Understanding the Web Design Terminologies

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Many small businesses that have hired someone to do their web design or are planning to do so have face the similar situation. This is when you come across thousands of web design service providers and cannot understand how to make your mind about them. Some of them are cheap, some offer exceptionally great service, some promise maximum results. But how do you make your decision when you don’t know much about these terminologies they keep using.

In this article we will discuss these terminologies. Remember if you don’t know what you are buying there is a chance that you might actually buy something you didn’t even needed and waster your money. So it is important to understand what a web design company is offering you and how you can get more.

Web Design

When we say web design it does not mean that the web design company will fill your website with the text about your company. This is a totally different field of business and it is called content writing. Though some web design companies might offer this service along with their web design packages but unless they specifically mention it you can’t complain to them.

Pages per design

Some web design companies offer static web pages. These are small websites with little info about the company, a photo album or portfolio and a contact page. If you don’t need to update your website often to post news and information about your business then you should go for this option.

Content Management System

A content management system allows a user to manage the content on their website. Using a content management system such as wordpress, or joomla you can create, update and delete content from your website. An advanced content management system can also have web forums where you can hold discussions with your clients, calendar, ability to create multiple blogs and so much more. Depending on how much you are willing to spend, a content management system will cost you a little more than a static web design.

Ecommerce Website

An ecommerce website is a web design with ecommerce features allowing the website owner to sell products directly from their website. A shopping cart utility, a way to process credit cards, sending electronically signed receipts of payments and invoices to clients and processing the order are some of the many features of an ecommerce website.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is not part of the web design service.  But many web design service providers offer SEO services in different packages. Submission of your website to popular search engines, optimizing your website pages for making them more search engine friendly, submitting your website to different directories are among the features of SEO services. However the field of SEO has evolved so much more than that. Today some web design companies even offer services to bring your site at the top of the search results for specific keywords.

When hiring someone to do website design please make sure that you have read and understood the terms of service and package details carefully. If there is something confusing then do not hesitate to ask them. Most good web design companies have friendly support staff that would help you make your decision.