Website design that works for you !
Content creation in the Limerick and Clare region just got more exacting – and affordable.
Just one look at my new dedicacted website and there’s a notable difference considering the many website design offerings currently out there. The first thing to hit you is that as a marketing guy of 32 years standing (with illustrative and graphic design skills) its evident that I’m very interested in the results I can achieve for you. That is in contrast to simply showcasing some banal images on a template, with a phone number dangling at the end of it. Do I sound a bit critical? Well so we should all be at times, because good website design and good website marketing is all about critical thinking, and thinking outside the box. That is, studying what’s ultimately possible for you and your business amidst this vast seemingly infinite world of information peddlers and sellers. And if any conclusion is arrived at all, it should be instantly reflective of the solution you are offering to customers. Its good to remember that they are the ones clattering away, attempting to define search words that trigger the right response from whoever’s out there with a product or service to sell – like you !
more people are using animation and you tube video to engage
Content, content – and then some.
It’s often said content is King, and that even applies to website design folk like me who are continually assimilating what’s available as tech marches on with relentless vigor. This aspect ultimately changes what the search engines are on the lookout for too. For example a recent evolution in browser habits (and not least because Google bought You tube and now actively promotes video’s ahead of listed search content) now means I’ve also had to join the ranks of those with an introductory video embedded in my own site. Yes we’ve now incorporated in-house video editing, graphics and audio to meet client demands. You see, as the decades roll on its noticeable peoples search habits are gradually getting increasingly lazy, as tech offers even more short cuts and instant gratification. So if we can be at something else, or be taking away the strain of reading by listening to a short video explainer, then for some this is a no brainer to engage browsers. And of course, if you like what you hear then there’s all the background pages to work with, if you’re in a buying mode, or in need of more info.
Price Guide – What !
For Mac Websites, this involves offering a handy services price guide for potential clients. What! Yes one of those things you can use to determine a budget going forward, should you wish add content or facilities you’d like to add in the future. It’s certainly not the usual cut and run approach by ‘Design Agencies’, but in the interests of accessibility I’m excited enough about my rates being affordable for small SME’s to let everyone know about them.
And now managing an owning a website – just got even better.
Yes I’d also like to ensure you’re in control going forward. To the degree that a small commercial website can be built and maintain for you, or your staff can be mentored in how to add content and run the basic checks into the future. That’s because everything done here is built on Word Press and you’re given full direct access! No inaccessible walls, 
or no go areas! All too often as I’ve discover to my own detriment, web developers have a habit of disappearing of the face of the earth having found a new post in some far more exotic location – that all ends right here today! With our guidance on developing Self Hosted Websites platforms and in ensuring full access to ‘Mac Hosted’ sites at the dashboard – you remain in the driving seat, and you have both ourselves and a world of WordPress Designers and technicians out there to fall back on if the need arises.
And there’s more! The most common complaint I hear about website design companies is the ‘maintenance fees’.
Indeed, what are they? Is it a retainer in the true sense or a means of covering re-occuring costs – or even just a cash cow for someone to add a margin on? Make no mistake, ‘Maintenance Fee’s has been a ploy for some to create money for nothing. And of course the industry has suffered a credibility crisis from its own lack of communication and transparency.
Having worked in creative agencies even before the days of computers, retainers were common place for larger corporates to maintain a modicum of access and allegiance. And, naturally contracts included gagging rights to intellectual property. So the trade -off in gaining a retained relationship in a lot of the instances meant the Agency could afford to keep the doors open, and likwise the talented staff who’d amassed a working knowledge of the account. But where smaller businesses operate on a project by project basis, such ‘retainers’ for little perceived return, were often regarded as a questionable and wasteful extravagance. That was until the dot, com bubble made the idea fashionable and plausible again. For some, a level of tech oversight, or payment of re-occurring charges was valuable requirement, and then of course an ‘Agency’ was only too happy to inflate the cost commensurate to the office plaza they occupied and the golf club frequented – you catch my drift.
Now that the market has opened up to the point where anyone has direct access to a host account and an SME owner can purchase a domain for 99 cents. Just the simple know-how to put a site up with a tech friendly dashboard means the idea of clicking a few update buttons and charging upwards of 500 euro, appears to be taking the Mick in many instances.
Putting you back in charge
Whilst on a monthly, or annual basis there are ‘things to do’ it’s not beyond the scope of a small business owner or manager to take the reins. All that’s needed is a diary a check list and hey presto you’ve got money for something that can be spent on a business asset rather than a drain – an expense!
Again that’s why Word Press features as Mac Websites go to development platform for website design and build. It’s incredibly user friendly and nearly a third of all the worlds websites are built using it. So you will always find someone who knows what to do, even if your developer sods off to that exotic job in Australia. And that’s why I now use it, as years back my own web developer did just that!
But as we know, there is more to a website at times than a few photo’s off the phone and a few catchy slogans . . .
And for that you can’t beat the objectivity a good external source of input can bring to the table. That’s where working with a good website designer can be worth every penny. Whilst you are the experts in your field of specialization, a time honored professional consultant who appreciates that the right words can influence and can led to closing a sale – means you are immediately on the starting blocks for sure. Yes, it’s not just about the pretty picture, though they do speak a thousand words as the song goes.
Sadly in our fast consumable world as people leap from school to college and become technically savvy on a designer course, the key elements of actual selling information or a product, is something web designers can have little real coal face knowledge of. And is one those interactive skills that is never really a ‘taught’ subject, it’s acquired moreover by experience. I’m very fortunate to have arrived in to the design world the other way around from and active sales and marketing background which covered over decade. Indeed, I launched a number one brand leader which actually stood the test of time for 30 years, even though my initially schooling pointed me in the direction of illustration and graphic design. Having working in manufacturing and then stepping into both FMC and luxury retail sectors, this transition time fine-tuned a head for commerce, which by all accounts made my ‘art’ a desirable commodity in both agencies and corporate settings. Why? Because I’d like to believe it talked to people off the page, caught their attention, gained their interest and confidence – and ultimately led to action on their part. After-all that is the core of the job at hand, and why you are thinking of spending your hard earned capital.
So in essence when you are looking for good website design in Limerick, or in Ireland as a whole, you should be talking to Mac Websites. Call, text or whatsapp on 0857394081, I’d be delighted to hear from you.
