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21 Point Checklist Hiring Web Design And Development Company In 2019
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21 Point Checklist: Hiring Web Design And Development Company In 2019
TABLE OF CONTENT • HOME • Importance of a website: • 3 Main Factors of Web Design and Development: • 21 Point Checklist to Hire A Web Development Company • Major Services Offered By Web Design And Development Company • At A Glance
Importance of a website: There is a saying that, “All the roads lead to Rome.” Likewise, in the digital world, your website is where all the online marketing efforts are directed to. It is the central hub for social media campaigns, PPC, YouTube videos, link building exercises, bulk email / SMS campaigns and so on. The importance of a brand’s website has become paramount with the increasing number of social media networks. A well-planned and aptly managed website is the needed for any scale of business – big or small. A web design and development company is an enterprise to which you can delegate this responsibility.
3 Main Factors of Web Design and Development: • Usability – First and foremost aspect of web designing is the ease of use. Smooth navigation and quick loading time are some of the things that millennial users take for granted. They don’t have the time or patience to browse a website that doesn’t conform to these standards. • Functionality – Functionality is nothing but making the application to carry out certain operations when a command button is clicked on. Functionality and design always go hand-in-hand. One is incomplete without the other. • Visualization – Although, we know that beauty lies within other than what merely occurs to the surface, ultimately, we always prefer things which are pleasing to the eyes, don’t we? Trendy designs suitable for your overall branding will make your customers feel welcome. Web design and development is more an art than a science!
1. Tried and Tested Techniques Albert Einstein said, “The only source of knowledge is an experience.” Likewise, web-designing can be perfected only through experience. You need to have a website that showcases your brand in good light. So, it is always better to hire experts. Hiring a web design and development company would ensure that your online reputation is in safe hands.
2. Advanced Software – Handpicked To Suit Your Business The former American president Abraham Lincoln said that if he had 6 hours to chop down a tree, he would spend the first 4 hours just sharpening the axe. Likewise, you must always leverage cutting-edge technology. Good web design and development teams are versatile. They pick front end, back end and frameworks that are just apt for your business.
3. Creative Team “It’s impossible to explain creativity. It’s like asking a bird, ‘How do you fly?’ You just do” – American author, Eric Jerome Dickey. Similarly, it is hard to write about creativity, but it can be felt. UI/ UX designers of web design and Development Company will aim to awe your audience with their creative designs.
4. On-Time Delivery, Every Time “A stitch in time saves nine.” When you are picking a web design and development company, make sure to ask your references about their track record regarding on-time delivery. Although creative agencies require more time to deliver the best to your enterprise, they must achieve the same on a pre-agreed timeline.
5. Crafted Just For Your Enterprise Unique, hard-to-copy, distinct deliverables is what would delight a client. Make sure that the web design and development company that you are hiring doesn’t recycle and repeat its creatives.
6. #Trending and Easy-To-Use Design Any web design and development agency that is worth its salt would follow the trend or create one! Being trendy and creating amazing user experience at the same time is the objective of all creative agencies.
7. Hack-Proof – Advanced Encryption Let us suppose that an agency is designing a website for a private bank. Due to the sensitive nature of the data, utmost importance should be given to make sure that it is hack-proof. Web design and development companies use advanced encryption techniques to preserve their data from phishing or break-ins to their databases.
8. Treating Your Customers Like Kings and Queens Your customers are not just Kings and Queens for you. They should be treated like one even by the web design and development agency that you hire. The marketing industry has moved from customer satisfaction to client delight, off late. Creating awesome UI / UX is not an advantage anymore, it is a necessity!
9. Cross-Platform Approach – Fully Responsive Sites 2.5 billion people use smartphones, and 55% of the world has access to the World Wide Web. These statistics indicate only one thing – Your website is more likely to be opened on a mobile phone more often than not (as compared to desktops, tablets or laptops). Web design and development should be done with a cross-platform approach especially keeping in mind the ever increasing mobile viewers.
10. Well-Structured Programming It is quite difficult to verify whether your web design and development company follows a structured programming approach or not. However, you could sense the same if you maintain a proper interaction with the developers. Structured programming will make any further modifications or maintenance of your website simple and straightforward.
11. Integrated Payment Gateways A payment gateway is a mediator between your site and the payment processor. Having a secured payment gateway integrated into your website would help you to get direct business from your online platform. Gauge the expertise of your web design and development company in this niche. Only then, hand over them the all-important responsibility of developing an e-commerce website for your business.
