People have been designing and building websites for two decades now. In the very early days, they were little more than static pages of black content on a white background, but as everyone can appreciate, things have developed extensively over the years.
Whilst fantastic in a vast array of different ways, it has led to a huge amount of competition in the industry. Large organisations are competing with individual freelancers and there\’s everyone in between striving to deliver a first-class service; a website that truly meets a customer\’s needs.
However, there are unfortunately some in the industry who can\’t deliver just this. For whatever reason, they\’re unable to create a website that satisfies their customers. Sometimes this is because they don\’t have up-to-date knowledge, whilst other times they just want to turnaround a design and build as quickly as they can.
For those in the industry, it can be relatively easy to spot such companies or individuals. If you\’re not in the industry, however, it can prove to be a minefield.
How do you work out who\’s actually going to do a good job? How can you be confident the money you\’ve been quoted for a website is not only fair, but is going to mean you\’ll get the website you need?
Without doubt seeming like a complex process on the surface, the truth is you simply need to approach it as you would any other service and that\’s to look for companies who have both a fantastic reputation and clear experience in the industry.
Reputation
A company\’s success is built on their reputation. What their customers think of them is considerably more important than you\’re likely to realise, particularly so in today\’s world, where the likes of Twitter and Facebook make sharing your thoughts on anything easier – and on a more public basis – than ever before.
If an organisation wants to be both instantly and continually successful, they have to not just think about satisfying their customers at the beginning of their relationship, but right throughout their journey together. They need to listen to what it is they want and be confident that they\’re able to deliver to their expectations precisely.
If they can, fantastic – they\’ll receive positive feedback, which will enhance their reputation.
If they can\’t, they\’ll not only receive negative feedback, but the reach of this feedback will ensure their reputation is damaged, potentially severely.
Of course, there are new organisations who don\’t have a lot of positive reviews behind them, but if a company does have a glowing reputation, you can generally rest assured they\’ll be able to do a great job with your website.
Experience
Now the way a positive reputation is built is by delivering first-class products – and the way you deliver first-class products is by having a respectable amount of experience in your industry.
From a company\’s (or individual\’s) point of view, this experience will all be in the respective people\’s heads, which is obviously perfect for them. For their audience, however, if they keep their experience behind closed doors, it makes the buying decision a difficult one.
As such, when you\’re looking for a web design company, you need to delve into their past work. Some companies may have a huge portfolio of sites you can readily view, whilst others may have a portfolio, but don\’t promote it anywhere near as much.
The key to creating a high quality website is feeling confident you know exactly what you\’re doing in every sense, from the technical build through to the initial and on-going customer service – and this all comes with experience in the industry.
Choosing a company to design your website today can be more difficult than most appreciate, purely for the huge amount of competition there is. However, with the right focus – which needs to be on reputation and experience – you should be able to rest assured you\’ll soon find the most suitable company for your needs.