WolfSmith Media's Web Design Services
WolfSmith Media offers a wide variety of web design services. Most of our development is based on the following coding languages & programs: PHP, MySql, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flash and SQL. Most of WolfSmith's dynamic websites are built with the PHP/MySql combination. Actual web pages are displayed using creative HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), JavaScript, and Flash. But we're not just all about code at WolfSmith - we also take pride in our original layout design & user interfaces. Please see the list of website services below for how we are able to create our unique and highly-functional websites.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is the term used when describing much of the interactive web page content you online see today. It is evolving the Web from loading page-to-page displays, to dynamically updating the user interface with new content. Javascript requests are made using AJAX & JSON methods, in conjunction with HTML, CSS, Server Side Scripting (PHP, ASP, CFM), and Client Side Scripting such as the jQuery and Prototype libraries. WolfSmith builds on these Web 2.0 technologies, coupling them with our unique user interface design to display content without navigating to another page. Web 2.0 technologies are essential for enabling WolfSmith is to create scalable, fluid websites that result in a rich user experience.
Web 2.0 Examples:
Ribbit for Salesforce
KXEN
Bern Unlimited
All About Kids
Content Management Systems (CMS)
Content Management Systems (CMS) allow any web user with a basic computer skills to create, modify, and maintain content throughout a website. Through a web-interface, administrators can access these features from anywhere with an internet connection. We have developed our own custom CMS for the purpose of integrating our web designs and custom business functionality. This custom CMS contains an easy to understand user interface and Web 2.0 technologies. The end result is a content management system that provides real-time updates, flexible design integration, and client satisfaction.
WolfSmith also offers WordPress & Drupal customization services. These are some of the more popular open-source content management systems. These are often used when there is a need to get a website up quickly and efficiently.
CMS Examples:
KXEN
Bern Unlimited
Duct Tape Then Beer (WordPress Custom CMS)
Sierra Business Council
Tahoe Ticker
Truckee Donner Public Utility District
E-commerce & Online Stores
There are many e-commerce & shopping cart products and services available for purchase as well as free. Because of this, you'll often see the same template from one store to the next. WolfSmith has developed many e-commerce stores - working in our unique website designs and custom e-commerce functionality. Online stores are a great way to expand your marketing reach from a physical location (brick and mortar), by offering your products and services to a world-wide market. A Search Engine Marketing strategy is strongly recommended for promoting your online store to specific market segments.
No business is the same, so e-commerce customization is a requirement for most of our "e-tailers." Most often these relate to real time shipping quotes (UPS, USPS, FedEx), online gift certificates, bulk discounts and membership sales. It is also important to tie in the brand identity as it is essential to match their graphics and marketing strategies with their online presence.
E-commerce Examples:
Pro Golf Car
High Camp Home
Paco's Bike and Ski
Specialty Beads
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Search Engine Ranking (SER)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is become a hotly discussed topic among website owners in recent years. With the boom of Google, clients want to know "How do I get to be number one?" Unfortunately, Google doesn't disclose you how to do this - otherwise everyone would be #1. Though search algorithms are constantly changing, there are many SEO standards which should be followed in order to ensure that the search engines are cataloging your website correctly. WolfSmith builds every website to meet these SEO standards, for the highest possible organic Search Engine Ranking (SER). Though Google is the gold standard, the same SEO methods used for them apply to other search engines such as Yahoo! and Bing.
WolfSmith consults with clients on the importance content placement, relevance and structure can affect a websites SER. Through these SEO consultations, we define an appropriate SEO strategy to obtain the highest natural search engine ranking. Though SEO is extremely important, it is by no means the be-all/end-all solution for driving people to your website. There are ways to supplement your search engine presence beyond just SEO. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can be a very useful and inexpensive way to do this. SEM is also referred to as pay-per-click advertising or cost-per-click (CPC). CPC Advertising allows you to bid for search engine ad space, using your own budgets and marketing segments. This promotes efficiency in your marketing budget as it allows you to effectively target your potential clients and customers.
Web Design Layout & Graphical User Interface (GUI)
In addition to our print and graphic design services, we also work closely with our clients to deliver unique and high quality website designs. WolfSmith Media takes great pride in our ability to integrate complex functionality into clean, easy-to-use web interfaces. When it comes to user interface, our motto is "the simpler the better." We understand that you can have the best product or offer the best website service, but an inefficient or confusing user interface will fail in the eyes of the end user. Our website designers have the creative know-how needed to provide a user interface that is straight-forward, easy to navigate, and that also fits the design specifications of the client. This is important when accounting for an organization's branding and corporate identity. WolfSmith creatively ties together all marketing assets and strategies into an online representation of the business.
