Your website is the face of your company and acts as a bridge that connects your business with your customers. As a business, you want to put the best foot forward and portray a positive image of your brand through your website. For that, you will have to hire the best website design agency. Unfortunately, it is easier said than done especially, with the number of website design companies out there and each offering similar services and making bold claims.
If you are scouting around for the best website design company to get your website designed then, you are at the right place. In this article, you will learn about the eight questions you need to ask before hiring a web design agency.
1. How Long Have You Been In Business?
One of the first things you should inquire about before hiring a web design company is about their experience. Look for a web design firm that has years of relevant experience behind their back. Even if they don’t have the relevant experience of designing websites related to your industry, ask them whether they have designed similar websites before or not. If they have not, then you are better off looking elsewhere. The more experienced the web design company, the better the output they will deliver. Experienced web design companies sweat the small stuff and pay attention to detail, giving you a much more refined website.
2. How Long Will The Project Take?
One of the most important considerations when it comes to web design is time. Even though most web design companies won’t share the exact date of project completion but they can surely give you a tentative date when your website will be ready. There is a lot of effort that goes around creating web designs especially great ones. There are many different phases involved in the web design process and you can ask how long each phase will last.
Web designers also have to overcome design challenges and that can only be possible with diverse experience. Steve Jobs summed it up brilliantly when he said, “A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”
3. How Much Will You Charge?
Another important factor is cost. Assess your business needs and ask yourself, how much money you are willing to pay for web design? Based on the answer to this question, you can easily choose a web design New Jersey Company. Compare prices and services they are offering and choose one that offers the best bang for your buck. If a web design company quotes a fixed price, ask them what is included and what is not included in the package. Are there any hidden charges? Read the agreement carefully as there might be something in between the lines that you might miss and regret later.
4. Who Will Work On My Website?
Meet the team who will work on your website and ask about their qualification, skills, and experience. This will give you a clear idea about what to expect from them. Ask whether the company will design your website in house or outsource the project to third party web designers. If web design is not the core area where your perspective service provider excels, they will most probably outsource your projects so keep that in mind.
5. Which Web Design Process Do You Follow?
That is where things start to get interesting. Even though, most web design agencies offer similar services and make similar claims but they all follow a different process. Every web design company has their unique web design process and as a client, you should be aware of that. What stages are involved in their web design process? What are the activities they undertake during each phase? Knowing all this information will help you gain a better understanding of their web design process.
6. Can You Show Me The Samples of Previous Projects?
One of the best ways to judge a web design company is to look at their previous projects. By looking at their previous designs, you can get an idea about what to expect. This way, you set the right expectations initially, which saves you from an unpleasant surprise at the end. Look at other projects that they have done which are not related to your industry and you can see their design acumen across industries.
7. Can You Provide Client References?
Visit any web design provider website and you will surely find client testimonials there, which are praising them for a wonderful job. Take those testimonials with a pinch of salt and ask for client references. Try to reach out to those clients and directly and get an authentic review of the service. You can ask them questions such as what was it like to work with them? How was the final output? Is your website successful or not? This will save you from getting ripped off by mediocre web design service providers.
8. What Other Services Do You Offer?
Web design is just a small part of a website and there is a lot more to a website than design. Most web design agencies offer many other services other than web design. It could be digital marketing services such as content writing, SEO and social media marketing or it could be security, maintenance, and troubleshooting services. Ask about other services they offer. Just because many other services are included in the package does not mean that you should get it. Assess your business needs and only acquire services that you need and avoid those you don’t need to keep the cost down.
Which questions do you ask when hiring a web design agency? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.
Author Bio:
Mohammad Ali is an experienced digital marketer and a search engine marketing specialist who is currently associated with Branex, as a senior digital marketer and brand strategist.