Do you want to build your website but don’t know how to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.
From the Big 4 to Startups, in today’s digital world, an online presence is the key to building any business. And a smooth functioning website is the backbone of every online business. Therefore, who wouldn’t want to hire the best web development companies available in the market to help them create the building blocks of their online business?
Every budding entrepreneur or even brands who are looking to upgrade their websites must start their endeavor by a quick Google search with the keywords- “best web design companies” or “top web designers” near me - right?
If you nodded yes to that question, then you agree with the fact that thorough research is required before hiring human resources for any task or project. It is only through proper research that any company or individual can assess the best options for their project requirements.
Hence, in this blog, we will explore the most effective strategies to help you find the perfect web design company for your needs.
Before we dive into the step by step process of finding the perfect web design company, there is something that should be cleared up. I have often noticed that people use the terms website developer and website designer interchangeably; and not many would even know the proper difference between the two without having come from a technical background.
So, to help readers narrow down and find the perfect web design company for them, it is essential to help them understand the difference between a web developer and a web designer so they can hire the right people for the job.
Understanding The Difference Between A Web Developer And A Web Designer
A web designer is mainly responsible for the website's aesthetic appeal. They are incharge of the website's look and usability in relation to the message the brand wants to portray to their visitors and customers. They mostly work on programs and apps like Photoshop, Corel Draw, etc.
It is the duty of the web designer to ensure that the end user is able to view, and interact with the website with ease and in the way the brand wants. There are 3 main classifications of web designers-
- User Experience Designers (UX)- Responsible for how the customers experience your website, brand, products, etc.
- User Interface Designers (UI)- Responsible for Interface of the website, including the navigation, illustrations, top-down features, etc.
- Graphic Designers - Responsible for visual design and graphic layout of the website.
Meanwhile, a web developer is generally what you refer to as programmers. Web developers work closely with web designers to breathe life into the concept of the website to turn it into a fully-functioning website with desired features. They work with languages like HTML, Javascript, NodeJS, Asp.Net, etc.
Web developers are broadly classified into 3 roles:
- Front End Developers - Responsible for the client side of the website, like colors, textures, responsiveness, etc.
- Back End Developers - Responsible for the server side of the website, like APIs, libraries, system components, etc.
- Full Stack Developers - Can design and develop fully functional websites and applications on their own.
I hope this clarifies the difference between web designers and developers so that you can now hire the right person for the right job for building or redesigning your website.
Moving on, building a website is no easy task and many might wonder if hiring a web designer is really necessary?
The answer is a 100% Yes!
It takes a user about 50 milliseconds to form an opinion about your website. Meaning if they are not satisfied with it, it might end up costing you clients instead of creating more business for you.
Reasons To Hire A Web Design Company
As mentioned above, when a customer visits your website, they are quick to form an opinion about your website and first impressions never really go away. As an entrepreneur, you can’t do everything by yourself, building a brand requires a lot of time and effort as well as resources.
Hiring the right resources to work on your website is similar to shopping for essential goods; you only buy the best products money can offer to have the best results, similarly by hiring a web design company, you are using their expertise to help you build the best website for your brand amidst cut-throat competition from numerous other websites in your field
Here are the top reasons why hiring a web design company is better than doing it in-house or by yourself:
- If you don’t have the time or inclination to learn the art of web design yourself, then it is best to trust the professionals with it. Hiring someone for their skills is a surefire way to ensure that you get the best service for your money’s worth.
- Another common scenario faced by entrepreneurs and others who wish to build their online presence through a website is, they don’t know where to start. A polished web design company can not only help you design your website, but also guide you through the features and services that you should list on your website to attract more traffic.
- Your website is outdated. Redesigning your website is another great reason to hire a web design company, there might be new technology in the market that you don’t know about but can surely help revamp your website. An outdated website is often a major reason why customers shift to other sites.
- Adding new features. An entrepreneur's head is always full of new ideas, and hiring a web design company will help you execute those new ideas and add those new designs and features to your website to stay competitive and appealing to your customers.
Now that you are a little convinced about why you should outsource your web designing task to professionals, let’s move onto the next step of finding the perfect web design company.
Key Qualities To Look For In A Web Designer
Before hiring a web designer from a web design company, as a client, you should be aware of the key qualities that the web designer should possess to successfully undertake the task of designing or redesigning your website.
An ideal web designer should have the following skills in order to be considered a potential hire for your project requirements.
1. Creativity- Having a sense of creativity is the most basic skill that a designer should possess. There are a lot of websites for each and every industry and field, if a designer doesn’t have a creative mind they can’t possibly design a unique website that sets your brand apart from all the others.
Thus, having a creative mindset is the most important thing that you should check while you are hiring for the role of a designer.
2. Industry Experience- A web designer that has industry experience can prove to be a very important ally in the success of your brand. Having worked in your industry, they must have important insights about what works and what doesn’t in terms of appeal to the target audience, and that distinction is a precious piece of information for you.
They can advise you about what features might just look tempting but are actually useless from end users POV (point of view). Saving you trouble to re-do the web design later.
3. Knowledge of Design Principles- A web designer without the basic knowledge of design principles will end up fumbling with practices that have already been proven to be unattractive for the audiences. Without knowing the proper principles of user experience, and user interface, a web designer cannot properly create a design that will be lucrative to the visitors of the site.
4. Technical Knowledge- A web designer should have sound knowledge and experience of using design software and applications such as Photoshop, Corel Draw, Illustrator, etc. These software help in creating mockups for the clients to finalize which option they find the best.
Along with these software, web designers should also have basic knowledge of HTML, Javascript, and CSS to implement their creativity in the website design.
