With so much choice out there it’s pretty hard to know which is the right web design agency for you. Should you choose a big web design agency with a vast amount of resources in terms of creative talent and experience? Or should you choose a smaller agency that can give you a more personal account management experience. It’s a tough one and quite simply there are benefits to both. We’ve put together some questions that you should answer that can help you choose the right web design agency for you.
1. What’s my web design budget?
Sounds obvious but this is something we find has rarely been established before we talk to potential clients. A larger web design agency is more than likely going to be more expensive. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t get value for money. If you are a large company with a large site then you may well need all the resources, facilities and talent pool that they can give you. It goes without saying that we all like to be treated like the most important client in the world and to receive a first class service, especially when you’re paying first class prices. A smaller agency is never going to be able to compete with the offices and meeting rooms of larger agencies but they certainly can compete for talent and a really personal style account management approach. We all know that you can get your neighbours friends little brother to knock you a website up in his bedroom for a few hundred quid, but for something with a little more longevity and creativity you should be looking to pay from around £2,000 for a comprehensive 10 page site with a solid user friendly CMS like WordPress. Larger agencies tend to start from around £7,000 for a similar spec site and sky is pretty much the limit as to what you can and can’t do with it in terms of website functionality.
2. What are the objectives for my website?
Before you first meet with the web design agency that you have short listed, it’s always important to know what you want your site to do for you. What we mean by this is what are your website objectives? Here are a few examples;
- I want to generate more traffic to my website.
- I want visitors to my website to spend more time on it
- I would like to receive more enquiries through my website
- I would like to start selling products through my website
- I would like my website to be found more easily on Google
None of these objectives are exclusive. You could wish to see all of these objectives incorporated into your website by your web design agency. You may even wish to be more specific with ‘SMART’ Objectives. SMART meaning S: Specific M: Measurable A: Achievable R: Realistic T: Timed. AN example of a SMART Objective could be;
- I would like to increase the traffic to my website from 1,000 unique visits per month to 3,000 visits per month within 1 year.
The more ‘SMART’ objectives you have like this for your website, the more effective your web design agency can be in producing you a website that does exactly what you want.
3. Should I work with a local web design agency?
We often hear of clients choosing web design agencies because they are local. Is this right? Well in our experience it all depends on you the client. Keeping in regular contact in the design and coding process is very important. Websites are constantly evolving animals. They simple never stop and they evolve right from the get go. Communication is key to making sure this process runs smoothly. Now, face to face meetings are great to build relationships and we love spending time with our clients, but once up and running, there are so many different ways we can communicate and work with clients. The obvious telephone and email are a standard, but simple free technologies such as Skype and Google chat are fast becoming brilliant forms of communication. This is why we say it depends on you the client. How well do you work with remote meetings? Skype calls or Google chat? If like us you tweet and Skype all day, then why limit yourself to an agency just because they are local. The world is but a village!
Your next steps
These are just a few of the questions you should be asking yourself when you are selecting your web design agency. If you would like some more advice or would like us to put together a proposal for you then please fill out our online form and we will get straight back to you with advice and guidance on your next steps to launching your new website.