Website Development
Why is your website so important?
Around 83% of Web surfers search for products and services on the Net, so having a web presence can really get you into gear 24/7.
Okay, so here’s the catch: In order for your website to attract serious traffic it needs to be one people will want to visit – as in regularly. A sought-after site is one that catches your eye, is informative yet concise and is easy to find your way around. It also has to be noticeable so people will see and hook onto it in the first place. Producing sites that have all these wonderful qualities is what we’re here for!
Not just any old Web
Web development is a broad term. It covers everything from simple brochures and websites to full-blown online applications, complete with blogs, voting polls, online shops, e-newsletters and digital flash animations. Phew. Our Web-savvy team knows exactly which online solution(s) will work best for your business.
What we do for you web wise
- Website design
- Website strategy
- Content management systems
- E-commerce
- E-newsletters
- Flash animations
Website Design - We make pixels look good!
In keeping with the latest trends in the forever evolving web market, we design sites that look the part – after all, if it looks hot it’ll attract more attention. But to appeal to repeat visitors, the site also needs to be user-friendly and cut to the chase with web pages that are quick and easy to upload. We structure our site content so that the user is only ever three clicks away from the information they’re after.
Website Strategy - Never build a website just for fun
Why do you need a website? Do you want to sell your products directly online? ‘Cyber chat’ with web surfers in order to promote your product? Use it to give your customers some crunchy after-sales advice?
Your website has one major role in life: to make your business successful by attracting as many people as possible. To be able to achieve this, you need a strategy – to make sure your website is designed exactly for its given purpose. We can help you identify that purpose and develop an effective web strategy for you.
Content Management Systems - Website DIY.
Right, so now you have your funky, easy-to-navigate, spot-on branded website up and running. Thing is, if you don’t update the content on it regularly, surfers will soon lose their appetite. What you need is to be able to manage your own site – without having to spend eons doing it.
Previously, you just about needed a IT degree to manage your website. Enter Content Management Systems (CMS) and suddenly even ‘computer plebs’ will find web admin super easy and quick to do, whether its’ editing existing text, adding new pages or managing marketing campaigns.
At Toast we use SilverStripe - in fact, we rate it so highly that we use it to manage our own site. SilversStripe has a modular design, which means you can add new features as your business grows. Its user-friendly interface makes web maintenance as easy as logging in, over-writing the text or adding a new page – and all that in your own time and without having to decipher alien html codes.
E-commerce - A time-savers’ paradise.
More and more people browse the Internet for a bargain or two. We will design your online shop with any desired bells and whistles; complete with completely secure, safe ordering and payment systems that protect both you and your customers a 100%
E-newsletters - Tree-saving communication.
Today we think twice about how many trees we sacrifice for the sake of printing a couple of thousand four-colour newsletters. E-newsletters, we find, are a far more cost-effective, simple and eco-friendly tool for keeping in touch with our market.
Besides, by clicking through hot spots in your newsletter, you can attract additional web traffic to your site. Or you can make your e-newsletter work to your advantage by making it a website feature where news items can be posted and updated without rounding up any printing fees.
Flash animation - More than just online eye-candy.
If done well, flash animations can turn visiting your site into an interactive multimedia experience web surfers won’t be able to forget. They feature elements like 3D effects or music, which makes them fun, dynamic and eye-catching, and gives them gallons of character. The hidden agenda, of course, is to keep the user’s attention glued to your site for longer than your static old web page! Now if those animations include images and catch phrases relating to your product, that too, should linger in their memory.
Flash animations are evolving fast as lightning. Already, some of the images can be edited via CMS, which means you can chop and change them any time you need to. And if you really want a site that’s different, why not try a full flash site that’s made up of nothing but flash animations...
