Website Designs NZ

Picton website developers offering web design, development, hosting & database services

Developing websites from our bases in the Marlborough Sounds and Picton

The whole truth about web design

 

There are a few things about web design that most website developers don't want you to know. Read this short article and become aware of what you should be looking out for before starting a web design project.

Web design is actually quite simple

Yes, that's right, it's not that hard. Take a look around the Internet and you'll find thousands of "web designers".

The web design game is like the game of football; anyone can play it. And like football, if it's played well the results can be compelling, entertaining, and beautiful. Inexperienced web designers though often produce ugly, disfunctional, and poorly constructed websites. You wouldn't pay to watch football played by just anyone, and you shouldn't pay for just anyone to develop your website.

I can't stress this enough: get the right website developer on the job. Look at web designers own websites and ask yourself if it's up to a standard you would be happy with for your own site. If it is then check them out further, otherwise look elsewhere.

You don't always get what you pay for

Or perhaps that should read, "You can sometimes pay for what you don't get!"

Web designers are often placed up on a pedestal. After all, a good web designer is skilled, knowledgeable, capable and insightful. But you should know that when you are quoted many thousands of dollars for web development (and you probably will be) this often means two things:

  • The web development company know they can charge like a wounded bull and you'll believe their quote is simply the going rate.
  • The web development company knows if they quote in the thousands they look more professional to the layman.

Unfortunately, the quality of websites and the price paid for them is often not proportional. Don't get sucked in by high quotes.

 

Development costs are just the beginning....

So you've forked out a small fortune for a nice new website. You're happy with the result, and are pleased the job is finally completed and you've paid the developers bill. It's all about profit now....

 

But then you're informed the website is a "living thing!"; it needs to be regularly promoted and optimised and that's gonna cost! And if that's not bad enough there's suddenly more bills, one for website hosting, another for domain name management, and perhaps even monthly "maintenance" bills! Whew! no wonder you need to increase profits!

Well, it doesn't need to be like that. You should be aware that if you have purchased a professionally developed website it should need only minimal promotion, and most of that should be a one-off when the site is first launched, or (as with our websites) part of the initial development quote. Search engines will index your website regardless of "monthly promotion", and if the site was designed well initially it will rank well without "monthly optimisation".

Hosting costs should be minimal. If you are charged more than $30 per month for an average website then in my opinion you are being ripped off. And be aware that your website may be hosted offshore where its cheaper. That's okay until there are problems and you need to learn to speak Russian to resolve them. Ensure your website is hosted in New Zealand. Not only is it good to support local, but if problems occur they can usually be easily resolved. And NZ based hosting needn't cost more. We offer reliable robust Wellington-based hosting plans from just $19 per month, with 99.9% server up-time.

So how are we different?

We are different and here's how:

  • I didn't get into the web design game for the money. I got into this game because my family needed a website developed for a business 15 years ago. The quality of web design at that time was awful, and the prices were often extortionate. (Hey, nothing much has changed!). I had considerable background in computers including computer software engineering qualifications, so we decided to have a go at doing the job ourselves. The result changed the way that business operated. And before long we had other business people knocking on our doors asking us to develop websites for them. And hence Website Design NZ was born....
  • I believe in quality and value for money. Nothing annoys me more than purchasing something only to discover it is badly designed or poorly manufactured. Or taking the car in for simple repairs and then feeling ripped off when a ludicrous bill is presented, simply because my mechanical knowledge is assumed to be low.
  • We work from home. No expensive offices in the center of town and extremely low overheads mean less costs to pass on to our clients. Plus we have a comfortable and quiet work environment which helps us produce great results!
  • I'm passionate about producing websites which actually work!

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us