytics that provide you with information on your traffic and the usability of your website.Specific coding that influences on the search engines see your website and provide optimal usability.Today’s process of web design should not be one that merely creates a cookie cutter website design. By selecting the right website designer, you should find customer service that goes beyond graphics and coding, but also ensures your business image as a whole is one of modern professionalism. Anything less means that you are sending customers to your competition.Did you find this article useful? Check out related posts here, here and here.
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Media Contour Now Regular Contributor For UX Magazine
Media Contour is proud to announce that we’ll be regular contributors to UX Magazine. Our series of interviews with industry leaders and innovators will be featured within the magazine. We’re incredibly grateful with such an honor, and very happy to be part of the UX Magazine family. If you’re not familiar with UX Mag, it’s an online magazine dedicated design excellence, usability, technological evolution, interface design and other areas.Our interview series has already included some big names. We have spoken with Jessica DuVerneay, Steve Portigal, Susan Weinschenk, Christopher Noessel, Alberta Soranzo and Maggie Hendrie and Don Norman thus far, and there are more slated. The interview series is geared for helping anyone with an interest in web design understand the ongoing evolution of technology, industry best practices, different techniques and tactics for achieving the right style and usability, and a great deal more. As the series progresses, it will include further topics, helping to ensure that readers are able to innovate with interactive design, improve responsive design skills and prepare for new technology coming down the pipe. Our interviews will feature regularly within the magazine’s pages (you can check out our interview with Steve Portigal and Don Norman). Of course, don’t read the magazine just for our interviews. There is plenty of other great content to inform, educate, illuminate and lead you to better results. If you have questions involving anything related to user design, chances are good that you’ll find several articles, news stories or op/ed pieces that offer insight and information. The magazine’s mission is “to be the destination for people and companies looking to understand the value of experience-orientation, and to learn the tactics and strategies behind successful user and customer experiences,” and we’re immensely proud to be a part of this worthy initiative.
Top 20 Best Web Developers by Expertise.com
Top Web Developers in Los Angeles 2022
Expertise.com scored 460 Web Developers in Los Angeles and Picked the Top 20: Media Contour is proud to have made that list. Congratulations team!
How were the Top Web Developers in Los Angeles chosen?
Availability: Consistently approachable and responsive, so customers never feel ignored.Qualifications: Building customer confidence with licensing, accreditations, and awards.Reputation: A history of delighted customers and outstanding service.Experience: Masters of their craft, based on years of practical experience and education.Professionalism: Providing service with honesty, reliability, and respect.You can read more about their selection process here.
About Expertise.com and the Top Web Developers List
The goal at Expertise.com is to make it easy to find the best local experts, every time. Their goal is to find the right highly-skilled professional which can take a significant amount of time and effort, including in-depth research, detailed comparisons, and deciphering which online reviews are reliable and authentic. Expertise.com uses only objectively quantified and qualified professionals hand-picked using their selection process. They take the time to do the research and understand what’s important when searching for experienced professionals which is important because we need to be trusted by our readers.
Their proprietary research and selection process identifies the top service professionals in over 200 different industries across the top cities in the United States. Every month they help over 1 million customers find the best-qualified service professional for their needs. To date, they've analyzed over 10M companies.
Here is a link to some of our additional web developer awards.
Is User Research Important? Expert Steve Portigal Says So
Our very own Art Director & CTO, Luke Swenson, was able to catch up with Steve Portigal at the Los Angeles User Experience Meetup & IxDA organized by Crystal Ehrlich. Steve was able to give us (and you, our readers) a great deal of information about user research, and if you’re not sure just how important that research really is, his interview is more than worth a few minutes of your time. User research is probably one of the least understood aspects of business, particularly when it comes to user design, or even product value and utility. Steve points out that just because you can make something, that doesn’t immediately mean that it’s worth making. Does it answer the needs or problem of the ultimate end user? That’s one thing that user research excels at doing – ferreting out the answers to questions like “how does it help our users” and “what need does it fill for our users”. User design is, after all, about the users. View the full article on UXmag.com. Steve was very direct in his answers, especially on some of the most important topics out there today, and happily expanded on several vital points. Quite a few questions abound on exactly what types of user research even exist – Steve managed to pack a lot of information into his response. He was also particularly enlightening on when you should invest in user research. If you’d like to read the entire interview with Steve Portigal, you can catch it over at UX Magazine. You should also make sure to check out Steve’s book, Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. Not only is it a great read, but it’s very illuminating when it comes to really digging into how to interview users and conduct research while asking the right kinds of questions.
