Do you know exactly what you want on your website and how you want it to look? Having a clear vision of what you want will help the website designer create a website you’ll be proud to have associated with your name or business. If you’re unsure, or unable to articulate your needs and desires, both you and your website designer will become frustrated and your website development project will take longer to complete and most certainly run over budget.
In addition, you need to know what you want from your website. What is the purpose of your site? Is your website an informational site? Are you selling products or services? Do you want visitors to sign up for emails? Do you want visitors to your site to interact in some manner, participate in discussions, download a file, or click on ads?
Knowing what type of website you need and what the goal of your site is will help you determine which web design company will best suit your needs. There are many types of websites. E-commerce sites, portfolio sites, and informational sites, to name a few. Although many web designers and website development companies have a wide range of abilities, some designers specialize in specific types of sites. Be clear when describing your requirements to your potential web design company. You want to be sure they have experience in designing the type of site you’re looking for.
At some point, your website will need to be updated. Phone numbers change, you may want to update your content, or you’ll need to add or remove products and services. Will you be handling the updates yourself? Would you rather your designer update your site? Letting your designer know your choices upfront will help in determining whether you’ll need an easy to use content management system or a more sophisticated system meant for website design pros.
And finally, you need a website design company that understands search engine optimization (SEO), as well as the guidelines of the various online directories. You want your website to be visible for potential clients, but you also want to be sure your site doesn’t get delisted by violating guidelines.
