It used to be that having the right product or service was all it took to run a successful business. No more! Today, highly successful businesses must also have an appealing website design to entice prospective clients to take a closer look at those great products and services they offer.
And in order to create a great website, you need an experienced website design professional. Otherwise, the best product or service in the world won’t be enough to make
your business a success!
Why good web design matters
In today’s highly digital age, prospective clients often get their initial impression about your business through online sources. And while social platforms can help create a positive impression, it is your web designer who has the ability to truly leave visitors with the most favourable impression about your site:
- Your website tells visitors a lot more about who you are and what you can do for
them. Poor content can leave future clients with more questions than answers!
- Websites help to differentiate your business from your competitors
- Professional web designing practices can leave visitors with a sense of trust about your business. They’ll feel more confident placing an order or providing their credit card or personal data to your website
- Efficiently designed web sites can give visitors all the information they want, including the exact products and services they were looking for. And that means they won’t
leave disappointed to browse at a competitor’s website!
The work of professional web designing services is like a huge flashing neon sign on the digital highway that says: Pick me – I can help you.
Qualities of a great web designer
So, how do you find a professional web design services provider? What should you look for
in order to separate run of the mill designers from the truly professional service providers?
Well, here are some things for you to evaluate:
- Do they have a professional-looking web presence?
- Is your prospective website designer a part of a team, or are they “lone wolves”
working on their own?
- Do they have experience in creating mobile websites?
- Have they designed business-critical websites for other small and medium
enterprises?
- Does the website designing firm you plan to work with offer a whole host of allied
services, like content creation, content management and consulting?
- Will you receive web hosting support from your web services provider?
- Do they provide on-going support, in case you have issues with your website once
you go live?
- Is this design team committing to provide security updates and other design upgrades once the site has been implemented?
- Does this web designing agency offer you written contracts, with all their responsibilities and fees clearly documented?
The answers to these questions will help you determine whether this is the agency you should work with. Most of these questions are designed to understand whether the service
provider you are evaluating can help your business survive and thrive in today’s digital era.
Move forward with the selection process only if you are satisfied that the web designer you
are talking to has what it takes to create an appealing website. However, before you do make
a final decision, make sure you:
- Speak with more than one web design service
- Ask to see samples of their work, preferably websites they may have designed for businesses in your niche
- Check for references – ideally via a phone call and/or through video interaction(Skype or Messenger)
- Thoroughly review the contracted terms and conditions to ensure everything that you discussed is fully documented
Finally, while price should never be the deciding factor on which web designer to choose, you should do a cost comparison to ensure that you are receiving comparable value for the
price you are paying.
Making the right web design choice
It’s clear then that, your choice of the perfect web design agency for your needs can impact more than just the quality of your website. In fact, choosing a “bad fit” web designer can
pose serious risks to the very survivability of your business. Not only does a bad website prevent new customers from doing business with you, but poor web site design can cause
existing clients to move elsewhere – to competitors with more professionally-designed websites.
So, before you choose your next website designing agency, consider all of the factors discussed above, and then make your choice.