A study from Stanford University shows that 75% of people judge the credibility of a company based on their website design.
Therefore, having an aesthetically pleasing website that’s easy to navigate is no longer a luxury but a necessity. It not only aligns with the expectations of your online audience but also positions your business as credible and trustworthy.
But how can you create a website that satisfies your audience’s needs and drives measurable results?
Short answer: by partnering with the right professional web design company.
Explore our guide on how to choose a web design company, including what to do before the initial meeting and what questions to ask during discussions.
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What Is A Web Design Company?
A web design company or agency is a business that plans, designs and delivers websites that drive digital growth.
By utilizing a team of experienced web designers and developers, web design agencies provide end-to-end services that boost engagement, conversions and user satisfaction.
How To Choose A Web Design Company
Choosing the right agency to outsource your project can be a challenging task. In fact, as many as 26% of brands consider their outsourcing project a failure.
To help you avoid that situation, our experts have created a guide to choosing the agency that best works for you and your business.
Explore the steps below.
Step 1. Identify Your Goals
Before you start looking for a web design agency to partner with, you should establish your goals first.
This will help you determine the key features and functionalities your website needs. It will also come in handy when it’s time to discuss the project’s scope with a potential agency.
Whether it’s creating a new interactive website or redesigning your existing one, what specific pain points are you trying to solve? And what business goals do you want to achieve?
For example, your goals might include:
- A more admin-friendly content management system (CMS)
- Improved website security
- Better on-site engagement
- Increased organic traffic
Regardless of what specific goals you wish to achieve, having a clear outline of your targets will set the foundation for a successful collaboration with a web design agency.
Step 2. Specify Additional Requirements
Identify your additional requirements, nice-to-haves and must-haves on your project brief.
For example, your additional requirements might include:
- Moving to a new website platform
- Integration with third-party APIs
- Partnering with an agency that works in the same time zone
Most, if not all our website projects in-house, begin with website planning.
As strategic web designers and consultants, we never begin a web design process until we have clearly defined and outlined the key aspects of your future website, based on thorough industry, audience and competitor research.
Step 3. Define Your Audience
Your target audience is your website’s most important asset. It’s who you are making the website for.
You want to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP) according to the following points:
- Demographic data: Determine their age, gender, occupation, location.
- Buying intent: Identify what prompts your potential buyers to make a purchase.
- Personal goals: Determine your audience’s goals and how your product or service helps them achieve them.
- Pain points: Find the challenges or frustrations your audience faces and demonstrate how your product helps overcome them.
Identifying your ideal customer according to the points above will influence multiple aspects of your website’s final design and functionality.
Step 4. Define Business Goals
Defining long-term and short-term goals will help you determine how you will measure the success of your new website.
Set up key performance indicators (KPIs): key metrics that help you gauge the success of your web design process.
These will help you evaluate whether your strategy is delivering measurable results or it needs adjustments.
Consider metrics like:
- Sales: Track the number and value of sales generated through your website.
- Website traffic: Measure the volume of traffic your website receives.
- Email signups: Monitor the growth in your email subscriber base.
- Time on page: Assess the average time visitors spend on your web pages.
Step 5. Determine Your Budget
When planning your web design budget, consider your timeframe and the scope of your project.
Additional features and add-ons will take more time and affect the final cost of your project, so it is crucial to consider each feature and functionality before embarking on your web design journey.
Does the agency you’re considering partnering up with provide a template and fill it with content, or do they design custom websites from scratch according to your business goals?
While templated solutions are more budget-friendly, custom solutions might bring in more revenue down the line.
Knowing exactly how much money you can allocate for the services of a web design agency is vital: this will ensure you get the most cost-effective results.
Every agency charges differently and the cost of your project will depend on the project’s scope and complexity. Choose one that transparently outlines their costs before working with you as a trusted partner in this business endeavor.
This will not only ensure your budget aligns with their costs but also result in a pleasant, easy and efficient partnership.
Questions To Ask When Choosing A Web Design Agency
So, you’ve shortlisted your top web design companies and you’re ready to set up meetings. But what type of questions should you ask?
Your questions should help you assess the agency’s expertise and determine whether their offerings align with your timelines, budget and goals.
Below are the five most important questions to ask before choosing to partner with a web design company.
1. Will You Provide Recommendations & Ideas?
Will your prospective web design agency give you recommendations and ideas for your website?
It’s important to find an agency that is proactive — they provide ideas and strategies that will help grow your brand.
While you want to see their portfolio of work, any agency can show their past successes and showcase their solutions.
