Considerations When Choosing a Web Design Company

There are literally thousands upon thousands of web design companies actively and expertly crafting websites today; for someone who is looking at hiring one  to build a business’ or organisation’s site for the first time, the choice is often mind boggling. Here are a few of the more important items to help in choosing the right web design company.

Web Design Factors to Focus On

If you’ve laid out the proper information that your future web design company will need, such as the site’s goals, target audience and other useful organisational information, then it’s time to look at a few agencies to assist with building a site. You can easily search for them online, or ask reliable colleagues for suggestions. The list of candidates can start out fairly lengthy, but it’s sure to narrow down after looking into these five factors:

1. Web Design Portfolio. Every established web design company has one, and if one doesn’t, then chances are the company isn’t all that established. When evaluating a company’s portfolio and of course, the individual websites within it, try asking yourself the following questions:

• Are there any sites similar to the one you need?
• Does the portfolio illustrate the company is experienced at working with others in your particular industry?
• Are the websites well designed? Do they appear professional?
• Is there one with a style you like? Do the designs coincide with what you want to achieve with your website?
• Is each web design user-friendly (easy to navigate, easy to understand, make it simply for users to find things)?
• Do all the web designs look the same or similar?
• Do the websites load quickly? Do they have browser add-ons or interactive components (e.g. Flash) that you might need?
• Does the site taken into consideration various resolutions, monitor sizes and browsers? (A horizontal scrollbar will indicate that the web designer has not considered other resolutions and monitor sizes. Checking the websites on other browsers will help you identify if the sites were designed for all major browsers, or only one.)
• Are the sites ranking well on search engines? You can check this by going to a search engine and entering a phrase that you would use to look for a particular site, but NOT the name of the actual site. If the site comes up on the first page of the results, it’s ranking alright. However, if it does not then this is not necessarily a sign that the web design company does not know how to make websites rank well on the search engines. The most well designed sites generally will not rank well unless they also utilised off-site search engine optimisation techniques. Thus this is only a factor if the web design company claims to of also performed search engine optimisation work for the sites.

2. Testimonials and Client Feedback. Testimonials are another excellent factor to consider, but don’t simply rely on the ones from the company’s page. Don’t hesitate to ask for references and then follow up and learn about their experiences. Speaking with previous as well as current web clients about their relationships with a web design company is definitely worthwhile. Try asking these types of questions:

• Were you happy with the results?
• Did the company complete the site on schedule?
• Did the web design company obtain sufficient information from you? How did they react to your input?
• Did you receive what you paid for?
• Was there anything that you didn’t like about the web design company?
• Would you recommend the firm?

3. Initial Investment. This is no doubt that this an important factor to consider when selecting a web design firm. You could find a top notch Sydney web design company with an impeccable portfolio of gorgeous looking websites that are ranking at the top of search engine results pages, only to realise that you do not possess the initial investment capital required to engage with the firm.

The goal is to find a web design company with considerable expertise in the various areas of website development, search engine optimisation, and online marketing, all while staying within the size of your investment. Essentially, a company that practices sensible web design. On the flipside, your budget should not act as the sole or primary determinant when selecting a web designer, as this can also lead to problems. Oftentimes, a tempting and unbelievably cheap offer will deliver exactly what you might expect:  a cheap looking website and poor results.

Costs can vary widely from one web design company to another. Typical structures include fixed rates, hourly, or per page. An important step to take with regards to these factors is to make sure you obtain either a fixed price or a definitive range for all the work. Clarify each company’s billing method, compare prices, and obtain all of these in writing before making a deal.

4. Expertise. After assessing the first three factors, your list of possible firms should shrink. Now is a decent time to learn more about those still on your list. When you find the time, give the companies a call or set up appointments to know them better, and gauge their levels of expertise on important areas like search engine optimisation, browser compatibility, load time, interactive content, HTML code, etc. Not all of these are required for every website, but established web designers should communicate considerable knowledge in these areas, and not just dwell on the aesthetic elements of a website.

5. Chemistry. This may come as a surprise and many people take this for granted, but it is crucial that you are able to interact effectively with the people in the web company you hire. A decent amount of time and effort is spent in developing a website, and this involves efficient communications with your website designer. Thus also establishing a simple working relationship and trust is key. Hiring the most distinguished agency is not worth much if at the heart of it all, communications with the people you’re working with are ineffective. So along with all other factors, make sure the web designer selected is one that is a nice fit for your communication preferences.

Choosing a Web Design Company

Choosing the most appropriate web design company amongst the thousands may seem like a herculean task at the moment, but if you know what you want, stick to it and take note of these five factors then you are already well on your way to selecting the right website designer for your company’s needs in no time. Remember, that much like anything, selecting the appropriate firm is not simple, but spending time upfront to select the appropriate web agency can save an enormous number of future headaches.