We began creating a web design capacity when we saw the HUGE need for ethical, responsible, and skilled web design in Western North Carolina. There are certainly many individuals and companies creating nice websites. But our market research tells us there is plenty of room for more providers.
Stellar Media is inching ever closer to advertising a web design division that we will eventually grow into a spin-off company. We recently finished our first customized site for an external client: http://www.aquasolix.com. Read the letter of praise sent to us by AquaSolix.
This site has several features (a few of which the client has begun to use, others the client has not). The site has a content management system (CMS) that allows the client to:
- Change out the central photo on each subpage.
- Create and delete pages at will. Creating a page also creates a navigation tab, automatically.
- Highlight words and create definitions, as well as assign descriptions to links. (The client has not yet taken advantage of these features).
- Enter posts that become part of the “In the News” page and are featured on the home page.
- Upload documents so visitors can download them.
- Allow some visitors to log in and view privileged information. There are several different levels of access, from investor, to partner, to vendor, to customer.
The site is very important to AquaSolix at this time, as they are looking for additional investors and other partners. Of course, it’s hard to imagine a company for whom a website is not important. A powerful, pleasing site can help your business or organization succeed.
A Few Stellar Media Advantages
If you are not satisfied with your current site or designer, consider hiring Stellar Media to build your next site:
- We’ll give you a site that you can update yourself, at will. It will be rare that you will need to call and wait on us to change anything for you. However, we do offer content-creation services, if you need us. (See below.)
- We’ll take a team approach. You will have three people - a project manager, graphic designer, and programmer - who will be working together to serve you. Each is a pro in their particular area of expertise. No “jacks-of-all-trades, masters of none.”
- Just as with video production, we understand the creative and technical aspects of web design.
- We’re honest: you will own your domain name and own your site outright! No sneaky “lease” agreements that hold you hostage. There are ways to deal with this conundrum without putting your business at risk.
- We will use an industry best-practice method of building sites that makes sense and takes away the stress and hair-pulling.
- We have access to writers and photographers who can help you create content for your site if that’s not your forte. Good content is the main driver in search-engine optimization (SEO)! See the video below for a great description of why this is true.
- We’ll do a step contract. First you’ll hire us to do the specs, or blueprint; then the prototype; then the final design. That process builds trust along the way and gives you escape routes if things aren’t going as you’d like.
- If you need to reach us, you can. Many web design firms are lone eagles who get overwhelmed with work, go on vacation, get sick, or otherwise become difficult to reach when you need them. We are a company with 4 full-time staff in addition to the contractors we use on a project-to-project basis. And we are growing our team so that we can assign the right persons to the job, while also having good back-up when needed.
Your “Second” Site “First”
The power and scope of the sites we are able to build places the price point at $5,000 to $10,000 for sites that may cost $20,000-plus with other, more established, companies. For the next several months we are currently forsaking large profit for experience and the chance to build a portfolio. When you think about your total marketing budget and place a website in that context, $5K to $10K is really not that large an investment for most companies. But it is a crucial investment.
It is not unreasonable to say that Stellar Media wants to build a company’s “second” website - the site a business owner wishes he/she had had from the start - after he/she has lived with the limitations of a pamphlet or template site for a while. (Don’t have a site yet? Think about building your “second” site first!)
When I created the Stellar Media website, I wanted a site that didn’t overpower the visitor with bells and whistles but served as an easy-to-use portal for clients to view our video work. Over the past year I’ve been very happy with the results. Our video business has grown considerably as I send people to my site to view our portfolio. And I have seen our company place higher in search engine rankings.
Give Us a Call!
What do you want YOUR website to do? Does your current site do enough? We are available to do up to two sites in July-August and many more in the Fall. Please contact us to talk about your plans.
Here is a video on the topic of using content as the prime mover in search engine optimization. It comes courtesy of Newfangled.com