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graphic of man with a computer for a head

B-Corp certification is deservedly growing in popularity. We’ve compiled a handy overview to help you get your website design B-Corp ready.

 

B-Corp in a nutshell

Certified B Corporations, often referred to as ‘B-Corps’are businesses that prioritise a responsible approach to how they do things, from being eco-friendly and socially responsible to being upfront with their transparency and accountability. 

To obtain B Corporation certification, a company first completes an online assessment. The assessment evaluates the company’s impact across governance, workers, community, environment, and its products or services. Points are allocated based on the relevance to a company’s industry, location, and workforce size.

If you are going for B-Corp certification and have a website then, your website design should not be overlooked in your journey toward B-Corp success. With more and more of our clients looking to achieve B-Corp status, we felt it would be useful to put together a quick handy guide to help you make sure your website design is on track.

“B Corp certification turns the ambiguous concepts of “going green” or “being a good corporate citizen” into something tangible and measurable that people can identify, trust, and support.”

bcorporation.net

 

B-Corp and website design

When it comes to aligning your website with B-Corp you should look to align core areas with your mission. These specifically relate to the functionality of the site, messaging, and its environmental impact, areas that are often overlooked.  Whilst there isn’t a set of rules as such, overarching B-corp principles should be applied to key areas of your website. These areas include the following:

Transparency and Accountability: First off, ensure that your website is transparent in communicating your messaging around your B-Corp status, mission, values, and impact. Clearly communicate your commitment to social and environmental responsibility. This should be integrated into your B-Corp website design. Provide informative, engaging, and accurate content that educates visitors about your B-Corp’s mission, values, and impact. This helps build trust and credibility.

Sustainability: While there are no specific web design standards related to sustainability for B-Corps, you can follow sustainable web design practices to reduce the environmental impact of your website. This includes optimising code and images for faster loading times, choosing an eco-friendly web hosting provider (we can help you), and minimising energy consumption.

Accessibility: Follow web accessibility standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), to ensure that your website is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Accessibility aligns with the inclusive values of B-Corps.

Ethical Marketing: When promoting your B-Corp on your website, avoid greenwashing and use honest, ethical marketing practices. Ensure that your claims about social and environmental responsibility are accurate and transparent.

Data Privacy: Comply with data privacy regulations, such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), if applicable, to protect the privacy of your website visitors’ data.

User Experience (UX): User-friendly design and navigation to enhance the overall user experience. A positive user experience reflects well on your commitment to customer satisfaction, which is important for B-Corp website design.

 

While these are general web design standards that any responsible business should consider, they are particularly relevant when showcasing your commitment to ethical and sustainable practices on your website.

 

b corporation certificate ensuring a businesses limited impact on the environment

 

In summary

It’s essential to align your web presence with your B-Corp values and principles to demonstrate your dedication to using business as a force for good. It’s also important to highlight that while optimising your site for faster loading times is desirable, it’s equally crucial not to compromise the core essence of your website in pursuit of B-Corp alignment. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, and the approach you choose should be tailored to your website’s unique goals, objectives, and content. This is why it is best to seek advice from an experienced digital design agency (like Above Digital) to ensure you meet B-Corp with a minimal impact on the overall user experience.

As a digital design agency, Above Digital has worked closely and collaborated with a variety of clients to integrate their B-Corp principles seamlessly through bespoke website design, enabling us to strategise and develop eco-friendly, inclusive web solutions that align with core brand principles. 

If you’re interested in learning more about how we can support you in getting your website design B-Corp ready, please get in touch.

pages displaying aerocomponents bespoke website design

Aerocomponents, a Reading-based precision engineering company, has been providing top-tier CNC engineering services to the motorsport, military, and aerospace sectors for nearly 70 years. They approached us to create a new brand and bespoke website design.

As you would think, clients of this calibre demand an impeccably high standard of quality, delivered with cutting-edge technology. Whilst Aerocomponents was well known for delivering an extremely high level of service this was not accurately reflected through the company’s brand design or website so a rebranding project was in order.

