Before you invest time searching for the right company to build your website, you need to know what to expect from them. Before you invest money in a new website, you should be confident that the designers you choose know how to create websites that deliver results.
Most of the time, we know what we want and can describe it fairly easily. Even so, a website, and especially an online store, needs more than a basic description. Otherwise, you risk losing both your time and your money.
After analyzing thousands of websites and e-shops, at ArtisWeb we understand in depth what a website really needs in order to become successful.
Beyond the elements of success, an equally useful way to understand what to look out for is to examine the complaints website owners have about the designers they chose.
Let's look at the 9 points that distinguish a strong web design agency from the competition.
1. They are interested in learning about you and your business
For a web design company to deliver a result that truly fits you, it must learn about you, listen to your story and understand what makes you different.
Your website should present you in the most appropriate way, highlight your values and your uniqueness, and adapt to your needs. To achieve that, good communication comes first.
So when it is time to make your final choice, you should probably turn to the people who asked the most questions about you and your business. Only then can they understand and express your brand identity through the website they build for you.
And when we talk about brand identity, we do not simply mean your logo and colors. We mean the deeper values and image of your business, which ultimately play a decisive role in whether people choose you or not.
2. They ask about your available budget
One of the most important things a website designer needs to know is your available budget. Only then can they propose realistic solutions, use the right technologies and expand the capabilities of the website you want to acquire.
There are offers that promise a website at a fixed price. As attractive as that may sound, it hides a lot when it comes to the final result.
The truth is that every website is different, because every client has different needs and requirements. A single price for everyone is unlikely to be the most beneficial option for two reasons.
1. If your website is very simple, you will probably pay much more than you should, because the price is fixed.
2. If your website is more complex, you may be asked later to increase the budget required to complete it.
Both cases are misleading, which is why you should know this from the beginning and choose partners who are willing to manage the available budget and adapt it to your needs, as ArtisWeb digital agency does.
3. They build websites that turn visitors into customers
With all the tools available today for building websites, many people can claim to be web designers. The question, then, is this: what is the most important design characteristic of a website?
It is whether it guides visitors toward your ultimate goal.
To achieve that, the designer you choose must understand your needs and goals in depth, know how your visitors behave and master the art of creating a pleasant experience.
If your goal is for visitors to buy a product from your online store, your website should guide them toward that purchase. If your goal is email communication with prospective customers, the website should lead them toward that decision. If you want them to subscribe to your service, it should guide them toward the subscription.
Otherwise, you risk getting a website that is practically useless. Think about how willing you would be to invest in a physical store where nobody buys anything. You would probably think twice.
So perhaps the most important criterion in your choice is the designer's ability to build websites that achieve your goal. In simple terms, they build websites that work.
4. A web designer is not enough; you need a team
If you truly want a beautiful website, you should hire a team of specialists who understand the principles of design. Your website will require elements that, if missing, can make the result feel poor or incomplete.
In short, a strong result usually requires at least the following specialties: web designer, web developer, brand designer, graphic designer, photographer and copywriter.
That is a good starting point. Without some of these specialties, you should not expect an excellent result, especially if you want to build an online store.
When you start building a website, you will often see that the main challenge is not only how it will be developed, but also issues you may not have expected: the text, the typeface, the colors, the images, the photos or even a short presentation video.
The success of a website is directly connected to its visual appearance, and that usually requires several areas of expertise. So you do not only need a web designer. You need a team of specialists.
5. They have created past work you like
It seems obvious that if you are interested in acquiring a website, the first thing you will look for is the previous work of the designers you are considering. And yet, many people skip this step.
Many are carried away by a low price or an offer without examining anything else.
When you review previous projects, ask yourself whether you actually like the work. How different are the projects from one another? How many different industries have they worked with? What is the user experience like in their online store projects? Is there variety in the design, or does everything look the same?
6. They understand Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Do you know how many websites existed on the internet in January 2020? 1,295,973,827.
As you can understand, it is not particularly easy for someone to find yours, except in three cases. First, they search for your exact website address. Second, they find it through website advertising. Third, your website is optimized so it appears high in search engines.
The first case is rare, while the second can be expensive. The third option is the one that should concern you most, even if results take time.
So before you throw your money into a sea of websites, check whether the digital agency you choose understands and works seriously on Search Engine Optimization.
7. They build websites optimized for mobile devices
More than half of internet users visit websites from their mobile phones. If you do not know that, search engines such as Google certainly do, and they penalize websites that are not optimized for mobile devices.
In other words, if your website does not work perfectly on mobile, you are almost certainly losing half of your potential visitors, and perhaps even more because search engines may not consider your website worthy of visibility.
Of course, the people designing websites should know this before anyone else, and they should mention it to you at the first opportunity. Otherwise, it is better to turn to designers like ArtisWeb.
8. They know how to promote a website with digital marketing
Have you ever wondered what a website really is? It is certainly not the only thing you need in order to promote your business.
In fact, we could define it as the base or starting point of your promotion. But without support from other efforts, it will struggle to deliver the results you want.
So hire a web design company that can also support your broader promotional activities, whether they are short-term, long-term, online, offline, social media related or something else. Otherwise, you miss major opportunities for growth.
In other words, no matter how impressive a website looks, on its own it cannot usually produce remarkable results. A capable digital agency should be able to grow your overall online presence across all available channels.
Some examples of these channels are social media, landing pages, emails and Google Ads.
9. They know e-commerce inside out
Especially in the case of an online store, you need to hire a team that understands e-commerce and its particular requirements.
Imagine a customer wanting to buy products from your e-shop, but the environment is not user-friendly. It is like walking into a store where you cannot find the checkout.
At the same time, you need performance tools for your online store so you can adjust orders, products and prices easily and quickly.
So if you are seriously interested in building an online store, our advice is simple.
1. Visit a similar store they have built in the past and explore the visitor experience all the way to purchase.
2. Ask which tools they will use to manage your store and what capabilities those tools will give you.
Choosing a web design agency is an important decision
As you probably understood before reaching this point, the partners you choose will greatly influence the success of your investment.
With this guide, we offer you a practical tool for evaluating the ability of each company and taking the first step toward achieving your goals.
In short, you need a website that produces results, and we are confident you can get one.