With that in mind, I present to you the TOP 10 website features every small business needs to crush it online.

1. Mobile Responsiveness

Let’s face it—people are glued to their phones. More than 55% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, so your site needs to look amazing and work seamlessly on any screen size. Mobile responsiveness ensures that your layout, images, and buttons adjust automatically to fit a phone, tablet, or desktop. Plus, Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites in search rankings, so a responsive design doesn’t just help users—it helps you get found.

Pro Tip: Test your site on multiple devices. If something looks off, fix it. Your customers won’t wait for you to catch up.

2. Fast Loading Speeds

In today’s world of go, go, go – nobody wants to wait for a slow website especially not your customers or Google. If your site takes more than three seconds to load, visitors will bounce faster than a poorly hit golf ball. Speed affects user experience and your bottom line.

How to Fix It:

• Compress images (smaller file sizes = faster load times).
• Use a reliable hosting service.
• Minimize unnecessary plugins and scripts.

The Result: Faster load times keep visitors engaged and happy, while also boosting your SEO.

3. Secure Website (SSL Certificate)

Ever noticed the “Not Secure” warning on some websites? That’s what happens without SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). An SSL certificate encrypts your site, protecting sensitive information like credit card numbers and passwords. It also gives you that little padlock icon in the browser bar—instantly building trust.

Why It Matters:

• Protects customer data.
• Increases trustworthiness.
• Improves Google rankings (yes, Google cares about security too)

Side Note: In addition to your SSL certificate, you should also have a clearly written and available Privacy Policy available on your

4. Clear Navigation

Imagine walking into a store with no signs. Frustrating, right? That’s what a cluttered or confusing website feels like. Clear navigation ensures your visitors can find what they’re looking for without a scavenger hunt.

Best Practices:

• Keep menus simple (no more than 6-7 items).
• Use descriptive labels (e.g., “About Us” or “Shop Now”).
• Include a search bar for easy access.

Why It Works: The easier your site is to use, the longer people stay—and the more likely they are to convert.

5. Call-to-Action (CTA) Buttons

Don’t assume visitors will know what to do next. CTA buttons guide them, whether it’s “Buy Now,” “Contact Us,” or “Subscribe Today.” A strong CTA is clear, action-oriented, and visually distinct.

Tips for Effective CTAs:

• Use bright, contrasting colours.
• Keep the text short and actionable (“Book Now,” not “Click Here to Book Your Next Appointment”).
• Place them where visitors naturally look, like above the fold or at the end of a page.

Why it Works: Again it boils down to the ease of the site’s use – clear CTA are there to capture attention and direct people to specific, converting sections of your site.

6. Engaging Visual Content

Let’s be real—nobody wants to stare at a wall of text. High-quality visuals grab attention and keep visitors engaged. From sharp product photos to creative videos, your visuals tell your brand story and engage your viewers with the site’s content.

What Works:

• Use professional images (no stock photos that scream “generic”).
• Add videos for demos, testimonials, or behind-the-scenes looks.
• Keep graphics aligned with your brand colours and style.

Why it’s Important: Consistency is key. Branding your site with visual content consistent with your brand will go a long way in telling your customers “Your Story”

7. SEO-Friendly Design

If your site isn’t optimized for search engines, you’re invisible. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps your site rank higher on Google, making it easier for potential customers to find you.

SEO Basics for Design:

• Use keywords naturally in headings and page titles.
• Optimize images with alt text.
• Ensure fast loading speeds and mobile responsiveness.

Pro Tip: Use tools like Google Analytics to monitor your SEO performance and adjust as needed.

8. Social Media Integration

Your social media channels are goldmines for engagement, so why not link them directly to your site? Adding social media buttons and feeds helps visitors connect with you on multiple platforms.

Ideas for Integration:

• Add clickable social icons in your header or footer.
• Include a live Instagram feed showcasing your latest products or events.
• Use share buttons so visitors can spread your content with one click.

Pro Tip: Integration of the live feeds allows you to constantly update your website without making major changes to the design. A simple and effective way to keep customers up-to-date.

