How To Hire The Right Web Design Firm

Regardless whether you manage a small business, charitable organization, or Fortune 500 company, choosing the right web design firm can quickly become a full-time research project. With thousands of design firms to choose from, what factors truly determine which design firm is best for your business?

The primary considerations for choosing a web design firm are:

* Price
* Customer service/access to support
* Credibility indicators of the design firm
* Portfolio and design experience
* Other services offered (domain renewal, hosting, SEO)
* Turnaround time

Let’s take a closer look at each consideration in detail, and explore how to identify and qualify the right design firm.

Price

Like many products and services we purchase, both personally and professionally, deciding on a web design firm can often come down to price. But the value of the services rendered is really what’s important. A $200 web site usually turns out to look, feel and perform like a $200 web site.

The price of your site’s development will depend on three factors: the features of the site, the amount of content, and the service options included with the design package, such as hosting.

Because pricing varies by firm, here are several principles to use when determining the validity and value of a web design quote:

* Does the quote state one all-inclusive price for the entire project?
* Is there a reoccurring monthly fee for hosting?
* Is the site custom-built, or is it customization of an existing template?
* Is there a separate fee for content development, such as writing sales copy?
* Is domain registration/management included in the package?
* Will the firm provide multiple design concepts, prior to actual development?

It’s important to compare quotes from at least three firms to, determine the value of the services offered. Looking for the best value is important in a competitive service market.

Customer Service

There’s nothing worse than signing with a firm that offers a great product, only to find out they are impossible to contact. Consistent, open contact with your web design firm is important for ensuring success before, during, and after your web site is developed.

Throughout the design process, you may identify text, photos, or contact information you’d like to change before the site goes live. If you have immediate questions regarding your site’s development, you’ll be glad to have immediate contact with customer support staff by e-mail, telephone, or live chat.

If you are limited to e-mail technical support, consider other firms that offer a wider range of customer service options such as telephone and live chat support. E-mail is great for convenience – when it’s convenient.

Credibility Indicators

Identifying “credibility indicators” can help ensure a firm is trustworthy, and will be around after your deposit or full payment is sent. Credibility indicators include, but are not limited to:

* Toll free telephone support
* 24 hour customer service
* Better Business Bureau affiliation
* Human e-mail address contacts
* Google PageRank of 2 or above
* Presentation of a hard-copy quote/design contract

Design Experience/Portfolio

Does the design firm have experience in working with similar types of businesses? Even if a designer doesn’t have a web site in their portfolio related to your industry, the firm you select should have a strong working knowledge of how to develop an effective site for your business type. Product and service web sites are not the same. Your designer should have a plan of action for developing a site that reaches the maximum number of prospective customers in your target market.

A few good questions to ask about a firm’s design experience include:

* Does the firm offer a number of diverse, finished web sites available for review?
* Will the firm conduct research regarding my competition?
* Will my web site highlight the features, benefits and value of my product or service?
* Has the firm outlined a plan of action for creating an effective site, start to finish?

Design experience need not always relate to the type of web sites the firm has previously developed. If you have a specific look in mind, ask the firm if achieving a similar design is possible. The ultimate goal is to know you’re going to get a tangible benefit out of your site through effective, affordable web design.

Additional Services

Many web design firms offer design, but do not provide other required services such as hosting and domain name registration. Ideally, your web design company should be a full-service firm, offering at least basic hosting, domain registration and search engine optimization services tailored to your needs. Research each firm to determine other key lines of business, so that any future expansion of your site will be seamless as your business grows.

Turnaround Time

An effective website should take 30-60 days to go live, from the start of production. Unless you’re offering hundreds of individual products or services on your web site, the entire development process, start to finish, should take no longer than 60 days. Turnaround time should include:

* Upload of your web site to the hosting provider
* Configuration of any scripts or forms on your site
* Domain propagation (accessing your web site and e-mail via yoursite.com)

Hiring the cheapest, fastest, or most elaborate web design firm does not always equate to hiring the right web design firm. A limited amount of front-end research can save time and money in the long term, and maximize the sales revenue from your web presence.

About the Author:

Jim D. Ray is a seasoned web developer and president of Web Presence, a national web design firm serving the small business market sector. To learn more, or for a free quote for your own web site, visit the Web Presence at http://www.web-presence.net.

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Article published on May 22, 2005 at iSnare.com

Issues On Web Design

of HTML table-based design or CSS. Fixed width design happens when images, texts and design layouts do not change as the browser changes. Supporter of this design prefer to control the look and feel of the site as well as the placement of objects on the page. However, other designers use liquid design, as in Wikipedia. In liquid design, the design moves so that the content will flow on the whole screen or a portion of it. The supporters of this design wishes to use all the available spaces on the web.

CSS versus tables

During the days where Netscape Navigator 4 was the most popular browser, Web designers use tables to layout pages on the web. This was considered as the practical solution then. However, popular as it is, it requires dozens of nested tables even for simple designs.

With the emergence of dominant browsers such as Internet Explorer (which became more compliant to W3C), designers started to turn their attention in using CSS. Proponents of CSS say that tables should only be used for tabular data and not for page layout. In CSS, on the other hand, HTML returns to a semantic set-up. With this, search engines are able to understand what is happening in a web page. But one major downfall of CSS is the fact that control is essentially abandoned because each browser has its own trait which leads the page to have a different display.

So to avoid this stand off, you have to decide firsthand on the approach you will take when designing that webpage, here are some of the key elements you have to bear in mind:

Website Planning

It is important to plan on the kind of website that you would be establishing. Keep in mind the audience or your target market, as well as the purpose for creating the site and lastly, its contents.

