With so many web design companies ready to give your business a presence online, it can be overwhelming to choose the right fit for you.
It’s important to keep in mind, however, that even a company that offers the fanciest website design and development, complete with all the bells and whistles, may not be what’s actually best for your business.
While you may be the web design company’s customer, it’s actually your customers the web design firm should focus on when developing a strategy for your site’s design.
Sure, many web design companies can produce an attractive site. But, there is much more to an effective site than how it looks at first glance. Here’s what you need to know about how to pick the right web design company for your business.
The best web design companies do the necessary research to determine the correct messaging for the targeted markets you are going after … before designing your site. This is why working with a marketing agency that offers web design and incorporates it into the marketing plan it has designed for you may be your best option.
Remember, a website that looks nice but does not resonate with the visitor will not help you convert that visitor into a lead or into a customer.
The best marketing agencies, especially those that work with you to develop an effective inbound marketing plan, will design a customer-centric website that drives the right message to potential clients.
If you meet any of the following criteria, you should choose a marketing agency that offers a holistic perspective:
A marketing agency can offer analytics services as well. This is critical because without tracking, there is no way to measure how your efforts and strategy are working.
The web is a continually evolving machine. Working with a company that stays on top of leading trends in website design and content is important because this impacts how your prospects find you and how your audience perceives your business.
For example, Hubspot reports that more than 50% of consumers prefer video content over other types of content. Including video marketing as a component of your website can have a positive effect on creating relationships with buyers.
Having said this, it’s still important to keep design principles in mind that never go out of style. For example, you only have a short amount of time to keep potential customers on your website. They must be able to quickly determine if you can help them or they will go elsewhere.
Website design can impact search engine rankings as well. Too many components could impact a site’s loading time, which can have a significant impact on Google rankings.
Finally, it may seem like a given, but the right company to design your website will never nickel and dime you for every service.
You have enough to keep you busy when running a business. The company designing your website include in the development of your website the following:
In addition to these services, the right content is critical. That’s where hiring a marketing agency comes into play as well. Chances are, web design agencies will not provide content, such as blog articles. Web developers are usually experts in web programming, but not necessarily experts in content and messaging.
A marketing agency can successfully blend user design and usability with the development of your buyer personas, which are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers.
Based on that buyer persona, the marketing agency can create online materials such as videos, blogs and offers that stimulate interest in your product or service. Through inbound marketing practices, the agency will then promote this content to online audiences through multiple media formats such as social media.
Your website should be an extension of your business. This includes using your site to market your business to the right customer.
By focusing on attracting customers through relevant and helpful content, the right web design company for your business will add value at every stage in your customer’s buying journey.