DesignWebUK

Q: What's your name and position in the company?
A: Jake Simmonds - Website Designer

Q: Describe your company in 5 words.
A: Forward-thinking and caring

Q: What's your business philosophy?
A: We believe a better website makes a better business. Being online is everything in this digital age, therefore it is so essential to invest in a well-designed website that can be controlled in a reliable and easy-to-use content management system. We believe that you can walk away with something truly unique that will last for many years to come.

Q: Describe your office environment.
A: Relaxed but hard-working.

Q: What makes you different from other web design companies?
A: We believe in the website design industry that there is a huge gap from the moment a website goes live to the first sale through a client's website. That is why we have created a knowledge area on our website - an ever-expanding base where videos are added constantly to help your business succeed online.

Q: How do you get the majority of your business?
A: Word of mouth is our main source and we rarely advertise.

Q: Describe how you manage projects from the initial client contact to completion and handover.
A: We begin with the idea and ask for any specifics that our clients would like to see in the design. Afterwhich we produce a mock-up design before we take any form of payment. Once the client is happy, we proceed to development of the design and generally finish the entire project within one month. We also train you in our Content Management System so the client knows exactly how to manage and control what their hard-earned funds have paid for.

Q: What do you think is the most crucial element of creating a good client relationship?
A: Human interaction. We try to meet with clients face-to-face if we can as we believe everybody just does everything these days over email. We feel it is essential for bringing out the best in projects and most often, we and the client come up with some great ideas in the meeting.

Q: How do you manage demanding clients?
A: Every client is different - some more challenging than others, but we do love a challenge.

Q: If a client was trying to decide between a shortlist of web design companies, how would you recommend they go about selecting the right one for them?
A: Just look at the website of the company and determine how many years experience they have. If they are lacking in both their own website design and experience, the client should be wary.

Q: Where do you see your company in 10 years time?
A: A lot can happen in one year, let alone ten. The internet is constantly changing for the better so it is a tricky question, however, we would like to keep expanding and hiring more people to offer more to new and existing clients.

Q: Where do you see the web design industry in the future?
A: We think a lot of web design companies will have gone bust, purely for the fact that money is the only incentive for most of them. They produce average websites in a short amount of time to get paid, rather than quality websites that work long-term. Eventually people looking for a website for their business will know exactly what to look out for.

Q: What computers do you have use in your offices, PCs or Macs?
A: Both PC and Mac

Q: How was your company name chosen?
A: We offer web design in the UK. Unfortunately webdesignUK was taken, so we switched the words around and the name has stuck ever since.

Q: If you were to give your clients one tip on how to get the most from their website what would it be?
A: Update it once per week with fresh new (useful) content and invest small amounts at a time in internet marketing to keep potential customers coming back. A website is just one component of your entire business model but it is also the hub, so make sure it is easy to use and appealing when someone visits it as first impressions are everything online.