5. How to Find a Web Design Company
Finding affordable website designers can be tough: there is no standard for service costs, and costs can vary from company to company. How do you make sure you’re comparing the right kinds of businesses? Where should you look for a designer?
Referrals
If you know any web designers, or business owners who’ve recently had a website designed, you’ve got a head start. A word of caution here, though- referrals should be based on a designer’s work alone. Your brother-in-law’s buddy who does web design isn’t really a quality referral if no one can vouch for his skills or experience. Always ask to see prior work or a design portfolio first.
Past Work
If you’ve been browsing around the internet looking for inspiration for your own site- and you’ve found a few sites you like- contact the company and ask who did the design work. Many times the name of the design firm is even posted on the site itself. Past work is the best indication of a designer’s sense of style, organization, and design skills- if you like their prior designs, chances are they’ll be a good fit for your company.
Vendor Locator Services
If you haven’t found any sites you like and are at a loss for quality referrals, vendor locator services are a great tool to help you compare design companies. Most of the time, you’ll enter information about your basic requirements (if you need web development services or web hosting services, online marketing, or graphic design services, for example) and companies will contact you with pricing information. Services are almost always free, and you’ll usually get at least 3-5 prospects that specialize in the type of design work you need.
