How to Choose a Web Design Firm - Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring

If you own an offline business, the task of finding a reputable and transparent web design company can be a challenge, to say the least. Today it seems like thousands of companies are offering to build you a website for your small business and each one boasts the same expertise as their competitors.

So that leaves most people unsure of how to proceed. It's no secret that your business needs to have a web presence in order to achieve long term success. The secret is finding a company to help you build and develop your website without taking advantage of you or misguiding you with bad information.

The following list of tips should help you to separate the good from the bad when researching potential web design companies to help you move your business online.

Ask for information about the company's track record. Any web design company worth working with will have an impressive portfolio to share with new customers, like yourself. Ask to see their past work! There is nothing better than to see real life examples of what the company has produced for their clients. This gives you a realistic idea of what level of design quality you can expect from any given company. Other important questions regarding a company's track record might include: how long have you been in the business, do you have any client referrals I can contact or testimonials I can see?



Do you outsource any of your tasks, or do you handle all aspects of my project in house? This is important to ask because companies that outsource some or most of their design or development work generally get things done at a much slower rate. Not to mention, you won't be able to directly communicate with every member of the team who is actively working on your project. The best way to avoid these pitfalls and ensure the least amount of headache is to seek out a company which offers full service web design and does all of their work in-house.

Do you offer any online marketing services to help promote my new website? This one is huge, but is often overlooked by business owners. The fact of the matter is that someone could build you a spectacular looking website that was exactly the way you envisioned it, but that website will do your business absolutely no good if it just sits there online and no one can find it. After all, when you want to find something online, what do you do? Google it. That's how people will find your site too, so be sure the web design company you choose to hire has a good grasp on SEO and uses industry standards when creating websites.

Use these tips to make a short list of potential companies and do your research when it comes to building your business online. It will only end up paying off in the end!