Did you know, small businesses earning less than $1 million in annual revenue, are 30% less likely to have a website (in comparison to companies turning over higher profits year on year)?
In light of this, you might be after the best Chattanooga web design available. If you are, here’s what you should expect.
1. They Should Conduct Meticulous Research
If you’re planning on launching a website, you and your web designer need to consider the overarching goal of your site. Until you’ve established these aims, you won’t be able to design a useful website for your company.
Be sure to consider the following:
- What message do you want to convey to visitors?
- How will your site facilitate the sales process?
- What content resonates with your customers, and what would help encourage the sale?
- Why is someone coming to your site? What information are they looking for? What are their pain points and can you help them?
Once you’ve got answers to these questions, you can move forward.
Research also includes the following:
- Developing
- Editing and
- Organizing content
A top-notch web design company spends time and energy analyzing your current content and refining it. The aim is to find what your customers respond to, and then hone in on the winning combination.
Often they’ll use Google Analytics to see what’s already working for you. The figures should guide what they keep the same, and what they revise.
Like we’ve just said this requires your web designer to do some homework. Typically, this includes:
- Competitor research
- Customer research
- Product research
You get the idea!
2. They Should Boast Expert Knowledge and an Impressive Portfolio
Good quality web designers should possess expert knowledge on the subject, in addition to providing an impressive portfolio for you to peruse through.
If they meet both these requirements, then there’s a good chance they can walk the walk in addition to talking the talk.
If you’re unsure if they possess the relevant expertise, try to find out all the below:
- What they specialize in
- How they operate (this includes the systems and processes they use to get the job done)
- How they set goals and monitor success. This is imperative for ensuring they’re able to work methodically to improve your website’s conversion rates
Let’s circle back to the portfolio for a sec. This doesn’t have to be anything sophisticated. It could be as simple as a list of links pasted into a word document.
The crux of the matter is that they’re able to show you their previous work. You need to see what they’re proficient in – after all, a portfolio says tons about a designer. Period.
Do they specialize in something specific? Do they have a diverse array of skills? Have they produced a website for your industry before? You can get all these answers as you sift through their previous work.
3. They Should Craft a Sitemap
In simple terms, a sitemap is a chart of how your site is to be organized. Most web designers use flowcharts. These are easy and simple to follow, which is essential for ensuring both the web designer and the client are on the same page.
As the project develops, a few tweaks may be necessary. However, most of the sitemap should translate to the finished website.
You might be wondering; why are sitemaps imperative to the design process? Well, a properly structured website ensures the navigation system is obvious and that the user enjoys a logical organization of your content.
That way visitors can find their way around your site with ease. This also encourages them to explore further- the longer they stay on your site, the better!
4. They Should Offer Wireframes
Wireframes loosely show how the information is to be organized on each web page as well as highlighting the importance of each section.
Depending on the quality of your web designer, you should be able to see the placement and size of each item on the page.
Full Disclosure: these aren’t always necessary. Whether you need wireframes depends on the complexity of the project. The more intricate the site, the more critical it is to ensure you’ve planned for each element on the page (which is where wireframes come into their own).
5. They Should Offer Fabulous Options
Typically, you can expect more than one web design option (that’s if you’re working with a top quality web designer). The nature of these mockups will depend on your brand. If you’re just starting, these options may massively vary from one another.
However, if your brand’s established, then the various designs should boast the same or similar color palettes, even though the layouts may vary.
Potential designs are usually shared with you online and created using programs like Photoshop. You should only see designs that can translate to a fully functioning site.
6. They Should Help with Site Maintenance
The work of a web designer isn’t over and done once the websites live. Instead, they should get a plan up and running for how the client can maintain their site.
This could be a: consultation, a customized user guide, over the phone training, etc. (it doesn’t matter how it’s presented, it just needs to happen). A good quality web designer is committed to ensuring their work continues to thrive.
Was This Article on Chattanooga Web Design Useful?
If you found this feature on Chattanooga web design helpful, then we’re confident you’ll love the other pieces published on our blog.
Over there we discuss everything from Facebook advertising, to SEO.
Alternatively, if you’ve any questions or comments about what you’ve read here, please feel free to reach and contact us. We offer a free consultation, so be sure to make use of that. Speak soon!