Chelmsford Web Designer: The Benefits of CMS Website Design

Crisp Design is a Graphic Design Agency based near Chelmsford, Essex. We provide a mix of creative design, clear thinking and the latest development technologies to provide clients with an online presence that is both effective and engaging.

Until a few years ago the main requirement from businesses was for a brochure website that gives an overview of typical products, services and information about the company. This was fine and provided most visitors with a good introduction to the business and what they do. However, the main problem with brochure websites is that they are static. In other words, the content is set and doesn’t give visitors or search engines a reason to come back again.

The need for fresh content

Getting search engines to come back and visit your website is probably even more important than human visitors these days, as competition for the top-spot in Google can make or break a business. If you are not appearing on the first page or very shortly after for your target keywords, it’s unlikely you will get the necessary traffic for your business to survive.

If your site was of the static HTML variety, it was likely that every time you wanted to change text or images on your website you probably had to go back to your designer to make the changes. The combination of both of these factors now means that most businesses are looking for a Content Management System (CMS) to deliver their website.

WordPress websites

At Crisp Design we use different technologies to deliver CMS websites but our favourite weapon of choice is WordPress. It’s great for the following reasons:

WordPress is free to download and install
It’s easy to integrate a blog
There are many plugins available which can add functionality
WordPress in regularly updated providing new and enhanced features
There is a lot of development support available via online forums

We offer two main packages for WordPress sites. Either bespoke design from your brief with the template built to match or customisation of a pre-designed theme. Each route has its benefits depending on budget, timescales and business needs. Both routes can include an integrated blog section which allows you to provide fresh content on a regular basis.

Bespoke CMS websites

The main benefits of a Bespoke CMS website are that you get a completely unique design layout and style which is designed to match your brief rather that fitting in with a pre-designed layout. A design will be created from scratch and allows development of a style without the need for upfront coding. It can include a range of functionality with a design that makes it in keeping with the rest of the theme. Once the design has been tested and approved it will be translated into a fully functional website.

Template CMS websites

The main drivers of using a pre-designed template are reduced budget and timescales. It is relatively simple to changes colours, type styles and images and good if you are happy to fit in with the template as a starting point. It is possible to customise the template further but can sometimes work out more time-consuming in the long run if there are many differences to the original template. Theme Forest is a great place to explore premium themed templates.