How to Choose the Perfect Web Designer Pt 2

#4 – Do They Have the Skills to Support Your Needs?

You are probably looking for a reasonably long-term relationship with your web design company – at least a year and possibly several. 

During that time you will want a variety of services from them so it helps to have an idea of your future requirements and whether they can be met. 

Here are some questions you can ask to identify the depth of skills they have internally.

1. Do they have search engine optimisation skills?  (Can they improve your ranking on Google?)
2. Do they have search engine marketing skills?  (Using Sponsored Links to advertise on search engines.  If you are not familiar with this concept then check out the bottom half of this page.)
3. Do they have experience in developing e-commerce websites?
4. Do they develop Content Management Systems for websites?  (So you can update your website independently of the web design company.)
5. Do they provide hosting and what’s the monthly cost?
6. Can they provide you with web statistics and will they help you interpret them?
7. Do they have any experience/skills in Accessibility (how easily disabled people can access your site) and Usability?  (How efficiently your Browser can interact with your site.)

#5 – Is the Technology They Use Supportable and Future Proofed?

Websites can be written in a variety of different languages and applications.  Some companies favour PHP, others ASP and some just write in straightforward HTML.  However, you need to know that your site isn’t written in some obscure language which won’t be supported in a couple of years. 

Modern web development techniques separate design (the appearance) from underlying code so changing the look-and-feel of an existing website becomes a relatively trivial task for the future. 

Check this by asking if they program using CSS and XHTML.  (If you want to learn more about this subject check out this article explaining web standards.)

PHP is, perhaps, the most widely supported in the marketplace at the moment because it is open source software which means there are no licence costs for using it. 

This has given rise to a substantial community of developers meaning that if you opt for a PHP solution you will always be able to find someone to support your website. 

There are various 'flavours' of PHP so it is well worth asking exactly what type would be used (for example, CakePHP or Ruby on Rails).

Some web design houses use off-the-shelf applications to help them build websites.  These often come with content management facilities (defined here) built in.  However, any such solution will have limitations and it is worth taking a look at the designer's portfolio to see if they suffer from looking the same and having similar functionality.

Another aspect to check is that the software they use is a mature product, in continual development and supported by a substantive and growing community.  (Checking out forums is usually a good way of determining this.)

#6 – Who Owns the End Result?

Some web design companies are very protective of the code they use because they regard it as their intellectual property.  Consequently, you can get into difficulties if you don't own the code that runs your website and you want to change suppliers.  This is a point which you need to be absolutely clear on and ideally, it should be mapped out in a contract. 

The most amicable arrangement is for you to own the code but to let the web design company own the rights to use the code on other developments that may benefit their customers.  (Especially, when you think that your website’s time and costs may be halved because the design company has used code from other projects.)

If your supplier does decide to give you the code they may wish to stipulate a couple of caveats, for example; that you don't resell the code or use it to support a completely different website.

Now, discover how to find out if they're any good, their delivery plan and their hidden costs.  All on the final page...