You’ve come to the decision that your website needs a massive overhaul. Or, that your business finally needs a website. Whichever the case, you think of turning to web designers. The problem is, you don’t know exactly what to look for since there are so many design services online.
Web designers may be armed with similar backgrounds or experiences, but there are certain factors to look out for to help you pick the best. Here are the aspects (in no particular order) to consider before you hire a design team.
Instead of being inundated by so many choices, narrow down your search by looking for a dependable team within your city of operation. For example, you can simply type "Colorado web design" onto Google and you will find a variety of service providers who can help.
Of course, you can still choose to work with a web design team from whichever part of the globe. There is certainly no shortage of capable web designers and programmers out there. The benefit of hiring locally though is that the challenges brought about by time zone differences and language barriers can be minimized.
Small businesses who operate within specific locations only will benefit from choosing a local web design team as well. Which would you choose - web designers in Colorado Springs who have an acute grasp of your target market in the neighborhood or a web design company from another country who may not be able to provide design elements that can truly resonate with your target customers?
The right team of web designers for you are those who can offer a wide range of skill sets. The digital marketing agency that you partner with should have well-rounded people who keep abreast of industry changes and advancements.
Web designers these days shouldn't be focusing on visuals alone. Website programmers, meanwhile, shouldn't just focus on coding either. Both professions now require overlapping competencies. Therefore, the right digital marketing agency for your business is a team that has people with multiple skillsets.
They should be able to deliver modern and visually appealing designs alongside search engine optimization services and other necessary web development solutions. Top-notch graphic design services won't cut it anymore. SEO services, marketing automation, chatbot services, payment processing, web hosting, and more have become as important in the overall digital marketing landscape.
So, whether you work with web designers in Colorado or with a team from halfway across the globe, make sure that they can provide multiple competencies aligned with contemporary standards.
The number of people accessing the web through their smartphones continues to increase daily. As such, the trajectory of web design has long switched to being mobile-first.
What this means is that web development for small businesses should focus on designing a website that is mobile-friendly first. Any website design company that is still hung up on creating desktop-friendly sites first should not be on your list of options.
This is not to say that web design companies shouldn't create sites that will look good and function well when accessed via desktops. This is still important, but a mobile-first approach is definitely the best choice. A positive user experience whether on mobile or desktop should be maintained and continuously improved upon.
To help you with your search, look for digital marketing teams that provide mobile-first design services. They may also use these terms to describe their services: mobile-friendly, mobile responsive, or mobile user experience. They are more or less the same.
Web designers in Colorado Springs (or wherever they may be) know the value of SEO. However, not all of them can indeed provide effective SEO services. Otherwise, many websites won't still be struggling at the lower pages of search engine results.
Look for a website design team that can elevate your business on the search results via on-page and off-page enhancements. In other words, they should be able to improve the code of a website, its loading speed, responsiveness, and the overall website design look and feel in such a way that will make search engine robots and human users happy.
You might want to ask, “what has this company done for other firms or brands?” A readily accessible portfolio is a testament to a team’s competence and preparedness to work. Check their projects – remember that taste is subjective, so make sure you browse through as many samples as possible.
Many design teams will display images of the websites they have done so far. While looking at these will give you a good idea of their graphic design capabilities, they won't tell you about how well the actual websites have been designed. So take some time to visit the actual websites and dig a little deeper.
Check how well the navigation has been done, visit a few more pages to see more of the design elements used, look at the headers and footers, and check if the forms and other features are working smoothly. Only by confirming that those websites have been done well can you be more confident of a design team's reliability.
Some designers service the same type of client, so a portfolio could have the same minimalistic or creative feel. There are also designers who can adapt to both styles. The more flexible the team, the more fluid and engaging your design.
A business can also exhibit its branding and marketing strategies more effectively when working with web designers who are flexible. After all, you don't want a design that looks just like countless others out there. How would your business stand out then? How will your marketing be effective?
So, even if a design team specializes in designing websites in just one or a few niches, they should still be flexible enough to create websites that catch attention and captivate their visitors.
Remember that not all design teams can work at a more dynamic scale. Some can only provide you with what you need but won’t value how your site will operate in the future. This is definitely not good, especially for small businesses that want to grow and expand.
Pick a team that’s open to your ideas, a self-motivated bunch that will give you the time you need to establish your branding message. The chemistry between you is important.
Additionally, go for a web design and development company that enables you to make changes to your site without you having to spend so much. A service provider that can provide unlimited pages and updates is definitely worth your consideration.
Work with a web development team that is highly responsive to your queries and need for support. If something happens to your website or if you want changes done, it can be super frustrating if you can't reach your design team immediately or if they cannot act on your requests right away.
The delays and inefficiency won't be good for your business either. Branding and marketing strategies are often time-sensitive. The attention of your potential clients won't be on your business always. That is why it is crucial to have your website adapt to your market quickly. A non-responsive design team, however, can be detrimental to your website's operation, and will naturally affect your business operations as well.
Keep in mind that certain things can meddle in your business, so an ideal design team should be able to execute rushed projects within a reasonable time. Commitment matters as well – you can tell how committed a team is by how often they suggest and share design and content ideas.
This entails expertise (which you should research more about since some teams can offer platforms like e-commerce, SEO, etc.), reasonably priced packages, and the size/availability of different designers ready to work.
These are just some, if not the most basic things that should help you decide. Wherever you need the web design – Colorado/Denver market or anywhere else – the ideal design team should have checkmarks for all the listed factors.
Performance and attitude are keys to success. At WebriQ, our Web Design as a Service concept is a service aiming to transform websites into engaging platforms, turning them into venues for great brand and customer relationships.
We cater to large and small business entities from various niches. Whether your business is located in Colorado Springs or in the greater Colorado and Denver area, we are ready to assist.
Mobile performance is at the forefront of our service – we make sure business sites get the leverage and exposure that they need in reaching and marketing to the right people. We understand the need for a small business to grow and thrive cost-effectively, so our services are geared towards helping you succeed in your online marketing endeavors.
We’re not only driven by performance but also by the value we put into web projects. We have the expertise and we are ready to serve. When it comes to optimized web design, analytics, and inbound and content marketing, we strive to work dynamically with all clients and with various project types.
Visit the rest of our website to learn more about services or contact us to know our different packages.