What are the basic requirements for a website development in Baton Rouge?

Affordable Website Development is our primary service, our specialty! Website design and development can be very complicated and there is a considerable learning curve as you begin to discover the web from the webmaster's side. We're here to help you with consultation and guidance every step of the way, and to take the burden off wherever we can while empowering you with as much control over your website as you would like to have. To be sure, one of the wonderful advantages of working with The Designsmith in Baton Rouge is our propensity to provide consultation and guidance at no extra cost! Our website design package prices are all focused on the real work of designing and building your website.

Our web development centers on the structuring of a website that fits your company and branding, fits your marketing goals, and fits your budget while addressing your target audience in terms they can quickly understand and digest to make an honest appraisal of you and connect to further your communication and create a business engagement, ie $$$.

to have a website you need AT LEAST THESE 5 THINGS:

A Domain Name. This is the address of your website that appears in the address bar of the browser. Ours is TheDesignsmith.com as you can see in the address bar above. In effect, you rent the name from a Domain Registrar like Network Solutions or GoDaddy. There are many registrars and there is no considerable difference between them as far as acquiring a name, but their costs vary widely. GoDaddy charges roughly $20 for a .com name per year while Network Solutions charges around $45 for the same thing. We tend to use GoDaddy more often.
A Hosting System. This is essentially the computer where the files of your website are stored. This special computer must be able to read and execute your programmed files, and it should be solidly connected to a main artery of the internet. The system farm should have backups and redundencies as well as other creative protection to make sure that your website is always available to web surfers. Naturally, we offer a wonderful hosting system equipped to handle all your website needs.
Hyper-Text Markup files. These files describe the look and content of your website to the browser which downloads and displays it to the surfers. HTM files can be built without programming, mixed with programming, or created by programming; but in the end it is the html that your visitors see drawn into their browser. Creating these files is what we do best by integrating beautiful graphics, cascading sytles and smart programming!
A Database. The days when you could manage a website without a database are gone. Today the website draws pages by pulling information from the database and combining it with the HTML markup so that the visitor sees the pages exactly how you want them to.
Security Certificate. At a minimum you will want to do any communication over secure socket layers (SSL) which encrypt the data during transmission. Today the whole website is delivered over https ( secure ) paths as a rule. Websites are subject to assault in many cases, and often for no apparent reason. So we recommend a few additions to your website outlay to include a firewall, monitoring, and backup whenever your budget can afford it.

In order for us to build your website we need to know what it is going to say and do. We've found the easiest way for you to tell us is by creating a flowchart or outline that names each page and describes the content. We're good at presuming the details, so a general description is good enough for us to give you a reasonable estimate. We also realize that this task is a show-stopper for many, so we offer services to work with you to put it together - contact us or look here to find out more.

Primary Elements of a Website:

The Template. We build websites for ease of updating and expansion by using templates that are broken up and inserted into each page of the site to assure consistency across the project. The template gives you the 'look and feel' of your website, the navigation, the head and foot, and much more that is a necessary part of each page. We often design these templates ourselves but to save money for some clients we can also pick from the many pre-designed templates available around the web and integrate our programming and content into one of them.
The Public Area. When someone types your website name into their browser address bar they see your homepage of your public area. The public area is simply not the private area and includes any part of the site that the public can reach through navigation from another public page or by clicking through from the results of a search engine like Google or Bing.
The Content Management System. Most websites are programmed to interact with a database and to administer the page content a site owner uses an interface. This interface is a set of pages referred to as the content management system (CMS) and it is not connected to the public area. For example, if your website has a shopping cart with lists of items the public can browse, the CMS would be used to keep those items updated with the correct image, price, etc.

See Also these Website Design & Development Pages:

Website Cost Estimate?

Contact us today with your website ideas and we'll get you a free estimate! If you have an outline or flowchart you can send us that to get the conversation going. Or if you would like us to visit and discuss what might be a good outline for your site we'll be happy to set up a meeting. Or a phone call - whatever works for you.