12. Facilitating Quick and Constant Edits The web design and development company of your choice should create an ‘admin panel,’ which is easy to use and access. This would ensure that you or your internal team can easily update your website. It is utterly significant to keep updating your website – as search engines would value fresh content while ranking your website.
13. Ease of Tracking Audience Behavior Unlike mass media advertisements, digital marketing can be targeted exclusively and we can track viewership or click rates easily. Web design and development companies send regular reports to their clients regarding the number of visitors, their timeline, areas of the website visited, geographical location of visitors and so on.
14. Chat-Bots Designed Using Latest AI Chat-bots are the add-ons that are increasingly being requested by clients. Using well-researched FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, agencies design chat-bots (which simulate real chat agents). Web design and development company that you are looking for, should be familiar and capable of integrating chat-bots to your website.
15. Optimized Website – Minimal Page Load Time We have already discussed how millennial users are not patient enough to wait for your site to load. Their attention spans and tolerance levels are low while their quality expectation is quite high. Hire a web design and development agency that understands your younger audience, and possesses the capability to optimize your site in such a way that each page has a fast load time (pre-specified number of seconds).
16. SEO Friendly Content Optimizing the website of your enterprise according to the search engine’s algorithm and helping it to rank higher by using relevant keywords, is one of the responsibilities of your web design and development company. Content is what separates you from others, and it needs to be optimized according to the latest update of the (most prominent) search engine (in your geographical area). In most places, Google is the most popular search engine as it has around 80% of market share.
17. Alerts and Push Notifications Your web design and development agency should also integrate alerts and push notifications into your website. This would create a fan-base for your brand and your traffic will increase.
18. ‘End-To-End’ Web Design And Development Mahatma Gandhi said, “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.” Likewise, even if you cannot find a web design and development company that takes care of your complete online needs, you need to find an agency which fulfills most of your needs.
19. Good Return On Investment For every dollar invested in digital advertising, you can see how much your enterprise has gained regarding leads or businesses revenue. Web design and development companies send you regular reports showing metrics which indicate profit/loss of your campaign.
20. Related Services Like App Development When you are on the lookout for a web design and development company, also ask if the agency can develop an Android app or so. It is always an advantage if the same agency can cater to further needs of your business.
21. On-Site Training “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” ― Henry Ford, American industry and business magnate. Web design and development agencies which train your staff and put them at ease with your newly developed website and its functionality are the dependable ones.
Major Services Offered By Web Design And Development Company
(1) UI / UX (a) Custom Interface Design– Web design and development companies offer custom built user interfaces. This is done to make the users feel special when they are visiting your website. Customizing the web elements in-line with your overall branding will give a professional outlook to your online portal. (b) Development – HTML/ CSS/ JavaScript– Each website that is developed by the web development company should be well organized, using the latest HTML and CSS standards. Web design agencies also comply to the guidelines specified by W3C.
(2) Content Development Content is the differentiating advantage of your website. It builds engagement, and it is the voice of your enterprise in the crowded online space. Web Development Company takes inputs from you and converts it into an exciting content which is well organized, short, simple and in-line with your brand’s vision.
(3) Blog Design And RSS Integration Blogs are a primary way to keep your website up and running efficiently. Adding new blogs will send a message to the search engines that your website contains new stuff that needs to be explored. A Web development company not only posts SEO friendly blogs on your behalf but it also does the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed integration.
(4) Integration With Social Media Average time spent on social media is increasing year after year, and it stands at 135 minutes (more than 2 hours) per day in 2018. Posting on social media is highly essential. A web development company must be capable to seamlessly linking your website to all the popular social networks.
(5) Maintenance Of The Website Software maintenance is not “keep it working like before.” It is “keep it being useful in a changing world” – Jessica Kerr, lead engineer at a software automation firm. Online portals have to be updated at regular intervals to keep it up and running. A good web development company will not only design your website but will also maintain the same.
At A Glance In the above write-up, we have tried to answer questions like “Why you must opt for a web design and development company?”; “What to look for in a web design agency?”; “How to stand out in the World Wide Web and achieve business goals?” and so on. Hope the article was helpful. At the least, we think that this blog post serves as a guiding light in your quest for the most suitable web development company for your enterprise.