HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT WEB DESIGN COMPANY
One of the biggest decisions you will make for your company is what website design package to choose. There are too many different companies offering packages, this can lead to information overload and cause confusion. After all, who wouldn’t want a professional looking site with features that increase traffic and sales?
Choosing one isn’t always easy, but there are some price ranges that can guide you. If you’re just starting out on the web it is best not to spend money on something you may not use in the future.
A good choice for your first site would be a free or inexpensive package. These services require no programming experience. These are great for personal sites, but when your business takes off, you’ll want something with more options.
Web design packages come in all different shapes and sizes; it ranges from free to the sky-high prices. It is known that most people depend on price to know what product they are buying; this isn’t always true with web design companies. There are many factors you should take into consideration when choosing a package.
The first factor would be what your business does (you wouldn’t buy a $10,000 website for your lemonade stand). After finding out what you do, you’ll need to decide on budget, look around at the different sites offering similar services and see how much each one costs.
The cost of professional web design packages ranges anywhere from $5 per month all the way up to $20,000 or more. However, it is possible to find a middle ground where your business needs are met and you have a website worth showing off.
Most companies offer three different packages, these typically include the bronze package, silver package and gold package. The price goes up as the services offered go up as well as additional features.
The average small to medium sized business should look into yearly hosting prices from $200-400 dollars maximum. Businesses that have heavy graphics or video may need a onetime investment for this service if they pay monthly/yearly hosting costs along with a web design company fee.
There may also be a yearly maintenance fee based on how your site is constructed (this differs from company to company). You’ll want to make sure you aren’t being charged any extra fees if you have to hire someone to assist with updating your site later on down the road.
Another thing that goes into choosing a web design package is how much time it will take for the company to complete the job. The time frame allowed by most companies is around three weeks, anything longer than this usually means something wasn’t done right or at least not according to your standards.
Make sure you are getting what you pay for, having a fixed deadline doesn’t mean nothing can go wrong along the way (this happens often). You’ll want to choose a package that falls in line with how complex your business needs are and works around your schedule. Any reputable company should be able to do this, but make sure they haven’t oversold themselves either.
To summarize, deciding on a web design package can be complicated, but not impossible. Every company offers different services and the price varies depending on how much is offered. The first step would be to find out what you need your site to do for you (this may require some research), take into account your budget, time frame and make sure you are getting what you pay for.
Make sure the company has experience with websites similar to yours, this will ensure they know exactly what works best rather than guessing. Above all else don’t rush into any decisions; give yourself ample time to think it through before choosing one. There are plenty of companies who offer packages at every level so there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to find what you are looking for.
