Web Design in Leeds

The Web Design Company Mine-field!

So you have decided to take your business to the next level and target the internet market, or are you an individual who needs to get some internet exposure, whatever your needs I’m guessing you’re lost in the vast web wilderness of “Price per page”, “Web Hosting” and you don’t know the difference between your SEO and CMS. We are fully aware of the amount of web design companies around today, but we are also aware of the companies that in our eyes just don’t cut it; who do you choose? The cheapest, the most expensive or somebody recommended by a friend? We believe that the decision needs a little more deliberation than cost or recommendation. If you are willing to see past all the hyped marketing jargon, you may be on the right track to finding the perfect people to build your website.

Take a look at the list we’ve put together, we think these are important consideration to make before you choose your web design company.

1. Does the web design company in question have an awesome website?

Quite simply is the company’s website any good? If they can’t build themselves a decent looking site, are they really going to build you one? Look at the design; does it look modern and up-to-date? Does the site boast any interesting features such as latest news, blogs, RSS feeds, JavaScript etc?

2. Does the portfolio hold some quality pieces of web craftsmanship?

A strong portfolio has to be a major factor in your quest for a web designer. Similar to the above question, if the work reflected in the portfolio isn’t to a standard you regard as high then you can’t expect your site to be any better. You should examine pieces of work provided in the portfolio, if you like what you see and the standard seems to be consistent throughout the work, you will be onto a winner. Look out for templates, sites that all use the same structure but have different colours or a slight change in design. You don’t want to be spending your hard earned money on something that is generic. (Note: don’t confuse this with “style”, some web designers keep a certain trademark style running throughout their designs)

3. Do they build sites with valid code?

Web designer today should be conforming to web standards outlined by W3C. This will eliminate the chances of people with disabilities not-been able to access your site; pages will load faster and perform better search engine results. You can check any web page to see if it passes validation by going to validator.w3.org and simply typing the address of the page you want to check. Some sites even display links to prove their site conforms to these standards (keep your eyes peeled). Our website is no exception; take a look in the footer navigation “Valid XHTML” and “Valid CSS”.

4. Are the people working for the web design studio friendly and willing to help?

Look for contact details, free quotation forms etc. Get in touch with the web design team, ask them some questions, and find out what they can offer. Why not delve deeper and find out how they support you in the early stages of your web life cycle. From their reply you should be able to gauge how helpful they are, if their willing to bend over backwards to help you, then you can be sure they will use the same amount of passion building your site, I know we do!!!

Conclusion

In conclusion you should spend more time researching the quality of work web design companies produce and how they articulate as a business. Follow your instincts and not your wallet! We agree that a hosted website with 6 pages of content and a nice flash button for £200.00 may sound nice, but in reality the final product will most likely not be a cutting edge piece of design, and you may find yourself needing a redesign within a year.

Do you really want to represent your business with a budget built website? After all first impressions do count for the web too.

If you have any thoughts on the matter, we would love to hear from you, use the comments form below.