How to choose a web design company

Simple. Do your homework with them. Then start asking questions and taking notes. There are many web designers available. You want to go with the best because, in fact, your web designer is, in essence, your partner. You want to choose a designer who takes his business seriously.

What questions do you ask?

There are several important questions to ask yourself when choosing a web designer for your business website.

Building your website can be a complicated process. Choosing the best web design company for your business website is a very important decision. And if your business is like most small businesses, you probably have no web design experience. Building your website will take time and work. And working with a web designer is not an easy task. Therefore, choose the right web design company from the beginning and avoid repetitions, which can be expensive and time-consuming.

1. What kind of web experience do you have?

To get started, find out what kind of design experience your potential design firm has. Do you have experience with content management systems like Joomla or Drupal, do you have experience working with “raw” HTML? Has the web design company created websites similar to yours? Do they have relevant experience in the industry? If you want to sell products through your website and accept credit card payments, does the web design company you are considering have experience with ecommerce hosting?

2. Do you have a portfolio that you can review?

An experienced web design company will have a strong portfolio of websites that they have created for other clients. Ask for links to other sites that the design company has created and review each one. You like what you see? Do the sites have a style that appeals to you?

3. Do you have a reference?

In addition to checking websites, ask for customer references. Contact their clients and ask them about their experience with the web design company. Were you happy with the results? Did they get what they paid for? How much did they pay? Would you recommend them? How long did it take you? What didn’t you like about the company? How responsive was the company when you had questions?

4. What are your prices?

The most important step in pricing is making sure the prospective design firm outlines all the prices associated with the work and puts everything in writing. Never enter into a deal unless all costs are well understood up front.

Ask them a little about how they manage payments. If they respond in a very businesslike and professional manner, it is a good sign. If they come up with responses like “Don’t worry, we’ll handle it” or “Whatever you’re comfortable with,” don’t be fooled. This is a problem waiting to happen. Get the price in writing before starting the project.

5. Do you have experience with search engine optimization?

Most small business owners are out of budget to hire an independent marketing company to work on search engine optimization (SEO), so it is imperative that your web designer have SEO expertise. A good designer will know that design and SEO go hand in hand. Designing a search engine website with “clean” code that uses cascading style sheets is essential to getting your content indexed on major search engines like Google and Bing.

6. Do you have experience with social media marketing?

Many marketing companies know first thing about social media marketing. These companies are stuck in the past and are not as effective as they pretend to be. Make sure you work with a designer who knows how to set up a Facebook fan page for your business and design a custom Twitter profile. This is important because you will want your social media properties to match your website design. The 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 prospective web design company about the process they use. Do you design a website or build a website? An experienced Internet professional must understand the difference between these two concepts. If not, they probably don’t have as much experience as they say. Creating a website is a very technical process, while designing a website is a very creative process. Many advertising companies specialize in website design, which does not necessarily require any web development skills. At the same time, many companies design websites, but outsource the creative part of the project. Find out early on what the process is for the business you are considering.

8. How long will it take?

Perfectionism can be a major obstacle in the fast-paced world of the Internet. Some designers can’t compromise on quality and time to market. Test: see how long it takes to receive a proposal.

9. What kind of support is offered after the website launch?

If your design company doesn’t offer website maintenance, you may want to keep looking. Most reputable design companies will offer “post-launch” maintenance for companies that do not have an in-house webmaster.

10. What web hosting providers do you work with?

If your design firm doesn’t know the first names of your favorite web design firm’s contact, this should raise a red flag. Most reputable web designers know not to choose web hosting simply because they are the most popular or because they offer the cheapest web hosting. A reputable web design company must know who to call and how to get results! Does your web designer work with a green hosting company? Eco-friendly web hosting is becoming increasingly popular for business websites looking to implement a green policy.

Getting a bit of recognition on the W3 is difficult, even in a niche market (especially a niche market). You have less than 10 seconds to convince a site visitor to stay long enough to learn about the quality of your services, your products, or your message. Web surfers are affected by information overload. If they don’t see what they want to see on their landing page or landing page, they bounce. Therefore, making a statement about your corporate culture and your business core values ​​has to happen in the blink of an eye. Visitors will never see the “About Us” page if you don’t make a good impression, within 10 seconds. So, go green! An emblem or banner proclaiming that you use green hosting makes an immediate statement about your online business. It says you care about the environment.

Do your homework when choosing a web design company.

Good designers are creative people who need to think outside the box. Finding a good web designer is increasingly difficult. Good designers are being taken away by agencies and big projects. They are overworked and often you won’t know them because they don’t have the time (or need) to promote themselves. Doing your homework and asking the right questions is important in deciding if they are right for the job.