Web design: how do you pick the right company? Getting a website designed and built is the easy part. Choosing the right company to do the work is a little more difficult. Here are five things you should look for when choosing a web design company: their work, their ability to intentionally build your new website with the intention of attracting customers to your website, their ethos, organization and finally something we call quintessence. Quintessence is that feeling you get when you know that this is a good decision. So let’s get started listing the five things to look for in a web design company!
Examples of Their Web Design work
On the web design company’s website, there should be several examples of their work. If you don’t see a portfolio of their work accessible on their website, that could be a potential red flag. Even at the barbershop they have photos of sample haircuts! For a website that may cost thousands of dollars to develop, you definitely want to see this company’s designs and style. It’s even better if you can find or ask to see an example of the kind of website you are looking to get created. Do they have experience designing and developing the kind of website you have in mind? Are they well-versed in creating e-commerce websites that look good and are easy to use for the client? Are you looking to build a website for a small business, a manufacturing company or a municipality? Whatever your field, it might be nice to see that this web design company has had experience designing and developing a website like the one you want.
Do they build it to attract customers
Not all websites are designed the same. There are some very specific things that a website should have if it was designed and developed to be optimized to have good ranking on search engine results pages:
- For example, will your new website be optimized for mobile use? According to a recent study, 90% of global internet users use a mobile device to go online.
- Will they develop pages for the cities that you serve?
- Do they do page optimization, including Title Tags, H1 tags, Alt tags, meta descriptions and XML sitemap?
If they don’t offer this information, it might be useful to ask.
Ethos
There is an old saying “Never ask a barber if you need a haircut”. What’s your feeling after interacting with representatives from this organization? Were they a hard sell? Did they try to upsell you on features you don’t really think you need for your website design? What is their online reputation? Do they have any testimonials on their website? What is their social media presence? Are there some reviews you can find? It might take a little digging, but for most of your customers, your website will be the first impression of your company. It is worth a little extra time to make the wisest decision.
Organization
If I had a website design project, I would want to be with a web design company that has their act together. If someone has been in the business for a while, and has been successful, there is a sense of mastery and experience they possess that comes apparent during the first couple of contacts you have with the company.
As you are talking to them, they are checking all the boxes: They have experience with the kind of web development that you need, they are knowledgeable in all aspects of the business, and may even offer suggestions based on their experience for something that would help with your User Experience (EX) or User Interface (UI). For example, at 212 Creative, LLC we recently developed an e-commerce project. They did not have a payment gateway established yet, so we were able to make several suggestions of gateways we had worked with before, and based on the type of business and volume they were anticipating, we were able to make a recommendation for one that would best suit their needs. That depth really only comes with training, time and experience.
Quintessence
The ancient Greeks said there were five elements: Most people have heard of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, but there was a fifth element. They called it Quintessence. It was the stuff they imagined the heavens were made of. In the context of choosing a web design company for your project, what I am calling quintessence is that undefinable, ineffable connection, rapport and sense of comfort that you have with the representatives in the company. Can you talk to them easily? Do you feel comfortable asking questions? Do they seem to genuinely care about your project, or do you leave a phone call or meeting with them feeling like you are just another project? We think that, whatever this quintessence is, it is real, and it is real important. If your project involves a complex design and development, it may take weeks or even months to imagine, design and create. You want to be in the trenches with someone you trust, have good rapport with, and someone that you feel comfortable with during the exciting process of website development.
When looking for a web design company for your next project, keep this five things in mind as you choose the best one for you, your project and your company.
