There are a variety of questions to ask a website design company before you hire them and here are some of the questions that I have been asked over the years and some questions that my knowledge of the field tells me that they should be asking, but might not be.
Have you built a similar site before? - This does not have to be exactly like for like, but a site (or combination of sites) that involve the same complexities. As for instance, a property lettings website will need a database of properties, but does not need a shopping basket. So this would be acceptable if you are advertising products for sale, but if you want to run a full ecommerce site with checkout and payment facilities you want to see more.
How much will the initial site price? - This is one that likely customers always ask, but a few companies sometimes hide extras. Does this price include taxes? What about the annual hosting of the web site and the domain name registration? Are there any monthly license fees or any other fees that might be incurred in the first 12 months?
What are the annual hosting and maintenance fees after the first year? - Your web designer might pass the site in excess of to you to host, but most will host it for you and charge you for this. You need to budget for this in future years and know whether it will be a small amount or as much as the original creation of the site.
Who’s name will the domain name be registered in? - Hopefully your website design company will register the domain name that you are paying for in your name (even a ‘free’ domain name is paid for really). But a few are sneaky and register it in their own name. If they cannot promise to register it in your name then walk away. Otherwise, if in some years you want to move to a new website design company you may be stuck with them refusing to hand in excess of the domain name for you.
Where do you get stock photos from? - This is a question that every customer misses out on, but is vital. It is crucial that stock photographs are properly bought and licensed. Just copying photographs and images from other sites and Google Images can land you in heaps of hot water and leave you facing a hefty bill for damages.
Where do you rate on local searches? - Most website design companies will get a load of their work through local searches, if they understand and know how to optimise their own website well. But, if you search for web design and their town and they do not appear on the first page of Google, it is a good indicator that they do not know the first thing about optimisation. In this case, how can they optimise your site to make certain that you are getting search engine visitors!
These are just a few of the initial questions you need to ask a web design company before you hire them. Ensure that that you find them approachable and straightforward to work with and you are onto a winner.
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