An online presence is crucial to any business or individual, particularly in this digital era. Having a website is the gateway to your brand.
However, choosing a web design agency can sometimes be overwhelming. Fortunately, we are here to help! Use this ten-step checklist to ensure you get the right web design agency for the job.
Check the Agency’s Website
Start by checking the agency’s website if you want to be sure they are up to the task. After all, if their site is not impressive, chances are they won’t design an excellent website for you, either.
Here are some aspects to consider:
- Website structure: The essence of site structure is to guarantee a splendid user experience. It includes content organization, the links between web pages, ease of navigation, and ad placement. If the agency’s website structure is poor, they certainly do not have adequate UI/UX expertise.
- Responsiveness: Check how fast the website loads on various devices. Ideally, the website should have a fast response rate, even on mobile devices.
- Design aesthetics: When assessing a site’s design aesthetics, consider elements such as website layout, color combination, and fonts used. If the website feels crowded with text and images, you are probably dealing with a novice.
Compare the Diversity of Services
Web design is broad, and it goes beyond the design and development aspects. For your site to be complete, consider other elements like branding, content management, and marketing.
A good web design agency should offer a broad range of services to fit your specific needs and requirements. The diversity will save you from the inconvenience of enlisting multiple service providers.
Check Their Portfolio For Live Links
Most agencies use portfolios to showcase what they can do and list the clients they’ve worked with before. However, having a portfolio is not enough, especially if it does not have live links to sites previously done. Make sure you only work with agencies that have credible portfolios.
Check Video Testimonials
Reading customer testimonials is an excellent way of assessing the reputation of a company. However, it is easy for an agency to upload written testimonials to their website, and there’s no way you can tell if they are authentic. Besides, some agencies tend to hide negative reviews while leaving the positive ones behind. For this reason, it is a good idea to check video testimonials as they tend to add value and are more believable.
Read Case Studies
If an agency does not have a list of testimonials, you can request the company to share some of their case studies. Experienced agencies know that case studies are a powerful tool for generating leads, and they will always list them on their website for everyone to see.
Go Through Online Resources
If you are building an informational website, you’ll need to hire a web design agency that focuses on content creation and management. The agency will be more than ready to provide you with plenty of reading materials and resources to digest so you can judge their competence.
Initiate a Chat With the Agency
After narrowing down your search to two or three agencies, you can initiate a conversation with each one of them to understand their process. Be more specific to ask about their range of services, competence or experience, delivery timelines, and customer success stories. Avoid agents that dodge questions or do not provide satisfactory answers.
Ask About Pricing
A credible web design agency should be transparent with its pricing from the onset. The agency should have clear price plans and packages with no hidden charges to help you budget and know how much to expect to pay. If you are dealing with an agency that offers custom prices, make sure you understand the total cost before signing a contract.
Visit the FAQs Section
The FAQs section of the agency’s website should ideally have all the information you require to make a reasonable decision. Most FAQs contain details revolving around processes, delivery times, pricing, and available packages. It should provide you with answers to critical questions, removing any guesswork from the process.
Go Through Online Reviews
Online reviews are like a double-edged sword since they can be reliable and misleading at the same time. Some people may leave negative reviews maliciously, while other positive reviews could be from paid sites. For genuine reviews, check third-party sites like Trust Pilot, Google Business, and Yelp. You can also visit websites like BBB to check the business rating of the design agency.
Summary
The process of picking a web design agency is not any different from buying a product. It would help if you essentially shopped around to find the right people for the job. Make sure you assess aspects such as expertise, experience, credibility, customer support, pricing, and delivery timelines to pick the best web design agency for your needs.
