It’s January and if you’re considering a redesign of your website, you’re not alone. A lot of people use January to plan their website revamp. This is not a straightforward task and it often includes writing their brief, trawling through tenders and awarding the project. Picking the provider is the hard part. In the following two articles, we tell you what you should be looking for in your web development company. It’s a serious business with a lot to consider. Consider each point carefully and see if you have already considered it.
• Your point of contact – who is going to look after your project, will you have one point of contact or will you be bounced around the office like a ping pong ball? This happens so make sure it does not happen to you. It is important that one person takes ownership of your project and you have one point of contact for all queries and questions. Some agencies outsource services, which is fine but you may not want to have to speak to different people about different aspects of the project. It will make it harder for you and possibly them to keep control of the project.
• Portfolio – what about their track record? You need to check out their portfolio and if you don’t like their past work they may not be the right people for the job. You need to work with a company that will deliver what you need and want and what will give you a good return for what will probably be a substantial investment. Find out if they have they worked on similar projects in your business or similar industries? If so this will always be a bonus as they will understand the scale of the project and will have in-depth knowledge of the online requirements for your industry and more importantly your target market/customer.
• Content Management System (CMS) – a well maintained website with plenty of fresh, engaging content is a must in the online world. It’s crucial that you are provided with a robust, easy-to-use content management system and if so, is it one that they have developed internally or will they be using a third party system like WordPress? Using a CMS that has been developed internally can have its pros and cons.
- Pro: they know its capabilities inside and out and will be able to tell you from the beginning of the project what they can do for you within their CMS.
- Con: you cannot move from them to another supplier easily without having to create a whole new website with CMS. This does not have to be a negative but it is something to consider and decide what is best for you and your business.
And that’s about half the story. Sit tight and await Part 2 of this article. Picking a web agency to ensure your online presence is as good as it should be is crucial. In the next part, we’ll talk about the SEO issue and why you must always go with your gut!