Marketing to women: how to find the right web designer

Choose your web designer carefully!

According to the latest BBB statistics available, the web design industry ranks 107 worst out of more than 3,000 industries, and more than one-third of complaints made to the BBB about web design companies are not resolved.

Or consider this review of a US web design firm at YellowPages.com: “I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy. They have been nothing but a headache to our company. We paid 50% up front to have a website built that was never built. We were made promises regarding a date of completion. We were given every excuse in the book as to why our website wasn’t completed. We finally gave up and went elsewhere.”

The good news is that there are many reputable and ethical web design companies. We’ve written this report to help you identify them before you sign an agreement and put down a deposit. Even if it turns out that we’re not the right design firm for you, our hope is that the tips below—written from our perspective inside the web design industry—will save you heartache and help you establish a relationship with a firm that will treat you well.

Ways to identify a web design company that’ll treat you right

If you’re not able to complete every tip below, take heart! Simply choose the tips you think you’ll realistically be able to complete. Even if you’re only able to carry out a few, they’ll still help you protect yourself from an unpleasant experience. Client review working with Aio Design “I expected to be wowed, which is exactly what Aio Design did! Tiffany and her team developed a few of my ideas into something I could never have come close to doing on my own. Their pricing is very fair and they’re a dream to work with."

— Robert C. Crawford III, President,
     Renaissance South Construction Company

Identify the web design firm's specialties

Ideally, your chosen web design company will specialize in reaching one or more of your target markets. For instance, we specialize in marketing to women, especially women with annual household incomes of $75,000 to $200,000, including businesswomen, new moms, baby boomer women, and others. If your primary target market is made up of male gamers 18 to 34 years old, try to find a web design agency that specializes in that market.

View the web design firm's portfolio

Even if you've found a web design agency that specializes in appealing to your target market, make sure they're right for your company by reviewing the firm's design portfolio. If possible, ask members of your target audience what they think of the samples shown. Does most of the firm’s work appeal to them or turn them off? Feedback from your target customers can be crucial; it’s very important that your new website appeal to those who will buy from you.

(Serious web design firms include at least a small portfolio of their work on their website. If a firm doesn’t offer this—or if, heaven forbid, it doesn’t have a website at all—cross it off your list and move to the next. If you really want to work with a particular firm that doesn’t offer a portfolio online, perhaps a firm your friend recommended, call and ask that samples be emailed to you.)

Find out who will be responsible for your website design

Is she an intern or entry level designer? If so, what you get may not be like what you see in the firm's portfolio, which represents just a portion of its work. In some cases, a senior designer may supervise a junior designer's work, and that's perfectly okay, as long as the final product is up to the standard of the rest of the firm. Ask to see finished work that has been done by your junior designer under the supervision of the firm.

Define a "custom" website design

Many web design firms use the same limited set of templates for every client, changing only the logo, photos, and background colors, and yet promote their work as custom. If your new website looks like the website of the business next door, it isn’t custom. (Some industries can get by with cookie-cutter websites, but the more expensive your product or service, the more image-conscious your customer, or the more competitive your industry, the less this is so.) Be sure you know what you’re buying.

Don't assume a web designer has marketing expertise

Does the designer with whom you'll be working have education, knowledge, and experience in marketing? Avoid ending up with a pretty website that doesn't convince your target customers to do business with you! Experience in programming, art, and design is wonderful, but make sure your designer also knows what really works in offline and online marketing.

Ask for the titles of the latest marketing books or articles he has read or the latest good marketing tip he has learned—good marketers keep up with the latest knowledge in their field. (The latest technology book or technique doesn't count for the purpose of this tip.)

Determine if the price is right

If you’re quoted a fee outside the range of what most web design firms charge, find out why. For instance, if it's low, the designer in question may want to build up a portfolio, and if so, may not be experienced. You could end up discovering a natural talent... or pay your hard-earned money for something unusable. A bargain can be tempting, but if the final product isn’t something that attracts your target customers or operates correctly (especially if the website of your competitor does this well), it could be very expensive for you.

