So, you need a website for your business and you’re looking for a website design company.

Whether you’re a first-time entrepreneur or you’re simply expanding your business, you already recognize the value of a well-designed site. Your website should help you stand out from your competitors. It needs to get your products or services in front of your ideal customers. And it has to do all of that with style and grace.

If you’re looking for a website design company to take your business’s online presence to the next level, stay empowered throughout the process. Make sure you’re asking these 7 questions before you make your decision:

1. Do They Understand Your Vision? Are They Communicative?

Let’s start off with a non-negotiable: you need to be able to communicate openly with your ideal web design company. Try to glean as much as possible from their web presence, and then gauge their responsiveness as you communicate further. As you discuss options for your website, ask yourself these questions:

• Do they seem enthusiastic about your project — and are they asking good questions, as well?
• Do they have the experience and knowledge to turn your vision into reality?
• Are they actively engaging with your ideas — and providing insights of their own?
• Do they seem professional, courteous, and responsive?
• Are they willing to devote time to training you and providing the resources you need?

If you’ve chosen a good company, you should feel as though they truly understand your vision for the website. You should be able to communicate with them freely and openly throughout the process. Most importantly, you should feel secure that they are professional, responsible, and service-oriented.

2. What Will They Do to Make Your Site Secure?

When it comes to a website, you need to make sure you’re providing a secure user experience for your users. Think about the reputable websites you frequent for e-commerce or entertainment. Odds are, if they’re handling money or secure information, you’ve notice a padlock icon before the web address in the top bar.

You will also see that the phrase https:// precedes the rest of the web address. When HTTPS security is configured properly by an experienced web design company, it ensures that your clients’ information is confidential, that they’re engaging with an authentic site, and that the information they’re sharing is not being altered or tampered with in any way.

When choosing a web design company, ask them how they will protect your site’s security. How will their design standards ensure your site’s visitors can feel confident sharing information? A good web design company will help you establish and maintain integrity with their security protocols.

3. Are They Well Versed in SEO?

Every year, Google changes its algorithms 500 to 600 times. What this means for web design — and your future website — is that it takes a professional team to tackle search engine optimization (SEO).

Why should you care about this? By complying with Google’s (and other major search engine’s) standards, your web design company makes sure that your site is routinely crawled and indexed by Google’s bots. This process ensures that your site will show up in users’ searches and funnel more organic traffic to your website — and your company.

You want to ask your prospective web design company if they understand how a combination of SEO and quality content marketing helps bring visitors to your site, and keeps you ranking well with major search engines.

4. Does The Website Design Company Understand Digital Marketing?

You might think this is a given… but, it’s not always the case. IT companies are not digital marketing companies, and a website design company is not an IT company.

Let’s back up for a moment. We just discussed how SEO-knowledge is pivotal to a great web design company. Well, it’s also crucial to combine that SEO-savvy with a solid background in digital marketing. When choosing your web design company, ask your representative if they’re familiar with the changing trends in content marketing, responsive design, social media, UX and more. How will they ensure your website is able to capitalize on those trends?

With a proficiency in marketing, your web design company will not only optimize to satisfy Google’s bots but will also appeal to the real, live customers that you want to attract to your company. In addition, a quality web design company needs to create scalable solutions to your marketing needs, so that your company’s marketing can follow suit as it begins to grow.

5. Do They Provide Speedy (yet Quality) Service and Transparent Pricing?

Practical considerations come into play when choosing a web design company. Treat your prospective web design company as you would any other important service. Before you get started, ensure the following:

• Service. If you’re not happy with the service you’re receiving in your first few interactions with the company, it may be a sign that their service isn’t up to your standards.
• Price. You need to make sure that you’re partnering with a company that’s transparent and fair about their service prices — and upfront with what they’ll provide for the price.
• Speed. To get your business to the next level, you have about a million things you need to accomplish. A good web design company will design your website quickly and securely, while still ensuring the highest quality.

6. Will They Ensure You’re Getting a Responsive Web Design?

In 2018, Google announced that it would begin mobile-first indexing. As a quick breakdown, Google used to prioritize the desktop version of a website when determining ranking. Now, Google will begin to look at the mobile version first. As far as your web presence goes, this is crucial in one major way: it highlights the importance of a responsive website.

When you have a responsive web design, it means that your site performs optimally across all devices. Are your users accessing your site on their mobile device? Are they using a desktop computer with a giant screen? Or a mini laptop where everything on the screen is way smaller? Are they using a tablet or an iPad?

Ask your prospective web design company if they know how to design a responsive web design, and how to respond to mobile-first indexing. A responsive web design doesn’t only satisfy search engines — it ensures that your customers and clients encounter a streamlined and smooth experience, no matter what device they use to access your site.

7. Do They Have a Good Eye for Form & Function?

Your average viewer is going to form a first impression of your website in under a second. Make sure that your web design company plays to first impressions by creating a visually pleasing and easy-to-navigate site. Aesthetic design is incredibly important. Do the website’s colours make sense? Is the font easy to read? Are the visuals clear? Ask your prospective web design company if they design with form as well as function in mind.

In many ways, form and function are intertwined concepts in web design. With a clear understanding of style and aesthetics, good web designers ensure that users can easily navigate a site. Ask questions about how your prospective web designers ensure navigable menu styles, landing page optimization, and user-friendliness.

Your Business Needs the Best Website Design Company

You should be choosy when it comes to hiring the absolute best web design company. From excellent knowledge of SEO to personable and communicative customer service, you should feel comfortable and confident at every step of the web design process.

At Squiddly, we’re passionate about quality web design. If you want to learn a bit more about how we design the best websites (for a reasonable and transparent price), please contact us today!