January 25th, 2012
Each year there are a number of web awards given out for the best website design. It’s impossible for every Toronto website design company to be represented in these contests, but you can learn a lot simply by looking at the criterion they use to judge companies.
- Navigation: Users should be able to find the most important information and your contact details right away. Horizontal menu bars are pretty standard in the Toronto website design industry, so companies that deviate had better have a solid explanation. There should be multiple ways to move from one page to the next, so the entire web experience is fluid.
- Visual Appeal: The website designs should capture the imagination and appeal to the senses. Colors should be used tastefully and images should be high-quality and professional looking. Long gone are the days where “shooting stars” and “dancing bears” are acceptable on websites!
- Compliant Code: The best companies use legal “white hat” SEO practices and are ethical. Occasionally, you will find a Toronto website design firm that will do virtually anything to trick search engines into giving you high ratings. While illegal coding may work initially, the search engines penalize people who try to “game the system” by banishing their sites into virtual obscurity forever.
- Consistency: Each website should be designed to the same standard of excellence. Every client should have peace of mind that the Toronto website design company does not play favorites and will put forth their best effort. What good is a beautiful portfolio if new clients can’t expect that same quality of work?
- Download Time: Pages should load quickly to minimize drop rates and delays. Amateurs often create pages that look outstanding, but only after 30 seconds of load time. By the time the page shows up, users are already moving onto the next site, which will load instantaneously. The public has little patience for Toronto website design that does not function at peak performance.
