Seven Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring a Website Design Company

Looking to hire a website design company but unsure of the process?

Well, you have come to the right place. Hiring the right person or company becomes imperative as websites are crucial in interacting with the outside world (digitally).

In this article, we will go through a few questions you should ask before selecting a website design company. But before that, let us understand what the term entails.

Table of Content

• What is a Website Design?
• Importance of Website Design
• 7 Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring A Website Design Company
1. 1. What is Your Overall Experience in Website Design?
2. 2. How Many Designers Will Be Assigned To The Task?
3. 3. What is Your Design Process?
4. 4. How Do You Maintain Security and Privacy?
5. 5. What Kind of Project Have You Worked On, Share Portfolio?
6. 6. How Much Time Will It Take as Per My Requirement?
7. 7. What Will Be the Cost of the Project?
• Bonus Tip

What is a Website Design?

Web designing is the process of creating websites and webpages. The aim is to reflect the overall information and essence of the brand while ensuring the best user experience. Website design incorporates various elements like images, colour schemes, typography, layout, etc., to deliver the best possible solutions in terms of functionality and aesthetics.

Importance of Website Design

Website design is essential as it will help you:

• With a good user experience affecting leads and conversions.
• To build a credible impression in your potential customers’ minds by creating a consistent and solid brand image.
• With SEO strategy by taking care of components like the proper alignment of content, SEO-friendly coding, etc.
• To improve the accessibility and navigability of your website.
• To stay ahead of the game by incorporating elements like responsive web design, purposeful graphics, well-designed CTAs, fast page loading speed, etc.

These elements are crucial in the functionality of a website and are much needed to create a great user experience.

7 Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring A Website Design Company

This list of questions will help you streamline your thoughts and assess the right fit for your brand. A seasoned Web Development Company will be able to satisfy the benchmarks with credible solutions.

What is Your Overall Experience in Website Design?

Before hiring a website design company, do thorough research regarding the kind of experience they have in website design. Discuss the intricacies of your business in-depth with your design company so they can create a brand story and content in line with your vision and purpose.

• Have they worked in your niche/industry?
• Ask if they will review/audit/analyze your existing website.
• Do they offer services besides web designing, like graphic/logo designs, content writing, etc.?
• What content management system (CMS) will they be using?
• Do they stay up to date with modern trends and technologies?
• Do they incorporate SEO best practices right from the start of website development?
• How long they are in the market, and how many projects have they completed?
• Do they know CSS and the coding process?

How Many Designers Will Be Assigned To The Task?

The answer might vary depending on the size of the company (number of designers they have) and the requirement of your project. Nevertheless, have clear communication regarding your point of contact and who keeps you updated with the progress.

Most companies have multiple clients. And they all have systems in place to receive correspondence from each.

• What are the qualifications of people working on your project?
• Is everything in-house, or do they outsource the design work?
• Enquire about the number of designers in the company and how many will be involved in the project.
• Who will be the chief point of contact?
• When can you connect during the day?
• Ask how they wish to communicate (like texts, emails, or project management tools).

What is Your Design Process?

Learn about the designing process of the company, i.e., whether they use any project management software or follow any standard operating procedure (SOP).

It will help you decide if the website design company is proficient enough to hire.

Having a documented process will help keep everything on track and make the designing process less stressful for all the parties involved.

• Do they offer any post-launch support package/maintenance tutorials/website training sessions for eventual support?
• What is the research process, i.e., do they study competitors and target segments beforehand?
• Do they allow for revisions?
• What are website design platforms available (like WordPress, Magento, and Shopify)?
• What are the techniques they use while designing?
• How structured/systematic is the planning process?
• Do they use templates, build from scratch (custom), or mix both?

Just see how well they can communicate their process (from conception till the end of the project).

How Do You Maintain Security and Privacy

Website security is a must. And proper measures should be there to keep it free of bugs, spam, and hackers. Also, updating the website and plugins regularly, taking backups, and getting an SSL certificate are other crucial security measures for seamless performance.

• Ask what CMS platform will be used for website development, as it will determine how many security measures will be needed for the website.
• Who gets ownership of the website?
• Will you be able to trademark the new design?
• Can you get the graphics copyrighted?
• Do you get to make changes/edits in the files after the project gets done?
• Do they offer maintenance packages like what if the site gets hacked (services/support they offer)?

What Kind of Project Have You Worked On, Share Portfolio?

Going through the previous work will help you understand the style of the company. It will also help you figure out if they have delivered your expectations.

Also, you can ask for access to all their finished projects apart from the work listed in the portfolio if you wish to learn more.

Listed below are questions you can ask when sifting through the portfolio.

• Are the websites modern or mobile responsive?
• How is the user experience?
• Does it match what you seek for your website?
• Is the writing clear and relevant?
• Does the company have a range of styles (catering to different audiences), or do they follow a similar pattern in all their designs?

How Much Time Will It Take as Per My Requirement?

It should take a little while before you get to launch your website so having a clear timeframe is imperative. The company should be able to communicate how much time they will need to execute your project. You can check if the proposed timeline fits your requirement.

Be clear with your needs (for example, brand photography), as the timeline may vary based on additional services. It may also vary depending on the size of the company and your project.

• Ask for tentative timeframes, including revisions (so you know what to expect and when).
• Ask for the feedback/input process, i.e., how often will you be able to connect to convey that?
• How quick and efficient are they with communication, i.e., what is the turnaround on communication?
• What’s needed from me (the client) to stay on the proposed timeline?

What Will Be the Cost of the Project?

Have a clear idea of your budget and communicate it well before initiating the project. Certain prices are baseline and additional costs unless otherwise stated like web hosting, plugins, etc.

Content creation, brand photography, online scheduling, and email marketing are someimportant additional costs to consider.

Have a clear idea about the cost specific to your project and included services (if any hidden additional costs for extra services).

Also, you can enquire about their work by stating three different budgets. For example, ask for the services in ½ your budget, your entire budget, and 150% of your budget.

It will give you an idea of the range of options they offer.

• Ask if you will have to pay for any additional revisions.
• As some companies charge low prices up-front but charge premiums for revisions.
• Ask for the process of payment (that is flat fee or hour-based).
• How many pages your website will have?
• How many rounds of revision do they offer and are included in the package?

Bonus Tip

And finally, ask for client references. Ask if you can get reviews and references from people. Speaking to previous clients will give you a good idea about the agency.

You can ask them (past clients) questions like

• Do they recommend the design agency?
• Were there any problems during their website-building process?
• How were those problems solved?
• How was the experience of working with the agency?

Building a solid website is crucial if you want effectively communicate your brand's purpose and vision. Asking questions will help you get relevant information and help you hire a website design company that fits your requirements.

Having said that hiring a website design company is not too easy. You will need to put little energy into finding an option that fits your budget, time, and expectations.

Estatic Infotech takes pride in delivering quick web design solutions cost-effectively. If you seek to hire a web designer, kindly let us assist in the process.