Website Development & Design
Published April 25, 2013 | 
The Belford Group understands how important your website it is to you and we want it to not only look good, but also perform well. To do this, we start at the beginning and audit your website to make you aware of everything we see that needs improving. After we have audited your site and decided on the theme and content, we will move on to designing (or redesigning) your website. In addition to auditing, designing, and creating your website, The Belford Group offers to host each site we build on our server.
Recently The Belford Group has begun building each of our client’s sites in WordPress. WordPress is one of the biggest trends in web development right now, with millions of users and developers, which makes it great for any business or personal blogger to use! WordPress is a content management system that is used for website development and also as a blogging platform. WordPress is easy to use with quick options for managing the content of your site.
Here at The Belford Group, our team is trained and experienced in web development and is happy to offer you these services:
- Website Audits
- Website Design & Redesign
- WordPress Conversion
- Web Hosting
Be sure to contact The Belford Group for all of your website needs!
479.443.9975
Does your site fit Krug’s web usability rules?
Published June 25, 2012 | 
When looking at a website, we often talk about how well it functions and how appealing it looks. A good website also has well-implemented search engine optimization.
The question remains, is the website usable? We at The Belford Group spent time as a staff last year reading a very valuable book by Steve Krug called Don’t Make Me Think (2nd Edition). The book talks about how good website design and development creates a site that doesn’t make the user have to think too hard to navigate through the site. Continue reading
Posted in Services, Web Development | 
guidelines, Krug, user friendly, web usability, websites | 
Leave a commentWordPress not just for blogs
Published April 30, 2012 | Millions of users worldwide use WordPress including individuals, corporations of all sizes, and nonprofit organizations. It’s generally known as web software for blogging but WordPress can be used for so much more.
We at The Belford Group have started using WordPress as a primary content management system (CMS) for our websites, which means it’s the software we use to create our clients’ websites. We’ve used WordPress for several years to create client blogs (including our own) but we’ve decided WordPress creates such an excellent product that entire sites will now be created using WordPress.
Most clients are not overly concerned what software or program is used to create their website. They just want a website that is functional, informative and visually appealing. Using WordPress to create websites is a major advantage for both the client and the web developer, in this case The Belford Group, because WordPress offers websites that are easy to use, customizable and effective. Continue reading
Posted in News, Services, Web Development | web design, web development, WordPress | Leave a commentEcommerce helps ‘mom and pop’ stores compete
Published February 13, 2012 | One of the best things about the business world is that there’s so much room for variety. Not all stores are small and local with niche market offerings—but not all stores are big box retailers that seem to offer a little bit of everything either.
As the Internet has become increasingly pervasive in our lives in the last decade, many “mom and pop” type stores probably thought they would eventually be pushed out of business. After all, they might think, who wants to leave the house to visit a small local store when one could just have something delivered to his doorstep after a few clicks of the mouse? The recent spike in mobile ecommerce and concepts like Cyber Monday (the online version of Black Friday) probably only drives home this concept.
Continue reading
Trending in 2012: web design
Published January 9, 2012 | As we look to 2012 and what we expect for web design, we see a lot of similar ideas working together towards creating a more user-friendly, simplistic approach towards designing websites. This is a good thing, because excellent websites need to be fully functional for them to actually be useful.
Overall Focus on Mobile
A report from financial advisor Morgan Stanley says that mobile usage will overtake desktop usage this year. Graphic courtesy of DBS>Interactive
Continue reading
Posted in Services, Web Development | mobile trends, Morgan Stanley, report, responsive design, Web trends | Leave a comment
How to hire a web developer: What you need to know first
Published December 19, 2011 | We’d love to just say, “Hire The Belford Group!”
As easy as that would be, there’s a lot that goes into choosing someone to create the major marketing and communication tool for your company. Who you hire to create your company’s website is going to be the key between you having a good website that works right and having a hokey and ineffective website.
Don't stress over your website (or stay up all night trying to do it yourself). Follow our tips for finding the right website developer. (Photo courtesy of Flickr user slworking)
Smart Shopping
As you shop for the right web developer, there are a few issues to consider.
Continue reading
Conquering the three types of branding
Published December 12, 2011 | Three types of branding
Corporate Brand-
The overall parent company must have its own brand that people recognize for quality and its good reputation. This is useful when launching new product brands or product lines. If you can associate the new product brand with the already well-known corporate brand, it has a better chance of being well received (or poorly received if people don’t trust your corporate brand).
Example A: Coca-Cola Global has many product lines that are individually branded.
Example B: The Belford Group offers web design services, marketing services and software development services.
Example C: Wallingford Sales Companyoffers water heaters, plumbing equipment and safety equipment.
What is GOOD graphic design?
Published November 28, 2011 | In our blog title What is … Graphic Design, we talked about how graphic design:
- Has a specific function;
- Should convey a clear message that is easy to read; and
- Should be attractive to the eye.
But how do you know if your company’s graphic design accomplishes what it should?
A few questions
Take a look at your printed materials and at your website and ask yourself if your graphic design has these elements: Continue reading
What makes good Marketing?
Published November 14, 2011 | We’ve all heard the phrase that “anything worth doing is worth doing well,” right? The same rings true for any marketing campaign. If you’re going to market your business … pay your hard-earned money for marketing materials…they should be effective and of high quality.
“Give them quality. That’s the best kind of advertising.” Milton Hershey, Founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company
OK, so that quote talks more about providing quality product, but it is still true for providing quality marketing!
So what makes good marketing?
Posted in Branding, Graphic Design, Marketing, SEO Consulting, Services, Social Media, Web Development | Branding, business to business marketing, business to consumer marketing, consumer marketing, good marketing, good printed materials, northwest arkansas, small business marketing | Leave a commentWhat makes a good website?
Published November 7, 2011 | Most businesses realize they need a website to effectively compete in today’s rugged economic landscape … but are they joining the race with the right tools?
Does your company’s website provide a picture of professionalism and expertise …or does it make people wonder, “gee, is this company as dysfunctional and frustrating to deal with as its website?”
It’s like what Tim, one of Gowalla’s designers, had to say recently about websites:
“People don’t just visit your website, they experience it.”
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