Web Site development

Web site development is a core component of JM Studio. We've been designing successful web sites for nearly a decade. We enjoy helping our client's companies grow, and design web sites that can grow with a business. We believe that;

  • Every website should have a purpose. Why do you have a web site presence? What is the goal?
  • Every website should provide a path of least resistance to the information or goal for users.
  • Goals should be based on clearly defined business objectives. Do you want more sales? More traffic? Exposure? Leads?.
  • Content should be clear, concise and beautifully executed.
  • Organizations should control their own content.
  • Conversion is never an accident.

We specialize in three primary areas, and blend that expertise together to develop an online solution that fits your business.


With usability, there are several common factors that any web site geared toward the public should follow.

1. Present high quality, relevant content.

2. Make it easy to use.

3. Promote effectively, both on the site and in other media.

4. Make the experience unique to the medium.

5. Evoke emotion.

Every web site should have the common goal of presenting relevant information to the user, and/or leading the user to take some sort of further action, such as purchasing an item, signing up for a service, or providing more information. Think about why a person visits a web site, or even logs onto the internet; it is for their benefit, not yours, and EVERYTHING regarding your web site should follow that golden rule.

In the web world, the term usability refers to a set of factors, both gathered from web surfers via expensive market studies, and governed by an ever-present group aptly named The World Wide Consortium.

Throughout the evolution of the web, a set of standards have developed that web surfers have become accustomed to. This is especially true in the E-commerce world.
If the mass public had to deal with a different style shopping cart on every retail site they visit, no one would shop online. This is why you see A LOT of similarities among the major shopping sites like http://www.amazon.com and http://www.walmart.com. This same pre-conceived notion applies to regular brick and mortar stores as well. Shoppers expect a certain, familiar experience regardless of the store they walk into...they expect items and information to be organized and easily recognizable, they expect assistance when needed, and they expect a common, quick check out process.

The same can be said for your web site. No matter how different the store's look and feel is (Walmart vs. Abercromibe and Fitch), the same over shopper experience is still expected. No matter how different you would like your web site to be, there are still common elements people expect when they visit. So how do we know what people want/look for when browsing web sites?

For JM Studio, our knowledge of usability was born from several sources; an extremely intense Visual Communication proffessor we'll call Mr. B, years of positive experiences with our clients, and endless hours absorbing usability research via reports, conferences, forums and networking. So we confident in the information we present here, and hope it helps you grasp the concept of designing a usable site.

 

Custom programming in ASP or PHP Language


Database-driven solutions have given new approaches to effective business information management due to the flexibility of data retrieval, storage and manipulation processes that they provide. Employing the data structuring and processing advantages that databases grant, JM Studio designs custom applications that fit our clients needs, and that can expand at low costs in the future according to how our clients' business expands.

Database Expertise: MySQL, MSSQL, PostgreSQL and MS Access
Programming Languages: NET (ะก#, VB.NET), PHP, Perl, SQL, HTML/XML, JavaScript.

Our team and network of programmers can build and implement custom programming solutions for just about any online environment. It can be E-commerce, collecting information from your customers, content management systems or a solution that fits your needs exactly. Our programmers each have over a decade of experience under their wings, making them fast and efficient. Click here to learn more about our Programming Services and Products.

 

E-Commerce

Over the span of developing several e-commerce sites in JM Studio's infancy, we quickly realized that no one single prepackaged E-commerce solution on the market met all of the needs of our clients. So, we developed our own e-commerce platform. It's search engine friendly; it knows what google likes and dislikes. Along with an amazing suite of tools, our solutions will not break your bank. There are no ongoing fees or weird licensing requirements for utilizing our commerce platform. We'll design a really nice graphical 'shell' to wrap around the core of the cart, train you in using it, and provide ongoing support.

