Attention small business owners
Feb
5
Written by:
2/5/2010 12:40 PM
Would you like a sales representative dedicated to your business who consistently creates an appealing image for your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? I heard a loud YES.
Your website is that sales representative. Therefore, it is important that you make sure that your website creates the right image for your business, performs well, and is working with search engines to bring people to your site. Therefore, it is important that you invest time and money in your website in the same manner you would if you were hiring a human sales representative.
You would want the employee to present themselves well, be informative, share key items about your business to influence potential customers to do business with you, make it easy for people to get the information they want, and to respond quickly to questions. You should expect the same from your website.
Selecting a website design company is the first step to getting a website that will be a productive sales representative for your business. Some of things to consider as you select a website design partner are the following:
Design skills – does the
website design firm have the design skills to create a unique and appealing design to create the image you want for your company? Do they have the ability to do
print media design, as well as, web design so that you can carry your
brand image into business cards, newsletters, brochures, and other print collateral?
Technical Platform – what tools will be used to develop your website? Is it proprietary or open source? Does it have a content management system (CMS) so that you can make simple changes to your site without being a programmer?
Web hosting – where will your site be hosted and does the host provider have the infrastructure and the knowledge to support your website? Does the web design company have a strong working relationship with the web host provider? Will the web design company take responsibility for issues with the web host provider or are you on your own?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – does the web design firm have the knowledge to perform effective and ethical SEO on your website? What exactly will they do and how? Does the web design firm offer copy writing and editing services that will help you get keywords into you copy in an effective manner?
Customer Service – will the web site design company work with you as a partner to make sure that the unique qualities of your business are reflected in the website design? Does the firm take pride in their work and share in creating a web site that will reflect well on your company and on their company? Is the company responsive to your needs? Does the design firm have repeat customers and do their customers make referrals on their behalf?
These are high-level things that you need to consider before embarking on a website design project or website redesign project. I will go into more detail in future Blogs to help you select the right website design partner for you.