Web design and development in Maine

WordPress suits a team that publishes often and wants to edit most of the site itself. Its choice of plugins gives you ways to extend the site, while regular updates become part of keeping it secure. Before choosing it, decide who will look after those updates as well as the content.

A custom-coded site in Next.js suits a business that wants fast pages, tight security and a design without template limits. Structural changes generally need a developer. A headless setup adds a separate content editor to a custom front end, which suits heavy editing, although it brings more components to host and maintain.

A hosted builder such as Wix, Squarespace or Webflow suits a small site you want to run alone. You have less control over code and speed, and moving away later can mean a rebuild. We ask how your team works before recommending WordPress or a custom Next.js build.

For businesses open to the public, US Department of Justice guidance says ADA Title III covers goods and services offered on the web and identifies WCAG as helpful guidance. It does not set detailed web standards for those businesses. We agree an accessibility target in your brief and set up a clear heading structure in the build. WCAG groups its criteria into A, AA and AAA; the W3C encourages using the latest version. The agreed target gives page design and content a basis for review.

Start with a goal for the site and the person who handles each kind of enquiry.

• Brand filesGather vector logo files, colours and fonts, or note what still needs creating.
• Services or productsRank what you want to feature so the home page and navigation reflect your priorities.
• PhotosCollect real images of your team, premises and finished work; book a photo shoot ahead if needed.
• AccessFind the logins for your domain, hosting, email, analytics and Search Console, or identify who holds them.
• Proof of workGather case studies, permitted client logos, testimonials, certifications and memberships in a folder.

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  Designing around placeholder text

  Bring real headings and paragraphs into the layouts early, before their lengths disrupt an approved design.

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  Reviewing only on a large screen

  Check every page on a phone as well, including the content and its order.

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  Copying every old page

  Keep service pages clear and choose the pages you can maintain, instead of reproducing the old structure by default.

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  Leaving search setup until launch

  Check page titles, the sitemap and any development indexing block before the site goes live.