As a Reading-based web agency we love to work with local businesses, so were thrilled to be asked to work with Aerocomponents. Our brief was to look at the business’ brand delivery and think about how we could redesign it to reflect the modern, cutting-edge positioning of Aerocomponents’ service offering with a focus on its website design. 

Motor parts and plans used by aerocomponents to provide CNC engineering services to the motorsport, military, and aerospace sectors

The current website and brand design felt out of date and really didn’t represent the amazing level of work that Aerocomponents delivered. So we started by putting together a set of visual mood boards and keywords to strategise an approach to modernise the brand and website design.

Looking at the kind of industries that Aerocomponents worked with there was potential to create a brand that was more along those lines. With that in mind, we began some initial design concepts, taking influence from the themes of precision and movement.

Through a series of development stages, we refined the overall brand design, the colour palette and logo to align better with the key values of the Aerocomponenets, and its high level of service.

With the core brand in place, our next task was to use what we had created with the branding to start the website design. Before any visual web design work was underway, we needed to create the site map and wireframes. We began by following our tried and tested scoping process, leaving no stone unturned in understanding key user journeys, user types and site goals. From there we developed an extensive site map, detailing all pages and the overall site structure.

We produced a detailed set of page wireframes, showing the structure of every page, where the content would sit, and how the brand messaging would be communicated through the careful balance of text and imagery. We assessed how we could achieve key goals around the user journey, with the aim to inspire clients to get in touch through the page structures and interface.

To really set Aerocomponents apart it was decided that an on-site photoshoot was needed at their Reading-based workshop. It was one thing to show off exciting imagery of aeroplanes, and cool cars but to really get a sense of what made the business unique, we felt that showing the team at work would give a better feel of the business. After all, it’s the expertise and passion of the team that makes Aerocomponents an industry leader.

multiple devices displaying arecomponents website

The final website design brought all elements of the branding, messaging and photoshoot together into a set of beautiful, high-impact pages and interface design that shows off all elements of the business, its legacy, amazing services, client base and expertise. The site is sure to encourage any potential new client to get in touch.

The outcome of the project is an exciting new brand that feels more in line with its client base, making it more appealing to potential new clients looking for the best CNC machining in the business. 

 

“I am thrilled with the results! Our fresh new look represents our commitment to growth and innovation. We couldn’t have done it without the amazing team at Above.   Thank you, Above Digital, for helping us achieve our vision!”

-Simon Rose, Director Aerocomponents

 

If you would like to see what we did in detail then view the case study here or check out Aerocomponents,

For more information on how we can help freshen your business’ brand design and get your own bespoke website then contact the team

graphic of a man inside a computer, confused, as his arms weigh up Shopify and WooCommerce

If you’re considering setting up an e-commerce store you may be wondering which platform to use.

We take a quick look at the benefits of each and what we recommend as an e-commerce agency.

 

Introduction

When it comes to choosing which e-commerce platform to use the number of options and variations can be overwhelming. Whilst there are many choices around, the most commonly used are Shopify and WooCommerce. Both platforms have their pros and cons, so it’s important to consider which one will be best for your business.

Below we give you a top-level overview of what platform could be right for you. We will be taking more in-depth looks at the ins and outs of all things e-commerce in future articles, but for now, we hope this quick beginners’ guide will save you some time and help you make the right choice.

 

Shopify logo

Shopify overview

Shopify is a user-friendly e-commerce platform that is great for small to medium businesses looking at an e-commerce website solution. It offers a range of its own add on features and integrations, making it a good choice for many businesses. With Shopify, you don’t need to worry about the technical aspects of managing an e-commerce site such as web hosting, security, caching, etc.

It is generally seen as the easier, off-the-peg solution

 

The upside

It is a cloud-based solution that is hosted by Shopify, which means that all the technical aspects of running an online store are taken care of. This includes features such as security SSL, backups and software updates.

It is also pre-integrated with several payment gateway providers, making it a convenient and easy-to-use platform for users wanting to get off the ground quickly.

Shopify is very easy to use in comparison to WooCommerce and can get you a reasonably functional e-commerce solution with very little need for any design or website design knowledge.

