How to Choose a Web Design Agency — Top Questions to Consider
Consumers these days have a mindset that won’t let them settle for anything less than perfect. And with the rise of e-commerce, businesses need to maintain a certain amount of online sophistication in order to create the right impression.
If you want to survive in the global market, your website needs to portray your brand’s style and spirit. Therefore, it’s vital to have a web design from web designers for hire that is clean, easy to navigate, and highly responsive so that users will love to interact with it.
The design you achieve decides the future of your company because web design has the power to influence traffic volume, engagement levels, and conversion rates, all of which impact the performance and growth of your business.
So you don’t want to employ the services of any old web design agency. You need to choose the best. But the sheer number of available agencies is sure to make this a daunting task.
Are you in search of a web design agency?
If you are on the verge of starting your online business or are thinking of revamping your current site, we have prepared the list of key points you have to consider before signing an agreement. Moreover, we will tell you more about the role of a web designer and why it’s important to have experienced professionals on your team. Keep on reading!
What do web designers do
Web designers define the look of online pages and websites. That goes beyond creating an overall impression of a good-looking picture. They have to make a web page intuitive, easy to navigate, and well-structured. Professional web designers are skilled with UI and UX, have experience with up-to-date design tools, and are extremely attentive to detail.
While planning a site, web designers consider the business needs and preferences of a client. However, they also look at the web page with the eyes of potential or real customers. Web designers aim to put all the essential information in relevant sections and add new ones if needed. This ensures a comprehensive user experience and helps visitors to get to know your business better.
While the information represented on your website and its quality are vital, it’s also necessary to ensure convenient access to this information via buttons, relevant headings, and icons. Web designers take care of that as well.
As you see, a web designer’s job is quite important for making your digital product more appealing, intuitive, and engaging for customers.
Key responsibilities of a web designer
Knowing how to choose a web designer among a huge pool of specialists will save a lot of time and resources. To help you understand the job better and find out what kind of professional you may need, here’s an approximate list of the key responsibilities of a web designer.
- Developing concepts for clients
- Improving and testing website designs
- Creating website designs in line with the content standards, provided guidelines, and clients’ branding elements
- Incorporating new features into websites
- Developing design plans and website structures
- Working with content management systems
- Creating designs based on user flows, wireframes, and sitemaps
Differences between web designers and web developers
Web designers work on concepts of a future product — they provide ideas and solutions that make a website consistent, usable, and stylish. Web developers take care of bringing those ideas and concepts to life via programming languages and powerful development software.
Moreover, these two professionals will need different skill sets to perform their jobs. Here’s a comparison table describing the key skills web designers and web developers should possess:
| Web designer’s skills | Web developer’s skills |
| HTML and SCC | Testing and debugging |
| Conversion rate optimization | Search engine optimization |
| Customer journey mapping | Content management systems |
| Branding, typography, and color theory | Databases and back-ends |
| Design tools | JavaScript frameworks |
| Prototyping and wireframing | Coding |
| Responsive and interaction design | Programming languages (CSS, PHP, JavaScript) |
How to choose a web design company — top tips
Now that you understand the key responsibilities of a web designer and the skills required for the job, we can move on to the key points that will help you pick the right web design agency for you.
Agency’s website
The first impression is important, especially when it comes to picking a web design agency. The quality of the company’s website can tell you a lot about the agency’s level of professionalism and competencies. Usually, web design companies add portfolios and the list of industries or areas they have the most experience with. Take a thorough look at these elements to see if you can trust your projects to the team.
Testimonials
Aside from the company’s website and portfolio, client testimonials are of prime importance. You can find reviews either on the agency’s website or on various review platforms like Clutch, GoodFirms, and others. Choose companies that have multiple reviews and high ratings on such platforms.
Company’s previous experience in designing similar websites
Each business has unique demands. Likewise, your website will need to have features that meet the requirements specific to the industry. Even if you see examples of a web design agency’s work on their website, verify their qualifications and experience.
Have them walk you through the phases of design and development they have previously utilized. Ideally, you want to work with individuals who are experienced professionals.
