There are literally hundreds of great website designers and companies out there and choosing the right one for you can be like a game of ‘pin the tail on the donkey’. Website design companies range from one person part-time operations to large studios with hundreds of employees.

The first thing a lot of people would do when in search of a web design company is search for something like ‘Website Design Company’ in Google. This on the surface sounds like a completely logical idea and you will find website design companies. However, whether or not they are going to be right for your needs is another thing all together.

When you break it down to its most basic level there are only two types of websites – off-the-shelf template websites and custom built original sites. This often translates into cheap versus expensive, but not always.

Most off-the-shelf template sites come with a low price tag, but often there are on-going costs such as monthly payments, which when totalled over the life of your website can be very expensive. This is often an area where people get led astray. They see something like $99.00 a month compared to $5,000 once off and think it is a no brainer and depending on how long you intend your site being around for, you might be right. The tradeoffs with going with the off-the-shelf template website are:

  • You will have to make concessions on the look, feel and functionality of your site. It like the difference between going to a carpenter versus IKEA. In one situation you are starting with a blank canvas and all the tools available to you whereas with the other the end product is already created and you have to live with someone else’s choices.
  • You may want or need your website to perform a specific task or display something in a certain way but an off-the-shelf template won’t do that for you. You may then be able to get the template company to do some custom work for you but they then hit you with an inflated price tag.

Despite those above points an off-the-shelf template website is sometimes the right option. At least you know what you’ll be paying and getting, as long as you do your research. Off-the-shelf can also be a better option when cashflow is a major issue for a company (but why not ask a custom website designer for a payment plan?).

There are many ‘internet cowboys’ out there who call themselves website designers and the amount of horror stories we have heard from clients are amazing. Always get a number of quotes from various sources. The quotes we produce are consistently significantly less than our competitors and we can’t figure out for the life of us why they are so expensive. The only answer we can rationalise is that some people just accept the first quote they get and are ripped off because of it.

What we have found is that despite having a lower price tag than many competitors, we are actually offering a better service. Clients always speak directly to us, there is no double handing or phone system in the way. We always try to meet our clients in person and have brainstorming sessions to get to the bottom of their needs. In short, we care about doing the best job possible. This sounds like something you should automatically get from anyone contracted to build your website but the sad thing is, a lot of website designers and companies rely on people’s ignorance of the internet and it’s technologies and use this as veil to hide their poor customer service.

As a rule, word-of-mouth is a very good way to find a website designer. No doubt you know someone who has had a website created. Ask them how they found the experience and if they would recommend the design studio or designer. If so, that’s a great start. If you don’t know someone, then find a website you like and contact them, asking for a referal to their designer.
Finally, when you do choose a designer, ask these questions:

  • Will I have access to all files on my website should I wish to move to another company?\
  • Will there be anything that impedes the process should I wish to move to another hosting company?
  • Can I please have my FTP login details for my records?
  • Can I please have any login and password information for my records?
  • Can you please provide me with a quote that details all aspects including design, hosting, domain purchasing and most importantly, any on-going costs?

There will be of course other questions or scenarios that arise that we haven’t mentioned here. However, the process of getting a website should not be daunting and if you feel unsure for one minute then you are probably not with the right company.

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