9. Testimonials and Reviews

Social proof is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. Positive testimonials and reviews show potential customers that you’re trustworthy and reliable.

How to Showcase Reviews:

• Highlight a few glowing testimonials on your homepage.
• Include a dedicated “Reviews” or “Customer Stories” page.

Pro Tip: You can use widgets and plugins to display real-time reviews from Google or Yelp.

10. Contact Information and Chat Options

Don’t make customers search for how to contact you. Display your phone number, email, and address prominently. Want to go the extra mile? Add a live chat feature or chatbot to answer questions instantly.

Why It Matters:

• Builds trust by showing you’re accessible.
• Increases conversions by resolving concerns in real time.
• Creates a seamless experience for your visitors.

Final Thoughts

Your website is your 24/7 salesperson, and it needs to deliver the goods. By focusing on these 10 must-have features, you’ll create a site that not only looks great but also works hard to attract, engage, and convert visitors. Ready to level up your online game? Start tweaking your site today—your customers (and your business) will thank you!

The post Top 10 Must-Haves for Small Business Websites appeared first on Arktos Graphics and Design.

1. CONTENT MARKETING

The definition of content marketing is a loose one, but essentially it is the use of any content to help you reach your marketing goals. Whether it’s acquiring new customers, retention of existing ones, or building brand awareness – content marketing can be an awesome way to achieve any of them.

One of the biggest hesitations in companies dispersing resources to content marketing is that it is hard to understand/measure the benefit of it. The idea of increasing your company’s profile to your clientele sounds great – but the results aren’t always measurable by an increase in sales. So let’s dive into what content marketing can provide your business, making it a little easier to evaluate its value. 

1. Conversation Starter: Creating interesting and relatable content can get people talking. Word-of-mouth has always been and always will be, one of the most effective forms of advertising. Content marketing can instantly create “buzz” around your company or product. If the content is interesting enough, it can be shared extensively by people who see it, without spending an additional dollar.
2.  Instant Accreditation: By creating content that is related to your company, industry or products – it allows you to put your expertise on display. It allows existing and potential customers to build trust in your brand by exposing them to tips, tricks, advice and other content they can have for free.
3. Sense of Teamwork: The use of content marketing can bring uniformity to your staff as well. Content is the base of your marketing campaign and the development of it can bring all areas of your business together, where they might not normally interact. It forces your marketing team to discuss the content with sales staff, technical staff, management and more to create the content best suited for the marketing goals you have set aside.

2. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

The 2000s have brought around the social media era – and has evolved into a gigantic opportunity for business to market their business at little to no cost if done right. It is a powerful way for you to reach prospects and customers. Your customers are already interacting with tons of brands and companies through social media, and if you’re not part of social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, – you’re missing out!

So what can SMM help you with? Well, it’s pretty simple really….everything. But breaking it down into more specific advantages, it can:

• Increasing website traffic
• Building consumer conversions
• Raising or initializing brand awareness
• Creating a positive brand identity and association
• Improving interaction with key consumers & audiences

3. NATIVE ADVERTISING

Native advertising is the art of putting feature content on a third-party website, usually for a fee of some sort. The point of native advertising is to naturally advertise your content within another environment, such as a video, article or infographic. Unlike traditional advertising, which is designed to draw attention or stand out, native advertising is designed to blend into an existing environment and subtly promote your brand to a different audience.

The main draw to native advertising is that it doesn’t feel like “traditional” advertising, therefore, it has a higher interaction rate than say banner advertising… nearly 2X as effective.  Although native isn’t new and is dramatically more effective than other forms of 3rd party advertising, It shouldn’t replace all content marketing efforts, it should be added to or upped as part of your overall marketing campaigns. The process of creating native advertising content is simple and direct, as long as it isn’t blatantly promotional or sales-focused.

There are more avenues that you can venture into when it comes to marketing your company, product or brand – items like Video Marketing, Email Marketing or even Chatbots are options depending on your company and its marketing strategy. I chose to focus on the areas and trends that are what I consider the best avenue for my clientele, small-to-medium-sized business owners. The biggest thing before venturing into any of these areas is to do your research and have a plan! Knowing what your market is and what your goals are will go a long way in allocating your marketing dollars most effectively.

