Web Design is what puts your business on the map, the new digital map. A well designed, fast and functional website tells the world that you run a serious business, that your customers can trust you. But… a bad website, one that loads slow, and gives an unprofessional impression, causes real damage to your business.
In fact, we don’t use the term “web design” here, because we don’t just design your website, its web development, domain name and web hosting, optimization, implementation. FutureProof is your digital partner. We travel with you on your business journey to online success. We have the tools you need to thrive in a digital world.
From the moment we start working together, everything is taken care of; we register your domain name, set up your web hosting, and install WordPress, the #1 content management system on the web. Then we work collaboratively to bring your vision to life: custom fonts, colour schemes, stock and custom images editing, graphic design. We provide every type of custom website development that your business might need; email marketing solutions, appointment booking, hotel and accommodation booking, online courses and workshops, membership websites.
FutureProof Digital’s first websites were designed and developed for small businesses, local businesses in an everyday Irish town. It’s what we enjoy the most because it’s in local business where our ethos has the most impact; high impact and affordability.
Most small business website design projects fall into two main categories, service websites; carpentry, plumbing, decorating etc. and online shop websites; bakeries, beauty products and fashion retail. We have the experience and expertise to deliver this type of project. Not only because we have been building these websites for more than a decade, but because we are a small business, we know what it takes.
Check out what we’re working on right now on the Facebook Page.
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.
Responsiveness web design goes hand in hand with loading time. Your website needs to be as good on mobile as it is on desktop, FutureProof Digital delivers this, for every client.
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.
There’s so much to consider in the design of an E-Commerce website, and we are with you every step of the way. Payment gateways, PayPal and Stripe, product database and stock management, delivery options, customer accounts, discounts codes. And what’s most important is the system we give you is quick and easy for you to keep updated, leaving you free to do what you do best… run your business.
WooCommerce Web Design
WooCommerce is not only the #1 WordPress E-Commerce solution, but it’s the #1 platform on the web, powering 12% of all web shops. We use it because it’s the best software available. WooCommerce, and its custom addon software, allows for any type of financial transaction online. If you run a charity you can take donations, a hotel can book rooms, a therapist can book appointments, and of course every type of product or service can be sold with ease.
Our commitment to quality in web design starts with software, we cut no corners, we only use the best. Our software is extensively tested for speed, compatibility and optimization. We take great care to choose the suite of software your business needs, not because of cost, but to maximize the performance of your website. Above, we learned about WooCommerce, let’s take a look at our other primary software solutions…
WordPress Web Design
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.
Elementor Websites
Elementor is a professional web design tool. It is known as a visual website builder, but it does so much more than that. Used in conjunction with WordPress every aspect of your website is designed, not using a theme or template, but with your business branding. Menu, header and footer, single pages, single posts and archive pages. If you run an online store, Elementor is used to create your shop page, the product pages, the checkout pages and the customer account. Elementor is the magic that brings your website to life.
Crocoblock Websites
Crocoblock, the new kid on the block. It has changed WordPress, changed web development and changed web design. It’s a database management system and much more. It offers endless customisation and dynamic content possibilities. In plain English; we can develop ever increasing complexity, in half the time, whilst offering our clients a user experience and editing simplicity that was science fiction only a few years ago. Your website, powered by Crocoblock functions with the intelligence that in the past only large corporations could afford.
The starting point for every web design project is to choose your domain name. A number of factors influence this decision; location, target market, price, availability. If you offer services locally, or sell products only in Ireland you need a .ie domain name. This tells Google that you’re an Irish business (the same applies to every country, .co.uk in the UK for example). If you plan to sell internationally then a .com domain name is the best option. Next, is your company name available? For example yourcompanyname.com. If it is… great !! If not, we’ll have to come up with some other ideas. Either way, we take care of everything, and we even pay for the registration for the first year in full.
Web Hosting… we take care of that too. At FutureProof Digital we use a provider called SiteGround, but other options are available depending on the specific requirements of your business. Just like your domain name we provide your web hosting for a full year, and when that year is up we transfer your website to your own dedicated hosting plan, completely free of charge.
In 2020 we set ourselves a goal, to make running a WordPress website as easy for our clients as running a Facebook page. Every website we deliver has this ethos in mind. We do offer maintenance packages for clients who need them, but most don’t. Too many small business owners are forced into expensive, long term contracts that they don’t need. 90% of websites should run, easily and quickly, by their owners.
Every FutureProof Digital client gets full WordPress training on running their new website and a video guide on their admin dashboard, updating pages, posts and products, adding media and making software changes. Sometimes websites are too complicated for business owners to run themselves but this is rare.
SEO is just another example of the “FutureProof Difference,” the services that you get from us that other web designers or web developers do not provide. From day one, we build your website with Google ranking in mind, we create your pages based on the search terms you need to rank for, and we carry out all of the technical SEO jobs required by Google. And it doesn’t end there. When your website is complete we register it with all of the Google services; Analytics, Search Console, and even My Business if you require it.
The most beautiful website in the world is with nothing if it doesn’t rank for the keywords and search terms that matter to your business, and we make sure that you’re able to do that. Read this post for more info…
