Web 2.0 Design
People do judge a book by it's cover. People most often assume that a business conducts itself in the same manner for all aspects that it deals with. If you have web design that looks cheap and unprofessional people will assume that's how you conduct yourself in other aspects. You need to present the appearance of quality, honesty and reliability. A website is often the first thing people see, this public face of your company, while it often doesnt seal the deal and certainly be a deal breaker.
Your web design must also consider the other two major factors in a successful website. The design must be easy to use and friendly to the search engines. Focusing too heavily on a flashy design can lead to disaster almost as fast as ugly design.
Questions to Ask Your Web Designer
Important Questions you must ask a Prospective Web Design Company:
Your business or personal image is far too important to take a chance on a web designer that doesn't have a proven track record.
We stand by our business expertise and professionalism and to help you navigate the tricky business of selecting a Web Design Company we have compiled a list of questions that will help you find the best company for your needs however large or small. At fracturedstudios.com we are always here to help.
1. Do you custom design or use templates?
Some companies only use templates; others only do custom design work. At fracturedstudios.com we are able to use both approaches. Templates are a great way to get a start up business online fast and at minimal cost. To other clients, presenting a unique internet presence is vital. Whatever your needs, call us we can tailor make a solution to fit specific situation.
2. Are your designs tested for multi-browser and cross-platform compatibility?
A designer should always create their web sites so that the content and layout looks relatively the same on Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and on Apple Mac's as well as PC's. Making your website will display correctly is often a problem for inexperienced designers.
3. How will you help me sell my product?
The best designers are creative people who are able to sell things with their design concepts. Make sure you hire a company that has sales and marketing expertise to be your designer. Integrating sales techniques within your design is obviously important, but often overlooked.
4. Do you offer any Internet marketing services?
Your website strategy should help your business grow. We can optimize your site for search engines as well as conduct direct marketing and ppc campaigns for you.
5. Who will own the site design when it's done?
You should always own your web site design. Be aware that designers are legally able to claim their designs as their own copyrighted work. Negotiate these terms in advance and make sure that you will own all original artwork. With fracturedstudios.com you ALWAYS own all the design elements.
6. Do you offer maintenance or training?
Many companies will try to trap you with an expensive maintenance plan. Optimally you will either be able to update the site yourself or pay as you go should changes be needed. If you are not familiar with the HTML editor used in the creation of your website, or making changes to content through a live CMS system, ask us about our custom training packages. You can also get one of our web maintenance plans if you don't want to deal with the codes.
7. Do you charge by the hour or by the project?
Companies who insist on charging by the hour generally have trouble completing projects on time or drag their feet to run up the price on you. Those who charge exclusively on a project basis often do the job as quickly as possible leaving you with an inferior product. Optimally you will want a hybrid quote. Hourly for design, so you can tweak it until you are satisfied and project for programming work where the parameters are set.
8. How can I (The Client) help you?
Usually clients will have to provide the text, images, and feedback. Providing quality images and final versions of text for your site at the beginning of the project is really important to the quality of the end product. Anything you can provide (flowcharts, outlines, sketches) to clarify your vision of the project will also be helpful and reduce bugs and confusion during the process.
9. How long will it take?
A typical small business website takes up to a month. It usually depends on how involved the client is.
10. Do you provide hosting?
Companies that can provide this will usually give you a discount for having them design your website. At fracturestudios.com we provide free hosting for six months for most web design projects.
11. Do I have to host my website with you?
The answer should be NO. If their web hosting ever becomes unreliable, you should have the right to have your website hosted elsewhere. Many of our clients already have an existing hosting service provider – just give us access and we can get started!
12. Are you able to create online shopping carts?
If you plan to do e-commerce in the future, a web design company should have the resources to provide this service. We utilize the best e-commerce technology available to build robust and attractive e-commerce sites.