Approaching a web design company pre-prepared can make the initial consultation a lot more focused. The Article lists elements of your website that should be discussed, and how to vet a web design company.
Web Design Companies
Dorset Web Design Companies
|
H |
ow to choose the right web design company...
- A good company will produce a design document so you can be sure of what you are getting.
- Quality and experience varies greatly. Be sure to check out their portfolio. The finished product should reflect experience in design and layout, to give a professional look and feel.
- Website designers reuse code from previous clients. This has the great benefit that it has been tested in advance, which adds to the speed of development (and lowers the cost).
- They should understand how to optimise a web site. If not then forget achieving a high-ranking site straight off. Also good web design companies will offer a promotional package as an option so that the site can be optimised as its built.
- Be careful how maintenance is arranged, you will almost certainly incur some annual fee to cover support and maintenance.
- Prices can vary wildly. An independent (one or two person) company may well charge a lot less than a design company employing more staff. These companies generally chase larger businesses and charge accordingly.
Initial Consultation
Website designers should
guide you
|
Issues like what will encourage visitors to your site over the competition? Do you have unique products? Or a unique selling point? Be clear about which (if not all) of your product range is suitable for the web. Research is vital.
"You should decide up front what the sites purpose is"
You should decide up front what the sites purpose is. Information? Entertainment? Financial gain?, or a combination of each? If it’s a content-based site then fresh updates are needed to bring in repeat custom. Will your customers provide some of this content? Or is it all down to your staff?
Standard pages will inspire confidence. These should be included as a matter of course.
- The about us page - should describe your company's aims.
- Contact us - make it easy for customers to get in touch.
- Testimonials - may be worked into product display pages, but required.
- The Home page - obvious but it needs careful planning to make the most impact and drive traffic to your core pages.
- FAQ, support or help page - this will deflect some emails and adds a sense of customer care to the visitor.
- Finally your Core pages - the reason visitors should come to your site!
