Responsive Website Design and Development in Des Moines

Blue Compass exists to provide a clear digital direction by serving as an extension of your team. When it comes to web design and development services, this means using our skills to enhance your company’s online presence and highlight your brand’s authority in your industry and the marketplace.

Our Des Moines web development team works with you to create a one-of-a-kind website that boldly and positively represents your organization. We help you capture the attention of your target audience with a creative website design that’s built to get results, so you can start seeing conversions and a true ROI.

The Blue Compass Web Design and Development Process

Our Des Moines web designers, programmers, developers and content writers are the experts in all things digital. Blue Compass has a history of creating award-winning responsive websites that drive traffic and conversions. We do this by taking time to research and discuss new insights, test strategies and decide what fits within our processes and proven best practices. Our teams work together daily to inspire and challenge each other, enabling us to provide the best web design and development services in the business.

We’re ready to apply our expertise and proven techniques to your unique, custom website and set you up for digital success. Here’s what to expect when you begin talking to our team about our Des Moines website design and web development services:

1. Web Design Kick-Off Meeting

Before our Iowa web designers start on your new website, we will sit down with your team and review your goals, target audience, competitors, products and services. In our discussion, we want to know which website features your team likes or feels are necessary on your new site, such as a database to store contact form submissions, payment processing, custom forms, newsletter systems, calculators and more. Our Des Moines website design and development team is capable of making your ideal online presence a reality with custom web development services and features that would benefit your team or your clients.

Early in this process, we might test your current website to see if there are any user pain points we can identify and improve during development. Our Des Moines web design experts prioritize your audience’s goals and needs when considering things like navigation, content structure and content development recommendations.

2. Custom Website Design

Next, our team will complete market and competitive research to determine the web design trends that will perform best for your industry. Based on our research and your feedback, we’ll create a fresh homepage design, formulated specifically with your audience and brand goals in mind.

3. Web Design Review and Content Next Steps

Our teams will meet to review the homepage design, and we’ll ask for your feedback, taking your comments into consideration to update the design until you are completely satisfied with your new homepage. Our Des Moines web designers will then move on to plan out interior pages and custom features. Blue Compass team members will maintain open communication with your team to ensure all web pages will represent your vision and captivate your audience.

During this step, we’ll discuss website content responsibilities. Some of our clients prepare content for their new website, and some request help from our search engine optimization professionals. Our content writing experts have a very efficient process for creating page copy to suit your brand’s tone while utilizing SEO-friendly writing tactics to help your site rank high in search results.

4. Front End Web Development Services

After client approval, our front end development team will bring the design to life. During this phase, our expertise as a responsive web design company shines as our front end developers write HTML, CSS & JavaScript code based on the approved designs. They perfect various site features such as navigation, mobile functionality, animations, scroll effects and the other finishing touches to make your site stand out.

5. Back End Website Development

As your launch date nears, our back end development team will use .NET, JavaScript, C#, PHP and SQL to ensure a smooth transition between your old and new site, making sure all resources and tech functionality are connected on the back end of the site. Although back end development includes many features that don’t appear visually on your site for end users, this process is what makes sites work the way they’re supposed to. This includes implementing behind-the-scenes elements such as databases that collect form information and payment gateways for processing transactions.

Blue Compass has many unique offerings when compared to other companies doing website development in Des Moines. We offer fully custom web design services, which means we can create and customize the items on your website functionality wishlist, including but not limited to:

• Polls
• Human Resources Systems
• Ecommerce Platforms
• Forms
• Intranet Systems
• Event Calendars
• Text Hotlines
• Alert Systems

6. Pre-Launch Testing

Our web design and development services wouldn’t be complete without pre-launch testing and quality assurance. Before launching a new site, our Des Moines web development team performs rigorous testing on numerous devices and platforms. This process ensures users will be able to use your site, and it lets us know about any functionality issues before launch day.

At this time, our digital marketing team will also implement or clean up existing Google Analytics tracking codes to monitor traffic patterns and user behavior data. This will help your team observe progress on the new site.

7. Website Launch

On launch day, we will work through four different launch checklists — one for each of our teams: digital marketing, account executives, front end development and back end development. Our meticulous launch checklists enable us to ensure that your site launch and transition is seamless. Our goal is to present a brand new website for everyone to enjoy, including your team, clients and customers.

8. Website Post-Launch

A couple weeks after launch, our team will be checking in on your website’s performance to ensure we’ve done our job to the best of our abilities. Some of our clients elect to run user experience testing during this time to see how your users respond to the look and feel of the new web design. No matter what help you need after your website launches, we always provide ongoing support for our clients. We’ll also be checking in occasionally to let you know about any major digital updates and to make sure your website is functioning properly. Our client support team is well-organized, hard-working and attentive to your questions and business needs.

Reach out to us if you’re ready to get started working with a leading Iowa web design and development company or learn more about Blue Compass’ custom web design services.

Tell Us About Your Project

Your Des Moines Web Design Experts: Digital is What We Do

Blue Compass is a digital marketing, web design and development company. Our Iowa web design team’s extensive expertise in all things digital sets us apart and makes us the most qualified responsive web design company to take on your next project. We all work together, enabling a holistic process where we can focus on exemplary website craftsmanship along with a variety of digital best practices that help your site rank higher in organic search results and drive conversions.

