With the rapid growth of technology today, more companies are using the internet to promote their products and businesses. A good website is therefore needed if a company is to reach out to millions of potential online customers.

Whether it's a refresh or a completely new web design and build, there are so many factors to consider at every stage. How much content do you have, and how is it performing? What new technology do you need to integrate? And most importantly, how is the project going to improve the experience for your site's visitors?

Businesses also need to decide whether they will contract freelance web developers and designers, or partner with a design and development agency.

This is a huge decision, because you're putting your trust and your budget into someone else's hands. Your digital marketing success, lead generation, and profit are impacted by your website. You need to get it right.

1. A strategic process and approach

Web development is a complex endeavor with many moving pieces, all with far-reaching and interconnected implications. As with any construction project, success requires the proper approach and a thorough and intentional process. When considering web agencies, be sure they can articulate a strategic process from start to finish. Ideally, it is one that has been refined by many years of “lessons learned” and continuously augmented for emerging best practices. Seek to understand their overall approach, how their process plays out, what takes place at each stage and what your involvement will be at each step. An agency's process should give you a sense of confidence in their ability to deliver a successful project for your firm.

2. A Complete Website Checklist

The Complete Website Checklist Get It Your website, otherwise known as your online storefront and virtual brand, is how you will present yourself the to the world. The entire planet Earth will be introduced to your small business via this website. No pressure, right?

So, what's a new business owner to do? You want the best site possible, so you need to ask a web designer for help; should you do a quick Google search and hope for the best?

Nope.

There are ten things you should do first before taking that route:

3. Will They Use Responsive Web Design?

Maybe you don't even know you should be asking about this. But responsive website design means that your website will function and look correct no matter how it is visited. In short: will it look good on a cell phone or an iPad and not just a desktop?

You don't want your website to be stuck in the stone age and with 81% of Americans owning a smartphone, it would not be a good move to have a website design that they can't use to the fullest extent. Most great designers will do this automatically, but it's good to make sure before you get started on the design.

4. Effective Communication Skills

When you're working on designing anything, it's not very often that the first try is exactly right.

Generally, there is a lot of back and forth between the designer and the client to tweak things until it's just right. If you have the right team, this can be a positive, helpful process to ensure everyone is happy with the end result.

If there are communication problems within the team, then this process can be a nightmare.

Before hiring any web designer, ask questions about their communication process. Will they be available to you when you need them (within reason, of course)? Are they willing to take suggestions and make changes?



Pay attention to how they communicate with you through the hiring process to get a good idea.

5. Quality of Customer Service

Hiring a company that offers good customer service is important because you'll be interacting with it for some time. Since it'll take time, creating a website isn't a one-off activity.

That being said, the web design company you hire should be professional in its interactions. It should be able to work with other people in your business to create a good website and keep you updated throughout the design process.

Use the initial interactions you have with a potential designer to gauge their communication skills.

6. Will you review my current website and analyze its performance before making your design decisions?

If you have an existing website, not all pages may need a redesign, especially if they are hitting high performance marks. Find out if the web design agency plans to analyze your current site's metrics to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses before implemented any design changes.

7. Good team chemistry

A website redesign project is an iterative process that will involve a significant amount of collaboration and communication between your team and the marketing agency. Everything discussed up until this point is based on the capabilities of a potential web partner, but the importance of a good cultural fit can't be overestimated. You need to feel confident that you'll enjoy working with the agency throughout the project duration (and beyond). During the interview process, be sure to consider the personalities, styles and approach of the people involved. Can you see your team working well with theirs, or do you sense potential personality conflicts that raise a red flag? You will be spending weeks possibly even months with these people so a solid working relationship is essential.

Hiring a Web Designer: Final Thoughts

Hiring a web designer isn't for everyone, but it is a great way to create a professional website without having to do any of the work yourself.

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