With the rapid digitization of consumerism, it is essential for companies big and small to keep up with the demands of the digital audience. One such demand is a company website. From a business perspective, building a website is extremely important. It provides potential customers with the information they need to engage with a brand and builds credibility that makes a positive impression on new site visitors. Thus, it follows that building a website that is engrossing, user friendly and provides the important bits of information to attract customers at the forefront is absolutely necessary to the success of a company. However, designing a website is not easy. Small businesses who undertake this task without any expertise end up wasting time and resources before making the best decision of hiring a professional to build their site for them. Unfortunately, even though it may seem that way, the job of selecting a professional is not easy either, and navigating the process of choosing a website design agency is quite cumbersome.
The web design business is a competitive one. There is a variety of web designers available in the market which makes it difficult for new companies to choose which agency would serve them and their brand the best. Hiring the wrong web design agency can be detrimental to a brand image as the absence of tandem between the designer and company can attract the wrong demographic and even drive away the targeted one.
For the success of your brand, below are a few factors we recommend all businesses to consider before hiring a web design agency:
Work History
It is important to thoroughly research all companies and the best place to start this is by looking at their work history. Checking out websites previously built by the agency you are looking to hire will give you an idea of the standard and quality of their work. Previous work is also a good assessment to determine the agency’s value for money as it would provide you with an adequate marker of what you would be paying for.
Relevant Experiences
Even if you like an agency’s previous work and believe they offer a good value for money, they may not be the right fit for you. This could be due to their limited experience in two areas: building the type of website you require and limited experience in building websites for companies in your industry.
For instance, if a company looking to build a portfolio website was to hire an agency with experience predominantly in building ecommerce and sales websites, they would not benefit from the agency’s services as their past experiences may interfere with the goals of the company’s marketing strategy.
Similarly, if a company looking to build an ecommerce website for educational services was to hire an agency with maximum experience in building ecommerce websites for clothing, the different requirements of industry-related marketing are highly likely to clash. This is an extremely important factor to consider for very niche industries as agencies with a thorough understanding of the business are most often than not the best fit for them.
Their website
The website quality of a website building agency is an obvious factor that needs to be considered. It is most likely that if an agency has a substandard website of their own then they will not provide you with the best of services. The most important factors to consider here are user friendliness, ease of navigation, focus on user experience, branding and language. If the agency’s website closely aligns with the goals you have for your own then you should definitely consider hiring them.
Their Team
Closely research the agency’s team you are looking to hire, this includes evaluating the level of expertise of the members who would be working on building your website and the range of the team members. Most companies are correct in assuming that the design team is an essential part of website building. However, they usually miss out on the importance of having quality copywriters working on their website, forgetting that by hiring an agency with in-house copy-writers they are guaranteed with authentic content that will fit the brand of their company.
Also, remember that bigger is not always better. Companies tend to gravitate towards larger website building agencies, deducing that the size and reach promises quality when smaller agencies have a history of producing better work. This is because they focus on only a handful of projects at a particular time and their smaller teams have higher workforce fluidity that allows them to easily adapt themselves to the different needs of every brand. Smaller agencies also maintain more transparency with their customers about the website building process as compared to larger firms.
Their knowledge of SEO and SEM
The technical knowledge that an agency possesses is extremely important as SEO and SEM are not practices in theory but strategies that need to be implemented by website building agencies to ensure the success of your website. It is also important for agencies to have enough experience in these areas so that they are qualified to determine whether a company needs to focus on SEO or SEM in order to bring traffic to the website. Thus, we suggest vetting agencies thoroughly on their knowledge and experience of bringing attention to your website before making your final decision.
Their Blogs and Newsletters
The blogs and newsletters of a website building agency provide customers with an insight into the industry-related knowledge that they possess which is why clients should never overlook this feature.
A website building agency that has invested into making a blog or building a regular newsletter understands the nuances of building a website which tells clients that not only do they have an all-encompassing knowledge of the different types of services that are demanded in the market but that they can also provide for them. Companies that have given the extra time to build this quality feature on their website are sure to provide you with service of the same standard.
Website Greetings
As site visitors we might not notice the thank you pages that pop up on websites but as a website builder this is an extremely important aspect.
Thank you pages are the last thing a customer sees before they leave a website, these value-added initiatives make a subconscious impact on the visitor and their presence, or lack thereof, determine what a customer thinks of your brand. If an agency does not have this page on their own website it is best to steer away from them as such basic inclusions can work together to make a website effective.
Conclusion
The internet is a cutthroat market which is why it is essential to build an engaging website that can attract and hold the attention of repeat customers as well as first time visitors. We recommend companies to always consider the above factors and arm themselves with the website building agency that best suits their needs and allows them to build their brand and make it successful.
