We live in a digital world, and as a business owner, it is time to up your digital game. Let’s face it! You need a website. If you’ve ever wondered how to choose a web design and development company, then this post is for you.
6 questions to ask yourself before choosing a web development company
Choosing the best web development company for your business can be overwhelming. You want the best but don’t know where to start. Here are six questions to kick start the process.
1. What kind of website do you need for your company or business?
Determining the kind of website you need for your business before choosing a web design and development company can help you make the right choice as different design firms specialize in different aspects of development.
2. Who are your competitors and what kind of website do they have?
Engage in competitor research and discover what kind of website they have. This will give you an idea of how yours should be to stand out while still serving its purpose.
3. What is your target audience?
Understand your target audience. In reality, you are building the site for them. Tell your web design development company who your ideal audience is and let them create solutions that these demographics are familiar with.
4. Is the website the most important platform for your business?
If your business website is the most important platform for your business, then special care is needed when choosing a professional web design development company like LoopStudio to build it. Most people may need a static site while others want a website that can take orders. A website that receives orders and processes payment may require special attention than a group of static pages.
5. What services would you provide on the website?
The services you are building your site to offer play an important role in choosing a web development and design company. If you are a restaurant, you are better off picking the best web design and development company that has built sites for restaurants in the past.
Still, on services and functionality, you do not want to choose a company that is bad at Chabot integration when you know this is important for your business.
6. What is your budget to get a quality website?
Your budget may vary depending on the current size of your business and the functionality you want on your site. Budget is also a major deciding factor when looking to choose the best company for website design. If all development companies seem out of budget, you may want to consider nearshore development. LoopStudio is a perfect example of such a design firm.
4 ways to know I’m choosing the right web development company for my project
Once you have answers to the questions above, you can be sure you understand your own project. Now is the time to begin searching for a development company.
1. Research the brand on Google
To determine if the firm you are settling for is the best web design and development company, Google is a perfect place to start. There are two things to look out for.
Is it positioned?
Search for the firm using its full name and browse through the result. Is it well positioned on the internet? Does Google know the firm? Is it ranking for its own name? Are there positive results?
2. What do their reviews say?
Reviews on Clutch are another thing to look out for. Search for the firm and include the keyword “reviews” in your search terms. Read reviews from as many review sites in the SERP to see if they are worth it.
3. Research their website
You want to know if a web design and development company is good enough to handle your development project. One good way to judge that is by visiting their own website and seeing how seriously they took their own project. Apart from the general design and responsiveness of their site, there are a bunch of other things to look out for.
A. Success stories
Any company serious about business irrespective of its industry will surely have a section for success stories on its homepage. Watch out for these and see if the needs met by this firm are similar to yours.
B. Companies they have worked with
This again is another section meant to be on a company’s homepage. Look at the firms your development company of choice has worked with and check those sites out to see their work.
C. Services and technologies they use
As a business owner, you may not be familiar with web technologies. If you do it’s a plus as you can get to know what is running behind your site. Nevertheless, if you desire something you can manage in the future with little to no technical knowledge, then a content management system like WordPress may be a good choice. Alternatively, several web languages could be used to build a site from scratch.
Know here the best languages for web development.
D. Meet their work team
Visit the about page and get yourself familiar with the company’s team. Here’s an example.
E. Opinions of their clients
From the section dedicated to client success stories or reviews, you can get to see the opinions of their previous clients.
F. Awards and recognitions
Awards are a way to confirm a firm’s expertise. Watch out for awards displayed on the homepage. If there is none, it means they haven’t received any.
Bonus: Check their past at Archive.org
The internet never forgets! You can check previous versions of your firm’s website at Archive.org.
4. Research their social networks
Social media can also help you make judgments on any web design and development company. Visit their profiles and check how positioned they are. You could also see what people are saying about them. Here’s an example of our LinkedIn profile.
Before starting to work with the agency of your choice
Here are extra steps to take before you start working with any design firm.
- Ask them for references or a portfolio
Asking a web design firm for their portfolio allows them to showcase their best work to you. From there, you can make proper judgments.
- Check that they can accomplish what you are asking them to do
After receiving their portfolio, go through them and decide if they are the best for you. If there’s a particular feature you need and can’t see in the live sites sent to you, ask them if they’ve done that before.
- Ask about the team that will be in charge of your work
In web development projects, communication is important. Ask after the particular team that will be handling your project and the most effective way to ensure unrestricted communication. We understand the power of communication at LoopStudio and we ensure we keep our clients posted.
- Budget and steps to follow
Once you are sure you will be working with a web design and development company, the next thing is to ensure transparency. Talk about the budget and step-by-step development process with your team. Set clear milestones and expectations and ensure every member of the process understands them.
Conclusion
The thought of how to choose a web design agency can be stressful for busy business owners like you. We at LoopStudio are a web development team and we know what it takes to find a good web design company. Follow the steps discussed above or save yourself the stress and just hire us. We are experts in what we do.