Professional website design: everyone deserves a website to be proud of!

2023. 08. 14.
author: Monika Torokne Nagy

Many people think that creating a website is just a fingertip exercise: you click a few buttons in a dedicated software, upload a summary, a few images and you're done. In reality, however, professional website design requires a vast and diverse range of skills, and it's no wonder that the best websites are typically built in teams. They are shaped by designers, developers, graphic designers and copywriters. A professional website is a masterpiece that stands the test of time and fulfils its intended role. Why is website design important? What do you need to know about the types of websites? What makes a website professional? Read on and we'll provide you with useful information about professional websites!

Why is a professional company website important?

It's no exaggeration to say that a website is now a must for any company that wants to be a long-term market leader. It is a prerequisite for visibility. Depending on the profile, a simple website with the most important information, services and references may be enough. What certain is, that there must be a page where the visitor can arrive, where the advertisements can point to, where all the relevant information is in one place.

It is useful to think of your company website as a basic bastion on which to build your sales. It is essential for achieving your goals, which is why it is important that it does not falter and performs steadily. This requires expertise. Anyone can put together a 'kind of' website, but one that performs well, is impeccable from an SEO point of view, is well designed, fast, informative, but not too much, can only be created by an incompetent person at great cost.

Let's take a look at the drawbacks of using free software and without expert supervision!

Website development using free software

There is a growing choice if you want to create your own company website using free software. These sites are typically very easy to use and logically structured, so that even those who are not familiar with web development can use them. They also include pre-made templates, so the user really has nothing to do but customize.

This may sound very good at first and it can be very tempting to get a website for ‘free’, but in reality, it can be very damaging to those who want to save money on the website. On the one hand, if there is a problem, there is a good chance that we will not be able to deal with the situation, because we do not have the development skills.

Not to mention that the options for this kind of free software are quite limited. Like when you buy shoes! You know what size you need, you find it on the shelf in the store, but you feel it's a little tight at the toe, the heel is a little low and it could be a lighter colour. So they remind you to the ones that you want, but in fact they are not it. That would require custom shoemaking. We rarely do this with shoes, but with websites more and more people are realising that if we want to be free to fly and not be tied down by free web design software, we need to turn to custom solutions. Add to this the fact that websites built with free software are terribly difficult to improve, expand and can cause a lot of inconvenience.

With professional website development, the work is done by professionals, you can be sure that the result will be of high quality and you won't have to spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos on how to build a website.

Multilingual website

The question may arise whether it is necessary to create a multilingual website. This depends on whether you have customers who want to be informed in English, German or other languages rather than Hungarian. It is also important whether we want to acquire such customers in the future. If so, it is clear that a multilingual website is needed.

However, it is important to be aware that the development of multilingual websites requires much more capacity. Developers and translators must work closely together to ensure a perfect end result.

It should also be remembered that if you create a version in another language, you will need to keep an eye on updates, as the content will not automatically appear in the other language. You also need to constantly translate and pay attention to SEO settings.

So, all in all, a multilingual website is more time and money consuming, but in return you can gain foreign customers, clients and even enter the international market.

Static vs. dynamic websites

Websites can be categorised according to a number of criteria, such as language, content and function. One such aspect is whether the site is static or dynamic. What does this mean?

The point of a static website is that the content is the same for all users, it does not change based on navigation or preferences. It can be said that the majority of websites fall into this category. So there is a main page, with its subpages, which looks the same to all users.

These pages can be created in a shorter time and at a lower cost, and they are a very advantageous format if the purpose of the business website is to present the company or its products and services.

A dynamic website, on the other hand, is much more complicated and, most importantly, it can change based on the actions that a visitor takes. It can be said that the site, or brand, and its user, or customer, can create a relationship.

Dynamic websites are also often called database-driven websites. This is because the elements of the page change based on the information about the user that is available in the database, such as where the visitor is coming from or what activities they perform.

These websites are therefore more technologically complex, using both server-side and client-side scripts, and the content that matches the user is extracted from a content manager, a database.

A perfect example of a dynamic website is social media, but you could also say some online stores or endless scrolling websites.

Which is the right choice is always determined by the type of website and its purpose. In many cases a static site is sufficient, but if you want to have a web shop or some extras, it is better to choose a dynamic solution.

Professional website design: what makes it professional?

The term professional is typically used to describe the design of a website, i.e. its technical features, its structure, its content. Let's see what a professional website looks like!

Unique

The key to professional website design is uniqueness. You don't copy, you don't work with templates, you work from your own ideas and you fill the framework with professional, unique content.

Responsive website

Today, it is almost standard for a website to work well in mobile view, on a phone or tablet. If it is not mobile-friendly, i.e. the content cannot be read or enjoyed on a smaller screen, the user will simply navigate away.

Technically flawless

Without the right technical support, even the most beautiful and popular websites can quickly become stale. Page speed and load time are crucial for user experience and search engine optimisation, and it's also vital that the site is secure.

Well constructed

One of the most important stages of professional website development is the design. The aim is to get the visitor to spend as much time on the site as possible, visiting as many subpages as possible. This can be supported by a well-structured site, a logical site map, links between sub-pages and a stable and dense web. It is important that the UX/UI of the page is flawless, as the amount of time spent on the page can be significantly higher if these are in order.

Meets the objectives

Every company creates a website for a different purpose. Some simply want to support their online presence, but others base their whole business on it, for example a webshop. Either way, the important thing is that the website fulfils the role it was intended to play in the business and marketing strategy.

SEO

SEO, or search engine optimisation, can help you climb to the top of the search engine results list and reach more and more people. SEO has a constant effect, unlike an advertisement, which only brings visitors during the advertising period. It is a long-term solution that brings organic traffic.

Website maintenance

It is essential to see that it is not enough to create a website, it requires constant care to keep it safe and effective.

There are some tasks that need to be done on a weekly basis, such as updating plugins, checking the site, links, contact form is working, updating a fresh blog post and checking the hosting.

On a monthly basis, it is a good idea to measure the performance of key pages, load speed, monitor bounce rates, bounce points and it is also a good idea to test the payment process from time to time.

Every few months, check the path taken by visitors to the site, update images, meta descriptions, titles, CTAs, pop-ups and check the site for security.

Once a year, it is worth taking the time to update design elements and to check and, if necessary, update the text.

If these tasks are done regularly, you can be sure that the site is working well, immaculately and supporting your business objectives.

Professional website development with Meraki

From the initial design to maintenance and beyond, Meraki will see you through to a truly professional and unique website. With your business goals in mind, we put our creativity and our team of professionals at your service to help you design, build, search engine optimize and operate your website. And once the website is ready, you can start with PPC, ads, campaigns, SEO blog posts!