All businesses that have websites will (at one point or another and some more frequently than others) go through a website design process. In fact, with how the web is dynamically changing most companies go through at least one website design every other year. With that in mind, we want to walk you through the questions that you should ask your potential future web design company as you interview them. Here are the top 10 inquires and why they are important to you and your company:

  1. Tell me about the CMS you utlize.
    • There are plenty of content management systems out there and the slew of the are intermixed throughout web design companies. With that said, there are also companies that generate their own CMS platforms. Here, we utilize what is considered to be the most powerful content management system available in WordPress. It has innate search engine optimization benefits, extreme usability, extraordinary customization, and opportunities for an unlimited number of features.
  2. What websites in your portfolio are similar to my project?
    • This is a key question because you can get to know the range of projects that the web design company has completed. You can also see the level of success with which they’ve had for each project. At IMPACT, we challenge ourselves and our clients to produce innovative and ground-breaking designs with layouts, features, and customizations that exceed the industry standard.
  3. What is the experience of your team?
    • Now, instead of getting just the usual, “we have “x” years of experience”, you should be asking about the background of each of the team members. To get the most out of your project, you want to find a well-rounded team that encourages the development and growth of each and every project. For example, our team consists of individuals from video production backgrounds, professional photography, graphic design, web design, marketing, business consultation, offline and online journalism, social media marketing, and search engine optimization (among others).
  4. Does your web design company adhere to W3C best practices?
    • While this may not be a primary focus of yours, this is something that you need to know. If your site does not comply with W3C standards, your site could potentially have browser compatibility issues and negative effects on search engine results. IMPACT fully adheres to and consistently updates our internal information on W3C standards because we realize how important SEO and cross-browser compatibility is for your audience…after all, not everyone uses Firefox or Safari, right?
  5. Flash? Java? How much of that stuff do you use?
    • There are web design companies out there that utilize a ton of java and flash. I am going to use the terminology that a nutritionist friend told me with regard to red meat…consume in moderation. The same holds true with java and flash. Too much java can conflict with one another and flash requires a significant number of updates. Without the updates and/or with conflicting java, websites do not work. Through experience and research, we’ve learned this unfortunate lesson, and we utilize java and flash on an as-needed basis instead of a “sure let’s just throw it in there” mindset. Remember, functionality and content is king!

Now, in the true style of the new fall sitcoms, I am going to leave you hanging for the other 5 questions that you should ask your web design company candidates. But, we won’t make you wait for too long…you can come back tomorrow morning and figure out the other five, and we will also be diving into this next week as well.

As always, if you have comments or questions, please leave them below, and I’ll be sure to response as soon as possible!

Need Help?

If website design is something that you are interested in but don’t know how to get started, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis.

Sources:
“The Essential Step-by-Step Guide to Internet Marketing”-E-Book
SlideShare.net
Image Source: HubSpot, “The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing”, E-Marketer.com