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Client Story: Wertzbaugher Services

Wertzbaugher Services opened in 2012 as a welding and fabrication business and have since grown to become an important part of the West Liberty community. Their services have expanded to include repairing personal trucks and trailers and hauling freight. As a business wanting to expand their outreach, they came to Big Imprint to build them a website, and we were excited to help them grow within our community and expand outside of it.

One of the unique services that Wertzbaugher offers is creating customized pieces. You can bring them any idea and they will work to bring it to life. Some of the Jason’s favorite welding projects over the years have included making Christmas gifts for family and friends. They also made a memorable contribution to the West Liberty Parade. They took an old dirt bike and a garden tiller and put them together to make a full-size motor. If you have a welding project that you want to see come to life, Wertzbaugher Services is the place for you.

COVID-19 impacted many businesses in a negative way, but luckily it had the opposite effect for Wertzbaugher Services. Their work hauling freight for Menards and Lowes stores is typically a seasonal gig for them. This past year, with everyone staying home, many people wanted to do projects around the house. Transporting supplies for would-be do-it-yourselfers kept Wertzbaugher busy six days a week throughout the spring, summer, and fall.

Wertzbaugher Services

Wertzbaugher Services chose Big Imprint because they believe in staying local when possible, and because we provided everything that they wanted for their website, including knowledge and reliability. Jason Wertzbaugher says he likes the fact that the new website tells the company’s story and is easy to navigate. They have gotten a lot of contacts through the website’s Contact Us page, which lets them respond quickly to clients and get started on new projects directly through the form on their page.

The business has grown so much that Wertzbaugher Services is planning to move into a bigger shop so they can have the room they need. We are looking forward to seeing them in their new shop and to continuing to provide website services for their growing company!

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Client Story: Musser Library

Musser Library has been proudly serving the Muscatine area 118 years. More than just a library, Musser is a hub for knowledge, interaction, and community support in Muscatine and beyond. Added together, the library’s 19 employees have decades of experience in connecting patrons to resources. Recently, Big Imprint got to become part of the opportunities that Musser Library provides by designing a new website to accompany the library’s big move.

In June 2018, the library pulled up its roots at the corner of Iowa and 3rd Streets in Muscatine and moved to a new location on 2nd Street, a transition made possible with the help of the Carver Foundation, the City of Muscatine, and the HNI corporation, which donated its former headquarters.

The move allowed the library to expand in size and in resources. The new building provides thirteen meeting rooms ranging from group study areas to a board-style conference room. Their technology upgrade included new self-check stations and Microsoft Surface tablets. Musser also brought in people to help accommodate library users who speak languages other than English, broadening their reach even further.

One of their proudest accomplishments is bringing in the LENA Program. LENA is a national program designed to assist with language development in young children from birth to age three. Through LENA, Musser Library helps parents cultivate language skills and cognitive abilities in their children by increasing their exposure to new words, which promotes early literacy and school readiness. Musser Library is one of the few libraries in Iowa that offers this program.

Like many businesses and community resources, Musser was impacted by the spread of COVID-19. In March 2020, the library had to close completely. In the ensuing weeks, staff were able to develop precautions that allowed the library to safely open to the public by reducing the number of open hours and limiting patron circulation. Staff provided curbside pickup, bringing checked out materials to patrons in their cars. To continue programming, the library staff recorded events for adults and children and shared these videos to their Facebook and the public TV station. To support online learning for area students and community members obliged to work remotely, the library added exterior wi-fi hotspots that allow 24/7 internet access from the comfort of your vehicle. The library also added a blog on their website to share information as they continue to extend their services and gradually resume normal operations.


The Musser Library website was a huge help during the pandemic, when electronic communication was crucial. Big Imprint is grateful to have played a part in this. We designed a new website for Musser Library back in 2018, during their move to the new building. They wanted an updated look and a site that was user-friendly and mobile responsive.

The Library chose Big Imprint because they wanted to work with a local company and they liked the aesthetics of other sites we’ve done. They felt we would understand their audience. Fortunately, when the new website rolled out, the feedback was positive. The Muscatine community enjoyed the website’s updated look and new offerings.

For Bobby Fiedler, the library’s assistant director, the advantages of the new website are twofold. Bobby enjoys the look of the site and the easy navigation, but he’s especially pleased with the online room reservation portal. We provided software that allows patrons to find available meeting rooms and reserve them quickly and easily online. Overall, the new Musser Library website has made their online presence more accessible and easier for patrons to navigate, all part of the quality service that library staff are dedicated to providing.

