The businesses we deal with are often well established in West Cork or Cork City but lack a strong web presence. Others are start-up businesses who we often meet at networking events such as those organised by the West Cork Enterprise Board. The West Cork Enterprise Board has been a great help to us in terms of training and networking, and has proven to be a great resource for meeting new people looking for web design in West Cork.

You could say designing websites is our core business here at Arkutech, as most clients come to us looking for a new website. However, when we sit down with them they quickly realise that “web design” is not just about designing websites, it is about getting noticed online. There are a lot of great web designers out there who will develop a beautiful looking website for you, but just because you have a beautiful looking website with all the bells and whistles does not mean your website is going to be a success.

Here at Arkutech we will hold an initial meeting with you at no cost to assess your requirements. We will discuss a number of options and ideas with you and then we will write up a detailed proposal outlining what will be included in your project and how much it will cost.

Some of the key areas we will discuss are as follows:

  • Branding and Graphics
  • Layout and Usability
  • Content and Content Management
  • Website Goals
  • Search Engine Optimisation
  • Online Marketing

Branding and Graphics

If you already have some branded material or logos we will build the website with that in mind which will help to determine the colour scheme and also the look and feel of the website. If you are a new business, however, or want to re-brand an existing business then we will be happy to design some logos and help you decide on a colour scheme.

Layout and Usability

One of the most important things to consider when designing a website is usability. It must be easy for a visitor of your website to find what they are looking for without having to think about it too much or search through a lot of pages on your website. The use of clear menus, and sub-menus where necessary, throughout the site will facilitate this. We are firm believers in keeping things simple. There is nothing worse than a website with so much on the homepage that the user doesn’t even know where to start. It is said that if a visitor can’t find what they are looking for in 8 seconds then they will leave your website and go on to another one instead.

Content and Content Management

It will be up to you, the client, to provide us with the content for the website. We can help improve on some of the text and we will be able to identify the most important points which will be used to capture the users attention, but ultimately you will need to put some time into writing up the content.

In terms of editing the content, we will integrate a Content Management System (CMS) into the website to enable you to change any of the content of the site without needing to go near any code. WordPress is probably our favourite CMS, particularly for anyone who is looking to incorporate a blog into their website. However, we also use others such as Modx, Concrete5 and Cushy. If you are looking for an e-commerce site we usually use open source systems such as Prestashop, OpenCart or Magento, depending on your requirements.

Website Goals

We will want to know what you hope to achieve from your website. If it’s an e-commerce site then it will be pretty obvious – sales -  but if its just a simple site telling people about your fantastic restaurant in West Cork then you will probably hope it leads to more phone calls or emails to make a booking. On the other hand you might want to create a blog and therefore you will hope to not only get people on to your site to read all the great information you have to share, you will also want them to interact with you by leaving comments. No matter what your goals, we will firstly make sure you at least have some, and secondly we will work with you to ensure you achieve these goals and build on them. Through the use of integrated analytics we will be able to monitor such goals and provide you with reports on your site’s performance.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The key to getting your website found in search engines such as Google is to have it well optimised. This is not just some more jargon or web speak – this is important if you want your website to be found online ahead of your competitors. All sites we develop are well optimised as standard but there is a lot to search engine optimisation, and if your budget allows for it, it is well worth spending some extra money to make sure the site is very well optimised.

Online Marketing

As well as using Search Engine Optimisation to get your website found online we can also advise you on marketing strategies such as Pay-Per-Click campaigns or banner ads. We are very experienced with Google Adwords in particular and have had great success running campaigns for many of our existing clients.

If you have any questions then please get in contact.