Top Web Design Firms 2012

By Surojit Chatterjee | February 10 2012 10:44 AM

Photo: Intellix Media

1. Intellix Media - Top Web Design Firms 2012

Los Angeles, CA-based Intellix Media has one simple goal in mind - create Web sites for clients that has the WOW factor without compromising on ease of navigation. Each Web site created by intellix Media is like a beatutiful symphony - a perfect union of design, form, and functionality, that come together to help you achieve your online business goals. And, to create each of the masterpiece, Intellix Media follows a dynamic four step approach - Original Content, Dynamic Functionality, Striking Presentation and High Visibility - and throughout the process, its team of professional Web designers and content writers will work closely with the client to produce a Web site, which meet the specific needs and wants of the client.

Photo: Cuker

2. Cuker - Top Web Design Firms 2012

Solana Beach, CA-based Cuker is not just any Web design firm. At Cuker, they strive to create influential design that is simple, clean, and easy-to-navigate so your message is clear and compelling. Each Web site that Cuker designs, engages and inspires. Most importantly, they help you express your message to your audience and connect with them. Cuker's team of professionals will closely work with the clients from the planning process to the execution and launch of the Web site so that they understand the client's needs and goals and can develop a Web site that supports the company brand and vision. However, Cuker's relationship with clients does not stop at that. They will work with their clients on post launch training and support and will continuously monitor the site to ensure maximum uptime, security, reliability, and stability. In other words, Cuker will do everything to ensure client's success because client's success is their success.

Photo: n3o Digital

3. n3o Digital - Top Web Design Firms 2012

If you had the choice, would you rather opt for an expertly tailored suit that fits and skims in all the right places, or take your chances with something off the peg that - most likely - just isn't quite right? It may be a rhetorical question, but in the context of web design, it serves to make a good point. A great website that does everything that you need can only really be created when the entire process is customized and tailored according to the client's exacting needs. It needs to be fit for purpose, designed to create just the right impression, but be built in such a way that it easily allows for growth and movement, without detracting from the overall finished product. And, that's what n3o Digital does, and that's why they've received accreditation from a number of prominent organizations – including RAR, Google, Microsoft and Umbraco - that acknowledge their ability to create quality-driven solutions. Design and Development Located between Milton Keynes and London, n3o Digital's team of creative and technical experts build websites from the ground up – a process that ensures that for the duration of the project, they're always aiming to create a website that looks great, offers an impeccable user experience, and has the room and flexibility to function flawlessly as it grows with the Web. And if required, they can also build an easy-to-use back-end CMS so that their clients can continue to expertly manage and sustain their website, its content and resources independently, without the need for copious amounts of technical know-how.

Photo: Search Marketing Group -

4. Search Marketing Group - Top Web Design Firms 2012

Search Marketing Group, Inc. (SearchMarketingGroup.com) is a boutique website design and search engine marketing firm headquartered just outside New York City in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Founded in 2009, SMG has quickly gained a reputation as the website design company to choose when strategy, conversion & search engine performance matter. Their pragmatic approach places the focus of every project squarely on strategy. Client goals are combined with extensive market research to create what begins as a website and evolves into a customized internet marketing strategy designed to find new customers online and compel them to action. "To us a successful website must do more than look pretty. For a business to succeed online today, and in the foreseeable future, their website must rank well in organic search, provide high quality-score landing pages for paid search advertising & most importantly, push visitors through the sales process at a higher rate than the competition. Whether it's ecommerce, direct response or lead generation every site has a purpose and that purpose is to drive sales to the bottom line. Our philosophy is to look at the whole picture when planning and executing a site build taking into account their marketing mix to ensure the new site extracts the most value from their marketing dollars," says company president David Berger. When asked how their sites perform so well on search engines like Google, VP Alan Occhiuti had this to say, "Customers who've been through a previous website development process with another firm are always a bit surprised by the extent of our research and discovery phase. Part of which is to strategically organize the site structure and content. This is commonly known in the industry as on-page search engine optimization." The proof is in the results SMG generates for clients.