While their priority right now is to restore as many services as possible, library staff have lots of ideas for the future. One option under discussion is the possibility of cooperating with Muscatine Power and Water to install charging stations for electric cars. Given their commitment to providing as many resources as possible to the Muscatine community, we look forward to seeing what amazing things come from Musser Library in the future.

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Small Business Web Design for Iowa City

Small business owners do it all, but one thing you shouldn’t have to do is design your own website. Your website will last through the entire lifetime of your business, and your homepage often defines you. Thankfully, small business web design for Iowa City is an easy choice.

Big Imprint has set itself from the pack as the go-to for local small businesses. If you’re ready to join our list of more-than-satisfied clients, check out these frequently asked questions to better understand how we can help.

What is the Difference Between Web Design and Web Development?

Simply put: Web design is visual-heavy, focusing on the appearance. Web development handles the inner workings, like coding, for optimum functionality. That code being HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and others.

Web design and web development each have different goals within the overarching goal of a great website for your business. Each requires different tools to achieve those goals.

Most people just notice web design. But there are so many parts of a website unknown to the average user. You need both. It’s less headache if you get both done by the same team.

How Do I Maintain My New Website?

Big Imprint offers small business web design for Iowa City that helps even after we set up your website. We guide our clients on how to update their web content. We also offer technical support to help resolve those small issues.

Every site is different, but we certainly don’t mind answering your questions about web updates.

Even if you feel you’re not tech-savvy, we can walk you through it by email or phone.

The things that Big Imprint will handle for you typically include:

  • high-quality WordPress website hosting
  • domain name management
  • software updates
  • proactive security scanning and patching
  • nightly backups
  • access to website analytics
  • technical support by phone or email

Web maintenance is much like oil changes for your car. The longer you go without it, the more chance of a bigger problem down the road – all of which could have been prevented with maintenance.

Keep your website up to date!

Do Non-Profit Organizations Really Need A Website?

Aside from needing a website, it begs another question. Does a non-profit really need a particular level of website?

Visitors, including donors, judge a book by its cover, whether you like it or not. A poorly designed website sends away many online users.

Gaining attention is hard enough for a non-profit. Trying to navigate a clunky, unorganized website to learn more about your organization is just going to turn off a lot of visitors.

While a few may dedicate their time, many will not. Remember, non-profit organizations aren’t just competing with other non-profits. Your website needs to be able to run in the business space, too.

We Can Help You with Your Small Business Design

With more than 10 years in the space, Big Imprint offers top-rated small business web design for Iowa City. Veteran status means we know our clients inside out.

Clearing up the common concerns above will help get the ball rolling in creating the best website for your business.

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Steps to Creating a Website

If you are looking to build a professional website and are looking for guidance, you have come to the right place. We are here to help. It is completely normal to feel overwhelmed or lost when starting the process of creating your first website. We have put together a guide to help you navigate through the process.

Do it Yourself or Hire A Website Design Agency

The first thing you will want to consider is whether or not you want to create the website yourself or hire an agency to do it for you. There are positives and negatives to either decision. When you create a website, yourself it tends to be cheaper. You can find a lot of helpful tutorials that can guide you in creating your site. There are also many different site templates you can use for design purposes such as WordPress, Wix, and Weebly. A website agency will be able to help guide you through the whole process with their expert knowledge. Depending on the agency you choose they could offer much more for example website hosting, search engine optimization and support. These are some of the services we offer here at Big Imprint. Although website agencies do most of the heavy lifting for you, they tend to be more expensive than if you were building the site on your own.

Domain Name and Web Hosting

Domain Name - Website

Image Source: Cloud.Co.Za

Once you’ve figured out whether you want to do it yourself or get help from a website design agency, you will need to create your domain name. There are thousands of domain names already in use on the web. You want your domain name to reflect the topic of your website. Many people use the basic yourcompanyname.com template when creating the domain name. The idea behind it is to keep it simple and give your visitors an idea of where they are going. You can buy and register your domain name from numerous different sites including Namecheap or GoDaddy. Here at Big Imprint we use GoDaddy to buy and register all of our domain names. We also recommend that if you have a .org at the end of your website domain you purchase the .com version as well. This is because many people automatically will type in .com for your site.

When creating a website, you will need someone to be your web host. A web host allows you to store your files on a secure server. If you decide to go with a website agency, they may be willing to host your website and register your domain name for you. Otherwise there are a few places you can go to for web hosting including Bluehost, Hostwinds, and FatCow. There are numerous other web hosting services available to you that I did not list.

