Advice On Choosing A Website Design Company

Choosing a website design company is a crucial decision that every forward thinking business needs to make at some point. Whether it be a re-design of their existing site, or the creation of a completely new one, the importance of this decision can not be understated. The reason why? Well, put simply, a good website will bring in more business, and a bad one will drive away prospective customers.

So, how can a business be sure that they are making the right decision when choosing a website design company?

Firstly, it is important to establish what exactly is required from the website. If they are unsure about this, or even if they just want to confirm that what they think is right, then they should set about researching their target audience. This involves contacting existing customers and asking them what information and features they would expect to see on the website. Their ideas and suggestions should then be made into a prioritized list

Having established what is required, creating a shortlist of website design companies is the next step. Such a list can be made by simply searching on Google for terms such as “website design companies” or “website designer”. Lots of results will be brought up, so a little time will need to be spent looking through the websites of these companies and seeing what they have to offer.

Having made a shortlist of around 5-10 website design companies, each should then be contacted and the following should be considered…

- Do they have an extensive and impressive portfolio?

- Is there a certain feel to all of the sites they have created, or are they flexible in their designs?

- Can any of their past clients be contacted so as to obtain references?

- Do they have structured planning and implementation processes?

- How soon can they start work on the project?

- Do they do all of the work themselves or do they outsource parts of it to others?

- Do they offer assistance in getting websites listed in the major search engines?

- Will a blog be included in addition to the main website?

- Who owns the intellectual property rights for the finished website?

- Is any post design support offered?

- Do they charge an hourly rate or a fixed fee?

- How much payment needs to be made upfront?

- Will they guarantee and stick to the deadlines in place?

The answers to these questions should be used to narrow down the shortlist to 3 or so companies, who should then be asked to give a final quote. Prices may vary significantly, but a general ball park figure for a well designed 10 page website is around $2000. Businesses should be cautious about proceeding with a company that offers to design a website for much less than that figure because the quality of the final website may be questionable.

Learn more from a web consultant at http://www.kinneymedia.com, a company that specializes in website design in southport ct.