Finding the best web designer for your business
So, you’ve got a business plan locked in and now you’re ready to establish your digital presence through a kickass website. With so many website builders for businesses available, it can be tricky to decide whether to do it yourself, use a template, or hire professionals.
If you’re an experienced web designer then by all means go ahead – but most businesses will require the knowledgeable guidance of a web design agency for many reasons: professionalism, legitimacy, credibility, best practices, and cost-saving down the line.
Here’s why choosing a web design agency or professional web designer for your business website is almost always the best option.
Why good web design is so important
Your website establishes your digital brand presence and displays your brand personality and tone. It is how your customers identify with your business, and where they are given information that helps them decide whether to choose your business or not. Your entire business plan can fall flat if your web design is poor. This is why good web design is so important.
Web designers are your very own digital architects, artists, and behavioural specialists all rolled into one. Through clever uses of fonts, colours, shapes, and layouts, they can create visually stunning websites that deliver an enjoyable user experience.
Great web design leverages current trends to keep your brand relevant and fresh. Web designers have also a great understanding of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, and strategically create websites that guide visitors through their customer journey. They ensure sites are user-friendly, mobile responsive, secure, and optimised for search engines while being able to connect seamlessly with other online marketing channels, such as social media and e-mail.
The benefits of great web design
In short, a poorly designed website with limited functionality reflects negatively on your brand and drives lower engagement. Here is why leaving the creative magic to a web design agency or professional web designer is critical to the success of your business.
It sets the first impression
Nearly 94% of users’ first impressions are design related. Often, your website will be the first engagement a customer has with your brand so it is important to make a great first impression. It takes discerning customers just 0.05 seconds to differentiate between a professional and an amateur operation, so a well-designed website will add a sense of credibility and professionalism. Great web design will instil user trust and increase the likelihood of repeat customers, good reviews and referrals, which all contribute to building a solid brand-customer relationship.
Reduces bounce rates
A well-designed website entices visitors to go deeper and explore what your business has to offer. This results in longer sessions which increase the likelihood of conversions. The primary goal of great web design is to keep visitors engaging with the website for as long as possible.
Improves Google rankings
When the design of your business website is not great, it will negatively impact search engine ranking performance. A visually unappealing website will make visitors not want to stay very long – boosting bounce rates. The higher your bounce rate, the lower your ranking on search engines such as Google. You see, companies like Google takes the investment put into a company’s website very seriously, together with their promise to protect users from illegitimate websites.
Brand consistency
Experienced web designers and web design agencies will strategically incorporate your brand assets (logo, font, colours, etc.) into your website to show consistency with your wider marketing and communication endeavours. This creates a seamless user experience and reinforced your branding into each digital interaction.
How to find the right web designer for your business
There are approximately 27 million web developers in the world – so finding one shouldn’t be difficult. However, choosing the right web designer or web design agency for your business can be a daunting task, but here are some tips to help you:
Define your needs
Before you start looking for a web designer, you should have a clear understanding of your what’s, who’s and how’s: what are the goals of your website, who is your target audience, how will your website function, and how will it look (design style). Clearly defining these elements will help you define your brief and scope of work to narrow down your search. Usually, web designers and web design agencies will help you through this process during your kick-off meeting.
Budget and timelines
It is important to establish a working budget together with a timeline of when you need your website to go live. This helps you identify which web designers are in your price range and how quickly they are able to deliver their work. Make sure their pricing aligns with your budget, and their timelines align with your project goals and deadlines. Once you have identified a few candidates, contact them with your brief, budget and timeline to get a cost indication and go from there.
Research and review portfolios
Once you have a clear idea of your needs, start researching web designers and reviewing their portfolios. Look for designers who have experience working with businesses similar to yours and have a portfolio that aligns with your desired style and functionality.
Check reviews and references
Before hiring a web designer, be sure to view their reviews and references. You can quickly discern a designer’s professionalism by their most recent reviews. You should consider reaching out to their previous clients to ask about their experience working with the designer.
Communication and collaboration
When hiring a web designer or web design agency, it’s important to find someone who has great communication skills and is easy to work with. If you are not a good fit in personality and working style then your project will suffer. Look for designers who are responsive, have good listening skills, and are open to collaboration and feedback.
Contract and agreement
Once you have chosen a web designer, make sure to have a clear contract and agreement in place. This should outline the project’s scope, timelines, payment terms, revision and adjustment process, and ownership rights.
Get searching
Despite the high number of web designers out there, quality and professionalism are unique. This makes finding the right web designer or web design agency for your business take more time and consideration. Follow these steps to find a web designer who can help you create a website that meets your business needs and goals while providing a unique user experience.
Looking for a web design agency?
WeAreBrain is an award-winning full-service boutique agency group that offers marketing, branding, design and software services, rooted firmly in technological advancement and solid customer experience.
Our daughter agency, Solving focuses on hyper-specialised branding and web development. Get in touch to see how we can power your digital presence.
Martijn Hinfelaar
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