If you’re ready to work with a web design company in Vancouver, it’s worth taking the time to find a great fit before you make your final decision. Your website plays such an important role in how people perceive and connect with your business – and can have a dramatic impact on your credibility, your ability to connect with new customers, generate leads and make sales – so it’s worth investing in a team that can help you build a website that will achieve all of these things (instead of just a pretty website that’s challenging to navigate, update, etc.).
Business Fit
Questions About Your Business
Before a web design company jumps into talking with you about colours, page layouts, fonts, etc., they should have a clear understanding of your goals for your website (Are you hoping to generate more inquiries? Encourage customers to make online purchases? Book services/appointments through your site? Build your credibility in a crowded online marketplace? Attract new team members? Make it easy for customers to find the answers/resources they’re looking for?), your target market (Who are you hoping to connect with through your site? How can your website help you reach them more effectively?) and so on.
A website for a Vancouver-based business targeting customers in Gastown will look and function differently from one designed for a business serving Kitsilano or a rapidly growing company in Yaletown. The same applies across industries: a film production company may prioritize visual storytelling, a tourism company may need seamless booking options and engaging experiences, while a technology-based business may focus on clearly communicating complex services to its target audience. Effective web design Vancouver businesses can rely on requirements understanding these distinct local markets and industry-specific needs. If a provider treats Vancouver’s tech, tourism, and film audiences as interchangeable, the resulting website strategy will miss the local context essential to connecting with the right customers.
Keep an eye on whether the web design firm you’re working with keeps coming back to your target market and business goals when talking through website ideas and strategies – because the look and feel of your website should be the result of a strong website strategy, not the other way around.
Previous Website Examples
Asking to see examples of a web design company’s previous work is always a good idea, but pay attention not only to whether the work they’ve done in the past lines up with your sense of style, but whether they’ve tackled a wide-range of different website projects – with varying goals, target markets, etc. When looking at websites that the firm you’re considering has developed, ask yourself questions such as:
- Can I easily figure out who this business is and what they offer/do?
- Can I tell who this website is intended for?
- Am I clear about what I’m intended/supposed to do next?
- Does this site work/look credible on my phone?
- Can I easily navigate around/find answers?
Ultimately, you want a website that looks great but also encourages your target market to take action in some way – instead of leaving people unsure about who the heck you are or what you offer/do.
Project Management
Ask the web design firm you’re considering to walk you through how their web design process works from start to finish, and pay attention to whether there are clear roles/responsibilities (Who’s gathering website requirements? Defining content strategies? Developing designs? Building the website? Testing the site? Incorporating revisions/feedback?) and regular check-ins/report-outs instead of lots of assumptions/hoping-for-the-best energy (We’ll figure it all out at the end.).
If the web design company you’re speaking with tells you that they typically work on a six-week website development timeline, for example, it’s worth asking what they’d need from you over those six weeks, as well as anything that could cause that timeline to change/behave differently.
Keep an eye on how a potential web design partner incorporates client feedback as well – you want to feel as though you have a voice in the process, but don’t want to find yourself in a situation where every design decision/choice is perpetually up for debate/reconsideration either.
Content Planning
Website content and page structure
Website content (the actual words/imagery you see on each page) plays a critical role in website design – great website design can’t make up for poorly-written website copy, vague descriptions of products/services, confusing calls-to-action, and so on.
Does the web design company you’re working with help you develop thoughtful content for each website page, including determining what the most important messages/information are, what should be communicated/highlighted on each page, how pages should be structured, what a logical website navigation might look like, etc.?
Technical Foundations
- Mobile/responsive website design (https://thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-strategies/app-and-mobile/mobile-site-design-9-principles is surprisingly readable on this) – how does your website look/work on smaller screens?
- Search engine optimization (SEO)/on-page website architecture
- Website accessibility (for people using different devices/assistive technologies to browse the web)
- Contact form design (including routing/spam protection)
- Website security/maintenance/updating
- Website analytics/goals (What would constitute success – new website visitors? More bookings? New leads/sales?)
Quote Evaluation
Sometimes what may initially seem like an appealingly-cheap website quote balloons once additional website planning, content development, website training, website testing, support, and so on, are factored in. On the flip side, a seemingly-costly website quote may not be all it’s cracked up to be, especially if the services/deliverables listed in the quote are vague and you’re having trouble discerning what it is your prospective website design partner will actually do for you.
When comparing website design quotes from multiple website designers, consider the scope of the project, deliverables/responsibilities, timeline, assumptions, inclusions/exclusions, etc – does the quote clearly outline what your website will/don’t do/be? If you’re confused about what’s included in your prospective website design partner’s services before you work together, imagine how confusing disagreements may be down the line. What happens if additional website functionality is desired once the website project is already underway?
When narrowing your list of prospective website design partners, prioritize the web designers/agencies that listen well, communicate effectively, and design with your website goals/objectives/business needs in mind. You want a website design partner that will demystify the website design process and speak in terms of results, not just rainbows-and-unicorns pretty-pictures.
Jot down your list of questions, bring it with you to meetings with your prospective website design partner, and don’t shy away from asking for a written website quote/scope-of-work prior to moving forward with a website design project.
