What to consider when getting a new website
Posted on 17th October 2019 at 11:46
A new business website or even a redesign of your current website can be a costly experience specially if your unsure about how to even go about getting a website.
So what should you consider when sourcing a website designer.
Firstly, get several quotes, don’t just go with the company that built your previous website as it isn’t always the best option.
How do their websites look?
View their gallery or portfolio of recently completed websites and then check out the actual websites, as sometimes, the image shown may be out of date. If the website agency dates their portfolio, are they recent or are the websites quite old. If they aren’t recent, there are one of two reasons, they don’t update their own website or they haven’t produced any recently, either way, that isn’t a good sign.
Always check the portfolio of websites on your phone, your tablet and your desktop computer, how do they look on all three, still looking good? If so, make sure you look at a lot of the pages, not just the home page. If they’re not working great on a mobile or tablet, steer clear.
Can you edit your website?
Do the websites have an editing system, the answer should be yes and if it isn’t, how much extra will that cost? Ask them to demonstrate the editing system for you, so that you can see how easy it would be or how difficult it would be to make any amendments yourself. Websites need updating, as things change within business, even if it’s just your opening hours over a holiday period, so you need to be able to make changes to it.
Does it have a blog facility, you may not want to blog now, but you never know this might change, as writing regular blogs is great for creating new content, which can then be shared across social media and emailed out.
How much will a new website cost?
The next thing to consider regarding cost is monthly maintenance costs or service costs, this is a standard expense with most website design agencies, but you need to understand what you receive for this monthly fee. If you don’t understand then keep asking, don’t be blinded by science. Bottom line you are the potential new customer, so they should be helpful when explaining.
Hosting costs vary hugely, some agencies will include the cost within your monthly fee and some will charge you an annual fee. This fee shouldn’t be more than £120 a year really.
Other costs, this is really important, as you don’t want to agree to a new website, sign a contract and then find out that they will charge you for any editing or changes that are needed, that you are unable to do, as in outside of an editing system. I have heard some real horror stories.
What about additional website costs?
The next thing to consider regarding cost is monthly maintenance costs or service costs, this is a standard expense with most website design agencies, but you need to understand what you receive for this monthly fee. If you don’t understand then keep asking, don’t be blinded by science. Bottom line you are the potential new customer, so they should be helpful when explaining.
Hosting costs vary hugely, some agencies will include the cost within your monthly fee and some will charge you an annual fee. This fee shouldn’t be more than £120 a year really.
Other costs, this is really important, as you don’t want to agree to a new website, sign a contract and then find out that they will charge you for any editing or changes that are needed, that you are unable to do, as in outside of an editing system. I have heard some real horror stories.
Content for your new website.
Who writes it, you or the website company? If you are expecting the website design agency to write the content for you, then expect to pay more, this will not be included in your quote, unless stated that it is. But good website copy is worth the money.
A copywriter should be researching the best keywords and phrases to be using on your website, they are also experienced in writing god website content, so understand how it should be laid out, so if you can afford to have your website content written for you, it can be well worth the money.
One thing we don’t suggest is that you try and build a website yourself. Unless you really know what you are doing.
If you are looking for a new website and would like a recommendation of who we would suggest you use, please drop us an email or give us a call on 07889 967779.
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