Questions You Should Ask Your Web Design Agency

Kiley Peters

Websites

Questions You Should Ask Your Web Design Agency

Building a website can be scary, a little overwhelming and a bit of an investment. At least if you want your website to work for you, it should be an investment of both time and money. That being said, entering into a relationship with you web design agency should be something you take your time and think through. Understanding the questions you should ask your web design agency should high on your list of priorities in preparing for your quest for a new website.

Your job likely has nothing to do with digital marketing, or at least not website design and development, otherwise, you’d probably be building the website yourself! So, where do you start? There are tons of agencies out there with comparable service offerings, how do you know if you’re getting bamboozled? Or if you’re getting what you want out of your website? These are great questions and the best way to figure this out is through a series of questions and general conversation with your prospective web design agency.

To get you started, here are a few key questions you should ask your web design agency, or any agency you’re considering:

  • Can I see examples of your work?
    This is pretty self-explanatory, but this is a very easy way to see if you like their style or if they have the bandwidth to produce a variety of styles of websites. What do you like from some of their previous work and what don’t you like? Start taking notes.
  • What all is included in this scope of work?
    This is really important. As you’ll likely be signing a legal document, you want to make sure that not much is left up for interpretation. A lot of web design agencies purely do the design of the website. They may not do the development, which is the other half of the process to actually build the site and push it live. They may also not help out with content, which is often the biggest obstacle to overcome launching a website. Content tends to take the longest. So make sure you know what pieces of your project are important to you and make sure they are included in your scope of work before signing.
  • Will I be able to make updates to the website myself?
    As a small or medium sized business, you will probably have edits to make to your website on a regular basis and you probably don’t want to have to go back to your web design agency every time you want to change a line of copy. Ask this question. Platforms like WordPress or Shopify are pretty user friendly, so if your web design agency is using a CMS that you can edit, great! If not, you might want to ask why and how you can make edits in the future. You might also want to ask if they will help train you how to use your new site and if there are additional expenses associated with training.
  • Will this website be responsive?
    Most people are viewing websites on mobile devices, so have a responsive website is a must. Responsive design basically means that the website is coded and designed in a way that it looks aesthetically pleasing on any device or screen size. I do not recommend working with an agency that does not provide responsive design or charges extra for it. This is the industry standard now.
  • Will you use on page search engine optimization (SEO) best practices on my website?
    If you build a beautiful website but no one can find it, what’s the point? Make sure your web design agency knows about SEO and actively implements best practices on your website. Building a website without SEO integrated into its core is like building a house in the woods and never giving anyone your address or directions on how to get there. No one will find you.
  • Will you setup Google Analytics and submit my site to Google Search Console?
    Every website should have Google Analytics set up before it launches. Make sure yours does too. Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) is helpful to upload your site map directly to Google to increase your changes of your web pages being indexed sooner rather than later. This doesn’t take long to do, but it should be done.
  • What will this cost? What are your hourly fees? What will it cost to make updates to my website? How long is this contract?
    The age old question: what will this cost? Yes, you need to know so you must ask. Ask about making website updates - are they included in the scope of work or are they extra? If they’re extra, how much? Is there a time commitment included in the contract? What’s the termination clause look like? This should all be laid out in your scope of work/proposal so you know exactly what you’re signing up for.

There are a ton of other questions you should ask your web design agency, but these are good starters. I would also advise speaking to your contact as much as you can before you sign. Get to know them a little bit. If you get a bad feeling about them as a person, go with your gut. There’s a lot of options out there, find someone you like, feel comfortable with and trust will have your best interests in mind, even if they’re not the cheapest price tag. It’ll save you a lot of headaches, make your life easier and pay off in the long run.

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Kiley
Founder & CEO

Kiley Peters is the Founder and CEO of Brainchild Studios, a boutique audience research, content strategy, and website creation agency primarily serving brands targeting Millennial Moms or business owners. She is also the Founder of the Work From Home Playbook, a series of online courses guiding aspiring entrepreneurial moms through the steps of starting a virtual business. She also launched the Brainchild Fund, a nonprofit initiative to support women and girls in business and entrepreneurship Follow her on Instagram.

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