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Website Design

Trade and Lateral Development designs websites and we have done for more than ten years. Our team has been through the website design process so many times, with so many different customers, that we know what to ask and how to get the job done. We specialise in website design and website strategy. These are two elements that must go hand in hand in order for your website to be a success!

We ask a lot of questions before we start on your website design – questions about what your business does and what your website design needs to be able to do for you. Your website design needs to fulfill all your business objectives and make it easy for your customers to do business with you online, and offline.

Website design and website strategy are skills that require experience, knowledge, design skill, and a clear understanding of how the internet works. As a website design company, we pride ourselves on keeping up to date with international website design trends and best practices. We want to design a website that suits you and helps you to sell more. Please contact us if you need a website designed!

Who is Trade and Lateral?

Trade and Lateral Development is an email marketing and website design company. We started in May 2000 and have been going more than eighteen years. We have been building websites and online shops for nearly ten years.

Our customers are too busy concentrating on their core business to worry about how to build an incredible website that converts visitors into sales. We help our customers to understand which website is perfect for their business, and then we build it for them. We ask the right questions so there aren’t any surprises, and we show them how to update their websites themselves. If they’re too busy for that, we do it for them!

Designing a website from scratch can be daunting if you’ve never done it before, which is why we are here to walk you through the process. We’ll calm the chaos in your business by managing your email and website for you.

The 5 categories of website design:

1. Static website design

This website is like an online brochure and doesn’t change. Usually it can only be edited by the web designer who built it.

2. Editable brochure website design

This website is also like an online brochure except you, the website owner, can edit the site yourself without hiring a website designer. These sites require a content management system (CMS), which allows you to edit the site without knowing any coding languages. You probably wouldn’t edit this type of site very often.

3. Editable dynamic website design

This website also uses a CMS, but it has more interactive elements like a login area, a blog or a forum, and the content is updated on a regular basis.

4. eCommerce website design (an online shop)

This website also uses a CMS but, like the name implies, it also sells products or downloads. This site will have a payment gateway to accept payments online.

5. Website applications

A website application is usually purpose-built from scratch and typically performs a specific function. It’s often an expensive project, but you can make it do anything you want (as long as you are prepared to pay for it). Think of websites that are also online services like Dropbox or Twitter.

Get a Website Design Quote

We have been designing websites and online shops for more than ten years.
Please complete the form and we’ll respond ASAP. (Don’t worry, your name won’t be added to our mailing list.)

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Your business website should serve a purpose.

What do you want your customers to do when they visit your website?

  • Do you want them to buy your products?
  • Should visitors rather get a quote for your service?
  • Maybe you want them to join your membership so they have access to your content?

There are many different things they could do on your website to engage with your company and your brand. Whatever strategy you decide on, remember that your website must be updated regularly with new, exciting content so it entices your customers to come back over and over again.

Websites must be updated regularly!

Interesting and engaging websites attract new visitors. They are updated often and provide new content on a regular basis. Static, boring websites get lost on the Internet. They are eventually left alone completely as no one ever visits them.

How do you build a website?

There are many different types of website designs, and lots of different ways to build them. There are two main ways to build a website:

1. Code a Site from Scratch

Coding a website from scratch can be very expensive for the customer (i.e. you!). If you want a site that’s coded from scratch, you will always need a website designer to make changes for you, and that will cost you. You might also struggle to find a new website designer to work on someone else’s code, so you may be stuck with the same website company forever. If their service is bad or if they go out of business, you will be forced to start your website design from scratch.

2. Use a Content Management System

A content management system (CMS) is a piece of software that allows you to build your own website without learning any code. WordPress and Joomla are both CMS. There are many more but WordPress rules this space and makes it easy to build almost any type of website you want. The CMS allows you to make pages and blog posts, and add images and videos and files that your website visitors can download. It’s the structure that holds all your website content in place, and it allows you to move it around, change it and add to it as you like.

We love WordPress! It’s the fastest growing CMS, with roughly 500+ new sites being built daily in the top 10 million websites on the web.

