What I Can Do For You
Website Design & Build
A website should be an investment that gets you more customers, grows your business and works across all devices. That's exactly what I offer. By using the latest technologies and with 10+ years of experience, all my websites are built to order and are unique to every project. I specialise in building beautiful, professional, and easy-to-use websites. These elements come together to create an exceptional user experience (UX). This positive interaction with your brand builds trust and confidence, turning visitors into customers.Hosting and Domain Names
With each new website I provide a reliable, low-cost, NZ and Australian based website hosting service. I also offer additional business services such as: Domain Name registration, email accounts and various other business solutions.Your website and hosting account is personally managed to ensure continuous service and delivery.
Updates and Maintenance
Web site maintenance and updates are an integral part of keeping your site working properly. Neglecting this can damage the look and functionality of your web site. If your website is out of date and if it doesn't work on smartphones and tablets or the software is vulnerable to attack, you're putting your business at risk and missing opportunities. My website maintenance services make sure your website is always up to date, secure and working for your business.The Usual Process
- Meet & Agree
- Idea & Concept
- Design & Create
- Install & Launch
This is the best part of the whole process… We will upload all necessary files to your website hosting account and your site will be launched!
Planning Your
Website
The 5 Steps below will help you plan your Website.
Everything you can do to help plan your Website ahead of time will speed up and ease the design process,
however, nothing listed on this page is compulsory.
It is important to have a clear image of what you want and need from your web site. From my experience, those clients who come prepared with a good idea of what they want tend to be the happiest with the final result.
» Find Websites That You Like
Do you have a favourite? Do you like certain aspects of their design?
I will not copy other designers work, but having a website or websites you like
and sharing them with me can greatly help when conveying your design ideas.
» Research Your Competitors
If you have competitors or suppliers that have websites, look at their sites.
- Do they have anything in common with each other?
- Did you notice anything that you would change?
- What can I do to make your site stand out among them?
» Draw a Picture
One of the first things I do in the design process is to draw a rough draft of what you want the website to look like.
One way to speed up the design process is by doing this first step yourself.
Not everyone is an artist, but all that is needed is a simple drawing of the layout you want, maybe with a few sections coloured in for effect.
#1 Identify The Purpose of Your Website
While designing your site, one of the most helpful pieces of information you can provide is the purpose your site will serve. Is it just for informational purposes? Do want your customers or visitors to be able to interact and communicate with you through your site?
Below are four questions you can ask yourself to help you find the purpose of your site:
- Who is your target audience/market?
- What will your users/customers expect from your Website?
- How often will your users/customers be visiting your Website?
- Where will your website be displayed or advertised?
#2 Imagine Your Design
My job as your Website designer is to make that image of the site you have in your mind come to life. Many times however, that image may not be so clear. There are few things that you can do to bring that image to a crisp, clear vision.
By using the techniques here, you will be clarifying that image in your head as well as providing communication tools that will help you explain that image to me. A few other things to consider when planning your design is the colour scheme/theme and logo design. Will your Website have photographic or product images, or have illustrations or text? How do you want your site structured? Just remember, I am here to help you with the design. If you are still unsure of what your site needs, let me help you along.
#3 Organise Your Content
The design is the first thing your users/customers see when they visit your site, but the content is the reason they are there. It is important that your content is organised and well thought out.
Once you have a clear idea of what the structure of your site will be, you will be able to prepare your content to be included with the design. For example, most Websites include a "Home" page, an "About Us" page, and a "Contact" page. Your Website may have many more detailed pages and in order to keep the design process running smoothly, it is important that you have your content written, organised, and ready to be used. If you are not comfortable with this task, I offer content writing and proofing as additional services.
#4 Prepare For Design
The final part of planning your web site is to prepare your thoughts for the designer (me). Below are a few ways to prepare yourself for the design process. All of the items listed will help the designer to better understand your vision.
- Create an outline of what you want done with your Website.
- Collect all of the drawings and notes you have made along the way.
- Collect any brochures, logo samples, or other materials you need to explain your thoughts.
- Organise your content based on the Website structure you want.
- Compile any information to be stored in a database into a readable format such as an excel or CSV file.
I recommend organising all of the above listed items in a notebook, folder, or binder. Some may choose to organise it electronically and save it on a CD or flash drive. However, if you don’t have the time or just aren’t good at organising, don’t worry… we’ll sort through it!
#5 Request Your FREE Consultation!
I offer a free, no obligation consultation. If by chance, you still don’t have a clear image of what you want and / or need in your web site, don’t worry. I can help you through the process during this consultation.
So, whether you know exactly what you want or you have no idea yet,
schedule your
FREE Consultation! today.
Clients Say
We have found Stephen (The Website Guy) very obliging and easy to work with - nothing is a problem and he is more than happy to create new things for us. We as a golf club, are very happy with the website he has created for us and continues to help in whatever way he can.
Debbie, Mercury Bay Golf Club, Whitianga
We have been working with Steve for a number of years for our web services and have always found him friendly, creative, and reliable. His work has been top notch, always up on the latest technologies relating to web design and the results have been rewarding for our business. We highly recommend Steve, The Website Guy!
Steve & Sherry, Stone Terrace, Hot Water Beach
Stephen Hutton designed and set up our website in 2015. Our initial meeting with Stephen was professional but relaxed, allowing for open discussion on what we wanted for our website. The end result was extremely satisfactory and we have since had many complimentary comments about our website and the reflection from this has been a bonus to our business. Any further contact that we have had with Stephen has been very efficient and pleasant and any adjustments that we have requested have all been dealt with in a timely manner. We would highly recommend Stephen the ‘websiteguy” to anyone.
Caroline & Simon, Omahu Valley Citrus, Paeroa
Stephen - thank you for such wonderful customer service. Any email query is responded to promptly and any phone enquiry just the same. You are professional and efficient. Absolutely recommend your website and expertise!
Rochelle, HealthBod Tea, Australia
Stephen Hutton did an excellent web design for soulvoice.net. He is highly competent in his expertise and communicates with kindness and from a caring heart. I highly recommend his work.
Karina Schelde, Founder of the Soul Voice® Method
Stephen has been a pleasure to work with over the past four years. He is always ready to assist and delivers on time. His work is always of a high standard at a reasonable cost and he is a man of his word. I have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone needing professional service with great support Stephen is the man to approach.
Paul, Nurturing Young Minds, Whitianga
About Stephen Hutton
Websiteguy
I have been working with computers and programming them since they were invented.
In 1977 I was given my first PC, a
Commodore PET 2001 - 1 mHz/4KB RAM with a cassette tape drive.
It came in 2 large boxes. One for the PC (with the little green screen) and one full of operating manuals and books on programming languages like BASIC.
The old farmer I was working for at the time told me that his son had sent it out from Germany and had said to him, "Dad, it’s the latest thing, put the farm on it!"
The farmer had promptly put it into his barn (unopened) and forgot about it until I mentioned my interest in them.
He was happy to be rid of it.
Took me weeks to type in enough code to play noughts & crosses.
I now have computer programming and advanced web design qualifications in languages and Internet technologies such as; XHTML, HTML5, CSS, CSS3, PHP, XML, MySQL, JavaScript.
I come from a senior business management background in both education and tourism.
Full biographical details available on LinkedIn.
YouTube video interview by Te Karere News about new stained glass window (April 1993) - Watch Now