When it comes to your business, you want the best and most effective web design possible. You can't afford to settle for anything less than the perfect website that will generate a lot of traffic and convert visitors into customers. A well-designed website is an investment in your company's future. There are many things that business owners should consider before having a site created so we have put together this list of tips on how to prepare yourself for having a website built:
Defining a goal for your website is super important. Some examples of goals can be:
Clear goals for what you are hoping to achieve from your website will influence everything from what pages you need, how the design/aesthetics will look, and what technologies are needed.
Competitor research is crucial. If there are competitors that are thriving online, chances are they have spent time, money, and research optimizing their site to work as efficiently as possible.
Researching what pages, sections, flows your competitors are prioritizing on their site will help you develop a "blueprint" for your website.
Find your desired design style
A web development agency or freelancer should offer plenty of guidance when it comes to the design and aesthetics of your site, however, you can jump-start this process by collecting a collage/vision board of website styles that you like.
Instead of using subjective terms like wanting your website to look "modern" or "clean", it's best to provide examples so to ensure both you and the web designer are on the same page.
Pinterest is a great resource for this. I recommend creating a Pinterest "board" full of website designs that speak to your desired style. I recommend searching for website designs within your industry. For example, if you are a lawyer, you can search for "law firm website design."
It's great to start broad initially, and then narrow down your search as you continue to browse and pin different designs for example - " Personal Injury Lawyer websites".
The goal should be to have a board full of pins that represent the style and aesthetics you wish to achieve for your website. This will help the website designer have a clearer picture of your design expectations.
It is absolutely imperative to hire a qualified, competent agency or developer to build your website. Researching different agency/developer website portfolios is a great start, but I wouldn't stop there.
Creating a website is a collaborative process. It requires effort, communication, and organization from both the client and the website developer. Who you hire to build your site will have massive implications on the process of getting the site completed.
Because of this, I highly recommend hiring a web developer based on a referral. If you know someone who has an impressive website, reach out to them and ask them a few questions such as:
If you don't know of anyone to ask, you can research web developers on your own, and view their portfolios. If you are impressed by certain websites, reach out to the website owner via their contact page, and see if you can ask how their experience was.
A website is an investment, and essentially you are investing in who you hire to build it. The best way to maximize your investment is by doing the preliminary work to position yourself for success.