Why Is My Website Designer so Important

Picking a website designer is something that should never be considered lightly. Your website is the shop window of your business, it has the potential to gain you potential long term customers. It can even cost you customers without your knowledge when they cannot find what they’re looking for. That’s why it’s important to ask the correct questions and ensure your website is designed with your business in mind.

We have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions that any potential web design agencies should answer. We have proved industry standard answers for you to read. We’ve also included the response you would get from us here at Turtle Media & Marketing.

1. Will you buy my domain if I don’t have one?

Ownership of your domain, whilst generally inexpensive, should be massively important to the business owner. The registered owner of the domain legally owns the address. It has been known for certain web companies to hold a business to ransom. Or even worse, never even intend to pass the ownership on. This means all the hard work you do creating a successful website could be lost. That is if your web company decides to charge you fortunes to keep transfer the domain.

We can assist you in purchasing the domain name yourself. However, we are also happy to purchase the domain name and transfer it to an account you control. We don’t want to leave any business owner in a position of vulnerability regarding their website address. It is definitely not part of our business model to try to own domains bought on your behalf.

2. What will the cost of my new website be, is it priced on an hourly rate or on a project basis?

There are no industry standards and you should get as much information about what is included in any pricing quotations that you receive.

We prefer to provide a cost for the project upfront. This is for your safety as you are likely to require numerous changes which we will include in the project cost. If you would prefer an hourly rate, we are happy to work with this, however, we have found a price per project generally keeps all parties happy.

3. Can you create me a Logo?

Designing websites is not generally done by graphic artists, although some web designers can create a well designed logo. It is always important to ask your website designer if they are confident and capable of creating a logo for you.

We are more than happy to create you a logo for your business. We have in house capabilities and we also utilise our design contacts from around the world to bring you numerous fresh and different logo concepts.

4. Do I own my website and all its components after completion?

You may be unaware that many design agencies insist that they own the website and intellectual property after a project is completed. This can leave business owners feeling vulnerable and frustrated when trying to gain copies or back ups of the website. If you allow the web design agency to purchase your domain, insist that it is transferred to an account that you control as soon as is practicable. Don’t forget, ask the question “If you carry out this work for me, will I own the site and all its components after completion?” If you are unsure whether you actually own your domain, use this free domain checker to find out who is the rightful legal owner of your domain. Click here to find out WHOIS

Here at Turtle Media & Marketing you will own the website outright after completion. We are happy to provide you with a copy of the website and assist in moving to another provider at any time.

5. Will my new website work on mobiles and tablets as well as desktops?

In today’s digital climate, where accessing websites by mobile phone has topped over 60% of all usage, it is absolutely imperative that your new or redesigned site is accessible across all platforms.

We only design and build websites that function 100% across all devices.

6. How much will my ongoing costs be after website launch?

After launching, you should still have to pay for hosting (basically space on a dedicated server that allows people to access your site on the internet), domain name renewal (licence for owning your website address) and any optimisation package that you definitely should have.

Every website is different. We will agree and explain all ongoing costs upfront before we get started.

7. Do you have any examples of previous work?

It is only wise on your behalf to look at the portfolio of any potential new website designer for their previous offerings. You should look at previous examples of their work to see if you like any of the features that they have included. This can also be misleading though, as many clients have strong views on design and what they want in a site, and sometimes even against advice, a client can insist on certain elements or features.

We are happy to provide samples of our previous designs and completed projects. These can be seen on our design portfolio pages.

8. Is SEO included?

SEO is a totally separate service to website design and build. Unless your aim is not to be found easily on the internet, you should definitely incorporate an SEO package into your budget.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) or internet marketing is a monthly package and is a totally separate service. We recommend that all websites take out some kind of marketing package to create a successful business.

9. Do you offer support after launch?

This is a question you should definitely ask any potential agency, as there are currently no industry standards. I would hope that any credible agency would offer at least some support as an absolute minimum.

Here at Turtle Media & Marketing we offer 1 months absolutely free support from launch date as our minimum standard.

10. Do you only offer website design?

There are many facets to this industry, and it may be wise to think about the type of agency that you want to work with as you grow. Do want a web designer only, do you want a web designer that specialises in SEO, or email marketing, or pay per click campaigns etc. Do you want individual specialists in all of these fields, or do you want a company that can help you with all of these and more?

No, we offer a range of different services from internet marketing, web design and logo design. Having a broad list of partnerships with many companies allows us to offer to deliver the full marketing package. We have direct routes to marketing greatness with our partners. We have access to experts in billboard advertising, taxi advertising, leaflet distribution, journalists and video creators to name but a few.

11. What are the payment terms?

Again, No industry standards are currently enforced. This is a question you should always aim to achieve clarity on before any work commences.

