All Services
Website Design — Creating the look & feel of your website
Simplicity is one of the golden rules of website design. The audience should have an enjoyable, positive experience when using your website. Whether their objective is reading content, watching a video, or enrolling in a course, every action should be clear and concise throughout the website. My approach is to create a website that strengthens your company’s brand while ensuring ease of use and simplicity for your audience.
The website design process starts with a pen and paper to sketch page layouts, wire-frames, sitemaps, and menu structures. Digital design concepts are then created incorporating your company’s brand guidelines for a personalized look and feel. You will be presented with a variety of website design concepts to review. Feedback on the design concepts is essential to give you the opportunity to express your thoughts on the design and make alterations where desired before the final sign-off.
Website Development — Building your website
Once the design has been finalized, the creation of the custom WordPress theme can begin. The website development process starts by taking the graphical elements (colors, fonts, layout, images) defined in the design process and coding them using web industry standards (PHP, HTML5, CSS3, JS, jQuery). This is typically done by first coding the home page, followed by templates for the interior pages. When the website is ready for review you will be supplied with login details to view the website before it is launched to the public. You will also be supplied with instructions on how to update your website.
All of the websites that I create have been built using tailor-made, custom WordPress themes that have been coded from scratch.
WordPress Theme Development
WordPress CMS (Content Management System)
WordPress CMS adds a user-friendly administrative area to your website allowing you to easily login and update the content of your website at any time. You can effortlessly make textual, graphic or structural changes to the website in an instant without having to deal with or look at any of the complicated programming code. You will have full control over your website’s content.
Custom WordPress Theme
All of the websites that I create have been built using tailor-made, custom WordPress themes which have been coded from scratch.
Custom WordPress theme creation begins with creating a unique design. This process starts with a pen and paper to sketch page layouts, wire-frames, sitemaps and menu structures. Digital designs are then created using the sketches and your company’s brand guidelines are added for a personalised look and feel. You will be presented with a variety of website design concepts to review. Feedback on the design concepts is essential to give you the opportunity to express your thoughts on the design and make alterations where desired before the final sign-off.
Once the design has been finalised, the creation of the custom WordPress theme can begin. This starts by taking the graphical elements (colours, fonts, layout, images) defined in the design process and coding them using web industry standards (PHP, HTML5, CSS3, JS, jQuery). This is typically done by first coding the home page, followed by templates for the interior pages. When the website is ready for review you will be supplied with login details to view the website before it is launched to the public. You will also be supplied with instructions on how to update your website.
Pre-Purchased WordPress Themes
A pre-purchased WordPress theme is perfect for websites on a tight budget or deadline. It is an out-of-the-box design and layout that is ready to integrate into the WordPress CMS straight away. WordPress handles all of the content for you (posts, pages, comments etc.), while the theme transforms that content into a beautiful and clean layout for your audience to view. You will be able to make minor changes to the design to incorporate your company branding such as changing colours, adding a logo and adding imagery but if you are looking for a unique, custom design you should opt for a custom WordPress theme.
WordPress Training
I offer customised WordPress training to ensure you and your team can effectively mange your website through the WordPress administrative area. I am happy to teach you over the phone, Skype, Zoom or in person at your office. I can travel to any location in Finland.
I can provide training for individuals or groups, and supply detailed notes on all of the topics covered for future reference. The training will cover everything you need to know to update your website independently, specific to your theme and custom functionality.
WordPress Training & Tutoring
I provide one-to-one, group and classroom WordPress training for all skill levels. Even if I didn’t create the website for you, I am happy to review your current website and create a WordPress training manual to talk you through. I’ll also guide you through creating your own WordPress website if you don’t already have a website. A custom course structure will be created based on your experience level and requirements.
WordPress Training Courses
Introduction to WordPress
This course is perfect for you if you want to learn about building a website or blog with WordPress but not sure where to start. The Introduction to WordPress course will show you how to create a free website or blog using the WordPress.com platform. It’s as easy as creating a free account, picking a template and adding in your content.
