Your Website: The Well Oiled Machine

It’s important for your web designer and developer to be speaking the same language.  This is a big problem that can arise when people try hiring separate parties for one project. We run into this problem from time to time when working on projects with other firms.  You want your designer to know “how” the interface works so the design respects the possibilities, and at times – the limitations of the interface the developer will use.

What’s the interface?  WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla are CMS platforms that are used as an interface through which a browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE) can view a site.  That being said, every interface can use a totally different language to build with, and totally different themes (or frames) in which the site can live.  It’s important that a designer knows how the site works so that the interface doesn’t have to be modified *too much in development, because if it has to modified too much from it’s base or foundation, it can create usability issues that are easy to overlook.  Not to mention, this can cause major budget increases.

Design and development have to work together! By having these elements working hand in hand the chances of growing traffic and increasing your presence will increase dramatically.  Your website should be a well-oiled machine that properly identifies your brand.  The only way to make sure of this is to make sure all the elements “speak to each other”.

The perfect storm for a website = proper UI/UX + lead generating elements + an interface not conflicting with itself in “look, feel, or process”.  What this means is that when all the bits and pieces (all that are mentioned above, plus any secret ingredients one might need to throw in that are brand-specific) are working together, the result is a website that works for you.  Do you want successful employees and partners?  Your website IS one of your employees that has the most face time with any of your potential clients.

This is one big reason we keep a staff of exceptionally talented individuals that are all specialists in their respective fields.  The truth is, if you’re not considering all the moving pieces, or having the pieces be in good communication with each other – you’re setting your website up for failure.   Your website is the first place people tend to look to see what you do and who you are, it’s your first impression.  Make it a good one!