HOW TO CHOOSE AN SEO FIRM / WEB DESIGNER

Learn as much as you can when choosing a web design company in Fort Lauderdale to handle the responsibilities involved with building and developing your website. Every day we consult with companies who need someone to take over their website after spending money with another company. Now that person or company needs to spend the money all over again… they THOUGHT they got a good deal and had no idea what was involved with developing a stable, reliable, custom designed website that would have everything they wanted. Below are some important things to consider when selecting a website designer or company for your project.

What Types Of Web Professionals Are There?

Website Designer - helps you to determine and then develop the design, page layout, graphics, and content of your site, as well as the navigation and how pages will cross-link to one another. The designer may also do the actual computer programming and graphic art work for the site. At A Work Of Art, Inc. nothing is farmed out. Our Website Designers are the people actually laying out and designing your website.

Website coder or Engineer - takes the design from the designer and creates the code to make the site function. That person is also responsible for all the technical aspects of the project that happens behind-the-scenes to make sure the site works properly for your visitors and that it is WC3 complaint.

A Graphic Designer - creates the graphics for the site, including page layout, colors, etc. Think of this person as the “visual artist” for your site. That person is well versed in the latest algorithms and knows how to properly structure your website so that it is optimized correctly for SERP.

An Internet Marketing Consultant - helps you to determine how your website fits into your overall marketing strategy, and how to get more traffic and sales from your website. This person works with social media and the external sites that build credentials promotions and inbound traffic.

Website Marketing Specialist - Performs Search Engine optimization, posting, tracking and analysis, social media marketing, creating Blogs and link building campaigns just for starters. A Work Of Art, Inc. has the experience and expertise to provide all of these services plus much more. A Note on Copywriting: You may find a designer who can also help you with the text for your website but don’t count on it. Unlike our company, most web development firms will not be prepared to write creative unique optimized content. Be prepared to write the text yourself, or hire a professional copywriter. Copywriters charge per page, sometimes up to $500 a page ($5,000 for a 10-page website.) A Work Of art, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, assists client with all of their copywriting at no extra charge. We are experts in writing unique optimized content that greatly helps your ranking. Content is the most important aspect of SEO.

How do I know I am hiring a good web designer and what is a fair price?

Here are some things to think and ask about when hiring a website designer: Pay attention to how much they ask you about YOUR BUSINESS in Fort Lauderdale or it's demographic reach nationwide. They should want to get to know you and your business intimately. How else can they design a site that is built to effectively sell your product, communicate with your market and promote your brand with SEO and marketing strategies, let alone design a website that is built to work for you? They need to spend time to get to know your products and services, your demographic and your competition.

• Look at sites they’ve designed to see if you like their style. Is there a certain template look to ALL their sites, or are they very unique in their designs and branding?
• Ask them if they did the actual graphic and layout design of the site, or if they just did the programming using a content management system with ready made templates.
• Do they have a structured planning process that guides you through the design, branding, structure, function and coding phase?
• Do they have a questionnaire to learn about your business that you’ll work through together - that is a must if they are performing their due diligence.
• Ask about their internet marketing and search engine optimization experience and knowledge and ask to show you the rankings of the clients. Are the search words the most competitive phrases used to find these services or products?
• Are they experienced business planners and marketers or are they just website coders? You will want help structuring and building a website that helps your business grow and expand and generate revenue..

Be sure that they’re creating a site for you that meets your larger marketing and business goals.

A website is no good to you unless it generates revenue and converts visits to leads. Ask the designer for their fees and what is the estimated cost for the site you want. They may not be able to give you a good estimate until you discuss content and features of the site. A professional custom designed website with original graphic design and layout that is fully optimized and structure for WC3 compliance will cost around $1,500 - $2,000 for a 15 page site. Anything less than that is a waste of money because it cannot involve the time and work needed to fulfill all of the necessary elements needed to dominate your competition. Never get a "Free" Website or a proprietary CMS website if your website is for business. Most likely you will not own it, and you will be left with an inferior template site that has you tied to monthly fees that are endless. If you add a website blog, online newsletter, shopping cart, auto responders, optimization, database, complex marketing technology, or or logo design (or if you have more than 10 pages), expect the web design price to be higher

Ask them how they bill you. Will they invoice you monthly, or when certain milestones are reached? Do they charge extra for anything? Do you have to make deposits? When we provide a quote for web design we stick to the price. We have confidence in our abilities and do not charge extra for proofs, additional design ideas or added functionality such as forms etc.

Pay attention to whether they’ll try to stick within your budget, or whether they keep suggesting new add-ons that increase the cost of your site.

Remember, designers aren’t responsible for your budget. Talk to some of their current and recent clients, to see how smooth the process went. You want someone who has good project management skills AND good communication skills. They have to listen to you, not just give advice. Ask them whether they will maintain your website after the initial design, and how much they’ll charge for that. Some designers want to create new sites but don’t want to maintain them and will leave you with a content management system that is limited in how much you can further develop your website. Learn more about web design here!