Put another way: if you found a brand new Rolls Royce for sale for a smooth $10,000 on Craigslist, would you wonder if there was something not quite right... something that might explain that bargain price?

Tread carefully. (See our web design pricing page for a ballpark idea of what a truly custom website typically costs.)

Find out if the web designer works another job or is overloaded

Either situation can result in a turnaround time of months even for simple projects. If you need your site done sooner, select a firm known for speed and responsiveness… but do be realistic. We've completed completely custom websites in 4-5 weeks, but we haven’t run into any other firms offering such a quick turnaround. A website is a major project encompassing visual design, content, programming, and usability at a minimum—not counting search engine optimization—so be sure to budget several weeks or months for it, depending on the firm you choose.

Ask about outsourcing

Will the firm handle the key parts of your project in-house or contract it out? Outsourcing work can make sense in some situations, so if the firm has a reasonable explanation, that’s okay, but do know that contracting work out can mean slower turnaround time and/or inconsistent quality. Ask how often the web design firm has worked with the contractor in question and if possible, ask to see samples of the contractor’s work.

We rarely outsource work, but when we do, we guarantee the contractor's work: if it isn't done right, we'll either step in and do it ourselves at no extra cost to you, or we'll pay someone else—out of our own pockets—to do it right. Ask the web design firm you're considering if they offer a similar guarantee.

Notice their response speed

How quickly does the web design firm return your calls or emails? More importantly, does their response speed drop off after you sign on with them? Keep in mind that you may be dealing with a member of the sales staff at first, particularly in larger firms, but a salesperson will not be the one actually working on your website—it's the response speed of your designer that will matter to you.

One caveat: if you're waiting for the web design firm's principal to return your call, allow at least a bit of extra time. A firm principal has responsibility for her entire company and a lot on her plate each given day; if she personally returns your call, consider it a compliment. Many web design companies charge more for a client to work directly with the firm principal.

Explore your web designer's bedside manner

Ask to meet the designer who will be working on your project, even if it's just over the phone. Do the two of you get along? Can you understand his explanations of technical concepts? Do you feel welcome, or like an interruption in his day? Can you reach him easily, or do you need to struggle to get past a gatekeeper first? Listen to your intuition (go with your gut); it could save you grief later.

Pay attention to the little things

When you met with the firm, did they offer you comfortable seating and something to drink? If you met during lunchtime, did they offer to step next door to a restaurant to grab a bite to eat with you or offer a snack to tide you over? When they call you, do they check first to make sure they’re reaching you at a good time?

If so, it’s a good sign: naturally thoughtful people tend to be thoughtful consistently, and that can be heaven-sent during the course of a project.

Note: this page was written by Aio Design. If you find this text anywhere else, it was taken from our website without our permission and you should run from the firm that "borrowed" it.

Determine your web designer's authority level

Even if your designer has a great personality, if she doesn’t have the authority to solve issues or enforce your requests, frustration could be in store for you. Ask now: if you were to experience a problem and could not find a satisfactory resolution quickly, would you be able to access a manager with the necessary authority and receive a satisfactory response on or before the next business day? Is the firm willing to provide you with the mobile phone number and email address of this manager? (Call or email him with a question as a test. Did he respond quickly?)

Read the (accountability) signs

Does the web design agency take responsibility for their mistakes? If they frequently mention others who have done them wrong without acknowledging their part in the matter, take note. There are often two sides to every story, and the good web design firms acknowledge where they went wrong and take immediate steps to correct it. Check their references... more on that below.

Even if they're willing to acknowledge a mistake but do nothing to quickly correct it, misery could be in store for you.

Obtain the right reference information

Is the web design company reluctant to give you direct contact information for individuals at three to six companies for whom they've done work? You'll want to talk with the client contact responsible for the project in question, rather than find yourself stuck in an automated phone system or a needle-in-a-haystack search. ("I’m looking for the person who worked with Firm X on your website redesign." | "I have no idea who that could be. Try the corporate office in Dallas; they might know.")

