How To Choose The Right Web Design Company

1. Size does not equate to competence

People sometimes assume a company with more money, employees, office space etc will be more capable than one with less. This is not necessarily correct. In fact much smaller businesses (or individuals) if they apply themselves intelligently/effectively, are often likely to be able to deliver better quality-and more personalized-services than bigger ones. My advice it that you get authentic proof of competence in form of past web design projects (website addresses) the individual or company you want to choose has handled. Go one step further, if possible and request for client contact details so as to verify the claims made.

2. Do they have a business philosophy that protects you, the client?

Customers naturally often complain about unreliable service providers -including Internet-related service providers. The "newness" of the website concept sometimes can lead to uninitiated business owners getting less than they pay for. For instance, websites could be built with little or no effort made - by the designer - to help the owner understand how to use it to reduce advertising/marketing expenses while increasing sales leads generation. Such costumers would subsequently lose faith in the use of websites for low cost, high impact marketing saying "It doesn't work!". Ask the designer for details of what they will do for you, to help your website succeed, that others will not. Use the responses you get to compare with others you are considering - it will not be difficult to identify who is offering you the most tangible benefits.

3. What can they do to make managing your site easy and convenient for you?

Is the individual or company you are considering willing to (search for and) incorporate useful tools/resources(e.g. relevant and appropriate automation) that will equip your website to deliver the results you want at less cost, in less time and using less resources? Ask them for examples of useful automation they have setup on websites-and specific ones they can adapt to suit your biz needs.

Without the intelligent integration of appropriate automation on a website, the challenge of using the website to achieve increased business productivity will, over time become overwhelming. The website should make it cheaper and easier to put information about your business in front of a wider range of prospects almost effortlessly. Website automation using server-sider custom CGI(Common Gateway Interface) scripting is one of the most common and effective ways to do this. Ask your prospective web designer if s/he is conversant with the use of this technology - or has reliable access to someone who does. If you get a "No", MAKE SURE you find someone else who can take care of that aspect.

4. Do they have a web marketing strategy for you?

This is the most important one. A competent web designer must demonstrate the willingness to study(and aptitude to understand) your business - including the goals you aim to achieve. Most importantly s/he must be able to tell you - in simple, non-technical English - how the website can be used to further your business goals and objectives. So, ask if s/he has a Web Marketing Strategy in mind to enable you maximise the Returns On Your Investment in the website. If s/he struggles to answer, be very worried.

What is a Web Marketing Strategy?

A web marketing strategy is basically a step-by-step plan(that should be developed) based on an understanding of the ultimate purpose you intend to use your website to achieve. If well conceived, it will guide you on the specific things to do - daily, weekly etc - in order to leverage your website to get the intended results.

Without a web marketing strategy, you will soon find yourself struggling to justify the money you have spent(and will spend) to keep your website online. I'll be a bit blunt here. Traditional methods can no longer satisfy today's business marketing needs. If you do not have a web marketing strategy, your business WILL become extinct - and that's putting it mildly too!

One of the many performance metrics currently used by serious business website owners is the Website Conversion Ratio(WCR) computed by dividing the total number of visitors to your website by the number of those visitors who eventually take action subsequently to do business with you. The WCR will vary from one website/industry to the other. For instance on the net a typical target WCR is about 3.0% - which means for every 100 visitors to your site, you will expect only about 3 persons to eventually do business with you.

This is why you must have a good marketing strategy to ensure that only the "right" visitors(i.e who fit the "profile" of your target audience) visit your site. The "right" visitors will constitute your "pre-qualified target audience" i.e people already interested in what your website offers. A web marketing strategy makes more of the "right" people visit your site giving you a greater chance of getting contacted by more of your potential customers, so you get a chance to "close the sale" and record an increased WCR. Another way of looking at the WCR is by seeing it as a measure of what I like to call the Return On Your Investment(ROYI) in a business website.

One Analogy: A website featuring a product that makes hair grow on bald heads will not interest a person who regularly visits the barber for a full hair cut! The process involved in developing a web marketing strategy will help you craft marketing messages that make those who NEED your product or service recognize the unique benefit your website offers - and therefore subsequently visit it.

The above is not an exhaustive list. I have only highlighted four of the most important issues which if properly addressed should make your adoption of a web designer end up making you look good in the long term. You might want to visit the www.google.com and type the question "How to choose a good web designer to build my website" or a similar query. You will come up links to other useful articles written on the subject. If you think you're too busy, get someone to do it for you. The time you spend on this preparatory stage could save you from making costly mistakes!

