Nathan Yerian
So you finally decided to stick a fork in your outdated web design. This decision alone puts you ahead of the majority of companies on the web (probably including some of your competition). Now all you have to do is find the right company to work with.
As you will soon find out, it is difficult to navigate the field and select a talented, competent web design company. All the companies you talk to can design "a website", but how do you find the one that is truly interested in your continual online success?
Here are three red flags to look for when selecting your web design partner:
1. The company is more concerned with design and technology than results.
Any company that begins conversations by talking about design, or specific technologies is probably not your best choice. Their design, and their technology is about them, and what they offer. At this stage in the game, that should not be their focus. The focus should be on you, your goals, your target audience, and how you will measure success.
Your website can no longer be disconnected from your marketing and sales efforts. A quality web design company will understand this and be sure to ask the right questions so that they can formulate a solution that increases your marketing effectiveness.
2. The company wants to host your site.
Lets start with why web design companies want to host your website in the first place. In certain instances, hosting a clients site can make development easier on the web design company. Additionally, hosting a client's site can be an additional revenue stream for the design firm. You may have noticed, neither of these reasons benefit you.
Ease of development is a short term concern. You're design firm should be focused on your long term success.
Hosting cost can vary widely. There are very few sites that would require an expensive hosting solution, but I have routinely run into clients that have unnecessary hosting solutions over $100 per month provided by their design firm.
Once you are on an expensive, agency provided hosting solution, how would you switch? They know you don't know the answer, so basically they have you...stuck.
Also, what happens if something goes south with the relationship with your web agency? If they are hosting your site, you are at their mercy.
A responsible web design company should assist you in finding the best hosting solution based on your site's requirements. In order to keep everything clean, fair and focused on benefiting you, it is best for them to recommend a third party hosting solution.
3. The company wants to use their proprietary CMS.
Some web companies routinely use proprietary content management systems for their client's websites. The vast majority of the time they use their CMS for reasons that benefit them. Their developers may be more familiar with their CMS, but that doesn't make it the right solution for your website.
Similar to hosting, what happens if you want to part ways with your agency? If you are on a proprietary CMS, other design firms may not want to, or have the ability to work with your site.
In most instances it is best to construct your site within a "open source" CMS (Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, etc.). This would allow another web design company to take over the management, or design of your website without having to migrate, or your redesign your site.
Final Thoughts
The web design company you select will make an impact on the future of your online presence. Selecting the correct company will enhance your branding, marketing and sales. Hopefully these tips will assist in narrowing the field.
