People get so excited about websites. We get it, we’re in the web design business, we get excited about designing cool shit too! Allow me to rephrase that, people get so excited about their website – especially about getting their website built. They have the idea and the financial backing for their business and like a thoroughbred racehorse they are out of the chute, chasing down web designers. Unfortunately, that enthusiasm and excitement can lead people to hire the first designer that says ‘hi’ which can lead people down an unhappy road and turn what should be a great experience, into a god-awful one.
Not that we want to put a damper on the fun, stay excited, stay focused. We want the website and brand design experience to be amazing for you, so we’ve compiled a list of what you should know before hiring a web design studio.
Do your research.
When the time is approaching to meet with potential designers, do some research, dig around the internet. Find websites that you love and write down what you love about them. Do you love large headline images? Sidebars? Multiple square images? Do you like pages with lots of text or just a little bit? These are the things that you can find out just from surfing the good ol’ ‘net and finding your aesthetic.
What is your point?
You need to know what the primary purpose for your website is. Is it to drive sales, to recruit staff, to inform? All of these are perfectly reasonable answers, but you need to have one. Getting a website built without having a clearly defined goal will likely cause the finished product to be unorganized and unable to keep web traffic. It’s ok to have more than one goal but have them organized by importance into primary, secondary and tertiary goals.
What should it do?
You want to have a good idea of what features your website will need to have. Do you want a blog? A scheduling app? Should people be able to shop and pay for goods through your site? Do you want people to be able to log-in? Before you talk to an agency, you want to have a rough idea of what you want your website’s capabilities to be. Each of these things will change the estimated budget for your website. Which brings us to the next point.
What is your budget?
It is helpful to have an idea how much money you can spend on a website. Those extra features you want your website to have? They all cost money. Knowing your budget means that you know what is in the realm of possibility and what isn’t. Everyone loves the Apple website, but 99.9% of businesses do not have an Apple budget.
Read Reviews.
Just like restaurants and accountants, website design agencies get reviewed also. Check out their reviews or call around and see how many satisfied clients they have. Obviously, if they have multiple bad reviews they may not be the best fit for you. Just because they can design beautifully doesn’t mean that they are good project managers, thankfully, agencies like talonX have people like Nick who translate client needs to their designers.
Now that you know what your design aesthetic is you can also look at their past work to see if what they do suits your needs/desires.
Finding the right brand or website design agency is kind of like being Prince Charming you have to roam the countryside looking for the person who is going to fit your shoe. Hopefully, with this little list, you can find your perfect fit. And if you think talonX may be it for you call us up to have a chat or fill out our website starting checklist.