Check references by phone

If at all possible, talk with at least three references by phone—you may pick up on undercurrents that aren't readily apparent in writing. With that said, be very respectful of the reference giver's time, and be sure to keep the information confidential unless directly given permission otherwise.

Note: don't rely solely on written testimonials, as the writer could have been more complimentary knowing the firm would see what was written. This is not always the case, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Evaluate the web design firm's image

A web design company that has invested time and money in professionally branding their website and other materials is less likely to be a fly-by-night operation. By the same token, a firm with letterhead or business cards produced on a traditional printing press is more likely to stay around a while, building and maintaining a positive reputation. (Because a traditional printing press is only cost-efficient when hundreds or thousands of an item are printed at once, it can be cost-prohibitive to reprint every time one moves out of town and begins operating from a new address. If a business card looks like it was produced at the local quick-copy shop, be careful.)

Check their record

Is the firm an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB)? This isn’t necessary, but it’s a good sign. Whether they’re accredited or not, check their BBB report. You can easily find this at www.bbb.org using their name, phone number, email address, or website address. You’ll see how the BBB has graded them based on number of complaints, complaint resolution history, and other factors. Top web design companies include a link to their BBB reports right on their websites, saving you even the trouble of searching. Here's ours!

Avoid conflicts of interest

If the web design agency recommends another company, product, or service, diplomatically ask whether they'll receive a commission or kickback for doing so. Are they recommending it because they genuinely believe it's the right choice for you, or because they'll make a little extra income? The best web design companies don't need to rely on such sources of income to succeed.

Also, if you're part of a competitive industry, address that now: if you don't want the firm doing work for one of your competitors later, ask how much they’ll charge for exclusivity. (If you can't afford an exclusivity fee, ask them to sign a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement barring them from sharing your proprietary information with others.)

Find out if they're really on your side

While you should have a realistic budget, few companies have access to Fort Knox. If you find you don't have sufficient funds for the firm to complete everything you'd like, take note of whether they honestly help you determine the priorities most necessary to achieve your goals or simply suggest what's most profitable for them.

Duck the web design technology traps

Does the web design company recommend new technology or techniques only when it makes business sense for you? Firms in the online world can be eager to work with the latest and greatest—cutting-edge technology is exciting, the experience will build their resume, and to be frank, new technology can be nearly irresistible to the technically inclined. If there's a solid business reason you should use it, great; otherwise, it's better to pass; you'll save on the extra expense and benefit from the greater experience the firm has with technologies that are tried and true.

Distinguish between "white hat" and "black hat" SEO

If the web design company in question also offers search engine optimization (SEO) services to help prospects find your website on Google and elsewhere, make sure the firm you choose follows Google’s rules. Engaging in "black hat" tactics, like using hidden text or showing one page to human visitors but another to search engines (called "cloaking"), can work well at first… but when Google realizes what's going on and bans your website, it can take months of hard work by another SEO firm (read: thousands of dollars) to convince them to put it back into their database. Ask the firm whether any website they’ve done has been blacklisted by the search engines, and whether they consider themselves white hat or black hat.

Read the website design contract

It's not fun, but read the web design agreement from start to finish, making sure you understand every point. (A considerate firm will write it in plain English rather than legalese or technical lingo, making it easier for you.) If you have questions, ask the web design company before signing. If something doesn't strike you as fair, ask to change it now because once you’ve agreed to it, you’ve committed yourself to it the way it is.

Then plan your communication according to the contract terms. If the contract specifies that up to two revisions will be included in the price of a design, for instance, once you've received the design comp, go over it with a fine-toothed comb and communicate all needed changes to the firm at once—in a single email, call, or meeting. That should leave you with another no-fee revision if you need it.

Find the right web design firm... now!

We've covered a lot of ground: quality of web design work, turnaround time, customer service levels, trustworthiness, and several extras. Our hope—and intent in writing these tips—is that you'll be able to quickly find and identify the right website design company for you. Good luck, not just with your website but in your own success!

If we turn out to be the best web design firm for your business, please contact us. We look forward to talking with you!

What else would you like to know?