CHOOSING A WEB DESIGN COMPANY

When it’s been put together with care with the best design by a talented programmer, your website is a tool that will transform your business. In today’s market, a company’s web presence is often the deal maker or budget breaker and needs to be treated like the vital marketing tool it can be.

We know that selecting a designer to guide your ideas from paper to computer screen can difficult. Some advertising firms offer slick sites that are lovely to look at but deliver very little functionality; your company needs a design firm that can deliver a site that works well and looks incredible.

When beginning your search keep in mind that selecting a provider is always risky, and you will have to decide for yourself if the candidate you select will not only put together a great site and deliver exactly what they promised in their brief to you. Begin with a detailed brief outlining your needs with scrutiny; clearly stating every last detail you need isn’t overkill, it’s protecting your time and money! Professional designers pitching for your contract will effectively answer every point you list.

When the pitches come in and decision time rolls around, there are key elements to the decision process that will make the task of reviewing and narrowing your search much easier.

Examples: What caliber of work have they previously completed? Is the style of the designer in line with how you would like your site to appear? Is their site completely functional as well as good looking, and when you use search engines, does the site show up in the rankings?

Experience: How many sites have they already put together, and what sort of experience do they bring to the table? Don’t be afraid to ask your candidates about their industry history and the years spent in the field.

Technical Expertise: Consider find out how much knowledge they have when it comes to SEO, browser compatibility and usability. How forthcoming are they with technical knowledge and did they spend enough time discussing the important background aspects of a site’s functionality rather than simply discussing the look of the site?

Testimonials: Be confident in your role as a potential client: ask for referrals from previous satisfied customers. Asking tough questions about work habits and service delivery, and ask yourself if you’re willing to commit time and money to this person’s working style.

Price: Don’t be afraid to spend money on a good designer! If you can find a designer who delivers a fantastic product, find room in your budget to accommodate his cost; it’s worth it every time.

Point of Difference: Be as honest as possible when asking why you should use the designer you’ve chosen; what do you really want from the site you’re building, and can this designer deliver those expectations?

Specialisation: Above all, the first and last question is: can this person develop the site my business and my clients need, and do they have the skills necessary to bring my dream into reality? A designer with a lot of creative ideas but very little technical know-how can waste your time and money; be sure to find a designer with the specialty skills you need to deliver the site you really want.

… And when you’ve exhausted those questions, remember that regardless of how detailed the brief, there are still miles of room for interpretation and suggestions to be made. And if the idea feels unsettling think of how positive it will be to get innovative suggestions from a design professional!

Before putting your signature on any agreement, review your choices again and think back to your meeting with the candidate; consider how communicative they were in your interview, do you get the feeling they will be hard to contact or may surprise you with ever changing costs?

Will they be easy to work with and will they cut through jargon-heavy design terms to communicate clearly with you? If you’ve found yourself reading these and double checking your own answers, this designer may not be the right match for your job!

Most importantly: do you like the designer, and do you like working with them? If at any point you didn’t like the idea of working with them, go with your gut and keep looking; first impressions are usually correct. When the decisions have been made and the contract awarded, you will be working closely with someone you feel completely confident in as a design professional.

If your selection process went well and the designer of your choice delivers a fantastic final product, there is no end to the success your business will have.