Website Structure

Now that you’ve got your domain name and web host you are ready to start on your website. Your website structure is one of the most important tasks to do. This is how all of your pages connect to one another on your site. You are an expert about your company, but others are not. This means the website structure needs to be clear and be easy to navigate. To do this you should figure out what you want your audience to know and where you want to drive them to first. Below is a basic version of a company’s website structure. It is simple and does not leave much room for confusion. You can use SlickPlan to create a visual website structure where you can also input your content. This gives you a good start to your website. Your website structure may change a little once you create your content, but for the most part you would want this finalized before putting all of your content information in.

Website Content Structure

Image Source: Marketing 91

Content

After getting the site structure finalized, you will want to get started on your content for the pages. The most important page is your homepage. This is the first thing viewers will typically see when coming to your site. This is where you want to have your most important information or call to actions that drive the viewers to those pages. The homepage allows viewers insight into who you are and what you do. Content on all the other pages are important as well. You want to have rich information on the page that adds to the viewers knowledge. When creating this content for each individual page, you need to find a balance between enough information and too much information. If you are finding that you have a ton of information on one page, see if you can break it down to where you can create another subpage. Overall remember that you want the information to be easy to understand and to not overwhelm your viewers.

Design

This is the spot where everyone wants to jump to first in the website creation process. The design is one of the last things you do when building a site. Design is what seals the deal when people come to your site. If your site isn’t put together well and look professional, your potential clients may be discouraged on pursuing your business. Like I mentioned earlier you can use Wix, Weebly, or WordPress to help with your design needs if you are building the website yourself. These platforms will provide a clean look and layout for your site. The design should focus around your content so you aren’t shifting your content to match your design. At Big Imprint we partner with a professional designer, Kevin Mellen, to create a sleek and fresh look for your website. Design wraps the whole site together and presents a clean and finished look.

 Website Design

 

Once you have put all of these items together, and you are happy with your website you are ready to launch! Your website is always going to be changing whether it is content updates, added navigation or it’s in need of a new design. Make yourself comfortable with being able to update your site and follow trends to stay up to date with what is the best look for your site. You are now ready to start creating your website.

Development

After the design phase, we start the development of the site. This is where we start to put all of the pieces together from the previous stages. We hand the site structure, design, and content information over to our web developer. He makes your website come to life right before your eyes. This is where all the technical aspects come in such as coding, plugins, or anything else that will help your website run smoothly.

Now if you’re building the website yourself this may be tricky part of the website creation process. In certain design platforms you can just input your content, and not worry about the coding or adding in plugins to your site to make it custom to you. This will give you a great start and simple website for your viewers.

Preview and Testing

This step is seen as one of the most exciting ones. Here the client can see the website live in a web browser. They are given time to look over how everything has come together. This is the time for feedback on the site and where any changes will be made. We love presenting our clients with their website preview, so they can see everything they envisioned come to life before anyone else gets to see. In this step, we also make sure everything is getting tested and works properly. We want a fully functioning website before the launch.

If you are creating the website on your own, you will most likely be previewing it every step of the way which is great. When you have all the content put in, it is best to preview the site all put together so you can polish it off.

Launch

The time has come, and your website is ready for launch! This is when we officially release the website, and the public can now view your new design and content. We love seeing everything come to life and our clients happy with the results!

Once you have put together your website you are ready to hit the button and launch the site to the public! Nothing is more satisfying than seeing your work come to life.

Support

After the site is launched, we don’t just leave you to navigate the website world by yourself. We are here to support you in every step. At Big Imprint we provide client training to make sure you are comfortable navigating the website on your own. We are always here to help with any questions or changes that you would like done with your website.

Your website is always going to be changing whether it is content updates, added navigation or it’s in need of a new design. Make yourself comfortable with being able to update your site and follow trends to stay up to date with what is the best look for your site. If you are to decide to use an agency, we are always here to help with your changing needs. The steps will give you a base to get started on designing your first website or getting help with creating your site.

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How To Choose a Web Design Company

Why do websites keep you scrolling and clicking while others make you immediately hit the back button?

The answer: Web design.

A professional web designer has the right tools and years of experience to ensure that your website gets and keeps visitors.

The problem is all web design companies aren’t created equal. When you choose a web design company, use these three tips:

● Look for SEO
● Look for Questions
● Look for Reviews

What Should a Web Design Company Actually Do?

A good web design company should accurately reflect your services and effectively meet your marketing goals.

To do that, these companies use researched strategies in:

● Layout
● Color Schemes
● Site Organization
● Reliable back-end structure, and more.

