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Top 10 Tips for Choosing a Web Designer for Your Business Website

How to choose a web design company

Simple. You do your homework on them. Then, you start asking questions and taking notes. There are plenty of web designers available. You want to choose the best because, in fact, your web designer is, in essence, your partner. You want to choose a designer who is serious about YOUR business.

What questions do you ask?

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

Creating 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 don’t have a web design background. 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 start and avoid repetitions, which can be costly 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 company 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 with eCommerce hosting?

2. Do you have a portfolio that I 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 the design company has created and check each one out. You like what you see? Do the sites have a style that appeals to you?

3. Do you have any reference?

In addition to checking websites, ask for customer references. Contact your 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? What did you dislike 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 firm outlines all 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 bit about how they manage payments. If they respond in a professional and professional manner, that’s a good sign. If they throw answers like – “Don’t worry, we’ll manage” or “Whatever makes you comfortable”, don’t be fooled. 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 budget for hiring 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 “clean” code search engine friendly website that uses cascading style sheets is essential to getting your content indexed on major search engines such as Google and Bing.

6. Do you have experience with social media marketing?

Many marketing companies know the first thing about social media marketing. These companies are stuck in the past and are not as effective as they pretend to be. Be sure to 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’ll want your social media properties to fit in 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?

Be sure to ask your prospective web design company about the process they use? Do they design a website or build 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 companies specialize in designing websites that don’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 early on what the process is for the company you are considering.

8. How long will it take?

Perfectionism can be a big hurdle in the fast-paced world of the Internet. Some designers cannot compromise on quality and time to market. Test: See how long it takes until you receive a proposal.

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

If your design company does not offer website maintenance, you may want to continue 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 company doesn’t know the names of the contacts at your favorite web design company, this should raise red flags. 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 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 looking to implement a green policy.

Getting a bit of recognition on the W3 is hard, 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. Internet users are overloaded with information. If they don’t see what they want to see on your home page or landing page, they bounce. So making a statement about your corporate culture and core business values ​​has to happen in the blink of an eye. Visitors won’t even see the “About Us” page if it doesn’t create a good impression, within 10 seconds. So, go green! An emblem or banner proclaiming that you employ 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 becoming more and more difficult. Good designers are being snatched away by agencies and big projects. They are overworked and often you won’t meet 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 you are right for the job.

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