Web Design

Web Design

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AKEA Provides Professional Web Design Services for Industries and Businesses of All Varieties

nullSelecting the right online marketing firm to build or refresh your website is an important decision.

Clients choose AKEA for our web design services and expertise, because we know there’s no such thing as a cookie-cutter website. Our team strives to provide services that are completely centered around each individual client and their unique business needs.

Plan for Success and a Smooth Execution

It’s important to know and be able to articulate your goals and vision for your site before choosing a firm to help you build your brand online. Decide the website’s purpose and your target audience. Identify and refine your messaging accordingly.

Do research and find sites you like – and decide why you like them. Consider checking out your competitors to evaluate what’s being done in your industry. It’s good to know what you want and to be prepared to be flexible and open-minded of what your web design firm suggests.

There are Thousands of Digital Firms to Choose From

As you can imagine, web design firms range in skill and focus, and every firm has its own approach. Each offers its own unique strengths and areas of focus. As you look to find your perfect match, check out the firm’s online portfolio and talk to their clients. That will help you determine if they are a good match for your business.

The AKEA Approach is Different

Our team at AKEA will work with you to identify all your relevant particulars and project requirements to ensure that your project will be what you envisioned. When there are needs that lie outside of AKEA’s core strengths, we will connect you with our robust network of trusted partners to ensure that all of your needs are met.

At AKEA, our firm has been helping companies for nearly 10 years by providing web design services and web accessibility consulting. But experts on our team have been in the business for even longer. We love helping organizations make websites that build brand and messaging. We look forward to working with you on your website.

Our Web Design Philosophy

When you partner with AKEA, you will see our work is defined by our five important pillars.
When we create your website, it must be:

Easy to use

Easy to manage

Flexible to change and grow with your company

Based on standards so that you are not tied to AKEA and have options

Backed-up, secured and monitored to protect your website

We hold fast to these principles; we believe that by remaining committed,
we ensure your website will align with your vision and brand.

AKEA specializes in WordPress, because WordPress is the best Content Management System (CMS) on the market for the majority of businesses. It offers an easy-to-use platform with countless plugins that allows users to easily make improvements and updates.

Web design style can be narrowed to two key approaches: Responsive and Adaptive. Our experts at AKEA will work with you to determine which design option makes the most sense for your company and your goals.

Responsive design is the most common approach to web design. The website is designed to adjust to the user’s behavior based on screen size, platform and orientation. For example, if a user is looking at a responsively designed website on their laptop and switches to their iPhone, the website should essentially look the same while responding to your iPhone’s screen size) – resolution, images and scripting. The Boston Globe is an example of a responsive website.

Responsive design allows designers to develop just one template that will work on all different sizes. Designers are also able to use a variety of technologies and open source toolkits. This is the approach that is used in the vast majority of cases.

An adaptive design takes the basics of responsive design but targets specific types of devices and content. It uses technology to add advanced functionality and customization. There are two adaptive approaches, one on the client side and one on the web-server side.

With the adaptive approach, an existing site does not have to be rebuilt from the ground up. This allows designers to build on existing content and deliver a mobile-responsive layout.

The client-side adaptive approach can be more difficult to accomplish than a responsive design.

The server-side approach offers specific templates for specific devices, which allows for customization, puts device-detection logic on the server and enables smaller mobile pages that load faster.

While there can be some advantages gained, adaptive design tends to become more cumbersome due to the multiple versions of templates that must be maintained.

AKEA’S WEB DESIGN PROCESS

The AKEA Web Solutions approach to a successful web design project may not seem unique from some other web design firms at first glance. That’s because our timeline is likely similar to the other firms you may have researched. However, what sets us apart is our approach and vast knowledge about web design, WordPress and web accessibility. Our unique process is comprised of six steps, with a distinct AKEA methodology and strategy that enhances your project at each phase and gets our clients what they need.

Phase 1: Discovery

The AKEA team will facilitate meetings with you to discover and document all website requirements including target audience, special functionality requests, accessibility suggestions and design requirements.

Phase 2: Plan

The AKEA team will develop a systematic plan for your specific design. This plan includes the overall project life cycle and deadlines. Additionally, roles will be outlined for client team members and stakeholders and the technical team members at AKEA.

Recommended: Web Accessibility Planning

The AKEA team will ensure your site is designed keeping web accessible in the forefront for all users, including keyboard functionality, design, closed captioning and more.

Phase 3: Design

The AKEA team will build draft designs of your new home page and inner pages. These will be based on your requirements, preferences and industry standards. Once you approve the designs, development will begin.

Phase 4: Development

This is when the fun begins. The AKEA team will take the finalized, approved designs and begin building. We will also add content to your pages and begin training you on how it works – and how you will be able to maintain and update the site. We will keep you in the loop during this stage in the process and update you as things fall into place.

Recommended: Web Accessibility Assurance

The AKEA team will work with you to make sure your site is accessible for the launch. We can also provide you with resources and training to help it remain accessible throughout its life. Accessibility will allow your brand and information to be available to all audiences, including those people who may be visually or hearing impaired.

Phase 5: Launch

Once the design is fully built, the AKEA team will walk through the draft website with you to make sure it reflects exactly what your business needs. If additional changes are necessary or bugs are found, these items will be addressed. Once approved, the AKEA team will launch the website on our secure web servers. We will also provide access to all your web files, databases and digital assets for your records.

Phase 6: Maintenance

If you choose to host your new website with AKEA Web Solutions, our experts will continue to work with you and your team to perform maintenance twice per month. This includes ongoing software updates, daily backups and security monitoring.

Contact AKEA to learn more
and to discuss your upcoming project!

Email: info@akeaweb.com

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