Hiring a good web designer is quite tricky. You need someone who has extremely creative mind and visualization ability to convey your brand message through graphics. So, when you approach a web design company for the work, you need to make sure that their business is legitimate and also should try to get a sense of the personality and culture of the company.
Most importantly, you need to understand their approach to challenges you’re handling with your project. So, here are some important questions that you should ask to decide whether the company is worth your investment-
What is their approach to usability?
This question will quickly differentiate experienced web designer from a novice. A company with no such approach may build a website that you like but that your visitors find confusing or difficult to use. So, find a company that offers user-centered design.
Can you show us some example of projects with similar goals?
It will help you understand what the challenges were, what results have been measured and how those results met the ultimate project’s goals.
Instead of searching for a web design company with a portfolio that seems to fit your need, you should search for a company that can show a wide range of designs. It indicates a healthy and creative company that listens to its clients, considers the brand and does not follow a standard approach to the design process.
Can I meet the web designer or team?
It will reveal if the resource is in-house or outsourced. A lot of companies outsource the different parts of a project. May be the firm you are approaching is trustworthy partner company. Sometimes, there is not a company at all, and there is one person offering to sell the project, do the analysis, design the site, program it and manage the server.
Even if the team includes only 1 or 2 people, ask about their capacity to handle your project. You should hire a team that has in-house resources and works together on similar projects.
What if I need revisions later?
It will help you understand their approach for on-going changes. Every website will change over time. Some charge hourly for these changes, while others set up tools to make it easy, quick and free to update text, upload images and add pages. You certainly hire a web design company that offers you a tool that lets you manage the website.