Boston Professional Website Design & NYC SEO Resources & Links

Web design & Website Development in Philadelphia & NJ

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."--Leonardo Da Vinci

21thirteen design shares the Renaissance genius's conviction. Simplicity and sophistication are the cornerstones of our design philosophy.

Looking great is basically a matter of your taste plus our ability to translate that into a strong design. We seek a balance of visual symmetry, a clear, unified message and ease of navigation.

Grab their attention. In any art form, one person's attractive is another person's hideous. 21thirteen's primary job is to create an intriguing design that defines your company, and appeals to both you and your target audience. A website's look is the first thing viewers will experience, and it has to grab them immediately.

Keep viewers on your site. Once you've grabbed them, your second aim is to make them stay. Our design will make people want to click past your home page to your other pages. Industry statistics: people spend an average of 12 seconds on a given home page. If they don't start clicking within that time, they'll move on to some other site.

Your pages are a valuable opportunity to inform, to impress, and to SELL. Make your visitors want you or your company. Make them want to buy your products or services.

Excellent website design encompasses many different techniques. We utilize the four classic principles of design and four long-established tenets of advertising.

The Four Principals of Design

No matter what kind of look you choose for your web site, no matter how many pages, or whether you use graphics or video, good design is founded on four essential principles:

Alignment
Proximity
Repetition
Contrast

This doesn't mean that everything on your site has to be lined up like an army in formation. But creative application of these principles creates design that captures the eye and guides it around your web site so that your visitor will notice the features you want them to focus on.

Guiding the Eye

In the western world we're trained to read left to right and top to bottom, so our eyes instinctively follow this course. This means that when you look at a web page you tend to start with the upper left hand corner and work your way across and down as you go. Have you noticed that you usually find a company's logo in the upper left corner of a web page? That's why.

In addition, our gaze is drawn to bright colors, lively images, and movement. While these elements are often overused by bad designers, in the right hands—21thirteen's hands--they become an effective way to lead the eye to what you want your viewers to see or do.

AIDA: Not Just an Opera

AIDA is the acronym for the four basic tenets of advertising:

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

Websites exist for the purpose of selling something (including ideas, beliefs, art and charities). Even if you're not selling a something in the monetary sense, you're providing information, entertainment…something.

The goal is to get someone to look at you, be interesting enough to keep them looking long enough to start wanting what you have to offer, and ultimately, to act on that desire. That act might be continued engrossment with your site; it might be to contact you directly; or it might just be to buy something right then and there.

Finally, when appropriate, we employ what we call the 2113 FASTFLOW™ system. This is a method of presenting information on your site in such a way as to appeal to any type of viewer: casual, searching or serious. You can read more about this system on our 21thirteen fastflow page.

So what do we get when we add all these elements together? A website that is visually appealing, informative and, above all, that works!

The Collaborative Process

Creating your web site begins with asking the right questions about you and your business. "Who, what, where and why" serves both you and your designer well here.

Who are you or what is your business?
Who is your audience?
What do you want to accomplish with your website?
Where do you see your business going?
Why do you want a web presence?

We have satisfied clients in the arts, finance, fashion, industry—in every conceivable category of business. Our design, marketing and technical expertise will give you everything you need to stand out on the Internet.

But it's you who ask us the most important question: How?

How will we realize your vision?

As experienced professionals in the field of web design and development, we offer you all the means at our disposal to achieve your business ends. It's our responsibility to listen, answer your questions, give our considered opinions, and produce customized solutions.

Collaboration, communication, and clarity are the hallmarks of the 21thirteen design process. A great working relationship between designer and client makes for a great web site.

OUR BUSINESS MODEL

is a centrally coordinated association of dedicated professionals led by our founder and chief designer, Perry Yeldham. Unlike a traditional company with salaried employees, we are a close affiliation of independent masters of our trades who use the Internet and advanced communication technologies to bring our respective experience and skill sets to your project.

As both individual operators and team players, our members know that a job well done leads to another and another. The success of your project depends not only on the caliber of our associates' product and service, but on the mutual respect and enthusiasm within our organization.

We charge by the project, not by the hour, and pay our team members the same way. Our people are seasoned professionals who take pride in their work, and when they promise to get a job done in a certain amount of time at a certain cost, they do. Because they are paid what they ask, they are motivated to deliver their best work within a reasonable time frame at the fairest cost.

We think of this as "Fair Trade," or "fair payment for producers." It means that our colleagues are happy to work together, and that you will be happy to work with us.

