How To Find A Good Web Design Company

It wasn’t too long ago that having a website was considered progressive. Having a website became as essential as having a business card.  The future continues to evolve as accessibility to the internet through mobile phones and tablets grows. Today, not only is it essential to have a web site, but your business might even be judged by how your website, looks, what it says, how quick it loads, how easy it is to navigate, whether it is mobile friendly, or whether it is secure. Equally important is how easy is it to find  your web site. Statistics show that a web search precedes a purchase or business decision. If you don’t have an impressive website, it can be a deal breaker, and that is a reality most businesses have yet to realize.The traditional world of marketing and advertising also has evolved. Businesses around the world are rapidly growing their investments in online marketing – through paid advertising, search engine optimization, social media, email marketing, affiliate marketing and media relations.

But before you even begin to think about online or digital marketing, it is important to have a good website.

Let’s start with understanding what makes a good web site:

A good and well-designed website should highlight the key information,

• be easy to navigate
•  have a strong value proposition
•  concise messaging
• an effective communication plan and frequent outreach.

The website should anticipate what the visitor would need and provides that information quickly and in a way, that would delight the visitor. Instead of saying what the business is offering, a good website talks of solving the visitor’s problems or meeting their needs. It puts the visitor first.

In a competitive market, though, good isn’t good enough. Once you address the functional needs of communicating to the audience, you need to think of the brand experience your web site provides, and the personality it exudes. With so much competition out there, the brand value and personality are often the differentiators that separate the highly successful websites from the rest. This is where experience, and expertise in web design play a huge role. This is where you need to decide between hiring a web designer in-house or outsourcing to a web design company.

Let’s say you have decided to work with an agency. The next question would be to pick between freelance web designers, boutique web design firms or full service agencies that also specialize in digital marketing – SEO, social media marketing, mobile marketing, etc. Your budgets will determine the route you take, but the advantage of working with a full-service agency – despite the higher cost – is that their knowledge and experience in marketing websites can play a significant role in building a website that has the best chance of being successful.

With that background on the importance of your website, here is a 12-step guide to finding and working with the web design company that’s ideal for you.

1. Be realistic and know your objectives

The first step is to set your goals, objectives, and expectations from your website. Playing out future scenarios and setting milestones of six months, one year and maybe even three years would help visualize what business values you expect your website to deliver over time. Some examples of these goals:

• Generate 5% leads from the website in the first six months and grow it to 40% of the leads in a 3-year window
• Make online sales contribute 1% of the business in the first six months and grow that to 15% by the end of the first year
• Improve product or brand awareness by getting direct visitors, visitors from brand search

Being able to measure the success is as important as setting realistic goals. These goals will also help you determine the business value success and thereby help you set meaningful web design and online marketing budgets.

2. Understand cost in terms of value

When it comes to hiring an agency, cost is usually a deal maker or breaker. Many businesses make one of the following two mistakes:

• They either go with the lowest cost proposal trying to save as much as possible. Often, a small price tag is a result of limited expertise, business desperation, or just a superficial understanding of your need.
• The other extreme is to look for a brand-name agency that has worked with high profile clients. If the fit isn’t right, your business could be too insignificant for the high-profile agency. Thus, you may not get the best team and that can translate into a less than effective website.

Don’t solicit a proposal from any and every web designer or web design firm. Do some research and reach out to companies that have worked with clients similar in size, budget and scale as your company, to ensure the right fit.

3. Evaluate their communication

Once you reach out to an agency, their communication can be an early indicator of whether they would be the right partners for you. At every step of the way, be sensitive to what they say, how they say it, how well they understand you and if they are committed to making YOUR business successful.

When you enter a discussion with a company, you should get the feeling that they are on your side, willing to explain what they do, how they do it and most importantly why they are doing it. Transparent communication and a willingness to educate the client – even disagree with a client over what’s in the client’s best interest – are hallmarks of a good agency that will work for your success.

4. Expect a comprehensive proposal

Once you’ve established communication and understood what they have to offer, seek a detailed proposal including project specifics, terms of service, timeline for completion and a cost breakdown among other things. Many agencies would eagerly send you a generic cookie-cutter proposal that doesn’t address your unique needs. How does that help you take an informed decision? Some agencies invest the time and effort to understand your business before they create a proposal. They may even charge you for this time and effort. Often, that’s money well spent if it ensures that you get a partner who understands you and is willing to work towards your success.

5.   Look for a solid track record

Many new agencies may have unique and different propositions, ideas and methodologies. However, it is important for the agency to understand your industry, your company objectives and ideally they should have effectively delivered similar solutions to other clients in the past.

6. Get references and portfolios

One of the best ways to find a quality web design company is to ask around and obtain references. Check for anyone who recently created a website and ask other business owners, colleagues or contemporaries who may have gone through this process recently. Check about their experience and if they would recommend their website designer.

Alternately, study the company’s portfolio and ask for case studies to evaluate their ability to understand and deliver a client’s needs.

7. Does their style match your goals?

You and your web design partner should be aligned to the common goals of the company. A good web design company should understand these objectives and design accordingly. For example: if you want your website to be about E-commerce, the focus should be on return-on-investment (ROI), conversion optimization, building and maintaining your customer base, etc. On the other hand, if you are launching a new company and need to create brand awareness, the website should be designed to provide information and educate the visitors about your services or products. The design and communication approaches for every business are unique and you would do well to find a firm that aligns with your business goals.

8. Communicate with the team developing the website

A successful website is a team effort. Website architects, graphic designers, writers, user experience specialists, SEOs, engineers and developers need to work as a team towards a common goal. Try and communicate with the team that will be working on your project. If the team knows you, understands your needs and can work towards them, you have the best chance of getting a winning web site.

9. Look at the fine print

Many low-cost web design proposals don’t factor in the time spent in discussion, brainstorming, revisions, iterations, bug fixes, etc. When you opt for the lowest cost option, you could end up paying for a lot of “out of scope” services eroding the cost advantage in the long run. Discuss these issues with the web design company and understand the actual cost of the project – not just the design and development cost.

10. Maintenance of the website and quality of investment

A website requires maintenance and need to be updated regularly. After the launch of the website, a good agency will maintain the health of your website. They should also assist you with analytics, reporting and marketing inputs to ensure your website is helping reach your business goals. Look for an agency that can partner with you beyond the launch of the website and seek transparent costing of maintenance and marketing efforts after the website is launched.

11. Verify whether the web design company aligns with your long-term goals

Even if the company has a strong portfolio and fits the immediate needs and budgets, it may not be the right fit in the long-term interest of your business. Look at their services portfolio and check to see if the company would be a good fit in the long-term marketing needs of your website. By the time your website is built, the web design company would have a fair understanding of your business and objectives. If they can fit your long-term marketing needs, the continuity and seamless transition into the next phase would be of immense business value. Finding a new marketing partner could be a distraction, an additional cost and can also waste valuable time.

12. Verify with an existing client

Verify the designer’s work by contacting a current or previous client as this can boost your confidence and give you access to an external opinion.

Understanding the scope of your project and what you are looking for in terms of attractiveness and functionality are key in finding the professional who is best qualified to help you. However, with the mushrooming of several design companies, it can be difficult to find one which you feel confident about. This is when the above guidelines can make it easier for you to shortlist companies that are aligned with your goals and expectations.

At Flying Cow Design, we work towards your goal and believe that our success is dependent on your success. We invest heavily in building long term associations that yield results and provide a platform to help your business grow and sustain that growth.