WordPress Maintenance & Updating
This course is perfect for you if you have an existing WordPress website and would like to learn how to back-up, update and maintain your website. We’ll also go through adding new pages and posts, editing pages and posts, adding your social media links, adding new users, adding menu items and any other features that you’d like to learn about.
WordPress Essentials
Feeling comfortable updating your WordPress blog or website but want to add in some extra functionality? Linking your blog to your social media accounts, adding a photo carousel or contact form, adding in an SEO (search engine optimization) plugin, and creating a newsletter sign-up are just a few of the options at your fingertips. We’ll also go through any other features that you’d like to learn about.
Website Security Maintenance & Updates
WordPress Version & Plugin Updates
If your website is built with WordPress it’s crucial to keep the WordPress version and plugins up-to-date to eliminate vulnerabilities. This is an ongoing process as new WordPress versions are being released all the time. Any vulnerability with the files can lead to a hacker attacking your website. Types of attacks vary but examples include sending SPAM emails to your clients or uploading additional pages or sections to your website advertising the hacker’s products.
WordPress Security maintenance
Having reliable security measures in place from the start is key to ensuring that your website is not a target for hackers. As standard, I always add basic security precautions into every WordPress website but on-going maintenance is also available.
WordPress Website Security Audit
I offer WordPress website security audit for any of the websites that I have created using a custome WordPress theme*. This security audit includes installing WordPress security plugins, scanning for malware, changing the database prefix (usually this has already be done), changing the default login page URL, and other basic steps to keep your website secure.
* Unfortunately, I do not offer this service to websites that use pre-purchased themes or which I have no developed directly.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
I offer customised SEO training to ensure your website is rising the ranks in Google and staying at the top. You’ll be taught best SEO practices to continuously promote and improve your website’s Google ranking. I am based in Helsinki, Finalnd. But would be happy to travel to your office.
Reviewing your current website
I’ll start by reviewing your current website to determine what sections are doing well, what improvements can be made and to identify any areas which could be causing problems.
URLs, image ALT tags and meta descriptions
After reviewing your website I need to prepare the WordPress admin for the SEO content that you will add. An SEO plugin will be added directly into your website’s WordPress admin area thus allowing you to add in meta descriptions, titles and meta keywords. I’ll also tidy up your website’s URLs, permalinks, and ensure that all images follow a strict keyword-full naming convention. Don’t worry if any of this sounds overwhelming or outside of your capabilities, I’ll be here to guide you effortlessly through the entire process.
Content Writing
Writing keyword-rich content and updating it on a regular basis is a key factor in SEO. I’ll start by defining your top five keywords and from there I’ll give you our advice on how to inject theses keywords into your website with best SEO practices in mind.
Google Analytics
You’ll set up a Google Analytics account and from there you’ll be able to monitor your website’s performance including where your website visitors come from, whether they are using a desktop computer, tablet or mobile device, the keywords they have used to find your website, the number of visitors your website has had and much more.
Google Places
Having a professional website that your customers can trust is essential and creating a Google Places account will only strengthen your brand. A Google Places account will also allow your website to stand out on a Google search and to show your business location on Google Maps.
Social Media Integration
Having a social media presence is vital for a website in order to stay current and provide the information that your visitors will expect. A social plugin will be added directly into your website’s WordPress admin area. This will add share and like buttons to all of the content on your website. Shared content will link back to your website and increase your website’s popularity. You’ll also be able to add links to your social accounts so that your visitors can keep up-to-date on your current news.
Blog
A blog can play an important role in SEO if updated regularly. Your keyword-rich content doesn’t have to stop on your website’s pages. Having enticing blog posts that contain your keywords will constantly improve your SEO. Blog posts can be automatically added to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus pages so that all of your web presences are up-to-date.
