Web design Iowa businesses can manage

Choose WordPress if your team publishes often and wants to edit most of the site without a developer. Its plugins offer a wide choice of functions, though someone needs to keep the installation updated for security. Before choosing it, decide who will take responsibility for those updates and how often your team expects to publish.

A custom-coded site in Next.js suits a business that wants fast pages, tight security and a design without template limits. It also suits a team happy to ask a developer for structural changes. The design gives you more control, while changes to the structure remain a development task.

A headless setup pairs a custom front end with a separate editor. It suits heavy editing alongside a need for speed, but leaves more parts to host and maintain. We recommend WordPress or Next.js after learning how your team works, so the editing arrangement fits the people who will use it.

For businesses open to the public, US guidance says the ADA covers goods and services offered on the web and identifies WCAG as helpful guidance. We agree an accessibility target in your brief and set up a clear heading structure for the pages. WCAG has A, AA and AAA levels, and its publisher encourages use of the latest version. Agreeing the target early gives the design work a defined point of reference.

Gather what you have, and note anything still to be arranged.

• Brand filesYour logo in SVG, AI or EPS, plus colours and fonts, or a note that these need creating.
• PrioritiesRank the services or products you want to feature, so navigation can lead with them.
• GoalsDecide which actions you want, such as calls or job applications, and who handles each enquiry.
• AccessFind the logins for your domain, hosting, email, analytics and Search Console, or identify who holds them.
• PhotosGather real images of your team, premises and finished work; book a shoot ahead if needed.
• ProofPut case studies, permitted client logos, testimonials, certifications and memberships in a folder.

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  Leaving content until last

  Use real headings and paragraphs during design. Placeholder text can hide layout problems that appear when the finished copy arrives.

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  Copying every old page

  Review which pages visitors need and which your team can keep current. A shorter site with clear service pages is easier to scan.

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  Approving only on a large screen

  Review every page on a phone first, where visitors also need to read and use the site.

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  Putting accounts in an agency’s name

  Hold the domain and hosting accounts in your business name and grant access to the people doing the work.