If you are researching wordpress website designers to select the right professional to launch your polished online presence for a business, organization, product or service, you’ll want to review the info shared below.
Today, there are people everywhere who are calling themselves web designers or web developers. But what is the litmus test for a true experienced professional and what should you be looking for in the freelancer or digital agency that you’ll entrust to handle your online presence?
Let’s start with the top five things to consider:
1. Years of Experience.
Anyone can create a website and make the statement that they are experts in crafting websites that provide exposure to your products and services. But where the rubber meets the road is in the presentation of a portfolio of websites actually designed. If there is no portfolio available, you should question why.
If a seasoned WordPress Website Designer cannot list a minimum of 10 website addresses (URL’s) that you can access and confirm the site was designed by that agency, this is a red flag.
As a veteran of website design and development, I’ve personally built and launched 100’s of custom websites since 1999 when I opened my digital agency in 1999.
Check out my portfolio of recent website designs here.
2. Organic Search Engine Optimization
Its not enough just to hire an individual who says they are a web designer and creates a flashy site to WOW you and your target audience in a visual fashion. What really counts is that a website can be found amid the many many other sites promoting the same type of business, product or service – worldwide. Depending how competitive your industry might be or the keyword phrases emphasized to bring about relevance to a website, the quality of content is key to successful ranking of your site, long term.
Getting your page ranked for keyword phrases that are meaningful to you, is not as easy as 1 – 2 – 3. Thats when experience and knowledge counts.
Today, the organic search results are being diluted by the deep pockets of the Amazons, Googles and Facebooks of the world who have done a good job monetizing the offerings for paid advertisers. As a result, an extremely competitive market will need to do more than just add pretty pictures and a few lines of information. Thats where hiring an expert website developer is critical to creating the kind of exposure that can increase traffic to your business, generating leads, and earning new customers.
3. Mobile Responsive Websites
Today, more people are browsing for products and services on their mobile phones and tablets than on a desktop. Thats why any website should also double as a mobile responsive site. Lets break that down a bit. The information and images you present to your target audience, is like a brochure that anyone can access, anytime, anywhere, on any device. A well designed website has the ability to engage your audience no matter what device they are using. So mobile responsive means that the layout on a tablet or mobile phone does not shrink to microscopic size. The layout on a phone should be legible, polished, easy to navigate and thumb scroll friendly.
4. Written Web Development Agreement.
As a detailed person, I always look for written confirmation of services for hire. Whether its to build a house, or expand a garage area, remodel a bathroom or other service, I feel most comfortable with written detail of the job I’m hiring out.
Thats why I’ve always issued written web agreements to outline exactly what I am doing in exchange for the project fees paid for a custom wordpress site. If the web designer / developer you’re considering for your website does not issue a fairly detailed agreement, you have nothing to backup their claims of what is promised. Its so disheartening when I hear, time and again, examples of website projects that turned into disaster experiences . In most of these cases, there was never any written agreement presented by the service provider. Money handed over and no good results.
I agree it can be confusing to hear it all in one schpeel for the layman. That’s why Wild Web West recommends and always issues a written agreement. Customers are asked to review the agreement and then during the on boarding phase of a website project, to ask any and all questions, with no mystery left for the imagination. As a policy, I also require the new website client to sign and date the web agreement, confirming their understanding of the details and tasks to be performed.
5. How long will it take for the website to be completed and launched?
The time it takes to launch a website is definitely relative to a variety of conditions and business policies. The overall size of the website, how much content is being added, and whether the content and images are available, are important aspects of how much time it will take. Most busy agencies will have a regular book of business that is juggled on a monthly basis. Those customers deserve timely attention to their requests for digital marketing tasks, from blog writing, to editing information, optimizing new photos and tending to various other marketing endeavors like social media postings.
For a typical website with 10 to 12 pages of content, I typically indicate 20 to 25 business days to complete a project. With that said, I request that 75 percent of all content and photos to be supplied before project launch. The final 25% is required at 80% completion of the site.
A month or less is not a given with other web designers. Again, the timeframe is relevant to overall size and level of detail, but if a web developer does not provide a time frame or they say 2-3 months, that would be a definitely NO – GO. So look for a design agency that would commit to a month or less for a small to medium size website and no more than 2 months for a larger site. Beyond those timeframes there would need to be a valid reason for a website to take longer.
Another question you might ask, if applicable:
Can I edit my own website?
The option should always be presented, without fail, to have the freedom and flexibility to edit your own business website. Gone are the days when coding is necessary for the ordinary tech savvy business person. Wild Web West offers an a la cart of options. Customers can login and make their own text updates to further refine content, write a blog and also add photos to any section of the website. These tasks are simple, especially with an hour of training offered for access to new custom WordPress Website Designs.
Wild Web West also offers a combination approach for our customers. We’ll take care of adding any additional information you need to add to your WordPress website through our “Done For You” updates. Just provide your photos and content, and we’ll get the task scheduled within days and complete your desired updates. We can typically offer an “estimate not to exceed” so you know what the cost is before you move ahead. No stress or pressure involved. Then we’ll send an invoice at the end of the month with a detailed time log of what updates were performed.
The bottomline when hiring a WordPress Website Designer agency:
Follow these 5 Ways to Identify the Right WordPress Website Designer. These act as a litmus test to ensure that what you’re getting in a WordPress Website Design is based upon due diligence to identify those web professionals who will follow through with a final product that meets your highest satisfaction.