 

The downside

Shopify can get quite expensive as it is billed on a subscription basis, with options to upgrade being additionally billable. As well as that payments are another factor that affects your costs. Shopify offers its own Shopify Payments solution which costs around 2-3% per transaction for the basic plan. So whilst it’s easy to use and well supported you do pay for that luxury.  

It’s not as flexible as WooCommerce, and whilst it can be integrated into WooCommerce using plugins, it isn’t very easy to change or customise. So for that reason, if you want to create a unique website with a customer journey that is fully bespoke to your brand, you may feel restricted.

The fact that it supplies everything and ties you into a subscription does mean you can be a bit trapped and are at the mercy of Shopify should you wish to scale up at a later date. 

 

WooCommerce logo

WooCommerce overview

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that powers up your WordPress website into an online store. WooCommerce is a level up from Shopify as it enables far more customisation both in terms of functionality and user experience. WordPress is the most popular web builder on the planet powering 43% of all websites, and what many don’t know WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce provider.

WooCommerce allows you full control, and offers a more bespoke solution than Shopify.

 

The upside

When designing your website from scratch WooCommerce is much more flexible and can fit in with your design and whatever you decide to do to customise the shopper journey. If you want to create a fully bespoke shopper experience and need to be able to evolve and scale it as you grow then WooCommerce offers you this.

As an e-commerce platform, it is more widely compatible with third-party platforms and plugins, meaning if you want to have more control over your e-commerce web store WooCommerce is far more future-proofed and scalable. You can adapt it to work how you want it to.

On top of that, WooCommerce is an open-source plugin for WordPress, meaning it is completely free to use! As an open-source platform it is constantly having additional plugins and functionality made available so is always improving and evolving.

 

The downside

WooCommerce isn’t an off-the-peg solution as such, so it does require some experience to set up and integrate into your site depending on how customised you want it to be. It can be more difficult to use than Shopify, so can require a bit of effort to get used to if you have never used it before. 

WooCommerce doesn’t come with SSL as standard whereas Shopify does, meaning you will have to purchase this separately. Thankfully, several hosting companies are now offering WooCommerce hosting plans which significantly reduce the cost. 

WooCommerce doesn’t come with any payment platforms integrated already, so you will have to add those in. That being said costs of doing this are much lower than Shopify, who charge more per transaction.

 

What would we recommend?

As an e-commerce agency we pride ourselves in creating fully bespoke solutions for our clients, so we naturally veer towards WooCommerce which allows us to make sure we achieve whatever we want and aren’t limited in any way.

We want to create e-commerce websites for our clients that will offer them unlimited options for growth and scalability and adapt to how they want their store to operate. When it comes to the user experience or design, we don’t want to be held back by any kind of limitation and the customisation with WooCommerce means we can pretty much do what we want to create a unique shopper experience.

Having said that, we understand that just as there is a demand for off-the-peg site builders, like Squarespace and Wix, there is also a need for off-the-peg e-commerce solutions. However, you pay for it both in limitations and pricing and whilst we are happy to work with clients on a Shopify platform we would always recommend WooCommerce for anyone wanting the best results from their e-commerce websites. After all, why would you want to be restricted in your e-commerce strategy? As an e-commerce agency limitations aren’t something we like!

 

 

If you would like to help decide what e-commerce solution would be best for your next website project, or what like to know more about improving your current e-commerce site’s performance then get in touch with the Above Digital team.

 

graphic of a man with a computer for a head, standing in a mug of tea

Investing time and money into a website only to see it underdeliver can be disheartening. If you’re feeling frustrated because your website isn’t getting enough traffic, or your site isn’t converting visitors in the way you hoped then we may be able to help.

We’ve put together a handy, five-point checklist to help your site perform better.

When clients come to us for a website redesign it’s usually because their current website is underperforming, in that case it is usual for us to encounter a common set of problems.

When it comes to the overall user journey and design then a bigger website design project is required, however, there are some quick things to check first if you feel your website is underperforming. If you are worried about how your site is performing this handy checklist below is a good place to start.