Meeting the team
There is a great deal of research you can do online and over the phone, but nothing beats the old ‘meet and greet’ attitude.
By personally interacting with the team that will develop your website, you can get an idea of how dedicated they are to understanding client’s needs and goals.
Website performance improvements
The website that the firm develops should be able to grow with your business and adapt to its growing demands. But even when you prepare yourself with the proper research and ask the right questions, sometimes people are disappointed with the final results.
By asking this question beforehand, the web design agency can provide you with a list of options that will help to keep in line with your expectations. They can also explain the requirements and tasks that a successful website entails.
Remember: a good website is only as good as those who know how to operate it to its optimal potential. And this leads up to the next essential question.
Employee training for website usage
As an owner, you need to take responsibility for your website. An agency can design and develop a site for you, but at the end of the day, you are in charge. With some initial training and guidance, you’ll soon learn the ropes.
The agency should train you on how to keep your site live, whether you need to add more pages, edit content, or post new blogs.
Besides on-site training, ask if your web design partner provides phone and email support, ongoing maintenance, ongoing support, troubleshooting assistance while upgrading, etc.
Independent website updates
You’ll be surprised to learn that the aspect that dictates the success or failure of your site is not the design of your website but rather the critical 18-month period after its development.
The level of engagement and support provided by the web design agency has a considerable impact. While you may be able to update and upgrade some aspects of your website, you may need help with more complex procedures.
Inquire if any upgrades are included in the plan or if there is some support available at an additional charge. Also, understand the schedule of updates that will be necessary in the near future.
Extra services provided by the agency
When you hire a company to design and develop your website, be upfront about any web design services that are included in the package.
As mentioned above, a certain amount of prerequisite training is essential. Ask if they will also design a logo and provide SEO services, both of which are crucial for building your brand’s reputation. Since SEO is vital for digital marketing practices, this should be overlooked.
The site needs to be optimized with respect to structure, content, images, videos, etc. not only for search engine rankings but also to enhance UX. On the plus side, it goes to show that the agency is up to date with the latest SEO and marketing trends.
Content origins
Agencies are responsible for providing the initial content, images, videos, etc. for a client’s site. However, you need to inquire whether it will be handled in-house or outsourced. Real pictures and original text create wonderfully unique websites.
However, it’s quite common for developers to outsource work. If this is the case, you need to know who will support, maintain, or rectify any bugs after the website is launched.
Defining the cost and time frame of completion
As with any other business agreement, these are vital parts of the deal. You cannot sign a contract with a company that does not provide you with an estimated cost or project completion deadline.
Professional web design companies offer a realistic timeline and often adhere to them.
Domain ownership
The last thing you need to discover is that after all the hard work, time, and money you’ve put into your website, you do not have ownership rights to it.
This scenario happens way too often when entrepreneurs fail to register their online business and domain name.
When you complete ownership of your site, you can redirect your domain to another server and maintain your online presence if there is a lapse in the domain or hosting services.
For the security and future of your company, it’s better to opt for a backup storage service, preferably through the cloud.
A mobile-optimized website
As Google’s SEO algorithms are constantly changing, the web design agency must be on top of the latest trends, such as fast loading speeds and mobile optimization. Both are equally important and go hand in hand to increase SERP rankings.
Though most offer this service as a part of their SEO campaign, it’s always better to ask if the provider of web design services includes this or if you are expected to hire third-party marketing agencies to handle the task.
Choose Web Design Agencies carefully (if you must)
When searching for a web design agency, you should not rush into a decision. It’s not enough to simply ask questions. You’ve got to do your homework.
With the help of online research, reviews, testimonials, etc., you can gather adequate info about the agency even before you approach them. Carefully analyze their portfolio.
Peruse their previous successful projects and judge if this company is the right one for you. Lastly, listen to their plans on how their design will help to generate more revenue for your brand, generate leads, integrate automation tools, provide user-friendly navigation, offer secure methods for payments, and anything else your website needs.
Since each business has different requirements, it’s best to make a quick list of everything that you need before you begin your search for a ui design agency. Now that you know how to choose a web design agency, you’ll quickly find a perfect match and bring your ideas to life.
Happy hunting!