5. Communication Skills- Although this is a soft skill, it might just be the most important one out of all. Communication skills are the key to completing a web design project harmoniously.
The web designer needs to understand your requirements and vision for the website clearly so that they can deliver or exceed your expectations. Communication is a two way street, it is necessary that you and the person you hire to design your website have a similar thought process and are in tune with each other about the requirements of the project or it could be a tiring and frustrating journey for both parties involved.
How To Find A Web Design Company
Coming to the most important part of our blog, the proper way to find a web design company so that you exert minimum efforts, yet yield the best results. Here are curated tips to hire the perfect web design company.
1. Define Your Business Goals and Requirements
Defining your business goals and objectives for the website is of the utmost importance before you go searching for web designers or web designing agencies. You need to know very clearly what you want from this website, in terms of business goals such as lead generation, brand awareness, brand promotion, product placement, etc and even in terms of the appeal of the website.
An easy way to narrow down your visual expectations from the website is to create a list of websites that you like, and a list of websites that you don’t. You can also include your reasons for choosing those websites for the respective lists as it will give you a better idea of what you want in your own website and what you don’t.
You need to list all the functionality and features that you want in your website as well as ones that you won’t find appealing. Then you need to allocate a timeline for this project and a budget for hiring a web design company.
This will also assist you in communicating your vision and requirements to the web design company more clearly.
Setting clear goals and timelines helps you avoid the ambiguity of one-design fits all.
2. Research and Shortlist Candidates
Once you have set your business goals and your visual goals for the websites, it is time to dive into research mode. This is where you go to Google.com and search for the best web design agencies for your industry, or your locality.
I’d like to recommend using our own online review website, GoodFirms. It is a top review and consulting website that lists the best companies from various IT and non IT related industries. I can assure you that it will immensely ease your search and review process for finding the perfect web design company.
You simply need to click on the Find Services section, then move to the Web Design category and view the live page.
Here you will easily find the best web design companies in the market. As you can see, GoodFirms also has a filter feature that can further enhance your search results by filtering the list of companies as per your input requirements.
Isn’t using this portal to view several best performing web design companies much easier than googling each company and then manually visiting each of their websites and comparing their reviews, ratings, and services?
3. Evaluate their Expertise and Skill Set
The next step in finding the perfect web design company after shortlisting the most seemingly suitable ones is to evaluate their expertise and skill set. As mentioned above, you are now equipped with the knowledge of what all key skills a web designer should possess in order to be considered ideal for the job.
You can see whether the web design company works with the technologies that you require or not, like if you want to build your website on a particular platform, whether that company has previous experience working on that platform or not.
You need to also ask yourself what kind of website you want to have, should it have a trendy feel? Should it be minimalistic? or have micro animations? Are they knowledgeable in SEO best practices?
As you can see in the above image, these 3 different websites have completely different approach to web design. Similarly you can compare different websites to check different looks that you might want for your own website.
These questions will help you ask the right questions to the company when discussing their skill set in developing those features for your website.
4. Consider their Approach and Communication Skills
For a clear and productive communication with the web design company you are about to hire, you need to have a good communication rapport. The web design agency needs to see eye to eye with your visions for the website and understand the goals behind your project to deliver the perfect product.
Without a clear understanding of what you require, the web design company will not be able to live up to your expectations. Therefore, while hiring a web company, you need to not only check their technical skills, but also their ability to understand and interpret your ideas and requirements.
Additionally, you need to check their communication responsiveness and their channels of communication. A prompt response to clients always shows a proactive and transparent attitude towards the assigned work.
5. Check their Credibility and Reputation
Before further shortening your list of potential candidates to hire for your web design, you need to carefully consider the credibility and the reputation of the company that you have shortlisted. This factor can be easily judged through the ratings that the company has received from its previous clients, or top online reviewing agencies like GoodFirms.
A web design company with 4 star and above rating indicated a healthy reputation. You can also view their reviews, client testimonials, and feedback easily on the directory page so you don’t need to go back and forth between different pages.
You can also easily view the portfolio of the company on their website and check the brands that they have worked with in the past and also ones that they are currently working with.
These two variables attest the credibility and reputation of the company and whether it is the right fit for your brand or not.
6. Request and Compare Budget Quotations
After you have reviewed the company thoroughly, you can request a budget quotation from the company after briefing them about your project requirements. You can reach out to all your shortlisted firms to obtain a detailed proposal along with estimated timelines for completion.
Then you can compare the budget proposals with your own budget for the web design project and finalize the top company and an alternative incase things don’t work out with your primary option for the project.
I’d like to again bring back your attention to our GoodFirms directory of web design companies where you can easily see the hourly charge quoted by all the listed companies. This way you can easily filter out the companies as per your budget before approaching them for further project discussions.
7. Make Your Final Decision
The last part of this lengthy hiring process is finalizing a web design company to hire. After discussing your budget and project goals with the shortlisted company, you can decide whether they are the right fit for your project or not.
If you have followed every step of this process, then your decision will be a well-researched and informed one so you have less doubts about your choice.
All you need to do now is draft the payment contract, with project scope, outlines, and deliverables. Also be careful to ensure that all legalities are properly framed and checked, including intellectual property rights.
Wrapping Up
Starting any new project, whether it is building a new website from scratch or revamping your existing one is a daunting task. The entire process can be time consuming and confusing if you don’t have clear goals and budget in your head from the get go.
Therefore, my last advice on the process of finding the perfect web design company for your brand is a reminder to have a clear understanding of your requirements before starting your search.
Now that you have read some of the best methods to find the right resources for your project, it is time to go ahead and browse through your best web design options!
