The right web design and development company – choose wisely

Submitted by Bruce Abel on Sun, 08/07/2016 - 19:43
Code illustrating web development

Choosing a web development company to build your website is a lot like choosing a car.  All cars, hopefully, will take you from A to B – but why do it in a Toyota Corolla when you can do it in a Mercedes C class. The answer is in the look, the feel and the functionality – with the highest quality only achievable by applying specialist expertise.

There are a myriad of web design companies out there – many of them one-man bands.  Building a top quality website involves many areas of expertise:  project management, design, development, custom content creation such as photography and videography, SEO, technical expertise related to security, servers and hosting – the list goes on.  All of these disciplines require specialist skills in their own right and the chances of that one person having all of those skills to the requisite standard are zero.  So the first decision is to choose a company that has all of these personnel.

The other important factor to consider is a proven track record in your particular industry – and in this case we’re of course talking about Health.  They might produce good websites for construction companies or retail (such as clothing) – but have they looked after health professionals before? Importantly, do they appreciate the rules by which healthcare professionals need to abide?  So whilst some larger web development companies may employ these different people, do they really have the specific experience required to build your site?

Online Medical is run by doctors for doctors.  Equally importantly it employs individuals with all the necessary skills to give you a first class, custom-designed and custom-developed site with all of the added features that you should expect.  Our extensive portfolio speaks for itself.

Over the next few months we will be profiling each of these individual disciplines to highlight the importance of having the right people responsible for the design and development of your website, starting with the linchpin – the Project Manager.

Profile: Project Manager

A Project Manager needs to have a good understanding about all aspects of the project that touch across a number of disciplines. This includes solid communication with the client regarding the requirements for the project, a clear understanding of how this can be best presented utilising graphic and functional design and also knowledge about how the project can be best implemented when developing / coding the website.

Good communication skills are a must. Understanding the needs and motivations of clients, designers and developers is very important. Being able to get the best out of all parties, so that the end result is a quality website is a challenging but rewarding process.

For these reasons, it’s a matter of company policy that all project managers have a solid level of understanding across disciplines. This includes significant experience working in a professional capacity with both design and development.

Online Medical staff have a range of experience within advertising and design agencies and also in-house corporate roles. We have solved the design and development challenges of clients across a number of industries.

As Online Medical concentrates exclusively on medical clients, we have insight into general needs of our clients and can also help define any specific requirements. This allows us to create a website that meets requirements of the practice and patients. If we are ever in doubt and need a second opinion, we can draw on the expertise of our Director who has a wide range of experience as a specialist and general surgeon. Additionally, we are never hesitant to ask the subject matter experts - our clients to clarify any issue around the project.

Good communication, co-operation and dedication from all parties set the right conditions for a successful project.