Articles
How to Select a Web Design Firm
By Cyndi Nguyen
Trying to find the right web design company to work with is much like finding a good sushi restaurant - you'll either find fabulous sushi, or you'll go home with food poisoning. Okay, perhaps it's not that black or white - but with so many web designers out there, how do you decide which firm is best for you? Here are the most important factors:
- Portfolio. The proof is in the pudding. Do you like their design style? Is it in synch with the look you're trying to achieve? Are their websites easy-to-use and fast loading?
- Expertise. Perhaps the firm is great at design, but do they know anything about database programming or search engine optimization? You want to make sure that the firm you select is well-rounded enough to accomodate future site enhancements and design something that isn't just pretty, but also functional and easy to market on search engines.
- Responsiveness. How long does it take them to respond to questions? Provide a proposal? Make meetings for follow-up questions? Make sure you know when and who you can reach whenever you need something done.
- Cost. Of course, this goes without saying. When evaluating proposals, make sure that you're comparing apples to apples. Any firm would be happy to revise their proposal if you tell them that another firm had line items in their proposal that they didn't cover.
In addition, make sure to ask these other important questions:
1) What's the size of your firm?
A one- or two-person shop may not provide the range of services or the level of responsiveness you need, but may offer some personalized attention and price breaks that larger firms can't offer. Meanwhile, a larger agency is more likely to have a more comprehensive and well-defined process, but may be less flexible when it comes to incroporating last-minute changes without additional costs.
2) Do you outsource your projects?
This will help you determine if you're just dealing with middle-men or with the designers and programmers directly. You want to make sure that team that worked on the pieces found in the company's portfolio is the same one that will be working on your project.
3) What happens if I don't like my concept?
Some companies charge you extra after a certain number of revisions, so make sure you know what will happen up-front to avoid surprises. Be reasonable. No designer will want to make design changes into perpetuity, but they should allow for enough iterations so that you can be assured a final product that you're thrilled with.
