Custom Website Design

Don’t know where to begin to build a website? Don't worry! Blue Gel Media is available to answer whatever questions you may have and help you decide what web options are best for your business needs. Pick up the phone, Give us a call!

The first thing we will want to discuss is what kind of website you would like built. The choices are vast, but we first break them down into three main categories - Flash, HTML/Hybrids and Ecommerce. Choose a category below to learn more.

Flash Website Design

Our Flash web sites can be much more than an "eye candy" production. Our flash designers can integrate html, 3D graphics, audio and video into our designs providing a fully interactive multimedia experience for your viewer

Search Engines - Many of you may be aware that Flash is exceedingly difficult to rank well in search engines. This is due to the fact that search engines are not able to read the content of the pages within a Flash website. We have the solution!

The solution - At Blue Gel Media we have specialized software which will collect all the content of your flash website and feed it dynamically via MySQL database to each page within the Flash. The search engines are able to read directly from the database feed and then index your Flash web pages.

Flash Content Management - Historically Flash has been problematic for business' without their own web designer due to the inability of the "layman" to modify the content of their pages. Blue Gel Media has a solution for this problem also! We can implement a content management system which will allow anyone (and we do mean anyone) to make modifications to their content, imagery, etc. Using an interface as simplistic as your email client you will be able to modify your site's content in real time.

HTML Websites

HTML websites still hold their own in this internet world and quite often they are the more appropriate choice. For example, an HTML (or php) based website is better suited for extremely large websites requiring dynamic content management systems, or for company's who rely heavily on search engine traffic for their visitors.

There's a lot to think about when deciding which way to go, but that's ok. We are here to help you make the right choice.

Dynamic Content Websites

Content Management

Today there is no reason not to have a website that anyone in your company can work on. When updates to content need to be made should you, or your secretary or the person actually writing the content be able to do it? Yes! There is no reason to pay a web developer hundreds of dollars just to update you website.

With that in mind we build custom CMS websites based on the WordPress Open source system. You easily be able to control your website. Not only the content, but the entire website structure if you are inclined. Take control of your own business right from the start.

Ecommerce

Digital Download Stores - Do you sell digital content? Music, Audio Books, Software, Photography, Video - Often it's difficult to find a good distribution solution for non tangible items. No worries, we can build you a store which will allow purchasers to shop just like they might on any normal e-store; however, our system will allow for quick easy downloads of your product after the purchase. The downloads will be tracked, generated, removed and it's all automated. Let the business run itself while you work on creating your product.
Custom Builds - We can build your store from the ground up. In this way we can code every feature and options that you could possibly want. Do you have a unique industry that needs specialized functionality or tracking? This might be your best bet.
Open Source Builds - Looking to save money? Of course you are. Often an online vendor does not need specialized features and "fluff". These businesses simply need a quality ecommerce store that works. If this applies to you, we can probably use an open source solution to create your online store. Online Store scripts such as OS Commerce, Zen Cart and CRE loaded can often be employed to get a store up and running quickly and for thousands less.

What Makes us Different?

Skilled Designers - Using a skilled website designer is the key to a lasting impression. A lasting impression is the key to return business. At Blue Gel Media, our website designs are original and user friendly. That's because we can build your website from the ground up. We start the creative process by first listening to your goals and understanding the purpose of your website. Then we implement the latest technologies combined with real world experience to bring your site to life.

Project Manager - Our customers tell us again and again, that the reason they enjoyed their development experience with us was that they spoke with a single project manger throughout the entire process. When your project is started you are assigned one (and only one) project manager whom you will work with throughout the entire development process. He/She will guide your through every step of the way from the initial contract > design > development > and final implementation. You will have a direct line phone number, email and IM with which to make contact.

Web Optimization - Having a beautiful website is sometimes only half the battle. You still need your customers to find you. Blue Gel offers a comprehensive search engine optimization program to increase your search engine rankings and visibility within the major search engines. You found us didn't you?

The Real Test - We all know seeing is believing, so please take a moment to visit our Project Portfolio. These actual projects will show you our capabilities and the high quality of our work. Whomever you choose to design your site, make sure to compare price AND quality, because we truly are hard to beat!

Our Web Development Process

Designing Strategy - To start the development of your website we first will work with you to determine the best graphical design and layout for the type of client you are targeting. Many factors including target demographics, type of product/services and content style play a roll when deciding what design ("look & feel") we should implement on your site. A business targeting corporate lawyers is going to have a far different design strategy than someone who sells skateboard equipment. Different imagery, color schemes, layout techniques, and even fonts. Each design component plays a role in selling yourself to your customers.

Development - Once it's time for the actual coding / building of the website's pages, we implement another advantage over other firms. We code with the search engines and future browsers in mind. In other words, using techniques which will be search engine friendly and browser friendly, we avoid constructing a website which will be non-functional a year from now. This may seem obvious, but a quick look around the web will show you that most developers don't follow this strategy. It's easy to find sites which fall apart from one browser to another or web sites that are ignored by search engines due to improper coding.

Usability Testing - There's nothing great about a site that looks good but doesn't work at all ! Some web designers do nothing more than check code for errors, and we do that too. But that is just the start. We rigorously check beyond the code to make sure that your visitors experience is uncomplicated and enjoyable. In other words we check for usability. It's more psychology than programming.

The Result - Our attention to detail allows us to optimize the programming and design such that your website design not only does the basics... but also does what every successful business site MUST be able to do... convert visitors into customers .