A sleek website translates into automatic trust and credibility from your potential clients.

Look for SEO Skills
No way around it. You can’t have a great website without proper SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO puts a laser-focus on your marketing and provides an exact, hand-in-glove fit for your clients. All that from just your website. It’s an irresistible combination.

Along the same lines, your web design company should be able to track and measure reach. We use Google Analytics on every website we build, and if you have an SEO package with us, we use an SEO reporting tool. You will receive a monthly report showing the effectiveness of your SEO campaign.

Look for Questions
A web design agency that values its work will make sure it is best serving you. To do that, the company will need to get to know you.

If a web design company isn’t asking you thoughtful, information-seeking questions, that’s a red flag. The last thing you want is a cookie-cutter website with no personality or customization for your organization.

Choosing a local company saves the time spent explaining your service area. Your hired team can jump right to getting to know your business.

Web design should match the industry. Some industries, like architecture, heavily emphasize exceptional aesthetics. A basic, “ho-hum” website won’t compete well.

Make sure the web design company has enough time and resources to handle your project.

Look for Reviews
The reward for good work is more work. A good website design company will naturally have previous clients who sing their praises. Take those reviews and testimonials seriously. See some of our reviews here.

Anyone can make empty claims. Testimonials are your way to make sure the company actually delivers. That’s the benefit of working with a local company. Pick an Iowa City Web Design Company like us and you can see the products yourself. Most likely, you’ve already engaged with a previous client.

Along with researching reviews, ask the agency to see some of its past work. Most companies have a portfolio or samples. Here’s ours.

Final Thoughts
Choosing a web design company can be overwhelming. But these tips help you focus on what’s really important to get the best results.

Ready to get started? We have a whole team ready to learn more about you. Call or email us today.

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Partner Spotlight: Kevin Mellen

Today we are featuring Kevin Mellen in our partner spotlight!

Partner Spotlight: Kevin Mellen

Kevin Mellen is the owner of Creative Mellen and he is our design partner at Big Imprint. His main focus of his business is branding. He is an expert at crafting a unique identity to help organizations stand out from the crowd. He is well-versed from logo design, website design, product packaging, and other collateral.

Kevin’s favorite part about working with Big Imprint is the high level of quality that can be achieved. He also likes that Big Imprint does a lot of things similarly in regard to how to treat clients and the expectation to overdeliver whenever possible.

Idea Behind Creative Mellen: Kevin started out his career at a small design shop and then worked for a few large agencies in many different positions. Due to the experience he gained working at those agencies he became more confident in going out on his own. He had already been doing some freelance work at the time and decided to take the leap to create Creative Mellen.

Creative Mellen is small on purpose. Kevin wanted to provide the same level of quality content as larger agencies, but with even better service. The small business environment provided that opportunity.

Partnership with Big Imprint: Due to Kevin’s commitment to provide high quality work and excellent service, he tends to work with small to medium-size companies. Kevin and Ethan met at EntreFEST and got to know each other and their companies. A few years later they started working together and haven’t looked back since.

Background: Kevin is originally from Illinois. His family moved several times, so he grew up in small towns dotted between Chicago and Peoria. For the last 20 years or so he has lived in Iowa City with his wife. They have a golden retriever named Sandie. Sandie comes into the office a couple times a week and holds the position of Wellness Director and Co-Owner.

What Kevin Likes to Do: Kevin’s favorite thing to do is having a relaxing dinner with his wife. He will always stop his work to have dinner no matter how late he is planning to work. Kevin and his wife also enjoy vacationing. Their favorite spot is the country of Panama and they have gone seven times!

Partner Spotlight SandieOther Hobbies/Interests: Kevin loves doing yard work. He also enjoys working on things around the house. He dabbles in wood working and has even made some of the furniture that is in his office.

Community Involvement: Kevin is well known for providing internships to design students. The education of design and business of design is really important to him. He wants to help design students learn real life skills. Kevin partners with the University of Iowa design program and the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business when opportunities arise.

Top Likes/Dislikes: Kevin enjoys listening to hip hop music. Billy Ocean was one of his first favorite musical artists. He dislikes country music, and when people don’t use their turning signal.

Fun Facts: 

  • Kevin liked Hip Hop music before it was even a genre.
  • He enjoys watching car shows like Roadkill.
  • Kevin is an adventurous eater!
  • He is a HUGE Mac geek! Kevin keeps up with the latest technology and reads all the blogs about Macs.

We hope you learned a little bit more about him in this partner spotlight. You can read a little more about Kevin here.

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