A great web designer or web design agency can be effective in helping your company look professional and increase leads or sales online. Unfortunately, they are also known for the exact oppositeâmaking you look bad and lose money online.
Many clients contact us here at Structure because of the second experienceâthe web design agency they paid to help them only hurt them.
They feel like their website is no better than when they started and itâs only costing them money. While we canât guarantee a resolution to this problem for every business, this article can help companies like yours filter out the web design agencies that will waste your time and money.
1. How long have they been designing and developing websites?
Experience is one of the primary indicators of whether hiring a web design agency will do an excellent job for you.
A trustworthy web design agency should have the experience of designing at least five legitimate websites or have a minimum of two years of experience. Even better if they have a team because the best work comes from collaboration.
If you’re looking for a web design team you can trust, you can learn about some of our web design work, meet our team, or read reviews on Clutch or Google.
2. What’s your web design process?
Creativity is one of the keys to crafting a website that looks professional and works for your business.
However, creativity is not the only thing; strategy and organization are equally important.
A loose or undefined process is a warning sign that your designer is not as experienced as they appear. A poorly designed website is typically the result of a poorly designed process.
Do you want to work with a web designer who has a great process and creates excellent websites? Learn more about Structure and our 5 Step Web Design Process.
3. How long will the project take?
A typical custom web design project will take three to six months.
Anything less than that, again, should make you pause and reevaluate what the designer is saying. They probably either donât have enough experience to know how long the process will take, or they arenât telling the truth. Good work takes time.
Curious how long your custom website project would take? Schedule a free discovery call with our professional team and we’ll build you a plan.
4. Who does the work?
Web designers and design agencies can be set up in various ways. Know who the person will be doing the work.
Is it just one person freelancing the project? An entire in-house team who will all be involved in the different steps? Or is the design outsourced to independent designers?
These factors can change the result, so ensure you are in the loop of what will happen when the project is no longer in your hands.
At Structure, anywhere from three to ten teammates might touch your project, depending on the scope of work. However, you’ll work with one point of contact throughout your entire web design project, so you don’t have to herd the cats đ
5. What platforms does the web design agency use?
Different platforms require different skill levels and usually take a long time to master. A truly experienced designer will probably not know everything about every platform. They say, “jack of all trades, master of none.”
Your web designer should be able to answer clearly and specifically what platforms they use and the process for that platform.Â
A standard answer might be WordPress, WooCommerce, Webflow, or Shopify. If your designer claims to be experienced in every platform or content management system, you might want to go in a different direction.
6. How does the web design agency ensure you donât lose web traffic and maintain good SEO?
Having a beautiful website, as lovely as that is, is truly only the very tip of the iceberg. Your designer should be able to tell you exactly how they plan to ensure that your search engine optimization is as good as possible.
If they charge a little extra for excellent SEO work, donât complain; thank them for caring enough to ensure your site will appear in as many Google searches as possible!
7. Does the web design agency guarantee their work?
A website designer who will offer you a guarantee is a sign that they are confident in their work and will stand behind it. Web designers provide different lengths of time for guarantees, from two weeks to an entire lifetime.Â
It is up to you how long you want to have a guarantee on your websiteâs designâbut a designer that offers no warranty whatsoever is not a good indicator of a quality result.
At Structure, we offer a lifetime website guarantee. According to research, the average lifespan of a website is two years and seven months. A websiteâs life span can vary by industry and company, and several factors will determine how quickly an individual business should refresh its websiteâbut our guarantee ensures that our websites will get your business to that next stage.
8. Will your web design agency give you a written, itemized proposal outlining the work scope and payment terms?
Do not make the mistake of accepting a vague work outline or terms of price and payment.
Let me state that again. Do not make the mistake of accepting a vague work outline or terms of price and payment.
Ensure your designer outlines the work they will do for you, the deliverables, and how and when you need to pay them. Ensure you understand the process’s entirety before you sign, pay, or start.
Each web design proposal at Structure outlines each page weâll build, the same systems and frameworks weâll use to build your website, and a total cost breakdown of the service fees and any subscriptions youâll need to pay for during the lifetime of your website.
9. Will your web design agency accept monthly or milestone payments?
Most web design agencies have standard terms of payment. Web design clients commonly pay their designer at milestones in the project or once per month for its duration.Â
Other design agencies will offer an option to split the payment into six or twelve monthly payments. Different options can work well for you depending on your situation, but beware of any agency that wants the entire payment before they have done the work for you, or else the price is divided into just a few extra-large installments.
10. Does the web design agency offer ongoing support?
This question will help you and your designer stay aligned after your site goes live.
Will they be available for you to ask questions even after they are technically finished with your project? Expect them to have a plan for how they will continue the relationship or not. That is a warning sign if they seem in a hurry to do the work and brush you off.
Even though ongoing support can sound expensive and unnecessary, especially if you like to DIY most things on your website, thereâs always another side to the coin.
If a web design agency doesnât want to continue the relationship, it might mean they donât stand behind their work and want to end it so they donât have to deal with you when your website falls apart.
If your website is confusing, Itâs time to get a business website that brings you a steady stream of customers
Your website could be making money for your business. Watch our free website training 5 Reasons Your Website Doesn’t Create Sales, and youâll know how to increase sales, create fans for your business, and stop losing to the competition.