The post What Marketing is Right for You? appeared first on Arktos Graphics and Design.

So with that in mind, I decided that this “Getting Graphic” entry would shine light on these things and maybe help you in developing your marketing strategy in the future. So here it is, 3 things not to forget when building your marketing strategy in 2018.

1. DO NOT Forget about your existing customers

The one thing that has caught my attention recently is how hard companies market to attract new customers – and sometimes it is done without thinking about existing customers. Now this isn’t a new phenomenon, but it is something that really got me thinking. I have had two experiences with this year and both were quite alarming. I should start by saying that I applaud the efforts of these companies, attracting new customers is a vital part of the business – I just want to examine the “other side” with these examples.

The first situation was an effort to attract new members to the golf course that I play at. The plan offered an introductory rate to anyone who had never been or had not been a member for at least 5 years. In theory, it seems like a great idea and from what I hear it was quite successful in attracting almost 50 new members this season. However, the introductory rate was less than what the shareholder rate was and this rubbed some people the wrong way. There wasn’t enough discussion in the plan about their current members and how this strategy would be perceived by them. It actually ended up in some existing members not renewing their memberships.

Things to Think About: How will your NEW marketing strategy affect your current customer base?

Secondly, I was scouring the webpage of a certain cable/internet provider and noticed how many deals were available. Now as a 10+ year customer of theirs, I was curious as to why I was paying more than new or potential customers would be. Being quite confused, I called the company and asked why that was. They of course offered me better equipment at a better rate – but I was still perplexed as to why I had to call the company to get that deal. There was no marketing plan in place to communicate that loyal customers could receive a better deal or upgraded equipment. It was up to the customer to contact the company and “raise a stink” to determine if any upgrades were available.

Things to Think About: Marketing Strategies must include both Acquisition of New and Retention of Old Customers – and be researched and communicated equally.

2. DO NOT forget about physical location

In recent years, the emergence of e-commerce has become a focal point for a majority of businesses – heck, for some its their sole avenue to sell their products – and if that is you then you can skip this part. This is targeted towards businesses that have both an online and physical storefront. It actually would make the most sense to have two marketing strategies: one for your physical location and one for your online (or e-commerce) store. Make sure you research both demographics together and separately. Look for similarities and differences between the two. This will allow you to optimize both locations and maybe even do so cross-marketing campaigns. Despite having multiple or separate marketing campaigns you will want to ensure there is continuity between the two as well – so as to not confuse those customers who visit both locations.

Do not, however, spend all your time and resources maximizing your e-commerce site. Pay attention to your storefront. Ask yourself:

1. Are the customers finding what they need?
2. Is there sufficient information provided at point-of-sale?
3. What do people like about our storefront? What don’t they like?
4. Is it visually attractive and is it communicating the right message (my brand)?
5. How can I make it easier for people to buy once they are here?

Funny, when you look at it – they are the same questions that you would ask when optimizing a website for e-commerce. In today’s society, people do not have the desire or time to spend countless hours in a store looking for something to buy. So know your target market, know what motivates them and make sure you develop a marketing strategy, that at the very least, includes your physical store location (if you have one).

3. DO NOT forget the things that made you successful in the first place

When sales begin to plateau or even decline, managers and owners are quick to change everything in a panic-focused drive to correct the problem. That is not the reaction you need to take. If you have built your business properly you have plenty of time to examine your business, your industry and your customers so that you can formulate an informed marketing strategy to regain or stimulate that business.

