What To Avoid When Choosing A Web Design Company

A website is a crucial part of any marketing strategy for your business, as it remains your best option for establishing a solid presence online.

Fortunately for you, you don’t have to worry about building a website from scratch by yourself, although you can go down that path if you want to even if you’re not a web designer. After all, there are plenty of DIY templatized services being offered out there that you can use.

However, if you’re going for a more impressive website in terms of form and function, then your best bet would be to get the services of a professional web design company. It would then be just a matter of making the right choice, although doing so could prove to be a bit tricky. So here are some tips about what to avoid when choosing a company to design your website.

Offers that sound too good to be true

With the competition between so many web developers becoming more intense by the day, it’s but natural for them to try to outdo each other when it comes to the price tag for their services.

The lower rates can be good especially if you don’t have a huge budget, but be wary of ones that offer their services for a price that seems to be too low. These companies will likely provide only the most basic website design, and charge more if you want more features added or something fixed. You’d still be spending a lot of money in the end.

Of course, you need to ask around and do your own research to get a general idea of what people pay for web design so you can judge for yourself whether or not an offer is too good to be true.

Dazzling you with tech speak

Avoid web designers who hide behind a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo to get you to agree to design aspects that you don’t really need but would allow them to charge you more.

You really have to communicate clearly everything you want for your website and stick to it. If a website design company insists on doing this and that despite having been apprised of your requirements, then just move on to the next prospect on your list.

Companies that only design, not develop, websites

There was a time when the “form” part of a website is the sole domain of a web designer, and a web developer takes charge of the “function” part.

The line between the two, however, has been blurred in recent years. These days, when companies offer web design solutions, they mean they can make you a website that can look and feel great and work well.

So if a web design company says you have to hire a separate web developer as well, take your business somewhere else.

Paying for the entire job up front

You know you’re talking to a questionable web design company if its representative asks you to pay for the entire job amount before any work on your website even begins. Normally, a web design firm with a solid reputation only asks for a deposit, with the rest to be paid in agreed-upon increments. It’s never good business practice to pay in full on day one for a service expected to run for a certain period of time.

Firms that don’t provide references

It’s easy for web design companies to list testimonials on their website that attest to the quality of their work. But what if you insist on speaking to any of their previous clients? Would they be willing to connect you to any of them so you can get a first-hand, honest assessment of their work? If the answer is not, then say no to their services, too.

Web designers that don’t integrate a CMS platform

When you hire a web design company that doesn’t incorporate a content management system or CMS in the sites that it builds, you will be tied forever to them. That’s because a website that doesn’t include a CMS means everything is hardcoded. Unless you do coder yourself, you will have to depend on the company that built your site to make even the simplest of updates to its content, for which you will be charged more, of course.

When choosing a web design company, always go for ones that put in WordPress, SharePoint, Open

Cart, Magento (for ecommerce sites), or any CMS platform that will make it easier for you to make changes to the content or moderate comments, among other things.

These are just some of the many things you need to steer clear of when you’re shopping for a web design firm. You need a beautifully-designed, easily-navigable, fully-functional website for your business, and only a web design company that does the exact opposite of those listed above can give you that.

If you would like to begin the planning process with Thought Media, please reach out to discuss! Toll Free 1 (800) 916 3864. Thank you for reading, and we hope that your business will grow rapidly!