Kind Words From Our Clients

We are so grateful for your experience, expertise, and patience and are so proud to call this work of art and science our own!!! Thank you for every word of encouragement and advice we have seen for ourselves why those four references I called in the beginning wouldn't let me off the phone and kept singing your praises about how good and how fast you are. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We agree that you really are the best in town.

Ruth Vincent, Partner - American Integrity Insurance

Huge thanks to Paul Miller at the Designsmith for his dedication and creativity bringing our site from an idea to reality. Paul is extremely talented but it was his patience and openness to input and suggestions that really made the difference for No Fault. Paul was able to deliever our product in a timely and efficient manner! We look forward to working with Paul and the Designsmith team in the future.

Austin McCullough, Regional Sales - Sports Surfacing

In today's world a website is such an important marketing tool for a company. I highly recommend The Designsmith to anyone who needs a professional, top quality website. Paul is a pleasure to work with and very knowledgeable. He offers creative ideas to ensure that your site is the most effective it can be.

Carter Hill, Owner - Carter Hill Construction

This experience has been over the top. Your communication and patience with this process was impressive. Plus, your programing skills combined with your eye for design and background in writing, makes your one man show an incredible value. Thank you for your dedication to getting it right and all of the extras you have thrown in. Would do it again tomorrow. If anyone wants to call me about my experience, I will be happy to talk with them.

Richard Akin, MD, DDS - Oral Surgery

Paul was given pieces and parts of information and photographs over several months and he masterfully melded it all into the website that we had envisioned. I appreciated his patience, suggestions, light humor and guidance throughout the entire process. He mastered the project flow wonderfully, hit all of the deadlines and gave soft reminders of what would or should be addressed for upcoming milestones. Staying on time and on budget were very important factors. A pleasure to work with and superbly knowledgeable in his field, I would recommend Paul for your marketing, website and other IT projects.

Angel McGee, Marketing - Red Stick Armature

I came to Paul with a website that someone had designed for us years ago and now needed some changes. The problem was we didn't know how to get into the account and couldn't locate the previous designer. Paul came in and rebuilt the site and helped clean it up. We never had any down time for the website and Paul had it fixed in a timely manner.

Bryan Jastram, - STI

After interviewing several companies, we chose to work with The Designsmith's-Paul Miller for our website re-design. Mr. Miller looked at what we had and listened to what we wanted, which was a "custom design". He created and delivered a website that actually worked for us and our customers. Paul always responded quickly to any concern with a "Can Do" attitude which we appreciated. We would highly recommend his company and continue to work with him today.

Damon Levy, Owner - Cyclone Laundry & Internet Cafe

The Designsmith did a website reconstruction for us adding a substantial amount of content and refining the overall look of the site. I was very impressed by the steady communication about options, styles, etc., and also with the suggestions made that were above and beyond what was required. The entire website is better organized and there is an excellent content manageability program I was able to use with ease immediately. We are very satisfied and look forward to continuing our relationship with The Designsmith!

Debra Credeur, Program Director - LA Dept of CRT / Atchafalaya Heritage Area

Paul Miller is a master craftsman, a skilled artisan in the field of web design. My professional colleagues/competitors have very nice websites, but they all look as though they were designed from the same template. My website, thanks to Paul, is totally different and unique. Paul's creativity made my website far more impressive and eye-catching than others in my field thus drawing more curiosity and interest of clients. Paul is innovative and imaginative. He is responsive to your needs, gets the work done timely at a competitive price. I recommend Paul without reservation.

Frank Panepinto, CFDE, CFE, CPP, SCLA - Forgery & Fraud Forensic Research Center

We explored different web designers before choosing The Designsmith. We were impressed with his credentials and what he offered. It was a pleasure working with Paul Miller as he designed our company website. As a technical/ website design neophyte, he patiently explained every step of the design process to us.

Dr. Lance E. Brown, Founder-Owner - Public Awareness Theater

Paul is knowledgeable and very timely on the projects we have requested. Asks detailed questions and make sure we are taking advantage of what is available.