Features:

  • Full E-Commerce Solution
    1. Manage Products On-Line - You can easily add, update and delete products, change pricing, shipping, etc. via an online back-end administration area of your site. No special software required.
    2. Unlimited category depth - Although usability studies show you shouldn't create more than a two-category depth of your navigation, our commerce platform allows you to create unlimited depth of categories.
    3. Products can have unlimited drop down options (size, color ect.) - A product can have unlimited options, and each set of options can have its own pop-up link displaying thumbnails of the options leading to larger pics. The options can have their own pricing, or you can set each option to be the actual price of the product, if chosen, instead of adding to the price of the product.
    4. Customer Accounts. allowing customers to login to review prior orders. They can also view order status, and re-order past orders for ease of use. The best part of this feature is its optional, thus not forcing customers to sign up for an account to shop with you (unless you set it up that way)
    5. Up to 5 levels of pricing - repeat customers can be assigned to discounted level or preferred levels. This is a great wholesale tool. When a customer logs in to your web site, they will see the assigned price level for them.
    6. Printable product pages- Each product and have a popup link which creates a printable page.
    7. Multiple Images allowed per product - This can be a very powerful tool in several ways. It's a great way to show off different angles of a product, or examples of that product in action. Think of it as a mini-gallery for each product.
    8. Various checkout options- including Purchase Orders, Customer Contact, Check/Money Order, and real time Credit Card processing.
    9. Integrates direct with on-line banking from BofA, Wells Fargo, or Authorizenet.net
    10. Very flexible shipping options. Features include per-product shipping amounts, a shipping table based on total transaction amount, real time UPS rates.
    11. Product Search Tool - Searches title of products in your database and returns clickable product search results. Every good E-Commerce site should have a search tool.
    12. Promote products using Eye-Poppers and/or by placing them "on-sale" - This allows you to put products on sale, comparing retail price and sale price easily. Special animated gifs draw attention to your product on sale.
    13. Coupon System available - allowing you to give discounts using a coupon code. Imagine you have a box full of clearance items you need to move quickly ...simply issue a coupon code out to customers for free shipping, or a discount based on percentage or dollar amount. Also handy for a 'grand opening' of a site. Also great to use in conjunction with printed advertising. The coupon codes can have expiration dates.
  • Calendar System
    1. Allows you to post an on-line calendar of activities in the traditional calendar format, or a calendar listing format. Each calendar item is editable via a WYSIWYG editor and can even have images.
    2. Pop-Up windows for extended information on a particular calendar entry, including html formatting and images. Great way to announce events.
  • Event Image Gallery System
    1. Allows you to create events, and add unlimited number of photos to an on-line event image gallery.
  • Guestbook
    1. Allows web visitors to post a simple guestbook entry.
    2. Can be set to automatically "approve" entries, or set to require review by you, the site owner prior to posting.
  • Links Page
    1. Allows you to trade and post links to related or partnered web sites.
  • Home Page Components - The home page can have the following:
    1. Featured Product Column- This allows you to feature products of your choice on your home page and rotate them out with no intervention from us, saving you hours of labor.
    2. Product Search Tool - Direct access to the product search feature from your home page for ultimate usability and convenience.
    3. Latest News Headlines and links to full article- Keep content fresh on your home page by posting news blurbs directly on your home page and have full control over them.
    4. Latest Image Gallery Images added (shows 2) - Great way to keep your content fresh and lead visitors into your site, if you have an event gallery feature.
    5. Customer Account Login - Perfect for customers who have accounts, particularly those with wholesale pricing levels assigned to them. The instant they log in, they see price levels assigned to them by you.
    6. Generic Text Update - This is a new feature that allows you to update your own field of text.


Search Engine Optimization/Consultation

JM Studio offers a common sense approach to search engine optimization. Most of our clients are small and medium sized businesses, who can't afford so pay a search engine optimization firm thousands of dollars per month to achieve and maintain high ranking. To rank well for highly competitive keywords, it requires an unimaginable amount of time, and thus is partially why it's so expensive. Often, small and medium sized companies will have the staff on-hand to perform many of the tasks required to achieve and maintain decent ranking in search engines, and so we provide SEO consulting services to companies wishing to:

  • Do their own search engine optimization utilizing in-house staff but wanting a source of knowledge that can provide coaching along the way, as well as performing initial on-page optimization if required..
  • Understand what their competition is doing and how the holes in their optimization may be used to beat them. This will give you an idea of what is required of you in order to beat their ranking.
  • Understand how their site design is working for or against them on the search engines and learn how to optimize their site structure and create search engine friendly sites in the future.
  • Gain an in-dept knowledge of what keyword targets stand to be the most profitable.
  • Understand how to develop an excellent link building regimen to maximize the hours spent building optimal links.

Companies may wish to be adviced on one or more of these aspects of their website. We offer or consulting services to make sure you get the right SEO advice, and enable you to optimize your website and also build on that in the future.

We will give advice that promotes high rankings but does not compromise your domain with questionable black-hat SEO tactics that could very well get your site penalized or even black-listed in the future.

.