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.

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

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. Thanks again Paul!!!!

Austin McCullough, Regional Sales - Sports Surfacing

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. From our experience, forget about the web based, do-it-yourself designs that are available. You will waste a lot of time trying to learn how to design your site and in the end you will not be pleased with the product. 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. The end product is an affordable and cost effective investment that will share your vision, properly market your business and bring the dividends that you deserve.

Carl Anderson, CFPS, President - PetroSafe Technologies

Our company has worked with The Designsmith now for almost one year. When we began we had an idea of the look and feel we wanted for the website. There was very little knowledge on our part of what getting to that point involved. Paul made this process very simple. After a couple of brief meetings he began design and we were able to actually see what the site looked like as it was developed. We launched the site in July of 2008 and since that time we have had absolutley no problems of any kind with our website. We have recieved many positive comments from our customers about the new appearance and ease of use of the new website. There have been a couple of changes that we have made from the company side and i have to add that in these cases, Paul was immediately available and the changes happened in a 24-hour period. This was very important to us. In all, we have had a very positive experience working with The Designsmith on our website from beginning to end.

Curtis Ainsworth, Director of Operations - Multiple Teaching Systems, Inc.

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

We love the new batonrougetennis.com website! The new design is fabulous! I am glad The Designsmith was able to organize all of our information and make it easier to find what people are looking for. I also LOVE how easy it is to update the website. I can put in new information or update existing info, click submit, and "poof" it is updated in the site!! Thanks for all of your help along the way too!! You are easy to work with and I appreciate your patience while I learned my way around the admin tools.

Lisa Thomas, Board Member - GBRCTA

We were ready to add some new features to our website and Paul once again came through. He has helped us create a website that we are proud of and one that will grow with our business. Thanks Paul!

George Clark, President - Taylor Clark Gallery

I had no idea of what my logo would turn out like when I started working with Paul. One thing I did know, however, was that I wanted to have something that looked professional and I could be proud of. Paul delivered and, even better, did so for what I thought was a very reasonable price. In addition to this and, perhaps, more importantly, Paul works with his clients with an attitude of patience and teamwork. As for Paul's patience, I found Paul to be a humble person that was easy to work with. Specifically, as my wife likes to point out, I have a type "A" personality who is used to asking lots of questions and getting fast answers. Additionally, I considered the creation of a logo a very important decision. Therefore, I asked a multitude of questions-probably many times the same ones. Many of these questions were also very rudimentary and were probably "dumb." In spite of this, Paul patiently answered them. For example, in a few instances during the creative process, Paul suggested color combinations and general themes that I wasn't sure about. However, after a few hours, I began to like his ideas better than the ones I was beginning to think of. Most importantly, Paul allowed me to be a large part of the process, even if it meant having to go back to his original ideas when I came to realize that his design ideas were better than my own. In fact, this probably caused him to have some extra work on his part. Before I decided to select the Designsmith, I talked to three other firms and they were all fairly insistent that I could limited input until the process was close to complete. I know now that this is because they probably know better what will work and my comments and ideas would slow them down. Still, for me, it's better to feel that I had a part in this creation. If you feel this way also, then Paul's the man to work with!

Steve Howell, Co-Owner - HowellAnalytics, LLC

Paul did a terrific job developing and implementing our new firm website. We are all very pleased with the process and would recommend him highly for those in need of similar services.

Michael Robinson, Shareholder - Kantrow Spaht Weaver & Blitzer (APLC)

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's innovative and fresh designs have propelled our company to greater success with an extremely unified look across different platforms including; Website design, promotional print and corporate identity materials. Paul Miller's knowledge and skills coupled with his easy to work with manner has made my job easier. Paul has the ability to complete projects quickly with great attention to detail. It is truly a rewarding experience to work with Paul and his company.

Dennis Garrett, General Manager - Home360 Inc.

My new company needed a web presence, but I feared I would have to engage a web designer in a far off locale who didn't speak my language. I was introduced to the Designsmith by an old friend. The professionals at the Designsmith coordinated our needs; facilitated the necessary communication, and offered a vision of a final product. They turned it into reality seemingly overnight. I can't report being happier with a vendor in years! Their work was prompt, professional and poised. And when I have had changes to my site -- as I'm sure all web customers do -- the Designsmith has handled them in the same manner. I am a satisfied customer.

Jefferson Angers, President - Center for Coastal Conservation

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

It was a pleasure working with Paul on my new website. I am very pleased with the final result and have been very impressed with the continued follow up to ensure any minor issues are addressed promptly. I highly recommend Paul to anyone looking for a new website. Thank you Paul!

Jason D Hutto, Owner - Jason D Hutto DDS

Paul was very helpful with creating a brand for my company. He has a great approach of taking what a company does a portraying that in logo and website graphics. He listened to what our company offers as well as what we wanted it to look like in a logo and website. Being a designer myself I really appreciated the way Paul took care of the client(me) throughout the entire design process. I would highly recommend using Paul for any of the services he offers. You get what you want when it is all over. That's true customer service.

Jeb Barber, Managing Partner - Makaira Design + Build

We have worked with Paul for over 10 years for our webhosting and graphic design needs for our marketing campaigns. Paul is not only professional, but he is consistently patient and responds to every need we have quickly. If you are looking for a webhost or graphic designer that truly cares about delivering excellent service, choose Paul. I recommend Paul to anyone looking for webhosting or graphic design support because I am confident that anyone who uses Paul will be 100% satisfied!

Melanie Robertson, Chief Operating Officer - Home360, Inc.

Paul Miller designed the first website for my company. Over the years, we lost touch and my company moved to another vendor. However, once when it was time to revamp our site, I came right back to where I was most satisfied. Paul has great insight on web design, customer and quality of service is great, and his prices cannot be beat for what is received in return. He is straight forward with his suggestions and/or recommendations, and definitely knows his stuff. I love working with him....he makes this part of my job much easier. Thank you Paul!

Shawana Rucker, IT Director - SSCBR

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

When the staff at ROBO Dock & Door decided it was time to design a new website... we realized we had plenty of choices. We could design the site ourselves or choose from and endless list of web design companies. Although the idea of doing the project in house was tempting, we new that ultimately we did not have the extra time to invest in such a project and we knew we wanted to get the project done quickly and professionally. Turning to the multiple choices in design companies, we chose The Designsmith and Miller Studios. Their ability to understand our goals and ideas precisely led to the design and roll out of a website that not only met but exceeded our expectations. I would highly recommend The Designsmith to anyone or any company looking for a professional looking website. Thanks again for a job... and website well done!

David Little, Vice President - ROBO Dock & Door

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. I've already said that their response is timely, but now we can do more on our timeline without waiting at all. Some recent updates to our conference registration portal have allowed us to offer more to our participants, making our conference more attractive to potential exhibitors and attendees. Includes some pretty sophisticated programming for the "shopping cart" functions we needed. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but their fees are reasonable too. Great work Paul...and guys behind the curtain.

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