 

What do we mean when we say your site is underperforming?

There are a few ways to assess a website’s performance, but ultimately it all comes down to one question: Are you getting the results you expected from your site? 

The key aims of sites vary and could be people buying products, downloading information, signing up to a mailing list, making a new business enquiry or simply engaging with your content. No matter what your site is aiming to achieve, there are some areas that are worth checking that we have listed below…

 

hands typing on laptop keypad

1. Your content isn’t relevant to searchers

Sites use keywords to be found in search engines, these keywords need to be relevant to your content. 

It might sound obvious but it’s worth checking. If a user lands on your site from a specific search term then they need to see instantly that they’re where they need to be. So build your content around those search terms and make sure the visitors you get are there for the right reasons.

Put yourself in a new user’s shoes. Does the website’s content make sense in relation to your search terms?

 

a phone displaying a loading screen

2. You’re taking too long to load

Whilst speed isn’t the be all and end all, and the quality of the website design shouldn’t be sacrificed for speed, a website that keeps the user waiting excessively risks losing them.

It’s well worth keeping an eye on things, particularly if you run an eCommerce site. According to research from digital performance measurement firm Dynatrace, just a half second difference in page load times can make a 10% difference in sales for an online retailer.  

There are tools online such as Googles’ Page Speed Insights that can help you identify if your website is taking too long to load.  If it is there are ways to speed it, from ensuring your site is built well with no excess code slowing things down, to making sure images are properly compressed to ensuring you are on a good server.

 

google app in appstore

3. You’re not search engine optimised

If you aren’t sure if your website is primed and ready to be found on Google, then head to Google Search Console to see if there are any issues that may be affecting your website and stopping the search engines from crawling your webpages.

It will also let you know which pages have been picked up and indexed by Google and what search queries people are using to find your website. This information is invaluable and can help massively in ongoing SEO

 

a couple looking at content on a phone

4. You’re not mobile friendly

In general the average website is more likely to be viewed on a mobile device than a desktop computer. People expect websites to work well on their phone. 

If they don’t work well, are hard to navigate due to a bad interface design, are fiddly and annoying to use, or are hard to read on a mobile device people will be far less likely to engage.  

A site may be able to be tweaked to work better on mobile or it may need a fundamental overhaul, it’s worth consulting an expert digital agency to find out the best solution for optimising your website for mobile users.

 

someone plans user journey of website using printed wireframes and string

5. Your user journey is not defined well

If your website is getting lots of hits then you’re being found and your SEO is probably in good shape. However, if it’s not converting those visits into the leads or sales you expected then it’s probably the case that the overall user journey needs some attention.

Unlike the previous 4 reasons, this is not a straightforward issue and isn’t always easily fixed. In principle your site needs to provide a clear path from the user searching and finding you from a  search engine, through to landing on the page, to the final call to action.

A good digital agency can identify weaknesses in your site’s user journey, and provide solutions to fix the issues. It may be that your website requires a redesign, or could be as simple as changing the key areas of copy, tweaking your SEO and call to action placements.

 

We hope that these tips help you if you are struggling with your current site’s under performance. There are always ways to improve a website. If you would like to know more get in touch with the Above Digital team.

If you would like to know more than please make sure to contact our team to see how we can help transform the fortunes of your website.

a picture of reading with text, 'who needs London? why Reading is a creative hotspot'

Historically, London has been the epicentre for creativity in the country. So why did we choose to move our digital agency down the road to Reading? 

Where you base yourself as an agency has a huge bearing on the kind of work you do and the clients you connect with. When thinking about the most exciting places to have a digital agency, naturally you’d likely think of the major cities first, so why did we choose Reading?

We chose to locate our web agency in Reading, having moved from London in 2018 and have found it to be a vibrant centre of innovation, full of creative energy. As a digital agency delivering web design and branding in Reading, we really couldn’t be in a better place!

London is undoubtedly a global superpower when it comes to creativity, there is no getting away from that. However, the idea that it is the only place to set up a serious creative agency in order to attract the finest clients is more of a myth than a reality these days.

