When deciding on a web design company, there are a lot of factors you need to take into consideration. As a successful London web design company, we thought we would share with you some of the less obvious issues you need to consider before selecting your web agency.
Often people will just look at the web design portfolio, see the impressive aesthetics and feel that is enough. That is a start, however, other areas that you need to look at. Such as the success of the web site, there is a lot of software that will give you an indication of the number of visitors a particular URL is receiving. Compare the statistics against competitor web sites. Also, take a look at the ‘finishing touches.’ From a simple ‘view source’ option in the browser, you can take a look at the web design headings, H1, titles and ALT tags etc. If these are incomplete and not relevant, that is not a good sign.
With some of the larger Web Design companies you don’t have a designated project manager, check this out before you select your online partner as this can have significant consequences for the web design process. Without a designated project manager, be prepared for more work on your behalf and a frustrating communication experience.
Find out what is their web design process? Within their proposal the design agency should outline how they intend to build your site, no matter how small it is. Any decent online agency has a set procedure for building web sites, milestones that need to be achieved before moving onto the next phase of development.
Most design agencies will supply references, the problem is these are vetted and will always give positive feedback. Contact some of their past clients, most web design companies will display their portfolio on their website. The majority of businesses will be more than happy to share their experience, using this method you will get honest feedback about the online agency.
After the completion of your website design, what after services does the agency offer? If there are any bugs that crop up, do you have to pay for them to be fixed? How long is your web design covered for until any issues that occur you have to pay for? Will your web design company keep you up to date with changes in technology that can affect your site? At ID Studio we keep in contact with past clients and make them aware of any potential issues that might harm the success of their site, this can be by a general newsletter or if more serious, an email or call to the client.
Often over looked is who will own the web design source files once the project is complete and fully paid for? This is an important question that needs to be answered, some agencies have in their contract that they own the source files. The issue here is when you want to make updates to the web design with another third party. At ID Studio, once full payment is made all source files are handed over to the client in an agreed format, our belief is you have paid for it so it is yours.
For more information or an informal chat about your web design requirements, visit our site www.netdreams.co.uk, call out London office on +44 (0) 208 8948 5808 or email contact@netdreams.co.uk for an informal chat.