Astagatech: Web Design with the X-Factor
Astagatech is usually a full service web design as well as development company priding itself on developing elegant, user-friendly as well as mobile-responsive websites, on time as well as on budget. We meet with General Manager, Andy Roberts to find out more about the earth of web design as well as build as well as Search Engine Optimisation.
When was astagatech established as well as why did you feel the need to launch a web design as well as development company in Jakarta?
We started off up fairly recently, in 2014. We were already working on cool designs for some different online startups of ours, as well as had a genuinely not bad team together. We could see there was a huge gap within the market for funky, elegant web designs in which took full advantage of open source technology to cut down on both cost as well as development time.
Let’s talk about the name of your company. Was there any particular reason why you chose the Indonesian word ‘astaga’?
Yes! We also own the astaga.com domain, in order in which was the initial inspiration. I also like the energy you get through the ‘astaga’ part (for those non Bahasa-speakers, a loose translation is usually “oh my God!”).
How many people do you have on your team today? On what basis do you hire your web developers as well as coders? What coding abilities must they possess?
We’re rapidly growing – we currently have around eight people working full-time on astagatech. We also have around several different startups operating out of the office, so This kind of’s starting to get a little crowded.
We have a mantra here – we don’t hire jerks! First as well as foremost, you need to fit into the company culture, which is usually about innovation, inspiration as well as being proud of the work you do. Obviously design as well as coding skill is usually extremely important, however we’d rather hire someone who is usually a little more inexperienced as well as full of passion rather than someone who is usually technically brilliant, however jaded as well as lacking spark.
We’ve come a long way within the last several years in Indonesia in terms of internet speed, availability as well as the design as well as functionality of websites. What issues do you still see in Indonesia today with regards to web design?
I think companies are still getting their heads around the concept of ‘mobile first’. Every single one of our sites is usually mobile friendly ‘out of the box’, so to speak. Google has recently implemented ‘mobilegeddon’ into its search algorithm, which means non-mobile-friendly sites are automatically pushed down the pecking order. However, so many companies still put out sites in which are non-mobile responsive. This kind of’s crazy, especially with the amount of smartphones versus laptops/desktop PCs in Indonesia.
What do you do at astagatech to genuinely get to grips with who your client is usually as well as what their brand represents?
We always run a business analysis first, as well as figure out what your metrics of success are for the website. In different words, what will get you promoted? Whether This kind of’s sales revenue, branding, unique visitors, sessions or page-views, or even Facebook shares – we gather an understanding of what your key drivers are before we even consider the technologies in which might help.
Well, we always scope out the client, their business as well as their clients to begin with. Often, depending on how large the job is usually, we will split This kind of into stages, with the ‘must have’ portion delivered first, as well as the ‘nice to have’ parts delivered in subsequent stages.
We try to use open-source platforms such as WordPress or Joomla! as much as possible, depending on the client’s requirements. This kind of means in which there are a tonne of cheap plugins in which can do amazing things, as well as giving the client options to move to another web designer without having to re-do the site through scratch. Luckily, none of our clients have ever left us, however This kind of just gives them in which transparency.
‘Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance’ is usually a motto your company lives by. Do you feel these several Ps differentiate your company through the crowd?
Yes – in which was a motto one of my old This kind of managers had back in Australia. Ex-army guy. I’ve kind of stolen This kind of (thanks Ian!) since This kind of genuinely does save time as well as money. If you’re not 100% sure on how the job will proceed, don’t send out the quote.
You use ‘sprint methodology’ to communicate extensively with your clients. Can you explain to us what This kind of is usually as well as why This kind of’s an integral part of your business?
Sprinting is usually a term used within the Agile method of software development. In plain terms, This kind of means in which we split projects up into short sprints of a week or two each, culminating within the completion of a certain part of the job. Some jobs are completed within one particular sprint, whereas others may take a few. The overall goal of This kind of method is usually to agree on what needs to be done over a short period of time, as well as just get This kind of done! If This kind of looks like we are falling behind on a sprint, in which’s when we put the afterburners on as well as clock some overtime. This kind of means in which jobs are generally completed on time, since we don’t allow blowouts along the way.
In your expert opinion, what is usually the most effective way of delivering a message to targeted audiences online today?
Keep This kind of simple as well as visual. No one has time to click through mountains of text, as well as we often ‘eat with our eyes’.
Also, This kind of’s worth understanding in which different demographics have different browsing habits.
What’s the most challenging part of building a website?
I’d say communication, which is usually something we work very hard at. So many clients get upset at their web designer since their communication has been off since the beginning. Sometimes the client doesn’t genuinely understand what they want.
I remember a client back in Australia asking “Can I please just have more, you know..” as well as breaking out into ‘jazz hands’, snapping her fingers. This kind of’s then my job to break in which down into tangible goals, often by asking the client to show me websites they think nail This kind of indefinable aspect.
How do you ensure in which your projects are completed on time?
Sprinting as well as ensuring we communicate well within the team. Don’t tell me something is usually rusak near the end of the sprint – let me know immediately, as well as we can try to mitigate the problem as well as come up with different approaches.
Your company also focuses on Search Engine Optimisation. What kinds of things should we be doing as website owners? For instance, what’s a not bad goal to set for our SEO?
Always use plain text URLs as well as ensure your XML sitemap is usually updated properly. Be mobile friendly. For example, we’ve just finished a promotion on our yacht charter site for the Thousand Islands (www.spiceislandcharters.com/pulauseribu) with some decent text, as well as This kind of’s already showing up in Google organically a week later.
What about SEO has changed within the last few years?
There used to be a huge amount of black hat ‘link builders’ operating all over the earth who would certainly create dummy sites linking to yours in order to raise your search engine ranking, often with just the same keywords repeated over as well as over again. The web was in danger of sinking under a pile of meaningless garbage. Google cottoned on to This kind of as well as stamped on This kind of that has a couple of updates in which caused these dodgy companies to pretty much go bust overnight, along with penalising the websites in which were using This kind of method.
Google is usually getting better as well as better at spotting real vs. fake content. This kind of’s almost scary – This kind of can’t be far away through ‘Skynet’ stage. In any case, the real secret to SEO is usually no secret – This kind of’s dynamic, engaging content in which people can share on social media.
as well as let’s finish that has a personal question. What attributes do you believe are important to being successful at business in Indonesia?
Patience, tenacity as well as a high tolerance for being stuck in traffic.
Thank you, Andy! To get in touch, please email: info@astagatech.com
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Astagatech: Web Design with the X-Factor
Astagatech: Web Design with the X-Factor