A complete overhaul of your business is rarely the answer. There are many reasons that you have been a successful business in the past. DO NOT get into the habit of changing everything just for the sake of changing it. The simplest way to determine what adjustments to your marketing strategy should be made is by examining three key areas:

1. Your Industry – look at market reports, look at competitors. There will be plenty of information out there that could suggest potential changes to the forecast of the industry you are in. For example, in 2016, Alberta Golf released an article that stated there was a drastic decline in the number of rounds played, especially in Central Alberta. So this means that golf courses had to examine their marketing strategy to either try and continue to capture a dwindling market – or find new forms of income. The key was that the information was available to them.
2. Your Business/Brand – look at your business, talk candidly with your customers, and send out anonymous surveys. Do whatever you can to try and get a real idea of how your customers view your business and your brand. Then take the information from your customers and compare it to what you have envisioned as your business and brand. You will get great insight into the things that you do well from your customers – and those are the areas that you need to keep the same or make only slight adjustments to.
3. Your Customers – You will already have a good understanding of who your customers are…I mean you have been in business for some time. So your goal here is to figure out what you were doing that had your customers responding to your business. When developing a new marketing strategy you can keep those items that lead to the success in the past – barring no major shifts in your customers or their habits.

All-in-All marketing strategies need to encompass a bunch of different aspects to be considered successful. There are many areas to examine and plan for. The point of this article was just to display some of the awkward trends that I have seen over the recent years, to maybe help you be aware of them when creating your marketing plan.

The post New vs Old – What is More Important? appeared first on Arktos Graphics and Design.

The trends you will need to pay attention to will be completely dependent on your target audience, and this article will focus more on general trends – so it will be up to you and your business to decide which trends apply to you and your marketing strategy.

1. Video Marketing Taking Over

The emergence of social media platforms like Instagram, TilTok and Snapchat into the forefront of our culture has quickly shifted how businesses can use these platforms to market themselves. Even platforms like YouTube, websites, email marketing, Facebook and Twitter have begun focusing more on implementing videos as a way for businesses to show their products or services, rather than tell them. Internet watching is trending towards being as strong, if not stronger, than television watching causing many digital marketing agencies to turn their focus to videos.

The shift to videos has certainly impacted on user behaviour, and how consumers interact with each other and brands online. Technological advancements over the years have made video creation easier than ever before. Creating professional content provides little resistance as all you need is a smartphone and maybe a simple app. Videos can be developed related to particular products or services while offering a more authentic experience that reflects being in-store and provides your audience with better insight before making their purchasing decisions.

Video Content/Creation

A few things to remember when setting out on the creation of video marketing content.

1. Length of the video – depending on what platform you have decided to use, the length of the video will vary. Apps like Snapchat and Instagram set restrictions on the length of time that your video can be. It is important to understand these restrictions before you spend countless hours and dollars building a 3 – 5-minute video that won’t be allowed on platforms such as these.
2. The content of the video – of course, the content is important….but what is considered important? The easiest way to look at content is by examining your product/business and noting the things that make it unique. Focus on those, they will be your best attributes to focus on during your video marketing campaigns.
3. Keep it fun – the draw of video marketing is that people enjoy watching videos. 78% of all people watch videos online weekly, with over 1 billion hours of video watched daily on YouTube alone. People have a plethora of options when it comes to videos, if you aren’t entertaining them, they will move on. The right video that is both informative and entertaining will see a drastic increase (over 200%) in social interaction with its audience (likes, comments, shares).

Here is a great article that talks about some of the best Apps available to create quick and easy marketing videos directly with your smartphone.

https://www.agorapulse.com/blog/top-video-creation-tools

Live videos

Live videos are becoming more popular with the “My Story” function on many social media platforms. If you stream a live video to your followers, they can be quite effective. If you have a special event or new product to introduce, why not go live? Show your consumers your business’s personality. Have fun with your live videos, don’t script them too much or overly produce them. The nicest part about live videos as they are archived within the platform for some time, so even if people miss the live feed – they can watch the video when it’s convenient for them.

2. Banner Ads are Burning

As mentioned earlier, the onset of the digital age has altered how businesses (brands) and consumers interact. Not long ago, blatant forms of advertising overpowered almost every website that you visited – banner ads. One of the trends for 2019 will see even more online surfers using ad blockers forcing advertisers to change the content of their marketing strategies. Banner ads will no longer be as successful as they have been in the past – forcing you to find creative ways to offer consumers brand and product information.

