How To Choose The Best Web Developer For Your Company Website

In 2017, there are so many ways to create a website for your company. Business websites no longer are an optional asset. Digital assets such as websites are quantitative and can be measured and stacked up against competitors’ assets as tangibly as a profit/loss spreadsheet.

Many active websites today are self-made through online portals such as Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress. Just as many if not more so are developed by expert web design agencies and high-expertise developers. So, which option is best for you?

Even if you already have an active website and are looking for a redesign or a new strategy, these four tips will teach you how to go from beginning to end with getting your company’s website up to par.

1. DETERMINING YOUR ENDGAME

What is it you want your website to accomplish? Anyone can have a nice-looking website. You can go to Godaddy.com right now and buy a domain name for $10, create a simple page on Wix and throw it up there for $10-$20 per month. In one hour, you’ll have a nice-looking website. But if it doesn’t do anything for you, what good is it?

You need to determine whether you want a website that sells your products, generates more customer leads for your business, creates an informative space for your community to learn what’s going on in the company, or to be a place for customers and clients to make appointments and request quotes.

There are many uses for a professional website, but you’ve got to decide on how your website will be most effective.

2. DECIDING ON A BUDGET

You may have heard professional web design isn’t cheap. Well, it can be depending on how professional you want it. The key in determining how much to spend is calculating how much you want to spend versus how much value you want to get from it.

Are you going to be selling $500 products daily on this site? If so then you could easily pay top dollar in the making of it. Is this web development budget going to afford your company 10 more clients this year? Well if your clients are paying you $10,000 per month, you could probably invest in this site.

If you’ve got a new non-profit organization or a small business in its first year of generating revenue, maybe spending a bunch on your first website design doesn’t make too much sense. Bare bones minimum, you could spend under $100 on a website, or you could spend upwards of $10,000 with a reputable web design agency.

Keep in mind cost vs. value exchange. What are you really paying for?

3. FINDING SOME QUALIFIED CANDIDATES

Finding qualified candidates seems daunting, but it really can be the easiest part of the process. Google searching your local area is a simple strategy. Another great way to find the right developer or agency is to ask people within your network. Every company has a website which means a lot of them will have a trusted agency or developer for you. At MB Creative our quality of work we display through our innovational, boundary pushing website is what separates us from the biggest and best agencies out there. You can also use social networking sites like LinkedIn.com to reach out to web design agencies and other professionals in the industry.
This is a great way to get to know someone who’s hungry and motivated and willing to take on your project at a competitive rate.

There are many ways to find qualified candidates, and their resumes and portfolios should speak for themselves to save you the hassle. Best to go with your gut feeling over experience though, as sometimes past experience inflates a person beyond rational expectation. That goes with all aspects of life.

4. ESTABLISHING OPEN COMMUNICATION

Communication is key in any business relationship. Traditionally, web design transactions had a stigma around them for the lack of communication between designer and client. You’d pay someone an arbitrary amount of money to build you a website, they’d go off for between 1-4 months, were hard to get a hold of, and months later they’d deliver your website. Revisions were usually very hard to come by.

But now with technology and the Internet, open communication has never been easier. That archaic process may still be the way for many designers, but you have the choice to go with someone who doesn’t do things in the dark. When you go to Subway, they don’t take your order, go to the back and make your sandwich. They make it right in front of you so you get exactly what you want and instruct its creator to customize it to your specifications.

This is how your website can be made. The Toronto web design agency MB Creative does business just like this. Their proprietary software allows you to click on any part of the site while it’s being designed and make comments. This saves you so much time and headache instead of having to call on the phone for revisions. You simply click on what you want to change, leave a comment and they make the change in real time. This open communication gives MB Creative massive leverage over the entire industry in how websites are created and delivered.

Hopefully these four steps encourage you to start your company’s website development project today. There’s no need for fear of the process. In fact, this can be a very exciting time for your business, and the creation of your new website can galvanize your business growth online.

Just decide your endgame, beginning with the end in mind. Then decide on your budget, figuring out how much value you want to get for the cost. Then simply find some qualified candidates and narrow down the search. When in doubt go with your gut. Lastly, choose an agency or designer with whom you can have the best communication every step of the way, with a simplified revision process.