How to choose a web design company
A topic of hot discussion – how do you choose a web design company for your project? Many small and medium sized companies often have this struggle. It’s actually very commonplace to find that companies cycle between several providers. In my opinion, the main reason for this is that each web design agency has a different style of working, their pricing varies wildly for different services and often agencies are under constraints from staff – usually taking on more work than they can fit in.
There are a number of ways in which most people find themselves in contact with a potential company. Given the competitive nature of the industry, it’s highly likely that the company has already made contact before you’ve even thought about having a yours re-designed! The most valuable asset you can have when choosing a company is a personal referral or recommendation. If you’ve got a friend, colleague or even someone at your local networking company who is prepared to put their neck on the line, so to speak, to suggest a particular company then go for it. Just be aware that networking groups can work on commission – if this is the case it’s likely that the recommendation has very little value.
The Best Way To Choose a Web Design Company
- Personal referral
- Local reviews – check Google Reviews to see how much positive feedback there is
- How they handle the design process
- Previous case studies – ask to look at their work!
- Company structure – how many members of staff are there? Less than 4 means they’re going to struggle with workload at peak times.
- Company White Papers – often more established companies will create a report of how they’ve helped previous clients. Read this and then quiz the web designers when you speak to them.
- Organic SEO rankings – the reality is, if you type in web design on Google and pick one of the top results, if it’s not a local result then the company has put a lot of time, money and effort into being there. If Google deems them trustworthy, in a competitive industry like this, they probably are!
- Your gut feeling – have you gelled with the member of the team you’ve spoken to?
In conclusion, there are many different ways to choose – I wouldn’t personally advise using price as a controlling factor when making a decision on which web design company to choose. There are too many freelancers and small agencies who use price as a commodity when ultimately design is 100% time based. If you’ve paid someone only £300 to build a website, then be prepared for them to spend a maximum of 3-4 hours building it.