With remote working now being the norm, and people less willing to spend hours commuting for work the idea that being physically based, 5 days a week in the heart of the city is outdated. Clients care less about seeing your fancy offices and are more concerned about the work you can do for them. No longer do you need to fork out thousands of pounds every month on a studio to be deemed credible.

This shift in expectations means that where you chose to work or set up shop can be more flexible. You can choose where to work. This fresh way of looking at things had us reassessing where we could be based.

 

So why Reading?

Over the last couple of decades, Reading has become central to the thriving M4 corridor, with it the area being known as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of the UK. Businesses including Adobe, Amazon, Dell, Cisco, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle and O2 to name but a few all have major centres here. That’s not to mention the hundreds of tech startups dotted around Green Park and the town centre.

Reading’s centre is littered with shiny new offices, trendy shared working spaces, restaurants and coffee shops. The town has been remodelled to reflect its new ‘tech hub’ status, almost as if it’s being custom-built for entrepreneurs.

Reading has seen huge amounts of investment pour in over the last decade. The station has been completely rebuilt after a nearly £900mil investment, and the dated old, post-war, concrete town centre buildings have gone, soon to be replaced with a £700mil state of the art development.

 

Tech hub status and the future…

According to Growth Business at last count, “The town boasts 11,656 tech companies, covering AI and data, e-commerce, cyber, digital, gaming, Internet of Things (IoT), medtech and fintech” For a town with a population of 350,000 that’s not too bad!

With that in mind we chose to move to the area and establish ourselves as a web design company right in the heart of Reading. We saw the opportunity and saw the growth, and wanted to be part of something special.

Whether you’re a web agency, fintech startup, or artisan coffee roasters, it’s a desirable area. More recently there feels as though there is a tangible ‘startup energy’ in the air. The multiple shared office spaces are filling back up after lockdown, and our web design agency housed in Spaces, shares the building with dozens of startups of all shapes and sizes.

I’ve personally been closely connected to Reading since I was young, having lived not too far away, and have witnessed the town go through a period of dramatic, positive change over the last couple of decades. The evolution of the town has built more and more momentum and shows little sign of stopping. To be positioned in the heart of it all, amongst all the diverse startups, is a great place to be as a creative agency.

In 2019 the Digital Technology Census found that Reading has the third-largest amount of tech businesses and organisations, being beaten only by London and Manchester.

With an ever-growing meet-up culture, increased collaboration between local tech firms and the University of Reading, an exciting new LEP-funded state of the art digital skills hub (the Curious Lounge) on the horizon for central Reading, together with support from the Berkshire Business Growth Hub, dedicated ScaleUp Berkshire Programme and Thames Valley Funding Escalator, the pipeline of tech talent looks set to remain as strong as ever.”

 

It’s not all about work!

We value our work-life balance and from a quality of life perspective, Reading is also great. It’s regularly at the top of the tables for the best places to live in the UK, leading the way when it comes to factors like income, work-life balance, health, jobs and environment.

The town is full of shops, and restaurants and as mentioned already, the whole place is going through a massive renovation project, meaning it’s fast becoming a go-to destination for shoppers and foodies alike. On top of that, we’re in a geographical sweet spot. On one hand, we’re connected to London, being a mere 25 minutes to Paddington, and 25 minute the other way to Oxford. On the flip side is we are right next to some seriously stunning countryside. Walk over the Thames and a short wander north through Caversham pops you out at the bottom of the Chilterns, an area of outstanding natural beauty (and a superb area for mountain biking).

So as you can tell, we’re pretty happy with our decision to move here and it has had a hugely positive impact on the work we’ve been doing. It seems every week we hear of a new startup setting up shop, or network group starting up, or a restaurant opening (there are some seriously good eating locations here!).

As creatives based in Reading, we are positioned right at the heart of it all. After all, where better to be as a web designer than right in the heart of Silicon Valley?

 

Some quick facts about Reading (and why Above Digital is located here)

Reading is the largest town, without city status in the UK

Reading has been ranked 13th in a major international ranking of non-capital cities around the world. San Francisco, Montreal and Houston fill the three top spots of the FDI Tier 2 Cities of the Future ranking, published on 18 August 2020.

