Tips For Selecting A Website Design Company
When shopping for a website design company, selection of a firm can be difficult and confusing.Company selection mistakes are common and can be costly. There are many” cookie-cutter” typedesign companies out there that mass-produce sites with similar features for their clients. If youtruly want to stand out, you need to customize. We offer advice on navigating through thechallenging decision-making process of choosing the right design company.
FTP. SSH. Blogs. CMS. Logos. SEO. Copyrights. Keywords. These terms can definitely beconfusing to the average business owner who does not know the technical issues of websitedesign. They just want a website. Most of your customers have yet to meet you or know of your services, so your site will be the first impression they get of your company. Building a websitedesign is a complex job. It requires a combination of knowledge, skills and trends to achieve awell optimized, visually stimulating and informational website design that will captivate your audience.When it comes to website design, you can’t go it alone. The website design scene is a rapidlyevolving one. What works today may not work tomorrow. Many website design firms offer much but deliver little. The website design company that you select must have all of the necessary toolsthat can help you make your website your best marketing tool.When choosing a website design firm, it’s important to know what you want that website to do.Do you want to inform and educate your audience or just draw them in with just snippets of information? How big of a presence do you want? How effective is your branding? Do you wantor need a blog? How interactive should the site be?When shopping for a website design company, the final decision should not be based on whichcompany provides the best deal, or lowest price. We offer advice to the savvy customer on how tonavigate their search and get the most for their money:
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Always ask the design company if you are getting a site with a content managementsystem (CMS) and how many websites they developed with this CMS. Do they providecontent? Find out if the company documented the application framework, who maintainsthe software code, as well as their methodology for maintaining the software code withcomplete revision history.
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Find out how much the design company knows about search engine optimization (SEO).Ask for list of websites they have optimized and the key phrases they are optimized for.
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Make sure in the contract that you own the copyright to your project. Otherwise, thewebsite design company may actually own your content, design and even your logo, andcan charge you a lofty fee for the copyrights. Ask for editable files of your logo, and backup copy of your site on CD-ROM or DVD.
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Ask the design company if you are getting a CMS license or merely getting use of theCMS. Make sure you get the serial number or license code.
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Understand all of the design company’s fees and ask questions if something doesn’t makesense. Website hosting fees should not run more than $75 -150 per year for mostwebsites. Typically, there should be no monthly fees aside from maintenance or SEO.
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Ask where the design company is located. This may sound odd but some designcompanies claim to have multiple locations, because they want a large market presence.If you wish to work with a local company, then Google their address to verify that theyare indeed local. Better yet, ask to visit them at their location.
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