Here at Turtle Media & Marketing we will always be up front about our costs and any potential ongoing costs.

12. Who provides the content?

No website is the same, totally depends on size of the business and the audience. If a person in house can write great copy, then this will be more authoritative and informative than if you allow a copywriter who knows nothing about your business. Whoever provides the content, be under no illusion, Google will reward original copy and it will penalise duplicate or poorly written offerings.

Here at Turtle Media & Marketing we have in house copy writers and copy editors. We ideally like input from the client as the client is the most knowledgeable person about their company and can provide industry specific quotes. How we obtain the copy is clearly structured from the initial meeting to discuss your new or re branded website. We find that the best blend comes from client oriented content which is made search engine friendly by our SEO copywriters. In our initial meeting we offer three options,

option 1. Client writes Content / Client SEO’s Content
option 2. Client writes Content / Turtle Media Optimise Content
option 3. Turtle Media writes Content / Turtle Media Optimise Content.

We find that this is the best strategy for getting a client to understand the importance of the written word in relation to their website and the options that are available to them.

13. Who provides the images?

Images are a very important subject for a website designer, images sell websites to the consumer. Some designers include images in their options, some insist on client led images. Whatever the design companies policy is, make sure that this is agreed in the initial meeting stage as this can become an expensive add on if not agreed before work commences.

The very best websites use their own images. If your business showcases services they offer with their own pictures then it builds a much better trust to potential new customers. If you’re not in a position to provide relevant pictures of your business, we can provide a photographer who will showcase your business to best effect. Should you prefer not to use your own images, we will provide stock images that are licensed to be used on your website.

14. Will you still help me if I don’t take a support subscription. How much will changes cost me after the support period ends?

Again no industry standards, clarify this before appointing a website designer.

Making changes to a website is something a business owner should be able to do very quickly and easily, either in house or with a responsive website designer. This is why we offer a support package which also include any changes you need as part of a marketing package. If you decide you don’t require a marketing or support package then we can offer 2 different things for you.
1. If you decide that you do not require a support package, we can make the changes for you at an agreed hourly rate, which we both consent to at the design stage.
2. If your website supports it, we can give brief training, along with cue cards that will assist you in making changes to certain elements of your website yourself.

15. Will you host my website and if not, who does host my website?

Most website designers have hosting packages. Some might have dedicated servers, some might have shared space on a server. The question absolutely needs to be answered before commissioning a website.

We offer free 12 month hosting on all websites that we build. If you take a marketing package while your website is on our server, we will include this for free. If you do not want to have a website hosted on our server, then you are free to choose your own or we can recommend hosting companies for you. We will assist in setting up your website on any server you choose to use.

16. Will the website I purchase be secure?

Most companies should be able to offer you a secure site. These are small data files that encrypt your data and are installed onto the server where your hosting is setup.

If you choose to employ us as your website designer, then we will incorporate an SSL Certificate FOR FREE. Google has been using sites with security certificates as key ranking indicators for some time now, and we can only see this trend continuing.

17. What info do you require from me to get started?

Hopefully your website designer has processes in place to capture this information. They should at least have had an initial consultation where they captured at least the majority of the information required to get going. The more time spent in the development procurement stage, the better the website should become and the least interaction with the designer required.

We like to capture as much information as possible at the initial meeting stage, and then follow up with a direct email confirming that the information we garnered was correct. We also confirm any outstanding information that would be required to allow the project to move forward in a timely manner.

18. Can I move my website if I become unhappy with your services?

It’s at this stage, business owners realise how much control they don’t have over their website designer. This is when we realise, I should have asked who owns my domain(WHOIS), where is my web hosting company and what are my passwords? You can use a free hosting checker like Host Advice, but even they can’t tell you if your designer or Internet marketing company conceals them.

At Turtle Media & Marketing, we hope you never become unhappy with our services. However, should that day arise, we will have no issue in you moving. Its part of our transparency policy with clients. We will open up all channels and passwords to make it as easy as possible to transition your website to your hosting server, website designer or even just back under your control. We will even transfer this for you to make the process as seamless as possible.

Conclusion

Hopefully, having read this article, you have a little bit more info on what to ask your designer. We know this list may be a little long however, make no mistake, this is not exhaustive. All we ask is that you do your research and look for a transparent design company that suits your needs.

If you are thinking of having a new website designed and built then please make sure you spend at least some time thinking about the project ahead and the questions that you need to ask. If you are thinking of having a website freshened up or even redesigned then why not try our totally FREE Website Checker. This could help you decide whether its worth persevering with your current site, or whether to get a totally new design completed. Whichever you decide, make sure and ask the questions, its your site and don’t forget it.