Reading has 8 times the UK average concentration of tech businesses according to to Tech Nation (2018)

Reading employs 44,405 people in the creative industries, the 4th highest in the UK. It also boasts 5248 creative businesses, the 5th highest in the UK, according to Nesta.  

Reading is a food hot spot with every imaginable cuisine available, and regular street food markets. Berkshire is home to no less than 7 Michelin Star restaurants!

Reading prison is famous for having housed Oscar Wilde, has recently been an art gallery and now boasts its very own Banksy on its outer walls.

Reading celebrities include Ricky Gervais, Kate Winslett, Kate Middelton, Jane Austin and superstar film director, Sam Mendes.

 

graphic of a man with celebratory fists waving from out of his head

In this article we deep dive into the journey we take when working with a startup to produce their startup website, looking at the step by step process we take, from their initial brief through the finished product.

This extensive look at the process gives a useful overview of what it takes to launch a successful startup website.

 

a team working together on one computer

Just your average start-up website….

There really isn’t such a thing as a ‘typical start-up’. From highly funded disruptive tech products to small cottage industry eCommerce businesses, startups come in all shapes and sizes.

Often clients who come to us will be in the early stages of development, be it just starting out or after a funding round. In some cases, they will have already launched and are now looking to refine their proposition to make their website and brand delivery work a bit harder. Whatever stage they are at one thing that is common with startups; infectious energy of the teams behind them.

We love working with startups, no matter what stage they are at. We get huge satisfaction out of delivering well-executed website designs and brand projects for our clients, breathing life into their ideas. There’s nothing quite like delivering a first set of designs and watching a client’s reaction as they see their idea come to life through a brand design or website.

Although the types of businesses we work with vary, our approach, at its essence, remains the same. We are invested in doing everything in our power to help our clients achieve success, embedding ourselves as an integral part of the team.

Although there is no cookie-cutter approach, the methodology we employ comes from years of experience, our process is adaptable to fit our clients’ specific requirements.

 

lightbox with the text, 'turn ideas into reality'

Why a startup needs a creative agency…

When launching a startup it’s very easy to spend all your energy on the concept itself, burying yourself deep into the mechanics of the project, ensuring the product is going to deliver on its promise.

It’s often the case that our clients are so focused on their brilliant idea that they almost forget about the audience at the other end of the process.

No matter how great your product is, you still have to deliver it to an audience that may be new to it, which is where branding and a website, if done right, can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

Rushing ahead to plan your product, get it tested, create the MVP or obtain vital seed investment can seem far more important than the brand and website, but often it doesn’t matter how good your product is if it’s falling short on delivery.

Our role as a digital agency can be boiled down very simply. We deliver your product to an appropriate audience through the medium of the internet in a way that encourages engagement.

Or put more simply; we help your product connect with its audience.

 

man studying mind-map covered in sticky notes and keywords

Fail to plan… Plan to fail…

The scoping phase is arguably the most important stage in the entire process and covers everything from identifying the key goals and objectives of the website design project, the technical requirements, functionality, site structures and user journeys through to the nitty-gritty of things like hosting solutions and site security.

Before we get anywhere near the design stage of a website project, we like to meet with our clients and discuss in detail their goals, aims and objectives.

More often than not a client will come with an idea that they want a good looking website and leave our first meeting with more questions than answers, but that’s all part of the process.

Through a series of early-stage meetings we get to understand your business, what makes you and your team tick, and your brand values. We make a concerted effort to get inside the heart and soul of your business. If we can understand your mission, if we can feel the passion behind what you do then we can make your audience feel it too.

We want to identify any holes that may exist in your current delivery, raising these questions in order to understand all of our challenges. We lay them out in front of us, in the cold light of day and with that done we can look to solve them through the stages of our process.

By understanding the challenges we face we can be sure to deliver a project that exceeds expectations and doesn’t leave any nasty surprises down the road.

