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This small business website has been a full two years in the making. Covid-19 restrictions hit all businesses, but none more so than Fierce Fun Faces. Because of the “up close” nature of what they do, their business was one of the first to shut down, and one of the last to reopen. We were due to start work on this website in March 2020, but when we eventually did start in November 2021 we’ve had nothing but fun… fierce fun!!
This web design project is a lot more complicated than it looks. A combination of high end software solutions working together to produce engaging and valuable content. Although no E-Commerce features were required at this stage, the business plans to expand in 2022, and this is part of their plan. Having said that, this website is far from simple, and some advanced features are required for design, as well as admin purposes.
Based in Co. Roscommon, Fierce Fun Faces is owned and managed by mum of 3, Rachel Connolly, who is also the senior face painter. The rest of the team is made up of Roisin, Niamh and Grainne. Fierce Fun faces started as a single face painter in 2018. Before this, Rachel had been face painting for a number of years as a hobby while working in a career as a social and economic research consultant.
While on a career break, Rachel volunteered at a school celebration and was approached by a number of people wanting to book her for parties, and so Fierce Fun Faces was born. Already looking for a change in direction and a need to develop her creative side, Rachel decided to focus on the business in 2019 and expanded services to include balloon modelling and glitter tattoos. 2022 has seen further expansion in services and products.
I cannot thank FutureProof Digital enough for their professionalism, creativity and patience. I needed a website that reflected the visual and creative nature of my business and Adam designed a beautiful site, different from all the rest out there. Communication was easy and efficient and no request was too much, big or small. Thank you Adam.
All web developers do things slightly different, there are of course best practices, some things have to be done, and others are just right, or wrong. First I register the new clients domain, and create a WordPress website on our company servers. Next, all the required software is installed, and basic settings entered. The 3rd job is a Coming Soon Page, this serves two key functions;
Most of my clients run a small business, which means that they are very busy people, they are also conscious of costs. Most want to run the website themselves but are worried that it will be too complicated and time consuming. FutureProof Digital small business website is as easy to update as a Facebook page. Every client get a custom WordPress dashboard and a video guide to show them what to do.
Of course, we have long term clients, for which we do all of their updating, and fully manage their website. But, in most cases, we hand over the running of the website to client, and we make sure that this is as easy as possible for them.
WordPress is the best platform available for building a small business website, but it is just that, a platform. To offer a high quality, professional product to our clients we transform WordPress. Using a variety of software solutions we create a user friendly interface, more akin to a social media platform. You, as a business owner can add and update posts, add and update media, as well as change basic business info.
But it doesn't end there. Most DIY web design platforms, WIX for example, sacrifice functionality for something that looks pretty, and users can "drag-and-drop" themselves. We don't accept that compromises have to be make. FutureProof Digital design and develop highly functional, visually striking websites at a price point that all SMEs can afford. We don't use themes and templates like most web developers in this market. We build everything from scratch; header and footer, blog posts, service pages, product pages everything. The client simply adds their own images and text, as and when they wish.
A small business website deserves the same level of creativity as a large corporate website. Software developments in recent years have allowed us to offer the same level of service, at an affordable price, that we offer to large businesses, national charities and well known politicians. For this business that means custom Photoshop work; creating custom paint splashes in branded colours, and stock images. Because much of the photography is taken "on-the-job" it tends to be portrait. This works fine on mobile, but on desktop landscape images are required. he homepage image below is an example of this...
If you're familiar with WordPress you'll know about posts, pages and media library, but for us, that's not enough to offer our clients, in terms of functionality for their customers, and their own experience as a website admin. We use the best WordPress software on the market to create a website tailored to the client and business we are working for. It's a top priority as a web design provider.
We use a design platform called Elementor, and a database management solution called Jet Engine to achieve the best results available. In this instance, for Fierce Fun Faces, standard WordPress features are replaced by custom post types. Pages are replaced by services, face painting for example. Posts are replaced by events, articles about the work the business does. Media is replaced by an Image gallery, the client can add images to a gallery page, but also to services and events, with just one or two clicks.
If you’re a small business owner, then you know that having a website is essential in today’s world. Not only does it give your customers another way to find out about your business, but it also allows you to reach a larger audience than you would be able to if you were only relying on word-of-mouth advertising. However, just because everyone has a website these days doesn’t mean that yours will be successful. It takes careful planning and execution to create a small business website that will help grow your company.