A business model that provides a fair exchange to both workers and clients is always viable. We believe that our business model works for the time and place we live in, and will continue to work in the future.

As our client, we hope you agree with us.

If you are a web professional interested in working with us, we hope you'll contact us soon.

For your visitors, a well put-together business website is your online brochure and must do
three indispensable things:

Inform them about who you are and what you do.
Advertise your services, products or art.
Sell your products, services or art, either online or by directing to another venue.

For you, a competitive website is your ambassador to the Internet—a stimulating showcase for your customers and for other businesses. To accomplish this, it must:

Identify you graphically in a dynamic, interesting way.
Wow visitors & make them remember you--instead of the other guy.
Entice visitors to want your products or services.
Compel people to take action: to pick up the phone, fill in your forms, email you, buy from you, interact with you.

Why have a website? Simple.

As a resource. People are turning to the Internet to find what they want and buy what they need and this trend is growing at a rate of 20 to 25 percent per year. They even window-shop, and as every retail establishment, from Bloomingdales to your local hardware shop knows, an attractive display window draws customers into their store. Even if your business is in the visually unglamorous realm of banking or medicine, you understand the importance of an attractive reception area.

Today's consumers are Internet-savvy. They use it to research and compare products, services, artists…and much more. For your business to be successful and grow, you have to adjust your selling strategies to match the changes in consumer buying habits.

To give you credibility. A well done website conveys professional credibility and establishes trust in an immediate, visceral way. People expect to be able to purchase products on your website, if purchasing is applicable. They expect your website to provide an opportunity to learn about your product and/or comparison shop.

To compound value. An effective website spreads quickly across the web, and it's impact increases as time goes on. It's like a good kind of "going viral." And your website can expand into multiple storefronts by creating links with other websites.

Here's what a website does for you:

Increases sales without significantly increasing costs.
Promotes deals and special offers.
Answers visitors' frequently asked questions.
Becomes a source of consumer education and information.
Automates the sales process and improves accuracy, saving you time and money.
Lets you give your customers faster, more personalized service.

More of what a web site does for you:

Provides an additional inexpensive form of continuous advertising.
Monitors traffic on your site and response to your advertisements, generating valuable statistics for your business plan.
Displays examples of past work and client testimonials.
Makes it easy to update online documents and manuals without incurring printing costs.
Enhances communication between you, your present clients and your prospective customers.

Let 21thirteen design help you reap the benefits of a well done website.

It's not unusual for a customer to call us and ask, "How much is a website?"

Easy to say, but hard to answer. The truth is, there's no formula. It all depends on what you want.

If you call a car dealership and ask a salesman, "How much is a car?" he'll answer you with a series of questions: "A sedan or a van?" "An SUV or a sports car?" "New or used?" And finally, "What features are important to you?"

Your answers would determine the price. You wouldn't expect to get even a ballpark figure until you'd answered them, right?

It's the same with a website.

Creating a custom website involves both design and functionality. Generating a price depends on the kind of business image you want your website to project, and what you need your web site to do for you.

Some web design companies promise X number of pages for X number of dollars. "Your site complete in 48 hours," their ads proclaim. There's got to be a trade-off somewhere, and that trade-off is quality. Like the man said, you get what you pay for.

SO, HOW MUCH WILL MY WEBSITE COST?

To make that determination, these are the kinds of questions we'll be asking you:

Do you need a simple web site that won't require much alteration in the future, or will you need to change or add to your site often?
How many pages do you need—many or few?
Do you need an online catalog and shopping cart, or a large photo gallery?
Will you need help with text, photographs, illustrations or video?
Do you want your own images included?
Do you want to grab a potential customer's eye with some tasteful Flash or Javascript animation?

Do you have a logo?
Do you want a completely original design, or do you want us to work from an existing one?
Can you write your own text, or will you require copywriting or editing services?
Do you want your site hands-on, to leave it all to us, or a combination of the two?
How about portfolios, slideshows or video?
Is an interactive site or databases for client information and custom programming a priority?

AND FINALLY . . .

You may need something simple and elegant. Your business may require something far more complex yet easy to navigate. Or perhaps all you know is that you need a web site, but have no idea how to get one.

That's why we work hard to figure out how we can meet your needs in a way that fits your budget. And we start doing that before we charge you so much as a dime.

So how much? Hard to answer and hard to say—until we can sit down with you and discuss all the variables. Your best bet is to call us, or fill out the free quote request form, and we'll call you. Let's talk about what you need and what you want. We're your friends and partners now.