Recent surveys suggest that the explosive rate at which the web is growing shows no sign of slowing down as the number of websites created has recently passed the 100 million mark. Of course many of these websites are ‘parked domains and there are plenty of blogs which have been set up with all the good meaning in the world, yet have been left without an update for years. We are now at the point where approximately half of the existing websites are active and maintained and still represents a massive growth since the web was founded approximately 15 years ago.

In order to promote their business, no company can realistically go without a website. A company with a strong web presence will be able to fulfill potential customer’s expectations in a highly cost effective manner. The web has now become more than a day-to-day tool and is arguably now as essential a utility in our daily lives as water or electricity. It is important companies understand that should not have a website just for the sake of having a website, but they should provide both superior content and solutions to those of their competitors.

In general, you will find that most web design and development agencies will recommend that all their services are wrapped up into one package. It is for precisely this reason that many potential clients are unable to distinguish between these two entirely different processes. As anyone in the industry will tell you, web design deals solely with creating the visual part of the site whereas development deals intirely with the functionality and technical aspects that make the website ‘work’.

Web design is a practice that blends creative problem solving without compromising on functionality. It is imporant that the right balance is struck between graphic art, appropriate deployment of technology, content planning and reliable, robust website hosting. The importance of each of these aspects is entirely dependant on the needs of the individual company.

For smaller companies and new startups in particular it is very important to keep costs down so it is in this respect that custom websites can become quite difficult to afford. This is certainly the case where medium-large design agencies are concerned, however an industry has sprung up around these smaller companies who require a website which differentiates them from their competition, yet still manages to keep within their more restricted budgets. Quite often it can be the case that cheap design companies are equated with inferior quality work, however with the prevalence of WordPress it is now possible to create stylish websites at a fraction of the cost, provided you are in the hands of experienced designers and developers.

The added bonus of such sites is that it does not take a technical mind to maintain and grow these sites further as adding content merely requires a little knowledge of word processing. If you are familiar with packages such as Microsoft Word then you will be at home adding new content to your website.

Author Bio: Dave Matthews is writing on behalf of The Cheap Web Design Company, a leading UK supplier of quality cheap web design.

Category: Internet
Keywords: web, design, website