(23 votes, average: 4.70 out of 5)Beginning your online business is tough. When you start building your online business, you need to search for a Orange County web design company that will implement all of your needs for the web site. You must understand that it is a very serious step. You are entrusting your business, its reputation, and its future with this web design company.
That’s why it’s important to make the right choice.
Several factors must define your choice. One factor is a portfolio of previous web design works the company has done. The portfolio can tell you more than all words and promises could. Make sure you are attentive and try to analyze the works. Following are tips for what you must pay attention to:
1) Presence of Portfolio
Yes, it seems obvious that a Orange County web design company should have their own web site with portfolio of previous works. However, some web design Orange County companies may not have it, so don’t be astonished if you see a web design company without a portfolio. There are various reasons for this, but I would not recommend tempting fate. A portfolio is like a “face,” and is the web design company’s pride. It must be full, substantial, and routinely updated—It must be!
2) Total Number of Works
The total number of works can tell you a lot; however, there is no standard number of works that will guarantee you are going to deal with web design guru. Yes, 50 successfully finished projects is better than five, but the quality of the works is also important. Compare the number of works with a period of time during where the company operates in the market, and calculate the average number of projects per year, month, or week. Remember, the average web site design takes two to four weeks to finish.
What can this information tell you? First of all, you can see that the company has enough expertise. This also shows that the company has stable flow of works, adjusted schedule of development process, and enough staff to perform the task(s) at hand. Therefore, if you commit your Orange County website site design to the company, you can be sure that you will get your money’s worth, and the work will not ‘overload’ the company.
3) Type of Works
Look attentively at each work in the portfolio. How many projects are similar to the one you need by type of site, technology used, industry, and look and feel?
Are there at least two to three? Good!
Are there more than five? Excellent!!
Is there none? There can be a reason for this. Maybe the owner did not want to make the works published. Or, perhaps the web site is no longer live. If all other works show professionalism and expertise, ask the company if they have ever done the type of task you need.
If you wish to use a particular technology for your web site implementation, it is necessary to see examples of how the web design company has previously worked with that technology. However, if the technology is not commonly used or very popular, the design company may not have had the chance to work with the technology for commercial purposes. But, the company may have used the technology for internal project development. You will not lose anything if you ask the company to show you some examples of previous works it has performed with this technology.
If you need a web site for an actual business, like a dating site or real estate site, it is better to view such previous works in the company’s portfolio. This is because there can be specific features and it is better to make sure that the web design company is experienced with this type of web site. Also, some web design companies make demo packages that can show you their abilities and experience.
4) Quality of Works
It is important to learn about each of the company’s live sites, or the ones similar to the site you need. How long does it take to load the site home page?
Does it take a few seconds? Great, the Orange County web designer knows how to optimize images.
Does it take a few minutes? It’s normal if this is a Flash site because usually the whole site is loaded at one time. This is not usual for the home page. Or, the site may have a Flash intro that enters the site first and also can load longer because of movie and sound.
If a simple HTML web site loads more than two to three minutes and you cannot see all images or if the images are shown partially, you need to be watchful. Check other HTML sites from the company’s portfolio, because that way you can see if the sites take a long time to load. If they do, it is a sign to search for a different, more professional company.
All of the above mentioned is correct if the bandwidth of your Internet connection is normal and if you usually don’t have problems with loading web sites.
Test the site for user-friendly navigation, and pay attention to colors combination. It is necessary to estimate a general impression from the site—all materials must reflect professional work. Sometimes, a web design company is forced to design a site strictly according to the customer’s wishes, and if the customer lacks good taste, the site also looks tasteless. There should only be one or two such sites in the portfolio, but the majority of the works need to be professional!
5) Happy Owners
The Orange County web design business is a highly competitive field. Like all businesses, there are both honest and dishonest players. Sometimes, you may see the same site in portfolio of two different web design companies, and becomes difficult to find the truth to which of them the work really belongs. Some companies may place cheap templates in their portfolio with fake owners’ contact information.
That’s why it is very important to know the real references of real owners of the web sites the web design company has made. Ideally, this information must be accessible on the web design company site under the Portfolio, Testimonials, or Clients sections. Try to contact ALL persons listed as contacts, and compare their opinions. You may get to know some interesting facts.
6) An Orange County Web Design Company’s Own Site
Finally, compare the web design company’s own site to web sites presented in its portfolio. Are the works similar in terms of quality, technology used, and overall feeling? If the works from the portfolio look much poorer than the owner’s site, this can mean that the owner’s site was ordered from another, more professional, web design company. Yes, sometimes a start-up amateur company commits its web site design to “older” professionals. In such cases, you should continue searching for another web design company.
These six rules can help you make the right choice. Don’t be afraid to spend longer time for search and analysis. You will only benefit by getting the perfect web site that will give new prospects to your business and make your business more successful.
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