Audience

The key step to website planning process is defining your target market or audience. Your audience is the group of people you visualize as the ones who would most likely visit your website. These people will be visiting your website for a purpose so it is beneficial to know the things they are looking for. To help you decide on this, you should clearly define the goal of the site and also understand what people want to feel or do when visiting your website.

Looks vs. Function

Some designers pay more attention on how the site looks rather than on how it works. Some even rely on advertisements, so that clients will find their website, instead of search engines. On the other hand, SEO’s or Search Engine Optimization consultants are concerned with how a web site works, textually and technically. As a result, designers and SEO’s end up having fights because of the differences of their concerns.

About the Author:

Hunter currently writes for Dolphin Promotions SEO and Web Design Company.

Read more articles by: Hunter Blyth
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Article published on December 10, 2007 at iSnare.com

Web Design Basics

When designing something, a designer should first go through the basics of designing. Whether he is designing a print design or web design, he must know the dos and do not's. The following items will help you know the basics of web designing as well as some techniques that are specific to coming out with the best web layout.

1. Create a design that seems friendly.

There are actually a lot of web designs that scare people away and not attract them. If you want people to return to your website, make it soothing and light. Keep your site as friendly as possible.

2. Create a great homepage

When designing your website, you should keep in mind to conceptualize a homepage that would attract your viewers. Remember that the first page that your customers see can also be the last. So learn to create a page that will attract your visitor’s attention and then draw them deeper into your site.

3. Keep in mind the principles in designing web sites

Remember to apply your design principles such as balance, contrast, emphasis, rhythm and unity. This will serve as your guide and will help you conceptualize a good web design.

4. Think small in terms of graphics

Slow pages can be really very annoying. Whether you like it or not, one cause of slowing the pages is large graphics. To avoid such problem think of using images with a size of 10-12 kb.

5. Use graphics that fit the content

Just because you have a wonderful picture of you and your boyfriend doesn’t mean that you should include it on your website. Use images that are appropriate and that connect with your site’s content.

6. Don’t use blinking images

There have been studies proving that blinking images actually annoy people. If you want to use them, though, use them sparingly. You wouldn’t want your site viewers to leave your page just because of an annoying blinking image.

7. Stay with standard layouts

Try to use a layout that is simple as possible. The 3-column layout might sound corny and boring but it helps to keep your readers stay where they are and keep reading your site’s contents. Keep in mind that readers and site viewers stick with things that are simple and easy to understand.

8. Use standard fonts and limit the number of different fonts

Use standard fonts such as Arial, Verdana, Geneva, and Helvetica. They might seem too familiar but they look better on most browsers. Now, you don’t have to worry whether your fonts will work or not.

9. Don’t be greedy

Though ads help you make money by posting them on your site, keep in mind that people visit your site because of their perceived content and not because of the ads that you put in it. For all you know, these ads may drive your viewers away, if they are too many, and could possibly make you lose money.

10. Remember your readers

Understand that, unless you’re writing a site for yourself, your site’s content should include topics that your viewers might want to read.

About the Author:

Hunter currently writes for Dolphin Promotions SEO and Web Design Company.
Read more articles by: Hunter Blyth
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Article published on December 10, 2007 at iSnare.com

Web Design Tips

When someone sees a beautiful web design, he or she can’t help but fall in love with it and wonder how it was done. However, designing a web would take more than just your knowledge in color, texts and images. It involves codes. But you can learn those in no time so there’s nothing to worry about. Moreover, there is a science behind web design and the following could help you be more scientific with your designs

Usability Testing

The secret here is to let someone who is not familiar with your site have a look at it. As much as possible, be in the room while they are testing your site. Take note of the things that they click on and the things that they ignore so you will know what to improve.

Browser Testing

Do not make the mistake of thinking that your web page will look good at any other browser because it looks good on your favorite one. Remember that the same browser could be used on another operating system and it may not look the same. What you need to do now is to check your page on every possible combination of OS and browser.

Use Log Files

Including log files can be very tiresome, however, it can also be very useful. It helps you know where viewers go from your homepage, what they mostly click on and what pages are least visited. Using log files can help you gather information that can help you modify your site and eventually lead your viewers to the page where you want them to go.

Don’t be afraid to recreate

One of the biggest advantages in web designing is the freedom to change web pages and layouts. Don’t be afraid to change designs that don’t work. Designing a web can be a lot of fun and involving science and structure into your designs will surely attract your viewers.

Use accurate titles for every section

Web browsers tend to scan pages and sections so make sure that your page or section titles are consistent and accurate. In this way, they can be sure that they are being led to the right section of the site.

Avoid ‘Click Here’

Links are very important in web pages. However, avoid using the text ‘click here’ when leading your viewers to another page. Instead use a descriptive and more appropriate text .

Improve Readability

Now is not the time to show off your collection of fonts. What’s important is for your customers to be able to read what is written on your site. Therefore, use attractive but readable texts to attract readers and customers of your site.

Proofread

Even the most excellent writer makes grammatical and spelling errors. You wouldn’t want your site viewers to think you’re an amateur, would you? What you have to do in order to increase trustworthiness is to proofread everything that is written in your site. Remember, less mistakes or lack of errors can add to your reliability points.

About the Author:

Hunter currently writes for Dolphin Promotions SEO and Web Design Company

Read more articles by: Hunter Blyth
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Article published on December 09, 2007 at iSnare.com