Web Design & User Interface Examples:
A Step Above Home Care
W. Gerome Temple
REO Networks
HTML Newsletter/Email Layout
On important piece of your online marketing campaign may be the utilization of your opt-in email subscribers. For many clients, this means creating HTML newsletter templates that pairs their logo and branding with the marketing copy distributed with these e-newsletter blasts. Because emails are viewed using a wide variety of browsers and email clients, it is extremely difficult to ensure that the email blast is displayed consistently. For this reason, it is essential that the proper steps are taken during the HTML newsletter design stage to ensure that you are creating a design that will work across the board. These design steps are essential to ensure you are providing e-newsletter subscribers with a professional representation of your brand. Once the newsletter layout is approved, WolfSmith will take that design and create an HTML layout complete with the finalized copy. We also offer consultation for these online marketing techniques that will help you understand the strengths and opportunities for your marketing strategy.
Custom Database Development & Architecture Design
Database scalability is the key to handling and organizing your business data efficiently. As your business grows, so will your data. Having scalable data ensures that this increase in information results in a greater efficiency - not less. Proper database design & development is essential for handling what is important for most businesses - their data. Proper database design can play a huge factor in a website's ability to pull and display dynamic content. If a database isn't designed for scalability, it will take increasingly longer for the information to be queried and returned as the amount of store information grows. This can be a killer for many users - a fast website is king. For custom database development, WolfSmith Media studies a client's data & business requirements to design relational database models that will address a clients data needs.
Mobile Website Development
Smart phones and mobile devices are representing a growing number of website visitors. Access to your businesses website is no longer limited to a personal computer or laptop. Whether it is an iPhone, Google Android or Blackberry, you want to be sure that your visitors are enjoying the best possible experience while browsing your website. Depending on the complexity of the website, a mobile specific website may be recommended.
Web page size can also affect the speed in which a page is displayed for a mobile web user. Mobile web sites often represent a stripped down, essentials-only type of experience. Though mobile sites are essentially stand-alone, they are also able to use the same content delivered by a content management system to your traditional website. This helps ensure mobile device and smart phone users see the same necessary content that a traditional web browser would.
Flash Design & ActionScript Programming
Adobe Flash is a complex design and coding program that allows developers to create animations, movies, and pretty much any other type of movement you may see on the internet. WolfSmith has utilized Flash for shopping carts, movies, photo galleries, animation and even our own website design portfolio. Sometimes, designers will use flash to create pages that can't be implemented via traditional web design practices. WolfSmith always consults with clients on the benefits and detractions of using flash in websites.
Flash Development Examples:
Zirbel Architects
W. Gerome Temple
Payment Gateway Processing
Simply put, payment gateways bridge the gap between your website and your bank account. Many of WolfSmith's clients prefer to use payment gateways because it reinforces a positive experience for the user. Instead of being sent to another site like Pay Pal, the user stays on the site and completes the easy to use payment form. There are many payment gateway options out there and your bank often can get a better percentage rate with these processors. Popular processors that WolfSmith has implemented include: Authorize.net, Chase Paymentech and Jet Pay.
Shopping Cart
Not every website requires a full blown e-commerce store. Budget and product offerings often only necessitate a simple shopping cart solution. WolfSmith consults with each client in order to recommend on what approach should be taken. Should you need to expand from a simple shopping cart to a complete e-commerce system, WolfSmith builds all of its databases with scalability in mind. This makes migration to a larger scale online store significantly easier.
Shopping Cart Examples:
Makboard
Sierra Business Council
Cross-Browser Compatibility
There are many different web browsers available in today's online market. Unfortunately for us web designers, not all browsers render your website in the same way. At WolfSmith, we try to avoid known browser issues by forward-thinking during the website layout design process. Even still, browser "hacks" are sometimes unavoidable when trying to achieve the desired design effect.
In an ideal world, all website visitors would have the most recent version of their web browser. However, a large percentage of web users are still using older browsers that lack web standards compliancy, and consistent rendering. When necessary, WolfSmith takes the time to ensure that your website content is delivered the same across all web browsers on both the Mac and PC platforms.
