This is a guest post by Jessica Sanderswho is an avid small business writer touching on topics that range from social media to business management. She is a professional blogger and web content writer for ResourceNation.com.Every company needs a website – and if you don’t have time to do it yourself, then you’ll need to consider hiring out your web design work. There are a number of factors to take into consideration before choosing one of the many companies marketing themselves to you on Twitter and Google+.
"… There is such a great variety of web design companies and individual designers who will do this work for you that you don’t have to worry about a thing. [The] real task for you today is to make a choice between this number of firms and companies, and moreover to make it properly." – Webbuildinginfo.com
Free Consultation
Any reputable company will offer a consultation, and often times it’s free. This is your chance to pick their brain; learn a little more about what they can offer you. Take this opportunity to interview the company. Prepare a list of your toughest questions and wait for the answers. Some questions to consider asking are:
- What will the total cost be?
- What is their vision for your website?
- Will your website be a priority for them?
- Do they have the tools to realize your ideas?
Portfolio of Relevant Work
The key word here is relevant. While the company may have plenty of experience with web design in general, do they have experience working with companies within your niche? Perhaps they have done a handful of boutique websites, but have never created a successful ecommerce site. It’s a small variance that will make all the difference.
- Have they created sites for similar companies?
- Have they successfully implemented the features you need?
- Have they worked with a company of your size – regardless of whether that is big or small.
SEO Knowledgebase
It’s no longer enough to create a standout website. Now, you have to consider whether it’s SEO friendly or not. In the world of online, being searchable, available and first in the search rankings is of utmost importance. Decipher their level of SEO knowledge and techniques.
- Don’t get involved in bad SEO: Make sure their structure and techniques all fall within the White Hat SEO category.
- Optimization: Is the design optimized for search engines?
Testimonials
Client testimonials can be a great resource for your decision making process. Who knows about the company better than those who have already paid for their services? However, instead of just perusing the compliments, read thoroughly for these three points:
- Customer service: Are there any complaints about timeliness of customer service response or bad attitude?
- Tech support: If you are not web design savvy, you want to have all the support you can get. Are they successful in that area?
- Understanding your vision: If the company doesn’t see your vision like you do, you won’t get the product you want. Has this been a problem for previous customers?
References
Finally, your best tactic for finding the right company is through personal and professional references. Check with other professionals within your niche, small business owners in your area, etc. You’ll get the most honest answer from someone who has nothing to lose by giving it to you straight. SEMGeeks.com suggests, “Any negative feedback from a reference is a definite red flag.”
Other than friends and business contacts, check your online resources.
- Forums
- Review sites
- LinkedIn recommendations
Image courtesy
A business must have a great website. You must have a great web designer for your website. :D
Johnny, absolutely right! Thanks for checking out the post! :)
These tips are not enough to design a website but these are useful.
Hey Jessica I like your writing style, You write awesome and your story telling style is good and success in attracting my mind.
Nice sharing.Choosing the inexpensive web design services is
the most important step.You have to choose the company that can work within
your budget and deliver the best solution on time.
buraq-technologies.com
Over the past couple of years, the world has gone through financial and recessionary crises one after the other like night follows day. As a result of this economic roller-coaster ride, many people have lost their jobs, and a great many of them have turned to entrepreneurship to ply their skills and talents. As a result, many of them have turned to the internet for their salvation and have established their online presence by setting up websites for their businesses.
http://www.addvalue.com.au/
As far as my own search for content goes I use google reader to follow around 60 art/design blogs that I check daily. On tumblr I use my dashboard to keep loose tabs on another 650 art related blogs. Additionally, I regularly check submission based project sites such as the ones I mentioned in the post and websites like ffffound and designspiration too.
