How to choose a web design company
Easy. You do your homework on them. Then you start asking questions and taking notes. There are many web designers. 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 do you ask?
There are some important questions to ask yourself when choosing a web designer for your business website.
Building your website can be a tricky 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, chances are you don’t have any web design experience. Creating your website will take time and work. And working with a web designer is not an easy task. So choose the right web design company from the start and avoid repetition that can be costly and time-consuming.
1. What kind of web experience do you have?
First, 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 with “raw” HTML? Did the web design company create Website erstellen 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 are considering have experience with ecommerce hosting?
2. Do you have a portfolio I can review?
An experienced web design company will have a solid portfolio of websites they have built for other clients. Ask for links to other websites the design company has created and check each one. Do you like what you see? Do the pages have a style that appeals to you?
3. Do you have references?
Don’t just ask for websites, ask for customer testimonials. Contact their clients and ask them about their experiences with the web design company. Were you satisfied with the results? Did they get what they paid for? How much did you pay? Would you recommend them? How long did it take? What did you dislike about the company? How quickly did the company respond to questions?
4. What are your prices?
The most important step in pricing is to ensure that the potential design company outlines all the prices associated with the work and has everything in writing. Never enter into a deal unless all costs are well understood in advance.
Ask them a little about how they manage payments. If they respond very matter-of-factly and professionally, that’s a good sign. Don’t be fooled if they throw out answers like “don’t worry, we’ll get it” or “whatever you’re comfortable with.” This is a problem waiting to happen. Get the price in writing before you start the project.
5. Do you have experience with search engine optimization?
Most small business owners don’t have the budget to hire a separate marketing company to do search engine optimization (SEO), so it’s imperative that your web designer has SEO experience. A good designer knows 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 get your content indexed in the leading search engines like Google and Bing.
6. Do you have experience with social media marketing?
Many marketing firms are the first to know about social media marketing. These companies are stuck in the past and are not as effective 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 design a custom Twitter profile. This is important as you want your social media properties to be consistent with your website design. The website and social media pages should complement each other.
7. What is your process for designing or building a website?
Make sure you ask your potential web design company about the process they use. Are they designing a website or are they building a website? A seasoned internet professional should understand the difference between these two concepts. If they don’t, they probably aren’t as experienced as they claim. Building a website is a very technical process while designing a website is a very creative process. Many advertising companies specialize in website design, which doesn’t necessarily require any web development skills. At the same time, many companies design websites but outsource the creative part of the project. Find out from the start what the process looks like for the company you are considering.
8. How long will it take?
Perfectionism can be a major stumbling block in the fast-paced world of the internet. Some designers are unable to make trade-offs between quality and time-to-market requirements. Test: See how long it takes before you get a suggestion.
9. What kind of support will be offered after the website launch?
If your design company doesn’t offer website maintenance, you might want to keep looking. Most reputable design firms offer “post-launch” maintenance for businesses that don’t have an in-house webmaster.
10. Which web hosting providers do you work with?
If your design company doesn’t know the first names of the contact at their favorite web design company, that should be a red flag. Most reputable web designers know not to choose a web host just because they are the most popular or because they offer the cheapest web hosting. A reputable web design company should 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 that want to implement an environmental policy.
Getting a little credit for the W3 is difficult, 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 find out about the quality of your services, your products, or your message. Web surfers are jagged by information overload. If they don’t see what they want to see on your homepage or a landing page, they’ll bounce. It must therefore make a statement about your corporate culture and the core values of your company in no time at all. Visitors won’t even see the “About Us” page if you don’t make a good impression – in 10 seconds. So off to the green! An emblem or banner proclaiming that you are using eco-friendly hosting immediately makes a statement about your online business. It says you care about the environment.
