Freelance web designer/ developer & graphics professional — Colin Miller, London/ Essex

Look again

I believe first impressions count. But then so do second, third, fourth… you want people coming back time and again to your website.

A site designed by Colin Miller is certainly eye-catching, unique and creates a strong digital brand, but it also provides a rich user experience that has customers coming back for more.

It's total web design that comes from creative logic.

My approach in action

Your digital brand must shine in the crowded online environment. It therefore makes no business sense to use a generic template and that's why every website I design is built from the ground up to your specific needs.

Your tailormade web design builds a strong brand identity. Graphic design, layout choices, colour theory, typography and more create an emotional and cultural aesthetic that reflects you, your business and your clients.

Content optimisation

An effective layout helps structure and organise your content. Through a clear hierarchy of information you can guide a visitor towards a response, draw attention to important elements and encourage further exploration.

Copywriting is an essential part of this process. My copywriting partners will breathe life into your website and create effective web copy that sells. Their SEO copywriting skills also ensure your site is optimised for higher search engine rankings.

Usability

The golden rule for every website is "If users can't easily accomplish their goals on your site, they leave". When your site loses visitors, your business loses money. I therefore focus on developing easy-to-use layouts and navigation, backed-up with extensive usability testing of applied solutions.

Key stages in the web design process

Every client is different, your needs are unique and I will work with you to create a custom plan. The following steps are those that I have found through my many years of experience to be the cornerstones of a successful project. View them as a general guidance, as we will work together to formulate the ideal plan for you:

1. Initial discussions

Whether taking place by telephone or via email this is a chance to understand the needs of your business and what you are looking to achieve through your project. It's also an opportunity for you to get to know me, highlight key issues and discuss strategy. From this discussion I will be able to provide an estimate of costs.

Our discussions may lead to a meeting or site visit for larger or more complex projects.

2. Discovery and analysis

This is where I lay the foundations for making your site a success. Your website's main objective is defined, your target audience defined and a project plan and timeline created.

Content and graphics are created and/or gathered, domain name and hosting requirements determined. Site architecture, navigation, copywriting, scripting, database needs and all other web elements are planned. Your SEO strategy is also defined at this stage.

3. Design

Based on the discovery and analysis I will create 3 to 4 conceptual designs and present them to you (normally within 5 working days). Your feedback will become the driving force for the rest of the process to ensure we're both in-tune and working towards your expectations. We will then progress the chosen concept.

4. Refinement

Here I focus on fine-tuning the chosen concept and incorporating your feedback and ideas into the design. Once you are completely satisfied I will start the development of the website.

5. Development

Turning concept into reality, I integrate all the content and graphics, databases, scripts, web applications, SEO strategy… into a working site. All functional elements are tested and debugged in addition to usability, accessibility and w3c web standards compliance ensured.

Beta Testing ensures your site runs smoothly and just as it should. All navigation elements, every link, function and meta data are tested as well as testing your new website across the common browsers and platforms (such as FireFox, IE and PC/Mac). The result is a strong website that works exceptionally well, is logically structured, smooth to use and gives the right impression.

6. Deployment

This is the exciting part. Your site is uploaded to the internet and thoroughly tested to ensure optimum performance. Congratulations! Your site is now live on the World Wide Web.

7. Promotion

This is the marketing phase. Your site is now live and our objective is to attract customers. I will submit your site to search engines such as, Google, MSN and Yahoo! and any additional marketing plans (emails, newsletters…) are started.

8. Maintenance

Keeping your website fresh and up-to-date is the key to building and maintaining success. New copy and graphics, additional functionality, site expansion… many site elements may require changes. Depending on whether I developed a Content Management System for your project, I can either work on an hourly rate or arrange to maintain your website over a period of time.