5 Tips To Pick The Right Website Designer
With over 11 million web developers around the globe, we know it's a difficult task to choose. If you are looking to invest in a new company website or update your current website, you need to make sure that the web development company you choose is the right one, that’s why we have decided this guide to give you five tips to help ensure you pick the right company.
1. Understand what you require
The first thing you must do is take the time to understand what is it that you want to accomplish with this web development project. Most clients just come around saying “I want a website” without having a single idea of what it really requires. Take the time to put together a basic specification and it will help you save time and money while ensuring you to get exactly the website you want.
Keep the following elements in mind:
You must choose what is it that you want your website to do, whether if it is to increase sales, customer inquiries or even general traffic and who is the target you are aiming for.
Website design and user experience - what do you want your site to look like and how would you like to manage it. The both of them need to be considered and managed hand in hand, there is nothing worse than your site looking great but cannot be navigated. Think about your customer, how will they navigate your site and what they will need to do.
What is the correct site structure you require? - Think about the layout for the site as this is an essential step. Start planning and come up with ideas on how you want your site to operate.
Your budget and the timescale - Always have a clear idea of what you truly want to spend and when do you want your website to be live. This will allow your developer to give you the right balance and information you require for your constraints.
Think about your competitors - It is crucial to think and understand your competition, always be one step ahead, what are they doing online? You do not want to copy their site, however, you want to ensure you are at least offer a similar or better level of functionality.
Think about the websites you want to be like and which you really don't want to be like! - Think about your site, make a list of the sites you like. This will give the developers an idea of the site you would like and if there are any sites which you find you don't like and you don't want your site to ever look like that whether is for aesthetic or because of the way it works, list them to give an opposite position so your developer will know what to stay away from.
2. Will my site be SEO ready?
The majority of your web traffic will be coming from major search engines like Google, Bing, and others, thus ensuring your site can be ranked highly is one of your main priorities.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) uses different methods and techniques in an attempt to make your website can rank as highly as possible. These, of course, include ensuring that headers and main titles are used to help both us and the search engines understand the information being displayed.
Ask your developer what are they going to be doing to ensure your site is going to be SEO ready. They should give you an explanation on what can they ensure for you to have the best chance to rank as highly as you deserve.
3. Has your web developer ever worked on similar projects?
Unless there are simple requirements you want to be noted, you will soon see that working with a web developer who has experience in your business area is going to be a benefit. Ask the company you plan to choose if they have worked on similar projects and make sure to ask for examples of the work they have done.
One of the many benefits of the internet is the fact that you can view and study past projects to see how they work in every way. Look objectively at the sites, are they responding fast enough? Do they provide the right information the clients are looking for? It is simple to navigate? Is the design professional and supportive towards the brand of the organisation?
4. How can I be sure the website is going to be effective?
First of all, you need to understand how the developer you are choosing tests the sites and what measures you will be using to ensure the success of your site, making sure it works correctly.
Even when it comes to a simple website it needs to be reviewed and tested thoroughly to ensure everything is correct and it is doing what the site is meant to do. Your developer should always tell you how they will be testing your site and what are the measures that will be taken to ensure that your site works correctly. Remember these tests should always include the tests for navigation, proofreading the content and test of any e-Commerce systems.
A good developer will always be open about the testing they will be performing and assure you that the site will be handed over back to you when it is ready to go live.
5. How are you going to support me?
Your web development project is over and ready but now that is done how will your site be supported? Through two important things: Simple updates & ongoing maintenance. You clearly don’t want to be calling your web developer every single time you need to make a minor change to your site’s content. Most of the sites can easily be updated by using a content management system (CMS). The CMS allows you to edit text, images and make minor changes yourself at any given time. Make sure you ask your web developer if they are going to provide you with a CMS with your site also and if you are going to be getting training on how to effectively use it.
The ongoing maintenance involves ensuring your site back end is always kept up to date with security patches to prevent it from getting hacked and protecting your system and fixed if there was a sudden and unexpected problem which could take to your website going down. Ask what sort of ongoing support is going to be available and also what level of service is going to be, you never have to panic if your site goes down and find your web developer has a three-day turnaround.