Submitting site to Google & Creating a Sitemap
At the end of the session you’ll also be able to create a sitemap and submit the website to Google.
eCommerce Solution
Selling your products online
An eCommerce solution is a feature-filled, customisable online storefront and shopping cart that will be integrated into the WordPress CMS. This will allow you to manage both your website pages and all of your store’s products in the one place. You will have full control over orders, shipping costs, sales, promotions, discounts and products.
In order to receive credit card payments you will need to have a secure hosting package with an SSL certificate to ensure the security of your customer’s credit card details. You will also need a payment gateway to process the credit card payments and a merchant account with your bank to receive the payments.
SSL Certificate
The SSL certificate can be thought of as a lock-box for your data. It doesn’t make it any harder for anyone to obtain the data but it encrypts the data to the point that nobody can understand it. In addition to encrypting data, the SSL certificate ensures visitors that your business is legitimate, and will not attempt to defraud them in any way.
Payment Gateways
An eCommerce payment gateway is a service that authorises your customers’ credit card payments while processing them securely with your merchant account.
Merchant Account
When dealing with a payment gateway, you will also be required to establish an online merchant account with your bank (fees vary depending on the bank). I will be able to provide you with information and instructions on how to establish a merchant account once I know which bank you are using.
WooCommerce
Your WordPress website will be transformed into an eCommerce online store using WooCommerce.
WooCommerce is a WordPress eCommerce toolkit that helps you sell products online through your website. WooCommerce allows you to easily add, edit and amend products and pricing at any time, run sales and coupon campaigns offering a range of discount options such as 10% off or free shipping, and keep up-to-date with the store’s performance by viewing detailed reports.
WooCommerce 2.0+ has been fully security audited by the leading WordPress security firm Sucuri to ensure it meets the highest WordPress security standards possible.
Logo Design — Creating Your Brand
The power of a good logo is amazing. It reflects a company’s personality, values and creativity through a combination of the best shapes, colours and font. My goal is to design a professional yet creative logo that reflects your company’s spirit and leaves a lasting, memorable effect.
The logo design process starts with a little brainstorming, some rough sketches and finally the creation of digital logo design concepts. You know your company better than anyone, so I will present a variety of logo design concepts for you to review. Using your feedback, I will then revise your favourite logo concept so that the final logo will be a perfect representation of your company. Once finalised, all logo files and formats, including the brand guidelines and touch icons, will be supplied to you in one tidy package.
Responsive Website Design
Targeting desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones
Having a responsive layout means that your website fluidly resizes for optimal viewing regardless of the screen size or device (desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone). This ensures ease of use and a better audience experience without the need for panning, scrolling or resizing. Your audience is much more likely to enjoy viewing your website on a mobile device without needing to zoom in to read the text or to find the navigation menu.
Sales of mobile devices have already surpassed that of desktop computers and laptops. And it is predicated that mobile internet usage will begin to out-shadow desktop computer and laptop internet usage in 2014. More than a quarter of all Google searches are now taking place from mobile devices. As the number of people using mobile devices to access the internet grows, your audience can grow with it by utilising a responsive layout for your website.
Social Media Integration
Social media integration connects your website to your social media accounts allowing new content that you add to your website to also be posted to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc. Visitors will also be able to share content from your website through their social media accounts. To encourage conversation reviews, comments and testimonials can also be integrated into your website.
Social Media Buttons
Social media buttons will be added to your website linking your audience to your social media accounts including Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, Pinterest etc.
Share buttons will be added to specific content on your website. For example, photos, blog articles, upcoming events and the venue’s location can all be shared through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus etc.
Social Feeds
Facebook and Twitter feeds will be added to your website, updating automatically as you add more posts. An Instagram feed will also be added displaying all of your Instagram photos.
Blog automatically posting to Facebook & Twitter
Blog content that you add to your website will be automatically posted on Facebook and Twitter.
Integration of Facebook ‘Like’ App
A Facebook ‘Like’ app will be embedded into your website to allow your audience to Like your Facebook page without leaving your website.
MailChimp Newsletter Sign-Up
Your audience will be able to sign-up for your newsletter directly through your website. Their email address will automatically be added into your MailChimp subscriber list.