You’ve come up with the perfect logo, hired an amazing sales team, and even found your dream office space for your business.
You’ve also ordered some inventory that you’re ready to start selling to consumers.
The only problem?
You don’t yet have a website to make it happen.
Whether you’re in the process of re-branding your company, or if you’re getting ready to open your doors for the first time, your web presence matters more now than ever before.
And if you aren’t tech-savvy enough to build a website on your own?
You’ll likely hire a web design company.
However, you’ll need to be certain that you’re working with the absolute best.
So, how do you know whether you’re making the right choice when you need a website designer?
Keep on reading this post in order to fund out.
1. Their Industry Experience
When you’re interviewing a potential web design company, the first thing you should ask about is their experience within your specific industry.
After all, an e-commerce platform selling trendy sneakers isn’t going to have the same design, navigation, and target market as a law firm website that allows you to book a consultation online.
When you need a website designer, you absolutely must work with a team that knows how to design engaging and intuitive websites that will attract your target market.
You also need to know that they have a basic understanding of the elements that a website within your industry will need to include.
So, how do you know their team has the experience you require?
Start by asking to see their portfolio.
This should include samples of websites within your industry that they’ve created. Take a look at how they integrate the unique branding of individual companies within a recognizable, industry-specific interface.
Another way you can be sure that you’re working with someone who understands your world?
Speak to their past references.
If they can’t provide you with the contact information of a past client that’s worked within your field, it may be best to find a new design team.
Your company is simply too important — and in some cases, the cost of web design services is too expensive — to serve as someone’s learning curve.
2. Ask About Analytics
It’s also important to keep in mind that website design doesn’t begin and end with the website alone.
An excellent web design company will put the proper analytics, beta testing, and even options for visitor feedback into place. This will help them to make sure that your website truly is functioning at its best.
You need to understand how a web design company monitors things like visitor count, page load time, mobile-friendliness, broken links, and even the average rate of conversion.
Make sure you understand the software, hosting platform, and tools they use to analyze and monitor your website. How frequently do they make tweaks and updates according to the data they’ve received?
Can the hosting platform and server they use scale and grow with your company as you broaden your target market and get more traffic to your website?
Remember that there are tons of different plugins for your website out there today. While too many can slow your website, ask how your team will determine which ones are best suited to your site.
How will they work to guarantee you a certain amount of uptime, and what sort of security measures will they put into place?
How will they collect consumer and visitor data, and what will they do with it?
If they can’t give you an answer, you need to run — not walk — away. After all, the reputation of your company — and your visitors’ privacy — is at stake here.
3. How will they get to know your brand?
If you want to know how to hire a web designer, then you have to figure out how they plan to get to know your brand.
You’ve worked hard to build your brand’s voice. You want to make sure your website amplifies it.
After all, the last thing in the world that you want is a website that looks like a carbon copy of your competitors’.
But if the design company doesn’t want to get to know your goals, your market, and your overall mission?
That’s probably exactly what you’ll get.
Ask how they plan to differentiate your website from those of your competitors. Ask them what branding opportunities they believe your website can offer.
You should also make it a point to ask them what they believe your biggest potential setbacks may be, and how they’ll plan to correct them.
If a design company doesn’t seem eager to get to know the story of your brand?
Then how do you expect them to be able to help you tell it?
4. Understand Their Knowledge of SEO
Next up on our list of questions to ask a web designer?
How they plan to combine search engine optimization, or SEO for short, with overall site usability and ease of navigation.
After all, if your website is buried on the 20th page of Google search engine results?
Even the best content in the world won’t help you to get more customers.
You don’t just need to know that they’ll create on-brand, unique content.
You also need to know that they’re doing everything possible to get that content onto the first page of search engine results.
They should be able to speak with you about the kinds of keyword research they’ll conduct, how they’ll create responsive design, and even how they can use video content in their design to boost you in the rankings.
Make sure that, no matter what kind of device your users are accessing your website from, that they’ll all have a seamless experience.
Remember that things like slow loading times and incomplete loads actually cause your website to fall in the search engine rankings.
5. Ask how They’ll Create a Natural Sales Funnel
When someone clicks on your website for the first time, your ultimate goal is to turn them into a customer.
And even if they don’t end up making a purchase that day?
You can still encourage them to sign up for your e-newsletter, follow your blog or social media page, or just add your site to their bookmark bar.
In short, you need to guide them through a natural sales funnel — without them realizing what’s going on.
It’s up to your website design team to help you to accomplish just that.
Ask them how they’ll create a homepage that not only encourages people not to navigate away, but makes them convert into customers.
For example, will they add a chatbot to your website, which can act as a digital sales representative?
Or, will they work to organize all of your blog posts by topic, so that visitors can learn more about exactly what they’re looking for?
6. What Outside-of-the-Box Ideas Will They Provide?
Of course, website design is just as much about the overall look of your website as it is about excellent navigation.
You need to know that they have an experienced design team on hand that will work to add the kinds of details to your website that keep people on your page.
This can mean things like hand-drawn animation, bespoke font creation, or even special homepage design and unique drop-down menu options.
Your company isn’t like anything else on the market. So why shouldn’t your website work to help you communicate that?
Superior website designers don’t follow trends — they set them.
For more of an understanding of the kinds of design elements that can take a website from good to great, check out the Finepoint Design website.
Talk to them about the bold approaches they’ve taken with other clients in the past, and whether or not they think those calculated design risks will work for your site, as well.
You’re Ready to Choose the Right Web Design Company
From taking a look at their portfolio to understanding how a design team will create a natural sales funnel, we hope that this post has helped you to choose the right web design company.
When it comes to excellent design services, make sure you pick a design team that’s dedicated to creating a unique, on-brand look for your site. Also, ensure that they prioritize ease of navigation and overall site responsiveness.
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