Web Design and Development

I can provide a complete web development service from your initial ideas through planning and concepts through to implementation.

I have been developing web sites since 1996 and have gained experience of many different types of sites – e-commerce, community, news provision, brochure – to efficiently help you create the site you want with the benefit of my knowledge.

My specialist knowledge is in standards compliance for search engine optimisation and accessibility requirements.

• Web standards are a set of procedures to be followed in developing sites that means the site will be compliant with web standards to ensure the site displays the intended way across a range of computers and web browsers.
• Providing access to web sites to a range of users with different capabilities is now a requirement in the UK under the Disability Discrimination Act and sites I develop are tested in a number of different environments to ensure that they can be used as intended on different equipment.

Development process

If you contract me to develop a web site, the process will typcially be as follows:

• Detailed discussion. A discussion will be held to identify your goals, to find out what you want to get out of your web presence. It is necessary to clearly communicate these goals and agree on them at this stage in order have criteria to evaluate the site on completion
• Prosposal. After the initial discussion, I will devise a proposal and quote that meets the goals discussed and introduces ideas about how best to implement them in an online environment.
• Concept. While much of the backend work can be done in the background, it is essential to produce concepts of the design of the site at this stage to produce a basic framework of the layout, even if not finalised, in order to have something to work to.
• Implementation. With the concept agreed, I will work to create the functionality of the site before integrating the visuals.
• Testing and amends. With a web site, there are always going to be tweaks you want to make. Once the site is up and running in a test environment, I will give you full access to try it out. Your feedback will be worked in to the solution to ensure it suits you.
• Review. Once the site is complete and launched, it is important to review the whole process to ensure your expectations have been met and that the site has been delivered to the original requirements.

If you have an idea for a web site but are not sure how to proceed, please get in touch and I will happily talk you through your ideas, their feasibility and a ball park estimate of costs.

Services

Web site development

I can provide advice on the best way forward with your web project based on your initial ideas. As an example, I can help you decide whether you would benefit from an e-commerce site, or if there is a better way to market your product online. If you need help deciding how best to use your online presence, please get in touch.

Additionally, I can also offer to develop the site myself therefore combining all relevant disciplines of web projects – from planning and concept through development and implementation.

Intranet/extranet development

Intranets and extranets are different from web development in that they are targeted at a specific group of people be that staff or a particular client. As a result, special care must be taken to look at how that group will use the finished product in order to best help them complete their tasks. I have experience in developing both intranet and extranets and am happy to help you to formalise your development plan.

Email marketing

Email marketing can be an inexpensive, but highly efficient online marketing technique by providing your messages directly to customer and prospects inboxes. However, the legal minefield of email marketing makes it easy to break the law. I can help through my knowledge of the Data Protection Act in relation to email marketing. I can also help setup an email marketing company with a third party provider.

Knowledge management

When you have a lot of business information that needs to be available, it can be highly effective to have the information available online. This can be presented either on an intranet or a password protected web site depending on how your business works best. I can help by looking at the types of content you have and deciding on the best way to present that information and allow users to add and amend information to create effective knowledge sharing. Explicit knowledge sharing is becoming increasingly important as employees frequently change jobs taking much of their knowledge with them. By creating a strategy and putting a framework in place to share knowledge, much of that know-how can be captured to keep it in the business.

Search engine optimisation

The rise of search engines Google, Yahoo! and Windows Live as the starting point for users looking for information on the net has increased their importance in web projects. If your site cannot be found on these engines, you will be losing business as many users will not find your site. There are a large number of ways you can optimise your site to allow the search engines easy access to your content. I can help you to highlight areas on your site where improvements can be made to help search engines access your site.

Examples of recent work

Examples of recent work can be found in the panel to the right. These sites have involved a combination of the following services:

• Strategy
• XHTML/CSS build
• Web Design
• Search engine optimisation
• Content management system
• Art galleries

Costs and Timings

I’ll state this up front – I do have a full time 9-5 job, it’s how I pay the mortgage. I build web sites for a couple of reasons:

• It keeps my web design skills sharp which helps with my day job
• I get to meet new people and new ways of working
• I am exposed to differing business challenges that my skills can help to overcome

I do realise that I am not a web design agency and therefore my prices are substantially lower as you will not have the benefits of access to my services throughout the day, I work mainly at weekends and evenings.

Get in touch

Please do get in touch, I’m more than happy to talk over any ideas you may have. I’m based in Edinburgh, Scotland.