Kwok Talk

If you are creating a new website or redesigning an existing one, you have likely considered hiring an overseas web design and development team they promise the moon on a shoestring budget. With massive downward price pressure from website builders, premade WordPress themes and crowdsourcing websites, it is a race to the bottom.

If you just want to create an informational website to generate leads or you need to sell a few products online using a simple shopping cart, customizing a stock theme could save you time and budget. We often get requests to modify an off-the-shelf WordPress theme where we have charged $2,000 – $5,000+. If a premade theme only costs $50-$100 and the website is seemingly built, why is it so expensive to insert some content?

Designing a new website can be exciting and daunting at the same time. This is the perfect time to define your target market, content architecture, key performance indicators and functionality requirements to determine what your website needs to do, why it exists and for whom it should engage. Simply making your website pretty cannot accomplish this. You need to have a strong understanding of the business to create a website that supports its goals. An effective website not only looks aesthetically appropriate for your target audience but is also user-friendly and is intuitive. To build a successful website, you must answer some key questions before looking for a web design and development firm.

Everyday new clients ask us what they are doing wrong and how they can improve their websites to generate more leads. Oftentimes, we see the same mistakes over and over again due to companies trying to do too much with their websites. Keep in mind that a website is not created to show off the skills of a web designer or to appeal to the website owner but rather designed to solve specific problems that the website’s target market faces. Here, we will outline the most common web design mistakes and ways to avoid them to convert more of your visitors into customers.

After working for two and a half years as an auditor at BDO Dunwoody in Vancouver, Canada, I got laid off. I really hated my job there and at 25, I was already thinking of retirement. I thought that this was a sign and it was a perfect way to change my career and look for my true passion. I had taken a few graphic design courses in highschool and I remembered really enjoying them. Back then, it was Photoshop 4.0 which perhaps really dates me.