What are the most important key factors to look at when choosing a web design company? 6 Key markers of a reliable and adequate designer.

1. Dig deeper than the first page of Google results. Go browsing businesses in your industry that have a website already and play around with it. Make a list of things you liked and didn't like and if the company responsible is linked in the footer.

2. Look at prestigious web industry award sites such as the Webby Awards, Interactive Media Awards, Cannes Design Awards and regional web design awards to determine exactly which web design studios are reputable.

3. Don't just choose a studio based on their own website, look at their portfolio look at websites they have created and determine whether the standard of their own site is maintained across sites they have been paid to produce.

4. Look at what others say about your shortlisted design firms, if the agency lists a testimonial look at the website to decide yourself and then do some checking on forums about the agency and if possible contact the client who gave their testimonial to determine if its valid you'd be surprised how many testimonials are actually falsified with the purpose of making an agency appear spotless, and finally avoid designers that display images of call-centre workers or animated sales people, because it usually is a direct representation of the business core values, if they're visually displaying or animating someone selling to you then that is all your business is to them, there is no underlying passion or support for your business just a dollar sign.

5. Remember that you get what you pay for. The better the designer, the more it costs however this is incredibly important in today's online genre. Your business is a public entity therefore like all areas of any good company representation and reputation are incredibly, incredibly important.

6. When Google searching use other key words such as "media agency" "CMS - content managed systems" "communication web design" "aesthetic design" these businesses will be able to provide you with not only a unique web design but an entire solution for your online business needs as well as acting in your best interests

However, the best thing about the web is that it offers you the choice and puts you in charge of the decisions both on a personal and business scale. It simply comes down to how much you value the web as a tool and how your business is represented to the international online community.

Learn more about this author, Ingrid Bruggestrass.
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