Hiring a web designer who cannot handle your project is a major speed bump to your business. We have many clients who have started their website design or redesign with a different company and end up with us. This is usually because they have realized that their project was outside of the ability of that company.  So, how do you avoid hiring the wrong person and ensuring that the team you hire can handle your project? There are five things your designer should be proficient and able to create for your business.  

A Detailed Process

Building a website from the ground up or redesigning an existing site are major projects with a lot of moving parts. It is essential that your web designer has a proven and detailed process to manage your project. There are so many details, tasks and communications that go into your site and a high-level design company will have a project manager who will keep everything organized and moving forward. 

SEO Proficiency

Without stellar SEO your site will be nearly invisible in organic search. This fact makes it critically important that your web design team are not just acquainted with SEO but proficient. Your site will need a solid keyword strategy in the sitemap and the content to make sure you are found in search engines. 

Responsive Design

Users access websites on their computers, tablets and smartphones, so your site needs to be responsive and adjust for the device. Make sure that your designer knows how to create a responsive design and check their previous work on all your devices. It is extremely important to be user friendly to all devices so that people stay on your site no matter where they access it from. Without a responsive design, users will not stay on your site and will likely not return. 

User Experience (UX)

Once the user is on your site you want to make sure that their experience is the best it can be. If SEO is how you get people to visit your site, UX is how they are converted into a lead. User experience breaks down when a site looks amazing but is not user friendly. It causes frustration and ultimately the visitor leaves your site.  Again, take a look at the designers past work and see how easy it is to navigate and interact with the site to determine their UX proficiency. 

Copywriting

If you find a web design company that offers copywriting services, stop and take a look. Good content is vital to your site to attract visitors through SEO and to keep them on your site to consume the content. Content creation is often a big stopping point in the design process, so a company that offers this service can move you through the process quickly and provide you with great content. 

These five areas of expertise are immensely important when you are searching for your perfect design company. Make sure to ask plenty of questions about the company’s abilities and look at their past work to make sure you find it responsive and user friendly. With a bit of additional legwork, you can avoid the hassle of hiring the wrong company.