But the right agency will go beyond that by providing specific ideas that help you achieve your business goals.
At Digital Silk, our experts conduct in-depth web design analysis and provide recommendations comparing your performance to that of your competitors.
Check out the video below to get an inside look at how our team analyzes your website, as our CEO compares the Netflix website to the Hulu website:
2. Who Will Be Working On My Project?
Some agencies might outsource your project to vendors or freelancers.
While outsourcing doesn’t immediately signal a red flag, having in-house experts would be more reliable as they are always available for updates or questions you might have.
Identify who will be your point of contact from the agency to avoid confusion. It’s important to ask about their qualifications and expertise in handling web design projects.
Lastly, you should also ask about the team who will be working on your website and can answer your more technical questions.
The team should include:
- Developers
- Designers
- Copywriters
- Marketing specialists
- Anyone else involved in the project
3. How Will You Ensure Transparent & Effective Communication?
Transparent and effective communication is important because it allows you to have a clear view of your website project’s progress.
This further helps establish trust between you and your agency.
A transparent web design company will provide you with progress updates every step of the way; whether the agency reached a bump with development (e.g., glitches while accessing the navigation menu) or if the project’s complexity is delaying the website launch.
This will ensure your web design process is a collaborative partnership geared towards seeing your website succeed.
4. Do You Have Experience With Similar Projects?
While the agency you partner up with doesn’t have to exclusively work in your industry —, they should demonstrate past successes with clients that have faced similar challenges as you are facing now.
For example: if you need a smart search feature or a product price that needs to change depending on the buyer, find out if they’ve worked with similar features or similar challenges before and what the outcome looked like.
Speak with our experts. Set Up A Consultation
5. Do You Provide Maintenance Or Marketing Services Post-Launch?
Once the project is done, how will your web design agency bring further value to it?
What happens if, post-launch, your website faces glitches or bugs and you don’t have an in-house IT or development team?
Ask the agency whether they will provide services after turnover.
Post-launch services can include:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimizing your website to improve your page’s search engine rankings and bring more website visitors
- Website Maintenance: Ongoing support to address glitches, bugs and ensure your site runs smoothly
- Marketing Strategies: Developing strategies to drive qualified, targeted website traffic
If your budget permits it, you should hire an agency that will help you with all of the above — and then go beyond that.
Why Is It Important To Ask The Right Questions Before Hiring A Web Design Company?
Not taking the proper steps before choosing a web design company can result in a waste of time and resources.
In the long run, it could hurt your brand and overall sales.
The list below shows the possible benefits of properly preparing before choosing a web design agency.
1. Improved Efficiency
Sitting down with a prospective web design agency partner and asking questions will help you communicate the things that are important to you.
Communicate your values, mission and specific business goals right from the get-go.
By defining and communicating important design elements and project requirements early, you will avoid an unclear and inefficient process moving forward.
This will also help you prevent friction that might arise during the process.
2. Having The Right Partner For Your Specific Project
Asking the necessary questions will help you find the web design company that is right for you and your specific project.
Ideally, it will be a one-stop-shop that takes care of all your website-related services — not just the creation of the website.
The right agency will be able to provide you with a website that:
- Accurately reflects your brand
- Boosts your online (and offline) business reputation
- Is well-optimized for ranking and visibility
- Attracts qualified visitors and ideal customer profiles
- Generates steady revenue
Taking it one step further, an ideal partner will also help you with your hosting plan as well as post-launch maintenance, updates and metric tracking.
3. Having An Accurate Proposal For Your Project
An accurate proposal doesn’t only refer to a clear cost estimate of your project — it also encompasses timeframes and deliverables.
Asking the right questions will help you and your prospective agency determine whether you are a fit.
This includes aligning your budget and business goals with the results your prospective agency can achieve.
You want to have a clear picture of the entire process: how much it will cost, when can you expect the deliverables and when you will see measurable results.
Choose Digital Silk As Your Web Design Agency
Digital Silk is a full-service marketing agency.
With decades of experience in the web design and development industry, our experts have the knowledge to help you achieve your specific business goals.
But don’t take our word for it — instead, explore our past successful solutions and see how we deliver measurable results.
Our areas of expertise include:
- Custom Web Design
- UI/UX Design
- Responsive Web Design
- Website Redesign
For every project, we ensure:
- Project ownership
- Total transparency
- Measurable results
Contact our team, call us at (800) 206-9413 or fill in the Request a Quote form below and tell us about your web design project.
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