Things to Consider When Choosing your Website Design Company
Deloitte Digital, in their April report entitled “Capitalizing on the New Digital Divide”1, predicted that by the end of 2015, about $2.2 trillion of retail store sales will be influenced in some part by digital interactions. This is a whopping 64 cents for every dollar of sales!
With these astounding statistics, companies have come to recognize the need to create and strengthen their Internet presence. After all, with the ease of access that the Internet provides, customers now have more freedom of choice. If they can easily come to you, they can also easily go to your competitors.
The Right Partners can Make the Difference
With the rapidly changing Internet landscape and with more competition from other companies, it is crucial to choose the right partners that will help the company make the most of the opportunities presented by this new “digital divide”.
Choosing the right web design company will mean a stronger Internet marketing strategy and implementation. On the other hand, getting on a partnership with a web-design company that does not present a good fit with your company’s needs and goals can result in wasted finances and time.
As they say, we should be able to “do it right the first time”. Here are some guidelines and considerations you should look into to help you make the right choice:
- Know what you need and want. Before you even talk with prospective partners, outline your requirements and goals. These goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound). Some metrics you can look into include lead generation, sales conversion and Internet presence (in terms of number of visits, length of visit, etc.). Having this clarity in your goals can also help you see if a prospective website design company has the experience and expertise to help you achieve these goals. Take note, this will help avoid making the mistake of choosing a company simply because their designs looked good. Rather, these goals will help you pinpoint whether a web design company can actually deliver the results you need.
- Weigh cost vs. value. Do not choose a web design company simply by getting the lowest bidder. Quality work will most likely be more expensive. Of course, if you are working on a given budget, you need to keep a balance between having reasonable costs for the best value you can get. There are also companies who are looking for long-term business relationships who may be willing to scale down their costs to match your growth over time. It can be helpful to look at the web design company’s track record with their other clients to see how these clients have grown.
- Views on usability and other key aspects of website design. Web design companies will also hold their own philosophies on web design. Make sure that your chosen company has the same approach and mindset that you have. With this, you know that your designer “gets” what you want. However, if you want a new approach, it may be difficult to find this with a company who does things “the way it always has been done”. If you desire innovation in your Internet marketing strategies, you also need a partner who can brainstorm with you. The bottom-line is that you and you chosen company should agree with each other about creating web designs and strategies that are user-centered.
- Access to website changes. Websites are not one-off deals that you can simply tick off your “to-do” list. Websites require regularly maintenance and occasional bug fixes. You may also need to make changes as your company also changes and grows (i.e. new product categories). Ask whether the company can provide your team with the means to update and edit the website content, so that you are not dependent on the web design company for the various changes you want to make. Usually, you should have a content management system (CMS) that provides you with the capability to change to content of the website as needed. The web design company should, even at the beginning, be ready to provide your team with training so that you can effectively manage the CMS on your own.
- Roster of capabilities. What other services can the web design company offer? For instance, Adaptivity Pro not only has web design capabilities. We also provide graphic design, content, SEO analysis and implementation, as well as Internet marketing services. Having one company handle all your Internet-related needs can simplify things.
About Adaptivity Pro
The above considerations are just the beginning of a longer list. What is important is for you to find a partner that understand, anticipates and effectively meets your needs. This is where Adaptivity Pro can come in. With its roster of skilled and seasoned team, you can be assured that you have the best Utah web design for your needs. Aside from graphic artists, web programmers, copywriters, our company also has years of collective experience when it comes to Internet marketing, Pay-Per-Click marketing, e-mail marketing, as well as Utah SEO.