How to choose a web design company
Simple. You do your homework on them. Then, you start asking questions and taking notes. There are a lot of web designers available. You want to go with the best because your web designer is essentially your partner. You want to choose a designer who takes your business seriously.
What questions are you asking?
There are some important questions to ask when choosing a web designer for your business website.
Creating your website can be a difficult process. Choosing the best web design company for your business website is a very important decision. And if your company is like most small businesses, you probably don’t have web design experience. Building your website will take time and work. And working with a web designer is not an easy task. Choose the right web design company from the start to avoid costly and time-consuming redoing.
1. What kind of web experience do you have?
First, find out what kind of design experience your potential design firm has. Do they have experience with content management systems like Joomla or Drupal? Do they have experience working with “raw” HTML? Has the web design company created websites similar to yours? Do they have relevant industry experience? If you want to sell products through your website and accept credit card payments, does the web design company you’re considering have experience hosting e-commerce?
2. Do you have a portfolio I can review?
An experienced web design company will have a solid portfolio of websites they have created for other clients. Request links to other sites created by the design company and check each one. Do you like what you see? Do the sites have a style that appeals to you?
3. Do you have references?
In addition to reviewing websites, ask for customer references. Contact their clients and ask them about their experience with the web design company. Were they satisfied with the results? Did they get what they paid for? How much did they pay? Would you recommend them? How long did it take What did they not like about the company? How responsive was the company when they had questions?
4. What are your prices?
The most important step in pricing is to make sure that the potential design company presents all the prices associated with the work and puts them all in writing. Never enter into a deal unless all costs are well understood in advance.
Ask them a little about how they handle payments. If they respond in a very professional and businesslike manner, that’s a good sign. If they throw out answers like “Don’t worry, we’ll handle it” or “Whatever you’re comfortable with,” don’t be fooled. These are problems waiting to happen. Get the price in writing before starting the project.
5. Do you have experience in search engine optimization?
Most small business owners don’t have the budget to hire a separate marketing firm to work on search engine optimization (SEO), so it’s imperative that your web designer has SEO experience. A good designer will know that design and SEO go hand in hand. Designing a website for search engines with “clean” code that uses cascading style sheets is essential to getting your content indexed in top search engines like Google and Bing.
Do you have experience with social media marketing?
Many marketing firms know the first thing about social media marketing. These firms are stuck in the past and are not as efficient as they claim to be. Make sure you work with a designer who knows how to set up a Facebook fan page for your business and create a custom Twitter profile. This is important because you will want your social media properties to integrate with your website design. Your website and social media pages should complement each other.
7. What is your process for designing or building a website?
Be sure to ask your potential web design company about the process they use. Developing a website or building a website? An experienced internet professional should understand the difference between these two concepts. If they don’t, they probably aren’t as experienced as they claim to be. Building a website is a highly technical process, while designing a website is a highly creative process. Many advertising firms specialise in website design, which does not necessarily require web development skills. At the same time, many firms design websites but outsource the creative part of the project. Find out from the start what the process is for the company you are considering.
8. How long will it take?
Perfectionism can be a huge stumbling block in the fast-paced world of the Internet. Some designers fail to compromise between the needs of quality and time to market. Test: See how long it takes to get an offer.
9. What type of support is provided after the website is launched?
If your design firm does not offer website maintenance, you may want to keep looking. Most good design firms will offer maintenance “after launch” for businesses that don’t have a webmaster on staff.
10. What web hosting providers do you work with?
If your design firm does not know the first name of the contact person at their preferred web design firm, then this should raise a red flag. Most reputable web designers know not to choose a web host simply because they are the most popular or because they offer the cheapest web hosting. A reputable web design firm should know who to call and how to get results! Does your web designer work with a green hosting company? Green web hosting is becoming more and more popular among businesses that want to go green.
It’s hard to get a little recognition for W3, even in a niche market (especially a niche market). You have less than 10 seconds to convince a website visitor to stay long enough to learn about the quality of your service, product, or message. Web surfers are disoriented by information overload. If they don’t see what they want to see on your home page or a landing page, they’ll bounce. So, making a statement about your corporate culture and the core values of your business needs to happen in an instant. Within 10 seconds, visitors will never see your “About Us” page if you don’t make a good impression. So, greens! A logo or banner proclaiming that you use green hosting makes an immediate statement about your business. online. They say you care about the environment.
Do your homework when choosing a web design company.
Good designers are creative people who have to think outside the box. Finding a good web designer is getting harder and harder. Good designers get ripped off by agencies and big projects. They’re overloaded with work, and often you won’t know about them because they don’t have the time (or need) to market themselves. Doing your homework and asking the right questions is important to deciding if they are right for the job.