With so much business being generated on the internet, a website needs to be designed and built with online marketing very much at the core of the strategy.

It's no longer sufficient to simply make it look good; it's now all about how to promote it on the web, in order to turn searchers into visitors and visitors into customers. And this all stems from the good design, layout, usability and function of a site.

First impressions are critical; what your company does, how you do it, your brand personality, and where information is posted on the site, all makes for a good and positive web visit.

Our web services include:

• Brochureware Websites
• CMS (Content Management Systems)
• Document management & Collaboration
• E-commerce, shopping carts
• Datacapture
• Catalogues
• Portals & forums
• Systems integration & Data migration
• SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
• Reports & Analysis, Google PPC & Analytics
• Email marketing (Website integration & statistical analysis)

Success is dependent on looking past your home page; it is making everything clear for the visitor and providing a simple journey through the site, starting from any page. As visitors may land anywhere on a site by clicking through from an advert or from a link on search engines, they must be able to navigate easily from that point in any direction.

Get a website right and a prospect can become a customer, advocate and loyal supporter. Get it wrong and it will be an uphill battle to win over the potential client.

We have designed webpages and websites for a range of clients including Hewlett-Packard, Foreign Commonwealth Office and the Learning Skills Council as well as an impressive range of forward thinking SMEs.

We have a passion for web projects, small and large, simple and complex (the complex ones get the propeller heads spinning very fast :-) If you would like to view some sites our web monkeys have produced click here, or to find out more about how we can help, call us on 01264 356 256 or email by clicking here.

Where should you start... It's a large task, iCandy Design can guide you through the best way to attack it's creation.

The following outlines our approach:

1. Kick-off Meeting
   Discuss proposal with the client. Finalise functionality to be included and decide creative direction.
   
   
2. Site Architecture
   We conduct online research of competitors and draft wireframe diagrams of the website. Wireframes are like the architectural plans for a house; they specify the pages within the site and key information within them. They are reviewed with the client for feedback and finalisation.
   
   
3. Functional Specification
   Our team will develop the functional specification in collaboration with the client. This defines the functionality to be included within the site.
   
   
4. Customisation and Configuration
   The existing content management system will be customised to meet the client's requirements in accordance with the functionality specification.
   
   
5. Design
   A creative brief is devised collectively with the client. Design is started based on the wireframe layouts. We provide two to three different options of a home page and a sample content page for clients to review.
   
   
6. Review with the Client
   On finalisation of these designs we roll out the design to create the remaining template pages.
   
   
7. Template Design
   When all the pages are designed and approved we build the front-end CSS/HTML and then integrate this into the CMS.
   
   
8. Training
   Training will be provided so that the client can manage the system and upload content in the future.
   
   
9. Test
   We test the site for bugs before, after and while the content is uploaded for all common browsers. We create bugs lists which are addressed one by one. Clients are expected to undertake detailed testing during the final stages of the project.
   
   
10. Live!
    When the content is uploaded and the site is tested and functioning, the site is posted live on the web.