The process of designing your new website could be an complete dream come true, or an enduring nightmare.
Who you pick as your website design company to build your site for you will make all the different to both the end product, and how much you enjoy the site build process.
1. Ask Yourself If Their Portfolio Fits The Style You Require
Different people in the world have different styles, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It does however mean that you’ll be trying to fit a circle into a square come design time if you and your web design company are off in style taste. Having different styles are one of those things that are hard to work with, both for the designer and for the client.
So when picking your web designers, be sure to give their portfolio a browse, and ask yourself, if your site came out having a similar style, would you be happy?
Most designers don’t show all of their work on their portfolio page, just a selection of some of their work.
So you can take a fair guess that whatever your designer is showing in their portfolio, that’s their true style.
If both of your styles mesh together, perfect!
If splashes of hot pink paired with a glittery logo make you roll your eyes, and that’s the type of work in the designer’s portfolio you’re looking at, move right along to one that fits you better.
At Bemunchie Online we build websites to suit all styles, if there’s something in particular you require, we can do it! Don’t be shy to ask, we’re always happy to help?
2. Ask Your Web Design Company About Their Web Design And Development Build Process
The answer your potential designer gives to this question is a dead giveaway if you’ve landed on a newbie designer or a long-time pro.
Designers who have been at it for a while will know their web design process like the back of their hand, and will recite it perfectly from memory.
After all, they’ve gone through it a zillion times both telling potential clients about it and completing work through that process.
While the process itself might not be the most wildly interesting thing in the world, know that having a designer who has a plan will make your life all that much easier, as they guide you through things step by step, especially if website building is new territory for you.
Also, a designer with a tested and perfected process will ensure you’re kept on the ball providing the content and edits they need on time, so they can complete your project by your scheduled launch date, which is of course what you want!
If your potential web design company has their process down and can tell you all the milestones along the way of the site build perfectly from memory, you know you’ve landed on a company that knows what they’re doing.
Bemunchie Online have a simple website build process, you give us your brief, we build your website and show you. We then revise and keep revising until your completely happy! Simple isn’t it?
3. Ask If they Outsource Any Of The Work
You’ll have to make your own judgment call on the answer you get to this one. Sometimes outsourcing can be a good thing, sometimes it’s not.
Often web design companies are also asked for illustrations, custom made fonts, logo designs, copywriting, and custom web development. It’s extremely rare, in fact almost impossible, that one designer is skilled in all of these areas.
If you ask your designer for a whole variety of things, not just the site design, it’s likely they’ll bring on help. Some designers know what their strengths and weaknesses are, and will outsource the stuff that’s just not their forte to trusted business partners, which is normal.
Other design studios will outsource the majority of a project to a 3rd world country to be completed.
Of course, there’s a difference there.
So be sure to ask if things are outsourced and who/where to. Also, check out the site of the other business to ensure it looks legit.
One quick note, if time is of the essence for your web design project, bringing many parties into a project can slow things down a lot, so avoid going with a designer who outsources if that’s your situation.
At Bemunchie, everything is completed in house! So you’re able to speak to your web design company regarding any of your website questions or revisions whenever you feel like it.
4. Ask About About Maintenance After The Design Is Complete
There’s no right or wrong answer here, different companies do things differently, and different clients have different preferences.
If you’re someone who really wants to have ownership over their site, and wants to update/edit things like right now, go for a web design company that have easy to update user abilities and maintain over time yourself.
If you’d rather shoot off an email with edits/updates and wait a few days to have them polished up by someone else (and you have the budget to pay for that every time you need a site edit), then go for a company that offers long-term maintenance packages.
Here at Bemunchie Online we offer FREE support all year round! So if you want to make edits yourself we can teach you how to do so using our easy-to-use content management system or if you require us to make any changes for you, we also offer management packages too! There’s something for everyone.
5. Ask How Many Revisions/Rounds of Edits Are Included
What happens if the first draft version of your site comes back and you’re not completely in love? You can request edits/revisions.
The normal number of revision rounds is 2, sometimes 3.
After that if you still want more, you’ll generally pay extra for the additional edits you’d like, until they’re complete.
We offer unlimited revisions until your fully happy with your website!
6. Ask What Their Record is For On-Time Site Launches
Not down for a run-on project? Ask what the web design company’s record like for completing projects by their scheduled finish date.
On average our websites are complete within 1-2 weeks.
2 red flags you should keep an eye out for, if you notice any of these, RUN in the other direction!
1. They Don’t Ask You To Sign A Contract
Contracts protect both you and your designer, so you for sure want to have one!
A contract between you and your designer should spell out what you’ll be paying, when you’ll be paying it, who owns what licenses, what the deliverables are, etc.
As you can imagine, this can help you out equally as much as it does your designer. If you were promised 2 rounds of revisions, and only got 1, you can have your contract to refer back to.
Pro tip: Sometimes for smaller bits of work for say a couple of tweaks for a few hundred, designers won’t have you sign a contract just because it’s not worth the effort. If you’re putting down quite a thousand or more to work with them, however, a contract should absolutely be expected.
When you place your order with us here at Bemunchie, you’re automatically agreeing to our terms and conditions. There’s no need for any paper signing, just have a read through our terms and conditions!
2. They Have No Testimonials Or Reviews
Not one person has said something good about your potential new web design company? Not a good sign. Or, someone named Freddie, who has no website link or photo or last name, also not a good sign.
Check out to see both that they have testimonials and reviews and then also take a little gut check to see if they feel legit.
Here at Bemunchie, we’ve been around for a while now and created beautiful websites for many happy customers, check out our Google Reviews, we’re a 5 star company!
