Have you made up your mind about hiring a web design agency, but not sure about the right one? When you are searching for a web design company, you must perform thorough due diligence. Do you also need to have a basic knowledge about what make a high quality Web design agency?

Failing to do so won’t just put your business at risk but your web presence as well!

When looking for a web design agency, here are the three main stages (with the step-by-step process,) that leads you towards finding the best one:

1: Identification of Priorities

You must narrow down the clutter by arriving upon a tentative shortlist of potential services. It will not only save the time you may spend communicating with the ones who are not the right choice but also initiate the website building process quickly.

Here are the steps that go with this stage:

Step 1: Develop Clarity about what you are looking for

Before you even set out to exploring agencies, its imperative that you are clear on your priorities, what you need, and why.

By assessing your needs in advance, you can filter through potential agencies from the very beginning. For instance, if you want to establish a new website within 30 days, there is no need for you to check out companies that do not offer urgent web design services. Being proactive in this way will not only save you time but bring efficiency to your research process.

Step 2: Initial Search (What companies build websites?)

A simple Google search is enough to get a quick idea about various agencies offering the service. You can use a mixture of the geo-targeting keywords, product defining keywords, and LSI (Latent Symantec Indexing) keywords. For instance, “best website design 2020”, “web design company in US” or “website design company near me” can be used in conjunction with your specific industry.

Step 3: Website Review

After identifying at least 4-8 companies, you can begin your website review by focusing on these areas:

1. Portfolio: Does the agency have a portfolio of relevant past projects, with work that closely aligns with your organization’s vision? It can reveal a lot about the versatility of the design team. If not, you can remove it from the list.
2. Team members: Does the agency introduce its team members? If so, are they experts in their respective fields?
3. Content on the site: How well does the website present its services through content?
4. Design: If they are offering web design services, they should have excellent design themselves. It is the most significant evidence of their capabilities.

Step 4: Go through the prices

Once you decide as to the design services you need as a business, you must now research the current average cost of the web design services you need, such as rapid web design or website redesign. Doing so will enable you to set a reasonable budget for the project. Thorough research can also prevent you from paying more or even underpaying for a particular service. Some web design agencies pitch, “meager” prices for excellent websites – too reasonable to be true. If you opt for such an agency, chances are you will end up receiving just that – a cheap site!

You need a website that is not only easy to navigate but user-friendly as well. Such a site will enable the users to follow your calls-to-action – contacting your team, making a purchase, or submitting a relevant contact form.

Step 5: Analyze the Reviews and Testimonials

You must analyze the reviews and testimonials of a web design agency. The testimonials will highlight the best work of the company. Meanwhile, authentic reviews will show you the weak areas or areas of improvement. This process will help you figure out if an agency is right for your business.

 

2: Contact

Step 1: Set up a time to talk with the web design agency

When you chat with the top candidates, it can provide you with valuable insights into the decision-making process. Preparing a relevant set of questions to ask can help when the time to talk comes. For instance, the following will answer the main question, “what is the best web design company?”

• How much operational experience do you hold in the web design industry?
• How do you cater to a situation where the deadline is missed, and delays occur?
• What is the level of expertise of your key team members?

Consider how the agency answers all these questions and alleviates all your concerns to determine if they are the right fit for you. The agency’s representatives should be able to give examples of how they met a satisfied client’s requirements, for instance, improving the bounce rate or the time spent on their site.

Step 2: Qualification

A qualified service provider should be able to furnish comprehensive examples of work like what you need. It may involve walking you through and explaining the past projects.

Was the initial person you got into contact with, mindful of your needs?

You need to assess whether the people behind the service provider adequately meet the qualification criteria. Sometimes, you can come across inexperienced people masquerading to “know-it-all.” You need to be wary of them.

Step 3: Technology Offering

You need to see if the agency has the right technology platform and, as such, the tools for the job that are relevant to your project.

3: Interaction

In this final stage, you should set a meeting with the vendors that you finalized after initial contact to further discuss the deal and narrow your choices.

Step 1: The Proposal Process

The proposed process should include adequate discussion about your needs. Details about every phase of the project, along with the exact deliverables and quality guidelines governing the project. You should realize that if something is not part of the proposal, it will not be included in the price.

Step 2: Training and Support

If the website is being implemented on a content management system, the vendor should assist your team with training. Without it, your workers may have to engage in self-training, which could bring more harm than good. Moreover, the vendor should also have a dedicated support system to address the urgent needs arising regularly.

It is crucial for you to know and understand the essential criteria against which you can assess and select the right vendor. Hopefully, this guide will assist you in the selection process and enable you to choose a reliable agency to support your online marketing initiatives.