 

neon sign with text, 'do something great'

Defining your Direction…

It is at this stage we sometimes identify areas of a client’s brand that may be lacking and potentially negatively affect the website design.

If a client has had to rush their branding in order to get a product to an early investment stage or get it to market quickly it is not uncommon for brands to have areas we can improve on. These may be around the visual identity, messaging or both.

A website is an extension of your brand, so if your brand isn’t working as well as it could or has aspects missing then we need to address this and either work with you to develop the brand or plan how to  improve this during the website design phase.

Examples of the kind of things clients often overlook in an early stage brand are things like; brand imagery, photography styling, messaging, and tone of voice. If this is the case we will plan to schedule in time to get these addressed during the process. The focus is always on delivering the proposition in the best and most engaging way possible.

When working with clients such as media agency Formative Content we were able to address the brand through the work we did with them to establish a design style. We looked deeply at the core values and their mission objectives and boiled this down into a set of keywords. We used these keywords to build a clear set of objectives, and a framework in which we can construct a visual identity that fed into all aspects of the interface design and beyond.

Whether we are working on the brand or website design for startups, we will produce a series of mood boards at this stage where we detail your competitors, work out where your proposition sits against them currently and what we can learn from our research to position you ahead of the competition.

These mood boards will cover things like site designs, keywords, brand elements and additional interface design elements we feel can benefit the design.

 

wireframes showcasing developmental stages of website design

User experience at the core of everything…

With a design style beginning to reveal itself through the mood boards we start to look at site structure, moving to the user experience portion of the project. This is the science behind your website design. Through a process of wireframing (creating a blueprint of the site) we iron out and perfect an entire structure of your site, leaving no stone unturned.

This covers everything from the mapping of key user journeys, to the position of interactive elements, animations, buttons and forms. The aim being by the end of the process we have an extensive map of the site, a blueprint of each page, a full understanding of how every element will work and its purpose in achieving the goals we set out at the start.

Our aim is always to fulfil these objectives.

The wireframes of your startup website will go through multiple stages of amends, refining and perfecting the user journey process. The whole time we are keeping in mind everything learnt so far through our meetings, and research, religiously keeping our eye on the best ways to achieve the goals set out in those early stages.

Whilst working on the wireframes for The Financial Services Forum, we were able to map out multiple user journeys, through different tiers of membership. Understanding in detail the requirements and potential; pitfalls of each type. We used this information to inform the page layouts and later the interface design.

By the end of the process, we will have a full set of wireframes, fully annotated to give us a very clear picture of what every element on each page does, what its purpose is and how it functions.

By now we have gone through the process of understanding your objectives, identifying all challenges and have established a rough direction for design. On top of this, we now have a complete set of wireframes so know exactly how the site will function to bring everything together.

 

pages showcasing 'Martha and friends' dog wellness website design

Bringing it all together…

Usually, during the wireframing stage, we would have also begun working on some designs. It is useful to begin this process early as this may feed into the wireframing process in various ways.

The design is the exciting part, this is where things really start to come together. We will refer to our mood boards and brand work, using that as a foundation to construct an engaging interface design. Our aim is to create a design that feels like an extension of your brand, whilst employing the brand in creative and effective ways to enhance user engagement and achieve the goals we set out.

Very often we will bring elements of your brand to life through animation within the site, using interesting transitions to reveal imagery or direct a user to key content. This is all planned out during the design phase.

We will produce a set of mockups for key pages, and again like the wireframes, will go back and forth with our clients to present, refine and assess. After a few stages of this, we will have a pretty extensive set of web page designs for us to develop.

Depending on the nature of the startup business we usually begin with the desktop version of the website design and once approved will create sample mobile pages to express how the site will function on a mobile device.

By the end of this process, we will have a full set of designs to start the build and bring it all to life.

 

code for a website

Building the site…

The build process is usually where our interaction with the client temporarily stops, other than regular status updates and content issues we will be off on our own putting the site together. If we have done our job properly (which of course we have!) there is no need for client feedback until the site is built. We have by now gone through every last detail of the site’s function and design. So it’s just down to our amazing developers to work their magic and bring it all to life.

