To continue from my previous post about "Affordable Quality" when it comes to our web design business, I would like to touch on some points of what the Quality part of that sentence means:
Design to Web Standards
We stay up on our game when it comes to following industry trends and standards to make the web more accessible. This translates to our product looking great on all kinds of browsers (both on desktop and mobile browsers), being search engine friendly, and to screen readers for people with different accessibility needs.
Don't Reinvent the Wheel
Whenever possible we use technologies that already exist and have been well tested. This way you aren't paying us to explore new territory and taking risks. For some, they might want the newest eye-catching thing, but for most businesses and organizations we come across, they want the web to just work for them and be cost effective. Big corporations can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on risky ventures, we find our clients enjoy working with tried and true processes that work the first time.
Knowledge Share
A lot of web companies rely on outside contractors, freelancers, and offshore (and cheaper) labor; we don't. We find this directly impacts the quality of our work because our team is very in tune with each other as well as we constantly share new knowledge through daily conversation, lunch n' learns, and specific team presentations. We keep an in-house knowledge base of various solutions that have come out of tough problems - when an issue comes up that one of us hasn't seen before, they can always check the knowledge base prior to asking if anyone has come across it before. This saves time and allows for expertise to flow freely between our team.
Attention to Detail
We think in pixels. What the heck does that mean? It means that after building a couple hundred custom designed websites, logos, brochures, and other design assets, our vision has been permanently altered to seek out the tiniest matter on the screen. We work to make sure that our sites are clean, aligned, balanced, and easy on the eyes.
When we hired our first full-time designer, Steven Waller, 4 years ago, I used to give him a hard time because I would look at proofs and comps and find little things that were a pixel off here or there - he was always bewildered that I could pick that stuff out at a glance. Now he keeps our newer staff in line with the same hard eyes. This same attention translates to how we code, how we architect, and in general, every task we do throughout the day.
Project Management Software
Keeping track of revisions, requests, input, and project communication can be tough. We use a well known piece of software called Basecamp as well as Backpack and Highrise to manage information between team members and clients. This makes sure that we don't have to double-communicate and that small tasks and to-dos are not overlooked in the hustle.
Dedicated Support System
Making sure that you get responses to your support needs is very important. That is why we have a dedicated support email address for our clients, emailus@hotpressweb.com. Anytime a client emails that address, our team is notified and the next person available can jump on it. They can easily assign the task to another team member and all communication regarding that issue is tracked in our ticketing system. This allows us to monitor performance and make sure that we are meeting our clients demands.
So those are some of the ways that we ensure all of our projects are produced at the highest quality possible, yet still stay affordable for growing businesses and organizations.