The end result is a website that is built soundly and fully optimized for the best user experience for your target audience.

Here’s how our site designs and digital services set us apart from our competition:

UX Optimization. Clients can opt-in to our user experience (UX) testing to get a better idea of how their online users are interacting with their brand. If we test before creating a new website, we’ll use the data we collect to identify any pain points on your current site. After launch, we will run UX tests to make sure all site functions are easy and intuitive for users. Our main goal is to make sure your current and potential customers find exactly what they’re looking for as fast as possible when they visit your site.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Every time we write website copy, we perform keyword research to make sure we’re prioritizing terms and phrases that will help the site move up in Google’s search result rankings. Clients redesigning a website with our Iowa web designers can also ask our search engine optimization experts to run SEO audits. This gives a comprehensive look at any technical SEO issues or errors on the current site so that we can implement an error correction plan to help your new site launch with no SEO errors.

ADA Compliance. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination and requires businesses to provide reasonable accommodations and special features relating to accessibility. It’s important to make sure all users are able to find what they need on your website, so we offer ADA compliant design and testing services.

Content Management System (CMS). We understand that not everyone is a web expert, but a website needs to be updated regularly to perform well. That’s why we created a user-friendly content management system (CMS) to make it easy for our clients to manage and update their new site. After launch, we’ll set up a training session on how to use the CMS with your point-of-contact, who will show you everything you need to know about keeping your website up-to-date.

Custom Web Design Services. There’s a big difference between a website built specifically for you and a template-based product. At Blue Compass, our web designers and developers work with you to create a brand new site from the ground up, designing custom website features to fit your brand’s style. We also build the custom functionality you need so your website works exactly as you’d like.

Responsive Design. In many cases, our web design and development company’s process starts with designing for the mobile version of a site in mind to make sure it’s functional and responsive across all devices. When our developers bring web designs to life, they create code that works across all platforms and display sizes. Before launch, each site goes through extensive quality assurance testing to make sure each functionality works properly across all browsers and platforms.

Get Started Today

Top 5 Questions Our Team Gets From Clients Regarding Web Design and Development Services

How much does a website cost?

There’s a big difference between a website built specifically for you and a template-based product. Here at Blue Compass, we do custom development, meaning your website will be uniquely yours. Building custom functionality takes time. Ultimately, it comes down to how much custom design and development you’ll need and how you choose to designate the work across your team and ours.

How long does it take to design and develop a new website?

This depends on a number of factors, such as how many template designs or pages you’ll have, if you need custom functionality or apps developed and the number of revisions during the design process. Check out our common timeline ranges (for websites of varying complexity) to get a better idea of how long it might take for Blue Compass to build your website.

How long does it take to build a website?

How many pages should I have on my website?

We recommend creating as many high-quality pages as you need to tell your story. If you start adding pages that don’t add value to your website, this will confuse your audience and could potentially reduce the SEO value of your site.

How do I purchase a domain name?

Domain names can be purchased at any domain registrar. We recommend Google Domains or GoDaddy to purchase a domain. The cost is around $15 a year for a domain.

What is an SSL Certificate and do I need one?

An SSL certificate encrypts information sent between a browser and a web server for a secure online experience. When you visit a website that has a padlock in the address bar, this means the website has an authenticated SSL certificate.

All websites should be secured with an SSL certificate. Not only does it add a layer of security, but it assures users that the website is safe. As of July 2018, Google began marking websites without an SSL certificate as non-secure and warning users about the connection before sending them to the website.

Work With Blue Compass to Experience the Best Website Design and Development in Des Moines

Partnering with an Iowa web design and development company like Blue Compass means your website will be customized to your exact needs and optimized to reach your unique audience. We have worked with businesses across various industries, including financial institutions, real estate firms, medical clinics and healthcare institutions, schools and colleges, transportation companies, construction contractors, nonprofits and more.

Since 2007, clients across Iowa and the Midwest have trusted us to provide exceptional website design and development services, and we’ve helped them achieve significant results for their brand. Whether you're a local business looking for a responsive web design company in Des Moines or a national brand looking for innovative and custom web design services, our team of web designers, developers and digital marketers have the solutions you need to stand out online.

If you need a website refresh or a brand new custom site, reach out to our team of web experts. We’re excited to work with you. Contact us today for a free quote!

Certifications Earned By Our Award-Winning Iowa Web Design and Development Company

To ensure our clients receive industry-leading web development services, Blue Compass team members work hard to stay on top of digital certifications. It is our goal to provide each and every one of our clients with an outstanding website that meets their company’s unique needs and exceeds expectations. Our Des Moines web development team’s certifications include:

• MCITP: Enterprise Administrator
• MCTS: Active Directory
• MCTS: Network Infrastructure
• MCTS: Applications Infrastructure
• MCTS: Windows 7, Configuration
• MCTS-Systems Center Operations Manager
• VMWare Certified Professional 5
• CloudU Certification
• CompTIA Server+
• CompTIA A+CompTIA Network+
• Criminal Justice Information Systems Federal Government Access