If you have never gone through the process, I’ll tell you right now that choosing the right web designer can be an overwhelming process. Just a quick google search for “Fort Worth Web Design” will pull 3.5 million results. Google and other search engines make it easy to find a web designer, but do they make it easy to find the right web designer for your business? This blog should help you measure how to find the web design agency that best fits your needs.
Location – Consider what is important to you in regards to the location of your web design agency. Do you need to be face to face with your agency on a regular basis or can you rely on skype, phone calls, and traveling to meetings? Although Anchor is a Fort Worth based web design agency, we have clients all over the globe and enjoy traveling to them.
Relationship – It is really important that you mesh well with your web design agency. Some people “get it” and others don’t. Make a point to meet with, or get on the phone with, the agency prior to making the hire. Your new website is very important to your business, make sure that it is equally important to your web design agency so that you get the quality of work that you deserve.
Aesthetics (of THEIR website first) – Even in a quick search for “Fort Worth Web Design”, you can see that there are many web designers out there who do not put much effort into their own web sites. In my opinion, the argument of “we focus on our clients so we don’t have time for our own website” doesn’t hold water. It tells you two things: 1. This is a web design agency that is unorganized with their time and 2. They are likely going to put the same effort into your web site that they are putting into their own.
Web Copy – In line with looking at web agency websites, keep a close eye on their web copy. If they have grammatical errors on their site, you can expect that you will have them on yours too. Be prepared to write 100% of the copy and review it thoroughly prior to launching to the public.
Price – Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way. Websites can be expensive, especially large websites. Most web design agencies will not list their prices online, but will have a form where you can request a quote be sent to you. From a consumer standpoint, you would love to see what websites cost to get an idea of where you need to place your budget. From a web agency standpoint, you don’t want to list your prices because it is important (and I cannot emphasize this enough) to get to know your business and the goals you have for the new website prior to making any kind of bid. Anchor believes strongly in the phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know” – which breaks down to: you have a great idea for your website, but our experience tells you that your idea 1. could be much more effective than you even know or 2. won’t work in today’s market. A consultation prior to a bid is an important step in the web design process. Some of you literally have zero idea of what to expect from a web design pricing perspective, so I’ll try to help out a little bit. Based on my own years of experience in this industry, a small business website can run anywhere from $500 – $15,000. A medium sized business website can run from $5,000 – 30,000. And a large size business website can run anywhere from $20,000 – $350,000. Much of the price is going to be boil down to the functionality and size of the website. To get an accurate quote from a professional web design agency, contact Anchor.
Dynamic – Are you looking for a “one off” static website to be built or do you want a dynamic website to represent your business? In today’s world, dynamic and interactive sites are the way to impress visitors. If your site is the same today as it was two years ago, it’s probably time to make some updates.
Mobile – So many people are accessing your website from a mobile device, so build one that is suited just for them! Do you have an iphone, ipad, android, or other mobile device that you access websites from? So do your consumers. If your website is confusing on a mobile device, you may never get another chance to connect with that visitor again. Anchor designs websites that are aimed directly at your consumers’ mobile devices.
These are just a few of the factors to consider when choosing a web design agency. I hope that this sheds some light on an area that you were not previously considering when making the web design decision. I’d love to hear some of your feedback in the comment section below. What is another important factor that I didn’t touch on today? Are you looking for a web designer – what other questions do you have?