Top 3 crap questions to ask when appointing a web designer
There are lots of things to consider when looking for the right service provider to design and build your web site for you. You will no doubt have lots of questions. If you want to find a great team who will deliver you a winning site then these would be the top 3 crap opening questions to ask:
- How much would a new web site cost?
- How many pages will I get?
- Can you get me the first page of Google?
Establish goals within your budget
Everyone has a budget and unless it’s minuscule there’s usually room to jiggle the scope around so that you and your designer/developer can arrive at a solution that fits.
Your business’ web site is as unique as you and your business – it has to be to differentiate you from your competitors so every project will be different.
Sure there are elements of similarity in every project but the specifics change from project to project. Until your designer has a set of requirements or a detailed brief then its going to be a guessing game.
So think about your goals for the website and the budget you have available and then go find a supplier that can best match your goals within that budget. Be realistic though – don’t be fooled by TV advertising and cheap DIY solutions. A professional web development service isn’t going to be as cheap as chips.
Be wary of those who promise great things for low prices.
Concentrate on the content
Forget about the number of pages or what it will look like – the important thing is that you choose a team or individual that really understands you and your business and can work with you to develop compelling content that will make your visitors want you and your products or service so much that taking the action you want them to take will be a pleasure.
That may take one page or 20. It will depend on your business model, aims and products or services, although it’s likely to be less than you think.
Focus on conversion
We all want to be on the first page of Google but remember that even if you are your site needs to convert visitors into customers otherwise you may as well be on page 10 or 100 because the results will be the same if not worse.
Also bear in mind that unless you’re in a niche business or there’s only one of your kind in a reasonable large geographic area then you’re likely to be competing with many others in the search rankings.
Any half decent designer and developer team should be able to achieve good organic search results for you if your site’s content is carefully crafted. What’s more important is to find a team who have a proven track record of building sites that not only feature well in search results but whose sites also convert well for their clients.
Checklist
Your simple check list to help you in choosing the right team to deliver a great new site for your business:
- Establish the goals of the site
- Set a realistic budget
- Look for an outfit who really understand you
- Look for a team with a proven track record of good conversion
What do you say?
Agree? Disagree? let me know in a comment.
