Getting a website that presents your brand, fulfills marketing goals, and most importantly, resonates with the audience requires two-sided cooperation. It is not just about calling the agency and asking the new or updated version of your online presence. It is all about finding the website design firm that will hear you out and do its best to make your dreams come true.
More so, with a sheer diversity of web design firms, you are spoilt with choice. Therefore, some prep job should be done to filter out the best from the rest.
Let’s walk through some vital points that will help you to secure the best website design agency.
Check the web design agency official website
First and foremost, visit the official website. It is vivid proof of the capabilities and technological expertise of a web design firm. Although it is not an indication of design style since the professional website design agency caters to your branding and style guidelines, still its overall image hints whether the company follows the trends and implements the latest techniques.
Note several important things:
- Is the website design responsive?
- Is the website mobile-friendly?
- Is the website accessible?
- Does the website provide the best user experience?
- Does the website have great usability?
- Does the website include all the vital information: about page, team page, portfolio, contacts, feedbacks from clients?
Check portfolio of website design agency
The second important thing to do is check out the portfolio to see real-life examples of web design firm work. If there are some case studies, go for them. They give insights into what tasks and challenges the company has successfully faced. More so, the portfolio is a great way to assess skills and capabilities.
Ask yourself several important questions that may help to sift out the professionals from the inexperienced agencies.
- Do the works look professional?
- Do the sites work fine across all browsers and devices?
- Have any of the websites won awards?
- Do the sites seem similar in scope?
- Do the sites come from your niche?
Do your homework
It is time to give a call to the web design firm to set up a meeting. Though, no rush. It is time to make a list of interview questions. There are some essential issues to clarify. So, what should you ask?
Have they ever worked with companies in your industry?
You do not want to end up with a website design agency that has not worked with companies in your industry. A web design firm with experience in your field may cater to the best result and help you stand out from the market and achieve your goals.
However, if they do not have experience in your niche but still may provide you some impressive results in other areas, this still can be a good option.
What tactics do they use to ensure the best customer experience?
To ensure high conversions, you need a user-centered design and a hyper-personalized interface. Therefore, it is important to know what tactics website design agencies use to create the best customer experience. If these tactics old and stale, then turn away and never come back. The ever-growing demands of the market should be monitored constantly and treated with respect.
What tools do they use?
You may not be an expert in web development or web design; still, knowing what tools are in use is vital to ensure your website meets all the current standards and requirements. Therefore, do these steps.
First and foremost, make sure all the tools are licensed, including visuals like images, gifs, animations, icons, videos, etc.
Second, ensure tools and techniques are up-to-date. Although it is a double-edged sword since all the pioneering technologies have low browser compatibility, still no one wants to end up with a Flash-based website when it is highly recommended to use HTML5. Tools should be relatively modern and time-tested to ensure excellent performance and high speed.
Third, ensure the web design agency code to the best coding standards so that your final website works consistently across all popular browsers and devices and meets DDA compliance and W3C guidelines.
Finally, ensure CMS that underlies project benefits the website, and you are pretty comfortable using it. The deal is, every CMS has its own merits. The website design firm should explain to you why they choose this option for your website.
What steps would the project involve?
It’s in your best interest to know how things will work and what you should expect. The right web design agency will walk you through each step of the process and explain why it is important.
Do they have training?
The right website design agency should provide training. After all, most of their clients are non-tech-savvy people who require basic knowledge to handle their new or updated online estate efficiently.
How updates or changes to the website will be managed?
The ongoing maintenance and optimization services are crucial for any company. If you do not have an in-house developers’ team, you might know how future updates or changes to the website functionality or design should be handled.
Make a list of things you think you’ll need to update fairly frequently: CMS, scripts, plugins, blog posts, or gallery. Can you do everything by yourself or address all these issues to the website design firm? Make sure you are on the same page.
What other services do they offer?
Getting a new website is not the end of your journey. On the contrary, it is just a beginning. Website is your platform to advocate brand, promote products, reach marketing goals, and cash in revenue. Therefore, at a minimum, you should be asking about those extra services as:
- Do they do SEO?
- Do they write content?
- Do they do ongoing digital marketing?
- Do they do email marketing?
Although the web design agency should not cover all those areas (e.g., being a branding agency in the same time), they should still make your website suitable for all those platforms to deliver the results you want.
Last but not least
We all know that first impression counts. Finding the best website design agency is no exception. Pay attention to how the company handles the first phone. The person who answers reflects the overall policy of the company.
If he or she jumps right into a hard sell, then it is probably not for you. If the person asks about the details of the project, then it deserves a shot. Please bear in mind that you will work with this website design firm for quite a while. Therefore, this cooperation should be comfortable for both sides.
- What is the final cost for the project? This will reveal all hidden charges and help to avoid unpleasant surprises with the final cost.
- When is the deadline? This helps to stay on track with your website and monitor the process.
- What is included? Some essentials like SEO, content strategy, information architecture may come as an extra and require further discussion.
- Who is going to work on your project? This helps to ensure you will work with an in-house team.
Conclusion
While there is much more to designing an engaging site, these designer tips should help get you started. With maturity your site can be conversion-optimized, tested, tweaked, and modernized as trends change. Good bones will last forever.