Introduction
Web design can make or break your business. This makes the decision on how to choose the best web designer for your needs an absolute key part of a business strategy.
Here’s why it is so important and some points to bear in mind when making this important decision.
It is far more than impressive graphics:
While an attractive, eye-catching and memorable web presence is essential, it is also crucial that the design, is amongst other things:
- user friendly
- easy to navigate
- page refresh responsive
- secure
- scalable
- flexible
- maximises both search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media optimisation (SMO)
- Desktop and mobile device friendly
By taking the above into account, your web presence will offer a good user experience that will have first time visitors eager to explore, and repeat visitors returning on a regular basis.
Experience counts:
Before committing to an individual or company when deciding how to choose the best web designer, it is important to check their portfolio and understand the breadth of their web design experience.
As well as delving into their portfolio, you should visit the sites they have created, check usability, and don’t forget to check the footer of the home page. In the vast majority of cases this will give credit to the designer. This being the case, check to see that the designer concerned is still responsible for the development of that site.
If they can offer one or two reference sites with contact details all the better. You can then contact these companies to understand from a neutral perspective their experience with the designer concerned, the timescales involved and other issues surrounding the level of satisfaction with work completed.
Relevant to your company:
While this is not an absolute must, it is something to bear in mind. If the web designers you are contacting have experience and include in their portfolio customers in the same business sector as yours, this is a plus. It means they will already be familiar with the type of business you are in.
From your point of view it is a given that you will be checking on your major competitors and others in the related business sectors you operate in. If you see things that appeal and that work well, ask the potential web designers what slant they can put on such solutions while ensuring your proposed presence is individual and unique.
The hub that connects your extensive marketing strategy:
Digital marketing is certainly an “in” term at the moment, but make sure that you do not neglect other marketing aspects. When questioning potential web designers, you need to feel comfortable that they understand the importance of total marketing strategy integration.
They should rapidly gain an understanding of what approach you take to marketing and should also be offering recommendations as well as solutions.
Price is important, but it is not everything:
When considering how to choose the best web designer it is obviously important to consider costs involved, but it is even more important to understand that the cheapest solution should not be the one you automatically plump for.
When presented with pricing check exactly what it includes, what support is available and the cost of any ongoing changes and additions.
What you are after is a flexible, responsive web presence that pleases visitors at a price that reflects the web designer’s skill and expertise.
That's all for now:
If you've read all the way through this article, we are thankful. We have a large collection of articles, guides, and comparison reviews of eCommerce solutions, web hosting providers, website builders, and more! Feel free to check them out;
Please share any comments below!