Researching A Web Design Firm

By Greg Williams

When you’ve got an idea of what you want for a web page for you business, it’s time to start shopping. Since prices and services vary widely, it’s recommended that you call three to five firms to discuss your site. Some of those will be Internet Service Providers that offer Web design in addition to their technical services and others will be design firms that deal strictly with the design and programming aspects of Web page design, and NOT internet connectivity issues.

Don’t be shy about asking questions, particularly about technical issues. A good design house should be willing and able to walk you through the process, without sounding as if you’re insulting their intelligence. Don’t be too surprised if you don’t have a phone call or two returned. In setting up our own Web site on a local Internet Provider, only one company out of three returned our initial call.

Questions to ask:

1. Does the design firm understand your organization’s objectives and goals regarding a Web presence?

2. Do they perform the actual Web design in house?

3. Do they perform related services in house as well, such as graphic design for the pages (buttons, textures, maps, etc.) and marketing, or do they contract this out?

4. Are they willing to give you a firm estimate before proceeding with the design process?

5. Are there any hidden costs in the design and setup of your page, such as additional site storage fees on a server, logging your site onto major search engines on the Web, sending press releases out to key media, charges per hit on your page (often referred to as throughput), etc.?

6. How often can you update your page and what is the cost of making changes?

7. If there are technical questions, is there someone at the design firm who can answer them?

8. Does the firm post your page on major search engines or do you have to do it yourself? Do they hyperlink your site with their own home page?

9. Does the firm design pages from scratch, or do all their sites have the same look and feel (be sure to visit their home page and any clients they have to get some idea of their abilities)?

10. Is the design firm willing to make your page accessible to all browser software, even if it means the page won’t have all the bells and whistles available on Netscape? Can they do alternate text files?

11. What do they charge for digitizing photos and artwork? Are these costs included in the site estimate?

12. What Internet Service Provider do they use for a Web server? Regardless if they have their own server or use an ISP, what are the monthly charges per meg?

13. What is the initial setup fee for a Web server site?

14. Can they handle the registration of your domain name, such as (http://www.companynamehere.com)? The present NIC fee is $100 of the first two years to do this on your own. How much does the design firm charge for this service?

15. Is there an additional ISP charge per month for having your own domain?

16. Can you use your own ISP to house your site? Is the design firm willing to work with other providers to post your site on their server?

17. What other types of communication or marketing projects besides Web sites do they work on regularly?

18. Do they truly understand basic communication, marketing, advertising and video techniques and principles?

19. Are they willing to integrate your Web site into your other marketing/communication materials?

20. Do they offer on-site writing services in addition to design?

21. Can they support basic design services such as forms and e-mail hyperlinking?

22. What other enhancements are they able to offer you?

23. Can the design firm work in HTML2 (the current Web markup language) as well as with Netscape enhancements?

24. Can they explain the limitations of the current technologies, such as load time and the challenges involved with imbedding sound and video into your page?

25. Will the design firm assign account representatives specifically to you or will you have to wade your way through whoever happens to be there at the time?

26. Can they offer you marketing and public relations counseling and support?

27. Do they understand your business and/or industry?Answering these questions should assist you in selecting a Web design company that meets your own unique needs. It’s very important to find acompany that can work with your own staff to develop a compelling, interesting and affordable Web site; one that will promote repeat visits and meet your own organization’s goals and objectives.

Greg Williams designs web sites internationally from London.