IIAS and Other Website Development Services and Web Design Agencies – Do you really even need to hire a website developer? Let me answer that question with another question. Do you really need to attract and maintain customers?
It sounds silly when I put it like that, doesn’t it? And yet that’s almost exactly what you’re saying when you ask if you need a developer. Their services are critical to gaining customers. If you get a customer to click on a link, but your site looks incompetent and silly, they’ll just click away again.
So… what do you need to know about website design companies? What makes a good one? A bad one? What even is web design? (https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/web-design). Here’s everything you need to know about hiring a designer for your online presence.
How to Choose a Company
Usually, when choosing a vendor to do business with your company, you like to pick a local company. But in the current market, with working remotely being more and more popular, you can find a service anywhere. Especially a website-building service—those are already online to start with!
One great company I’m aware of is IIAS Abbotsford website design company. If you’re local to British Columbia, they might be a good place to start. They also have a location in Vancouver. Again, though, you can hire pretty much any online developer from anywhere! The world is more interconnected than ever.
You want to try to find good reviews of the companies you’re looking at. Reviews posted on their website might be unreliable, so try to find them from a third party like Google. Make sure their services are what you’re looking for and they can provide what you need.
Price is also important. If you’re a business looking for website design, you want the maximum service for the minimum price. Unfortunately, most business vendors don’t just straight up tell you what they charge for their services. Instead, they’ll deliver you a quote. You’ll have to listen to their sales pitch first, of course, before they tell you anything about their pricing.
This process is good in one way, because everyone is competing for your business, and you can get them to lower prices to outbid each other. It’s also frustrating, though, because the process takes a lot of time and energy before you’re anywhere close to a real answer. I know exactly how painful this process can be; I tried to get a company to haul my car and it took weeks.
Good Things to Look For
It should be obvious that, if you’re looking for a website design company, you should see a well-built website. If the website designer has a lousy website, look elsewhere. Pay special attention to any functions you’ll want to include on your own website: contact boxes, quote request systems, or just fun animations. If you like they way they work on the designer’s site, you’ll probably like the way they look on yours.
You should also see taste. Gimmicky, splashy designs thrown all around their website without rhyme or reason say “Look over here! Look what I can do!” You want to see some interesting design features, but they shouldn’t be overwhelming. Again: the developer’s site is a sample of what yours might look like.
Also look for professionalism. This is related to above, but goes further. If their sales pitch is too aggressive or too informal, or if their contact form or anything else is poorly put together, those are bad signs.
One more time, in case you missed it. The developer’s page is what your page will look like. It tells you exactly what they can do, and also how careful they are about doing it. Here’s a little more information if you need it.
Red Flags to Avoid
A common phrase in the business world is “If you don’t like it when you’re dating, you won’t like it when you’re married.” In other words, if a vendor is irritating, difficult, or argumentative while you’re getting their quote and working on signing a deal, they’re going to be just as irritating, difficult, and argumentative when they’re actually working on your website.
If they argue with you too much over the price, they might also argue with you over the color scheme and the design elements. If getting them to talk to you is harder than pulling teeth from an elephant, it’ll be just that hard to get them to finish the work. Find a company you like from the beginning of the process.
Also watch out for a poorly made website, especially one that loads slowly. Do I have to say it again? That’s exactly what yours is going to be like.
Keep an eye out for poor grammar, too. I know they’re there to build your website, not to write the text, but it just shouts unprofessionalism. Just make sure the company you do business with is one you wouldn’t be ashamed to be representative of you, and you’ll be fine.