Tayo Solagbade devotes his time to exploring new frontiers of Self-Development Education, especially as it relates to showing people what they can do by themselves for themselves to achieve their set goals at work and/or in life - despite the limitations of their circumstances or environment. In a previous life, Tayo worked for over seven years as a manager in Guinness Nigeria Plc during which time he successfully employed Self-Development techniques to give himself a consistent edge as Brewer, and later Technical Training and Development Manger. To play this role effectively, Tayo functions as a multipreneur to explore, discover and document best practice ways of successfully venturing into various areas of endeavour.

Visit http://www.lulu.com/sdaproducts to download a FREE Chapter Preview of his NEW book "Ten Ways You Can Use Self-Development To Become A High Flyer At Work". Learn more about Tayo by visiting his Online Portfolio

---

Designing Professional Web Pages

If your Web site doesn't project a professional and polished... Read More

Do-It-Yourself Web Design for Home-Based Businesses

Home-based businesses need a strong web presence to combat the... Read More

Teach Yourself CSS The Easy Way

I taught myself HTML back in the mid-nineties and was... Read More

Web Site Templates and Their Benefits

Unarguably, the most important part of your website is content.... Read More

What to Ask Your Web Designer

If you need a web designer, but have no clue... Read More

Tips For An Effective Website

A successful website is something that everyone venturing into the... Read More

Why a Website Design Speaks Volumes About Your Company?

Whether a business has just got off the ground or... Read More

Building Your Website to Save You Money

Does your website make you any money? Does it SAVE... Read More

7 Tips To Increase Sales With Your Ecommerce Web Site

Ecommerce is just exploding right now on the Net. More... Read More

What Is Your Websites Most Wanted Response?

You spend time and money promoting your website; but what... Read More

7 Web Site Design Mistakes That Will Lose You Clients

In today's world, a web site is virtually mandatory for... Read More

My Top Ten List Of Extremely Annoying Web Page Design Elements!

Easy navigation and usability are one of the most important... Read More

Your Web Site Is A Wonderland: What Picassos Art Taught Me About Persuasive Design

Whenever singer John Mayer sings his romantic song, "Your Body... Read More

Graphic Terms- The Basics Part I

You're almost set. The content of your website, e-book, or... Read More

Web Usability: The Basics

What is web usability & why is it important?Web usability... Read More

Give Your Website A Chance

I often wonder how serious people are when it comes... Read More

Do Your Website Yourself - 4 Simple Steps to Get Your Dreams on the Web

Many people hire professional web site designers for as much... Read More

Successful Flash Tips

Ever browse across a website that took ten million years... Read More

Designing Beautiful Artist Websites ? 12 Tips To Showcase Your Art

1. Who needs an artists website?Not everyone! If you are... Read More

Looking for a Web Design Company? Use a Web Design Directory

Your business website tells a lot about your company. A... Read More

404 Error - The Page Cannot be Found

A "404 Error" happens when the web server you are... Read More

Building Your First Web Site?

Before doing anything on the technical side, you need some... Read More

How to Create a Great Landing Page for Your Website

The landing page or entry page of your visitors is... Read More

Tapping Into The Visual Stimulus Of Your Web Site Visitors

"Oh, my eyes, my eyes! What an eye sore. Quick,... Read More

Good Websites Stand Out From The Masses Of Boring, Hard To Travel Sites

Good websites stand out from the masses of boring, hard... Read More

7 Benefits of HTML Validation

You may not bother with html validation or writing simple... Read More

12 Essential Web Site Design Tips

1. What's the purpose?The most fundamental thing to do before... Read More

Why You Should Use CSS

It seems more and more webmasters are using CSS for... Read More

Revising Your Site - What Happened To My Search Engine Placement?

As of September, Smartads went through what so many have... Read More

How To Make It Easy For Your Web Designer To Build Your Website

You have an idea for a website and you are... Read More

Do-It-Yourself or Hire a Professional Designer

Remember your vision for your company and the brand or... Read More

Web Publishing Guide for the Beginning Entrepreneur (Part 1)

The best things don't come easy. - QuotedThe finished web... Read More

Are You A Bill Clinton Webmaster?

One of the most frequent questions I get asked about... Read More