Tips For Choosing The Best Web Design Company

Here we have 28 tips for choosing the best ever web design company

Well OK 28 tips to help you choose the best ever web design company does seem a bit ludicrous but to be fair – reading tips from a web design company about how to choose the best web design company is a wee bit daft..

So our tips are the ‘highlight’ tips taken from a range of online tips for selecting the best web design company. To find these we simply put how to select a web design company into google hiding our private results.

We have then selected a few grand ideas from each of these sites and made our very own (nearly) tips for helping you choose the best ever web design company… and by the way Build14Me builds pretty good websites too.

How to Choose a Web Designer - Passion For Business, LLC

http://www.passionforbusiness.com/articles/choose-website-designer.htm

Our favourites from Karyn Greenstreet’s selection:

1) You may find a designer who can also help you with the text for your website but don’t count on it. Be prepared to do your own copywriting, or hire a professional copywriter.
2) Pay attention to how much they (the web designers) ask about YOUR BUSINESS (sic) They should want to get to know you and your business intimately. How else can they design a site that reflects you, your brand, and your business, unless they spend time to get to know you?
3) Ask them whether they will maintain your site after the initial design, and how much they'll charge for that. Some designers want to create new sites but don't want to maintain them.
4) Make sure you own your domain name, even if the website designer registered it for you.
5) You have got to enjoy talking and working with them. Do you LIKE the designer? Do you believe they'll act ethically? Do you enjoy speaking with them? Do they stay focused to the task at hand, or do they ramble and waste your time? Do you feel you "click" with their personality and values? Do they offer you invaluable insight and advice about your site design? - See more at:

To be fair that last point is actually lots of points – but all relevant and useful we thought.

8 Steps to Choosing a Web Design Company - PressEnter

http://pressenter.com/choosing-a-web-design-agency/

Builld14me favourites from Presenter.com

6) Ask the agency you’re interested in to provide solid proof of their capabilities. They should be showing you case studies or examples of how they have approached a problem and how they have provided a solution.

7) When you enter into a discussion with them, they should be on your side, working hard to explain what they do, how they do it and most importantly why they are doing it. If you are ever confused or lost by any part of the discussion, it’s not your fault… it’s theirs.

8) They need to understand how your users will interact with the content and how you specifically will manage the content in the future. This ensures that your website is delivering your message and maintains its quality for years to come…….

How to Choose the Right Web Design Company for Your ...Nonprofit

http://wiredimpact.com/library/how-to-choose-the-right-web-design-company-for-your-nonprofit/

Questions … questions with thanks to wired impact

9) What training, if any, will be included at the end of the project? Will your nonprofit be able to update the website without the assistance of the web design company?

10 ) Who will be in charge of managing the project for the web design firm? Do they have a single point person?

Choosing a Web Designer – 5 Questions to Ask First | Orbit ...

http://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/5-questions-to-ask-when-choosing-a-web-design-firm/

More questions questions from Orbit Media

11) What if I want to make changes later? And the best answer
“We’re going to set up a tool that lets you (or anyone with access) manage the site. You’ll never wait or get an invoice for basic changes.”

12) Can I meet the team? And the best answer
“The entire team is in-house and works together on similar projects all the time.”

And a bonus tip too

13) Check references. Or better yet, meet possible web designers through referrals: people you know and trust who have worked with them in the past.

10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Website Design Company

http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/questions-to-ask

There are 10 good ones on here – we have selected the ones that made us think ‘ooh that’s a good one’

14) How do they price their services?
You're buying a professional service, where a team of experts should be putting in time to plan, design, develop and manage your project.

15 ) What are their core services?
An agency that has the ability and skillset to effectively approach and complete all aspects of your project, including design, development, and marketing, is going to be more qualified to give you the best solutions for the results you want.

See more at: http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/questions-to-ask#sthash.Lfr2Ihb0.dpuf

16) Do you get the sense from talking to staff members that they are skilled, passionate and trustworthy? Simply put, do you get a good vibe

17) Do you feel confident that the company has the stability to continue providing your business with the same level of website service, for edits, maintenance, and future phases of growth?

Choosing a Web Design Company | Learn How to Select ...

http://www.outerboxdesign.com/web-design-articles/choosing-web-company

18) The way a company treats their clients is often a good example of the way their run their business and develop their products. Make sure you find a company that will take your calls (or at least return messages) and makes updates to your website in a timely fashion.

19) A company's web design portfolio is the best way to be sure that the company develops the type of website that you would like. Although most web design companies will not have a website exactly like the one you want, especially if you're looking to develop a custom website, but sure they do the type of features or tasks needed to develop your website.

How to Choose – And Hire – a Web Designer - Thesis

http://diythemes.com/thesis/how-to-hire-a-web-designer/

Cynthia LaLuna on DIYthemes.com has given us some suggestions for what not to say to your potential designer … these all got a bit of an ‘understanding nod’ from the Build14me team

20) Don’t say “This ought to be simple” or “I’d code it myself if I only had the time.”

21) Don’t say “I’m poor, without any money, so can you design my site for free?”

22) Don’t say “I want a website. How much will that set me back?”

10 Tips For How To Choose The Best Web Designer

http://thefuturebuzz.com/2008/08/21/10-tips-for-how-to-choose-the-best-web-designer/

Tips of who not to work with from Thefuturebuzz

23) Don’t choose a designer that promises to get you to the front of Google
That is not your designers job. It is their job only to set you up with the tools so that your site can potentially get to the front of Google and your site is coded properly with SEO in mind. Any designer who promises this up front for a popular term, I would be extremely weary of.

24) Hire a designer who blogs, designs and uses the web in their free time
I may be biased in saying this, but these are the type of people with true passion for the web and for what they’re doing. The end result you’ll get will be better when you work with someone who spends a great deal of their life on the web. They simply understand this space and understand usability better.

25) Efficient Web Site Design Professionals Blend Stock and Scratch sources
Efficient website designers always maintain a set of stock templates and images to speed up work. When designing a website for getting a client, they select an appropriate stock template and customize it from the beginning in order to meet client-specific requirements and be sure uniqueness and freshness in design.

26) Creative Website Designers Let Clients Handle Minor Updates
Experienced Web site designers develop architectures for Websites including publishing platforms that simplify the making changes. These plans are so effective the fact that they be ready to make minor updates in-house or when using the help of a less expensive Web professional.

Choosing a Web Design Company - Small Business Trends

http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/03/choosing-a-web-design-company.html

And finally some hints and tips from Erin Everhart on Smallbiztrends on making that all important ‘Choosing a web design company’ decision.

27) Do you believe their story?
It’s not that people actually try to deceive someone, but if you are having a conversation about your needs and their ability to deliver on those needs, you should just ask yourself simply, “Do I think that they are shooting me straight?” If it’s timeline, budget, technologies, expertise, or whatever, the story needs to add up. If you trust your gut, you will make the right decision.

And there we have it - 27 tips to think about when you are choosing a web design company to work with.

And finally we have one bit of advice to help steer you through the decision making process.

Work with people you trust to do the ‘right thing’ but make sure you know what your ‘right thing is’.

So that’s your lot… 28 tips for choosing the best web design agency ever..

If you’d like to chat to us about your website needs you can give us a call 01273 670 100 e-mail us info@build14me.com or call one of our clients – you don’t have to tell us you are doing it… and it could save you a lot of time.

Build14me are a Brighton based responsive web design agency… you are welcome to visit us at our offices in Woodingdean..