Web Design

How we do web design?

As a professional web design agency, Malcom Edwards developed a process that helps us deliver the right solution for every project. To get a feel of how working with us will be here are the 8 steps we take in making every website:

Website Definition

First, we must identify the reasons for the site’s existence and what is the website supposed to achieve. For this, we must talk about the goals and objectives at the beginning of the project because they will define the type of website and its structure.

Most companies have more goals than they need and this is because every department in it thinks their goal is the most important. The challenge is being able to focus on making the product effective and setting realistic goals. Don’t worry we will help you make the best decisions!

Now that all the information is set we will ask you for a short project brief. This brief should contain the following information:

Summary – The general overview of the project, the company background, the industry that it exists in, and the unique value it provides to its customers.
Goals – We normally set two or three specific measurable goals for each website. These will allow our team to focus on the most impactful aspects of the web design project.
Audience – Who do you want your website to speak with? Here we will ask you to create an audience profile that includes: demographics (area of your customer), psychographics (the way your customer thinks), medium age of your target customers, etc. The more we know about your clients the better!
Messages – What do you want people to know? What is the key message that will engage your audiences and will make them differentiate you from your competitors?
Competition – We want to know and study your arch-rivals. In order to differentiate your business from theirs, we must know who they are, what they do, and how they do it.

Website Scope

A critical step in delivering a good web design project is setting the correct plan with specific activities and deliverables, specific timelines, and clearly state each party’s responsibilities during the development process. This includes what information you will need to send us when we need it, and so on.

For this, we will create a work chart that will not only outline the major activities of the website development but also provide the tasks associated with each step with start and end dates. This chart will provide a visual reference for the team while showing the dependencies of each step, and also creates accountability for the client and the web team proving that the delivery time is dependent on everyone hitting their marks. If someone misses the delivery date – the hole schedule shifts.

Website Architecture

Depending on the project’s needs we will suggest a platform for the website to be built on, or in some complicated websites, we might offer creating a dedicated platform.

We work with the most popular platforms out there and each solution offered is based on our experience regarding the customer’s needs.

Whether it will be WordPress because all you need is a corporate website or a small shop easy to maintain or more complicated Shopify, Magento, OpenCart, PrestaShop, or other eCommerce platforms, don’t worry! We will help you choose what is best for your project.

Here is a list of the Best CMS Platforms

Once the platform is chosen, we will set the website’s architecture. This includes:

the sitemap – what pages are needed and navigation that represents how pages are connected to help customers easily find the information they need
and wireframe – what content will each page have without thinking of the design elements yet.

Website Design

At this step, we are done with the blueprint of the project and it’s time to get creative. Our artists can now discuss the way that all the information will be presented to the customers.

In some cases, we might suggest a specific template that suits the needs of the project, or we will draw a new one just for you if you need it.

One thing we need to mention: WE WILL ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BRAND’S VISUAL IDENTITY.

We mention this because there are so many websites out there that look nothing like the brand they represent in terms of colors, fonts, and other visual factors that normally should have been kept in the process of evolving from printed paper to online design.

Our main goal is to connect the web with all other forms of communications and advertising that the company uses, and we will keep your brand’s corporate identity within the design.

Website Development

With the approval of the design, we move on to putting all the things we discussed together. Here is where content meets the design. We will develop new content if needed or maybe just fine-tune the old one, we create photos, videos, and slideshows if we need them, or other media that is needed for the website. We will get technical into the coding of the site, whether is HTML, CSS, PHP, JAVA, etc.

The best thing about this step? We do it all in house using our own team of developers and media creators.

Website Testing

Testing everything and making sure the website works perfectly is a very important step that most agencies skip before launching a new project. This is a big mistake and that is why there are so many websites out there that just look and feel unfinished.

We place the project on a production server with selected audiences and test it. Then we run a short survey to check if we managed to deliver a product that fits the needs that we have set out in the blueprint. Testing does not just refer to technical parts of the website but also if the design and content meet the requirements and goals that were set for the project.

We also test the website’s responsiveness and compatibility with different browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox, also testing it on different devices and screen sizes like desktop, tablet, and mobiles to see if any problems occur.

Website Launch

We’ve tested and reviewed everything, all is approved, so this is THE BIG DAY? The answer is NO!

A website should be launched with a complex campaign to maximize the potential this advertising campaign can offer.

Once a campaign is created and the website promotion starts you should be ready to address user’s feedback regarding this new look because once the website is launched the project is not finished yet. In most cases, there will be some immediate changes to be made, such as improving user experience, fixing links, and making adjustments. The internet evolves fast and changes daily if not hourly – change is inevitable.

You should look at your website as a living, breathing employee that has needs to perform his job. Just like you care for your employees you should let us care for your website. Why?

Because it’s all part of YOUR STRATEGY: to achieve your online goals, to succeed and prosper in this competitive online environment.

Website Maintenance

When we say maintenance, we take a look at this strategy, and we create the formula that translates it to the Web.

Plans can include technical maintenance and updates, on-page and off-page SEO (search engine optimization), advertising campaigns on search engines and social media, monthly content creation, and so on.