Get a Website Design Quote

We have been designing websites and online shops for more than ten years.
Please complete the form and we’ll respond ASAP. (Don’t worry, your name won’t be added to our mailing list.)

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Why we Choose WordPress

There are so many reasons to love WordPress…

1. WordPress is free!

WordPress is free because it’s open source software. All you need to do is to install WordPress on your hosting platform and you’re ready to get started.

2. You can update your own website design easily

Remember that website with good traffic are the websites that are updated regularly with excellent content. WordPress makes it very easy for you to update your own website as often as you like, so you don’t need to pay us every time. It has an easy to use, ‘drag and drop’ backend so you just drag your information where you want it, upload an image with a few clicks, publish and you’re good to go!

3. We can build your new website quickly

There are thousands and thousands of plugins available that we can use to add functionality to your website. This means we don’t have to build amazing new features from scratch. We can find the right plugin and customise it to your website. This also means you don’t have to pay for hours and hours of development time, which will save you a lot of money.

4. Your website design will look spectacular

There are thousands of incredible themes to choose from. We’ll customise the theme you choose so your website is stunning and unique. You’ll get a magnificent, professional website for a fraction of what it would cost to design and build it from scratch.

5. Your website will be search engine friendly

Google will love it because WordPress is written using high quality code and it produces semantic mark-up that makes your website very attractive to search engines. We’ll also show you how to optimise your content, so it’ll rank even higher in Google’s search results.

And the best part…

6. WordPress is very customisable and will grow with your business

The vast selection of themes and plugins means you can add almost any functionality you like to your website design. You can start with a small website design, and grow it as your business grows, adding new and more complicated functionality as you need it.

How do WordPress websites work?

A WordPress website is practical, versatile, and easy to use.

WordPress websites require the WordPress software, a theme, and plugins.

A theme controls the look of your website. You can choose a theme that you like the overall look of, and we will customise it with your colours, photos and content.

A plugin is a piece of software that can be uploaded to your WordPress website to add a new function or feature, like a forum; a support ticket desk; specialised contact forms; specialised image or video galleries; an online shop; security features; etc. There are thousands of both free and paid plugins to choose from. Your choices are endless!

Why do you need a website designer?

WordPress is easy to use and incredibly versatile but, like anything, website design is a skill. We give our customers (like you) value by advising on website strategy, designing your website, and customising and building your initial website for you. Once your website is published online, you can add blog posts, change text or images, or even add pages, as often as you like. You’ll never need to ask us to make changes for you (unless you want to, of course!).

However, the initial setup, the customisation of the theme, sourcing and customising plugins and optimising your website for speed are all specialised skills that we have a lot of practice doing. We have been doing this for nearly ten years and we’ve learned some tricks along the way.

As longtime website designers, we know the right questions to ask upfront, so you don’t get stuck with a site that’s missing something important. We can show you how to optimise your website so that it’s found by search engines (hello, Google!), and how to optimise your pages so your customers buy what you’re selling.

There are so many details that go into building an amazing website. We will walk you through the process, so you don’t miss a single step.

Get a Website Design Quote

We have been designing websites and online shops for more than ten years.
Please complete the form and we’ll respond ASAP. (Don’t worry, your name won’t be added to our mailing list.)

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Your new website design will need:

  1. Website Copy – Will you be writing this yourself, or will you hire a copywriter?
  2. Images – Do you have images, or will you hire a photographer to take them? Would you prefer to source stock photography or illustrations?
  3. Hosting – We’ll set this up for you.
  4. Domain Name – We will also register this for you. Do you want to register a domain name in your own country, or do you prefer a .com domain? If you’ll be servicing a local audience, stick to your local extension. If you’re servicing an international audience, rather register a .com domain.

You’re now ready to get started on your new website design! Please contact us so we can get going and get your business online as soon as possible.

Domain Registration Tips

Here are some quick tips to remember when registering your domain name:

Keep it short and make it easy to type. Use keywords and target your area if applicable. Make it memorable and avoid numbers and hyphens. Choose the right extension for you and act quickly so that no one else registers it first!

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