Photo Gallery
Web Site Design Buyer's Guide - Choosing A Company
Published: 04/19/2011
» Marketing Services
»» Internet Marketing Services
»»» Web Site Design
Choosing A Web Site Design Company
Once you get a list of potential web site design companies, choosing one is easy if you know what kind of site you want.
If you want a simple informational site, perhaps with very straightforward e-commerce and no tricky interactive features, you should look for a web site design company that specializes in small business web site packages.
If you want a web site that addresses complicated business problems, connects to your existing databases or customer service systems, or offers e-commerce that's more than point, click, and buy, you will want to find a website design company who work with your business as a consultant.
This is an important distinction. Companies that focus on basic small business sites will be able to create a site for you quickly and for less money than more wide- ranging firms. Companies with an emphasis on working with you to define and address your business needs will cost more, but can help your business in ways you might not have considered.
The first step in choosing a web site design company is conducting a phone interview. Here are some questions to ask. (If you’re looking for a freelancer, almost all of these still apply.)
What are your strengths as a site development company?
Do you understand my business and customers? (It’s not the end of the world if they’re unfamiliar with your industry, but they should be eager to learn.)
Do you handle design, development, hosting, and e-commerce? (Ask only about those you’re interested in, of course.)
Will you do the work, or outsource it to others?
Can you help us with content creation or ideas?
Will you test the site in various browsers? Which? (A site that works fine in one browser may break in another.)
Can your developers connect the site to our customer database/inventory tracking software/sales software?
Will we be able to update the site content ourselves?
Do you do site hosting? What kind of guarantees do you offer?
How long have you been in business? Can you provide some sample sites for me to look at? (Be wary if you may hear the answer that “most of the sites we’ve worked on are intranets, not available to the public.” Any company deserving of your business should have at least a few sites to show you.)
What kind of support do you offer if our site breaks or needs emergency updates?
Note that we do not include “So, how much is it going to cost me?” on this list. Determining that a given web site design company is right for you should be more important than the cost.
In addition to looking at sample web sites, you should also check a design company’s references. Talking to their other clients can give you the good picture of what it’s like to work with a particular web site design company. Get at least three, and ask them specific questions:
Did the firm meet deadlines?
Were they flexible?
What aspects of their work were particularly strong?
What areas were not quite up to your expectations?
Did they help you plan and organize the web site?
Did they set and meet realistic goals for your company?
Would you work with this company again?
