CREATING CONNECTIONS ONE SITE AT A TIME

WHAT IS RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN?

Responsive web design is an approach to web design which makes web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes. Content, design and performance are necessary across all devices to ensure usability and satisfaction

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Now that there are more searches performed on mobile devices everyday compared to desktops or laptops, Google has started putting more emphasis on how your site looks, functions & performs on smartphones (iPhones) & tablets (iPads). They even went so far as to give it a catchy little name, Mobilegeddon.

What that means for many small businesses is that your website needs to load fast & the various elements you want people interacting with like buttons, your contact information or your phone number; those elements need to be sized in such a way to make them easy to click. That also applies to your navigation, interior site links, downloads or anything you want a user to click on. It needs to be easy to see & easy to interact with.

CAN YOU MAKE MY WEBSITE RESPONSIVE & MOBILE-FRIENDLY?

Yep! It starts with choosing the right platform for what your website is going to be built with. There are a number of different platforms out there that are written in different programming languages focused around the different needs businesses might have.

Part of the selection process involves understanding the limitations of each platform in relation to who is going to be responsible for making edits & updates. Some platforms require a little deeper knowledge of adding/writing/editing blocks of code while others function more like some of the desktop publishing software you might be used to using.

Some of the platforms offer a more holistic approach to both the process of coding/building the site & making ongoing updates to the site without requiring the help of a full-time developer. Those types of platforms have taken on the moniker of CMS or Content Management Systems, where an admin can assign roles to various people throughout your organization so they can contribute to the growth of your website. Those people can then contribute content, articles, pictures etc to the website without having to have a development background. Their contributions are uploaded to the website & pick up on the overall look/feel/style of the site without having to touch any actual code.

So we start with looking at what your website currently has, what it does & what it will need to do as your business grows. From there, we look at the following:

SELECTION

Which CMS fits the bill in accomplishing the goals of your organization?

STAGING

Once a CMS has been selected, we put together a staging site that acts like a working prototype so everyone can begin interacting with “bones” to get a feel for how the live site will function.

MIGRATION

Then we start porting over any content or design changes that are necessary to convey your messaging. While there are a bunch of tasks rolled up into this stage, the goal is to make sure that the content is there, it’s set up properly, everything works & makes sense to users & administrators alike.

GO LIVE

Once everything has been tested, everything is in it’s logic order/place/function, we push the site to your domain/URL & proceed with any additional education or walk-throughs to help you & your contributors get comfortable with managing your own website.