A professionally designed, well structured and optimized website provides a lot of advantages for your business. It makes it more discoverable in search engines, boosts your social media popularity, makes your products or services available online, and increases the trust and confidence of your clients or customers.
Without a website, your business may be missing a lot of benefits. If you are reading this article, you may have already realized how important a website is for your company, business or organization. But creating a website is not a job for everyone. This is why you need to hire a web designer.
Although there are already available website builders and other tools that you can buy to create a website by yourself, it’s still wiser to leave it to the experts. Besides, there are many features that tools cannot provide you when building your website, such as creating business strategies, understanding your target market, and personally connecting with your customers.
If you are looking for a website design company or a web designer in the Philippines, here are 12 tips that you should know:
1. They have experience.
Website design can be a lucrative and attractive business. This is why some people who have just learned how to create a website may venture into this business thinking that they could make easy profits providing website design services.
With many web design tools like website builders and content management systems that are available nowadays, it’s actually easier and faster now to create simple websites.
However, website design is not only about making websites but also about providing solutions to people and businesses. It’s about helping them solve their problems and achieve their goals.
To choose the right website designer, choose those who have maturity and years of experience. They are the ones who have already encountered several client problems and learned how to solve them.
2. They have the expertise you need.
There are many kinds of websites. There are websites built with CMS like WordPress, Magento, and Drupal. There are also websites that are made with a custom CMS and websites that are purely made from a scratch.
Think about the kind of website you really need. Do you need a WordPress website to easily update it? Do you need a website that has a unique CMS which is only built for your business?
If you need a WordPress website, then find a WordPress expert. If you need a website powered by Magento, then hire a Magento specialist. Website designers tend to be biased on the tools and software they use. This is why you have to look for their expertise and specialty.
3. They provide the right website hosting.
Most website design companies provide website hosting as part of their packages. In the Philippines, it is already a usual practice for website designers to give free one-year website hosting and domain name registration. Though this is a great package, try to examine what kind of website hosting they provide. Is it right for your business?
Cheap website hosting is not always good for your business. Most cheap web hosting offered are shared hosting which is shared by hundreds of website owners whom you don’t have control. This kind of hosting is risky because if one of those website owners use the server in inappropriately (like spamming and phishing), your website could also lose its credibility.
To reduce the risk of having an unsecured website hosting, choose one that is dedicated and fully managed by your website designer, where they can protect it with firewall and easily troubleshoot it when there are security issues. Remember that it’s better to have a secure hosting with smaller disk space and bandwidth than have a hosting with extra space and unlimited bandwidth but is shared and used by strangers.
4. They don’t sacrifice quality over quantity.
Due to readily available website templates and powerful website builders, creating a website has been more affordable nowadays. Websites can now be done in one to three days. This is the reason why you can see website packages that are very affordable. But although a website design company offers you P5,000 for building your website, you should not just jump instantly and buy it.
Make your own research. Look for many website design companies in the Philippines. Compare not only their prices but also the quality they offer. What kind of website they make, what quality of website hosting they offer, what support do they provide, all of these should be answered.
5. They have friendly customer service.
A company that has a good customer service doesn’t mean one that can hire a customer service representative. To make sure that your needs are properly addressed, choose a website design company or designer who can talk to you and actually listens to your concerns.
6. They have reliable after sales service.
In connection with #5, a good website designer should not stop helping and providing you solutions even after receiving your full payment. Remember that one of the most common problems that website owners encounter is that they can no longer contact their website designers after a year, resulting to the loss of their website and even the failure to renew their precious domain name.
7. They are recommended by their clients.
If you want to become a happy client, simply find a website design company that has already made a number of clients happy. You can check their websites or Facebook pages for testimonials. However, take note that any company can solicit positive reviews. Hence, you should also do your own research and check their actual clients.
8. They understand your business needs.
Your website should help you achieve your business and marketing goals. It should help you attract more customers and increase your sales. In other words, look for a website design company that can make you not only a beautiful website but also a functional website.
Your website designer should not only know how to design or code, but also how to create effective business and marketing strategies to help you hit your targets.
9. They make SEO friendly websites.
One of the top advantages of having a website for your business is that it makes your business or brand more visible on Google and other search engines. However, if your website designer doesn’t know SEO, you could be losing this great advantage. Find a website designer who can optimize your website for the search engines to keep that edge.
10. They are also website developers.
A website designer and a website developer may be similar, but they have also differences. A designer is more focused on what your website will look like and what your users will experience. On the other hand, a website developer is more focused on the more technical aspects of your website, such as PHP programming, database management, and backend development.
To ensure that your website will be a complete package, hire a website design company that has both a website designer and a developer in its team. Choose a company that has both a front-end and back-end developer.
11. They build websites based on the latest trends.
Choose a website design company that catches up with the latest designs and quality standards. Hire a designer that will build you a mobile responsive and social media friendly website. Don’t be stuck with static websites and designs that look like coming from the last decade.
Final thoughts
A website designer should not stop until you are satisfied and happy with your website. Remember that a good web designer is not only someone who designs your website but also someone who helps you design the success of your business.
Featured image by rawpixel.com
ALSO READ: How to Choose the Right Domain Name for Your Business in the Philippines
Leave a Reply