Website Design
Once upon a time we could find out all we needed to know through printed information. That is no longer the case and the first place most people look for information now is on the web, often using their mobile phone or tablet. What may be surprising is that it is people of all ages who are doing this, not just the young. It has become essential for just about every organisation to have at least a basic web presence so that people can find you and discover what you do.
Website design has changed dramatically over the last few years and it is now expected that the same site will look good on a multitude of devices with widely different screen sizes. You need to be able to update it easily with new information so you are not presenting ‘old news’ to the world. As with so many things, the trends in design change quite rapidly so what looks good now can appear dated in just a few years’ time. So not only does your content need to be easily updated but it should be possible to refresh the overall look of the site without starting again from scratch. And finally you need to be sure your website is robust and secure so that it cannot be taken over by a third party and used for their own nefarious purposes.
If you do not yet have a website, or if you have an old site that needs updating, all this can seem daunting. But it doesn’t need to be. Our sites are based on the widely-used WordPress platform together with a robust and well-tested theme framework, which ensures easy editing for you, together with excellent security, and support for just about any device screen size. We also provide a custom theme which determines the overall look of the site, and this can be updated in future to change the look without changing the content.
Facebook Pages
Whether you love or loathe social media, there’s no denying it is the first port of call for many people when looking for what’s happening. It’s also a very simple way of getting your message out to a wider audience. If you are not a regular user of Facebook I can help you get started with a page specifically for your organisation.
What’s the Difference?
Websites and Facebook pages are different ways of tackling the same problem. Generally a web site will be mostly static, you can lay it out the way you want it and it gives the best presentation of information, but people have to go and look at them. Facebook pages on the other hand give you almost no choice in how the information is presented, but every time you post something new it pops up in the feeds of your page followers, so it is reminding them that you’re there.
With a Facebook page you have to keep feeding it new posts or events. If you are regularly writing something, or you have events to publicise then you have a natural flow of material. Posting about something that has struck you, something which is important to you, gives it an immediacy that would get people looking forward to reading more. That said, posts need to be quite short and snappy as Facebook users don’t generally spend a lot of time reading. It’s very much an in-the-moment thing, and things you wrote last month are unlikely to be read again later.
With a website, you are easier to find if people come looking for you. They don’t have to make the commitment of Liking your page, and you can give a more attractive and in-depth presentation. You can include a blog (which you can equally call some else if you don’t like that name) which is a good way of posting articles which could be listed newest first on your front page, so your articles still have visibility. They can also be indexed by category.
So you can do either or both.