3. Don’t Give Up on Print

It has been said for years that print (and with it, print advertising) is dead, but I continue to work with several clients that have been successful with print marketing. So why is that? With so much marketing focused on the digital trends (and to be honest, rightfully so) that particular market has and will continue to become saturated, leaving more room for print publications to make an impact. I’m not suggesting that you completely abandon digital marketing – but combine the two for a more complimentary marketing strategy. Digital advertising is filling websites, smartphone apps and email boxes, leaving print marketing as a great way to break through the digital noise.

Print advertising such as brochures, posters, mailout newsletters or flyers can all be seen as a different form of advertising in your clients’ minds. Depending on the target audience it can be seen as something new or more personal, which can create memorability.

So these are some of the major trends that will be making their way into the market in 2019. In preparation for that, I have spent some time learning the ins and outs of video creation and editing. Hoping that by the time the calendar turns, I will be ready to offer my clientele access to the same great marketing products that Arktos has been providing for the last few years.

The post Small Business Marketing appeared first on Arktos Graphics and Design.

1. What things actually need a logo?

Before I look at what to think about during the design process, let’s examine what situations actually call for a logo. The simple answer is EVERYTHING…..well most everything. Whether it be a new company, a new product or new product, you should always consider the possibility that a logo will be required. The easiest way to determine if a logo is required is by answering three simple questions:

1. What are my advertising/marketing goals?
2. What type of marketing materials do I plan to produce?
3. Do my competitors’ products/projects/businesses have a logo?

Answers to these questions will give you a strong understanding of what is required. I would say 9.9875 times out of 10, a logo would be a necessity, as it creates instantaneous: brand identity, recognition, professionalism and consistency. There are times when a logo is not necessary but, in those cases, you must still properly brand your company or product. Consistency across your marketing strategy will always be important, whether a logo is involved or not.

2. What is my client’s business?

Research is always key prior to starting any project and graphic design is not any different, in fact, it might be even more important. A proper understanding of the market’s social, educational and financial background will provide much-needed direction in their logo design. Knowing who their audience will be and what their company represents allows me to select the right shapes, colours, fonts, lines and symbols.

3. Logo Design Process

When I begin designing, I follow a similar process for each of the logos:

1. Minimalistic Approach: This means, editing both ideas and the design. Removing all the excessive and unnecessary elements, as they only add clutter and confusion. The minimalistic approach ensures a simple logo that people can identify instantly at a glance.
2. Unique Thinking & Finding Inspiration: Designing a logo for a trucking company with a truck or an Eagle sports team logo with an eagle head isn’t memorable. It takes a different type of thinking in order to create a unique logo. It is important to find inspiration that can help you find a unique approach to the design. I spent a lot of my downtime looking around the internet or just driving around constantly looking for inspiration for any projects I may have in the future. The best example of this is the secondary logo I designed for the Oyen Eagles (found here). By using the idea of the eagle feather to create the ‘O’ it gave a different approach to the standard sports logo design.
3. Start in Black & White and Ensuring Scalability: Although colour choices are important (we will discuss that later), I first find out if a logo looks like a memorable design in black and white. If the logo doesn’t impress me, I make alteration it until I’m satisfied. In addition, it is important to scale the design both up and down. Eventually, every logo is used across all different forms of media, including billboards, packaging design, business cards, and newspapers so it’s important to guarantee the logo will hold its integrity across them all.
4. Applying Colour, Supporting Text and Finishes: Once the client is happy with the black and white design the process of adding colour(s), supporting text and finishing touches to produce the finished product. When talking about colours – your branding and desired message are the most important factors. A great article by 99designs.ca (https://99designs.ca/blog/tips/logo-color-meanings/) explains the meanings of each colour and how they apply in the logo design process. With that and the research of the client’s business and customers in tow, I gradually added colour to the design and supporting type.

There are thousands of businesses competing in the market to draw the attention of a limited number of customers. The successful companies are the ones that successfully create a unique identity for itself. It is my job as a graphic designer to assist these companies create this identity and turn their logos into a marketing tool.

The post Logo Design Process – Whats Involved? appeared first on Arktos Graphics and Design.

