Five steps to the right Web design company for
your interactive marketing
1. Self Analysis
A good Web development firm or
interactive agency will work with you in defining your
organization's requirements. That said, the better you can define
your Web development and marketing goals (at least the basic ideas)
the better it is – for both you and the potential Web development
firm.
For instance: Do you want to convey only essential information on
your company, like a brochure, or really promote your whole business
– brand, products, services, etc? Does your company need Internet
marketing such as Google Adwords PPC or search engine optimization (SEO)?
Will your Web site speak primarily to new accounts, or promote a
closer relationship with your existing clients? Do you need an
intranet/extranet for partners or employees? All or some of the
above?
In order to find a Web design firm best suited for your project,
your organization should be aware of the following:
- The intended goal of the project
- The intended audience for the Web site
- The anticipated budget for the Web site
- How the project will fit into a larger marketing/corporate
scheme
- The individuals/departments within your organization
responsible for the project
Once you have determined these initial requirements, document
them and use them as a basis for evaluating each Web design firm.
This document gives you a common yardstick to measure each Web
design firm you will be contacting. Similarly, a professional Web
development company will respect the fact that you are taking your
project seriously.
2. Generate a list
There are a number of ways to search for a Web development firm.
Each method has its own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, a
referral is great but may be biased to different target market or
industry sector; likewise, a portfolio review is great, but on its
own may miss the technical aspects not visible on the frontend (i.e.
database or software development). So a combination of the different
approaches will be your best bet for finding a Web design firm to
match your needs.
Referrals: Ask business acquaintances, friends,
and family which Web design firm designed the Web site for their
respective organizations, or if they can otherwise recommend a Web
design firm. Be inquisitive. Find out what the individuals
responsible liked or disliked about working with the various Web
design firms. Some firms are better suited for taking a project from
start to finish. Other Web design firms are more inclined to work
from an existing concept.
Other Web sites: Determine the Web design firm
that is responsible for the Web sites of organizations that you
admire. These organizations may be your competitors, or in related
or unrelated industries. Sometimes the Web design firm is included
in the site credits, or is listed elsewhere on the Web site. If you
cannot find the credits on the site itself, feel free to contact the
organization and ask which Web design firm is responsible for the
Web site. This can also be a good source for references for that Web
design firm.
Once you have gathered a list of potential Web design firms you
are ready to pare them down to a shortlist.
3. Create a shortlist
From the list of potential Web design firms, your organization's
goal should now be to create a shortlist of 3-5 firms that are best
suited for your project. In order to determine which Web design
firms are most appropriate for your project, do the following:
Examine the portfolio
Do the projects in the portfolio have a consistent quality? If not,
it's possible that the company has experienced staff turnover. You
may wish to enquire which designers are responsible for the
portfolio pieces you admire most, and confirm that these individuals
are still with the company.
Has the Web design company provided solutions to other companies
in your industry? Have they dealt with similar challenges to those
faced by your organization? These are some important factors to
consider. At the same time, look at the Web design firm's breadth of
experience – they may be able to address your immediate needs, but
will they be able to provide solutions 6 months down the road, or 1
year later, or 5 years later?
Thanks to the distributed nature of the Internet, some of the
better Web design firms have implemented systems that allow them to
work with organizations across the globe as easily as organizations
across the street. When reviewing the Web sites of a Web design
firm, note the geographical location of their clients. A Web design
firm that has worked with clients in many geographical locations
will have a more global approach to your Web site.
Technical competence and experience
Does the Web development firm have technical experience for your
requirements (or potential needs) such as ecommerce/ebusiness,
Internet marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), interactive
Flash/animation, or software/database development and system
integration? Do they code their Web pages in compliance with top
industry standards (like W3C)? Is their ecommerce code secure and/or
hacker-proof? Do they provide hosting, long-term maintenance and
support?
Analyze the process
Does the Web design firm have a clearly stated process for designing
and developing Web sites? Do they spend enough time understanding
your Web site goals and planning how those will be achieved, such as
Needs Analysis? Does the development firm have structure and
expertise in
Information Architecture? Avoid selecting an individual
designer, on a freelance basis, to design and develop your
organization's Web site. It is rare to find a single person capable
of handling the combined visual and technical elements that make an
effective Web presence. Additionally, by depending on an individual,
your organization is at risk of losing its investment should
anything occur to that one individual – or down the road they simply
can't find time to help when you need it.
Determine what other products/services the Web design
company can offer
What kind of value-added products or services can the design firm
offer? Product Marketing,
Pay per Click (PPC) and
Web site promotion? Newsletter or email campaigns? If your
organization is not currently dealing with a print design agency,
for example, this might be a factor for dealing with one group over
another. Similarly, can the firm provide database and software
development should your organization wish to Web-enable some of its
existing systems or processes?
During this stage, your organization should make contact with the
candidate companies that are on your shortlist. If any of the above
information is not readily available, be sure to ask the potential
Web development firm for specific examples as close to your needs as
possible. Make sure you understand their scope inclusions,
terminology definitions etc. If they don't have a
glossary, get them to explain it in detail.
4. Get proposals
Once you have selected your short-list of top Web development
firms, request that they send you a proposal. Ask that their
proposal include an overview of your requirements and their proposed
solution. This will help to determine which Web design firm
understands your requirements best. Also ask that each Web design
firm include a description of their development process and a price
breakdown for the various aspects of the Web site project.
5. Evaluate and select a partner
Start off by examining each proposal individually. Before dealing
with the content, evaluate the format and presentation of the
proposal. The winning Web design firm will be creating your
organization's image on the Internet, viewable to millions of
Internet users. How do they present themselves? Do they communicate
with you using their Web site and digital documents?
Maintain a list for each proposal, consisting of its strengths
and weaknesses, and the strengths and weaknesses of the respective
Web design firm based on its other materials (Web site, portfolio,
brochure, case studies, etc.). Alternatively, make a grid for easy
comparison.
Example: in an ecommerce project, compare the competing product
features and costs side-by-side.
Importantly, weigh each firm on its ability to be a
long-term partner. Have they been in business for several
years, being stable and profitable? Do they have a list of clients
and projects that you can confirm? Having an outsourced interactive
agency as a partner has many benefits: expertise and experience in
Internet marketing/SEO, software development and integration
skills, and the flexibility of resources on tap. (This still applies
even if you have on-staff marketing resources.)
After your organization has reviewed all proposals, compare them
with each other. How do they fare in terms of presentation? How do
their processes appear in terms of project management? Do they
present scalability and/or upgrade paths for your project, that go
beyond the needs of the immediate goals outlined?
Once you have made a decision, contact the firms that did not win
the contract, and share with them the strengths and weaknesses of
their proposals and the reasons (in general terms) why your
organization selected the winning firm. Lastly, contact the
top Web development firm and let them know the good news.