Photo: Tangence

5. Tangence - Top Web Design Firms 2012

Founded in 2002, Tangence is a full-service provider of web design, marcomm, and lead generation services. The company, with over 225 professionals, serves corporate clients that range from Fortune 50 companies to cutting-edge startups. Tangence secret-sauce is a unique service portfolio combined with a revolutionary execution model that provides the highest quality of service at unheard of prices and turnaround times. Tangence's design philosophy is simple: they don't have one! This gives the company the freedom to create what is unique, exciting, and yet, refreshingly effective for each customer and each project. The designers are not motivated by the desire to win awards but the goal to make clients stand out from the crowd. In addition, Tangence has deep expertise in the latest web technologies, content management systems, rich-media, and, the latest hotspot, mobile and tablet applications. The combination of great design and deep technological expertise equips the company to ability to deliver highly sophisticated solutions that can take any project to successful completion. However, what really sets Tangence apart from other web design firms, is the commitment to clients. The company doesn’t simply move from one website design project to another. They become partners with each client and focus on not just creating the website but making it functional. To this end, the company provides a full suite of Website Maintenance, Collateral and Rich Media Design, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Database and other Lead Generation activities. After all, we all know, if you just build it now, they will not come!

Photo: Wired World Media

6. Wired World Media - Top Web Design Firms 2012

Founded in 2000, Wired World Media is a full-service digital agency based in Denver, Colorado. Agency founder and tribe leader, Jeff Swaim started the company to fill the niche of the growing chasm between the strong branding and strategic capabilities of traditional ad agencies and the high ROI and technological breakthroughs led by digital agencies. Wired World Media's tribe of 57 talented digital warriors represents significant breadth and depth of experience in all facets of online marketing, including social media, email marketing, application and Website development, mobile, search engine marketing, online media, and e-commerce. In September 2010, they launched a proprietary interactive video platform called Sneezebox™ (www.sneezebox.com). Named after marketing guru, Seth Godin's moniker for those who spread the brand gospel by word-of-mouth (he calls them "sneezers") — Sneezebox is changing the game in online lead generation, lead conversion, training and CRM technologies. Guy Shalev, Chief Innovation Officer describes Sneezebox in this way: "Companies spend a fortune on media, direct mail, and search engine marketing to create leads and then send them to their Website home page —or at best, a landing page with a pretty picture, a hundred words of copy, and an interest form with 17 fields. With Sneezebox, we can create an "experience" for the user that is personalized, interactive, transactional, and trackable—just like sending them into your best sales rep's office." Not only does Sneezebox offer a more engaging (and fun) user experience, but the results are even more convincing. An interactive Sneezebox "Influence Funnel" converts 37% more inquiries to leads on average, and increases average length of user engagement by over 142%. "We can’t responsibly recommend only Web sites any more," said Swaim, "We have a saying: 'Web sites are so 2010.' They are an important part of the mix for validation and credibility—but they are not a best foot forward when it comes to lead generation, conversion, and customer retention. Better results are certainly nothing our clients sneeze at!"

Today, a business without a Web site is like a person without an identity. A Web site is the online identity of a company and a well designed Web site will not only allow the business to connect with the customers, but also it will successfully persuade a customer to choose that business over its rivals.

A well designed Web site can also help a small business compete successfully with bigger rivals and expand its reach to a wider audience of suppliers and customers that otherwise would not have been possible. However, a poorly designed Web site can also keep customers at bay. Worse still, it can kill a business, especially if search engines find it difficult to crawl.

This brings to mind an important question - how do we determine what is a well designed Web site? A well-designed Web site is one which not only makes a visitor leave the Web site with positive impressions, but also will make him come back for more. How does one do that? Different Web design firms will adopt different techniques but generally all Web design firms will follow the same golden principles of Web designing - present the client's business with a good balance of graphics and content in an easy-to-read format (visually appealing), use short paragraphs, feature clear navigation menus, make the contact information visible and easily accessible, optimize the Web site so that it can open well in different browsers, use software that are not detrimental to search engine rankings, and, most importantly, make sure that the Web site is an extension of the client's brand.

Choosing the right Web design firm can be an arduous task especially if you're making a Web site for the first time. Before creating a Web site, you should first establish your goals - ask yourself Who is my target market? Who are my competitors? What do my target market want from the Web site? What do I want from the Web site? - and then determine your budget.

In this regard, IBTimes Tech & Trend has sieved through tons of Web design firms and have presented here the top Web design firms for 2012.

These Web design firms boast of impressive portfolio, know and understand search engine optimization issues and techniques well, provide helpful customer support, and, most importantly, offer premium quality service without charging you an arm and a leg.

They are:

1. Intellix Media

2. Cuker

3. n3o Digital

4. Search Marketing Group

5. Tangence, and

6. Wired World Media

Start the slideshow to check them out.