The Easy Answer

Most information out there suggests that a website should be redesigned, or at the very least tweaked every 2-4 years – but a lot of it would depend on your online goals. That is the easy answer. As people’s attention spans get shorter and shorter the importance of keeping a fresh and eye-catching website grows more and more. Technology in the web design world changes quickly. Leaving your website stagnant for a period of time opens the door for your competitors to take advantage of these new technologies and capture your customers…but we will get into that later in this article.

Changes to Your Business

The chances that your business stays the same through the years are fairly low, so a good time to consider updating the look and functionality of your website would be any time you make changes to your business. If you have made some changes to the products or services you offer, not only is it necessary to add these to your site – but it provides a perfect time to audit your UX/UD and make some more dramatic changes.

Maybe you have brought on a new employee or two. Fresh eyes and opinions can offer a great window into the eyes of your customers. Ask new employees what they think of your online presence, they might give you some great insight on how to improve its design. At the end of the day, your website should give your customers an accurate picture of your business and not just an overview – so anytime you make changes to what you offer or how you operate – your website design should be analyzed and modified to ensure it does that.

Was it time for a new brand? Updating your brand is extremely important as well and your website is a huge part of that. If you have updated your brand – you need to update your website. Just do it. Don’t wait. Your current customers already know you, but new customers will be encountering your business for the 1st time. Ensure your best foot is forward with a website that matches your new identity.

Outdated Technology

I graduated from web design school in 2010, and many things I learned in terms of the technology used back then have become obsolete over that time. Although the general principles of good design are the same, the technology has dramatically improved – and will continue to do so. HTML, CSS and Flash have been replaced by HTML5, Content Management Systems, Javascript and PHP. If your website uses any outdated technology, the odds are that your website does not function the way it used to, which can negatively affect your customers’ experience with it.

The biggest technology change is the dominance of mobile-friendly design. For most websites, over 65% of users access the website from some form of mobile device. With that in mind, having a mobile-friendly design is essential. A few days ago (early May 2022), I was going through a list of businesses for a client of mine and their social media maintenance. I was astounded by the number of companies that still did not have mobile-friendly websites. Check out your website on a mobile device, and if it is not optimized for viewing there – contact a web designer IMMEDIATELY!! 

Checklist for Website Redesign

So now you have decided that a redesign of your website is needed, what type of things do you need to have in place? I have created a small checklist or list of questions that you should have answered prior to getting the process started. Any web designer worth their salt should/will ask you these questions prior to the start of the project – so it would be best to have the answers ready to go to help the process move along quicker.

A. PERFORM AN AUDIT OF YOUR CURRENT SITE and ask yourself the following questions. 

1. Is your website currently optimized for mobile devices?
2. Have your goals changed since you last launched your site or since its last redesign?
3. Do you have a branding guide? If yes, is the website consistent with that branding guide? If not, you will want to create one to provide direction for your web designer.
4. Does your website function properly? Do all areas display correctly and contribute to the visual interest and direction of the site?
5. Is the current website set up for easy updating and creating more content to draw in your audience?
6. What is the user experience like? Is it easy to navigate and quickly find information quickly for your customers?
7. How are your metrics? Using Google Analytics or any other website traffic tracking software you have in place – look at the user flow and experience. You should be able to tell where the majority of the problems lie within the design. If you look at your metrics and don’t understand them – let your designer know, they will be able to point out areas that require attention and should have some good ideas on how to make improvements.
8. Is your SEO (search engine optimization) doing everything it can to capture your audience? Are the keywords correct and applicable to your business? This will help when you review the website’s content and direct you to where you need to improve and make adjustments.

B. DEFINE A STRATEGY AND SET GOALS FOR THE SITE.

1. What story are you trying to tell on your website?
2. What journey through the site are you hoping your visitors take? What will that accomplish both for them and for you?
3. What problems or challenges do your customers solve or overcome?
4. What related keywords do your customers use most often? Doing some simple keyword research will help you with your website content creation to ensure your target audience finds your site with improved SEO.

