Start with business websites. Ideally, every business should have customer reviews and testimonials on their website. But the good guys (those who are confident in their work) often also provide the customer URLs, so their potential customers can see their work in action. If a business doesn’t have testimonials on the website, that’s not a good sign. Contact other companies who have used the web design company. Are they happy with their website? Was their experience positive? Find out if they think they got what they were looking for in the web design or redesign process.
While it’s important to see what information a web design company provides on their website about their previous clients and work, don’t stop there. Check out the company’s reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook for a better look at their work, professionalism, demeanor, customer service, and overall reliability.
Look at their portfolios to find your best choices
If you’ve spent some time looking at reviews from every web design company on your list, you’ll likely have a small list of companies that are masters of their job, according to their clients.
To further narrow down the list and choose the top three to five web agencies, you need to look at their portfolio. This will help you determine if they can deliver what you are looking for. There may be several web design companies that are great at what they do, but not all of them do the type of work you want. So take your time to browse their portfolios. Also, don’t hesitate to ask them for relevant samples. Go for the Web Design Vancouver services as they have the best experts in the field now.
Bonus Tip
Don’t fall for website screenshots. Ask design companies to send you the working URLs of the websites they have designed and visit them to review the work yourself.
Here are a few things to consider when reviewing portfolios:
- Do they keep up to date with the latest trends in web design?
- Are the websites user-friendly, responsive and mobile-friendly?
Is their job varied or are all of their websites alike? This will tell you how creative their designers are. You don’t want a website that looks like a hundred others.
Ideally, you should be working with a design company that has experience in your industry. However, don’t dismiss a company just on this criterion if you like their work. This brings us to our next step.
Can they produce value-added content
A sign of a good web design company is its ability to produce pieces of creative content for your website as well. This is one of those areas where you can really differentiate yourself from the competition by providing informative, entertaining, and compelling content designed to keep customers on your site longer. It can come in the form of blogging, infomercial, video and audio storytelling, and countless other high profile production items.
Discover their agency culture
Ideally, you want a web design company that you can work well with. These are the people you trust to represent your business on the biggest platform possible. You have to ask yourself if the values and culture of the web design company match yours. Check out their social media profiles, are they engaged with their staff and audience. Do the people who work there look happy? The best web design companies have a list of driving principles and values. Check whether the web design agency is involved in their community or engages in charity work.
