CAT | Website Design

If you don’t have Google Analytics installed on your site as a part of your web design, get it installed at the earliest. Your web design should ensure that you get the opportunity of constantly monitoring your statistics – where your visitors are coming from, tracking conversions on sales, etc. If you examine these things in depth on a regular basis, you will quickly get an idea of what works and what doesn’t. If most people are exiting your site on a particular page, you can revamp the web design of that particular page to prevent this from happening. If your average page views are down or your bounce rate is up, have a think about what could be behind this. Also be sure to note when you send out newsletters or update your site, as you will be able to tie this information into your analytics trends. Web design is not just about “tricking” a search engine into ranking your website on page 1. The truth is that if you are relying on SEO to bring in the bulk of your business, not just your web design agency, but also your business model is in a soup. Putting the fate of your business in the hands of the search engine is not a viable business strategy. Good quality SEO can be very effective, but don’t rely on it entirely. A good search engine position should be the result of a viable business proposition and a competent web design.

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As mentioned in one of our earlier blogs, a portfolio of major completed/in-process works is an essential supplement for any company offering website design services. A glance through the company’s portfolio helps the client determine the kind and quality of services offered by the website designer. A portfolio can be presented in various forms, such as Online (as a part of your Website), PDF (which can be mailed to clients, either on demand or during cold-calls) or Printed (in the form of a booklet, which can either be couriered to clients or carried to client meetings). Each of these options has their own positive and negative aspects. We discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of an online portfolio in this blog.

An online portfolio is probably the most popular type of portfolio. It involves designing the portfolio page and placing it on your website. If your website offers web design services, then an online portfolio is the perfect choice since it provides information about your projects to online visitors.
Advantages
-    They can be easily sent out as a link.
-    They impart a comprehensive look to your website – your website would include details about your company and its contact information, and the portfolio page could give your past project experience and current order book position (if you so desire).
Drawbacks
-    Designing the portfolio page is a time consuming process.
-    Technical knowledge is required for its set-up.
-    More expensive, since it requires paying for the domain name and web hosting charges.

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Apart from having an online portfolio, a Website Design company can also use some other portfolio options to illustrate the kind of work done by them and their range of projects to prospective clients. Two such options are discussed below.

PDF portfolios: One of the options is to create the portfolio as a PDF file and e-mail it to prospects. Acrobat can create multi-page PDFs from layouts created in a graphics software program such as InDesign or Photoshop. It can be used to create a brochure that showcases your work with project descriptions.
Advantages
-    They can be easily e-mailed.
-    Avoids browser and web issues by allowing control over layout.
-    PDF provides quite a few templates of its own to facilitate creation of the portfolio.
Drawbacks
-    It depends on the client whether (s)he wants to download and save the file containing the portfolio.
-    It’s not that much useful to show your web design projects.

Printed portfolios: A printed portfolio is a printed booklet or brochure in physical form, containing examples of work carried out by you.
Advantages
-    It is good for showing off print design.
-    It can be used in meetings for presenting your work without a computer.
-    It is a physical record of your work, which can then be left with the client. This helps her/him to refer at their leisure and convenience.
Drawbacks
-    It has to be physically delivered by mail or by hand.
-    It is the most expensive, involving costs of design, printing and paper.
-    It is inflexible, in that once it is created, it cannot be modified. Even additions can be carried out only if a suitable provision is made before-hand.

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As mentioned in one of our earlier blogs, a portfolio of major completed/in-process works is an essential supplement for any company offering website design services. A glance through the company’s portfolio helps the client determine the kind and quality of services offered by the website designer. A portfolio can be presented in various forms, such as Online (as a part of your Website), PDF (which can be mailed to clients, either on demand or during cold-calls) or Printed (in the form of a booklet, which can either be couriered to clients or carried to client meetings). Each of these options has their own positive and negative aspects. We discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of an online portfolio in this blog.

An online portfolio is probably the most popular type of portfolio. It involves designing the portfolio page and placing it on your website. If your website offers web design services, then an online portfolio is the perfect choice since it provides information about your projects to online visitors.
Advantages
-    They can be easily sent out as a link.
-    They impart a comprehensive look to your website – your website would include details about your company and its contact information, and the portfolio page could give your past project experience and current order book position (if you so desire).
Drawbacks
-    Designing the portfolio page is a time consuming process.
-    Technical knowledge is required for its set-up.
-    More expensive, since it requires paying for the domain name and web hosting charges.

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If your Website Design services include Ecommerce web design, Graphic Design, Magento Developer, etc., then a well-designed portfolio of your successfully completed projects is handy in attracting new customers. You can use your portfolio of completed works as a part of your pitch to prospective customers. For companies offering Website Design services, a portfolio should include successful projects in reverse chronological order – that is, with the most recent projects first. They should also include a short description of each project with images.

A portfolio can be presented in various forms, such as Online (as a part of your Website), PDF (which can be mailed to clients, either on demand or during cold-calls) or Printed (in the form of a booklet, which can either be couriered to clients or carried to client meetings). Each of these options has their own positive and negative aspects. The type of portfolio to be used depends on your budget, time you have and type of work. If setting up a website is costly and time consuming for you, you should use a PDF format for your portfolio. A printed portfolio is useful to show off your best print work during meetings. However, it is the most expensive and inflexible form.

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