When you interview prospective web designers to make your business website, make sure you know what to ask. Read on to learn more about Colorado web design. One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a business in 2019 is having a poor website, or worse, having no website at all. In today's world, 80% of consumers use the web to find local businesses. That's too big of a slice of the pie to pass up. Of course, building a website is easier said than done. The Colorado web design options are nearly endless, and hiring the wrong designer is an expensive mistake. It could cost you money for decades. Identifying the perfect designer for your site is all about asking the right questions. Take it from our pros and ask these questions to any design team you're considering. Questions to Ask a Colorado Web Design Company
Checking out a web design company's past work is a great start. It doesn't tell you everything you need to know, though. Break out these crucial questions in your next meeting. What Would the Timeline Be for My Website? We hear the same horror story over and over. A company hires a web designer and expects to have their site in a few months. The designer drags out the process more and more. Now it's a year later and they still have no website. Make sure you discuss the timeline and your expectations before you hire a designer. Ask the designer how long they expect it to take before your site is live. In general, you want the estimate to be around three to four months. If the timeline is longer than that, the designer may have more work than they can handle. If it's far shorter, they may not be giving you the highest quality. Do You Specialize in Web Design Alone? Some companies you speak with may be web designers only. Others may be marketing companies who develop websites in addition to offering other services. Which answer do you want to hear? It depends on your needs. If you already have a marketing company or marketing team, you want a specialized web design company. They'll have more detailed expertise and are likely to produce a better website. If you don't already have your marketing in place, you may prefer a company who handles marketing as well as web design. They'll be able to better integrate your marketing campaigns with your site so your brand is consistent. In any case, make sure you're clear about the scope of the project in advance. Discuss from the start whether you're hiring the company to design your site alone or to also handle various marketing projects. Do You Use Free or Paid Plug-Ins? Plug-ins can be great and efficient tools to add features to a website. Not all of them are created equal, though. Some plug-ins are free while others are available for purchase. The free options may sound great at first but their problems appear in a hurry. In most cases, the developers who create free plug-ins don't maintain support for them for very long. After all, they're working for free. The problem is that you're left in the lurch when a feature on your site stops working out of the blue. It could be even worse: the plug-in could have a security flaw that the developer won't catch because they aren't maintaining it. It's better to use paid plug-ins off the bat because they're more likely to have continued support. If your potential web designer says that they use free plug-ins, it's a red flag that they may not be as knowledgeable as they seem. What Will the Process Be for Future Content Edits? As a business, you need to have control over the content on your own website. For most web designers, it's a given that you should have the ability to add and edit your own content in the future. Don't take it for granted, though. Make sure the designer will be using a content management platform that is easy for you to use. For instance, WordPress is the most common. What you don't want is a designer who makes your site so difficult to manage that you need to hire them every time you want to post a blog. This is not necessary and it's a way for them to pull more money from you. Will My Website Be Responsive? This is one of the most important questions to ask. A responsive website is a site that adjusts smoothly to any size of browser window. This is especially vital because it makes the site easy to use on mobile devices. Responsiveness is vital for a few reasons. First, a large percentage of your users will view your site on their phone. If it isn't smooth and easy to use, they'll get frustrated and leave. That's a missed opportunity to convert a reader into a customer. Second, your responsiveness will impact your search engine rankings. Google is now directly lowering sites' positions in search results if they aren't mobile-friendly enough. That lower ranking means less traffic to your site. What Are Your Thoughts on My Current Website? Don't forget that while creating a website is technical, it's creative too. You need to get a sense of your designer's taste. Have your designer take a look at your current site and critique it. Ask what they feel its strengths and weaknesses are and what direction they would take your new site. This is also a good time to discuss your "must-haves" in your new site. If there are features you need like an e-commerce store or the ability to schedule appointments online, make sure your designer can deliver. Building Your Dream Site No pressure, but your website is one of the most important elements of your business. It impacts the impression you make on first-time customers and determines how many people find your business in the first place. That's why it's so crucial to find the right Colorado web design team. The questions above are a great start. If you're ready to get started, contact our web design experts today. Comments are closed.
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