At FutureProof Digital, we understand the importance of small business websites. That’s why we specialize in creating websites that are not only visually appealing and user-friendly, but also optimized for search engines so that you can get the most out of your investment. We believe that a great website doesn’t have to be expensive, and we’re proud to offer some of the best prices in the industry. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, contact us today to learn more about our small business website design services. We’ll work with you to create a website that is perfect for your company and will help you reach your goals.
In 2022 customers expect your business to have an online store. They love your business, and they want to order your products online and have them delivered to the door. E-Commerce website design requires expertise and experience. Yes, platforms like Shopify tell you that it’s easy, but they use templates and themes; your websites will look just like all the others. A FutureProof Digital online shop is bespoke, no templates or themes, designed for your business from the ground up.
With WooCommerce powering your ecommerce shop, you can be sure that it will be a success. WooCommerce is one of the most popular ecommerce plugins available for WordPress, with over 40 million downloads. WooCommerce can handle any kind of ecommerce shop, from a small online store to a huge online marketplace. And it’s not just popular with business owners users – it’s number one with developers. With over 16,000 extensions available, WooCommerce has everything you need to make your ecommerce shop a success. So if you want to make sure that your business is ready for the future, talk to us about our E-Commerce Web Design services – we can help you get online and start selling today.
If you’re looking for E-Commerce web design that grow your business, then contact FutureProof Digital! We have years of experience in designing successful E-Commerce websites using WordPress and WooCommerce.
For a number of years now (and this is only set to continue) two words have come to the forefront of website design; speed and responsiveness. The time it takes for your website to load, especially on mobile because Google measures this first, is vitally important. The search engines measure this time and it influences your website’s rankings. Keeping your customers waiting is bad for business, and not just in your store.
Creating a website that responds to the device it’s being viewed on used to be an optional extra, something that was nice to have but not essential. However, with more and more people using their phones and tablets to access the internet, having a responsive website has become a must. Responsive websites automatically adjust their layout and design depending on the size of the screen they are being displayed on, making them perfect for all devices.
If you want your business to stay ahead of the curve, then you need to make sure your website is responsive. At FutureProof Digital we can help you create a website that looks great no matter what device it’s being viewed on.
As of this year WordPress powers 43.3% of all websites on the internet, and 300 of the top 1000 sites. But that’s not why we use it, we use it because of you. WordPress web design is faster and better than any other platform; Wix, SquareSpace or Shopify are not in the same bracket. Faster means efficiency and value for money. Every client asks, “can I easily update the website myself ?” and the answer, most of the time is YES !! Some websites require a little training but in most cases a WordPress website is as easy to run as a Facebook page.
We are based in Roscommon, so naturally much of our work is here, and we are really proud of that. We like to meet clients in person or visit their business. This personal contact gives your site the design edge it needs. We get a real feel for the needs of the business before we begin.
We also complete contracts at a national and international level. We work with charities, The Irish heart Foundation for example, leading politicians and parties, as well global tour providers. We have fun with every one of our clients, on every website, large or small.
FutureProof Digital takes care of every aspect of the web design process; starting with your domain name. We set everything up, including your SSL security cert. This is included as part of every contract for the first year at no extra cost.
The same goes for web hosting. We set everything up for you, and provide a free year of hosting with every website. At the end of year 1 we transfer your site to your dedicated hosting plan free of charge, just a few clicks.
The new Fierce Fun Faces website is the perfect example of our ethos here at FutureProof Digital. We give the business owner, and their customers, an experience that most small businesses don’t get. A high quality web experience. The systems we deploy represent huge value for money; if the business decides to move into a different field, selling products or offering live workshops for example, the website doesn’t need a full redesign, it needs additions. Of course, we want more work with every one of our clients, but we don’t plan for the website to be out-of-date in 2-3 years, we want it to serve the client for many years to come.
Working with Rachel on her small business website has been an absolute pleasure. She knew what she wanted, and that always pushes the project forward. She has big plans for the business, and I hope to be working with her on expanding the website further in the coming months. Exciting times ahead !!
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Thank you for reading about this web design project…
If you run a business and you need a website (pro tip = you do) or your current website doesn’t look the way you want it to, function the way it should or perform how you need it to, get in touch. I don’t charge a penny for consultation, so finding out about what your business needs and what can be achieved for your budget is completely free. Use this form… we can meet in person, have a phone or Skype call or use email, it’s up to you…
Hi, I’m Adam, thank you for being here at FutureProof Digital. We publish regular content including blog posts, guides, reviews and updates on our latest projects. To stay up to date with everything we publish, sign-up for the newsletter.
At FutureProof Digital we specialise is small business and start-up websites. Get in touch for a free, no obligation quote. Click here to view previous projects…
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