Is it already time to build your next site? That is awesome news. We hope that we will get the chance to talk to you about the project you have in mind. However, whether you hire us or some other firm, I’d like you to know that there is a list of questions you should have answered before you even begin the process of talking to any web firm.
Of course, a great firm will ask you these questions as well. That said, you still do want to know all the answers before they ask, as this will help you determine the likelihood of your site succeeding in the market.
Without further ado, let’s skip to the main section of the post and look at the five different things you’ll need to figure out before hiring a website designer.
1. Does Anyone In My Team Have the Bandwidth to Take this Project On?
Creating a site takes lots of work. Regardless of how great the web firm you hire is, you’ll also need to be part of the process, and one way to do that is to find someone in your team who will serve as the point person for the project. Does the person boast the bandwidth required for the project? Does he/she have access to everything she needs to run the project efficiently? Will he/she direct the writing of content?
Speaking from experience, nothing stops website building endeavours dead in their tracks like someone that isn’t prepared to tackle the last few stages before taking the platform public.
2. What do you think is the essential thing your website should accomplish?
Websites ought to do lots of things. They display contact information, offer the general info about what a company does, and even collect email addresses and add them to monthly mailing lists. Or perhaps the website you have in mind is supposed to sell things.
The point is, regardless of what you’d like to achieve with the site, there is one important thing you think your site must accomplish, and I suggest that you know that going on as it’ll influence the design and layout of your platform.
3. How are you counting on bringing people to the new site?
It’s easy to automatically think that just creating your new website and publishing it means you’ll start getting traffic straight out of the gate. After all, doesn’t Field of Dreams preach that “if we take the time to build it, that they’ll come?”
Well, the reality is that what works for a ghost baseball player doesn’t always work for a website visitor. I usually equate building a website without thinking about traffic to wearing a fancy ball gown and just sitting in your living room.
Thinking about how you’ll bring visitors to your site before hiring a website designer will allow both of you to come up with an on-site SEO strategy that can work perfectly for your website.
Here at Designune Studio, for instance. We usually work with our clients on marketing tasks and content creation efforts even after the site creation process is finished. A great example of one of our esteemed partners is Polska Kasyno (who offers some of the best one-armed bandit games, btw.)
4. Are there things you think you’ll want to be changed about the website in the future?
Distinct clients, even those in the same industry or field, will often have dramatically distinct needs for their site. While the first bookkeeping company seeks to redo their site in order to get more clients, its counterpart may want to redo theirs and make it a more informative site that answers questions that client prospects often ask.
When we work with any firm, we love to ask, “Once this project is successful, do you think anything will have changed on your part?”
5. What is your budget?
The interesting thing about sites is that the same website (or websites with similar technical functionality) can cost $80 on Fiverr or $25,000 when done by an award-winning web design firm.
Note, though, that the price you’re willing to pay will, more often than not, influence the final product’s quality. In addition, the amount you pay will determine the kind of building process your site goes through.
Needless to say, less money will usually equal a less interactive and more templatized process. More money, on the other hand, usually equals a more personalized and collaborative process.