16 January 2012
Choosing a website design company...

There are a number of things to consider when choosing a website design company.

Is their portfolio sympathetic to my requirements?

Do all their websites look alike?

What is their methodology?

The answer to the third question is difficult to pick apart. But broadly speaking they:

Are they concerned about ‘validation’?

Only accurate, well-crafted code validates properly

Which means they care about the quality of their craftsmanship

Are they concerned about ‘standards’?

‘Web standards’ is a buzz-word that means code development follows industry accepted coding rules

What is their position on ‘Flash’?

Flash used to the be darling of the web. Then along came smart phones and Flash ceased to work on many of them, and those that can display Flash are awkward to use in such a small size

A good website company will emphasise alternatives to Flash wherever possible

How many redesigns do I get?

Some companies will not allow design tweaks

Some companies will limit the amount of design tweaks you are allowed

Other companies will allow you to redesign until you are happy with the look and feel of the site – and only ‘lock’ the design just before development happens

Do they have experience with the type of website you need? There are a number of different types of websites available:
Static website

Each page is coded by the web development company

Each page needs to be updated by an expert coder e.g. the web development company

Each page can be optimised for search engines to the greatest extent

Each page can be design differently. There are plenty of great examples like the office furniture website – Wharfside Commercial, and the luxury dining tables, living room furniture and bedroom furniture website – Wharfside.

Content managed website

The website is automatically coded by a content management system (CMS)

The CMS allows the site owner to update their own website

Each page cannot be optimised for search engines as extensively as a static website

Whilst each page can be designed differently, the development time will be longer for each different page

E-commerce websites

E-commerce websites can be static like the excellent luxury furniture website shopwharfside.com or CMS-driven

There are a number of specialist E-commerce CMS available. They tend to be expensive to set up, but essential for bigger e-commerce sites

A good website design company will talk you through your options.