Everyone wants to know if a web design company can make their lives easier and produce a solid ROI. The simple fact is, they can. However, finding the right company that fits your needs and your own business demographic can be like navigating a mine field. It can help to have step-by-step instructions of what to look for and how to source the best people to work with. We’ve done all that for you with our guide to the top nine considerations when looking for a web design company.
Not only do you need to consider a company that will meet your current needs, but the team should also be capable of tending to needs that may arise after your current needs are met. Some people might only want a site to be designed and set up for them, others might require professionals who can help out with maintenance afterwards, to ensure the site runs smoothly at all times.
Do your research. Make sure you know who owns and runs the business you want to engage. Find out about them professionally--make sure they have a LinkedIn Profile and professional social media accounts.
One immediate area that we improved was the % of leads that converted into appointments. We did so by helping the internal sales team understand the importance of calling within a certain time frame. Different lead sources will react differently to response time. The second change we made was implementing a self-schedule feature on the website, that allowed us to bypass the need for our team to contact the lead once they filled out a form.
A web design company worth their rates will have a decent portfolio of past and present clients and not be afraid to boast about them (in the nicest way possible). Look to see who they’ve worked with and if those businesses are in the same niche as you. Check out their testimonials from other satisfied clients and look online to see if there are other reviews about them as a team.
Can the team you want to employ work across a broad spectrum of subject areas and provide well thought out marketing campaigns to suit a range of different niches and styles? Or do they focus specifically on just one area? If the team you're considering works with other businesses in your industry, you may want to find out whether they're working with your competitors. This could be a determine factor for your final decision.
Look around for articles, blog posts, or short form content they've created for their clients. How do you feel about their style and the writing overall? Even seemingly minor things like spelling and grammar typos can make or break whether that web design company is the right fit for you.
A good web design company will continually strive for success and work collaboratively to make sure that they’ve got every base covered. At every stage of the design process and afterwards, they monitor and track how your site is working. They'll make sure it is ranking properly with high visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs) and iron out any errors as soon as possible.
They’ll want to work with you to see what they can do to make things right. Any web design team with a history of walking away at the end of projects and failing to meet expectations should be avoided.
Trends are an important part of web design but should not be the only focus. If every site they build looks the same based on trends, how can you expect to stand out from your competition? Trends constantly change to meet the needs of factors like ever evolving search engine requirements and algorithms. Your site will need to be up to date, but it still needs to suit the requirements of your business. Make sure the company you employ considers the needs of your clients. It’s useless building a funky, fashion forward website for a site that doesn’t fit that demographic. A good pointer is to look at their own site. If they can’t monitor and look after that properly, can you really trust them with yours?
It might seem obvious, but you do want to employ someone who has built and designed sites in your niche before (if possible). For instance, if you run a website that sells farm machinery, do you really want to engage the services of a company that has only ever worked within the fashion industry? Look at previous sites they've built. If some of their former clients include businesses in industries similar to your own, they're likely familiar with your industry. But how do those sites differ from one another? Keep in mind you don't want a copy-and-paste version of your competitors' websites.
Ask yourself if their work fits a broad spectrum. Are they one dimensional? Have they produced a range of work that fits simple design elements yet also encompasses the more complex needs of a larger business? If they're able to work across an array of platforms, then you know they can handle longer term, more complex projects.
The bottom line is this: it's fine for your site to be top notch with all of the bells and whistles, but it's useless if the web design company won't show you how to navigate and maintain your new site or worse—they refuse to give you ownership!
A company that wants to work with you and do so to the best of their ability will be honest and open with you about what they can and can’t achieve. They will voice difficulties and keep the project within the scope while keeping you informed.
The right web design company will have your best interests at heart, wanting to drive the right traffic to your site to help boost your ROI by creating a more user-friendly, visually appealing website. They will work tirelessly to bring the vision you have for your site to life, and together you can create a fresh spin on your classic brand.
Make sure they explain how the transitional period will work and that you have been given the right guidance on maintaining the site after it is up and running. They may offer to do this for you, but if you’re going it alone, make sure you have all the information on how to keep it running smoothly.
Oh no! Your shiny new site has hit a snag and it’s not working properly for you, or even worse, your client base has contacted you to let you know the site is down. A great web design team will be able to identify the root of your problem in little time and provide an effective and speedy solution to minimize your downtime.
Design teams know what to expect in terms of problems with building websites, site migrations, and other issues with maintaining them. They should be able to outline potential difficulties in the site design process and offer proactive solutions, a sign of experience and transparency. If they don't bring up potential issues and solutions during your introductory phase, be sure to ask them and pay close attention to how they deliver their response.
You’ll ideally want to see measureables. You want to know how much the service you’re requiring costs, but you also need to see how that breaks down over a time frame and what each individual part of the web design process will cost. Be sure to get a full breakdown of all costs before you begin, and get a generalized timeline that includes deliverables and launch. Most reputable web design companies will work out payment options that align with your budget.
Ask how they price general site maintenance packages and account for additional problems that may occur after the site is live. This will help you prepare in the event any issues should arise—you'll know how to budget and what action you can expect from your new web design company.
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