Web design and development for North Dakota businesses

WordPress suits a team that publishes often and wants to edit most of the site itself. Its range of plugins gives you options for adding features, though the site needs regular updates to stay secure. A custom Next.js site is faster and more secure, and can still include an editor. We recommend an approach after learning how your team works and who will update the content.

A hosted builder such as Wix, Squarespace or Webflow suits a small site you want to run alone. The trade-off is less control over the code and speed; moving away later can mean rebuilding. A headless setup takes a different approach, pairing a custom front end with a separate editor. It fits a site that needs speed and heavy editing, but adds parts to host and maintain. Before choosing, list the pages your team expects to change and how often those changes will happen.

If your business is open to the public, accessibility belongs in the brief. US Department of Justice guidance says Title III of the ADA covers goods and services offered on the web and identifies WCAG as helpful guidance. We agree an accessibility target with you and use it to guide the desktop and mobile page designs. W3C encourages using the latest version of WCAG.

For a state or local government website, the project has a specified target: WCAG 2.1 Level AA. We set that target in the design brief so it informs the pages from the start.

Bring what you have and note what still needs work.

• Your goalIdentify the action you want, such as a quote request, job application or call.
• Enquiry ownersName the person who handles each type of request.
• Brand filesGather your logo in vector format, colours and fonts, or note what still needs creating.
• PhotosCollect images of your team, premises and finished work; book a photo shoot ahead if needed.
• Proof of workPut case studies, permitted client logos, testimonials, certifications and memberships in a folder.

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  Leaving content until the end

  Use real headings and paragraphs in the design. Their length can change a layout that looked finished with placeholder text.

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  Reviewing only on a large screen

  Check every page on a phone first, including how the content reads and how the layout fits.

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  Copying every existing page

  Review what visitors need and keep service pages clear. A shorter site is easier to scan and maintain.

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  Postponing search setup

  Check page titles, the sitemap and any indexing block before launch. An indexing block left from development can keep the site out of search results.