With that in mind I think you can see why I don’t believe #5 to be harsh at all. I’m not trying to be mean to anyone when I close their window and move on to the next one. Bloggers are busy just the same as the next freelancer. We have to determine whether the extra time spent on a single post is really worth it. Often times it is not. Not because someone who puts their portfolio in flash does rubbish work but because our livelihood depends on balancing quality with quantity. The reality of the situation is that there is almost always other work available to feature of an equal quality that does not require the extra time. What would you do?
http://www.addvalue.com.au/
There really are a lot of choices that you should consider when choosing a web design company. You can also ask one of your employees to learn web designing for a definite amount of time so that way you wouldn't have to outsource other companies if you are on a tight budget. It is always great to have a trustworthy man on your team that can do everything you need.
You really have to be smart and consider everything including the credibility and ability of the design company. They should also meet the ideas of the owner of the business in order to capture the exact design that is needed to be achieved. The better looking the website, the better chances there are of marketing the business.
Considering the amount of work needed and cash to be released, it is important to review the recommendations of others to the web design company that you are choosing. Trusted websites that offer freelance design can also be a place where you can find someone who can do the design for your website.
http://www.msecuredatalabs.com
Having an eye-catching web design can add to the viewers' interest to explore your website. It is indeed important to hire a web design company who is not only capable of doing the job, but has enough credibility to be trusted with. Thanks for sharing these tips!
Choosing a web design company is very essential especially in the Online Marketing business. Consumers really make their impression in the presentation of the website who is attractive and most of all have the state of the arts designs. Thank you for sharing this tips to us.
Jod Johnson @ Designer Sarees
http://www.nuksha.com/
That's so true Joderick. When it comes to online marketing, a perfect web design humanizes any business. We really appreciate your comment. Thanks for stopping by!
In the era of digital revolution websites plays vital role in enhancing business by connecting new customer from the world. The websites has become important resource and attached in many aspects to our life such as education, employment, government, commerce, health care and more. Nowadays, websites becomes an interactive platform that is used for receiving information as well as providing information. According to the Canadian researchers within few seconds web users develop first impressions regarding web pages. So it is necessary to develop efficient web design that provides information in precise and illustrated manner.
While developing web pages it is necessary to follow web standards that is developed by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These standards ensure websites look and feel consistent across a broad range of devices and platforms. If your website doesn’t follow standards it may look different and ultimately losses its objective to intact the web users.
Web standards can also help your website with:
Faster loading times
Easier to maintain code
Lower maintenance costs
Search engines
www.nuksha.com
For me, I have to be smart enough because i prefer cheap labor but of quality and now it is on the rise in the online world as technology grows. Look, You can hire web designer in odesk.com. Odesk is excellent and provides a ton of crucial information. You get a photo, a name, an overview of their skills and experience, recent work history and client feedback, tests taken & results obtained, recent job applications, resume and details of their portfolio for you to study. And you get the rate they are offering. You should know that odesk will add 10% to this rate. So, if they offer $10 an hour, you will pay odesk $11. You also know where they live, how many contracts they’ve completed, how many hours they have worked and a client feedback rating system where 5 stars is the best. This is enough to give you a complete picture.
Study every contractor who bids on your project and then choose a shortlist. Now it’s time to make contact with them. I like to call this the evaluation stage.
Evaluate – staying with odesk, they have a messaging system, which is email-based. This is an opportunity for you to satisfy yourself that a contractor has the skills and can do the work in a timely fashion. Ask questions. Dig a little deeper. This is the trick to finding a good fit for you and your project. For example,
What is your greatest skill?
Which part of web design work do you love the most?
Can you create good quality work to a deadline?
Have you done any design projects in this niche before?
Now you think of some questions. Make sure the replies give you a feeling of confidence. You want to be confident you’ve chosen the right person for the job. Once you’ve asked your questions, I recommend either organising an interview or setting a test task. The interview could be done with skype. Geography should not be a barrier. Or you could set a simple test task and offer to pay so you can see the results before deciding.
www.skinb5.com
Wow!... That tips look good... I was looking for Website Development Company Boca Raton... these tips will help in finding... Thanks