Do you find yourself wondering if it's time for a website refresh? Or maybe you are starting a new business and you're in need of your first ever website design.
There are a ton of agencies out there providing this service but how do you know what to ask? We put together 20 questions and their answers to help anyone looking to hire a web design agency so you know what to ask.
Whether you decide we are the right fit for your business or not, whomever you do hire should have answers for any of these questions.
Here is part 1 of 2 of 20 questions to ask before hiring a web design agency.
1. Can I make edits to the website myself?
This is pretty common, people assume when they get a website built that they are tied to that agency to make changes for them ongoing. While this is something we offer, we also make sure that any website we build is editable by the client. We want to give the client as much control to make edits and always improve upon their website. Keep in mind, with a custom website build there are a lot of items that you wouldn't generally edit regularly so they might not be as easy to update as pictures, text and menus.
This is pretty common, people assume when they get a website built that they are tied to that agency to make changes for them ongoing. While this is something we offer, we also make sure that any website we build is editable by the client. We want to give the client as much control to make edits and always improve upon their website. Keep in mind, with a custom website build there are a lot of items that you wouldn't generally edit regularly so they might not be as easy to update as pictures, text and menus.
2. Am I able to monitor your progress while you build the website?
This is going to depend on the agency you use and the processes they have in place. We do a few things at ICS by having an internal project management system that maps the project start to finish. This includes due dates, tasks, time tracked and assignee's. This lets us know where the project is at anytime so we can properly deliver you updates. On top of this, we have a dedicated support chat channel for you and the members of your team so you can chat with our team about the project whenever you want.
3. How will you help me gain traffic to my site?
We love this part! After a website is built how do you get traffic to it? If you're working with an agency that only builds websites they might not know the steps to start generating traffic but that's what we love doing. Creating a marketing strategy post-launch is something we excel at. This can be done through pay per click advertising, social media marketing or email marketing just to name a few.
4. How will you measure results? (visitors, bounce rate, conversion percentage?)
Having a analytics reporting system in place is crucial for any website. It's hard to tell if a website is performing well without the proper stats to back it. With this set up, you can create goals related to conversion rates and traffic.
5. What type of analytics will I have access to?
At bare minimum you should have Google Analytics set up on your new website. Be sure to ask for admin access so you can review data at your leisure. We place this on all websites we build but we also lean on other analytic reporting tools like HubSpot and ReportGarden.
6. Will I be trained on how to use the site?
You would think this is common sense but we see it a lot. People spend big bucks on a custom website and are expected to learn how to use the website without any training. At ICS, we always create a custom screen-cast to show you how to use your website, in person training if requested and we also install a video library of tutorials in the back-end of your website outlining basically everything you can think of!
7. Do you specialize in search engine optimization (SEO)?
This is something you should ask any web design agency. SEO is putting the proper steps in place so your website is found for the keywords you'd like to be found for in Google organically. There are different levels of SEO but all sites should have basic SEO in place. If your web agency promises you'll be on page 1 for every keyword you request, RUN!
8. How experienced is your team?
Experience is important with web development. Everyone needs to start somewhere but we are proud to say we have designed, developed and launched over 1000 websites. There isn't too much we haven't seen. When reviewing a web design agency you're going to want to do your research. Check out websites that they have built before and even reach out to some of their customers.
9. Have you worked on projects similar to mine?
Asking your agency if they have worked on a website similar to yours is a smart question to ask. If they have, they can talk about the experiences they had and be aware of best practice to give you the best value on your project!
10. How is the website built?
Every agency is different but our process is simple. We start with research to see what is working in the industry you are in. Move to design where we work with you to ensure you get a design that you are proud of. When this is approved, our development team takes over and makes the approved graphics into an interactive website. Content is then entered on the website while we complete quality assurance to make sure everything is working right on every browser and device. From here we launch the website on our server or yours depending on your needs and then stand by for any bugs/fixes that might arise when its live under your domain name. This is our process but its not everyone's. If you ask an agency about their process and they can't clearly define it, this could be a red flag.
This a lot to digest but there are still more important questions you should ask! Stay tuned for part 2 of 20 questions to ask before hiring a web design agency.