C. GATHER ASSETS (PHOTOS, INFORMATION, LINKS, etc.)

The final step is to ensure you have all your assets in one place. This will drastically improve your web designer/developer’s ability to create an amazing website for you and your business. High-resolution, clear images of products, equipment, personnel and services, infographics, product PDFs and videos all will contribute to the designer’s ability to meet all the goals you have set for your new site.

Summary

So to summarize, a website is a bit like a living organism. It needs to change, evolve and grow over time. Similar to your business, its products and services, and operations, your website needs to portray your business at its absolute best. In today’s day and age, your website is most likely going to be one of the first interactions your customers have with your business. You need to put in some time and effort to ensure this interaction is the best that it can be.

The post When is it time to redesign your website? appeared first on Arktos Graphics and Design.

The Good

Do-it-yourself website builders do offer a variety of positive things for potential individuals or businesses looking at getting a website up and going. So let’s look into what they do offer.

1. Lower in cost – the obvious benefit to a DIY website, is always going to be the cost. You are not hiring a professional web design which can run you between $500 and $10,000 depending on the size of the site. Several web hosting companies (such as GoDaddy, Doteasy or Host Gator) offer their website builder as part of your web hosting package. Their ability to package products together allows them to target people shopping for a good deal.
2. “Easy to Utilize” – the drag-and-drop editors are easy to use, so to speak. If you are relatively tech-savvy and know your way around a computer, you won’t have too much issue with finding your way through the creation of your website. I will cover some items a little later that you should be aware of before assuming it is straightforward.
3. Perfect for Specific Types of Sites – If you looking to display informative content, encouraging customers to visit your physical location, then a free website builder will probably work for you. So before starting any website project setting so definite goals or objectives for the site will go a long way.

So there are definitely positives to these website builders, but even if your website would easily be done with these types of products there are a few roadblocks that might come up during the process and I want to examine those now.

Graphics with Responsive Designs

Since the early 2000s, a website’s responsiveness (mobile-friendly) has become of the utmost of importance. Over 50% of website traffic is done from a mobile device. When it comes to the website builders, this is not the problem. Their templates and platforms are responsive “out-of-the-box”. Where the problem lies with this is in the creation of graphics and images used for your site. If the images are not uploaded (drag) at the right dimensions distortion or pixelation will occur – making them unclear and unattractive. There are also many different file types that these graphics can be (JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PDF). Depending on where they are being displayed on your site, understanding which type of graphic to use will be imperative in achieving the desired look. Most, if not all, website designers have the skills and tools to create stunning graphics for their designs. Their knowledge of code allows them to correctly size all graphics for optimal visual impact.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is one of the most important items in website design, because if people can’t find your site, what good is it? DIY website builders do have very basic SEO built into their platforms, but depending on the goals for the site, this most likely won’t be enough. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a technique used by professional web designers to make your website receive higher rankings from search engines. This includes: properly naming images and files, properly naming each page, setting appropriate keywords and so much more.

Customization and Coding

There are millions, if not billions of websites in the world currently, so how are you going to make yours stand out? DIY website builders are designed to be as easy as possible – which doesn’t lend itself to much customization. They usually have limitations that restrict graphics and text and can even go as far as limiting colour schemes. When you hire a professional web designer you know that your site will suit your business – with very few limitations. A professional web designer has the knowledge in PHP, databases, HTML, CSS and much more to open you to a world of possibilities with your site. They have spent years educating themselves on best practices, industry trends and technology to ensure each project is unique, effective and done with your business goals in mind.

Industry Trends

The Internet and website design changes daily, as we saw with the mobile-friendly switch. New technologies, new coding techniques, and new ways to draw traffic to your site are created every day. If a professional web designer wishes to be successful, they must stay abreast of these trends. Armed with that knowledge, they will implement these tools in creating your website and allow you to stay in “the digital race”.

Regardless of what road you decide to take when it comes to building a website, the most important thing is to have clear goals and expectations for the site. Without those your website will fail – regardless of how “pretty” it looks.

The post Why Are Professional Website Designer Important? appeared first on Arktos Graphics and Design.