When hiring a web design firm, you, as a savvy client and business
owner have the responsibility to make sure that the company you are looking at
has all the right qualities of a reliable business partner. Before handing over
your hard earned money to a design firm, here are some things you should look
for, questions to ask, and some red flags to be wary about:
- Look for a real business. You will be better off with a professional agency you can establish a working relationship with, than a tech-savvy nephew; you might be too attached to give critique to. If you want your website to flourish, opt for a professional firm that has an experience dealing with real businesses.
- Does the firm have a strong, well maintained website? Websites are more than fancy calling cards for businesses. They are an important information resource that promotes services. Having plenty of client sites to work on is no excuse for a professional firm to stop working on their own website—this only shows just how unprofessional they can be. A successful website—one that appears on top of search engines is a good sign of a promising web design firm.
- Ask for recommendations for things and elements that your website should include, given the types of goals you have. Any web designer worth his salt should be able to provide you with a good picture of what your website will look like.
- Find out whether they use templates or can build your site from scratch. Templates are less ideal because they make websites look generic, although they can also be valuable in the right circumstances. If you don't have ample time to wait on a website design built completely from the ground up, or need to go live within a very short time frame, then a firm that uses templates may not be an entirely unoriginal choice.
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