5 truth of web design company
Once you 've decided to take your business online, the first thing that you need is a website. And when you' ve decided on an online presence, you would begin to hunt for web design companies to do set up your business in the virtual world. When you hire a company, you have to be very careful that you choose the right one as you are going to entrust them with your business as a whole. Your website works as a face for your business so you actually end up laying the reputation and credibility of your business in the hands of the web design company. Here's the truth about companies and how they work, you should know these points as they will help you choose the right company.
1) Portfolio. Every web design company MUST have a portfolio on their website. The portfolio is what will give you an idea of the kind of work the company has done and the various projects they have undertaken. So if you happen to come across a company website without a portfolio, that's when you should be cautious and personally I would recommend not to hire that company. Its just like hiring an employee without a resume. So like I said a portfolio is a loud, clear and substantial proof of the kind of work a company has done and is a must for customers to go through the portfolio before they hire any company. Make sure that the ones that have a portfolio on their site have a complete and updated one .
2) Numbers. Well, this is one factor which cannot give you a comprehensive solution to the quality of work. The no. of projects in a portfolio is not more important that the quality of the work in the portfolio. So when you see a vast portfolio, don't let yourself be impressed by it until you' ve checked the quality of work. However to find out the speed or time that the company takes, you can roughly calculate this by checking the no. of projects in a specific time period like a month, year etc.
This will help you access the expertise of the company, how they plan and manage their projects in line with the time taken for the same, etc.
3) Nature of projects When you go through a portfolio, what you have to look out for is resemblences with your requirements. Has this company worked on projects that are similar to yours? Have they worked on more than 2 projects that are similar to yours? If the company has already done several or at least 2-3 projects that satisfy your requirements then , your on the right track. Now check out these projects and see if you like them, do you think that the functionalities were well implemented?
Another thing that you should think about is the use of technology, if you require any particular technology to be implemented on your site, then you might have to speak to the company and see their examples.
If you happen to like the portfolio of a company that has not worked on projects similar to yours, you can ask the company personally to see if they can show you any examples probably some that are no longer live, etc. you could also request them to give you a demo package which, might help you to arrive at a conclusion.
4) Quality Now this is a very important aspect and there are some parameter which you can use to judge the same.
Go through the live websites carefully, check out the time it takes to load, does the page have images, Flash or movies and sound. Usually a page with just images should take just a few seconds to download. If it's a Flash site this process could take a few mins. But if it's a simple HTML site with just images on them and it takes time to load, you are unable to see the images or they have loaded only partially even after a few mins, then you have to watch out. These designers probably don't focus on optimization and loading speed which are very crucial to website performance.
Besides loading time check out the design in general, its structure, usability, navigations, color combinations etc.
5) Happy owners Check with the owners of the website, are they happy with the website ? How was their experience working with the particular design company? Its very important to get references and feedbacks from others who have worked with this particular company. So go through the contacts on the website and contact them!
6) Own site of web design company And now how did you like the company website? Did you find it attractive, catchy and user- friendly? Do you find it keeps up with all the necessary web standards. If their own website is way better than the portfolio websites, then you need to think again; the company could have hired a more professional designer to do up their own website.
1) Portfolio. Every web design company MUST have a portfolio on their website. The portfolio is what will give you an idea of the kind of work the company has done and the various projects they have undertaken. So if you happen to come across a company website without a portfolio, that's when you should be cautious and personally I would recommend not to hire that company. Its just like hiring an employee without a resume. So like I said a portfolio is a loud, clear and substantial proof of the kind of work a company has done and is a must for customers to go through the portfolio before they hire any company. Make sure that the ones that have a portfolio on their site have a complete and updated one .
2) Numbers. Well, this is one factor which cannot give you a comprehensive solution to the quality of work. The no. of projects in a portfolio is not more important that the quality of the work in the portfolio. So when you see a vast portfolio, don't let yourself be impressed by it until you' ve checked the quality of work. However to find out the speed or time that the company takes, you can roughly calculate this by checking the no. of projects in a specific time period like a month, year etc.
This will help you access the expertise of the company, how they plan and manage their projects in line with the time taken for the same, etc.
3) Nature of projects When you go through a portfolio, what you have to look out for is resemblences with your requirements. Has this company worked on projects that are similar to yours? Have they worked on more than 2 projects that are similar to yours? If the company has already done several or at least 2-3 projects that satisfy your requirements then , your on the right track. Now check out these projects and see if you like them, do you think that the functionalities were well implemented?
Another thing that you should think about is the use of technology, if you require any particular technology to be implemented on your site, then you might have to speak to the company and see their examples.
If you happen to like the portfolio of a company that has not worked on projects similar to yours, you can ask the company personally to see if they can show you any examples probably some that are no longer live, etc. you could also request them to give you a demo package which, might help you to arrive at a conclusion.
4) Quality Now this is a very important aspect and there are some parameter which you can use to judge the same.
Go through the live websites carefully, check out the time it takes to load, does the page have images, Flash or movies and sound. Usually a page with just images should take just a few seconds to download. If it's a Flash site this process could take a few mins. But if it's a simple HTML site with just images on them and it takes time to load, you are unable to see the images or they have loaded only partially even after a few mins, then you have to watch out. These designers probably don't focus on optimization and loading speed which are very crucial to website performance.
Besides loading time check out the design in general, its structure, usability, navigations, color combinations etc.
5) Happy owners Check with the owners of the website, are they happy with the website ? How was their experience working with the particular design company? Its very important to get references and feedbacks from others who have worked with this particular company. So go through the contacts on the website and contact them!
6) Own site of web design company And now how did you like the company website? Did you find it attractive, catchy and user- friendly? Do you find it keeps up with all the necessary web standards. If their own website is way better than the portfolio websites, then you need to think again; the company could have hired a more professional designer to do up their own website.