During the build phase, we will go through the content we have been supplied. Usually, we would have set up our client with an online content spreadsheet for the client to fill out with key content for every area within the site.

We would have by now sourced imagery and depending on what we have done as far as brand development goes will have a set of polished-looking images to fill the site pages.

The length of the build depends on the complexity and size of the site. We will build and test every element of the site, making sure we are on track with any third-party integrations such as membership pages, sign-ups, plugins or forms.

As always, we are constantly assessing and validating the project during this phase to make sure what we set out to achieve is being achieved in the build. We will test the site across devices and ensure that it is working at the highest standard and make adjustments if necessary. Very occasionally the build will reveal that an element in the interface design isn’t working as well as we had planned within the user journey, so we will make sure we take action to change it.

The site will have a customised content management system (CMS) in the back-end and depending on the website’s requirements will allow the site manager to edit and change text and image content ongoing. This gives the site flexibility and allows content to evolve within the site, keeping the site fresh.

 

team of two people working on laptop together

Sign off and launch…

Once we have tested the site internally we will send a link on a development server for the client to check over at their end. This is an opportunity to fix any snags, last-minute bugs or make content changes if an image isn’t quite right, or copy needs to be changed in places.

We will do a final run-through to check everything in detail, ticking off a pre-flight checklist as we go. At this stage, we will implement SEO elements such as meta tags, Google tracking, 301 redirects as detailed in the scope and set everything up so when your site goes live it doesn’t lose any traction with its SEO value.

If there has been any branding work done we will package all assets up, and get them over to you with your new shiny new brand guidelines document, ensuring your brand is used correctly and consistently moving forward.

Finally, depending on what was set out for hosting and security in the scope, we take a day to get everything in line for launch, setting everything up to go live.

Once the green light is given we repoint the DNS to the live URL and it’s live!

 

team of people working on laptop together

Our work doesn’t end there…

A good startup website should grow with you as your company develops.

With the fast-moving and agile environment, startups exist in, it’s important to have flexibility and evolution in mind when creating a startup website. There is no point in creating a website that will require scrapping and rebuilding every year or two.

It can be hugely detrimental not only to cash flow but also to your brand and ongoing user engagement.

During the scoping phase, we will often sketch out a phase two and/or phase three stage to the project. Developing web functionality or content as the business grows. Examples of this may be the development of membership commerce functionality, online booking systems, additional product lines, marketing campaigns or content feeds.

We can also build into the site the ability to have adaptable campaign landing pages to be filled with content that aligns with your ongoing marketing objectives. These pages work as mini home pages, directing users from said campaigns through to the site, literally a place for users to land on from an external campaign link, such as social media advertising.

At Above Digital we pride ourselves in forming ongoing working relationships with our clients and one of the joys of working with startups is watching them grow, and develop with us being on hand to service their requirements as they grow.

To be an integral part of a startup’s success, and help them realise their ambitions through the work we do is hugely rewarding.

If you are looking for a spark of inspiration to push your startup to the next level, then be sure to check out our online portfolio

tablet displaying festival of sport website design

This summer was especially eventful for one of our clients, Festival of Sport who launched their hugely successful sporting festival this year.

 

FESTIVAL OF SPORT 2021 from Festival of Sport on Vimeo.

We have worked with FOS from their inception, developing both the branding and the website design, as well as supporting them with marketing collateral and design work leading up to and after their event.

As well as looking great and being easy to manage, the festival website design we created for FOS included a sophisticated e-commerce ticket sales platform. This ticketing functionality was built around an integrated ticketing system that linked to a QR code app, allowing easy management of ticket sales and entrance on the day.

The event took place in August this year at the beautiful Holkham Estate in Norfolk, and saw thousands of people enjoying a family-oriented weekend of sports and activities.

We are pleased to report the event to was a big hit, with tickets selling out in advance.  We look forward to working with the FOS team next year, and helping them to grow this brilliant event.

For more information on the Festival of Sport, view their website (hand-built by us) or find them on their social channels.

You can also view the case study, and find out more about how we approached their e-commerce ticketing system in our case study here