The world of websites can be quite intimidating. We’ve been fortunate to work with many local companies in Montgomery, AL and surrounding areas and always strive to make this process seamless for our clients. When considering building a new website, or if you’re looking to have your company website redesigned, here are six questions to ask your web developer.
What platform does your web design company build on?
There are multiple platforms that a website developer can build your company website on. The platform that you need for your website may depend on your industry and what you want to achieve with your website. That being said, WordPress is a popular and widely-used platform across many industries and is easy to manage ongoing. It is also an SEO-friendly platform which helps in other areas of your marketing. You’ll want to know what platform your web design company builds on and if that is the best platform for your company.
What type of SEO integration does your web design company implement into the websites it builds?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) seems as if it is one specific task, however it’s really more like bunch of small onsite changes and ongoing effort that contribute to good SEO for your company website. Using a web design platform that integrates well with search engines gets your started on the right path. You’ll want to make sure what onsite integrations your web design company will use when building your site.
Does your web design company use responsive design?
By now the majority of web design companies develop websites using responsive design. This means that your website will be built and optimized to fit any screen size including mobile devices. Even though this is commonplace among the web development community, you will want to make sure the web design company you are working with builds your website using responsive design.
How does your web design company handle ongoing management?
Consistent updates need to happen to your website as you need to change and add information on the site over time. You’ll want to make sure to ask how the web design company you’re working with handles ongoing updates. They may offer a training upon completion of the website so that you can manage the website ongoing for your company. They also may offer to make website updates for you for an extra fee. (This will vary depending on the amount of changes you’ll have ongoing.)
Also, many of the web development platforms that are used to power websites need ongoing software and plugin updates. As part of your conversation with a new web design company, you’ll want to ask how often these updates will be made by the company and what costs are associated with them.
Who hosts my website?
A website is only ‘live’ on the internet when a company hosts it. Many times a web design company can manage the hosting for you. Just make sure to ask how your web design company handles hosting and what fees are associated with various hosting options. If your web design company does not manage hosting, they can likely point you in the right direction of a good host for your website.
Do you know how to build and integrate eCommerce solutions?
This will not apply to every company, but it is very common for companies to sell products or services on a company website. However, not every web design company is comfortable or familiar with integrating eCommerce options onto your website. Also, eCommerce tends to cost more to develop. If you need an eCommerce solution for your company website, make sure to ask how familiar your web design company is with using eCommerce solutions.
Conclusion
We receive a variety of different questions regarding web design for companies in the Montgomery area. The questions we have outlined will ensure you hire a quality web development company to build or redesign your next website.
Questions about your website? Contact Jeremy.