One of the major frustrations for clients occurs when they receive wildly varying quotes for web design projects. One of the best ways to avoid this, and ensure the work is completed to the highest standards, is to specify accurately all aspects of the work to be completed.
The old cliché of comparing apples to apples rings true. Note the exact specifications for the project, how many pages you require, how many forms, etc. This step will ensure that everyone is quoting for the same work, and only then can you really see who is the best value without compromising on quality.
Having said that, we usually only establish the exact needs of our clients with a meeting and understanding the business and hence its web requirement. The bigger picture is sought to be able to provide a website that creates a synergy and complements your current business providing a web strategy approach. It can be very difficult for people inexperienced with the Internet to know exactly what can be done to serve best your specific needs. Beyond this, you need to consider various other factors.
These may include:
- Experience of the team
- Expertise of the team
- Past projects completed
- Success of previous projects
- References and testimonials
- Equipment—does the designer have all the equipment necessary to complete all aspects of your project? This could include digital cameras, scanners, and software
- Specialist skills (i.e. search engine placement skills, Flash programming experience)
As an example, our web team consists of a researcher, Internet marketer, web designer, Internet security expert and graphic artist. A site completed by us is reviewed extensively by our experts for such critical issues as load time (how long does the site take to come up onto the screen?), browser compatibility (is the site displayed the same by different computers?), and navigational ease. With these extensive skills and review, sites completed are of the highest quality.