Your company’s website plays a very important role in hitting your overall business goals. That’s why it’s crucial to partner with a web design agency who is a good fit for your business. How do you make sure of this? Ask all of the right questions before selecting who you want to work with.
Here are 10 important questions to ask any web design company before hiring them.
10 Questions You Must Ask Your Website Agency
When it comes to partnering with a web design company, there's more than just their designs to consider. Here are questions you should ask:
1) Can I edit my own website or do I have to go through your company?
This is an important question to ask because it can be inconvenient to have to go through your agency every time you want to edit your website. You will also want to find out if they include training you on how to edit your site in your contract.
2) Who owns the rights to my website design?
Make sure that you have the rights to your website design and code so that you can freely make any changes down the road. You’ll also be able to pull any design elements to use for other print marketing materials to keep your branding consistent. This is definitely something you want to know before signing any contracts.
3) Do you outsource the web design and website development tasks?
While outsourcing parts of the web design and development to a third party isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, it is important to know what parts will be done in-house. It is definitely more beneficial for the web company’s staff to be experts in the web design and development field so that you don’t have to deal with an additional company. Keep in mind that outsourcing may make your project take longer and is something that your web agency doesn't have control over.
4) Do you have case studies and client references that can show the results your company’s web designs have produced?
Portfolios help you understand a web agency’s design capabilities, but case studies and client references take it a step further. This is because a case study can give you a better picture of the website’s success by showing statistics of how the website performed post-launch. References will help you understand how the process of working with the web agency was for previous clients and if the business saw improved results.
5) How do you plan to convert more leads with my new website?
One of the main reasons you want to invest in a website is to generate more leads for your business. Ask your potential web agency how they intend to help you meet that goal through their design. By inquiring about this, you’ll find out if their designs are truly strategy-driven, therefore having your business’ best interest in mind.
6) Will you review my current website’s analytics and my company’s goals as part of the website design process?
Having a website custom-tailored to your business needs is essential. Analyzing your current website metrics is the first step in determining where to start with the redesign process. Ask your web design agency if they plan to do this research before creating a design.
7) How much downtime will my site have during the development and launch phases?
If you already have a website, ask your web design agency how much downtime it will have when it is time to transition over to your new site. Experienced agencies can launch a website with no downtime, so that is something to consider when you are researching different companies. By having a seamless transition to your new site, you will prevent any potential negative user experiences during your redesign.
8) Will you devote research time to analyzing my company, competitors, and industry?
You want to ensure that your web design agency really understands how websites in your industry look, work, and perform. This will require research on their end, especially if they don’t have much experience in your industry. Make sure that this is already part of their process.
9)Will you ensure that analytical tracking (Ex. Google Analytics) is properly configured on my new site at launch?
It’s essential that you are tracking your website's analytics so that you can see how it’s performing. Make sure that your web company can handle setting this up properly for you.
10) Do you work off of a contract?
This goes for any business you start a partnership with, but be sure to ask about your contract details such as their cancellation policy, payment schedule and terms. You don’t want to enter into a partnership blindly and have problems in the future.
As you can see, you have to consider more than just design capabilities when it comes to web design agencies. You want to make sure that the business you partner with has your company’s overall goals in mind when creating your website. By asking your candidates these questions, you will be able to find the right agency to design and develop your new website.
Still looking for the right web design agency? Set up a time for quick chat us so that we can discuss your website goals for your business!
