Are you looking for a website design company to build your new business website? If so, it might be hard to find the right group of people to trust with such a vital part of your business so it’s important to ask the right questions from the beginning.
I have gathered a list of questions we get asked on a regular basis and, in addition, questions that I believe will help set you up for success with your digital strategy right from the get-go.
With five years of experience working on websites and talking with hundreds of different business owners and marketers about their business goals, marketing strategy and web design objectives, I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what business owners looking for in their website redesign.
In general, there’s usually a big gap between what customers think they want and what they actually need, however, by asking the right questions, a client can enter the conversation with or team of business consultants more prepared they’ll get a better understanding of who you might be hiring for your next web design project.
Questions you should ask to understand your web design project:
- Have you or will you review my current website design?
If the business consultant you are working with has done their research, they should have already done this prior to sitting down with you just to get a foundation of understanding of who you are as a company and what products/services you offer and are looking to promote through your website. In addition to that, they should be able to give you a bit of an analysis of your website right from the get-go.
2. Will you be designing a fully custom website design or will you be customizing a theme?
A lot of times our sales consultants will let you know the answer to this before you ask it because the direction of your conversation will be based around your company’s needs in regards to any specific functionality and also your budget. However, if they do not, it’s important to gain clarity on the direction of a companies website design strategy. Custom websites are generally a bit more expensive than template/theme website designs but are tailor made to fit your company’s needs and any specific functionality you’ve requested.
Template websites, on the other hand, are already pre-build, making the website design and development process minimal, however, you will work within a framework that will need to be manipulated to work for you.
3. Do you provide design or content writing services?
When you are building a website from the ground up, there are going to be many things you will need in order to fill out your website design. First thing you’ll need is branding. If you are a new business or are looking to rebrand, you’ll need to start with a logo design and branding around that design. The colors of your logo and overall branding are of huge importance to the overall look and feel of your website design. Due to this, it might be beneficial for you to ask the sales consultant if they have a designer that can help them establish a logo design an branding package.
Secondly, a website is a digital brochure of sorts. It tells people all about your company, your product and services offerings, and how to get in touch with you. In order for your website to do this, you must have content on your website. Most websites will have more than 10 pages and over 500 words per page that discusses who you are, what you do and what you have to offer. If you do not have the time or do not have someone on staff that can allocate time accordingly, it’s important to ask if the website design company has a content writer on staff that can provide those services to help fill out
4. Can my website grow overtime?
If you are a new business just getting started it is understandable that you might not have a lot of content when you first get your website up and running. Due to this, you will probably launch your website with only a handful of pages. This doesn’t need to be a burden for growth, however, when built on a platform that has room for growth. At Nextfly, we will put your website on a Content Management System where you can continue to add more and more pages as your business and product offerings begin to increase. We’ll also give you a two hour training to get you started so you’ll have all the tools at your tool belt to get up and running.
5. What do you need from me to get started?
If you are feeling confident with the answers provided to the questions above, your next question might be “how do we get started?!” Most clients feel that a signed agreement and payment is all we need to get started, however, that is not the case. For us to begin on your website design it’s important to have a kickoff meeting. The kickoff meeting will take in your input, preferences and opinions into consideration to make sure the website design gets started in the right direction.
When it comes to the website design and development process, there are more questions worth asking along the way that I’ll provide. Part two of this blog series will be on its way next month to help guide you through that process so stay tuned!