Andy McGinty, EVP/COO - LIPCA Insurance

The Designsmith created our site about three years ago. As a group of IT professionals, some with large web development staffs, we could have done the work ourselves. But for a number of reasons, we sought a firm that could do the work for us. That was a good decision. The quality has been great as has been the timely response. As with most websites, ours has evolved to meet our changing needs. Paul and his staff have repeatedly enhanced the site and the administrative "backend" to allow us to make much of the information dynamic and within our control. The work includes some pretty sophisticated programming for the "shopping cart" functions we needed. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but their fees are reasonable too.

Mike Carl, President - The Louisiana Council of Information Services Directors

Have used Paul at The Designsmith twice on two different websites and have gotten great results both times. He listens to what my needs and ideas are and incorporate them in the design while ensuring it will meet my expectations.

Brad Price, Attorney - The Price Law Firm

I searched through 27 pages of Google images for pet urns and yours caught my eye first and after looking through hundreds of other websites, yours has the nicest pictures, was the easiest to navigate through, and your style was exactly what I had in mind. I look forward to receiving it. It will be a beautiful way to hold my memories.

Sarah, Pet Owner - Anonymous

As a start up company in 2001, PetroSafe contacted The Designsmith to help us with the original design of our website. Not knowing where to start, Paul shared some great ideas with us, and after only a few days ... we were up and running. Paul was extremely easy to work with and he managed to keep our startup costs within our budget. After we were in business for few years, we again contacted the Designsmith to help with the design of our on-line student registration and credit card payment system. Once again ... Paul came through for us with an excellent system that will even allow us to enter and update our upcoming training events with an easy to use administration page that is linked to our website. We receive a lot of positive comments on our website design and we strongly recommend that you let the experts at The Designsmith design you website.

Carl Anderson, CFPS, President - PetroSafe Technologies

I was very pleased with The Designsmith's creativity and ability to adapt the web design to our business' practical needs. A job well done!

Jeff Starkey, Operations Manager - Iberville Companies

Working with you to develop my website was so easy and pain free. You were very patient with my lack of computer knowledge. I think the finished product is better than my expectation. Thanks so much for your patience and professionalism.

Lynn Tucker,M.D., Owner - Cosmetic Dermatology Clinic

We hired Paul Miller to do an overhaul on our website. We are very pleased with the finished product--it's attractive, easy to navigate and the cost was well within budget. I enjoyed working with Paul - he's pleasant, patient and professional. I was especially impressed with how responsive he was and how quickly he took care of whatever I needed. Overall it was a great experience! I would use him again and I would recommend him to others.

Kelly Johannessen, Director of Communications - United Methodist Foundation of LA

After several bad experiences with website design crooks, I found The Desginsmith's, Mr. Paul Miller - what a great business decision. Not only will Paul build you a website he will build you one that can focus on your business and simply let everyone know who you are and feel like you are at home with his delicate touch. If you are looking to increase your business through the internet with a website that will do just that then The Designsmith will make you very happy. Again Paul it is a pleasure working with you as we grow our site and our business.

George Shaheen Jr., CEO - Jones Creek Cafe & Oyster Bar

I got a little nervous when tasked with putting up a complex website for Louisiana's 200th year anniversary and only a week to do it. At the end of the week, the site was to be unveiled at a travel summit. There was no wiggle, just 168 hours and counting down fast. My web team was locked up with projects and did not have the design skill to do the project quickly. I remembered that we had worked quickly and smoothly with Paul at the Designsmith on a website for CISD a few years past. I gave Paul a call and enlisted his assistance. He did the impossible and whipped the site into shape with 24 hours to spare. The Department and the Bicentennial Commission are delighted with the site. Several mentioned how much they enjoyed working with Paul. They were also pleased with his reasonable rates and willingness to work nights and weekends to complete the project. Several of my colleagues have approach me with requests their sites, maintenance, facelifts and hosting be transferred from other web design firms to Paul.

Doug Bryant, IT Director - OLG/DCRT