website design services

Website visitors are 32 percent more likely to leave a site if the load time goes up from one second to three seconds. That’s right. The difference between a potential customer and a would-have-been customer is a whole two seconds.

If your company is looking at different website design services, you already know that you can’t mess around when it comes to your online presence. But with new agencies popping up every other day, it can be hard to tell if you’re choosing the right web design service.

Fortunately, we’ve put together a list of essential tips to keep in mind as you search for a web designer. Keep reading to learn more.

1. Understand Your Web Design Needs

Have you ever visited a site and been in total awe of the layout and the design? Some companies have incredible taste that way.

But even if you’re a fan of the bells and whistles, there’s a very good chance that the corporate site that blew your socks off would be a terrible fit for your business. Here’s why:

According to SmallBizGenius, 88 percent of online shoppers will refuse to revisit a site if they’ve had a bad user experience.

A lot of web designing services will have stunning images and sites that are veritable works of art. But they might not know what it takes to design a website that turns tire-kickers into loyal paying customers.

Do you need a convenient way to display your products? Is it currently taking customers too long to sign up and make payments?

Your web design needs aren’t just limited to keeping things within budget — the UX matters too. Before any money changes hands, you’ll want to make sure that the agency you hire understands how to create a revenue-boosting site.

2. Review Their Portfolio

Imagine hiring a tax accountant who’d never heard of the IRS or a supplier with no sense of quality control. Your business would be in jeopardy if you did, right?

83 percent of surveyed U.S. shoppers admitted to looking around online before going to a store in person. If your website leaves a bad impression, you might not just be getting a few laughs and a second chance — you could be sending potential customers straight to your competition.

In order to make sure that your web design company can, in fact, design websites, you’ll want to take your time reviewing their portfolio. To do this, you’ll want to visit multiple sites and click through as many links as you can.

You may want to break your portfolio review into two parts:

  • Functionality
  • Aesthetic and strategy

During the first part of this discussion, you’ll be making sure that the website works. After all, there’s no reason to point to having a brand new website if nobody can access it. Here, you’ll be assessing details like the load times, the links, and the responsiveness of the site.

After you’ve reassured yourself that the website is operational, you’ll want to take a closer look at its design elements. This portion is a little bit more subjective, but you’ll want to look at things like font selection, use of images, and color schematics. Try to get a sense of whether the web design service has a style that meshes well with yours.

You can speak to the sales team and be reassured by your account manager until the cows come home. But the proof of a web design company’s skill can be seen in its portfolio.

3. Get a Sense of Their Process

At this stage, you’ve probably looked at the portfolio and done an informal audit of your website’s needs. Maybe you’ve even put together a shortlist of website designing services. Now you’re ready for the next step in the hiring process:

Assessing fit.

Everyone has known a person with tons of skills but an abrasive personality. You don’t want to be dealing with that kind of friction when you’re getting your website designed.

Do you want to be in the mix whenever there’s a decision being made with your web design project? How responsive does this company seem to be whenever you have questions?

At the end of the day, you want to work with a website design company that gets you. If you’re hands-on while their process is more hands-off, you could be in for a bumpy ride. And the opposite is true if projects are constantly being held up because the agency is always waiting on your responses.

There’s no right or wrong way to approach this. It’s just a matter of making sure that you and the agency have a certain level of professional compatibility.

4. Look For Additional Services

In many ways, the website design process is greater than the sum of its parts. Even before the designer goes to work, for instance, you’ll need to have a list of marketing assets and a comprehensive web design strategy. Then, after the site has been launched, there’s still the work involved with generating leads and keeping your site up and running.

The good news is that it’s not unusual for a website design service to offer PPC ad campaigns, SEO, and content production services. For this reason, you’ll want to think very seriously about your long-term plans for the site.

If you’re an e-commerce company, chances are that you won’t be making changes to your site all that often. But if you’re able to find a service that also helps its clients with SEO, to name one example, you’ll have found the perfect one-stop shop for your digital marketing needs.

Use These Tips When Hiring Website Design Services 

At the end of the day, anyone can fire up a website builder and promote themselves as a web designer. Professional web design is different, however, because the end product has to align with your business objectives.

Because so many website design services are available locally and through the internet, hiring can often be tricky. But fortunately, the tips we’ve just provided can point you in the right direction.

Would you like a new website? We specialize in building sites that are designed to look professional while helping you attract more clients. Book a consultation with us today.