You have less than two seconds to create an impression on your visitor when they visit your website.  Be very selective when it comes time to choose a web design company for your website design.  Here are ten guidelines and pointers to help you choose the right designers:

1. Do they have a portfolio?
Make sure they have some experience.  Take a look at their list of customers and designs.

2. Can they cater to any type of business?
Look through the portfolio for variety. Do their client’s websites all look similar in format and structure? Make sure you are paying for a custom web design service, not a cheap template.

3. How is their response time?
This is vital to the success of your website. Take note of their choice of response (e-mail, phone, txt, instant messenger) and how quickly they can respond to your inquiries. If you prefer to do business over the phone and the designer doesn’t, then it’s probably best to move on to your next choice.

4. Do they have a contract?
If it’s not written – it’s not true. Everything should always be put down in writing. Before you sign anything, make sure you read the entire contract, including all the fine print. If you have any questions on anything: ASK! Don’t sign a contract unless you understand everything in it. If the company’s representative makes you feel awkward or uncomfortable with your “bothersome” questions, then end discussions and find another designer.

5. How reasonable are their prices?
Make sure you get what you pay for and if you are on a budget, tell the designer you choose you cannot exceed it. (This is usually a question I ask a potential customer.  Not to find out how fat their wallet is.  It’s so I can visualize the project and give and accurate quote of the website I’m going to deliver.
Make sure you have a plan to continually invest into the website’s construction. Your website is going to be the link between you and your customers, so make sure it is the best it can be. These days you can find web design for $199.00 and up.

If your budget doesn’t allow you to put everything you want into your website you might want to settle for a smaller website and create it in stages. Don’t settle for a cheaper designer. You get what you pay for.

6. Can they help you market your website?
Online marketing is key to your website’s success, It is best to find a designer that knows how to promote the sites they work on whether it be through search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing, or another method. Ask your design firm what they feel is best for your company. When talking to your web designer make sure you give them information of how you would like your website to be represented on the internet.  This isn’t content this is your market, who do you want to reach?  You should feel comfortable in their explanation and reasoning; otherwise ask some other firms what they’d recommend.

7. Are their clients satisfied?
Don’t hesitate to contact their clients to ask for opinions and get their feedback on how their service with that company went. It’s your money after all. It’s better to spend 15 minutes on the phone than months of hassle and pain with the wrong developer.

8. Are they able to meet all your needs?
Do you want an e-commerce store, Flash elements or a custom web application? Can they do everything you want? The last thing you want is different companies meddling with your website’s design. Choose a firm that has the full corporate solution for your needs – whether it’s Flash intros or database-driven websites.

9. Can they deliver on time?
Are they willing to meet reasonable deadlines? If you need your site done by a certain date, can the designer you choose get it done by then? Be sure to ask about delivery times if you talk to their customers.

10. Do they take a personal and friendly approach?
Is the designer willing to help and suggest his/her own ideas, or do they robotically go along hoping they got everything you want? It’s always best to find a designer that has some ideas of their own, with fresh ideas and that knows their limits and won’t insist something be done a certain way if that’s not what you want.

We hope this information was helpful for those that read this article.  We hope after reading this information you contact us via email, phone 302-540-8073 or even on Facebook if you have any questions.

Regards,

Bad Dog Web Design

If anyone is looking for towing service in the New Castle County area this is one of our customers that are very reputable in the Delaware area.

www.firststatetowing.com

Working on website for our newest customer Breslin Contracting, Inc.
The base design is started at http://baddogwebdesign.com/breslin

They’re tag line is “The Path to Safety”. The tag line says it all for me, a company focused on safety is also a company that does good dependable work.

They are a local General Contractor that specializes in General Contracting – Industrial & Commercial – Concrete – Excavation – Core Drilling – Saw Cutting

They are located at:
18 King Court
New Castle, Delaware 19720
Phone 302.322.0320
Fax 302.322.8907

View Larger Map

Bad Dog Web Design is a Delaware web design company that will work with anyone wishing to establish an internet presence no matter the size of your business.Every website we build is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Safari and Opera browsers.
We realize there’s more than one choice of internet browsers and we want to ensure you are well represented on all of them.

Given the tough economic times we face, Bad Dog Web Design will work with you and your budget so you can establish the internet presence you deserve.

Our packages may not reflect your project. Your project may be less expensive in some cases. Contact us for a free consultation: 302-540-8073 or kane@baddogwebdesign.com

Flash vs Functionality

Many Flash websites look really cool but if you’re browsing a web page it can get annoying.  When you visit a website built in flash you might get a message like the ones shown below.

• skip into
• please disable any popup blockers
• minimum recommended screen resolution: 1024 x 768 px.
• this site requires Flash Player 8 or later.
• GET FLASH PLAYER

To most people this would a no brainer but for some other people it might be enough for them to leave your website.
When someone visits your website they don’t want to be told what their settings should be or what software they need loaded to browse your site.

It usually takes people less than a second to know if they want to stay on your website.  Giving them instructions on how to view your website is almost like telling them “it looks really cool but you have to download some stuff to make it work”.
I’m not trying to talk you out of a flash website, we have few that we’ve built.  I’m just letting you know the cons of having a flash website.

Have you ever heard your friends say “I use Mozilla, Opera or Safari” and known what they were talking about?

There is more to browsing the World Wide Web than just Internet Explorer.  Faster browsers with more functional options and best of all………THEY ARE FREE!

If you have a website our you’re having one built.  Make sure you ask your web designer if the website they are building is compatible with the browsers listed below.   Most designers build with Internet Explorer in mind.  If you don’t ask, chances are your web designer won’t ensure your website is compatible with Mozilla, Safari or Opera.

www.mozilla.com (Be sure to check out their email add on Thunderbird as an alternative to Outlook)

www.apple.com/safari (If you’re a Windows user that want a taste of MAC try out this browser)

www.opera.com (Fast,lightweight and a lot of very user friendly free products)

Everyday users of Facebook may not know of the many Applications available to them.

This is a great way to share Youtube videos using this user friendly Facebook Application http://apps.facebook.com/youtubebox

This is one of the many useful social networking applications on Facebook that I would encourage people to use to drive traffic to their website or blog. 

After allowing the application to run go back to your wall and add the tab to your wall navigation page.

Share and Enjoy!

Google Maps offers every local business the opportunity to rank on Google without the cost of Pay Per Click and a search engine optimization strategy.

The best thing about adding your site information to Google is that it’s absolutely free.

Google Maps listing show up at the top of the page increasing the traffic flow to your site by moving other organic listings down the page somewhat on Google.

The image below shows the results returned for Delaware Web Design.

Google map results

You can sign up here, add your listing (if it’s already listed you can claim it). Enter your company details, including your address, telephone, description, opening hours, payment terms and a few other things. Remember, the details, description and category of your business will be how people find you.
You can also add accompanying relevant images and video that can be hosted on www.youtube.com.

You can enter the categories associated with your business, if Google’s suggestion don’t fit your business then you enter your own.

You’ll have to verify your listing either by mail, txt or phone using a pin number that Google supplies.

That’s all there is to it.  Within a week or so you might be sitting  at the top of Google for a number of different local searches.