Successful web design companies, part 1

Creating a quote for a job is a difficult task if you are part of or manage a web design company. Putting a price on your skills can be tricky. You don’t want to charge too much, but you want the work to pay off. You need to consider everything from how much you’ll need to outsource to what the job requirements are. In the meantime, the only thing the person you’re working for cares about is how much the project is going to cost. One of the easiest ways to handle this is to break it down into who does what work in your web design company.

The first category of jobs has to do with the creative process involved in creating a website. This could include graphic designers, writers, or flash developers. Many people who use the services of a website design company may even wonder if this type of work is even necessary. They see free hosting and templates everywhere, so why do they need you? Here’s a look at what the creative people on your team need to know.

• Photoshop. Photoshop and similar programs are important, but they are also complicated and it can take a long time before someone can truly consider themselves an expert on the subject. However, if you understand it, you can design logos, buttons and other illustrations for the website.

• Web languages. Speaking of complicated, browsers need to be told what to do at any given time and the only way to do that is to understand the language the browser speaks. The most popular are HTML and JavaScript, but CSS, PHP, ColdFusion, and others may also be required. Even free templates may need a bit of html before they work properly and your customer probably doesn’t know that.

• Commercialization. SEO is all you need to know here. Most customers are not aware of it or how it works.
• Usability. If customers can’t use a website, it may not even exist.
• Good content. A website has to have content and preferably good content. Someone has to create it; it does not come with a free website template.

The next category has to do with software development, website development, and programming. What do you need to know about developing a good website design company?

• Good websites have features that allow customers to interact. Shopping carts and comment forums are just a few. A good programmer can provide them. A template cannot. This could also involve knowledge of front-end design.

• Programmers also need to know how Google or other search engines will interact with what they do.

• Also, a good programmer will know how and will test how those functions work. He or she will also analyze the results.